The Righteous Confinement

THE RIGHTEOUS CONFINEMENT

by

MURALI MURTHY

Trapped

She is lying on her side, her arms stretched over her head, and her back arched. Her hairs are untied and are all over her face. Her eyelids are closed, yet her eyeballs are rolling, and she is struggling hard to open her eyelids. Her mouth is open, saliva dripping out of her mouth, her tongue fallen out.

She finally manages to open her eyelids a bit, her vision is blurred and misty. She realizes she is lying on the floor, she can't move her hands or her legs. After a long struggle she could manage to move her fingers a little.
With further determined efforts, she manages to open her eyelids fully and trying to get a grip of her senses.
She slowly tries to tilt her head upwards to see iron bars all around, she thinks she is in a jail.

She feels extreme tired, she has absolutely no energy in her.
After an hour of fighting with her body, she gathers all her strength and manages to lift herself up from the ground a little and looks around. Her lips, hands are shivering, she feels sick. She feels like crying loudly out of fear and helplessness, but she can only manage a mild scream in a shaky voice.

She hears another male voice which also seems to be faint and in tired tone "Don't be afraid, you are not alone here. Give it time, you will gain some strength" and that middle aged man who also is shivering and visibly tired, but has enough strength to stand and help her sit up and rest her back to the wall.

"Where am I? What happened to me"

"Don't speak, you rest for couple of more hours" and the man helps her drink some water through the iron bars.

Two hours passed by, she hears a loud noise of the gate unlocking. She is helped by two unknown people out of the small cage that is surrounded by a wall of iron rods.
"Where am I? What happened to me? And who are you all?", She is still tired, frightened and looks around so many people inside a huge hall that looked like a factory of sorts. She sees men and women of all ages in a similarly tired and helpless condition.
An assuring voice from a man is heard "What's your name?"

"Kamala"

"Look Kamala, we are all in the same situation and condition. We all are always tired and hardly get up to even use the Toilet. We are all locked up and trapped inside this Hall"

Kamala looks around to what was seemingly an old building with a huge hall and high roof, with no windows and doors all around. She could only see small ventilator holes just below the roofs that was no less than 30 Ft.
Tears roll down Kamala's eyes as she further enquires "Why are we all trapped here? Who got us here?"

"We really don't have answers, we all are equally lost and unaware of what happened to us. Just like you, we also woke up unconscious out of that Cell."

"Since how many days are you all trapped here?"

"I am among the first guy to land here 2 weeks ago. We observe everyday one person arrives in that Cell in an unconscious state and the Cell automatically opens up after 4 hours and we help every person out of that Cell"

"But why are we here, why are we all tired?"

"We don't know, none of us know each other. We do have some of them who had met few times or is from the same locality."

"Are we kidnapped?"

"We believe so. Someone has kidnapped each of us and has put us here"

"But I don't remember anything of that sorts. I just can't recollect how I landed here"

"What do you remember last?"

"I was sitting at home and about to leave to buy some vegetables. That's it, it's totally blank what happened later and I opened my eyes being here"

"It's same with all of us. Same story, same feelings and exactly same tiredness"

"You said you are here since 2 weeks, you are still tired?"

"Yes, all of us are always tired and lack of energy to move or talk much. Though we landed in the same state as you were in, things will not improve too much, we all feel too tired all the time"

"Oh...does anyone come here? Whoever has kidnapped us or put us here?"

"No, we only get the supplies like food, general medication and basic toiletries in that Cell. And we also get new guest like yourself everyday. But no one else comes in"

"What is this place? Where is it?"

"How should we know, we are as unaware as you. We do believe it might be some disowned, abandoned Godown or a Factory, somewhere in the outskirts of Bangalore"

Puzzled, still lost, sad, upset, irritated, angry, yet tired Kamala holds the wall and drags herself to a place to sleep, next to an elderly woman. The lady tries to pacify Kamala, holds Kamala's hand and both tried to sleep.

The huge clock hung on the wall strikes 01:00 AM and some strange fumes is blown into the hall from all corners. Soon the fumes fogs the hall completely making it almost invisible to see around.

Alarmed with the fumes all around, Kamala wakes up in a feeling of anxiety and fear, starts to sweat and cough. One by one, everyone around starts coughing. Kamala panics and slowly falls unconscious.

Next day morning Kamala wakes up tired and energy less, so does everyone else. Kamala enquires with the lady next to her "Did you see what happened in the night? Fumes came and we were all...."

"Yes, I know...it happens every night"

Another man crawls and adds to what the lady was saying "Yes, this happens every night. We believe those fumes are the reason we all feel tiredness, it might be intentionally blown in, to keep us in this state"

"Why does anyone want to do that?"

"We guess they want us to be in this state and ensure none of us attempt to escape"

Kamala weeps and shares to everyone how her husband and two small kids will be worried about her and her whereabouts.

Kamala after couple of days comes to terms with her and everyone's condition and stays tired and helpless.

A Husband's plight

Meanwhile in Bangalore, as the complaints on missing people goes up, the Police department who are already overburdened with their assignments and Corona patrolling duty, do not have any bandwidth to investigate the missing cases.

Kamala's husband Rishi is desperately trying to get the Police to act on the missing case he has filed. He uses all his connects to reach out to Commissioner's Office, but due to Covid situation, he is unable to meet the senior officials.
He loses his temper and yells at the inspector with his Mask on, but the Inspector tries to calm him down "I understand your frustration Rishi, but you will not understand the kind of pressure and frustration we are going through, we are already short of officers and almost all of us are on Corona duty, we are helpless and we have strict orders to prioritize Corona related duty only"

"Then what should I do, where should I go? my wife is missing. She just went out to buy vegetables and never came back home."

"All I can do is to give you access to my Command center and request my colleague over there to assist you"

Rishi rushes to the Command center and meets Manjunath who arranges for all possible CCTV Camera footage and shares the CDs to Rishi. Manjunath also tells Rishi that the last known Cell Tower based location traces to the same location as she went missing and no traces later.

Rishi after going through the footage at home, is surprised and shocked to see a White Maruti Car in which Kamala entered near the vegetable shop, and the car drove away.
Rishi tries to recollect any friend or known person who has White Maruti car, but doesn't recollect anyone having one.
He is now confused and thoughts running in his mind if Kamala could have ran away with someone.
He begs Manjunath to help him as he forcefully hands over an envelope filled with some money. Manjunath uses his connects in the IT department and gets the Vehicle Number, and the owner's address to Rishi.

