From & To Sathish #6 - Page 22

https://youtu.be/MAxqcJXQIH8?si=KW-07KZernxO9eJm

Avan, Aval Adhu 491 Flashback 4

Two or more voices can sing a duet or a chorus but when it comes to matters of the heart, soul and love, three or more become a crowd which usually spells disaster. This then is the story of Avan, Aval and Adhu and the title now unfolds its mortal coils in the remainder of the story.

Ravi pointed to the small Pond near the ancient ruins of the Shiva temple and told Madhu to clean herself and her clothes while he kept a lookout for anyone who might happen to pass by.

' Madhu, it is getting late and people will start worrying about us and then start wondering and speculating as to what is keeping us both away from the school function. So, clean up as fast as you can and let's get going before my mom or others from the village come in search of us.'

' Jaanu ' Madhu whispered, and, pointing to her back, ' I cannot reach there, so if you can splash some water and do the needful...' and looked at him with her eyes challenging him and Ravi left with no choice, groaned loudly and got into the water and began to quickly throw palms full of water on her back and her skirt that hid her beautiful half moon bums and did his best to wash away the mud and dirt that were sticking to her clothes.

Then stepping back he observed in a futile voice, ' Madhu, I am sorry but there is only so much water can do to remove all this dirt on your skirt. Only soap will do the trick but where do we go for soap or detergent now'.

Madhu turning around quickly began to remove her shirt and Ravi panicking yelled, ' Hold on, hold on now. What are you doing?'

' I am going to remove my shirt and skirt and try to rinse them properly and see if I can do a better job than what you are doing ' and, winking her eye, she slowly and provocatively began unbuttoning her shirt and all Ravi could do was stare at her with drugged eyes and a rapidly beating heart and a swollen cock and both threatened to explode if they found no release in the next few minutes.

'You will remove your shirt and then your skirt and then you will spread your legs like a whore that you are ' a loud voice exploded in rage and pain and both of them turned and saw Meenakshi coming towards them like a piece of the bright moon that had been cast down to walk the earth.

The full moon escaped the clouds up in the skies and shone down through the clouds of mist that lay below on land which suddenly began to dissipate as if commanded by fate and now illuminated all three of them with its borrowed sunlight.

' Meena ' Ravi said and then yelled loudly, ' Meenakshi, shame on you for spying on us and shame on you for those sick words that you just spoke. Take back your filthy words and apologize to Madhu immediately.'

Madhu smiled and said, ' Jaanu, she says these horrible words because she knows in her heart that is exactly what she is. A whore and maybe worse than a whore for a woman in that line of work sells only her body but not her soul.'

Striding boldly through the water, Madhu walked defiantly towards Meenakshi and stood before her, and throwing her a challenging look.

' I am with my man, my lover and the one who I am going to marry someday. But, who are you and what are you doing here and that too watching a couple going about what they were meant to do and created to do? Why, you could not find yourself a man to show your breasts and spread your legs for?'

' Madhu, please stop ' Ravi screamed loudly and turning to Meenakshi, ' Leave right now. If you have any shame or honour left in your body, you will walk away right now.'

Meenakshi's eyes filled with tears of pain,anger and disappointment and she yelled in a sad and pathetic voice, ' What do you see in this short, fat bitch that you don't see in me? ' and saying that she quickly removed the half saree that she was wearing and pointing to herself, ' I am better looking, slim, taller, and richer than this Bengali bitch ' and before Ravi could react Meenakshi quickly stepped out of her long skirt and stood nearly naked and told Ravi, ' If you want to f..k then f..k me. If you are horny then come, I am ready and willing and I will not play these silly mind games that this bloody whore is playing with you.'

Pointing to Madhu, ' Look at her small tits and look at mine. They are all for you, Ravi ' and again before Ravi could move, Meenakshi unbuttoned her blouse and quickly unbuttoned her bra and wriggled out of them and stood in all her beauty and in all her glory. A hooded cobra too is beautiful and mesmerizing to watch but not so when it sinks its fangs and unleashes its poison into your body.

Ravi screamed and roared in anger and bending down picked up the half saree and tried to wrap it over Meenakshi who seemed to have other ideas for she suddenly grabbed him and hugged him and began to kiss him and the soft muddy banks of the pond gave way and both slipped and fell to the ground with Ravi on top of Meenakshi who now threw both her legs around his hips and refused to let go.

