Bhagyalakshmi & the Beast

The father- Swamy Ramalingam Mazhiattal





The youngest daughter- Bhagyalakshmi





The hero- Surya


The villain- Rajnikanth





The happy couple- Bhagyalakshmi & Surya


The love snack- Goli Bajjis



It so happened in a small town in Chennai that there lived Swamy Ramalingam Mazhiattal and his three daughters Roopmani, Meenakshi and Bhagyalakshmi. Far and wide in the town was their beauty known that marital offers ceased no end from the time he had conducted each of their Manjhal Neeratu Vizha, a Tamil puberty ceremony.But he had loved them dearly and was saddened by the thought of having them leave for their husbands household and therefore had politely refused all offers.

One day he had to visit Mangalore, a small town in Karnataka to see to his export business and had called his daughters to bid them farewell. While he was leaving, he asked them what wanted from Mangalore. Roopmani, the eldest daughter asked for a diamond encrusted platinum ring. The second, Meenakshi asked for sleeveless salwar kameezes and then when it was Bhagyalakshmi's turn who said "Illai appa, just return back safely,Mangalore is a big Sin City, I heard and I don't want you getting hurt."

"What nonsense you are saying, Bhagu. Nothing of the sort will happen. Now tell me what you want." She finally gave in and said "Appa I heard their goli bajjis are the tastiest in the whole world, I'll have that."

So he set off on his journey by train and reached Mangalore the next afternoon. After seeing to his business, he then went to the leading jewellery store and bought for Roopmani, a diamond encrusted platinum ring and then went roaming Hampankata for sleeveless salwar kameezes. "Truly I say, this Mangalore is a Sin City" after seeing the cuts on the salwars. Suddenly he gets a call. Its Ramakantha, his personal secretary calling to say that his arch nemesis Rajnikanth is creating problems at the dock.

He then rushed to the scene which suddenly became intense and drama filled with profanities being hurled left, right and centre. Later gundas joined the scene and what followed can only be described by the makers of the Matrix themselves. But alas Swamy emerged victorious and retired to his hotel for a shower and a change of attire as he was leaving that night. It was then during his journey back that he remembered Bhagya's wish for goli bajjis but alas it was too late.

When the train had stopped at Kasargod he got off and to his surprise there was a guy selling goli bajjis near the station. He ordered two packets of the delicious item, but luck was not to favor him as the guy happened to be in hand with Rajnikant and it wasn't too long when the gundas surrounded him and took him to Rajhni's palace."How dare you?" he said, "you, scoundrel, filthy rascal. Trying to steal goli bajjis huh"."No, no I assure you I was trying to buy some for my daughter Bhagyalakshmi who had asked for the tasty delights."

Seeing that Rajni would not give into his pleading he fell to his feet and asked for pardon as his daughters were not married and had no one save him to look after them. Seizing the opportunity, he agreed but on one condition that in seven days he should send his daughter Bhagyalakshmi, whom he had developed an interest in as she too had liked goli bajjis. Swamy reluctantly agreed and left the palace not knowing what to make of it all.

On arriving home, he was greeted at the door by his daughters. Roopmani's face glowed with the new ring of hers. So did Meenakshi, who ran to show her friends the new salwars she had got. But when it was Bhagyalakshmi's turn, her father handed her the packet and then turned away. "What happened father? I can see you are worried about something."With a heavy heart he dismissed the issue and they all settled to a family dinner.

As the days passed, the wrinkles on Swamy's head kept furrowing until the day was nearing and he had called upon Bhagyalakshmi "I'm afraid I've to tell you something. Now please forgive me Bhagu, but I had no other option. He told her all that had befallen him. "Oh my poor Appa, how can I stand to see this torture eating you up inside. I shall do so, as you say and keep your word." They left on the Chennai express the next day to Kasargod where they hired an auto to take them to Rajni's palace.

On reaching, they saw the magnitude of his riches. Two Mercedes, one Skoda, one Scorpio, landscaped gardens and fountains. The servants led them in to the living room and said that their master would take some time and advised them to have lunch without him. As they ate the Virundhu Sappadu consisting of appams, uthappam, paal paniyaram, Jigarthanda, Muttaiparotta, Paruthipal, Ennaidosai , Santhakai and kola urunda.

