“So tell me Ms. Grace, what’s your problem”

Dr.Purushothaman, Psychiatrist interrogated her with his bald head shimmering in the Tube light’s reflection

“I had a bad dream today. I’m going to die. But do not know how. The dream is actually incomplete” said Grace with worried face.

He has seen many patients with mental disorder and many other cases dealing with dreams. He could understand her. She was yet another patient who has been affected mentally by dreams and this makes her uncomfortable.

“OK, tell me what happened and what did you see in your dream. I’ll try to sort it out” said the doctor.

She started narrating,

***

Click the “Read more…” link below to read the rest of the story

I woke up from a deep sleep. My eyes felt heavy. My heart was pounding. I could feel the hydraulics of my arteries and veins that aided the traversal of blood. I was engulfed in fear.

Fear of Death !!

The room was normal. Neat, tidy and well kept. The curtains covering the window pane filled the room with bright creamy white ambience. The fan above my head was rotating silently under the magnetic flux exerted in its motor windings.

There was a table and a chair near the bed in which I was lying. I was under some compulsion of doing something. I felt as if I had to complete a couple of tasks. I opened the table’s drawer, and found a watch which had stopped working. There was a small chit in which something was written in it. It had a train’s name and the nearby railway station. I did not know how I knew that it was a train’s name and the railway station which was written in it.

I got up, came out, locked the room and started walking in the streets and caught an auto to reach the station. To my amusement, the station was deserted. I could see, not even a single soul, except a stray dog which lifted its head occasionally in response to the lonely bell man who bangs the metal plate hung outside the station master’s cabin.

I could hear the sound of the horn emitted far away in the tracks. The motion of vestibules in the tracks echoed the station roofs. I could see the headlight of the engine approaching the platform. Then I walked along the platform and got into one of the compartments. It had very few people. All of them were engrossed in the newspaper or gazing paranormally the roof of the compartment. I felt something creepy out here in this place. I plugged in my iPod and followed the other zombie looks of the passengers.

It was a 20 minute journey.

The train slowed down giving all of us hints that it is approaching a station. I got up from my seat scanned all the passengers who were sitting as if they have lost everything in life. No one was ready to get down. The train halted with a jerk. I got down the train and walked towards the exit.

In another 15 minutes, I reached the City Terminal Shopping Complex and searched for the surgical instruments shop. I really do not know why did, I searched for that.

“Oh I see, usually weird dreams doesn’t equip you with a reason for an incident to happen. It just happens”, said the doctor looking keenly on her case.

“One Surgical knife please “, I said to the shopkeeper

“Yes madam. Which one do you want?”

“The disposable carbon steel surgical knife, size 3”

“Here it is madam”

“Is it double sterilized under vacuum?” I enquired

“Of course, these days surgical equipments are sterilized under vacuum to avoid compound formation. Gamma radiation sterilization is also stopped now-a-days” He explained. “Here is a coupon for every purchase of this product. Scratch the colored areas in the coupon which will reveal a unique number. If your number appears in the weekly lot results of our surgical instruments association then you will have gifts sent to your home. Please fill out this form madam.”

I filled the form and entered the coupon number in it. I left the place after paying him the bill. When I reached the same place, where I woke up, I had a key to open the door. I entered the room and there was a cover lying in the ground. There was again a small chit in the paper which asked me to deposit the Demand draft inside the cover to the account number mentioned.

I did not know what I was doing. I quickly refreshed myself. Had a drink and left the room towards the bank. I was being operated I guess. I was walking towards the nearby bank.

Oriental Bank of India, the name board beamed in its golden yellow font beveled in a blue board. I entered the bank and waited in the queue for my turn. That’s when I saw a haphazardly dressed man entering the bank in a hurry. He was restless and took a withdrawal form from the table and stood still. His hands went up to his shirt pockets, inside his pant pockets and to his disappointment; he did not find what he wanted. I saw him approaching me with a scurry look on his face.

“Pen please” He asked. I understood his need and took out the pen from my bag with which I filled the form in the surgical company.

“Thank you very much” saying this, he hurriedly went to the table where quite a few of them have been filling up various forms. By the time he was about to complete filling it, the pen ceases to write.

“Sorry madam. The pen got over. I’ll get you a new one.”

“No that’s OK. I can manage. No need to get new one”

“No no. You helped me and it is my duty to help you.” Saying this he hurried out of the bank. I followed him shouting not to take pains of getting a new pen. By the time I reached to exit, he had reached the road and crossed it looking back. The moment he found himself in the middle of the road, a big Lorry carrying cement mixer was in close encounter to him and he did not get any split second to understand what was going to happen.

The lorry ran over him in full speed leaving the wriggling body mercilessly in the middle of the road. I couldn’t register anything happening in quick succession. By the time, I reached him, a considerable amount of crowd gathered around him. His head bleeding vigorously sent chilling impulses in everyone’s spine.

I reached him, and looked around to get any help from the people around but it is of no use. I kneeled down took his hands and…err..I don’t remember after this.

“What you forgot? Try recalling it again. May be you’ll remember the words spoken by him” said the doctor

“No…I’m not able to recall”. I squirmed in the seat unable to recall what happened after that.

There was a silence which filled the room for few minutes.

“He said something about my Death……” I broke the silence. But do not know what exactly he said. Am I going to die? Please doctor, help me. I’m not able to sleep in peace”

***

Purushothaman thought,

Well, people are affected mentally due to many cases and weird dreams are one of those cases which need patience and some consulting which can free them from the mental trauma that they undergo out of it. There is no solution for dreams as they occur randomly based on our thoughts and our desires. Few scenes or incidents that impact our mind, stays there in the memory for some time and our mind keeps on thinking about it as how we play the song or a video clipping again and again if we like it so much. I think this is one of the cases which needs proper mental treatment and not a medical one. Probably, I can speak to her after sometime, so that I can give her some relaxation techniques to keep her captivated mind away from these thoughts.

“Please wait outside in the couch. Have something in the canteen. Meet me after an hour. I’ll prescribe you what you need as of now” said the doctor

“Thank You doctor. Meet you after an hour said the lady and left the room.

“Next Please” said the doctor and pressed the buzzer.

A middle aged man who looked more worried than the world busiest person in the world entered the room.

“Please be seated” said the doctor. “Your name please” asked the doctor and opened his prescription pad.

“Ahmed. Ijas Ahmed”

“Hi Ijas, tell me now. What’s your problem?” the doctor adjusted his bifocal lensed spectacle frame and started listening.

***

“I work for a surgical equipments manufacturing and distribution company. I had a weird dream yesterday”

“What?….You too? Weird dreams? What the fuck?” the doctor could not believe what he just uttered. “Sorry. I was in a tension. I shouldn’t have used such word” he apologized.

“That’s OK doctor. Not an issue” Ijas said

So, last night I went to bed after a bad day at office. I slept late after a small fight with my wife. I did not return home in time. The worst part was the dream. In my dream, I was talking to my wife sitting in my cabin. Don’t know exactly what I spoke, but I was talking to her something serious.

Just then my desk phone rang and I picked up the line. It was my secretary!

“Hello dear, wazzup?” came the female voice from the other side.

“No…nothing…I’m in office”

“Come home tonight for dinner and you know what for…(laughing)”

“OK..ugh…I’ll talk to you later. Bye for now” I said.

“Hey what happened to you? Are you alri…”(Phone gets disconnected)

Just then my boss entered the room and called for meeting. I asked my wife to leave and assured her I’ll join her sometime later.

The meeting went for an hour I guess. I don’t remember anything. He was discussing about promotional offers for the product. Introduction of the coupons, gifts and bumper prizes were discussed. I was asked to deliver the proposal of this promotional offer. My head was spinning like hell. Once the meeting was over, I came out of the room. I knew that I’m in dream. The surrounding was not real. It was appearing as if it is simulated.

I came out of the meeting hall to find myself isolated in seashore. The sun was setting on the west. I could see the silhouette of an old dilapidated bungalow. I looked back in an anticipation to get back to the meeting hall. But to my disappointment, I found a vast beach covered with sands and stones.

I walked on the sands along the shore. I was thinking what to do next. A series of unrelated events were happening to me. I was pondering over lot of things. Something nudged my feet under the sand. I bent down to pick it up. But it did not come. It was buried in the sand and only a part of the object was visible.

I bent down to pull it out. I could hold it well with my fingers. It seemed to be some cylindrical object made of glass. I dug the wet sand around the object to bring that out. It was an ordinary transparent liquor bottle. I have read this in fairy tales, in which the hero will pick up a bottle from the sea and when he opens the bottle, a ghost will appear from inside and it will thank the master for releasing him from the bottle in which it was held captive for years together.

In an anticipation to see something different, I opened the bottle to find a small cover rolled inside the bottle. It was a normal long cover envelope. I took out cover to see a small sheet of old paper and a demand draft and an address to which it has to be delivered. I was wondering, how this place can have any relation to this demand draft. I myself felt rubbish at this dream. The chit was written in a scribbled handwriting. It was an order to deliver that and there was one last sentence

Thou shall meet demise in any case

My heart stopped. I was cursing myself as to why did I open this bloody bottle to see different things. I took the bottle in hand and smelled the opening. I could feel the world around me spinning like a vortex. When I came back to senses, I was standing outside the door which seemed to be an apartment. I was standing outside a locked door. I found the cover in my shirt packet. I slid the cover through the vent in between the door and the floor. Once the thing was done, I was again occupied with the thought of death. I turned back to find my secretary standing in her tube tops and her black velvet skirt. Her looks were attractive in that costume. She showed her mobile in which she had my wife’s number.

“Oh my God….quite a twisty incidents you are coming up with. OK go on. What happened next?” enquired the doctor.

She demanded money. She wanted immediately. She put her hand around my neck and came closer and said, “Sweety, if I’m not getting it now, then I have to place this demand to your wife. I still have her number. Then she may come to know about our weekend dinner. So decide which is good for you and act accordingly. I’ll call you back after an hour darling. Meet me at my place. Cya…baby”.She left the place, telling this. I kept looking at her, getting down the stairs. She gave one final look before disappearing in the swirl steps.

I was already confused on what was happening around me…

“Yea even I’m confused on the series of events”, the doctor interrupted.

I climbed down the stairs, caught a taxi and reached the bank which was 30 minutes away from that place. I had to wait for a long time for the taxi. The journey appeared to be a long one, though it was a half an hour one. Already lost half an hour, I had to get money for my secretary in another half an hour. I hurried to the bank.

I entered the bank and looked blank. I did not know what to do. Withdrawal, yes I have to withdraw money. I didn’t have the debit card. I slid my hands into my shirt pocket, then into my pant pocket in search of pen. It wasn’t there. I looked at the crowd. I could see a lady staring at me. Thought I could get some help from her

Doctors eyes broadened and his jaws dropped. This was the incident narrated by Grace. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was apparently listening to the Grace’s dreams in this man’s version. And he is fully aware that she is going to tell how this man is going to die and what did he tell about Grace’s Death. Purushothaman became curious and listened to him more carefully

“Pen Please” I asked approaching her. She was looking at me in amusement. I didn’t care for that, because I was in a more serious situation and had no time to ponder over her gaze. She gave me pen.

“Thank you very much” I said in response and I hurriedly went to the table where quite a few of them have been filling up various forms. By the time I completed filling it, the pen ceased to write. It was over. I thought it would be bad if I give her back the empty pen. So I gave a thought to get her a new pen.

“Sorry madam. The pen got over. I’ll get you a new one.” I said.

“No that’s OK. I can manage. No need to get new one” She gave a smiling response.

“No no. You helped me and it is my duty to help you.” Saying this I hurried out of the bank and had reached the road and crossed it looked back. The moment I found myself in the middle of the road, something was ringing loudly near my ears. I felt disturbed. The whole mind got upset and was couldn’t concentrate on what I was about to do or what I was up to currently. Suddenly a gush of air struck my face and I woke up in my bed as the alarm rang 6.00 AM sharp near my bed.

***

“Now, tell me doctor, I was going to die. I don’t know when. But I’m sure whenever I happen to hit the bed in the future; this nightmare will haunt me like hell. Please help me to come out of this mental torture.”

Purushothaman was disappointed as this man was not able to tell about her death. His dream ended incomplete!

“That’s it?”

“Yea. I woke up after that. I did not know what happened” said Ijas

“Hmmm…” As a psychiatrist, he has handled patients with mental disorder, but this is not a disorder which can be cured with medicines. This is a mental agony and the fear of death which causes such dreams and people ebb out with such complaints.

He pressed the buzzer twice. A lean dark man in his white pants and shirt appeared into the room.

“Send that lady inside” Dr requested the attender in his low voice.

The lady appeared in front of the doctor. Purushothaman asked her to sit in the chair beside Ijas.

“Well Grcae…He is Ijas. Human mind is one complex creation in this world and we cannot judge how it behaves in bad times. When cannot control it in extreme cases. When we are angry, we tend to lose our sense and we shout. We do all extreme things which our mind commands us to do. But it is more complex when same incidents happening in one’s dream are seen by another human being in their own version. They have a different incidents lined up in their mind. There are little chances that two persons who see same incidents happening in the dream can actually solve each other’s problem”

“Oh I see” Grace interrupted.

“So it may turn out to be a surprise for you, the one which I’m going to tell you. He was the one whom you saw in your dreams. The haphazardly dressed man, who was searching for the pen”

Hearing this both Grace and Ijas gave a bewildered look at each other. Purushothaman spoke to both of them.

“Today I heard the two dreams which meet at a point involving two different persons and the rarest cases of happening that, both the persons involved in the incident are here”

“Oh My God. I couldn’t believe this” Ijas stumbled upon the table and his voice so strong.

You have to believe Ijas. Grace saw your death. You died in the lorry accident which took place outside the Oriental bank. Now I do not have any answers for the Grace’s question. She was also in the fear of death. And the mode of her death was in your mouth when you were about to die”

“My mouth…? I didn’t know how I died and I woke up before I could see my death. How can this be possible?” shouted Ijas in rage. The doctor understood the situation getting worse and in an effort to calm him down, he spoke to Grace.

“OK guys. You people need some rest. I’ll answer all your questions this evening after some examination.

He took both of them to the adjacent room which was quite dark. It had a fewer seats and a table. A large neon bulb was hanging in the middle of the room. Doctor asked Ijas to occupy the chair in the center of the room. Grace sat in the couch, in the corner of the room. Purushothaman switched off other sources of light except the one in the center and brought a syringe full of greenish dull liquid containing Non-benzodiazepine compound and injected it in his arms bringing him to a temporary state of unconsciousness. Grace was looking at all this from the corner of the room and a slight smile appeared in her lips packed with sarcasm. She emitted an ethereal smile.

Doctor was trying to hypnotize Ijas and trying to read his subconscious mind. He was fully focused on how to get things out of his mind so that, this case can be handled with ease. There was no one in the room expect Grace, Ijas and Doctor Purushothaman. Suddenly he could feel some one touching him from behind. He raised his bent body and turned back to see Grace standing close to him. She still had the eerie smile in her lips.

“Wh…What Grace? What do you want?” turning his head towards her, he asked with a tinge of fear in his eyes. Before he could throw another question to her, she took out the Surgical Knife which gleamed silverfish in her hands, from her hand bag, and made a quick incision in the back of his neck. It made a silent mark leaving behind a thin line of blood. In a few minutes, blood started flowing from the incision that was made. Before he could gather strength, there went another flick of the knife which made cuts in his skin, below his head, without any friction of muscles. The cuts were very flamboyant and it made a deep mark in the tissues, cutting each and every vein apart, running from the spine to his brain. It was the time for her to act smart. When the doctor fell down holding his head, she quickly bent down and made a deep incision in his right chest leaving him bleeding and which will cause immediate death

Purushothaman’s vision blurred as he was subjected to Class IV Hemorrhage which attributes to the loss of more than 40 percent of the circulating blood volume. He could still feel the devastating pain in his head. Death was waiting at the door.

***

“Aaaaaaaaaaaghhhhh. Noooooooooo. Please don’t do this. Why are you doing this?.Aaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhh” Shouted Purushothaman twitching in the bed holding his head tight.

“Puru…hey you. What happened?”, Janaki held his hands tight pulling him close to her. She sat on the bed near him, removed the blanket and agitated him to wake him up. He woke up with pounding heart, his face fully drenched in sweat. He looked left and then right. Opened the water bottle near the bed and gulped few ‘ml’s of it then sighed. He touched his back of his neck and looked at his fingers in search of blood.

Janaki couldn’t understand her husband’s behavior.

“What happened? Why the hell are you shouting in this night?”

“No…nothing. I’m fine. I was just out of shock. It was a nightmare. I’m fine. I’m fine”

“Tell me what happened?”

“No it was just a dream. I saw weird people in my hospital. They came to me for consultation….then…then, they were…Surgical Knife…”

“Oh…again with your weird patients!!!! I’ve told many times not to spend too much time on those psycho people whom you call your patients. Now they are coming in your dreams too.?? It is really weird…”

Janaki shouted at her husband with a false anger and kissed him good night.

“Yea. It is a weird dream”

THE END

Prologue

Girls are crazy sometimes. I don’t want to make any general statements as I do not want to earn hatred from girls who are reading this.

I’m going to talk about a girl who wanted to be a guy!

She really did not mean it. But she simply wanted to be a guy because that may alleviate her from small troubles that she faces with the world around her.

***

The Chat

“But seriously, if u write too much no one will have time to read and they may not know that u r leaving….” I pinged her.

