SOoOo Tell Me, If You Saw A Person Laughing Their Heart Out, Would You Stop Them From Laughing! Would

sOoOo tell me, if you saw a person laughing their heart out, would you stop them from laughing! Would you say "Oh my god enough, don't laugh so much"? Would you? Then why would you ask me to stop crying my heart out while watching the Nandhini-Aditha sequence? Huh? WHY?

JUST LET ME CRY IT OUT IN PEACE!!!!!

smh smh smh.....

3- DEBT OF THE RED RICE

Parts 1, 2

Virudhukkalvetti

Ravidasan was relieved only when he saw some of his acquaintances among the new recruits. They too were surprised when they saw him. He didn't know whether it was their presence or the fact that they all are as clueless as him that soothed his anxiety. Their thalapathi, Menandros, really enjoyed their confusion and amazement.

"My boys, life is full of surprises. I was born in a place called Athenai. I no longer remember what the air smells like or sky looks like in my native. Similarly, we all go where this life takes us."

He peered into their eyes intently. "Now you are a group of 200 people. This is your last chance. If you just leave now, we will forget each other. But if you try to leave after joining us, you and your families will be annihilated. I will be back in an hour." Menandros himself opened the windows and doors of the hall they were seated in and left.

That one hour felt like one hundred years. If he leaves this place, he can easily get a job as a soldier, administrator or a priest in any part of this vast  bharatavarsham. What if this is his destiny? When a yavanan works so loyally for Veera Pandyan, is it right that a pandyan like himself is thinking like this? He looked around and saw that everyone is engaged in thoughts like him.

One hour must have been up as someone blew conchshells and closed the openings of the hall, except one. Menandros gave instructions to his attendants to go there or do this. They all rose up and bowed down as Veera Pandyan and Jatilavarman entered the hall. Veera Pandyan gestured them to sit down as he sat on a raised platform. Jatilan sat near Ravidasan.

The priests chanted prayers to Kotravai and some men danced with ecstasy. A woman placed a big banana leaf before him and served blood red rice on it. The king ate some of the rice and made a ball out of a handful of rice. Menandros gestured to Jatilan to go to his father. Tears were flowing from Veera Pandyan's eyes as he fed the rice ball to the young prince. Then one by one, he fed the rice to the old guards including Menandros. Ravidasan was the first one from the new batch to be fed. Though it was just one ball of rice, he felt energetic like he had a full feast.

°°°°°°°°°° Madurai

Ravidasan's heart beat rapidly as he approached his home. He didn't dare to imagine the reaction of his poor widowed mother. The mother and the motherland are both exalted than heaven. This is the right thing. He saw amma spreading chillies and dried turmeric on a mat. She too must have seen him as she was telling someone about his arrival. Looks like annan is home. Good.

"Ravi, it's been so long. You look so tired". Annan hugged him tightly. Anni complained to amma that she hasn't prepared anything special as she served the rice. He secretly mixed the mud he kept at hand in the rice.

"Everyone, please come here. I need to tell you something. You all should hear this with equanimity". He touched everyone's feet, placed his hands on his eyes and hardened his heart. He took out the pouch of gold coins and placed it at the feet of his mother.

"Here, I am submitting the money for your upkeep in my absence. I bear the debt of the red rice to our Emperor. Bless me and send me away".

"What have you done, Ravi?", Soman annan was babbling incoherently like a mad-man. Anni requested him not to shout but Amma just stared into the void with tearful eyes. Soman held Amma as if he feared that she is going to faint. He kept on ranting about Ravidasan's foolishness. What and who is he fighting for? Couldn't he have thought about their old mother? Amma wiped her tears and stood straight.

"Stop. Why did I give birth to sons if it isn't for our Emperor? Light an aarati, Kokile."

She placed her hands on Ravidasan's head and shivered like a possessed woman.

"May the swords raised against them stop on you. May the fire approaching them consume you. May the poison meant for them kill you. May the arrows aimed at them pierce you. May you be the fortress, weapon and shield of our Emperor. Go forth, kill and die for him". She circulated the aarti plate around his head and gave the plate to her daughter in law who repeated her actions and took the plate inside. She stared at him with an intense expression. "Did you mix dirt in the rice you ate from here?"

"Yes."

"I would have broken your skull if you hadn't. You aren't my son or his brother anymore. You belong to the emperor and the empire. If I had known this, I would have washed these feet and welcomed you. I am so glad and proud".

Soman occasionally opened his mouth to ask some things but he couldn't attend vocalise anything. Ravidasan understood that he is trying to ask about their plans. Unfortunately that can't be shared with others, not even his mother's other son.

