From & To Sathish #5 - Page 66

Avan, Aval Adhu 216

They all quietly returned to the large cottage that served as both Partha's and Daksha's residence and office and sat around the dining table sipping coffee and at the same time staring at Ravi who himself stood looking at the world that was getting darker and darker by the hour.

Ravi glancing his face slightly asked loudly, ' Partha, You and Daksha know this land better than me. So, please help clear my doubts about this fog that seems rather strange and also alien at the same time.'

Daksha shook her head and answered his question, ' I have been here for more than 25 years and I have never experienced such a fog in all those years. But, people around here who have been for more than 30 to 40 years will surely know about it.'

' Dei Ravi. Does it matter if there was a fog or not at this moment?'

Ravi turned and walked back to the table and picked up his mug of coffee and stopped and looked at Partha and said, ' You are right. It really does not matter. Just that I am getting this weird feeling of Deja Vu. I feel somehow the same things are happening as they happened 25 years ago.'

Sipping his coffee, he turned and walked back to where he had been standing and continued to stare out of the window.

' What makes you say that, Ravi? What is going on now that happened all those years ago?' Daksha asked him and looked at her husband.

Partha was in a bit of a fix for he was not sure if he wanted to burden his friend with more questions but in the end, he too succumbed to his own curiosity and asked his questions.

' Dei, The only similarity to then and now is your cousin, Meenakshi and which is an iffy conclusion that you have made from a drawing left behind by a man who is known to ramble on with his wild predictions.

Shrugging his shoulders, ' I agree that there was a bit of truth in his predictions and sayings.'

Partha stopped talking seeing Ravi turn and look at him and instead got busy staring at his cup of tea.

Ravi's deep voice filled the kitchen as he began to speak.

' Partha, do you remember the time of my father's passing away?' Ravi asked him and Partha answered him, ' Of course, I remember. It happened a few weeks after, after.....' and stopped and looked here and there and yelled loudly, ' Holy F..K. You are right. How could I have forgotten?'

Daksha slapped the table and asked loudly, ' Guys, Men, boys. Please, will you explain to us girls as to what you both are reminiscing about for it is rude to talk in private when in public and that too in such close quarters ' and looked at Gayatri who was sitting next to her but who offered no support and instead continued to sit transfixed and staring at the table.

Daksha looked at Ravi who shook his head and subtly expressed that she should be left alone. So, Daksha looked at her husband and asked him to explain in detail what he had forgotten.

Partha looked at Ravi who raised his hand suggesting that he could speak and added, ' We are all one here and as such there are no secrets among us.'

The moment he finished stating that, Gayatri looked at him, ' We all are one. No secrets between us. Wow! I must have been unconscious or in some other world while that happened' and looked at all of them, ' or is it still happening? '

She glared at Ravi, ' All I wanted to know was if I was in danger. Here were all three of you going on in circles and talking in riddles and yet none of you wanted to include me in the conversation when the very topic was me.'

She stood up, pushing back the chair that she had been sitting on loudly and looked at Ravi, ' I know that there is something wrong with your cousin Meenakshi for I saw her do something vile as we were leaving and I knew at that very moment that she was obsessed with you. It did not make sense back then but it does now.'

She slowly moved towards Ravi, speaking at the same time, ' But, what has she got to do with this temple thieves, Chennai bomb blast and everything? Answer that one question and put me out of my misery?'

Ravi's face sank into darkness and began to drown in sadness as he answered Gayatri's questions.

' Meenakshi worries me and frankly speaking, she scares me more than career criminals and terrorists.'

' I don't get it, Ravi. She is just a woman and that too a middle-aged married woman like you and me. What is there to be scared or worried about her and in what way can she pose any threats to me or to the rest of us?'

Ravi looked at Partha who taking the cue began to speaks, ' This might sound strange and wimpy coming from me but believe me when I tell you that she scared the living daylights out of us even back then. Forget, that she was the daughter of one of the richest and most powerful men in Madurai and that she also happened to be the younger sister of a man who was the youth wing leader of the DMK party. Forget all that for she was more. Much more than all that. She was bold and brave and she always carried out what she said and meant. I mean her threats.'

Partha laughed softly as he remembered an incident and spoke about it. ' During our 11th std, we had a new physics master who came in as a temporary substitute for our regular teacher who was on maternity leave and this man somehow hated our man, Ravi here. It all started with Ravi answering his questions in one theory class and then he did something that the master Alagarswamy least expected and which was to correct him. Ravi was correct in his observation but this was a huge embarrassment for the master and then on he had it in for Ravi. He deliberately asked him difficult questions but that only embarrassed him more for our walking and talking encyclopedia here answered all of them correctly and then in a moment of anger and loss of composure, Alagarswamy threw the duster at Ravi and it hit him bang on his forehead and opened up and began to bleed badly.

