Perseverance and hard work

Bhadra is the son of Mount Meru and Menaka. Bhadra was born after long penances by his parents, with the boon of Brahma. He was a great devotee of Sri Maha Vishnu.

In Tretayuga, Sri Rama was in search of Sita devi along with Lakshmana. His search in Dandakaranya brought him to the current geographical location called Bhadrachalam. Bhadra saw Rama, and was overjoyed. He approaches Sri Rama, and asks Him to be seated on him along with Sita devi, so that others can benefit by visiting this place.

Rama agrees, but tells him that He is in search of Sita devi and He would return later accompanied by Sita devi to fulfill his wish. Overjoyed, Bhadra sought blessings of Sri Rama. As it turned out, Sri Rama goes to Lanka, kills Ravana, rescues Sita devi, but does not stop at Bhadrachalam on His way to Ayodhya.

Bhadra awaits the fulfillment of his boon. Time passes, and lord Sri Rama returns to His celestial abode, Vaikuntham. Aghast that the lord did not keep up His promise, he undertakes penances to please Lord Vishnu. Years turn into eons, and yugas. Dwapara yuga comes and passes, Kali yuga sets in. Bhadra remains steadfast in his arduous resolve to have his boon fulfilled.

It is due to this perseverance, steadfastness and devotion that Sri Maha Vishnu takes form of Sri Vaikuntha Rama along with Lakshmi devi in the form of Sita devi, and Adi Seshu, in the form of Lakshmana to fulfill Bhadra's boon. This is why Bhadrachalam is a pious site, and visiting this place removes all sins (Hindi and Telugu : paaps). For that reason, the mountains surrounding Bhadrachalam are called the Paapikonda Range, where people have been able to get rid of their paapas.

Moral of the story is this : just attaining the boon from the lord was not enough for Bhadra. He has put in a lot of years of effort in order for his boon to be fulfilled. Things only happen to deserving people, and they do not happen until one proves himself to be deserving what he is getting.

The Story Of S And P - Part X The End

Not many words can express the conclusion part of this story as this picture of a dying, decaying face of a once jovial and energetic joker.

The Story Of S And P - Part IX Turbulence

P's mind is a metropolis of confusion. He loves S, and awaits her eagerly. He has all kinds of feelings for her, and wants to share all about his life and all his future with her. He is deeply interested in her, and asks her multitude of questions each time they meet, in order to know more about her, and understand her so he can love her better. On the other hand, S is in a state of doubt still, and although much better now, still the interest she shows in him is just minimal. That is a cause of worry for him. What is assuring to P is the fact that he believes is true - that S has never lied to him, and never will. Besides it, the fact that she is showing the slight inclination towards him via acts of meeting him everyday gets a smug smile of contention on his face.

All these extreme variations in emotions and the attachment makes S a completely different being to what he was before. He becomes too sentimental, cries often now, for the silliest of reasons like when S does not meet him, worries a lot when he thinks she is maybe not feeling well - while this is at P's end, S from her side does not give him a reason for her absence, still does not open up to him, keeps her distance. P tries a new channel of communication and calls her up in order to talk. But, S shows hesitation, and later reluctance to talk. S is totally unsure if he is doing the right thing, if he is maybe doing something wrong, if he has to change something about himself or the circumstance, whether he is supposed to say something that he has not, and she is expecting, et cetra. S's thoughts lead him into pondering on extremes - on whether he has made the right decision at all in the first place when he decided on S as the girl for her.

S only gives P divided attention when P talks with utmost earnestness while under the impression that he has S's full attention. Overall, S's reaction to all the actions P takes is only tepid, and only makes the extreme thoughts in P's mind to consolidate. P wants to fight them away, get rid of them totally, but he can do nothing without S's help. The demons rise their ugly head and P tries to fight valiantly, because there is not another option if he wants to protect the relationship. At the same time, he knows he can only ward the demons off for a while if he battles alone. He desperately needs S to be by his side so he can take a decisive stand against the demons.

(To be completed... Nobody knows the future - only the past and the present as it is uncovered.)

