Project CRIMAN

Mmm... post lion city trip,I gathered a whole new insight in to managing my micro finance & savings. This new outlook on figures printed in currencies wasn’t there in me before.At least three out of every 10 penny that I spent didn’t enjoy their true worth,I felt.And the fact that I spent more than usual money when compared to my regular monthly expenditure because of my trip,I opted to be tight fisted for next couple of months to strike a balance in my savings account.Suddenly the sense of value for money was surging in me like never before.So I began this project naming it ‘Piloting Criman’.Before tossing a rupee out of my pocket I asked myself twice if I should let this currency go.If I strongly felt yes then I would simply let it go. Apart from paying my rent & mobile bill,I was putting every other thing on hold or procrastinated it as long as I could.Hey hey ... don't jump in to a conclusion that - me a miser.Am actually not one. Know what ?it was like a sneak peek in to the whole new world of being a miser. Oops should I say being simple?Being in Silicon Valley of India,one knows how difficult is it to retain an extra penny in the pocket until the month end.Anything and everything that’s labeled as fun or frolic comes with a unique exorbitant price tag Am unable to believe those huge shopping malls as a place to chill out & relax.It only appears to me as a two monstrous money scooping malls.One can easily make all hard earned bucks vanish in less than a mad second in a moment of tempting joy, being there.Only to realize later that we could have very well lived without it.Not worth, I realized.

Come weekends.... I prefer to be under the blanket these days, the whole 48 hrs rather than stepping out even a lane away.The money in the pocket doesn’t seem to be very happy staying in its place.If saving is the only agenda then we tend to miss colorful quotients of having fun & sometimes some good moments that’s stays as residue in this mission of spending money like water.What to do ?Too much of saving and not spending at all. And too much of spending and no savings in all.Ooffff ! Both happen to be lose –lose situations.I was revealing to dad some months ack about my ‘Penny wise - pound foolish’ attitude.I would save and save on the few hundreds that I draw from the ATM but was stupidly generous to swipe my card that scooped out huge money invisibly.Oh fo ! what am I up to’suddenly a bulb glowed on the top floor, recently.So this CRIMAN project was born as my brain child. I chose to keep myself away from these shopping malls for a couple of months at least until the year ends. So when the month began all weekends at home reading newspaper for long hours, relaxed ablution,washing clothes to my best, cleaning cupboards, watering plants, unwinding the day with some soft music, gripping a good book to end the day & to catch some really good sleep.

Come weekdays, am happy for reasons many. Almost the whole day in office and free googling on anything & everything on the mind. And no penny for any phone calls.U know,am paid a four digit wage everyday for just googling & giggling ,sometimes.Sometimes for forwarding few critical mails too.Then to reach home late evening, have supper & doze offff.Wow! five full days of great savings each week.To buy a single missing grocery, let me tell you visiting Fabmall & Nilgiris are not the best options on earth unlike my earlier assumptions.All under one roof is an agreeable fact.But bringing home a bill that contains units of tempted items more than the essentials can't b the price that one can pay for visiting all under one roof malls. Isn’t it ?.The other day a team mate of mine offered a help to book a train ticket online from his pc in the office. So there was a page where I had to enter my bank’s credentials for an automatic money detection. Being not so sure of the next immediate page to be displayed,I enquired him. He said 'Nothing to worry. Your account balance will not be displayed’.

Scanning each others thought we chuckled. Once the ticket booking procedure was over,he asked me innocently 'How you able to save this meejj maany’. In fact he was spell bound knowing my account balance displayed at some corner of the main transaction page which I foolishly missed out.He revealed to me a week later that I became his source of inspiration to save money from that very moment which in turn inspired me to save more.He listed that he stopped visiting his regular weekend destination - Balaji Bar just because of me.Maa use to say - people who spend less water will spend less money.Actually very true, I discovered.Though my pilot attempt on CRIMAN project is coming to end in a week’s time, I realized that I was only enjoying this process of spending less & saving more.And that true happiness doesn’t dwell in the act of spending more money or hanging out but on those priceless solitary moments being at home.An interesting book costing one hundred bucks did spill more joy than a three hour movie costing five hundred bucks.And that a home cooked meal stands more satisfying than a candle lit dinner shelling out around a K in the dim light.And the coziness in wearing a bargained on the platform sweater doesn’t seem to derive from the newly bought branded jacket.Simply a sweet smile costing zero bucks does spread more happiness & joy in unseen ways, I realized.During this pilot attempt I was inspired by a distant bro who lives in the same city of mine earning in lakhs every month,chose to travel only by 2nd class during any train journey of his for the straight fact that he believed only in simplicity.And earning in lakhs did not change him & his life style in any way.There were so many interesting learning that came out of this CRIMAN attempt. And know what? I managed to save around a K :) in these two months time from 1/3rd of my wages that I drew out each month. And more surprises stood @ the end of this pilot attempt - a couple of my colleagues were crazy about the company’s jerkin that they gave us a year and a half back, fortunately when they had not joined. I got in to this surprising deal of a K for my old jerkin.I couldn’t believe it.Want to know where these are going in to?The piggy bank that Rohit promised me.Rohit you are getting me one to save these, right?

