From & To Sathish #5 - Page 7

Vaanathai Pola 314

Although he did not want to, he had to and he did. Raman in a soft and caring voice told Minister Durai Pandi that he was at the moment with clients and right in the middle of a meeting.

Durai Pandi immediately began to apologize, ' sorry son. I am really sorry for interrupting your work. I keep forgetting who you are and that you too have your own life.'

' It is okay sir. You and your family will always come first and take precedence over any other work of mine. I think I will be done here by evening and if you are free at that time, I will come and meet you.'

' Ram, like you, my family always comes first and you are part of this family. Let's meet up by 7.00 pm and we will talk more then. Bye.'

' Okay, sir. I will be there. Bye for now, sir.'

Raman placed the phone on the table and looked at the constable driver Velu and asked him when they could expect their senior Inspector Rajarajan to join them.

Constable Velu shook his head, ' Not for another ten or twenty minutes, sir. The man is strutting his uniform on the floors above pretending to be doing his duty when he is actually making a fool and a nuisance of himself.'

Raman smiled and repeated the constable's words, ' right. A fool and a nuisance. Aptly put, Mr.Velu.'

Global Hospitals MD, Dr.Subash Naidu nearly leaped out of his chair yelling, ' Mr.Raman, what will become of this hospital and its reputation if the word gets out that there are cops walking around this premises. How long before the press lands here and starts asking questions? What do I do then?'

' Dr.Subash, please. There is really no need for all this unnecessary speculation when nothing like that has happened or will happen. Please, calm down and let us wait for the Inspector to join us.'

There was enough steel in Raman's advice and Dr.Subash plonked himself back in his seat but unable to stop his worrying and silent mumbling.

Gravity. Paths. Convergence.Actions and reactions. Karma and consequences.

At this exact time, Minister Kavita Durai Pandi Arumugam's official car pulled into Global hospitals and she got out of the car with Appu, Pappu, and Meena and headed towards the elevators. The three kids were bursting with excitement for they were going to see their Big master sir who they loved dearly and missed a lot.

Above them and on the eighth floor, Inspector Rajarajan aka Pigrajan was trying his best to suck his protuberance of a tummy and walk around as Surya did in the character of Durai Singam in the hit film " Singam" but failed miserably and instead in everybody's eyes walked around like a bird with a pumpkin up its A..e.

One will never know why but some things are meant to happen and some paths are meant to cross and so it happened that the paths of Shinogai and Inspector Pigrajan crossed and life would never be the same again.

For who but for the Fatman.

Inspector Rajarajan turned into the corridor that led to the Neurology department and its ICU Wing and thinking that he would be finding nothing in that area was about to turn around when he saw a door open at the far end of the corridor and a woman step out and he stopped in his tracks.

This was not just a woman but a goddess that had descended down to earth and he felt a rush of blood down south that immediately stiffened his C..k and before he could even think and say something, the woman passed him by.

He slowly turned and stared at the woman and thought, ' Wow, if her front was spectacular then her backside is even more shapely and awesome. Wonder, how she must look totally naked.'

Lust can make you do really stupid things. Obviously, if all the blood from your brain rushes down to your genitals then with the blood goes your thought, manners, and self-respect.

Vaanathai Pola 315

In the English language, the word " Lech " means to lust, to look at or behave towards someone in an unpleasant way that shows you are sexually interested in them.

Even though Leching is only looking, women by large feel that it is as bad as being physically molested or assaulted.

Leching usually leads to the perpetrator to flashing which means displaying his or her genitals to the person they are leching at. In India, flashing is a crime and a person can be sent to jail for a year or more depending on their case history.

But, leching and flashing are usually symptoms of a worse crime that is committed on women all over the world and that crime is Rape.

There are many commonly held misconceptions about sexual crimes and the people who commit them, according to the Center for Sexual Offender Management, which is a project of the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs.

But I will touch on the most important and relevant myth and which is most sexual assaults are committed by strangers. Wrong. Absolutely wrong.

Most sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim or the victim's family, regardless of whether the victim is a child or an adult.

For adult victims, statistics indicate that the majority of women who have been raped know their assailant. A 1998 National Violence Against Women Survey revealed that among those women who reported being raped, 76 percent were victimized by a current or former husband, live-in partner, or date. A 1997 Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that nearly nine out of 10 rape or sexual assault victimizations involved a single offender with whom the victim had a prior relationship as a family member, intimate, or acquaintance.

Among children, approximately 60 percent of boys and 80 percent of girls who are sexually victimized are abused by someone known to the child or the child's family, according to a 1998 study. Relatives, friends, babysitters, persons in positions of authority over the child, or persons who supervise children are more likely than strangers to commit a sexual assault.

Inspector Rajarajan was a lech, a corrupt mortal, and a vicious predator and like predators knew that stalking and hunting would eventually fetch him his prey.

His predator brain went on an over-drive and his mind made up or rather his lust made up his mind and he walked towards the room where he had seen the woman come out from and stopping in front of it, knocked on the door.

A duty nurse who was passing by informed him that this ward was full of patients with critical head injuries and half of them were in a coma or a comatose state.

One of the reasons why all the duty doctors, nurses, and staff members were giving him a wide berth was because they had been told to do so by their boss, Dr.Subash Rao.