She was a great blogger who writes real life incidents in an interesting way. All that amused her, impressed her, the things which made her weep, the ones which made her embarrassed, she writes everything. Life is to live and to learn things. And the best part is to share things. The late night talks with roomies with black coffee and tea. The daily late night TV remote wars and the all time menace due to unscrupulous maintenance of water supplies in the apartment which few girls share in Pune.

***

Click the “Read more…” link below to read the rest of the story

It was sometime back in the mid week of month when I was busy with downloading games at home; I got a ping in my Gtalk.

“Hey u ther?” It was she.

“Yea I’m here dear ” I pinged her back

“Gd Mrng”

“GM 2 u 2 !!”

“A frnd says he can get me a seat in a college . . .at Bangalore. Wat 2 do? Wat 2 do? Tell meeeeeee” she pinged these partially repetitive texts.

“Get u a seat in a college? Hmmm…”. I pinged her back to cause a little delay, so that in the meantime, I could think. I’ve never given advices to anybody, as the receiver seldom likes it and is the case with me too. But since this seemed to be a help, I extended readily to give her tips on this.

“Yea exactly !!” she replied

“First enquire whether it is a good college or not..”

“It is”, came quickly the reply.

“Next is fees…How much?….worth spending?” I added.

“The whole thing..…including agent and everything, comes to around 3 lacs” she pinged back

“Hmmm… and the course u r going to take is worth pursuing in that college?”

“MBA” She said.

“Oh Good… I’m telling u…if u wanna go for MBA…do it in known institutes….”

“It is a good college . . . . Good ranking n all..”

“Just another college will of course give u a degree….but job after that should pay u much… hmmm..well if u feel it is a gud college, then go ahead na?..” I pinged her back with some concern. “OK tell me what’s the college name?”

She told me a college name which I haven’t heard before. I can’t just simply tell her that it is a good college. I should confirm things, and then give her assurance.

“mmm….do u know abt the college’s infrastructure, Internship companies and the coaching that the college offers?” I asked her back.

“No much idea of infrastructure. . Internship companies are quite good. ..and coaching…..heard that is good too” She pinged me back.

“mmm….will u b able to spend tht much? If not then, you can go for loans also… if u feel it’s good, then Go head!” I told her with some concern on her spending capacity. I thought about myself who did my engineering and paid my college fees through loan.

She pinged back, “I think the fee can be managed . . . without loan. . .”

“You’ll stay in hostel then” I pinged.

“Yea I guess so…”

“I don’t want to leave this company in which I’m currently working ” She said. There was a sad smiley.

“Hey…this company will give you salary, but nothing worth anything more than money…but but higher studies will give u Degree!!” I pinged her back with speculation.

“But you know what, no more job from now on., I will not get a chance to work, once I leave this once” Some sadness has started creeping in.

I tried consoling her, “You’ll get a job after your MBA. You’ll be managing people. You have better scope of work with your post graduation. It will be fun”

“I’ll get but I won’t be allowed to work” There was a strong reply ping. I didn’t know what to say. I tried searching for reasons to console her. I got a call from my friend who is in California.

“Oh…I see. Hey be online, I’ll be right back after in few minutes” I pinged back and attended the call. The call went for half an hour. I came back to my system.

***

“I’m back dear” I pinged her. Her Gtalk was in idle state. Thought she was away from her system.

“Veekay” The Gtalk application in the task bar blinked orange. Someone was pinging. I opened the window to find her ping again.

“Yea tell me Simi” (Simi…That’s how I call her)

“I dropped it…Dropped that college in Bangalore. I asked a friend from Bangalore . . . He asked his from who is now in Bangalore . . .and SMSed me. .. MBA is not that good at that college. . Don’t join…”

“mmm…I told u na…2 enquire whether the course is worth pursuable in that college…” I pinged with amusement. She had dropped the college.

“Like PSG college in Coimbatore. . . the college’s trust and institutions are famous. . But it seems that the MBA is not worth this much… and for some strange reason. . I am happy. . .” She said.

“Theek hai….u got some useful info…then…u didn’t end up somewhere in a college in a course which is not worth pursuing”

“Is it normal right?” She asked me. I knew what she was asking.

“Being happy is always normal yaar…let it b for any reason… Be happy always ” I replied for her ping.

“I missed a chance and I’m happy. I should be an idiot…” she said. She always says things like this. But I always have an answer for that.

So I replied her back, “No no…that’s not a good college for MBA as you said. So you did not miss anything and moreover you are lucky enough to drop the college. Try out somewhere else. You may have better opportunities”

“Hmmm….right now, I have two things in mind.

ONE – - GET ME A TRANSFER. . NOW. . RIGHT NOW. . .

TWO – - I WANNA BE A GUY. .NOW. . RIGHT NOW” She pinged. I was like…What does she wants and why is she so desperate.

“First one is OK. That can be arranged. But for the second one???” I replied.

“One of these….” It was Simi

“And why the hell you wanna be a guy??”

“If transfer is not possible, then I wanted to be a guy” She repeated.

“Kyyon kyoon kyoon?…wats d relation between transfer and being a guy??..hehe” I pinged her back confused. I still did not get the motive behind her, being a guy. As she is an avid blogger, I was afraid that she may vent out her anger by writing this idea of being a guy in the blogs too.

“and for heaven’s sake..Don’t blog this… agar tum blog mein yeh sab likhogi ki u wanna b a guy..Then that’s all!! Then people may start making fun and it will hurt you the most” I immediately pinged her. “kya hu tumko??  Theek ho na?”

“If I were a guy. . . Transfer wouldn’t matter. . I won’t have this much things in mind to confuse me.” She said.

“….Simi should be a girl!! Always” I pinged her.

“Right now I’m not enjoying being a girl” She was persistent in her thoughts.

“arey arey…chill chill..” I tried convincing her. Searched for words to console her, I could understand her feelings.

Suddenly she pinged, “Fine … I will b girl…GET ME A TRANSFER”

I was in mixed emotions. I exactly did not know what to do. I pinged her smiley.

“See…you tell me to be a girl and when I talk about transfer…” she has again caught the point. It is always difficult for guys to console a girl when she is not near and when she is expecting things, which you cannot do it or you do not have any privilege to do that.

“acho… Even I will b happy if u get a transfer!!…but things should turn out fine …until then…we need to wait” I knew I could not do anything about this. Still I wanted to feel comfortable.

“Wait….I’ve been waiting for five months, five long months.

FIVE

FIVEEEEEEEEEEEE” She has started those repetitive pings.

“Hmmm…but abhi to can’t do anything about it yaar….probably u can pester your manager…That’s the only solution for now…” I said.

“That won’t work…that’s why I say…I wanna be a guy…now…right now…this very moment” she replied to mine.

“But, how it is going to help you, if you are a guy? Same case with the guys too right?” I asked her puzzled.

“I don’t have to think, and beg people to come with me if I have to go somewhere…I don’t have to worry about continuous discussions about marriage proposals for at least next 6 yrs…i don’t have to get scared that one day I might have to wear a burkha / pardah”

Now I was getting it. I could understand what she really meant.

“Oh…that’s there…I can now understand…..” I replied

“Are people at home planning for your marriage?” I asked.

“Oh yea…started to worry about it long back…and I’m just 22” This was Simi

“Now that, you started thinking about all that rey….hmmm…coz of this job!!…I understand, being in and around 22 for girls, is bit difficult…ghar mein alliances dekne shuru kar denge…” I pinged her back.

“They started when I was in 20. But I somehow managed to hold it for 2 yrs . . . . Had to fight a lot…” She pinged back.

“OMG…yeh to…bahut jaldi hai…20 years se hi??” I was bewildered.

“Arrey.. .my community. . .they sent off their girls at the age of 16 – 18 “ came the reply.

“Oh…par kab se pardah pehente hain??… I mean…shadi ke pehle hi to pehente hain na?..I have seen girls”

“arrey haan yaar…lekin shaadi tak apni marzi…” She replied.

“I have heard that people marry off in early stages..”

“agar shaadi ke baad, pati ne bola….wear it… I won’t have any other choice….rite?”

“Yea correct…but sabhi log orthodox hotein hain kya? Someone will be there to understand you right?

“If my family is searching, they will search for a guy like him, who is very religious and conservative…my dad will be so damn happy when he sees someone who is very religious…if that’s the case, .nothing else matters to him…so. . .after shaadi, Simi dead…Not exactly DEAD . .. But Simi as she is now will be DEAD…She will be a different person…someone who always have to be scared, who cannot do what she wish to do, who may not be allowed to work and so on and on…” She was speaking her heart. I could see the independent girl in her. She wanted to be free from all the problems around her.

She continued, “Simi is

DEAD

DONE

DUSH…Mummyyyyyyy :’( “ There was a crying smiley.

I replied, “I have seen most of the Muslim girls wearing Parda…and I’ve not seen any open….and most of them so religious and strict…I live in Muslim area.”

“My sister does. My mom doesn’t wear Parda. But she always wears that tight scarf to cover her head…and I…I cover my head with the Dupatta, once I cross the border of my hometown when I travel from here…and in Office, not that much of Pardah…and I feel guilty for it sometimes. See life is complicated” She pinged.

“Hmmm…now I understand all your problems. Lekin guilty hone ki koi aavashyakta nahi hai…you are one independent and educated girl” I encouraged her.

“You know what?. . .I still wear only full sleeve dresses and take care no one gets a chance to blame me once I get home. . .not because I want to do all those. ..but I know how much trust my parents have on me. . .I won’t do anything to make them regret it” She pinged. I felt proud to have such a friend, who is ready to sacrifice her wishes for others.

“You know how to be well behaved and groomed in a society…..and being so religious is not that much needed here…only when u go to your hometown, you’ll have to wear Duppattah on your head n all that… and haan I can see how much you are true and sincere to your parents that you don’t want to break the trust, your parents have kept on you. You are so so good to yourselves and to others” I spoke my heart.

“As any other GIRL . . I’m also very much interested in dresses, clothes and all. . (not a news I know) but every time I have to let my likes and dislikes go just for this. See, life is complicated for no reasons at all. I don’t see any reason why I should have all these tension. . I have grrr8 supportive family. .

Parents – Very cool and encouraging, agreed me to join this company (it is something sort of a miracle)

Siblings – good and to top of it, you know what, but still my life is messed up” She was instantaneously pinging things.

I immediately pinged her back, “You know what Simi, in life, each one of us have desires. We want to do things in life, the time at which, we are going to achieve it, we are unaware of it. Some things attain the completion soon, making us happy and some remain incomplete. We can’t keep ourselves preoccupied on it. We have to do things which make us happy. That is what life is all about. So try not to keep thinking about this more. It will result in frustrations only”

“Hmmm…yea but still, it keeps bothering me a lot” She replied.

“Don’t worry; life will have super cool surprises for us. You will have it too.

“I hope so….Wish you soooooooper cool surprises to you too

and Thanks for listening to me. I needed someone to let this out”

She sent a smiley in the end. I felt like a heat sink of a Dual core Intel processor, where the heat sink gets all the heat generated out of the silicon electronics circuitry. I was happy. The heat sink supports the functioning of the processor. I felt relaxed as she felt better after letting out all her problems to me.

“Don’t worry!! main hoon na??….see…for this only u need a good friend !! Venting out ur feelings may lighten ur burden and makes u feel light sometimes…” I replied.

“Tu talli tu talli tu talli ho gayi” I pinged her, these lines as she always used to ping me whenever she felt bored or excited. These are the lines from the movie Ugly aur Pagli. I thought this may bring her cheerfulness back. Of course it did.

“haan yaar… iss baar toh sahi mein talli hogayi” came the reply.

I took some break to have biscuits and tea. As I thrive 24 X 7 infront of my System (Computer), I came back again.

***

I pinged her, “What else…still thinking about all this?”

“I was thinking, what would I write on the blog . . . the day I leave this company”

Both of us work for the same company. Both of us are software techies. We have an internal blog in our company where people blog, share ideas, information and experiences. Some use it as their personal diary and they write about their crushes, office politics, birthday parties’ celebration and wishes, bloggers meet and all that. I’ve seen many people who leave the company, post their final post in the company blogs telling, “This is my final post in this blog and today is my last day in the company”. Many of them will post their comments saying, All the best, Take care and all those parting phrases.  Now she had plans to quit, if she did not get a transfer and go for higher studies.

She again pinged, “Whatever I’m gonna write, I will not keep it open for comments. One last post in the blog…No comments…What will you do?” She asked.

“One last post with no comments?” I asked her.

“Yea…”

“mmm..you can probably block all the comments. Screen the comments by default. Change your blog settings on the final day” I was telling her what I’m not supposed to. Nobody will like to leave someone’s blog uncommented that too when they are quitting the company. But still, if I don’t tell her, she may find it herself.

“Yea I’ll do that. Block all incoming comments” she replied.

“But why suddenly this thought?” I asked her again puzzled.

“Just like that…I’ll write something like…. a few more hours and I’ll be an ex-employee” She told.

“That is fine, but why are you thinking about all this now?” I asked.

“Just like that…and then … I’ll give my email ID. . . and then. . a biii…and then disable comments and then BHOOM….Vanish”

I felt like this girl is going crazy. I asked her

“But seriously, if u write too much no one will have time to read and they may not know that u r leaving….” I pinged her.

“I won’t write too much. 4 or 5 sentences and the biiiiiiii” She said. “I won’t tell anyone, till the last day. one day. . achanak. . .a post. .good bye wala..” She said.

“That will be depressing yaar…” I pinged back.

“I sound like a suicide maniac…don’t I??” she asked.

“Gone crazy you are…Crrazzy Simi ! ß One more Prefix for you…” I said.

***

Epilogue

Friday, 6:59 PM:

“Do you remember what you spoke 2 months back when you were in Pune Office? Do you want to be a guy now also??” I pinged her in the Office chat client that we use in our office.

“Noooooooo…I’m happpeee being a girl now” She replied.

“Still in Office?”

“Yea. My home is just 20 minutes away from office. So I’ll leave bit late today” she said.

“hmmm…finally got a transfer to you hometown itself, otherwise I would have seen a male Simi by now…hehe ” I teased.

“hehe..I’m now happy. I’m coming from Home. I’ve my schoolmates and college mates here. So every weekend I go out with friends. Evening I call them. My weekend plans are always working out now. We have planned for a Goa trip next weekend.

“Hmmm..kewl then” I said smiling

“…and I’m not staying in PG now. I’m bringing Lunch from home. Life is fine, now-a-days. Hey, we have been chatting as usual, after those conversations, it’s been 2 months and how suddenly you remember this today?”

“Just like that…I’ve got a new story to write. Check my blog tomorrow” I said sending her a winking smiley.

“Sure !!!! Wooooow A Story based on Simi..That will be cool !! I love to read. Come on. I’ll check out for sure!” She said

“Well, carry on…I’m leaving for the day now. Catchya tomorrow. Bbye !!” I said.

“Biiiiiiiiiii”

THE END

I too wrote one for a contest !!……

Well, Its getting tough to take some time off from the hectic work and spend some time for penning down my thoughts and stories. Ok, time has now come for me to post this 55 Fiction.

I guess most of you know that, I had to participate in the 55 Fiction writing contest conducted by COLORS MAGAZINE and I’m the esteemed participant in it. It gave me a good experience of interacting with people and reading quite a lot of 55 Fictions.

So let me place  a big full stop here to my blah-blahs and present you with the 55F that I posted. NOw that I have permission to post in my blogs and all other places, I would like to. So here goes the 55 Fiction:

POSTMORTEM

Amanda was lying on the postmortem table and her body ripped open. The corpse’s foul odour soaked in ethanol was shearing the intestines devastatingly through the nostrils. The doctors were flummoxed on the brutal cold blooded murder case. They couldn’t find the clue.
Joe said, “I found it”
“What??”
“Can’t tell now, 55 words reached.”

***

This post is available here too –>> POSTMORTEM

A BIG BIG Thanks to all my friends who commented and voted without which I wouldn’t have been able to hit the Finals

P.S:- A big THANKS to Gracelyne for pinging me at night and enabling this silicon valley sick soul to participate in this. As usual, chat transcripts of big celebrities are always available online, so here it goes.

10:47 PM Gracelyne: hey theres

this 55 word fiction contest

that ends in like 1.30 hrs

if u wish participate

me: hiiiiiii

10:48 PM wer wer wer??

Gracelyne: http://www.thecolorsmagazine.com/index.php/2009/09/update-about-55-fiction-contest/

one teeny weeny condition

shudnt b posted anywhr els

me: oh wats dat??

Gracelyne: if u cant conjure up a new 1

try postin ur old 1

afterall

myt be hard to track

10:49 PM me: hmmm….not a difficult task though..coming up with a new 55 Fiction…hehe

anyways I”ll try my best !!

Gracelyne: OH really

me: Thanks for letting me know !!

Gracelyne: seems realy diff 4 me

to find a theme

10:50 PM me: oh….last date??

Gracelyne: today

11 hrs

moscow time

whch gives us

1.30 hrs

left

10:51 PM me: so shud post b4 11.30 PM

Gracelyne: yep

me: hmmm….will try my best

10:52 PM Gracelyne:

After this,  had to sit and scratch my head for coming up with a new one, as I do not want to post an older one which had already been posted in my blog ! See I would like to be sincere, not only with girl friend but also with the contests too !

P.P.S:- I guess the Post script has become so big that it required a post post script which I assure will be kept short which will be at par with Shriya Saran’s Skirt’s length 

Sometime back, I was chatting with this girl ‘SHE’. The name is not revealed as it may lead to identity revelation and unwanted interrogation and expectation and assumptions from fellow mates.  I’ll tell you how this conversation started and ended in knowledge exchange and sharing which is the most desirable event in a conversation.