Moral - CRIMAN was a fantastic pilot attempt.Since I loved saving every penny out of it, am engaging in it as a DF(dedicated facility) from the new year.I know I still have a long way to go in this CMS project of mine & this is just the beginning.You just read a tyro’s write up on Crisis Management Simulation.

Pasir Ris Theory

Zooming boxes zipped in silence in to Pasir Ris MRT (Mass Rapid Transit). Pasir Ris is the last destination that people in this lion city can ever reach via the green line starting from Boon Lay, connecting its east -west corners.LED boards at MRT read accurately the countdown for arrival of trains.Penetrating Pasir Ris Library in floor 3 at Pasir Ris mall, in a minute’s time I went aphonic gazing at the integrally automated library & the huge collection of books on exhaustive categories at display there. My pash for books raptured that very minute. We were alike I felt, containing volumes of words inside but a streak of folded silence for the onlookers. On stepping out, silence still remained frozen in our minds. We exchanged no words. She stood beside, escorting me all the time until I was with her, with million thoughts crossing her mind in series. Life was silently pleasant that very minute waiting to experience another journey in the lap of luxury, by MRT, to get back home in simei.

I looked at her. Thoughts coiled into the past … I knew how hard she struggled until a couple of years back shuttling between her township & city right from her college days until she settled as a mentor in one of the city colleges.Her day dawned with a demanding bus journey till the city border. And then a drudging train journey in those suburban trains to reach the city junction, from where another local train to reach her city college on time. And back home everyday all the way to complete her assignments, demo preps, record works & to add meaning in her partially deserted parent’s life. She inducted many minds in her township by mentoring them in quantum ways in her subject of expertise everyday on reaching home back.She was not one of those cribbing babes, for traveling so far everyday. She added new colors in to her own life by taking new challenges at every new turn in those years. It all stood as bright feathers in her cap of victory.Oofff ... at last her struggle vanished like a dry ice in hand. She locked eyes with me dragging herself away from her rushing thoughts & smiled.

The train arrived in silence by then. When it stopped, the glass doors opened to offload & upload passengers. All the time the glass doors pointed right in front of the arrow painted yellow on the floor at the platform. No hassles no where. People just walked in straight before the doors shut themselves.From transit to transit the city stood more colorful. Obeying rules ran in their blood from birth. None touched none. None spoke to none. None looked at none. They believed to live their solitary e-lives even when amidst the crowd - typing messages, playing games, checking mails, tuning music on their ears, surfing net but never bothered to scan even the most stunning damsel (of their own breed ) who stood beside.They all looked alike. Fair like flour & flat like a four. They were all the same to my eyes. For a moment, where am I ? a prompt in the mind. A world far away from mine I realized. In intrinsic wrapped silence,sound of train zipping in and out of tunnels resonated in my drums.We dissolved the silence that we gripped in Pasir Ris when the train offloaded us back in Simei.

