A Lazy Confusing Summer Afternoon - Part 1

In the city, on a hot summer afternoon, busy streets, heavy traffic, blaring horns, and dust from the exhaust pipes were really adding to the sultry weather.

The Sun, beaming from the high skies and relentlessly making people profusely sweat, unhappy with the climate, the people were carrying forward their daily chores. The offices and the buildings, with the heavy AC ducts and ventilators were also panting out of breath.

Suddenly, from a far of city came a whiff of cold air and with it dark clouds in huge bundles and covered the sky with its coolness and heavy droplets of water. The clouds gathered at a faster pace and people looked towards the sky to watch the sun being engulfed by the clouds and they were pointing their finger towards it grumbling, to say, “You deserve it.”

The rain played its mercy on the people for sometime and it started moving away to another far off land which required the same treatment.

Shyamala, was ignorant of all these and was working on her computer in the 5th floor of her office building in the glass cabin of hers. She could have had a wonderful view of all these beautiful weather change but, today she had pulled down all the window blinds and was immersed in her work.

She was not doing her work; she was trying to figure out in her mind the reason for a certain happening in her life today and wanted a remedy for it. She was restless and was lost in her thoughts scampering for a resolution.

She isn’t like this, she loves nature and the sight from her cabin which opens into the city roads, below from her glass windows or rather walls for her. She could see the busy road down, the concrete jungle spread across the city, the clouds in the sky, the sun in the corners of the window during sunset, spreading a wide range of color display than any of the top brand color televisions in the market be it either SONY Bravia or LG LCD model.

She just loves her cabin and has also decorated it fabulously; she has all types of antiques adoring the walls and desk of her cabin. She is the Sr. Marketing Manager in a company that has spread it wings across the globe and has offices in any city that you can name.

She is smart, sensitive, and adequate leader in her field and has fought this position from a group of successful men, in her company and is known for her quick and accurate decisions that she makes. She is focused and enjoys a perfect work-life balance and has a supporting family. On her right on the desk is a family photo of hers, along with a picture of her husband. She has this picture with her whenever she goes, even on her endless trips sometimes.

When she is tried or when she is restless, she has a long relaxing look outside of her window and it teaches her many a things. The look outside her window has been inspirational, worrisome, adventurous, and fabulous, breathe taking and at times sober too. But, she enjoyed this window of her. Today, she has not taken a look outside or not leaned on the rims of the window for a consolation, but have mercilessly pulled the window blinds and kept the sun and rain, hide and seek away from her. Why is so restless with herself? Why is she ignorant of her surroundings? What has come upon her?

She gives up, she can’t calm her mind. She wants a break from her ranting mind. She decides to a take a walk on the streets below and she lets her secretary know and leaves the cabin to take the lift, to the streets below.

Around the corner of the street is a coffee shop, which is quite empty during the afternoons. She might take a dip there or may not as she isn’t her usual self. The closed doors of the white lift indicator showing the ‘0’ as recognized and the lift opens on the ground floor.

She starts taking quick strides on the street with a worried face, relaxing a bit with the whiff of the cool air. She is mindless of the wet street with little pools of water and the mud strains getting added to the sole of her high heeled sandals. She walks past several shops and buildings, she watches the vivid colors of display on the windows of these shops, the passersby, the calling for taxi, the people running by, and the animated conversation between people, slowly her mind is absorbing things that she had closed her mind from morning... She is opening up.

(...to be concluded)


Short Stories by Kavitha Kumaresan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License

Kaalangal Mazhai Kaalangal – Season of Rain

I loved the rain, this morning.

Wake Up! Wake Up! It is morning and the time is 6’oclock – the alarm clock on the bed side table woke me up, reluctant to wake up I just snoozed my alarm, pulled the blanket up and covered my head and rolled back to sleep, turning to my right.

It was bit chilly and it was still dark, I was just answering my mind, why it had to dawn so early. Does it not know that it is heaven to sleep inside a blanket covered from head to toe, on cold chilly morning?

And it was such a morning, today. By the time, I snoozed the alarm and could rest my mind and commanded it to shut up and let me sleep, it rang again. This time, I really got up and put the alarm off, coz my brain signaled me, “You idiot after 10 mints it is going to ring again, why don’t you shut it off?”

I listened to it and turned to my bed and blanket, with the blanket spreading its hot and cozy arms at was inviting me to engulf. I was just could not resist and imagined it to be my ‘MAN’ of dreams extending his arms to me hazily before lighting strike’s, I decided to get in to it.

