Appa and Subha - 3

Musings of dad and daughter

Me: What to do if you come across an "unreasonable" person ?
Dad: Ignore. Keep silent.
Me: What if they are mad? shout and throw tantrums?
Dad: hmmmm..
Me: It is very irritating. And I happen to meet one everyday
Dad: hmmmmm...
Me: Will you stop your hmmmm hmmm??? I am .......
(silence)

Me: Dad!!!Why are you silent?

Appa and Subha - 2

Musings of dad and daughter .

Me: "Can adversity strike twice in anyone's life? I am totally frustrated"

Dad:(not looking up from his newspaper) Well..it did in my life. I had your sister after you.

Appa and Subha - 1

Musings of dad and daughter.

Dad: "What are you smiling at?"

Me: I am looking at the old photos. Look at the weird dress and wide smiles. Look at my haircut.I cant believe I wore all that.I seem mad. In ten years of span, I have changed so much."

Dad: "Really?"

Then and Now

Five years ago:

I yawned and read the contents at the same time. My mind was blocked and I turned to see what my friend was doing. She had made herself comfortable on the bed and looked dreamily at the book that lay in front of her.
"What you doing?", I asked , breaking the silence.
"Was just thinking", she replied.
"What??", I asked quite annoyed.
"Yesterday my senior sent photos of herself . Remember the one doing M.S. at Chicago? The photos and place were awesome . Wondering if we would go there any time in our lives", she replied dreamily.
"Ya!! U.S. must be fun. No rules and total independence. Teaching is good too. All practical and less theoretical!!" I answered like I have visited U.S. a million times.
"We should go there once Subha!!", she exclaimed.
Definitely!! US is the place to be!!
And we made action like plane taking off.

A month ago,
Me:"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...eppadi irruka??" (Hi, How are you?)
Her:"Irrukaen" (Doing ok, not very optimistic)
Me: "How is Houston treating you?"
Her: "ok!"
Me: "Must be fun le?"
Her:" No, feeling very lonely. Just occupying myself so much. Nothing great here."
Me:"Oh..."
Her: Miss you Subha. Miss the time we studied together. Miss everyone there. Miss having people I know around. Miss the crap we did. Miss everything :("

I choked.

Rift that stayed..

Today, 6: 36 p.m.

They were waiting for her signal.It would be given any moment. The position was not comfortable but nobody complained.This was to be their last night.At least, that is what it seemed like.The signal came; it was just a movement of her hand that said ‘move forward’.The four men lurked in a corner adjusted their gun and obeyed her.

27 years ago,

‘Shalu!We have a new neighbour!’, Mrs.Devaki shouted. Shalini was curious but not very happy.A new neighbour would mean more competition, that is, if they had any kid. Her woes were answered. They had a girl of her own age,five years and she was to join her school. Even without seeing her, she already began to loathe the new neighbour girl.

Today,6:39 p.m.

The men moved slowly towards the house. It was very cold. The chillness didn’t bother them but the silence did.They had an eye on their captain.She moved with them.She put her hand on the lips indicating them to be silent.Silence added to already silent ambience.

22 years ago,

‘Don’t compare me with her’,Shalini shouted.”I was not exactly comparing but quoting the facts”, her father exclaimed. Her father was a typical army man and demanded perfection in everything he did. This included meticulous bringing up of his daughter. He wanted the best for his daughter and demanded the best from her. “I could compare you with her father. He has less experience but more grades than you!”, she retorted back and stormed out of the place.She knew her father must have been hurt by her words but didn’t care. He compared her with the neighbour girl. She loathed her day by day.

Today,6:42 p.m.

One of the men looked at the watch. Just few minutes had passed but seemed like hours. The wait was frustrating but they had been anticipating for this moment for three months. The evidence was strong against the suspect but they were not able to do anything till today. Their captain had worked hard for this case. Exceptionally hard. The reason they didn’t want to fail her today.

13 years ago,

Shalini dropped on the bed and began to cry.She cried her heart out. She had never trusted and liked anyone as she did Ravi. She thought he was hers.Until today. She didn’t know of his intentions. They were best friends since school days. Now, went to the same college.She didn’t know why she was crying;was it because he was not hers or because she was rejected. Ravi had told her that he liked her neighbour girl.She loathed her heart out.She cried the whole night.

Today, 6:46 p.m.,

They were not alone. Four more men were on the other side.Every sense was on alert. The final signal would be given any time.They looked at her. Her face concentrated on the door.She gave the final forward signal.They charged.

11 years ago,

“Dad, I want to go to army.Just like you”, Shalini claimed. Father looked at her; perplexed and astonished. “ Why the sudden plan? Just because you failed a couple of MBA exams doesn’t mean that your life has ended”, he explained. “Why do you think of it that way? I did want to do other things but doesn’t mean I didn’t like army. I wish to go to army. You have to help me”, she said. Her father smiled. “Hope you never regret this decision”, he said. She knew she would never regret anything in life again. She tried to forget Ravi but his memories kept coming back. She had to move out of this place. Somehow. She had to stop dreaming about him. She had to forget that he and the neighbour girl were going to get married in a week’s time.

2 years ago

The report lay in front of her. She knew the contents. She knew her past would come before her and people she had known will be involved. She had to make a decision . To take the case or not was in her hands. She had thought a lot. She opened the file.

Today 6:47

They followed her. She opened the door and signalled a thumbs up. They moved inside. It was dark all over the place.All that could be heard was the floor creaking. The suspect must be here somewhere. They put on their flashes.The captain signalled them to three different directions and she chose to go alone in one direction. The mere presence of the other was the comfort but the captain was alone. They had to appreciate her. The whole place was silent.Adding to the eerie. They were anticipating something to pounce in them. They moved in circles.

