Stormy Visitor

It had been a wet Mumbai monsoon day but unlike the times before, Sion was not completely under water yet. However, reports of water logging around the city were coming in. Sri Ram travels was having a slow day. “Who in his right mind would want to travel in this weather?” I mused while alternating between watching the hands of a clock seemed to be paused at 5:30 and the rain pouring outside.

My reverie was broken with the door being opened.  In stepped in this completely wet foreigner, His wet clothes were sticking to his body. He gave me an apologetic smile, put down his umbrella near the door and walked towards my desk wiping his wet blond hair off his face.

“Hi, Can I get a seat on the 6 p.m. bus to Rameshwaram?” he asked.

“Sir, there is no 6 p.m. bus, Today’s bus to Rameshwaram has already left at 5:10” I replied conscious of my government schooled English.

“What!” He exclaimed and pulled out his iPhone and showed it to me saying “Look, your website says that there is a bus at 6p.m.”

I apologetically informed him “Sir, the site does not get updated regularly. It’s been almost a month since the timing was changed.”

“I can’t believe this. Is there any way for me to get to Rameshwaram today?”

“Sir, all buses for the day have left. We have a bus leaving tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.” I replied to him wondering why this foreigner would be so desperate to travel to Rameshwaram. The guy didn’t look like a typical tourist in any way.

“11a.m only?” he asked and I nodded in reply. Looking disappointed he started fiddling around with his iPhone. He then looked up at me and said “O.K, can I have the ticket for the bus that leaves tomorrow at 11 a.m.”

Glancing at the next day’s listing on my screen, I replied “Yes Sir, may I know your name, please?”

“Blake Lawson”

I blink at him unable to comprehend his name through his accent. He suppressed a smile and says “Blake, B.L.A.K.E. Lawson”

Entering his name I told him “Sir that would be Rs. 1400”

“Here take my card. I hope it’s a window seat.”

“Yes sir, it’s a window seat.” I replied while taking the card and swiping it. “The bus is new and you should have a comfortable trip.” I added while handing him the slip to be signed.

He smiled while returning the slip after signing it and inquired “I can board the bus from here itself, right?”

“Yes Sir, you can collect the boarding pass from the counter tomorrow. Please do try to come here by 10:45, we don’t keep the bus waiting for long.”

“Don’t worry! I will be here long before that, Thank-you” he said and took the ticket from me. Holding the door open as he was stepping out he looked back and asked me “Ma’am, May I know your name?”

“Chandini” I replied.

Two days later, in the afternoon of a yet another rain socked day. I answered the ringing office phone with the standard greeting like a trained parrot “Hello, Sri Ram travels, Chandini Speaking”.

“Hi Chandini, I hope you remember me, this is Blake. I booked a ticket from you a two days back.” came an accented voice from the other end.

“Yes Sir, you were going to Rameshwaram. Is there anything wrong?”

“I hope you can help me Chandini, I am in Rameshwaram and find myself in another dilemma. I need to travel to Tirupathi, but I am having trouble communicating with the people here. Could you please help me?” His voice was filled with desperation.

Once again I found myself wondering why this foreigner is doing a pilgrimage of the temple. I checked my computer and responded “Yes Sir, we do have buses from Rameshwaram to Triupathi. In fact, there is one leaving today evening at 3p.m. Do you want me to book it for you?”

“Yes please, Can you charge it to card?” he asked sounding relieved.

“Sorry Sir, I can’t do that. But I can save the seat. You can approach our local centre, pay the cash and take the ticket.”

“That’s really helpful, can you message me the address?” he said and gave me his mobile number. I messaged him the address from my cell phone.

Ping!! Rang my cells message tone. “Thanks for the help” said the message coming from Blake’s number. “You are welcome, it was no trouble. It’s my job” I replied back.

Thus started our chats on the phone. I asked him why he was on this pilgrimage and he told me his story about how he had been a high-flying career banker from New York. With the economic depression of 2008 the meaty days of corporate banking came to an end. The long hours he was forced to put in to secure his job affected his personal life. Until one day he found out that his wife had been cheating on him. Being childless the divorce was quick and fast. The failure of his marriage along with the added stress of his job Blake found himself questioning his entire lifestyle. Seeking to discover himself and purpose of life he quit his job and with the savings decided to travel. He came down to India because of the rich cultural and spiritual history of India had always fascinated him. He had already visited majority of temples in North India. That day he was in Mumbai after his visit to Osho Ashram in Pune. He was continuing his journey of self discovery by travelling through South India.

I kept in touch with him as he crisscrossed around South India visiting various temples. Jagannath temple, Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Meenakshi temple and many more some of whose names I had never even heard of. We were always connected, either through chat or through our calls. He kept me updated on his journey. In a way I was discovering India thorough him, He gave me more information on India than I ever had living here in the country. His stories excited me and I dreamed of leaving my job and travelling with him throughout India.

In turn, I told him about my current job, my financial troubles, how I had struggled to complete my education and find a decent job. Through our conversations, I found a person to share my thoughts and feelings with. I found myself getting attached to this stranger, who I still pictured as we had first met, Wet. He was always on my mind; my days started with his message and ended listening to his voice whilst sharing our experiences of the day. I found myself worrying about him, a stranger I had only met once. His stories and experience of travelling about the country enchanted me. The idea of a person finding himself by travelling across a unknown land sounded very adventurous to me, more so because he was doing it with no knowledge of the local language. I could not even begin to dream of doing something like that.

