Tale 95

Debina was a freelance script writer with a terrific talent for words but little motivation to market herself thanks to zero financial pressure in her in personal life....
She stayed with her mom, a housewife who was an enthusiastic woman in networking socialising and helping around people in general as a way of life....
Her father had passed away a couple of years back leaving them with a fortune from his killer smart investment portfolio and lots of property to bank upon...
Debina had an inferiority complex since her growing years...
She was what they call skeletal thin, and nothing, no matter what would plump her up ever....
There were treatments taken, nutritionist visited, however nothing could put even an ounce of mass on her stick thin frame...
Due to this she could never cough up the courage to go up to any boys and make friends with them...
She only knew boys as her class mates or batchmates....
None of whom were her close friends rather not even acquaintances....
All she knew of, was guys in school and then college reading her brutally due to her frail body structure...
It was almost like she was used to be ignored by opposite gender and pitied by her female friends....
Being a laughing stock was an unsaid and an accepted part of her life....
She discovered writing as a means of expressing herself creatively...
So as to let out her feelings and emotions through stories in the form of scripts...
She started off by writing scripts for short films made by her juniors in college...
One of the films received an award....
She continued writing award winning scripts on a college level and then on an experimental theatre circuit....
She then did a short term course in scriptwriting....
Worked in an production house as their backup script writer...
Debina was so good that they made her a lead script writer for a daily soap....
That daily soap for a regional Bengali channel was her first official break in the professional world....
Once that started, she got comfortable...
Scripting meant spending a few hours writing and then she used to watch films...
One daily soap serial continued for at least 5 years which meant that she was set for the next couple of years if she bagged a serial....
She took a sabbatical after her first Bengali serial got over....
Money was never a problem with or without job...
She felt bad for herself when she realised that she could beautifully paint on screen romances in her script however there wasn't a glimpse of romance in her personal life....
Her mom suggested she enroll herself on a matrimonial site...
She agreed with almost no choice left to fend for herself in matters of love and marriage
She wanted to settle down and start a family of her own...
She hated the loneliness in her current life...
She could see her mom have her own world of friends relatives events and a lot more...
She had to go and get a life for herself...
A very decent looking well built Asit displayed interest in her....
He worked as an insurance advisor....
They chatted for a few days after which they met at a coffee shop...
It was Debina's first date ever....
She was conscious of everything, her looks, posture, her tone of the talking...
Gauging her nervousness Asit warmed her down....
He complimented her on her eyes and hair....
No one till then had ever told her that her eyes looked like that of a swan's and her curls looked super cute....
In disbelief she tried to hide her excitement....
Asit was polite, polished and sophisticated....
Being the thorough gentleman that he was, he made sure they talked about varied topics of interests likes dislikes and about their lives in general....
On coming back home Debina felt happy about herself....
For the first time ever she smiled when she looked at herself in the mirror....
From then onwards many dates followed....
Asit encouraged her to try weight training since he was fond of working out....
It indeed did work for Debina...her weight started increasing positively....
He visited home and got quite close to her mom as well...
Her mom almost considered Asit her son in law and treated him like her own son...
With the trust slowly building on within 3 months Asit made Debina and her mom take up 3 big insurance policies from him...
Asit never really spoke about his family...
He said that his mom and dad had passed away when he was young and that he just had an elder sister who was married and settled down in Calcutta....
He was as social as Debina's mother and attended almost all of their family functions....
He used this opportunity as a networking circle to which Debina also agreed....
For her, it was her own future husband trying to make profits for their probable life together...
He also used Debina and her mother's social contacts to complete his policy targets....
With the kind of rapport built, he managed to gain complete trust of his future Mother in law who not only gifted him the latest I - phone on his birthday but had also given him her late husband's car keys saying that it was almost lying down with no use and Asit should start using it....
In the mean while Debina got an offer to do the scripting of an travel show....
Which meant that she had to travel with the team and spontaneously write for them on locations...
