அக்ஷதை

"மேடை மேல இருக்கற  அந்த முருகன் படம் சாஞ்சு போயிர்க்கு பாரு", என்று பலமுறை சொல்லியும் ஒருத்தர் கூட கேட்கவில்லை. தாத்தாவும் விடுவதாய் இல்லை. ஏழாவது முறையாக தன் மகன் வெங்கி (வெங்கட்ராமன்) பெயரை கூப்பிட்டார். எட்டாவது முறை கூப்பிடுவதற்கு முன் ஒரு டம்பளர் காபி உள்ளே போனது.

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என்னதான் வாஷிங்டனில் நடத்தினாலும் மயிலாப்பூர் கணக்காக எல்லா சொந்த பந்தங்களும் வந்த வண்ணம் இருந்தனர். ஆறு பையன் மூன்று பெண்கள், அதில் வெங்கி மட்டுமே பெண் குழந்தைக்கு அப்பவாகும் பாக்கியம் பெற்றிருந்தான். அதன் பலனாக வர்ஷா அனைவருக்கும் செல்ல குழந்தை ஆனாள். தாத்தாவுக்கு இன்னும் சற்று அதிகமாகவே.

தானே பெயர் வைத்து, தானே நடை பழக்கிவிட்டு, குளிப்பாட்டுகையில் கண்ணில் ஜான்சன் சோப்பு விழுந்தால் பாட்டியை திட்டுவதில் முடித்து, அனைத்தும் தாத்தா பேத்தி சேர்ந்து போட்ட ஆட்டம். இன்று தோள் தாண்டி வளர்ந்து திருமண மேடையில் அமரப்போகும் வேளை வந்து விட்டது. மூன்றிலிருந்து இருபத்துமூன்று வரை ஏறியது வர்ஷாவின் வயது மட்டும் அல்ல, தாத்தாவின் முகத்தில் சுருக்கங்களும்.

பாட்டியை மறந்துவிட்டோமே, காவி கலர் பொடவை தான் முஹூர்தத்துக்கு,  என்று பெண் பார்க்கும் படலம் தொடங்கும் முன்னிலிருந்து பாட்டி ஒற்றைக்காலில் நிற்காத  குறை  தான்.

"எவ்ரிதிங் இஸ் ரெடி, வர்ஷாவ வர சொல்லுங்கோ.", என்று அமெரிக்கன் ஆக்செண்டில் செல் போன் சாஸ்த்ரிகள் கூற, வர்ஷாவின் அம்மா மணமகள் அறையிலிருந்து "டூ மினிட்ஸ்" என்று குரல் கொடுத்தார்.

"டூ மினிட்ஸா, உள்ள என்ன நூடில்ஸா பண்ணின்றுக்கா" என்று வெங்கி 'ஜோக்' அடிக்க, மாமனார் ஆயிற்றே என்று சஞ்சயும், தக்ஷனை கொறஞ்சுட போறது என்று சாஸ்த்ரிகளும் சிரிக்க முயன்றனர்.

சொன்னவாறே ரெண்டு நிமிடத்திற்குப்பின் , காவி புடவையும் புன்னகை மலர்ந்த  முகமுமாக, நெற்றிக்குங்குமத்தின் மேல் சின்னதாய் விபூதி வைத்ததைப்போல் வெட்கப்பட்ட கன்னங்களுக்கு  நடுவே லேசாக வெள்ளை பற்கள் தெரிய மேடையில் வந்து அமர்ந்தாள்.

தாத்தாவுக்கும் பாட்டிக்கும் அத்தனை மகிழ்ச்சி. "எத்தன நாள் சொல்லிர்கேன் பொடவை கட்டிக்கோ அவ்ளோ அழகா இருப்பேனு, இப்போ தெரியறதா?" என்று செல்லமாக கோபித்துக்கொண்டார் பாட்டி.

**********

வெங்கி மடியில் அமர்ந்து, கழுத்தில் தாலி ஏற, தாத்தாவும் பாட்டியும் கண்ணில் நீர் வெயத்துக்கொண்டனர்.