Without wasting any time, Rishi reaches the address given by Manjunath. He ends up in a very old small house, surrounded by huge Apartment buildings and multi storied building. He knocks on the door of the lonely small independent house, to be greeted by an old man wearing a white Dhoti and a white khadi baniyan. When Rishi enquires about a White Maruti Car, the old man replies that his car got stolen a month ago and had lodged a complaint as well and rudely shuts the door on him.

A dejected, disappointed Rishi slowly walks back to his bike, as his hope of finding something was shattered.
He has all possible thoughts running in his mind: did Kamala run away, did anyone kidnap her, who stole that old man's car, is the old man lying.

With no headway, the only possible way he can search his wife is to find the car.
He goes back to Manjunath and asks his help in tracing the Car. Manjunath tries to get hold of more CCTC footages and both of them try to trace the route taken by the Car that day. Manjunath tells him that the Car headed towards Magadi Road and crossed the city limits, beyond which there are no CCTV cameras.
A desperate Rishi decides to to stay put at the Magadi Road Junction and observe if the Vehicle is found there again.
He spends a full day but no avail. He starts to feel drowsy and is about to fall asleep. He steps out of his bike, gulps some water and realizes it's already 12.35 in the night and he decides to give up. Just as he wears his helmet and hops on the bike, a White Maruti Car crosses the junction and heads towards Magadi.

Rishi quickly turns around and follows the Car, he speeds up and gets close to the Car and his eyes are lit and tensed as he realizes it's the same car and the same Registration Number.
He sees two people sitting in the Car, he tries to overtake and drives parallel to the Car and sees an Old Man driving and another middle aged man next to him.
Suddenly the Car speeds up and the chase was on.
The Car accelerates to higher speeds and crosses 120 KMPH as it hits the highway, Rishi is finding it difficult to catch up as the Truck Traffic increases, and eventually loses track of the Car, he is stuck behind a slow moving huge truck for a very long time. Rishi is usually a very careful and slow driver.

Next day morning he goes back to the Old Man's house to inform him that he saw his Car.
He finds the doors locked, he decides to wait for the old man to return. He is sitting on his bike parked on the corner of the road, he is aghast to see the same White Maruti car entering the street. A confused Rishi sees the car with his eyes wide open to get a rude shock as he sees the second old man he saw during his chase driving the car, and right next to him is the old man he came to meet.
A perplexed Rishi stands still and watches the old man getting down in front of the house, exchanges some pleasantries, they both smile and the other man drives ahead.

Shocked with what he saw, quickly realizes this old man knows and is involved with his wife's possible abduction.

Rishi rushes to the Police station and explains the whole story to Inspector Prakash. Though Prakash showed his helplessness in investigating this case, Rishi convinces Prakash that he has found lot of progressive evidence to trap the old man and eventually find whereabouts of Kamala.

Prakash impressed with all the hard work and findings Rishi has got, he gets on to the job and puts one team behind that Old Man and another team at Magadi Junction.
The second team again finds the Car passing the junction and they chase the car for almost 60 KMs outside the city limits, as the car slows down and enters a small lane. The team stops there and informs Prakash.
Both Prakash and Rishi arrive within 30 mins, as the team waits and keeps an eye on the street for any movement.

The entire team enter the street and find the Car parked in front of a lonely building that looked like an old Godown.
They all enter the building complex with Guns and bulletproof jackets in stealth mode, expecting resistance and a possible clash.
They see one man unpacking some boxes and arranging on a table, they don't find anyone else around. Prakash barges in, points his Gun and asks that man to turn around.
Rishi exclaims "It's the same old man in the Car yesterday night also whom I chased half way"
The elderly man in simple, plain dress and slipper starts shivering and sweating. When Prakash enquires who else is there in with him, he says he is alone. Rishi holds the old man's shoulder and yells at him "Where is Kamala??"
The scared old man points his fingers towards a door. Prakash and Rishi rush towards the door and pushes to find a cage opening to a huge hall with at least 30 to 40 people lying on the floor. Rishi desperately looks around and finds a knob that opens the Cage door.

Rishi runs around the hall and frantically looks for Kamala and starts screaming her name, a faint voice from behind calls Rishi. Both have tears in their eyes and hugs each other. Prakash calls for backup and asks for Ambulances to shift the rescued people. Prakash arrests that Old Man and takes him to custody.

The Showdown

Prakash starts to interrogate the old man next day

"What's your name?"

"Narasimha Rao"

"Who are these people you have kidnapped and locked? Do you know all these people?"

"No, all these are strangers to us, they are just random people"

"Us? How many of you in the gang?"

"We are no gang, nor we want anything from them. We were only punishing them"

"Why do you want to punish some random people, what harm did they do to you?"

"We are a group of 4 friends, like minded and of similar age group. We all are retired, two of us live alone and other two have their wives with them. Since the onset of Corona Pandemic, Govt and Doctors have been requesting and instructing general public to use Masks and maintain social distance. The virus is spreading rapidly, yet People are so careless when they are on the streets. This irritated us, this carelessness and ignorance of general public tested our patience and we thought we have to do something about this"

"So, you 4 old men took things on your own and started punishing innocent people? What do you think the Govt and we Police are doing? Do you know we all are struggling day and night?"

"Firstly, they are not innocent people. They are careless fools who are the reason for the virus spread. And we all know what the Govt and Police are doing. We see the news everyday, and we were fed up with corruption, careless implementation of policies and safety measures."

"So you see the News Channels and decide the gravity of the situation, assume no one is doing anything, and do such a thing, by putting so many lives at risk!"

"It's played on all News Channels 24/7, the struggle of the infected people, how inefficient and hapless the Govt and Enforcement agencies are. It's a scary situation for common man like me. They show on TV all the time that if elders get infected we die."

"You are a very senior person, you have seen life and more wiser with your life experience, you take such drastic step by what is shown on TV?"

"Yes, we believe we are wise and to protect ourselves and people in general, we had to step up and do something. The Virus is spreading because of such careless people, useless educated fools"

"Anyways, how did you manage to kidnap these people, at your age?"

"We didn't think we are doing any crime, nor did we plan to kidnap or cause harm to anyone. We just wanted to Pickup those people who loaf around the streets without masks and in contact with others carelessly, get them to that Godown and lock them and punish them.
As we 4 are old men, we used to put up a small show of being ill or requesting for some help with Car or to pickup some stuff in the car, it was easy to get anyone to help us. Once they were close to us, we used this drug stuffed inside this inhaler sprays we all carry. Once you spray it on anyone, that person will pass out and faint within 30 seconds"

"What drug is that?"

"It's a Knock out drug."

"Then you used to get them here?"