"Soman anne, Kokila akka, I can tell you only one thing. Take good care of this Amma".

"I gave birth to him, yet I am not crying. Why are you men crying as if I died? Kokila, ask your husband and brother-in-law to stop this drama".

Helpless Kolika didn't know whether to snap at her mother-in-law, scold the brother-in-law or console her husband. Ravidasan touched their feet again and left their home without any tarrying further.  The whole Pandya country is his home and mother. His brothers are the people who partook in the debt of the red rice with him. He is a walking sacrifice.

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Why PS II killed me

I had never expected Aditha to turn so vulnerable infront of the very woman he had preached to be a snake. Never expected him to beg Nandhini to forget the past and run away with him. When Nandhini tells Aditha, that she truly cannot bring herself to kill him, it's so heavily evident that she's lying through every syllable, yet Aditha, fallen deep in love, doesn't even catch a wiff off it.

I was convinced that Nandhini would manipulate Aditha into believing that she truly loved him, gain his trust and kill him in cold blood afterwards. Kill him as he looked at her in betrayal. I was convinced that she truly felt nothing for him, and this was all a play. After all, the woman who had dedicated the sole purpose of her life to taking revenge, couldn't possibly let her emotions take control.

But when Aditha asks her to leave pazhavettaraayar, says that he will cut ties with his family, and that they can run away and live happily forever, together......you can see it in her eyes. You can see it in her eyes, that it is exactly what she pines for. You can see the life she has already imagined, with their home and little children. And somewhere for a second her heart has convinced her to fall into his arms and tell him that, it is all she has ever yearned for.

But she doesn't.

She lies to him, that she wants the crown, the throne, the royalty, to be the queen. And that is why she married Pazhavettaraayar. And even before you see the words pierce through Aditha's heart, you can see them pierce through hers. You can see her eyes twitching with every lie she utters, as her heart breaks into smaller and smaller pieces, at the betrayal of her tongue to her heart.

Just like that, Aditha knows. Knows that there is no truth to what she spoke. There cannot be. But yet, even the thought that she uttered those words infuriates him. Because somewhere he knows that no matter how hard he tries, she'll never let go of her thirst for revenge. He knows that they can never be. He knows that he'd rather die than live without her, thus making death, his only escape.

So he asks her to kill him. To rid him of the hell he's lived in for years. To end his suffering. He draws out his dagger, hands it to her and says it again. And Nandhini stands there frozen. Suddenly the task which was planned to be executed from months, sounds rather impossible. The cracks in her heart have caused her emotions to leak. Her tears glaze her eyes.

After frantically wiping out every lamp in the room, he reaches back to her with hazy footsteps. She feels the cold hilt of the dagger against her palms. It is the pournami night, his face lit by the moonlight, Not even the lord's ready to ease up the situation. He'd uttered something, which she'd barely registered by the time he'd slowly drawn her hands towards himself. The resistance of his hard muscle against the blade brings her back to reality. She can feel the dagger puncturing into his stomach. And she realises, that she doesn't want this anymore.

It is no longer about the revenge, ego or vanity. It is no longer about who wins. It is all about Nandhini losing one of the very few people who lived their life in her name. The haze in her head has cleared. She Screams. Shouts. Yells. Cries. Weeps. Does everything to get him back. Everything. But it's too late.

The fact that Nandhini seemed so confident about killing Karikalan and even lied so heartlessly, convinced me that all she wanted was for him to die that night. But seeing her question her decisions every passing moment, only heightened my emotions. The last thing I'd expected from Nandhini was for her to weep for Aditha. But, you know what killed me more?

Karikalan taking a look at Nandhini, smirking at her and pulling her into his arms as his breath begins to run shallow. You can see the peacefulness on his face, as he let's go of every bad decision, washing away his sins, dying in his beloved's arms. Very few are fortunate enough to die knowing that the one they owed their life to, had long ago given up their lives to them too.

And Aditha who was deprived of such validation throughout his entire life, was experiencing it all just moments before he had died.

And at that moment, I think we all died a little, the strings of her hearts snapping a little, breaths hitching a little, tears flowing a little.

I am happy if you just listen to my chatter.

Mahanati (Telugu, 2018)

6- SHOORPANAKHA

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Anuradhapura

The welcome accorded to the Pandya envoy was as grand as usual. Honestly, they weren't expecting such a marvelous welcome due to their downfall. Ravidasan was worried about Udayan breaking the protocol to greet and hug him. What will the crown prince and his advisors think?

