A LOVE STORY - Episode 7

Dear Dear Vidya,

I really treasure your post of this. You made my day for many days to come.
In our Vaishnavite tradition we have the practice of writing vyaakyaanam or commentaries on Naalayira Divya Prabandham. The commentators have done a job as precious as that of the creators. They brought out whatever the Azhwars had in the depths of their hearts.
Nambillai, a renowned commentator wrote a long commentary on Thiriuvaimozhi called the eedu or muppathiaarayirappadi.

Your post on Episode 7 was like that. That was why I could not resist my temptation to run like mad to FP September to nominate that.

This episode had a deep impact on me as well. For a while I could not even start writing the next episode. From your post I can see that it had a similar impact on you. Of course the effects were opposite. In my case I could not write the next episode and in your case, you could pen a brilliant fb.

I don't think I can do justice to your fb by replying to it in parts. But there is one instance which I don't want to leave unclarified.

I must hurry to clarify that ALS represents the approach to life that I ideally want to have. It is in no way connected to my actual approach, of which my better half knows better. While I am equally proud to be acquainted with you and Arun, it is my duty to warn you, that unlike Arun, I am not what I write. But someday I want to be what I write.

I read your fb several times, in fact more number of times than I read the episode when I edited it.
Regards to you and Arun,
love,
sridhar

 

Dear Mindi,

thanks. Though I had promised a lighter story, I had to go a little heavy in this episode as there was a father-son reunion followed by the death of a father. A parent's death is a significant milestone in one's life. I had to prepare my hero for that. Hence all those emotions and hospital scenes.

Somebody said earlier that there should be a Kumar in each city. Now Mindi you have gone one step further and are asking for a Kumar in each family. May all your wishes be fulfilled. At the same time we should continuously explore the ways of becoming a Kumar.

A saint said that at the deepest level of understanding there is no good and evil. There is only knowledge and ignorance. In this case there was a time when that ignorance was annihilated by Kumar's love. We see so many bad people around us and are put off by them. But if we learn to view them as morally/mentally handicapped people (ignorance is their handicap) then the world would be a far better place to live in.

Have a safe, hassle-free journey Mindi. I will be happy if you can read the serial in Bangalore. But being with your near and dear ones is even more important. The serial can wait.
thanks once again for the fb.
love,
sridhar

 

Dear Sona,
thanks. In fact I did not plan much for this episode. The events took care of themselves and the story wrote it itself. My part was that I did not interfere much with the flow of events.
To Arun his father looked like a villain till now. When he is bedridden he shifts the focus and looks for all the good things about him. He finds many and that paved the way for an emotional reunion.
I will be increasing the flying height by another 10000 feet in the next episode because we have to cover a long distance. So tighten your seat belts and stay tuned.
Next episode is on Monday, the 1st September.
love,
sridhar

 

Dear Lalitha,
When you came to Madurai you did not just give fb to ALS 6. Your visiting us and staying with us for a day and a half is one long and sweet fb for all my writings in IL. A fb for which I can't write a reply. Thanks for that first.

We find characters like that Bank Manager in our lives. Consider yourself blessed for you have not seen a person like that. I once met a Bank Manager like that. He had sanctioned a cash credit limit to my client. In those days getting a CC limit was very difficult. My client hosted a drinks party for the Manager. The manager insisted that I should also drink. I refused. He then threatened the client that he would even cancel the limit if sridhar did not drink. I told him to go to hell in sweet words.

I myself loved the part about Kamla and Kumar. They are an instance of an ideal couple leading ideal lives. Of course it is good people who are put to trial quite often and we are going to see about that in 8th episode. Thanks for the kind words of praise - which I was very careful to take to my heart and not to my head.
It is no surprise that your priorities have shifted from Arun to Kumar. You have said that you love this character. But this character is nothing but love.
Are there persons like Kumar? I don't know. In my forthcoming book Ethanai Kodi Inbam Vaithai I have a couple of stories which would remind you of this kind of love.
Drinking is not evil per se. It becomes bad only when it becomes an escape from one's problems and not an expression of joy. In the West almost every one drinks but only one out of every ten or twenty are alcoholics. In India it is totally different. I have a couple of friends who drink like Kumar. Especially one person, let's call him S, he loves to drink in my company though I am a teetotaller. We were thick friends for five years and he died in 1991. He was also my client and he was the only client for whom I shed tears during the funeral.