I was busy with the documentation work for my code testing. Suddenly a new mail alert popped out (Outlook Users understand this better) in my desktop. The Subject read – Solve this if u r genius. I opened the mail and found this one below

The mail asked me to find why there was a gap in the second triangle if the area of both the triangles, formed by rearranging the smaller pieces is same.

Since I was an engineering graduate and to the fact that, we had “Engineering Mathematics”  for first two years with one maths paper for each semester, I looked into the figure more carefully, so as to dust my brains to check any traces of mathematics data existence which I had to study and work out for two years of my engineering life.

Whoa !! Some trigonometry question!! Hmmm….Not bad, my brain still works and it is active as before. !

I quickly remembered that the area of the triangle can be calculated by adding the area of the squares (Partially filled and fully filled. Filled with colors in this context). And found few squares which are not occupied by the triangle, so I counted the number of partial squares and found that they are same. I thought the area occupied by the triangle in the partial squares in both the figures may be different.

I pinged her…

ME: u know that ans?

SHE: No, u know?

ME: Yea

SHE: Tell…

ME: The area covered by the partially filled squares

along the hypotenuse is not same in both the figures.

So I think all those differences come into Single Square

when u re-arrange the pieces

SHE: mmm…do u think the hypotenuse line cutting the squares

are slightly different points in both the images?

ME: Yea

SHE: But, between two points there can be only

one straight line.

(Oh Yes, That’s true, we cannot have more than one straight line in between two different points. Point noted !! So how can this be. I started thinking again)

ME: Yea, but u see the slopes are different in both the

cases as the angle of inclination of the hypotenuse to the

base is different.

SHE: But how? They both are right triangles,

ME: The blue and red triangle forms the

Hypotenuse rite??

SHE: yea. . . .both of them have hypotenuse forming the same line

. . . parallel sides. . both base and height so. . it should the same angle

of elevation…then. . how can it have diff slopes?

ME: Haan par the angle of inclination differs as the

length of the hypotenuse differs…

SHE: but. . still. .as length of hypotenuse differs. .

but proportionally the other two sides too…rt?

ME: u have to construct a cardboard model and see

…u’ll see that the long hypotenuse is just bent a bit…..

if u r not sure….

SHE: ok. . but.. how is it theoretically possible. .

The base lines of the triangles in both figures are parallel,

the hypotenuse are parallel. .which means. . They should have

same angle of inclination / slope rt?

ME: mmm….it is optical illusion may b….

see this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_square_puzzle

SHE: hmmm…

ME: thats wat it says…i told u na….the hypotenuse

lines are different in both cases…..wiki says in a

different way…it says it forms a quadrilateral

SHE: for the quadrilateral. . its understandable,

because. . The length of the sides gets increase,

so. .it was obvious dat there should be a gap somewhere

….for here, the base length and height are still the same and

if u look at the first diagram, which is sort of animated they flip

the blue and red triangles, the blue one exactly fits into the red one

’cause they are proportional. . dat is…of course only a visual thing. .

actual measurements can differ..

But. . I don’t see a reason y they shouldn’t have the same

slope / angle of slope

ME: hmmm…yea…but visually they appear proportional…

but wen u chk with a card board or chart paper model

u’ll know !! even I’m not satisfied with the wiki thing…

only wen u chk practically u will know..

SHE: OK.. I’m getting it. .. but . . .

y wont it have same slope????

ME: Equation of straight line, y-y1 = m(x – x1)

m = (y – y1)/x – x1)

‘m’ is slope…according to my knowledge, since the difference

between x and x1 & y and y1 differs, the slope differs..

SHE: :S…dunno….will have to actually calculate

ME: I did

for red,  m = 3/8
for blue, m = 2/5

it differs very slightly…

SHE: haan

0.375 and 0.4

ME: yup

Exactly….so the combined hypotenuse line doesn’t cut the

squares at same points in both the figures.

doubt cleared uh?

SHE:

Yes

ME: hehe…!!

now i got a gud topic to blog !!

SHE: blog?

ME: I’ll put the conv in blog with some edit !!

SHE: How??

On what??

ME: disguise the names

SHE: u r gonna blog about a missing square??

ME: u havent seen chat blogs??

SHE : ???

good good

nope. . not much

this will be tirst one i guess

when u write and post

ME: hey u wud have seen that

lots of ppl rite

SHE: not really

I have seen blogs where ppl mention a few lines from a chat

and write the rest on it

or mention the line somewhere in the chat

like

my frnd told me. . .etc

ME: oh…

anyways..see wen i post

SHE: hehe…all right

In the end of the conversation, I could conclude that the slope thing was there and the hypotenuse is not cutting the partially filled squares at same points in both the figures. So the remaining area of the partially filled squares along the hypotenuse of figure 1, comes as a single unfilled square in the figure two when the shapes are rearranged!

So with this, conversation ended for a few minutes. I really do not know if we have come to a conclusion about this missing square. Or this is still an unsolved one. But both of us were satisfied that we found an answer for the missing square and we were able to justify our conclusions with the mathematical proof.

Out conclusions may be wrong….If u have any other answers, please post it in the comments!!!

The President International Hotel was gleaming with colors of artificial cuboids structure erupted all the way along the sides of the main pathway into the hotel. The fountains emitted bright and dazzy colorful waters into the large water chamber fitted underneath to collect the flowing waters. The thick and wide red carpet was shining Saturn, laid on both sides of the fountains which lead to the large performance hall where the Fashion Show for the year is going to be held in an hour shortly.

The hotel’s reception was swarming with people who exemplified style icons and fashion freaks. They were clad in apparels exclusively designed by designers who were big shots in the fashion designing industry. Not to mention about the press who were almost fluttering with microphone and cameras around the celebrities and the contestants in an anticipation to get few words out of their mouth which will feed their magazines and newspapers for another week.

Jeniffer came into the contestants’ chamber and settled in her seat. All the others were looking at her with eyes wide open like an owl. She was gorgeous; her face was neat and glossy. It looked as if she had been carved out of butter. Most of them were busy adjusting their hair strands and their makeup. Though it was an air conditioned room, pearls of sweat appeared in the faces of the girls. Jeniffer looked calm and composed. She did not stress herself looking at all others.

“Excuse me. I’m Kalpana Roy from Bhubaneswar”. Jeniffer took her eyes off from the magazine which she was reading and smiled with her cutest of her symmetrical pink lips coated with a light red lip gloss which suited her face and lips perfect.

“I’m Jeniffer. Jeniffer Mathews”

“Glad to know you. I haven’t seen you in any of the fashion fest. Is this the first time you are contesting for “Miss Beauty Queen of the year?”, Kalpana replied.

“Errr…No I’ve been contesting for various fashion fests in the south and this is the first time, I’ve come over to Mumbai for this contest.” Jeniffer gave a smiling reply.

“Oh I see. So how are you feeling right now?”

Jeniffer’s mobile emitted a sweet soft ringtone, to which she excused herself and attended the call outside the contestants’ chamber. Her long white gown covering her from the shoulder to the ground swept the floor as she walked away. Kalpana was looking at the direction she went away.

***

Click the “Read more…” link below to read the rest of the story

The National Institute of Cancer located in the outskirts of Chennai was quite and calm. The roads by the side of the Institute seemed to be unmanned. There wasn’t a housefly or crow not even a cattle was found loitering in the campus. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. Most of the hospital staffs had left for Lunch. There was a small pan shop outside the Institute which seemed to be busy with 4 people munching the pan and arguing about the immature political status of the country.

Ward no 114 was occupied by two women. One of them was admitted in the hospital a week back and the other one was the only friend who takes care of her. After detecting the cancer thing, her uncle and aunt left her in the Destitute Women House and they left the city in transfer. She was actually happy to be away from them as living with them was another hell.

Dr. Sharma removed his frameless specs and said to the duty nurse, “Her case was serious and she needs immediate treatment.”

“Doctor..But she is from destitute house. She can’t pay for the treatment” replied the nurse.

“But, she has been diagnosed a Basal Cell Carcinoma which is considered to be the basic type of skin cancer. Her face was greatly affected and visible patches of reddish brown layers have formed in the cheeks and forehead. It needs immediate attention. Otherwise it could lead to death slowly.” Said Dr. Sharma

“We need to contact the house for payment information. Once we get the details, we can start the treatment.” replied the Nurse.

“Well, a patient needs to be attended immediately. Please call the house and get the details”. Doctor ordered the nurse and left the room to attend the outpatients.

***

Inside Ward no 114,

“I know you that they will leave you soon. I expected this from them. After all, they are your close relations.”

“Yeah. But I didn’t know that they will leave me starving for care and affection. I did not expect anything from them. I was working and I was content with what I earned. But they were not happy seeing me happy.”

“I could sense this from the starting itself. Firstly they did not have any progeny of their own. Since your parents passed away in the air crash, they had to leave you under their care. Can’t they look after you as their own daughter?”

“That god only knows. They have a complex in their mind and they were jealous on my father’s well being and his fast growth.”

“Hmmm..”. Monal, her friend took a deep breath.

“My face has affected a lot due to allergy. The patches are burning and irritating….aaaahh… Please apply that ointment. It will douse the burns at least for some time.”

Monal applied the ointments on her face and her arms and legs. Monal knows that her friend is suffering from cancer. And the Doctor has informed her that due to the over dosage of medicines and the change in food habits, the skin is getting affected and she has been diagnosed a serious skin allergy.

“You know what Monal?..” She started. “I wanted to become a model and wanted to participate and win fashion titles. But this entire allergy has impeded my efforts to participate in any. “ Tears rolled down her cheeks.

***

By the time Jeniffer, came back to the contestants’ chamber, it was time for the show. So, all the contestants left the room towards the stage. The judges have arrived and they were in place.

All top sponsors like Westside, Kingfisher, Style Kandy, Grand Hyatt and Lifestyles and others were present and a separate bay has been allotted for the sponsors seating in the auditorium. Music tracks by famous artists including Rihanna, Miley Cirus, and Justin Timberlake were flowing into the ears like the musk fragrance of the auditorium room freshener.

All the contestants were nervous on what is going to happen in another few hours. All top ex beauty contestants and winners were present in the special seating zone. Industry’s top designers all over the world have come for the fashion fest.

Kalpana was telling to her makeup woman, “I’m quite nervous. I haven’t seen such a large crowd.”

“Is that you Kalpana, feeling so nervous? I’ve been with you since three years. In these times, I haven’t found you so nervous.”

“Yeah….but today somehow I feel nervous. Did you see Jeniffer?”

“Jeniffer? Who is that?”

“She is a new contestant. This is her first time it seems. But still she is calm and composed. She is free of tension. See there. How calm she is. She has a faith on her beauty. I can’t just imagine myself sitting like that. I’m afraid. She is beautiful too. She may win the title.”

“Kalpana madam, do not ponder over things like that and don’t stress yourself. I’ll see to it that you look like an angel.”

“Thanks a lot”, Kalpana said and looked at the other side where Jeniffer was sitting.  She could feel the drop of sweat dripping down her cheeks in spite of being the air condition extremely high. She used the tissue paper as absorbent to dry that sweat off.

The show started in twenty minutes and the beauties started ramp walking in the stage one by one. Each of them was clad in apparels designed by expert costume designers and amateurs. Models started walking with heels extremely high and it appeared as if they are walking on toes. Mr. Siddharth Basu was the chief judge who was to interview the contestants on stage. Jeniffer came walking in the ramp. Suddenly all the on lookers started concentrating on her. She carried herself in utmost composure. Her body language was perfect. She came till the edge of the ramp towards the audience and walked back towards the stage and after two steps she turned back and gave a quick pause and then she continued her walk towards the back stage. The judges were impressed and they made few notes. Kalpana too attracted few of the audiences.

The ramp walking came to an end and it was the questioning session. Each of the contestants was called and they were asked questions. Points were awarded and judged by the knowledge, brevity, quick wittedness, Grooming, Intelligence, Correctness, Consistency and clarity.

Jeniffer was waiting for her turn. Kalpana went to her.

“Hi Jeniffer…You were awesome on stage. Someone is looking gorgeous.”, She broke the silence.

“Thank you very much. So when is your turn?”, Jeniffer asked.

“They asked me to wait. I’ll be called. So I have time”

“Very Good…You can relax then”, Jeniffer said.

“Yea actually that’s true. And hey you did not tell me where you are from, when we spoke before.”

Jeniffer thought for a moment. “Yeaah, you are right. I’m from Chennai”

“Glad to know you”, she smiled.

Announcement came from the audi, “Jeniffer Mathews from Chennai”

“My name is being called. I’ll get back to you later.”. Jeniffer said this and left the place in hurry. Kalpana felt something creepy about her. Whenever I wanted to talk to this girl, something or the other distracts the conversation. Last time it was her mobile and this time it was the announcement.

“Hello Miss Jeniffer. Welcome to this Elle 18 Fasion Fest contest for the Miss Beauty Queen of the year.”, Siddharth Basu continued in his loud audible voice.

The audiences were again delighted to see Jeniffer back in the stage. They were eagerly waiting to hear her voice and the answers with which she is going to convince Siddharth.

***

The ward nurse contacted the destitute house for informing the details about the treatment and to enquire about the payment. The house in charge informed the nurse that, they will let them know the details in the Hospital itself. They will be there in another two hours.

In the Doctor’s room,

“Hello Dr. Sharma. I’m Krishnamoorthy from the Destitute House. I’m here to discuss about the treatment which you are going to initiate for her. I looked into the treatment charges. We do not have enough funds to pay you for this treatment. I do not know what has to be done now for this.”

“What? I’m sorry Krishnamoorthy, I’m helpless here. I’ll not be able to do anything unless the payment comes. The therapist and the instrument cost cannot be paid by the hospital authorities. You can give ad in newspapers requesting kind donations or you can talk to her parents.”

“Parents? She doesn’t have one. She is dropped here in our house by her uncle and they left the city and we did not hear back from them. I’ll try giving ad in the newspapers. Thank You”

“Thank You Mr. Krishnamoorthy”, doctor bid adieu to the house in charge.

***

After 10 days, Inside Ward no 114,

“How are you feeling? Is the patches still burning?”,  Monal enquired her friend

“Yea it’s still burning. I’m not able to withstand the burning sensation.”. Monal thought, it is already a month she has been admitted here. Are they going to start the treatment?

In the Doctors room.

“Doctor, she is suffering a lot for the past two days. Is the treatment started? You informed me that she will be transferred to special ward once the treatment starts. But she is still kept in general ward.”

“Yes Monal, the treatment is not yet started. I’ve not received complete funds. The house authorities were helpless; they were able to get only 20% of the amount. With that, I’ll not be able to start the treatment. Newspaper Ads haven’t fetched enough money. I have included the amount which you gave. Still I’m helpless. I should wait for some more days.”

“Attrocious !!!!!!!! This is inhumane. Someone is suffering from pain and can’t you take steps to prevent that at least. Keeping her in the medication doesn’t help in long run. Don’t the doctors have hearts? Are they so cruel and run behind money? Then why do you call this, a service? You are running a business and not Hospital….” Monal blurted out and she was in tears.

“Monal…I can understand your feelings but this is something I can’t do anything about it.”

“Monal retorted, “Do you know the consequence of this delay?”

“Yes I’m fully aware of this. She may have to put her life in stake. It is a sure way to death !” Sharma replied with heavy heart.

By the time he finished this. The saline bottle near the doctor’s room entrance crashed and fell down. The glass bottle broke into pieces spilling the saline water all over the floor.

Sharma looked towards the door encountering a sudden shock of seeing her near the door.

“Jenny!!!!!!!!” Monal shouted and stood up in an effort to comfort her. But she knew that all her efforts will go in vain.

“Don’t tell me anything. I heard everything. I do not want to suffer pain for long. I didn’t know I’m going to die soon doctor.” Saying this she ran away from the place and started moving towards the exit. Monal pushed the chair and followed Jenny. Sharma was too much horrified seeing all this and he too followed Monal to stop Jenny taking wrong decision at this time. Three of them were running hastily behind each other. As expected, they encountered a large open window along the corridor. By the time, they could reach for Jenny; she has climbed up the large window pane setting herself down to the ground from the 6^th floor of the National Institute of Cancer.

Monal and Sharma stood still, motionless.

***

Siddharth was in his full flow. He was shooting questions to Jeniffer one by one and was happy to award points listening to the amazing answers from her.

“Who is the one who cannot be cheated?” This is Siddharth.

“Death” swiftly came the reply

“Who are the ones who can be relied on?”

“Friends”

“Name the one which cannot be withstood by anyone.”

“Pain”

“Something which you can keep on others and which shouldn’t be broken”

“Trust” This is Jeniffer

“OK, One thing which you cannot get back”

“Life”

“OK One final question. In what way this title going to help you in your career?”

Jeniffer thought for a moment and replied, “I’ll achieve my life time dream of becoming a world renowned beauty Icon. This achievement will give me peace and it is the fruit of my hard work and my persistent determination to achieve this thing. I can explore further avenues in this area and can contribute things towards this fashion industry.”

“Wonderful. Thank you for your time. I’m glad on hearing your answers.”

Claps and hooting from the audience were obvious at that point of time. There was a cheering group which displayed a placard “Jenifer our Miss Beauty Queen of the year”.

She left the stage. “Kalpana Roy from Bhubaneshwar”, came the next call.