“Going to Shabrimala, Then off to Guruvayoor” came his message.

I had always wanted to visit Guruvayur. One of the most well know Krishna Temples in Kerala, my belief in the diety strengthened my fascination with this temple.

“I am so jealous, wish I too could visit Guruvayur” I replied while listening to Preeti recant her trip to Turkey over a coffee at CCD.

Preeti, my best friend, we couldn't be more apart. We were friends from kindergarten. But I was always envious of Preeti, her dresses, the way she carried herself, her confidence among guys and her go get it attitude. My mother used to work as an assistant for Preeti’s Mother. Sangeeta aunty, Preeti’s mom had sponsored a major part of my education.

My phone again, this time Preeti snatched the phone out of my hand. Blake had replied asking me to join him in Kerala. She saw the entire message chain. It didn’t take me long to update her about Blake, our conversations and our unusual relationship. Preeti was convinced that I had to go join Blake in Kerala. Initially I was reluctant, but she persuaded me. I had some savings accumulated and hadn’t taken leave in a while. I had never travelled so far from Mumbai nor had ever spent time alone with a guy. But I felt different with Blake. Further, this was an opportunity for me to create stories of my own.

It was pouring when the train entered Ernakulum station. Blake was standing on the platform waiting for me. His eyes lit up as he saw me get down. Walking up to me he immediately hugged me. It was awkward; this was the first time I was being hugged by a guy. Blake seemed to have lost some weight since that day he had entered drenched into my shop. The thought that I have always only seen him wet got a smile on my face.

We took a bus from Cochin to Guruvayoor. It felt so romantic; The rains, the road snaking through the canopy formed by the trees, It felt like a green paradise. At the end of a 3 hour bus ride, I found myself being gently awakened by him as the bus pulled into the bus stand.  I got up with a jerk; he smiled at me reassuringly and informed me that we had reached. I couldn’t believe that I slept with my head on his shoulder.

We checked ourselves into a hotel, 2 different rooms mind you after all I am still a good Indian girl. We had a delicious meal at a restaurant nearby. Memory of what we ate is fuzzy but I remember laughing hard at his many experiences in the country. We were getting odd looks from the locals; they might have been wondering what a dark skinned Indian is doing with this fair blonde foreigner.

Next day we visited the temple, after a long wait in the line we got darshan. To enter Blake had to wear ‘mundu’ without a shirt. Oh man! He looked so hot. When I mentioned that to him he blushed, making him look all the more gorgeous. We had previously decided that we would roam Kerala after visiting the temple and thus my weeklong vacation in Kerala started.

It was like a dream world, roaming a beautiful land with a handsome guy. The Kovollam Beach, Munnar, Thekady etc. I found myself roaming with my hand in his more often than not. The Indian in me felt guilty; romance and boy-friends was what I had seen in movies. I had never considered myself being in a relationship before marriage. From when I remember, I had always focused on studies aiming to get a job so some burden could be taken off my parents. I wonder what Appa would have thought seeing me roaming with a guy.

On the evening before my return to Mumbai we checked into a houseboat at Alleppey. The rains had let up on the day. The water was calm, we were sitting on the deck watching the stars when he leaned in and kissed me. It felt so right. I kissed him back; his hands were running all over me. He picked me up and took me into the boat.

Next morning I woke up to find him smiling at me, I smiled right back. The world felt perfect. I wanted to pause the world then and there. But my vacation was over and it was time to go back. It was difficult to say leave him at the station. During the entire train journey back he and the night were my only thoughts.

←---X---→

“Blake, I am late” I messaged him. Right then my cell rang, it was him. I picked up

“What? You are late? Are you sure?” came his voice sounding panicky.

This was not what I wanted to hear. “Of course I am sure. It’s been a week, and I am never late.” I replied feeling irritated. “I will visit the doctor today to be sure.”

“Chandini, a child was not in my plan when I came to India, but I will support you.” came his voice very slowly over the phone as if trying to make himself clear.

I felt myself getting more irritated with him and said “Blake, I got to get ready for office” and cut the phone even before he could say bye.

It was early in the 2nd trimester when suddenly Blake’s phones & SMS stopped. It was a surprise; Blake even though not present was always supportive. My parents & extended family were all against me; they wanted me to abort the baby and were trying to force me into marriage. Blake’s voice on the phone was a source of strength. When it stopped suddenly I felt lost.

←---X---→

It was yet another wet Mumbai monsoon day; Anjali was sleeping in her little bed. Suddenly the door flew open and in came this wet foreigner. “Chandini” he called out, seeing him again, I was stunted into silence. “I had searched so much for you, my cell was stolen and I didn’t have your number written anywhere. I went to your old office and they told me you had quit, they didn’t know any way to contact you.”

He said walking toward me with a relieved smile on his face. I was still stocked, I had dreamed this reunion how many times, yet now that he was in front of me I found myself with conflicting emotions. 

