Lent Lesson 1 : ATTENTIVENESS

Jevin pinched himself hard. He was slowly drifting to sleep.  He did not want that to happen. The speaker was a very distinguished person who explained many problems we may have to face in daily life and ways to resolve them with the help of short stories.

He was very wise but not a good deliverer of thoughts. The speaker's monotonous drone made everyone sleep. The speaker glanced across the audience. Only one was writing feverishly while others were minding their business.

Jevin had sworn to be attentive in his work to himself. He started writing whatever he heard in jist to prevent sleepiness. He turned to see his colleagues.  They were so immersed in their own activities.  Some were listening to  music and some were chatting. Everyone was bored because nobody could connect to Internet in the hall.

Finally it got over. Everyone was ushered to the refreshment hall. The organizer had promised a free WiFi connection in the rest area. Everyone fell upon other in a rush to reach the hall.

Once they were in the hall,  they detected the connection but could not connect to it as it was password protected. They contacted the organizer. He replied, " Oh the connection had actually been set by the speakers company.  Please contact them for the password."

They desperately searched for the relevant people and asked them for the password. "Oh.  We forgot to give you the password. Sorry.  It's the name of the protagonist in the second story as narrated by our chief."

Everyone was speechless. Only Jevin could connect to the world that day.
Whatever someone says may help in any time of our life. Learn to be attentive in whatever we do.

The Picture

"So this is it huh?"
Her eyes widened at the voice of Ranveer singh. It was the advertisement for VIVO V5 mobile phone. Her favorite.  She usually increased the volume and sat glued to the TV set till it gets over.

He did not mind anything she does but this one irritated him badly . Her lack of attention on anything till the ad gets over drove him mad. He asked her about it.

"Do you remember our first date. We both took turns and clicked each other's pic on my mobile. I literally got smitten by you.  Though I never asked I badly wanted to have a pic of us together.  So when I went back home I edited our pics as one together on an app and used to stare at it for hours together.

I just watch this ad for the last line. It goes like this.  I pictured us together. I recall the good old times and feel immensely happy.  "

He felt too emotional and hugged her close to his heart. She came out of the coziness and looked at him and said," Also Ranveer is hot in the ad. "

They both laughed like never before.

Episode 11

Thondaiman's shrieks and commands were clearly heard by him. He was shouting aloud and asking soldiers to bring a cot to carry him outside. He was giving orders to find what he made him to reach the ultimate decision -  suicide.

He smiled to himself. "Let Thondaiman try his best.He will never live to find out a solution." The pain he experienced while passing the dagger across his chest suddenly started reducing. "Maybe death is too close" He thought.

As he looked down,  he saw the wound in the chest completely healed.  He felt like never before. He felt stronger. He was utterly confused.  He did not stir. He was deep in thoughts. Suddenly it hit him hard.

"But how?" He thought.  "I never drank it. "

This memory felt fresh. After he finished mixing the potion in the Kings soup,  he was about to leave the galley when he felt a fit of cough.  Hearing this the bodyguards of the king and the crown Prince came running and offered him a drink.

Little did he know then that it was the same fateful soup he mixed the potion with.

"I have to do something.  I cannot live like this. "His eyes could not control the tears. It was rolling everywhere from his eyes to his long beard.

" The King. He is the only solution. I have to find him now. "

He blinked back his tears. He saw that there was no one except a couple of soldiers at the entrance of the room. Seizing the opportunity he fled from the palace without alerting a soul.

PRESENT DAY

Kandasamy ran back to Raj's house to tell him what he heard just now.  Maybe the police can get a clue about Srinivasan's murder. Also he felt his life was in danger.  He wanted to get the culprit punished soon.

On reaching,  he was disappointed to see not much of policemen.  Only a couple of them were left behind and they did not seem much important to him. He decided to go to Raj and tell him to contact the chief officers to take immediate action.

There was Noone in the ground floor. He was calling Raj and made his way up the stairs by himself when he heard a big sobbing noise. He peeped in the room from where it was heard.

