The Crazy Alien

When I woke up this morning, I felt an extreme sadness in my heart, remembering this would be the beginning of your last week at work. For a while, I sat still on the bathroom floor and kept wondering how I fell for such a crazy alien. Before I even knew, my night dress was soaked with tears. The more I wiped my tears, the faster they started pouring down my face. I love to cry to lighten my chest, but I never knew tears could be so uncontainable. I wanted to get up and get ready for work, but I just couldn’t stop crying. An aunt of mine, who became blind at a very young age, once told me how she always had to struggle to wade through the empty space in front of her. I realized, I would go through the same trauma until this Friday. Dear Alien, how do I live without you?

Paula, as you said, I am a crazy alien. Humans are not supposed to fall in love with crazy aliens. See, there are six billion other humans around you; if you do not like one, you can always try another. They will understand and share your emotions and you can all get along well. But the aliens are so few and far between that they hardly understand humans, let alone how to relate to humans at the emotional level. They are inherently different; so different that I think they should learn to mind their own business and not ever get emotionally involved with humans. That’s the mistake I made and I know I am paying dearly for it now. You cannot even dream of how I feel to leave you. But I also know how flaky and short-lived human emotions are – I tell you what, two days later, you won’t even remember I existed. To humans: out of sight, out of mind – no exceptions!

Dear Alien, I can’t believe you just said that. Now I know, you truly are heartless. You are right, I am better off with humans only. At least, they won’t make mockery of my honest emotions. You really don’t deserve me.

Paula, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings; I just wanted to lighten up the conversation. I would hate to see you cry like this for five more days. I thought you call me crazy because I have much deeper emotions and sensitivity than the average humans. You have seen how upset I get when you talk to other men. In fact, I told you, my heart freezes to see you with another man. You know, only crazy aliens can behave that way – normal humans don’t. Similarly, when I was with other alien women, I didn’t feel that way at all; actually, I didn’t care if they would run off with others. But with you, it has always been different. All along, I felt a deep sense of connection with you.

Dear Alien, I don’t understand one thing – these last few days, you are supposed to spend more time with me, have lunch and dinner with me every day; instead, you are running around with all the half-known folks from the office. You hardly cared about them all these years. Now, suddenly, they all become important to you? Cancel your lunch date today. I will take you out to lunch. I cannot stand her. Why does she come over to talk to you so many times every day? Worse, she always whispers. I wish I could hear what she says to you. Anyway, I wonder how I will feel when you are not around any longer. The more I think about it, the worse I feel. Lately, I have been crying inside all the time. I have grown so used to being with you all this time. In fact, by sharing the room with you, I know I made it worse for myself. Come to think of it, I should have been an alien too. When I was emotionally involved with the humans, I thought everything was so shallow – superficial talks about some stupid sports, dumb family matters, and of course, all about foods from morning to night. I thought they were more interested in my paycheck and a free lifelong maid service than me, the real person. It was all conditional. I must say, however crazy you are, it has been totally unconditional. If you ever get married, are you going to be as crazy about her? Please don’t answer that. Dear Alien, how do I live without you?

Paula, you are not making things easy for me either. Instead, say something good I will always remember.

We made love! Oh, no! I should not have reminded you that. I know, you will always remember how I look inside. Shame, shame, baby shame! Actually, I love the way you beg me, ‘please, please, please.’

Paula, I am sure, soon you will find someone from your species and eventually get married. If you have a son, name him after me.

I cannot name him ‘Alien.’

Paula, you might have forgotten, but I do have a real name too. By the way, you will make a wonderful mother. I know, your kids will be crazy about you.

So, you are telling me, I won’t be a wonderful wife?

Paula, please don’t. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I was just kidding.

Dear Alien, if you ever see me being happy with another man, you may get a heart attack.

Paula, you have such a poor opinion of my emotional stability. Just don’t marry someone I already know. Sorry, sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean that.

Dear Alien, some aliens do go on to become successful even in this human world. If you ever own a successful company, do you think you will let me run it?

Sure! I have to first hire you as a senior manager and then slowly empower you.

It’s amazing how you fall for anything I ask for. Do you know, I can easily betray you?

You won’t, Paula. You have such a clear heart. You never have any evil thinking. You will never do any harm to anyone.

Dear Alien, close your eyes and give me your right arm. I have to write something that you will always remember.

Paula, you are taking too long. I cannot keep my eyes closed anymore. My arm is hurting too.

Just keep quiet. Your arm is resting on my thigh – think of this as a privilege. Now give me your left arm so I can finish my final lines. Okay, open your eyes now.

“Time Marches on
 But Memory Stays
 Torturing Silently  
                    The Rest of Our Days.”  -Tennyson

Dear Alien, how do I live without you? I wish I was an alien too! 

Rich Guys Poor Girls

“Sumit, I am sorry. It is not going to work between us. My family will never accept someone dark, someone non-Christian. You are a nice guy, but it’s time we must go our own separate ways,” said Julie.

“Julie, I completely understand your position. I should not have been involved with you in the first place. But if we love each other, those superficial attributes like race, religion and color of skin should really not matter. As you grow older and become more emotionally mature, you will see that those attributes become less important in life; love and mutual respect will only last. The marriages that fail are based more on those superficial attributes than the basic love and respect for each other. I know we are not superficially compatible, but I would have truly loved and adored you for the rest of my life. Anyway, learn to treat your body like a temple and don’t let those rich guys destroy this wonderful God-given temple,” Sumit replied tearfully as he walked down the college stairs.

“Julie, you look awful. What happened? Did you catch the bad bug that is going around?”

“No mom. I have been feeling terrible since I broke up with Sumit a few days ago. I keep thinking of him all the time. I haven’t eaten a real meal since then. I cannot study. I cannot sleep. All I do is think of him and cry and as a result I started getting this horrible rash all over my face. I didn’t tell you about him. He is a senior in my college. He is from India on some kind of private scholarship. He is from a very poor family, but he is very smart, simple and down to earth. I have been seeing him for at least six months now. I know you and dad would never approve of someone like him, so I never mentioned to you about him. Mom, he is such a decent person. He never touched me. He actually adored me. I miss him so badly. I wish I could describe how I really feel inside.”

“Julie, it is your life. You have to decide what makes you happy and who you want to spend your life with. I have no problem accepting an Indian boy as long as you think he will be the right partner for you. Your dad is here. Why don’t you ask him how he feels about it?”

“Dad, how would you feel if I tell you I am in love with an Asian Indian young man and perhaps someday I want to marry him?”

“Julie, I will welcome anyone in our family as long as you think he is the right person for you. You are our only child and I will never do anything that displeases you. I have friends from all races and religions and, honestly, I never thought they are any different than we are. I don’t believe your mother will have any problem either. I have lived with her long enough to know how open she is towards others, irrespective of who they all are.”

“Mom and Dad, I don’t know what you all are saying now. While growing up in this household, I heard all kinds of racial and religious jokes which gave me the impression that you disliked others.”

“Honey, they were just silly jokes. Human beings enjoy jokes about other human beings, not of cows and donkeys. I thought we raised you with a set of good moral values. I don’t understand how you ever got that low impression about us,” Julie’s mother remarked sadly, as her father looked on and concurred with her mother. 

As Julie was rushing back to her apartment, she remembered how simple and honest Sumit was.

“Sumit, how come you are so different from the other Indian guys on campus?”

“Julie, you have to understand where I am coming from. I am from a very poor family. My parents are local school teachers. These guys, on the other hand, are from very rich families, educated in posh western-style private schools that cost a fortune, and are raised with a domesticated western culture. They are ashamed of my English. They all grew up speaking English even at home, whereas in our school we all spoke our native languages. My parents and teachers were caring people and they did the best they could. I just came from the same country, but from a totally different economic class. I am here because of a private scholarship, while they are simply digging into their deep pockets to finance their education. You have seen, I eat very basic Indian foods that I cook once a week; whereas, they primarily eat out at expensive restaurants. In fact, I have never been to one of those fancy restaurants.”