Seeing me not responding, he looked around spotted Anjali and said “It that she?” He walked toward her and said “She is as beautiful as you.” Looking toward me, Blake said “Chandini, I am sorry I was not there for you. Let me make it up; Marry Me!”

Hearing those words all the troubles I had during last few months came running to me. How I was kicked out of home, No support of anyone except Preeti, the disgusted looks given to me by my land lady, being called a whore by the riffraff’s of the society. Looking at his face I felt a variety of emotions run though me. The anger and frustration felt at the lack of replies to my desperate messages, the loneliness I felt during nights spend alone, the filthy looks given to me by the doctors and nurses at the hospital. My hands caressed the scar on my stomach while I heard myself tell Blake “NO!”

Faith in Space Age

“...but deliver us from evil. Amen” prayed Commander James before popping his daily quota of Vitamin and nutrition pills recommended by ISRO. Flight Engineer Greta looks over and esquires “Commander, how come a man of science like you still  prays to a deity whose existence has never been proven” James smiles and replies “It’s a matter of Faith; my dear”

Greta replies “Commander, you are right now hurtling through space at over 22000 miles per hour towards a planet which has never been the home of Humans, It’s been proven that above Earth is the stars and below Earth's surface is molten lava, there’s no heaven or hell. So where might this GOD of yours reside?”

James looks out into the dark space sprinkled with light from distant stars smiles and replies “Greta, we know of 3 dimensions and 4 if we consider time too,  but science speaks of multiple dimensions, what if the Heaven the scriptures speak of are one of these higher dimensions? Science has documented many Near Death experience where people say they are drawn towards a bright light, might not the bright light they seen is the entrance to a higher dimension?“

Greta laughingly says “You are trying to fit science into your beliefs” James replies “Might be, or it can be that faith got there first and science is just finding out things now?”

Making a face Greta argues “Ok!! Let’s examine this God of yours. The Bible says that God made Adam & Eve, put them in a beautiful garden and made them masters of it with only one command that they may not eat the fruit from the apple tree growing in middle of the garden, Right?” James smiles understanding where this conversation is going replies “Yes, that’s correct.”

“Ok! Then James, answer me this” says Greta “If God is omnipresent and all-knowing as you believe, he would have already know that Adam & Eve is going to break his commandment, yet he forbid them, wouldn't it be smarter & easier to not put them in Eden in the first place.”

James smiles and replies “God allowed it to happen because he knew that it would give man a chance to learn about good from evil. It would give man a chance to come to earth and discover himself. In Eden, Adam & Eve didn’t know sadness or happiness, they did not know anything. Once they ate the fruit their eyes were opened, being thrown out from Eden made Man to learn how to survive on his own. God gave man free will, If man wills he can return back to Eden by making earth a paradise. God send his son, Jesus to show humanity the way.”

“Oh! James!! Even you can agree that’s a whole lot of crap you just said” teased Greta. James smiled and replied “Greta, you are a mom, right?” Greta nods her head Yes, while checking the instrumentation panel.

James continues “When you had Maggie with your husband, did you get a written guarantee that she will do everything you say? No right? But you had her anyway, because you loved your husband. Whenever Maggie does something which you explicitly told her not to, you punish her but you still love her right? Matter of fact, most parents knows that at some point along the way their children will not listen. Love takes risks.  And God the Father – He does not only create the children and creatures that will obey Him – He doesn’t have robots – He makes all of His creatures with a free will.  And that means He needs to take the risk that some will choose not to love Him and not to obey.”

“Man!! That was heady!! You are really stuck in faith right?” replies Greta with a shrug and continues “But James you got to give me this, Science has proved Drawin’s theory of Natural selection without a doubt, we have documented fossilized evidence that shows the process of every living thing on this planet evolving over millions of years from single-celled organisms, so at least the creation part of the bible is wrong”

James keeps silent observing the status of various sensors in the instrumentation panel and satisfied that everything is working fine he slowly turns to Greta and says “Greta, there’s a hundred chances to poke holes in the beliefs of others, But let me say this, I find it easier to go about my life believing that a higher purpose for my existence exists, That I was not born in that Blue Planet we just left behind by chance. Faith keeps me going on. Tomorrow we will be landing on the Red Planet, miles away from the nearest human civilization in a controlled descent by a computer built and programmed by humans. Yet! I have faith that good folks at ISRO have done the job well. I believe in them and their hard-work to keep me safe. In the same way I believe and trust in a God, who is miles or dimensions away is keeping a watch over me. It’s just Faith Greta. Faith!!”

Why Jesus was born 2000 years Ago

Years ago, when nothing existed but God, he in his heavenly wisdom, created the Universe, Earth and finally Man only by the power of his word. Man, was created in likeness of God himself. But Man, instead of being loyal to the creator went and disobeyed God by eating the Apple of Knowledge, the one thing God had forbidden man to do. God though angry that man had disobeyed him didn’t destroy his creation but punished him by casting man out from the Garden where everything was good. But All hope was not lost for man, God promised that he would send his only Son to save Man-Kind

Year 2010 (In the heaven above)

God: Son, Its time we fulfilled the promise made to man-kind that I would redeem them, You will have to go to earth to full fill the prophesy.

Son: Yes Father! May your wish be done, but who is going to be my surrogate mother on earth?

