Tale 78

Shreya and Vishwesh were Ex's from college...
They broke off due to compatibility issues....
She fell in love with and got married to Vishwesh's best buddy Abhas.
Since then Vishwesh and Abhas never spoke to each other...
It was obviously awkward between them...
However Shreya was cordial with Vishwesh....
One day she happened to forward her business promotion broadcast on her friends list...
Vishwesh got it as well...
He wished her luck...
They spoke, exchanged pleasantries...
He asked her about her family and life in general...
Shreya told him that all was well...
She asked him to send a pic of his baby....which he did...
She coaxed him to send a family pic since she was eager to have a look at what his wife looked like and if she worked or stayed at home to look after their baby...

Vishwesh hesitated at first...but then opened up eventually, "I don't want to talk about her, I am disgusted with her. She ditched me. I don't know whether she works or not as she does not stay with us."

"Oh... I am sorry.... is your son with you then?" , Shreya asked....

Vishwesh answered, "Yes Riaan turned one last month and is with us.... My wife ran away because she could not take care and did not want any commitment etc and so forth.... she ran away earlier this year."

"That's extremely unfortunate. Good to know ur son is with u...It's okay if u don't share whatever happened... If it would pain..." , Shreya said.

"Naah. Whatever pain she gave me I have thrown it out of my life. I will share!
I have learnt to gulp that pain. Shreya, she betrayed me!" Vishwesh said.

"There are some things which are left unanswered...How much ever we try to reason.... You have stayed strong
You have a gift.....Your son Riaan... He is precious....Isn't that better? ", Shreya typed to console him....

Vishwesh typed, "Riaan is our angel. Post marriage, she was never in the framework of marriage. I came to know later that her father had made her get into this marriage only to get her out of her previous relationship with her classmate. A serious relationship. Her father did not want them to marry. Anyway. Her pregnancy was accidentally discovered. By our gynaecologist who is our family friend...
She never took any interest in keeping happy during pregnancy.... She tried to kill my mom by making her fall down on the floor. She even tried to kill Riaan when he was with her. After birth he was in a nearby neo natal ICU. When he came back home she was never interested in taking care of Riaan. One day when we were taking Riaan for vaccination she ran away. Without bothering for anyone. After 2 days of search by police she was reported as missing.... We came to know that she ran away to a remote place in Gujarat. Now we know that her parents are also involved. They are only interested in money and not family.
Currently law suits are filed and the matter is in high court. All proceedings are in high court... Shreya, they ditched me... Duped me... I had not done any bad.... Riaan is my life my light... I will make their life hell..."

Shreya, " Hmm, so basically u can't forgive neither forget... Right? I can feel that u are hurt and pained upto getting numb...."

"Nope. But I will make them regret the day they were born. Not revenge.... But a punishment for their nonsense.",Vishwesh typed.

Shreya did not know what to say...
She knew just one side of the story....
She hated to be judgemental yet the side which Vishwesh spoke of seemed tad bit exaggerated....
She wanted to know more...
Was their's an arrange marriage?
Did they go in for counselling?
Was the joint family a problem?
Was the pregnancy unplanned and/or enforced?
Was the wife abused? Did she abuse them?
Is she happy now that she is away?
Did she actually run away?
Why was there such bitterness?
How did the family now manage everything?
She was disturbed for baby Riaan.... It was never his fault to be forced to be raised by a single parent whoever it was....
She tried to reason as to why would a woman try to kill her own child or for her mother in law for that matter....
Are humans that inhumane?
She had read that truth and false or right and wrong were just a matter of perception....
She wished she could help...
She hoped there could be a way to bring happiness in Vishwesh's life....
She so wished if Abhas her husband and Vishwesh could still be friends and be there for each other as best buddies in times of need....
She could neither share this with Abhas nor could help in any way without knowing the other side of the story....
She spent a sleepless night wondering things from his wife's point of view...
She finally gave up....
Decided to empathize and be compassionate with Vishwesh...
He might be right might be wrong...
It could be his mistake, crime or none...
He could be a victim... He could be a culprit....
All said n done....at the end of the day....
He was a human too...
Just as complex sensitive layered with baggage unsorted as any one of us - Shreya thought....
There would be a reason why he had opened up to her....
There might be a lesson she had to learn....
She kept this chapter unfinished with a few blank pages in the book of her experiences in life...
Blanks should be accepted she thought...
And so she did....

‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 77

Anay was from an all boys convent
He, a class topper, science genius, a master in languages and the captain of their school football team
They called him the school champ!
Piyu was from an only girls convent school
Above average in studies, but someone who'd bring in interschool trophies for her school...
Topper in music dance dramatics and elocution there was nothing that would give her teachers and parents a chance to complain....
They called her the school star...
She found studies boring however she managed to score well thanks to her sharp memory...
They both incidentally joined the same coaching class in their 9 th Grade....
Anay used to come for class all muddy and sweaty in shorts directly from the ground....
Piyu used to come dressed neatly in dresses that accentuated her well defined curves thanks to her teens...
She was well aware of her looks and exuded confidence in the way she presented herself....
Anay couldn't help but notice Piyu as she attended the lectures from June...
This was the first time ever that he had liked a girl ever....
Piyu on the other hand ignored Anay's glances but secretly admired his Intelligence and brilliance in class...
It was the first lecture of where the professor taught them the periodic table when Anay volunteered to say the elements from the last to first in the reverse order...
Piyu was mind blown with the genius that he was....
Anay was so good at essays that his work was displayed on the class board....
Anay's friends knew about his crush over Piyu while Piyu's friends knew she was ga ga over Anay's intelligence....
Teasing and name calling started....
Both enjoyed it for a while....
Just before Diwali break Anay confessed about his feelings to Piyu after class...
She reciprocated his confession with her response of liking him....
This was the time when there were just landline's
They would talk everyday during the vacations...
They missed each other however did not find ways to meet each other out of class....
They did not lose focus on studies....
If at all, surprisingly this mutual affection boosted their performance in school as well as in extracurricular activities....
Months passed...they joined the Vacation batch for 10 th boards....
It was a blessing in disguise for the batch was for long hours which meant that they got to be with each other every single day....
Sundays were spent writing emails and letters or making phone calls....
While going strong in studies this connection got stronger with time....
School started...now they met only over the weekends in class....
Their relationship was sweet, innocent and full of love....
They were happy but focussed....
It was sports day at Anay's school, the football finals
He fell badly while keeping the goal and hit his neck...
Lying unconscious on the ground he was rushed to the hospital....
His friends called up Piyu to tell this incident...
Piyu was worried but couldn't do much since no one at the house knew about it....
Here at the hospital Anay's spinal cord got damaged leading to paralysis...
He was a C 6 quadriplegic....
He had no sensation below his chest...
He was wheelchair bound and doctors gave little hope of recovery...
They just prayed and hoped that this wouldn't turn out to be a degenerative damage...
In a few weeks Piyu saw him enter the class...
Escorted by his mother in a wheel chair...
Piyu broke down on seeing this....
Their friends comforted her but there was little Anay could do to console since he was afraid that his mother would come to know....
He had his own acceptance issues to cope with..he couldn't walk...
He would be brought to class by his driver and mom, and would be picked up soon after the lectures were done...
He had to take a writer now for his exams and tests....
However both Piyu and Anay were unable to talk to each other....
They couldn't face the fact, the reality that life had thrown upon them....
They had to pay attention to the impending board examinations...
They had pressure to perform we even more so with the given condition....
They hadn't spoken for over two months....
Anay's friends came over for studies and connected a call to Piyu....
They poured their hearts out....
They reconnected....
Anay had always aspired to be a scientist...
Piyu wanted to take up Arts...
But she changed... Changed for the love of her life...they mutually decided on some things....
Piyu worked doubly hard to score brilliantly....
Took up science with Anay in the same college that he got admitted in....
Much to her parents surprise she gave up the thought of becoming an IAS officer
They couldn't stop her from taking up science since she had scored brilliantly....
Both of them got into a prestigious college to continue being there for each other for their HSC....
Now Anay gave up the thought of taking up engineering for Piyu...
They took up Pure science and graduated and completed their Masters in same subjects....
They could have been mediocre
However the situation around them forced them to maintain their top rank...
Anay would pick Piyu up and drop her back from college
He had a car and a driver....
While Piyu escorted him throughout the college premises and beyond....
They went to movies together prom night together and also for picnics Symposiums and study tours and excursions....
Their parents kind of knew it by then...
The families were in awe of the commitment that this young couple showed....
They appeared for the qualifying exams for research abroad...
Flew to a university together....
Anay is a PhD in their topic and teaches in the same university
While Piyu has a job in an MNC in their R and D department...
They live together as a couple...
They do not feel the need of marriage since they know that having children raising them is way too much of a stress for them....
They have chosen to sponsor physiotherapy and education for two quadriplegic orphans back here in India...
They live happily in their small cosy one bedroom rented apartment at a location central to her workplace and his campus...
They don't plan to own a huge home... They don't dream big either....
They don't think of even one day ahead....
Because they have kind of understood that nothing is permanent...
Very few things last for long if not forever....
Their love is one of those rare lasting things they know...
They have little expectations from life...
They just hope to be with each other as long as life lets them to be...
They eat sleep laugh watch travel enjoy entertain socialise like any other normal couple....
However they long to get back to each other at the end of the day...
In their own private world of special togetherness...
Some stories stay completed in the incomplete essence of fate...broken and rebuilt...

‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 76

Manas was one fantastically lively cheerful child
Totally up to some prank or mischief he made the life of his parents full of surprises
From accidentally breaking the TV screen, glass table top, window panes, car mirror to spilling Juice cartons , soda can spraying sessions, jam rangoli on the floor and playing war-battle with a ketchup squeezy bottle on the bed sheet to using his dad's permanent markers on walls he had done it all....
He would never ever be seen without a bruise or a bandage and some swelling...
He d make the life of his parents and grandparents totally busy with all his naughtiness....
They wondered if this would be his level at 5 years....what would he be at 10???
They prayed for him to settle down and listen to them....
Manas would keep going on and on...
Talking non stop and jumping up n down like a cute little monkey - the parents would say laughing....
Still, like every mom n dad, he was the apple of their eye....
He had filled up their existence upto the brim...
But at the same time he was an absolutely adorable child....
He was gentle with babies.... He loved being around people and chatting....
He had a good rapport with animals and loved listening to music....
His parents Nitin and Lekha were working professionals well settled in their respective fields....
It was such a happy family that they never ever thought of having a second child....
Their parents coaxed them to take a chance and get a sibling for Manas but they were very sure that their hands were full....
Grandpa took Manas for piano classes twice a week while Grandmom took him for skating for two days...
Nitin took him for swimming over the weekends while Lekha managed his book club timings and along with his school work through the week....
They made sure they kept him so occupied that he would not get any time for mischief....
Days passed... It was sports day in his school...
The family was excited for they knew Manas had all the energy to excel in sports and win for his class...
It was a bit breezy that evening as the final rounds of running started....
Manas was in the finals....
The competition was about to start and he suddenly came back to his teachers saying that he was very cold....
They thought he must be joking and coaxed him to join the race....
But soon they noticed him shivering with chills...
They announced it on the loudspeaker on the ground....
Lekha and Nitin rushed to pick him up...
He had a mild temperature....
They decided to take him to his paediatrician.
On the way the temperature increased drastically...
They stopped at a nearby hospital to check the temperature it was 106 F
In disbelief the doctors in the hospital immediately suggested to move him to a multi speciality hospital asap...
Manas dropped his head as if he went into a coma on Lekhas lap while going to the hospital....
Lekha and Nitin were in shocked as they called out his name.....
There was no response...
They rushed inside the ward where the doctors started the treatment in lightening speed....
Oxygen mask heart monitor tubes everything enveloped Manas in a matter of an hour....
Nitin and Lekha were clueless over what was happening....
Until then their respective parents joined them in the hospital....
With Manas in the ICU and a team of doctors doing their best it was little that they could do besides pray....
The diagnosis wasn't clear enough....
The tests were on....
The platelets started going down...there was organ failure....
First the liver then the lungs ultimately the brain....
The life support system was on...
Lekha couldn't even kiss him - there were so many tubes around...
She gently talked to him as he lay showing signs of life on the monitor....
She wanted to hold him close....
To give the tightest hug ever!
She couldn't....
She kept feeling his soft tender skin velvet silky hair n touching his dry lips....
She wondered if he felt thirsty if he was hungry if he wanted to speak to her and tell her what happening...
She wondered if he even knew she was there...
She had never ever felt so helpless in life...
No one was ready to give up.... There was no way anyone could....
Hope kept them going and the love for their baby....
The prayers were on....
Reiki , Pranic healing, Mannat, Dua , Nawas everything was done....
Manas gave a tough fight....
He was a brave child....
Yes... He was....
He lost the battle to a Virus on the 3 rd day...It was Dengue....
Nitin and Lekha's world came crashing down...
The grandparents were shattered as well...
The friends relatives family Acquaintances all of who had prayed were in sheer disbelief and extremely grief....
Life had been cruel....
To see your son full of life lie down lifeless and being called a body by others was remorsefully heart wrenching...
The last rites is something no parent ever imagines in even worst nightmare to happen...
Tears dried up... They were numb....
They were empty....
It was as if one day he was there and suddenly he was gone....
There seemed no light... Just darkness around....
How were they supposed to cope to normalcy?
His clothes his school his classes his toys his building friends the broken window panes his favorite milk drink his class timings their lives were filled with nothing but Him....
Manas.... Was an angel they were told by the doctors...
He had come to fill their lives with happiness for 5 years....
God loved him too much to let him be with them - people said....
Nothing would calm Lekha and Nitin...
They let time pass...
They could never ever have his void fill up...
They are coping with the irreparable loss that has left them numb confused angry at a point with many questions unanswered....
Why them? Why only them? Why their baby? For that matter why anyone? What for? Who's fault? Who's Blame? Was it in Manas's Kundali? Why didn't anyone warn them then? What about Karma? Had they done anything really bad in the past lives to have got this punishment?
They read voraciously.... Books on spirituality and afterlife...
Books on karma books on religion
Books on healing books on everything that remotely could answer their call....
They wanted to hold him for one more time....may be one last time....
They would trade their own lives for his.
They would do anything to bring him back....rather never let him go....
They wanted to somehow believe that heaven had ways to reach out to....
Like phone calls and stuff so that they could see hear or maybe feel his soft skin one more time.... His giggles his laughter.... His cries his everything his songs his books his photos his videos his greeting cards ....
Manas was a dream that they had lived for 5years....
The happiest one ever....
They can't think about anything but him....
They practically can't....
They are just waiting....
And they don't know for what....
And the wait is unbearable....
They cry every single night....
They look at each other and watch their broken half in the eyes...
Of wishing that this would be just a worst nightmare.....
They just be....
They still love in his memories....
Maybe there is only one reality Time...
Maybe there is just one myth Time....
Maybe for them there is no IS at all....
Some tales are Real and Really Incomplete

‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 75

Anandita was pleasantly shocked to see two red lines on the pregnancy test strip....
This indicated that she was indeed pregnant 14 years after her first son Aadya was born...
Her husband Abhay was a sailor and would be away for months on the ship...
They were identical twin sisters...
Anandita thought of them as a blessing from above...
She was happy that the empty nest syndrome that she dreaded was now far off for at least another decade or so....
Aadya loved them to bits and was super protective about both his Titlis as he would call them...
Avni and Asmi... He got to name both of them as a gift on his birthday exactly a month after they were born...
It was a cheerful household full of sounds of laughter n tears and fights and noises of teasing and play and naughty giggles...
Anandita chose to home school the twins....
Aadya on the other hand had been to regular school leading a normal student life full of academics and exams...
Avni and Asmi however were taught in a way Anandita always dreamt of learning...
She had a vision....
She taught them through playful games, tales, puppets , books, field visits and theatre...
Both of them were introduced to poetry, music and art at a young age
Avni excelled in creating clay models while Asmi loved painting them with colorful patterns
Avni excelled in narrating stories with the use of puppets while Asmi made them for her with the help of Anandita...
Both of them loved playing in the mud and getting their hands dirty....
Gardening was something all three of them cherished and cultivated passionately as an active hobby...
Anandita lived her dream childhood as she took them to weekend treks excursions and concerts....
Aadya on the other hand got busy with his college and festivals and professional courses...
Abhay visited them a couple of times a year...
Avni and Asmi never really connected with him as a father...
He on the other hand was more than eager to connect with Aadya his son and spend time with Anandita on his visits...
The twins felt out of place when he would visit them since they missed having mom all by themselves....
Years passed....
They turned out to be beautiful young girls in college...
They joined college n both took up BMM
Avni took up Journalism while Asmi took up Advertising...
By that time Aadya was at the university of Indiana Bloomington as a professor in Human Computer Interaction living in with his Australian Girlfriend Cassey...
That year he came back to India with her for a long vacation....
He brought Cassey to his home and introduced her to his family....
It was also at this time that he proposed to her in front of Anandita Avni and Asmi...
She said yes!!!
Everybody was happy....
They decided to get married soon...
Cassey's parents and Step brother were about to visit India for the wedding....
So was Abhay....
It was a full house with friends family and people all together for the mega celebration homecoming and marriage....
Cassey's step brother Alex was an intern at a lead wildlife photographer's in Tasmania....
Alex Avni and Asmi were like an house on fire...
As filmy as it may sound Alex fell for Avni while Avni was least interested in him and Asmi fell for Alex who had no feelings for Asmi...
As identical as they looked Avni and Asmi were two very strong personalities in true sense and they were extremely close to each other....
They confronted Alex about this....
This was a really tricky situation and no one could do anything about it....
As the wedding took place both Avni and Asmi took a very bold decision of talking with Abhay their father....
Abhay was taken aback with his daughters opening up to him for the very first time in years....
They spoke for the whole night....
Right from how their conception was totally unplanned and an accident according to him...
Of how he never wanted another child but Anandita was adamant on giving birth...
Of how he had secretly suspected her of having an affair elsewhere which lead to the distancing from Avni and Asmi...
He felt sorry for his behaviour....
He apologized for being emotionally unavailable to them as a father for all that while....
He listened to them...
His beautiful twin daughters had all grown up and were asking him for guidance about their love life....
He called Alex and made Avni and Asmi sit in front of him....
He gave them three options...
1) pursue your love interests until you get a positive response
2) compromise and chose what you already have
3) wait for a while until life unfolds... Who knows you will end up being best of friends or fall in or out if love with each other or with someone else....
"Isn't it too early to decide now???
Have you told mom?" , he asked....
Alex Avni and Asmi decided to wait...
Alex went back to Hobart his hometown and succeeded with abundance in wildlife photography...
Avni now a successful writer has a bestselling novel in her kitty and has married a Percussionist from Kerala...
Asmi is the creative Head of a channel in India and visits Australia every year at Aadya and Cassey's home....
She is still in love with Alex and hasn't found someone she could settle down with....
Alex got married to his colleague from his first job but got divorced due to differences...
He still fondly remembers Avni and maybe secretly dreams about her...
Alex Avni and Asmi are still in touch and laugh out loud at the irony that life is ...
Abhay and Anandita lead a peaceful retired life without any stress about how their children would cope up....
They are confident that they'll be fine...
They are amused to know that Avni is pregnant with twins....
Abhay - Anandita, Aadya - Cassey and their three kids along with uncle Alex,
Asmi all are now at Kerala for Avni's baby shower...
It's one big close knit family...
Love triangles can be happy if not happier inspite of not being together...

‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 74

That night as she sat down on the dinning table of her house...
Missing him terribly at 3 a.m.
She could have called him...
He could have consoled her comforted her healed her relieved her....
There was Video calling and technology was at their disposal...
Yet she loved the feeling of missing him There was no fun in being away yet a sense of belonging in distance....
Love from afar had romance that togetherness could never lend...
She typed least a tad bit slower than what her thoughts could run...
Her fingers struggled to keep pace with her feelings...
She wrote...
"You are my moon
You had kissed me oh so soon...
The magic world that my lips are you tell me...
We think of each other when the stars light up the sky!
As you take me in your arms,
I see myself all encrusted with jewels of your vibes
Of the precious uniqueness that we bask in...
Of the connection that we share that no one can recreate other than us
WE is a concoction that is impossible to replicate elsewhere
My existence is hung with impressions of your thoughts
We seek company we seek solace we seek peace...
In togetherness...
There must be a purpose as to why we stand afar....
Yet I say I must have done something very kind in my last life!
That I got lucky in having you in this lifetime....
Call it Divine Intervention call it pre - determined destiny!
Call it blueprint call it karmic call it real call it surreal
That doesn't make it one bit less for us than what it is supposed to be...
If there was a flame lit up every time you' ve made me smile,
I d have nothing but bright golden light everywhere I see...
You are the wind beneath my wings
you are my light my sky my sea my earth my air my nothingness yet my everything....
I cannot differentiate a separate existence had it been anything other than this human form that we ve taken as of now...
For what i eagerly await, is our union after these bodies have ceased to be beyond the realms of reality...
whenever we ve met you ve said that your world has begun to collapse
all that is.... is a feeling.... of me in your arms....
there is electricity.... there is love... here is light, there is life....
our hearts arent afraid to beat anymore as we look at each other
In the deepest gaze that seems like eternity....
we arent frightened of getting lost...
since even if we do.... it just feels like home...
When you smile.... I know I dont want to let this go....
AND you know what??? I dont know why but I know I d never have to...
It is here that we win while losing...
I love you."
That was a letter which was never meant to be sent...
She knew she didn't have to...
She just had to write...
And He'd know that she did...

‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe

Tale 73

She was an architect by profession
And an extremely introvert delicate girl
She was raised in a house of working parents and was independent of sorts
She knew how to take care of herself...
She was happy to attend a job in a firm....
Working long hours was a way of life...
As a plaint and dutiful employee her boss was almost always happy to burden her with work which by default would always be more than what she was supposed to be doing....
She learnt flute over the weekends and was good at it...
She obviously always walked right by her noseline looking nowhere but front...
Her parents got her married to someone from their religion caste and subcaste...
They matched horoscopes and made sure everything was close to perfect....
Her husband was handsome with a high paying job...
She had to however let go of her job since her husband had to travel....
They changed 3 cities in 3 years of marriage....
She went on from becoming a career conscious woman to a housewife...
All she got to do was plan meals cook clean read n paint when she felt like...
Of course she was happy in doing so..
It indeed was a welcome break from her hectic schedule before marriage....
She slowed down and enjoyed marital bliss...
She loved her husband to bits....
Her husband treated her with respect....
Her in laws were bossy of sorts but she kept her patience on place...
Holding up herself whenever she visited them...
She was bullied into doing most of the household work camouflaging it in words like you cook so well that we are addicted to your cooking....
She felt better n cooked n cleaned...
She was an obedient daughter in law and a near to perfect wife....
It was about time they thought of having a baby....
She conceived...
Pregnancy was tough given her delicate structure and morning sickness and some infections here n there...
A sweetest baby girl was born...
While she was at her mother's house for delivery she relaxed to the core
She realised how she had missed this pampering for the longest time ever...
As soon as the baby was three months old she returned to her home...
Unfortunately her husband kept travelling and she needed support to raise the baby...
She naively accepted the proposal of staying with her in laws...
Once she went to their place she got bombarded with suggestions about raising the baby in their pattern...
Motherhood brought such assertiveness in her that she firmly put her foot down in matters that she felt she knew better....
With polite tone but an confident aggression she expressed her views...
They were taken aback at this transformation...
Nevertheless she did get talking....
A baby gives birth to a mother rightly said....
She quickly took decisions of shifting back to her home to be with her husband who still kept travelling
She hired ample domestic help to look after her baby and rejoined flute...
She practiced her music lessons in the evenings while the maids took her baby out for a stroll...
She gave her first solo performance as a flautist on the second birthday of her baby...
She was pressurised to go in for a second child however she Aggressively refused this time....
Motherhood not only gave her a purpose in life but a reason to speak for herself....
Her individuality was back...
She wasn't guilty in Giving herself time that she deserved rightfully...
Her individuality was right in place and so was her self respect...
She was happy with one baby and decided to nurture her second baby well
Her flute....
Her husband and parents were proud of her
Slowly the in laws realised that she had proved them wrong...
She became a well known name in the music scene while being one of the most alive and cheerful mothers in the parents teachers meet of her daughters school...
While her husband still travels extensively for work she chose to stay put at one place back home for the good of her daughter and herself...
She still looks delicate but isn't docile anymore...
She never regrets that she didn't get to practice architecture nor does she lets her husband miss having another offspring...
She aspires to be a music therapist as she seriously completes the coursework and internship in her city
She has started training music enthusiasts in flute on weekends...
One of her student's Is her own Husband...
While their young daughter loves playing Lego but isn't inclined much towards flute...
And they know its okay and it really actually is...
She d be someone or anyone she wants to be..
The family knows it... With experience...
Not all tales need to have drama or some profound lesson....

‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 72

Let's call her the Nayika of this tale...
Her husband treated her as a doormat
This husband was a cunning shrewd man who selfishly always thought about himself
100 percent commitment to work and shunning off attitude towards personal life had him score higher in the professional field while his family life sucked...
She was an extremely sensitive woman who seeked answers to many Why's? in life
Integrity was something she strongly vouched for as her motto
Of what she understood from reading watching and hearing about life was that karma needed to be warded off
Either by financial loss, physical debility or interpersonal disturbance causing emotional upheaval...
So she got a reason as to why her married life was in shackles...
Once she understood that, she decided to do something...
She decided to do nothing to change Him but she decided to change her perspective....
She could get over the inadequacies of relationship by keeping herself engrossed in things she loved....
When she did start her journey towards finding joy and fulfillment within she realised that a lot many similar people automatically got connected with her...
In due course of time as she found out that simple things make her happy and that happiness is reflective and contagious she started having many friends
Friends soon became followers and then supporters
The joy of having people with such positivity in her life was so comforting that she turned on a new leaf...
She found peace in expression...
She started doing more in all aspects of her life....
Just then she came across another high vibrational soul
He exuded extra ordinary warmth but an extremely attractive longing towards her...
Let us call him the Nayak of our tale...
She was taken aback with the kind of connection she felt for him....
She in the past had boundaries of social norms and limitations of age old customs and traditions....
However as she shed her conditioning veils one by one what she was left with was a void....
A void which was ready to be filled up with anything she wanted....
She was ready to accept everything and reject nothing....
So they connected...
First with a strong force of attraction
Then with a stronger force of attachment....
Little did they know that destiny by default always had plans that they weren't prepared for but in fact the big plan was actually designed by no one but them before taking birth....
She gave him full commitment and thought of no one but him....
She made sure that she gave him full attention love care and support while maintaining the balance in her legal marriage ...
They dreamt about starting a family someday having a huge cottage with a farmhouse and kids and dogs and lots of noise around their home...
They were happy together imagining life....
He was a free soul who freewheeled with life and picked and dropped whatever it had to offer or take away....
It was his birthday and he was showered with blessings and wishes from all over the world...
Just then he received an inbox message with a picture that said....
NOBODY IS HERE TO FULFILL YOUR DREAM... EVERYBODY IS HERE TO FULFILL HIS OWN DESTINY, HIS OWN REALITY...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAY BLESSED....
He was taken aback with the profoundness of the picture message....
He replied thanks...
This female was an actress who immediately asked if he could share his number since she wanted to have a word....
The female called him...
She was an actress who had travelled a lot and seen a lot in life and beyond...
Let's call her the Actress....
This actress seemed spiritually inclined...
There was something in her that ruffled things within him...
He spent the night thinking about the actress and feeling restless....
Messaging interaction followed...
The actress was relaxed and taking it slow while our Nayak was filled with curiousness of exploration...
The actress was beautiful and attractive...
The Nayak told about this new association to the Nayika...
The Nayika was first worried then cautious followed by flashes of insecurity and undertones of possessiveness...
She felt every emotion that attachment had to teach her...
She saw him slipping by...
The Nayak was evolved to accept life with open arms...
The Nayika was new to the Reject nothing part....
She struggled it then went in denial and finally came to a stage where she surrendered....
Her husband couldn't be hers because professional success was his soul plan for this lifetime...
The Nayak couldn't be hers because he now had the actress and he had moved on...
She was in love with the Nayak but there was nothing that she could hold back from him/ off him...
She was left with memories of blissful togetherness which now brought up extreme sorrow in her heart...
Shattered with another bruise on her heart she tried asking herself WHY ME???
Just then she realised...
Her purpose of this lifetime was to learn to accept not to reject and to live in the now and to detach from people involved in the relation...
She could feel the relation without attachment she realised...
She found out that she could still be in love with him while NOT HAVING HIM IN LIFE....
she learned to love unconditionally...
She learned to love beyond physical proximity...
Some more veils dropped...
She thanked all three of them in her heart...
The husband , the nayak and the actress...
For they seemed to be her best astral friends to have taken birth along with her just to help her learn her lesson and ward off the karma she had piled on...
It wasn't an easy contract on the blueprint that they three had made to teach her through pain and suffering one of the most important lessons of life...
Detachment...
She now lives peacefully with her husband
She loves the Nayak unconditionally
And she feels genuinely happy for the actress...
She has however changed the place where she lived...
She is present in Now...
That's the coolest place to be she thinks smile emoticon
‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 71