After having their fill to eat and drink, suddenly a black Scorpio pulls up and out walks Rajni with his henchmen. "Oh, I see you have arrived. And this is the beauty I say." "Yes, sir". "Very well, servants show her her room and take good care of her. I shall see no harm shall come to her. You can visit every week if you like." And having said that he left, the room filled with his hedonistic laughter. As the father leaves his daughter behind, tears filled his weary eyes.

So Bhagya lived with Rajni and the whole town , who came to hear of Rajni's latest muse often passed by to capture a glimpse of the beauty who had won his heart.It was here that our hero Surya managed to see her one day and cupid's arrow had struck his heart.Bhagya too had noticed this young man and often responded with a smile each time he had arrived, which was during tea time.

One day he didn't show up as usual for tea and biscuits and this troubled Bhagya and various thoughts crept into her head as to the whereabouts of Rajni. She then hired an auto to take her to the goli bajji stand as the station and it was there that she found Rajni lying on the floor writhing in pain. "Oh no" she screamed. "Fear not Bhagya, it was me who took care of this villain for you. I couldn't stand the way he was treating you and you deserve more in life than being locked up in his palace."

After recovering from shock, Bhagya found herself in a bed filled with roses and Surya looking intently at her. He then told her the whole story of how it had happened and that he in fact was a rich businessman who had truly fallen in love with her and couldn't stand being without her. With tears of joy she hugged him and then they set off on the next train to Chennai where they met with her father and sisters and got married.

And they lived happily ever after...


N.B This was inspired both by Crowscious' Handsome and Ghetto and a Ducktail's episode titled Scroogerello and of course Beauty and the Beast

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Prepare for Glory....

"When the boy was born
like old Spartans
he was inspected.
If he had been small
or puny or sickly or misshapen
he would've been discarded.
From the time he could stand, he was
baptized in the fire of combat.
Taught never to retreat,
never to surrender..."

As these words resonate in my head (well not exactly since the movie was released much later) I stood there at the start of the line, waiting. My pants pulled up, my nose rubbed and phlegm swallowed, I waited till that auspicious moment.

The whistle blew and the chase was on. With my eyes firmly set on the goal, I ventured both fast and furious, the prize was destined to be mine. Gathering up the chocolates, one by one, the varying levels of difficulty encountered ranging from the size and shape of the chocolate to the amount my little hands could carry.

Amidst the cheers of gleeful parents, I spotted my foes, one too many. Their hands loaded with chocolates much more than mine, I had to act fast. Pulling out my shirt, I dumped the already melting chocolates into the Kangaroo pouch I had created and dashed to the far ends of the garden.

At last the whistle blew. I stood there triumphant. As they announced for us to proceed to the counters , I was proud of myself. Dropping the colorfully packed delights onto the table, I smiled as the counter lady ooohhed and aahhheedd. And then the counting began.

Standing there at the podium with the whole amalgam of families looking on. The first place goes to... Carl. The battle had been won. Another victory accomplished.There was no place for losers, for this, was a Man's game.

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I now pronounce thee... Class Monitor

4:00 am - Get up
4:30 am - Ready and dressed in blue sweater and shorts.
4:30 - 5:00 am - Wait for the maniacal road kill driver who has this obsession of picking us up early so that he can have the road to himself.
5:30 am - Reach school and wait for the remaining class to arrive slowly and steadily through the next hour.
6:30 am - Class starts.
12:30 pm - Class ends.

yes, the same schedule happened every day till that special day.

