LOVE ALL - Episode 12

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

LOVE ALL

A Serial By Varalotti Rengasamy

Episode 12
When the typical Indian summer set in during middle of March WomenWorldWide.com generated a lot of heat both within and without.

The site was becoming popular day by day. Forum Leaders started to have a large fan following. And when some leaders had more fame and more fans than others, the trouble started. Yamini was learning for the first time the destructive power of the human ego.

Of all the Forum Leaders Vaishali was the most popular. Kripa had created a box in the Central Forums page to list the ten most popular threads based on the number of replies and views.

Invariably seven out of ten such threads would have been initiated by Vaishali in the arts and crafts forum.

KG with his profound religious stories, Janaki and Bala with their exotic recipes, Shobana with her interesting finance and taxation lessons, Mathangi with her beautiful decoration tips – all of them had to share the remaining three places.

There were more than a thousand regulars in Vaishali’s thread who almost worshipped her. Initially she conducted free classes for the community members. And then started charging for ‘conveyance, refreshment and other incidental expenses’.

Finally she started charging a flat fee for her classes. Somewhere down the line, as it always happened with successful and popular people without adequate moral or religious grounding, her fame got into her head.

Perched over her head that nasty quality could even control her heart. That was when the first showdown happened.

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

Part 2!
Vaishali gave a big six to the Forum Etiquette and started advertising for her classes openly and at times even glaringly in her forum.

‘WomenWorldWide.com is happy to announce its next batch of contact classes for Tanjore Painting.’ ran the announcement in her Forum. It boasted Vaishali’s skill and expertise and talked about the limited availability of seats to be given on first-come first-served basis.

The fee for a two day course was a hefty Rs.10,000.

Prathi saw the post and convened an emergency net meeting of the moderators. All the moderators except Vaishali were present.

Yamini did not want to discuss a charge against Vaishali behind her back. She tried to reach Vaishali on her mobile. Vaishali was handling some classes at that time and she had switched off her mobile.

The Mods meeting started without Vaishali.

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

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Part 3!

Tempers ran high in the meeting

Shobana : I have been getting mails from members accusing Vaishali of charging exorbitant fees using our site’s name. But this is the last straw, Yamini.

Kripa : How dare she use our community’s name for the classes? I won’t be surprised if she is issuing certificates using our site’s name and logo.

Prathi : She’s setting a very bad precedent and if others are going to follow this we will be ruined.

Janaki : Yamini, no doubt her action deserves a severe punishment. But should we not first make an attempt to tell her that what she is doing is wrong?

Yamini : I agree with all of you. Her act is clearly unethical. I am sure she should be punished. But should we not hear her views first? Even a person charged with murder is entitled to a fair trial.

Bala : But Yamini, she is not reachable at the moment. It is <st1:time hour="20" minute="0" w:st="on">8 pm</st1:time> now. If we do not do something about the post and let it remain in her forum, then we will be sending a wrong signal to our members.

Shobana : Bala is right, Yamini. If we keep quiet now we will be telling the community that our leadership is weak.

Yamini : What is your take, Kripa?

Kripa : I will go with Shobana and Bala. Let a senior Forum Leader like Janaki aunty moderate the post. Let her also send a private message to Vaishali telling her why we were forced to take this decision.

They all agreed. It was the very first meeting of the Moderators where the participants went away with a heavy heart. Everyone felt that Vaishali’s action did not augur well for the site.

At the same time they were also aware of Vaishali’s popularity and were afraid to think of the consequences of the proposed punishment.

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

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Part 4!

Before deleting the questionable post Janaki tried to reach Vaishali. Her mobile was still switched off. She tried to reach her land line number. There was no response.

With a heavy heart Janaki deleted the post.

And then started writing a very soft, long private message to her. In that message she praised Vaishali’s contribution to the community and the wonderful way she led her forum.

And finally touched the delicate subject at hand. Even there Janaki’s words were extremely soft.

It was not the stern voice of a teacher hurling abuses at an erring student. It was the disturbed voice of a loving mother who was anxious that her daughter should not go astray.

As Janaki was typing the message Destiny was standing behind her, reading the words. Destiny knew very well that if only Vaishali read the message she would apologize to her fellow moderators and immediately reform herself.

And things would be back to the same kind of boring normalcy, something which Destiny always detested.

Destiny was keen on some kind of disruption at any cost. It thought much faster than Janaki and had found a way out of the fix.

Poor Janaki, she did not know the ways of Destiny. She read the message two times and softened the words even further. Now she was sure that Vaishali would immediately call her on seeing the message and they could happily sort things out.