Realising his mistake the man apologized immediately and took Ravi to the dispensary. The news spread like wildfire all over the school and the headmaster questioned Mr Alagaraswamy but our hero here came to his defence and said, it was an accident and there was no truth in the rumours. He swore all of us to secrecy and so we kept quiet about the whole incident. But, a few days later, somebody attacked Mr Alagarswamy and cracked open his head and also broke both his hands. The police investigated the attack and even questioned us but soon found that we were all innocent of the crime since we all had been in our special classes when the attack on the physics master had taken place.

Later, Meenakshi came to meet me and Ravi while we were walking back to school and confessed to the crime and that she had gotten a few of her dad's men to dish out the beating on Alagarswamy who never returned and vanished into thin air.'

Gayatri clapped her hands, ' Bravo, Bravo. I guess, no, I am sure I would have thought of doing the same thing if an innocent person had been assaulted like that.'

Ravi looked at her sadly, ' What if you loved the person? Really loved the person. What would you do if he had been attacked or injured? What if the person who was meant for you, promised for you fell in love with somebody else? '

Gayatri's eyes went large as the meaning of his question and the meaning behind Partha's recollection hit her and hit her hard.

' But, Ravi, she got married. She is a mother now and a wife to someone else. All this is in the past and all this took place more than 25 years ago. I don't get it.'

' Exactly. Correct. You don't get it and neither do we. But there are certain people who get it and will rationalize her thoughts and justify her actions.'

' WTF! OMG! You have to be a psycho to do that. A totally deranged and demented person to be able to justify Meenakshi who herself must be totally certified loco and a psychopath.'

Ravi Kumar clapped his hands and said, ' Bravo. Bravo. Finally, you are on the same page as all of us.'

He put his arms on her shoulders and gently planted a kiss on her lips and said, ' You can reason with a common thief or a dangerous criminal even but there is no reasoning with a Psychopath and Meenakshi I fear is a pure and classic example of that.'

Partha kicked the table as if to get his attention and Daksha cursing kicked his leg and let out a howl, ' Omg, you and your Titanium legs.

Ravi and Gayatri both smiled and he looked at them and said, ' Okay, guys. Hold on to your panties. Yes, we are now a couple and one and together.'

The time was 1.00 pm and just so you know time and life and karma do not wait, do not slow and do not hear. That is the first law of life and you can take my words to the bank.

What will happen will happen and what will not happen will not.

All of us enter the dark searching for our lights and for our guides. Light to lead us when we stumble in the dark and guide us, and that too, only for that short passage of life and a brief period of our time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEN-7M7HasU

Perfection: the quality or state of being perfect: such as. a : freedom from fault or defect : flawlessness. b : maturity. c : the quality or state of being saintly.

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. Lasting peace is not attainable, but if we chase it, at least we will be happy doing it.

I, Satish, read my lines and went and stood before the camera for my close-up shots. This scenario that I am drawing for you could be anywhere in my acting realm. It could be for the current tv serial " Baakiyalakshmi " or an ad or that rare movie that comes once in a few years or even a web series.

It has been this way for a long time now. I stand before the camera and it is always " take okay" in the very first take and it is only in very rare moments when I ask for a second take.

It was not always like this for there were times when I used to pester, and bother the director and cameraman for one more take by saying, " Please, for my sake. let's do one more take for I think I have better variation and am sure that I can top my last take."

Almost all of the times I have requested, they have been granted. But, there have been certain times, very early in my career when they were politely turned down, either by the director or the cameraman, who say, "That was a good take, sir. Why waste time?"

I used to fret and fume and yes, sulk and yes, shut all my doors and shutters that can be shut and languish in my own misery.

Then, I slowly realized that all workings and going on in the world of cinema and small screen cinema and tv are governed by one fundamental law and the very first law in the Universe of Maya, illusions is " Time".

For, in my world of entertainment, Time means money. Every second, third or extra take that I take, ask, for or done by other actors means more time. Time wasted is money spent.

I also soon realized that another important fact in tv and cinema ( In life too) is that, no matter how good my work was, no matter how much people praised me for my skills, I would watch it and go, " WTF, Why did you do that? Why couldn't you have been subtle here and overplayed it there?"

Perfection. I realized that there is no such thing as perfection. It is a goal that we all set for ourselves, but move it once we have reached it and then aim for higher goals. Then we aim to do everything perfectly but more quickly than before.

