JOURNEY IN JEALOUSY

- P.Krishnamoorthy

     The air was cool from the intermittent drizzle. The flash of the lightning lighted the semi-dark area. The flamboyant young  Kishore, the superstar of Bollywood was a busy celebrity and his call sheets were booked for the whole year. Kishore was relaxing in a recliner as he was exhausted after a long day’s shoot. He decanted a large peg of ‘ Civas’ into a crystal and swigged it on the rocks. As he was sipping his first drink, there was a call on his cell phone. He answered the call and the caller was his younger brother Sunil from Stanford, USA. After routine family inquiries, Sunil revealed that he would be completing his MBA program in a month’s time and planned to visit Mumbai.  Kishore got excited at Sunil’s ensuing visit.  “Rekha! Just now Sunil called. He would be here in a month’s time” Kishore conveyed the exciting news to his wife. ” Okay Kishore! Good news ”replied Rekha from the other room.

Sunil, a vibrant personality, brilliant in academics moved to the U.S for higher studies. He was the topper in the State final examinations and got admission to Stanford University, USA. A well-mannered, stylish, smart, classy and positive personality, he was liked by one and all. He was graduating in MBA and planning to continue in Ph.D. Before the next course, he would like to visit his parents as he was away for a long period.

Rakesh Sharma, a  veteran actor in erstwhile  Bollywood,  now a senior citizen, a recipient of several State and National awards was an uncrowned king of the old film industry. His movies were so popular, they celebrated silver jubilee weeks in the State. A strict disciplinarian, pious and God-fearing, he was an unmatched philanthropist and a great contributor to several orphanages and hospitals besides contributions to cancer and other medical researches.  Laxmi Devi was his wife and Kishore and Sunil were their sons.

Sunil landed in Mumbai and was happy to see his mother after a long spell. His eyes were full of tears on seeing her. Sunil kneeled down and touched his parents’ feet as a mark of respect. After dinner,  Sunil went to sleep early due to jetlag. The next morning Kishore paid a visit to his parents’ house and met Sunil. They were discussing his future plans. Later Kishore left for his morning shoot.  As a mother, she wanted to know whether Sunil had anybody in view for a  life partner. When she got an emphatic ‘no’ from him, the parents unanimously voiced of getting a suitable girl and his acceptance was unpredicted by them.

Sunil visited Kishore’s house, and after tea,  Kishore wanted Sunil to come with him to the shooting spot so that they could continue their talk while driving.  Sunil agreed and at the shooting spot, after the usual morning greets, Kishore introduced Sunil to the assembled people including the heroine, Sheila. The scene was a family subject dealing with a middle-class family where their only daughter Sita, loved by Parveen of a  well-to-do family, was not approved by Parveen’s parents.  Kishore in the role of  Parveen was briefed about the shot wherein he was talking to Sheila in the role of Sita, about their future plans. The camera started ‘rolling’ and Parveen finished his dialogue with Sita, who, in turn, was supposed to respond to Parveen. Few minutes passed ,  Sita was not responding to Parveen. Instead, she was looking passionately at Sunil, the visitor, and the director had to say “cut” to stop the camera rolling. Kishore was flabbergasted at the reaction of Sheila;  the director had to announce a ten-minute recess to break the impasse. But Sheila immediately wanted a  half-day break before resumption. As Sunil was handsome, smart, and good looking, naturally he would be an easier target to the other gender. From the looks Sheila had over Sunil, Kishore was sure that she might have plans to pursue him further.

After seeing Sheila, a very strange feeling ran in Sunil’s system that he had never experienced before. Some inner urge compelled him to meet Sheila again and again. He madly desired to talk and spend more time with her. He was unable to explain the reasons for his peculiar and unprecedented longing for her.  He stayed in Kishore’s place for the night,  as he thought Sheila would call him in Kishore’s number. Promptly came the craving calls for Sunil. When he answered it, though the beginning sounded informal, the caller gradually switched to her intentions and wished for a personal early meeting.

Sheila was the leading beautiful female star and mostly she was the pair with Kishore in movies.  She was equally a busy heroine and lived in her mansion in Malabar Hill.  Many suitors tried their luck with her but none succeeded and how Sunil became her ardent interest was a mystery. She was even dreaming of him as her life partner. She passionately loved Sunil who also loved her. She knew that Kishore would like to introduce Sunil to the movie industry as he had the necessary profile and personality.  If the proposed wedding between them would go thru, she thought, with the patronage of Kishore, Sunil would enter the field and gradually become a competitor to Kishore.  By this planning, she could break Kishore’s monopoly in the industry and consolidate her position.

 She decided to achieve her ‘life target’ through Kishore. She invited both the brothers for a dinner in her home. Sunil gladly accepted her invitation and also persuaded Kishore to do so. He also understood Sunil’s driving urge to meet her. They landed in her mansion and after the drinking session, Sheila and Sunil preferred to be alone in the garden. They were discussing at length and the spectrum of discussions covered their personal plus and minuses wants and dislikes,  reactive temperaments to people, and situations to understand the chemistry between them. Sheila was not keen to leave her successful career and suggested to Sunil to stay in India. She also suggested he entering the movie industry with the patronage of  Kishore, and rise gradually to stardom like him.  The decision balance finally tilted towards their mutual agreement on life partnership.

Sunil’s parents y were disappointed with his latest decision to get married to Sheila. Yet they felt happy as he would continue his stay in India by this wedding.  The social media and the press were all out to flash the wedding news. Her fans' associations welcomed this news.  As this was against the wishes of his parents, Kishore had half-heartedly reconciled to this arrangement. On the decided date, Sunil tied the sacred knot to Sheila to signify their bond. The press and the social media made headlines of their wedding as it was connected with families from two leading stars.  The grand reception was held in a posh hotel with celebrities  and cine stars attended. 

After a short honeymoon in Switzerland,  they returned and Sheila resumed her shooting schedules.  Along with her, Sunil was a regular visitor to the shooting spots on  Sheila’s suggestion, as that would familiarize him with acting experience in the sets. Surprisingly on a particular day, a new producer visited their shooting spot and made an offer for two male leads in his proposed movie. He already selected Kishore for one role with Sheila as heroin. He was looking for the second male character.  Suddenly Sheila got an idea and instantly  she suggested Sunil for the other lead,  hoping there would be no objection from Kishore.  Kishore happily gave his clearance. Sunil also was excited about the offer and gave his acceptance.  His photo sessions and the screen tests were satisfactory and the contract was duly signed.

The ulterior motive of Sheila was to introduce a rival for Kishore in the industry.  Sheila was able to hold her leading star position mainly due to Kishore as the leading hero. Whenever she desired to act with a new or different hero, the producers refused her request,  since the movies ran successfully only with Kishore’s cast.   Sheila’s stay as a leading lady totally relied on acting with Kishore only. Even her call sheets were decided according to that of Kishore.  With Sunil’s introduction, Sheila was very confident and positive that he would make it a successful career over Kishore.

The subject of the story was a love triangle with a climax fight between the two characters, one to fall from a hill and dies. The director desired to finish the scene with the role of Sunil’s tragic death.  After the shoot when the stars and the crew watched the climax scene in the monitor, they were surprised at Sunil’s super performance. His excellent facial expressions,  dialogue delivery, and body language were impressive than Kishore.  As the climax was emotional to watch with Sunil’s performance, the audience would be spellbound.  Sheila was very happy at Sunil’s initial success, as she had not backed the wrong horse.

