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LOVE ALL - Episode 3

Discussion in 'Saturdays with Varalotti' started by varalotti, Nov 23, 2008.

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Nov 23, 2008 #1
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LOVE ALL

A Serial By Varalotti Rengasamy

Episode 3

Yamini had been patiently waiting for more than an hour. The time was around six in the evening.

Yamini looked around that well-maintained drawing room. It was in a modest two-bedroom apartment in Anna Nagar West.

After the historical meeting with Dr.Gayathri Narasimhan of CWS Yamini returned home in time for lunch with her mother.

Around four in the evening the car came back from the garage. Ramamurthy called up to say that he wanted the car back at his office around <st1:time hour="17" minute="30" w:st="on">half past five</st1:time>.

‘Why don’t I meet up with Gayathri’s ex-daughter-in-law, now?’ - Yamini took a “blink decision” of gate-crashing into Kripa’s house to try her luck.

She had got all the contact details from Gayathri. She got herself dropped at Kripa’s place in Anna Nagar and sent the car back to her father.

When Yamini rang the bell at five the maid opened the door for her. Yamini told her that she wanted to meet Kripa. The maid had an unpleasant smile, went in and came back within a few seconds.

“Madam is not in a mood to meet anybody.”

Yamini had expected this. With the sweetest smile she could manage, she told the maid, that she was prepared to wait till Madam got back her moods. Without being asked to do so she sat in a comfortable chair and flashed a mischievous smile to the bewildered maid.

The maid knew that the visitor was a no-nonsense woman who was determined to get what she wanted. She went in to share her findings with her boss.

The waiting game started. As minutes rolled by the hostess was steadily becoming more and more impatient whereas the visitor was getting more and more confident.

Yamini had brought along a copy of Love Is Fine, Darling…Arvind’s latest novel and started reading it. The maid observed Yamini for a while, went in and told her boss that the visitor had now opened a “big book” and it looked like she was prepared to wait even for days on end.

Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

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Nov 23, 2008 #2

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Part 2!

At ten minutes past six a morose Kripa entered the drawing room. She was of average height and of wheatish complexion. She had come out dressed in a shabby night gown, probably to insult the unwanted guest.

She had not combed her hair or washed her face. She should have been in bed or watching TV for a long time.

In spite of all these there was something in her face that made her attractive. Her sharp nose and roving eyes betrayed an IQ of above 180. If she dressed up well she would definitely merit ogling by the roadside Romeos.

Yamini stood up and greeted her. Kripa rejected the preferred hand and told her in an irritated voice,

“I know you are the Recruitment Head of some damn IT company. And you want me in your company. You are ready to pay whatever salary I demand.

“You will also give me a huge joining bonus. And you want me to join your company tomorrow. I am not for..”

Yamini’s loud laughter made her stop midsentence.

“All your statements are wrong. I am not a Recruitment Head. I don’t work for any damn IT company. I have not come here to recruit you.”

“Then why the hell are you here?”

“Why are you wasting yourself like this, Kripa?”

Yamini’s voice came in Font size 12, all bold.

The maid came running to the room.

Yamini’s question came with that kind of authority which only a mother could have over her daughter.

Along with authority there was so much of affection and concern in Yamini’s voice that to Kripa it appeared that her dead mother was standing before her. Before Kripa could recover from the initial shock Yamini threw a number of question-bombs at her.

“Why are you feeling guilty for what he did to you?

“Why on earth should you destroy yourself while he is as happy as ever?

“Why should you suffer when he doesn’t?

“Why should you wilt and wither while he is glowing? Why, Kripa, why?”

Kripa was floored. Exhausted, she sunk into the nearby sofa.

Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

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Part 3!

Nobody wanted to break that uncomfortable silence for a while. When Kripa finally spoke there was no irritation in her voice; there was only sorrow.

“You’ll never know what happened Miss….”

“Yamini…”

“If you had married the person you loved with all your heart and if soon after the marriage he tortured you with his words and actions, and even went to the extent of complaining to others that you had gone insane, if you had been a top-end professional in your field and your husband ordered you not to work but to just be at home and act as his maid, tell me what would you have done if you were in my place?”

“I am not sure Kripa. But I am sure of one thing. That chauvinist pig got what he wanted. You have accepted your defeat.”