An old man was sitting on the corner of the bed and was crying his heart out. Kandasamy felt pity. He went to him and touched his shoulder. Suddenly the old man gripped his neck with an extraordinary force and began to choke him.

"who are you.? What are you trying to do here? " The old man began to shout.

" Stop. He is the one who can identify Vinoth. We need him. Don't do anything stupid. "As Raj came in and stopped him,  the old man controlled his fury and sank back on the bed.

Kandasamy lay frozen.  He wanted to run from this place as soon as he can.

" I don't know how many more death should I see.? " The old man was blabbering as he cried.

" It was your fault from the beginning. Now you have taken my father's breath away too.  Be happy with the reward revenge has given you"
Raj shouted back and threw a vase at the old man.

He had a deep cut and blood started to ooze. Kandasamy felt bad and rushed to the old man. As he turned to the nearest table for a piece of cotton to wipe the wound and returned back, the wound was nowhere to be seen. It had healed back.

Kandasamy shrieked and fell back while Rajarajan continued to sob.

Episode 11

Thondaiman's shrieks and commands were clearly heard by him. He was shouting aloud and asking soldiers to bring a cot to carry him outside. He was giving orders to find what he made him to reach the ultimate decision -  suicide.

He smiled to himself. "Let Thondaiman try his best.He will never live to find out a solution." The pain he experienced while passing the dagger across his chest suddenly started reducing. "Maybe death is too close" He thought.

As he looked down,  he saw the wound in the chest completely healed.  He felt like never before. He felt stronger. He was utterly confused.  He did not stir. He was deep in thoughts. Suddenly it hit him hard.

"But how?" He thought.  "I never drank it. "

This memory felt fresh. After he finished mixing the potion in the Kings soup,  he was about to leave the galley when he felt a fit of cough.  Hearing this the bodyguards of the king and the crown Prince came running and offered him a drink.

Little did he know then that it was the same fateful soup he mixed the potion with.

"I have to do something.  I cannot live like this. "His eyes could not control the tears. It was rolling everywhere from his eyes to his long beard.

" The King. He is the only solution. I have to find him now. "

He blinked back his tears. He saw that there was no one except a couple of soldiers at the entrance of the room. Seizing the opportunity he fled from the palace without alerting a soul.

PRESENT DAY

Kandasamy ran back to Raj's house to tell him what he heard just now.  Maybe the police can get a clue about Srinivasan's murder. Also he felt his life was in danger.  He wanted to get the culprit punished soon.

On reaching,  he was disappointed to see not much of policemen.  Only a couple of them were left behind and they did not seem much important to him. He decided to go to Raj and tell him to contact the chief officers to take immediate action.

There was Noone in the ground floor. He was calling Raj and made his way up the stairs by himself when he heard a big sobbing noise. He peeped in the room from where it was heard.

An old man was sitting on the corner of the bed and was crying his heart out. Kandasamy felt pity. He went to him and touched his shoulder. Suddenly the old man gripped his neck with an extraordinary force and began to choke him.

"who are you.? What are you trying to do here? " The old man began to shout.

" Stop. He is the one who can identify Vinoth. We need him. Don't do anything stupid. "As Raj came in and stopped him,  the old man controlled his fury and sank back on the bed.

Kandasamy lay frozen.  He wanted to run from this place as soon as he can.

" I don't know how many more death should I see.? " The old man was blabbering as he cried.

" It was your fault from the beginning. Now you have taken my father's breath away too.  Be happy with the reward revenge has given you"
Raj shouted back and threw a vase at the old man.

He had a deep cut and blood started to ooze. Kandasamy felt bad and rushed to the old man. As he turned to the nearest table for a piece of cotton to wipe the wound and returned back, the wound was nowhere to be seen. It had healed back.

Kandasamy shrieked and fell back while Rajarajan continued to sob.