Destiny’s smile was pregnant with mischief.

Janaki moved the cursor to the “submit message” button and before she could click, the power went off. Of course Janaki’s house was equipped with an inverter.

But only a couple of lights and ceiling fans were connected to it. Janaki’s computer had an UPS. But only the previous day she had sent it for servicing. Her computer screen went blank.

The darkness that engulfed the room also entered Janaki’s mind. Destiny walked away from her, its face glowing with a sense of accomplishment.

The Transformer near Janaki’s house had gone bust. The Electricity Department people worked overnight and were able to restore power only by <st1:time hour="6" minute="0" w:st="on">6 AM</st1:time> in the morning. But by that time the damage had been done.

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

Part 5!

Vaishali called Yamini first thing in the morning.

“Yamini, this is not fair. How dare that old lady remove a post from my forum? You remember what we decided in one of the earliest meetings? No moderator should enter another moderator’s forum. How dare that crook breach that rule?”

“Mind your words, Vaishu. I strongly object to the abusive language you are using against a senior member. I am not going to talk to you unless you apologize for calling Janaki a crook.”

Vaishali apologized reluctantly. Yamini then started to explain Janaki’s action, but Vaishali was in no mood to listen. Vaishali ranted non-stop for ten minutes.

Yamini then told her about the Mods Meet and the decision taken and how it was implemented.

“You could have at least told me. If you people thought that the post was wrong I could have deleted it myself.”

“But you were not reachable, Vaishali. Janaki tried to call your mobile, and even your land line number. You were not simply there. We can’t let that post stay there for a long time.”

“Do I not deserve at least a message explaining why my post was deleted?”
“You do. Janaki tried to send the message but as fate would have it, power went off and her UPS had gone for servicing.”

“I’m sorry, Yamini. I don’t buy that kind of a cock and bull story.”

“Do you mean to say that what you did was right? Blatantly advertising in the site for your classes?”

“You remember the first time I announced for classes in my forum? I got your permission beforehand, Yamini. Are you telling me that I should get your permission every time I announce?”

“At that time you were taking classes for free. It was a kind of service project for the site without any ulterior motive.”

“Oh, now I get it. You guys got worked up because of the money, right?”

“Well, you don’t have to be an Einstein to figure that out.”

“But what’s wrong, Yamini? You know how much do I strain myself to take the classes? How much I slog every day? Should I not get paid for that?”

“If you had privately contacted the members and offered to take classes for money, it is different. Even then it is not clearly ethical. But I would have given you the benefit of doubt and closed my eyes to it.”

“You mean to say all of us here are that clean? Do you think that I do not know your hidden agenda of popularizing the site and sell it to the highest bidder?”

Yamini burst out.

“Mind your words, Vaishu. When I first went to Shobana’s firm for availing their accounting services her boss asked me repeatedly what is my hidden agenda in running a site like this.

"I blasted him. I told him that we Indians never look for ulterior gains in our activities. But now I think that my statements do not apply at least to some of the Indians.”

“I can’t believe that you are not working for money.”

“If you are so steeped in money then it will be very difficult for you to believe anything else.”

“Ok, I retract my words.”

“And you thought that I will act like Judas Iscariot and betray my moderators for thirty pieces of silver?”

“There’s no point in discussing that. My learning is very clear. Whenever any Moderator is about to make any personal gain, anyone can stop her. Right?”

Vaishali disconnected the line even before Yamini could think of a response.

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

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Part 6!

It was a Friday. Yamini was ready for her mandatory outing. Ever since the showdown she had with Vaishali her heart was heavy.

She had no interest to shop or browse. She wanted to be with Kripa, hold her hands and be chatting with her all afternoon.

She was in her office room doing some site work waiting for the car to come. She heard the sound of the car coming in the drive-way. She took ten more minutes to wrap up the work and come out of the room.

She was shocked to see her father sitting in the drawing room with all the world’s sorrow on his face.

Yamini ran to him. Ever since the site came into being the time spent by Yamini with her parents had come down drastically. Of course they still had the night meal together and discussed all the important things that affected the family.

But Yamini had a vague feeling of guilt that she was slowly moving away from her parents.

Yamini placed her hand on her father’s forehead. No, he did not have any fever. Ramamurthy was glancing at a paper before him.

“What happened, Pa? Are you all right? Why are you so sad? Why have you come back from the office so soon? Shall I call the Doctor?”

Ramamurthy looked at his daughter and smiled. Yamini could see teardrops suspended in his eyes.

