Brahma stunned

Whenever Chitragupta appeared in person, alarm bells definitely started to ring with bad vibes. And as the Creator, he is the defacto receiver of bad tidings. 

Brahma could not believe any of his eight ears. All were hearing the same unbelievable news just delivered by Chitragupta. The cryptic message was about servers in Dev Lok crashing frequently. Chitragupta hinted that the source of the trouble lay centered in the " Portal of Boons" a highly recommended and vigorously popularized gateway to send appeals seeking clemency, boons or a little luck.

He mentally commended Chitragupta for understanding the import of the message and choosing to directly whisper it into his ears. Brahma hoped and believed that Chitragupta did not harbour any evil design to bite off his earlobes and sat still till transmission was completed. He pitied Chitragupta. The poor fellow had to do it eight times to ensure total secrecy. When Chitragupta withdrew to a safe distance, he heaved a sigh of relief, after ascertaining the health of his earlobes.  

One’s misery is another’s opportunity. The Earthlings, never to miss out on a chance to bring home a cash cow, took to this heavenly gateway like fish to water. The enterprising ones started dedicated e-way cafes to exploit the boom. The fickle and feeble minded public willingly became fodder for the cash cows. As a result, the terabytes traffic jumped all the way to yottabytes, heavily overloading the system. The Dev Lok servers simply quit and went kaput. After deciphering Chitragupta’s cryptic message, Brahma could only agree with this assessment.

At this point a messenger from the Grand Council rushed in to inform Brahma about the volcanic eruption currently spewing out in the meeting hall, requiring urgent presence. Now with the ticking bomb shoved into his ears and the messenger's battleground update, he let his mind race to work out the best way to deal with the message of the 'far reached' consequence. 

He wanted to hit the roof in anger but the gentle smile on the face of Chitragupta brought home the truth that he will be endangering not one but four of his own heads in one go. Who else but the devoted Chitragupta would be suitable to get to the root of the problem? As if reading his thoughts Chitragupta silently handed over a bunch of documents into his hands. 

Then he started to worry about ways to convince the Grand Council of gods? Again, Chitragupta pulled out another dossier with hints for managing the current crisis and quietly withdrew from the scene. Brahma hurried down the corridors, all the while churning out and rejecting the opening remarks that will sit well with the Grand Council.

He recollected, with misgivings, a past incidence when the Council Members became so agitated and vented their frustrations on decorative artifacts. He mused, when humans could have godly nature why not the gods show some of human nature? He only hoped that a better decorum would prevail when confronted with this current crisis.

He never had to fight for a seat; it was kept reserved for him. Other Council Members envied it as a perk, but Brahma knew it as a peril. His quick glance revealed long faces of seated Council Members staring at him, presenting a ghostly sight. 

Brahma had already decided to go on offensive and blame the Council Members, one by one, for inviting the elephants and camels into the room. His question, hit all of them where he intended it to? He followed it up with a sharp comment - for what else but to project your individual image as clear-all, close-all and be-all beings to double the pain of hurt.

Then he proceeded to distribute a compilation of cause and effect specific to each Council Member. Those who have been used only for exposure to limelight, suddenly found themselves under intense scrutiny of searchlight. He watched their already ghostly faces turning more ghostlier with understanding.  In the meanwhile, he glanced through the second dossier noting the bullet points:

1 Embed circuitous routes to access and log in the appeal.

2.At the end before activating SEND button, make the applicant to fill the displayed format a number of times (applicant or the cafe' operator will lose patience and quit).

3.Infest with a bug that routinely reverts the appeal, a few times, back to the originating system itself.

4.Install a wicket gate, as another bug, for the portal to filter out repeated appeals from the same person or cafe' as rejects.

5. Shut down the Portal on New Moon, Full Moon, Solar and Lunar eclipse.

6.If all else fails, announce a moratorium and prescribe that boons should be granted by gods only after rigorous due diligence.

At the end of reading, he had nothing but admiration for Chitragupta’s grasp and clarity. Second time within a short interval, he mentally thanked Chitragupta, for this explosive idea, outlined in the dossier. But a feeling of unease crept in as he perused the dossier, whether Chitragupta would outsmart him one day. 

Nothing of that sort of thinking lingering in his mind, Chitragupta fervently hoped that his Boss would hammer home these action points. He did not pause to think whether these suggestions will be considered and any of them will be accepted and hoped that these action points, if taken together, would lead to a permanent solution. Piloting these action points, from now on, will be Brahma’s headache.

For once, Brahma had the Council Members squirming in their seats. Moments coalesced and grew and kept on growing. The Council Members, struggling to bury their egos and hatchets, silently exchanged glances gathering support for whatever solution Brahma proposed. Sensing imminent unanimity, Brahma seized the opportunity and navigated them through these action points. He was not surprised when he heard a chorus of affirmative shouts. 

If Chitragupta brought forward a problem, he had solutions to deal with it unlike Yamadharmaraj who was synonymous with only problems. He had no qualms in giving Chitragupta a little leeway as long as it did not embolden him to become loose cannon.  Though it would be a third mental thanks, in a short time, he felt Chitragupta's acumen and foresight deserved it.