When Kari's turn came, he entered the practitioner's room.
"I am not getting sleep in the night" said Kari.
After checking Kari's pulse, the practitioner told him, "Your body functioning appears to be normal. I will give you a medicinal powder. Dissolve a pinch of the powder in water and drink the solution, before going to bed. You will get sleep."
He took out a few scoops of a white powder from a container, put it in a paper, folded it into a packet and handed over the packet to Kari.
"Sir, if I wake up in the middle of the night, can I take another dose of this powder?" asked Kari.
"If you wake up in the night, you will be able to go to sleep again. There will be no need for you to take another dose of the powder" said the medical practitioner.
"No, sir. After waking up in the middle of the night, I won't go to bed immediately. I will attend to a work and then only go to bed again. At that time, I don't get sleep. This is what has been happening for the past few days!"
"What is the work you have to do, after getting up from sleep in the night?"
"Writing a letter to my lover."
"What?" asked the Practitioner, shocked by Kari's reply. He then said, "Whatever it is, it is your personal matter. But, why don't you do it during the daytime?"
"I can't, sir. I won't be able to write the letter during the daytime, because my family members will be wide awake. I have to write the letter in privacy. Therefore, I wake up in the night, when everybody else in my family will be deep asleep and write the letter, using the dull light I could get through the window. After writing the letter, when I try to go back to sleep, I don't get sleep. This has been my experience for the last few days."
The medical practitioner controlled his annoyance with great difficulty, driven by his curiosity to know more about the letter Kari had mentioned.
"What is the need to write a letter every day?" asked the Practitioner.
"Because, every day, after writing the letter, I burn it!"
"Why should you do so?"
"My lover works as a maid in the palace. I met her when she came to the market to buy something for the princess. I fell in love with her instantly. I conveyed my love to her and she accepted it promptly. But, she said that she didn't know when she would come out of the palace again. Therefore, I have not been able to meet her subsequently. I have been quenching my desire to meet her, by writing a letter to her. Since I have no way of sending the letter to her, who is residing in the palace, I burn the letter. I will write a letter again the next day and destroy it. That was how I lost my sleep" explained Kari.
"By talking to you so long, thinking that you were a patient, I lost my time. The valuable time of the patients waiting outside has also been lost, because of my wasting my time with you. Get out immediately!" shouted the Medical Practitioner, angrily.
He then snatched the packet of medicinal powder he had given Kari earlier, from his hand, unfolded it and transferred the contents back to the container..
Section 3
Shedding Shyness
madal Urdhal yAmaththum uLLuvEn manRa
padal ollA pEdhaikku en kaN.
Verse 1135
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