Chapter 2: Shankar and his Family.

Chennai XYZ Hospital...

A man around the age of 35 is looking tensely at the doctor, who is examining the medical report in front of her.

"Mr. Shankar, congratulations. Your wife has conceived. You are going to be a father," the doctor shook his hand with a wide smile.

"I... I am going to be a father..." Shankar widens his eyes after repeating the same sentence for some time in shock.

When Shankar heard that his wife had conceived, he became very happy and started shouting and jumping with a joyful expression.

"Mr. Shankar, this is a hospital. Behave yourself," the doctor reminded Shankar, who was in Cloudnine.

A woman came from behind the curtain with tears in her eyes, looking at Shankar, who was jumping in joy with a bright smile on her face.

"Gayu, did you hear? I am going to be a father," Shankar looked at the woman and lifted her, starting to spin around happily.

"Mr. Shankar put her down. You need to take care of her gently," the doctor scolded Shankar while he was swinging his wife.

"Sorry," Shankar scratched his back head while apologizing for his sudden action.

"Idiot," Gayathri murmured with a low tone so no one could hear her.

"Mrs. Gayathri, one should be very careful during pregnancy, especially in your condition. Remember," the doctor advised Gayathri, along with a warning to be careful.

When Gayathri heard the doctor's warning, she nodded her head with a happy expression on her face. Her grip on the report of her pregnancy became firmer when the doctor mentioned her condition.

"And you, Mr. Shankar, you should be more careful and gentle towards her," the doctor reprimanded Shankar for his reckless behavior earlier.

Shankar lowered his head and looked at his happy wife and her belly, then shifted his gaze towards the report in his wife's hand, starting to think.

Past...

He and his wife were both lovers in college.

At first, both sets of parents objected to accepting their relationship because Gayathri was from one of the richest families and ran many businesses in the Nandhan family,

while Shankar was from a middle-class family, and his father worked as a teacher in a government school.

After completing college, Gayathri's parents arranged a marriage for her without her consent.

At first, Gayathri was able to handle it, but as time passed, her family started putting much pressure on her by blackmailing her using sentiment.

So Shankar and Gayathri decided to marry at the register office. After marrying, at first, both sides of the family disowned them. Shankar got a job as a chemistry professor, and Gayathri got a job as a physics professor at the same college where they studied.

After a year, Shankar's parents forgave them and accepted Gayathri as their daughter-in-law. Shankar's parents moved into the house Shankar had built from the old rented house.

One day, while Gayathri was helping her mother-in-law in the kitchen, she suddenly fainted on the spot.

Hearing the sound, Shankar and his dad rushed to the kitchen. Shankar lifted the fainted Gayathri in his arms and hurried to the car his father had bought. They rushed to the hospital, where the doctor broke the news that she was pregnant.

Both of them became very happy. Shankar's father went to Gayathri's house to break the news to them and tried to convince them to accept their son and daughter's marriage.

Eight months passed by, and the child started to react inside his mother's belly, kicking now and then, which brought immense joy to Gayathri and Shankar, who placed his hand to feel their child.

Everything changed one day when Gayathri and her parents were traveling in their car toward their parents' house. They had an unexpected accident. Both of her parents had some minor injuries, but Gayathri was hit in her belly.

Gayathri started to scream in pain, and her parents hurried her to the hospital by ambulance. Shankar and his family came hurriedly to the hospital with teary eyes.

A nurse came towards Shankar and informed him that the doctor wanted to meet him. Shankar, his father, and Gayathri's father went to meet the doctor, looking tense.

The doctor informed them that there was no danger to Gayathri before the trio could speak.

The doctor informed them that the child in her belly was dead, which devastated the trio. But what made them suffer more in despair was the slim chance of his wife getting pregnant again.

Gayathri was completely broken when she came to know the truth.

After nearly 10 years, during these years, both Gayathri and Shankar started to accept reality and slowly started to move on, but it left a big scar in their heart.

While taking the class, Gayathri fainted, and she was immediately admitted to the hospital, which brought the happiest news for them: Gayathri was pregnant.

Present...

"Mr. Shankar, do you understand? Mr. Shankar..."

Seeing Shankar deep in thought with a sad face, Gayathri placed her hand on his shoulder. When Shankar came back to reality and looked at her, she gave him a gentle smile.

"Sorry, doctor. I will be very careful," Shankar smiled and held Gayathri's hand gently.

Both Shankar and Gayathri came out of the doctor's room. Suddenly, they noticed both their parents walking towards them hurriedly with worried faces.