As the days rolled over, gradually future projects in the industry preferred Sunil instead of Kishore. His call sheets got filled up as Sunil was able to exhibit his talent in any role he performed.  His approval rating was raising high, compared to Kishore’s getting diminished.  Sheila also exercised indirect pressure on producers to decide the roles in favor of Sunil. Sunil’s success made Kishore even to reduce his payment for new movies. The cordial relationship between the brothers was slowly eroding. The professional jealousy even minimized their personal talking and contact with each other. Their parents were concerned about the animosity that prevailed between them; they were unable to mediate between them. As time passed that had assumed larger proportions and became irreconcilable. The conflict turned out to magnified proportions leading to absolute obvious professional jealousy. Kishore’s strategy to meet this challenge was to produce movies with foreign collaborations and to take over the rights of distribution.  As a redeeming scenario, Kishore introduced a new female lead named Madhuri to the industry. With Madhuri’s gaining popularity with moviegoers, Sheila’s influence on producers and directors started declining. With the generation change in the moviegoers, they preferred to watch new young faces than monotonous old faces for years. The new face Madhuri paired with Kishore in new screenplays and themes,  helped his graph go higher again than Sunil-Sheila combination.

With the new entry of Madhuri, Sheila realized that her position in the industry becoming shaky.  It was high time for her to think of different strategies to counter Madhuri’s rising under the patronage of Kishore.  As Sunil was tagged on to Sheila, his future projects also have moved in favor of Kishore. The slow poisoning of Sunil’s mind by Sheila to develop the utmost hatred towards Kishore was responsible for the creation of professional jealousy in them.  As the days go by, so the rift between brothers also got enlarged and related hostilities became aggressive. The parents felt this strange scenario got its existence as if God had impulsively or callously rolled the dice to select the winner.

Sheila’s mind was working on a new strategy.  According to her, the rise of the Kishore-Madhuri partnership like a phoenix from the ashes could only be stopped by permanently eliminating them from existence.  With this, both Kishore and Madhuri would have perished and Sunil-Sheila would only be there in the industry. As time rolled by, suddenly there was another development of a legendary movie producer planning a multi-lingual movie on a large scale budget with the theme of clashes of mafia gangs. There would be two mafia leaders vying against each other over control of a wealthy area. He offered the leading male roles for  Kishore and Sunil besides the female roles to Madhuri and Sheila for the lady leads. Since it had the subject of clashes between mafia leaders, both the brothers thought it would give them better opportunities to exhibit their individual style and talent. The producer was very happy at their acceptance as their strange combination itself would sell the movie well in all centers.

As per the script, the scene would open,  after the delivery of the first dialogue, Sunil would pull the trigger of the gun without bullet at Kishore-Madhuri.  This scene gave an inkling for Sheila to execute her master plan of eliminating them.  Sheila’s plan was to use a  gun loaded with a real bullet in it without the knowledge of Sunil and the director. When ‘action’ signal was given by the director, Sunil would shoot at Kishore-Madhuri with the real bullet and they die instantly. She also devised another plan to justify the tragic end as an ‘accident’ due to the real bullet not removed from the gun by mistake. Sheila was thrilled at her criminal plan and if executed flawlessly, she was confident she would become the uncrowned queen with Sunil as the uncrowned king for the whole movie kingdom.

The set for the climax scene was installed with all paraphernalia in time. On the day of the shoot, as scheduled, both brothers separately arrived at the spot along with Sheila and Madhuri in full make-up and costumes of the characters. Kishore looked realistic as a mafia leader when compared to Sunil, the counter mafia leader.  The director explained in detail as to how to portray the characters and made sure that the guns were without real bullets and pulling the trigger shown only in action, but supported by bullet sound effects in the background.

As per the script,   at the end of the gang clashes, both mafia leaders  (Kishore and Sunil) were face-to-face in the same location to draw the trigger with the guns on hand. All eyes of the crew were focused on the scene. After delivery of the first dialogue, Sunil was about to shoot with his gun, there was a  thundering gunshot sound heard on the roof of the set. Sunil was confused and scared at the bullet sound as he had not yet fired from his gun. There was dim lighting in the set and one could see only a shadow in a corner holding a gun. When all the lights were switched on, all could see Rakesh Sharma standing with a gun.  Both Kishore and Sunil were taken aback to see their father there and fired the shot at the roof. Rakhesh Sharma had to do this for stopping  Sunil from shooting at Kishore with a gun loaded with a real bullet. Before the gun was handed over to Sunil,  without his knowledge, Sheila conspired to load the real bullet in the gun to kill  Kishore and Madhuri.  Sheila’s servant-maid, who clandestinely witnessed her loading the gun with a real bullet,  hurriedly came to Rakhesh’s home and informed him about Sheila’s conspiracy.  But for her timely information, the whole situation would have turned tragic with the end of Kishore’s life.

Rakhesh Sharma warned Kishore and Sunil alone as to how their professional jealousy compelled them to become hostile to each other and led to ‘accidentally’ not removing the real bullet from the gun.  But he purposely not disclosed to his sons about Sheila’s own selfish agenda of loading the gun with the real bullet to kill Kishore as it would harm the relationship of members in the family.  He was also quoting to them  “mild jealousy and covetousness are actually a route to improved capabilities. It’s called creative envy. It’s part of aspiring. The pressure can be channeled to new skills that take artists to a higher level, both economically and as evolved beings”.  The journey in jealousy finally reached its destination.

TheJudgmentDay

- P.Krishnamoorthy

On that day, the sessions court of Ahemadabad, India was filled with people who were all eagerly awaiting to hear the final judgment in the sensational murder case of Pushpavani. When the presiding judge, Justice Bhagat entered the courtroom, they all stood from their seats as a mark of respect and he acknowledged them in return. When the court clerk gave the case documents to him, he noticed that the Judge appeared to be very depressed and dejected.

After going through the contents for a while, the judge asked the prisoner to be brought inside the courtroom. With heavy security, Kishore, the felon was brought inside and stepped into the witness box. Kishore, a well-built man in his early forties, looked very remorse and distressed. His sorrowing eyes surveyed the people, who were anxious to know what would be his fate. He could hear from outside, women in groups holding placards and chanting slogans for his death sentence. After going thru the case file carefully,  the Judge asked him, whether he would like to say anything regarding the murder charge. Kishore was silent for a moment and then said ‘nothing’.

Justice Bhagat was always very sentimental in his judgments. On no occasion, he gave capital punishment in any case in his three decades of service. In this case, he was forced to deviate from his principle. Pushpa’s father Sunil Nath, a very influential and rich politician, wanted to avenge Kishore for his daughter’s murder through his death sentence. He had already arranged all pieces of evidence at various levels to make the charge very strong for capital punishment. Also to ensure the verdict of death by Justice Bhagat, he had arranged to keep his only daughter in captivity in her home till the ruling was delivered. He was in a predicament of being warned to give the ruling as he wanted. As a worried parent, he had no other choice except to declare a death sentence to restore his daughter. But he looked at Kishore, his old college mate, and his eyes silently begging him to spare his life. Despite his concern for Kishore’s emotions, the utmost priority before him was to save his own daughter.  Justice Bhagat finally delivered the judgment. “ I have carefully gone through the evidence brought on record by both parties and the arguments advanced by their counsels. Under Section 302 and  303 of Indian Penal Code, I have decided that Kishore should be hanged by the neck till he was dead”. As he finished reading the ruling, he broke the nib of the pen so that it could not be used to sign another death order. On hearing the ruling Kishore fell fainted.  Sunil Nath instantly called Justice to say that his daughter was set free from captivity. Justice left the courtroom rushing to see his daughter. 

