Kartikeya’s Life

Kartikeya(KK) is 42 years old, and works as a Taluq officer in a government department. His wife, Karunima, is a homemaker, and his son, Kamaleshwar, is a college student.

KK leads a simple life. He is 5 ft 7 inches tall, 65 kg in weight, and slim. He gets up at 6 am, takes tea after brushing, walks for thirty minutes, bathes, meditates for 45 minutes, and has breakfast. By then, his son Kamaleshwar leaves for college with his lunch box. Karunima joins him for breakfast.

He goes to the office on a scooter.   Kamaleshwar goes to college by the college bus and returns by the same.

KK gives his wife his monthly salary. She maintains all house expenditures and savings. Karunima pays him some amount for his pocket expenses.

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KK’s office deals with various records about people. It gets the records from the concerned village officers. He issues certificates based on these reports. Sometimes, his higher-ups influence him to issue certificates to the undeserving.

 A complaint was made against KK on one such issue. An internal enquiry committee of three members was appointed to address the complaint. He feared the consequences, though the higher-ups assured him they would save him from the problem. But he was suspended prima facie until further orders.

He met all the officers,  at whose insistence he initiated the certificate, and everyone told him to face the enquiry committee. They promised he would come clean about the issue and get his job, but he was worried.

He came home with the suspension order and broke down before Karunima. She got worried and took him to the hospital.

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Modugula Kumar’s(MGK’s) Life

MGK is 45 and the proprietor of a real estate company that builds multistory apartment complexes in the city. He is 5 ft 2 inches tall and  75 kg in weight, with a projecting belly and a half-bald head. He was brownish black, with a short nose, small eyes, and a broad forehead. 

MGK’s house was in a posh neighbourhood of the city. It had a built-up area of about 3000 sq. ft. on half-acre land. It was three floors with a porch. The stilt floor had rooms for attendees and a waiting room for drivers—a lift connected all the floors. Every floor had two bedrooms and a hall. Every bedroom had a 70-inch TV.

 His wife, Samyukta, gets up at 5 am, bathes, does pooja, meditates for an hour, and instructs the staff on what to prepare for that day.

Their son, Dev Kumar, is a college-going student. At night, he is busy in a pub with girlfriends. He comes home at about 3 am and gets up at 11 am. His routine is different. The pub owner sends a driver to drop him at home every night, as he will be in an inebriated state.

Samyukta stays in the ground-floor bedroom, MGK is on the first floor, and their son is on the second floor.

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Several attendees and maids attended to cooking, purchasing daily necessities, housekeeping, watering, and plant maintenance. Samyukta and MGK have drivers, and Dev Kumar drives his car.

Santoshi, 25, is a special maid. She is whitish, slim, tall, beautiful, unmarried and has been working here since she lost her parents in an accident. She looks after all of MGK’s requirements.

Samyukta, a civil engineering graduate, came with many hopes for life with marriage. After two years of their married life, Dev Kumar was born. When she went to her parent’s house for care during and after pregnancy,  MGK became close to Santoshi. This she could not tolerate and got anguished and told him not to touch her with his polluted body and mind. Since then, they live in separate rooms.

 MGK’s routine was to get up at 9 am, get ready, go to the office at 11 am, come for lunch, take a nap, get up at 4 pm, and go to the office again.

MGK is in the real estate business, constructing multi-storeyed buildings in the city. Vinod Kumar, his high school friend, is a partner in the company.

He and Vinod Kumar discuss flat deals with customers and finalise them. At night, they have drinks and biryani and go home late. Santoshi will be waiting to receive him.

At The SSH

MGK was admitted to SSH

One night at about 2.00 am,  MGK went to pass urine and fell in the bathroom. Santoshi informed  Samyukta and was admitted to the Samagra Swasthya Hospital (SSH) for treatment.

 After tests on MGK,  the doctors said he had a heart attack and would have to undergo a bypass surgery.   Samyukta agreed. The bypass surgery was successful.

 After two days, he developed a breathing problem. At this, the doctors told Samyukta that his survival chances were less. MGK  could not breathe with the ventilator.

KK Admitted to SSH

Karunima and their son Kamaleshwar took KK to  SSH. At the hospital, they tested and found he had a heartattack. He was admitted to the ICU.

 KK was given a bed beside MGK.

The Soul Swapping

 The doctors were preparing for KK’s bypass surgery. At this time, KK learned MGK was about to breathe his last. He had a curious idea about swapping souls between MGK and his body until his investigation was complete, and hence, KK lost Consciousness, and MGK gained Consciousness.

The doctors said that KK had gone into a coma and postponed the bypass surgery.

MGK  gains Consciousness and comes to life

MGK was struggling to breathe. The doctors informed  Samyukta that she could count his hours. They will arrange for all the hospital formalities. MGK was cordoned off from other patients.

After two hours, the hospital staff noticed movement in MGK. Samyukta and Dev Kumar were beside the body. The doctors tested and declared, “MGK alive.”

He was discharged after a day of observation.

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Everyone in the hospital was surprised at KK  going into a coma and MGK gaining life as the miraculous happenings in both cases at the same time. Karunima and Kamaleshwar attended the hospital in turns.