God: Don’t worry, I will send my trusted lieutenant Lucifer to find a suitable lady.

After the meeting with God, Lucifer privately thinks to himself “I am so proud that God still trusts me, But there’s no reason why I am not to be trusted, I have always stayed by God’s side and obeyed his commands”He smiles to himself “But now let me get to the job at hand, Let me see who can be worthy of hosting the Son on earth, It should be a pious lady, let me check in on the prayers list, I am sure will find my lady there.”

Taking his customized BlackBerry out Lucifer opens the prayer Inbox and searches for prayers from females ordered by maximum number of prayers sent.

1084 Prayers from Diana: “Lord, let me not be pregnant, Please let me not be pregnant” Lucifer thinks “Rejected, The female needs to be a virgin, as the scripture says”

972 Prayers from Maggie: “Lord please let Danial fall for me, Make him hate that bitch Saritha” Lucifer thinks “Rejected, so she sounds so selfish, and the use of curse words too”

841 Prayers from Shilpa: “Lord make me more beautiful, so that I can become a Actress, and everyone will fancy me”

Lucifer thinks “Rejected, too self involved”

666 Prayers from Nikita: “Lord, Make Bill Gates fall in love with me, I already love his money” Lucifer thinks “Rejected, again, why is it humans earn for money so much, when money earned on earth won’t give them anything in the eternal life waiting for them”.

.

. And it continues with Lucifer rejecting one by one all the females,

Lucifer thinking aloud “Isn't there any girl on earth who is worthy of becoming the mother of God??

Wait look here” 248 prayers from Jeniffer “Lord, I ask you nothing for myself, Please take care of everyone I love” Lucifer feels, “This Jeniffer seems like a nice girl, why don't I go and ask her if she would like to be the mother of God” and Lucifer decides to visit Jeniffer.

2010 (Earth)

Angel Lucifer appeared to Jeniffer in her room and announced, “Congratulations, Jeniffer! The Lord is with you. You are truly blessed!” Jeniffer Shouted “Who the hell are you, You PEVERT. How dare you enter my room you SoB? Don't you have any decency?” saying she graps the Hockey Stick next to her and tries to hit Lucifer, Lucifer socked at the response escapes from there and returns to heaven.

Floating above earth, Lucifer takes out his BackBerry again to continue his search ponders “Dam! That female! Such a temper, can't blame her, no one trusts anyone now as they did 2000 years ago, and God’s name also doesn’t carry much weight as it did before. Guess I have to continue my search for the Lucky girl if at all she exists”

196 Prayers from Prachi: “Lord please let me clear CAT and be admitted into IIM”

146 Prayers from Neha: “Lord please let don't let me be fired from the job, let that guy Sameer be the one who gets fired” Lucifer shaking his head wonders how humans became so self-fish continues to read through the prayers.

Lucifer now really getting scared that he will not find a girl, finally reads 1 Prayer from Anne : “Thank you lord for everything you have given me, Thank you for another day in my life, Thank you for all the blessings, You know what I require Lord, and I thank you for whatever you send to my life”

Lucifer wonders “This female Anne is the only girl who has thanked the lord and not asked for anything, but there is just 1 prayer from her, I don't have any other choice left, let me visit her and see”

Lucifer appeared slowly to Anne, taking care of not frightening her announces, “Congratulations, Anne! The Lord is with you. You are truly blessed!” Anne was confused by what he said and real scared by Lucifer's appearance in her locked room. Taking advantage of Anne's silence Lucifer continues “Don’t be scared, Anne! God has wonderfully blessed you. You will give birth to a baby boy. You will name him Jesus. He shall be called the Son of God. God will give him the throne of David and his Kingdom will never end!”

Anne hearing this “What kind of crazy are you, there is no King or Kingdom in this modern world. and me pregnant? No way, I am not married, It will be a shame on me and my family if I get pregnant, Please don't rape me”

Lucifer explains “No Anne, you have got it wrong; The Holy Spirit will come upon you and bless you. God’s Word will become the baby inside of you. The child will be the perfect, sinless Son of God.” Anne wondering if this is a dream says “OK! But what about the shame on my family? Who will marry me if I already have a child inside me?” Lucifer says “Don't worry, I will find a guy for you” Now Anne gives in saying “I am the servant of God, Let everything happen just as you have

said.”

Stepping out of Anne's house Lucifer says “That’s one part taken care of, Now how will I find a guy for Anne, Can't go about the Prayer way, Number of prayers are anyway so few, and the ones we get are always from the ones just need something from God, from where can I find a guy who is only willing to give? Let me just fly around and listen to thoughts of humans.”

Lucifer starts flying around the world listening to the thoughts of all humans, but all he hears are dark thoughts, no Man is he able to find whose heart is completely pure, Suddenly, he sees a few white thought coming up to him, closing in on the people who are sending out these white thoughts the thoughts of a guy named Savio catches his attention, Savio's thoughts are white at the moment cause he is holding in his hands the child of his sister, his heart at that moment is filled only with love for that child, his sister and is thanking God with all his heart, Lucifer thinks this guy has so much love for his sisters child, then just think how much love will he have for God's Child but Lucifer decides to probe into Savio's mind a bit more, On probing Lucifer sees Savio's other dreams of earning a lot of money, of showing off, sees the temper Savio carries about and decides that God's child can't be put in front of someone with that much temper.