Kishore, after living happily with Pushpavani for nearly four years, he had to face a scenario wherein her earlier boyfriend Sudhir appeared in the scene. Though Kishore did not mind her going with him as a friend, he later came to know that they stayed for the nights outside in hotels. In spite of his warnings, Pushpavani was stubborn in her attitude and insisted on divorce from him. Kishore, being a top executive in a multi-national firm, was concerned with his personal image in the corporate circle. He also passionately loved her. He was reluctant to accede her demand. 

One late evening when he returned from office, he had to witness Pushpa in a compromising situation with Sudhir after heavy booze in the bedroom. Impacted severely with that sight, Kishore dragged Pushpa from the bed and in intense anger, slapped her strongly. With that proof, he was convinced of her betrayal and infidelity. With the entry of Kishore, Sudhir just abruptly left the room. Pushpa aggravated the situation by arguing vehemently in favor of Sudhir and justified her actions. In her drunken mood, she also accused Kishore of spoiling her happiness with Sudhir. Kishore lost his patience with her accusation. The words of ‘happiness with Sudhir’ from Pushpa’s mouth, left him floored. Her revelation not only surprised him but left with a display of her disloyalty.   Kishore, in his extreme outrage, could not control his emotional reaction, He pushed her powerfully with all his strength. Pushpa lost her balance and tripped to fall against an iron pillar,  causing a bloody head injury. Kishore became panicky at the sight of bloody head injury,  rushed towards Pushpa to check her condition. He saw her blooding in the back of the head. He became tense with her condition and immediately contacted the emergency number.  When they came they found her dead due to heavy bleeding on account of head injury. Following the emergency crew, on information from Sudhir, the police also arrived at the scene.  They took Kishore in custody.   Betrayal was defined “when someone you trust, lied to you, cheated on you, abused you, or hurts you by putting their own self-interest first". It was  Kishore’s fault of passionately loved her and trusted a deceitful person. Whenever he expressed his desire to have a child, Pushpa evaded the issue and argued in favor of family planning. Kishore realized that her infidelity was mainly with the intent to cause harm to him.

Justice Bhagat, after delivering the verdict, was tormented with a guilty conscience of sending Kishore to gallows as it was not a premeditated murder. Being a veteran in the judicial hierarchy, he had such an emotional reaction for sentencing Kishore. Despite a veteran who handled many murder cases in his career as a judge, he never felt so remorseful as he did, when delivering the cruel judgment. His recollection of memory centered around forty years before when he and Kishore were close friends and collegemates. When both finished the graduation Kishore chose MBA and Justice Bhagat opted for law studies. Kishore moved to  Bhopal and Justice to Chandigarh for their future career. Since then there was no contact between them. Only during the murder trials, Justice saw Kishore after a long time. He was sympathizing with him on his involvement in the murder case of his wife.. He could understand his feelings of betrayal where anybody would impulsively commit such an act out of agitated mind without realizing the consequences. It was nothing but ‘temporary insanity’ that forced him to behave at that aggravating scene. The law requires solid evidence than any underlying truth in deciding murder cases. Besides the various public representations demanding the death penalty supported with clear evidence, led to such a verdict. Much against his will and principle, Justice Bhagat was compelled to award the tragic verdict. He was grief-stricken over his action towards an erstwhile close friend and that too, on the last day of his career. 

Even after the verdict, Kishore was unable to reconcile with reality. He was still haunted by the feelings of betrayal by Pushpa. The other disappointment he had to face was that his old friend, the Justice, had chosen the death penalty than life imprisonment for him. In a way, this was again another betrayal for him as he trusted his old friend.

Kishore was shocked when he came to know through the jailor that his death verdict was master-minded by Pushpa’s father to take revenge on him for the death of his daughter. He was stunned to know that Sunil Nath demanded Kishore’s death decree as a ransom to release  Justice’s daughter from his custody. Justice Bhagat was in such a predicament and finally, he had to yield to them.  

Justice Bhagat, even in cases where homicide was carried in a gruesome manner or with the prior motive of taking revenge or getting some return that would justify the death penalty,, he was avoiding it. Considering the circumstantial scenario, anybody’s feelings of ego and emotion would have resorted to react in that manner. In Kishore’s case, the killing was not premeditated; nor any murder weapon used. In his entire career, Kishore’s case was the first and last with a death verdict. These consoling words from his jailor proved to obliterate Kishore’s betrayal accusation against the Justice. He even confided to the jailor, who was his distant relative, that he had to give that verdict to save his own daughter. The  Justice had regretted so much for his ruling, he felt he had committed an unforgivable sin. After all bureaucratic procedures over a period of three months completed and  Kishore’s mercy petition were also negatived at all levels, the date and time for Kishore’s hanging were scheduled.  Section 354(5) of the above procedure reads as "When any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that the person be hanged by the neck till the person is dead."  

The gallows and other paraphernalia like the rope, and the hangman were already at the site. All required officials assembled to carry out the ‘ceremonial murder’. At the stroke of the prescribed time, the official concerned was to give the signal. Kishore was blind-folded and brought to the gallows. Just before minutes of the actual pulling the lever, unexpectedly there was a voice heard,  shouting ‘stop’ from a sentry, rushing to the site. He informed the officials, that through a telephone call from Delhi, the execution to be stopped and details were followed in a telex message, conveying that the President had waived the death penalty to life imprisonment in view of Kishore’s earlier benevolent activities and philanthropic,  contributions to numerous charitable and other organizations. Kishore was overjoyed and delighted. It was a rebirth for him as he came out with a waiver from gallows. 

After completion of all formalities, Kishore was taken back to the cell. He was enjoying his restored life with relieved happy emotions. But for his earlier benevolent and philanthropic contributions, he would not have got his life back. His attention was swiftly diverted to a morning TV breaking news, announcing the tragic death of Sunil Nath, his father-in-law that early morning in a car crash. When he was driving alone at a good speed in his car from his farmhouse, he lost control of the vehicle and, crashed against a tree. He had sustained very serious head injuries and heavy loss of blood. On investigation it was found from the watchman of the farmhouse, he became very restless during breakfast when he heard the TV news of Kishore’s waiver from the death penalty to life imprisonment from the President at the nick of time.  Kishore was feeling sorry for him, but he was reminded of the old adage “As you sow, so shall you reap”.

ART BY P.KRISHNAMOORTHY

"The wood is decked in light green leaf.

The swallow twitters in delight.

The lonely vine sheds joyous tears

Of interwoven dew and light.

Spring weaves a gown of green to clad

The mountain height and wide-spread field.

O when wilt thou, my native land,

In all thy glory stand revealed?"