Perfection takes time. Time is not only money it is LIFE. As in cinema, in life too, you get a maximum of one or two extra takes to deliver your work. I mean to do what you have set out to do or have been told to do.

It could be your employer who is paying you to work for him or them.

But, friends, Life is our biggest employer. It has given you, Wait, let me go for a second take. Life has allotted you a certain amount of time in which it asks you to do what you want to do and then do what It wants you to do.

It is wonderful if what you want and what life wants and provides for is the same goal, for then the journey, the takes, and the work becomes a happy and beautiful experience.

But, what does one do when what you want is not what life wants from you or has provided for you?

Well, you can fret and fume and sink in despair like I used to do ( F..k, Liar. I still do and behave like a petty person) or gently and in a soft voice request, ' Please, can I have one more take, one more shot at this?'

Sadly, if life does not hear you or heed your instincts, better to do the next best thing. Shut it and go with the flow and wait for the river of life to make its next move, turn, or curve and I am sure, there will be a safe way out of the mire and the soft mud. There is always a branch that you can latch on to or a rock that you can hold on to or clamber up on and to safety.

But as always in life and everywhere else, Time is the biggest constraint and sadly, we have very little allotted for each and every one of us.

There are some who snigger and scoff secretly and some who tell me on my face, ' Why are you being so pessimistic and so dreary?'

To them, my answer is, " I prefer to drive my car with my eyes open and not with my eyes taped shut. I prefer to live my life totally aware of everything that is going on around me and I will not hesitate to ask my director, my producer of my life whose name is God, ' Boss, Sorry, I fu.ked up. Can I get another chance please for one more take?"

“When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.”

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ICVkzP6e0h8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDhw193qVrY

Abstract Philosophy

I have been staring, glaring and obsessing over, sketches, drawings, and paintings of all sorts and of all sizes from the time I was a kid. Shapes, buildings, carvings, sculptures of old and new, and colours used in balance and harmoniously never fail to freeze my feet and imprint on my soul.

Maybe that is one of the most important reasons why I always flock to the beach and try to do it just before the sun peeps up, pops up from the Eastern womb and officially declares a new day has begun and enters a new dawn.

Sitting on the soft, cool sand with the salty and fishy froth spraying itself on me and the shore, I sometimes panic and wonder what will happen if the sun does not rise and if it never rises again.

Imagination and wild ones at that. I agree totally even though we know that the sun that we look to as our parent, God, and protector is just a star. A star that is really a nuclear factory and whose fuel will one day run out and when that happens the sun too will blink out of existence or its present avatar and will do that over billions of years and turn into a white dwarf.

But more than the sun and its physical presence, I wait for that moment when our star's rays of light pass through the clouds, and the ceiling of our planet and turn the entire eastern horizon into a light show.

Pinks, oranges, and yellows dance around in a riot of colours and choreographed movements and I among the audience just clap and click as many good pics as possible.

I never ever get tired of seeing sunrises or sunsets. But, I confess that I do get tired and confused with what is passed off as abstract art and modern art. I mean no offence. Just an honest confession.

I have tried my level best many a time in galleries and museums to understand what the artist was trying to express with his art but failed and that too miserably.

Then one day, while shaving, my eyes from the mirror whispered something that I heard loud and clear like a clap of thunder and deep in my soul and it was like a bomb going off.

I stared at myself for a long time. Then, it finally dawned on poor dumb me that each and every person is a work of art. Each and every soul is a beautiful sunrise and a sunset. Sadly and for her own mysterious reasons, Life has created many of us into seemingly abstract and indecipherable beings that are never understood and segregated into that column " Looks decent and nice mix of colours. But rather difficult to understand the point and purpose of its existence."

I smiled and said to myself, ' Sat, difficult to understand but still a work of art and that too by the hands of life itself. '

It matters not what others around you decipher from you when they see you or hear you and it really does not matter whether they feel or don't feel what you feel. For, in the end, it is you and your life that is in reality a palette of colours that has been handed over by your own creator who is the greatest artist ever known.

I, you, and all of us are unique creations and have been given that rare opportunity to do what other works of art cannot do.

A painting cannot come alive. A statue cannot come alive.

But, you and I can step out of the canvas and whisper, " God, let me scribble, paint and play around with my drawing book."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62548085

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJsRBE377WY

Avan, Aval Adhu 217

Partha screamed, ' You sly dogs ' and throwing his arms around Ravi and Gayatri hugged them with fierce emotion and whispered, ' Congratulations.'