4:00 am - Get up
4:30 am - Ready and dressed in blue sweater and shorts.
4:30 - 5:00 am - Wait for the maniacal road kill driver who has this obsession of picking us up early so that he can have the road to himself.
5:30 am - Reach school and wait for the remaining class to arrive slowly and steadily through the next hour.
6:30 am - Class starts.
8:00 am - Was told to monitor a class. It was Teacher's day so the teacher's had a function to attend so we the BIG boys had to monitor the little ones.
8:05 am - Entered class. Walked backwards and forwards. Snubbed all the looks the smart asses were giving me.
8:15 am - It was becoming boring. Thought I'd start playing games and the only thing that popped into my head was Hangman, which coincidentally was the same thing I wanted to do with some of those critters.
9:00 am - Game over
9: something - Restlessness begins. Outnumbered I don't know what to do. Think, think, think.
10:00 - Enough is enough.
10:05 - I SCREAM "QUIET"!!!
10:05:02 - The class in utmost silence accepts defeat and bows in silence and some are just in plain shock.
10:05:05 - Classmates from neighbouring sections rush in to see what happened and there was me, standing like a knight who conquered the dragon. They too with mouths open, watch in wonder as mine was the only silent class available and that me, the most silent and shiest boy of the class had just won the battle of keeping the class silent.
10:30 - The silence was dragging and boring. Decided to teach them about palindromes which was the first thing which popped into my head. Hmmm what a nerd I was.
10:35 - The teacher enters and looks at the palindromes. She too, seemed to have learnt something new... That too, on Teacher's day!!! : )

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Forgive me Jules, for I know not what I'm doing...

A man with a fractured leg, a lady whose hands cant stop trembling, a boy hurling abuses is hidden in the corner by his bashful mother and then there's me. Why would a doctor go to another doctor you may ask? Well the fact is not all doctors are demi-gods, diseases get to them and once it does all you can do is hope and wait that another person helps you out of the dump.I sit and wait near the nurses desk. "The doctor will be right with you" she said. Not something that I'm not used to. I'm sure the patients who used to sit outside my waiting room also experienced the same. I guess they are on to you when you have visited as many times as I have.

I've known Marc since high school. The best of friends, us both. We used to go for football practice together, dated twin sisters, played video-games, the works. Seeing him at Hopkins was the least I expected for he had never mentioned it to me neither the fact that it was me who had inspired him to choose medicine and I was glad he did. We ended up being roommates and everything went well from day one.

Everything about medicine fascinated me no end. All the drugs with their fancy formulas and recipes, the functioning of each part of the body, the repair involved during surgery, it was all in my blood as probably Edward Cullen of Twilight would say "my own personal brand of heroin." Like him, I too had found mine.

I cant say when my disease started. Probably the day, Jules was born. She was beautiful. Her blue eyes, porcelain skin, breathtaking. But I then found myself taking a bit too much interest in her health. What would you expect you'd say? Every father dreams of nothing but the best for his daughter, but too much of care was what I had. Like a carnivorous bacteria, it ate me up each time she had a simple cold or slight temperature. Nothing but the best for my daughter I said.

I found myself taking her regularly to the pediatrician, who later got fed up or me and behaved rudely the next time I had arrived. This continued some more and many doctors later I had finally found someone I could trust, Marc Dillon, my hero.But he too noticed I was far more worried than usual for Jules. "I know it pains you Jo, but you really don't need to bring Jules here for simple stuff like this. Loading her with medicines isn't good for her." I just used to sit there and cry till he got fed up and prescribed the pills to me.

And then one day, Jules really did become sick and it didn't stop with the meds. I knew the best thing I could do was to make it all stop. What father would like to see his baby go through all that suffering. Filling in the bath tub with water. I waited contemplating what I was doing and deep down I knew something was wrong when I held my beautiful baby deep down in the tub, waiting for the bubbles to stop and when they did, I knew my job was done. I had made my baby happy, no more suffering....

Her funeral was beautiful. All those people, comforting me and saying that everything was going to be alright felt strangely exhilarating, her death made me happy with all the attention I was receiving.I was sick, your honor. I had killed my baby and I knew it...

Minutes later, I hurl in my seat at court. The officers take me away. I'm waiting for my sentence now. Perhaps I could meet Jules once more and tell her how much I really loved her. How much I really cared about her and that it was her daddy who was sick and not her and ask for forgiveness...


** Münchausen syndrome by proxy - injury is deliberately and gradually inflicted upon another person usually for gaining attention or some other benefit.Münchausen by proxy is a form of child abuse.The caregiver is usually a parent, guardian, or spouse, and the victim is usually a child or vulnerable adult. (Source - Wikipedia)

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Bella de Barcelona

The summer breeze floats on by, the grass rustles with the caress. The waters kiss the sores of the beaten rocks, Barcelona, city of my dreams. The spanish guitar draws me in further and further, its hold on me not leasing. I would write more but then I believe anything I say will just not be enough to appreciate your beauty...

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