But, you see, there was a loud thunder at that instant which shook my attention and I looked out of my window. It was heavily clouded and there was a spread of rain clouds, which were ready to pour down any moment. I just looked out, put my head out to feel the cool breeze, kiss my cheeks and at that instant I closed my eyes to feel it in me…a drop fell on my right cheek.

The drop was cool and sharp that it bore my skin and made me wet inside. I opened my eyes with an instant and saw the rain pour from above. The drops were coming down like a shower of arrows over head focused towards me. They came and fell on my face and wet me….I ran into the balcony to enjoy it.

I just stood there and looked at the rain, pouring quietly. It poured from about an hour just the same way it started with big droplets, I stood watching it, loving it, feeling the chillness, enjoying the nature’s beauty.

I stood on the doorway, with a cup of hot coffee in my hands and the rain on my balcony, I heard a song from far away. A soothing song and music made the day more romantic, I did not want to go to office. The music and the rain were churning memories and pleasant feelings in me…I am drifting into my dreams, I am walking in the clouds…I hear my name with the base sounded husky voice….

"Hey, Kavitha, It is 7.15 am, you better hurry……Yeah, yeah, and I started slowly jogging

towards the voice…!!!

…and get ready otherwise you will miss your bus.”

BUS@#$^*****~!$, Hello, lady…..somebody shaking me. Hello, madam, wake up.

I open my eyes to see my husband talking to me and trying to shake me of my reverie…I slowly look at him, blink, blink, and blink. Yeah, Where am I, What am I doing??!!

He said, “My love, this is Heaven and this is Venus, the god of love taking you on a tour of heaven. Do you want to eat the forbidden fruit?”

Huh! What? Oh, gosh, it is 7.20am. [Looking at my husband, strangely] “Can’t you just tell me the time? I hardly have another 20 minutes to get ready, and please put a stop to the music or just reduce the volume; it is hurting my ears…Hmm. What a day??!!

When I get away from a safer distance from him, I smiled and closed the doors of my bedroom at a surprised husband’s face and started my regime for the office ahead….

I just loved the rain this morning…!!!

Nenjukkul Poo Manjangal - A song in a Tamil movie

Well, as said before songs have become an inseparable part of my BUSY life.

I am hooked to this song since yesterday night. I wasn't a regular Orkuter, but got recently used to it. One of the forums or community, I am a regular visitor or scarper, is the Community of Illayaraja.

Guys, there (community) are really doing some service to the Music Composer, who has now rocked the Tamil Film Industry with his music for more than 2 decades now. He still rocks, no doubt.

I believe this person 'Illayaraja' might not have any clue or an iota of what heated and wonderful discussions that take place, there. A layman or not each one there has a description to the music, he hears by, adores, can't in dispense, whatever his feeling is expressed there. What a service!!!

Enough of the intro, let me continue with what I wanted to say, there is a thread which is like a sort of game, it has translation of a Tamil song in English, you got to find the song and the movie it pictured.

The only clinch here is it should be from a film, musically directed by Illayaraja, now, you think that is easy ...no. The years of music are from 1976-2008. The years are many and the songs too, for a Tamil movie have an average of 5 songs per film. It is voluminous and the translations can range to simple English translation to very much complicated translation.

I am also a part of this translation query and enjoy it. Sometimes cracking a song before any one of the member in the community does is real challenge, although there are 51,000 thousand people to it, only about 7-8% of people active in this thread. Though competition is less, but someone out smarts you whenever they feel like.

Like this there has been a question that was unanswered for a couple of weeks now, I was also trying to decipher that, in vain. Sometimes, my mind works in a flash and sometimes, it takes its ages.

Trying to break the code, I was waiting and spending time, I tried cracking it with the help of GOOGLE. Yes, you might wonder how GOOGLE, no way. Google, in fact gives you lyrics of any song you want, you just give a word in a line, it traces you the line with the song. Of course, I don’t have to tell you about the ability of the Search Engine, one of its kinds, right??!!

I wasn’t able to crack, I tried getting in touch with my friend in orkut, who also happens to be a member and sometime back we had tough competition between us to crack the code and clues. So, we tried to make a combination to crack the code, by supplying details and snippets, all through net.

Well, what to say, he cracked the code, before I could. I was almost there, he broke it. Ok, I let it be there.

I wanted to know which song it is, and when I heard it, I just could not get the music out of my mind, as I write some part of my brain is still singing the song in pieces and I am enjoying it.

Ahem! I know a roundabout way of saying the title is the first line of the song, that was cracked and that is the song about my blog here. I know, you would want to shove me off, but haven't I made you read till here, so read further.....