The Cleanest Tile

"Your bathroom is very clean. The white tiles simply bears our reflection. It is nice. "
This was the usual compliment for their restroom.
She was explaining for the umpteenth time to the visitor that he was obsessed with the white tiles in the bathroom and always spends all of his free time cleaning it.

The visitor today was their very close family friend. She took leave to make coffee. As she left,  his friend asked him, "Why do you trouble yourself in this age? Now that you are retired,  you should spend time in things that you enjoy doing. Don't indulge in these household works."

He calmly smiled and replied, " See, she has very bad case of urinary infection and she needs the restroom to be clean. But she won't allow me to do the dirty work.In the pretext of my obsession over the tile,  I clean the bathroom whenever I can. Don't tell her this."

As the 65 year old was giving this sweet explanation, his 60 year old spouse wiped a silent tear that gushed suddenly hearing all this, before bringing in the coffee. 

The Dashing lesson

She loved going for long drives with him. He was ever busy and whenever he could spare time they went for long drives.  He was always in control but he loved driving fast.

Also when someone drives not minding the rules he never misses to give them a piece of his mind. She always fears he may get into a fight and will always tell him to be more patient. He seldom listened.

They were on a outing to an amusement park.  The park was very less crowded and almost deserted as it was a working day. They were on the Dashing car ride. It was literally empty except for them.

He asked her to ride one of the cars and he was on another. They started merrily.  He came on dashing car but she preferred to elude him than to dash him. Each time he came to dash her he closed her eyes tightly.

He could not handle the pain seeing the fear in her eyes.  As they stepped out of the park into the car he swore to be more patient.
He looked into her eyes which seemed to twinkle knowing it will never see fear again. 

Valentine vows

She woke up and did the first thing she ever does everyday. Checked her mobile. No messages. She went to facebook for a quick browse. All red and cuddly.

She checked for the date at the top panel in her phone. It showed February 14. Valentine's day. He seemed to have forgotten.

She went on her usual chores and it was a perfect usual day but the festiveness amiss.  She knew their love is so bonded to confine to one day to celebrate but she badly wanted him to atleast wish her.

She felt low and started to write a blog. VALENTINE DAY WOES.

She was about to complete and publish at the end of the day when she received a message.

"Happy Valentine's day baby. "

A wide grin on her face was immediately replaced by shock as he came behind her and hugged her.

There was a big bunch of her favorite chocolates.

" Why didn't you remind me of this day? You know how forgetful I am because of my work. There was not a single shop open when I turned in late today. You have to adjust with these for today and wait till tomorrow to get your gift. "

As she deleted the post she wrote and replaced the title as
VALENTINE DAY VOWS
She swore that was the sweetest chocolate she ever had.

The lost message

He was always so busy. His job required him to travel a lot and had little time for everything else. She understood his concerns but always wanted to spend whatever time he spared.

She thought of the world of him but never shared it with him. She was always waiting for the right time.  One day when she was casually going through her WhatsApp contacts,  he was online.

She was deciding whether to share her heart with him now when she saw his status change to 'Typing'. She gets butterflies in her stomach.  They were chatting on general terms when she suddenly overcame her fear and typed her heart out conveying her love for him.

But her mobile battery ran out at the exact moment and it gets switched off.  She gets mad literally and runs to put it on charger when she trips and the phone breaks.

He calls her on landline and asks casually about her phone the next day. Since it was his usual tone she concludes the message is lost.  He offers to take her to the service center to get her mobile repaired.

On the way she asks him for his phone to call her parents back home.  She decides to check WhatsApp for her chathead to see if he has received the message.

There were more than 50 active chatheads. She goes to the contacts to search her name. It is not there. As she blinks at him he comes to her and says,
"If you are searching for your number it is saved by the name 'My gal' "

She never had to worry about the lost message ever. 

Episode 10

King Ravi Varma and Thondaiman was about to eat when they were interrupted by a soldier announcing the arrival of Kabilan,  the chief of the spy force.  They immediately left the food and went out of have a private chat.