“Sumit, we have been together for a while now. But you never try to take advantage of me. The other rich guys I have dated so far were all after my body only. All they cared about was how to take me to bed. Once they took advantage of my body, they would move on, as though they were tired of me. Those bustards had no respect for my body or mind. They all treated me like trash. I was stupid to run around with them too. Given my past, how would you feel to be with me?”

“Julie, your past is of no consequence to me. I really enjoy being with you. I love to go around with you. I wish I had some disposable money to spend on you. Deep down, you are such a simple and compassionate person. Previously, I used to feel very lonely in weekends; now I look forward to the weekends, as I get to spend a lot of time with you. When you leave at night, I cannot wait for the night to be over.”

“Sumit, you still didn’t answer my question. If we ever get into a verbal fight, will you use my past against me?”

“Julie, it is a shame that those monsters took advantage of you, without having to pay dearly for it. If someone does the same to my younger sister back home, I don’t know how I would feel; I will contact the local police and try to turn that monster over to them, to at least save other girls. Since these monsters grow up in very rich environments, they tend to think they can easily buy their way out of any trouble. You have not committed any crime or sin; you are just another innocent victim. You expected these guys to be equally decent human beings, instead they turned out to be monsters. Unfortunately, this happens all over the world and as long as the rich and powerful control the system, it will continue. If we continue to sacrifice our own, we will slowly slip back into the dinosaur age. What we need is to educate the young girls, followed by a grassroots movement to isolate those predators who use their wealth and repeatedly play the love game to take advantage of the young girls, physically. Anyway, getting back to your question, I promise I will never even mention anything about your past. In fact, if we ever get married and decide to have only one child, I will always pray that we have a beautiful girl – just like you. Again, all I want is to spend my life with you. I made my terms clear and now it’s your choice.”

“Sumit, you hardly have any money. You don’t need to pay for my movie ticket.”

“Julie, I know I have no money, but I feel good when I can do something for you. When we get married, I hope we have lot of money, so you can have the lifestyle of a queen.”

“Sumit, if you need some help with your airfare, please feel free to talk to me. I have a few hundred dollars left in my savings account which you can use.”

“Julie, that is so kind of you. This gesture shows how much you already believe in me. You are an angel in my life. By the way, I have already borrowed the money for my airfare from my cousin in South Carolina. Again, thank you very much for thinking of me.”

“Sumit, I know how much I will miss you when you are away during the summer vacation. Do you really need to spend six weeks in India? Why not just three weeks? I already miss you.”

“Julie, I am visiting India after three years. My parents are eagerly waiting for my visit. They will be upset if I don’t spend some time with them. I know I will be miserable without you too, but this is something I really need to do for my parents. In fact, I will be spending the final week of my visit in New Delhi attending an international seminar in science and technology.”

“Sumit, if we decide to get married someday, don’t you think that our inter-racial marriage will hurt your parents’ feelings?”

“Julie, this is one point you and I have been differing. I know you are extremely concerned about your parents’ acceptance of our inter-racial marriage and I totally respect that. But I must say I do not feel that way at all. My parents have done a great job in bringing me up and for that I will be grateful to them to my grave. But who I decide to spend my life with should strictly be my choice and thus my decision. If they are unhappy about it, it is my bad luck. Then again, I don’t want to think negatively about it before I even approach them. I think they will not fuss, rather they will be happy with my choice.”

As Julie came back to her apartment, she was happy to see her room-mate, “Becky, you are supposed to be my best friend. Please help me find him.”

“Julie, I hope you learned your lesson. You must learn to respect people the way they are. Do you know how you hurt his feelings? He just made one simple mistake – he behaved like a decent human being. You didn’t have the guts to do the same to the rich guys who shared your race and religion. The monsters who abused you will, using their wealth and in the name of love game, find other innocent girls to terrorize, again. This terrorism must stop.”

“Becky, I am only twenty-one and I already feel so old and exhausted. You are right, I should not have fallen for their wealth trap and played into their fake love game. In return, they simply ripped my body apart. They had no respect for my body. They did not even realize that I have a human body. Sometimes I have so severe pain all over that I don’t feel like even getting up from the bed. Sumit was so different; he always comforted me. I still remember how his face used to lit up to see me and how it used to go down when I would leave him at night. He really loved me, Becky. He had no lust in his eyes. He just wanted to be with me. To break up, when I was saying all those horrible things to him, his eyes were tearful but he was still smiling. He asked me not to let those monsters abuse my body anymore; instead, he reminded me to treat my body like a temple. Becky, I am so miserable without him. Please help me find him. I promise I will be nice to him.”

“Julie, did you speak to his room-mate?”

“Yes, I did. The room-mate thinks Sumit is transferring to another university. He didn’t leave any forwarding details with his room-mate. Sumit’s cell was disconnected. I even contacted Sumit’s cousin in South Carolina, but he was clueless too. Becky, do you think I will ever find him? I don’t know why I did this. I should have at least spoken to my parents before I broke off. I was just trying not to hurt my parents’ feelings. If I knew they wouldn’t object to our being together, I would never do it. Becky, I am not able to eat. My stomach is so empty that I started vomiting blood. Do you think I will be okay? Since he is gone, I cannot think straight. I don’t care to find a rich guy anymore. I want him back. I just want him back. I really do. Becky, suddenly I am feeling very sick. Can you come and hold me, please?”

“Julie, somebody is knocking. Can you get the door? Julie, I cannot come out. Please get the door. Julie, are you there? Please get the door.”

In Search of Roots

“Today I am going to present a psychiatric profile of an individual named Swaran Sharma who, even a few years ago, was very near and dear to us. The objective of this case study is to initiate a dialogue as to the power and efficacy of our inner mind when our outer mind completely fails. While this case study pertains only to the power of the inner mind as it relates to God, we will need separate studies to see if our inner mind can also be used to relate to one another in our normal interactions,” Margaret, the Senior Fellow at the Russell Institute’s Graduate School of Psychology, remarked as she started her presentation to the students of clinical psychology.

Swaran Sharma spent his early years in British Guyana. Then, at age twelve, he immigrated to Canada with his family. He excelled in academics from young age. He achieved a perfect score on the SAT. After completing his bachelor’s degree in mathematics at a leading Canadian university, he moved to Boston to continue his master’s at the Russell Institute. He stayed on to complete his doctorate program there. He enjoyed research and teaching, so he joined their mathematics department as an assistant professor. During the mid-90s, Dr. Swaran Sharma became the chairperson of the Department of Applied Mathematics. By virtue of his position, he routinely taught other quantitative classes including psychometrics. His publications were read and admired around the world. He won the prestigious ‘Russell Professor of the Year’ award twice. Under his leadership, his department came to be regarded as one of the best in the world. His peers knew he was a future Nobel Laureate. He was not only a well-respected professor, but he was also loved by all for his gentle nature.

Swaran was an avid traveler. With his wife and two kids he traveled around the globe. To find his family roots, he traveled to India on several occasions. His Canadian wife was not too keen about his family roots, so she used to stay back with the kids when he was on his personal mission to India. He developed professional relations with a number of Indian universities, so he often stopped by them as a guest lecturer. But he never lost sight of his bigger picture – the primary purpose of his being there. Based on his research, he was able to narrow his focus down to two provinces and visited the villages there. While he was always heartened by the naïve villagers, he was deeply saddened by the abject poverty there. In spite of all these adversities, his perennial mission continued.

