Ramayana Revisited

I sat debugging my code trying to correct the 1008 errors in the Application and with every change I made, I was hoping that all the errors would vanish but instead they only kept growing.

All of a sudden my monitor started flickering. Must be a loose connection, I thought to myself and bent down to check the power cable connection. There was a sudden surge of power into me and I fell unconscious.

I woke up in the middle of a forest. I realized that I had been teleported to a different place or may be a different dimension of the world. Hearing some footsteps in the distance, I quickly hid behind a tree and peeped to see who the strangers might be. They were a group of 5 people, all dressed in prehistoric attire. The leader of the pack made me jump. It was a bear wearing a crown.

‘Show me yourself’, the bear king bellowed.

I slowly crept out of my hideout and faced the group.

’ Introduce yourself’, the king commanded

‘I’m a Microsoft Certified .Net Professional with 2+ years experience in ASP.Net, C#, VB and Javascript’

‘What??’, the angry bear bellowed and raised his sword.

‘Sorry.. sorry, I got used to it in team meetings. I’m Gokul and I think I come from a different world. Can you please help me to get to my world?’ I pleaded

‘I think you must me from Rajni’s world. He usually comes here for vacation. We know how you can go back to your world, come with us’

‘ok’, I agreed 

‘I’m Jambavan, the king of bears and he is Angada, son of Sugriva, the king of monkeys and others are our servants. Our king Rama’s wife Sita has been abducted by Ravana and so we are on our way to Lanka’

I was dumbstruck, I was in world were Ramayana was actually happening.

I will sound foolish if I tell them about Ramayana so I managed to suppress my excitation and continued to walk silently with the group.

‘So, What do you do in your world?’, asked Jambavan

‘Do you mean Job? I work as a software developer for an Multi-National Company’

‘What?’ , asked Jambavan

‘sorry again.. Rich countries employ people from poor countries to do their work for a wage that is lower than what they would give to a man from their own country. I’m one such employee’

‘So, Are you a slave?’ asked Jambavan

I stared blankly at him for a few seconds and then responded, ‘In a crude way, yes!’

Atlast we reached the shore and Jambavan turned towards the group and spoke.

‘We need someone to cross this sea and convey our king’s message to Ravana’

‘I can jump a distance of 10 km’, Angada said proudly.

‘I can jump 5 km’, said another. They started arguing with themselves when suddenly a bolt stuck me.

Where is Hanuman?

I turned towards Jambava and said, ‘This might sound stupid but whatever is happening in your world is already written in one of our Epics called Ramayana and according to which at this moment Hanuman is the one who is flies to Lanka to meet Ravana. He is the only one capable of doing this’

Jambavan looked puzzled. ‘Who is Hanuman?.. We don’t have such a person here’

A Ramayana without Hanuman?? I got bewildered and said, ‘Jambavan, you are the one who will make Hanuman realize his powers and give him the courage to fly across the sea. Without Hanuman, we are all doomed there is no way we can reach Lanka’

Jambavan thought for a few seconds and then said ‘We have got out Hanuman’

‘Where.. How??’

‘You’, Jambavan responded with a smile.

‘No way.. I’m a ordinary person, I have no such powers like Hanuman. You are mistaken’, I argued.

‘Call it destiny or fate but you are our Hanuman and like you said you don’t know your powers and it’s me who has to make you realize your greatness’

‘But….’ I protested. On seeing Angada taking his sword out of it’s sheath, I agreed.

‘I can’t fly but I’m an Electrical Engineer with 78% marks. I could construct a motor boat to cross the sea’

‘but I need some components. I need a motor, a battery, fan blades, some wires etc.., Could you get me these?’

‘Thathasthu’, Jambavan uttered and all I asked for appeared before me.

I arranged all of them in order and wondered where I should start. I took the motor and thought to connect it with the battery. I was stuck, I didn’t know which was the positive terminal. I smiled sheepishly at Jambavan.

‘I was never good at Lab you know’

‘Could you get me the Motor Boat itself I asked without shame’

‘Thathasthu’

Jambavan gave me a ring to give to Sita which I put inside my pocket. I got into the Motor Boat and bid farewell to everyone. As I moved further into the sea, suddenly the water near me swirled and out of which a huge Rakshasi emerged.

‘I’m very hungry, I’m going to eat you now. What is your last wish’, she bellowed

‘Ok, but I have some advice for you. Hear me out, this is my last wish’.

The Rakshasi looked puzzled but nodded me to go on.

‘What is your Weight?’

‘Do you know your BMI?’

‘What is your body Fat %?’

The Rakshasi got angry, ‘I’m going to eat you now’

‘Waiiit!!’, I screamed. I’m saying this for your own good. In another 5 years you could get a high B.P with high cholesterol which could in turn lead to a heart attack. You should take care of your health you know’

The Rakshasi looked confused. ‘What should I do?’

‘A balanced diet is a must. Never eat Non-Vegetarian food, especially humans. Walk daily in mornings, yoga also helps’

‘Do you have a boy friend’, I asked

‘No, the Rakshasas always fancy the rambas and the urvasis’, she said in a sad tone.

‘To be honest with you, I find no fault in them. With a belly as big as this no one would even look at you. Maintain a strict diet, get to zero size and then see the magic’ I winked at her.

The Rakshasi smiled finally and thanked me for enlightening her. I bid her farewell and proceeded towards Lanka.

After a few minutes, I reached Lanka. I sneaked into the palace grounds to find Sita. She sat under a tree meditating silently. I moved closer to her and spoke. ‘I’m Gokul, I come as a messenger from Lord Rama. I was asked to give you this ring as a token’

Sita was elated, ‘I knew Rama would find me, Let my husband come soon and destroy this evil Ravana’

I nodded ‘He would definitely save you.. but….’

‘But what?’ Sita queered

‘I don’t know how to say this.. but Rama would eventually doubt you and ask you to get into fire’ I mumbled

‘How dare you say such a thing about Lord Rama??.... Guards… kill him!!!!’ She shouted

‘Adapaavi Sita…! Intha ponungaley ipadithan boss!!’

Within a second, guards who were sleeping until that time surrounded me and took me to meet Ravana in chains.

Ravana was seated in a big throne and other ministers sat at his side. ‘I’m a messenger from Lord Rama, I demand that I should be given a equal status to you’ I said

‘hahaha’, Ravana laughed ‘Neither you nor your Rama deserves such a status’

Immediately I got reminded of a similar situation in Thalaivar’s Padayappa movie.  With one swift movement, I brought down the swing which was hanging up and jumped into it.

(background :Padayappa theme music)

I was now able to see Ravana’s face clearly. It was a very familiar face. As I was thinking where I had seen him before. Ravana spoke in a stern voice, ‘When will you deliver the code?’

Suddenly there was a surge inside me. I woke up in my desk.

‘When will you deliver the code?’ asked my Manager with a stern look.