"You know something.  I feel so tired nowadays and not able to concentrate on anything solid. " Meenakshi was telling her 27 year  old adopted Selvan. Though very few years elder to him,  he considered her mother from the bottom of his heart.

" Don't worry about it mother.  Now that Rajarajan has returned to the palace we will ask him to have a look at you.  You will be better in a jiffy. " He replied.

" To tell you the truth I feel pregnant again.  I only hope I don't lose this baby too on birth. "

Selvan went speechless with joy. " Mother if this is true,  I would do anything to keep the baby safe.  Don't worry.  Everything will be alright.  You have your food now.  They may not return soon as Kabilan will have lots to share usually. "

She insisted on him to eat with her and they started with the tomato soup.  When it was poured,  Selvan drank it in a gulp as he felt too hungry and he reached out to pour more in his goblet.

Meenakshi who got up to help him to pour suddenly fainted toppling the table and emptying all the contents on it. Selva dropped his goblet and rushed to help her.

"Selva give me the cycle now.  It's my turn now. "

Vinoth who was lurking in the bushes to avoid Kandasamy heard the voices of two kids in the street playing and turned back suddenly.  How long it may get he can never forget that he was christened Selvan at birth.

The Ring

He wanted to propose her. He was waiting for the right time to do it. He called her on a date. They visited an amusement park. They had the time of their lives enjoying all rides. It was a working day and the park was literally empty. They were given special care everywhere.

They finally reached a stall where they were hosting a game of attempting to throw a ball inside a loop. He offered to try. He was not able to do it for a couple of tries.
He started trying with real vigor now that she started getting tensed. At last he did it. She hugged him in an adrenaline rush. She immediately realized and let him go. He was given a small Keychain as a reward.

He immediately went on his knees and proposed her with the Keychain as a ring. She asked,”why now suddenly?, “

“Why not now? “ He replied.

“ I would have dressed up well. “ She replied with a huge blush.

The Keychain served as the model for their wedding rings. 

Hot eyes and a cool blush

“You always have your eyes closed in all the pics. Why can't you open for eyes for a couple of minutes till the picture is taken?” Her friends chided her after browsing all the pics taken at the outing.
She always does that and couldnt help it. She was sad that her pic didn't turn out well. He came to her rescue. “ See you need not be so cautious. Look at my eyes for a couple of minutes. You will get used to it and not blink when I take your picture. Is it fine? “ He offered.
She sat opposite to him and both stared continuosly for more than the stimulated ‘couple of minutes’. “Hey what are you both doing”.
A friend’s voice brought them to their senses. He took her pic and they started browsing all the pictures together. He complained his eyes of being very small.
“Thank God your eyes are small. They are already so sharp and hot and makes me blush like never before. If it's even bigger I won't know how to handle.” She said all this in a hurry and left him thinking.
She always wakes up looking at those eyes all her life. 

The unwanted app

"These are the tasks to complete today.   We should prioritize and complete it ASAP." He was planning his daily work with her at the cafeteria. As usual she recorded all he said.

He was initially annoyed but got used to it later.  She insisted on recording all he says when they discuss something important. She said she may forget the details and made it a regular habit.

She left her place to get something from the counter leaving her mobile on the table. He absent mindedly opened her phone and started browsing. He went to the gallery to hear his records when he found nothing on it except the one she recorded now.

He saw that there was a separate personal folder and out of curiosity he opened it. There were so many recordings with his voice just saying her name.

She returned to the table.  He gave her phone back and asked her about it.  She seemed too blushed. She didn't respond immediately.

"I love to hear the sound of your voice. My name sounds so sweet when you say it. " She turned beet red.  He came closer to her and told her to delete the recording app and that she should no longer record his voice.

She was about to go in tears when he came close and held her hands and said," We are going to talk and talk and talk so much in our lifetime that no app will have the capability to store. The voice and the bearer are forever yours. "

His name became her surname very soon after that.