Disheartened at how the world is now, Lucifer now wonders what to do, knowing very well that he cannot break Gods Law that guarantees humans Free Will and prohibits any interference with free will of any humans, Lucifer know he shouldn’t force any human by mind control to take Anne as his wife, Being frustrated Lucifer inserts himself into the dreams of a man named Deepak reasoning that as he will be talking to Deepak in his dream, and thus not breaking the law of free will as he won’t be forcing anything on Deepak.

"Deepak, son Take Anne as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Lucifer tries to reason with Deepak in his dream, Deepak's subconscious replies “Take a girl as wife and never be able to enjoy any other girl, why should I marry? I

never listen to my parents why should I listen to you? What will I get from this marriage?” saying this Deepak's subconscious throws Lucifer out from his dream.

Getting angry at being treated like this and getting more irritated with all this trouble he is facing in finding human parents for God’s Son, Lucifer loses control of himself, selects a man in random, A man named Marco, Lucifer forcibly enters Marcos heart and mind, takes control of Maro’s subconscious and cleans out all bad thoughts from Marco, Cleans Marco’s heart and puts the thought in Marco to take Anne as his wife.

Just as when Lucifer is finishing his work in Marco's mind Lucifer gets call from GOD on his blackberry. GOD shouts at Lucifer for breaking the Law of Free Will and orders Lucifer to present himself before GOD.

Year 2010 (In the heaven above)

GOD: Lucifer, You have made me sad, why did you break the Law? You know I love humans every much, the free will I have given them is my special gift to them.

Lucifer: Sorry Lord! I lost my cool, But there are none on earth left to receive your son. The free will has corrupted them Greed, Jealously, Lust and other sins rule their hearts. You won’t be able to save them now.

God: Lucifer, I promised man that he will be saved and I will save them. But we will do it the right way, the gift of free will won’t be taken from them. I banish you Lucifer for breaking the law, from now on you will be called the Fallen.

Son: Father is right Lucifer, We can't take away free Will from humans. But also Father! Its not Lucifer's fault, Lucifer has tried to do the job to his best ability. Can I suggest something father, I will visit earth 2000 years ago, when the heart of humans were not so corrupted. If I go now Father only a few or none will be saved.

God: Hmmm!! What you say is right Son!. About 2000 years ago, the seeds of sins were just beginning to grow, If you went then, you will still have suffered a lot but humans would still have a chance to be saved

Son: So be it Father, by your word I will go to earth 2000 years ago. Father: Yes Son! Go to earth 2000 years ago and save Man-kind, this time Gabriel will prepare the way for you

Thus Jesus was born 2000 years before and not now, He gave us the message 2000 years agobefore we got so involved and corrupted by sin. Lucifer blamed his fall from grace on man-kind and still tries to block man-kind from being saved.

Promises are meant to be broken

“Happy birthday Grandpa!” said Sneha walking into Dr. Agarwal’s room “75 cool! And still going strong, what’s your secret?” “Thanks dear, the Secret! It’s no drinking, no smoking and definitely no sex before marriage” “Grandpa! I rather live a short life & enjoy it than living a long boring life” said Sneha with a laugh & continued “How can you lecture me about not drinking when you don’t even go one day without drinking?” Agarwal smiles. “Ok! Grandpa! Let’s make a deal, you quit drinking everyday and I will stop drinking and smoking, what say? deal?” taking Sneha’s hand  Agarwal replies “Deal”

“Grandpa, What you doing? Today morning you promised me you won’t be drinking & you already drinking, Deals Off!” said Sneha walking into the balcony were her grandfather was having a drink. Dr. Agarwal whispered “Promises are meant to be broken” “Mummy tells me you never used to drink till some 20 years ago, what happened?” asked Sneha while poring herself a drink.

Agarwal looking into the night sky replies “I purposely killed a patient” “What!” exclaimed Sneha. You killed a patient”

Dr. Agarwal replies with a sigh “Well! I had to tell the truth someday” He continued

“I was just starting as an intern at the hospital when I met Susan, your grandmother”

---X---

“Hi come in! Take a seat” said Agarwal to Susan as she walked into his office. ”Aren’t you a bit too cute to be a doctor?, hey Sorry I didn’t mean to say that out aloud” “It’s Ok Ma’am!”said a blushing Agarwal to Susan “Please sit & tell me what’s wrong” “Don’t call me ma’am it makes me feel so old, call me Susan” replied Susan taking the chair “OK! Susan, what’s wrong?” “I am having fever and feeling bit sluggish for last 7 days” “Ok! We will do a few blood tests and check” Handing over a file she had on her lap Susan said “Here, I already took the test, I was a bit worried you see” “Ok! Your results look pretty normal, Now since you have gone ahead and taken these blood test I feel that you might have tried to self-medicate also” Smiling Susan admits “Only crocin” “Ok! Here am writing a few medicines, take them 3times a day for next 2days. ok?”

