"And... This is my bedroom." Nehali spread her arms wide to reveal her new spacious bedroom. It was hardly describable how she felt. Finally she got what was needed: a safe house to live.

Sid smiled back and mumbled complimenting words. He was happy and hopeful. Maybe now she will read Bhagavad Gita. He even gifted her a new copy, and now his eyes were dying to see when she would start reading it.

"It would never be possible without you, Sid. You relieved me from a big burden." Nehali's eyes became wet. And why they wouldn't? Because she was redeemed from a crisis.

Sid maintained a smile on his face and then parted his lips into two to speak, but the voice of Nehali's mother interrupted him. Nehali had invited him for the lunch, it was basically a token of thanks for what he'd done.

The food was already served on the dining table. Nehali's mother specially made vegetarian dishes for Sid, but for daughter, it was a thing to ridicule. Because it was really unexpected for her, she even teased him with an Indian idiom: after eating hundreds rats, the cat goes on a pilgrimage.

Of course, Sid kept quiet most of the time. Because he didn't want to argue with her. He just said this: at least the cat has gone on a pilgrimage; certainly, she will have purification and won't eat rats again. Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future.

****

The food was delicious. During lunch Nehali's mother asked various questions to Sid. Actually she really liked him, and even declared guys like him are rare to find.

After lunch Nehali's mother took her younger daughter, Milo, for skating classes. Only Sid and Nehali were left in the house, but they won't do any hanky-panky that was for sure. In fact, a moment later Nehali got busy talking with a colleague on the phone. Sid waited her to complete so that he can take permission to leave. And it was done.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Nehali burst out, her face bloomed with happiness, her legs and hands were trembling as well as her lips. "You won't b-believe it ... I got promotion and fifty percent increment in my salary." She hugged Sid, almost jumping. (Now her salary will be twenty-eight thousand rupees.)

Wow, this was amazing. She got a new house to live, promotion and increment. Happiness must have chose to visit her house today. Really, tables are indeed turning around for her.

"Great! So now you can read Bhagavad Gita without any hindrance, isn't it?" the guy who got the lion's share in her present situation spoke up.

Nehali winced. "Yeah, I guess so." Her face lacked enthusiasm, Sid could see it. He even reminded her words: If I have financial stability like you do, if I have a safe house to live, surely then, I will read it. Now she has it.

"You know," she mumbled, "I have read a few pages of an ebook version. But you know .... It's ... it's—uh—quite draggy."

Sid tossed his eyebrows, while his hands landed on his hips. He parted his lips to speak, but Nehali cut him off, "Once I clear my debt. Surely then, I will read it peacefully."

"Um ... yeah, sure." Disheartened, Sid got his answer once and for all. He took leave from Nehali, though she insisted on staying a bit more, but he just walked away. His hopes were completely drowned. Maybe forever.

*****

Sid's breathing became heavy as he was climbing on the stairs, heading way up to his bedroom. His mom told him that there are two kids in his bedroom who happen to be his cousins. As he was getting closer to his bedroom, a boisterous laughter and yelling snapped at his ears.

He pulled open the door and caught sight of the twins. Their external appearance got him gazing: they seem to have passed twelve years of their life, and have donned themselves as a snappy teenager, wearing similar fashioned jacket and same ripped jeans, both of them had dyed a strip of their hair in golden color, which distinguished them as die hard fans of Dragon Ball Z.

However, this wasn't enough to rise Sid's hackle. What contributed to that was, the whole mess of his room. At first his eyes darted at the study table which was stained by cheese and ketchup; the twins had drawn some ugly paintings on it as well. Then he looked across his bed; enraging enough, the twins dropped a cup of cold drink on his bed. The bed sheet became wet.

But something horrible than all made Sid to sprint at them, because one of the twins was holding his laptop, using it very rashly. Sid's heart thumped like a snare drum, because up to the first day till now, he never used it that way.

He tried to snatch the laptop, but the boy held it in his hands as if glued. "Let go of it!" Sid squealed. The boy lost his grip and laptop came in the hands of the rightful owner.

But it didn't help Sid at all. Because he spotted stains of chocolate smoothies on the mouse pad. He further peeked into his laptop, and saw there were multiple windows kept opened. One after another he started clicking on the close button to shut it off. But one particular window got him a lump in the throat. It was a porn site. A nude blond lady was exposing her rear part, and below it was written "click here to f*** **."

A surge of shock flooded Sid's heart, he suspiciously stared at the twins, it was hard for him to fathom how can these kids watch such lewd stuff. Really, material energy is so strong, he thought. Even preteens are not free from the eternal enemy of living entities known as lust.

"Both of you. Get out of my room!" Sid barked, as if on another moment he'll thrash them, if they didn't obey.

"Aunt, Neha, asked us to be here," one of them mumbled innocently.

"Did she tell you to make a mess of my room and touch my stuff?" Sid retorted. "Now! Get your twin asses out of here."

Sid heaved a sign of relief when these troublemakers walked past of his room. But then he gulped to see all the mess they'd created. He darted his eyes at the scraps of foodstuff—carelessly thrown here and there—without caring to dump it in a dustbin. And obviously he has to clean it up on their behalf.

For sure these twin brothers were pampered more than required; therefore, they lacked etiquette while being in someone else's house. They treated Sid's room as if their own, this was what angered him the most. You see, we may behave recklessly in our own bedroom, but we probably don't make a mess in others.