Whatever life Kumar and Kamla is living is the only proper way to live. We have deviated so much from the right path that now their lives look almost artificial to us. These days no saint wears the saffron robes. Instead they wear the Doctor's coate, the accountant's suit and the lawyers robes. Yes, no one who proclaims himself a saint is not a saint.

that's a good quote. But I would rather use "anbu nenja niraikkarathu" to denote that feeling.

Actually Kumar did a heart surgery on two patients - Arun and his father - in a much more subtle way. The surgery was not on the blood pumping machine but on the seat of soul and the tool was not the surgeons scalpel but a man's love. The surgery resulted in the re-union of two hearts at the nick of the time. Kumar did not cunningly device any strategy. The love he had in his mind accomplished the result because all the forces of Universe are always at Love's command.

Yes. Deivam manushya roopena. The problem is that we find easy to accept God in the form of stone or a painting but not in human form.

Thanks for the nice words. And thanks for the prayers for ALS 8. I am pleased to inform you that I have completed the first draft of ALS 8. After an excellent luncheon meeting at Booma's (she will post the thread on Monday with a lot of pictures) I sat for an hour to do the editing.
love,
sridhar

 

Dear Aishwarya,

It is right that you called them scenes because that's the way I designed them. Every scene in this episode is so charged with emotions, that I am afraid that the other episodes might not be that intense. But this is a turning point in Arun's life and I need to give it its due importance.

Kumar to be is a treasure trove of human qualities. I am trying to bring out the maximum human qualities from him.

The world has the likes of kumar and the likes of the bank manager too. Though he brought out Arun's father's death, in a way, he brought out the re-union as well. In that he acted as the shoorpanaka and kooni.

When the scene shifted to hospital I could not write anything. The scene wrote itself. It happened the same way when I wrote the 8th episode. But you will have to tell me how it is.

thanks a lot, Aishu for the nice fb.
love,
sridhar

 

Dear Mythili,
All these trials and tribulations go only to shape his future life. His hatred towards his father had been his cross. Thanks to Kumar's unconditional love that has now been lifted off his shoulders.
Thanks for the very nice words Mythili. Coming from a better writer than me, they have a very special meaning for me.
Looking forward to your continued support and encouragement,
love,

 

Dear Gowri,
thanks for the nice words with which you started your fb. Kumar is a person brimming with love. And that love makes him utter such wonderful statements - be it to his wife or Arun or Krishnamurthi.

Krishnamurthi is a typical South Indian father. Full of love in his mind but expressed mostly through harsh words and dominating bearing. Only towards his end he realised his mistake and has expressed his love properly. There are a million Krishnamurthis around us. The pity is we do not have one Kumar for every thousand Krishnamurthis.

What wil happen to Dr. Kamla, Dr. Rao et al? I have finished writing that part. Steel yourself before reading the 8th episode on Monday morning.
love,

 

Dear Swarnalakshmi,

welcome to my forum and to this serial. I am happy you joined us at this time especially during the most emotional episode of the serial.

This love story is of the love between a girl and a boy and also the love between Kamla and Kumar, Arun's father and Arun, Kumar and Arun, Kamla and Arun.. the list continues.

I am sorry to have made you cry. But the tears you have shed are of love and not grief. Those tears would disinfect our heart and seal it from hatred and anger.
thanks for joining us, Swarnalakshmi. Looking forward to see you in future episodes as well.
love,

 

Hi Uma,
thanks for the kind words. Arun's heart was holding a separate conversation with his dad when his dad could not understand him. But when he understood when there was no need for Arun's heart to speak separately, his Dad's heart could not contain that love. It simply burst out.

thanks for the fb, Uma.
love,