Aum Sri Ganesaya Namaha!
Part 1
"Are you Married?" - Ch. 1
'Where is this entire world running, with untiring speed, as if driven by some great urgency? If I close my eyes, it feels like it is running backwards - is it really running forward? Even as this train rushes forward, how is that those trees and bushes seem to be running backwards equally fast? The great sky above, star studded with floating clouds seems immobile! Do I shrug it off as my hallucination or do I wonder at it, as if it is all real?
Those stars twinkling from many millions of miles away, those great planets - are they trying to hold torches to illuminate the miserable lives of us human insects crawling on this ball of mud that we call earth? Those stars a million times more brilliant than our Sun, and the countless planets that accompany them - what are they searching for in that deep space? Our ancient seers that had visions of Chandas - how wonderfully they captured this essence in the poetry of the Vedas?
It seems even the stars can sing! What grand cosmic melody are they singing right now? Was this the grand thought that was reflected in their divine music by composers like Beethoven and Tyagaraja?'
Narayanarao pulled in his scattered thoughts along with his gaze from the train window and looked at all his friends, still deep in sleep all around him in that Inter-class train compartment. Meanwhile, the train crossed the bridge across the Krishna river and approached the Bezawada station.
"Hey sleepy heads! Get up! We reached Bezawada. Still sleepy? Come, wake up!" Narayanarao tried to wake up his friends. Paramesvara Murty got up with a smile on his face, rubbing sleep from his eyes, trying hard to suppress his yawns. He looked the sleeping form of Rajarao and gave him a resounding slap on the back, saying, "Wake up, doctor! You are suffering from the malady of sleep. I prescribe you the medicine of coffee and idli to drive out your malady." Rajarao woke up, feigning irritation, and held Murty down on the sleeper in a head lock. Meanwhile, Rajesvara Rao sprang up from his bed nearby and came to the rescue of Murty, saying, "Ho ho, you try to show off your strength on the weak? Try me for size." So saying, he grabbed Rajarao and pushed him towards the train door.
"Narayana, pull the alarm. Murder, murder! Call the Police!!" Lakshmipati, who was witnessing all this hullabaloo, acted as if to pull the chain to stop the train.
"You all can continue to indulge in your duels. I will attend to my morning ablutions." Narayana started towards the bathroom and spotted the form of yet another friend, tightly wrapped in his blanket, gently snoring.
"Ho Ho Mohammad Bin Alam Sultan Abdul Razak Badshah Saheb! Get up. You have no singers in your court to sing your wake up song. Your empire is disintegrating! Wake up!!" Narayana shook him vigorously.
Alam got up complaining, "What is the hurry?"
In the mean time, Narayana left the train to purchase breakfast items from the platform vendors.
By the time the friends rolled up the beds and completed their ablutions, he returned with breakfast.
"Hello friends! Idli, Upma, Poori and Potato and coffee are here. Are you all ready to enjoy them?"
He picked up the items one by one from the porter that brought them and laid them our neatly on one of the benches.
Laksmipati: Did you bring me tea?
Rajarao: No, he brought foo.
Alam: I am muslim yet even I don't demand tea. Why do you want tea? Are you from China or what?
They overheard from the platform talk that their mail train would stop there for over thirty minutes as the Governor's special would soon arrive on the other platform, heading to Chennai.
"Oh boy! This will take an eternity!" they sighed in mock disgust and finished their breakfast. They brought out Three Castles cigarette tins, lit them up and were enjoying themselves.
Narayanarao suddenly got up, saying he would see if any good books are on sale, and left the train to visit the Higginbotham's Book Stall. The platform was full of police on special security detail on the occasion of the Governor's train. The special train would stop just in front of the Refreshment Stall. So, the police cordoned off that area. The Krishna District Collector, prominent citizens and other important officials waited their with floral garlands and bouquets to greet the Governor.
Part 1
"Are you Married?" - Ch. 1
'Where is this entire world running, with untiring speed, as if driven by some great urgency? If I close my eyes, it feels like it is running backwards - is it really running forward? Even as this train rushes forward, how is that those trees and bushes seem to be running backwards equally fast? The great sky above, star studded with floating clouds seems immobile! Do I shrug it off as my hallucination or do I wonder at it, as if it is all real?
Those stars twinkling from many millions of miles away, those great planets - are they trying to hold torches to illuminate the miserable lives of us human insects crawling on this ball of mud that we call earth? Those stars a million times more brilliant than our Sun, and the countless planets that accompany them - what are they searching for in that deep space? Our ancient seers that had visions of Chandas - how wonderfully they captured this essence in the poetry of the Vedas?
It seems even the stars can sing! What grand cosmic melody are they singing right now? Was this the grand thought that was reflected in their divine music by composers like Beethoven and Tyagaraja?'
Narayanarao pulled in his scattered thoughts along with his gaze from the train window and looked at all his friends, still deep in sleep all around him in that Inter-class train compartment. Meanwhile, the train crossed the bridge across the Krishna river and approached the Bezawada station.
"Hey sleepy heads! Get up! We reached Bezawada. Still sleepy? Come, wake up!" Narayanarao tried to wake up his friends. Paramesvara Murty got up with a smile on his face, rubbing sleep from his eyes, trying hard to suppress his yawns. He looked the sleeping form of Rajarao and gave him a resounding slap on the back, saying, "Wake up, doctor! You are suffering from the malady of sleep. I prescribe you the medicine of coffee and idli to drive out your malady." Rajarao woke up, feigning irritation, and held Murty down on the sleeper in a head lock. Meanwhile, Rajesvara Rao sprang up from his bed nearby and came to the rescue of Murty, saying, "Ho ho, you try to show off your strength on the weak? Try me for size." So saying, he grabbed Rajarao and pushed him towards the train door.
"Narayana, pull the alarm. Murder, murder! Call the Police!!" Lakshmipati, who was witnessing all this hullabaloo, acted as if to pull the chain to stop the train.
"You all can continue to indulge in your duels. I will attend to my morning ablutions." Narayana started towards the bathroom and spotted the form of yet another friend, tightly wrapped in his blanket, gently snoring.
"Ho Ho Mohammad Bin Alam Sultan Abdul Razak Badshah Saheb! Get up. You have no singers in your court to sing your wake up song. Your empire is disintegrating! Wake up!!" Narayana shook him vigorously.
Alam got up complaining, "What is the hurry?"
In the mean time, Narayana left the train to purchase breakfast items from the platform vendors.
By the time the friends rolled up the beds and completed their ablutions, he returned with breakfast.
"Hello friends! Idli, Upma, Poori and Potato and coffee are here. Are you all ready to enjoy them?"
He picked up the items one by one from the porter that brought them and laid them our neatly on one of the benches.
Laksmipati: Did you bring me tea?
Rajarao: No, he brought foo.
Alam: I am muslim yet even I don't demand tea. Why do you want tea? Are you from China or what?
They overheard from the platform talk that their mail train would stop there for over thirty minutes as the Governor's special would soon arrive on the other platform, heading to Chennai.
"Oh boy! This will take an eternity!" they sighed in mock disgust and finished their breakfast. They brought out Three Castles cigarette tins, lit them up and were enjoying themselves.
Narayanarao suddenly got up, saying he would see if any good books are on sale, and left the train to visit the Higginbotham's Book Stall. The platform was full of police on special security detail on the occasion of the Governor's train. The special train would stop just in front of the Refreshment Stall. So, the police cordoned off that area. The Krishna District Collector, prominent citizens and other important officials waited their with floral garlands and bouquets to greet the Governor.
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