As his quest for his roots continued, he started to get deeper into Eastern philosophy and religions. One day while traveling in a local train he met Roy, an American tourist who was very familiar with the local culture and life. Roy took him to a temple located right on the banks of the river Ganges. It was a very old temple, but it looked physically better than most temples he had seen there. According to Roy, the devotees came from far and wide to worship there. For generations people believed that they could get their wishes fulfilled by offering prayers to the temple deities. People were made to believe that miracles happened there every day. Roy introduced Swaran to Bharat Singh, the caretaker of the temple. Swaran was fascinated by Bharat who was educated in the US and had a flourishing career in Wall Street. At age thirty, he gave it all up and returned to India to take care of his ancestral temple. Even Bharat believed that the temple was an embodiment of miracles. Swaran was truly amazed by the miracle stories he heard.

Meanwhile, his family life started to suffer. Between his demanding teaching profession and his growing obsession to find his roots at the other end of the world, he hardly had any time for his family. His wife gave him an ultimatum to shun his hopeless obsession and pay more attention to the family, or else she would simply ring the curtain down on their marriage. He did abide by her ultimatum for a while, but then again his mind became progressively uncooperative. He kept thinking of the evenings with the villagers, his time at the temple and the endless miracle stories that he heard from Bharat and the visitors. He was keen to experience a miracle, but it did not happen for him. Of course, Bharat asked him to spend more time at the temple praying and worshipping the deities if he genuinely yearned for such an experience. So he decided to go back to India and spend the entire summer at the temple. As he broke his travel plans to his wife, she categorically reminded him that, if he followed through on his plans, it would be the end of their marriage. He disregarded her provocation and left for India on an extended tour.

Bharat was happy to see Swaran return to the temple for a longer haul. From their very first meeting, the chemistry between them was incredibly lucid. Swaran loved his room at the temple; it faced the beautiful river and also away from all the din and bustle of the temple. But what he enjoyed most about his room was the prodigious experience of the sunrise and the sunset. They both spent long hours at the temple meditating. At night, Swaran would sit by the river and listen to the water. He also learned from Bharat how to live blissfully on only milk and fruits. He felt amazingly tranquil during those summer days there.

At the end of the summer when he came back to Boston, the inevitable came to pass. His wife had filed for divorce. His institute was kind enough to let him temporarily stay at their guest quarters and then helped him locate an apartment close by. He was terribly distressed by the divorce and the separation from his kids. He knew he was totally responsible for his tragic loss. He had no ill feelings for his beloved ex-wife; she did everything right under the circumstances. In a few months their divorce was finalized. As part of the settlement, he gave her whatever she had asked for. He knew it would be all for the well-being of his kids. He did not want them to suffer in any way. On the final court day, he wanted to meet with his ex-wife and the kids and beg their pardon. But they had left before he got a chance to meet with them. Because of his growing erratic behavior, the court granted him only limited supervised visitation right. He did not contest that ruling either; he was the reason for this trauma.

He decided to go back to India again during the holiday season. On last few occasions Bharat picked him up from the local train station. This time since Swaran was carrying some more luggage for the temple, Bharat went to meet him at the airport. On the way back to the temple, Bharat severely chided him for destroying his marriage. Swaran was not keen to participate in that discussion; instead he was more interested in knowing the upkeep of the temple. He was however happy to move back into his favorite riverfront room. He was happy to see Bharat, the priest, the trees, the pigeons, the monkeys and, above all, the temple he had grown to love. As he stood outside by the river, the monkeys started to scream and jump off the trees to come and greet him. Bharat showed up. With Bharat’s help he started putting gold chains around the new monkey mothers’ necks. The new mothers were proud to show off their babies to him. Bharat remarked, “When you are not around, they routinely stopped by your room to look for you. Once an old friend of mine was staying in your room; suddenly the monkeys noticed a different person in your room and they started screaming so much around the room that I had to move him to the east wing. He was very scared.” As Swaran was listening to Bharat’s story, he realized how much he missed these monkeys too.

One day he was sitting by the pond next to the east wing. The pond was full of full-bloom lotuses and other beautiful surface-water flowers. As he was enjoying the beauty of the flowers and the serene atmosphere, he suddenly noticed that a man was walking on the water. He could not recognize the man, but he was astonished to see him walking on the water. He knew he was wide wake and he could not be hallucinating. Later that day, he shared that experience with Bharat. Bharat did not sound surprised at all. The next day Swaran visited the same spot again to see if he could have the experience repeated. But he did not notice anything unusual. The day before his departure he was busy packing his clothes in the room. An unusual chatter among birds drew his attention. He looked through the window and there he was. The same man was walking in the air, at least ten feet above the ground. He disappeared momentarily. Swaran was still shuddering inside as Bharat walked in. Swaran immediately narrated the event to him, but as usual Bharat showed very little reaction. But this time he did remind Swaran that this temple was an embodiment of miracles and he was obviously not hallucinating. Swaran was relieved but his curiosity began to skyrocket.

He decided to extend his vacation and stay on for a month longer. Bharat tried to convince him not to take any undue chances with his job, but Swaran would not budge. During his extended stay, he started to experience more and more miracles and other unusual events. One day while he was feeding the monkeys, he began to experience rain in broad daylight. As the rain intensified, he noticed that one of the deities from the temple appeared in real Goddess form. As the Goddess disappeared, the rain stopped. The same night upon hearing a knock, he opened the door. A beautiful lady was standing there with a holy book. She handed the book over to him and vanished. He looked all around, but she could not be traced. He stopped talking to Bharat about his experiences, but he also started to wonder if he was truly experiencing miracles or if his mind was slipping.

Once he returned to Boston, his department made their dissatisfaction clear to him over his unexpected extension of vacation at the beginning of the semester. Yet, instead of focusing on the department, he started spending increasingly more time studying miracles and spirituality. Without giving notices, he skipped classes to meet experts and authors in the field of miracles. Halfway through the semester, he was stripped of his chairmanship and demoted to a professor. He was nonetheless not at all intimidated by such actions. He continued his research and travel ignoring all provocations from the department.

One morning Swaran woke up with a terrible headache. After his headache went on unabated for a while, he finally saw his doctor. He went through a number of advanced diagnostic tests, but nothing unusual was discovered. Meanwhile, his mind was gradually becoming incapable of remembering anything from the past. The doctors were perplexed. Soon there was a point when he not only lost his memory, but he started to mutter delirium as well. His department did not need him anymore. They contacted his ex-wife for help, but she was already engaged to be married. She however suggested that they contact Bharat in India who might be willing to keep him.

As expected, Bharat got a letter from the Russell Institute that detailed all the events leading up to Swaran’s current mental condition. He was shocked. But he knew he would be the only person who could care for Swaran now. So he immediately flew to Boston and accompanied Swaran back to India. He arranged for Swaran to stay in his favorite riverfront room, surrounded by his favorite trees, birds and the beasts. Even the monkeys and the pigeons knew that it was their turn to take care of their loving Swaran.  In the morning Bharat would take Swaran by the pond where the monkeys showed up and fed him some bananas and cut coconuts that they saved for him. The pigeons would also go around and gather some berries for him. Unfortunately, Swaran was mentally too challenged to see the miracles that were taking place to keep him alive.

 “I am Margaret Chaplin. I am looking for Mr. Bharat Singh, the owner of this temple.”

“I am Bharat. I don’t own this temple. My family does. I am just the caretaker here. Anyway, how may I be of help?”

“I am a Senior Fellow of Clinical Psychology at the Russell Institute in Boston. I believe Dr. Swaran Sharma is under your care here. I read a lot about him. I am genuinely fascinated by his profile. I am here to study him for a while,” remarked Margaret.

“What is your time-frame?” asked Bharat.

“I plan to spend the summer here and then, based on my results, I will decide if I need to come back,” Margaret replied and then added, “How much do you charge for your rooms here?”

“No charge. I will put you up in a room in the east wing. I hope you are carrying a lot of can foods. We live only on fruits and milk donated by the visitors. As you know, the nearest town is twenty miles away. If you need groceries, please let me know at least a day ahead. I will arrange a ride with a visitor. You can take a cab back to the temple,” Bharat replied.

