LOVE ALL - Episode 3

varalotti · Nov 23, 2008

<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype>
Part 11!

Around six thirty Shobana came running to her. She was in a great hurry.

“Come Yamini, let’s go. We don’t have time.”

Yamini ran behind her. Shobana led her to the ladies rest room. Yamini was baffled.

“Come in, Yamini.”

They were standing before a giant-sized mirror. She asked Yamini to wash her face and wipe it clean.

Shobana took out a small make-up kit from her bag. She applied some foundation cream on Yamini’s face and then added a whiff of compact powder.

She touched her eye-lids with an eye-liner and then applied lipstick as well.

“What’s happening, Shobana?”

“Whatever is happening is happening for good.” Shobana repeated the essence of Gita.

She then took Yamini to another room. The room had many wardrobes where E&Y members kept their spare dresses for an emergency. Shobana opened her wardrobe and took out a black colour coat. She made Yamini wear it.

“It’s a little short for your height, Yamini. But we have means of covering that. Come we need to run now.”

As they were running to an unknown destination Shobana briefed Yamini about the next event.

“In a few seconds we are going to be in our video-conferencing room. My boss Eric Sanders from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Atlanta</st1lace></st1:city> is going to interview you.

“Everything depends on how you fare in this interview. Eric is a nice guy. Just be yourself, Yamini. I’m sure you will pass this test as well.”

The technician was waiting for them. He made them sit at the right places and fixed wireless collar-mikes on them. Before Yamini was a giant-sized LCD screen.

“Yamini, the camera is here. When you talk look at the camera. To the other person it would appear as if you are seeing his eyes.”

The technician made some adjustments in the equipments and came to them.

“We are going on air in a few seconds. Best of luck.”

“All the best Yamini. I am sure you will make me proud.”

varalotti · Nov 23, 2008

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><style>  </style>
Part 12!

The LCD screen came alive with an American in his mid forties appearing on the screen.

“Good Morning, Eric. How are you doing?”

“Good Morning, Sho. So what do we have today?”

“Eric, this is Miss Yamini Ramamurthy.”

“Quite a mouthful, Sho.”

“Call her Yams.”

“That’s fine. Yams, we at E&Y are happy to have you with us today.”

Shobana nudged Yamini.

“Thanks, Mr.Sanders. The pleasure is mine.”

“Call me Eric, Yams.”

The American meant business. He started talking about the website. Shobana’s questioning had prepared Yamini for the interview.

Eric was impressed by the way Yamini spoke. Straight, without frills using unambiguous words.

The grueling interview lasted for about an hour.

“I love your English, Yams. I could not understand most of the Indians. But you don’t have an accent and you speak clearly.

“Thanks, Eric.”

“There’s one final question.”

“I’m waiting.”

“I can appreciate your concern for a lady who wants to cook for others and a lady who wants an audience for her art-work. I know Indian minds think in complicated, round-about ways. Many of you Indians have a complex hidden agenda which ultimately kills a project like this.

“So tell me up front what you are going to gain from this project. You have told Sho that it’s not profits. Or may be you want to jack up the value of your site and then chuck it off to the highest bidder. You will be making your millions quite fast. Please be frank about it.

“If it isn’t money then is it fame, popularity, or you want to contest in some elections? What do you want to gain, Yams? I want to know about your hidden agenda.”

varalotti · Nov 23, 2008

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><style>  </style>
Part 13!

Shobana was fidgeting as she had not expected such a pointed question. But Yamini was now in her element. She could sense a sort of derision in Eric’s voice. And that derision was not just for her but for her country.

Yamini stood up and threw a pointed glance at the camera. She smiled and then she roared.

“I gain nothing. And I gain everything. In terms of money, yes, I gain nothing. I have made it clear to Shobana that I don’t want a cent for me as profits. I don’t view this as a commodity to be sold at a profit.

“This to me is a movment. Something like the movement which started with the Boston Tea Party in 1776. Did those people who revolted against England and started the war of American Independence had an idea to sell America to the highest bidder? The scale may be different but the underlying principle is the same.

I don’t want profits or value-appreciation and yet I gain everything, because, you can never put a dollar value on the happiness I’ll get in seeing these women happy.

“The happiness I am going to generate will be far more valuable than the GDP of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">United States of America</st1lace></st1:country-region>, for with all your millions of dollars you couldn’t give a happy life to your people. They live on drugs and anti-depressants. Only shrinks flourish in your country.

“It’s really sad, Eric, that the world has not understood our Indian culture. You know before the Moghuls invaded us, before the English colonized us, everything in this country was free.

“Education was free. The Guru, our traditional teacher, did not demand any fee from his students. Our doctors provided medical help to the sick without demanding anything in return. They accepted whatever people gave them.

“Only after the Western Culture invaded us, everything here has become commercialized. Medicine and education has now become big time businesses in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">India</st1lace></st1:country-region> as they are in your country.

“No, Eric, I am not looking for any personal gains in this project apart from the happiness I would have in starting a movement like this. I am not interested in fame or popularity. And I hate politics.”

Shobana was applauding.

varalotti · Nov 23, 2008

<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="City"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype>
Part 14!

“Cool. Just one more question. I’ll understand if you don’t like to answer that.”

“Shoot.”

“How do you say that our Western Culture has commercialized everything?”

Yamini’s roar was louder and stronger now.

“You know the one book which shaped this American generation? The book which sold in billions and which every Westerner considered as a bible? It’s Dale Carnegie’s
“How To Win Friends And Influence People.”

“The charismatic author wants you to seek personal gains even in simple acts of kindness like hugging ones’ wife or saying thanks or appreciating somebody for a good act.

