In Pursuit of God

This was submitted for a contest in my company's internal blog for the topic 'Finding God'
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Search begins at home (derived from charity begins at home ) Sticking to that tradition, biting a piece of dairy milk (Shubh Aarambh you see ),I asked my mom when she was busy cooking, “Amma… What’s your take about God? Do you know where to find Him?” My mom didn’t even give a second thought “Why do you want to know? To trouble Him too? Atleast let Him be in peace! Do you think you can distract me with your so called intellectual questions? Your cupboard is still as messy as your hair *simultaneously pushes my curls from falling on my face* , bed is not done…I asked you to dust all the windows…Am sure you didn’t even attempt to take that dusting cloth yet! What have you done to your T shirt…*I attempted replying* Don’t use that tone and look with me… How many times to tell you not to wipe your mouth with it” Clearly knowing that I will be ripped to pieces before I could even draft my final round post, I slowly slipped out! *scribbled the first attempt in my notepad* I dropped the idea of asking my dad as he might say “This is why you should watch news instead of watching unwanted programmes… Had you kept yourself updated, you wouldn’t be looking out for answers”.Sigh!

I visited Kalakshetra to pick up my niece from her music classes. My sister stopped for a quick chat with her music teacher . I heard her tell, “Music is divine…It gets you closer to God” *point noted* I heard another one reframe that sentence “Dance or music *must be a dance teacher* Any art forms for that matter gets you closer to God… It helps you find inner peace”I was reminded of Kungu Fu Panda and made note of it too!

One fine day, my friend and me visited a restaurant after a tedious round of shopping We were super hungry.We placed the order and waited patiently for it to arrive. Every single time the door opened, my friend sincerely asked ‘Is this the waiter who took our order…check’.Before I could see and make a judgement, he would turn in a different direction to go to the next table. When hunger took over , the saviour arrived to protect the world from 2 to-be cannibals. We made very less efforts to hide our zero patience level at the sight of food. TV was in sync with our mindvoice and played the scene from Thenali where Kamal tells ‘Neengal verum machhan illai…Deiva Macchan’ as he laid out the dishes on our table. As soon as my friend took the first bite, she remarked ‘Tastes Divine!’ closing her eyes to savour the moment. *searched notepad frantically in spite of the hunger and made a note* On the way back home, there was an elderly couple distributing food packets to few people who were dressed in rags. I found the mom of two little ones in that crowd to fold her palms as a token of her gratitude and added that the couple was sent by God to help them *point noted*

I decided that it was high time that I reach out for some expert advice. I asked my paati (grandma). She was thrilled and called out with all the possible energy that her fragile body could produce ‘Kozhandhai evlo azhaga kekardhu paaru… Evlo periya vishayatha patthi kekara…Kannu pattra pordhu…Dhrishti sutthi podanam’ (She was just expressing how proud she was to hear such a question from me #feelingshy )After the initial hungama and hush-hush about it’s the right time to take the wedding topic (I don’t know how every topic leads to this point ) she started with her gyaan about the theory of God being omnipresent. At one point, the information was getting over my head and I stopped scribbling on my notepad. My grandma has the habit of calling out God names while getting up or sitting down. That day, due to the preceding conversation that we had, she added ‘Iyyapa…nee enga pa iruka’ only to hear the plumber respond ‘Paati ma… inga dhan iruken… tap maathitu irukken.’ God is truly omnipresent…Whatte quick response!

When I sat down to analyse the points I received, I was able to summarize as below
Points got at home,

Doing our duty with dedication

Cleanliness
At Kalakshetra,

Happiness

Inner peace
At restaurant,

Giving something at the time of need

Helping at the right time without any second thoughts
As I write these last few lines, I am reminded of a brilliant scene from Anbe Sivam where Madhavan enters a first aid camp and sees a boy with his (rare) blood group bleeding…The kid dies in spite of the blood transfusion…Maddy is heart broken and has a superb conversation with Kamal.
Excerpts from it
Madhavan: “Oh.. Yaar antha kadavul..” (Kamal points his finger towards Madhavan).
Kamal: Munna pinna theriyatha oruthanuku kanneer vidariaye athan kadavul
Madhavan: Enna thideernu indha panivu..
Kamal: Ean na naanum Kadavul.
Link to the full scene with subtitles: https://youtu.be/Pg3spKxKQ1c
Anything/anyone that brings happiness with his/her actions is related to divinity or God sent. G(o)od in each person is that ‘secret ingredient’ to make this world a better place to live in.