“Thank you very much. Food won’t be any problem. I will get used to living on fruits and milk too. When do I meet Dr. Swaran?”

“Tomorrow morning at 7am. At the south end of the east wing, there is a pond. He takes his breakfast there. You will meet him there. By the way, we all call him Swaran. Let me take you to your room.”

As Bharat opened the door of the room, Margaret went inside and looked around. In fact, she expected much worse. The room had a large wooden window facing the courtyard, a bed and a small dresser with a mirror.

“This room does not have an attached bath. The baths are down the hall and you have to share with other guests. We rarely have guests in weekdays. The linens are clean, though. I know how Americans feel about dirty linens,” Bharat remarked with a laugh. 

“Where is Swaran staying?” asked Margaret.

“In the west wing, next to my room. The rooms there are nicer because they all face the river. Once the monkeys are comfortable with you, I will switch you there,” answered Bharat.

“You have monkeys here?” Margaret asked with a frightened voice.

“You will know them all. Without them, I could not have managed this place,” Bharat replied and bid her good night.

The next morning Margaret woke up quite early. She walked around the temple and the courtyard for a while and then sat by the river. She liked the cool breeze, the picturesque view of the river and the synchronized singing of the ferrymen from the boats carrying people back and forth. Suddenly she heard a loud screech. She turned around and saw a group of big monkeys screaming at her. She was so frightened that she could not even cry for help. A ferryman who just docked realized what was happening to the tourist. He ran up the stairs and drove the monkeys away.

He then looked at Margaret and said, “Madam, this place belongs to the monkeys. They have been here for generations and visitors must make peace with them. As a new visitor, you have to bring some bananas and coconuts for them. They will always remember you and leave you alone. In fact, if you are hungry, you can ask for food from them. They will go around and collect some bananas and other fruits and serve you in banana leaves. If you feel physically exhausted or mentally fatigued, you can sit under the tree. The monkeys will come down, sit by you and hold your hands to comfort you. There are days I have no business. I just sit and wait for the passengers. By mid-day when nobody shows up, I feel very disoriented. So I come up and sit under a tree. The monkeys know I need their psychological help. The mother monkeys are very affectionate. One of the mothers comes down, places the baby on my lap and hugs me. I feel as if I am reunited with God. Momentarily, I am re-energized and miraculously passengers start showing up around my boat. We call them miracle monkeys; the mountain people, following the Hindu mythology, call them the agents of God.” Margaret was simply spellbound by the ferryman’s depiction. With a deep sense of gratitude she said, “Thank you for saving my life. Will you please take me to my room in the east wing?” The ferryman laughed and then escorted her to the room.

Margaret rushed to the bathroom to freshen up. She was extremely excited to have the opportunity to study Swaran at his current mental state. She slowly walked towards the pond at the end of the corridor. As she crossed a small bridge, she could see the pond. Once she came off the bridge, she could not believe her eyes. For a moment, she thought she was hallucinating. She wiped her eyes and tried to watch more closely. She saw a man in white clothes   surrounded by some monkeys and birds. No other human being was there. As she approached him slowly, she was even more mystified. The man was actually being fed by the monkeys and the birds. She was afraid to go any closer, so she stopped at a distance and sat on a large stone to observe him from there. She took out her notepad and started writing her notes.

In a while, Bharat showed up. He approached her and said, “I am sorry for being a little late. I had a small emergency to take care of. Come on; let me introduce you to Swaran and my other resident friends.” Margaret slowly followed him to Swaran. She was still very scared inside. Bharat looked at Swaran and said, “This is Margaret – the newest member of our family here.” Swaran was undisturbed and kept staring at the water. Bharat then turned to the monkeys and the birds and said, “Folks, please meet Margaret. She is one of us now. Please be kind to her.” As the monkeys and the birds screeched loudly together, Bharat told her, “That’s their way of welcoming you to their world. Now, no one will harm you. As you interact more with them, you will gradually understand their language as if it is your own. I do have one word of advice – try not to take Swaran away from them, instead just share him with them. Soon you will get to know the routine here. Swaran spends the rest of the morning at the mezzanine temple which is off-limits to the visitors. But I have instructed the temple staff to give you unrestricted access there. In addition to fruits and milk, I have also arranged for some cooked foods for you. So, please stop by the temple when you please.” Before she was able to say anything, he walked away. But she was truly moved by Bharat’s generosity.    

Margaret began to walk towards the mezzanine temple. The temples were at the other end of the courtyard. Since she was meeting Swaran alone for the first time, she was very apprehensive. She could not wait to get over with it, so she started to walk faster. She walked up the stairs and went through the big wooden door. As soon as she walked inside the temple, she saw Swaran standing in front of the deities with his hands up and chanting something. She quietly moved closer to him and sat down on the floor. She tried to understand what he was chanting. She studied Sanskrit in college. She realized he was not chanting in Sanskrit, or in English. So she started recording his chanting to study later. She took a good look at him. She guessed he would be in his mid-40s, about 6 feet, quite well-built and unusually light-skinned compared to the local folks. After chanting for about an hour, he put flowers in the hands of the deities and then rubbed some fruits and milk on their lips. He then sat down and kept staring at the deities for the rest of the morning. She had never studied a case where a mentally-failed person could act so normally with God. She was simply astounded!

At noon Bharat showed up and said to Margaret, “It is his lunch time. He eats his lunch by the river under his favorite old tree. Come with us if you want to observe him.” Bharat took him by the river and made him sit down under an old tree. He then left. Suddenly the monkeys started to come down from the trees. Some of them brought bananas and coconuts. Another monkey brought a piece of banana leaf and they poured all the fruits on that leaf. She was surprised to see that the female monkeys had gold chains in their necks. A few female monkeys sat in front of him and started feeding him. If he was unwilling to open his mouth, the feeding monkey would make a screeching sound and then he would open his mouth again. It looked as if a human mother was trying to feed her own baby. Margaret never knew that the monkeys could be this organized, articulate and caring. It was truly an unbelievable scene.

Bharat came back in about an hour. He looked at Margaret and said, “It’s time for him to take some rest. Let’s take him back to his room and you can try to feed him some water. It will help you develop some chemistry with him.” Margaret liked that idea and followed them to his room. Before leaving, Bharat showed her the water jug and offered a word of advice, “If he does not open his mouth, do not get upset. Try telling him a story or sing a song, or whatever your imagination permits. You have to treat him like a baby. At 4pm, an attendant will take him for his shower and then to the temple again.” Margaret was happy to be left alone with him only.

She took a small glass of water and tried to feed him. As expected, he would not open his mouth. She tried to make various proven sounds from the books of psychology. But nothing worked. She even tried reading a story for him. She suddenly remembered how the monkeys were feeding him. While one female monkey was feeding him, two other female monkeys were gently holding his hands. So she held his hand and tried to feed him with her other hand. That would not work either. She remembered Bharat’s suggestion and started singing a song. While she held his hand with one hand, she again tried to feed him with the other hand. Bingo! He opened his mouth and drank some water. But the moment she stopped singing, he would not open his mouth either. So she realized that he was still somewhat susceptible to some warm touches and special sound effects. She was extremely happy with her initial experimentation. 

As time progressed, she shared with the monkeys the feeding of the breakfast and the lunch. She also fed him the water and the milk at night. Meanwhile, the monkeys started to adore her. One day she had to go to the town to take care of some postal work. The monkeys thought she was gone. Out of rage they started terrorizing the visitors. They broke the window in her room. They even refused to feed Swaran. The next morning when she showed up by the river, the monkeys were pleasantly surprised. They gathered around her and started dancing to show their appreciation. They knew their lady of love was back. Margaret started to wonder how she could ever leave them.

