HER PAST & HIS FUTURE

CHAPTER -2 A MYSTERIOUS MACHINE

-Ashish

FEB 21, 2020

It’s the same morning routine for Ashish, getting kicked out of the bed by Vicky, getting ready, visiting the temple, drinking filter coffee, attending the classes and then he visits Mr. Ramanaidu’s house looking at the map  his prof has given. Ashish ends up in front of a huge gate. He rings the bell and in a min the gate opens. He enters inside. To the right side of the yard has a garden filled with rose plants of every shade, vegetable plants and a huge lemon tree. The left side has a vintage looking wooden swing with a Bonsai tree on the sides. Ashish feels pleasant when he looks around the yard. He goes inside the door and sees a lord Krishna’s idol right in front of it. He goes ahead and a woman in her late thirties welcomes him. “Vimala is he here”? He hears his professor’s  scream.“He just arrived “the woman screams back and Mr. Ramanaidu emerges from the staircase.

“Hi Ashish, I’m glad to have you here. This is my wife Vimala”. “It’s a pleasure that I’m here sir” says Ashish. “So, should we go ahead with the details of the project”? His prof asks. “Sure” Ashish was about to say but Mrs. Vimala interrupts then “You enter my house. Then, before you do anything, you eat my food. Sit there for a few minutes and I’ll serve everything. You can talk about the projects after having your lunch beta”. She says.They both sat on the couch waiting for her to serve the food and Ashish took a look at the house. There was nothing too bright and eye catching in the living room except a few paintings but for Ashish that made the house more peaceful. In about a minute Vimala comes back and calls them to the dining hall. The dining table had a few varieties of dishes. But what caught Ashish’s attention was the “MUTTON KOLA URUNDAI”, “PULIYODARAI”, sambar rice and the best and famous one of all “CURRENT FISH”. They started digging in without wasting anytime and Ashish feels at heaven for having homemade dishes after so long. “This is amazing” Ashish says pointing at the “Puliyodarai”. “I wish I could cook something like that”. He says “You of course can. It’s basic, made of tamarind, coconut, rice and some common ingredients. I’ll write down a recipe for you". They completed having lunch and were about to go upstairs. When they are on the stairs Vimala called them to give them the desert. Ashish gladly takes it “Kajubarfi” Vimala says. “Homemade”, Ramanaidu adds. “She’s from Karnataka “he says. Ashish hums and turns around he stares at a midsized photo frame on the walls. “Is that you mam”? he points at Vimala, “yes she nods”. That is me and my childhood bestie. We’ve been friends for almost 25 years. “That’s amazing. You’re still in contact”? Ashish asks. “No, we lost contact 5 years ago”. She says. “I see" he replies. Ashish and his professor head
upstairs. The study room’s doors are huge. “Shit” Ashish curses. “This is a mini library “. The room is filled with trophies, a lot of books, documents, and an office for Ramanaidu. He disappears into one of the rows in the room. He comes out with a few documents and hands them over to Ashish.

"The project is about “REINCARNATION”. Although there isn’t much of a co-relation between psychology and rebirth. There have been a few cases where therapists and psychiatrists had to deal with clients who claimed that they have been reincarnated. My previous student had
already done a project on this, and he discovered the proved the story of a woman called “Shanta devi”. This file
has the details about it. This woman has claimed that she has been reincarnated and gave details about her husband
from her past life. They found that guy with the help of Shantha devi’s master and verified everything Shantha devi was told at the age of five. It all turned out to be true. There are a lot of such cases all over the world. I expect something new from you Ashish. I hope you do the best with the project. Make more free time from the fest next week and research about it. I want you to make a detailed report about some other proved case like this one."He ends the talk. “Sure, sir I’ll make sure to satisfy you about it” Ashish says. Ramanaidu nods. “So shall we head down”. “sure” Ashish hums.

On their way downstairs Ashish notices another room with an opened door. He takes a quick glance inside and notices a few weird looking machines and devices. There’s something else that caught Ashish’s eye “A cylinder shaped machine with few buttons and handles inside it in one of the corners of the room. He gasps and looks again making sure he saw it right. “What the…”? he whispers to himself before he could peep more into the room. Vimala Naidu rushes more into the room and closes the door of it. “It’s a secret” she whisper yells “You can’t see
it in your first visit”. “Uh!! Oh sure! I’m sorry” Ashish says. They go ahead. “My wife is a mechanical engineer. So, she’s kind of crazy about those machines. Very protective too”. Ramanaidu complains and smiles. Ashish giggles “It was a pleasure visiting here sir. Your house is amazing. I’ll take my leave then”. He says “I wonder what that cylindrical thing is?” he thinks to himself while going out.