The Story Of S And P - Part VIII - The Indecision

As usual, fate had some sinister plans in mind for P, and he faces some of the worst obstacles in life, stumbles and gets injured. P thinks he should not ever contact or enter into S's life again, lest bad may befall her. One day, S inadvertently finds P in the village of Y. Then, one after the other, P tells S the truth about what happened to him, and S feels sympathetic. P does not know if it is just a genuine concern for someone she considers a friend, or whether it is because of the love for P in her heart, S decides to talk to P on a daily basis.

Even since the time they had this conversation about love, P has always thought maybe, S has feelings of love towards him, but is not expressing them. As the proximity between them dwindled, for the first time, S shows a couple of signs to P, which prove beyond doubt that she is actually experiencing the beginnings of a crumble on her stony walled heart. P does not want S to make haste and thus make a mistake. He wants her to take her time, and make a decision that she thinks is wise. Until she becomes his, whatever decisions she takes are hers, and she is the one who should own up the responsibility for them - although, decisions in partnership with P would be joint decisions. So, as far as the decision to choose P as a partner is concerned, it would be an individual decision by S.

The Story Of S And P - Part VII - The Hiccup and the High Spirits

One day, it almost seemed to be another last session before a gap would set in between them. A little before this, P develops a few negative feelings about S, and whatever S does that seems peculiar, or the things that S did before that he did not fully understand then, were all oozing answers when seen through this lens. P does not tell S about this, and wants to part on a friendly tone, not after having a spat. So, P tells S that he is leaving, but characteristic of her, again out of nowhere, she pops in an innocent question that launches a deluge of idea exchanges. They had been building up the silence, and it had been building pressure in their minds - the silence and mis-communication led them to form ideas that are not really true. P was under the impression that S treated him just as a friend, and nothing more than that. He came to think that she is a steel hearted being. He thinks that it isn't like an iceberg that can be melted just like his.

P had plans to advance his career, and to achieve that, he would have had to be away from the village of VM for quite a while. That prospect saddened him, now that his communication with S was going in a full swing - especially rejuvenated after the clearing of misgivings. Until this while, P only met S in the village of VM, and nowhere else, though she visits another village called Y which is more easily accessible to her, and yet another village called 'Mob' which is just an arm's distance away to her from accessing. So, he requests her addresses, and she was only happy that he asked her.

The communication that followed was really a flood. They kept on talking, trying to build up where they left off, clearing misunderstandings that have arisen out of all the silence. Yet again, P finds that S is still the same granite heart, but this time, he also comes to understand the way towards light. He analyses that to reach his goal which he now thinks is difficult, but not impossible, it would take molten lava, in the form of patience, understanding and time to get into her heart. It is that hope that drives him now.

The Story Of S And P - Part VI - The Surprise

Then, one fine day, when the deep orange sun shined bright on P's luck, for some inexplicable reason, out of the blue, S makes a one to one conversation with him. P was stunned by the pleasant surprise, and still does not know why she did that on that day, having known that they have not done it since the last time they both talked about love. The meeting was again magic. Time just flowed away while they talked - just like before. Both of them were careful enough to avoid the topic that brought the time gap between them. However, the gap that set in conjoined with the avoidance of some important topics led them to have a slightly misinformed opinions. There should have been somebody here who should have reminded them that "Non dialogue is a sure shot way of forming unfounded assumptions, which would lead to split in path for foolish and wrong reasons".

The Story Of S And P - Part V - The Hiatus and Reunion

Unable to bear the shock, he decides to make another serious attempt to build up the iceberg, and quits the village of VM. P spends a long time, with turmoils in his mind, the sadness lingering on, the jolt being very damaging. Its the longing to be back to talk with the mirthful S, that made him get back to the village of VM a couple of months later, though the visits were strictly infrequent. S shows surprise and piquancy that P has left the village, as if she was in love with him, and that he should not have left it like that so suddenly. P remembers telling S that he would leave, but he does not make any comment then. P's thoughts about the affinity between him and S were not wrong, afterall. The minor discord between them died down pretty quickly, and they became the same old friends again, merrily talking about nothing in particular, making fun of one another, calling each other names, having fun, but restricted themselves to the public meetings, amidst everyone.