The song has some good folk feel to it. It is at the same time racy and has some English words to it, unlike today where words in a song in the mother tongue is less than the foreign language or the national language, with heavy drums and blaring noises. The English words gel with the song and make it more likeable.

The song in description is a nice melody, separated by the era itself. It was featured in 1983 movie, which starred Siva Kumar, the ever charming, Markandaiyen of the Tamil Cinema and the Big Eyed Sarita, K.Balachander heroine, whose eyes speaks volumes to emotions if the portrayal she donned.

The song is a duet and has the hero and heroine expressing their love for each other. It says –
Nenjukkul Poo Manjangal Nee Itta Neram

Kannil Ittene Kadhal Kattalai

Kannam Yenge Yengegum Asai Muthirai

Nee Hero.........Oh...Hero.

Simply translating, “Before, you could get into my heart to give me a flower donned stage; I did the honors by my eyes. There are stamps of love on my cheek; you are my hero, hero.”

Listen, to it my folks......fall in love, enjoy life.

“What does Independence day mean to you?”

I saw this title in one of the leading newspapers of India. It has been posed to several school going youngsters, and have asked them to answer to it.

Though the answers are varied and each one of them has answered in their own way. But centralized under the same context that, August 15, 1947 India got freedom from Slavery. It got its freedom, from Britain. The sacrifice of various Indians in the struggle for freedom, every other small has written this, Independence Day is just not remembering these people walking around with a flag pinned on our shoulders.

I am wondering what has made them write so, agreed people gave up for their lives, fought, struggled and were strangled to give us all the freedom and enjoyment of a free state, that we are now. But, does independence day only has to remind you of their sacrifices, not any other day you walk freely on the streets.

It is should be a constant reminder in your mind, even if it isn’t the independence day and when you buy a piece of land written to you by the Law, against your name and claim your property, it must remind you.

It reminds you when you do a deed that reflects you self, like spitting on the road, crossing signals, avoiding traffic rules, honking horns where absolutely unnecessary, walking by a running tap, dumping waste on the streets, roadways, and highways, letting the lights burn in a common place without its necessity, don’t care attitude unless it burns your pocket, talking loudly in common places, performing activities top disturb the surrounding, like these many activities that we do on a daily basis is the liability that we get from this freedom.

Why remember something to which we can’t contribute? Why remember things that are no more present among us? Why teach and preach the young minds that we got our freedom and lots of freedom fighters gave up their life for the very freedom that I and You enjoy today without any questions?

Gandhiji, who fought freedom himself had said, when women can walk alone on the streets of midnight alone safely, it is the achievement of freedom at last.

Is our state so safe now, do we have that much freedom today? Remembering people right, but should not stop there, let’s contribute to it. If the learned make a difference then I think the people will follow and set an example.

We all dream and crib about a flawless and efficient, India but in whose hands is it? It is I and You that can make a difference. Come on, let’s join hands at least in this 61st Independence day, at least follow certain sanity and strength to show, We care, We will follow and remain indebted to the sacrifice that gave us the liberation to speak, eat and live the way we want.

I have expressed what I feel, no offense to anyone or anybody. You are free to tell what you feel and that is 'What Independence Day' has given you.

A Usual Train Journey - Concluding part

She reaches her office at about ten minutes to nine and that is almost her usual. Resting her things on her table she settles on her chair. Leaning against her chair with closed eyes, she is trying to tranquilize herself to pursue the tasks ahead for the day. She hears a soft clattering noise against the window behind her, it had started to drizzle and slowly the drizzle was churning into a downpour.


She wanted to sip a hot coffee, looking at her watch and decided to get one and settle down for the chores. Quickly walking out of her cabin into the lobby greeting the people she knew, reached the coffee vending machine at the corner of the floor next to the stairway that leads to the Office of Journals, an illustrated magazine company, since 1875.


Lost in the thoughts of the day ahead and racking her brain for information about the last evening details of the office to catch up, she walks quietly to the vending machine. It was a long verandah with huge glass windows evenly spaced for sufficient flow of wind during the hot summer afternoons. The building is an ancient one, built in with influences of French architecture.


She could watch the pouring rain, flooding the path way, the people running hither to shelter and standing under the sunshades and the corridors of the office buildings. Rain has always fascinated her and she had always wanted to play in the rain as a kid, whenever possible. She used to do it even now sometimes, though followed with strong consultations from her mother about her stupid behavior. She never paid attention to her taunting and always pacified her mother with her own solid talents of argument.


She wanted to run down and get wet in the rain. She reached the vending machine and started to make a coffee for her. She did not realize that she was almost blocking the way to the stairway. Hearing, a voice from behind asking to make way, she turns to face the voice; it is the same face that she locked her eyes, in the morning with an intense gaze.


