Prahlad sometimes did things off the hat with absolutely no consideration whatsoever to the consequences of such actions.

Last time he left a coffee spill unreported, Ramya broke her leg. They ended up as a happy couple later because the incident helped Prahlad break ice with Ramya. Some conspiracy theorists, whose knowledge of conspiracy theories were derived entirely from a Mel Gibson-Julia Roberts movie of the same name, state as a matter-of-factly that Prahlad’s coffee spill was intentional.

Prahlad and Ramya hit it off. They travel routinely to cloud number nine and then to the seventh heaven. Not that it matters to me, but I am a little annoyed by their affair because the coding work this Gentleman and Her Majesty have to do, is now sitting pretty on my table.

Well, considering Prahlad and Ramya are both my friends of the highest degree – In fact my only friends in this corporate jungle, I think I should do it for them. So what if it involved wading through a couple of thousands of C++ code and then making a change to exactly one character in the whole file? It still is coding. Isn’t it?

And then, one fine day – they plan on getting married. They take three weeks off and disappear without a trace. No KT. No documents. Nothing.

And I stare at the C++ modules I have to work on.

“It sucks, isn’t it?” my PL is a confirmed sadist. He knows it sucks but he just has to rub salt on it.

“Yes Vishal, probably I may have to work the graveyard shift today.” I say hoping to strike his sympathetic nerve.

“I have got another resource to manage the extra work load” he tells me smilingly.

I nod. New resource in the project – normally takes more than a month to actually become productive. By then, I will have finished the work anyway.

An hour later, I stand in front of Vishal who introduces me to Janani, fresh off IIT-M.

My work is instantly doubled. In addition to the coding work, I need to give Janani the KT – Make sure she is comfortable with everything. What do I get in return? Nothing! Oh Prahlad, why did you spill your coffee that day?

Fifteen days later, the rhythm has already been found and I find time, from time to time, to gaze at Ursa Minor from the terrace of my building.

One such gazing event is worth mentioning here in more detail.

Janani comes upstairs – watches the Orion belt along with me and asks me if I have a girlfriend.

I shake my head. Not all guys are lucky.

She smiles, “You don’t know how easy it is to get a boyfriend/girlfriend!”

I nod, “Maybe! If my life goal is to have a girlfriend, probably I can get one. But I am more worried about what my life goal is – at the moment.”

“Searching for the cradle?” She likes to tease me.

“You can say so. How comfortable are you with the new module?” I attempt to change the topic.

She sighs. “It is killing me. I don’t want to work on it frankly. But my DM says – Take it or Leave it. What to do!”

“I gather, leaving it is not an option for you?” I show her how to locate Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

“Jupiter is brighter” she exclaims.

“Jupiter is a planet, not a star” I patiently explain.

“Same difference” she laughs.

Then we go back to our cubicle and immerse ourselves into the C++ code.

Two days later, my cell phone rings in the middle of the night. I wake up from my dreamland, decipher the ringing and then say “hello”

“Hi” Says Janani.

“Hi” I am confused.

“I couldn’t find it yaar. I extended the Orion belt but it didn’t pass through Sirius.”

I stare blankly at the receiver for sometime. Then it dawns upon me.

“Extend it backwards from Orion Belt”

A couple of seconds later, she shouts into the receiver – “Eureka”

I cut the call and try to get back my sleep.

The next day in the office canteen, I tell her patiently that I sleep from 11pm till about 8am. She has this quirky smile on her face, “So what?”

“Don’t call me at 12 midnight to find the location of Saturn from now onwards.”

She doesn’t say anything.

We both then bury ourselves deep into the slumbers of C++ for the next two weeks.

Vishal knocks me off my feet one fine day with the proposal of a project party.

“Project Party? Are you serious? We have the release in another one week!” I blurt out.

Vishal shakes his head, “This is the last week of this quarter. We have to use the funds.”

So the three of us look serenely at the crescent moon from the beach restaurant of a Five star hotel nearby.

“That’s a beautiful sight” Vishal exclaims.

“Indeed” I say, with all the sarcasm in the world. As usual he misses it.

Vishal then asks me, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

I shift uncomfortably in my chair. “No Vishal, I don’t.”

He then asks Janani, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

I try to stop him from doing that. Who knows? It may well be a case for harassment. One has to be really careful in matters like this at the workplace.

She takes it in her stride, “Yes. But he doesn’t know that he is my boyfriend.”

Vishal laughs out loud. “That is interesting. Best of luck.”

“Thank you” She says with the sweetest smile in the world.

At nine of clock, I drop her in front of her residence. “Do you know who my boyfriend is?” She asks me.

I nod, “I think I can guess.”

“Well then, my statement isn’t 100% true!”

“Looks like it.”

An unbreakable series of silent moments then follow.

“So?” She asks me unsure of a reply.

“Janani, what is the role of a boyfriend in your life?” I ask her sincerely.

She stares at me, “I ... I... don’t know. How can one answer a question like this?”

“Take your time. Just think about it.” I wave my hand and ride back.

Next thing I remember is Malar hospital’s ICU. The doctor, a lovely girl of about twenty five, leans over me and asks me my name.

I tell her my name and asks for her name.

She smiles, “Deepti” and tells me that I should take some rest. I close my eyes.

Then I wake up and I see a very attractive doctor there of about twenty five years. She wishes me and asks me my name. I tell her that. And then I ask her for her name.

“I am Deepti and this is the fifth time you are asking me this question.”

I am confused. “I haven’t seen you before, doctor!”