After an hour of interviewing, the fashion festival came to a successful end and the closing ceremony was in which Jeniffer was awarded the Miss Beauty Queen of the year award. A famous and successful bollywood heroine crowned her with the Beauty Crown.

***

A week later, the Fashion fest authorities decided to send in a surprise gift to the Contest Winner. An interview has been arranged with the Winner and the contest chief judge Mr. Siddharth Basu. For that, the authorities sent an invite letter to the address mentioned in the contestant details sheet. The invitation was returned back and the postman informed that there was no one in the name of Jeniffer in that address.

They were astonished to hear this from the postman. They informed Mr Basu that, the interview will be conducted next week as there was some problem in the delivery of the invitation. Siddharth then told that, he will give a surprise visit to her house.  The postman would have been drunk.

“Ok then Mr Siddharth, here is the address and the phone number. Try your luck and let us know if she is ready for the interview tomorrow.”

“Thank you very much.”. He got the address, took his car and reached the place which was mentioned in the address chit. He couldn’t find any apartment in that locality. There was a destitute house which was found with the door number mentioned in the chit. He entered the house and enquired.

“I would like to meet Jeniffer”

An old man with long and loose pyjamas came out from his room and beckoned Siddharth inside.

“I’m the in charge of this destitute house. Which Jeniffer are you talking about?”

“What?!!!!!!…I’m talking about Miss Beauty Queen of the year Jeniffer Mathews.”

The old man thought for a moment and his eyes went opened wide. “Please wait a minute. I’ll come shortly.” Said the old man and disappeared into the house. Siddharth thought, how could this happen. She should have been belonged to a rich family in a decent locality. Let she be a normal middle class girl, but she should have been living in some decent house. Did I end up in a correct place? He came back to his senses when he heard a coughing sound nearing him.

“Are you talking about this girl?” The oldman showed a ledger dated some 30 years back, with the name written in blue ink pen – JENIFFER MATHEWS

“Yes. She is the one. I have her photo also.”. Siddharth took out the Fashion magazine and showed it to the old man.

Seeing the photo, the old man became horror-struck and his mouth went wide open. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Do you have her contact number?” enquired the old man with the fear still in his eyes.

“Yes I do have. Here it is”.

The old man dialed the number. The ring went on and the call was connected.

“Hello. Krishnamoorthy here. May I know to whom I’m talking to?”

“Hello, this is Monal here” came the dull voice. Hearing this, the old man’s heart almost stopped. Can you please come over to the address which I am going to tell you now? I would like to talk to you about Jeniffer.”

***

Monal was horrified listening to the whole story and the information from Siddharth. She spoke with heavy heart…

“Jeniffer died thirty years back in the National Institute of Cancer. She was suffering from Skin Cancer and out of the sheer pain which she wasn’t able to withstand and the knowing the truth that the pain is out of cancer and not because of allergy she jumped from the 6^th floor of the Institute and ended her life. The doctors were not in a position to end her pain. So she ended herself. She wanted to become a world renowned model and wanted to participate in the Fashion Contest and win titles. Hope she has achieved it today, what she wanted 30 years back. Please come with me”

All the three landed in Monal’s House and Siddharth was almost unconscious seeing the albums with Monal and Jeniffer. She had the same face. There was a fashion show organized in her college. Monal showed a photo of hers participating in the Competition. She was clad in the same white Apparel which she has been wearing when the Fashion fest held last week.

Siddharth couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Monal took them to the backyard of her house where she was cremated.

The Cemetery read

~~~

JENIFFER MATHEWS

D/O Joseph Mathews

3^rd August 1955 – 7^th April 1979

REST IN PEACE

†

~~~

Her words still reverberated in his ears

“Who is the one who cannot be cheated?”

“Death”

“OK, One thing which you cannot get back”

“Life”

Jeniffer looked like angel in the cover of the fashion magazine.

-The End-

I opened my eyes to look at the alarm clock which was waiting eagerly with an evil grin on the table, kept exactly beside my head to wake me up with its irritating frequency of sound that it emits. It was 6.30 AM. The seconds hand was sweeping the clock’s face with intermittent pause for each second tirelessly to count the time that ticks right away.

Mom and dad were packing up bags. My vision was hazy, eyes still laden with the gravity of sleep. They were actually starting for a mini pilgrimage tour which was arranged by one of our neighbors in his Travel Package.

“Ashwin, wake up. We are leaving for the tour. We’ll be back tomorrow. We may reach late. Milkman will come at 7.30, get the packets and keep it in the milk tray. I’ve made breakfast and it is in the kitchen. Get up and lock the doors”

“Ye….aaaah (**Yawn**)”

I got up and slid the door latch and came back to bed. Closed my eyes and tried to sleep. But I was not able to sleep. I felt lonely and this loneliness was not allowing me to sleep. So I quickly got up and logged into my system to check mails.

There was a forward mail containing rare images of the some deity. I kept scrolling and in the end there was a message which asked me to forward it to at least 20 people, ignoring this mail may bring ill fate to me. On forwarding the mail, some miracle may happen in 1 hour. I usually don’t believe in these chain mails. And I hate spamming friends’ inbox with this kind of mails. I just thought for a moment and didn’t know what struck me, I pressed the Forward Button, entered few mail IDs in the To List and hit the SEND.

I launched iTunes & played some music track, so that I don’t doze off. Just then, I heard someone knocking the door. I remembered the milkman. I got up, walked towards the door and opened. There was no one. I came out and looked in all directions in search of milkman. There was no one. I looked disappointingly into the mailbox which was tugging the grill gate outside. Someone patted me on my back.

“Who are you?”

“I’m God”

The man appeared very simple in his white pyjamas. Well shaved. Well kept hair. I could not believe that he is God. I felt, he is talking rubbish early in the morning.

“Wh…What?”

“God! I said”, repeated the man-in-white

Well, I assumed this guy is gone mad or an escapee from an asylum. He looked harmless mature to his age that invited some dignity in his speech. I thought he must be from the neighboring house and is playing with me.

“Can we go to terrace and stroll for a while. It will be a good breathing experience in this morning”, he offered.

“Errr…OK in a minute”, I said and entered the house, put the system in Sleep mode, locked the doors and we walked up the stairs. By the time we reached the terrace, he went straight to the wooden cot which was there and offered me a seat. I hesitantly sat beside him.

“You are…errrr” I started again

“I’m God my son. The almighty! If you don’t believe me let’s have a conversation and in the end it is up to you to believe me or not.” The deal seemed to be vague. How can one believe one as a God with mere conversation? But I somehow wanted to get rid of this man. He must either be a neighbor or a jerk or a jerk neighbor.

“Hmmm…fine” I said

“Son…Tell me what you do?

“I’m a Software engineer” I said.

Click the “Read more…” link below to read the rest of the story

“Well…What does that mean?”, asked God (God from here after) puzzled

“I create Softwares. Do a lot of coding….and that’s it” I ended abruptly assuming that more technical details may not help him to understand what software engineer is all about.

“Now I understand. So you create things as I do!!?” He questioned me back

“As you do?.”, I was puzzled.

“Yea I create human beings who thrive in this earth”, God said with pride.

“Oh I see. So you are the one who create humans”, I said. I was not able to digest the statements he was making to me. I was trying to understand his words. It didn’t make any sense to me. I was laughing at his ignorance and his state of deliberate volunteerism in him to explain the concept of creation!

“What if there is any problem in your software which you create?” asked God.

I was bit interested as he was asking me things about software. I replied back, “There will not be any problems. We do a round of testing before implementing….”

“Implementing??…”, he interrupted.

“Yea….errrr…I mean running the software in real time”, I clarified.

“I too test humans, but after creating them. Not before creating them as in software”

“Oh I see. So you too test them. I test software for errors, functionality, bugs and more.” I said

“I test humans for endurance, perseverance, faith, responsibility, sincerity and much more”, He responded back.

“Hmmm…”, I nodded.

“What if, there are any problems in the software you deliver?”, asked God. I didn’t expect such a question from him.

“mmm….that’s called a delivered defect. We usually don’t deliver such a product. In case, we found any, we put a fix on it, by reworking on few of the codes”, I completed.

“My creations do have defect. But its not my fault. They are purely the fault of human beings. I see many of my creations are born crippled, deformed and with defect in their eyes or health. This is the human’s responsibility to take care of the progeny. The child should be nourished and taken care of in the proper conditions of healthy growth. Many children are born with diseases and with worst HIV +ve conditions. These do not fall under my control. I always create good humans, it is the living conditions and surrounding that makes him good or bad”

“Well, I can understand”, I said. I was almost in tears.

But his speech was so artificial. He did no sound the normal way. I was feeling uncomfortable. The information that my mind was registering seemed to be something different, which I haven’t heard before. He was justifying things on his side. He says humans are responsible for everything. I couldn’t respond.

I started, “Well then, I’m getting too much of information. I’m feeling strange”

God said, “What happened to you?”

“Don’t know. Something is wrong, I can feel. My mind is getting blank. I’m not able to think”

“Everything will be alright. Don’t worry my child”, God said.

“Child?? …”. I got confused. My vision was getting blurred slowly. The man, who designated himself as God, stood up and disappeared in the thin air. I was losing my balance and was about to touch the ground with THUD.

***

Scientists from all over the world were staring at the big TFT display placed in the Biogene Human Incubation Research Lab’s simulation hall. The world’s first Indian Robot, iHuBot was being tested for human emotions and being subjected to real time human interaction. The research center chief scientist Ramanan was monitoring each and every movement of the robot and its reaction in his laptop connected to the monitoring system. It was his invention and his dream of designing 99% Human like bio machine was about to come to reality.

The robot was designed using the human tissues which were specially made for designing robots with human characteristics. The skin was etched with the special nano sensors which can detect touch, heat, moisture and other human feelings like pain and tickle. The robot’s main memory consisting of 200TB storage can cache 87 thousand independent applications each doing the process of millions of cells and tissues that operate in human body and a secondary memory of 16000TBs which can fetch data stored in the main memory, gathered from human interactions and push it to the real time server that keeps running in the memory and will help the robot identify things and humans which it had interacted in the past, and the data is stored in the database. There is a heuristic engine application designed exclusively for the robot which can develop relational program and data from the past interactions and relate it to the current course of action and help robot identify persons or places or streets or even smell like that of real humans.

All of them were active in monitoring various events and busy in gathering data from the interaction. They were testing for bugs in the software which controls the robot mainly. The heuristic program which can develop itself in real time, keeps track of everything that the robot encounters.

Ramanan has noted and validated every emotion of humans with that of the Robot’s. He selected TEST PASSED checkbox in the validation software and waited for next emotional action.

It’s been 2 hours of conversation. The iHuBot was showing all sorts of emotions and expressions like that of human, but it isn’t showing the most expected one in the list. Everyone was waiting anxiously for the last test case to pass.

The human like figure was still having a conversation with the robot to induce various emotions into it.

***

I didn’t knew, when I came back to normal condition. He said it was miracle of God.

“Do you like animals?”, God asked.

I have not seen any animal in the flat for some time. They don’t allow animals here in this flat. I don’t remember when I saw a pet dog. In this 25^th century, no one cares about having a pet. I looked at my watch. It was 9.00 AM.

“Yea but I haven’t seen any in this flat.” I said

“Here it is”, God said and a small Pomeranian puppy came from somewhere. I bent and picked it up and held it in my hands. It was cute, hairy and spongy. It started licking my hands and then my cheeks. I stood still. I didn’t understand the actions. Why the hell it is licking me badly. Does it like the taste of my skin?

God asked me again, “What do you feel?”

I didn’t know what to say about this feeling. I smiled. I again looked at the pup. It tilted its head and came near my nose and again started licking again. I was feeling bored. I kept the puppy down and said to God.

“Well, I would like to leave. I’m hungry”

“Oh…I can get you food here”

“No I wanted to have it down. I’ll meet you sometime later”

“OK. Take care”, God said and disappeared in the thin air.

I went down and opened the door. Switched ON my system and entered the kitchen for breakfast, someone knocked the door again. I went and tapped the display fitted in the door and the display popped up the face.

It was Samyuktha.

“Hey come in. What made you here this morning?”

“Thank you. Just came in. Mom asked me to get some Coffee Powder.”

“Oh…wait a minute” I said. “And hey are you alone? Where is your mom and dad”, she interrupted and winked. I could see some mischievousness in her eyes. I have always seen this girl coming to my house. I’ll always be engrossed in my comp. She used to stare at me and keep staring always.

“Hey what are you thinking”, she again interrupted my thoughts.

“Errr..no nothing. I was thinking where the Coffee Powder packet is”

“Oh no….let it be somewhere. There is no hurry. I’ll get it when I leave”, she said.

So she is not leaving now. She was in her 3/4^th gym pants. Pink sleeveless with her hair tied at the back ending in a cute pony tail. The dress perfectly held her tight and packed. Her contour of the body was easily traceable and it suffered bends and turns at appropriate places.

“Hey, what are you looking at?”, she again interrupted.

“No, nothing…I was just………” I searched for words.

“You keep thinking always, Naughty. What have you been doing since this morning?”, she asked me. I never know why I search for words for such silly questions.

“I..I was in terrace….err”, I paused. Should I tell her about the man in white, The God. It appeared insane. Already she is making fool out of me. I did not want to get myself into making a fool again.

“You were in terrace? Don’t tell me that”, she looked so amused. Don’t tell me that? She only asked me where I was. Now she is asking me not to tell her. Is she gone mad?

“When is your mom coming back?”, she asked.

“They are coming back tomorrow. They have gone for a mini pilgrimage” I completed.

“Oh is it? Then it’s fine. We have no problem!!”

“Problem…? What problem do we have?”

She came closer to me, looked into my eyes. “Ashwin, now look. Don’t ask me questions. I like to ask questions but hate being questioned. Getting it?”

“Y…Yeah. OK”

“Cofffee…..”, I started.

“Yaar…shall I tell you something? Are you all right? In this flat, we have seen each other umpteen number of times. We have talked more than 1000 times. I smile when I see you, and you smile when you see me. I’m 22, sexy young, a girl next door. Now both of us in solitude in the same couch sitting side by side, Mom, away from home. I’ve come to your house. What else do you need?”.

Now what is this? Another  problem. Someone is keep bugging me from the morning. One man who tells he is God and talks crap, brings puppy from somewhere and let it lick. Now, this girl. By the time I was thinking this, she was totally close to me and there wasn’t a gap in between our shoulders. The door was locked and she was looking into my eyes.

***

Ramanan was very much tensed. The robot was not able to express the emotion that was expected. It was very difficult to generate this expression in code. 76 scientists have spent day and night writing program for simulating this expression. The emotion that needs to be generated to display this expression is first of all a herculean task for the programmers. The Biogene lab introduced new bio programmers who understand human physiology and psychology. The toughest task was to integrate the chip into the robot’s core processing unit, which houses the tissue which can be connected to a programmable memory and that can be cultured.

Only when the last expression is displayed and registered, the invention will be acknowledged for one of the India’s first Human Robot which can understand and has feelings similar to that of human beings. The fame and popularity that Ramanan would get out of this invention is unimaginable.

The whole team of scientist has been waiting for long time. They have changed the environment of interaction too. The change in the environment may give some change to the robot’s processor, to pick up some other expression from the expression_routine() which was defined in the ASM code. All of them again looked into the TFT screen.

***

For the first time, I held her body, put my hands around her hip and pulled her close to me. She sat on my lap turning to my side, facing each other in the couch, putting her arms around my neck. I could feel her breath warm in my nose. Morning weather was cold outside, the hug made some warmth in my upper part of my body. She wasn’t heavy. She was smiling like hell.

“Now what?…” I asked

“You naughty dog…asking me what uh?” she retorted mischievously.

I looked into her eyes. She was expecting me to do something. I’m supposed to things which will make her happy. I can feel the lust growing in her. She was humming a song. I turned her face towards me closer. Her nose hit mine. I can smell the Garnier Fructis Face wash neatly. My olfactory senses have become active now-a-days. I can feel the moisture of her lips thinning out in my neck, then in my chin and in my forehead. She was almost spreading into me like a creeper. I held face with both my hands and brought it closer to my face. Her lips were rose, soft and glossy. The hands automatically drew her near me and for the first time in my body, I could feel the adrenaline rush with great velocity and force. The hormones have started playing the big boy game. I held her face close to mine and planted a soft, profound kiss on her thick red little lips.  My nano tissues have registered an anatomical juxtaposition of two orbicularis oris muscles in a state of contraction first time.

Ramanan yelled, “Hurrraaaaay!!! SUCCESS. The robot has displayed the affection fantastically. That was a perfect kiss by a robot. Now iHuBot can understand each and every feeling of human being and can express its emotions through the actions such as crying, confusing, kissing and more.

TEST PASSED – He checked the check Box next to the emotion and expression validation test case.

***

I could still feel the voltage that generated impulses in my processor out of that kiss. But suddenly everything disappeared. The flat, Samyuktha, My Comp, House, Bed and everything vanished. I could see only a lab full of screens hanging all around me. Two personnel with white coat and head gear intact came near me and disconnected me from simulation test bed. The environment generation jack was disconnected and he opened my chest case. Pressed few buttons and the Central Processing Unit in my System was slowly going to standby state. The LEDs which were glowing bright were slowly getting dimmed and eventually went off. I stood still. Two automated hands came from the control panel area and lifted me and kept me with many of the test robots designed in the Biogene Human Incubation Research Lab.

The End !

It was a Saturday evening.