"பட்டு கட்டிப் பூமுடிக்க,
மன்னன் வந்தான் கைப்பிடிக்க,
மணமகள் ஆகிறாள் இவள்,
மாங்கல்யம் காண்கிறாள்"  என்று பக்கத்துக்கு வீட்டு டிவியில் விளம்பரம் ஒளிபரப்பானது.

மந்தவெலியிலிருந்து, ஸ்கைப்பில் அக்ஷதை போட முடியவில்லை என்பதே தாத்தாவின் ஒரே வருத்தம்.
   

பையனுக்கு பாட தெரியுமா?

"ஒங்க பையன் என்ன காரியம் பண்ணிட்டு வந்து நிக்கறான் பாருங்கோ!"

"ஆமான்டி, கணக்குல நூறு வாங்கினா ஓம்புள்ள. பிரச்சனணு வந்தா எம்புள்ள. ஏன்டா ஹரிஹரா, என்னத்த பண்ணிட்டு வந்துருக்க? மறுபடியும் அந்த veena போனவன் கண்ணாடில கிரிக்கெட் பால் அடிச்சியா? "

"என்னண்ணா நீங்க! வெவஸ்தகெட்டதனமா பேசிண்டு! லவ் பண்ணிட்டு வந்து நிக்கறான்!"

"ஹாஹா. வயசு பையன் லவ் பண்ணலைனா தாண்டி பிரச்சனை."

"லவ் பண்றது தப்புன்னு சொல்லலை! யார லவ் பண்றான்னு கேளுங்கோ. நாராயணா!"

**********

"ஏன்டி பேய் அரன்ஜாப்ல இருக்க?"

"பின்ன எப்படி இருக்கரதாம்? சாயங்காலம் அவன் சொன்னதெல்லாம் கேட்டேளா இல்லியா? நாலு அற வெச்சு புத்தி சொல்லாம, அம்மாவ நான் பாத்துகறேன்னு தைரியம் சொல்றேள் அவனுக்கு. மற கழண்டுடுத்தா?"

"என்னடி பண்றது? அவனா வந்து சொன்னானேன்னு  திருப்தி பட்டுக்கோ. காலம் மாறிடுத்து. நம்ம பையன். நாம தான புரிஞ்சுண்டு போகணும்?"

"அதுக்காக இதெல்லாம் எப்படிண்ணா? ஆத்துல மத்தவா கேள்வி கேப்பாளே. அவாளுக்கு என்ன பதில் சொல்றது?"

"தீபாவளிக்கும் பொங்கலுக்கும் வந்துட்டு போறவனவிட என்னோட பையன் தாண்டி எனக்கு முக்கியம். எவன் கேள்வி கேக்கறான்னு  பாக்கறேன்"

"நீங்களாச்சு ஒங்க புள்ளயாச்சு. எக்கேடோ கெட்டு போங்கோ."

**********

"வெள்ளிக்கழமை நல்ல நாள். அவா ஆத்துக்கு போயி பேசிட்டு வந்துடுவோம். ஹரிஹரா, அவா ஆத்துல விஷயம் தெரியுமா இல்ல நாங்க போன் பண்ணி சொல்லனுமா?"

"தெரியும் பா. ஒரு நிமிஷம் பா. வேற குடும்பத்தல பொறந்துருந்தா என்ன அடிச்சு ஒதைச்சு அமக்களம் பண்ணிருப்பா. குடுத்து வெச்சுருக்கேன்  நான். மன்னிச்சுடுங்கோ பா."

"என்னடா மன்னிப்பெல்லாம். எம்பையன் சந்தோஷம்தாண்டா எனக்கும் சந்தோஷம்"

**********

"வணக்கம். நான் வரதாச்சாரி, ரிடயர்டு மாஜிஸ்ட்ரேட். ஹரிஹரனோட அப்பா. விஷயத்த பையன் சொன்னான். இவளுக்கு தான் நேரம் ஆச்சு ஒத்துக்கறத்துக்கு.  பசங்க சந்தோஷம் தான முக்கியம். என்ன சொல்றேள்? கல்யாணத்த சீக்ரமாவே முடிச்சுடலாம். சம்மதம் தான?"