“Hey Susan, Come in, take a seat, you are looking great today, how are you feeling?” “All better Doc, feeling great, the medicines really worked, I am here to ask you something” “Sit down Susan! What’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong Doc” replies Susan smiling “I just wanted to ask if you are free tonight for a cup of coffee” “Wow!! You are asking me out! Wow! Sure, how about 7ish today” “That will be great Doc, waiting for tonight” said Susan smiling getting up to leave.

---X---

“That day was my first date with your Grandma” “Cool, Grandma asked you out” exclaimed Sneha. With a smile Agarwal replied “Ya, It was one of the things I loved about her. She was strong, knew what she wanted and got what she wanted”

“That first date led to a series of dates, late nights on phone & just like that I found myself proposing to her”

---X---

“Michael, I am so glad you came” said Agarwal “Susan, this is Michael, my friend from school, I have told you about him” Susan replies “Yes! If you weren’t a guy I would be really jealous from the way he talks about you” “Shut up Susan!!” says Agarwal with a smile on his face. Michael giving the gift he had in his hand to his best friend says “Buddy, we have a lot to catch up on, but right now enjoy your marriage day with this beautiful lady, and you really have to tell me how you got her to say YES to you”

---X---

“My wedding day was the first day when Susan met my friend and betrayer Michael” “Betrayer?” asked Sneha. “Yes Betrayer! I found out he is a betrayer 7 years into our marriage, 5 years after your mother was born. I clearly remember the weekend I had just been promoted to Assistant to the Chief of Medicine."

---X--

“Dear look after Shikha, I am going out" said Susan to Agarwal who sat watching his daughter sleep. Turning towards Susan he exclaims “Wow!! You have really dressed yourself up for your little kitty party; do you really need to go? Can’t you come with me, you know they are hosting the party for me” “All I have being hearing last 3 weeks is about your promotion, sorry sweetie but I have to meet my friends” saying this Susan walks out after giving Agarwal a peck on his cheek.

After the party with everyone coming and congratulating him, Agarwal thinks “I better take a cab back considering how much I drank, Its good that Susan didn’t come, she would have killed me” Just about to call for a cab when looking across the road he sees Susan kissing Michael then climbing into a cab and leaving. Before he can react Michael climbs into another cab and also moves off.

“Look Sweetie Papa is home” says Susan looking at Agarwal and talking to Shikha. “Susan, I need to talk to you” “What’s up sweetie-pie?” ask Susan scowling at him. “Shikha go and play in your room I need to talk to your mother” Shikha picks up her toys and runs to her room. Susan looking worried asks “what happened?”

“I saw you kissing Michael today, you said you are with your friends, and you were cheating on me with my friend” “Oh! So you found out. Ya, I have being having your friend for about 1 year now” “What?” “You were either always busy with your work or playing with Shikha, you never had time for me, He understands me, I wanted him, and I took him” “What! Susan you are married, you are my wife, you are a mother and you are talking like this” “Yes! I was about to tell you soon, good you found out, I am asking for a divorce, the Lawyer will talk to you soon” “What!” exclaimed Agarwal, getting desperate he adds “What about the promises you made, to love me for ever, to death never part?” Susan replied in a cold voice “Promises are meant to be broken”

---X---

“What?” exclaimed Sneha. Dr.Agarwal took a sip before repling “She walked out of the house then, Next day I got a divorce notice from her and only met her again in court.  As the settlement I got to keep your mother Shikha, while she got half the wealth and the house.” Rubbing a tear off his face Agarwal continued “Few of my friends helped me through that, Shikha was my bright light, I picked myself up for her, brought a new house and started a new life without her mother” “Dam! She was a bitch! But how does it connect to you killing someone?” asks Sneha. ““It happened about 10 years after the divorce; Michael was admitted to the hospital”

---X--

“Dr. Agarwal, this patient in room 405 is requesting that he be treated by you” said Nurse Gloria. “Who’s that? And why is he requesting for me” “His name is Michael he was admitted yesterday complaining of pain in the left side of the body, a minor heart attack, he is stable now, but is requesting for you” Hearing Michael’s name Agarwal was shocked, he started thinking “Can it be him? It can’t be, there are many Michael in this city, but if it is him, Heart attack, good if that bastard dies” “Please ask Dr. Siddhartha to handle him, Gloria.  Am busy.”

“You don’t want to treat him because of me isn’t it” says Susan standing at the door. Startled seeing Susan Agarwal replies “No! What kind of doctor do you think I am, I am a professional, noting personal can come between me and saving a patient’s life.” “Dear, Why can’t you check him, he is in pain and he trusts you. He still considers you as his best friend and is still hurt that you don’t talk to him, it was not his fault what happened; I just took what I wanted” Glaring at his ex-wife Agarwal replies “Ok! I will check up on him”

“Come in Agarwal, Michael has just gone to sleep; the nurse came in and gave some medicines” “OK! Let me check what he is taking, I will come back later when he is awake” replying thus Agarwal exits the room and goes to check what medication Michael has been put on. Agarwal notices that Michaels has been prescribed Digoxin, he quietly increases the dose.

---X---

“Michael died 2 days later” “What? How could you do that Grandpa” asks Sneha, Agarwal looks down and takes another sip from the glass, “I did it, at that time I just wanted him dead, I am so sorry” Sneha asks in a quite voice “what about the Hippocratic oath?” Agarwal looking at Sneha replies “Promises are meant to be broken”

STOP!!