A group of children were playing in the park making noises that hit the nearby houses. They were enjoying the Saturday evening to the core. No studies, no homework, no exams. What else children need these days? An hour of sleep, lots of time to play and enjoy.

65 year old Vasudevan was sitting in the bench and was keenly watching the kids playing cricket, in the park situated nearby Mercy Oldage Home. He was in his white dhoti and well pressed khadi pyjama which has been donated by Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan to all the senior citizens of the Mercy Home. The walking stick, which never parts from him, was lying beside him. He was here by his own decision.

He could see two kids fighting in the crowd of children playing see-saw. A flabby obese child was hit by another one who is thin and weak to his age. He could barely lift the cricket bat which was lying on the ground. The scene of the weak tiny boy who keeps hitting the obese child disturbed him. Vasudevan was very much tired for his age and in his life. The small boy’s mischievousness was at the peak. He constantly hits the obese kid with the bat and this plump kid never retorts back. After few more hitting, both of them leave the place and this flabby kid walks towards the bench.

Vasu seeing him coming, calls the obese kid.

“Hey you. Come here dear”

Hearing those words, the boy turns his side and comes running towards him.

“What is your name?”, Vasu asked him softly bearing a light smile in his face.

“Deepak” came the reply.

“Deepak, why do you play with that naughty boy who keeps hitting you always? Why don’t you hit him back so that he never shows his mischievousness to you?

Deepak replied, “I play with him because; others don’t include me in the games. They don’t allow me in their group because I’m fat. I look ugly. My dress is tight and they hate playing with me. Aswin plays with me even though I’m fat. He is the only one who accepts me as a friend. If I hit him back he’ll too leave me. After all his the only one I’ve, to play with me. I don’t wanna miss him”

Saying this he hurriedly left running towards the park gate.

Deepak’s words stirred Vasudevan’s thoughts.

***

A week back in his own house, he shouted at his son Krishnan, who was assistant manager in an elevator company managing the finance and accounts.

“I’m leaving this house”, Vasudevan’s voice reverberated the 3BHK flat which Krishnan bought a month ago. “I cannot stay with him who doesn’t have any respect to his father. I’m leaving”

“Father, it’s you who happily gave away the important file containing the account statements to waste paperwala. You know how important that document is? I had worked day and night to prepare that report and it was due submission. I had to ask another day to prepare it again and submit it back. It is the only reason, I spoke harshly to you. Why are you leaving us for this?”

“No whatever reason you give me, I’m not in a mood to accept it. I need respect. When it is not available here, I’m not staying here. See you”. Vasudevan packed his bags and left the house and he is now here in the Mercy home for the past one month. Krishnan’s effort to make his father stay back went in vain. He was helpless.

***

Someone knocked the door early in the morning. When Krishnan opened the door he was surprised to see his father back home. Vasudevan quietly entered the house and entered silently into his room and sat in his chair. Krishnan could not say anything. He wanted to talk to his dad. But he did not want to hurt him saying anything. He wanted his father to rest. He was in tears out of the happiness that filed his heart seeing his father back home after a month from the Mercy home.

Krishnan was getting ready for the day’s work and was hurrying as usual to his office. He left home hurriedly seeing his father asleep in his room.

By the time he reached his Office, he got a call from his manager.

“Krishnan, please bring the audit report which we prepared yesterday. Hope you reviewed it at home as you said”

“Yesss Sir…I’ll be there in a minute”. When the receiver was placed down, he realized that he had left the file at home. “Oh my God…today again in hurry I left the file back at home”. He quickly made another call to his manager and informed that he need some time and he’ll be back in 5 minutes.

“Oh yes. No problem Krishnan. Take your time. Come to my cabin after 5 minutes”, Manager replied and put the receiver down.

By the time he was about to start home. Krishnan received another call from reception.

“Mr. Krishnan, someone is waiting for you in the lobby”

“Yes I’ll be there in a minute”

“Thank you Sir” the call ended.

Who wants to see me now? I want to get that file from Home immediately. Shall I ask him to come another day and discuss? Thinking all this he got down the stairs and reached the lobby in search of the person who has come to meet him.

***

Krishnan approached the reception and the lady pointed her pen towards the couch. It was a fraction of time Krishnan took, turning to the direction the receptionist pointed, to see Vasudevan sitting in the couch, with a file in his hand, along with a flabby kid who was holding a football, sitting beside him. His heart was heavy with melancholy.

“Father….” He said. He was not able to talk. His throat was choked out of happiness of seeing his father.

Krishnan could not control his feelings. He burst out in tears and came towards him and fell on his father’s feet.

Vasudevan spoke, “Krishnan, here is the file which you forgot to take with you, this morning. Amma gave this to me to handover this to you. Hope this is so something important for you today. I don’t wanna miss you”

P.S: This is a thought expressed by my colleague. He wanted those thoughts to be written in some form of story and I’ve tried my best to put it here in a story as narrated by him.

Three year old Pinky was crying badly with tears flowing all over her pink cheeks and rosy cute little lips. She was clad in dark blue pinafore, white shirt, and not to mention the safety pin holding the handkerchief to the pinafore intact.

Sitting in the last bench of the LKG B-Section, her first day in the school was painful. Seeing all new faces and the smell from the boxes of wax Camlin crayons made her awfully uncomfortable. The water bottle had spilled the water all over the floor. The class was noisy and she could hear few other kids crying badly for mummy.

The hand drawn portraits of apple and banana hanging in the walls did not invite any interest in the class. She wanted to go home and sleep beside her mom.

Class teacher entered the class. Took the attendance and turned towards the class and said.

“My dear students let me teach you rhymes today. Repeat the words as I say”

“YES MAAAAAAAAAAAM…”, came the reply from the class.

She opened the book and started reciting the rhymes….Pinky repeated what the teacher said with the tears dripping all over her cheeks. When the rhymes was over, Pinky’s cry had subsided a bit and she is red all over her small nose. Teacher noticed this and came to her

“What do you want pinky?”

“I want mummy…”, she told curling her lips forward

“Mummy will come in the evening and pick you up”

“No I want to go now”. Teachers words agitated Pinky’s little heart and she started shouting at her highest decibel. Teacher promised her chocolates if she stayed quiet. But all her efforts went in vain. Pinky badly wanted to go home. The teacher told her, if you tell me rhymes, I’ll leave you to your parents. She told this and left Pinky in her seat and left the place and walked towards her chair in front of the class. Pinky was looking seriously into the open textbook which was lying on the table. She had to stop crying as there was no other go.

When the bell rang three times, she could hear the sounds of shoes walking past her class. There was a break for 15 minutes; Pinky opened her Tiffin box and took out the orange cream biscuits. She took the round biscuit in her hand and pulled both the biscuits apart, which were stuck to each other, with the orange cream in between. She started licking the orange cream slowly till the taste of the biscuit felt in her tongue. She did this for all the biscuits and left the wet biscuits sans cream back in the Tiffin box.

The class started after the 15 minutes break.

After a 2hours of all classes, there came the last period. Rhymes Teacher again!

This period was activities period. Teacher asked each one of the students to come near her and asked the student to sing a song or tell any poem. Pinky remembered the rhymes which her mom taught her a week back. Before joining the school, Pinky’s mom used to teach her songs, rhymes and alphabets etc. Suddenly she remembered the book which she was staring in the morning. It had pictures of stars, moon and dark night.

Teacher was sitting in her chair, calling each one of them to do something for the class. Pinky was watching carefully what each of the students were doing. She wanted to leave. She wanted to come out of this agony of sitting in the class and doing things told by the teacher.

“Come here Pinky”, Teacher called.

Pinky slowly got up from her seat and walked towards her carrying the book with which had the pictures of stars and moons.

“What are you going to do Pinky”, Teacher interrogated.

“Lhymes…..”, she said in her childish slang.

“Oh Pinky is going to tell us rhymes”, Teacher announced to the class. “Ok. Come on Pinky. Tell the rhymes”. She thought Pinky is going to say the rhymes which she taught in the class this morning.

Pinky started

“Tinki tinki litti chaar.

Aavai onna waattoo aar

Appobaada volso hai

Laika dimon inda sky”

By the time she finished telling this with all actions and modulation, the teacher hugged her and planted a kiss in her pink cheeks and asked her, “Who taught you this?”

“Mummy”, came the reply

Pinky expected her to take her to the mom as she said earlier. By the time she was thinking, the bell rang and parents have come to escort their child back.

Pinky was so happy seeing all the parents. She could spot her mom who has come to escort her. She quickly packed her school bag and left the class. The teacher met her mom and asked to meet her in the staff room.

In the staff room,

“You girl is so naughty and intelligent”

“Oh…are there any complaints?”

“No, I just wanted to tell you that, she told rhymes today in the class. No other students were able to tell this way. You are really blessed to have such a child.”

“Thank you very much madam”

***

Later in Pinky’s house.

“Teacher told me that, she is really intelligent”, Veena said to her husband.

“Oh is it? What did she do in the class?”

“She told the rhymes that I taught her last week”

“Oh great ! You always do your best to teach children things in an interesting way by showing them the pictures and toys while teaching the rhymes. This made the children remember and learn the rhymes so easily and quickly. No wonder you are a great teacher!”

Veena, who was a young and energetic teacher in the kindergarten school, blushed, hearing those compliments given to her.

Dedicated to all the teachers.

Happy Teachers Day

He looked confused, looked left and right. All of them were writing in full swing. The teacher was standing near the first row. He quickly took out the small paper rolled inside the pen cap and quickly glanced through it.

Correct Answers!

He handed over the answer sheet with joy of answering all questions correctly

—-

Well, I had posted this 55 Fiction in my Office Blog too. Got some interesting comments in the form of 55 Fiction.

One girl had posted a reply for my above Story in 55 words:

She looked once again to her left and right. He was busy copying the answers from the scrap of paper. She tried to catch his eye but he was not looking up. She wrote her name and telephone number on a chit and threw it at him.

‘You are using Chits!’, yelled the angry teacher.

To which I replied back in 55 words:

“Trrrrrrrrring”

Bell rang and all of them left the exam hall. The teacher left in hurry to submit the answer sheets. The boy picked up the chit, smiled and approached the girl.

“Saw the chit?”

“No. I had written all my answers correct. Thanks for help. Please bring chits for tomorrow’s chemistry exam”

“You…%$&^&^&”

The Girl replied with another one for the above one in 55 words

He walked out and winked at his friends. ‘What was that man?’ they asked excitedly.

‘Arey she was quite bold yaar, she knew I liked her but I did not expect that she would do this in the exam hall. Anyway, I have her number, it’s show time! She will love this bad boy’s game!’

For this I replied back in 55 words

BEEP-BEEP…
“Hi…Bad boy here ”
“Hey hi…studied?:)”
“No..exams gt postponed. Andhra CM expired in Air crash. schools hv been declared holiday”
“Oh..yea just now mom told me ”
“wat doin’?”
“preparing chits ”
“Gud:P!… Free tomo?”
“yea…:) Shall I come home?”
“Home?!!!”
“yea “
“Mom will scold”
“Oh :O….Then we’ll go out”
“OK Done ”

Now this time some one else replied for the above story with a 55 Fiction

“Will meet in the School?”
“Yep! Sounds good”
“evening, 5:30?”
“perfect”

next evening, in the school
Boy is waiting for the girl; she finally arrives
he–>”hi”
she–> “Sorry for being late”
“where are the boooks!”
“what books?”
“Chemistry, obviously!”
“what are we here for?”
“Combined studies. Will prepare the chits together “

Donno if this is the end of the story. But we enjoyed replying back with the 55 Fiction in the form of a story !!!

P.S: If You are the girl who replied to my post in Office Blog, then Do leave me a msg that you have read this !

I was alone in an isolated, dark and dim lit room.

I opened my laptop and placed my finger in the fingerprint sensor of my Sony VAIO, to login to Windows. My eyes were drooping and were heavily loaded with tiredness. I opened GMail and started typing …

Dear Mom,

How are you? I know it’s been long time since I wrote to you. I hardly get any time to sit and write and today I’m writing to you to show that I miss you all & Chennai a lot. I would like to tell you something which will soothe your mind. We are coming back to India this month end with Akash. He is turning 5 this month.

I still remember how you used to teach me Thiruppavai in the terrace early morning. The image of the flock of pigeons, dispersing from the Gopuram (Tower) of Kabaleeswarar Temple, when the Bell tolls ting tong is still fresh in my memories. I’m finding it a herculean task to teach him a line of Thirukkural now-a-days. Akshara is taking care of imparting spirituality to Akash. I’m happy that he is learning it fast.

He eats only French toasts. Yesterday, I suddenly remembered how thatha used to get Idli-Sambar from the Saravana Bhavan nearby when you get up late and pack my lunch bag for school. I started hating pizzas and burgers. I wish to taste the Pongal, hot with dripping ghee, the day we reach there. The Narasus Coffee shop which will be opened near our house with those conical containers grinding the Coffee Beans always excites my olfactory senses. Filter Coffee was nectar than the Cappuccino and Latte.

We have GYM at home and I used to walk for an hour in the treadmill, but the joy of breathing fresh air early in the morning, strolling in the pathway of Marina beach was an eternal bliss. I can enjoy those from next month onwards.

How’s our rickshaw mama, who used to ask me, “Naastha Thunniaa” (Had Breakfast?), in his Madras Slang whenever I leave for school in his Rickshaw. I still wonder his flamboyant vocabulary of Tamil words which he uses eloquently. I’ll get him a pair of shoes which he wanted from me when I go to US.

I rem’ it’s the Music season & I promise we’ll go for the Kutchery (Concert) in Music Academy this time.

Yours Lovingly,

Vijayaraghavan

***

Tears rolled down when Kumararaghavan read this mail in his Computer. He is receiving this email for the 30^th time in this month from his son, who has been admitted in the National Centre for Mental Health Rejuvenation. He was the only one who survived the plane crash which happened last month. His cranium has been ruthlessly damaged and he has recovered with only memory of returning back to Chennai with temporary conscious!

***

I could feel my head spinning, heavy with pain. I lay back on the bed in the hospital room slowly losing my consciousness….

There was a Madras Day Celebration @ Office. As a part of the events, there was a Short Story writing contest and this story won the First Place !!

Artificial Intelligence, Super Computing, Cryptography, Hacking, Super Hero Concepts etc are the areas of interests of Hollywood directors that make the movie a Hi-fi entertainer. First time in the history of Tamil film industry, the audiences have been given an opportunity to witness a Super hero movie with Zero Logic with the perfect blend of Entertainment and a strong message which will undoubtedly ignite a spark towards a renaissance in the economic situation of our Country.

To put it in few simple words, the movie is all about helping those poor and needy people who still crave for a square meal, by flicking enormous amount of illegal money from Rich and whooping wealthy people who store wealth legally, converting them to documents or foreign currency and amass it in foreign banks.

The story kicks off in a Murugan Temple where a lady ties a piece of paper in a tree writing their grief and wishes in a few lines. The custom of tying these papers in the bark of a tree is the tradition followed in the southern parts of India where God listen to your prayers and makes the wishes comes through. Of course the lady’s wish of a few amount of money comes true with a sack of money lying at the backyard of her house. Soon the news of wishes coming true that are tied in the tree spread like a forest fire and flocks of people visit the temple tying the paper. In case, the money doesn’t reach the concerned person, our Super Hero Kandasamy clad in the black cloak with red wings like cloth strip attached to it, comes in the air and flying and sweeping across walls (like a spiderman) and teaches them appropriate lessons without letting them know that, it is happening in real (though the sequence happens in real) leaving a mark of the “Vel” in the cheeks. Next morning when the attacked victim gets up, only to remember the incident as a Nightmare and with dizzy mind, the mark remains in the face! Each of the people’s wish list is satisfied by clearly categorizing their needs and delivering the money (which is captured during raids) to the appropriate people by appropriate means. The people in the village assume this to be the work of the Lord Kandasamy. But it is all the work of the alter ego Kandasamy who has a well planned operation for each delivery. He even satisfies the wish of a common man of wanting Aishwarya Rai in the terrace, by his Woman form and with due frightening.

The sturdy, manly, fit and strong IPS Officer Kandasamy belonging to the Economic Offense Wing of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) spontaneously gives command to the officers for the raid into the house of multi billionaires and millionaires who are the big shots in the country. It all starts with the raiding operation that was set to happen at PPP’s (Ashish Vidhyarthi) House. His body language is well tuned, and maneuvered. His mature looks and fit body adds to his performance. Not to mention the costumes of Vikram. They are awesome, grand and royal. It stands out separately and portrays Vikram in high profiles. It seems they have spent a lot of amount on the costumes itself.

Within the first song, the secret is exposed that the Super Hero is none other than the CBI Officer himself with the gang of around 11 friends making this Super Hero a happening image. The technology they use, the synchronization in the actions solely controls our super hero’s stunts. May it be the smoke effect or the sound effect, the flying thing or the clutching thing; everything is in the hands of the other 11 fellow mates who control the Super hero.  Each one of them is technically sound in their own areas of computer control, motion control, sound engineering and more makes Kandasamy a successful Operation. Both the “Super Hero” and its alter ego “Kandasamy IPS” have played their roles flamboyantly well.

“Kandasamy’ – The Super Hero depicts a rooster. The costume and the mask that conceals his upper part of the face, denotes the same. The body language and the neck movement exactly coincides with that of the rooster. The “Kok Kok” sound that is produced by the hero shows the mannerism of the super hero which creates havoc in the stomachs of the so called Bad-Guys in the movie. The movie depicts the hero who is skilled in the Martial arts including Karate and the Tai Chi. The moves that Vikram delivers on the opponents body were simply superb and each blows are stunningly devastating.