"என் பேர் கல்யாணசுந்தரம். ஏஜிஎஸ்ல இருந்தேன். நானும் ரிடயர்டு தான். நீங்க சொல்றது சரி தான். பசங்க சந்தோஷம் தான் முக்கியம்."

"ஏன்டா ஹரிஹரா. என்னடா சொல்றா ஒங்கம்மா?"

"அவன என்ன கேக்கறேள்? ஆமாம், பையனுக்கு பாட தெரியுமா?" என்றாள் ஹரிஹரனின் அம்மா.

"கணேஷ் நன்னா பாடுவான். ஏழு வருஷம்  சங்கீதம் படிச்சான். ஹரிஹரனுக்கு சமையல் வருமா?" எனறாள் கணேஷின் அம்மா.

"பேஷா சமைப்பான். என் கைப்பக்குவம் அப்படியே வரும் அவனுக்கு."

**********

கல்யாணம் ஜாம் ஜாம்னு நடந்து முடிஞ்சுது. ஒரே வருஷத்துல பெண் கொழந்த ஒருத்திய கணேஷும் ஹரிஹரனும் தத்து எடுத்துண்டு சந்தோஷமா வாழ்ந்துண்டு இருக்கா

..And all fall down.

"Ajay! Be a responsible brother and take care of your sisters. Look at the Pooja. Careful, Ajay." Lalitha screamed through the living room window above the noise the vacuum cleaner was making.

"Maa. I'll take care. They're just playing. Don't worry", said the pseudo responsible eleven year old.
Lalitha was married to Ashok. Ashok was an affectionate husband. A chemical engineer turned Human resources manager. He knew how to handle people. And Lalitha was a Math teacher at the neighborhood school. They were a happy family of five. Ajay the eldest was in class seven while the younger ones, the twins,  Priya and Pooja were in class three.

*****                                                            

"Lalitha, Vinay wants to meet you. He looked a bit worried.", said one of their mutual friends.

"I'll meet him on the way back home."


"The fuck is this Lalitha? What is happening? I go out of town for a week and your dad sets you up with some other guy? He promised right? He said he'd wait.". To say Vinay was agitated was like saying winters are quite cool in Kashmir.


"I know, Vinay. Calm down. He says he won't marry me off to some punk"


"I'm a musician. Not a punk"


"I know. He doesn't. What should I do, Vinay?"
"Stand up to him. I can't take you with me now. Stall for a couple of years. Can't you do that? You didn't say 'yes', did you?"
There was no reply.


"You did? You agreed? Fuck!"


"No. I did not. But I didn't say no either. He is like, mom and he are getting old. They have to make sure I settle well and all that"


"I am trying, Lalitha. It's not like I don't want to get settled. I still don't think dropping out from engineering was a mistake. I love the guitar. I love you as much. Wait! It is not Bharath right? Tell me it is not him. It should be him. Software engineer, my foot. His codes can't make people happy. My music can. Tell me it is not him!"


"No it is not him. Why would it be him? High school was a mistake. Why would you even ask that question, Vinay?"


"I'm sorry. He is better than me in every way. Except that he is an asshole. Also I love you more. He earns a handful. he was the ideal student in school."


"It doesn't matter Vinay. It doesn't matter if he earns a handful. It doesn't matter if he is my dad's favorite. You're the better person because he chose to leave and you didn't."

*****

"Pooja. Don't sit on the ground. Get up now. Come lets play "ringa ringa". Amma, look at Pooja here. Get up, now"


"I'll be done with this room in ten minutes. Hang on till then"

*****

Lalitha weds Ashok. Yes, it did happen. There was no fairy tale episode where Lalitha could've eloped with Vinay and lived happily ever after. Alas, "happily ever after" is a theorist's perception of life. Vinay returned home to this news and was not outraged or saddened. He was rather helpless. It was a perfect marriage. Some US returned MBA fellow they said. He couldn't contact her. Even facebook did not lend a hand.