This was how Sundara Lingam found his sister, buried beneath his cousin brother Ravi and so fate winked at destiny and both winked at the God of death and holding arms all came down together to watch, wait, and take the life that they had come for.

Dying my friends is instantaneous. But, living and dying at the same time is a battle and a painful one.

Death is an end. Full stop. But, broken lives of broken people is a sort of a private hell on earth.

https://youtu.be/8BGfAeno-eI?si=p4Ysvvyu--dDGJg_

Junction a place where roads, railway lines, etc. meet and also where lives, their paths and storylines collide and change forever.

My first memory of travelling on a train is from that time when I left Bangalore and journeyed to Madras. I close my physical eyes and I access my brain's RAM and instant memory for that video and relive that experience again and again and whenever I need to.

RAM is a temporary memory bank where your computer stores data it needs to retrieve quickly. RAM keeps data easily accessible so your processor can quickly find it without having to go into long-term storage to complete immediate processing tasks.

The human brain too has something similar to the RAM memory of a Computer called Short term memory that lasts about 20-30 seconds The brain keeps this information in an available state for easy access, but only does so for about a minute and a half. Most people hold memory for numbers around 7 seconds and memory for letters around 9 seconds.

My weird brain keeps certain memories permanently etched in my short-term access memory and at the same time has it permanently stored in the long-term memory. Memories, good and bad. Why? Good ones to enjoy when I am creating bad memories in the current and present time and bad memories to remind me that bad things don't last forever and that good times are just around the corner. Night falls but light once again rises to shine and warm cold bones and cold hearts.

I remember sitting near the window and looking at other trains parked on either side of the train I was in and wondered if we were all travelling together side by side and in the same direction. Then I felt movement and panicking, looked hurriedly at the faces in the windows as they began to move away from me and then realized that I was stationary and then my train moved while other trains remained stationary in the station.

We come on a journey and leave to go on another journey. People come into our lives. Some stay. Some move on while others come and go.

I stared out of the window with a heavy heart as the Bangalore majestic railway station receded behind me. I was five years old and my first time on a train. So, I forgot to say bye to my departed brother and departed parents as I myself departed from the place of my genesis.

I slowly turned around and looking ahead, saw my train with wonder as it stretched away into the distance and what then I felt was eternity

I looked down at the ground and seeing no other tracks like the ones that I had seen while in the station, ran to the other side of the compartment and to my disappointment found no tracks.

Sometimes trains run alone on their own tracks and with no stations in sight. Our own lives are like that. So, hang in there and wait for the next station.

Hearing loud screams and howling noises, I stuck myself to the bars akin to what a Praying Mantis would do and asked aloud " What is going on?" and I was told that our train had arrived at an important junction called Jolarpettai.

So, you see my friends, like little Satish finding himself stopping at a junction on his first train trip, we too have now come to our first Junction in our story of Avan, Aval, Adhu.

Anger is a killing thing: it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before. It takes something from him. Louis L'Armour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tn70FD027E

Avan, Aval Adhu 492 Flashback 5

Actions are the seeds of fate. Deeds grow into destiny.

There have been countless times when I have looked up at the heavens and whispered my questions ' Why, God? Why this life, in this family?'

There have been many times when I have sat alone and wondered about a different place of birth, a different family and a different everything. What if?

Sadly, life is full of those What if moments. I have stood on many important junctions in my life and have answered to myself what God failed to answer. Why not?'

Amidst, all these what ifs and why not's is our life that sometimes makes us feel like we are on a knife's edge and sadly sometimes, we feel the knife buried deep inside us.

' No, No, Ravi, I will not. I will not let you go. Never ' Meenakshi screamed and all her elder brother Sundara Lingam heard were the words that he wanted to hear and they were, ' No, No, Ravi. Never ' and poor man, he did exactly what any brother would have done or reacted when faced with that kind of situation.

He ran screaming in anger towards Ravi and at the same time Madhu too ran towards him to help him escape Meenakshi's clutches and both collided against each other.

Sundara lingam looked at her and yelled, ' Chee, you call yourself a woman. I had so much respect for you and your family and here you are standing and watching this horror and doing nothing to help my sister'.