The cinematography is one thing which should be greatly appreciated and the only thing which drives the movie till the end without any glitches in the scenes. The camera sees things as how it should be seen by the audience. The movie sequence takes us to the lands of Mexico with the rich cinematography feeding us with the tangy deserts and the landscapes which are feasts to our eyes and hearts. Camera has captured Shriya Saran a lot. Her minimal attire and her costumes well expose her contours of the body. She fits the role of the bond girl perfect. Her expressions and the bodily subtle movements squeeze our hearts to the core. In simple terms, she is sexy, sleek and carries her part well throughout the movie. “Allegra” proves to be a good add on to the Music.

The Mexico travel that the hero undergoes with Shreya under the garb of transferring an enormous amount of dollars to her father’s account, seems to be national level operation to investigate the Indian money that were dumped in the foreign countries making India in debt to many of the nations of the world. This is revealed only towards the end of the movie

The movie is seems to be a blend of “Anniyan” and the “Sivaji” which conceptualizes helping the poor and needy and removing the “incorrectness” from the society. The wealthy ones who accumulate money illegally have an account in the foreign banks and deposit the money safe and secure thus making our country economically and financially challenged. Kandasamy, the CBI officer unearths money and assets from various people who conceals them in the walls of their compound walls, Under the Tiles of Flooring and in the body of the VOLVO AC Buses. The last one in the sequence, which comes as a surprise when the Hero unveils whooping documents, foreign currencies and other belongings in front of the whole crowd in the climax.

Prabhu as usual played his part simply well, without making a fool out of himself (“Yenna Kodumai Saravanan” Kinda). His role as a DIG investigating the Kandasamy case is well written. He was trying to prove that the wishes coming true, is not the work of the divine intervention but it’s just the operation carried out by a common man who is either so rich or a fool. His appearance was full of dignity and resembles the prabhu of the Movie “Billa”. Vadivelu’s comedy track doesn’t seem to tickle the laughing senses towards the end.

The message that the movie is trying to convey is well written and delivered. This movie throws insights on the financial frauds that people carry out by accumulation of excess money in different forms. This is not a first time movie for Vikram to play the role of a cop. But the Hollywood feeling that the movie offers by the hero belonging to the Economic Offence Wing of CBI makes it commercial and rich. The Toyota, Nissan and other heavy vehicles that ply on the roads shows the richness of the movie and the status of the officers. The director himself plays a role towards the end of the movie.

When there are positives, there will be some negatives too. If people are going to turn up with some expectations in the logic, then there will be disappointments. This is a full entertainer with Zero Logic. You cannot simply put question on how is Vikram able to answer the 3 level password questions posed by the Mexico Banking Website, sitting in the pool in Mexico, with his laptop and the girl by the side with smart and clever interrogation to Shriya, related to the password. You cannot ask, will a Tai Chi trained martial art fighter with his eyes covered, will be able to fight with five or six opponents surrounded in a isolated landscape by just hearing the sound of the footsteps and the persons’ breathing.

The reason that Vikram delivers to the Villain with a Video clip in the luxurious Bus of the latter, for demanding the other part of the lump some money that the former was promised to offer, was really touching and there was no “Bakwas”. The demand was genuine but it was void of logic. The justification that Vikram gives is acceptable.

Hope the message reached the mass. This good try by Susi Ganesan and the output has come out well. One thing worth mentioning in the movie is, this is not just another super hero movie where the identity and the techniques of carrying out super hero task would be explained and exposed in the climax (like that of the “Anniyan”). Everything is exposed in the first song itself. How the operation is carried out, how the super hero flies in the air, how the other 11 folks controls the super hero flight and actions. Everything is clearly explained. But the story still moves with full interest and vigor. I should say, the director has come out with such a story with guts of exposing the crux behind a super hero movie in the start and still keeping audiences occupied in the story.

The movie ends with the Vikram giving an interview to the press reporters after returning back to India, collecting all the details about the Indian money dumped illegally in the lands of Mexico and further plans to unveil all the money that are secured illegally in other countries as well.

To conclude, Kandasamy is worth watching and a full time entertainer with rich visuals. You may not have a second thought in the money spent for ticket.

Watch it in theatres!!

Kandasamy – Bond with the Best!

My Rating: - █ █ █ █ █ (4/5)

It was Friday 11.30 AM, I was still busy with the documentation which has to be sent to my Onsite coordinator before EOD. But I know well that my EOD is going to kiss me in another 2 hours. So, I was doing things in fast-forward style in an excitement of travelling. After having a light lunch in FC2 around 12.35, I stepped into the MORE shop to purchase toothpaste and a brush. After 20 minutes of window shopping, I signed the Debit Card Swipe slip and came out of the store and rushed towards FC to get back to my cubicle.

When the clock struck 2.10 PM, all of us left the SDB and walked towards the main gate.  There was a 12 seater waiting for us outside the gate. Few of our folks told us that they will join us in the Central Station directly, so the remaining people started around 2.30 from MCity towards Central. There started the joy filled moments.

August 07, 2009 Friday 4:30 PM

All of us were sound asleep after making all types of sounds that can be created out of our vocal chords. The Tempo traveler entered the station swiftly and gave a soft jerk and the engine ceased. We had reached the station. We entered the station and tilted our vision at an angle of 45 degrees upwards to the LED Display. The train hasn’t come yet. The LED Displays overhead was showing the list trains which are categorized into arrivals and departures.

We waited for the other folks to arrive near the platform. The Mangalore Express hasn’t arrived yet. After 15 minutes of waiting and all of them have arrived, we started walking towards our coach, as the train had also arrived. It took quite some time to get settled. We didn’t notice when the train started, but we all know that, it’s gonna be an uber cool, fun filled outing with the team. The journey was full of chatting, pulling each other’s legs, dancing, singing and making sounds of all frequencies. Around 10.30 PM I got into the upper berth and was slowly getting into sleep. The train’s movement was felt all over my body.

A Quick glance on Wayanad:

District Head Quarters: Kalpetta
Area: 2132 Sq. Kms
Main language: Malayalam
Religions: Christians, Hindu, Muslims
Weather: Tropical
Climate: Max –: 35 Deg Celcius, Min –: 15 Deg Celcius
Best Season: Oct to May
Mani Food: Rice
Nature of Landscape: Hills and Valleys
Main Crops: Paddy, Tea, Pepper, Coffee, Cardamom
Nearest Airport: Karipur (Calicut)
Nearest Railway Station: Calicut

August 08, 2009 Friday 4:30 AM

Someone was waking me up. It was just 4.10 AM. All of them were rushing up and packing their bags, hair uncombed, teeth unbrushed, and still pulled by the gravity of sleep, I got down the upper berth, and looked into my mobile. It was 4.10 AM. I put on my shoes and packed my bags. The train slowed down in a station around 4.30 AM. It was Kozhikode. Later I came to know that it is also called Calicut. All of us hurriedly got down the train and came out of the station. A 21 seater mini bus was waiting for us in its flashing mix of yellow and orange color.

The day was yet to unveil its brightness. The sky was still covered with the darkness patched with grey clouds. I hazily looked into the display that was kept in the station. Nothing was decipherable from that, coz it was written in Malayalam. We all moved towards the Mini-Bus and found a place for each one of us.

The Bus had a sticker stuck to its front. LCD DVD Coach – Digital Sound Systems! I was wondering about this. The bus appeared very simple and it was a normal mini bus with the basic amenities like cushion seats, Mini Fan above your head, Side loft on both sides for keeping your bags and all that stuff. But LCD Digital thing appeared to be out of place or odd-man-out whatever you call it. I stepped into the bus and found a seat and settled myself in the aisle. I looked straight into the small box that was fitted in the front, facing us. It was the DVD which I was telling about. It was not more than a simple 15” CRT Television. I was thinking about the LCD and digital sound. The CD which we gave to the driver to be played in that DVD player was displaying “Data Out Of Sync” Error messages. We just came for the outing to keep ourselves away from the abends and error messages atleast for some time. I was not bothered about resolving the issue. I was already asleep.  After fidgeting with the Remote control which was found with the cleaner, our folks were able to play some songs in that. Every time the DVD player was switched on, it will start with the first track in that in that CD. That became the subject matter of fun in the whole journey.

The breeze was chill. The weather outside was not so hauntingly cold. But since the bus was picking up speed, the gush of chill air raised few of the hair strands in my body and was enabling the Goosebumps utility of the human being in me. The window glass was adjusted accordingly to let only the required amount of air that my body can with stand. My friend sitting beside me was fast asleep. I could feel the Malabar magic in me. I could see only coconut trees, thick landscapes full of trees and bushes. The sunlight was slowly trying to touch the earth. The light orange shade was gradually being applied to the sky. I didn’t know when I fell asleep. With the music being played and the bus motion in the uneven roads appeared to rock my cradle and the gushing cool breeze swiping my face, took me to the subconscious world. It was 7.30 when we reached Wayanad. The place was called Kalpetta. The board Prince Inn notified that, we had reached the Hotel.

We all waited in the reception. All of them settled in the couch which was available infront of the reception desk. I looked around the place to admire the interior decoration. The first thing I noticed was the well decorated wooden elephant placed in the entrance. Its dark brown color wooden finish was awesome. The glossy look and craftsmanship of the sculpture made it look real. The ceiling lights were dim and it was spreading a yellowish ambience all over the place. Some Malayalam newspapers were lying on the couch-level glass table which was placed in between the three Sofas. I took some courage to lift the papers and scan through the pages just for the images and advertisements. I was fully aware that I may be subjected to sure humiliation by the folks around me. But to my amusement, I saw quite a few of them who don’t know the language, taking pains to turn pages of the newspaper. I didn’t feel different.

Totally five rooms were allotted to us, with a count of 4 in each room. Since we were only 19, one of the rooms may be filled with four minus one person. I and my friend got ourselves comfortable in to one of the rooms. The room boy accompanied us till our room and left. I switched on the TV and lay flat of bed. The weather was awesome, still chill and fresh. The complex into which our hotel was situated was yet to wake up. Shops were still closed. Later one of my colleague accompanied in our room. After getting ourselves ready and some breakfast, we left the place around 9.30 and started for Edakkal Caves.

A quick glance on Edakkal Caves

An interesting trek up the Ambukuthi Hill near Ambalavayal town takes you to the world famous Neolithic Edakkal Caves which tells the pre historic heritage of Wayanad. The cave was formed in the crevice of a broken rock, thatched by another massive rock. Etchings seen in the walls of these caves have drawn the serious attention of archaeologists and the historians all over the world. It is about 10,000 years old!

August 08, 2009 Saturday 10:00 AM

The roads in between the hills were really awesome. The steep plantations were green and fresh. It really captivates your heart and it will welcome all shutter bugs to disturb their SLR Camera. The slight drizzle adds beauty to the environment. You may stop by the plantation side to click few snaps. By the time we reached the place, it was 11.00. It seemed that we had to walk a kilometer to reach the foothill of the caves. Jeep services were available for that too. But few of them were ready to walk and few of them wanted a jeep to get to the foothill. Few of them and I decided to walk and admire the nature on the way. We started walking and were busy shooting snaps of each of us. Climbing the 1KM seemed to be easy. But after a few meters I was breathing heavily and was tired. My thighs were aching. Being a software engineer, we hardly to anything physically straining. We used to warm our chairs all day and leave our cube except for coffee breaks and lunch. But this ordeal of climbing seemed to be somewhat helpful to burn our calories.

We reached an intermediate place; where we took some time to bring our heart beats to normal rate. Some of them were still climbing and some had already reached in jeep. So we waited for all of them to assemble. After that we started our journey into the caves and rocks. After some 2 hours of climbing up and climbing down, we came back to the bus around 2.00 and left for lunch. At around 5.15 PM we again started towards Jungle Safari.

A quick glance on Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary

Muthanga is a rain forest connected to two other major sanctuaries – Bandhipur National Park in Karnataka and Mudhumala Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamilnadu. Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary claims the largest number of elephants in Asia. The vegetation of the region is a hot spot of rare herbs and medicinal plants. The reserve is home to many other species like leopard, sambar, cheetal, langur etc.

Muthanga wildlife Sanctuary 5:15 PM

Jungle safari was exciting. The authorities of Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary told us that there will be tigers inside the jungle so we need to be safe. We waited near the entrance of the jungle. Four jeeps have been arranged and we got into it one by one. There started our journey towards the thick jungle.  When safari-ing into the jungle, we saw deers, peacocks and monkeys. But never saw a tiger. With all hopes of spotting one, we went deep into jungle. It was a muddy single pathway into which the jeep traversed into the jungle.  It was dense on both sides. The flora and fauna was quite catching and environment was cool. There was a slight drizzle at times. High trees which appeared to touch the skies populated the jungle. After covering a distance, we all got down; the stench of the elephant dropping was highly unbearable. Someone was explaining that the dropping is still green and fresh, so elephants could have passed by this way. I was inspired so much on his wisdom and wanted to thank him for enlightening us with such thought.

Sitting in the back of the jeep and the jeep riding through the tough and muddy road was exciting. The jeep was sturdy and was able to pass through any kind of road. After an hour of Safari inside the jungle, the driver told us that we are going to follow a different route to go out of the jungle. I was wondering how he remembers the entire route, which direction he was travelling atc. After an hour of jungle exploration, at around 6.20 we again started towards the hotel. We did not see the Tiger till the end ! We ordered our dinner from our room and after sometime of chitchatting and sharing our experiences and looking at the photos clicked by all the shutterbugs, we returned back to our bed and started fidgeting with the TV remote and channels. I remember it was 12.30 AM when I slept.

August 09, 2009 Sunday 7:30 AM

Someone was waking me up, it was my friend who had already got ready, and I took my toothbrush, towel and entered the bathroom to get ready quickly. The water was pricking cold. The hot water tap wasn’t helping anymore. It seems hot water will not be provided after 8.00 AM. So I took some courage to pour the chilllllllllllll water over my body. I could feel the low temperature struggling to get stabilized over my body temperature. I poured another mug of water which was made to flow from my shoulders to my toes. I was freezing and was uneasy bearing the cold water in my body. After three mugs of water, I was feeling bit comfortable and the soap foam somehow kept me warm. I came out of the bathroom and got ready in 10 minutes. After a hot breakfast and Chaya (Tea), we set out another journey to Suchipara falls.

A quick glance on Soochipara Waterfalls

The Soochipara Falls is a three-tiered waterfall located 20 km from Kalpetta in Wayanad district in Kerala. 2 Kms away from Chooralmala (near Meppady). The water flows in a narrow line through the rocks and gorge joins river Chaliyar which ends in the Arabian Sea. Tea Plantations on the hill slopes will definitely fascinate you.

The paths which lead us to the falls were steep and long, we had to walk a few distance to reach the falls. There was no jeep service available and only after walking through the way we found that the service cannot be availed. It is only walkable. After reaching the exact location, we found ourselves climbing down a mountain to reach the falls. We had to climb down huge rocks which had small way for getting down. It was fun in the water. Again the water was chill and we had a great time in the waters. Many of them were clicking themselves having the waterfall at the back drop. I’m not an exception, I too asked my fellow mate to click me with the falls at the backdrop. There was a Smile and a Click. Mission Accomplished!!!

After having a sumptuous lunch at a hotel, we started towards the Quilandi Station to catch our Mangalore Express at around 1.30 PM to return back to Chennai.  It was 4.30 by the time we reached the station. Quickly reached our platform and got settled into the seats which were put up for passengers to rest. All of us were tired out of 2 day outing. The bus journey had made all of us so tire that we couldn’t bring back the same environment that was there when we were starting from the Chennai Central Station.

August 10, 2009 Monday 5:30 AM

It was 5.30 by the time we reached Chennai. Welcome to Chennai Central. The LED Display welcomed us. After deciding who is going by train and bus, we dispersed.

I got a 32B. Reached Home at 6.30 AM Kept the bags aside and quickly changed to my shorts and Tees and hit the bed. Ii was 11.00 when I woke up! It was really an awesome team outing to Wayand!

He was irresistibly staring at the monitor. The code was still running consuming much of the CPU memory.

She was uncomfortable sitting in the cafeteria. Droplets of tears swiped across her rose powdered cheeks.

5 minutes to complete execution.

5 minutes to catch the train.

Successful Execution – Monitor Displayed.

“I’m leaving” – His mobile screen flashed.

This is my First 55 fiction. It has only 55 words. See below the MS Word Statistics as a proof

Well….I had this conception of not being able to form a fiction with just 55 words. But after a lazy Friday afternoon sleep, I sat in-front of my system and opened the MS Word to write about something, just then this thought stuck me,

“Kally, Why don’t you try ur hand on 55 Fiction?”

Then I started keying in the above lines.

The best part is, after a doubtful compilation of above lines, I just re-read those lines. I was quite confident that, it did conveyed a message. But, still I want this to be reviewed by someone. My sis was there at her disposal I beckoned her near my system and asked her to give a read and explain what she understood from those lines.

By the time she took some 3 minutes to explain things, it appeared as if she is reading my memory and narrating things exactly as how it was there in my mind.

Wooooooooooooow !!! I pinched both her cheeks with my hands.

That’s enough for me. That itself was a compliment for what I tried to do and what has come out successfully. I do not know whether the above story followed all the criteria of 55 Fiction, but I’m sure that I was able to convey what I wanted to in just 55 words.

There are lot more untold feelings in this story which will be automatically conveyed once u fnish reading this one. Lemme know what did u feel and how my 55 Fiction has turned out.