There was a moment of recognition on both the faces, followed by a moment of awkwardness. She parts and he climbs up, but after a few stairs, he sneaks a look to see if she is still there down. A smile appears on his face as he sees her looking up towards him. She walks back to her cabin and ponders how did he happen to come to the same building? Did he follow her here? How did he know she was here? How did this happen? Why did I not notice him while walking from the station to the building? I thought somebody was behind, I knew. It must have been him? Her thoughts were running wild with all the weird combinations of a feminine mind.


With the demands of work she had to push away the recurring thoughts and immersed herself. She loses track of time and space and it is almost time to get back home. She looks at her watch it is 6.45 pm almost close to 7 pm, she has a train to her place at 7.30 pm. She has to start now to avoid missing it. She starts collecting her things and switches off the lights in her cabin, closes the cabin door quietly and walks down the aisle looking at the few monitor lights that are still on in some corners and people brooding over it.


She walks and reaches the elevators of her floor, pressing the down key, waiting for it to arrive. She recollects the list of things that she wanted to do when getting home. She was just trying to get things in order across the thoughts that were flying up and down in her mind. She was startled by the beep of the elevator. The doors of the elevator opened on her floor, looking at her were a pair of eyes.


Hesitant to get in, she just looked on, the elevator doors started to close; a pair of hands on the either side ran to stop the closing doors. She gathered herself and stepped inside; confining herself to a corner next to the elevator buttons, and the elevator started it journey towards the ground floor. The few distance of the elevator loomed large in her eyes and it looked as if an eternity till it hit the ground floor, with a thud.


She gets impatient to move out of the elevator, and she hears a small chuckle from behind. Stepping out of the building, she starts walking towards the bend of the road from where she has to take the sub-way to reach the station. She starts descending the steps of the sub-way when she hears howling voices from below and loud cries of people mixed with some heavy laughter. Her brain registers this as some trouble below, wondering what to do next, she slowly turns back to see if that pair of eyes is behind her. To her relief it is exactly a few yards behind her and then she quickly tries to look into her hand bag and tries to locate something. She keeps searching for something till the pair of eyes catches up with her and almost about to leave her behind with a glimpse of her through the corner of his eyes.


She puts her bag on to her shoulders again and simply follows the man at a close level then before and they enter the long tunnel way to reach the other end of stairs. He too hears the sound coming from underneath and looks around for help, finding it unusually empty at this point of time. There are some electric lights broken forcibly and shattered, thought it isn’t all that dark in, it has its own touch of eerie feeling.


He looks behind to find her following within the distance of clasping her elbow in case of any trouble, feeling satisfied and with a smile to his lips he walks further into the tunnel. His mind tells him, on hearing these voices below, she must has stood there on the way looking into her hand bag searching for nothing, and getting me past her, clever girl.


On hearing some sounds of people walking through the tunnel the trouble makers, get frightened and not wanting to get caught run hitter leaving the lone man in distress. They quickly run to the stairway and reach the road on the above and gets lost among the crowd on the other side.
The distress man, giving a sigh of relief looks on to the two silhouettes emerging from the dark outset of the tunnel and not knowing who the silhouettes are really makes way for the stairs and climbs to his own gained safety, thanking, the silhouettes in his mind for the safety they brought him today from the nasty crowd. He walks away to his destination with quick paces looking around closely with a precautious mind.


The two pair of eyes closely behind each other walks slowly cautiously and reaches the other end, to their astonishment they see the whole lobby empty void of people. Relieved, by the sight of nobody in the corridor, they walk in peace and ascent the stairs. Realizing the closeness, she tries to slow done her paces, and stops at a shop to pick some fruits without any intention to buy.
He quickly glances from his corner of the eye and walks away further not to embarrass her, grinning. He reaches the station, before her and takes his ticket waits for train at the half-empty station; it is 7.20pm. Another ten minutes more for the train to arrive. He looks at the entrance for that familiar figure, and sub-consciously looks at his watch though he knows the time.

She enters with hurried glances and paces, finds an empty chair and slumps on to the chair to calm her erratic heart beats and the constant thundering of the mind and the heart. Seeing her enter he finds his lips voluntarily moving into a smile, wondering what this lady has done to him in just less than an eight hour.