Dream On!

“Dream, Dream Dream! Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result in action”

His voice reverberated as I read the news on screen that this voice is now a part of history! Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, a man who captured the hearts of millions of students with his charisma and simplicity! He redefined leadership and brought in a new dimension to it. Before 2002, all I knew about president of India was just the President’s name that too cos it will be asked in my social science paper. When he was sworn in as 11th President of India in 2002, in the very first class , my history teacher spoke about Dr Kalam to us. She was very excited and the excitement passed on to us as she shared about his life. From that day onwards, our classes never used to end without a slightest mention about him. My history teacher made it a habit to spend the last 10 minutes of her class to talk about the great man.  One day she told us that her friend’s daughter wrote to him and she got a personalised message from the president himself. She added that he can never ignore students however busy he might be as he is a teacher first…. That made each one of us to lit up with joy. We wanted to write to him. I had written a letter about how I was inspired by him and my love for astronomy. I didn’t know whether it would reach him safely if I just address it to ‘President,  Rashtrapathi bhavan’. So I shelved it for the evening and decided to ask my history ma’am the next day.  The next morning, all of a sudden,  we were asked to write a composition about anything of our choice… Being the one with astronomy as dream,  I chose about my role model,  Kalpana Chawla.  I had finished the essay with ‘She dreamt to reach the stars and now has reached far and beyond. She made me realise stars are not far. So here I am with my dreams ready to reach the stars!’  I remember this verbatim as I had to repeat it to many after this  My essay was selected as one among the best few that would reach our Dr.  Kalam representing my school. My joy knew no bounds. Days passed,  months passed… Still no reply.  Everyday I used to ask about it to anyone who can give an answer. All in vain.  Suddenly on a Thursday morning,  principal announced that it was an honour that president recognised and replied to the copy of book sent. She also said it will be out for display in notice board for the benefit of all.  Somehow after finding my way through the crowd,  I managed to read the page long reply from him.  He had mentioned about every essay and had mentioned that he was proud to know that India’s torch bearers are brilliant minds with passion to reach the top.  Regarding my essay,  he had specifically mentioned my last line and said ‘Well written. Dream on young lady! Your success is within your reach.’ It was my happiest moment. From then on, I started enjoying the art of writing. I would even say, if not for that day I wouldn’t have started writing seriously.  The little am able to write today is definitely due to the dose of inspiring words from him.

This is the very small tribute that I can pay to the man who has inspired millions of people like me.

Though he is not around us,  his words,  his deeds and vision will always stay alive in the years to come! He is truly the finest and irreplaceable !

We salute you sir!

55 Fiction : Priceless!

He was lost! Days got longer and nights no better! All he wanted was love and care but nobody around had any time to spare! He grew restless with every passing day. Finally the wait was over! She arrived to take him home, promising a better tomorrow!

 “Quickr: 2 month old puppy found roadside – SOLD”

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PS: Inspired by a real incident. My friend had got a puppy home for free seeing the ad posted by an onlooker in quickr :)

Due to Obama's visit

Obama’s visit made me feel like the school inspection that happens…. Entire school would be freshly painted, playground would get a new look , 100s of Dos and Don’ts would  be circulated time and again, we would be asked to come in neatly ironed uniforms…once the inspection is over, my principal would be beaming from ear to ear with pride which would drive home the point that inspector was impressed! Similarly, newly laid roads, tourist venues that were being neglected for years had sprung back to life with Obama’s visit… like in mythologies where a stone/tree/anything else waits for the blessed soul to curb the curse on it  For the past few days whatever happened in the country had the same reason ‘for Obama’s visit’… Not only in Delhi but also in Chennai (Don’t ask me why  )! Security was high…reason: Due to Obama’s visit, people were guided in proper queues while boarding train/bus…reason: Due to Obama’s visit, traffic was less or even zero…reason: Due to Obama’s visit (yeah…people were busy watching the emotional scene and wiping tears of joy when Modi Bhai was hugging Barack Bro) 