"Yes, this was not a planned kidnapping, each of us whenever we come across anyone on the street, we used to get angry and used to drug them, lock them here to punish"

"And what did you intend to do with these people?"

"We just wanted to teach them a lesson, hold them up for few weeks and let them go, but before being freed we would have told them that they are causing nuisance in the society by being careless."

"How did you manage money for all this, that Godown, expenses, the drugs..."

"All 4 of us put some money, but the main planning, money for buying food and toiletries, that Godown were all provided by Dr. Parthasarathi"

"Who is Dr. Parthasarathi now?"

"All four of us used to meet at the Park during our daily walk, Dr. Parthasarathi gave us this idea as all expressed our anger and concern. He said he will take care of everything, the funds, the place, the drugs and each of us were only supposed to get one person each day to that Godown"

Based on the leads given by Narasimha Rao, Prakash arrested remaining 3 men and interrogated. The other two also had similar story and pointed at Dr. Parthasarathi for inciting them into this crime.

A Twist in the Tale

Before concluding the case and handing over the matter to the Court, Prakash started interrogating Dr. Parthasarathi "So, your friends say you planned and lead this crime"

"None of us believe we did any crime. We all had good intentions of teaching them all a lesson"

"But I feel there is more than what meets the eyes. Were you more frustrated than all of them or you had any other intent?"

"Though I wanted to teach the society a lesson, I also had a hidden agenda. When we four used to meet at the park, all 3 of them expressed their anxiety and anger. They were all psyched with what was happening around and the constant scare put out in the News Channels that said 'Virus is spreading fast, many are dying everyday, Laxity in Govt, irresponsible citizens..'.
When they all concurred that they wanted to do something about it and showed angst, I got an idea.
I only channelized their anger and put this idea in their mind to put all such irresponsible people in one place and punish them.
I was always propagating the idea of Herd Immunity, but none of the medical boards approved me to carry out this experiment. So I used this opportunity to put people confined to one place and had plans to get hold of an Covid infected person among them."

Alarmed by what he said, Prakash in a dramatic voice "What? So does that mean all of them could be infected? Who is the Covid patient there?"

"I was yet to execute that plan, I wanted to pool 35 people before I could put a Corona patient in there, to observe and prepare a report on how Herd Immunity could help us build resistance to such a contagious disease"

The Judgement

Prakash concluded his investigation, ordered for Covid test for all 30 rescued people.
He also submitted his report to the Court, which adjudged 3 men involved in Kidnapping, 5 years Jail term, while Dr. Parthasarathi was sentenced lifetime imprisonment for inciting 3 men into crime, illegal confinement, drugging and causing harm, and putting 30 lives at risk.

The Judge observes that though this is not the correct method to create awareness, it is a learning and general public to follow all safety norms and be responsible while in the open.
The judge also suggests News Channels to not treat the Covid situation as an opportunity to increase TRP, but to be a responsible media house. He advises media houses to just do the job of giving news, and not to propagate their views & opinion, not to use animations, use statements that creates panic and scare, but to just create awareness.

Hitched

HITCHED

by

MURALI MURTHY

A grand entrance to the wedding hall by the gorgeously dressed Shruthi, accompanied by the loud sounds of Drums that made everyone around dance to the beats of the troupe that was driving the crowd crazy.
The bride Shruthi is gracefully dancing and matching the drum beats, while the groom Navneeth who is visibly shy is just walking next his to-be bride, smiling and clapping all along

Family from both sides are visibly happy and elated with the joyous mood and celebrative environment. All the family members, groom and bride happily enter the Wedding Hall situated on this small lane in Udupi.
As Groom and Bride enter the hall, the cousins shower flower petals, welcoming them with friendly tease and photographers clicking the smiles all around.

The elders from both sides get busy for the preparations of the upcoming pre-wedding ceremonies and the main wedding festivities the next day.

The day concludes with customary ceremonies, and the sumptuous food served in traditional plantain leaves with a wide variety of food items served to the delight of the guests, much to the liking of the Foodie bride Shruthi.

The elders in the family wrap up their work, guests retire at their beds, with lights switched off, the chatter of the guests subside and the hall echoing loud noises of the Snores.

Navneeth and Shruthi are entering the wedlock, as arranged and decided by both the families. Both met 2 months ago at Infinitea Cafe in Bangalore, after their work. The meet was arranged by the elders as they found them to be prospective match for each other, and the families wanted them to meet and decide on the alliance.
Both the families are from Udupi, and were eager for this alliance to take shape and asked both Shruthi and Navneeth who worked in Bangalore to meet and let know their decision. It was Arranged Love marriage, as both liked each other. During these 2 months of courtship, they fell in love and found compatibility on many aspects and their decision to get married was re-assured by the day.

Back to the Wedding at Udupi, Navneeth messages Shruthi to meet him outside. Both are tired yet eager and excited to meet each other in private before the big day tomorrow.
Both run and hug each other, hold hands and sit on the main stairs of the Wedding Hall.

"Wow, this is finally happening"

"Yes we have waited for this day for 2 months now"

"I am so glad to see both our parents so happy and excited"

"Indeed, I see pride in my parent's eyes to have found a guy like you."

"My parents are also equally happy and feel so proud as the relatives and guests talk to each other and praise how beautiful and well mannered is their daughter in law"

"You know, in some customs, especially in the western world, the couple take Wedding Vows and lists the Promises the couple make to each other"

"Yeah, they do, have seen in movies...they make a big deal out of it"

"I wish we had that custom too"

"Let's have it done then"

Navneeth holds Shruthi's hands, as both of them stand close to each other facing each other and seeing at each other's eyes "I promise that tonight is the only night we will part"

"Tonight is the last night that we will be 'you' and 'me', starting from tomorrow it will only be 'us' for the rest of our lives"

As tears of joy starts to roll down Shruthi's cheeks, Navneeth goes on "You will never have to sleep alone, as I will always be besides you whenever you wake up"

"I promise you that these hands will always hold you, will never leave you and never let you go"

An emotional Shruthi cries out loud and hugs Navneeth tightly and whispers "And I promise to Love you forever and ever".

It was a grand wedding with colours, lights, flower decoration, jewelry, beautifully dressed people adorning this occasion. The grandeur was more so because of the smiles and happiness on the faces of groom, bride, parents and relatives.

After 2 days of festivities, and a week of stay and visits to temples and relative's places in Udupi, the newly married couple head back to Bangalore and start their life together.

Navneeth who is a System Architect at an IT Firm, and Shruthi who is a head Chef at a Star Hotel, report back to their work and couldn't plan any Honeymoon trip, as both couldn't be away from work any further.