The new confident and exercise pumped up Debina who looked no less than a tall slim model with a great figure took up this opportunity....
Asit was happy for her....
As Debina would be away for close to three weeks every month, he started keeping aloof from her...
Meetings became phone calls...
Phone calls stopped and became messages....
Messages slowly stopped and then there was a sudden disconnect....
When Debina came back from her tours she found out that Asit had been regularly coming to her house to meet her mom...
He would stop coming down to their house when Debina was in town...
Debina was baffled with this behaviour....
She wanted to know what was wrong....
He never picked up her calls... She went to meet him at the places he frequented, there he clearly avoided her and they had a fight....
When she came back to confront with her mother, she strangely took Asit's side and told her that she needed to work on her connection skills....
This was getting puzzling and uncomfortable for Debina...
She by then had taken up the show as a chief host/ anchor since she looked ravishing on screen and words came naturally to her while she faced the camera....
Things had changed for better professionally and yes personally too...
She has friends , real friends , many men friends too...
And she had people who were crazy for her who wanted to pursue her and date her and suddenly the attention was too much to handle....
She wanted to desperately seek Asit's company to get used to the changes life....
But it seemed that he was always unavailable....
She tracked him down the net...
The matrimonial site still had his name listed....
While Debina had removed her name from the list long back....
Asit never spoke of an engagement...
He just spoke about marriage in the next few years as soon as he settles better in profession....
His friends were never introduced to Debina....
In fact Asit did not have any social networking account....
Debina searched through for his sister's profile and sent her a friend request.
She did not accept it....
There was no way she could find anything....
She then dropped to his house one day unannounced....
There was a maid who told her that saab and madam were out...
Saab got married a few months back and madam was a hawai sundari....
Debina was shaken...
Asit had gotten married to an Air hostess while he was still dating her and managed to dupe her and her mother into believing that it was not working out since Debina had no time for the relationship....
He had also managed to create a rift between Debina and her mom...
In addition to this he was driving her Dad's car and using a phone gifted by her mom and was feasting off the bonus made by drawing all insurance policies through Debina's mother's contacts....
Frustrated angry and hurt she returned back home....
Told everything to her mom who was also heartbroken since she had treated Asit like her own son....
Now Debina and her mother had two options...
Either track Asit down, let his wife know everything, take back the car, the money and give him a mouthful of sarcastic whacking...
However they decided upon something....
Debina took her mom off with her for her next shooting schedule locations....
They deleted the Asit chapter off from their lives as if nothing happened....
Both Debina and her mom accepted that sometimes it's difficult to recognise people....
However that doesn't make any relationship or the time spent together while in the relationship any less worthwhile....
Any relationship whether real of pretence teaches us what it has too and gives us what it does....
Even if it ends on a bitter note we cannot deny the good times that we spend together while everything was alright....
Now they wouldn't register in a matrimonial site again, not because their first and only experience with it was a failure but only because they now believe that partner would be found By The Way...
They understood that nothing can be forced upon.... Not even batchlorhood...
They enjoyed their mother daughter trip thoroughly
Debina still feels gratitude for the seed of self confidence and value of exercise and fitness that Asit set in her...
There is nothing good or bad...
Its just that different people behave and react differently to different situations at different times....
And it's okay if it doesn't turn out to be alright...
Is it okay to dupe anyone?
Is it okay to two time people?
Is it okay to shrewdly maintain contacts and keep them strictly for Networking?
Is it okay to use somebody for monetary gains and then flee off?
Is it okay to.... ????
Well, we'd never ever know....
Because We never know Asit's side of story....
We don't know how he was raised, why he did what he did and how could he take these ladies for a ride?
Debina's journey looks commendable...
Inspiring too...
Asit starts out to be a hero and ends up being a Villain...
But these are our labels...
Is hero always good?
Villain always bad?
Had it not been for Asit, maybe Debina wouldn't be what she could be...!!!
Guess every person in our life has a role to play....
No role is good or bad...
Every role is certainly significant
We just have perspectives and hence judging anything seems absurd...
Some stories turn from being real to philosophical and end on a spiritual note....
Because we are Spirits taking a human experience and not the other way round....

‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe

Tale 94

Juee was from Amravati and Suvrat from Kolhapur,
They studied in the same college in Pune where they fell in love....
Juee was two years elder to Suvrat however they married each other with full support of their parents....
Thankfully both came from matured families....
Suvrat's and Juee stayed at his ancestral home in Pune...
Juee was a homemaker while Suvrat was the creative Head of a television Channel...
Both had an excellent rapport when it came to co - parenting their only son Veer who was home schooled...
Juee took utmost pleasure in exposing her young son to all kinds of topics along with studies...
She along with some like minded friends of hers who had homeschooled their kids made a group and they took turns to take these kids out for various activities and outings...
Terrace sessions math, garden yoga sessions, coffee shop story telling sessions, weekend treks, campfire under the stars, wildlife excursions, flora study tours, water activities, visits to various factories, visits to various places supporting social causes, science sleepovers, theatre themed birthday parties, cooking get togethers for festivals, cleanliness drives, pet interaction day, house keeping training, handyman tool workshop were a few of the whole range of amazing things that this group did together....
Suvrat and Juee were happy about the way they were providing for, for their son for his all round development...
Juee and Suvrat
They had a contraception accident and realised that Juee had conceived...
They were taken aback at this twist of fate...
All their future plans seemed to be challenged with this news....
Veer was already 10 and hence it was long since they last remembered how re-doing all of that growing up meant....
They were first scared... But decided to go for the baby anyways....
They were one spontaneous couple who decided that nevertheless, it must have been long but certainly not late for having a new addition to the family...
And so they rejoiced....
Veer was excited too...
In the first trimester sonography and screening , the doctors suspected something abnormal...
They told them that the baby seemed to show some defects....
They suspected it to have Spina Bifida ..
They suggested Juee and Suvrat not to risk and go in for an abortion.
They also explained that pregnancy at an higher age increases the chances of a deformity and hence it was advisable for them to avoid any risk....
They were also given an option of going through a CVS testing which includes injecting a needle in the amniotic sac of the baby and removing the fluid for testing....
But this would mean a greater risk for miscarriage....
It so happened that surprisingly the decision of both Juee and Suvrat was instant and assertive...
They decided to go ahead with the pregnancy....
The doctors were surprised and to be honest considered that the couple bad gone nuts but had to cooperate with them....
In the second trimester triple screening and the 4 th screening test too the results indicated a high risk of Spina Bifida....
By now Juee and Suvrat had decided not to worry about what's wrong and concentrate on what all is right....
Juee was in the pink of health and enjoying pregnancy and Veer's routine kept her busy....
They chose to keep the medical risk factor to themselves...
They were never into rituals per say or idol worship, however since the pregnancy they had made it a point to sit for meditation every single day...
Juee and Suvrat felt that it was important to connect to the source on a daily basis...
It kept them going and stable and gave them courage to answer the various Why's of the medical fraternity....
Veer was growing into an independent pre teen and loved chanting Buddhist chants...
He made sure he kept his hand over Juee's belly and chanted them every single day....
As the delivery date came near, Juee's parents came down from Amravati and Suvrat's mother also joined them from Kolhapur....
Nivant was the name of their bunglow in Pune...
It was indeed peaceful with the family and loved ones together at the time of yet another most important event in their lives....
Juee was calm when her water broke and labor started....
She had been practicing Lamaze and she put it to use while in pain....
It was a long tiring labor that went well past 19 hours....
The doctors insisted on a caesarian but Suvrat and Juee were somehow confident....
At the 26 th hour a beautiful baby girl was born...
And.... She was perfect.....
She did not have Spina Bifida or any spine issue or any issue for that matter....
Suvrat and Juee looked at each other...
Tears in their eyes, faith in their hearts and warmth of love surrounding them...
The full team of doctors nurses along with Veer , his grandparents rejoiced....
It didn't matter if it would have turned otherwise too...
They were prepared to accept what Divinity had to offer....
A gift is a gift....its given from heart....
And it's always perfect....
Said Suvrat to the doctor who nodded with a smile....
The FB profiles of the grandparents proudly flash latest photographs of their baby grand daughter....
Yes they get several hundred likes....
No, no one knows the inside story....
Not even the grandparents....
We don't really need to know all things to be happy, do we???

‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe

Tale 93

Rahul married Rucha in an arranged marriage...
They had a wonderful married life for 5 years till their daughter Aaradhya was born...
All went well till the baby turned one...
A day after Aaradhya's first birthday Rucha collapsed....
On rushing to hospital, she was diagnosed with a third stage pancreatic cancer...
From then onwards there started a struggle, of providing the best they could, to Rucha in what the doctor's stated as her last few months...
Trips to the hospital and back continued with baby Aaradhya waiting back home for her mamma's arms...
Her grand parents took turns to take care of her and be with Rucha in the hospital since it was important for Rahul to rest between erratic work hours and hospital....
Rucha was never afraid of death, all she worried about was how Rahul and her baby would cope after her....
Rahul had to show strength in front of her to convince her that they'll be brave and face everything....
At times both Rucha and Rahul would spend nights crying about the inevitable....
They always felt that an unknown devil is way better....
One wonderful thing in this journey was that everyone, right from Rucha ,Rahul, their parents and extended family were never in denial about the disease...
No one ever comforted each other with false hope...
If anyone would break down, others would let them cry, be, and vent out...
Cancer was not only accepted but embraced by them....
However painful the journey was, everybody faced it bravely and bid farewell to Rucha with a smile of relief...
True, it was a relief from a lot of pain and suffering to Rucha as they finally let her go....
Rahul, by then became a single parent of a three year old Aaradhya...
In the hectic schedule of taking care of Rucha's ailment there had been a bit of neglect in observing Aaradhya's growth...
He observed that she wasn't walking independently yet and took support for locomotion...
Whenever left without support she would end up falling down...
Now the whole family's life revolved around little Aaradhya...
They took her to a pediatric multi speciality hospital...
They put her through all the relevant tests...
And they were given the diagnosis that Aaradhya had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)
Hell broke loose when they were casually told about the disease with no official explanation of what it actually was...
Rahul was already feeling the pressures of being a young, single parent when he came to know about Aaradhya's condition....
It was a rollercoaster of emotions when he heard the physician say in the most arid clinical tone ever that his daughter, his only hope for leading a normal life, Aaradhya had DMD.
Rahul with a lump in his throat and eyes full of tears said, "thank you doctor."
He immediately rushed to a medical library at the other end of the city to read up all he could....
He read-
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.
It is one of nine types of muscular dystrophy....
All he kept thinking was, "Holy cow....when? Why? How? How come us? Why only us? "
He read further -
DMD is caused by an absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact.
Symptom onset is in early childhood, usually between ages 3 and 5.
The disease primarily affects boys, but in rare cases it can affect girls....
And that rarest rare case had to be Aaradhya, he thought....
He could feel his strength being pulled out from him...
Further more he kept reading -
Muscle weakness can begin as early as age 3, first affecting the muscles of the hips, pelvic area, thighs and shoulders, and later the skeletal (voluntary) muscles in the arms, legs and trunk.
By the early teens, the heart and respiratory muscles also are affected.
As his eyes went through the print which read all of the above, the ground beneath his feet slipped past as he frantically collected compiled correlated grasped and understood what all he read that day and many days from then....
Lack of the dystrophin protein in muscle cells causes them to be fragile and easily damaged.
DMD has an X-linked recessive inheritance pattern and is passed on by the mother, who is referred to as a carrier...
In this case there was no one to be tested since Rucha had already passed away....
He tried putting pieces together, not because he was cognitively challenged , only because he could barely accept the reality...
The flat plain dry emotionless library seemed no less than death room choking him with the twist in life...
It took him a lot of time, literally, to fully understand what Aaradhya and he were up against...
He failed to understand as to why his stand changed in his daughter's case unlike his wife's...
There were so many negative emotions that rose up and surfaced as he struggled with experiencing them in totality....
It was absolutely not easy as he gave in to feelings of despair sooner and couldn't fully come out of denial...
Life would never be the same and normalcy would now be such a relative norm...
To come out as a complete individual again was next to impossible...
Yes there was sadness, yeah there were frustrations, but whom would he tell them?
Whom would he share?
They were a father and a daughter, friends and partners in this.....
Detailed reports came...
In Aaradhya's case her second X chromosome had sustained serious damage because of a gene mutation which made her secrete miniscule amount of dystrophin not enough for her muscles to develop or repair...
From then on a journey started,
Physiotherapy Occupational therapy Water therapy, splints.
Every time Rahul saw his little one flash a smile or conquer a task, he knew that the fight was worth fighting.....
Even with the challenges, Aaradhya developed into a delightful enthusiastic bubbly young girl well aware of others acceptance towards her and her own acceptance towards other people's physical freedom....
She learnt to assertively state when she wanted to do or try something on her own and when she would like others to help...
She was vocal about her needs and feelings...
And that was the best part...
She wasn't afraid or shrieking aloud in laughter if she was really having fun or wailing out crying expressing grief over things that she failed in...
Yet she learnt and learnt over time that there were going to be some things she wouldn't be able to do...
Patience developed even though very slowly , it did built up in Rahul, Aaradhya as well as their family...
In school if her friends were rude or in her therapy sessions , the therapist a bit harsh, Aaradhya would express it loud and clear that their behavior was way out of line for her needs....
She loved stories, listening to them and narrating them in the most animatedly excited way possible....
She loved animals and babies and dolls and kitchen sets and dress up and role play....
She was a kid, as child like as she could be....
Her challenge was more of an emotional one than physical as seen by others...
But she developed virtues of leadership, delegation, non - judgement, acceptance and clarity of what was a Yes and what definitely was a No.
Unless affected by any disease or a debility or a challenge, we can never come close to fully understanding what they must have gone through.
Rahul walked in parks and malls and on the roads with Aaradhya in her wheelchair....
He made sure life was as real to her as it could get.
He hated to get her into a car unless she asked for a drive or for long distance visits....
If people stared he went up to them and made sure he answered the question mark on their faces in the gentlest way he could....
Rahul felt that there was a horrific lack of public knowledge with regards to Muscular Dystrophy and if it was ever given a voice like Polio or Diabetes or cancer for that matter, the world would be a better place.
The drives or marathons for MD were not enough....
Rahul went out, talked to people he met and to their friends, strangers or anybody willing to give five minutes to know what's wrong with his girl since people had no clue as to what Muscular Dystrophy was and what it meant....
For Rahul, he was lucky that both sets of Aaradhya's grandparents joined hands with him in raising funds for her treatment....
He had strong support, financially as well as emotionally...
Aaradhya passed away right after her 14 th birthday....
Rahul lost a part of his soul...
He had earlier lost a partner...
Now his heart had a void....rather the Void had a tiny bit of a heart left beating...
Certain death was a curse that he had known for the most important people in his life...
He could never ever settle again...
Because he never really knew what settling down was....
He understood that now there was a purpose to his life....
Rahul didn't just want to preach and reach but He wanted to go beyond and actually do something....
He knew both his wife and his daughter were here to teach him lessons, to help him grow....
He is dedicating his life to serve kids with Muscular Dystrophy with all kind of help, awareness, counselling, knowledge, resources, treatment, psychological support, medical networking finances and funding.....
All said and done, Diagnosis Disease Deterioration and Death is a journey with no end, but a beginning...
Well, at least in this tale for sure....