He wonders when he can go up to her and talk to her, introduce himself and then talk about his sudden feeling that occurred inside him. He keeps wondering about it when the loud horn of the train scatters his thinking. They wait for the train to halt on to the platform and enter it. She gathers her bags. She stopped at the fruits stall not knowing what to buy or need to buy but ended up picking some four varieties of fruits about each a quarter kilogram, not knowing their substantial use. She is still racking her brain for the reason for so many fruits at one instant.
They both get into the compartment and there are only two empty places. They empty place is right opposite to each other. Both wonder if the other would sit in front of them, he gives up the place for her to sit and she is seen standing, for him to sit. Both smile at the instant and they seat themselves on to their respective places and get lost in their own worlds wondering if they start a conversation where to start from.


She covers her face with a book, ‘Deception Point’ and he with ‘Angels and Demons’ both the books are bestsellers from Dan Brown. Both of them not reading, everything seems to stop in front of their eyes.

The train is pulling into her destination, he knows she is going to get down, but he feels the solace that she will be in here again tomorrow. He wants to talk to her but does not know what and how. She gets ready to descend and grabs her things. The train slowly runs into the station and is puffing hard to come to a halt, she sits in her place a second longer not knowing why, but she seems to be stuck to the place. She tries to make a move and that is a little trouble for her, she pulls through her things and rises from her seat unwillingly and wondering why on all days did this station of mine arrive so quickly.


She almost stands up when she hears a weak voice with the words, “Good night, see you tomorrow”, she looks up and meets the pair of eyes that said it all, again. Not able to hold her emotions, her mouth opens into a forgotten smile of recognition and acknowledges the greeting and she climbs down the train, with a heavy heart. She is walking on the platform, the train starts moving forward, the compartment she got down from, moves past her slowly, she looks up to find the face at the door waving at her and her half-raised hand in the air till the train leaves the station.

- A Short Story by Me.


Short Stories by Kavitha Kumaresan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License

A Usual Train Journey

Many a times, we come across this modest feature in our daily lives. I have been a target of it and I am sure most of us can relate to this situation described here.

We see a lot of strangers in the most common places, such as bus stops, restaurants, city traffics, neighborhood, the next flat, the office corridor, coffee points, ticket counters, on a journey, so on and so forth. But we just don’t bother about this strange feeling of strangers unless, the eyes of two strangers at stake are held in a gaze for few multiple seconds precisely.

The hero and heroine of this story are such two individuals who happen to have an eternal glance on each other accidently, how the future events lead them.

It is a cloudy morning, wafting the city with cool breeze. The change in the climate is a welcome to the city, which otherwise have got used to the long sunny days with dust, pollution, heavy traffic congestions and sweat. The welcomed climatic change, I guess will do its turn of events in many households, where the husbands will keep cool, help the wives in their daily chores, with cruel intentions known to both. The new born silently slumbering in the comfort of the air, giving the new mother her peace of mind, the schools kids merrily running about to school, the heavy traffic congestions eased out and moving in a serene pace. The city is lit, the young girls cheering away to college, the young boys having fun watching the bright colors, the city is jubilant.

It does its magic on her, too. She gets up early, has time for her morning walk, in the gardens spun around her apartment. She returns from the refreshing morning walk, takes a cool shower, listens to music while dressing up, is all set to leave for her office at about 8.10 am to be in office by 9.00 am, when the day kick starts itself.

She dresses a little advertent today, unlike the other days of office. The pale yellow cotton sari with the stiffness from the starch, against her sleek body, compliments her skin. She walks swiftly to catch the train at the suburban station to office. She is standing at the platform number 1, waiting for the train to arrive, looking at her slender wrist, which holds a brown strapped square white dialed watch. It is almost, time it arrives; she leans forward and watches the engine rolling on to the platform. She steps aside subconsciously; the train slowly rolls onto the platform. She looks for the first-class compartment, which is normally placed after the ladies compartment; suddenly her eyes catch a pair of eyes that is looking out from the comfort of a window seat in the first class compartment.

It must have been a multiple of seconds that locked their eyes in an intense gaze, but for her it looked like eternity and she quickly turns her gaze to the halting train. She quickly gets in and settles down at the farthest end of the compartment away from the glanced look.

He is well-built and smart at first look. A normal looking man in an extra-ordinary setting of life with the comforts of the world has made him look like those entire clan of well-dressed and ethic men in the city. He usually has his corner seat reserved towards his journey every morning. He did not have problem with this little cozy comfort of his, because his destination is the first station from where he starts his journey to office.

He usually gets seated himself in the corner quickly with a few cursory glances around the people in the compartment and then gets immersed in the book that he reads as a habit to kill the time in travel. Today, morning he could not concentrate on the novel in his hand, which read, ‘Angels and Demons’ by Dan Brown and started grazing around the moving space outside his window. It is almost his window now, for the year and half that has gone by and has been travelling by the train sitting at the same window, almost a ritual.