Mass Layoffs at TCS was reported…Reason: Definitely not due to Obama’s visit! There can be no connection between Obama’s visit and layoffs except that I read about both on the first page of newspaper  It was really disheartening to read about so many people losing the job that was a part of their life for so long…Not that I don’t know the seriousness of the issue but just that I am not able to ignore the lighter side! The news (both Obama’s visit and layoffs…now am talking about the latter) created waves across the nation and people who were not in any way part of the IT sector were the ones most affected 

I had heard my aunt  complaining about a maid who was irregular to work and her nonchalant attitude was definitely putting her in the “under performer” category in the performance meeting that was going on. Final verdict was clear that the maid had to look out for another job from the following month. After few days , my aunt calls up saying she retained her… She explained that she had decided it after reading about layoffs fiasco. Quoting from the conversation, “I can’t fire her from work calling her an under performer as she has been with me for 2 years now..I saw her work for a week and then only made her permanent…May be her disinterest at work could be due to my negligance…I have increased her pay this month…. Let’s see.” *mindvoice* Wow…Whatte learning! May be I should ask her about counselling the people incharge of layoffs.

One worried relative called me up (who doesn’t call otherwise)
She: “Are you working?”
Me: No no..Am not…Am watching TV.
She:..OMG! Am feeling so bad… You don’t be depressed!
Me: Aunty?????? *mindvoice* Watching TV=Being depressed?This aunty reads too much of medical columns and reads too much into my answer.
She: Ya…Everything happens for a reason…You will get something better…But don’t lose hope! Keep yourself engaged with some activity till you go to work.
Me: Errr…Aunty…Ocassionally watching TV doesn’t mean am depressed :S Am fine!
She: You said you are not working right? I saw it in news…
Me: I just informed my TL… Am not well so took a day off  what are you talking about?
She: Ohhhh…I thought you are one among the ones who got terminated.Your company has sacked many people right?
Me: Aunty…Am not working there and my job is absoultely safe as of now (sounding definitely pissed off) *mindvoice* Ufff…these abbreviations are causing Great Confusion in the Nation.
She: Guess…Somebody is at the door…Will call you back (and the back may be when next layoff news goes around  )

A shop vendor was scolding his employee as he had received complaints from customers… I happened to be at that shop for buying groceries. The owner went on to tell that boy , “Thank your stars for working here… Do you know such kind of complaints are never excused in those big big Computer companies… They will throw you out of the job instantly… You should be happy that you are working for a person who is spending all his energy in making you to realise your mistake rather than asking you to go out”. I was stunned to hear that working in grocery shop is considered to be a better option  I was about to argue but at second thoughts dismissed it as I didn’t want to intervene  the employer-employee one-to-one discussion  *IT traits*

So what made me to write a post today…Definitely…Heard you loud and clear… Post today Reason: Due to Obama’s visit  (Reacharge shop anna had closed his shop due to Obama’s visit yesterday…No net pack for chatting which made me draft this post ,thereby making use of the travel time  )

Obama-ji Ki Jai Ho!

Going Mobile

All this happened within a span of 75 minutes… From 5.30 pm to 6.45 pm!

At 5.30 pm, as usual my friends and me set out for our tea break to a pantry in another floor. I had a wallet case for my mobile which made it pretty heavy to hold. Wooed by the smell of coffee, I gave my mobile to my friend who preferred to sit on the window sill. Being a goody goody girl, I told him to keep it down and to not hold it as its pretty heavy  After the few minutes of laughter session , we returned to our seats by around 5.50 pm or so.