Inspector Pigrajan knocked again and again and getting no response decided that he would open the door, enter and look around the room and see if he could learn more about the woman who had stolen his heart.

Gravity, convergence, paths aligning, and karma.

It so happened that Dr.Girija Padmanabhan happened to be in the toilet when Inspector Pigrajan had knocked and had then entered without permission.

Rajarajan stepped into the room and closed the door behind him and stood staring at the man on the bed. The afternoon sun's light streamed through the windows and illuminated the room and its occupants.

He stood at the foot of the bed and read the name on the chart, ' Rajashekar Varman' and whispered the name again and again and thought to himself, ' Why is this name familiar to me?' and then the bathroom door opened and Dr.Girija Padmanabhan stepped out and was shocked to see a police officer standing there looking down at her brother.

' Excuse me, who are you and what are you doing here?'

A simple, direct, and pertinent question that should have been answered and that would have been the end of that.

But then again this is a story and all stories need twists, plot changes, and cliff-hanger moments. This is one.

Inspector Rajarajan looked at her arrogantly and in his eyes, Dr.Girija appeared like an old and frail woman and deciding that she was some kind of relation to the man on the bed, he stared at her angrily and sneered his reply, ' You taalking Engleesh. Talk in Tamil. Big hospital, big English. Okay. I police, talk Tamil.'

His reply in Tangleesh had the desired effect on the old lady, he thought, and thus began the convergence of actions and reactions.

Dr.Girija Padmanabhan stared at him for a second and then began to laugh and laughed so loudly and she looked at him like he was some kind of joker and said, ' three stars, Inspector and you are here talking and behaving like you are the Prime Minister. F..king Idiot.'

Saying this she reached for the phone nearby and was about to call the management when Inspector Rajarajan said the next stupid thing, ' put down the phone or else I will have to arrest you for hindering my investigation of a crime that has taken place in this hospital.'

Arrest, crime, Investigation are words that would have been enough for 99.9 percent of the public but Dr.Girija did not belong to that category, and holding the phone receiver in her hand, she smiled and said, ' I pity you, Inspector. I really do.'

The door opened and in came Shinogai whose green jade eyes immediately took in everything with one look.

Inspector Pigrajan turned and looked at her and sighed and thought to himself, ' Oh god, she is hot and much hotter than I imagined. I just can't wait to bury myself inside her.'

The predator made his move and the prey's green eyes lit up in fear and Shinogai ran towards Girija and cowered behind her.

The older lioness knew the younger lioness very well and went along with the flow and said, ' Inspector, I am going to count to ten in my head, and if you are still inside this room after I am finished, I am going to make a call and it will be to the Commissioner himself.'

The mere mention of Commissioner alerted Inspector Pigrajan but instead of retreating and exiting with grace, he instead chose to take the high ground and snarled, ' Commissionera, please call. I waiting and seeing waat he says.'

Having said that, he proceeded to curse Dr.Girija in filthy Tamil, ' o..a kezham Naayi, Saagama en uyir vaanguthu.'

Dr.Girija Padmanabhan heard the filthy words and curses and her anger knew no bounds and she yelled angrily at Pigrajan who yelled back and he stepped forward aggressively to intimidate Dr.Girija and raised his hand in a threatening manner and at that moment the door opened and into the room came the Tamil Nadu Cabinet Minister Kavita Durai Pandi Arumugam with Appu, Pappu and Meena.

Inspector Rajarajan had no clue as to her entry for he had not heard the door open and only realized it when both the eyes of the women in front of him looked behind him.

Turning to see who had dared to enter and disturb him, he froze as his sight and soul filled with an angrily advancing lioness. The third of the women, the youngest and maybe the boldest.

Girija looked at Shinogai who patted her shoulder and said, ' I am here and I will step in if necessary but until then let the cub play with the mouse.'

Little did they know that the cub was not a cub but a mother carrying its own cub and they had little clue as to who or what Kavita was now.

Vaanathai Pola 316

There will come a time in the not very distant future when I, and you will have to talk about Azhagan and his roots, The Ancients.

What started in the early 13th century with Azhagan and his blind mother Avini has made its way into the 21st century and into Minister Kavita Duraipandi Arumugam. What is it? It is the blood of The Ancients. The magic that began in the forests of Perumalvaram with the blind Avini becoming pregnant still burns like a forest fire and the fire blazed green in its ferocity in the eyes of Kavita.

Inspector Rajarajan turned to see who had entered the room and instantly recognized Kavita and time froze. In the time that it took his mind to process the information about a high-level cabinet minister in front of him and in that moment that it took him to raise his hand to salute her, Kavita's fires reached into his eyes and dived into his soul and she read him and the reason for his presence there.

In that split second that it took for Inspector Rajarajan's right hand to reach up to his right part of his forehead, Kavita's right hand blazed like light and smacked into Pigrajan's left cheek.

She had swung her hand so fast that even the eagle-eyed and well-trained Shinogai had missed it and all she and the others had heard was the smack on the cheek and the next moment Inspector Pigrajan collapsing to the ground.