She fell in love for the umpteenth time...
But this was right after she thought that she can never ever fall in love again...
Never had she given up on love before...
However life as we all call it had other plans....
She had lost faith in love rather pure unadulterated love which she thought was a myth...
She hated the word of Unconditional...
Fate had made her set her perception in a way that she thought everything was a Give and Take...
she thought of Love as a measurable content...
A barter of sorts....
Even if lovers completed each other their ultimate crude motives could be labelled as selfish, she thought...
She continued to live a life with an undercurrent of disconsolate wrenched attitude...
She gave up on any possibility of finding someone she could count on ever...
Just then Destiny had other plans....
There entered a man who seemed all black and gray to all but somehow she deep down recognised him as pristine white...
Her gloomy aura was shaken and stirred by this strong soul of a man with a mission
He told her I ll always be two steps behind...
She ridiculed his words at first though...
She didn't dare to say them out aloud on front of him...
But he came and what an arrival it was....
His entry into her blueprint filled her hopes desires ambitions to the brim...
And her cup was overflowing with overwhelming surprises...
Suddenly she found herself in a state of deep transition....
Her senses elevated to the extent of giving her a feeling of lingering ecstasy...
She blossomed again....
She wore colors...
She felt beautiful....
She felt love for everything around....
And gratitude....
She started experiencing abundance in everything that Divinity had to offer....
She enjoyed life to the fullest and realised that there is more joy in Giving...
And that not everything is a Give and Take....
And she knew he just gave her and kept giving her...
And she wondered what she could do to pass the goodness...
This transformation made her purer and purer by the day...
She spoke her mind...
She never lied to him...
But by now she had realised that She couldn't own him...
Neither she can't be just his....
But they could definitely be there for each other as long as they lived this life...
She called him her Soulmate
He called her nothing...
Because a feeling can just be felt he said...
And there was no name that he could lend her...
He could call her with just a thought in his mind...
She knew she had to use words to reach to him...
They knew what they had to know...
It was a fantastic synchronization...
They dreamt of possible life together...
Of journeys that could go for the travelling that they could do and the places they'd visit...
They imagined each other as parents to their probable children and named them
They saw each other beyond the boundaries of space and time being as one not just in the physical plane but in the spirit that they were...
They wondered if souls could split to have different experiences on the earth plane so that they could quickly gel back warding off their karma in supersonic speed....
They had had shattered personal lives in the past and did carry fragments of its repercussions with them...
However they realised that they would heal with company...
Being together would sort deep routed issues one by one till they felt the communication was between their higher selves...
They accepted the power of Now...
Decided to give life a chance...
They now live life...
Of separated togetherness....
Far better than their together but separated statuses earlier...
They watch it pass by in scenes
They understand that they have to play roles without participating in the drama...
They are learning the fine act slowly...
They are happy with each other...
She knows now that he is two steps behind....
With full faith in love that HE is...

‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 70

She was the daughter of a Doctor dad and a lecturer mom...
From an affluent Gujarati family living in the suburbs...
She completed Masters in Journalism and while at it, fell for her tamil - bramhin class mate who was born n brought up in Chennai...
They got engaged to be married soon after their internship stint abroad...
Their courting days in London were a dream come true for both...
It used to be cold n chilly outside but oh so cosy warm and mushy in their apartment in which they shared with a group of their friends...
The days were blissfully addictive...
Words flowed like a river...
They did not need to find inspiration elsewhere....
They completed the year and came out with flying colors!
Deep within they felt like staying back and living in just like they did for some more years however there was parental pressure....
As sentimental as their parents could be... They were emotionally blackmailed to come back to India and marry...
They had to oblige...
They went and settled down in Chennai as a newly wed couple...
Got jobs in print media and started their family life...
Huge Chennai household with stringent rules and orthodox traditions was a tough challenge for an independent girl like her....
He however was happy to be in his comfort zone....
Months passed and reality struck...
She took her job seriously and moved up the ladder sooner than him...
He for no reason kept his laid back attitude on and stayed in the same place that he was even after a year...
On their first anniversary they decided to move back to Mumbai for better prospects....
They fortunately landed up with good jobs in ndidpapers...
She took up new projects and travelled extensively while he continued in his role as a mediocre journalist with taking up no real challenge for himself....
She was promoted....
She changed her job and joined an elite news company...
Their starkly different career graphs reflected adversely in their personal lives...
He went into mild depression....
He left his job... Stayed home... Went for a de-tour solo vacation...
Nothing helped...
He kept falling sick and kept going back to Chennai to recuperate...
She was tired of juggling her highly demanding new role in the company along with the distorted domestic life....
She was a genuinely happy young lady with a flair for art...
She dressed well, took interest in decorating her home, made new friends , threw warm house parties, attended music and dance concerts was crazy about theatre and a die hard fan of travelling....
Reading voraciously and writing rigorously her hands were full but heart empty...
She couldn't rest confidently in his arms at the end if the day since it was always the other way round....
He took her shoulder to lay upon always....
She was his first and last resort...
She had to mother him more than ever....
One day as she came back from work she found a letter
He wrote that he was leaving for good and didn't know if he would come back...
He went abroad and did not explain where and why and how was he going to manage himself....
She was worried about him because she did love him and cared about him...
Not knowing what to do she called up her in-laws for help...
They held her responsible and refused to cooperate....
She was suddenly null...
She was so used to giving him support that the sudden absence made her naive and vulnerable...
Her work started suffering....
Just then a colleague and a common friend noticed this....
He took her out and made her open up...
She poured out everything and cried...
It seemed she had cried after almost a while....
The colleague stood strongly by her side as she was bombarded with false allegations from her husband and in-laws....
They seeked divorce, the battle was tough....
She let go of all their joint possessions jewellery house everything....
She wanted no stress and just peace....
Once she was through the legalities this colleague proposed to her...
She wanted to settle down since she liked being married having a household as much as her professional pursuits...
He was a Muslim... She was concerned about their families.
Nevertheless they did get married....
It was a nice union....
Different culture different customs were fun...
Her now in laws treated her with love whenever they visited her or vice versa...
They were happy....
They wanted to start a family however it was tad bit difficult given her age and gynaecological problems...
They however continue to support each other in all aspects of life as husband and wife...
She had a failed fallopian pregnancy and recovered with the support and care of her in laws...
As much as they want to have kids they have decided to accept it if fate has no plans of parenting for them...
Her parents are awestruck with the transition that their daughter has gone through...
She happily follows the holy month of Ramzan as well as celebrates Diwali in her house...
It's more about being human than being of any religion she says...
You give some you take some...
At the end you just have to seek balance...
They are living happily and definitely ever after.... 