“What are you saying?”

“He did not want you to work. And you are not working. Period.”

“But I can’t.. I can’t .. how can I .. “

“Kripa, you asked me what I’ll do if I were in your position. I might not have the mind to work after the hell of a life I had with him.

“Still I will go to work only to show to that mcp that my identity is intact. There is only one valid form of taking revenge against him.

“And that’s to show to the crook that you can live successfully, happily and meaningfully without him. You are doing everything else but that.”

Kripa was confused. Yamini started to talk. About her life so far, about her parents, her academic credentials, about her dream-project, about Vaishu, Prathi, Janaki and about all the women in the world who needed a project like that. She also told her about the exchange she had with Ravi Subramanian that morning.

After ten minutes Kripa excused herself went in and came back dressed in a presentable chudidhar.

Now Yamini started telling her how she was going to help the women around the world with her dream website.

After another fifteen minutes Kripa asked the maid to give biscuits and ginger tea to them. While Yamini was drinking her tea Kripa went in, washed her face and came back.

Yamini now told her with a glow in her eyes that what she had in mind was not merely a website, not even a community but a historical movement to empower the women the world over.

To give meaning and identity to thousands and thousands of Kripas who are being slowly destroyed by the Ravi Subramanians of this cruel world.

After another ten minutes Kripa went in, applied some compact powder on her face, touched her eye-lids with an eye-liner, applied lipstick and had a small, bright, red sticker bindi on her forehead and came back refreshed.

Yamini inferred that with every change happening in Kripa’s heart, there were changes happening in her external appearance.

“My God! You are gorgeous, Kripa.”

“Thanks, Yamini. Not just for the comment. But for everything. “

“No sweat, gal. You look so sweet that I want to protect you from the clutches of this cruel world. No wonder Dr. Gayathri almost loves you as her daughter.”

“Oh, my God! She sent you here! I should have guessed. Even if my mother were alive today she would not have done what Dr.Gayathri is doing to me. But let’s talk about that later. “

Last edited: Nov 26, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

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Part 4!

“Now tell me how serious are you about your dream project? When do you want to start?”

“Yesterday.”

“Do you have a one Rupee coin with you now?”

Yamini fished out one from her handbag and gave it to Kripa.

“Yamini, let’s officially start the movement. Right now. Right here. There is no day more auspicious than today. And no time more auspicious than the present.

“It’s your brain-child and so I got that coin from you to symbolically tell you that you are the owner. The first thing we need to do is to register the name of the site. We can do that for as little as Rs. 600 per annum.

“I’ll use my credit card for that. Please write the name of the website on this piece of paper.”

Yamini wrote “WomenWorldWide.Com”

Kripa switched on her laptop and connected to the net. Once she started working Kripa’s involvement in the work was almost a Zen meditation.

The screens in her laptop were changing so fast that Yamini did not know what she was doing. Absolute silence reigned for another fifteen minutes.

“I’m sorry, Yamini. The domain name is booked already.”

“I don’t remember seeing any site in that name.”

“Someone has registered the name and is simply squatting. In the initial days of dot com these squatters made huge money by registering names like www.Cococola.com. www.Pepsi.com and then demanded millions from those companies to give up that name.

“Now the Courts have made it clear that if the name is popular like Pepsi or McDonalds, it belongs to the respective company and not to the squatters. But in our case, since we don’t have any company by that name, we can’t do anything about it.”

Yamini’s face fell. Kripa sensed her disappointment.

“Don’t get disheartened, Yams. These things do happen. I suggest a two-way attack – first let’s think of some other name quite fast and register it straightaway.

“Second, I’ll use my contacts in the industry and send the mail to the person who has registered that name. We’ll tell that person that we are ready to buy that name.

“But you may have to budget a couple of lakhs for that. That’s the going rate now for such an attractive name.”

Two lakhs just for the name! Yamini was confused.

“Do you have any other name in mind, Yamini?”

Yamini could not think. She was still worried about the money.

‘If I have to pay two lakhs just for the name.. ‘

“Don’t worry, Yams. If you can’t think of a name, then let’s use this software which I developed. I just imported the words from a dictionary in to a spreadsheet and used some minimal Visual Basic programming tools to create it.

“This also reckons the number-values of the letters for numerological buffs. So you want the name to begin with W, right?”