“Hey, Alan! Did you read this” asked Marcy waving the Times as she walked into the lab set up by her husband in the basement. Dr. Alan shook his head more interested in the insertion he was doing into a lab mice than in anything else. Marcy shaking her head while watching her husband poking something into a mice said” Wait! I will read it out for you,

“This year we are celebrating the silver jubilee of the end of the 3rd world war; many events are planned this year, “Year 2120. The Year of Peace” Its been 25 years after the Great War, Any war great or small brings along with it untold destruction, But in the end there could be only one victor in the war. Forming the United Federation of Earth. A dream that all nations, all cultures coming under one government that will take Humanity to new heights…”

Alan “Marcy, quit reading that and come and see this” Marcy irritably closes the paper and walks to the table her husband was working upon, Marcy “What are those things you putting into the mice’s necks? Some kind of wires, what are you doing?”

“They are wires Marcy, Look at this, I can feed data into this computer here and make the mice do what ever I want them to.”

“WHAT??”

“See Marcy thoughts in the brain are just electrical signals, so if you input the right electrical signals into the brain, through these wires you can put thoughts into the mouse.”

“So you are telling me these mice can be controlled by you through these wires” “Exactly, look, I have been studying their brain signals for weeks, I have programmed this computer to give the mouse exact signals, If I want it to go left, then I type left here in the computer which will translate it into exact electrical signals to tell the mouse brain to turn left”

“Great! Yet another device for humans to manipulate nature”

“Hahaha!! Laugh at me if you want Marcy, but look at this, not only can we send impulses to the brain but also train it, look this mouse has never seen this maze, but in 10 minutes I can train it to pass the maze as though it has done it a 100 times before.”

-----------------------X----------------------

“Dear!, did you hear that the trials of our device on Monkeys and primates have been successful, Its just going to be a few days before approval for human trails comes in, This is going to be huge for BRAINSERT , our stock have climbed 25 points in last 2 days.” “Alan, do you really think this insertion of learning directly into the brain is such a smart thing?”

“Marcy, Haven't you been seeing the kind of research we have been doing for the last 2 years? Didn’t you see how just 3 weeks back Primate P-38 was trained to use a computer and drive a car like a human, train the brain and the brain trains the body, its all in the brain Marcy!, All in the brain! I got to run I got a meeting with the directors in 30 minutes”

-----------------------X----------------------

“Hello Dear! You are just in time, I was just about to watch your interview, how was it?” “It went great Marcy!! Wait you listen to it” said Alan while turning on the Television

“Hi, Welcome all to another episode of Evening with Divya, today we have a special guest at the Studio Today,Seven years before Dr. Alan was almost a unheard name in the world, now his invention and his company BRAINSERT has made him one of the richest persons in the world, In this world of instant gratification, who wants to spend time learning, when we can learn stuff in 5 minutes just by plugging ourselves into a system, The field of education has not remained the same, want to learn Karate, or to fly a Jet, or to cook a omelet, or to learn a new language, you plug yourself into the system and you have complete mastery over it in 10 minutes, Today the President of United Federation of Earth has just signed the bill that makes it legal for any child above the age of 5 to have BRAINSERT inserted into them, Today we have with us Dr. Alan who agreed to take time off his busy schedule and talk to us about what this means to us and humanity at large, Welcome Dr. Alan”

“Thank you, Divya, It my pleasure to be here today”

“Dr. Alan your company BRAINSERT has taken us by the storm, you might be pretty proud of yourself”

Marcy jokingly “Alan dear, you look great on TV, if not BRAINSERT you could really have become an actor” “Hahahah!! Thanks dear! But no thanks”

Alan with a smile replies “We are all on earth only for a short time, so why waste time on learning stuff that is already know to others, Knowledge our forefathers gathered with years of hard work, why can’t we just train our brain with the knowledge that’s already present, that’s the basic philosophy we are trying to achieve at BRAINSERT,”

Divya “Today the president has made it legal for any kid above the age of 5 to have the insertion made into them, that they can be trained using your system, But why the age of 5”

“Well Divya, for a child below 5 years the brain is still developing and all connections hasn’t been formed yet, so connecting a kid below the age of 5 would be dangerous”

“How much danger would an average adult be if he gets implanted with BRAINSERT”

“No Danger at all! BRAINSERT is the product of hard work of 7 years, we have researched everything about which element to make BRAINSERT from to where exactly to place, trust me, insertion of BRAINSERT is no more dangerous than picking yourself with a needle to give a blood test, and that’s the only amount of pain you will experience”

“Alan the device BRAINSERT makes, how large is it?” Alan holds up a black object, 1mm long and 1 mm in diameter, Divya exclaims “That small!”