As both Navneeth and Shruthi had saved themselves and abstained from any physical relation with anyone else, intimacy and passionate love making kept their newly wedded phase spiced up and exciting. Both made efforts to run back home early in the evening just to be with each other. They preferred to stay back home during the weekends, holding hands, cuddling on the bed for long hours and some passionate love making.

6 months went by, their sexual attraction and intimacy settled down, they grew stronger as a couple, with deeper, steardier feelings of bonding as a family.

As they celebrated their first year anniversary, Navneeth was asked to move to Singapore on a 3 years assignment.
A week before, Shruthi was asked to work in Night Shifts in the Hotel she worked.

As both liked being in Bangalore, yet loved to spend time with their families back home in Udupi, and used to visit once in 6 months. Both didn't have much interest in relocating to Singapore, and decided to stay back.
Navneeth couldn't survive and stay for too long in the company as he had rejected the offer to move to Singapore. Shruthi also intended to change her job as she didn't like to work in Shifts.

Both sat and started discussing the pros and cons of changing their jobs. As they went through the options they had in front of them, Navneeth came up with a proposition to start their own Company.
He coined this idea to Shruthi, that they could be Business Partners as well, they could start a company together into Food Blogging.

Shruthi liked what she heard and wanted him to work out in detail, as she was also cautious and worried on finances if both stopped working.

With Shruthi's interest, expertise in food and it's preparation, and Navneeth's Software background, both started to plan and design a unique offering in the food Blogging world. They thought through some out-of-the-box ideas to make it sellable.
Their concept slowly took shape, and a product was eventually ready.
They made up their minds and quit their jobs and were actively involved in getting their Business up and running.
While Shruthi worked on preparing tons of Food recipes, reviews, blogs, photographs for the portal, Navneeth worked on designing, improving the App and also look out for Investors.
The business took off well and whatever little money they had put in, was earned back in 6 months time. It was slowly gaining momentum and more and more users subscribing to the App, as Navneeth continued to look for Investors to make it even bigger.

They eventually found an Angel Investor who funded them.
Navneeth and Shruthi celebrated this success and they thought the risk they took and compromises they made, is paying off now.
Their joy had no bounds and they felt rewarding for being soul mates and business partners as well.

As they started to expand rapidly, the new Investor found more value in Shruthi as the content and ideas on Food were the reasons of the App's success, Navneeth was being sidelined and Shruthi had more Shareholding in the company than Navneeth.

Navneeth started to feel he is being ignored and not given importance in the board meetings nor taken him into confidence in any decision making process.

This led to a discord between the couple, apart from an uneasy working relation at the office, their married life also was affected.
While Navneeth's ego was hurt, Shruthi's ego got a boost and this led to frequent irritations between them as they started to fight for petty issues while at home.
The love, romance and peace at home snapped.

"I will have to visit Mumbai tomorrow with Sachin, for a meeting"

"Wow, thanks for the information"

"Why do you have to always be sarcastic!"

"Then how am I supposed to talk? You and Sachin are running the company on your own....remember, I am an equal partner"

"Equal? Heh"

"I might not be equal partner in numbers, but it's my baby, it's my idea, it's my dream. But you and Sachin are snatching this away from me"

"Don't blame me...Sachin is representing the Investors and based on his decision, I am taking the lead which is in the best interest of the company"

"Oh yeah...so now Sachin is always right...what else is he worth taking credit for, what else in him interests You?"

"Navneeth, what are you saying, you have gone crazy. I didn't expect you to stoop so low" and Shruthi starts to walk into her room

"Yes, please walk away. I am a humiliation for you now, I am low life now. You go and be happy with Sachin and your Company!!"

Two days passed by, Navneeth didn't hear from Shruthi nor did she come home. Navneeth called Sachin to find out where Shruthi was, as Sachin tells him that Shruthi never came along with him to Mumbai, and she mentioned that she had some emergency and she had to rush to Udupi.

As Shruthi wasn't picking his calls, he calls her landline number in Udupi, Shruthi in a disturbed tone tells Navneeth "Please don't Call me or try to meet me. I want time for myself" and hangs up the phone.

One month passed by and Navneeth couldn't take this separation, he is so used to Shruthi and her taking care of him. He had enough of this distance and drives down to Udupi.

Navneeth reaches her home and after greeting her parents, he asks about Shruthi and finds out she is not at home. He calls her mobile and Shruthi asks him to meet her at the Beach.

Navneeth finds Shruthi sitting by the Beach, bit away from the Crowd. He silently comes and sits next to her and takes her hands and holds them.

"You know Navneeth, this is my favourite place. Since childhood whenever I feel lonely or upset or even happy, I just come here. It helps me talk to myself, talk to the nature and find peace."

"Malpe makes everything better - mind, body, spirit. Whenever I have no one to talk to, have nowhere to go, Malpe calls me and embraces me"

"So, whats the topic you are talking with Malpe these days? That you have a very bad husband?"

"Nah, both me and Malpe knows you are not a bad person"

"I am sorry Shruthi, I lost my composure and sensibility and didn't treat you well off late"

"We have lost 'us'. Remember the Promises you made just before the wedding! That you would never leave me, and you would never let me sleep alone. And I was alone not only from past 1 month, but from past 6 months. Though you were right next to me, I couldn't feel you, you were not there for me"

"I know we were losing 'us' and I hate this situation, never wanted our love to fade."

"I know it was not intentional. I have been coming here everyday and thinking through what went wrong and where did we go wrong"

"No, it's me who is to be blamed. I crossed my limits, I lost my temper, I was irritated and agitated, and I ill-treated you."

"I knew what was happening, I knew what you were going through, it's my mistake also that I didn't stand by your side. I probably got carried away by all the limelight and center stage I got"

"I should have been proud of your success, and should have been happy that you are given your due credits, Instead I started feeling Jealous. More than Jealousy, I was frustrated that the dream I had built, the small world that we built together was taken over by you and Sachin"

"That's ok, I now understand why you were behaving like that"

"No, it's not ok. What I felt about you should not have happened. How I yelled at you, fought with you, should not have happened"

"That's ok Navneeth, I know you still love me. Let's forget this as a bad dream and move on"

"The root cause for all the problem is my attitude and approach as an Entrepreneur. Probably, I am not built to be a Businessman, I have to be selfless and least emotional about my Business. I have decided to move out of the Company"

"Are you sure about your decision? Don't you think it might be foolish to let go of a successful business?"

"I know my decision might not be most matured one, but if it's hurting our relation, I would rather be happy to let go off the Business and have a normal life with you. Nothing is more important than you"

"Then what should I do?"