At around 6.15 pm, my ocs blinked with an indication of a new message. I found somebody new had pinged a ‘hi’… I pinged a hi and was about to say ‘thanks’ as I expected that new somebody to ping about my blog post (No bad words please  )…Apart from that nobody pings me all of a sudden… so I sent that ‘thanks’ and then read what he typed :monkeyclosedeyes: It was a message ‘You left your phone at the pantry… We were waiting for you there for 10 minutes but you didn’t turn up…So I have got it along with me… Please collect it’

Only then  I searched frantically for my mobile around … I scolded my friend (I needed somebody to vent out at that moment) who had put my mobile in charge in his seat in the early afternoon session… I was in an illusion that it is still there and the detail that he had returned it to me had completely evaporated out of my mind  I looked up at my friends who were with me at the tea break and with a stern look asked ‘How could you guys forget my mobile just like that…You guys are so irresponsible’   Before I could even finish my sentence they shouted ‘Oh No’ in chorus as if somebody had switched on the bulb above their heads at the same time and rushed to the door… I pinged our ‘good stranger’ appologizing for the trouble and assured him that we will immediately be there. I locked my system before he could reply anything and rushed to the floor below mine to collect my mobile. While I was in a hurry, my teamie stopped me and asked…’how did he know its your mobile? It could be a prank… Wait… Confirm and go.’ By then I had already done an open-sesame with my access card and replied that I will come and explain to him in detail. For collecting 1 mobile, 3 of us had rushed down…yeah… literally rushed down the stairs as if we are headed to throw a timebomb attached to us 

Once at the floor, my friend asked ‘Did you see his face in outlook?’ I just gave him a blank stare from which he understood the answer  We stood like in airports… waiting for receiving a stranger  We checked many ID cards that passed and got weird looks too

Plan A: Go around looking for our stranger-with-the-phone

3 of us split up in various possible directions… I went towards pantry, another towards ODCs and the other to washroom (Don’t know why) … We met at the lift lobby after a while to declare Plan A failed !

Plan B: Attract attention

My friend got inspired by the ‘Mouna Raagam’ style of calling ‘Chandramouli…Mr. Chandramouli’ and tried replicating the same with our stranger-with-the-mobile’s name. While he shouted, we were checking for reactions all around. Confirmed: Plan B failed

Plan C: Inform about the lost mobile

As and when somebody passed across, my friends took turns to say “Hey Aishu… You lost your mobile right? The one with black and brown case”. We paused for reaction. We thought we have zeroed in on a person. But we realised that was the look he gave for reiterating the fact that we are insane 

We spared 23 other alphabets just cos we didn’t want ambulances to arrive …People with stretcher who would throw us (ya…throw us) on it and would take us directly to a mental hospital …Of course…medical insurance is available for that too 

I decided that I’ll go and ping him from my seat…I instructed one of my friends to stand there if in case somebody comes in search…The other guy was giving him tips on how to stand casually as people there already started suspecting about how did HR folks hire pickpockets and his look confirmed their doubt I asked my friend to stay along with him but he preferred to accompany me to the ODC… When I unlocked my system, my friend who was waiting down returned with my mobile.

Flashback (Spiral graphics to be included)

A guy carrying my mobile wallet case had come out of his ODC. My friend went to him and pointed to the phone asking his name. Stranger-with-the-mobile in a shock held the phone more firmly asking whose phone was that. My friend explained about the concept of ‘har ek friend zaroori hotha hai’ , all the while holding my phone which is in dispute… Finally he took it from him and ran to us 

Flashback over (Reverse spiral)

My teamie now gave a shocking remark at the climax “Expect to get featured in Cognizant Confession… That guy will post saying.. I helped a girl by picking her mobile but she was showing attitude and sent her friend to collect it… Guaranteed 500 comments scolding girls for this confession”. I was  i pinged him about the confusion and thanked him for his help!

But confession thing still lingered in my mind… At that time… Tadaa! My C2space appeared before me like the vasan eyecare ad saying ‘Naanga irukom’  Before he could write a confession, I decided to feature him in my post. Stranger-with-now-without-my-mobile… Thanks a lot for taking so much pains to get my mobile back to me!