“Yes” Alan replies with a smile “I have got that reaction a lot, the advances in nano technology has allowed us to miniatures everything into this, this 1mm long device is your eternal teacher, heat from the body powers it, it is inserted directly below the brain, when ever you want to learn something, All you got to do is log onto BRAINSERT website, select what you want to learn, pay for it and it will be downloaded into your brain in 10 minutes using Radio waves by this 1mm device”

Divya “Sir, there is a rumor that this is yet another attempt by the government to control us, and there is some switch with the government that can control or kill us all at a instant after we are implanted”

“Nonsense, its just another of those conspiracy theories, the government has just made it legal for all kids above the age of 5 to get BRAINSERT implanted, it has not made it a rule, if you don’t want to be implanted don’t get implanted, but yes then you lose time learning stuff which your implanted friend would learn in minutes”

Divya concluded saying “This has been an interesting conversation Dr. Alan, but I am sorry we are running short of time, thank you once again for coming on the show”

“The pleasure has been all mine”

“Alan that was a great Interview, you must be feeling great right now!” exclaimed Marcy while switching off the TV set and turning towards him. “Thanks Marcy, so how was your day?” “Pretty much the usual, Nothing great. Dear can I ask you something? That thing Divya asked you about a switch that the government can kill us all is that true?”

Alan with a frown on his face, “ Marcy you know, how it was at the start, we didn’t have money to continue our research, so we approached the government for grants, and we were laughed at! But Chief Ban Shen, The then head of law enforcement saw how good our device would be to rehalibate criminals, if this device is inside their head, next time they are seen repeating a crime the device would just be send a signal stop and it would stop them immediately, Stop them dead! All criminals being released from the prison are being implanted with our device and it’s been going for last 3 years”

Marcy shocked by what she hears “what about the devices which are going to be put into kids now, People who are not criminals?”

Alan “They still contain the same code, But the government doesn’t have a button or anything that can stop every human implanted, but the base is in place, it will be very easy to design a command that can send out a radio signal telling all the BRAINSERTs to stop the human they are inserted into.” Looking at the shocked face of his wife, he continues “Don’t worry dear, our system is very secure, no one will be send out any such signal without a very high security clearance,”

-----------------------X----------------------

“Justin be careful!” screams Chopra, its not a play thing, I have been working on this for last two years,

“Chill Buddy!! Your work is amazing, you have got into BRAINSERT and you are able to control everyone, So much power and you haven’t been using it, I am helping you get the benefit out of this, watch me make my little brother clean both mine and his room” saying this Justin types “Clean room” on to the laptop.

Chopra swatting his hand away before Justin hit the return key; take the laptop away from his friend and puts on his table. With his hands on his hips like lecturing to a kid he says with a shaky voice “Justin, I have told you so many times, the sentences should be specific, it should always be directed at a person, if you had actually send the command we all would be stuck cleaning rooms, Always direct your commands at a person. Or the commands become Global command and everyone on earth starts doing that.” Opening a program with a list of numbers next to names Chopra says “Look this is the mapping of the unique Identification No within the chip to each persons name, you have to give the command the exact ID understood”

“I won’t be able to remember 16digit combinations of numbers every time I give a command, how do you give commands so quickly”

“Simple I have made a enum, indexing the IDs I use frequently with easy to remember names, like the comic book store guys name is COMIC, that’s how I get him to give me free comics”

“Great Dude, but I still can’t understand how you could so easily get by BRAINSERT’s firewall, the company is older than you and a 19 year old virgin can by pass its defense, Man Chopra! You are amazing dude” “JACKASS”

“Justin! What the hell! How did I reach here” exclaims Maxie. Justin turns and looks at Maxie, his best friend from college standing in her night clothes in his room just like his dream come true.

“Hi Maxie, why don’t you make your self comfortable” saying this Justin types on the laptop “MAXIE Sit on the Couch.”

Justin watches Maxie making her way to the couch to sit, and watches her dress slide up her leg while she places herself down on the couch. Maxie “What the hell is happening, how am I here, last I was in my house getting ready to bed now I am in your room, What’s going on Justin?”

Suddenly Chopra, standing at the door, “JUSTIN, who is this? We agreed that our work should remain secret”

Justin “Relax buddy, She is totally under control, Hey Maxie, this is Chopra the brains behind this, They always said that BRAINSERT’s security is top class, wonder what they would be saying if they knew an 1st year degree student could break it” turning toward Chopra “I am still surprised that you have such a great brain behind that thick glasses”

Maxie in a scared little voice “what’s going on Justin, you guys are scaring me”.

Justin “Maxie, relax, Remember how just yesterday you were surprised at how Pasang the richest guy in our city just gifted me the latest McLaren 2200xx, and you wondered what made him do it?”Maxie Bit Scared “Ya”

Justin “Well say thanks to Chopra, he designed it all, now we can make anyone do anything we want them to do” Maxie “What!! Are you insane, what if they catch you, you will go to jail, WAIT, you brought me here, and in my night clothes, YOU BASTARDS”

Justin smiling types “MAXIE You love Justin, you always want to see him happy and obey everything he tells you” Maxie sits there looking dreamily at Justin

Chopra “BASTARD, you could have any girl in the world and you brought her here?” Justin with a smirk on his face “Why are you so pissed Chopra, you too can get a girl buddy, we are the king of the world”

Chopra lamely says “But I love her” Justin exclaims“What!! Wait buddy, why don’t you go & get a drink. We will talk about her”

Chopra leaves the room to get a beer, when he comes back he sees Justin and Maxie making out, and the computer screen blinking the words“MAXIE make love to me.”

Chopra watches himself type “STOP”