"I leave the choice to you, I will not influence your decision."

"We started this together, we nurtured it together. If you are not there, I will not wish to continue as well. I just love food, preparing food and experimenting. I will not enjoy the Business side of it, especially when you are not around"

Both hug each other and with a relieved sense, both get up and start walking on the beach, with hands holding "Am so happy that we could end it, it was suffocating, I was scared and worried"

"Good that we went through this, we now know we have to be there for each other and stand strong, shoulder to shoulder in any given situation. We have to be tough and the love for each other should be unconditional and stubborn"

"Agree, and I promise you I will never walk out of you and our home like this"

Both smile and spend the week in Udupi visiting their favourite temples and quality time together re-visiting their childhood days and their wedding days.

Both return to Bangalore, resign from the Board, and hand over the Company to Sachin. While Navneeth found a Job with a IT major, Shruthi worked as a Freelancer and continued to provide her Recipes to their ex-company, upon Sachin's insistence.

Love blooms at Parijatha

LOVE BLOOMS AT PARIJATHA

by

MURALI MURTHY

"We are probably not meant to be together. I would have loved to make this work, but I think I have tried enough. Not sure if It's worth trying any harder to keep us together."

"Please Priya, don't say that. You know how much I love you and how much I need you. You can't give up on us. We can make it work, you know how good we are together."

"I am sorry Avi, I can't lose again, I don't have any more strength left in me to lose one more time."

Priya in her blue jeans, pink floral top, grabs the black stole lying on the sofa, wraps it around and walks away, dragging her trollied luggage bag.
Teary eyed and dejected Avinash sits on the Sofa with his hands on his head.

The Beginning

A dashing, sauve, sophisticated, charming Avinash in his late 30s having well groomed beard, is very particular about his looks and is always well dressed. Avinash with a toned body, hits the Gym thrice a week located within the plush Apartment Complex he lives in. One can observe an elegant looking glass nameplate "Parijatha" right next to his Flat entrance.

Savithri goes around the Apartment and shares with the women folk "Madam, you should see Avinash sir's house...it is so well kept, so elegantly furnished. Minimalist furnishing, white sofa, white bed-sheets, satin silk window and door screens. He keeps the house so clean, I hardly have any work at his house. All I have to do is just wash the utensils, and mop a bit. His wife will be lucky as he does all the work and that too so cleanly, he doesn't even need a maid"

Women drool over Avinash, they all run to their balconies to see him walk out of the building in style, wearing a black sunglass, blue denim jeans, white T Shirt and a Slim fit jacket, as he walks into his Black XUV and drives out with a smile, greeting everyone around.

Avinash is a freelance architect and an interior designer - a popular & successful one.

Avinash is hired to design the layout of a niche event, for an international Food festival by Taj Hotel.
He is introduced to Priya, who is a Food blogger and a photographer. Priya is hired to write articles on the Event. As Avinash is a true professional and wants to do his best, he requests the organizers to let him work with Priya to understand the Hotel industry and the Food industry, to better design and plan the Event.
Both spend time at the hotel discussing the Event, and do their best to ensure the Event goes flawless.
End of the Event, the Hotel Management laud the meticulously planned and tastefully designed event by Avinash, and the beautiful photographs and impressive articles written by Priya.

Avinash feels happy and good each time he is around Priya.
Avinash starts to feel distracted, Priya is always in his thoughts, he starts to smile more often, his urge to be with her, see her keeps making him restless.

He knows he is being silly and kiddish, but he can't stop himself following her, just to catch a glimpse of her, without her noticing him.
As his restlessness grows, he hatches a plan to bump into her "accidentally". As he now knows her daily schedule, he walks in to a Coffee Shop where Priya meets her friends every Saturday. He walks past her table "Hey, Priya!"

"Hey Avinash..."

"With friends?"

"Yes...come on, join us"

"Nah, that's ok, I was just here to meet someone and happened to see you. But, if if iff you are free some other time, we can catch up"

"Sure, would love to"

"Same place, tomorrow?"

"Great...c ya Avinash"

A blushing Avinash starts to walk out of the shop and Priya waves at him with a Big smile "Avinash....good to see you again man". Avinash cant stop smiling and blushing and waves her back and makes his way out. While Priya gets back to her table, all her friends jump up their seat and exclaim "Priya!!! Who is that!!?? He is so handsome...Whatsup???"

"He is just from work...met him couple of times...now close your mouth and stop staring at him"

Avinash and Priya meet next day same place.
Avinash in his usual style, walks in with a bright smile. Taking off his Black shades, with White Lilly flower bouquet in another hand, he walks up to Priya and greets her "You look gorgeous"
A smiling Priya and in a naughty tone "Thanks, what's all this? Is this supposed to be a Date or something?"
"Well, lets see how this meet goes...we will decide if it was a date, by the end of it!" a calm and composed Avinash pulls the chair and makes Priya comfortably seated.

"Impressive...are you always a gentlemen, being nice with mannerisms with every woman? Or you are trying to impress me?"

A blushing Avinash with a soft laugh opens the Menu asks Priya "What will you have?"

"What are you having?"

"I will have a Ethiopian coffee"

"Ok, I will also have the same"

"So, you stay with your family?"

"Nope, I am from Mangalore, and parents live there...I stay alone here in Bangalore"

"Ok, so single is it?"

"Yep, single"

Avinash's phone rings and he excuses himself and takes couple of steps away from the table and speaks on the phone.
A tense looking Avinash comes back and sits looking worried "What happened? All Ok?"

"Something important has come up...I need to send a Plan to my client urgently...the details are in my Laptop at home"

"So, you have to go now?"

"Yes, I am sorry, I am such a jerk...I called out for this meet and this has come"

"Oh...so you are going to leave me alone and go? What do I do now, I had cancelled my all other plans" Priya in a sarcastically sad tone.

"I am sorry, I am extremely sorry...hey, if you don't mind, you can come along to my place, I will quickly send the mail and we can head out to some other place"

"Okay, sounds good to me"

"Sure?"

"Yep, let's go"

Parijatha - The abode

Avinash opens door for Priya while she gets in his car, and they reach Avinash's apartment, he opens the door for Priya and helps her out.

"Parijatha...nice.."

Avinash smiles as he opens the door "Thanks, welcome to my humble Abode"

"So, this is where Mr. Avinash lives, nice."

As Priya starts rolling her eyes all around with a surprised look on her face "Wow, this is some home...beautiful, never seen such a elegant home..."

"Thanks, please make yourself comfortable, have a seat, I will get my Laptop"

"No wonder you are a great designer and architect, suits your personality as well...it's so clean, who else stay here?"