Playing Pranks

Rohit is my bessssss friend @ work place. The company hired us in the same quarter when we freshly stepped out of college.We worked in the same team closely, for long, amidst other seniors, on an assignment from a leading news agency in the world. Innocence had a bright stamp on his face, I felt initially. We hardly knew each other then.Days rolled by, when we stumbled upon the topic of crushes one day, while sipping coffee in a near by café. He chose to reveal on his crushes – explaining to me right from his puppy crush to his peppy crush that he had. I was taken aback when he revealed his outstanding crush count. If he meets them all one by one in a month’s time, still he would meet each 12 times in a year. Even I’ve had crushes – one in high school, another one in junior college & another one during my graduation. All vaporized like camphor cubes now.
Me: But your count seem to be alarming, buddy.
Rohit: I know daa… I got to wind up soon.
Months passed by. Now we are in different teams, working with different people. Yesterday, we happen to leave office at the same time. On the way home, what started as a mild drizzle, progressed as little heavy showers.To break the silence amidst cold winds, I started …
Me: Howz life buddy?
Rohit: Sighingly - Am happy that work is keeping me on my toes but then u c this CC of mine doesn’t want to settle for any less figures I guess.
There was a pause. Being his best buddy I thought I should give him my piece of mind on that.
Me: Buddy this isn’t the time for all this. You are not in your teens to dwell on this anymore.U got to realize that u will soon hold responsibilities beyond your age and will be expected to challenge the limits soon. Are you really behind it. Think again….
Rohit: I know daa …I know. I decided firmly this time. I know what to do now.
Me: Whatz that buddy. Can I also know ?
Rohit: As u said, not to dwell too much on this anymore but to begin another one soon.
My eyes spotted a big Manhole kept opened on the road side.

FYPI - Thankyou god, now people know all about Rohit and his mind blowing CrushCount.With this I can now sleep peacefully.

Life is calling …

Thud! I slipped on to the floor from my bed on a weekday morning, Just woke upto realize that I had been through a terrible morning mare. It shook me to the core. The only digestible fact left was, it wasn’t a reality. My mind went blank and refused to resume to its normal state for a while.I soon finished all my morning chores and rushed to work. My legs took one step after another without any conscious effort to reach my work place. On the way, I asked myself a question. If just a dream shook me to the core for a while, how do people manage to live with the every day reality horrors in their lives ?My mind gathered various incidents wherein people have had unending list of worries squeezing their heart, bursting their brain and boiling their blood, most of the time. As per my observations the ones topping the list were – unable to maintain healthy relationships with fellow folks,handful of insufficient bucks to satisfy their family’s needs, weird health related complications, fear of the future, bad luck following indefinitely, lack of self confidence for reasons unknown and the list topples down.

Life in today’s world is undoubtedly becoming exceptionally challenging, strange,unpredictable, hectic and some times quite unrewarding too. Haven’t you wished to dump all your stacked worries & wished you could erase them forever just like how the recycle bin on you desktop works. Haven’t you felt sometimes, as if your life was falling in to pieces & you reached no where after a long struggle that came your way, standing solitary not knowing in which direction to head to & on which shoulder to lean on,though you seem to be rocking to others eyes. Have you ever felt like wanting to cry outall your woes and ask for prosperity in life so that you could see what a peaceful & pleasant life is? Ever wished to fall back on earth without any fear, expecting some safe hands to hold you like the one in MetLife ad.Its quite true that at times the loads of life snaps the strings of confidence, rupturing the delicately designed mind. Have you been through this one too?Well you are not alone. Every single person beside you is floating in their own sea of problems, rowing against all possible odds in life, looking for a shore where one could buy some peace for what ever price it demanded, wishing for their long worry list to vanish soon & waiting for the wish list to come true. Wondered why is life not treating you very kindly, at times? And for some, most of the times?I believe if you can take your eyes off from all your problems for a minute and realize profoundly, it’s all an illusion, in a way. Ultimately, you are here, neither to lose anything nor to gain anything, materialistically. Each problem that you face while on earth is only considered to be a learning experience for your maturing soul (the invisible you, which most of us fail to recognize).After all life is only a bridge towards eternity. Why grumble too much when you are just crossing a bridge towards your destination which is yet to reveal itself completely. If you can keep this in mind and shoo away all your insignificant problems in one strong realization, believe me, life is really beautiful …Look at the world that you live with a new bubbling spirit. It will mean much gripping than what you perceived earlier. After all when you visit a south Indian restaurant, have you asked only for plain dosa any time (oops ! this is not to stimulate your hunger pangsright now).Or would you be happy eating only a plain pizza base with no topping ?.’Definitely No’, right ?. It’s the same with life too.With out these illusionary menaces… do you think there would be any value to this complexly architected yet could be simply lived life? Just get going. Explore, learn & imbibe things which you wish to. Trash things which you can’t relate yourself with.Carry a light feeling about life, anytime, because it’s never a harsh game intended to ruin you. Everyday is a celebration if you wish to enjoy the occasion of life.Have you experienced this? When you were extremely happy, enjoying and cherishingevery single moment that passed by ….how time flew with its best possible speed. And on a day when nothing was going your way, how time was passing the buck to its own minutes & seconds, dragging hours like ages.Just wished to share a concept called Muga from a book that I read years back. The book says, it’s the art of practicing to live life by enjoying the present moment without thoughts of the disturbing past or the much anticipated future, all the time. Initially it was difficult. But then slowly when I started, it was quite a rewarding experience to live by the concept.When you feel your shoulders are carrying too many responsibilities, rest them until you feel energized to take them back with zest. When you feel somebody disappointed you badly, let go and learn not to make the same mistake someday when your turn comes.When you feel terribly guilty about something in life, remember that you are not worth gripping it when it had bothered you enough. If you are looking for some inspiration inlife, look at the world to get some. If you still feel tired & worn out, it’s time for you to recharge and energize ASAP.Finally, when I reached my work place, I realized that each day designed to expire with a count of 24 hours, is to be lived like a time framed expiring dream in which nothing stands worth to be psyched out.

