Next day...
Karunakar woke up earlier than usual and went to Ramalingeswara temple near the river. After offering his prayer to Lord Siva, he sat in mandapam in meditating posture. He sat and felt the energy with his entire self and got up after a while and offered his prayer to God once again before leaving the temple. From the temple he came to the tree on the river bank ,placed his left palm on its bark gently stroking it "We've been playing under this tree since many years. But those memories turned even more special with the addition of an exclusive memory of you and mine. Now, whenever I pass by here, I remember you calling me, I remember we holding hands, I remember kissing your forehead as if it's just happened yesterday." he talked to the tree as he reminisced time between Krishna and him. He leaned against the tree on his back, folding his arms, looking at the sun and river intently, closed his eyes "Priya, our parents are discussing about my sister's marriage, next it will be my turn, will I have the courage to tell them about us and marry you? Aparna seemed like to be not affected by the marriage talk, instead I'm feeling edgy. What to do?.... I really wanna see you, take you into my arms and never let you leave....." thought to himself.
Sound of the people going in and out of the temple increased. He looked at those people once "let's head to farm...." encouraging himself, left to the farm. He walked along the river bank and saw Malli sitting at a distance from him on a rock alone. Karunakar doesn't know him personally but knew him from his sister's rambling and Siva who recently introduced himself, and told him that he is intelligent, polite and workaholic. That's high praise coming from Siva who is usually very stingy with his compliments. "Should I go and talk to him?" asked himself while pondering whether to step towards or away from him..... he walked towards him....Malli felt a presence approaching him and realized that it's not Aparna.
"Mallikarjuna..?."Karunakar called him hesitantly while approaching him slowly. Malli turned his head in the direction of his voice "haa..." he replied while standing. Malli knew him as Aparna's brother and saw sometimes while he's on his business talks with the vendors and saw a few times walking along with Siva but never directly talked to him. "I'm Karunakar. Aparna's older brother. I've heard a lot of things about you from my sister and Siva, so I thought of coming and introducing myself...." he let out an awkward chuckle at the end as he looked at the other person. Malli placed his hands together against his chest in namaskar position "hello, you may already know but please feel free to call me Malli. I saw you with brother Siva sometimes while working..." introduced himself while returning his hands to either side of his body. Karunakar "Do you want to talk to me for a while, only if you are not in a rush?" asked him as he walked to sit on the rock. Malli sat beside him "we can talk for a while. I'm not in a rush, just came to enjoy the morning breeze." he replied. "You seem to get along with everyone now as many villagers are talking about you highly." Karunakar complimented him. Malli smiled a little and "it's thanks to your sister I'm like this. I owe her my li....."he stopped abruptly and looked at Karunakar's face. Karunakar looked a little surprised as he heard those and "ooh! It's great that my sister helped you. She is just kind, don't worry about things like owing something. She'll feel bad if you talk like you're indebted to her." he smiled a little at Malli as he said those words. Malli "she is too kind." his eyes beamed as he said those words. Karunakar looked at him like he was trying to read the expression on the face of person in front of him. "Mmm. She doesn't think about anything else when she see anyone in trouble. But..." he stopped there. Malli "but..?" he asked curiously. "This is the first time she went around a man for around a month just to make him talk, ignoring everyone." Karunakar said with a concerned voice. Malli face looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?" he asked hesitantly while pondering himself if it's okay to ask such question. "For around one month, she went around just you, meeting Krishna for like few minutes, not being at home as usual, just greeting and leaving the villagers, has not visited anyone's house except grandpa Surappa's house... oh! Wait! Why am I telling this to you when we just met now?" Karunakar got surprised by himself like how could he talk like that to a person whom he met a few minutes back. Malli chuckled "you are right. I feel like we've known each other for a long time despite talking directly for the first time" he laughed out loudly. Karunakar joined him "woahh... you sure have a way with your words!" continued to laugh. "I'm sorry to have made you worry about your sister." Malli apologized him sincerely which made Karunakar stop his laugh in midway. Karunakar pet his shoulder "don't be. I don't know the entire story but you just lost an important person in your life, surely it will take sometime to recover." he comforted him while patting his shoulder gently. "Thank you. I am really glad we came to this village. Everyone is so kind and gentle. Thank you. I really mean it." he express his gratitude towards the villagers and Aparna to Karunakar. "Okay. Okay. Just come to us when you have any problems. Siva and me, can solve anything in this village." Karunakar made him feel like he will be on his back as a brother. Malli nodded and as he was about to tell something, "Karunakaraa...." a call from a distance came for Karunakar. His maternal uncle Paresham.
"Uncle.. Wait, I'll come to you" he replied in a loud voice standing from his place. "Malli, let's catch up another time. It's really glad to meet you. I'll be taking me leave. Then...." he took his leave from Malli. Malli "okay. Meet you another time." smiled at him. Karunakar smiled in return and "uncle..., how is my aunt?" asked as he ran towards his uncle. Malli looked at them meeting with each and sat back on his rock. "Why are you both siblings coming and sitting on the rock there? Is it something you both are practicing like a tradition?" his uncle asked curiously. Karunakar looked confused and "what do mean by that uncle, we both siblings?" asked dubiously. "Like few weeks back, I saw Aparna sitting there under the scorching sun looking at the river. So I called her into our house.."he explained what happened between them the other day. Karunakar eyes widened as he listened those words and was flabbergasted by his sister's behavior.