It's been twelve years and three months. Vinay had grown numb. But the fact that he finally found out where she lived and with whom. He decided to give her a surprise. He reached Lalitha's place. He saw the kids playing in the garden. Smiles were exchanged. He felt the pain after a long time. It should have been his kids which she bore. And then reality struck. The garden wouldn't have been this big. The house wouldn't have been this huge. Lalitha did settle well. Just like how her dad wanted her to. 




Vinay went in search of her. Madras. Then he thought someone said something about Bangalore. So he went there. He gave up. It is a huge country. Maybe they left the country. He took up drinking. He was a familiar face in almost every bar in Bangalore. He started playing the guitar in one of those bars. He had a stomach to fill. He had found a job for himself. 

*****

He knocked the door. Lalitha was more shocked than surprised. She didn't say a word. The sunlight from the sharp blade fell on her face. He closed her mouth. She couldn't scream above the vacuum cleaner's noise.

"Amma! Look at Pooja. She is playing with the mud again" Ajay came running. She breathed her last and the vacuum cleaner died. He turned towards the kids.

Pooja and Priya were holding hands "Husha, busha, all fall down..."

Not a love story

It was a killer smile. She looked at me after sipping from her cup of coffee and smiled with the milky mush. That was the moment for me. Who would expect to be swept off their feet by a girl's mustache? 


I had just broken up with a girl. She was caring, beautiful and smart. But something didn't work out. We had been going out for a couple of years. We thought we'd found each other. Soul mate and all that. We were planning to get married and then things went bad. I had to break it. And I did it, for the two of us. She was disappointed. Threw tantrums like a kid. Yes, a kid, that was what she was. But things moved on. I hadn't heard from her for a while then.

And there I was looking at the most beautiful pair of green eyes. I asked her if we could go out for a cup of coffee and realised the foolishness of the question only after she choked on her coffee, laughing. A few hours, days and weeks later, we were going out, officially. 

It was our first month anniversary and her birthday was a couple of days away. I thought I'd give her an early birthday surprise. I took her to my place. Made the best dinner arrangements I could and there we were in the garden, under the starlit sky having what was probably the best conversation in silence. I was falling more and more in love with her. I hoped she did too for I had neither her beautiful eyes nor the killer smile.

She reminded me of my ex in more than one way. She was everything that she wasn't and everything that she was. I felt this need to love her for I thought someone else would come and take my place. It was like a kid's love towards the mother. Holding the hands ever so tight when the kid sees other children more due to fear of losing her than the love towards.

We had finished eating. I stood up, took her hand and we had a walk around the garden. I wished time stood still. I wished the dawn never broke. I wished there wasn't a limit to love.

We kissed. Gently. It was a cold night and I felt like it was summer. She said my lips tasted funny. In a good way though. She loved to say my name. We kissed again. I could feel the blood flowing through my veins. I felt a warm, surging pain. I didn't realise it was indeed my blood. I found the knife on the dinner table missing, only to find it sticking out of me.

It took only a couple of minutes for the fog to clear. But then it was too late.  She was everything the other girl was. She was here to take my blood for I had taken the one's that she shared with. The dawn broke as I lay there still.


That was the last thing I saw. It was a killer smile.

It's over.

It's over. Bye


He was staring at the screen. It took a whole of three minutes for it to sink in. He didn't know how to handle this. He thought he would try calling her. But it was late and he didn't want to land her into trouble. He stayed up for a long time, wondering where he went wrong. It was just another ordinary day made extra ordinary where the extra was because of her. He made her laugh. They exchanged 'I love you-s' and virtual hugs. Was it all a lie? What would have made her say that? He broke down. The clock struck 12.