P.S. To answer that question of how did he ping me and recognized its my mobile (We don’t miss out on facts  ).. I had my foodcard in the attached wallet  Food(card) is definitely a life essential 

Lost way to find Love

I got this suggestion of writing the plot from a different perspective…yes…purely…100%.. ISI certified imaginative content…Here we go!

I was waiting for the red swift car with a fancy number to arrive. My dad had instructed me to wait at my friend’s place where I had stayed last night. His voice reverberated “Don’t worry! You have seen him when you were 10. He is not a stranger. He is an architect and is currently working in a site which is  just next to your friend’s place. So we thought you both can get together and reach the place”. I got a message from his number “Starting from my site… Will be there in 10 min.” I know this swift car guy’s father as he is my  dad’s best friend…Uncle and aunty have visited our place regularly but not with their sons. I need to meet up with this stranger and reach the wedding hall… I was still fuming about why am I a must for that wedding ! From the continuos phone calls and the talks I had a doubt of a probable matriomonial meet set up 

A car stopped with powerful brakes interrupting my thoughts. He got down from the car and extended his hand “Hi… This is Sanjay”.  He looked like a sportsperson who is just back from his match rather than an architect. He didn’t wait for me to extend my hand.. he literally grabbed my hand and shook. He was so impatient and didn’t care an introduction from my end ..He went ahead saying “Come… its getting late!”

As soon as he started his car, he switched on his music system. 45 minutes passed and we hardly spoke a word. By now I was sure he was one of those arrogant spoilt brats and I didn’t have any intention of starting a conversation. A deep voice broke the silence “So you know right… This was a set up to get us together to spend quantity time.. Wedding plans on!”. Though I had the hints but getting the point so directly made me feel uncomfortable. He continued without a pause “Somehow I am not convinced with this kinda marriage set up… We hardly know eachother! We can’t make a life statement with just 1 hour of car drive right” I was relieved that he shared my views and I beamed with “Absolutely! So true! These people make it so embarassing”. He laughed seeing my facepalm expression. It was clear that both of us were not ok with this arrangement and this made us comfortable. We started covering various topics and Hi5-ed many a time .

After a while of driving through the trees, I asked him.. “Have we reached?”. He replied with “We must have… I took a short cut to avoid traffic.” He looked perplexed as the petrol indicator blinked orange. We stopped the car and got down as it looked like a town…errr… I mean village. I looked around to see hoardings with jilebi font and pointed it out to him and asked “I didn’t know the wedding was in Andhra”. He murmured under his chuckle “Neither did I” looking at his smart phone for the inexistent signal and location indicator. He instructed me to stay near the car and started walking. Seeing the weird looks that I was getting , I ran behind him like a little puppy and cleared my throat “How will you go alone and ask for routes in an unknown land? You need some moral support and its not nice of me to leave you alone. I know you wanna thank me but its really ok.” He gave a sarcastic look at me with a broad smile and a nod “Ya Ya… That was so sweet of you!” We both laughed at that when we were interrupted by an old man.

Old man scanned us, straining his diminishing eyesight. Sanjay moved a step forward and asked him “Can you please tell us the name of this place.” He tried the same question in hindi and kannada. I couldn’t stop recollecting the “kallipatti” scene from muthu and was expecting the old man to give him a tight slap any moment. Finally they ended up playing Dumb charades and we got directions for a nearby hotel.

Going by his directions, we landed up in a school. I started laughing holding my stomach with tears filling my eyes… he tried supressing his and was trying to calm me down “It happens… There’s nothing to laugh so much.” but gave it away seeing my hysteric splits of laughter. Once we got back to normalcy, he asked “You are in an unknown land that has an indesipherable language with a guy whom you have just met 4 hours before. Are you not scared?” He looked at me with his dark brown eyes waiting for an answer… “Why should I be scared? You should only be scared … I repeated his dialogue…You are in an unknown land that has an indesipherable language with a girl whom you have just met 4 hours before and who knows basics of self defense.” He again nodded with a big smile “Are you always like this?” getting up from our temporary halt.  I too got up “No… Am worse than this  ”  He ignored that and continued with a serious look “What if we have to be here forever?” I too replied with a serious look “I have attended a session of Krav Maga for self defence recently… FYI… I can survive and protect you too  “.