The summer was coming to an end. So Margaret was confused whether to extend her leave. But she knew her department would not object to her request for an extension as she was working on an important case for her dissertation. After having discussed the progress with Bharat, she decided to stay on for three more months. Bharat also moved her to a riverfront room on the west wing, just three doors down Swaran’s room. The view from her new room was so gorgeous that she could not ask for anything more. She was always embarrassed that Bharat never accepted any money for her room and board. Every time she brought the topic up, Bharat said, “Margaret, this temple can never repay your services.” So the discussion never went anywhere.

Over a period of time Swaran became Margaret’s sole responsibility. In the afternoon and at night she would even wait until he fell asleep. She never took care of anyone like this before. It was becoming more than a study for her. She was slowly getting more possessive and emotionally more attached to him. While feeding him, she would let the monkeys sit around, but only she could feed him. The monkeys did not mind that because they had grown to love her too. She not only learned his language, but his every move as well. Sometimes he would suddenly cry like a baby. As she hugged him, he would slowly stop. Previously, he would continue to cry for hours. She was amazed how he felt the warmth of the human touch.

   

Margaret planned her next trip to the town very differently. Although it was an important day in the temple, she had to go to the town to meet a professor from a local university where she was planning to be a visiting lecturer. They left the temple in the morning with a visitor and planned to come back by late afternoon. In her absence, she however did not want the monkeys to go on frenzy. So she took a little one with her. While the mother monkeys never part with their babies, this mother gladly let Margaret take her baby. Thus the monkeys were also assured that Margaret would be back.

It was around 5pm. The temple was full of visitors. Bharat was resting in his room. Swaran was alone in the mezzanine temple. Bharat woke up on a loud sound of gunfire. He rushed towards the temple. People were screaming and running all around to find their nearest exit doors. Suddenly a few more gunshots followed. In the main temple he found the priest was tied to the window rods. All the jewelry from the deities was gone. As he untied the priest, he realized Swaran would be alone at the mezzanine temple. He ran as fast as he could. The door was wide open and Swaran’s blood-soaked body was lying at the feet of the deities with a piece of jewelry still stuck in his left palm. He realized Swaran tried to fight the bandits. They took his body down to the courtyard and placed his head on Bharat’s lap. The monkeys chased everyone out of the courtyard and sat quietly around Swaran’s body. Swaran was struggling for his last breath.

Margaret walked in. From a distance she saw the silent gathering of the monkeys and blood flowing all around them. She feared something terrible must have happened to Swaran. She started murmuring, “God, please don’t take him away. I knew I should not have left him alone.”  She began to run to the scene, perhaps the longest fifteen yards she ever ran.

Margaret was sitting by the river. Bharat showed up and said, “Margaret, we are ready to take him to the city. Do you want to come and see him? He has been dressed in his favorite blue pin stripe suit. He looks as if he is resting before his next class.”

Without looking at Bharat, Margaret just said, “No,” and then added, “I will take his ashes with me.”

Bharat then said to Margaret, “By the way, I have confirmed your travel plans. Your luggage will be checked in through Boston.”

As Bharat was ready to leave, Margaret said, “Bharat, can you please tell me about his final few moments?”

Bharat started, “Remember, how unsteady his eyes were. Funny, during his final moments, his eyes were normal and steady, as if God had granted him his final wish. He was desperately looking for something or someone. He was trying his best to hold off on his exit breath.”

Margaret then asked, “Did he say anything?”

Bharat answered, “That was very unusual too. He uttered the word ‘Love’ a few times. Even in his sane mind, he never used that word.”

All this time, the monkeys were watching them from a distance. They all came down and sat by her. One mother monkey took out the gold chain from her neck and gently put it around Margaret’s neck. Margaret hugged her and broke down in tears.

Bharat said, “Now, in their world, you and Swaran are united, forever.” 

The Campaign Strategist

“Let’s face it: We need a campaign strategist. A smart one. Someone who can completely out-think our enemy. And we need now. As you know, this morning’s poll, taken over the weekend, shows we are already trailing by three percentage points. If we wait any longer, we will fall further behind. Then it will be hard to catch up,” John, the senior campaign manager for the incumbent US Senator Megan Smith, remarked in their Monday morning steering committee meeting.

“Do you have anyone in mind?” Megan asked.

“My first choice would be Sandeep Khanna. He used to be with the Campaign Consultants in DC, but he recently opened his own consulting shop. He is only 33, but he has a razor sharp mind. Last year we briefly worked together in a campaign in Houston. I was really impressed with his outside-of-the-box thinking. He can be an asset here. If he is available, I can arrange a phone interview,” answered John.

“That’s a good idea. Before we slide further, we need to infuse some fresh blood immediately and re-energize the campaign. By the way, he has an unusual name. Is he an American?” Megan inquired with a laugh.

“He is an American – born and raised here, but his father is from India and mother is an American. As of last year, he was single. In fact, I doubt he has any time to date. He has a PhD from Columbia, though. He is a kind of person who would talk only in meetings. Even through his soft and delicate voice, he would bring in some of the most murderous strategies. I loved listening to him in meetings,” replied John. “Sounds like the missing piece,” remarked Megan on her way out.

Within a week Sandeep was hired to strategize Megan’s campaign. Megan was surprised to see how he crunched data to define challenges and suggest solutions. He did not show up in steering committee meetings; instead, he regularly met only with John and Megan to talk about strategies. From the campaign literature he learned that Megan lived in suburban New York City with her husband Curt, a successful lawyer and their two middle school daughters, Paula and Barbara. She studied and taught at Yale. Before running for the US Senate, Megan was a one-term Congresswoman. Megan’s father was a three-term US Senator.

In less than a month, her campaign came back strong and all polls showed a more or less dead-heat result. Before Sandeep came in, Megan had a sinking feeling. With the new poll results, Megan was ecstatic. In one meeting, she openly remarked, “Sandeep, you make better moves than some of the best chess players in the world. I am not sure I understand or agree with every move you make, but the results speak for themselves. You have brought it down to a science.” She noticed he had no reaction to her comments. He just indifferently said, “Thank you, Senator.” “Call me Megan,” she demanded.

As weeks went by, her campaign picked up further steam and stayed three to five points ahead in polls. She was friendlier with him. On number of occasions she asked him if he would like to join her in her new administration. He always answered, “I have to think about it.” On the other hand, she would tease him, “How much thinking do you need to do? You are still single.” He would simply laugh the conversation away. One night John had a family emergency, so he could not be present in their strategy meeting. She walked in and said, “Sandeep, thank you for saving my campaign. I wonder where I would be today if you did not come on board. Easily six to ten points down in polls. You have such a brilliant mind.” Without giving him a chance to respond, she continued, “I am starving. I have no dinner party to go to. Let’s have dinner together at Barciloni’s. It’s a nice, quiet place with excellent food. Not too far.”

Upon reaching the restaurant, they had to walk through the back door and were seated in a secluded private chamber. Before they ordered their food, the owners came and welcomed them. Sandeep realized she was a regular there. As the place became quieter, she asked, “Do you ever eat? I always see you working on your laptop.”

“I do. I just don’t make it a priority.”

She asked, “Do you ever feel tired or lonely in campaign trails? See, for me it comes every four or six years. For you, it is your living.”

“I have not been in the business long enough to feel that way, yet. I am sure there will be a point when I feel lonely and burnt out. Right now, I am struggling with my new business; I don’t have time to think about it.”

In her usual humorous way, she teased him, “I am sure you get to meet many beautiful women in campaign trails. You should not feel lonely.”

He indifferently said, “I am not thinking about beautiful women now. My primary objective is to get the business off the ground. I would hate to go back and work for a consulting firm, again.”

With a somewhat serious tone, she remarked, “I have an open offer for you. Come and join my administration. You name your own slot, including the chief of staff. I don’t understand why you have to take unnecessary pain and struggle.”