He hasn’t caught anyone’s attraction till date and never has been cross examined like he had been today, other than the ticket examiner at the counters of the station. His eyes have never spotted a damsel with whom he had the intense glimpse and he felt something happening inside him, due to the after effects of the incident. His brain started to analyze the possible combinations of reasons why this could have happened. He was wondering, why, me?

But the glimpse seemed to speak volumes in his mind now; they were translating the every detail that the eye captured in the couple of minutes of the eternity. He could remember the way her hair swayed to the wind that blew due to the halting train, he remembered the color of her eyes, he remembered the neatly done eyebrows that covered her eyes, the face was bright, a small smile curved to the end of her mouth, the dangling ear rings, her sari pallu held in her hand, her hand bag on her shoulders, her dark brown intense look of the eye, the instant withdrawal, the haze with she got into the compartment, her eyes rolling for the farthest place in the compartment, and she settling down in the corner from his sight and the door of the compartment as a shield between them.

Oh! Gosh, just a few minutes of intense gaze can capture so many vivid images, never did he knew his brain is capable of such things, or did it dawn on him that even when he is ignorant, mind is working at its own pace. Did she also recollect such images of him? Who knows? He started reading the book, “Robert Langdon, the professor was running on the streets of Paris, hunting down the killer along with this beautiful lady.” Hmm…she is beautiful registered the brain in an instant. He looked out of the window, gave a small happy content smile and continued reading the book.

(to be continued...)

Short Stories by Kavitha Kumaresan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License

Ah! Rainy Days…

As a kid, a teenager and a lady, I really liked rain and the pleasant feeling of getting wet in the pure and chill drops of water from above the sky.

I have always looked forward for the rains on summer afternoons and the dry seasons of life as well. Many a times, when I had been in school and college, I have knowingly forgotten the umbrella (an invention of man) at home so that I can get wet in rain on my return to home.

The last few days in Hyderabad, have been pouring mercilessly and the streets and lanes full of water. There have been incidents of death due to the relentless rain non-stop on certain days. This weekend it rained on the whole of Saturday and was confined to indoors.

I was looking eagerly towards this weekend that went by, as I had planned to visit the movies after quite some time, now. I had booked my tickets by late Thursday afternoon, for a show on Saturday Evening. Never had this leisure of booking tickets well in advance, thanks to the advent of Internet, though it is not a novice concept now, it is almost requisites of life.

I always try booking for tickets through the net, most of the time, I find people are more active than me or jobless than me or whatever, I used to never get tickets or the tickets that were available would be some lost corners of the screen or the front rows of the screen from where you a larger picture of the movie, which takes away the glamour of watching a movie. In spite of the discomfort in the front rows, I don’t know why the theatres are still having front rows next to the screen??!!

Now, that’s a debatable topic of its own, let it rest in peace for some time, coming back to whatever I was trying to say, or did I?

Hmm…so, I was terribly lucky this time to get a ticket for me and my husband at the back rows of the theatre. I was looking forward to it, when the unexpected rains took a toll of it. It somehow wanted to ask me I guess, why and how can you get lucky, eh? When I am here?
That’s it; I was returning home on Friday evening, I take the office bus to my home. It is a journey of some distance approximately about one and half hour, and that too at the mercy of the traffic. It had started drizzling from the office itself and when I was in the bus the rain had started pouring hard. I did not think much about the rain at that point, but when I got to the roads on my way back, the long line of vehicles at the junctions and the traffic congestion, reminded me of the impact of rain.

It took more than the usual time for me to reach my destination and by the time I reached home, it started to pour heavily and slash the city. I got worried about my husband’s return from office as his pathway had lots of undulations and they must be filling in with water from the rain. There was no electricity at home, and the silhouettes of the candle light with the combination of the sounds of rain and wind were creating eerie images in my mind and my imagination was running wild. I dialed my husband several times to his hand phone and was expecting him to return soon.

All this so far so good, but real problem started when the next day dawned, it being a Saturday, got up a bit later than usual and was waiting for the relentless rain to stop, but it did not and it so happened that the whole day it rained and rained.

Had a simple and good lunch prepared at home and waited for the rain to stop so that I could go and watch the movie as planned. But, the rain did not seem to stop. We were thinking of all possibilities to reach the movies. We were also debating of the choice of time that we chose to see a movie. In between, the wait from 2.30 pm to 3.00 pm, is when we decided to leave for the 5 o’clock show, as it was raining did not want to take the risk of missing or getting caught in the rain or traffic. Then is when my husband’s hand phone rang, it was from the theatres and we had given his hand phone number while registration.