‪#‎notsotinytales‬

- Prajakta Sathe

Tale 92

Durga and Kabir had a love come arranged marriage...
Durga was a dietician and was affiliated with a wellness centre and a hospital nearby...
Kabir was a bank manager at a Nationalised bank on the other side of the town...
They had discovered deep affection for each other as they grew up....
They resided in the same colony and their mothers were best of friends and dads played tennis together.... 
When their parents came to know about their relationship, they were extra happy and supportive of them to get hitched asap....
Their wedding was one grand affair and no less than a cake walk for Durga who just shifted a building post marriage,
Kabir and Durga were a rocking couple...
They had already made up their minds to go in for parenthood soon since it had been close to a decade that they went around before getting married....
Soon after honeymoon Durga was pregnant as planned...
It was such a happy moment for every body...
Pregnancy was smooth, delivery was a c-section....
Their first daughter Ishaani was born...
The families rejoiced and raised her with tender loving care....
Durga resumed work within 6 months and was thankful that her job had flexible hours....
Ishaani was taken care of by her parents and In laws in a synchronized collaboration....
When Ishaani turned 2 Durga and Kabir planned their second child....
This time surprisingly the delivery was normal,
Their second baby Prahaan was born...
It seemed like they had hit a jackpot in life with a perfect family and arrangement....
Little Ishanni's joy knew no bounds as she played with her baby brother...
As Prahaan turned 2 they planned a road trip with both sets of grandparents to Rajasthan
Kabir with his parents Durga with hers along with Ishaani and Prahaan 
As the drove across cities and took haults for midnight stay at hotels they noticed something unusual about Prahaan. 
He was ravenously hungry and ate more than usual yet he wouldn't pass stools....
His diaper use had doubled and so had his water intake...
He ended up getting a rash and hence Durga decided to let go of the diaper. 
He would then ask to hault to pass urine after almost every half an hour....
At first they thought it was a urinary infection....
Then they thought it must be a change in climate....
As the drove past Maharashtra, they found out that Prahaan hadn't got up cheerful and hadn't played in the last two days and had been drowsy....
Now everybody was worried...
His breath smelled strangely metallic and sweet...
They took him to a multi speciality hospital....
The doctor examined him and checked his urine sample...
After a few more tests he was declared positive for Juvenile Diabetes....
Kabir understood the gravity of the situation and decided to stop the road trip and retrieve back home...
His tone was so dead serious that everybody else agreed...
Back home things changed....
Their life revolves around insulin shots and convincing little Prahaan to get pricked before every single meal....
His diet had to be drastically changed....
Until they got used to it, Prahaan would at times get too high or too low on sugar....
Ishaani felt left out...
One of the parent had to be constantly present around Prahaan to be constantly in charge and control of his condition...
The grandparents were cooperative but incapable of handling situations with confidence given their age ...
Plus they felt that if something unfortunate happened, they did not want to be held responsible...
They couldn't see Prahaan suffering....
All they kept worrying about is his normal growth and milestones and schooling....
Life changed after this incidence...
Ishaani wasn't old enough to understand that she couldn't eat what she wanted in front of Prahaan....
Prahaan was to young to understand why he would be pricked so often or why he would be denied his favorite foods which were readily given to him earlier....
This was a transformational chapter in their lives....
They learnt about insulin pumps...
They learnt about the importance of exercise...
They learnt about diet monitoring
They learnt about symptoms of a High it a Low...
They learnt that they would have to have a shadow teacher or a nurse in his schooling years to administer him with insulin in the school break....
They also learnt that he might not he able to go for independent nightouts or excursions or field trips or sleep overs till he himself was old enough to manage Diabetes....
It was in fact the other way round. Diabetes managed them until they learnt to manage Prahaan's body....
It was an unfortunate incident...
It was not something that was in their hands....
It was under no persons biological control...
Type 1 Diabetes just happens....
Like many other things in life....
With one patient, the whole social circuit around him learns....
Now Prahaan's schoolmates know how to use his Diabetes pack or how to call authorities or elders as soon as they find something unusual about him....
Ishaani now in her pre-teens grew up initially hurt with the parents focus shift from her to her brother...
But as she grew up, she understood the significance of what had happened...
She is a dotting didi to Prahaan and has matured earlier than normal.
It's all good in the family...
They have been through much and all of a sudden, yet they have managed to keep the boat sailing....
Juvenile Diabetes club, meet, hangouts are also a part of their socialising options. 
Durga and Kabir secretly worry about their son getting convulsions, kidney damage or heart disease in near future...
But they keep it to themselves....
As night rises.... They fall asleep in each other's arms both relieved for the day that has passed and a bit apprehensive about the day to come..
They are proud of Ishaani too...
Uncertain is a word that they live with...
However they are so certain that they'll face whatever comes their way with the true spirit....
Tears rolling down their eyes as they watch Ishaani and Prahaan sleep peacefully in bed unaware of what the world is bothered about....
Blessed are children.... In every sense...
‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe.

