Sid felt his body frozen with fear, and his heart crumbled to hear all those tough time Nehali was going through. No doubt Nehali's an exemplary girl, and he deeply respected her for that. But what made his blood run cold was, when she told him about criminal charges on some local sleazebags, who regularly molest young girls. Yet police department hasn't taken any strict action against them. Some of them are even convicted rapists, but call it lawlessness or shame they are still roaming freely.

And those scumbags to whom Nehali taught a good lesson are just a few of many rascals. This was really a serious issue, where she was not safe at all. Naming her problems would be heart-rending: coming home late every night amid wolves under the bodies of human, no financial backup, no responsible dad, no sensible mother, and no safe house to live. But yet she was fighting and dealing with it all alone. No whining. No running away. What a dauntless girl she is!

This situation, however, landed Sid into a maze. He came to a conclusion that he shouldn't discuss about Bhagavad Gita with her. At least for now. Because neither things will allow her to understand it, nor it was the right time. Now it struck to him why Vedic scriptures also emphasize on four material goals of life: Dharma (moral values), Artha (economical progress), kama (sense gratification), and moksha (liberation). Proper balance between these four goals makes a society godly, so that they can understand the ultimate truth of life. Nehali's impediment for spiritual realization was related to artha, because of which she was unable to grasp whatever Sid told her.

"Would you had read Bhagavad Gita, if you didn't have a home to live in? How it will inspire me to read it, when I think of my father, who ran away with my own aunt? And now my mom, who wants to be in a relationship with our landlord, the man who just want to jump into bed with her?" Nehali rambled out all of her frustration, actually, she wanted to put Sid in her position by using "you." So that he can get the drift of her miserable situation. But she thought, he might be offended, if she'd used his mother and father's reference. Therefore, she burst out her own situation.

Nehali gazed at Sid, and she perceived that he was taken aback. Actually, this was the first time Nehali told him about her personal problems. She'd decided to speak about it on the day of his birthday, but back then things went astray. "Sid ... I don't have anything against your Bhagavad Gita, alright?" Nehali added to make sure Sid will not look down upon her.

"It's not my Bhagavad Gita. Lord Krishna spoke it five thousand years ago," Sid snapped. He would've laughed his head off at this witty reply. But he wasn't in that position to crack a joke because Nehali can beat the stuffing out of him for such insensitivity.

"Oh yeah ... I was just letting you know. You see, if I have financial stability like you do. If I have my own house to live, surely then, I will read it." Nehali managed to manifest a dim smile on her face as she looked at him eye to eye.

Sid's eyes lit up with this response and a large smile beamed across his face. All those drowning hopes seem to make their way up again. He believed that maybe there's something he can do. "How much money do you need for rental deposit?"

"It's too much, I need a month. There's a friend of mine, who can arrange some amount of it," Nehali replied. Unaware of what's bubbling up in Sid's head.

"Just tell me the amount!" Sid exclaimed.

"Um ... Seventy-thousand rupees, out of which twenty-thousand I have." Nehali thrown her hands in the hair and avoided an eye contact with Sid.

"Okay, fine." Sid looked at the time on his wristwatch, it was 8.15 PM. "Tomorrow, I'll bring the rest of the money to you. So you better get started with the shifting process."

"What!?" Nehali felt a lump in her throat. "No! Thank you, I'll manage. Don't take me as a crybaby, who's crying out for help, alright?"

"Just cut it out. You better be ready," Sid said. He stumbled backwards without turning around to walk, he waited for the final response to come, but Nehali was simply standing there, dumbstruck. So he turned around, almost running, and headed back to his home.

Actually, Nehali struck with a combination of embarrassment and awe running inside her mind. She finds it difficult even to think about taking help from Sid, because he wasn't a millionaire or something. She was sure enough, Sid will seek help from his parents. But she had an intuition, his parents may get wrong impression about her, like why she needs money? Is she trying to con their son? Because you really cannot say how people may perceive things from their point of reality.

Basically Sid's whole mood behind this help was, once Nehali get financial stability; she will read the Bhagavad Gita for sure. But he knew the fact that fifty thousand rupees was not a small amount. Even his parents will flinch to help, however, he pinned his faith that some way or other he'll get the money.

*****

Sid set foot into his parent's bedroom, who were watching a TV show, so absorbed that they didn't even feel his presence. Sid hawked loudly, this instantly drew their attention on him, waiting for him to speak. In the beginning, Sid wondered from where to start, but then he just ran his mouth about the whole situation, and in the end asked his father for the money. Rubbing his chin, he nodded toward the direction his wife, since she has much of financial control.

At first obviously she hesitated, "It's not that I don't wanna help," was the first sentence she said. "But fifty-thousand rupees is too much." Her voice cracked every now and then.

"Even though," Sid's dad interrupted, "we can give thirty-thousand maximum. But fifty thousand is ... too much."

Thanks a lot Dad! You're the best, Sid mentally admired his father. Right now if anyone ask him to choose, who's the best his mother or father? He would choose his father even if everyone knows him as a mama's boy, because he found his dad to be more magnanimous than his mom. He knew from the very beginning, he could only rely on his father in terms of financial matters. It was quite exemplary, whatever Sid and Pratham asked their dad—even if its expensive—he gave it to them the very next day. He often says, because my father hardly gave me what I want. Therefore, I don't want my kids to be devoid of anything.