“I showed your horoscope to KG. You know astrology is his passionate hobby. He told me that you are sure to get married in four months time at the maximum.”

“But I don’t want to marry at all, Dad.” Yamini was now thinking of only one person. Arvind.

“I told him that you are not interested in marriage. He challenged me, Yamini. If you don’t get married before the end of this year, he would quit astrology and religion altogether.

“I know him, Yamini. When he says so strongly it is bound to happen.
“Then I told him that I had never been away from you. Even if you marry a real angel I will still be worried about your well-being.”

“What did he say, Pa?”

“He laughed out aloud. And then gave me this print out. This is a verse written by the great Periazhwar. You know his daughter was Andal and she married Lord Renganatha Himself.

Even that did not stop the Azhwar from being worried about Andal’s welfare. In one verse the great Azhwar laments,

“I have but one daughter. And I brought her up like Mahalaksmi Herself. The red-eyed Lord Krishna stole her away from me. I am now worried whether His mother Yasodha would welcome Andal as her daughter-in-law and treat her well?”

If Periazhwar, the greatest of saints could not win over that feeling, where am I, child? How can I be peaceful?

"I tell you my child, if your in-laws try to hurt you, well, then they will see a totally different Ramamurthy. I won’t think twice before killing them all and going to jail.”

Ramamurthy was sobbing.

“Oh Appa…” Yamini tried to smile but her eyes were full.

“You are just hallucinating <st1:state w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Pa.</st1lace></st1:state> You have brought me up as a strong woman. I know how to defend myself from my in-laws. I will teach them a lesson they won’t forget for their lives. But I am worried for another reason.”

Ramamurthy’s tearful eyes threw a questioning glance at her.

“I have to start looking out for a person who can write on Religion. For KG is going to quit religion by the end of the year. Because I am damn sure that my marriage is not going to happen ”

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

Part 7!

Ramamurthy wiped his eyes and smiled at her.

“But why are you so early today? Don’t tell me that you could not work after reading this verse.”

“We have a nasty problem at our office, Yamini. We are opening a new facility at SEZ, Tambaram. Our building contractors have messed up with the work. I went to their office at T.Nagar and shouted at them.

“We have now handed over the files to our lawyer and are proceeding legally against them. Our MD now tells me that they are a group of thugs and that they might harm me. He has asked me to work from home for a few weeks. He has also made arrangements for security guards for our house.”

Yamini was more amused than worried.

“What’s the name of the builder, Dad?” Yamini asked casually.

“KNR Properties.”

The name rang a bell, the most ominous one at that, in Yamini’s mind. She ran to her office room. Destiny was laughing uncontrollably.

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

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Part 8!

Before the Vaishali storm could fully cross over WWW.com had another storm. It was a storm in a tea-cup; but nevertheless a storm.

There was a post by a new member in KG’s forum.

“My name is Narayanan and I am the President of the Vaishanavites Society of which KG is a member. I welcome you all to be members of our Society. It is absolutely free. KG lectures to all the members once in a week. As a member of our Society you can also have a private audience with KG to discuss your personal problems. For details contact me at..

There was an email ID and a mobile number.

Janaki saw the post within minutes of its being posted. She immediately called Yamini. KG was not on line at that time.

Yamini called Kripa and soon the three moderators were on a conference call. All the three were having one eye on the post while discussing the strategy.

They kept refreshing the page quite often to see if anybody had responded to that call. All of a sudden the post vanished from its place.

Yamini was stunned.

“It’s Vaishali, Yams. She has deleted the post using her SuperMod powers.”

“But why the hell should she do it?” shouted Janaki.

Yamini then remembered Vaishali’s words.

My learning is very clear. Whenever any Moderator is about to make any personal gain, anyone can stop her. Right?

“I am going to call Vaishu and give her real hell. How dare she do that to KG?”

Janaki was speechless. Kripa softened Yamini.

“Vaishali is a wounded tiger. If you call her now she will tear you apart. Anyhow the post is not by KG. The post is not in good taste either. We all know KG very well. He would never allow a post like that to stay in his forum.

"Lie low, Yamini. But don’t forget to explain that to KG.”

Yamini agreed to the sane counsel. As usual she sent a mail to KG asking for a chatting appointment at <st1:time hour="21" minute="0" w:st="on">9 PM</st1:time> that night.

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

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Part 9!

Yamini almost forgot the chat-appointment when KG pinged her.

Yamini : Hello Uncle

KG : Hello Yamini. Nice talking to you after a long time. Anything important?

