Monday, February 12, 2007

Love Actually

"So, Is this your first trip to a temple in the US?" asked his Manager driving the car and trying to make a conversation. But he was hardly listening and seemed lost in a world of his own. He was still upset over the whole episode with her and it seemed to him as if he was complicating matters for himself. When his Manager offered a ride to the Satyanarayanan Temple in Middletown he obliged just to escape from himself.

The problem with most of Indians is that we fail to draw a fine line between our professional and personal lives. We call our girlfriend, husband, Mom, friend in our office time and prepare documents, test plans, discuss appraisals at home. Then we end up screwing both professional and personal lives and end up dissatisfied. Two days before had finished a client presentation and was awaiting the result and it turned negative. He was in a foul mood and it was then that she called. He blasted his anger over her and switched over his mobile. The easiest thing for anyone of us is to release our anger on our near and dear ones as we take them for granted and he had done the same. It had been 2 days since and he had not called her and neither returned her calls a day before.

They parked their car outside in the parking lot which had lot of Honda's, Toyota's and Nissan's which suggested the abundance presence of Indian fraternity inside the temple. The Middletown Satyanarayanan temple looked beautiful. It had a traditional Hindu construction with a Dravidian styled stepped pyramid structure. As they left their footwear before in the corridor he noticed a sign which read "Visa/Master card accepted for donations". Seems that God had got wind of the fact that people produce counterfeit money and so now had decided to rely on advanced technology.

God it was nice to see someone clad in Churidar and Saree. In the beginning he had enjoyed the sight of women dressed in short skirts and tops and whatsoever, but as days progressed he realized that he yearned to see someone in traditional Indian dress and seems as if today his prayers were answered. Although when he looked at one women he got reminded of her. He was reminded how he used to go around the temple in his neighborhood holding his hand in hers. He moved forward and looked at the marble murthi of Radhe Krishna. Born and brought up in a south Indian environment he grew up to stone structures of gods and the marble one reminded him of the Marwadi temple in his neighborhood.

There was a sign which read "Cell Phones should not be used here" although a gentleman on his left was praying with a blue tooth device attached. Everyone around was praying something while he seemed lost in her thoughts. If there was bell outside God's premises for prayers, maybe it was ringing damn loud now. The children seemed unaware of this and were running around playing hide and seek. One child was whispering something in Nandhi's ear which reminded him of the same thing he did when he was studying in 3rd standard about a passmark in the Maths paper. Eventually he failed and cursed god for sometime about that.

Just then a women started to sing Vaishnava Janato and the whole atmosphere changed. There was something divine in her voice which made him break into a million pieces. He realized that his ego walls stood nowhere near his strong love for her. That was all that he could hold on to and he walked out of the temple and dialed the only number he remembered by heart. He said "Ma, Will you sing Vaishnava Janato for me?"

8000 odd miles and 10 and half hours apart his mother had no idea for her son's sudden urge of viewers request. But as all moms do, she willfully obliged.

Halfway through the song, he was close to tears and confessed "Ma, did I tell you that I love you more than anything else on earth?"

Her reply was simple and sweet "You need not son".

44 comments:

Anu said...

simple and nice! :)

Vg said...

Really cool da..

Mystic Rose said...

touching post..:)

so simply narrated.

Kavitha Jay said...

very sweet harish...shows the pure love between a son n mom...great narration...:)

Nithya said...

"Seems that God had got wind of the fact that people produce counterfeit money and so now had decided to rely on advanced technology"

Good one :)

Great post..Nice twist in the end..

Vaishnava Janato is a great song btw :P

Aditi said...

aww quite touching.. and beautiful
love actually.. a mother's love for her child.. real and unconditional

Heidi Kris said...

I knew this :D..

Sat said...

Awwww!
with ur trademark twist
i read that title and thought ....ada u too....feb 14 vandhadhum christmas celebrations-ku enga paaru deco panra maari ella blog-lyum idha pathi thaan pechu, and i thought ur was also in line with tht. but loved this so much really! enna neja vazhkaila nadantha maari irukku?
andha temple scene ellam appadiye kann munna nadakura maari irunduchu....there has to be something real about this...idhu karpanaya mattum irukka mudiyadhe!

//Then we end up screwing both professional and personal lives and end up dissatisfied.//
this was meant to be a serious statement and very true one for tht matter, but somehow it had me in splits!!!

Krithika said...

there are only two souls on earth who can take u the way u are..ur parents
wow..beautiful post

Ramya Shankar said...

Orey peelings polarku. Only distance can bring out the true value and love for a person!
Coming back after a long time ! :)
i think the last post that i read of yours was the one with the demolition of a house on the OMR.

brute said...

senti stuff mate...yess!few things need not be told it can be felt.. :)

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyed it :)

//There was a sign which read "Cell Phones should not be used here" although a gentleman on his left was praying with a blue tooth device attached//
After all, rules are made only to be broken, isn't it? ;)

Dreamzz said...

touching post harish!

Dreamzz said...

//"Visa/Master card accepted for donations".


ithu veraya?!

Dreamzz said...