Daksha had sensed something different in both of them and when Partha turned and looked at her pointedly, she too looked at him very pointedly and then pointed her question at the new lovers.

' Should I congratulate you both for falling in love or .....? '

Partha looked at her and wondered aloud, ' or what, Ducks?'

' Or should I sing that classic Cole porter song " Let's do it. Let's fall in love " Daksha said and looked at Ravi and rolled her eyes and it took just a split second for him to make the connection with that song and with what she was referring to and hurriedly saying that he needed to go to the loo, ran, fled from them.

Partha looked at Daksha, ' What was that song that you were alluding or rather threatening my friend with and why should that make him run for his life?'

Gayatri finding the whole situation strange and funny pointed to the door through which Ravi had so obviously made his escape, ' I am sure that has never happened before with you guys and from what little I know about him, I wouldn't have believed it if I had not witnessed his great escape with my own eyes.'

Both of them looked at Daksha and Partha asked her, ' Wifey, come on, out with it. Spill it. What is this song that had him running away like a person whose ar.e had just been stung by a bee?'

Gayatri tapped him, ' Bro, correction. Not bee but bees as in plural, for our man, is not your average person and it would take more than one bee to make him jump up and fly away.'

' Yes, ma'am. Correct.' Partha said in a very comical fashion and then both of them continued to stare at Daksha who smiled and said, ' Forget, Cole porter who sang that original version back in 1928 and instead concentrate on just the lines from that song that is popularly known as....' and looked at Gayatri.

Gayatri spread her hands and with raised eyebrows asked her, ' Sister, what are you looking at me cos I have no clue as to who this Cole Porter is and that too a person who sang some song way back in 1928.'

Daksha winked her left eye wickedly and said, ' Well, I warned you. Now, when I start singing it, I bet you too will run for your life.'

' I will not. I most certainly will not run away and that too from some ancient song.'

' I dare you to stand your ground, Missy ' Daksha challenged her and Gayatri raised her thumb and said, ' challenge accepted, Mrs Parthiban. Go on then.'

Daksha tapping her chin with her finger in a very dramatic manner, ' Okay, if I remember it correctly, the song goes like this

When the little bluebird

Who has never said a word

Starts to sing Spring

When the little bluebell

At the bottom of the dell

Starts to ring Ding dong Ding dong

When the little blue clerk

In the middle of his work

Starts a tune to the moon up above

It is nature that is all

Simply telling us to fall in love

and pausing looked at Gayatri and said, ' sweetie, do you want me to continue?'

Scoffing, ' You dare me, threaten me with a love song, Babes. Sing it and watch me stand my ground while you continue singing it ' and clapping her hands loudly, ' By the way, you sing really well and nearly as good as the man who is my man now.'

Ducks waved her right hand as if she was sweeping Gayatri's reply like it meant nothing and shot her reply back, ' Your man now but sadly your man fled leaving you all alone.'

' Mrs Daksha, I don't anybody's support or help. I can take care of myself, ma'am. I have been to the plains of Africa and have stared down lions and hippos through my lens and you think a song will send me running. Keep on dreaming, woman.'

Daksha who had been standing still until then began to shake and jiggle her hips and then she parted her lips and continued on

And that's why birds do it, bees do it

Even educated fleas do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love

Gayatri's face froze in shock and fear and she looked at Partha who was clapping his hands in sync with his wife's song and dance moves and then he stopped and asked her why she had stopped.

' Don't stop, baby. That was a great song about falling in love. Don't you think so, Gayatri ' he turned and finding empty air and empty space, squeaked, ' Vanished. One moment she was here. Right here. Just now, and she is gone ' and looked at his wife, ' Ducks, what is it about this song and falling in love that has sent both brave souls scampering away like rabbits?'

Daksha hugged him and kissing him repeated the lines, ' And that's why birds do it, bees do it.'

' Babes, I am still not getting it.'

Daksha moved her crotch close to his and put gentle pressure against him, ' It means your friend is not a virgin anymore, you idiot man.'

The phrase "the birds and the bees" is a term used to explain the mechanics of reproduction to younger children, relying on the imagery of bees pollinating and egg hatching to substitute for a more technical explanation of sexual intercourse.

It is a euphemistic way to talk about courtship and sexual intercourse; often parents will talk about the birds and the bees to their children rather than describe the explicit act of sex.