-  Ilia Chavchavadze, Spring

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                    The Boy and his Toy

                               -    P.Krishnamoorthy

It was the period since late 2019 when the emergence of a new coronavirus happened in central China that was responsible for a deadly disease of the century to the human race. Cases of this disease, known as COVID-19, have since been reported not only across China, but in many other countries around the globe. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared this virus represents a public health emergency of international concern. On January 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared it to be a health emergency for the United States. This led to a series of measures undertaken by U.S. Federal and State governments, like stay-in-doors, social distancing guidelines, quarantine, etc. In the onslaught of global  covid-19, Elpaso, Texas was also not spared.  In the span of a week, the number of covid-19 cases were doubled in El Paso. Various counties in and around this town tallied many cases. With the cases keep rising, more and more stringent and preventive measures were adopted throughout Elpaso.  

With all the educational institutions closed on account of covid-19 in Texas state, the schools in Elpaso were following suit to conform to them. Charles Winston, a 9-year old,  resident of Oasis ranch in Elpaso,  and the only son of Baker Watson and Emily Isabel, was very happy in staying home and playing the various video games.  He enjoyed this break as it helped him to get up very late in the mornings. Baker was working as a supervisor in the local copper and tungsten mines and  Emily as a nurse in the Children's’ Hospital in Providence. Since the outbreak of  covid-19, she was very busy in the hospital and returned home in alternate days. Due to a shortage of laborers,  Baker used to leave home for the mining site early in the mornings and returning very late in the evenings. Charles involvement in various video games kept him extremely happy all through the day. He was taking care of himself for all his needs during the day. Whenever he felt bored with the video games, he spent his time talking to his friends on the phone. His food requirements were taken care of by Emily, who prepared and kept the dishes and beverages available for a week in the refrigerator. In short, the life of Charles was not that difficult as he was very happy with various activities in the day. Emily in her free time called him over the phone and check his activities from the hospital.  

Though Charles had everything as he wanted, his regret of not having the popular toy - Contixo Smart Robot Toy -  was his longing one to his possession. On the telephone, all his friends brag about having it. Its special features include lots of fun with singing, dancing, walking and interacts with the boys. It was providing entertainment and experience with robotics and advanced technology. This could also play music, move around, and speak. Boys loved it for its small and portable size. With simple voice commands and touch sensors, this Robot was easy to operate and a good companion of dreaming ‘sidekick entertainment’. Charles was pestering his parents to get one for him. Emily just overlooked his request due to her professional commitments.  But Charles was not leaving her and believed his persistent efforts would prove bearing fruits soon.

Lucas Johnson of Charles’ age, who suddenly suffered from covid-19 attack,  rushed to the emergency room as he had all the symptoms of infection.. The doctors found him with high fever, strep throat, and respiratory problems. He was then transferred to ICU. A few hours later he died in spite of doctors’ best efforts to save him.  His mother, Mary, a single parent, was not even allowed to see her dead son due to covid-19. Emily was taking care of him in the ER and ICU. Mary suspected her son contracted the virus while he was playing with other kids in the park.  Emily was moved in tears with his death as he was of her son’s age. With full of sadness, Emily returned home and found Charles waiting for her return. She tried to appear normal outwardly without a trace of her sadness. Charles, as usual, demanded his ‘pound of flesh’ of Contixo robot. She tried to convince him to wait a couple of days when she would get the robot. As there was a temporary truce over the issue between the two,  that night had passed peacefully except her carrying over the sad sentiments internally. 

The next morning, Emily was in the hospital on time. The cleaning lady, while cleaning the ICU room of Lucas, found a robot and his other sundry belongings which she intended for garbage. Emily’s eyes saw the robot in that pile. Suddenly she was reminded of her son’s plea for a robot toy. She thought she could give that to Charles and silence him. She took the robot from the pile and kept it with her to carry home. After that day’s work, Emily came home with the robot. As usual, Charles was waiting for her. When he saw a robot with his mother, he was immensely pleased ad overjoyed. He grabbed it from her and yelled it was Contixo robot, as desired by him. After a passing thanks to Emily, he took it with him to his bed. He played for a long time and slept with it.

The next morning when Emily was ready to go to the hospital, she heard continuous coughing noise from Charles room. When she peeped into his room she found Charles was struggling to breathe combined with a heavy cough. She rushed into his room and found he was sweating from high fever and swollen eyes. He was breathing hard and could barely speak.  As she noticed those symptoms tallied with covid-19, she rushed him to the hospital and the doctors treated him in the emergency room. When they were enquiring with Emily, the source for covid-19 infection, she could not exactly specify the source except for, the robot held by late Lucas earlier, that was taken by Emily and given to Charles. The doctors briefed her that the infection was transferred from Lucas’ robot to Charles as the latter was keeping that with him in the whole night The redeeming part of the scenario was Charles’ infection could be treated successfully as he rightly responded to their treatment. Also, he had the immunity to fight the disease in his system and Charles was thankfully in recovery. According to doctors, covid-19  infection could be transmitted via inanimate objects also. Emily felt guilty in getting the Lucas’ robot toy to Charles, and also on her ignorance of not knowing the transmission fact. While Emily's thoughts were recollecting the past anxious and emotional hours, she was taken aback with the voice of Charles asking "What happened to my robot?"   Emily heaved a big sigh of relief and offered prayers to the Lord for saving him from that evil disease.  

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THE RETROSPECTION

-          P.Krishnamoorthy 

          Dr.Stella Grace gave clearance for Anita’s discharge from the Government Maternity hospital in Bangalore. A week before Anita came there for the delivery.  Now that she had offloaded the baby, Anita was pondering over her future life with the baby. Being very selfish in her well-being only, she felt the newborn would be more a burden to her. The baby would also be a stigma and disgrace for her aspirations. As she was thinking over all these aspects, Anita wished her next move to be in line with her ambitions. The initial step towards achieving her objective was to get rid of the child to safe hands.  As she was near a  railway station, she was hopeful of getting some help inside. She walked to the station and saw the empty parked passenger compartments. A flash of an idea sparked in her mind. Quietly she left the newborn in one of the compartments with the hope some ‘Samaritan’  would pick up the baby. Though she left the infant in a discarding mood, she was emotionally disturbed in parting her infant. She consoled herself as the only option left to her for her future life.  She believed that her child would be picked by some kind-hearted soul who would provide care and shelter. In her anxiety, she was hiding to watch at a distance about the result. She offered prayers for a ‘Samaritan' to appear at the scene. Unexpectedly she heard the baby crying.  When she attempted to go near the compartment to take care of the baby,  a middle-aged couple already noticed the crying child. They looked around and, after ensuring that nobody was coming forward to get the baby,  they picked up the baby. To their surprise, the child immediately stopped crying in their hands. The lady reacted as a ‘gift of God’.  They were immensely happy and their reaction was distinctly displayed on their faces. Witnessing this happy scenario from her hide-out, Anita was  extremely delighted and thanked the Lord for safely securing the child. She came out of the station to decide her next move. A  procession of a leading political party exclusively by women in white uniform dress, shouting slogans, was passing by her side. Anita’s saree also was in white since she came from the hospital. Swiftly an idea flashed in her mind. She sneaked into the procession and merged with others to shout the slogans. As Anita had a loud and clear voice, her chanting of slogans was distinctly dominated over others. The leader of the procession got impressed with her voice and also decided to use her later for speech assignments of the party. The party chief also favorably considered her appeal to stay in the party office for preparing the speeches. As time rolled by,  Anita’s extempore rhetoric became very popular in various towns and villages. It was in high demand and earned the name of a successful crowd-puller in a short time. Her election speeches were mainly responsible for the party to win the elections with a big lead to form the government. Her exemplary performances in various other challenging assignments, also made the party to recognize her versatile and valuable skills and elevate her to a responsible position in the education ministry. With her hard work she was able to prove  her worth in the new challenge and  became the education minister. With all these contributing to have her career graph go up to the top,  she never failed to look back over her past.