The authority had called us to inform that they have cancelled the particular show and the money drawn against the tickets would eventually be credited to the bank account or credit card used during the reservations. Thank god, one solace, that we would get back the money spent without enjoying it.
At the same instant, I hated the rain like never before and hated the chilly feeling of water everywhere. Never had I hated the rain, as I had hated it that instant with all my life. The floor wet and chill from the constant downpour, the water from the taps chill and not fit enough to hold in your hand for more than a second, the wet clothes dispersed in the rooms, sofas and hangers to dry under the currents of wind from the ceiling fan.

Ugh….what a day! Had to spend the rest of the evening browsing on the net or watching the stupid programs on the television and by the time it was dinner time, had prepared some dinner and was so drowsy with nothing to do the whole day, dozed off in the comfort of the mattress, hoping that at least by the morning the sun will be up to greet us with its warmth and let me out to play in the sun.

For once, I really did sing, Rain, Rain, Come another day, little Kavitha wants to play….:-).

A Deliberation of Dilemma - contd

It has been some months now, in this new office of hers and has almost settled down to know people around her and address them by their first-name. She now knows where everyone sits and works from, where things lie in this office of hers, the approach and the city that beautifully spreads across the shores of the Arabian Sea.

Balu and Janavi have the same wavelength and both have similar likes and dislikes and prefer to read the same kind of books. They both have had the same difference of opinion and the same consolations at work. They gel as a team and have been responsible for many out-of-the-box implications and results and have brought in laurels and acclaims for the work and the company they work for. They are regarded as indispensable, of course to the company.

People regard them as two sides of a coin and walk up to them for all their consultations and worries. They have mingled with the people as individuals and still exist as individuals at the end of the day. They have their own lives to mend too and live with and still be happy with it. They aren’t bothered about what people think about them, or what people refer to them. They are unaware of the happenings around and still in the same building with their own like and dislikes and still live in harmony.

Last week, had been a week of havoc and pain for all those in the city and as well in the office for Janavi and Balu. The city had been flooded with water from the lashing rains, day and nights together, clogging the roads, slowing the traffic, delaying the buses, delaying the schedules, erratic supply of electricity, closing down of shops, less options of food available, less day-breaks, less of everything.

Janavi and Balu had also been caught up in this hay ware and had even rifts and arguments upon certain aspects of the work that they had to do. There had been long hours of working, several cups of coffee, missed lunches and slipped deliveries and promises of effective work. Caught in midst of this is what is troubling the mind of Balu, who had written a blog pouring his mind into it. He was unaware and to kill the long drab and tensing work hours, he drifted to do some writing just otherwise to clear his mind. He is of this habit, when in situations of dire tense and heated arguments, he always writes out his mind with beautiful and everlasting dreams to motivate him and bring him back on track.

So, it happened to be one kind of situation now and he wrote out all his mind on to the blog and copied the whole writing on a mail to his best friend to let him also know his mind as he wanted a solution to the mind’s rumblings that has been going on till today, as he met this girl right opposite to his cabin in his office.

He marked it to his friend’s mail id and was waiting for his reply. He knew his friend would respond and also had followed it up with a phone call asking him to do the same. So, waiting for the reply, has been the more tautness time in his life more than the prevailing situations. The better got the situation on his hand that he forgot all about the mail and had engrossed himself in the work at hand, and to god’s grace had finished his work in time.

The office was grateful to all the people who had committed themselves endlessly to the difficulties on hand and gave it a fabulous and sparkling finish. There was a great celebration to follow and people had all enjoyed the fruits of the hardships that they underwent. It was time to meet, and our lady and man even met in the party thrown to the success. They met as every other people, forgetting all their differences and words said, apologized for any accidental behavior and thanked each other for the extended support and parted their ways after an exciting evening.

All’s well and accomplished the return to normalcy. The office is back on its regular routine and Balu is back with his musings. He wonders suddenly why his friend hasn’t replied to his mail. He looks into his sent items folder and finds for his mail against the name of his friend. In vain, he is not able to locate it, and his memory tells him he did send a mail. He sorts them against the date and tries to find his friends mail, but to his astonishment finds a mail to Janavi, on the subject of “To Be or Not To Be”.

He isn’t sure what it is and clicks it to unfold the mail that happened to be or presumed to be sent to his friend. He is unsure, of his act, walks up to the aisle of Janavi’s cabin to talk to her, returns back not having the guts to face her. He isn’t sure if she has read the message, shucks he did not ask for a read receipt. He isn’t sure if he should recall the message, even if he recalls will it delete the message. Has she read the message, she hasn’t discussed with him. Oh! How, stupid I have been and how impulsive?