"Duhkhesu anudvigna-manā sukhesu vigata-sprhah vīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥsthita-dhīr munir ucyate." Sid remembered a verse from Bhagavad Gita, just to pacify himself. Which meant – One who is not disturbed even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.

Although Krishna conscious philosophy is clear and pleasing for him, but now came the tough part: to apply it in life.

Sid pushed open the door of bathroom for nature's call. As he pull opened the lid of commode, a shiver of disgust rocketed his limbs. Because one of the twins had used it, but didn't care to flush the doo-doo off. So careless. Its stench madden Sid with anger, but again he pacified himself and came into his bedroom to take a nap.

His mind was still thinking about Nehali and it made him crestfallen to realize that she showed no interest in her spiritual life. Even if she's "financially stable."

In this regard he remembered a Hindi proverb, "Bhuke pet bhajan na hoye Gopal – It's very difficult to worship God when your stomach is empty." This proverb basically means that if someone doesn't have basic needs fulfilled one can't practice devotion to God. However, this wasn't completely true, Sid made a sequel proverb, "Bhare pet bhi bhajan na hoye Gopal – Even if your stomach is full, you can't worship God." Nehali was a classic example for this.

*****

"You did it!" "No you did it!" "It wasn't my fault." "Don't lie, you broke it."

Sid woke up to the sound of twin fighting in the hall room. A grimace made its up on his face, because his precious sleep was broken. Man! These kids are such a pest. He got up from his bed to go and look what's wrong with them. He decided to give them one tight slap if they don't stop fighting—or two, if they tell about it to anybody—while walking down on stairs, a devilish smile formed on his lips.

But when he reached in the hall room, a creepy fear trickled down his spine like a wet spider, his mouth was wide open and he felt the ground underneath him shifted. Because in the hall room, there were broken pieces of LCD TV screen.

"Oh my God ... oh my ... no, no, no ... why ... this..."—he looked at the twins—"What you guys have done? WHAT THE F*** YOU GUYS HAVE DONE!?" Sid shrieked at the top of lungs (You spoke F word, Sid, you still have a long way to go, buddy). His harsh tone was justifiable because that LCD TV cost around one-hundred thousand rupees. On top of that, it was recently purchased. Surely it was going to give a heart attack to his parents.

Not even two minutes passed, Sid's parents and his uncle set foot in the house to behold this feat achieved by twin kids. Sid's dad jaw was dropped, while Neha's eyes went bigger like blowing balloon; and they did receive a sympathetic look from their son.

Of course, the most angry or rather embarrassed person was the father of those twin. They've really put him in a big trouble. Keep pampering your kids like this, foolish man.

Sid expected verbal war would break out between the grown-ups, but it really didn't happen. The whole matter got settled within half an hour. What went wrong was, a little later, his parents jumped down their throats on him for not keeping an eye on those troublemakers.

He's a useless fellow, the epitome of negligence, and except sleeping and using his mobile he knows nothing, were some of the tongue lashings. Which was too much for him to handle, as if it was him, who broke the new brand LCD TV. He just walked off before anyone watch him blow up like Vesuvius.

Why I'm getting angry!? Sid thought, he was literally on the brink to pluck out his hair. He tried to control his anger a lot. But now it was almost uncontrollable. Firstly, Raj got on his nerves with that religious fanaticism; then, Nehali disheartened him with her anti-spiritual nature; and now, this tongue-lashing from his parents.

He sucked in deep breaths to calm himself down, but it was not helping. Maybe it's for the first time he was trying curb his emotions, in which he was facing a failure.

The sleep came over him as if darkness embraced his eyes. Sleeping was the best for him now to get rid of his frustration, and be dragged to the world of dreams.

"Okay, so here we are again," Sid said as he spun around to face his inner self. 

So, Mr. Spiritual guy why you can't have control on your senses? Why within a few provocation, your so-called spiritual knowledge turned into dust? His inner self said.

That hurts. These questions really got on Sid's nerves, he wanted to charge at his inner self—maybe to whack him. 

Back of his mind Sid knew whatever his inner self told him was true. He believed he became the master of controlled senses, but his actual self-mastery slapped him. Lethargy washed over him, now his mind hovering over a conclusion that maybe spirituality is not cup of his tea.

"Why this is so difficult? It's impossible to be spiritual amidst people who are pure devotees of materialism." Sid paused to transform his emotions into words. "How long I can nurture my vulnerable devotion to God when there are waves of temptation and provocation?"

The inner self suggested when one tries to catch fire with bare hands, certainly such gentle person will end up burning one's hands. Therefore, one should get a medium to catch fire. But Sid argued that he relies on his own research and intelligence to deal with problems. And yet, you are frustrated despite using your so-called intelligence, his inner self said, and emerged into the fits of laughter.

"So what should I do?"

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master," his inner self said, "inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth."

Sid really didn't think to come up with a counter argument. He still couldn't understand why in the world having a guide is very vital for one's spiritual advancement. Even if finding a spiritual master is like finding a needle in a haystack, he has got to find one. 

Because now he got a mission and he named it "finding a needle in a haystack."

*******

A/N: This chapter is really important to understand. Sid is quite rare person to understand this fact about spirituality. Please, vote and do comment.