"No one, I stay alone...I am from basically from Hubli, but dad moved to Mumbai and settled there, so I am practically a Mumbaikar"

"Cool, married?"

Avinash while typing on his Laptop, looks up and responds with a straight face "Nope"

"Hmm...interesting, why so? You are successful, smart and bloody handsome..and old enough to be married?"

"Haha...Thank you and yes, I am old enough, to be precise, I am 39...parents have given me the choice"

"And you haven't found anyone yet?? I am sure many women will be behind you, and wooing this charming Man"

"Super...I am done with my work...I am sorry for disturbing the plans and wasting your time. My apologies if I made you uncomfortable asking you to come along"

"Don't worry, if I was uncomfortable, I wouldn't have agreed to join you."

"Thanks, shall we head out? It's already 7.30, Maybe we could head to a restaurant for Dinner if you are ok?"

"Nope, I like it here...this wind, the balcony, your home..it's all so pleasant in here. We can stay here and probably order for food home?"

"I am cool with that, I will Swiggy some Pizzas"

"Alright, will you have coffee, tea, juice?"

"Coffee should be good"

Avinash prepares two piping hot filter coffees, served in traditional copper cups...Priya smiles at him. "What?"

"Nothing....so you were telling why you aren't married yet?"

"No specific reason, I was into 3 relations but things didn't work out...each of them wanted something else in life and our frequencies didn't match, so I guess the search is still on"

"Hey, what's with Parijatha?"

"I like Parijatha flower, I love it's fragrance. And it's my favourite colour as well - White! And there is one more reason...My mom is Parimala and dad's name is Jagannath. They even today fondly call each other Pari and Jath."

"Aah...ok. your looks, image and the way you present yourself doesn't show this side of yours"

"Thanks. How come such a beautiful, attractive woman still single?"

"Well, I have been married once, things didn't go as planned and had to walk out of the marriage"

"Oh, am sorry"

"Don't be...it was my choice to walk out"

"Okay, hope it was not very unpleasant and troubled marriage"

"Many say I made a mistake by walking out of the marriage, and if I tell you the reason, even you might judge me"

"No, not at all. Share it only if you are comfortable"

"It was all hunky dory in the beginning...I had no interest in the marriage itself in the first place, still parents pushed me into it. But after couple of years, I thought the magnet had lost it's power, we were trying way too hard to be together...which I didn't want to"

"Hmm....any kids?"

"Nope, Rajesh wanted kids, but I was not ready yet..basically Rajesh was a good guy, but that was not enough to sustain the relation. He blamed me and accused me of having trust issues, commitment issues for not planning a baby and also to walk out of the marriage"

The door bell rang and the delivery boy had the Pizza boxes delivered. Both sat in the Balcony and had their Pizzas.

"Thanks for the Pizza Party, I guess I will make a move.."

"No problem...thanks for the company. Let me drop you home"

"No, don't sweat, I will book an Ola"

"No, I insist, I will drop you home"

The moment

It was a typical Bangalore weather - cool, slight drizzle as they both sat with an awkward silence through out the drive. While Avinash had a smirk on his face, Priya constantly kept gazing the rain through the window, while playing with her pendant and leaning her head on the window glass. Avinash wasn't playing any music in his car. All they could hear was the rain drops, water splashes and the sound of the windshield wiper going up and down.

The only conversation they had during the entire 45 minutes drive was Priya giving directions to her home.
After reaching the place, Avinash quickly comes out and takes out his jacket and opens door for Priya. As Priya gets out of the car, he covers Priya's head with his jacket and both rush towards Priya's house.
Both are drenched and starts to laugh out loud as Priya takes out the house keys from her purse.

"Alright then, bye, thanks again for your time"

"No...Thank you for giving me this wonderful time, I really had a good time, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening"

"Pleasure is mine. I am really sorry for..." Priya surprises Avinash by planting a strong kiss on his mouth. Avinash with his eyes wide open is taken aback, surprised and blushing as red as a tomato.

"Bye, go now"

"I don't want to go now...Priya.."

"Avinash, you need to go now...go..." She pushes him in the rain.

"So, does it qualify to be a Date then?"

"I guess so, atleast it ended like one....bye" Priya walks in and shuts door with a naughty smile.

Avinash's emotions were out of control, he was in cloud 9. He happily walks back to his car and completely soaked, starts driving back. He kept smiling, blushing and laughing all through. He didn't know how to control himself, his thoughts were going wild. All the confused emotions he had piled up over the last couple of weeks starts to play in front of him.

Next day evening, Priya gets a call from Avinash "Hello there"

"Hey Priya"

"Whatsup?"

"Can we meet Priya?"

"Okay...when?"

"Now?"

"like...Now now?"

"Yes, can you please come out?"

"Out where? Don't tell me you are here near my office!"

"I am"

"Oh...give me 15 minutes, will wrap up and come down...wait at the Lounge"

As Priya hurriedly climbs down the stairs, Avinash stands and watches in awe, as Priya walks out swaying, setting her hairs, on a white Chudidhar and Orange dupatta "What??"

"Can I take you out? Need to talk to you"

Priya holds his hand and drags him to a Cafe right next to her office building...Avinash just continues to keep staring at Priya, as she walks in the front leading him along.
As they both sat at the Cafe "Whats all this? Aah?"

"You tell me Priya. Whats happening with us?"

"Whats 'us' now? What are you thinking?"

"What am I thinking?? What happened yesterday?"

"What happened yesterday was just a great time together, and that's it"

"That's it!? Priya, I couldn't sleep yesterday night...I was only thinking about you"

"Avinash calm down, tell me clearly What's going on"

"Priya, something happened yesterday...and it was magical"

"It was just good, well spent evening Avinash...if you are referring to that Kiss, it just happened, don't read much into it"

"Priya, it was not just a kiss...I could feel it, we had a moment...the drive to your place, the goodbye kiss all were so intimate and beautiful"

"Yes, it was intimate...but momentary, call it a recoil. It was just an expression of my happiness for the time we had"

"No, it wasn't just that, don't underplay what happened between us"

"Stop calling 'us', there's no 'us' here. Look Avinash, I am ofcourse attracted to you. You are very handsome, desirable. Your mannerisms, the way you treat women, your personality all are so magnetic, and you know women are attracted to you, so am I. But that doesn't mean you..."

"Can you stop doing that!"

"Stop what?"