Shinogai, Girija, Appu, Pappu, and Meena all felt a strange vibration charge through the room and they all felt the hair on their head slowly raise up and they felt goose pimples spring up all over their bodies.

They stood in shock and stood cemented to the ground and watched anxiously unable to do anything as Kavita growled and raising her foot placed it on Rajarajan's chest and roared, ' You filthy animal. How dare you enter and defile the sanctity of this place with your filthy thoughts?'

Kavita pressed down and Inspector Rajarajan knew that his time was over and all he could do was gasp and at the same time his mind tried to make sense of what was happening and how it was even possible.

The door opened and a voice spoke, ' Kavi, no. Stop it right now.'

Kavita slowly turned around and looked at the owner of the voice and said, ' Raman'.

Vaanathai Pola 317

The hospital staff had informed Dr.Subash Rao about the presence of Inspector Pigrajan in the neurology department and that he had also entered the room in which Brigadier Rajashekar was in. Something flashed in his instinct and Raman was one who always trusted his instincts and he did so now and asked Dr.Subash for directions to the neurology department and rushed out without saying anything else.

By the time he left Dr.Subash Rao's room, Kavita was already rising to the 6th floor in an elevator, and with finding the other two elevators occupied and on different floors, Raman sped up the stairs.

These seconds of time were the ones that separated Kavita's and Raman's entry into the room.

Hearing his voice say Kavi, she turned to see him for she knew his voice very well.

The moment she turned and the moment his eyes took in hers, Raman knew that something was different about Kavita. He knew her anger very well and the chaos and destruction that it could unleash and now seeing her with her foot on top of a police officer, Raman knew that he had to calm her before she drowned all of them in her tempest.

' Kavi. Kavita. Minister Kavita Durai Pandi Arumugam, take your foot off the man and step back, please.'

Raman saw and felt the green fire that blazed in her eyes and also felt the whole room humming and vibrating in a strange way.

' Ram, this bast..d does not deserve to be alive. He is a filthy man.'

' I agree but you cannot take the law into your hands, Kavita. Now, please step away from him and calm down.'

Kavita looked at him, ' Raman if you knew what his thoughts were and the reason why he is here then your reaction will be far more lethal than mine.'

Her words spoke in despair and anger were understood, recorded, and stowed away in two recorders. Two minds.

One was that of Shinogai and the other was that of Raman.

Shinogai thought to herself, ' what did she mean if you knew his thoughts? She only got here and no words were spoken. Then how did she..?

Raman thought to himself, ' Jeeva is a mind reader after being saved by some kid called Nikhil who somehow managed to do something to her, work some magic into her, and now I find Kavita too in the same way. In the same boat. WTF is going on? Are we being secretly invaded by some alien species who are taking control of human minds?'

If only Raman knew how close he had come to the truth.

Aliens. Magic. Mind reading. But in all that there is one power that is all-powerful and that is LOVE.

Raman had seen Kavita's anger before and that had been during Suja's death.

Jannal oram 171

SI malini's shift which should have finished by 8.00 am and then extended was now again extended by the call from the control room which had come just as she reached the station.

No sleep,no bath,no proper breakfast and work that had been back breaking for the past three months had taken its toll ond SI Malini who was normally a short tempered and foul mouthed cop and things hadn't gotten better.

She looked at the head constable ' Inspector enge' and the head constable replied ' commissioner's office madam,regarding the sudden spurt in chain snatching incidents in our area.'

SI Malini cursed ' O..A,he is f....d and i too am f....d.'

Still cursing,she left with the details of the suicide and where it had taken place and was now marching towards jeeva's house.

She stood outside the house with an irritated expression and loudly yelled ' Yaaruya shaktivel inge.'

Shaktivel who was standing with his hands folded,moved towards her on hearing his name and SI Malini looked at him ' You are shaktivel and the one who reported this suicide to the control room.'

Please let me pause here and also let me speak my mind about culture and to be more exact what Tamil culture is.

Being a tamilan does not mean or denote a person who can speak the language tamil for the word tamil does not and cannot be contained in a petty thing such as a sound or its modulation.Talking,speaking,making voices and sounds are just a basic sensory thing like seeing,hearing,touching and tasting but all this comes from a deeper sensory source and the main CPU and that is our soul.

For me,tamil means so much more than language and it is all to do with how we see and react to the world around us.Tamil means being Magnanimous and large hearted like the king Pari vazhalal who gave his chariot for a small plant to grow on.Tamil means,the great pandyan king who died in shock after realising his mistake of sentencing Kovalan to death.Tamil means protecting,helping,sacrificing like kodi kaatha kumaran.

Now,please tell me if any of this is present today and leave alone the very way of greeting another human being respectfully by using " Vaanga,ponga,eppadi irukeenga.'

Tamil culture is dying and it is being murdered by the tamilians themselves who sell their votes and conscience for money,biriyani,arrack,and gold and silver.

Tamil culture is being raped by the so called guardians of tamil and who have sold off all the lands around major cities and in which areas,even a small rainfall causes floods and wreaks havoc.

Sorry,but i felt the need to share my thoughts on how my state is doing and how it is being ruined.

Even though shaktivel heard SI malini disrespecting him by saying ' yaaruya shaktivel' he remained calm and told her that it was him and it was he who had called the police control room.

