Chapter 1:Too Much Krishna in the Veins
Krishna is the biggest red flag.
Kalyani:
Grandma... can I tell you something?
Grandma:
Of course, child.
Kalyani:
Do you think I'm a red flag?
Grandma:
A red flag?
Kalyani:
That's what people call it these days, don't they?
Last month, my best friend needed help for her exams. I stayed awake late at night helping her with notes, assignments, and revision. She used to call me every day. But the moment the exams ended... she stopped talking to me. No calls. No messages. Nothing.
Everyone told me to block her and move on. But I couldn't hate her. Even now, a part of me still hopes she's okay.
And people call that a red flag.
If you care too much... red flag.
If you love deeply... red flag.
If you forgive too easily... red flag.
If you're emotional... red flag.
If you trust people after they've broken your trust... red flag.
If you keep seeing good in people after they've shown you their worst... red flag.
I don't understand anymore.
I'm ambitious, but I'm kind.
I'm strong, but I cry.
I can walk away, but I still hope.
I can be hurt, but I still love.
And somehow... all of that makes me a red flag.
Sometimes I feel like being human itself has become a red flag.
Grandma:
Oh, Kalyani... the world is a funny place. Let me tell you a story. A story my mother once told me. A story about the biggest red flag in all of Vrindavan.
Kalyani:
Who?
Grandma:
Krishna and Radhe.
Kalyani:
Krishna, Radhe?
Grandma:
You say you love too deeply? Then let me tell you about Radha and Krishna.
People speak of their love as if it was a fairy tale. But do you know the saddest part? Krishna left Vrindavan. He left Radha. Not because he stopped loving her. Not because she wasn't enough. But because duty called him elsewhere.
Radha never stopped loving Krishna. Krishna never stopped loving Radha. Yet neither of them tried to imprison the other. Because true love is not possession. Sometimes love means letting someone walk their path, even when your heart wants them to stay.
You say you're too emotional?
When Krishna left Vrindavan, everyone talks about Radha's tears. Few talk about Krishna's.
Before leaving, he walked through the village one final time. He touched the trees he climbed as a child. The riverbank where he played. The dusty paths where he laughed with his friends.
And he cried.
Not because he was weak. Because he loved. People think strength means never crying. Krishna knew that strength is carrying love even when it hurts. A heart that never breaks has never truly loved.
Tell me, Kalyani... Was that a red flag?
Kalyani:
No, Grandma.
Grandma:
Listen. You say you care too much.
One summer, a calf wandered away from the village. The sun had set. The forests were dark. The villagers said, "Leave it. It's only an animal."
But little Krishna disappeared into the forest. Hours passed. Yashoda cried. The Gopis searched for him everywhere. Near midnight they found him. Sitting beside the frightened calf. His arm wrapped around its neck. His own feet bleeding from thorns.
The villagers scolded him. "You risked your life for a calf?"
And Krishna smiled. "If someone's fear becomes smaller because of me... Then why would I count the thorns?"
Tell me, Kalyani. Was that a red flag?
You say you forgive too easily.
Every week someone complained about Krishna. He stole butter. He teased people. He broke rules. Every day someone was angry with him. Yet the next morning he would greet the same people with the same smile. No grudge. No revenge. No bitterness.
One Gopi once asked him, "Why do you keep loving people who misunderstand you?"
Krishna laughed. "Because if I stop loving them... Then I become like them."
Tell me. Was that a red flag?
You say you trust people too much.
Do you know how many times people disappointed Krishna? Yet he kept believing. Kept guiding. Kept giving chances. Again. And again. And again.
Because Krishna always looked at people and saw who they could become. Not just who they were. The world called it foolishness. Krishna called it faith.
Can faith ever be a red flag?
Kalyani:
Never!
Grandma:
And you say you keep seeing good in people. Even after they hurt you.
Ah... That was Krishna's biggest problem. He saw diamonds where others saw dust. He saw flowers where others saw thorns. He saw light where others saw darkness.
The whole world looked at a broken soul and said, "Worthless."
Krishna looked at the same soul and said, "Not yet."
He never gave up on people. Not because they deserved it. Because love was his nature.
Tell me, Kalyani. Was that a red flag?
I don't understand this modern obsession with flags. Red flag. Green flag. Yellow flag.
In my day, we looked at hearts.
Today people call kindness dangerous. Forgiveness weakness. Sensitivity a burden. Love a mistake. And then they wonder why everyone feels lonely.
Kalyani:
So what do I do, Grandma?
Grandma:
Nothing. Stay exactly who you are. The world has enough people who know how to protect their hearts. It is starving for people who still know how to share them.
Kalyani:
But what if people keep calling me a red flag?
Grandma:
Then smile. And remember Vrindavan.
Remember the boy who cared too much. Loved too much. Forgave too much. Trusted too much. Felt too much.
The boy everyone complained about. The boy nobody could forget.
The boy whose heart was broken too, yet the love inside his heart only grew... Just like you, Kalyani.
The boy who was extremely emotional and could cry over the smallest things... Just like you.
Because, Kalyani... if caring too much is a red flag... if forgiveness is a red flag... if tenderness is a red flag... if love is a red flag... Then Krishna was the biggest red flag in the entire universe.
You know what's funny, Kalyani? The world calls people like you red flags. Then it spends its whole life searching for people like Krishna.
People who care. People who forgive. People who stay kind after being hurt.
But the moment they meet someone like that... they call them 'too much.'
If caring too much is a flaw... If forgiveness is a flaw... If tenderness is a flaw... If love is a flaw... Then Krishna was guilty of all of them. And perhaps that is why heaven and earth have been worshipping the biggest red flag for thousands of years.
Grandma smiled.
You are not too much. It's just that there is a little too much Krishna flowing through your veins...
Kalyani:
(smiling through her tears)
I will remember that, Grandma.
Grandma:
"And there is one more lesson Krishna taught us, Kalyani..."
Kalyani:
What is it?
Grandma:
Never let the world teach you to measure a person by their caste, their religion, or their background.
When Krishna joyfully ate the simple food offered by Vidura, did he ask for his status? When he hugged his childhood friend Sudama in the royal palace, did he care about his wealth or rank? To him, a king and a cowherd were exactly the same.
Kalyani:
People today fight so much over these things...
Grandma:
Because they have forgotten how to see. People have built tall walls using caste and religion, but hearts don't understand these borders.
Look at the world, Kalyani. Blood has only one color. Tears taste exactly the same, no matter who cries them. Hunger feels the same to everyone. At the end of the day, we are all just humans, breathing the same air, walking the same earth.
If you truly have Krishna's love in your heart, you will see the soul before you see the label. You will see a human being before you see their religion or their caste.
Kalyani:
Love everyone equally...
Grandma:
Exactly. Love without boundaries. Never distance yourself from someone because of where they come from or how they pray. A good heart is a good heart.
Grandma gently holds Kalyani's hands.
Don't let society's divisions taint your kindness. Just be a good human, Kalyani. Treat everyone with dignity. Because seeing the divine in every single human being... that is the greatest, most beautiful flag of all....