There was silence again for a few minutes. Kripa shouted

“WinningWomenWorldwide.com! And the numerological value is 91, that is, 1. A powerful number. It belongs to the Sun. How do you like that?”

“That’s good. But I would rather prefer the original name. But you say two lakhs.. I am thinking on that..”

“No sweat, buddy. Let’s first see whether this name is available and register it. Then we will switch to Plan B, or rather Plan A. I will locate the squatter and send an email to him.”

Silence again for another fifteen minutes.

“Yams, we got it. WinningWomenWorldwide.com is now officially ours.”

Kripa made a few calls, sent a few mails, chatted with her contacts for another twenty minutes.

“Got the person’s email ID. I am sending an email about you, your family and your concern for the women of the world. We’ll have to wait for the response.”
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

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Nov 23, 2008 #5

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Part 5!

Yamini took leave and stood up to go. Kripa held her hands.

“Yamini, you walked into my life just like that to give me something which no other person could have given – meaning and happiness.

“I want to do something to you. Can you please have dinner with me today? My maid doubles as a cook and she cooks very well. I’ll ask her to make some hot kesari, dosais and then we can have two large bowls of chocolate ice-cream – please Yamini..”

Yamini was moved by Kripa’s love.

“But I need to go, Kripa. My Dad and Mom will be waiting for me.”

“I’ll talk to them. I’ll tell your Dad, “Uncle, your daughter’s actually my guardian angel. She came to my house as an unwelcome guest, started talking to me as my own mother, reformed my life and has shown the path ahead for me.

“It may take a dozen lifetimes for me to repay her kindness. But Uncle, please allow me to offer dinner to her tonight as an expression of my love. Please Uncle…”

Kripa was almost crying over the imaginary conversation.

Yamini held Kripa’s hand. Kripa understood the unspoken acceptance.

Yamini called home and told her father that she had to eat outside and would come back home around nine.

She told him that there were so many interesting things happening. And would he please stay up late that night to hear the full story from her? Ramamurthy agreed.

Kripa had given the orders to the cook. The middle-aged cook was very happy and she sprang to work immediately. When Kripa went to the toilet the cook came running to Yamini.

“I have never seen her so happy during the past four months. I know you are the reason. You will be blessed with a very long, happy life, my child. The Karumariamman I worship every day will see to it that whatever you desire will happen. You will always be blessed, my child.”

She placed her hand on Yamini’s head and before Yamini could respond ran back to the kitchen.

Yamini thought, ‘What do I desire now? Just the name womenworldwide.com for my site. Will that happen? Will this lady’s blessing come true?’

The dinner was quite delicious. The cook had slightly changed the menu. They were served hot kesari first. Next to follow was the crispy and yummy “idli uppma” made from the left over idlies in the morning, accompanied by a hot delicious side dish containing onions, tomatoes and chillies.

Then came hot Onion Uthappams with chutney and sambar. And finally curd rice with Avakkai pickles. They had large bowls of chocolate ice-cream for the desserts. Yamini made Kripa call the cook.

She held her hands and thanked her profusely for the feast.

Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

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Part 6!

The time was <st1:time minute="30" hour="8" w:st="on">half past eight</st1:time>.

“Kripa, it’s getting late. I’d rather go now.”

“Just a minute, Yams.”

Kripa ran to her wardrobe and chose the best saree she had. She put it in a shopping bag and came back to Yamini.

“I badly wanted to give you something, Yams. This is a used saree. I know it is not proper to give used sarees as gifts. But that propriety is only for strangers, Yams.

“If you had been my younger sister and we lived in the same house will we not be sharing our dresses and even fighting over them? This is my best saree, my luckiest one. Please accept this, Yamini.”

It was a gorgeous Bengal Cotton Saree in beige colour with a bright red border and elaborate art work in the pallu.

“Are you hesitating because I am giving you a used saree?”

“No, Kripa. I am thinking what I did to get this kind of love from such a wonderful woman.”

Kripa hugged Yamini and they remained speechless for a while.

Yamini accepted the sari and was about to leave. But Kripa was still not in a mood to leave her.

“Another two minutes. Let me just check whether I got any mail from the squatter.”