The Story Of S And P - Part IV - Problems

But, fate had different plans for beleaguered P. He comes to know that his expectations were all wrong, and his readings of S were all miscalculated. The response given by S first stuns P before the sting started hurting him bad, because he was not expecting it to turn that way. He was sincere, honest, and committed in his approach, but there is an issue of physical height difference between the two, and it is not usual in the community that the female in the couple is taller than the male. P is aware of that, but then he only comes to know about it after the iceberg melted fully, and there was no going back even because of this fact coming into light. And then, there is the issue of the impossibility in the village of VM that there can be no touching, which is so essential because nobody would be able to settle in the village of VM, and everybody would settle in the big city called R. P was aware of this one too, but he thought that since their mental compatibility is strong, the affinity between them would aid them in making adjustments to themselves and would help them overcome life's problems. The response S gave to P was not only shocking to him, but also VERY vague and spoken out of hesitancy and indecision.

The Story Of S And P - Part III - The Proposal

Since they shared such a good understanding, displayed mental compatibility, respected each other's natures, and that they enjoyed each other's company, he was under the impression that maybe S was having the same kind of feelings towards him, but was just feeling shy to tell him. When none of his efforts to stifle himself worked, he decides to tell S about the true feelings in his heart, and see what she thinks about it. He was actually expecting her to say 'I love you too, dude! What took you so long to tell this to me?'.

The Story Of S And P - Part II - The Meltdown

The village is surrounded by lots of Chinese Dragons, called Problems. They were external, and are named Pr1, Pr2, Pr3, etc. One sad day, A disappears. P and S are sorrowful, and get together to discuss the crisis. They start making plans and discuss strategies using the various means of communication available to launch a massive search for their friend, and P comes to know that a Chinese Dragon called Pr2 abducted A. P tries different means to rescue/help A, but the help is refused.

Somehow, all the efforts to find A, and the solidarity in the time of crisis have made P and S to get more closer. That was the point, some time during the nine months after that, was when the 'iceberg' in him started to melt, and started giving way to feelings of love towards the lovely S. Since A is a mutual friend, P wanted desperately to get into touch and discuss about the feelings he has for S. He wanted to seek advice, because A is both knowledgeable and is wise, besides being a mutual friend. This story would have been a lot different if A was around.

In contrast to P, S is made of a solid, stone heart - this he realises only much later, to his chagrin. P gets frantic at the unexpected development of feelings within himself, and plagued with the absence of a trusted friend who would have been the best to advise him in the circumstances, he makes serious attempts at keeping himself in check. As a part of that, he tries killing off a few of his own avatars that he used to communicate with S. When nothing worked, he was aware that he was fighting a losing battle. His only option was to give in and go ahead with this melted heart. He knew that the going would be steeply uphill, and the ascent would be very hard.

The Story Of S And P - Part I - Happy Lives

Not very long ago, in a village called VM, there lived a boy called P and a girl called S. S was living in VM for some time now when P joins it. P and S have always had an affinity to one another, since the time they met first. They tallied in opinions, had an understanding that had always been growing with time, and have always shared a light hearted banter, either at one another's expense or at the expense of somebody or something. They always smiled, and spread the smiles around.

The village VM is a peculiar place. The villagers can see each other, chat with each other, talk , have fun and share experiences, but they can not touch one another. It is an impossibility there.

Then another villager called A joins, who becomes a friend of both S and P. A is a very lively person, and was close to both. The feeling was mutual; both S and P love A, and they all had lots of moments of togetherness to treasure. The village also had lots of people that were either bad by disposition, lecherous, sadistic, abusive or malignant. They are all named B1, B2, B3, B4 etc. These three people, along with a few other good villagers have taken a stand against the B's, and had more fun, isolating them and frustrating them. That got them closer. It was actually their inherent natures that got them even more closer.

P was of the opinion that marriage is for losers, and S agreed on it. A always made fun of P because he did not show much interest in the other sex. A used to call P, an 'iceberg' for being cold when it comes to emotions. P used to make variations to A's name and make fun, while comparing S to something huge. S in turn, being very jovial in character never minded anything, but hurled the delicate cutlery after finishing another of the large course meals whenever she is made fun of.