           Anita and Akash were good friends in the college. Akash was smart and an extrovert. His father was working in a factory in Singapore and he was alone in Bangalore. They were meeting often and spending time together. Anita developed a passion for him, ending in love with him. Though outwardly Akash displayed as if he was in serious love with Anita, he was flirting with her for his amusement rather than with serious intentions. Unaware of his inner intentions, Anita was passionate and went with him to various places and holiday resorts. Anita’s parents were very conservative and planned her wedding with their relative’s son who was living in Delhi. When Anita completed her college, they initiated the wedding proposal to her. Anita stubbornly refused their proposal and disclosed her love affair with Akash. This made her to pressurize Akash for the wedding. As usual, he was evading the issue of marriage but proposed ‘living together’ concept to her till his parents return from Singapore.  Anita agreed on his proposition. Much against her parents and after severe arguments,  Anita moved to live with Akash. Their romantic episodes stretched to frequent outstation outings. In one of the hill station trips with an overnight stay, they crossed their romantic limits under the influence of alcohol that made Anita to conceive. Even with this development, Akash was evading the marriage by saying that his parents would come shortly when the wedding would take place. Believing him, Anita continued her living with him. One evening on return from his work, Akash mentioned that he had to go to Mumbai on official assignment and his return would take three months. Anita trusted his words and again pleaded with him for an early wedding. Alas, it was unfortunate Akash never came back to Anita, but she retained his child as a remembrance of Akash whom she passionately loved even after his desertion. On occasions when she recollected past events in her life, she used to curse only her fate, more than accusing Akash of leaving her. The only regret she had in her recollection, was her abandoning the parents for the sake of Akash. She would not go back to them with a stigma as the mother of a child without becoming somebody’s wife. However, she heard from some source about her mother’s death in heart attack  and  her father moved to Delhi to live with his brother.

          

            In one of her official trips to a neighboring town, she was invited for a lunch by James, the local Mayor in his residence. At the dining table, James introduced his only daughter Christina. On a casual conversation, when asked about her,  he said in a depressed voice that she lived her married life only for four years. Realizing her father’s emotions in his reply, Christina said that her husband died in a car accident. She also pointed at the portrait of her husband hung on the wall.  When Anita turned to have a glimpse of the portrait, she felt as if the whole world falling apart in pieces. Anita saw Akash in the portrait. To avoid any embarrassment, she buried her emotions and wanted to leave the town immediately. While returning in the car, she was brooding over how Akash lied and deceived her. She felt it was destiny’s directive that he paid the right price of punishment through a car accident for all what he did for her. 

      Time rolled by and Anita had higher levels of additional responsibilities. Anita was very choosy in accepting social invitations due to her busy official commitments. But she made an exception and accepted the invitation from a local school for school day celebrations as she was longing to meet the children for a long time. On the school day, after hoisting the school flag Anita was to preside over a cultural show. The first program was a music competition. After the performance of some handicapped boys, one blind student by name Raju sang as the last singer.  His voice was unique and melodious. His rendering a classical melody touched the hearts of many in the crowd. Anita was no exception. She was touched by his excellent performance. When the judges of the competition declared him as the winner of the first prize, Anita was excited as, according to her, he deserved that prize for his performance.

        

      After presenting  the prize to him.  she was enquiring details about his parents from the principal. He said “Raju was an orphan picked by him and his wife from a railway compartment twenty years ago. Right from his childhood, he was blind because, during pregnancy, his mother had serious health problems like depression, lack of medical care and undernourishment. All treatments to get Raju’s eyesight proved futile. As we were childless, we considered him a gift given to us by God. Only last year my wife died in heart attack”. On hearing this Anita was emotionally shattered. After a wait of two decades, she was fortunate to see him and heard his melodious voice, but conversely he could not even see and recognize her.

             

         Tears rolled from her eyes. Her guilty conscience tormented her. As she preferred her own single status to become famous and wealthy, that impelled in her leaving him,  instead of caring him as a mother.  She offered an initial check for one lakh rupees to take care of his living and eye treatment expenses besides committing a sizable monthly amount in his favor.  After a moment of silence, the principal returned the check to Anita, whispering that he would prefer the check made in favor of the school and the new block would be named after Raju.  When Anita heard the reason for returning the check for the name to be changed, she felt a tremor under her feet and a heavy blow on her head. The principal’s whispered message was  Raju would live only for a month as he was undergoing treatment for a fourth stage cancer disease.  The impact of the shock turned into tears in her eyes that welled up and burst into uncontrolled sobs.  Anita was lost in the torrent of feelings as her joy of seeing him was to be short-lived .

                    

         The foul play by Akash marrying Christina had disturbed her immensely. Though Anita was jubilant in the unexpected meeting of Raju after a long spell, her joy was short-lived at Raju’s blindness. His ailment of serious cancer awaiting his end added to her desolation. She was ashamed of her earlier selfish attitude to be single in life without him for the sake of fame and wealth. She even considered him as a stigma for her career development. Now she repented  and realized that she was solely responsible for Raju’s present condition. She thanked God for giving at least the opportunity to see him and personally present the award to Raju after two decades.  She also realized that whatever the laurels and gains she had achieved in her career life, would not and never compensate for the huge loss as a mother in her personal life.

        

        After a review of her retrospection, Anita was more definite to live a different future life dealing with children, than the one filled with commitments in public life.  As a first step, she renounced her Minister portfolio in the government and became  a staff member in an orphanage for handicaps. She bequeathed all her movable and immovable properties to orphanages and donated a large sum to Raju’s school new building fund to be named after him. She realized that the real happiness was quite different from inner peace and spiritual calmness. Anita found solace and mental peace in being with the children.

ART BY P.KRISHNAMOORTHY

"A life on the ocean wave

A home on the rolling deep

Where the scattered waters rave

And the winds their levels keep!............"

                                      - by Epes Sargent

Recollection and Reconciliation

P.Krishnamoorthy

By the time Asha reached the venue of the wedding reception on the lawns of Hotel Paradise in Delhi, invitees and relatives were there in large numbers. Grace and Jacob , the bridal couple  were on the podium in their adorable wedding costumes,  acknowledging  the guests’ gifts and greetings. While most of  the male attendees were in customary black suits and tuxedos,  the female folks were in formal attire as they  do not want to upstage the bridegroom and the bride. The ‘Ava Maria’  music played in instruments by the orchestra added cozy  ambiance for the occasion. Grace spotted Asha even at a distance. Grace’s  sparkling smile greeted her warmly as they were meeting after a long break  of five years since their college days.  Hurriedly Asha  reached the podium and the hug Grace gave her was reminding of her last day’s hug in the college. This emotional meeting made her feel the warmth of their old personal and intimate friendship. When she introduced Jacob to her,  Asha  congratulated both for  their married life. For a moment Asha envied her to have the most handsome Jacob to be partnered for her life time. 