Why worry about things that will finally stand apart as insignificant measures in this boundless & timeless universe.Be kind to people around you, however they are. Help as many poor & needy. Strive forthe best without hurting people around. Be in peace with yourself, all the time. Try to get more out of life, everyday & experience the on going magic that weaves your life. Life will definitely pay you back with its rich dividends of kindness, when the right timecomes. Now, don’t you feel Life is calling … Where are you?

With Love - Surya

The bell rang like a cacophony in my ears, simulating a last bell people ring for the most honored in funerals. ‘Oh god! itz microwave hour now’, I wailed a little louder.All of us knew it was time for Shiv to eat our brains, spitting his half micro waved ideas on the subject in his grilled english. ‘Did u finish the assignment that he gave us yesterday? ’, I asked Saran. She looked absolutely not bothered for anything in life. And gave me a ‘No’ sign with her slightly curved lips but stayed fiddling with the Reynolds pen, trying to fit it in the slit on our wooded bench.

I was little agitated with my ineffective time management in life, unable to strike a balance between my college assignments & the short term IIT course that we girls enrolled us in.All of us belonged to 3rd ECE department.We were ten out of fifteen girls who zestfully enrolled us in the course but found hard to manage things since the IIT Campus was 45 km from our college.Commuting that far and to reach back home everyday was truely tiresome & Poornima added fuel to the fire by not giving us enough attention in the course hours.Can’t blame her blindly like that. She was a single and there were boys from Anna University in our batch just a couple of years younger to her, distracting her with their ‘out of the box’ questions.Otherwise her destiny was destined to be with all white haired, 65 + IIT professors. It was uncivilized on our part to have expected it from her ,in the little time available for her to #@*&^$!.And to add salt to our injury she believed herself to be the queen of DSP lab, where she worked as a lab assistant, which was our destination too inside the IIT campus.I felt she deserved one tight slap from me before our course ended for all the mental agony that she caused us.

Shiv walked hands free in to the lecture hall. Looked like he was lost else where thought wise unlike the other days when one can find him fasting outside the door from ten minutes prior to his session,with handful of lecture notes, chalk pieces and microwave bibliographies. He entered , marked attendance, clicked his pen on to his shirt pocket and declared us free.Unexpectedly he was not in the mood to transmit his microwaves on us that day. Neither did he talk about the assignments. Strange yet surprising, it was.Never had it happened in two years of his lecture profession in our college. Not even a single minute had gone waste by either speaking a torelable English or leaving us feel serious about him and his lecture classes.'Thanks Shiv. I wanted this break',I told myself.Being a back bencher,sat quietly in my place for once staring the black and white print of my microwave text, focusing the picture of microwave producing instrument drawn as modern art. A crinkled paper ball fell on my shoulders from the left side. Unwrapped it & there was a message

'Can we bunk IIT class today &
attend the wedding reception?
What say ? '
- Anu

Oh, I realized it was Sharmi Mam’s wedding reception the same evening.She bothered to invite us all amidst little time left to get prepared for her own wedding in India. Her’s was a little interesting story.She was desperate to do her MS in the U.S. She had a not-too-bad GRE score. She was two years elder to us, just like Shiv. She worked in our college as a lecturer for less than a year teaching us insignificant subjects until she got her student visa. She went to the U.S one fine day, following her dreams just to come back in less than 3 months carrying her wedding cards printed, to invite us for the occasion of beginning her new life with a stranger in her new strange land.She was dynamic & full of life. She was just like one among us, more like a friend than a lecturer, unlike Shiv. She was rich but down to earth,made her dream come true in front of our eyes.Very social and out going. Though she never impressed the girls greatly, all the boys in our college had a corner reserved for her in their hearts. The curiosity of seeing, whom she chose to live with popped in all our minds. But then I was too tired and really wanted a break from Shiv’s assignments and poorni’s lectures.I scribbled back to Anu

' Will bunk IIT class today.
But not joining for the wedding dear'.