"Playing with your hairs, setting your hairs ... it's so bloody distracting, I lose my mind everytime you do that. Feels like grabbing you and kissing you"

"Avinash..I don't know what to say...didn't expect this from a strong, confident, matured Man like you, you are acting like a infatuated teenager"

"Priya, I am feeling strange...I am emotional and lost. I am only thinking of you all the time, I want to be with you, talk to you, touch you, feel you, see you...I don't know. And all these are not happening only since yesterday, it's since the first day I saw you, 2 months ago. Even after Taj event, I secretly kept seeing you everyday"

"Seriously, daily??"

"Yes, whenever I felt like seeing you, I used to follow you in stealth mode...infact when we met 'accidentally' at the Cafe yesterday, was also staged as I knew you are going to be there"

"Avinash, though I am touched with your emotions and equally attracted to you, this can't happen..I am sorry" a weeping Priya picks her purse and barges out.

The Love Blooms

A week passed by, and they both didn't call or message each other, though both were still disturbed and emotional.
Next Sunday Priya hears the knock on the door, and finds no one in front of the door. She only finds the White Lilly flower bouquet at the doorstep, with a note that read "Care for a piping hot filter Coffee at Parijatha? Your drive and the chauffeur are waiting outside for you"
Priya giggles and gets inside the house to quickly change her dress, gets ready and comes out to see Avinash standing besides his car holding the door open. She smiles, gives a small tap on his cheeks and sits in the car. They both reach Parijatha and sit at their favourite spot - balcony, sipping on the Coffee.

"So, what now? Still in the same mode?"

"I am in Love with you Priya, and you know it."

"Yes, I saw love in your eyes for me...but what I have on you is only attraction. You know my story, you know my past, I don't know what you found in me that made you fall in love. And more over we just met 2 times."

"If you could only see yourself through my eyes, you would know how special you are and how lovely you are"

"Wow, I am sure you will make me fall in love with you by saying such nice things"

"I am not just saying, I mean it. I love you, I need you...Priya....will you...will you marry me?"

Priya spills the Coffee cup on the floor, gets up in shock, angry and upset "Avinash...stop it, just stop there...you are crossing the line" and starts crying loudly. Avinash comes closer to her, holds and hugs her tight and caresses her head. Priya calms down after couple of minutes of crying and gathers herself "Avi, I really like you. I must be very lucky to find a guy like you. But I am not right for you, I already had a past. You can find much younger, attractive girl for yourself....though I am almost the same age as you, there is a difference. Don't waste your time and life with me. I am bad for you."

"Priya, I understand ..probably I rushed in a little way too early. But the fact is I am madly, truly, deeply in love with you."

On hearing this Priya melts and gives herself to Avinash. He picks her up in his arms, carries her to the bedroom. Both make intense, passionate love...
Tucking to her tightly on the bed, Avinash goes "Priya, I know you are uncomfortable to get into marriage, atleast not now, I respect that and will leave it for you to decide. But, you know there is a strong connect between us and we are great with each other. Why don't you move in with me?"

"You mean, Live In?"

"Yes...we both can spend time together, know each other better and then later we will see where this is headed towards"

"Okay, what will happen after we start to live together?

"I don't know, but all I know is I will find new reasons to love you, new things to love you for, and find out why I love you so much"

A happy and emotional Priya says "Ok, so Live In it is...haha"

"Oh yeah..."

"So, is this all about intimacy?"

"Yes, intimacy, passion, love, romance, you, me, us...that's what it's going to be...I am excited"

"I am scared you will hypnotize me with all such sweet, nice talks"

"Hey, did you call me Avi back there?"

"Yes, I will call you Avi...I like it that way"

"I like it too....what do I call you?"

"Call me Priya.."

Priya moves in to Parijatha, they both are happy, in love.

Reality Bites

It's been 3 months now, they like each other's company, and Avinash really feels good about this. They find that they are compatible in lot of areas, though cleanliness and keeping house in order is becoming the irritating point between them.
Yet, they both feel they are becoming best friends, having amazing conversations each day, cuddling and sharing intimate and romantic moments.

On a Sunday afternoon, when both of them are cuddling on the Sofa, watching TV, Avinash asks Priya "Priya, I am addicted to you, as I feel super happy with you around. My entire being lights up seeing you with me all the time, I can't wait to get back home to be in your arms, to be with you."

"Same here Avi. I like your company, I like this. I like this sexual attraction we have for each other, this is beautiful and love the way you take care of me"

"As we celebrate 3 Months of our journey together, I intend to be with you like this forever. I want to be in a long-term, permanent emotionally fulfilling relationship"

A visibly upset Priya "Avi, please don't start again"

"I know you wouldn't want to talk about this. But I want you as my Wife. I want to get old with you"

"Avi, I can understand your feelings and wants. But I have tread that path already and this is all I can be for you, this is all I can give for you. Please don't expect more from me"

"Why don't you want to marry me? You know how beautiful we are together, you know how I feel about you"

"Enough Avi" Priya gets up, walks in to the room and shuts the door.

Avinash goes out to meet his friends in the noon when he comes back in the evening, he is aghast and horrified to see Priya dressed up with a luggage bag next to her.."We are probably not meant to be together. I would have loved to make this work, but I think I have tried enough. Not sure if It's worth trying any harder to keep us together."

"Please Priya, don't say that. You know how much I love you and how much I need you. You can't give up on us. We can make it work, you know how good we are together."

"I am sorry Avi, I can't lose again, I don't have any more strength left in me to lose one more time."

Priya in her blue jeans, pink floral top, grabs the black stole lying on the sofa, wraps it around and walks away, dragging her trollied luggage bag.
Teary eyed and dejected Avinash sits on the Sofa with his hands on his head.

Still unable to digest that Priya is going away, Avinash gathers himself together and runs down as Priya sobbing and trying to book a Cab. He grabs her phone and begs her to come back home "Please Priya, just come home, let's talk...it need not end like this. We are much more matured and love each other enough to handle this in a better way" he drags the luggage bag in one hand, and holds her hand in the other and take her back home.

"Avi, I am not the one for you. I can never be your Wife, I have given whatever I had for you"

"What troubles you Priya? We are emotionally, physically, intellectually compatible. Marriage is the next logical step in our relation, am I expecting too much?"

"I have already been there, and I have failed once. I can't do this again, let this be the way it is now"

"How long? How long do you want us to be in Live In relation, with absolutely no clarity on future, this can't be temporary, I love you way too much to call it temporary"

"Things will fade Avi, we will start fighting, we will stop loving each other"

"No, why should it be like that. I am not Rajesh, and every relation will not be same. We are more grounded and resilient, to withstand any fights and conflicts"

"Avi, everything looks rosy in this honeymoon period of relation, trust me, it will not be same forever"

"As a couple, we will find ways to keep ourselves together, don't worry, we can do it together, just be with me and nurture 'us'. Let's continue to be the way we are...now forget what happened today and let's get back to normalcy"

Priya hesitantly agrees and stays back. But that was an obvious crack on the wall. Avinash soon realizes Priya Indeed has Commitment issues, whenever he talks about long term relationship and marriage, Priya gets irritated and tends to walk away from the situation.