Suddenly,they heard bullet sounds from upstairs. It was the direction their captain had chosen. They ran up hoping nothing had happened to their captain.They found her in a dark corner at the end of the passage. Her face gleamed with victory. They knew she had done it. They moved into the room and saw the face of the culprit. He looked innocent enough.There was another dead body next to it. One that of a female.She must have come to save her husband and ended up as a victim too.They heard someone crying and searched the room with their flash lights. A child was sitting in the corner, frightened of the commotion. Their captain went near the child and hugged . She looked into the child’s eyes. The men didn’t understand what she said but were sure she claimed something like “She has Ravi’s eyes”.

Unusual I

World is like an Olympic stadium. You have three kinds of people-the winners, runners and spectators. The winners achieve what they had dreamt and worked for. Runners try to follow the winners. But the power to criticize lies with the spectators. In the end, they are nothing but noise makers.

The Sacred Thread

The door creaked when it was opened. Kannan grumbled under his breath. A usual habit in his not so assuring hectic schedule. He adjusted the laptop bag on his shoulders and removed his shoes. He saw another pair lying carelessly on the floor. 'Badri is home already', he noted.

He went straight to the bedroom and saw Badri on the bed-hair disheveled, torn socks and still in his formals. Kannan's temper aroused, but, he didn’t do anything. Badri was not in the state that he could reason out.

Kannan and Badri worked together in the same office and outside their respective hometown. Two years ago, they had rented a house near their workplace. Since then, they had been together. Kannan had been very choosy about his roommate. He was particular that the person be a vegetarian. Badri was an obvious choice.

Kannan placed his bag near the bed. He smelt alcohol. If it were two years ago, he would have complained and thrown tantrums but being with a roommate for a long time teaches you many things. He shoved away the Vishnu Sahasranamam that lay on his table into the draw. It was in Sanskrit and he couldn’t make much out of it. But he never admitted that for it might be against their principles. He wondered if Badri even knew its existence.

Kannan was not a religion fanatic but there were certain things that he could never compromise in his life-his habits and beliefs. And it was a blow when he found Badri loved Non vegetarian food and consumed alcohol. He had tried reasoning out many times, took examples from real life and the Vedas, but nothing had changed Badri. He gave it up and chose to ignore him. It is hard when it is your roommate.

"Kanna..Is it you?", Badri asked, suddenly waking up dazed.

He didn’t bother to reply."Where is the envelope that I had kept on this table?"

Badri sat on the bed and thought for some time. "Oh! The one you forgot to take with you in the morning? I posted it. You said the application closes by weekend."

Kannan looked relieved."Thanks", he replied and moved to kitchen. The place was a mess. The Maggie packets were scattered on the floor. He sighed and started cleaning the place.

"Kannaaaaaaaaaa...one coffee for me too", Badri shouted from the room.' I am not your servant', he thought. He poured coffee into two different glasses-traditional 'tumbler' for himself and into a glass for Badri.

Badri entered the kitchen. "I paid the internet bill da", he said and moved into the room again. Badri never asked for share of money. Kannan framed him as spoilt brat.

"How is your sister? Recovering from Typhoid?", Badri asked."She is fine", was his reply. Badri remembered every member of his family. He had been to his native many times and acted so well that Kannan's parents had no complains. In fact, they believed it was a blessing to have Badri as their son's roommate.

Kannan, on the contrary, had no idea about Badri’s family. He never bothered himself with these kinds of issue. Badri switched on the music system and increased its volume to the maximum. He was annoyed again. Every habit of his annoyed him. He had wanted to change his place many times but when you are in a metro city, things are tougher. Kannan had to tolerate Badri.

There was a sudden knock on the door. 'Drat!his friends again', Kannan thought. Badri had friends visiting frequently, mostly drunkards, but Badri made sure that he had his parties only outside. It was because Kannan hated them.

It wasn’t Badri's friends, but their neighbour.

"Badri!Badri!Gas leak!!The other portion caught fire. Vacate the place fast!", the neighbour screamed.

Kannan stood frozen in place. He couldn’t move. He didn’t know how to react until he felt someone pulling him outside the door. Kanan followed as a puppy behind its master. He was not of conscious of the surroundings. While climbing down the stairs, he saw the fire blazing, eating away the portion of the building and moving towards their portion.

"Stay here Kanna, I will be back. Just stay here.", Badri said calmly. Kannan just nodded like he was listening to a speech. He stood as directed and watched Badri move into the fire. It was then he came in contact with the situation.

What the hell is Badri doing?. "Badriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...Badriiiiiiiiiiii...daiiiiiiiii". Badri turned and gestured him to stay there in the place. Kannan was hit mentally. He didn’t know what he was doing there. He even forgot the way out. The heat was rising and the fire was just minutes away from him. "God save me. Do something. Just do something. Where did Badri go now?". He tried moving forward. The roof broke down. He jumped over it and jumped skipped the stairs. He could see nothing in front but he ran for his life. He jumped all over the rumbles. Everything seemed blank. He ran as far as his feet could take him.

Two days later

Kannan was aghast at what he was seeing. It was not 'what' but 'who'. The person lying on the hospital bed had skin burnt; everywhere from face to legs. But he was conscious.

"Badri, why did you go back?"

Badri smiled back. Or that is what it seemed like. "How could I leave the boy back there? He was crying. I heard him".

"Still......", Kannan could not say anything."I am sorry Badri. I was selfish then. Can I have your parent’s number? I have to inform them".

Badri smiled again. He was feeling drowsy."I have no one da".

Kannan was speechless. He just stared at Badri. He saw the sacred thread that was hung on the chair. The Bhagawad Gita ; the Vishnu Saharanamam ; the Vedas had not taught him well.