He smiled and replied, “Thank you for your generosity. I am really honored. It’s just that I have an entrepreneurial mind. I am not sure I am good at taking instructions. Anyway, your offer gives me a very viable alternative. When time comes, I will give it a due consideration. Meanwhile, I am truly honored.”

She again harped on the same tune and said, “I promise you will be taken care of. Again, your presence will make an enormous difference in my office. You are amazing in articulating real issues. Also, look at the alternative picture. If you spend six years with me, you will be groomed for your own political career. To learn the business, I worked as an intern for my father. It was a great experience. In fact, that internship helped me decide about a career in politics and public service.”

On the way back that night her limo dropped him in front of his apartment building. She was shocked to see he was staying at such a rundown building in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. She realized the financial struggle he was undergoing. The following night John could not attend the meeting. Once Sandeep was finished with his briefing, she asked, “Sandeep, why are you staying there?”

“That’s all I can afford now. After paying for my office and apartment rents and Gloria’s salary, I hardly have anything left. I am basically digging into my credit cards for other expenditures. You know, it takes a while for a small business to stand on its own and become profitable. When I went on my own, nobody knew me. Now I am building quality references and important connections that will pay off, perhaps in the not too distant future. Of course, your offer is an excellent alternative, too – helps me sleep comfortably!”

She felt terrible that he was going through such a financial ordeal, considering what a brilliant person he was. “For obvious reasons, I cannot change your contract. But let me lend you some money to ease your immediate woes. It’s a loan and it’s all my money. Nobody can ever question this transaction. You pay me back when your business becomes profitable. No rush. At least, you can concentrate on your work with a sounder mind. I hate to think that this financial thing looms over your shoulder.”

He was truly moved by her generosity. He had already worked with a number of important political personalities, but he never came across anyone as caring as Senator Megan. He knew he had to cut the conversation short, but he could not help thanking her for her extraordinary magnanimity, “Thanks for the offer. While I cannot accept it, I must say it really touched my heart.”

She laughed and said, “All my offers still stand. My husband was supposed to take me to a dinner, but he just cancelled. He is stuck somewhere. Let’s go for dinner. I enjoyed our last night’s dinner. You were kind enough not to talk about the campaign.”

They again went to the same restaurant. He knew the routine. After the food was served, the red light would be turned on outside their chamber door and they were left alone. Suddenly she asked, “Have you ever been in love, Sandeep?”

He was really surprised, but he knew he had to answer, “Once, for a year or so, when I was in grad school.”

“What happened? It didn’t work out?”

“Her parents didn’t like the idea that I came from an inter-racial parentage. Her folks were rich and famous. So we decided to call it quits. And we did it gracefully. Later I even attended her marriage. She is now happily married with a couple of children.”

“Do you still think of her? Does it still hurt?” she again asked.

“It did in the beginning. I am too busy to indulge into old romances!” he exclaimed with a laugh.

“You can look at my face and talk. I am not that ugly,” she teased.

“I am not used to having dinner with senators. I am a poor and unknown person. I just don’t know how to be comfortable with you. By the way, you are the smartest and most beautiful senator around.” He immediately realized that he should not have made such a personal remark; in an effort to minimize the damage, he added, “Senator, I am sorry. I should not have made such a personal remark.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was very sweet, anyway. Please call me Megan. I thought I have a nice name,” she comforted him by making things light and easy.

“Yes, I have always thought of Megan as a dreamy name,” he spontaneously replied.

“Why did you stop? I know you wanted to add a few more words to that sentence? Please go ahead,” she joked.

“Thank God, I stopped there. A few more words would have put me in serious trouble.”

“I thought you are quite cut and dry. Actually, you can be sweet and romantic. Honestly, I already enjoy spending time with you. I hope we have dinners quite often. By the way, I also sincerely hope you join my administration during my next term,” she whispered with a beautiful smile.

“Senator, you are so kind and gracious. I cannot imagine that a senator could be so pleasant and down-to-earth,” he replied, as he started to feel more normal and comfortable with her.

“If you think Megan is a dreamy name, why are you still addressing me as Senator? Get used to calling me by my dreamy name.” 

“It will take me some time, but I will get there. I am truly honored that you have a good opinion of my work. Going forward, it will really help me. I am fortunate that this opportunity came along.”

“You have an exceptional mind. I am amazed how you derive “live” solutions from the data. Now I know why you didn’t stay back in teaching. Given your mind, I don’t think you would have enjoyed teaching some “frozen” case studies. During my last two campaigns, the campaign managers defined the strategy. John has been reminding me for a while that the landscape has drastically changed and I needed to hire a professional strategist; I was dilly dallying. Suddenly I lagged behind in polls and I started to panic. See, I am the incumbent, not the challenger. Given my first term record in the senate, the momentum should have been in my favor. I am so fortunate that you stepped in at the right time. You are absolutely God-sent,” she remarked with a deep sense of gratitude.

“Thank you. Your kind words mean a lot to me. I am going through the lowest time of my life. But your campaign is in the right direction. We just have to stay focused and execute right. We should follow the polls, but not get too carried away as we are just three or four points ahead – as you know, the statewide polls can easily have a higher margin of error than that. In fact, from now on I have to be more creative to widen the margin. Hopefully by the Labor Day we will be ahead by at least six points and get exponentially better thereafter,” he tried to define his vision for her campaign.

“You have to be more creative? Then, how would you rate your work thus far?” she wondered.

“So far I have been working on laying the foundation. Once a quality infrastructure is in place, I can experiment with more creative strategies. Of course, John’s team has been simply phenomenal in execution. I am really happy the chemistry is working. I am confident it is going to get better from here.”

“Sandeep, I will be taking a week’s vacation from the campaign trail in mid-August. We are vacationing in a resort in upstate New York; my family is going to be joined by John and his three assistants. I would like you to join us, if you can.” 

“Actually, I was thinking of taking a few days off to take care of some personal business. We will regroup once you are back from your vacation,” he replied with a wishful thinking.

“You will get enough time between the election day and the inaugural. Take care of all your personal and business matters during that period. Of course, I want you to be on my search committee, so you will stay in touch with me on a daily basis. If I let you go out of my sight, you can easily vanish. Anyway, you are coming. I am in charge and it’s an order,” she rebuked him with a mocking tone. As he was getting off the limo, she whispered in his ears, “I had a wonderful evening. I will be in DC tomorrow. I will call you.”

The next night, as he was working on some new ideas, suddenly an e-mail popped up. He knew it was Megan’s private e-mail address. The e-mail, sent from her wireless device, read, “I am so bored. Let’s have dinner tomorrow. Bye.” He was very happy to see the e-mail, but by the same token he started to wonder what he was getting into.

He woke up in the morning by a phone call from Megan’s office. She came on line and said, “From today we are going to have morning meetings too. You will brief me twice daily. Come down, ASAP.” In his drowsy voice, he replied, “Senator, I do not have enough material to cover two briefings a day. Please let John fill you in.” She softly said, “I don’t care. Just come down.”

As he came in, Megan’s secretary asked him to see her. With a big smile she said, “Good morning. I am so glad to see you. I cancelled all my morning meetings to make room for you. Let’s have some good time together. As I said, you will be meeting with me every morning between ten and eleven. We will have some good time. Since John will be attending the evening sessions, please do your presentation then. Did you miss me yesterday?”

He was completely baffled by her remarks. He replied, “I don’t know where to start. You are such a pleasant person; we all miss you when you are not here. Again, my work is research-based, so it will be difficult to fill you in twice daily.”

She laughed and said, “I asked you if you missed me. I didn’t want you to speak for the entire staff. Keep your research work for the evening meetings. The new morning meetings are for us to have some fun. I mean only the two of us. I was so bored yesterday. I didn’t feel like attending the evening session. I wanted to come back and have dinner with you. But my husband was with me, so I had to stay around.”