Madhurima yelled back, ' Your psycho sister is the one who is attacking Ravi not the other way around. '

Sundara Lingam spat his anger using choicy expletives and then tried to separate Meenakshi from Ravi and at the same time Ravi who had decided that he had seen enough and experienced enough, used all his strength and lifted Meenakshi like a person would lift a barbell full of weights while doing the bench press exercise.

With one mighty heave, he threw Meenakshi away from her and tried to get up from the ground but was stopped as the kick from Sundara Lingam slammed into his chest and slammed him down to the ground. The next moment Sundara Lingam jumped on Ravi and sitting on top of his chest, grabbed his throat and began to choke him to death.

Ravi who had already exerted himself with Meenakshi, and feeling his energy slowly drain away, grabbed Sundara Lingam's hands and tried to pull and the same time push them away from his neck.

Madhu saw Ravi's face turning blue and realised immediately that if she did not act now then it would be too late for Ravi, screamed and launched herself at Sundara Lingam. In this confusion and flurry of action, her hands found a small dry branch and picking it up, she hit Sundara Lingam with it and hit him on his head.

The branch was a dead one and dried one sans life's juices. But, even in death, it still carried some weight and delivered a wicked blow to Sundara Lingam's head, who toppled sideways, cursing loudly.

Madhurima calling upon all her strength dragged Ravi from under him and screamed, ' Kali ma ki jai ' lifted him up to his feet and yelled, ' Ravi, we need to move now before things get worse. Move your feet, jaanu. Move'.

The last thing Madhu saw as she and Ravi slowly walked away was Sundara Lingam lying on the ground holding his head and blood stains on his pristine white shirt.

Neither she nor Ravi saw what happened next. But, the forest and its guardians witnessed everything.

Meenakshi who had been roughly heaved away by Ravi now got to her feet and slowly walked and stood over her injured brother Sundara Lingam with her breasts hanging free and her naked thighs free of clothing.

She stood staring down at her brother and then asked him, ' Who asked you to come here and who asked you to come and rescue me? I did not. I was in perfect control of the situation and then you had to barge in barking like a f..king rabid dog. If that was not bad enough, you bas.ard had the guts to attack my Ravi. My life, my lover and if that was not enough, you tried to murder him. Who the f..k gave you the balls and the authority to do that? Nobody touches my man. Ravi is mine. He can rape me, kill me, f..k me to death. That is between me and my man. Who the f.k are you to say anything?'

In the night and under the full moon, realization dawned like a new sun inside Sundara Lingam's head and he knew now who was in the right and who was in the wrong.

He screamed, ' You mad bitch. You horny, sl.t. You deserve hell and much worse than that ' and that was the last thing he ever said to Meenakshi who had picked up a large rock slammed it into his face and murdered him and slammed the rock again and again and ended the life of her brother and the lives of everyone else around her, including hers.

Dharmalinga Thevar who was nearing the place where all this was happening, heard his son yell angrily, ' You mad bitch. You, horny, sl.t. You deserve hell and much worse than that' and wondering what was going on began to run towards his son.

He came just in time to see his nearly naked daughter slam a huge rock into his son's face and yell, ' Bas.ard. You dare attack your own sister'.

He stood frozen and watched his daughter cover herself and walk away into the darkness.

Then with his mind and heart frozen in inaction, he stumbled towards Sundara Lingam and slowly knelt down by his side and began to cry his heart out.

Sundara Lingam's right eye flickered a couple of times and opened halfway and was unable to open the other eye for it was smashed and ruined and then with great difficulty whispered through the corner of his left mouth, ' Appa, sorry. I, I ' and died.

https://youtu.be/4l0wG45QFdQ?si=UnjTWOmbDyATm__J

Idli Boy

A long time ago, somewhere between four and five years of age, I went about my usual morning routine, which was to go and sit by the door that separated our large compound kind of courtyard from the outside world. The compound spanned two streets of the then-gully world called Dodda Mavalli.

The whole compound was made up of seven small houses and one slightly large house that housed my family. A small privilege for my late dad to be proud of for he was the son of the lady who owned the place. My late grandmother.