#notsotinytales

- Prajakta Sathe
smile e

Tale 69

He, a well known musician in his early 40s
She was a performing artist in her early 30s
They had worked in a stage presentation 13 years ago
She was a dance student then and in college....
He was a young struggling artist then...
They hardly interacted with each other at that time...
She was under the wings of her dance Guru...
He was under the pressure of providing for his newly started family....
More than a decade ahead a lot many things had happened....
She married the love of her life, settled into marital bliss, had a son and successfully taught at her dance academy for 10 years...
She was happy and joyful, for life seemed a blessing with a supportive husband and an adorable offspring...
He on the other hand had two kids from his marriage but eventually divorced his wife and lived a life of solitude practicing his art...
Career was on a decent roll, he performed in concerts all over the world...
He was into glamour limelight and fame...
He was happy with music but somewhat alone , lonely and deprived....
He saw her on Facebook and sent her a friend request since they had many mutual friends...
She recollected a few stage presentations that they had done in the past and added him....
She was glad to see him again and was happy to come in contact with an artist like him...
Utmost respect, networking, creative interaction, getting to learn new things were a few things that she was excited about this reconnection....
Pleasantries were exchanged and so were numbers...
They spoke on phone about the shows in the past Nostalgia and the fun they used to have at the rehearsals back then...
He shared his past which was unfortunately not all good...
She had all good things to share about her life....
He messaged her constantly...
At first she thought it is about the excitement or tuning of meeting a new friend....
But slowly the messages became incessant...
The messages became obsessively urgent and compulsively expectant laced...
He messaged her day and night...
She tried to reason...
Maybe it's deprivation maybe it's mid life crisis...
She tried to ignore...
She tried to confront...
She politely tried to not pick his continuous calls...
He came to meet her at her house...
She welcomed him with subtle fear of what she sensed was about to come...
He tried to get close and that flashed a light in her head....
Yes he was well known
Yes he was a popular artist
Yes he was successful and busy...
Yes his music had demand....
But that did not define who he was as a person....
She did not want drama....
She firmly objected his advances
Fortunately her husband arrived just in time...
He left cordially....
She chose to let this sink in....
She did not react nor did she respond....
As soon as he left she again received lewd messages from him...
She had an option of telling this to her husband...
She had an option of bringing this forth to public notice by sharing the screen shots of messages on networking site...
She had an option of reasoning as well.... Which she did try...
Talking it out to her closest friends....
Listening to Freudian philosophy and counter questioning the theory of non judgement that she believed in until then she blocked him...
On Facebook On watsapp On truecaller....
She couldn't change any perspective neither hers nor his....
He called it sharing....
Maybe he misunderstood her free spirited radical thinking rational reasoning non judgemental attitude as an invitation for getting close
Maybe physical gratification was routine and random for him
But this incidence was both deeply saddening (not Shocking though) and extremely discouraging...
She held secret fear of making new friends....
She was now overtly cautious about PR and networking...
Her outlook towards man woman dynamics were shaky...
She was about to lose faith in goodness around...
Did this made her clever? Smart? Experienced? No....
Why did she choose to open up to her closest friends but not to her husband?
Did she cradled innate fear of being judged by her own hubby... For not recognising good from bad?
Was she afraid of being labelled as stupid by her life partner???
All said and done she changed...
For good, for bad time would tell...
What happened to him....
Maybe He is about to change some other young woman soon....
Does the need for physical gratification always surpass the need for creative evolution and/or image maintenance ???

‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 68

This tale is made up of episodes...
They were an all girl gang in college...
Studied science but pursued interests far beyond academics...
Proposals, break ups, making outs, outings, night outs, crushes, affairs, bunking, late night studying, gossiping, shopping, binge boozing, dieting, shopping, smoking, cursing, bunking, faking proxies, winning, failing, bursting in laughter n wailing in sorrow...
They had done it all together
Out of them 3 were in regular touch even after graduation...
One common thing about all of them was that they were the only child of their parents...
Another thing that they struggled with was their weight and their marriage...
But that did not make their lives any way similar...
Its interesting to see how each life uniquely reveals itself...

Episode 1.