There was a sudden and surprise interruption by Mathew, Grace’s elder brother. As other guests were waiting to greet the wedded couple, Asha moved to a side and  Mathew followed her. They were looking at each other for a while and their eyes exchanged their old memories in silent lingo. Asha could see tears in his eyes waiting to fall as a reflection of his guilty conscience which he discreetly wiped them with his fingers. To conceal her reactive feelings, Asha bowed her head to avoid his disappointed apologetic looks. Curiosity compelled her to know whether he was now married, and if so who was that lucky lady? A cute five-year girl dressed in white attire suddenly came, calling him ‘Papa Papa! Mummy wanted to give this to you” and gave his cell phone. Asha’s  question was answered with the girl’s entry, but still leaving the suspense as to who was the lucky one.   

Grace and Asha  were close friends in the college. During her first visit to her home, Mathew was introduced to her. He was very smart and handsome. He always appeared meticulously dressed to kill in his various costumes. His dress sense appealed to her indelibly and, with the days pass by, she became his  passionate admirer. His gentle manners combined with a positive profile made her obsessive towards him. That bloomed to a close togetherness between them. Mathew also reciprocally loved her.  In one of their meets, he openly proposed his love to her. She knew she would have tough time to convince her home for the marriage with him as she belonged to an orthodox traditional hindu family. But her happiness was short-lived as, in one of their meets, Mathew gave her the startling news of his moving to U.S for higher studies.   

Back home, Asha’s  mother was laid up with critical final stage of cancer sickness. She wanted Asha’s wedding to be celebrated before her end. There was also no news from Mathew for a long time.  Grace had moved to Delhi with her parents  on transfer. There was no way for her  to contact Mathew. Having reconciled to reality, finally Asha  became the wife of Satish, her mother’s distant relative. Satish also was a smart guy with a polished personality and gentle manners. He was well placed in a multi-national corporation in Bangalore. He was a go-getter with anybody.  Their horescopes were also compatible in all respects. As the days rolled by,Asha  had no problem to reconcile to the fact that one should compromise with what one gets, instead  with what  one aspired. 

After five years she got the wedding invitation from her  old friend Grace. She knew  that Mathew definitely would be there in his sister’s wedding where she could meet him. It was an unwritten law that the first love always carry its reminiscence for life time. At the reception, though she felt complacent on revisiting those happy memories with him, she also felt guilty on her revisit. On a second thought she realized when her first love affair was a closed chapter,  even to think of it now, was doing injustice to the present life with Satish. This led her to another stage of guilt  where she felt of not divulging her earlier love affair to Satish either before the marriage or after anytime in past five years. Having known Satish, she was sure he would not mistake her for this ghastly lapse.

Satish was in Mumbai on company business for a week. Asha decided to put an end to her mental agony on her earlier  love, by confessing to Satish on his return. She would apologise to him for holding it all these years. In spite of her rehearsals she was confused as to how to start the conversation with Satish when he arrives. On his return to her surprise, she found Satish was in a depressed mood. Satish was even evasive for an answer for her various queries.  Finally on her persuasion, he had to spill out the beans to her. 

The guilty conscience of Satish made him to divulge the cause for his distress as he was embarrased to confess to her about his earlier love affair. Before his marriage he was in love with Sheila, his college mate. Both the families agreed to their proposal and the  engagement was fixed. On the previous day of the engagement, one of his  father’s relatives, a leading astrologer, advised to cancel the engagement function.  According to him after his study of their horescopes, they were not compatible in many  respects. The  positioning of  the planets and their movements were such, the couple would be childless for ever. After extensive deliberations among family members and also on a second opinion, his engagement with Sheila was finally called off.  Still  Satish was not fully convinced on astrological predictions as his love with Sheila overpowered such planetary predictions.  

Satish, while attending a dinner in the residence of Sushil, his Mumbai colleague, to his surprise he was introduced to Sheila as Sushil’s wife. Sheila  was also shocked to see Satish after five years. Both were trying to recollect their happy old memories even during that short rendezvous. Sushil was busy attending a  telephone call inside. Their invisible exchange was disturbed with the entry of a five year old boy. His features and color were not resembling either of Sushil or Sheila. As Satish was puzzled over this, she was in tears and  confirmed they adopted him due to her gynecological deficiency in child bearing. By her confession Satish was convinced on the astroleger’s planetary prediction in her horescope on the eve of his engagement with Sheila.  

Satish apologized for not divulging that to Asha before or after  their marriage. Now Asha could see Satish’s relief from his guilty conscience. Asha seized that opportune moment and revealed her ‘untold’ story to him.  Noticing his smile at her narration, Asha tantingly said that their quid pro quo deal of exchanging their secrets was over. When Satish was casually enquiring on the effects of Asha’s planetary predictions, the calling bell sounded a visitor at the entrance.  Asha opened it to see her friend Dr. Sylvia,  gynecologist was there. On her way home, she wanted to  inform them the very good news that the medical test reports were positive. 

When even a happily married couple happen to meet their earlier lovers after a long break by accident or circumstantial conspiracy, their subconscious minds would again revive their buried bygone memories  of romantic relationship. This would manifest into greater proportions to seek redemption  from  their  concealed  guilty feelings. Love would happen only once, and the second time would always be a compromise made to forget the first.

Recollection and reconciliation unquestionably play a vital role in our life journey. 

The Executioner of the 
'ceremonial murder'
-P.Krishnamoorthy 

(The backdrop for this story dates before 1986 when hanging was the official      method used to carry out death sentences in the State of Delaware)

The dawn was customary in Greenville, Delaware.  William Thomas got up early from bed after a disturbed night of sleep. He was brooding over a communication received from the James T Vaughan Correction Centre; he was scheduled to carry out a hanging sentence on a day and time during the next week. He was upset because the scheduled day happened to be an important day in his life – his birthday, wedding day, and his retirement day – all falling on the same day. He would retire from service as an experienced hangman, having more than two hundred hangings to his ‘credit’ during the past three decades. Though he joined the Correctional facility as a warden, he opted for hangman’s cadre for the sake of higher pay.   As a young man, initially he did not mind the concept of killing somebody if it was ordered by the Justice department.

After his marriage, his wife encouraged him to attend church services regularly. The church environment, prayers and its basic divine principle -not to harm anybody- held tremendous appeal. He became extremely dissatisfied with handling the killing machine and consistently toyed with the idea of joining any other profession. However, his resume reflected his position as ‘Executioner’ thereby disqualifying him in all his attempts for improvement. Hangman or executioner, he was shunned as a disgraceful human being even by the neighbours. Thomas had read extensively about the Executioner’s job - once hereditary for generations - and the notable dynasty was the Pierrepoints in Britain. During that period, the job was respected by a section of society. He had also read other comments about the hangman’s job as ‘ridiculously illogical’ - hangmen, in carrying out judicial orders, were incapable of analyzing whether it was  morally right or wrong, and by some favouring factions, it was equal to a soldier killing the enemy to save and serve the motherland.