Is it a or ?

To know more about 55 fiction, visit the link below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55_Fiction

I donno why now-a-days I become so nostalgic!

There are lots of factors which are governing me these days. One of them being longing for olden days again. The childhood ecstasy is lost. What have I become today? A 23 year old male, who can earn a decent 5 digit salary, by being himself busy all time from Monday to Friday. The possibility of taking some time off, from the hectic work schedule is only a weekend happening. So, what is that we have gained by being an adult? I get very less time for my family. I find less time to go out. I do not get any time to splurge in the non digital thing out of my cubicle.

Well, lots of things are in list that I cherished the most. The train travelling, for instance, is one of the most lovable one in my list. I’ve not been to railway station for quite a long time. It is obviously my work schedule that imprisoned my freedom. From the dusk to dawn, I keep fidgeting with the chunk of code that governs the so called Mainframes. I reach home at night and then have something for my tummy and then sleep. During college days, I used to frequent to Chennai for holidays. Those platforms, announcements, Higginbotham book stall, the trip charts are few things that kindles the past memories even today.

We used to get lots of holidays during school days and college. When we leave for our relatives’ place, I love those platforms were you see swarm of people ranging from a small 1 year infant, 18 year girls who are more concerned about the few inches of cosmetic that encroaches their face, those romeos who would show off their styles in front of a group of girls, those strict fathers who are more worried about their son’s/daughter’s marks in the coming semester examination, a sick old lady who expects from a newly married son, to see her grandson to play with her soon after they come back from honeymoon. And there are more in this list too. I always loved to practically feel the Doppler Effect whenever the super fast express approaches and leaves the station.

“The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift), named after Austrian physicist Christian Doppler who proposed it in 1842, is the change in frequency of a wave for an observer moving relative to the source of the waves. It is commonly heard when a vehicle sounding a siren approaches, passes and recedes from an observer. The received frequency is increased (compared to the emitted frequency) during the approach, it is identical at the instant of passing by, and it is decreased during the recession.”

It’s like I have lost something in life. I donno something keeps pricking me. Corporate life has given me glass doors, Air conditioned work place, and ergonomically designed cushion chairs, free coffee, large food courts where you get thing you wanted, Smart card based Identity Card with which you will be able to enter areas only into which you have been given access, security and most importantly Money. But what it is that I’m losing? Sleep, Rest, Peace and friends and something more

Those days were like you had lots of time and lot more friends. Now it is totally different. We have lot more time for work but very less friends. You should appoint a weekend for meeting up. You leave home by the time people are yet to wake up and reach home by the time all would have dozed off. The next day again the same routine and it goes on and on and on. Why all this?

I hated exams but now, it was something tolerable. I wanted to get back to those times which were spent with someone who you do not know before – the times, when you expect a new roommate in your hostel, the time when you pass a sheet of you exam paper, during the internal examination and both of you pass, the times when you go for dinner together with friends and share the happening of the class, the times when you do group studies for the next day exam, the times when four or five spend together in one’s room during a weekend, chatting all day and sleeping all over the floor with 4 to five alarms set.

Is it the life’s play to the human beings, which makes us long for the past, than to live in the present?

We always say that, those good old days were memorable, cherishable and all those adjectives which makes them long for the past. We listen to jungle book song and say, “wow..that was a good old song,..”. We have it as the caller tune and boast about it. We listen to old songs and say, “those were oldies melodies”. We still keep those old clocks with pendulum and hesitate to buy a new one. We still keep the old model mobile with keypad in its very bad state, with all those numberings scrubbed and display scratched and we say, “It’s the first mobile, I got”. We still say “Madras” instead of “Chennai”. I do understand that it gives a sense of belongingness, but why is it that the present is so uninterested at times?

Why don’t we like the present? Is it because, it is bitter at times? I certainly do not have answers for these questions. But one thing is sure. Unless, you feel comfortable yourselves in the present with your surroundings, you won’t be able to love the present as it is. Only when you get peace and happiness, you will be able to appreciate the present. Only when you get time for everything, you may pat the present and say, “Good Boy”.

I’m trying to make myself comfortable with the present. Hope, I’ll get peace and happiness in whatever I do. I do not hold grudges to accept this. But the Nostalgia is always there.

There are also people who always think about the future and they forget to live in the present. We study hard in 10^th standard to get into good school for 11^th and 12^th. We study hard in 12^th to get good marks in the board examination. Once we get into a good college, we are asked to study hard to get into good company. Once we get into good company, we struggle hard to save money for the future. We struggle hard to get a good bride to our Home. We get things in loan; build houses in loan, irrespective of our inadequate earning; we pay the dues in EMI, so that something big will be left behind for us in the future. We get married, have children, then we need to save things for their education, and then we need to worry about their education, college, and…

Excuse ME. Gimme a Break. Pleeeeeeeeeese !! Life is a vicious circle

But what is the ultimate requirement? Are we living in the present? We forget that, we are attaining the future every second and we should be able to live in the present and think about the future, without subjecting ourselves to agony in the present. But people are so afraid of seeing themselves in the near future with nothing in hand, so they always strive hard to preserve things for the future in spite of their tormenting life in the present.

Well, in this way, few minds longs for the past and forget about the present. Few minds which always think about the future and forgets to live in the present.

Let me make few things clear….

1. Always live in the present.
2. Do think about the future, but do not take actions that will put you in restriction in the present
3. Always, olden days may look beautiful, but it has nothing to contribute for the present. So don’t waste time thinking about the past all time.
4. Live your life truthfully and peacefully in the present. Do think about future occasionally
5. Cherish each and every moment of your life. After all, you don’t know what next!

One SMS I received long back, which tells about life….

“Life is a strict than a teacher.

A teacher teaches the lesson and

then keeps the exam. But Life

Keeps the exam first and

then teaches the lesson !!!!”

Really True !…..

OK…this Tag Bug has struck me too . I used to always think of, how this tagging seems to be interesting to people. Then I found out that, only when you are subjected to the process, you will experience the happiness. So I’m subjecting myself to this Tag Thinggy as of now. Fine then, enough of my intro and blah blahs. Lemme directly start blurting out the secrets one by one. I’ve tried hard and squeezed my little brains to filter these secrets .

1.  I seriously don’t have any interest in Sports.

I see that I don’t have any sort of relevance to this field. In all my social networking profiles or in college/school application forms, one column is definitely left blank or it is filled with N/A. So whenever people ask me what’s the score machi? I used to smile and coolly say, I didn’t see the match. So bloggers and strangers out here in World Wide Web don’t ever take any efforts to shoot this Nasty question to me. You won’t get any useful reply

2. I like Car Racing.

Now do not ask me, “Do I watch F1 Race” Neither do I watch it. Of course it is a sport. But don’t have any passion as such. It is just that in between switching channels, if I happen to register a small sequence of car racing with all those CASTROL, COLDFUSION kinda AD paintings in the car decals, I always pause for a moment and watch the car race. That’s it.  And yea I do play NFS (Need For Speed Car Racing Game) and I go mad on NFS Most Wanted races. I did not get a chance to play NFS Carbon! I always wanted to participate once in the race, though I’m not as good as Michael Schumacher, Naren Karthikeyan or Ultimate Star Ajith Kumar. I did got a chance to do that. I happen to go for a Go-Carting when I was in Mysore. That was indeed a great drive with kewl bends and turns. Wooooooow !

3. I do not know how to Cook .

Oh My Gawwwd, I have told the most dangerous (for me) secrets of the world. Any guy should have been acquainted to cooking things. My mom’s those words, still reverberating deep inside my cranial cavity “Vijay can cook payasam, vattha kolambu, and paruppu koottu. Neeyum  kathukko. Illena Pinnadi kashtapaduvey” . It’s true I guess. Nowadays, wives do not come with cooking patches installed. They need to upgrade to cooking version only after the one time update called Marriage v1.0. Anyways, after a self introspection, I stood by the side of my sister and learnt how to cook Maggi !

4. I am a Gadget Freak.

Any new gadget that comes to the market, I’m the first one to waste few bandwidths of my BSNL Unlimited Internet Connection to Google and get details out of it. Starting from iPhone, Nokia N97, Morph, MotoRokr, Sony VAIO Pocket PC etc, I go mad on things like this. Anyways, I didn’t sleep till 2.00 AM when I got my MOTO Rokr E6 Touch Screen Mobile. As if newly married, I spent full time with it, to get to know the in & out of it . Still I love my Mobile. My Sweet Rocky !!

5. I am one Lazy fellow…

Ahem ahem…I am serious about this. People know my true face only when they knock my doors on a Saturday morning and enter my bedroom….to wake me up. That’s a Herculean task! I never get up from the bed until I really need to. I love being in bed and sleep for the whole day. Hostel days were Heaven. Because, those were the times, when nobody would be around to knock my doors on a Saturday morning! I can write a lot more on this topic and I have already written a lot. Well don’t have patience to write more than this. OK Next secret please…

6. I fell in Love

Shhh…I fell in love with Trisha from the time, when I heard the song from the movie Saami, “Kalyanam daan kattikittu odi polaamaa…”. I assumed it as “Kalyan-ah daan kattikittu odi polaamaa?” hehe …so funny is it? I have a great collections of her pics in my system and in my mobile. Well nothing more to say. I do not know to act like her. But my actions are always governed by my mind becoz, I don’t have my heart with me and you all know the reason as well. So…that was my love story. Still am in Love with her. And if you happen to be Trisha reading this, kindly take this as a proposal and I do remember you date of birth May 4^th 1983.  I know u may ask, “But what’s the big deal here?” It is just that, I was too born on May. Dont you see this as a first match?..hehe…SAME PINCH !

7. I like bird watching (No comments!)

8. Cryptography has been my great passion since my school days. Used to fidget with a chunk of texts and number a lot (Another Dan Brown in Line!)

9. I had kissed a girl when I was in 1^st standard. And that girl is my sissy who was drinking milk in her small feeding bottle in the cradle. She licked me back in my cheeks..Soooooo cuuute know??

9a. “Show Me The Meaning – Backstreet Boys” is my all time favorite

9b. Shakira is my all time favorite solo female singer

9c. I enjoy writing.

I discovered this skill in me, only in my late college days, though I had started blogging during my mid college days itself. I found a budding author in me who can write Gud Stories and articles which has attracted many of the people I see, meet, and blog. It really gives me a confidence and relaxation (though I feel tiring to sit and type using a dumb keyboard !), that keeps me going and makes life interesting and beckons a convivial atmosphere in WWW

10. I like travelling in Train

Yea, I like this a lot. Donno, why do I become so nostalgic, when I think about trains? When I was a kid, I always wanted to have a corner seat….stuck in the corner of the Window Seat, gazing the scenery which drift past backward. I sometimes think, how do these trees and landscape move in the opposite direction to that of the train’s? And when you look into the railway tracks, that too in a junction, they seem to spread apart and close into one single strand of metal beam. I always wondered how these things happen. Once when we crossed the level crossing in a roadway, I bent down and tried pulling those tracks with my hands. That sounds funny now.

Now, I guess, 10 points are more than enough, as long list may not attract the readers to go through it. Fine then, my job is done. Lemme tag all my fellow bloggers and encumber them to put their secrets in their blog. Happy Reading! & thanks Gracy for tagging me.

Tagged :-  Gautam:: Gracelyn :: Jeega :: Kamal :: Muthu :: Priyanka :: Shyamala :: Subu :: Utkarsh :: Vinoth :: Yeshu

Aayirathi Yettu KiLi (1008 Parrots)

Prologue

Again its story time…After hearing the same old stories of Gods and Goddesses, I got bored extremely and wanted to listen to some interesting story. Today nobody can fool me telling some age old story, so I told my dad

“Dad, I want some interesting story. Not the same stories about Kanna umaachee…”

“Oh fine. Today I’ll tell you a story about 1008 Parrots!!” He told

I geared up with full enthusiasm and by his side in bed, clutching my pillow tight and with one of my tiny legs on his tummy; I started listening to the story….

The Story

Long long ago, there lived 1008 parrots in a dense forest, situated in the bank of some river which has not been yet recognized as some ‘named-river’ by the great storytellers of that ages. The paattis and thathas who used to tell stories couldn’t give any name out of their forgetfulness and responsibilities that they bear in bringing up their umpteen number of children.

In those 1008 parrots, one was physically challenged. It couldn’t fly. All the parrots used fly high, move from one tree to another, collect foods and so on. This parrot would stay in the shade of the tree which was by the side of the river and used to play near the bank of the river. The other parrots which brought food, fed the lame parrot in the afternoon and in the nights. The 1007 parrots which were perched on the tree barks, used to throw bad and sour fruit down the tree, which hang on the twigs of the branches and they used to peck and eat sweet fruits. The lame parrot used to eat those sour fruits and sustained its livelihood.

One fine morning, when the sun has just reached the brim of the water level (Horizon), all the birds started leaving its place one by one in search of food and other necessities. This lame parrot woke up and went to the river to perform its morning duties. To its astonishment, it found a small basket wrapped in cozy clothes, came floating in the river. In an anticipation to find some food in the basket, it took the basket from the river and opened the covering cloth, to find a small baby in it. It took the basket to the shade of the tree and announced to the parrots sitting in the tree.

“Hey all, if you give me a sweet fruit from the branch, I’ll show you a treasure to you”

On hearing this, all the parrots got anxious and started throwing sweet fruits to the lame parrot below the tree. On seeing the shower of fruits, the lame parrot was happy and called all the parrots down the tree, to have a look at the basket. All the parrots were happy seeing a small, cute baby in the basket and started to bring up the baby as their own.

(I had lots of question in the story flow which missed the logic lines…But those questions were nullified for my childhood brains and they were deemed to be out-of-scope of the story.)

Coming back to the story, the parrots built a small hut nearby the river and started buying Cerelac, Lactogen, Johnson & Johnson Baby powder, soap and Woodward’s Gripe Water for the child. All the other parrots used to go for work, in the day time and this lame parrot used to take care of the baby girl at home. The parrots brought up the baby with utmost care and affection. Time passed by and this baby started growing slowly and one fine day, the bay girl grew up into a beautiful babe and the parrots started teaching her, household works!

The real tragedy

Everything went fine in this small (!) family, until one day when all the parrots left for work, this lame parrot told the girl

“Hey babe, listen I’ve an important work outside. I’m leaving now and will be returning in the evening. So be careful and listen to my instructions clearly. Do not go out of the house. Do not open the door unless we knock the door and call your name from outside and one more important note. Feed the dog with the Curd-Rice and the cat with the Milk-Rice. Bye for now. Take care”.

Saying so, the lame parrot left the hut, limping its way on the streets. The girl closed the door and was playing with the cat and dog. When it was time for lunch, the girl, absent mindedly, fed the dog with the Milk-Rice and the cat with the Curd-Rice

(I was told that, dogs don’t eat Milk-Rice, and Cats don’t expect Curd-Rice. I donno why they do not like this for long time and I’ve not experimented this till now, as I did not get an opportunity to feed cats and dogs.)

Now, out of rage, the dog and cat went to the kitchen and pissed (did susu/ucha..) in the coal pieces placed in the sand-stove (In those days, they used the stove made of sand and use to cook food burning the coal). The girl was unaware of this and she had fallen asleep. Now that all the food was over and she had to make food for the night, she woke up and entered the kitchen. To her disappointment, she found that the coal was cold and she cannot make anything to eat. In spite of the other parrots warning her not to leave the house in any circumstances, she opened the door and walked through the streets in search of fire.

There was no houses open nearby, so she walked a few distance away from her house and knocked a door which seems to be so old and un-kept. She is yet to realize the danger she is to face. A woman, who was in her twenties, opened the door and beckoned her in. As this girl hasn’t met anyone in the town, she was not able to recognize bad people from good. The woman was the eldest daughter of a wicked witch who lived in the town and the mother witch who has gone out for bathing in the nearby river.

“Do you have some fire for the coal? Matchbox was over so couldn’t burn the coals. It will be helpful, if you can lend me a matchbox”

“Ofcourse, why not? We do help others. By the way, I’ve not seen you in this place. Where do you stay?” The witch enquired.

“I live five houses away from this place. I live here only. I haven’t come out for days. As there was no match today at home, I just thought, I can get some from nearby house”

The witch thought, today she is a good feast to my mom. I’ll send her to the river bank so that, my mom can have her as it is today as she hadn’t got a chance to have a full feast! Having this in her mind, she asked to handover the sari to her mom, who is bathing in the river, as she forgot to take it with her.

The girl accepted this offer and she happily took the sari from her and left the place telling the witch that, she will return and get the matchbox. When she was in her way towards the river, a passerby asked her,

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to give this sari to a lady who is bathing in the river”

“What……? A lady? No no, you are fooled, she is not a lady. She is a wicked witch who lives in the town. She eats small girls and drinks the blood without leaving any drop. So just throw away the sari here and return home safely”

On hearing this, she was got frightened and hurriedly left the place and reached the Witch’s Home to get the matchbox.

On seeing the girl back standing full in flesh outside the house, the witch got confused as why her mom, didn’t have her for Lunch. The Witch gave a matchbox and some tamarind seeds. She asked the girl to drop those tamarind seeds one by one for each step, till she reaches her place, and when she reaches her place just drop all those tamarind seeds outside the house.

“I’m asking you to do this just in case if my mom wants to meet you, then I can show her the way right? That is why”. The Witch told her. The girl accepted this and left home dropping the tamarind seeds one by one, as she was told. She was so innocent and timid that, she couldn’t recognize that woman was the witch’s daughter and she was asked to do this because, the witch can later come home and eat her for dinner. The girl reached home and cooked food for the evening.