Tale 91

There was a well to do educated Kerala Christian couple who had a large farming land near Idukki near the fertile Periar...
They had acres and acres of coffee tea and spice plantations and were blessed with abundance in life...
A girl child was so dearly desired by her mom and dad that they were hell bend on trying on taking chances till Divinity blessed them with one....
After her birth their joy knew no bounds...
They celebrated big time and named the little one Angel...
Angel was the youngest of the 5 siblings...
Her elder brothers and parents were extremely protective about her...
Angel turned 3, a young girl with jet black curls like her mom and lustrous dark skin like her dad and sparkling black eyes...
She looked glowing and blessed from heaven....
She started her preschool training...
She was the apple of the eyes of her teachers...
Gentle in behavior and ever smiling, she made friends quickly....
Junior, senior KG breezed through like a dream...
At grade one, age 6 one morning, her mother noticed something unusual while she was getting Angel ready for school.... There was a white patch behind her ear as she combed Angel's hair...
She rushed her off to school and called her husband who was out of town for work....
They took her to a doctor right after he was back, after a few tests, the diagnosis was made...
Angel had Vitiligo...
A condition where the melanocytes secreting the pigment Melanin responsible for the skin color are destroyed by the body as an auto immune response....
Angel had non - segmental Vitiligo which meant that the white patches on the skin would be random with no specific spreading chronology or pattern...
They could spread either fast or slow depending on her body's reaction to the teratongenic factors and the expression of phenotype in response to the genotype...
Her parents now had a big question of how to break the news to Angel or whether she would understand or if she d react harshly to it....
They were also worried about the social stigma, her classmates, her teachers and everyone reacting abnormally to her condition...
Angel went to a reputed school, where three of her elder brother also studied....
A bit relaxing factor that they thought that she had company of loved ones in school if need be...
They came back from the hospital and explained it first to her brothers...
They then made Angel sit with all family members in the house and explained it to her in the most matter of fact way possible...
They also spoke one on one with the domestic staff and house helpers with respect to the disorder....
They tried to educate everybody that it was a completely non infectious condition....
They were however vary about the reaction of her classmates since the patches had a chance of spreading on the visible areas...
Unfortunately their dark skin tone left it practically impossible to camouflage the patches with makeup...
It was an extremely challenging time for everyone, her elder brother at school and parents back home and more so for Angel...
It spread, on her face and unevenly....
As much as the school was labelled as cultured and high profile, she found that some of her bestest friends suddenly stopped talking to her....
Some of the other division school children called her cow and dog...
She was teased and tortured during recess...
However her parents were advised by the psychologist that they consulted as to not shadow her in any ways....
They wanted her to fight her own battles...
She was good at explaining her skin condition in medical terms to others...
However not many knew what it actually meant for her at that tender age....
During her schooling years as she fared extremely well in academics sports and art, she was bullied umpteenth times...
Her body image was shattered rebuild and again torn down again and again till at one point she came out if it...
She discovered that growing up was fun...
She liked the applaud she received as she stood first in her class, received scholarships, won prizes in elocution and medals in sports...
She was an all rounder...
With teenage striking she grew very tall and slender....
Her height was her confidence in physical attributes...
She also loves the fact that she could bring immense success to her school in sports...
Just that even if she had crushes, she never dated to confess it in front of any of the boys given her looks...
When she went to college, she was pleasantly surprised when she was approached by her professor to walk the ramp for the intercollegiate....
She was shocked as we as apprehensive when she was asked to do so however she knew she had to grab any chance that life put forth on front of her....
She walked the ramp with elan and such grace that she was asked to walk again by students of the fashion wing firvrheur annual exam showcase...
She did it for fun sake....
Fate had other plans...
That fashion show had one of the leading fashion choreographer and designer as a judge...
They saw her and were amazed....
Ebony ivory skin as if she was an ancient goddess of beauty....
She her first professional modelling assignment at age 17 and since then there was no looking back....
Her brothers and parents were super supportive in whatever she did....
By the time she graduated she had walked for almost all the fashion designers the country and was one of the most coveted for models in the circuit...
She chose to take this opportunity to start speaking up for people and specially young girls with Vitiligo...
Her motivational videos went viral on the net and she also wrote a book on her life till then...
The book was named The Cow Goddess received rave views in media
She is now a celebrity and she has married a businessman with Vitiligo...
They cannot technically have a child given the physical manifestation of their disorder however they have taken their work of awareness to a different level....
As she keeps walking ramps making money for the foundation meant for encouraging people with Vitiligo, she has adopted a baby girl with cerebral palsy and an elder boy with a similar condition to hers....
It's a close knit family of not four but hundreds of kids faced with challenges, physical and mental...
They are about to start a school for differently abled children in Kerala...
She does believe that even if faced with adversities by nature, she really got lucky in life with the opportunities that she was bestowed upon....
She loves her life and everything that comes with the package that God has given her....
She is now busy building it up for others who struggle with it....
She feels blessed...
And she indeed is....
The Angel....

‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe

Tale 90

Gyan's parents divorced when he was in his preteens...
His mother remarried and then raised him along with her second husband....
However well his step father treated him, Gyan was still left with a void and missed his biological father terribly...
He graduated, secured a job and married his college girlfriend...
They however unfortunately got a divorce after their little baby passed away...
They already had a few tensions between them and with the baby's demise things got bitter with the blame game and finger pointing....
They couldn't cope up with the tragedy neither could they support each other at the most challenging times of their lives...
Shattered and broken Gyan restarted his life...
Changed his job and focussed on work...
He also got himself registered on a matrimonial website seeking prospective life partners for the second time...
He started exchanging mails with this girl
Sagarika who was an occupational therapist from Nasik...
They seemed to gel along well however kept things low key and on hold until they actually met outside the online virtheelsietting...
She was supposed to visit Mumbai for an interview at a hospital in a few months after her internship at a local ortho - clinic in her city...
Both Sagarika and Gyan eagerly awaited her visit to Mumbai in near future...
In the mean while one of Gyan's office colleague Gayatri had a crush on him....
She confessed her liking to him after office hours one day...
Pleasantly surprised, Gyan thought to himself that this was a decent proposal...
Gayatri was a good looking girl who was diligent at work and seemed to be a nice human...
However she told him that her parents were extremely conservative and wouldn't agree to her marrying out of their caste... However she was ready to go against them since she loved him very much...
Gyan and Gayatri visited her parents to tell them about their decision however they reacted harshly to the alliance...
Gyan's mother and step father however welcomed Gayatri's proposal and started the wedding preparations...
Within a few months things moved fast and the wedding day and venue was de decided...
Gayatri however did not turn up on the fixed date saying that she was unwell...
After understanding her situation Gyan's parents postponed the date to another month ahead, booked a hall this time and made arrangements for the wedding yet another time...
Just two days before their wedding Gyan felt like trying to convince Gayatri's parents for one last time...
He visited their house and requested them to be present for one of the most important day in their daughter's life....
He was shocked to see that Gayatri couldn't firmly support him and failed to speak up in front of her parents...
She surrendered to the parental pressure and backed out at the last moment...
Numbed by the incident Gyan returned home and narrated everything to his parents...
Just then to his utter surprise he received a call from Sagarika saying that she was in Mumbai, staying at her relative's place for a week since the interview was scheduled that weekend...
She wanted to meet up...
Gyan called her to meet him at his parents place the very same day and narrated everything to her....
Sagarika and Gyan spent the next day together talking and discussing things and life in general...
And they finally concluded that the wedding would still take place the next day...
Just with Sagarika as a bride...
She had fallen head over heels in love with him already while they chatted online and now even more so after meeting him...
As unreal as it may seem Gyan married Sagarika on the decided date with full support of his parents...
Sagarika showed courage to follow her heart and told him that she would handle her parents back at Nasik well by explaining the situation to them after the interview...
Luckily she also got the job at the hospital after her interview and then took Gyan to Nasik to introduce him to her parents...
After initial shock her parents too accepted their daughters choice and welcomed Gyan as their son in-law...
Gyan left his job at the office to avoid awkward interaction with Gayatri...
He started as an entrepreneur and set up a new company with a loan and some financial help of his parents...
The loan is repayed parents investment dutifully returned and his company is doing exceedingly well within a couple of years...
Sagarika is also well settled as a visiting O.T. associated with reputed hospitals in Mumbai. 
They are glad to have found each other...
It's Sagarika's very first and Gyan's not at all first but definitely long lasting love which they and we hope lasts forever...
Ups or downs, twists and turns... 
Some stories end up on a high and a happy note...
‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe

Tale 89

There was this pretty girl Rimi born and brought up in Shimla raised by working parents both Teachers in a school...
They were a family of scholars and academicians where studying was a priority...
After completing engineering at her hometown she went to Delhi for her MBA...
There she stayed with her Maasi's family for two years again in a safe and sound home set up....
She was good in studies and got picked up in an on campus interview for a job in Pune...
She was merely 24 and a fresh graduate from college with no real experience of staying away from loved ones and hence was apprehensive about taking it up...
However her parents insisted on her going in for this job as they wanted her to experience work culture and make her independent and confident....
She had been a timid introvert young girl who rarely took challenges...
However she gave in to the parental pressure and went to Pune...
There she stayed with 3 more working girls in a rented apartment....
IT industry, corporate culture and new city was overwhelming... 
Rimi continued her journey from work to apartment and apartment to work for a few days...
But slowly she started getting bored over the weekends...
Her fellow housemates suggested she'd join them for outings and fun on Saturdays and Sundays...
Movies, malls, dinners, pubs, treks, coffee shops, rock concerts, parties she got used to the perks of enjoying her life....
Happy and single this went on for a few days...
On one side she was approached by many young men to date or to hang out with....
And there were more than one labels to the men that asked her out...casual friends , best friends, mid night call friends, protective friends, crushes but acquaintances, friends who could be prospective boyfriends, husband material etc....
She and her housemates gossiped over boys and had their share of fun and teasing....
Almost all the three of her housemates had boyfriends by then....
But what surprised her that inspire of having boyfriends they still looked at other guys and chatted with strangers and flirted with office colleagues....
These Girls were her bestest friends and truely wonderful humans...
But she wondered if this is how things worked in the dating scenario...
She saw almost everyone around going steady and yet being available for interaction beyond the lines of friendship...
Committed couples had flings, some others had one night stands, remaining few went on dates when their partners were unavailable...
Coming from a small town, she was in for a cultural shock...
She was afraid of committing to anyone....
She had experienced one acquaintance turn into an obsessive stalker and had handled him with the help of her close confidants from work and home...
She had received a few serious proposals directly for marriage...
Rimi liked a few boys and secretly wished to have a boyfriend but was afraid of the baggage that came with the relationship...
While she saw most around in an open relationship she cringed at the thought of sharing herself with someone who she did not have any guarantee of commitment...
For her getting attention from men was very common...
She was used to it since her teens...
But not having someone to call her own was her problem...
She felt lonely... She craved company...
She needed someone to be with her emotionally and physically....
During the Diwali break she went back to Shimla to visit her parents...
They were happy to see a much confidant and outspoken Rimi...
The job and pune had done wonders to her personality...
They asked her if she was ready for marriage to which she replied that she was confused but did not mind looking at some proposals to test the waters as to what the arrange marriage scene is all about...
A coffee shop date was set up with a boy...
Ritesh was a C.A. and worked in his dad's firm in the same town...
He seemed to be a decent guy to talk to in the first meet...
For the second meet he came with his elder sister Nilanjana to Rimi's house...
Nilanjana was a short slim dusky complexioned female with beautiful Kohl lined eyes a pixie cut and a silver nose pin 
She wore khaki cigarette pants with a handloom kaftan to go with a raw silk stole...
Her rimless glasses neatly underlined the bright red bindi on her forehead...
Ritesh seemed a bit intimidated in the company of his Niladidi...
She was a renowned novel writer who had chosen to stay single....
Nilanjana had clear understanding about how their family was and explained the nitty gritties to Rimi...
In this meet the only one person who talked was Nilanjana and all others listened....
She did have an aura to her personality...
Her voice was basal with a kind of melody to it...
Ritesh's existence seemed to fade off with the glory that Nilanjana exuded...
Rimi was a delicate girl with long brown hair almond eyes and slender figure....
She made a good match with Tall dark and handsome Ritesh....
A third meet was planned at Ritesh's place...
It was Laxmi pujan day and the celebrations in full swing....
Rimi's presence at their residence in that day was almost taken as a Yes from her side to this alliance....
Nilanjana was at her study writing something...
Rimi came upstairs to call her for the aarti...
Nilanjana told her to wait and finished her page and they started going down just when Rimi slipped from the steps and fell down....
Nilanjana caught hold of her and pulled her up...
As she pulled her up they brushed past each others bodies...
They looked into each others eyes....
Rimi tried pull out of the gaze to rush down however couldn't since her leg had sprained....
Nilanjana gave her support and took her back to the room for applying pain relieving spray....
As she lay Rimi down the chair Rimi caught hold of Nilanjana and rested her lips over hers.... 
Nilanjana kind of knew what happened and they exchanged a passionate smooch over the next few moments...
It was Rimi's first ever sexual experience with anyone till then....
Nilanjana was sure about her orientation towards girls and told her that she did like women and only women....
However Rimi wasn't sure and it was confusing for her....
Nilanjana asked her of she had any interaction with men before to which Rimi replied yes but never anything sexual...
Both of them rushed down for the aarti which had already started by then....
While returning back Ritesh dropped Rimi back home...
He held her hand and looked at her with a smile....
Rimi retrieved it gently saying that she was sorry and she did not think that they were compatible....
Ritesh was almost heartbroken and shocked in disbelief....
After this episode Rimi told her parents that she did not feel Ritesh was the right boy for her....
They too did not enforce anything on her....
She returned back to Pune and started her routine....
She couldn't get Nilanjana out of her mind....
One afternoon she received a call from an unknown number....
Not knowing whom it might be she picked it up....
It was Nilanjana....
She was in Pune she called Rini to meet her at the Airport....
Nilanjana spoke to her confessing that she was head over heels in love with Rimi and couldn't think of anything else 
She had packed her bags and had come to Pune for good....
She had come out about her being a lesbian in front of her parents and opted out of the house....
Nilanjana being one of the best selling authors did not have to worry about finances....
She proposed to Rimi at the Airport and told her to come settle down with her in Pune....
Nilanjana had already got in touch with a real estate broker and booked a one bedroom condo for herself in Pune....
Rimi for the first time ever in life said a confident Yes and moved in with her beloved Nila....
Both of them wrote back to their families about the decision....
Their families never reverted back....
All of Nila's novels since then have been super hit blockbusters in the fiction category....
Rimi and Nila are one happy couple completing and complimenting each other in all ways possible and compatible....
Rimi still works in her old office, and is friends with her old housemates and colleagues while Nila has joined their gang as Rimi's first and probably the most beautiful love ever....
Nilanjana and Rimi are happy together...
Some love stories pleasantly surprise us....
The fact stays true that Love happens. 
And it is Universal....
It can happen between any one...
It can never be labelled . 
It is one of the most and fewest Natural and pure feelings in life...
Not many tales can move on from being fear based to love based....
Those who do... Create magic....
‪#‎notsotinytales‬
- Prajakta Sathe