Yamini sunk into the sofa while Kripa went to the other room to check. Five minutes later Kripa came back to Yamini with tears in her eyes.

“What happened, Kripa? Anything wrong? Did that crook call you or something? Just give a nod , Kripa. I’ll go straight to his house and finish him off with my bare hands.”

Had Ravi Subramanian seen the expression in Yamini’s face he would have died just out of fear even before the first blow fell on him.

Kripa just shook her head, held Yamini’s hand and virtually dragged her to her laptop. She made Yamini sit in her chair and asked her to look at the screen.

The ‘squatter’ had replied.

Dear Ms.Kripa,

Got your mail. Yes, I am ready to give up the name WomenWorldWide.com.
You want to know the price? Just scroll down…

With her heart throbbing Yamini scrolled down.
..
,,

,,
,,
,,

The price is Zero. Yes, I am ready to give up the name to your good friend for her venture -absolutely free. I consider that as my contribution to her noble project.

My name is Mathangi. I am an interior designer living in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">London</st1lace></st1:city>. My husband encouraged me to start a site for the Indian Women spread all over the world. I thought of this name and registered it. But my husband died six months back and since then I have lost interest in the project.

I don’t want to get any money from your friend for the name. But when she starts the site please ask her to have a dedicated forum for Home Decoration. I can manage the forum for her.

I am an expert in the field and would love to help our women decorate their homes. Even this I am not specifying as a condition. I just want to be a part of this great project in more ways than one. But if she has already fixed up some person for that, I will understand.

As to the change-over formalities…

Yamini could not read any further. Her tears blocked her vision. WomenWorldWide.com was officially born.

The child was lovely for the simple reason that it was conceived and delivered in love – the pure and selfless variety.
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

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Part 7!

Next morning. Yamini was getting ready for her mandatory outing. Her Nokia N17 rang. Kripa.

“Good Morning, Yamini.”

“Morning, Krips.”

“Till yesterday I did not sleep well because of my problems. Yesterday I did not sleep at all because of the excitement.”

Yamini laughed.

“Ideas are pouring into my head, Yams. Now that we have got the name you wanted, we can start working on the basic site architecture. That good lady had suggested starting a “dedicated Forum” for Home Decoration.

“That’s going to be our basic theme. We are going to have separate, dedicated Forums for Cookery, Fine Arts and Home Decoration to start with. And then go on adding more forums as we go by.”

“You are very fast, gal. But where do we host our site? What about the server? Do we need to go for a dedicated server?”

“Not now. That will be pretty expensive. We will host on somebody’s server and move over to a dedicated server as traffic picks up. But before that you need to create an infrastructure.

“You should first incorporate a company under the Indian Company Law. You need someone to advise you on budgeting the project cost, the means of financing, the revenue model, taxation and a host of related issues.

“I have already talked to my contact at E&Y. You know E&Y is one of the Big Four audit firms of the world. I have got an appointment for you at <st1:time hour="14" minute="0" w:st="on">2 PM</st1:time> tomorrow. You need to meet one Ms.Shobana who will hand-hold you through the initial processes.

“Once you are done with that, we three can meet – you, Dr.Gayathri and I – to give some shape to the site.”

Kripa was talking excitedly for fifteen minutes about so many things.

Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

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Part 8!

Yamini told about the appointment she had with E&Y to her father when they were having their night dinner.

“Going to a Big Four audit firm is not a wise choice, especially at this stage. First they’ll be way too expensive.

“Second, you’ll never get a personalized service. During the initial period you will have a million questions on tax and finance.

“You need somebody smaller, and closer to home than E&Y. I’ll put you on to the best chartered accountant in the city.”

Destiny was laughing uncontrollably as it always did when it saw people making assumptions about things and events they did not know about.

“Kripa has already got an appointment for me tomorrow afternoon. What can I do now?”

“In any audit firm the initial discussion will be free. Tell them what do you want and ask them to give a quote. Ignore that and go to the neighbourhood CA firm I recommend. “

Destiny’s laughter was louder.

Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

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Part 9!

Yamini was at the reception desk of E&Y at five minutes to two. They made her fill up a two-page form. They insisted on seeing her identity proof. Fortunately she had her driving licence handy.

Then they made her stand before the camera at the desk, took a picture of her and made a visitors badge with her picture on it. She was frisked by a lady security officer who later led her to a small conference room.

