The Many Faces of Dr. Chari — A Ponmanipudi Story of Balance and Truth
- Sriranga VN
- Jan 14
- 3 min read
🌿 THE MANY FACES OF ONE MAN
(A Ponmanipudi Story)
People in Ponmanipudi thought they knew Dr. Chari.
They of course didn’t...
They only knew the version that met them....
In the clinic that morning, Venkat complained loudly.
“Doctor, your medicines don’t work! what a waste....”
Chari listened. Didn’t interrupt. Perfectly still..
“How many days did you take them?” he asked.
“Two,” the man said confidently.
Chari’s voice hardened with a sharp edge— just slightly.
“Then don’t insult science, Go,” he said.
“And don’t insult your own body.”
The room went quiet.
“But—” Venkat tried.
“Next patient,” Chari said calmly.
Outside, someone whispered,
“Doctor is very strict.”
Inside, Chari washed his hands slowly, softly...
Ten minutes later, Ammulu ran in.
“Appa!” she said, breathless.
“See what I drew!”
He bent immediately, eyes softening.
“Ohho,” he said. “Very good line work. But tell me — why so much red?”
Ammulu shrugged.
“Felt like it.”
He smiled.
“Then it’s perfect.”
Someone passing by, said,
“Doctor is very gentle.”
Both were right.
At home, Sundarammal corrected Chari.
“You didn’t eat properly, maganum....”
“I ate,” Chari said.
“You ate fast,” she replied.
“Different thing.”
He nodded, obedient like a boy caught.
“Yes, Ammaa...”
She watched him closely.
“You look thinner.”
“Boston,” he said.
Sundrammal clicked her tongue.
“Don’t bring foreign excuses here.”
He smiled.
People said,
“Doctor respects elders.”
That was also true.
In the evening, Sita jumped on him.
Mylo barked. April wagged.
Arjuna sat, dignified, judging everyone...
Chari dropped to the floor without hesitation.
“Ahhh… betrayal!” he laughed as Sita licked his face.
To them, he was not doctor.
Not scholar. Not role model.
He was the Pack alpha....
Someone passing by would say,
“He is like a child with dogs.”
Correct again..
That night, Govinda tried to cheat him.
Fake story. Emotional blackmail.
Half-truths dressed as suffering.
Chari listened silently.
Then his voice sharpened — not loud, but final.
“Leave,” he said.
The man froze.
“You think kindness is weakness,” Chari continued.
“You think calm people are foolish.”
He leaned forward.
“Try this trick somewhere else.”
The man left quickly before things got bad...muttering....
Later, Appuswamy said quietly,
“Doctor is dangerous when crossed.”
Yes....
Past midnight, the house was silent. Radha slept.
Books lay open everywhere.
Chari sat alone, reading — not for degrees, not for display....knowledge...
Physics.Vedanta. Biology. Medicine...
A random essay on ants.
He smiled at a sentence....
Here, he was neither hard nor soft.
He was blissful.
People said,
“Doctor reads a lot.”
They had no idea.
At his desk, he picked up the violin.
The sound wavered. His mood showed.
He stopped.
“Mira,” he whispered — to silence, to soul, to something unseen. Not longing. Not possession....
Just resonance.
The note came cleaner this time.
The next morning, a young intern asked him timidly,
Chari thought for a moment.
Then said simply,
“I don’t try to be one person.”
The intern looked confused.
Chari continued,
“I am strict where truth is needed.
Soft where growth is fragile.
Playful where love exists.
Hard where boundaries are crossed.
Silent where words are useless.”
He smiled faintly.
“If you force one face everywhere… you break.”
The intern nodded slowly...
That evening, Sundarammal watched Chari walk away with Sita and Mylo.
Radha stood beside her.
“He is many things,” Radha said softly.
Sundarammal nodded.
“Yes,” she replied.
“But all of them are honest.”
And that was the secret. Not discipline. Not food. Not exercise.
But inner permission.
To be many things —
without lying to oneself..
That is why Dr. Chari stayed cheerful. Why illness avoided him. Why people felt steadier around him...
Because balance is not sameness.
Balance is allowing every true part, its proper place.....inner processor functioning in rhythm synchronous with Life itself..🌿
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