He got a text from her which said,
'Damn you TRAI' 

Scream

She didn't know where to run. She didn't know where to hide. There wasn't enough time to think. She ran into the room screaming. She didn't know what to do. She paced across the room for a while. She placed her ears on the door and tried to listen. She couldn't hear a thing but she knew he was coming, coming for her. She looked around. She decided to hide inside the closet. She tried to lock it from the inside. She couldn't. She stood there silently, praying. She knew it was only a matter of few minutes. She could hear approaching footsteps. That was it. He opened the door and entered the room. She could see him. He came near the closet. She could hear him breathe. He opened the door slowly. She could hear herself screaming. 
"You two! Play without making noise", shouted mom from the living room. It was his turn to hide.

The hand that rocks the cradle

The baby was crying. It was not of hunger, something that says he's been disturbed, something of sleeplessness and she was trying to make the baby sleep. She started playing with him. Took him in her hands and started walking around the house. She wanted him to stop crying. 


She started telling him stories. 

"Let me tell you about daddy and me. You will listen to it and sleep like a good boy. Will you?
Here you see the balcony? Here's where we sat when Daddy brought me home for the first time. He made me tea. We had cookies, yes your favorite ones. Come we'll go to the other room. Here is where the bedroom was previously. See the cupboard there? Inside it was a card, a rose and a ring. Daddy asked me if i will marry him. Guess what I said? Of course you know what I said. I said I will. And then we got married. Come we'll go to your room. We shifted the bedroom here. This room had the window through which the moon is visible. Daddy's idea it was. And this is where you were born. And you slept "

She left him in his crib. She was watching him sleep. The calmness in his face made her glad.

"And you slept. Let me finish off the story. You were born and made us happy. Immensely happy. Everything was perfect until she came. Yes, that aunty who gifted you the train. I didn't like her even a bit. Right from the beginning. And whatever I feared happened. She stole Daddy from Mommy. You wouldn't like that would you? But she did. And Daddy moved in with her. Now you are all my possession. You are my only ray of hope. And know what Daddy did today? He came with some papers. He wanted me to sign them. Are you sleeping baby? Good good. And he wanted me to sign them. I said I wouldn't. You don't like the other room, no baby? Very good. Mommy will be back in a while"

She went to the other room and started digging Daddy's grave. With a satisfactory smile. Looking at the corpse that lay next to her. She was digging the grave, with the hand that rocks the cradle.

The stranger

He was sitting on the park bench by the side of the tree that was shedding the last of its leaves. He was staring at none in particular. He had this calmness, a saintlike calmness on his body and yet he  seemed agitated. His hands would remain silently rested on either side of him while his eyes showed pressure. His pupils dilated and expanded continuously. He was not drunk. The man with the brown coat was observing him from the bench that was a good five yards away on the opposite  side of the street. Their eyes met. The man in the brown coat came towards him and extended his hands. He reciprocated and asked him to sit next to him. They remained silent for a while.

The man in the brown coat could not hide his curiosity and asked him, "What do you do, sir?"

"I live", came the reply.

He seemed to be giving a reaction of having given a more than satisfactory answer.

"What do you mean you 'live'? So do I and a zillion others.", said the man in the brown coat. And that was the cue for him to start listening and the other guy to start talking.