She puts a hand on my forehead, “Venu, you had a bike accident. Your helmet saved you. But there has been some brain damage. Not acute though. You are suffering from what is called “Short Term Amnesia”. As of now, your memory span is not more than fifteen minutes.”

I drift away.

When I wake up again, I see an attractive young lady. She asks me my name.

“My name is Venu, Deepti” I tell her.

Her face brightens up. “Good! You’re retaining information. That is a great sign. By the way, you’ve got a visitor.”

Janani comes into the ICU. I wave my hand and say, “I am OK Janani. Not to worry. I haven’t forgotten everything.”

The relief on her face is pretty clear. “Get well soon Venu. We’re all waiting for you.”

“What happened to my module?” I asked her.

She laughs, “I am working sixteen hour shifts now.” Then she leaves.

A month later, I enter my cubicle again. Vishal greets me warmly. There is no sign of Janani.

I ask Vishal. He tells me casually that Janani is at onsite now – San Francisco.

No lightening strikes or thunderous sounds follow. I just freeze for a couple of moments and then slump into my chair.

“So you love Janani?” Deepti asks me as she records my blood pressure.

“I don’t know. But I do miss her doc! I don’t know why she left without even informing me.”

Deepti says, “Perfectly normal”

“I don’t think so doctor. She is angry with me. I can say that.”

Deepti smiles, “Your blood pressure levels are perfectly normal. By the way, call me Deepti.”

Six months later, Janani greets me out of the blue. I freeze again.

“Yes. I didn’t feel like telling you then. You know why!” She tells me.

“Well, let’s bury the hatchet.” I propose a solution.

“I’ve done that already. That is why I am standing in front of you now.”

We sip coffee looking at Orion again.

“You know what? Vishal proposed to me.”

I spilled the coffee, “What?”

“He wants to walk the life with me.”

“What did you say?” I asked her immediately.

“I told him, I already had a boyfriend.”

“Do you?”

“Looks pretty much like it. Doesn’t it?”

I don’t respond. Such questions need to be answer pretty carefully.

Two days later, I tell her that I am inclining towards Deepti. She listens to me calmly.

“So when are you going to tell her?”

“Today”

Deepti has a lovely way of saying no. “I don’t think so Venu” she smiles.

“But why?”

“I am already engaged.”

Janani puts forward an application form. “What is it?” I ask her.

“Application to be your girlfriend.” She says directly.

“Stop kidding yaar” I say.

“No I am not kidding. Anyway you can’t get Deepti. Why don’t you consider me?”

“Hello! I am in the mourning period. I haven’t yet recovered from that rejection.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Really!”

“OK”

Thirteen months later, I get the lowest ranking in the annual appraisal process. Janani gets the much awaited promotion. She is now my superior.

I tender my resignation to the company and walk into the rival company on the other side of the road.

Five months later, I get their invitation card. “Vishal Weds Janani”. I send them a flower bouquet and then visit Deepti.

“I need to see a psychiatrist” I declare.

Deepti is surprised, “Just because I am already taken?”

I shake my head, “No, I am totally confused about what I want in life. Janani proposed sometime back and I didn’t reciprocate for reasons I myself didn’t know.”

“And she is married now!” Deepti is thinking.

“Yes. And now I think a little about why I did not accept her. Funny thing is that, I am unable to answer that question. That scares me Deepti and convinces me that I need professional help.”

Deepti writes something on the prescription pad. “Take this to Advaith. He is a professional psychiatrist. He lives in Indira Nagar.”

Two days later, I manage to get an appointment. He asks me politely to explain the situation.

I tell him everything including my attempt to get Deepti. For a moment it looks like he is knocked off his feet but then he manages to get back the smile on his face. Later Deepti tells me that Advaith is the man she is marrying.

“You don’t need any treatment Venu” he tells me calmly.

“Then why this confusion? Why am I not able to have a clear view of what I want?”

“That is a problem of course, but no treatment can actually help you there. You have to do some soul searching.”

So I come home, sip my black coffee and look at Orion belt intensely. Moments later, I indulge in some serious Sirius searching. Then I find Sirius along with a realization that probably I am taking these things a little too seriously.

Next morning, I wake up – smell the decafe, enjoy the sweet fragrance of the dust bin right in front of my apartment and walk on the road towards the river. Everything looks pretty rosy. There is an undeniable upbeat mood.

I realize that I have really attained Nirvana when the presence of Vishal right in front of me when I was gazing into the flowing waters of the river doesn’t make me sad or tense.

“Hi Vishal,” I warmly say, “How are you? How is Janani?”

He is his usual self. Never been better. Things have been going extraordinarily well. His stock options have fetched him an Acropolis apartment and his life as a married man is splendid. Janani – He hasn’t seen her in a while. Maybe she is not in this city anymore.

“What?” I don’t get it, “Janani is your wife – right?”

Vishal laughs pretty hard. “Wow! Where did you get that news from?”

I nod, I shake my head, I roll my eyes and I give up.

Then I start a search operation for Janani. I want to scold her for playing such a devastating prank on me. Where is she?

I don’t want to explain how I manage to get a hold of her because it is insignificant in the present context.

“Yes. That was a fake invitation card.” Janani minces no words.

“But why?”

“Just to get your reaction. By the way, that flower bouquet was fabulous. I hated it though because it showed your reaction.”

“Janani, why yaar?”

“Will you marry me?” she asks me.

I instantly say “Yes”.

She then slaps me as hard as she can and walks off into the sunset.

I stand there completely baffled.

The End.