Behind them, Shankar's sister, Abinaya, with her husband Vinayak carrying a baby in her arms, came in a hurry.

"Shankar, what happened?"

"Gayathri, are you alright?"

"Brother, is she alright?"

"Macha (brother-in-law), is everything alright?"

...

...

...

Seeing that they are bombarding Shankar with questions, Gayathri started to chuckle, seeing her husband's reaction as he tried to explain.

"Well..."

Cough... cough...

"She is pregnant," Shankar said loudly when their family kept asking different questions continuously.

The pin-drop silence filled the air. Everyone in the reception turned their heads and looked at Shankar due to his loud voice.

"____"

Shankar lowered his head in embarrassment while everyone's attention in the hospital reception was on him. Gayathri poked his hand with a teasing smile on her lips, looking at her embarrassed husband, who is a terror for many students in college.

"Brother, did I hear you correctly?" Abinaya was the first one to recover from the shock and asked again to confirm what she heard was correct.

"Yes, Abi, I am pregnant," Gayathri said with a bright smile.

"Nathan, did you hear that?" Shankar's father looked at Gayathri's father with wide eyes.

"Yes, I heard, Chandra," Nathan said with a teary eye, hugging him with happiness. While men were hugging and shouting in happiness, Vinayak conversed with Shankar.

While this was going on, Shankar's mother Janaki, and Gayathri's mother Sudha, along with Abinaya, took Gayathri while chatting in a low voice.

Shankar's House...

"Finally, my prayers are answered. Shankar, I prayed to Lord Muruga (another name for Karthikeya) that if Gayathri becomes a mother, I will offer your hair as an offering in the Palani temple," Shankar's mother happily said while serving water to Gayathri's parents.

"Huh... my hair?" Shankar touched his hair with an awkward smile on his face.

Shankar turned and looked at his wife, who was looking at him with an expectant look.

"My... my hair?" Sarath wanted to say but swallowed his words when his wife smiled.

'This is for the safety of my wife and baby. You can do it, Shankar. Be a man.' Shankar started to compromise with himself, with a newfound determination. He nodded his head with a smile on his face, despite his bleeding heart.

Vaikundam (the realm where Lord Vishnu adobe)...

Vaikundam has a total of seven doors. One needs to pass through them to enter Vaikundam. Vaikundam is a realm mostly covered with seawater.

A big snake with thousands of heads covers the big sea, with its length binding the top of the body together to form a bed on top of the sea.

A charming man with a blue and dark complexion is sleeping on the snake with a gentle smile on his face.

His head is supported by one of his right arms, while his left arm is placed above the knee.

Another arm on the left holds a lotus, while another arm on the right holds a seashell.

He is none other than Lord Vishnu (Narayan).

His wife, Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, is sitting near him and enjoying her husband sleeping in peace.

Suddenly, Narayan opens his eyes slowly, with a bright smile on his face, looking happy about something.

"Finally, Mahadev," he murmurs to himself but loud enough to be heard by his wife, who widens her eyes upon hearing the name Mahadev.

Bramhalok (the realm where Lord Brahma adobe)...

Bramhalok is filled with bellyful clouds, while many rishis are meditating there. There are beautiful flowers and lotus that fill the realm and create awe when someone sees them.

All the lotus present are connected to a single big lotus.

On top of the lotus, a man with a white beard and hair is meditating.

He has three heads and four arms.

On the right side, he holds a lotus and rosary beads, symbolizing time, while on the left, he holds Vedha and Kamandalu (a vessel used to carry water by sages).

In all three of his heads, he is continuously reciting Vedas.

Beside him, there is a unique white lotus.

On top of it, a woman is playing calm music with a veena (a musical instrument), which spreads throughout the realm using both of her hands.

The other two hands hold Vedha and silvery beads.

Brahma, who was continuously reciting Vedas, suddenly stops and starts to smile brightly.

"Is it time, Mahadev?" he says while looking in one particular direction.

Goddess Saraswathi, who heard her husband mention Mahadev, becomes curious and looks at her husband's happy face.

"Swami, what made you so happy, Swami?" she asks her husband with a curious look.

Because her husband mentioned Mahadev, who went missing, no one can find Mahadev's trace until he is reborn.

"Mahadev is going to be born again, Saraswathi," Brahma says with a bright smile.

"What?" She becomes happy; her brother is going to come back. So she starts to celebrate by playing divine music.

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(Author's POV)

It is important to note that this story is a fusion of the modern world and Indian mythology.

The intention is not to harm or offend anyone's religious beliefs.

Thanks for reading the chapter! Please give a review for this chapter and a power stone!!!