//God it was nice to see someone clad in Churidar and Saree. In the beginning he had enjoyed the sight of women dressed in short skirts and tops and whatsoever, but as days progressed he realized that he yearned to see someone in traditional Indian dress and seems as if today his prayers were answered//

same blood! :(( my sentiments exactly!

Priya said...

Do people care of board signs?? Some lunatics need more attention and think they are smart when do against it.

Anger- Its normal for people to show only with whom they love and share. If she has understood him, she will be ther for him.

Ganesh Ranganathan said...

great post...

Venting our anger on loved ones is really unfortunate. They should be the ones who bring a smile to our lips even if the world is coming to and end around us...

Nivi said...

a very well written post...the twist in the end was definitely unexpected...gr8 post..i am sure everyone would be able to identify with it..

Sat said...

yellow!
ippadi ellam post potutu escape aaga mudiyadhu
uzhunga suber mushy-a oru post podanum....in tune with the season
sondha kadhaya irundha very good :D

KK said...

Vanakkam thalaiva...
Nice post... But I knew it was going to be mom... Because I know Harish misses his mom :D

Some of the lines in your post are absolute truth... Atleast I have thought of those many times.... some of them are...

//The problem with most of Indians is that we fail to draw a fine line between our professional and personal lives.//

//The easiest thing for anyone of us is to release our anger on our near and dear ones as we take them for granted//

//parking lot which had lot of Honda's, Toyota's and Nissan's which suggested the abundance presence of Indian fraternity//
100% True!!! :D

//he realized that he yearned to see someone in traditional Indian dress //
100% true again...

KK said...

Hello, BSK blog'la yetho V day spl post poda poren soneenga??? yenga boss athu???

Padma said...

:).. nice one.. and off course who can understand us more than mom..
vaishnava janato is simply a superb song..
and regarding the bhagwan's murthy its absolutely right. i find very difficult to get the temple feeling in such northy style temples..

Suchi said...

I liked the song you had chosen for the prime narration...'Vaishnav Janatho' is a variation from the usual songs one might fit into such a scenario:) Good one!

Has to be me said...

Superb...that was just soooooooooo touchy! Did it happen 2 u?

Ponnarasi Kothandaraman said...

Halo.. :P Own story? ;) Unmaya solunga..
It was 2 good..Very very descriptive :)

Porkodi (பொற்கொடி) said...

attendance pottukaren!

Arunkumar said...

superb story. simple n neat. very gud talent.
//
he yearned to see someone in traditional Indian dress
//
so very true...

very well written harish.

Couch Potato said...

nice post !

Syam said...

kalakkal harish.... :-)

Awatts said...

ur mission accomplished on this one! Nice

Harish said...

@Anu
Thanks yaar

@VG
Wow...thanks a ton

@Mystic rose
Welcome here. I try my best :-)

@Mystery
Thanks yaar. Feels great :-)

Harish said...

@Nithya
The twist for the last thing i tried. Initially it was supposed to be a straight forward story. Chumma try paninen :-)

@Aditi
Yes. Simple and unconditional. Unique in every possible way.

@Heidi
Now how do i solve this :-)

Harish said...

@Sat
genius. The temple part and remembering mother was personal. sandai ellam chumma masala. And yes...that line u mentioned is also out of personal experience :D

@Krithika
U say less....but say it good :-)

@Ramya
ada makka. Anda posta naan tamizh la podalaamaanu irukaen. Pretty loooong time.

Harish said...

@Brute
somethings are better understood than done

@Aparna
we say this every time and escape :-(

@dreamzz
Anda sign paathu veruthu pochchu. And yes...nijamavae kovil pona udanae i felt so good :-)

Harish said...

@Priya
"Its normal for people to show only with whom they love and share." we often do this and hurt em. Wouldnt the world be a better place if we kept anger under check.

@Ganesh
Perfectly said

@Nivi
Welcome. Yes...that is something we identify with :-)

Harish said...

@Sat
I have tried as u asked.

@KK
Ennamo ezhudanum nu ninaichu edayo ezhuditen. Thought konjam vitiyaasama edaavudu love ezhudalaame. adutta post paathu sollunga

@Padma
Same feelings exactly :-)

Harish said...

@Suchi
For long I wondered what song to fit here. Donno how i zeroed on vaishnava Janato :-)

@Ponnarasi and HTBM
The temple and listening to song and remembering Mom was Personal. Fight and rest are fiction.

@POrkodi
Padicheengala?

Harish said...

@Arun
Thanks nanba

@sangs
Welcome yaar. Thanks a ton

@Syam
nandri naatamai ji

@Awatts
Wow...a smile a day keeps the devil away. I am glad :-)

Girish said...

Nice one man...really touched me and made me remeber my parents back in India..

Hell's Angel said...

the final note was touching!!sure it would be for any1 who loves their parents and family..

Iniyaal said...

Romab azhagaana incident Harish. Nothing equals the solance got from hearing amma's voice, esp while away from home.

Lavs said...

A very touching post....Good job!

Serendipity said...

Touching and sweet:)

Anonymous said...

Really touching..