Prologue

December  12, 2012
Malgudi

The last rays of the dusky sun were gleaming  on the windows  of Samskutha  patashala of Malgudi. Sri  Murudeshwara  Bhattaru,a hexagenarian Vedic  scholar  and astrologer  was doing  his Sandhyavandhana ,the evening  rituals  at the hostel  room of his student  Vageesha  bhatta.
Murudeshwara  Bhattaru  then arranged  his shells  and drew the sacred  diagrams on the floor  cleaned by Gomutra, cows  urine  brought  by his Shishya  Vageesha  Bhatta.
It was 7 30  PM  when Narasimhan arrived. The lamp  flickered  in a way that was not considered auspicious.
Murudeshwara Bhattaru  saw the earthen lamp in the diagrams and concentrated inward  and looked at the mirror  in his mind.
"..On 23 February  2012  things don't look auspicious. Death can be delayed  but not denied.  It's  the play of Prakruthi.  Nimmiththa.  It leads  us to paramasathya."
Before  Narasimhan could ask  Murudeshwara  Bhattaru  continued "Your daughters  mind is confused  by the Gulika .Ecclipses  don't  last long .Don't  worry. "
Murudeshwara  Bhattaru  then opened  his eyes. "23rd February, 2012. Can we not  change  that?"blurted  Narasimhan who  couldn't  take  all these together emotionally. Narasimhan  felt  emotionally challenged first  time since so many  years. .
"Everything  is  Parameshwaras  grace.  Pray  to him .  I  just  read  what is written  at this moment.  What  is  written  can be changed  by God's  will at any moment  that he wants.  "
Murudeshwara  Bhattaru  closed  his eyes  again.  "Vaagesha  bhatta  please  perform the  yaagas  I prescribe  now.  Let us  use our human efforts to try changing  what  is  written. "

2

It  was their  second  day ,  Avani ran toward Ananya  ."Ananya  I have  some  news ""About  what"replied  Ananya.
"That guy whom you liked, he is actually  an intern not  a pg  .he is my brothers classmate.  His name  is  Venkateshwara"cried Avani.
"Oh  ok!Avani  he was just  my crush  for  a day.  Take it easy.  I am  really  not  interested  in  him  now "said Ananya.
"Ok  "  Avani  wondered  how  someone  could  just forget and not be interested in  a guy like him. As she wondered  and was glancing  at this intern from  the  corner where she sat,Venkateshwara  glanced back at Avani. Avani  tried  to  avoid  his gaze and tried to forget  which  she knew  would  not  be easy.
Later that morning  their professor arrived  at  the  OPD .Avani  forgot  about  the guy  entirely  as the postings  began.

1

August 21,2008,
Malgudi

It was their first Obstetrics  and Gynaecology  posting .Avani and Ananya were  in  their  second  year  MBBS. Both  were  naive  of each  other  and to the environment  of SJR  Medical  College  Hospital.
As  they were packing  their Mudaliar's  Obstetrics  manual, Ananya  whispered "Look  at that PG! Isn't  he cute?!".Avani  looked at that extremely  fair  man with relatively  sparse  facial hair  sitting  near the reception  counter  of the OPD.He had dark smooth hair slicked back  that made him look  strangely  attractive. Trying  not to stare at her new friend's crush, Avani  replied  that indeed  that guy  was good looking  by whispering back.  Avani  took  extra  care  to say these words  in the lowest  tone as she did  not  want  anybody  else  to hear and mistake  it to be her crush.
Later in the lunch  break  she tried  to  pull her friends  leg. Ananya  said she did not  have  serious  feelings .it was just one of her many crushes.