And threw the paper ball back at her and found her excited discussing with others on what was everybody going to wear for the wedding reception that evening. Soon every body got to see my scribbling and pulled me to the chat zone to convince me.But I was desperate in having my break for the day. My folks felt I was tough on my decision and wanted me to join them badly. After few long unconvinced thoughts, I finally gave up and agreed to join them.Ambal’s face was gleaming with joy when I said ‘yes’ and Preethi felt succeeded in making me agree to them finally.We looked at our watches. We still had 45 minutes to go. As ever, we had our hot topics to discuss and Shiv watched us from the other corner of the lecture hall. May be trying to tune his ears to our exciting topics.Since girls struggled hard to make me agree, I became the target of bullying session for the day. In those 3 years time, almost everybody in the college knew Surya was my heart throb .Vani started slowly ‘So what is your Joe chéchi telling you ehh?’(Joe was Jyothika’s pet name that we gave her and media was telling us that they were seeing each other for some time then).So to simply make me fume, Preethi added ‘U know Devi , they have signed a couple of movies together now’. Bhavani added ‘Unga alluku vera velayae illiya ?’ (does ur man have no other job or what).I know I had explained to them for the nth ime about what I felt for him’. It is very true that I like him , but it was just his on screen chemistry that am in love with. Joe is his private life. I had never felt jealous of her.

In fact once I had felt none can match well with my man other than Joe in his real life.But my Eceian folks hardly believe me. They all pitch in at once, when I finish my statements on my man( in their slang). ’Don’t lie babe. We know u must be fuming to the core watching them together on the screen. But honey, itz reality. Don’t let that affect you much. Itz all part of life ’ as if I poured out to them,expecting such crazy condolence . Crazy these girls were, once they decide to bully someone. Finally our microwave hour ended. Shiv walked out clouded in some intro<->retro<->spection.

It was a customary practice that we gathered at my house, preened & primmed ourselves before stepping out to attend any common wedding reception. It had happened many times in those 3 years of our college life.Nothing unusual , girls unpacked all their make up kits, lip sticks, glosses, mascaras, eye liners, lip liners, rulers, eye shadows, base foundations and what not, turning the bedroom in to a mini Health & Glow outlet.In fact I get to see most of the latest cosmetic inventions in the market only during times likes these. And all of us fight to get the mirror focus and end up spoiling our natural beauty.Sahaya forcible applies modern art bindhis with the eye liner brush on most of our foreheads just to spoil the ‘not so bad’ looking girls.On this occasion, mom reached home with a bunch of bright yellow roses to place them in the newly bought porcelain vase. But she ended up planting one on each of our hair locks.Unable to deny my mom’s so loving gesture girls had nothing to say but to leave for the wedding reception with yellow roses planted on their top floors. It was 6.30 pm & was getting little dark outside.So mom suggested that we all leave early and in turn reach home early. So we all stepped out together to catch a rick with the huge bouquet that we bought for Sharmi mam.

Once on the road,I realized that vani had almost painted her face pink with her base make up solution looking really awful and little scary to my eyes for a moment when she smiled. I turned around to Preethi and she looked like another cute looking devil in the holly wood movies with her heavy beaded pearls lined up on the neck with her hair left open just not liking the idea of having a rose planted like us.Ambal chose to wear suki’s salwar since she came unprepared for the immediate party plans. Looked like we could clone Ambal twice and accommodate all in the same attire. Sahaya portrayed like an exhibition model displaying all her huge antique jewellery pieces from home. Anu was looking good but her lip stick was so dark and thick that looked as if some one plastered her mouth with a red glossy band.And it was difficult for a moment to decide in which gender should I be classifying Suki now, looking at the way she had preened herself. I realized that I must have looked equally funny in some way but was more conscious with my dark pink straw berry flavored lipstick and the yellow rose planted on my head.