SI Malini ' what is your connection here between you and the girl who is supposed to have committed suicide?'

Shaktivel with barely concealed anger ' madam,what do you mean supposed?'

SI Malini laughing sarcastically ' supposed unna supposed thaan.we have to investiagte,examine the area and collect evidence and then a post mortem will be done and until them it is only a supposed suicide and everyone involved are suspects.'

From the crowd that had gathered there,a voice yelled ' Looks like th bitch still hasn't gotten her half bottle of rum yet.'

SI malini turned and roared ' Dei naaye,yaaruda athu.If you have the guts,come and stand before me.'

Pin drop silence and then the crowd moved and everyone's heart broke again for Jeeva had come and she ran towards the house and SI malini put a hand out ' stop,stop,yaaruma nee.'

Jeeva who was already in shock and in a daze ' what,this is my house.My sister is inside.My father and mother are inside.'

SI Malini ' irukattum.But now that we are here,nobody can go in without our permission and until the scene has been examined.'

Ignoring jeeva,she turned to the constable ' Hospital vandikku solli aacha.'

Both the constables nodded ' yes madam.Should be here any moment.'

She looked and then loudly and rudely ' Shaktivel,inge vaaya.'

The slap that was delivered to her left cheek would stay there for a few days and it was so loud that all the birds in the trees around them scattered and took off in fear thinking some gypsies were out with their pellet rifles and were shooting at them.

Sub Inspector Malini stood holding her left cheek and her eyes opened wide as she stared at the person who stood before her and not only she but everyone who were there instantly recognised the woman who had so boldly slapped her.

Kavita Durai Murugan,daughter of Finance minister Durai Murugan and brother of Vijay Bhaskar and the current head of the young women's wing of the ruling AIADMK party stood with her hand raised and growled ' consider today to be your lucky day and also since i have come here to pay my respects to this family who are very close to my family or else i will be dealing with your conduct in a bloody different manner.'

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/sensational-south/4919631/from-and-to-sathish-thread-4?pn=25

Vaanathai Pola 318

Raman said it again and this time in a slightly louder voice, ' Kavita, remove your foot from Inspector Rajarajan's chest this moment. This is not just your Raman speaking but an advocate who is well versed in the ways of lour laws. Remove your foot immediately.'

Kavita removed her foot and stood looking down at the Inspector who began to groan and moan in pain. A few moments later the door opened again and Constable Velu peeped in and seeing his superior lying on the ground, reacted by saying, ' Iyaa, sir' and entered the room.

The door opened again and Dr.Subash Rao and Jayaprakash entered and they stood with the door open and behind them stood dozens of nurses and doctors all staring inside and then began whispering to themselves.

Inspector Rajarajan raised his hand and pointed it at Kavita but Raman gently pushed it down and looked at him and said, ' Hello, I am Raman, an advocate and legal counsel for Global Hospitals. Please, don't say anything right now and go down and wait for me in the Md's office.'

He glanced at Jayaprakash who nodded and just like that the room emptied itself of the strangers and only they remained, those directly, knowingly connected along with the ones who were unknowingly but importantly connected.

Raman moved forward and stood facing Kavita. He looked at her angrily, something he had never done before and she slowly looked down and hung her face.

He gripped both her shoulders and gently shaking it, said, ' Enna aachu unakku. What's going on with you? When are you going to grow up and when are you going to learn to control your anger? Do you realize that you belong to a political party and that too the ruling party. Why do you keep forgetting that you are a cabinet minister and that your every word and actions are being watched and will go viral in a jiffy.'

Kavita looked at him sadly, ' I am sorry Raman but I could not help it. The man was pure evil and filthy and when I entered the room with the kids, I found him threatening Girijama and Shinogai.'

Raman looked at the women and immediately greeted them and introduced himself.

' Hi. I am Raman. Pleased to meet you.'

Dr.Girija Padmanabhan and Radhu's mother Shinogai said their hello's and introduce themselves and then Raman catching sight of the three kids, went down and crouching before them, looked at them with a smile, and said, ' Hello kids. How are you all doing?'

Appu, Pappu, and Meena looked at him, and then all three of them slowly bloomed their smiles like buds flowering under the morning sun and said hi in return.

Raman shook their tender hands and then slowly got to his feet and asked Kavita, ' What are you doing here, Kavi, in Global Hospitals?' and pointing to the man who lay in a coma, ' and who is this handsome gentleman?'

' Raman, that is Brigadier Rajashekar Varman. He is Dr.Girija's younger brother.'

Raman felt a jolt in his mind and slowly looked at Rajashekar, ' You mean, the Brigadier Rajashekar, the legend from the border wars. Fancy meeting the very man that I have been wanting to see about something important. God really does work in mysterious ways.'

Raman went near the comatose Rajashekar and looked into his face and said, ' Sir, I pray to God that you come back to us soon, fully recovered for we still need you.

Shinogai had been watching Raman, his actions, his words and his aura and she had keenly observed him with Kavita like any Mother-in-law would do and had come to one conclusion. Raman was not an ordinary soul and was a perfect gentleman who carried himself high and above the standards that a normal man adhered to.