The connotation of using birds and bees is that sex is something natural, something in which all animals and all of nature participate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ukHTRPpQ8

When the little bluebird

Who has never said a word

Starts to sing Spring

When the little bluebell

At the bottom of the dell

Starts to ring Ding dong Ding dong

When the little blue clerk

In the middle of his work

Starts a tune to the moon up above

It is nature that is all

Simply telling us to fall in love

And that's why birds do it, bees do it

Even educated fleas do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love

Cold Cape Cod clams, 'gainst their wish, do it

Even lazy jellyfish do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love

I've heard that lizards and frogs do it

Layin' on a rock

They say that roosters do it

With a doodle and cock

Some Argentines, without means,do it

I hear even Boston beans do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love

When the little bluebird

Who has never said a word

starts to sing Spring spring spring

When the little bluebell

At the bottom of the dell

Starts to ring Ding ding ding

When the little blue clerk

In the middle of his work

Starts a tune

The most refined ladybugs do it

When a gentleman calls

Moths in your rugs, they do it

What's the use of mothballs

The chimpanzees in the zoos do it,

Some courageous kangaroos do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love

I'm sure sometimes on the sly you do it

Maybe even you and I might do it

Let's do it, let's fall in love

Avan, Aval Adhu 218

The Paliyan seeing the traffic begin to thin out, quickly looked back and whispered, ' Now we go up, up and until we find a safer way to reach our place.'

Bahadur and his four Northie men stared at each other and he looked at their guide and said, ' We are not used to such strenuous stuff. We belong on the plains and not here on these steep slopes. We are deer, not monkeys.'

Murugan's dark face cracked open a bit to reveal slightly the brilliant whites of his teeth that appeared like a sudden lightning strike in dark monsoon clouds. They knew that he had smiled and it seemed to increase their anger and frustration for they knew not why he smiled while they were groaning and moaning in pain.

Bahadur glared at him and asked him angrily, ' Do you find our suffering funny?'

' No. Just that comment about deer and monkeys.'

' What was funny about that ?'

The Paliyan replied thoughtfully, ' I have seen videos on youtube of monkeys, baboons and chimpanzees hunting and taking down deer and impalas on the African plains.'

Bahadur's eyes reflected his soul screaming for a confrontation with him but then he wisely and slowly averted his eyes and mumbled, ' Well, even deer get tired and they don't run on Duracell batteries like that energizer bunny.'

The Paliyan thought to himself, ' There is a little wisdom in this guy. But, sadly, his temper will always triumph over it.'

Ajay, Bahadur's second-in-command beseeched The Paliyan, ' Bhaiya, lets rest for a few minutes before we start walking again. What is the rush? and pointing to his watch, ' It's just after 1.00 pm and still a long way to midnight when we are supposed to start on our job.'

The Paliyan shook his head and looked up ahead and said in a forceful voice, ' No time for rest. We have to keep moving or else..?'

Bahadur whose breathing had returned to normal jumped up in anger and stuck his face in a challenging manner into Murugan's and growled, ' Or else? Bholo. Poora karo.' ( Say it. Finish what you started saying)

The Paliyan's face remained calm and unmoving and expressionless like a statue made of black granite and then without saying anything he turned and pointed up towards the western part of the Kodai Hills.

' Pani. Moodu pani.'

Bahadur, Ajay and the others looked at each other wondering what he was pointing at and then, they all heard him say in Hindi, ' Maaf karna. Aap logon ko Tamil nahi aathi hai. Woh baat main bhoolgaya. ( Forgive me for I forgot for a moment the fact that you don't understand Tamil).

Pointing to the distant hilltops, ' Kohra.'

All their faces lit up in recognition the moment they heard him say Kohra and they all laughed and gathered around him, slapped him on his back and went, ' Okay, you mean Fofg, mist. Teek hai bhai. So what?'

They saw his eyes grow grim and deadly serious and they heard him say, ' That Fog is bad. It comes once every 25 years and it has been like that for many hundreds of years now.'

Pointing to the Fog, ' It is not white or greyish white but dark and nearly black. Can you see the mountain tops from here through that fog?'

The five Northies strained their eyes but could not see the green Kodai tops for they had disappeared into the fog. All of them stared at it and thought that a black hat had been somehow pulled down over the heads of the Kodai Hills.

The Paliyan Murugan said, ' You call it Kohra in Hindi. We call it Moodu Pani in Tamil.'

Bahadur heard it and tried to spell it, ' Pani like Honey?'

The Paliyan's dark granite face cracked wider than before in a semblance of a smile and said, ' Pani. Correct Panni ' and looked at the others and said, ' Bholo. Panni.'

All of them kept saying it. Panni. Panni.

The Paliyan began walking quickly and he threw back his thoughts loudly.

" Moodittu Vangada, Panningala.'

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mN6f5ONP75o

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GNIjNYaxNws

https://youtu.be/ZpgROHhm5BY