Yamini : Yes, uncle. We observed a post in your forum this morning. It was by one Narayanan and was not in good taste. We have deleted the post, uncle. I am sending the deleted version to you. Please have a look at it.
KG came up again after a few minutes.

KG : I do not know who he is. I don’t belong to any organisation. I strongly believe that organised religion never works.

Yamini : But how dare he use your name, Uncle?

KG : How do I know, Yamini? And how could I have prevented it?

Yamini : I just want to be sure that by removing a post from your forum we have not offended you.

KG : Not at all. I strongly advise you to announce somewhere prominently in the site that I do not belong to any society or organisation I don’t want our ladies to be taken for a ride.

Yamini : I feel relieved Uncle.

KG : No sweat, Yamini. I remember an incident that happened ten years back. I was a Commissioner then. Your father and I went to inspect an Income Tax Office in a small <st1lacetype w:st="on">Town</st1lacetype>. We were there at ten and the Officer had not come.

He came at 10 15, already 15 minutes late and then started to write God’s name in his diary. That took another ten minutes while many assessees and representatives were waiting for him. I barged into his room and issued a charge memo to him.

He told me that it was the first time that he was charge sheeted for writing God’s name. I told him that even if he were reading some filmy magazines I would have considered pardoning him for the delay.

But to use God as an excuse for not doing one’s duty, for making others wait, well, that’s the worst type of blasphemy to me. That’s something I can’t tolerate. And that’s something even God can’t tolerate.

Yamini : I was about to apologize to you for removing a post in your forum without your permission.

KG : When somebody cleans the dirt in my house why should they apologize? On the other hand I should thank them. If there’s somebody who should apologize, it’s me. I will be more vigilant in future. I’m sorry this happened in my forum.

varalotti · Feb 14, 2009

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Part 10!

It appeared to Yamini that life suddenly moved over to the fastest lane. Everyday brought in something new.

The day after the KG chat-incident, Yamini got a call from Dr.Gayathri.

After exchange of pleasantries Dr.Gayathri’s tone became serious.

“Where are you Yamini? I hope Kripa is not by your side.”

“No, she is not, Aunty. I’m home.”

“Please listen to me, Yamini. On KG’s advice I made <st1lace w:st="on">Ravi</st1lace> to read all the counselling queries addressed to me. KG is a God-man Yamini. His therapy really works. Now I am sure <st1lace w:st="on">Ravi</st1lace> is on his way to recovery.”

Yamini could not suppress her smile. Dr.Gayathri was talking as if <st1lace w:st="on">Ravi</st1lace> had cancer and was now having some kind of a remission.

Dr.Gayathri had read her mind.

“Evil is a disease, Yamini. That’s the only way to look at it if you want to reform anybody. When your car does not start in the morning, you don’t bang the car. You call the mechanic to find out what’s the problem.

“When somebody’s sick we don’t get worked up over it. We call in the Doctor and find out what’s the best treatment for the disease.

“But when we see somebody who is bad, who is evil, who is violent and hurting, we become angry. And because of this anger we are never able to understand the person let alone treat him.

“You know <st1lace w:st="on">Ravi</st1lace>’s recovery started at the very moment when I had this paradigm shift – that evil is also a disease, treatable and curable. What is cancer to the body is evil to the heart.”

Yamini was taken aback by this outburst.

“Aunty you should write a detailed post about this. It’s quite fascinating. And it is a refreshingly new approach.’

“Thanks, Yamini. I almost forgot the reason for which I called you. <st1lace w:st="on">Ravi</st1lace> has now started answering the queries. And he does a fine job.

"Do you remember the story of the young man whose wife had gone to her mother’s place for her pregnancy? This man was seduced by another married woman.”

“How can I forget that, Aunty? Your answer to him was honest, practical and brilliant.”

“The answer was not mine, Yamini. It was <st1lace w:st="on">Ravi</st1lace>’s. I did not add or delete a word.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I don’t want him to write under my name. I have asked him to register as a member of the site under the name Lakshmi77 and I want you to invite him to be a Counsellor.

"Don’t worry, Yamini. I will be closely watching his answers. You should not breathe a word about this to Kripa.”

“But Aunty, will she not be happy?”

“No, Yamini. She will only be confused. Even now it is too early to tell.”

“I understand, Aunty.”

“Let <st1lace w:st="on">Ravi</st1lace> handle Counselling for a while. Please assign somebody to keep a close watch on him. Tell Kripa that because of my workload I have requested you to invite my friend Lakshmi to be a Counsellor.”

“Will do that, Aunty. The counselling forum is really great”

“Thanks, Yamini. Bye.”

“Bye.”