Every morning, I got up earlier than everyone else and stepping out of my door, turned left towards the " TAP" and I guess I invariably always turned left for the iron gate on the right was a bit too far for my tiny sleepy legs. If the thirty or more feet distance was not enough, that side of the gully was full of nasty people and weird people.

The left side of our compound was just ten feet away from our house door and allowed instant access to live-action shows at the point and place called " TAP " for that is where all of us went for our water needs.

The tap was where all women from all walks of life and beliefs gathered to fill their buckets and that meant gossip and at the same time, rowdy talk and yes, fights.

The Tap worked between 4.00 a.m. and 6.00 a.m. and again in the late afternoon from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m.

Then there were days when the tap worked fine but nothing came out of it but air. Maybe if I had placed my adhigaprasangi ear under the tap, I might have just heard and deciphered the air message that the local waterworks Ars.holes had sent. What? ( A big F..k you). But that is me and my imagination.

I used to sit by the door and watch all the women, married women and some of them were young. Too young to have been married and too young to have given birth to a child or in some cases, children and in some tragic cases, to drunkards. I remember thinking of my own dead mother as I saw her feeding several mouths at the same time and of varying ages. All her own and my younger brothers.

A regular hatchery, my mother was but who knows if she had been given a choice or if she had the strength to say no and to protest and fight off my late drunk father.

I used to see a common expression in most of their faces and many years later, I realized what that expression meant for I saw it myself but felt it way before I saw it. The expression was a single note, a single Raaga and a single facial mudra. But, that one expression, one note had several songs in it and several expressions hidden inside it.

Disappointment, betrayal, helplessness, pain, burdens, a bleak future and a useless husband.

All this sometimes flared and exploded when women went to war with buckets and broomsticks. I wish I had a camera phone then for I would have a billion followers on most social platforms. Hold on, please and drop that chappal. I am just kidding. You know me. I would never do something like that.

Nearly half an hour or more would have passed and then my mother would scream my name and I would get up from my vantage front seat of live-action tap shows and go to my late mother.

The usual small steel bowl that I used every other day would be handed out with a ten paisa coin rattling around and she would command, ' Go eat something'.

Well the eat meant, " Padmamma " our next-door idli amma who was also a saint and a genius. More on that someday in the future.

Uncombed brown hair, unbrushed teeth and almost always in a state of undress I used to poke my head into our neighbourhood idle lady's house and she would as always smile a huge 1000-watt smile and greet me, ' Sati, ra ra ' and I would go and sit next to her and watch as she slowly undressed the white fair idli ladies from their steaming napkins and place all of them in one huge party idli bowl. In total fascination, I used to watch her pour dough into the idli platters and place them in the cooker. A sort of brass cooker.

I used to cough and blink my tears away as the smoke from the wooden pyre under the brass bowl suddenly turned towards us and Padmamma used to wipe my eyes with the edge of her saree and gently chide me and say, ' Sati po ra. Go, I am used to this smoke. But your eyes will not take it ' and then place three idlis into the bowl after having taken the 10 paisa coin and would then proceed to top it with a heavenly chutney that I have yet to taste anywhere else. I mean it.

There were times when she used to place a few extra idlis in the bowl and place my tiny hands and whisper, ' Cover it or they will spill out. Give them to your mother. Poor thing, she has just delivered and she needs to eat well.'

I did not know then but I did know, and learned more much later in my life.

It was not idlis that padmamma fed me but idlis and milk from the eternal soul of kindness and Godliness.

The smoke from her idli furnace is still burning bright in the furnace of my soul.

I still sit by that gully compound door and still watch all those women with that expression and ponder on it.

I regularly ask my wife, ' Are you happy, and content? Is there anything I can do to make your life better?'

Early morning when I step out of my house, I am greeted by cats of all sizes and even though I find myself in a bad mood ( always in a bad and grouchy mood) I stop and hear Padmamma's voice, " Sati, ra ra " and I mellow instantly and greet all of them with the same kindness that my idli amma served me and fed me all those decades ago.'

Who am I? I am idli boy. Howizeeet?

https://youtu.be/JhoynJJ34CM?si=Qz9Z2d6WndyE5aK4

https://youtu.be/taqyVGATl4Q?si=rFD_Hsgr3-F2pLHh