"I live. By which I meant I live in a world where the zillion others you mentioned merely exist. What do you do everyday? Wake up, brush, have coffee/ breakfast, go to work and come back. You might have a family. A wife and probably a couple of kids. You might get to hug them, everyday. You kiss your wife goodbye on the way to work. So do the zillion others. Occasionally you get to drink, for you don't seem like someone who is an alcoholic. You might smoke  five? ten? may be fifteen cigs a day. May be more. You might get some sex once, twice or may be thrice every fortnight. If you have kids who are infants or toddlers that probability goes down. For all I know you might not be married. You might have a girlfriend. You go on a dinner date may be every couple of days. Probably you have a ring tucked inside your coat pocket for weeks together now. All this could be you. You are one in 13% of the country. The remaining 87% is divided into many such similar groups of similar people doing similar things. And yet you proclaim you live. Life is not a routine. That Darwin guy? What did he say. He said life is an evolution. When you and I evolved from unicellular grime. That was because the world needed change. We have been humans since a million years ago. We will be the same. May be more learned, more sophisticated. Yet the men give into the calls of women. All a man does is breathe, fuck and multiply. You asked me what I did. I'll tell you. I wake up. I take a look out of my window. Everyday I see different people. I sit and study them. They are all similar. Sometimes I wonder how two people have almost the exact same lives. Even our fingerprints are not the same. The music in no two songs are the same. There are 6 strings in a guitar. A billion combinations. There are 60 million cells in our body, yet a handful of people. Stereotypes. You asked me what I did. I dream. I dream of a different life everyday. I break all stereotypes. How many different dreams have you had? Being rich? Marrying the most beautiful woman? Living in the biggest mansion? My dreams are different everyday. I dream about trucks. With eleven wheels, four on top in case it topples. I dream about butterflies which are changing colours depending on the object they touch. I swear I can show you a purple coloured fella. Life is finding the needle in the haystack. The mistake that you commit is you are approaching it by neglecting the wrong areas. I live it differently by approaching the right ones. Equivalent labour, more probability of success. I live"

The guy in the brown coat spots two men at a distance. The other guy asks, "Have they come yet?" 


He asks "Who?"


"The two of them. I can sense it. I'll have to go now. Start living. Search for the needle"

The two men come near, give him his daily dosage of medicine. He hallucinates, faints, lies down without any struggle on the stretcher. The van at the end of the street reads "Central hospital for mental health and allied ailments"

Prank

The room mate was away. She was out shopping.  He decided to surprise her when she returned back. A prank has been long due and he decided this was the perfect day to carry on with it. It was a cloudy evening, would probably start raining by the time she is home. He started making the arrangements. Turned off all the lights downstairs. Lit a few candles. He wanted to make things creepy but didn't know how. He had this long cloak which was a reminiscent of the graduation party.

She was at the supermarket walking through aisles of groceries and cereals. Being a chocolate lover, she filled her cart with more chocolates than daily food. The evening sun started setting. It was turning dark. A cool night after a long and dreary summer. She walked out to her car. Got in and turned on loud music and started towards home.


It started drizzling. The transition from the drizzle to a smashing rain happened like a crescendo. It was as if the clouds were wanting to rain. Like that of someone who wanted to cry for long but couldn't. It was creepy in a strange way. 


She parked the vehicle on the drive way. He saw her walking towards the door from the window upstairs. She found the door to be unlocked. She entered, still humming the song that she last played in the stereo of her car. He quietly tiptoed towards the door of his room. The silence was eerie.

She reached the bottom of the stairs. Took a detour to the fridge. She wanted some cold water. Having found a bottle she turned. Only to find a face, pale and blank. It looked almost dead. She heard herself scream loud inside her head. But no noise came out.

He remained locked in the room upstairs.