He laughed with a facepalm and looked around. We saw a black scorpio with a TN registeration. He ran towards it . From a distance I saw him talking to somebody. I walked towards him and stood few steps behind. The guy was scary and reminded me of villains from various films. I had involuntarily stepped behind Sanjay holding his hand as soon as I saw that villain guy staring at me. Sensing discomfort, he immediately called out “Excuse me… How to reach the main road from here?” The villain and better half but double in size started conversing with us. They assumed we are a couple and were here to look at a site for building. Sanjay chipped in with his architecture skills throwing technical terms about land and buildings… The guy now patted Sanjay on his back calling him a “Smart guy”… Deep down I reiterated the same.. “yes he is.” That villain now turned into a genie in disguise. He was ready to do anything for us. We got a bottle of petrol as a token of gift for his smartness  We were all set to follow the black scorpio.

1 hour of travelling through the woods….Tadaa! Main road  Though I was happy to have reached, there was a voice inside me cribbing about why did it get over soon. I could see the same mixed reactions on his face. Our villain genie got down from his car and gave us directions to reach our destination. It was a quiet journey…wedding hall was now in our viscinity… It was 8pm… We (he) had informed his parents and mine as soon as we got mobile signal that we are caught up and will reach there soon!

He parked his vehicle in front of the decorated building…”I had a wonderful time… Thanks!” I just didn’t feel like getting down from the car on hearing those words and he was waiting in the same pose ready to start for another drive if I approve. We were jolted back to reality with a loud voice…”Ahh! They are here! Where have you been?”

We were pulled to different directions by our loved ones who didn’t seem loving to us at that moment. I saw him whispering something into his mom’s ears and looking at me… Whatever that was, I saw aunty smiling with happiness and kissing his forehead. She ran to uncle and he too seemed very happy.

I saw Sanjay walking towards me…First time I felt butterflies in my stomach and my heart beat racing…He came close and whispered… “I now wish we could have stayed there forever… Why on earth we asked for help?” After a 2 sec pause..”Are you ready to lose your way with me again? I can’t go around asking for directions alone you see..” He winked with a smile. I could feel my cheeks burning with the gush of sudden blood…Yes ! I was blushing 

Disclaimer: Any resemblences to film scenes are purely intentional as those are only references I have to write in a genre which is not in my comfort zone.

PS: And ya… This is my 2nd fiction in the genre of romance� 

[Story]: Something Crazy!

When this whole new meme of writing a story with a given picture was started, I was all excited to read different stories. I have wondered how people think so much and come with such different versions. I never expected that I’ll be writing one 

If you are expecting a ‘rattham therikka therikka action film‘ ( gruesome film) … No No No… you are in for a surprise  My blood group is pretty rare and I don’t want any unnecessary blood shedding scene (my characters will have my blood group as I am the creator  )

Prithvi had lost everything… Not that he had lots but even the meager amount that he possessed before the round was now owned by his friend after the final round of poker… As he walked on the deserted roads, the words that people used to describe him “loser” “hopeless” “zero” reverberated, making him feel sick to his stomach. He took his torn bag with hardly any clothes and made his way to nowhere.. He didn’t have any clue of where to go or what to do.. As he was making his way out, his eyes fell on yellow papers… His mom wanted him to sell that house of his dad for living… But procrastination was in his blood and days kept going… Nothing changed… Only change was that his mom who kept reminding him about the house was now not found.. He picked up those papers and made up his mind on what to do next… He was so urged to go and play another round of poker to win back what he lost…But something stopped him! He had a change of thought of playing another round of poker with the money that he will receive on selling. He reached his village which was considerably a small town on the hills… he hated the place as he had to travel all the way downhill even to buy his favourite beedi… he couldn’t afford it is another point which he preferred to ignore .