The moment we stepped in to the wedding hall, our eyes by default focused on Sharmi Mam’s groom. Mmm … not very impressive at the first look. But then we had nothing to hype about it since he wasn’t handsome to any of our eyes. We found our college dudes in a corner having a huge round table conference at the wedding hall. The moment we walked past that side, there were huge laughter peels quacking the floor. I could make out y it was so loud. May be our comical appearances. I folded my lips tightly inside and licked the densely applied strawberry flavor. Also felt like plucking the planted rose. But mom's so loving gesture stopped me.Soon we settled in our own corner to calculate the Net Asset Value in gold of every 40 + aunty who passed us.Suddenly I found Vani staring near the entrance. Then Preethi and then Anu, Ambal, Bavani. I too turned around but nothing caught my eyes. Vani pressed my shoulder in excitement and said ‘Heyyyyy….. ur Man’. ’My man ?’.I knew they were kidding here too. So I chose not to turn. But then Preethi stressed the same thing. ‘Dev , ur Man’. I thought they all have decided to fool me for the cross face I had that morning.But then when Bavani stressed the same thing, I had to believe it and look for my man in the crowd. For the next five minutes I couldn’t spot him in the huge crowded hall. But then after some time I did.

Yes it was my man for sure. He was quite simple in a faded blue jean & a white T-Shirt appeared dipped in robbin blue and forgotten for days to rinse.‘Devi ur Surya is here with us today to make ur evening. Can u believe it ? ‘ Suki bashed. I was really over whelmed with joy that everning. Felt like talking to him. But then I knew it was really impossible,may be even to near him in this huge crowd. He never had that filmy air around him. In some time he followed us to the dining hall for the dinner. He happened to be seated in the next row. But definitely from an angle where I could focus him :-). My friends really felt happy for me. I was little thrilled ,when I realized that slowly the crowd was dwindling in the hall and he was still around. Preethi gave me a pilot pen and a blank business card when she left. Looked like she had it ready with her, just for me.I found him being a part of a 15 member circle formed near the wedding hall entrance. He was not part of any conversation that was happening in that big circle. He stood tying his hands tight around his abdomen and appeared choice less listening to that conversation. With little excitement, I approached the big circle tangentially,targeting the point where Surya stood. I stopped at a length of 50 centimeters from him. Sensing my presence, it was almost spontaneous during that late evening hour when he put his mobile in his shirt pocket and picked the pen & card from my hand to spread his choice of ink pattern on it. It was during those 10 silent seconds that I observed him from such a close proximity which I never expected would happen in my life.

When he was busy making his ink pattern, I realized that he was at least two inches shorter than me. Heart sank a little for reasons unknown. I asked my self in silence, ‘Does it mean that Joe chéchi is also shorter than me? ‘.He handed over the card and pen back to me looking in to my eyes. I felt elated. I thanked him. Like an automated reply he said ‘Ur welcome’. I turned away from him examining the ink pattern that he chose to spread for me. It read

With Love
- Surya

These were the words that took him 10 seconds to return me the card. He filled the card that I gave him by writing these three words big and bold. I liked the way he had stylishly stroked ‘S’ in his name. But I felt there was no trace of my virtual Surya in the man who filled my card seconds back. I found myself caught in the world of virtual reality for some time.I came home asking myself 101 useless questions. When I rang the bell, Mom opened the door and at once enquired ‘So how was the wedding. Did u girls enjoy it ? ‘. I said ‘yes’, showing her the card signed by Surya.She curiously looked at it and raised her brows in surprise. ’Siva Kumar payan thane ? ‘ ( Shiva Kumar’s son, right ?) she asked me. ‘Hmm’ came the reply from me. Dad also took a look at it when mom was holding it.He asked me if he was related to the bride or the groom in any way. But none of us had any clue about it. All were excited seeing him there.Thatz it.