Raman looked at Kavita, ' But, what are you doing here with him in the hospital and who are these kids?'

Kavita smiled and said, ' A long story my friend. A real long story.'

Both Girija and Shinogai joined them and Kavita looked at both of them and said, ' This is Raman. The same mysterious man who a few months ago saved Chennai from many a disaster and who single-handedly killed many terrorists and also took down two deadly Assassins who were behind the bomb attacks in the Government hospital and in the Police Commissioner's office.'

Taking his hand in hers, she looked at them and continued, ' But, more than that he is my family's mentor, protector, guardian, and the man who stood by us, with us like family and helped us through a great tragedy.'

Dr.Girija Padmanabhan's eyes filled with wonder, ' so, you are that man, that hero who remained in the darkness and whose face and name was never publicized greatly.'

She bent her head in a gentle and subtle bow and said, ' Thank you, child. If my brother had been conscious, he would have given you his blessings and his best wishes. But, I give them to you on both our behalf.'

Kavita smiled and said, ' Girima, he is also my senior from college and our history starts from way back then.'

Raman gently rapped her head, ' Enough of me, please. They are not interested in Ancient history.'

Shinogai's assumptions and instincts had been proved correct and now her mind and heart raced as the thought took shape and blazed in her soul. ' What if Raman and Radhu's paths cross each other?'

Then, her worst fears were confirmed for Kavita said what she had been dreading the moment Raman had entered the room.

Kavita looked at Girima, ' amma, Raman is not just an advocate but also now works in Delhi for the Intelligence wing.'

Shinogai's blood ran cold and her heart nearly stopped and she waited with bated breath to hear what Kavita was going to say.

' He works for RAW and also works for the Prime minister's office and reports to him directly.'

Convergence. Coming together. Lines, orbits, lives, paths, destinies converge like train tracks that all come together at the junctions and then the trains run on one track, the main track.

A war is coming. A storm is coming. Two will stand against the might of thousands. In the shadows prowl the real shadows, the guardians of earth and universe, The Ancients.

The time is coming for man and myth to walk and talk as one.

The boy, who went into the dark, and came back with light.

Avan, Aval, Adhu-18

You did not know it although you felt it. That emptiness, that void in you that can never be filled, not even with God and religion. Then you see that person, the other who is brimming with the light that matches your darkness and the cement that can fill your cracks and hollows.

How do you tell the person that you need their hand to lift you up from the abyss you are in?

You cannot but then sometimes they reach out and raise you up and set you blazing with their fire and care. They are for keeps and keepers. They are the guardians of your realm.

How do you thank them, those souls who bled into you to set your blood coursing through your veins?

You cannot. Not in words. Not in actions but in silence and in prayer and in your honor.

Gayatri smiled and turned away from Ravi for she did not want him to see her sadness, her pain, and loss and she mumbled, ' yes, love is the way. Love begets love and even if there is a whiff of control, manipulation through such a sacred bond then that is corruption. Then, that is not love, but lust, arrogance, power, and pride.'

She felt his strong hands reaching for her and gently pulling her to him and she went like a moth to a flame and into his arms and into his chest.

He held her like her father had, many years ago. He held her like her mother had when she had been very young. He held her like the other mother who had loved her as much as her parents had done and he held her close to him.

She cried her heart out and she poured her soul out and in the tears, she felt his embrace and realized that it was not the way her ex-husband had done. With brutal strength, sadistic and over-powering violence that scared her to this day.

Gayatri felt peace, calm, trust, and yes, love and she was complete.

She looked into his eyes and he looked into hers and she knew what the word " Home " meant for it was by his side.

Ravi asked her, ' are you okay now?'

' Yes. I am feeling better. So much better and lighter.'

Tears oozed like diamonds from her eyes and lingered there, trapped by her eyelashes, twinkling like stars in the night sky.

She laid her hand on her breast and whispered softly, ' There was something trapped inside here, right here in my heart. It is not there now.'

Ravi smiled, ' I am glad that you are better now.'

Ganesan who had struggled to keep his mouth and heart closed, lost the battle against his own senses and blurted angrily, ' Master sir, I am feeling jealous and angry.'

Gayatri smilingly asked him, ' Brahma, why?'

' Why, because he does not hug us or show the same love that he just showed you and he has not done that in a very long time?'

Ravi shook his head and told Gayatri, ' He is lying. In all the children that I have raised in this village, this nut is the one who spent the most time with me and continues to do so. Looks like all that he understood from me has been forgotten in a moment of jealousy.'

Gayatri's eyes opened in wonder and she asked him, ' Children, you raised them. But, why, Mr.Ravi?'

' It is just Ravi, please.'

' Okay. Then it is just Gayatri.'

The autorickshaw pulled into the compound of Ravi's house and getting out, all three stood looking at each other.

Ravi put out his hand and said, ' Hi Gayatri. I am Ravi.'

' Hi, Ravi. I am Gayatri. Thank you for everything.'

Avan, Aval, Adhu-19

The whiff of fresh and steaming idlis rushed into her nostrils as if they were some supernatural spirits that wanted to possess her soul and she turned towards the house and exclaimed, ' OMG! that smells heavenly.'