13-ஆம் நம்பர் வீடு

அது மார்கழி மாதம். காலை பனி கூட கலையவில்லை. தெருமுனையில் நின்று எதையோ தேடிகொண்டிருந்தான். குளிரில்  அவனுடைய கை காலெல்லாம் உதறிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. மெதுவாக தெருவுக்குள் நுழைந்தான். இதுவரை அவன் பார்த்த வீடுகளிலெல்லாம் மார்கழி மாதத்தில் கலர் கலராக கோலமிட்டிருக்கும். இந்த தெரு அவனுக்கு புதிர் போட்டது. எந்த வீட்டிலும் மனித சாயலே இல்லை. தெருவை அடைக்க வேண்டும் என்பதற்காகவே வீடு கட்டியிருக்கிறார்கள் போல என்று நினைத்துக்கொண்டான். அரை இருட்டில் அந்த தெருவுக்குள் அவன் நுழைய, அடி வயிற்றில் ஏதோ செய்தது அவனுக்கு. மெதுவாக நடந்தான். பனிக்காற்று எச்சரிக்கும் விதமாக எதிர் திசையில் அழுத்தியது. மூன்று வீடுகளை கடந்தோம் என்று விரல் விட்டு எண்ணினான். நான்காம் வீடு மூன்றிலிருந்து குறிப்பிடத்தக்க தூரத்தில் இருந்தது. நடுவே வெத்து நிலம். நேற்றிரவு மழை பெய்து ஓய்ந்ததை தேங்கிக்கடந்த தண்ணியை பார்த்து தெரிந்து கொண்டான். நாய் ஒன்று சத்தமில்லாமல் உறங்கிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. எழுந்துவிடுமோ என்று பயந்து வேகமாக நடந்தான். சிறு வயதில் நாய் துரத்தியது ஞாபகம்  வந்தது அவனுக்கு. நடப்பதை தொடர்ந்தான். 7-ஆம் நம்பர் வீட்டு  வாசலில் ஊஞ்சல் ஒன்று ஆளில்லாமல் காற்றில் ஆடிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. பின்னாடி திரும்பி நாய் பின் தொடர்ந்து வருகிறதா என்று பார்த்துக்கொண்டான். தொடர்ந்து நடந்தான். பத்து, பதினொன்னு, பன்னெண்டு, வாய் விட்டு எண்ணிக்கொண்டே வந்தான். பதினாலு. பதின்மூன்ரைக் காணவில்லை. சுற்று முற்றும் பார்த்தான். என்ன செய்வதென்று தெரியவில்லை. காற்றில் ஏதோ அசையும் சத்தம் கேட்டது. எதிரே உள்ள காலி இடத்தில் இடி தாக்கிய மரமொன்று துணை தேடி நின்று கொண்டிருந்தது அவனைப்போலவே. திடீரென்று ஒரு கை அவன் பின்தோளில் கை வைத்தது. சடார் என்று திரும்பினான். 

அவன் இடுப்பு உசரத்தில் ஒரு கிழவர். 

திக்கி திக்கி, "பதிமூனா நம்பர் வீடு..." என்றான். "நீ தான் அந்த புது பயலா? கொண்டா" என்று கையில் இருந்த செய்தித்தாளை வாங்கிக்கொண்டு மறு வார்த்தை பேசாமல் சென்றார்,எதிரே இருந்த வெத்து நிலத்தில் ஓரமாக ஒரு ஓலை குடிசைக்குள்.

மனதில் அடையாளம் குறித்துக்கொண்டான்,  பதின்மூன்றாம் நம்பர் வீடு.    

What-to-name-it -4

I was sitting there watching him. He was probably 4-6 years old. You would expect such a kid to either smile or cry all the time but he was terrified. It could be seen in his eyes. He looked around. There were strangers all around him. His fear seemed to rise by the passing minute. There was this guy standing close to the kid. Must be his dad. Even his presence did not comfort him. I assumed even he was not against that which was going to happen. The kid must have felt let down by his own dad. The guy with the blade came nearer. The kid started screaming. All I could do was to sit and watch the kid scream while he got his haircut done. 

What-to-name-it -3

This story will have a cold ending.


It was a couple of hours after sunrise. His hands were frantically moving in random directions, his face had the weirdest expression. He could hear his mom screaming from a distance but couldn't quite figure out what she was speaking. His eyes were bloodshot. Suddenly pristine white froth started coming out of his mouth. None was around. The screaming continued, the froth ceased. His hands came to a rest. He could hear what she was screaming. The coffee was turning cold.

What-to-name-it -1

She couldn't meet his eyes. It was a cold day. Still, he made her sweat. She felt his breath on her neck. It made her more uncomfortable. She felt like she had no control. Her hands were busy. She couldn't move. The push and pull that existed between him and her defied gravity, inertia and what not. He could see the solitary bead of sweat moving down her forehead, run through the cheeks and disappear. She tried to push her hair off her face, she indeed looked beautiful. It went on for a while, the push and pull looked wild, beast like. And finally she gave a sigh of relief. It was over. The conductor blew the whistle and she finally got down from the bus.