Initially, hangmen were bound to have remorse or any other emotional feelings, but in the long run they got used to the ‘killing’ by carrying out similar assignments. They would have difficulty assimilating the experience in their personal lives … and the suggestion to agree with what you do, and depersonalize as soldiers do. Soldiers kill "enemies" with a sense of duty but a hangman has no choice in selecting them. The man who pulled the lever to cause death had to be an impassive man and that impassiveness was the bedrock principle of justice. Possibly, he controls his emotions within the boundaries of his personal feelings.  One critic had recorded that the victim in hanging ‘sees death in front of him’. Thomas did not agree with such chronicles. He was now against the concept of planned ‘killing’ of one human by another under the shelter of judicial authority.

To make ends meet in the household budget, he continued his service against his will. His divine faith helped him to have a strong mind to accept the inevitable, and compelled him to make a ‘confession’ in a church nearby after completion of every hanging. Though Judicial authority was there to protect him for every hanging, he continued doing so with a heavy heart and guilty conscience. On completing his assignment, he would wash his sinful hands and cry briefly to alleviate depression. Whenever he received a communication for such an assignment, mental agony haunted him. It was difficult to conceal his feelings of remorse from his family… thus making him a ‘dual personality’.  He longed for retirement which would relieve him from the shackles of committing more sins, and he fervently prayed that before retirement he would not be scheduled for another assignment. 

The latest communication he received from the correctional facility had shattered his hope for an assignment-free retirement day. He tried to cancel the assignment. However, the request was refused because it was impossible to find an alternate for him on that day.  Left with no other choice he had to be in the correction facility at the time and date scheduled. As he prepared for the tragic event that would include checking the gallows, the lever, the rope and the noose, he was briefed that one Michael Smith of Wilmington would be the convict facing the death penalty. Smith had murdered a family of four in a gruesome way five years ago in Wilmington. His many ‘mercy’ appeals failed at all levels.  Smith had attended classes in Williston Middle School in Wilmington. Thomas interrupted reading the brief as he suddenly remembered someone with the same name who was associated with him some years prior.

A stroll down his memory lane vividly brought recollections of association with Smith who   had attended middle school education with him. Smith was an accredited basketball player. In all the inter-school tournaments Smith played so well that he successively brought laurels to Williston Middle School. After a love failure with Susan, his classmate, he became paranoid and dropped out of school. Later he joined a notorious street gang in Wilmington. Thomas had moved out from Wilmington and there was no further contact with him.  On recollection after so many years, he suddenly became very sulky and gloomy.

The new task of ‘killing’ his old friend and schoolmate was repulsive to him, and overshadowed his earlier regret to carry out an assignment on such an important day for him. He became very emotional at the thought, and his eyes filled with tears.  Unable to find a way to escape the predicament, he cursed fate that created such a scenario. Left with no other choice, he ardently offered prayers to God to show him a way to escape.By that time the officials and the doctor had gathered to witness the hanging.  After the doctor checked Smith’s physical and mental condition as fit, Smith’s head was covered with a black hood and led to the gallows. Like a silent spectator, the perplexed Thomas was waiting on the platform with the noose. Be that as it may, even at that time Thomas relied on his hope of not carrying out the deed. As Smith stepped on the platform, he suddenly felt uneasy and collapsed instantly.  Indeed, Thomas was shocked at Smith’s sudden behavior. The doctor rushed to the scene and examined Smith. He confirmed that he had suffered a massive cardiac arrest and died.

In moments in the cycle of life changes occur. Like lightning a ray of glee suddenly appeared on Thomas’ face. He was relieved from the guilt of killing his friend. And Smith, by his death, indirectly fulfilled the wish of Thomas avoiding an assignment on his date of birth. He was doubly happy that there would be no such assignments in the future. He would retire from service that day. Amidst unforeseen developments, Smith’s death penalty was still carried out as scheduled, not through the judicial process of hanging, but by destiny’s dictum of  death by way of a heart attack.

Courtesy:  Juxtapost.com

   

”The Twins”  in Abstract Art  -

 By P.Krishnamoorthy

ART BY P.KRISHNAMOORTHY

"Its vibrant feathers, its sparkling tail

Its iridescent beauty, in mystic detail

Choicest colours, glossed into one

Its elegant crest, never fails to stun.

When it rains, its astounding dance

Will leave you awestruck, even at a glance.

The prettiest bird, that comes to your mind

Vibrance and beauty, both combined.

Yes, it’s peacock, god’s own masterpiece

Whose marvellous charms, never will cease".

(POEM BY Ms.MahimaMisra)

Mohana Raga

P.  Krishnamoorthy

Sahana was amazed at the imposing and impressive mansion of her uncle with the name board T.K.Gopal glittering in golden letters.The security at the entrance enquired her as to whom she would like to see and she replied that she wanted  to see her uncle TKG. A female voice from the balcony ordered him to allow them inside. TKG’s wife Rukmani warmly welcomed Sahana. After she introduced herself with her name, she said “I am the daughter of Sarma of Kumbakonam (a temple city in South India) brother of TKG. Being a singer in classical music I wanted to become a disciple of  TKG to learn improvisations in classical music”. “TKG  had gone out of town and return only in the evening” replied Rukmani.. Sahana was prepared to wait till he returns.

Sahana saw the Pooja room adjoining the living room. It looked like a mini temple with many divine idols and portraits. On seeing them, her divine instinct made her to sing. Rukmani, who was hearing her melodious singing from the kitchen, came out and stood in a corner to continue listening to her music. Sahana was singing the  carnatic song “Mohana Rama”  by Saint Tyagaraja in Mohana Ragam. Rukhmani was engrossed  herself in that  melodious voice  combined with clarity and reflective divinity. When she finished, Rukmani complimented her profusely for her voice and added that this was also the uncle’s favorite Raga. After their lunch Sahana had a short nap in the next room.

It was five in the evening when TKG’s car entered the mansion.  Rukmani opened the entrance door . On seeing a suit case in the living room, he asked his wife as to who had come.  Rukmani hesitatingly replied that his brother’s daughter Sahana had come from Kumbakonam.  TKG was not happy with her visit as he was not in good terms with his brother for a long time due to family feuds.  He was   questioning the purpose of her trip. “If they need some monetary help, they could send a letter, instead of sending his daughter”. Rukmani said that Sahana had come to become  your disciple for improving her  knowledge in classical  music.. TKG queried his wife as to why she should plead for her so strongly when she knew about his decision of not taking anybody as a disciple.  She appealed to make an exception for Sahana as she had a very melodious  voice that was evidenced by her singing “Mohana Rama” song before the Pooja room. Yet TKG reiterated his stand on his earlier decision.

Rukhmani was his second wife after the death of first wife, Susheela. Rukmani  was in tears and claimed that she had never asked any favor from him.  Lamentably she was not also able to conceive a child as he wanted, and living with that guilt everyday. By God’s grace, though she got everything in life with TKG, she was missing the sacred motherhood to end her loneliness. The option to adopt some child from an orphanage, also was not acceptable to TKG. She was appealing to take Sahana only as a deciple in music and she would prove as an asset  to him thru her voice in the long run. TKG was deeply  moved at the unprecdented sentimental pleading of  his wife. As no other option left to him except to concede to his wife’s desire, he finally agreed to take Sahana as a disciple for music. Rukmani was jubilant and immensely happy on hearing TKG’s consent for her request.