It was 10.30 pm. Soon I changed quickly and finally got a chance to pluck the yellow rose from my top floor and lied on my bed in dark & silence – rewinding the whole day’s events in sequence, assimilating slowly the fact that I met my man that evening, pondering deeply over the virtual reality manifestation that I encountered. At around 11 pm, the phone beeped and I hurried to pick up the receiver. It was Rijo.’Hi da ,met ur man finally today. Very glad to know. So what did he tell you ?’.’Nothing’ I replied.‘ Whoz that ma? ‘ investigated mom. ‘Surya ma’. oops !! I hit myself on the forehead little harder re replying ‘Rijo ma’. Her investigation stopped at once she heard my re-reply.‘Haan Rijo bolo‘ I continued on the receiver. ’What da still in ur man’s thoughts ahh ‘ he made fun of me.Next day in the college bus, on the campus corridors, in the staff room, library, canteen, laboratory, anywhere and everywhere folks spotted me, they enquired curiously about how I felt when I met my man .I just smiled away at most of them. Even Loganathan sir was curious to know how I felt. When I entered the lecture hall, my gangsters were waiting to see the love note that my man gave me.I disclosed the note to Preethi first carefully pulling it out from a palm sized Milo – Book of Facts in which I decided to preserve it for my life time. She passed it on after a short examination to vani.But Anu was having it for a long time after everybody had a look at it in the class. When I went to collect it from her in the evening, she handed it over with a big sighing look at the card,muttering ‘Hmm...don't know when am I going to be lucky like u to meet my maddy, one day ‘.

Arakonam Junction

It was 11 pm on that sunday night when we impulsively decided to jump off the train. It stopped for not more than a minute in a small suburban town, an hour’s time by train from Chennai on the way to Bangalore.It was me & Vijay. I had two heavily stuffed bags in hand not knowing the adventure that awaited us, that night. When we jumped off the train at that odd hour, I had no clue what next, life had in store for us. If you are asking me, why did we jump out, let me back stroke the clock hands a few hrs from then –
In one corner of platform 4 in Chennai central - Dad, I got to leave you now and board this train. Take good care of yourself & mom. I shall be back soon, I whispered to dad holding my sliding bags , sitting on a big trolley adjacent to a giant fan.It was 9.30 pm in Chennai Central that humid sunday night . I just scanned the long platform, which was quite busy with people walking through its long lane. I saw Vijay approaching us.Aaaaaaamm I dreaming ? I pinched me for a second. No, I wasn’t. He came with his usual pleasant smile & stood beside us asking whatz up ?.Hmm … he was my close colleague & a friendly mentor, then. He never prompted a word to me even on Friday, the day I was leaving to Chennai.And that I have never met him in Chennai before. How come Vijay, you in Chennai?.Can’t believe it man. Another smile in a feeble tone- Came to invite a couple of my folks for wedding. Soon after the short enquiry, I introduced Vijay to Dad as my close colleague & a groom to be soon. Dad wished him delightedly for his upcoming grooming occasion. We just had ten minutes left for the train to depart. Vijay was also traveling in the same train to Bangalore with me that night. He said he would grab something quick to eat & was rushing towards the food stall. He asked my coach number & so did I. I turned back to Dad & signed him to leave home.

Stepping in to the coach, I felt for a minute, I sufficiently bathed myself in the humid air around. In sometime, Vijay came with a 1.5 liter Aquafina in hand. He looked tired to my eyes. He started his complaint chores against my Chennai, this time for a change, when both were in the relevant location. We were in a short chat until the train departed central platform, leaving us at the mercy of some mild breeze peeping in through the window bars. Sleep was standing in front of my eyes. And I kept yawning, indefinitely. Vijay prompted - ok shall c u tomorrow in the office. Fine Vijay, I replied back settling myself for a long sound sleep. But I simply kept tossing & turning along sides for a long time & was desperate to catch some sleep before I reached Bangalore.

When it was three minutes to eleven, the TT lit the lamps in my coach and I instantaneously woke up dazzled. It was just not the TT but TT with Vijay. Clueless I was. Slowly I enquired -What happened Vijay? Before I could finish, he puked some more liquid & was holding his hands tightly around his stomach. Neither did he have the energy to speak out nor to give me any explanation. The TT spoke. ’I guess you are the only person whom he knew in this train right now maaa. I don’t think he can travel until Bangalore in this condition and neither does he wish to. Probably what you could do is get down in the next arriving station and get him admitted in some hospital, since his condition seems to be pathetic. Can you take care maaa ?’ he ended. Of course yes. If not for Vijay, for whom else am I going to do that, I told myself.I knew at once seeing him,it was yet another monstrous act of those tiny calcium pellets inside his kid knees. But a parallel thought rushed in. Is it really safe to jump off the train around midnight, not knowing where, how, when & with what confidence ... but then there wasn’t much time to ponder over that popped riddle since the station arrived the very next moment. Vijay was absolutely against me jumping off with him & insisted that I don’t do that. But his situation was absolutely pathetic. More worse was when I realized, with that streak of pain in his stomach he can’t help himself much. Life shouldn’t be a pointless existence Dev – my impulse nerve replied to my parallel thought by jumping instantly. The TT was kind enough to jump, run , inform & request his fellow colleague at the station to do the needful for us at that remote platform and then was quick & smart enough to board the moving train. I thanked him standing in the platform seeing him receding in the train in which we were also supposed to reach Bangalore that following morning.