His intercom rings, “Hi, it’s me Janavi.” “Yeah, Janavi, tell me.”

Janavi: “Wanna, share a cup of coffee with me?”

Balu: “Of course, will join you.”

Janavi: I hope, I did not disturb you. The whole week had been taxing and now I guess we are on our own again.

Balu: Hmm…yes. Running thoughts in the mind, why has she called me here, to say this or is she going to talk about the mail. Oh! God, please save my grace.

Finishing her coffee discussing all the other things that were ahead of them carefully excluding what was on Balu’s mind and adding to the fuel to the already restless mind of his.

Janavi: Shall we leave? Yes…

Janavi: I liked your writing of yours, it is too good. I did not know that a story teller lies in you. By the way, why did not you mention the name of the girl you had written about? In a way, hiding the name of the girl, you have guarded the girl’s dignity, if someone truly exists like that [wink].

Good, writing. Let me also read some of your previous works. Do share them, catch you later, bye.

She did not listen to the sigh of relief from Balu and the prayers he sent out into the air thanking the God’s in heaven for siding him this time. But, little did Balu know that with this he had kick started the balls of his love-life rolling and in-days to come, he would be in the company of the very ‘LADY’ in the story and his life.




Short Stories by Kavitha Kumaresan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License

A Deliberation of Dilemma

Balu is a bit fidgety about his state now. He wants to recall a message, he sent from his mailbox. He wonders if he recalls will the mail be deleted from his sweet heart’s mailbox or won't? What is she going to think of it? What if she rackets about the mail to her friends? Shall, I send her a mail asking her to ignore the previous mail and just go ahead and delete it. Oh! God! How stupid, I have been by being impulsively had clicked the send button.

Balu, our hero, is a guy of early-thirties and at the brim of bachelorhood, for time not known or incalculable. He has been so much immersed in his dreams and career that when all his classmates and buddies were enjoying out in the sun, he had been chasing his wild dreams and career. Never had a brush-of-the-hand relationship with any of the women he knew, though the folks he knew almost amount to be a little or nothing at all. During his college days, he had been the knowledgeable person, who everyone could lay hands on for all the missed classes and practicals.

Having said so much about him, now you must have been wondering what a dull and boring life it must have been. But, on the other side, the true self of Balu isn’t known to anyone. He is very normal, has his crushes, has his fantasies, and has his wild-naked dreams and his fanaticism about the latest bomb-shell heroine in the stardom. All these traits were hidden from the people he knew and his closest of buddies, except for one.

This one person also now has stranded him and become engrossed in his daily affairs of life. Now, they hardly meet except for occasional phone calls or lending a shoulder when the other is down pouring his heart out over a mug of beer at nameless dull lit bars of the city.

Days rolled into months and years, but our poor Balu was the same and his aspirations with his job kept him traveling to various places around the world and earn a comfortable and easy life. He too attained the day of his life when he was asked to choose his life-partner or the better half to kill the drabness of the journey called life.

He is in a fix now. This would have been a matter of pride and confidence for any other man in the town, but for our little man, this turned out to be an uphill task, that looked unattainable. Somehow, he had convinced his mind long before all this that he would marry or have a girl who liked him. The girl, will be of his choice and will be having the same wavelength, respect him, support him, would do things for him, etc, and so on. But, never did he think at that time that this his so on and on would stand as a block of wall in front of him one day to threaten him.

Our man, does not lose heart, as he is a defendant winner in all terms, is all set to achieve in his recent task too. All is smooth, till the day, Janavi, the girl of dreams arrives into town and to worsen things joins the same office where Balu, the great is the headman. Now, the complications, it is as obviously seen, it is a case of head over heels of love, blindfolded love though the girl in preposition is strikingly charming and amicable.

She is a smart lady with a right combination of wit and wisdom, complicated with a beauty not skin deep. She is not a subordinate but in par with Balu and they interact with each other most of the time. She is also of the same age and belongs to the clan as Balu with an exception here, she is extremely friendly and has a long list of friends and leads a very active life.

She seems to be enjoying her life and doing all the things that people of her age do. She is sensible though and knows her limitations and expectations. Though clichéd, this is how she is and ‘she is attractive’ is what others say of her or accredit her.

She stays alone and takes pride in being a self-made chic. Living alone has not been her forte but her work demanded her to be in this situation, though she has a big family to support and pet her if need be.

(To be continued...)


Short Stories by Kavitha Kumaresan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License