------------------------
Sanika stayed in suburbs...
Daughter of a businessman father who always travelled and a dominating over attached mother who took tuitions at home...
She was someone who was made to believe that success in studies meant smooth life...
However she soon realised that it wasn't true...
In spite of taking a paid seat from the management quota for her post grads she scored in mediocrity...
Joined another expensive course in pharma and secured a corporate job...
She worked long hours as she listened to her mom talking about marrying before time runs out...
An arranged marriage it was...
She was a fat girl who settled for a mediocre guy who earned well and looked okay considering her size n value of overweight brides in matrimonial market...
The initial days were okay and she got pregnant soon...
A baby girl it was...
But it so happened that she stayed with the new baby at her parents house for nearly 4 years after her delivery...
Reasons unknown to her friends but they suspected some incompatibility issues within marriage...
In the mean while she rejoined office and slogged at work to make a good living...
Living with her parents made sure she had little or no expense...
She blew off her money in shopping...
The weight not only stayed but piled on more than ever...
Junk eating while investing in various slimming packages continued...
The reason for the piling was far more than over eating...
It was stress...
Of living a lonely life in spite of being married...
About not getting to spend time with her daughter....
About not getting any physical intimacy for months because of this fragmented stay...
They reworked their plan...
Shifted to their new home with her husband...
But her parents joined them since the daughter needed to be looked after...
A few months went by fine...
Just then her husband took up a job in another city...
This meant the whole unit shifts to a new place...
But it was middle of the year and shifting school of the daughter getting a transfer from her office was next to impossible...
So there was another change...
Sanika along with her daughter and parents continued staying at the new house while her husband shifted to the new city for his job...
This shift meant good financial changes for them...
A newly owned flat in the city that the husband worked in along with their collective incomes coming in the house after appraisals and incentives...
He visited them once a month...
So the fragmented life continued...
Finally she decided to give this kind of split living a break...
She resigned from her job and went on to his city to live with him along with their daughter...
The outcome...
Her confidence is lost due to sudden stopping of income...
She cannot cope with the fact that she has to ask for money from him for smallest of things...
She realised it hard that she should have saved up instead of blowing it all up on shopping while she was in service...
She missed uninhibited spending...
She was a shopoholic and this was a stressing point within them...
She curbed the frustration by gobbling off food at odd hours and hogging out for comfort...
Her daughter followed her example and started eating unhealthy since junk was stocked at home...
Her daughter was moderately obese at 6...
She did not know what to do with all the time that she had...
She terribly missed her parents for support...
She hates her in laws and hence can't ask them to come stay with them so that she can get some independence...
She had no real hobbies that she could find happiness in...
She was guilty of investing lakhs of rupees in slimming programs and weight loss packages which all got wasted with zero result...
She never sends her daughter to play in the evenings after school because she fears about mosquitoes and viral infections and dust allergies...
Result - her daughter stays home after school watching hours of cartoons and television...
No extracurriculars for her yet (lame excuse) since she feels that studies are important and the new city doesn't have reliable public transport to make travel from home to classes or activity centres feasible...
Ultimately she is now an obese housewife with an overprotected overweight daughter...
Interpersonal communication or physical intimacy hasn't resumed yet for reasons obvious...
She secretly suspects him having an affair outside as a reason for no action in marriage...
She plans to get fit and just stays in the plan mode for months miserably failing to temptations and cravings....
She hates her image in the mirror and the guilt circle continues...
First episode of an extremely unhappy housewife...

Episode 2.

---------------------
Radhika was a daughter of a builder dad and stay at home mum...
Born as a chubby child her baby fat never went off...
She battled with infantile obesity...
Her body grew exponentially with age...
This triggered a series of personal battles related with self acceptance, reassurance of competence and acknowledgement of her inherent qualities...
Incidentally she had her first crush at age 12...
He was 19 and in college...
Luckily he responded...
The affair continued from then on way into her teens...
He was the first and the only man in her life since her adolescence and hence her experience about men was restricted to her father and her boyfriend...
Having a stable relationship inspire of being morbidly obese was the only relief as she went on in college...
For her money was never a tension,
She started driving as soon as she was legally allowed to and hence got confident about bring independent in a way...
By then she DID NOT APPEAR to give a damn as to what people around said or SEEMED to ignore the jokes behind her back...
But deep down, she was tired...
Tired of being judged and taunted and bring mocked off...
She was decent in studies and cleared her post grads smoothly...
She became financially independent earlier than most others in her batch...
Her boyfriend however struggled keeping jobs...
He struggled to earn any set income per month and was laid back in trying to improve any of the condition that he was in...
She married him...took care of the household, made money and pulled on a marriage which stood on just a single pillar...
There was neither consensual intimacy, nor financial stability and definitely No Love...
It was soon that she realised that he was going to be frustrated for life and was a good for nothing loser...
So they divorced...
Her father expired...
Now it was she and her mom...
She decided to change for good...
By then she was a full blown 130 kgs in weight and sort of bugged with everything...
She worked out for a good 4 years and shed almost 45kgs of weight...
At 85 Kgs with a height of 5.9 she appeared attractive and loved every bit of her new avatar...
She got a high with the attention she got...
She seemed new relationships but realised that though she might have dumped off her emotional and physical baggage by then...
Most men who approached her hadn't dealt with their own stuff properly...
Hookups, break offs, one night stands, casual flings, longterm affairs, matrimonial meets, broken engagements,blind dating, phone sex, chat intimacy, video satisfaction, friends with benefits, old pals acting fresh, new mates acting as expected...
Everything under the sun was tried tested and tasted well...
She said **** it... I am going to concentrate on my career and living a good life...
If there is a partner written in my destiny, he will feature eventually...
So she keeps herself busy with work, workouts and friends...
Though she craves the company of a MAN she can call her own, someone she can fall asleep with in peace for the rest of her life...
This is the second episode...

Episode 3.

-----------------------
Parisa was a daughter of working parents...
She grew up with her maternal grandparents since they stayed in the heart of the city where there were better prospects of development for her as a child...
A smooth childhood filled with a good mix of studies and co curricular activities she was a hardworking young girl...
They shifted together for her 10th exams in the city...
Her father never treated her with respect, they had a trauma filled relationship full of anger and spite...
So while in college she already had a villain in her life...
Her extrovert nature and her flair for making friends was deeply objected by him...
Her extra curricular activities were criticized of being outright down market and were labelled as ways of whiling away time...
His frustration increased as she excelled in academics as well as cultural activities...
She brought home trophies medals as well as scholarships...
A popular name in her batch she had many boyfriends whom he thoroughly disapproved off...
But by then they had no communication going...
She married early... She always knew that she would do so since she wanted to be technically away from her father...
A love marriage at 22 with a boy younger than her made her happy for some days ...
She was self employed and freelanced earning enough to support her pocket money and surplus family needs...
The influence of a difficult and negative experience with man since childhood she committed a mistake of looking for a dad in her husband...
This resulted in tensions mid understandings and mountains of unrealistic expectations which were obviously broken...
With counselling therapy they reconciled and settled in married life after 5 years of stressful matrimony...
They conceived they became parents to a baby boy...
He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy...
The shock and the medical stress that followed made her pile on kilos...
An active woman once became a hyper troubled Fat mother of a disabled baby boy...
Life was in drowns...
She was deeply unhappy...
She fought with the question why me for hours weeks days and months...
She would accompany her baby for physiotherapy come home cook eat and sleep...
That's all she did...
Plus she kept feeling pathetic day in and day out...
Just then her old college friend met her and told her about a course that he had done...
It was about healing through touch...
He said do give it a try ..
And so she went...
She did the levels of the healing technique...
Regularly practiced it on herself...
To her utter surprise it worked for her...
Call it a placebo effect or divine revelation she rose like a Phoenix from dust...
She delegated work, improved her time management , gave time to herself, exercised, meditated, restarted the free lance work shed weight and looked extremely fresh...
Her relationship with her father is now cordial, her sons treatment is going smooth and he is responding well and is developing almost normally...
Her husband loves the new version of her
Her in laws are proud of the way the couple is conducting their life as parents and as partners...
Her contemporaries look upon her as a living example of inspiration...
She hopes to make life as beautiful as she can...
She has ticked off a major milestone in life...
She now has a realised master as her Spiritual Guru who strongly stands behind her in the quest of this lifetime...
Why me??? Question never crosses her mind...
In fact she is glad that its her...
This is the third episode...