A smile stretched across Sid's lips, lined with satisfaction as he succeeded to get the money. But the problem still remains, he have to add up twenty-thousand rupees more, which was not a cake walk. Who can help? Who can help? Sid wondered repetitively. In a snap, a certain someone clicked in his mind, who's a millionaire. Twenty thousand rupees might not be a big amount for him, and above all he is Sid's best friend. Yeah, you guessed it right; it's Ravi Sheshamal Jijroliya.

******

Most of the time Sid had kept Ravi waiting, whenever they'd planned to go somewhere. But this time it was Sid, who was waiting for Ravi-and it was more than half an hour-as if God is trying to test his patience. Surprisingly Sid wasn't fretted and fumed with this test at all.

In his mind, Sid was thinking about Shukadev Goswami, the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam (the topmost Vedic literature). The story goes: Once upon a time, father of Shukadev Goswami, Vyasdeva, sent him to meet with a king. He did as order, and when he reached the king's palace, the gatekeepers stopped him. Actually, both Vyasdeva and the king had decided to take a test of Shukadev Goswami's patience. So the king kept him waiting for three continuous days. But he didn't whine or curse the king, instead he waited until the king came.

Above story kept on churning in Sid's head, and while doing so, a dim smile never left his lips. In fact, he found a big transformation within him. Reading of the Bhagavad Gita has really impacted his demeanor, now he was more blissful and peaceful. He attained peace of mind from all of those obsessions, introspections, and inquisitions, which at some point bugged his brain.

"His holiness, what's up?" Ravi stood in front of Sid all of a sudden, his arms crossed across his chest.

Every time Ravi teased Sid as his holiness, Sid's eyes snapped with fury. But this time he felt no surge of anger, boiling him. Have I achieved perfection or what? Sid wondered jokingly. What he meant by that was: having total self-mastery on one's own senses.

Sid chuckled on above certainty he was thinking over. But since his friend was here, so he snapped himself out of his reverie and explained the entire situation to Ravi. Fortunately Ravi felt the same concern for Nehali, mirroring exactly like Sid's. And he experienced a rush of compassion bloating in his heart. "I'll arrange twenty-thousand rupees." His voice held assuredness.

Now this gave a big relief to Sid. Mission accomplished, he felt. His heart enraptured with the thought of Nehali will soon get rid of the tough time, and if things goes smoothly, she could even read Bhagavad Gita. "Thanks a lot, man. Tomorrow, we'll go and give her the money, coming?"

"Oh. Well, me and Raj have a work to do in college," Ravi replied. He wished to come, but college work was more important.

Sid nodded in understanding, he waved his hand as "see you later" sign and turned around to walk off. But Ravi stood on his place motionless, because his mind was hovering on one possibility. "Sid," he called. Sid instantly stopped walking and turned around. "What is your real motive behind helping her? Because you think she'll read the Bhagavad Gita after being financially well-situated. What if she doesn't?"

An interesting question posed by Ravi, Sid hardly pondered over this possibility. For a split second, he actually peeped into his heart to ferret out the truth. The answer came: I just wanted to help. He stared into the brown eyes of Ravi. "Let's go for a walk."

Ravi nodded, both of them kept their mouth shut as they were walking. Sid heaved a sigh and spoke up, "Frankly speaking, I'm doing as per told in Bhagavad Gita 2.47. Karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana."

Ravi's eyes rolled on the last, "What does that even mean?"

"You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action." Sid translated, "That's what it means. Don't ask me how I'm able to memorize these verses, I'm really surprised with myself."

"You see ... it seems to me soon you're going to be a monk," Ravi blurted out, his voice clearly contained humor. But little did he know, his words offended Sid, and to add more flavor, he spoke further. "Come to think of it, I heard from many people that when someone reads Bhagavad Gita, he/she become ambitionless. The worst of it, one becomes a renunciate."

"That's nonsense!" Sid retorted. "If that's so, then why not Arjuna became the one? I'll tell you what the Bhagavad Gita talks about, in the way that you can comprehend."

There are many prejudices about Bhagavad Gita people have in their minds. Some think, its all about warfare, because it is spoken in the middle of the battlefield. Some say, don't bring Bhagavad Gita in your home, because your house will be full of fights.

"Have you ever questioned yourself," Sid burst out. "The paradoxes of time is that we have wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We have taller buildings but shorter tempers. We have more degrees but less sense. More knowledge but less judgment. More experts but less solutions. We've split the atom but not our prejudices against a caste, race, or nation. We're aiming for higher incomes but we have lower morals.

"Over thirty billion Whatsapp messages are sent per day, but forty eight percent of people say that they feel lonelier in general. And it's phenomenal how the same technology that brings us close to those who are far away, takes us far away from people that are actually close... Just tell me how do we bring a change or how do we dissect this paradox that exist in our life?"

"You got me," Ravi replied. He was silenced, and deep in the heart he felt guilty for that statement about the Bhagavad Gita.

"For instance, someone hurt you and in return you take revenge, but still why you're not happy? You go for the party, have sex with whoever you want, but still why you're not happy? You live the way you want, you do what you want to do, but still why you're not happy?" Sid's voice was heavy, he became bit by bit emotional when he rambled it all.

Needless to say, every word and sentence pierced into Ravi's heart, and layers of nescience that had covered it burnt away. He was hardly ever moved like this in his life. There was a good news for Sid, Nehali may or may not care to read to the Bhagavad Gita, but Ravi would do it.

*******

A/N: Alright, I'm glad I'm able to update this chapter so soon. So how do you like it? I hope Nehali's life will be better now. Sid has done a great job. Please comment, don't just vote. Commenting makes it sure that you have read it lolz.