They all looked very impressed and the only thing Jatilan was a bit miffed about was the king refusing to show him the ancient crown jewels of Pandyas. Jatilan's great-grandfather Maravarman Rajasimhan had entrusted them to his counterpart in Anuradhapuram before he fled to Chera mandalam and no one has seen them since then.

Though he too really wanted to see the renowned crown jewels, Ravidasan consoled the young prince that such loyalty is commendable. Perhaps they even thought that this is Veera Pandyan's secret test. By refusing to show the crown jewels to anyone except the Thennavan himself, they have passed the test in flying colours. If Kotravai wills it, Jatilan himself might get to wear the necklace of Devendran when he marries Uma Maheshwari or ascends the throne wearing the ancient studded crown!!!

Lankans were very receptive to the plan to fight Cholas when they are already engaged in another war. He talked to the Chief Commander when the Prince and his advisors conducted discussions with the royals. An intuition told him that they were already making preparations for this and their arrival was highly anticipated. The Commander tasked a General with explaining their plans and Udayan joined them.

It was Udayan who revealed what really conspired behind the scenes. The splendour of Paranthakan's youngest grandson's beauty has reached the anthapuram of Anuradhapuram. His cousin, the King's daughter Hemalata declared that she accepted him in her heart and she will fast untill death if he their marriage isn't conducted soon. The king was overjoyed since he saw it as an end to his endless troubles. Needless to say, Cholas refused to entertain this proposal.

Though he told himself that these people aren't as trustworthy as their demonstrations indicated, Ravidasan was really moved by this one-sided love story. "Poor princess! It is a pity that she loved a man enough to die for him though he doesn't care that she exists."

"Hi hi hi. Your sense of humour is intact, anne. Now no one is more determined than our Hema to destroy the clan and reign of Cholas. We will get her married to Jatilavarmar in a heartbeat if his father allows it."

"Really! I thought the princess is older than him."

"She is, but who cares about such trivial matters when a lot is at stake? My uncle, I mean the king, is not going to embarrass himself again. But in case your advisors get such ideas, which is definitely going to happen after today's meeting, you should encourage it."

He was reminded of the words of his teachers: "A passionate woman, like a female snake, terrible from the condensed poison she accumulates within, will never, if injured, neglect to wreak vengeance."* Do they really need such a treacherous and toxic alliance? If Jatilan's sisters were unmarried, at least one of them could have been married to Udayan, Senan or little Mahindan. But who is he to make such decisions? It is indeed a good thing that he joined aabathudaivigal and became a brahmachari. He won't have to deal with such women.

°°°°°°

"Jatila, Jatila, kumaraya", Hemalata caressed the prince's forehead and hair as her attendants sprinkled water on his face. Ravidasan felt chills as he saw the princess who looked like bhadrakali. Isn't this the same girl who declared that Sundara Cholan is dearer to her than her own life? Who can guess what transpires in the deep recesses of women's minds!

Jatilan slowly opened his eyes, jumped up from the bed and stood up, seeing all the women surrounding him. Ugravikraman and Ravidasan caught him before he fainted again due to strain. The prince had been unwell since he got on the ship. Though they thought that this is normal sea-sickness, his continued bouts of fainting and shortness of breath were alarming. The royal physicians of Anuradhapuram too couldn't find anything wrong with the young prince's health, except fatigue.

Ugran asked their translator to convey to the ladies to leave them alone. Jatilan peered through the slits of his eyes and started giggling as the girls left the room. They heaved a sigh of relief. Poor Ugran's thoughts have gone from jumping into the sea to slitting his own throat in an instant when he saw Jatilan lying still.

"Ilavarase, are you alright? Please don't laugh and over-exert yourself".

"I am alright. Anna, please don't tell Uma that this Shoorpanakha akka touched my hair."

"Someone is going to be very displeased if she knows that she was called akka and Shoorpanakha".

"What will they do if Sundaresan deposited all the beauty in the world on Paranthakan's one grandson? He should have divided it and given a bit to all of us."

They stopped Jatilan from talking further and massaged his feet. Who knows whether they will emerge as Raman or Ravanan from this ordeal!

Thennavan - The Lord of the South, a title of the Pandya King

* Indian version of "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned", from Kathasaritsagara.

Sundaresan - Lord Siva, Madurai Meenakshi's consort

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To Him, my love

As he lays in my arms, he looks pretty and peaceful. His pale face shines in the moonlight, he's my ethereal prince. I know once his golden eyes open to greet the universe he would look at me with digust. And as I enjoy my last minutes of true peace, my heart is restless for the future.

-Mithra