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NMGK at MGK’s Home

 Samyukta and Dev Kumar thanked God for MGK’s breathing back to life. They thought God had given him a second life. So they called him New Modugula Kumar (NMGK)

On arrival at home, the maidservants welcomed him with a  Harathi.

Samyukta told NMGK, “You better freshen up; I will get tea for you.” With these words,  Samyukta left.

NMGK did not move from his sofa. Then Santoshi took him to his bedroom on the first floor.

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 When they entered the bedroom, Santoshi tried to hug and kiss him. He distanced himself from her. She felt a change in NMGK’s behaviour. Before his hospitalisation, he moved closely with her.

NMGK and  Samyukta had dinner. Dev Kumar did not turn up. He asked about Dev Kumar. She said he was studying with his friends and would have dinner with them. NMGK had doubts about Dev Kumar.

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The following day, NMGK attended the office.   Vinod Kumar arranged a grand welcome by all the office staff. 

 At about 6 pm, he asked the office to be closed and prepared to leave for home. Vinod Kumar was surprised. MGK was going home only after finishing drinks with him. 

Vinod Kumar asked, “What is the problem?” NMGK said, “I do not drink.”

 Vinod Kumar noticed NMGK’s change in behaviour, especially since MGK was a regular alcoholic.

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To everyone’s surprise, NMGK came home at 7 pm without any signs of alcohol drinking. He bathed, went to the ground floor, switched on the TV, and watched BBC news. He asked Samyukta to watch the news. Today, NMGK exposed her to world affairs. Earlier, he never watched TV.

She told the maids to prepare dinner for him. He said, “I take two chapatis with a vegetarian curry, followed by a cup of milk with Horlicks.”

That night, Santoshi came to his bedroom. He politely told her, “Santoshi, here afterwards, you need not visit this room at night.” Understanding the change in him, she promptly left the room.

Samyukta observed Santoshi coming to the ground floor and resting.

 Samyukta thought there was a complete transformation in MGK.

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 That night, when Dev Kumar came home drunkenly, NMGK was waiting in the hall. He slapped Dev Kumar and told him, “You must come home every day by 7 pm, under any circumstances and stop drinking and concentrate on your studies. Otherwise, you would be sent out of the house.”

With these warnings, Dev Kumar’s behaviour changed.

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NMGK got up at 6 am, meditated for half an hour, then dressed up and came down for breakfast. Everyone followed his schedule.

Samyukta was happy about the change NMGK brought about. One night, she went to his room with a glass of milk. He was surprised. He asked her to sit on the chair opposite the bed and said, “I am happy with your change. You waited for many years. You wait for two more months.”

As a civil engineering graduate, I want you to visit the office daily and get acquainted with the construction and accounts. Understanding his words, she went to her room on the ground floor.

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Committee Report

 The three-member committee investigated the allegations against KK, found no fault in his actions, and ordered his reinstation into the service with full salary for all these months.

Lord Sri Venkateshwara answered Karunima’s prayers for all these days. She had yet one more prayer to get  KK out of the coma and offered prayers daily.

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Samyukta Attends Office

 Samyukta started going to the office and looked into all financial dealings; NMGK made her company vice president. Since then, Vinod Kumar had no say in the company’s financial management. Before MGK’s hospitalisation, Vinod Kumar was a superpower.  

 One day, Vinod Kumar asked NMGK to visit the construction site on the city’s outskirts. Vinod Kumar said he would meet him at the site, and NMGK went in his car with the driver.

On the way, the driver received a phone call. He stopped the car on the side and told NMGK he would answer the phone call. He went far away, seeking privacy. NMGK was in the car. At that instant,  a bomb blasted under the vehicle, and NMGK was injured heavily and bleeding. The driver immediately rushed him to the hospital, where the doctors tried to save him. 

 They kept him on a mechanical ventilator for a day. He breathed his last in the morning. Samyukta and Dev Kumar were by his side.

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KK regains Consciousness

Karunima and Kamaleshwar waited at the side of KK’s bed daily to see him regain Consciousness. When the nurse tried to change his bedsheets that morning, she noticed a movement in KK.

Karunima whispered to KK, “Dear, Your suspension is revoked, and you are reinstated.”

Hearing these words, KK opened his eyes. The doctors tested him and found that he had regained Consciousness and was healthy.

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Before MGK breathed his last, he called Samyukta to his side and said, “I am leaving this body. I had a temporary swap in this body. I am joining my original body, lying on the other bed in a coma.”

Just then, she found movement in the body, lying in a coma on the next bed. It was of KK.

Samyukta thanked KK for setting right her home.

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Vinod Kumar Arrested

Samyukta doubted the car blast because the driver was safe. She filed an investigation with the police. The police questioned the driver, who revealed Vinod Kumar’s plot and gave details of the bomb supplier. The police arrested Vinod Kumar, the driver and the bomb supplier.

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Samyukta Becomes President of the Company.

 Samyukta became the company’s President in place of MGK. The office staff welcomed Samyukta. Dev Kumar took an active role in the company.

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KK Joins Office

The doctors discharged KK. Karunima and Kamaleshwar took him home. Karunima gave him a head bath. After breakfast, he started to go to the office. She took him into the room, hugged him, and kissed him.

The office staff welcomed him with a garland and congratulated him on coming out clean and fair in the inquiry.

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