He reached the house… This house was no different from the so-called house that he is living in. Broken in all possible places, with sunlight and rain finding its way promptly to him… Only difference was that this house was a bigger broken mess.. He chuckled at the idea of selling it and ruled out the possibility of someone paying for this mess. He made his way through the creaking door which was still hanging with a slight hold that can give away any moment. His stomach made growling sounds to remind him that he didn’t attend it for a long time. Being hungry was not new to him… And he exactly knows what to do… Whenever he is hungry he either drinks cold water or dips his clothes in cold water and would tie it around his waist… Within few minutes, his hunger fades away.

He recognized the room he was in, was bathroom… Though it was dark, it had a big bathtub… Bathtub fascinated him! He has never seen one except for in movies. His stomach stopped making sounds as he was too busy lost in awe. He filled water and immediately jumped in… He was the happiest man at that moment.. He forgot his problems and drifted to a nice pleasant place…

A man had entered his house who claimed to be his father’s partner and handed him Rs 10,000… He told it was a long time due to his father… He also suggested about an abandoned shop that could be bought if he was interested.

Prithvi woke up with a jolt… He concluded that too much of worrying causes dreaming… He didn’t have a proper towel to wipe, so he dabbed his body with his old clothes and made his way out of the bathroom feeling refreshed.

He heard the creaking of the gate that sent out butterflies flying in his stomach. A lanky old guy appeared from the open door. Prithvi rubbed his eyes repeatedly to ensure that he was not dreaming. The old guy called himself as his father’s partner… Prithvi felt dizzy… the sense of Deja vu over took his senses… He heard the guy repeat everything verbatim.

Was this house haunted? Prithvi was clueless… He wanted to flee from this place immediately and grabbed his bag. The gambler in him spoke now, why not try once one more. It would have just been a coincidence… So Prithvi quickly rushed to the bathtub , climbed  in thereby proving buoyancy for the nth time. However he tried he could not get any vision or dream… It was a normal bath! He was partly relieved but another part was disappointed.

The next day, Prithvi went with the lanky man to check some deserted shop. He was still unclear about staying there as he wanted to flee with the money to win back what he lost. He was in a dilemma and stressed with too much of thinking and his bathtub looked inviting… The same scenario repeated. He drifted to a peaceful sleep and he saw himself as an owner of a grocery store… He was getting richer and started employing people. This time when he woke up, he was panting… He decided to verify and rushed to the shop to buy it. He set up a grocery store and in no time his business grew as the people had to actually go downhill for all the basic things. His shop was a blessing in disguise. Along with the shop, Prithvi grew too. He renovated the entire house but left the bathroom untouched. Meanwhile he understood the pattern of the vision…whenever he was in a dilemma or in doubt, he had visions to make a decision favourable to him and it appeared at a time when he clearly never expected it . Bathtub was more of a moral support to him now… it made him take a decision about his life partner… visions about his kid when doctors said there are complications… It was everything to him now!

His wife didn’t feel good about the bathroom… she felt it somehow didn’t match with the grand house but didn’t protest as she had seen the other side of Prithvi who was usually a calm man when this topic was brought up. One fine day when Prithvi entered, he found voices from his private place… his bathroom… he never allowed anybody to enter. He rushed to find a plumber working on the leaking tube. He was furious. He tried all possible ways… days passed…months passed… years passed… No visions!

After the repeated persuasion from his wife, he decided to bid adieu to his bathtub. He gave it one last try… As always… No vision! He could only see the large crack that had develop on the bathtub. Having no hope, with a heavy heart he disposed his priceless possession much to the joy of his wife. Life moved on as always!

Prithvi was enjoying his oldage when he saw his son rushing out of the bathroom gasping for breath. His house was always filled with old things as his son was an antique collector. He didn’t pay much heed to the decorated bathtub his son had got home last night. The moment he stepped in he understood the reason behind his son’s shock. He couldn’t stop smiling! The bathtub too smiled at him back through its crack