He felt more baffled and remarked, “I really missed you. I don’t know why. You are a senator. You are happily married. Honestly, I shouldn’t. I don’t know why I am encouraging myself into a mess. I never dreamt of having an affair with a married woman, let alone one of the most powerful married senators. By the way, did you send me the e-mail while you were with your husband?”

She smiled and replied, “First of all, I am delighted you missed me. Secondly, just think of me as dreamy Megan. And finally, I sent the e-mail from the ladies room. Barbara was with us. She is very nosy. She would try to read my e-mail if I were writing in front of her. Again, I am really happy that you started missing me too. Tonight we are going to a different restaurant. It is very quiet and very romantic.”

That night after the presentation session, they took a ride down to a fancy Japanese restaurant. Apparently they were expected there. They were taken to a beautifully-appointed romantic room and seated on a magnificent silk carpet on the floor. The table in front of them was so narrow that they could almost feel each other’s breathing. As they waited for their food to arrive, Megan said, “This is a lovers’ paradise. My husband loves Japanese food. So after we got married, we used to come here often. I don’t care much about the food here, but I love the setting. I find this place extremely romantic.”

He concurred, “This is an unbelievably beautiful place. I really love the way they have taken advantage of the moonlight here; as if we are sitting in a garden on a moonlit night. Under this bright moonlight you look like an angel and your matching white outfit makes you look even so incredibly beautiful. Honestly, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I hope your husband worships you. To me, you are one in a billion, perhaps rarer.”

With her beautiful smile she said, “Now you are making me blush. I already feel I’m sixteen again, just getting the first taste of a magical love. Did you say all this beautiful things to your ex-girlfriend?”

“I don’t know how we even fell in love. We had such different personalities that we hardly saw eye to eye on anything. We spent most of our time adjusting to each other. She came from a very well-to-do family; I came from a very modest background. While walking around in midtown Manhattan, her eyes would be on expensive diamond ear-rings; I would be looking around for a burger joint where I could get a full meal for under five dollars. But she never made fun of my modest outlook. In hindsight, I am glad we didn’t get married. It would have been very unfair to her.”

After having listened to his story, she remarked, “I am glad it did not work out. At least, I am having the time of my life. With you, I feel young and alive. I know you always mean what you say. And you say the wonderful things that a woman wants to hear. Sooner or later you will be with another woman. I don’t know how I will feel to see you with another woman. I know it will break my heart.”

While he was happy to hear all the kind words from her, he sounded equally sad, “I already feel that way when I see you with your husband. When you are not around I feel more miserable. Even the idea that you are with him, makes me depressed now. I never thought I would feel that way about anyone. I always thought I was a pretty cut and dry person. If I were married and having an affair, I would just feel guilty. Now, I not only feel guilty, but I also feel deprived. For you, you just have to feel guilty. I know all good things come to an end, perhaps sooner than we want. In order to lower my expectations and prepare myself for the inevitability, I am constantly reminding myself that I am having an affair with a happily married woman. Eventually, when that day comes, hopefully I will be better prepared to absorb the shock. Then again, I am fooling myself; I know I will never be prepared for that day. I know this memory is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.”

As he finished his emotional breakout, she came over and sat on him and whispered, “Kiss me.”

He was spellbound for a moment and then asked, “Are you sure? I am nobody. You are a senator. You have too much to lose. People here can easily find out.”

She passionately said, “Please!”

On the way back while seated in the limo facing him, she took out her electronic pad and wrote on the screen, “Be careful of the limo driver. He is very close to my husband. By the way, I love the way you kiss. I could not have gone home with swollen lips.”

He read and wrote back on his pad, “I love you. I have no reason to be rough. I want to preserve you.”

She replied, “I don’t know how I am going to sleep tonight. I am going to think about the evening all night.”

He wrote back, “I am going to think about this evening for the rest of my life. Truly the greatest evening…”

As he was exiting the limo, he read on her screen, “Next time we should explore a little more.”

The next morning he did not show up for their ten o’clock session. Megan tried to contact him, but his cell was off. John was also looking for him, but he could not track Sandeep down either. Around eleven, she asked John to cancel her plans for DC. John was totally surprised, as it was an important vote in Senate. She rationalized to John, “I am still undecided on this issue. I wanted to get Sandeep’s perspective before I voted.” Around 1pm Sandeep showed up in her office. She was relieved to see him, “Where have you been? I was worried to death. I started having all kinds of terrible thoughts. I even cancelled my important Senate vote. Next time before you vanish suddenly, please call my office and keep them informed of your whereabouts. You don’t know how worried I was. I started feeling so sick. I kept crying inside.”

He was quietly listening to her. As she finished, he said, “I didn’t feel like coming to work today. Since last night I am so confused. I was sitting in the park and trying to sort things out. You are a senator. You have a wonderful life around you. Once the campaign is over, you will move on. I am nobody. I am alone and lonely. I will be stuck with the memories. They will slowly eat me up and I will drown further. Then again, I missed you so much I had to come and see you.”

She felt terrible to hear his emotional account, but to cheer him up she again reminded him, “Sandeep, it does not have to be that way. Please join my administration and we can be together. You will have all the flexibility you need and you can still continue your consulting work. You can do whatever makes you happy. I just want you to be with me. You don’t know how much I love you. I keep thinking of you all day and night. Last night I could hardly sleep. I was sitting in the porch and thinking about the wonderful evening we had together. With you, I feel young and joyful at heart. Please don’t let it end so soon. I don’t know how I can handle it.”

She was delighted to see Sandeep at their vacation resort. For security reasons, one end of the resort was assigned to Megan’s family and her campaign staff. They earmarked one building as their campaign office for their daily meetings. Paula and Barbara were ecstatic that their grandparents came along and Megan was also happy that her daughters had their loving grandparents to spend time with them. Although it was a vacation, Megan knew that her campaign was going into the final phase and thus she would be spending a lot of time with her campaign staff. After the morning meetings and briefings, she was able to spend some time with her daughters in taking advantage of the available resort amenities like horseback riding, canoeing and riding the aerial cars and roller coasters. Since her husband invited some of his friends along, she was upset that during the first two evenings she was not able to spend any time with Sandeep.

The third evening was however quieter for her. After having dinner with her family, she came down to the office to have a pretentious briefing from Sandeep. Both John and Sandeep were working. She had a quick chat with both and then said to Sandeep, “I am not feeling well. Do you mind briefing me while taking a stroll down the hill?” He got the hint and came along. They took the back dirt road which was used for horseback riding only and hence densely dark. After walking down the hill for a few minutes, they looked back at the buildings and realized they were away from all human contacts. She pulled him against a big tree and started kissing him. She whispered, “I missed you so badly. I felt choked the last two nights.” He whispered back, “I felt the same way. I didn’t know how to pass time. At night I sat outside and kept watching your building and hoped you would come out for a few minutes. I feel so good now. I am so glad you came down today. Even thinking about the rest of the night without you makes me depressed.” She then asked him to sit down and she sat on him spreading her legs around him. As his passion was overflowing, he looked in her eyes and said, “Are you sure?”

On the way back he asked, “Megan, when am I going to brief you again in the dark?” She laughed and said, “I was getting worried that you didn’t have a good time. Every night. Creatively.” He also laughed and said, “While you look dreamy, you feel heavenly. By the way, I love when you bite my lips. It’s so cute.” She fondly scolded him and said, “Sandeep, please don’t remind me what I did on the spur of my passionate moments.”