Using her words as a pretext, Brahma aka Ganesan gently slipped away and made his way towards the house leaving Ravi and Gayatri to themselves.

Ravi looked at the disappearing Ganesan and then slowly looked at her with a smile and shook his head.

' Why, Ravi? why the smile and why the shake of your head?'

' The young man left thinking that we adults needed our privacy to talk more freely and openly.'

Gayatri heard him and then she smiled and shook her head.

' Why are you doing what you just said, I did?'

' Oh no. I am sorry. I did that purely on my own and was not mimicking you.'

Ravi looked at her, ' I get that but I don't get why you did what you did right now, the smile and the head movement?'

Then realizing his gaffe, he hurriedly apologized, ' I am sorry. Really sorry for prying into your personal thoughts.'

' Ravi, there is no need to apologize, at least with me. Please, we are friends' and she looked at him knowingly, ' we are right? or am I just a stranger who is passing by?'

' Stranger. No, Gayatri, nobody is a stranger for everyone comes and goes with a reason and a purpose. Our lives are all connected and cannot be gauged by the time spent between those connections. There are so many we know and live with all our lives and yet we know so little about them and then again, there are some people we meet just once or twice and they leave thinking that we have known them all our lives and maybe in our previous lives too.'

She stared at him and then said, ' You speak so little and yet you speak it so beautifully and every word of yours makes so much sense.'

Ravi raised his left hand and pointed towards the house, ' I speak that which has been spoken a million times maybe even a billion times before me and that which has been written down through the centuries. I speak with the knowledge of all those whose lives and minds live with me and talk to me through their pages and creations, even now, long after they passed on.'

Gayatri stepped closer to him and gripped his hand and said, ' yet, it was your hug that cleared the storm and angst that were forming in my soul.'

Ravi shrugged his shoulders and smiled and just that simple movement and expression erased his years and to her eyes and through her eyes and with her soul, he appeared like a kid, a teenage kid.

' You are right Gayatri when you said that sometimes words don't do justice and all it takes is a hug which can speak a thousand words.'

' There you go again, saying the right thing at the right time, Ravi Kumar.'

Ravi began to laugh and holding both his hands in front of him as a shield and at the same time to protest, said, ' That sentence I think was derived from that ancient Chinese proverb by the philosopher Confucius whose original saying, ' A picture is worth a thousand words' was twisted to say a look is worth a thousand words and now here I am using it in the same sense.'

Gayatri thought to herself as she walked with him into the house. ' If a look, a picture, a hug can mean a thousand words then what will your kiss be worth and what thousand things will they take or sadly leave behind in me.'

Avan, Aval, Adhu-20

For, in the end, it is but the coming together of two souls. The bodies entwined with desire. Lips and loins stuck to each other with lust and passion. Then as in the beginning and now as in the end, it is about the soul and another soul that is calling you to come home and fill its loneliness. What will you do, damned one and what are you willing to do? Fill the loneliness of that with yours or fill your emptiness with the loneliness of the other.

Trust. Acceptance. Endurance and patience. They will last all the tests of times and lives and will in the end teach you that you have to give, have to lose to gain something. Will you weigh what you lost with what you gained and compare or will you accept that in love, there is no losing and gaining but the journey of complete surrender.

Ravi Kumar looked at Gayatri, ' come before the two of them do the two things that I fear the most.'

' what two and which two, Ravi?'

' First of all, I fear that if we don't go in for breakfast, Ganesan might go through all the Idlis by himself and will do so with my poor mother unable to say or do anything. From that comes the more important one that i fear and that is the wrath of my mother?'

' Wrath, your mum. Please, not that sweet woman, Ravi. I know you are never wrong but I am sorry for I cannot take your word in this matter.'

Ravi chuckled softly, ' Better believe it Gayatri. Her wrath will be of her own making and it will come from the fact of her having been unable to say no to Ganesan when he will keep asking her to fill his plate with idlis and fresh chutney and also I fear that he will ask for leftovers of the living kind from yesterday's lunch.'

Shrugging his shoulders, ' My mum too, knowing her well will heat up the leftover and this will only lead to further destruction of the entire breakfast and this will lead my mother to worry about my tummy and also yours and she will turn that in my direction.'

Gayatri puzzling over his cryptic observations from recollections followed him and entered the house and seeing them both Ravi's mother hurriedly waved them over and asked them to sit down and start eating.

Unlike the previous night, Gayatri sat next to Ravi stared at the green leaf that shimmered its wetness and then its face was marred by snow like idlies and they were joined by the greenest of green chutney and Gayatri dived into both of them.

She went through the six idlis like a raging forest fire goes through a dry and ready tree and slowing down, exclaimed, ' spicy, spicy but so damned tasty.'

Wiping the tears that had erupted in her eyes that were protesting on behalf of its colleague the tongue that had been assaulted by the spicy green chilly chutney, she gulped down a glass of water and looked at mother, son, and pauper prince and smirked, ' Whaat, what are you all staring at? Just because I am a city girl does not mean I cannot eat, gobble and demolish like any one of you. Don't expect mercy from me when it comes to food? As far as I am concerned, all is fair in food and love.'

Gobsmacked and open-mouthed, Ravi, his mother looked at her, and then Ganesan quietly pushed a bowl towards her that had been full moments ago but now stared at the world half empty.