“Tell me Eric, why should we win friends? I can understand winning our enemies. But why friends? Friendship is something that happens naturally – like a flower slowly blossoming- when you meet a person having similar wavelengths.

What’s there to win? It’s not a war. And why should we influence and manipulate people to get personal gains?

You know the problem with your culture? The book which should have been an internal training manual for insurance salesmen became the general bible for the whole country. And then the degeneration started.

Eric, do you know about the Indian lady who has been fighting all her life for the people displaced by a dam across the river <st1lace w:st="on">Narmada</st1lace> – Medha Patkar?

In American terms she has not gained anything. She has not become the Governor of a State. She has not become a Senator; nor does she aspire being a Presidential candidate. And she has not made any money either.

“And there is this lady by name Chinnapillai from a village near <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Madurai</st1lace></st1:city>, about 300 miles from here, subsisting on something like ten dollars a month.

“With that kind of poverty she worked so selflessly for her community that our Prime Minister, the head of the world’s largest democracy and the leader of one billion people, about one-sixth of the world’s population thought it fit to touch her feet and get her blessings.

And mind you he did it in a public meeting in the presence of the national media.

That semi-literate lady walked back to her old life after the meeting. The same ten dollars a month, the same poverty and yet the same selfless love and the same dedication. In your country a person like her would have become a Senator if not the President.

This lady did not even want to head the Governing council of her small village. So what did she want to gain, Eric? Nothing. And I don’t think that the blessed lady had any hidden agenda.

“In a way these ladies gained nothing and lost everything they had. But in another way, these ladies gained the whole world and much more by their selfless actions.

“But in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">America</st1lace></st1:country-region> you still worship that lady Ayn Rand who preached that personal gain is the only God and selfishness is the only religion.”

Eric was clapping his hands like a child. Then he stood up from his chair and saluted Yamini.

“I’m sorry Yams for those questions. They were just teasers to bring out your true mettle. This is a huge project and our commitment is quite high. Hence I need to cover myself and Sho. I am now convinced that you are the right person. Congratulations. You have won. Sho will tell you the details.

“Sho, I congratulate you on your choice. Please go ahead with your proposal. The project is approved in full. I’ll send a mail later in the day.

“We at E&Y are looking forward to working with you, Yams. Have a great day . Take care.”

Eric disappeared from the LCD screen with a large smile on his lips.

Shobana could not control herself.

She pounced upon Yamini and planted a kiss on her cheeks.

varalotti · Nov 23, 2008

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CSridhar%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><style>  </style>
Poem Selected By Vaashini

Trust Me With Your Heart

Why does your heart grow doubtful dear?
Tense and beating, full of fear.
I keep with me your everlasting love,
and bless the day God sent you from above.

You remain my angel and I feel that I must,
tell you that within you, you have my trust.
My love is the tide, your soul is the shores,
you have my heart, do I have yours?

I'll belong to you till the very end,
and you will forever stay as my lover and friend.
It has been so good like this from the start,
so darling please, trust me with your heart

by Kathleen Sheppard

iyerviji · Nov 23, 2008

Dear Sridhar

Wonderful. Till I write this feedback I am the privileged first one
to reply. Dont know by the time I post it someone else might
have taken the privilege.

I enjoyed each and every sentence and I read the episode in
one stretch. You have brought out Yaminini's character very
well and she is well versed in everything like u. I think anyone
will love her because of her nature. Yamini is bold and beautiful.
She can bring smile on the face of troubled people also.

At present I am ending it here and will write later after thinking.
The poem written by Yamini sorry Vashini is very good.

Once again my best wishes to u
May God bless u my child

with love and blessings

viji

iyerviji · Nov 23, 2008

Dear Sridhar

I am glad that I am the first mother to give love and affection
to your Episode 3. She is such a lovely child that everyone
will try to make her their own.

with love and blessings

viji

indhusri · Nov 23, 2008

Dear Sridhar ,
A very interesting episode with nice twists & turns ! Earlier i had planned to read only the half of it and go for kitchen- work . But i totally forgot my household duties until i came to the end of the episode ! ( hope you won't mind the delay in preparing bajjis for you - since the reason is obvious & acceptable ! Big LaughBig Laugh )
Enjoyed every word if it , sridhar ! :thumbsup Keep it up !
Will visit again !
Lots of love & admiration ,
Indhu.

PS : The poem quoted by vashini is very nice ! Thanks to vashini & hats off to the poetess , kathleen shepperd !

iyerviji · Nov 23, 2008

Dear Indhu

Sorry for interrupting. Your reply shows that the Episode is
interesting more than the Bhajjias. Sridhar also would be
happy in getting your feedback than the bhajias. Think of
me when you have the bhajjias.

Sorry if I have written anything wrong

with love
viji

indhusri said: ↑

Dear Sridhar ,
A very interesting episode with nice twists & turns ! Earlier i had planned to read only the half of it and go for kitchen- work . But i totally forgot my household duties until i came to the end of the episode ! ( hope you won't mind the delay in preparing bajjis for you - since the reason is obvious & acceptable ! Big LaughBig Laugh )
Enjoyed every word if it , sridhar ! :thumbsup Keep it up !
Will visit again !
Lots of love & admiration ,
Indhu.
Click to expand...

indhusri · Nov 23, 2008

Dear Viji ,
I always welcome sweet interruptions - so is yours ! No need to apologize please !
I'll definitely think of you whenever i have bhajjis ! I take pleasure in inviting you to our place just to taste my ' bhajjis '! ( i don't mind even if you consult sridhar for guarantee of life - before deciding on it ! Big LaughBig Laugh )
Thanks for your sweet words , Viji !
Love ,
Indhu.