“Miss Yamini Ramamurthy?”

Yamini stood up to see a woman who was in her early thirties. She was in a dark grey business suit. Her complexion and her height were well above the Indian average.

She had wisely chosen the frame for her spectacles. It enhanced her looks and gave an intellectual aura to her face.

“I’m G.Shobana. Chartered Accountant. Senior Consultant of Special Assignments Division.”

It appeared to Yamini that Shobana had been in a meeting and that she had come out at a crucial time. And that she wanted to go back to her meeting as fast as she could.

“Have this”

Shobana handed over a sheaf of papers and a ball-point pen to Yamini.

“Kripa told me about you. Please prepare a two-page note of what your website is all about and what do you want to do with that. Write legibly because I am going to scan it and send it to my boss.”

“But.. Ms.. Shobana.. why don’t we just discuss… and then you can give a quote… you know I want to form.. a company…”

“We’ll surely do that, dear. But we need to know about your project before we commit ourselves to it.”

Shobana had vanished. ‘What is for them to commit?’

Yamini first jotted down the points. Then she prepared a draft, made corrections and then prepared the final note in neat, legible handwriting.

Shobana had not come. Yamini was waiting. She called her father in her mobile and told him about the developments.

“These audit firms do all sorts of tricks to jack up the bill. Play along. But don’t sign anything without consulting me.”

Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

#9
Nov 23, 2008 #10

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Part 10!

When Shobana came in again it was almost four. Yamini was irritated but she did not show her feelings.

Shobana read the note prepared by her.

“Excellent, Yamini. Give me a few minutes I will send this out and come back.”

Shobana now came with a voice recorder and a yellow legal pad.

“I want more details about your project to prepare a proposal. I hope you don’t mind my recording our conversation.”

Yamini nodded her acceptance.

Shobana ripped her apart in the next one hour. There were sharp, penetrating questions about every small detail concerning the project.

Yamini had heard her father saying about an accountant’s obsession with details. ‘The devil is in the detail’ was her father’s favourite adage.

Whether or not she was going to hand over the assignment to E&Y, Shobana’s questions made her think on many aspects which she had not thought of earlier.

If Prathi, Vaishu and Janaki gave her a grand vision, Shobana clarified it, gave a proper shape to it and made it practically feasible. Yamini borrowed a sheet of paper from Shobana and started taking notes.

She did not want to hide her ignorance. When she did not know anything she asked Shobana to explain it.

When Shobana questioned about the “revenue model” for the project, Yamini, asked her on her face, “What do you mean by a revenue model?”

Shobana explained that any project – be it an oil refinery or a super-market or even a website for women- should have clear, well-defined ways of augmenting its revenues. And that was its revenue model.

For a simple project like a hotel or a super-market the revenue model was obvious – it came from the sale of goods and services. A website was a different ball-game. In plain words how would Yamini’s company make money?

Would she charge the members some kind of fees? That was called an ASP model. That worked only for those sites which contained valuable professional or technical information.

“For instance, we subscribe to an Indian Taxation site which has all the decided cases on income tax law. We shell out a few lakhs every year.”

“But I don’t want the women to pay for being a part of my community.”
“Good. Then we’ll have to work on some advertising revenue model. But first we should project our profits. What kind of profits do you have in mind, Yamini. Something like five lakhs during the first year, ten in the second…”

Yamini’s words were extraordinarily firm.

“Not even a single naya paisa. I will be the last person to enrich myself out of the needs of our womenfolk. I want the site to be self-sustaining. I want to generate just enough revenues to sustain the site and fund its growth.

“If in the future this site becomes my only occupation, then I might require a living wage for me. Profit is and will never be my motive.”

Shobana stood up and shook hands with Yamini.

“You have passed the test in flying colours.”

Yamini did not understand a word of what she said. Shobana saw the time.

“I am afraid you may have to wait a little more. Meanwhile I’ll get some snacks and coffee for you. Our potato bajjis are yummy.”

Yamini did not know what was happening. She just decided to play along. This was going to be a wonderful learning experience for her.

She relished the hot bajjis and the filter coffee. The time was almost six in the evening. She called her home to tell that she would be late.
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Last edited: Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

varalotti, Nov 23, 2008

#10

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