' What is that? some kind of curry'

Ganesan nodded, ' curry yes, ma'am but not some kind of curry but one of its kind.'

Gayatri shook her head and said, ' Six idlis. I have never eaten six idlis in one sitting in my life or for the matter of fact in a whole week. I am done.'

Patting her tummy, ' there is no place for even, single idli.'

Ganesan with a challenging look, said, ' Try the curry with one idli. Forget it, just one piece and we will see what we will see.'

Gayatri hesitated and looked at Ravi and his mother and then snarled at Ganesan, ' young man, you dare challenge me.'

She reached into the big bowl of idlis and taking just one placed it on her leaf and then poured some curry onto it.

A few fleshy pieces fell out of the bowl and Gayatri hurriedly looked at Ravi who said, ' Freshwater fish that I and Ganesan caught when we went fishing yesterday morning in our village lake.'

Gayatri nodded, ' Okay. Smells good. I will give it a try ' and looking at Ganesan, ' One, okay, just one Idli.'

Gayatri dabbed a piece of idli in the fish curry and placed it in her mouth and then her eyes closed automatically and she moaned, ' Holy f..k' and hurriedly opening her eyes looked at Ravi with embarrassment, ' that, they, just came out, popped out without my knowledge and without my control.'

All three stared at her with a blank expression and Gayatri true to her nature, shook her head and said, ' I lose and I am not ashamed in saying that' and hurriedly placed six more idlis in her leaf and demolished all of them in a second. Like a magician waving his kerchief and making a rabbit or a bird disappear into thin air.

Avan, Aval, Adhu-21

The desert is a dry and a near life-less plain. Only, the hardiest of hardy creatures survive in those difficult places, which say very little or no rain at all. Some deserts in the world have not seen rain over many centuries. But, on those rare instances when rain falls down from the skies, like angels descending for a cause from heaven, the desert transforms itself.

The moment rain hits the barren earth, it sends tremors of messages to all that have been either dead, dormant, and many in deep hibernation to rise and make use of the manna from the skies.

Whether the water lasts a week or a month, all life have programmed themselves to use it and use it wisely. There are many insects that come alive, mate, and die after laying eggs in a day or two.

Imagine that, one day to live. What would you or I do if God gave us just a day or two to live our lives? Where would you, who would you see and who would you want to spend that precious time with?

Sadly, most human beings are sadly and largely ignorant about the fact that even 50, 60, or 70 years can whiz by like that and with nothing having been done by them for others or for that matter of face for themselves.

Gayatri's soul felt like that desert which was experiencing a sudden burst of rainfall after many a dry year and unable to handle it fully well, she did what any of us would do and which is fall silent and look away.

Gayatri did not realize that the change in her mood had been noticed by her new friends and she only realized it when she too felt the thundering silence that pervaded the lull in the laughter that had filled the house a few moments ago.

Realizing this, she hurriedly looked at Ravi, his mother, and Ganesan who were far quicker than her, and went back to pretending to stare at their plates.

Gayatri smiled and said, ' drop it for I know that you are all acting and that you caught me in a rather confusing moment.'

Ravi and his mother were older and wiser and so remained silent but Ganesan opened his mind and asked openly, ' Ma'am, why is that? You are here with us ma'am in sir's and amma's house and eating as if you are competing for a Guinness Idli record and yet all of a sudden you drifted away from us and into another time and place.'

Ravi looked at his mother who rolled her eyes in mild anger and frustration but both decided that it would be too obvious if they tried to signal Brahma to shut up. So, they went back to staring at their leaves while their ears remained keen to receive Gayatri's words and to understand her better.

Gayatri looked at Ganesan, ' child, our mind is a twisted and confusing place. It does not know how to live in the moment and always prefers to wander off on its own into the past to wallow in pain and self-pity and to constantly demand answers to questions from God who itself prefers to remain dark, silent, and in the shadows.'

Gayatri looked at Ravi thinking he would say something but he looked at her and went back to his leaf.

Raasathi Ammal nodded, ' Very true Gayatri. You are a very bold and strong person, so you are able to talk about what is in your mind. But, most people cannot do that for they feel they will become vulnerable to others and so are unable to talk it out and work out their burdens.'

Ravi looked at her with a gentle and protective expression in his eyes and said, ' Gayatri, with just a few brief words you have shown us that you trust us with your heart and that means that you feel safe and comfortable with us.'

He sighed sadly, ' it is only in happy moments that one can think of the past troubles and compare each of the states and find their own answers to their own questions.'

Gayatri nodded and said, ' I wonder what those poor souls, I mean the ones who are unable to speak out their sorrows do and how they manage their lives.'

' Some of them write for they are unable to speak it. Some of them drown themselves in other's sorrows to forget their own misfortunes. Yet, others carve out that part of their souls and go about their lives half alive and half dead.'

His words left all of them stunned and all their eyes filled up with pain and tears and Gayatri was about to say something when they heard the sounds of a large vehicle drive into the compound and all of them turned towards the entrance to see who it was and saw a Head constable standing there.

He looked at Ravi, ' Iyaa, our new DSP wants to see you immediately. Can you please come?'