Bid Adieu

Later at witch’s house, when the mother witch returned from the river and enquired her daughter about why she hasn’t sent anyone for lunch, under the pretext of handing over the sari. The daughter witch told her that, she has sent a girl for today’s lunch, but why did she spare her? On hearing this, mother Witch became furious and started shouting. The daughter Witch informed her that, she has given small tamarind seeds to the girl which she had dropped all over the place till her house. She can go to her house directly tracing the seeds and have her. On hearing this, the wicked witch became happy and walked towards the girl’s house, tracing the tamarind seeds all over the streets. On seeing the heap of tamarind seeds outside a house, she knocked to door.

The girl looked outside through the hole in the door and found that the wicked witch is standing outside to eat her. She was scared and did not open the door. After waiting and knocking for long time, the wicked witch broke one of her long nails from one of her fingers, and inserted it in one of the cracks in the door and left the place.

In the evening when all the parrots returned home, knocked the door and on hearing the parrot’s voice, the girl opened in the door in hurry while she failed to notice the nail which was protruding out of the door which was inserted by the wicked witch. The nail pricked the girl’s throat and she felt unconscious on the ground. When all the parrots, entered the house and saw the unconscious girl, they thought that she was dead and they packed the girl in the same basket in which it came with all her dresses and left the basket in the river. It floated along the river and went away. Time passed by.

****

In some other part of the city, there was a king who was in search for a bride for him. He consulted a sage who told him that, he should arrange a mock marriage with a Banana tree. This will make the forest deities happy and they will find a girl for him. (In olden days, if the country did not get any rain, they will arrange a marriage in between a donkey and a tree. They believed that, this will make the rain god happy and he will shower the rain. In the same way, they believed that, if the king arranges a marriage ceremony and tie the holy thread which they call mangal sutra, nowadays to the tree, he will get a bride soon.

****

The basket came floating along the river and it entered the forest region, where water was flowing smoothly. The unconscious girl, under the effect of chill breeze and the river water, gained her consciousness and opened her eyes to find her in the forest. She found a bank and got down the big basket. And found a place behind a Banana trees

****

A grand ceremony was organized in the forest which was in his kingdom and the king arranged for a big feast for all the subjects of his kingdom. After the feast was over, the king announced,

“Now I’m going to tie this holy thread to the banana tree and let the forest deities be happy seeing all this feast and ceremony which I arranged in the forest…” Saying so, he took the holy thread and started walking toward the chosen banana tree. The band and other spiritual musical instruments were played at the highest decibel.

“Let the forest gods and goddesses be happy. Please show me a bride” the king prayed in his highest pitch. All the subjects and his courtroom ministers were watching this ceremony. Suddenly a beautiful girl came from behind from the banana tree and she looked like a damsel. The king was happy on seeing this beautiful girl and he was very much delighted to have her as his wife and queen of his kingdom. This girl is none other than the girl who was brought up by those parrots some time before.

And after that, they lived happily ever after….

****

Seeing this, one of the minister’s sons arranged for another ceremony in the forest, similar to that of the king’s, so that he can get a beautiful wife too. Similarly all the subjects and all the people from the kingdom were assembled. This time the minister’s son announced that he will tie the holy thread to the drumstick tree.

He too shouted words that, he assumed will make the forest deities happy. He marched towards the drumstick tree with pompous and proud walk. Suddenly a ugly witch like creature which we call Kutti pisasu came out of the tree. Seeing this unexpected appearance, all the people ran away from that place including the minister’s son.

****

Epilogue

“After that, what happened to the parrots?”. I interrogated my father innocently. It was 11.00 o’ clock.

“See time is 11.00 o’clock, now sleep, I’ll tell you another story tomorrow” My father said this and switched off the lights. I was thinking the whole night about the lame parrot. I had many questions in my mind which were not answered still and many logical portions which slipped very badly

1. If you drop the tamarind seeds all through the streets, will that stay for long time? Will that be helpful for finding the way to her house?
2. How did the parrots come to a conclusion that the girl died?
3. How did they put the well grown girl in the same basket from which they found her earlier?

All these questions were still unanswered and lot more.

Do you have any?

My Mobile clock was ticking 8.00 PM in its flashing 320 X 420 TFT display

The Mobile stereo headset was plugged in place into my ear cavities on one of its end and to the Mobile stereo jack on the other end. I can see quite a few of Software Species seated beside, behind and in front me holding their i-Pods, MP3 Players and PMP in their very tired hands, who work desperately in a space bounded by card boards, named Cubicle, to force the output kiss their Monitors when they run a chunk of texts which they call it a PROGRAM or to sound more Computer-Literate-Software-Lingo, they call it a CODE.

I could feel the breeze of air sweeping across my face through the window. The corporate vehicle was swallowing the stretch of road ahead under its huge white-Blue metallic body with a number inside a circle stuck to its face. I could feel the inertia in which it was covering long distance to drop people in their respective destination.

The bus was dim lighted. The ambience was not so encouraging. I could see tired minds at rest. Most of them were fixed in their seats and eyes closed thinking about the nearest weekend that will embrace him/her soon. A man with some amount of hair stuck to his chin, which he called it a French beard, was talking over the Blackberry in a high decibel voice about the status report which was sent to Onsite and the metrics which has to be submitted before 0800 hours PST (Pacific Standard time), the next day. A teeny-weeny young girl in her early twenties, who was seated beside me, was busy talking to her friend about how Rohit was helping her during the regression testing. A treat assurance for successful testing completion was made, before the call was ended.

It sounded so dumb to me. She was now busy with her “Chicken Soup for the Girl’s Souls” by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen & Irene Dunlap in her lap! She gave me a look that will burn 275 calories of energy from her body.  She know that, I was staring at her..err… staring  at her book. I changed the direction of my vision at an horizontal angle of 20 degrees first, for a period of time, then an angle of 45.3 degrees towards the window. I was feeling tired, tired out of long travel in bus after a hectic work. It will take another one hour to reach my place.

I closed my eyes resting my head tilting it back at the head rest provided in the seat. My thought wandered.  Suddenly my inner self announced me, “I’m proud to be an Electrical and Electronics Engineer!! “ I was taken aback.

Electrical Network !! (Its here just to accentuate my EEE thought)

Why suddenly this thought erupted in the little mind that was busy all these time? Why I am so much inclined towards the subject, which I hated to the core suddenly? Its hundred percent true that, mind wanders like a monkey from one tree of thought to another one easily. My friends will throw a sheepish giggle or a lousy laugh at me if they ever heard me saying this. Such statement from my side is highly inappropriate. People know me as a software guy or a Computer Whiz kid from my college days, in spite of the undeniable fact that, all of us belonged to the esteemed group of “Electrical & Electronics Engineers”.

I thought software engineering would be interesting and elegantly clad field where you would see things you imagined, you see things working which you designed and executed. I hated electronics to the core. I saw people who were putting all blood and sweat to achieve things in the ‘Trical-’Tronic subject as an algae which made the pond dirtier than the lotus which makes it beautiful. I always assumed myself to be a lotus adding beauty to the pond rather than being one among the algae floating in the water. I was never proud to be so much inclined towards software. I was actually happy that, I could survive in the software Market. I brushed up my software skills along with the soft skills which would enable me to get into this “Hello World”. I proactively mastered things that added feathers in my knowledge cap. I studied my subject just for marks. The last minute preparations, one night studies, group studies, mind mapping concepts in a way that is in no way related to the subject helped me to fetch marks and accolades. But, what about the knowledge? Am I an electrical engineer? Do I know things which others know? Have I made justice to the 4 precious years of my engineering life?  The questions stacked my memory and it was overflowing. Poor thoughts do know am not a Computer. I’m just another human being with blood and body with thoughts oozing out of human parts made of flesh and tissues.

College days were fun. We had time everything on earth though few things weren’t the way we expected. College was bound by rules. Lots of rules. But that was the boundary into which our heavens existed. We had everything. Food, Clothes, Money, Sleep, computers, Lectures, Labs, Practical, Hostel, Restricted freedom, Friends  and most importantly Peace. A peace that no money can buy. Though we were bound by boundaries of unseen, impractical, grotesque protocols written for students. We rested in peace in spite of the control that was impacted on us. Happiness persisted that were not explicitly declared. Happiness sustained as we were always surrounded by “same pinch” minds. Friends were families. Next room guy was a brother. Fourth bench corner guy was an entertainer. All girls were girl friends – Friends who were girls!! We did not see affection, we felt in our hearts. We did not see enmity, as it was practiced in our paths. We did not see God in temples, because we were taught things in “Temple of Learning”.  We did not find time to discover a new person amidst us, as we knew all of them around us. There wasn’t a stranger in our life.  So ultimately, life was full. full of colors, full of joy, full of love, full of exams, full of friends, full of boredom. A boredom which will not kill you, but will give new soil to sow interesting ideas.

But today, we are bounded too. Not bound by friends, but bound by strangers. We hardly know who sits in the next cubicle. We are bound not by walls of freedom, but by the walls of pressure. We spend hours together in this boundary to clock an minimal quantity of that fourth dimension, which decides the DNA of Life. We find little time for friends. We find little time for peace, which will not acquired at ease. There is something that decides all this. Those times were gone when we ran behind mark sheets, now that, we are running behind those few sheets of tinted paper which can buy everything under the sky. We never felt the notebooks heavier, but now, its aching to carry those currency notes. I do not deny the fact that our hard work reaps those currencies. But why do we put so much effort to earn money? Is it to keep on earning or to find time for people around you? I do not understand.

Time has changed everything in its path. When time passes, it doesn’t leave any stone unturned in its path.  It hasn’t spared me too. I spent four of my precious years in a field which involved bonding of emotional flux in one’s heart with the flux in another’s. But now am fidgeting with one dumb terminal to get some crap thing outta chunks of code. I wanted to be in IT, but not this kind of life which I’m living now…

The Bus jerked over a speed breaker. My thoughts spilled and I awoke from a deep thoughtful sleep. I looked at my mobile. It was 9.25 PM.  The bus has reached my place. In another 10 minutes, I have to get down. I did not notice the message which I received, a few minute back. Rightly the message reflected my thoughts

It read…

The IT Professional PREAMBLE-

We the unwilling, led by

the unknowing are

doing the impossible for

the ungrateful. We have

done so much for so

Long, with so little

Knowledge that we will

One day qualify to do

Anything with knowing

Nothing. Be Proud to be

An IT Professional !

Why should I be proud? I haven’t done anything great being an IT professional. I felt like being an algae in the pond. I felt as if I’ve lost the peace which I had before. I’m still searching for the Peace. Life has always its own style of teaching a lesson. It’s a good teacher. If it teaches something, you won’t forget it in your life time. I’ve learned from it. The bitter truth that I had to accept. The truth which can’t be denied. The truth that I’m still a Software Engineer.

I understood that, Life is not just another ‘File’, which can be created, modified and saved as you wish. It is something like a hard coded program which follows bizarre Logic to execute and terminate one day! Being a Software Engineer hasn’t helped me in any way.

Now I’m proud to be an Electrical and Electronics Engineer!!

I got down the bus and strolled towards my street to reach home, have something for my hunger and sleep tight.

It was a very sultry afternoon yesterday. And the reason being a holiday, my mind never persuades me to get into the bathroom to take bath early in the morning. It would be better being in bed and the pleasure behind getting in to the half-sleep and half-awake state cannot be described in words. It’s the transient state of the mind where you and your mind engage in a serious Tug-Of-War.

Zwitterion

It’s like the chemical state of the compound “ZWITTERION” in which the covalent bond is not fully broken and the electrovalent bond is not fully formed and having both positive and negative charges. The compound has one such amazing characteristic. I was experiencing the same. I was not fully out of sleep and not fully into sleep. I was just awake with a feeling of heavy eyelids. It was trying to block my view of my sister, who was sitting beside me engaged in a herculean task of waking me up. She is definitely equipped with enough patience, to wake me up. She would say, “I’m not her brother, I’m the elder brother of Kumbakarnan”. Hope You people know who is Kumbakarnan. He is the great-great demon king, who used to sleep for about 6 months at a stretch, without food, water or anything.

It was 8.00 AM
Her first effort to wake me up:

“Dei Elundhuruda” (Hey wake up man)
“mmmm…”, was my reply.
“Deeeeeeeei Elundhuruda” (Hey wake up man)
“konja neram kalichi. 5 Minutes. Please” (After some time. 5 Minutes. Please)
After some pinching and pushing
“Sariyaana somberi ma ivan” (He is one lazy dog, mom)
“mmmm….”, I acknowledged. Eyelids were still heavy over the eyes. The Mickey mouse in the pillow cover started getting blurred and slowly the upper eyelids and the lower eyelids slowly started shutting down (oooopss!! what did I say? Shutting down? Oh…Like a typical Software Engineer!!!).

That’s it. I’ve lost the control in the real world and started travelling to the virtual reality.

It was 8.30 AM
Her second effort to wake me up:

“Dei mani 8.30 aachu” (Hey, time is 8.30 now)

“Kalyaaaaaan…”

“Eruma Maadu” (Buffallo)
“mmmm…”
“Avanga avanga pera correct ah koopta daan yenna nu kaekkaraanga” (Only when u call people by their original names, they are responding to the call)
“5 minutes”, came the reply from me.
“dei poi kuli da. Innikki May 1st” (Hey go and take some bath. Today is May 1st). I didn’t understand the significance of today being the 1st of May and me bathing!!!

“Boost…”
“Adinga…Pal kooda theikkaama Boost kekudhu paaru” (Even without brushing, see how ‘it’ is asking boost)
“Seri pal thechittu kudikkiren” (OK I’ll have, after brushing)
She started watching the TV.

After 10 minutes.
“Dei Marupadiyum thoonguthu paaru” (See, how again he(it) went to sleep)

Suddenly I could hear someone shouting near my ears and pushing and pulling me hard.
“Elundhuru Anjali, Elundhuru…… Elundhuru Anjali, Elundhuru….. Elundhuru Anjali, Elundhuru”
(Get up Anjali, Get up…… Get up Anjali, Get up……Get up Anjali, Get up – for those who do not know why is she shouting the name anjali, please note that, Anjali is one cute, small, chubby little mentally challenged girl in the Tamil movie ANJALI and the siblings used to wake her up, shouting these words.)

Finally due to this nuisance that I was being subjected to, I got up from the bed getting annoyed to the core. I entered the bathroom which was lit bright due to the rays of Sun entering into it. After brushing for about 2 mins (!!!!), I got out of the bathroom and went to the kitchen to encounter my mom, who was making hot hot, soft, white, dough cakes. I was telling about IDLYs !!

Well, my mom was reciting the same age old phrase giving me a cup of Boost in my hand.

“Poi Kulichittu Vaa. Idly tharen Saapdu” (Go and take bath. I’ll give you Idly – Sorry English translation didn’t come exactly as to what my mom said.)

I snatched the towel from my Sister, who had just taken it from the almirah. I ignored the scorching look that she was shooting at me like the NdYAG Laser (Neodymium-Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet Laser). I stepped into the bathroom.

Pouring down the water over my body was yet another heavenly feeling, in this scorching weather. For every mug of water that I poured over my head, I was enjoying the eternal bliss of the liquefied Di-Hydrogen Oxide (H2O).

Thanks to the water which was covering almost 75% of the earth.

It’s really true that “WATER IS THE ELIXIR OF LIFE”

¬–END—

Well something is incomplete rite?

Yea, the Title! “BATHROOM SINGING”

Sorry, I missed it now please scroll above and insert the following sentence after the “(H2O).”

I was humming, “I’m not a perfect person….” in the bathroom.

Well that completes this post for today!!!

அணைவருக்கும் என் இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்

It is a long story…

There were three thick friends – Onion, Tomato & Carrot. Once they were walking along a roadside chatting happily. It happened in a fraction of second that one Maruti OMNI Van came and kidnapped the gorgeous looking Carrot. Other two friends couldn’t do anything. They were not able to call for help. So they started crying. After cursing their inability to save their friend, they continued their walk. As both of them reached Tomato’s house, Tomato bid adieu to his friend and crossed the road, failing to notice a Truck coming. It happened in another fraction of second, even before the tomato can realize, the truck passed over the Tomato, smashing it on the road and went by without even caring to see what it had done.

Seeing all this, our Onion was very sad and disappointed losing his thick friends like this and started crying again and went to the forest to pray towards the lord and get his ill fate mended.

On hearing Onion’s prayers, God was happy and appeared before Onion and said, “Dear Onion, I was happy on your prayers. I’ve come to you to grant you all happiness. Tell me what is the reason behind your sorrows and how can I help you”

“Dear God, when my friend, Carrot was kidnapped, my friend Tomato and I cried for her. When my friend Tomato died in the road accident, I cried for him. If I die, nobody is there to cry for me. That is why I’m so sad”

On hearing this God said, “Don’t worry my child, I’ll see to it that, when you die all the people in the world irrespective of caste, creed, gender, poor, wealthy will cry for you”

God said this and disappeared. Onion was Happy

Now you understand, why we cry when we cut onions.

OK !! Now some serious tip on how to prevent ourselves frm crying when you cut Onions:

• Peeling and cut onions under running water
• Chopping the onions near a gas flame
• Refrigerate onions before chopping
• Switch Off the Fan while cutting Onions.

Hope this piece of info would help all of us in future, if any opportunity beckons us in to cut Onions !!!!