As such episodes of Priya walking away repeats, Avinash convinces everytime her to stay back in his home and in his life, but only after promising Priya that he will not talk about marriage again.
He tries to explain Priya that she has Commitment Issues, which is a problem that makes her Panic, can be addressed with some help and working together. As Priya continues to find it hard to commit, Avinash can't take this temporary love any longer. When the 4th time Priya walks out of Parijatha, Avinash tells Priya "I let you go Priya. All I saw was beautiful life ahead of us together, and I bloody well know we will be good together. I would have made it work, but not by force, not if you don't want it. I would like to help you allay your fears of committing to a relation, but for it to happen, both need to meet mid-way. Thank you for making me a man, thank you for showering so much Love, thank you for teaching me how to love a woman. You were my first woman, first love, you will always be special to me"

Priya plants a kiss on Avinash's cheeks "No body has ever, can never love me the way you have loved me. You can't help me, I have my own mind blocks which can never be changed, my fear will probably never go away. You deserve much better, someone who values your love. Stay blessed!"

The Beautiful Mind

THE BEAUTIFUL MIND

by

MURALI MURTHY

The mind is it's own place, and in itself, can make heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven!

How many of us have watched "The Beautiful Mind" movie and awe-stuck with the brilliant performance of actor Russell Crowe. The movie very well portrayed one of the mental health issues - Hallucinations.

One of the latest Web Series I watched on Amazon Prime - BREATHE that deals with Multiple Personality Disorder, where Abhishek Bachchan switches between two personalities and he himself is not aware of this switch.

Many of us were shocked to hear the sad demise of the actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who succumbed to Depression.

When I picked up this topic to write, I was confused if I have to talk about this enormous power of mind or it's health implications.

The Mind is indeed the powerhouse of our body and even the medical world is probably not fully aware of how brain works and its ability to store memories of one's lifetime.

As I am into Software Development, I have realized this fact. While we code to implement all possible use cases, logic, algorithms, constrains and variables to solve a particular problem, our mind can solve the same problem effortlessly.
Even during my sales pitch I tell my customers that the Software can automate certain routine activities and pre-programmed use cases, it can never replace Human Intelligence.

While the abilities of mind to think, imagine and store are lauded by all, the games it plays with our body is a cause of worry.
Though Split Personality issue is very rare, Hallucinations and Depressions are not really uncommon.

I was personally involved in a case of Hallucinations, as my good friend Ravi was the victim. His imaginations were so real that he truly believed some rowdy elements were threatening him and waiting outside his house to attack him. He used to hear them abusing and throwing stones at his room window, waiting for him to come out.
It scared him so much that he locked himself in the room. He believed I could save him from those rowdies, as he thought because of my physical build and network, he could portray me as a Cop.
I did my best to visit him regularly and pretending to scare them away.
With that and some force-fed medications, he came out of the Hallucinations.

Depression is something that we come across more often. I personally know some of them who fought depression and came out of it, and I also knew someone who took the path of Sushant Singh Rajput.

Thanks to the Covid era we live in, most of us are going through difficult times for over 3 months now and God knows how many more months, years this is going to last.
Many of us are affected mentally, physically, emotionally, psychologically, financially. With so much happening around, bad news almost everyday, financial struggle, it is bound to have an impact on our health.

As any other small business, even my company is going through a crisis with an unknown future.
In these unprecedented times, finances are hit badly. My health had to pay the price for the stress, worry and constant deliberation of ways to manage finances and salaries during this crisis.

I ran to multiple Neurologists to get myself tested. Though I am put on medication for the primary issue, I continued to visit some specialists as the symptoms recurred. All the Neurologists echoed that what was happening was due to stress and anxiety. I was even put on Anti-Anxiety medication.
That really put me off, not only does it make you drowsy but makes you a Zombie.
And this was the phase I personally experienced Depression.
It makes you lose interest in everything, you don't want to do anything, you don't want to talk with anyone and you want to be left alone.

Many suggestions and remedies come from your well-wishers to overcome depression..."stop worrying about things you cannot control", "start exercising", "do yoga"...
All of us go through stress and anxiety all through our lives, but what we all are going through in these Covid times are extreme and out of ordinary.
No one intentionally worry about something...if something is bothering your situation, it is unconsciously playing in your mind in a loop.

The scare News Channels and WhatsApp Forwards create, the boredom, the worry, being holed up for Months together, unknown future prospects and the scare of being infected - all messes with your mental health.

How many times haven't we googled to get specific Corona Symptoms. All these unwanted information, scare actually makes you feel you are infected.
I have had 3 episodes of throat irritation and fever since the virus spread accelerated. Are they real? Or are they just Hallucinations the mind is playing out?

My personal experience tackling Depression is to first acknowledge and identify immediately that you are going through a Depression. It's easier to nip it in the bud. I stopped all medications, I started exercising, meditate, tried to be happy and smile a lot, even if it was artificial.

Every individual is different, and there is no one magic pill to come out of depression. You have to find your own ways to deal with it. Trust me, no one can help you, not even your loved ones.

One of the Neurologists whom I visited said something that is etched in my memory "Our Mind is very egoistic in nature. It will not like you to think that it couldn't handle stress, pressure and it gives your body misleading signals that something else is wrong with your body".

My wife who is Ofcourse worried in general on whats happening around, otherwise unaffected and continues to be busy with household work and keeps herself occupied with some craft work which she loves to do.
She is infact even more busier in these Corona times as she has to cook more and do more of household stuff.

Two days ago she started feeling tired all of a sudden, came to me and said "I am feeling restless and feeling anxious for no reason. I feel something is going to go wrong" when actually nothing was Wrong and it was Anxiety that troubled her. A good night's sleep and she was absolutely normal.

These are very bad times and can affect anyone. I urge each of you to take good care of your mental health, apart from general health.

Even today evening times makes me weak and Anxiety sets in. Even my friends share the same feeling that they go through weak moments in the evenings.

As this Pandemic goes beyond 2021, my unscientific, "gut feeling" analysis says 50% population might be suffering from Covid and the other 50% could be suffering from the mental health issues.

Let's either learn to control our mind and thoughts, or Beware of your Mind!