After they came back from the vacation, one morning John informed Megan that Sandeep had to take an emergency trip down to DC, “His secretary left. He is also closing his office down there. He was behind in rent, so I offered him an advance. He wouldn’t accept.” She felt terrible that he was going through this ordeal and murmured, “We squeezed him so badly in his contract. Sometimes I feel we wrote the contract with his blood.” John tried to comfort her by putting a different spin, “I knew he was good. But this was his first major campaign. We didn’t anticipate he would rise so far above the occasion. Honestly, I feel terrible too. But he is not the kind who would accept any favor now.” She, however, saw a silver lining in this event, “Now that he is closing his shop in DC, we can put more pressure on him to join us full-time. He has such a brilliant mind. We cannot afford to lose him. Let’s offer him his fair market price and keep him. If we lose him, most probably our competition will grab him, anyway. It’ll be a lose-lose situation.”

A few days later during a briefing session John asked Sandeep, “We really admire what you have done for us so far. We would love to have you on board as a full-time member of our team. As Megan has already indicated, you will have all the flexibility you want; on top of that, we will try to beat the best offer you may have. In fact, she has even informally mentioned to me that, if necessary, she would be digging into her personal resources. After her next term, she is considering returning to her teaching profession. By then, you will be a known commodity around the world and it will be easier for you to return to your consulting world. Now, we just need an assurance from you that you are sincerely considering us as one your top choices. We can work with the rest.” All this time Megan was quietly listening to John’s plea. As John left, she looked at Sandeep and remarked with a heavy voice, “If you leave, you will break my heart. This is however my final appeal to you.” He finally said, “I already feel heart-broken. Do I want to sink further?”

One night after the briefing, she asked him, “Sandeep, you never told me what you think of me as a senator. Please be honest. I can take constructive criticism.” He replied, “Even before I knew you, I thought you are a natural. I have a very high opinion of your leadership. See, you are not a lawyer. You were a professor of economics at a top university. You are able to understand and articulate issues naturally. You listen to your advisors, but at the end of the day you take your own decisions. You are in it with a mission. When a lawyer becomes a politician, most likely he or she decides to spend the life in politics. That’s the problem I have with the lawyer-led politics. Their contribution is marginal and because of their know-all attitude their thinking is often tangential and their issues are generally misguided and non-strategic; whereas, I bet you will quit politics the day your contribution starts to decline.” She remarked with a laugh, “I love to listen to your lies, Sandeep. But they are very sweet, thoughtful and intelligent, though. I wish I was married to you. I could listen to your lies all day and night.”

By the middle of October they had a fifteen point advantage in polls. Most major newspapers started to predict a landslide victory for the incumbent. Sandeep realized his work for this campaign was coming to a close. While the campaign management was busy preparing for the victory speech and the inaugural party, he was busy exploring other options. He knew nothing would be available for him until the next summer, so he decided to look into other countries as well. He could not however disclose his intentions to Megan or John, as they almost took for granted that he would be back as a full-timer. One day Megan even mentioned, “Sandeep, during my next term I want you to define and prioritize the issues and I will work on bringing the bills to the floor.” He remained speechless.

One evening after the briefing she whispered to him, “Let’s go out and celebrate our new poll numbers. It’s a full-moon night. The Japanese restaurant will be a very romantic place to spend some quiet time together.” As soon as they were seated in their private moon-lit room in the restaurant, she said to the waitress, “Turn the lights off. The natural light should be enough.” The waitress was a bit surprised, but she turned the lights off and left the room. Megan didn’t waste any time; she got immediately active with him. As the waitress came back with the trays, Megan bribed her by quickly putting a few big dollar bills in her hand and said, “I am not feeling well. I need to go out for some fresh air. I will take the side door. Don’t let my limo driver know.” She knew the paparazzi would be around, so they took a narrow dirt road down the hill to the river. They found a relatively dark spot under a tree. As she was lying down on him, he whispered, “You look like a magnificent sculpture from the ancient Ajanta-Ellora caves.” She replied, “I read about those wonderful ancient caves and shrines. By the way, do you consider yourself white? You look white, but you have dark black hair. Actually, I love your naturally wavy hair. I know you don’t dye or curl your hair.” He laughed and said, “As a teenager I did have an identity crisis. Not anymore. I have been told I am a hyphenated American and I have accepted it. Now I have a survival issue, so I don’t pay any attention to my heritage. My parents always left the issue up to me to sort out. But my mom is very sympathetic to the girls who are also from mixed Indo-American parentage. Whenever she comes across someone from a similar background, she would immediately call me and try to do some match-making.” Megan again asked, “Would you prefer someone like that?” He replied, “Call me if you ever get divorced. I can wait.” She instantly sat up and warmly scolded him, “Don’t tell me you are planning to fly off. I have to tie your wings down, somehow.”

The Saturday afternoon before the election Sandeep suddenly got a call from John, “Megan is in DC. Tomorrow morning she is scheduled to appear in a number of national Sunday morning shows. Since these are her final national appearances before the election, she doesn’t want to take any chances. She wants you down there immediately to go over her scripts and prepare her for the interviews. She is staying at her townhouse. Your charter flight leaves in an hour from LaGuardia and you are booked at the Downtown Miramar Suites. I will meet her at the CBC Studio in the morning.” Sandeep realized the urgency and rushed to the airport.

He called her as soon as he got there. Megan said, “Just leave your luggage at the hotel and come over.” While walking into her place, he remarked, “You are one of the best in tackling these interviews. Why do you need me?” She replied, “I have a big surprise for you. Go, relax in the bedroom.” In about ten minutes she showed up in a spectacular bridal gown. He was astounded to see her in that dress, “You look dazzling, but I don’t understand why chose a bridal gown?” She sat by him and whispered, “We are getting married tonight.” He was about to laugh her remarks away, while she suddenly turned the lights off and continued, “Whether we are ever together or not, every year on this night I am your bride. You will belong to me for one night every year. You will remember me as the love of your life and kiss me from your heart. Today, our love is forbidden, perhaps illicit; hopefully, fifty years from now, a parallel story will immortalize our love and liberate us.” He just asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?” Having completely ignored his question, she simply took out a beautiful wedding ring and asked him to put it on her finger, “Tonight, our marriage is ordained by the moon and witnessed by the stars. You may kiss your bride now.” They hugged, kissed and danced all night and asked for His forgiveness. As they watched the sunrise together, they smiled and wiped each other’s tears like two content lovers!

As expected, by ten o’clock on the election night, most news channels predicted a landslide victory for Megan, by a margin between eighteen to twenty points. Her campaign staffs were ecstatic. She was not very happy with the first draft of the victory speech, so she asked Sandeep to revise it. As she was going over the revised speech, she was shocked to read the lone sentence on the final page, “Please consider me again for your presidential campaign.” She called John to find out where Sandeep was. John said, “Sandeep accepted an offer in Europe. He took a flight early this evening. I did everything possible to change his mind. I didn’t want to upset you by letting you know before the speech.” As John left, she sat there like a century-old wrecked ship sitting motionlessly at the ocean-bed.

Barbara walked in, “Mom, you did it again. Congrats. You look gorgeous.” As Megan tried to hide her tears, Barbara asked, “Why are you crying?”      

Megan said, “Sandeep quit. I won because of him. He is not going to be part of our celebration.”

Barbara remarked, “I was thinking of asking you if I could go out with him. He is kind of cute. I like…”

Megan stopped her, “You are only twelve. You should concentrate on your studies.”

Barbara tried to tease her mother, “Now I get it. The article in the New York Sun was actually right.”

Megan had to stop her again, “Barb, please. You give me too much stress.”

Barbara wouldn’t quit, “I was just trying to cheer you up. Did you try to contact him?”

Megan replied, “John did. Sandeep is not the kind who would enjoy being caged. He needs to fly. He is like those birds that live by the storm and die by the storm. When a storm comes, while most birds are busy finding their shelters, some birds suddenly fly off to have fun in the storm. When the storm is over, you will find most of them dead. Those who survive wait for the next storm. They are always different. They are God’s unsheltered and unwanted ones. Perhaps they are sent down to earth by mistake. Somehow, they never become part of the system.”

Let him fly!