Vaanathai Pola 319

Flashback from Chapter 180

V.K.Singh exchanged a knowing look with Raman and then asked both the Americans, ' what is so special about this Shinogai woman and why not just let her be and let her do her thing? Maybe, eventually, the horse will return to the stable by its own.'

William with fear writ large in his eyes, ' Mr.Singh, you don't understand something about Shinogai?'

' So, tell us what she is and why she is so important to you or to us?' Raman asked and William finally answered but after many excruciating moments that felt like years to both him and V.K.Singh.

' Shinogai is very important to us because not only is she a Spartan agent herself but is also the head of the Spartan program and its founder.'

Raman and V.k.Singh reacted with shock and paul finally got one of his own thought in and said, ' Well, young man, I am glad that we finally managed to shock you' and with a smile asked, ' didn't see that one coming did you, Raman.'

Raman sat still and answered, ' no, definitely didn't see that. But it is crystal clear now.'

V.k. Singh asked, ' what Ram? what is clear to you now?'

' Ayan Ahmadi aka Abbas Ali Khan disappears and then his mother Shinogai too vanishes and if you add the words " Father, help" to this, then you get their destination which is India and that is why these Americans have sought the counsel and help of us Indians.'

Dr.Otto clapped and said, ' very good, son. Find out who this mysterious Indian father is and I am sure we will find the mother and maybe if we are lucky, we might find the cub is still alive and with his parents.'

Vaanathai Pola 319

The head of the Spartan Program and the mother of Radhu aka Radha Krishnan aka Ayan Ahmadi aka Adam Connors and who was known and dreaded by all the world's leading spy agencies as the dreaded terrorist Abbas Ali Khan stood quietly and covertly watching every move that Raman made and heard and memorized every word he spoke.

She was well versed in the art of reading a human and was a grandmaster in the field of Psychology and armed with that and all the years of experience in the field of intelligence and counter-intelligence, Shinogai came to a conclusion.

' Raman was not an ordinary man. He was a deadly foe and a killer who could kill with impunity and at the blink of an eye and not lose any sleep about those who had died at his hands.'

Shinogai slowly looked away as her brain ticked furiously as it worked out all the scenarios in which she and her son might cross paths and swords with Raman.

A mother knows. Shinogai knew and felt it in her soul that she would be no match for Raman in case she tried to take him on. She knew men like this, for she had personally sent them into the dangerous world of international spy games and she knew what lethal weapons they were.

She slowly turned to covertly watch Raman but froze for his eyes were already on her. Green met black. Spy met Spy and look met look and minds were made up.

Across the room, Shinogai read the question that flashed briefly in his eyes, ' Who are you, lady, and why are my senses on full alert seeing you?'

Then, what she had feared might happen, and that which she had prayed should not happen, happened.

Kavita looked at Raman, ' Ram, what are you doing here and how did you know I was here in this room on this floor?'

' I was in the Managing director Dr.Subash Rao's room when the word reached us about Inspector Rajarajan entering Brigadier sir's room and that was all I could take anymore and was about to come here and put an end to it and then I heard about your arrival and that you were heading to the same room.'

He looked at Kavita with a knowing smile, ' Girl, I know you very well and I know what that legendary temper of yours can do. So, I immediately rushed over here and thank God that I arrived before the proverbial S..t hit the fan.'

Kavita shrugged and said casually, ' Honestly, it would not have mattered even if I had been arrested for the man was that bad and creepy.'

Then she looked at Raman curiously, ' What brings you to Global hospitals?'

Raman's head was swirling with several questions but he pushed them aside and said, ' What else but as legal counsel? The hospital's advocate team is in Delhi for a major case in which the Supreme court is giving out its final judgment. So, they called up my old boss, Mr.Krishnaswamy who in turn called me as he always does when it comes to a certain type of cases. '

He looked at her, ' Kavita, you know me well and so here I am trying to talk and manage this Fat pig of an Inspector and my bad luck, I have to meet him while he is on the ground and you with your foot on top of his chest.'

Kavita was about to ask the next question but was beaten to it by the worried Girija Padmanabhan who sadly was not in the same league as Shinogai or Raman and so it began.

Girija asked Raman, ' what business does this hospital have with that rude police officer, and why have you, such an obviously high profile advocate, been requested by the hospital to handle the same?'

Raman was a good lawyer and an even better mind-reader and a keen observer of a person and what they projected with their bodies and expressions. Decades of martial arts training had taught him to watch out for subtle cues in people like facial tics, tonal inflections and also the movement of the hands and shoulders. This gave him a general picture of a person and a clue to how their mind worked and was working.

Raman's mind flashed and screamed, ' Alert, Alert' and he knew immediately that something was wrong, very wrong.

Then in the corner of his eye, he saw Shinogai's right foot kick Girija's left foot and knew that a warning was being given and his mind was made up.

A saying flashed in his head " Beat the Grass to Startle the Snake."

Raman looked at Kavita and then at both Girija and the tall quiet lady with sea-green eyes and said, ' Murder business, Dr.Girija Padmanabhan and this Inspector who just left us is the one who is the one who is investigating the case.'

He watched all the three women and their reactions.

The games of men and mice. Let the games begin.