Sahana also heard TKG’s consent as she came out from the room. She touched  her uncle’s feet for his blessings and thanked him for his generosity to accept her as a disciple.   TKG in turn, blessed her and, after enquiring the welfares of his brother, he wanted to know under whom Sahana was learning music in her place. She replied that she was taking lessons from  one Vasudeva Sharma, an elderly teacher who passed away only last week due to heart attack. TKG was interested in her present level of musical knowledge. She replied that she had come upto “Keerthana” (songs in  praise of God) level  and well versed in singing in all “Ragas” (musical framework). TKG’s evaluation then shifted to her depth of knowledge on the definition of music. According to her, classical music was to  consciously assimilate and feel the divinity with prayers in the only  language of musical form. He followed with a query on ‘swara’(dimension of musical pitch) difference between kalyani raga and mohanam. She gave the right answer. Finally he wanted her to sing in raga  ‘shanmugapriya’ and she did with the song “Saravanabhava Ennum”. TKG complimented  her singing that song and also her knowledge of music. He wanted to start her first lesson on the auspicious  ‘Saraswathi Pooja’ day. He also confirmed that her stay and other requirements would be taken care of by her aunt. As he went  inside his room,  Sahana’s affectionately calling him as ‘uncle’ again and again was reverberating in his ears. He was imagining  if her late daughter would have been alive now, she must be Sahana’s age  and loving called   him as ‘dad’. While he was get consoled with her loss, he could not endure his yearning for her. With these bitter feelings and tears in his eyes, he closed the doors.

Old memories tormented him. A recollection of them made him to recall his married life twenty years ago when he held the hand of Susheela in the wedding bond. As he was very fond of children, he desired to have one within a short time but Susheela was able to conceive only after two years.  He was excited on that belated news. But fate had a different agenda and Sushila died due to complications in delivery. Misfortune chased TKG miserably. The child also died after few hours of birth. Successive tragedies made TKG traumatized. Since then TKG lived a life in depression and desolation.

 

TKG’s friends and colleagues in  music world insisted TKG to get married again at least for the sake of a child. TKG was convinced and agreed for the proposal. He got married to Rukmani, the ‘tanpura’ player in his group. As per the old adage  “misfortune never comes in single but in battalions” was applicable in TKG ‘s life.  TKG was eagerly awaiting the news of  the new addition in the family; but only years passed and  Rukmani did not  conceive.  On medical check up it was found that due to infertility problem she would not be able to conceive for ever, TKG  was again disappointed and devastated.   Rukmani was shattered and tried  to commit suicide by taking excessive sleeping tablets. TKG was able to save her in time  by stopping her from sleeping. With that he was apprehensive of losing Rukmani also if TKG openly revealed his desire for a child.

 

On the Saraswathi Pooja day, Sahana  decorated the Pooja room with all flower garlands in bright colors. Sahana and Rukmani mutually were very happy in each other’s company and relationship. Before starting the music lessons, both asked her to sing a song on Goddess Saraswathi. She sang the song ‘Devi Jaga Janani’. When finished they praised her singing and blessed her with a new saree. The first lesson TKG said that music was the bed rock of divinity in life. He elucidated with examples ‘Swaras’ were the parameters of ‘Keerthana’. TKG was advocating that the classical music provided mental peace in daily life. Sahana felt her uncle’s teachings gave her more valuable lessons for life. Finally at his request she sang another Saint Tyagaraja’s composition “Samaja varagamanba’. TKG commended that she was singing the difficult high notes  flawlessly, because of her unique melodious voice that was a God’s gift to her. Time rolled by and Sahana was very happy with her present life.  It was around five in the evening on one day when the office-bearers from ‘Kalaivani Gana Sabha’came to invite TKG for their tenth anniversary celebrations and also seek consent for his concert on that day. TKG  accepted the invitation and agreed to give a concert.  He also indicated that Sahana would also be there with him.

 

The hall was filled with full compliment of invitees. As scheduled TKG came to the dais with his accompanying artists. The Secretary welcomed TKG and the gathering and honored him with a silk shawl. . He started with Tyagaraja’s composition of “Raghu Nayaka”. The entire auditorium was echoed with applause. Following this, he sang in ‘Devgandhari’ and another in ‘Kalyani’ ragas. The reactive applause from the audiance was thunderous. As desired by them, when TKG sang the song “Evaru Ninu Vina’  in Mohana raga, their  reaction  and excitement were extraordinary and TKG himself was surprised at their enthusiasm. When singing the ‘Keerthana’, TKG was trying to reach the high note, he felt uneasy and could not continue his singing.  He suddenly leaned on  the ‘tabela’ artist. Witnessing this, Sahana, to avoid any interruption, she continued where he left, and there was huge applause, At the request of the audience Sahana’s performance on the next two ‘Keerthanas’ were also well received. TKG came to normal after a brief rest. With folded hands at Sahana, he thanked her for the timely help in finishing the song.  Sahana was  emotional when her uncle, with tears in his eyes, expressed his gratitude with folded hands.

 

After the concert TKG in sobbing tone appealed to the audience to forgive him for the sudden break for reasons unknown to him. He was also thankful for their admiration to Sahana who completed the performance. Further   TKG was asking audience’s approval to decide Sahana, his brother’s daughter as his successor to continue the service to classical music. When they hailed his decision.  TKG immediately reassigned the shawl given to him to Sahana. Sahana felt the happenings as if they happened in a dream. She was confused as how far she was qualified for such a high recognition. Classical music was  like an ocean and what she had learnt so far was a drop in that ocean. She touched TKG’s feet and paid her respects to him. In turn he blessed her with all success in her future endeavors.  He would ask his brother’s consent to adopt Sahana as his successor. 

 

When the audience reacted positively to his proposal, suddenly one gentleman from the last row,  shouted that TKG could not adopt Sahana. There was silence in the auditorium and all eyes turned towards him. TKG felt somebody had an objection to his proposal. Both TKG and Sahana were anxiously looking at an aged man with beard and gray hair, walking towards podium. TKG recognized the man as his elder brother Sarma. When Sahana saw him she immediately questioned him as how he was in the concert. TKG was asking him as to when he came to that place. He also sought his consent to adopt his daughter Sahana as his successor for her good future.

 

Since he heard that his daughter was singing her first concert, he came to listen her singing. He repeated and asserted his objection to TKG’s adopting her. Though Sahana was with him for the last twenty years, he was not able to give consent for  adoption, simply for the reason she was not his own daughter. Though in the same twenty years she was not living with TKG, how could he adopt his own daughter?. TKG was puzzled at his statement. He was revisiting those incidents twenty years ago, when his wife died during delivery. The child also died few hours later. How could that child be alive now as Sahana? Sarma interrupted his thoughts and resolved the riddle.    

 

Sarma clarified the incidents:

 

Twenty years ago when TKG’s wife Sushila, and Sarma’s wife Ambujam, had labor pains at the same time, they were admitted in the same hospital for delivery. Unfortunately Sushila died during delivery. Ambujam’s baby also died few hours later. As Ambujam was yearning for a child, she would not take her baby’s death easily and become hysterical. So he managed to switch Sushila’s baby to Ambujam. After few years, Ambujam died in cancer. With a heavy heart and guilty conscience he was living with that guilt all along. From now on he would be relieved from that guilt with Sahana joining her father. TKG’s eyes were full of tears as the riddle had been resolved.  

 

Sahana was more excited with the two recognitions, one of successor to TKG in music and the other joining her father. But she valued the latter one as it was by the grace of God.