Vijay found it hard to even walk. Once the train crossed the platform, he sat along the platform and puked at his ease on the tracks.It was shivering cold by then. Hands chilled, because of cold or fear, I didn’t know.Whatz next?, I really didn’t know. After he puked all that was left inside – we managed to reach the station master’s cabin. There were a couple of people along with the station master, who offered us a place to sit & enquired how they could help us. I explained to them the story behind me speaking to them, that very moment. The station master called the railway hospital & checked for the doctor’s availability. Mean while I enquired with a loader,how far was the railway hospital from the station. He said, it was hardly ten minutes from the station and that they would arrange transportation for us. And asked us not to worry.Finally we were in an auto heading the railway hospital by all possibly certified bad roads in a typical Indian suburban town. Couldn’t help much for the kind of help that people offered us during that remote hour that night. Reached hospital, spoke to the nurse and explained the emergency behind having Vijay examined by a doctor immediately. She helped us by making the doctor arrive on time, injecting Vijay with some pain killers & giving him the typical inverted drip bottle treatment.

For a moment, when I saw Vijay lying on the hospital bed that midnight, I felt strongly how skewed destiny can be sometimes but then with its own safe upper & lower limits.The doctor arrived with sleep studded on his face, listened to me patiently and was kind enough to suggest the best thing that we could do. I respected him for the profession that he chose & the humanity that drove him there, at that hour. In sometime Vijay got rid of his pain & dozed off. It was time for me too to catch some sleep. There were many beds vacant in that ward. I chose a bed which had a running fan above it.When I woke up, it was 5 am & the scene around made me realize, we had been through a mini mid night adventure. Vijay was awake too. He was feeling far better. He wished that we leave to Bangalore soon to take a proper treatment for his ailment without wasting any minutes.So we thanked all the people in the hospital who were of help to us the earlier night.

I never expected that we might stumble upon such kind & helpful people on our way.God was there along, I felt. How helpful they were, I can’t explain by words.When we spoke to them regarding our desire to leave the hospital soon, they arranged for the ambulance to drop us in the station. Soon we reached the station back from the hospital by another set of bumpy roads. Railway hospital in that small insignificant south Indian town had handful of kind hearted, service oriented, sincere and concerned people -the driver, the watchman, helpers, nurses & the doctor all appeared to me like god’s personification.More pleasant we felt when we reached station & found that the station master& his folks whom we met the earlier night enquired us with utmost care and was willing to help us reach Bangalore & was keen on making us fill forms to reimburse our more than half way ticket money.It left a very good impression in our minds on the Southern Railways in general and a lasting impression on the railway employees whom we met in person. I heartily thanked them for what ever they were but was not too keen in taking too much of help from them. I decided to stand in that long queue along with the localities that Monday morning to fetch two tickets in Brindavan for our onward journey.

We had ample time before the train arrived. We sat on one of those metal chairs rewinding things slowly. How unexpected is this life – was the topic that we were deeply pondering watching the local scenes in that suburb.Vijay who basically hails from the land of richy rich south indian god, wanted to know where were we ?Mm.. it was Arakonam Junction.In tamil, the word arai means half & the word konam means angle. I was just elucidating Vijay how even the place names with in my state's territory(time to blow my own trumpet) were logically sorted out. It was a happening mid size town which is around an hour’s journey from Chennai towards Bangalore. These days almost the entire working & studying population of Arakonam travels to Chennai in the morning suburban train to make their ends meet. In a way it’s a thriving suburban Chennai, I was evincing. With a big yawn,he took a straight look at the platform and was wondering to himself if that was the same platform which saw him in such bad shape the previous night.Brindhavan arrived in some time. We soon found ourselves heading towards our destination seated among other passengers in one of those, not too crowded compartments where I was feasting & Vijay fasting all the way that Monday morning until we reached Cant station – Bangalore, where life appeared just normal .