Current scenario

-------------------------
The three friends have stayed in touch with each other through all of this...
One day they decide to catch up over lunch...
They talk it out till way past dinner...
Parisa has managed to get both Sanika and Radhika enrolled in the first level of healing touch therapy...
The trio are happy of opening up a gateway of possibilities for themselves....
They are excited to see how life unfolds from now on....
And they are grateful to be there for each other through a of it...
The series of possible ups continues...

#notsotinytales

- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 67

They met on a popular social Dating app which is currently a rage on the singles scene...
He, in his mid 30s was a cool guy from Shivaji park who worked for a private firm had a decent pay package and had real hobbies...
He loved to learn new languages and was into fitness...
Calisthenics and endurance were his area of interest in working out...
He had landed up in a copyright job which required him to put in just 6 hours of work...
Which pretty much made him available for plans to hang around with prospective dates...
Just that he was withdrawn of sorts...
He did not have real friends that he would chill out with or talk to or have fun along...
This was what she knew until their first few conversations via the dating app...
She in her early 30s on the other hand was cheerful happy and social female who loved to have people around....
She had recovered from a break off from a relationship from her childhood sweetheart...
She was obsessed about weight loss and everything related to it...
One of her hobbies includes researching on weight loss theories, discovering new diet plans, trying out new types of forms of exercise in the gym and keeping abreast everything in the fitness world by doing courses related to it....
After finishing her course in personal training she was thinking of enrolling herself for sports nutrition certification...
She loved to party and tons of friends
She worked hard on setting up her own entrepreneur venture in HR and also dabbled into finding meaning to life 
Ironically she attended a few spiritual discourses and got a few meditation seminars done on one hand but couldn't help but ponder on the fact that why only a cigarette but not any chant or meditation could give her peace after a stressful day...
So they met a couple of times for a coffee date and got talking...
Their professions were as different as chalk and cheese hence they had many things to discuss and know about each other... 
Fitness was an exciting common topic for them...
She felt it going well but wanted to meet him in a scenario where she would get to know his social interaction...
It was her birthday, she threw a bash at her place and invited him...
It would be a great opportunity to get to know him outside dating parameters... 
It was a full house that day with friends family all getting together to celebrate...
He came... She was expecting some action/progress/sparks...
She was dressed to kill...
But so were her other girlfriends who were there to party...
He made sure he interacted with every single girl that day and mingled with everyone...
It was a face off from the usual reserved self that he portrayed...
On one hand she was pleasantly surprised to the way he appeared in a party setting whereas she was upset that he couldn't catch her inviting romantic gaze that she held on specially for him...
Party was over and the next morning all her girlfriends received a friend request from him...
Her friends reverted this to her...
She completely lost interest in him somehow...
Not because he tried mingling with her girlfriends but essentially because he couldn't catch her look that night....
That fuzzed off her excitement n spark... 
He called her back asked her to meet tried restarting the chase 
But.... It wasn't a solvable equation any more...
She said we'd remain cordial as acquaintances but I can't date you....
He said then we can't be only friends nor can I be friends with u on Social networking sites... 
I would have to unfriend you as well as your girl gang...
She replied with an 'as you wish' emoting shrug...
It was an abrupt astonished end which he thought was uncalled for...
She thought it was best to cut it off in the nib, an alliance that wasn't ready to sprout...
She called off all her anticipations about this man and felt that she did not owe him any explanation...
They aren't in touch with each other any more...
But.... They are a tad bit smarter in their future persuasions on similar dating sites...
They keep seeking...
They may get lucky one day and find someone whom they really click with... 
Some tales aren't at all about love, but they teach us at least about the nuisances of the epitome that it is...
#notsotinytales

Tale 66

He was a from a Sikh family, a General Surgeon, son of an army man 
It was a family of fighter men, his uncle served in Navy
He had pressure to follow the footsteps of his forefathers however he chose to lead a super secured conventional life back in the city...
Affiliated with many multi speciality hospitals in Delhi he was busy with complicated surgeries and keeping abreast with the latest developments in medicine
He met a her, a gynaecologist at a conference abroad...
She was an extremely smart attractive woman with a flair for spoken word...
Her research paper impressed everyone at the seminar...
He went on to get acquainted with her and introduced himself...
She was from Kolkata a brilliant Bong doctor...
They clicked...
Marrying him meant that she had to leave her ancestral maternity hospital back home and start off in a completely new city all over...
It was a tough decision to make... 
Both had equally exciting careers back in their hometown...
But they were almost in love...
They got married nevertheless...
Travelled on alternate fortnight's to be with each other over the weekends... 
Slowly it started getting hectic...
Bugged of a long distance relation they jointly decided to move to Mumbai to start off afresh...
Within a year's time they established their careers well, bought a house and thought of starting a family...
In the mean while she had an emergency case at the municipal hospital for which she was called...
It was a critically I'll baby brought to a police station nearby after being found at a waste bin in the area...
The baby was badly bitten by rodents and was infected...
She treated it successfully with her expertise...
The baby survived...
On investigating it seemed that the single mother of that baby had committed suicide 
The baby girl was supposed to be sent to an orphanage...
Though trained as a doctor to practice clinical non attachment, she felt a deep connect with this child...
She came back home and told her husband of her feelings and expressed the desire to adopt the baby...
Her husband though in the medical field refused to this decision...
There was tension...
She promised him of having a biological child after adoption...
He reluctantly agreed...
The baby girl was brought home post the legal formalities...
She was happy with her new found baby love...
She felt complete...
Just then she conceived...
The husband overjoyed pampered her to the hilt though his attitude towards the adopted baby remained neutral...
A boy was born the families were overjoyed...
While growing up however there was always a partial behaviour between the kids...
Only the mother loved her adopted daughter unconditionally while rest of the family members were biased...
As the kids grew up there was an unusually strong bond between her and the daughter while the biological son was super attached to his father...
As their individual careers in medicine continued, their clashes on personal front increased due to the kids...
They tried sticking on till the kids got independent...
Surprisingly the girl settled in delhi and the boy in Kolkata with their respective spouses and growing professional careers leaving the doctor couples nest empty...
There was attraction attachment bonds connections and now emptiness...
The doctor husband took an early retirement and joined politics while the gynaec wife left her practice to and formed an NGO that supported an orphanage and promoted adoption...
His political party and her NGO are inevitably interconnected...
Life -  a package surprises twists and turns...
Pandora's box or a goody bag?
We always know where one ends up... 
But we never know how???
#notsotinytales
- Prajakta Sathe.