Lets Help Ourselves

I had the chance to travel quite long distances in public transport, pass trough various towns and villages across two states. One common observation all through the travel was that… U can find a place without temple, without hospital, without roads, without cinema halls, without cinema posters, but never without the posters carrying the bright, smart faces and messages of our so called political leaders. I wondered how even the smallest, newest party could manage funds to have posters and other publicity work done covering even the most remote and inaccessible places of the state. Don’t panic…it’s obviously not our hard earned tax money deployed into this propaganda extravaganza of our political superstars. It’s their very own black money released in the name of party funds which caters to their publicity requirements. They call this public relation!

If our politicians were really interested with public development, they can very well reach us easily by laying good roads with their party funds. Who takes your vote? The man with the biggest cutout or the one who straightened your road?

The nation is gearing up to face the collapse of the government or get into a historic nuclear deal. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas proclaims that the nuclear deal will put us in a very convenient position to resolve our energy related issues. The ministry in its recent advertisement in daily newspapers has requested citizens to drive at optimum speeds, make use of clutch wisely and switch off engines while waiting in traffic signals to reduce fuel consumption. The root cause for excessive clutch driving and traffic snarls is that our roads are not wide enough and smooth enough.

Good wide roads and proper traffic regulation will save so much fuel that we can afford to survive sometime more without a nuclear deal to do the savior role.

Not even a single day passes at Chennai city without fights between commuters and our auto drivers. No meter, Rs.10 above meter charges, flat rates, refusal to traverse inside narrow streets…the list never ends. During my recent visit to a small town near coastal Tamilnadu, I asked a auto driver how much he would charge me to drop me at the Bus stand which was less than 1 km away from my hotel room. He said he wanted Rs.30. Had I walked to that place it would cost me nothing but less than 30 minutes of my time…not willing to take the risk of walking in the hot sun, I settled to travel by auto for Rs.25 (after heavy arguments with 3 auto drivers). Share auto’s charging Rs.5 per trip changed to Rs.10 when RTO officials started penalizing those (raids) for license issues. Now the RTO’s aren’t frequent with their raids against share autos. But still the charge hasn’t come down. We still pay whatever they demand. The amount I spend on my bike and its fuel per day is still less than what I would spend on share auto and public transport if I were to take the latter means to office. This statistics is true even after the scorching rise in fuel prices. Blindly blaming inflation we push on our life with this trauma. But I had to stop and re-assure the fact that we are being exploited, thanks to my recent visit to our neighboring state. I took an auto to travel 50 km. This is equal to circumnavigating Chennai city twice. I’m sure that any auto driver here in Chennai would have charged me not less than Rs.1000 citing fuel price hike, empty return etc as reasons. But there I had to pay only Rs.400 with a clear break up of minimum charges plus rate per km. There is no room for bargaining. Commuters and drivers are very clear about the rates. Another point I observed there was that, there is to some extent the system of queue being followed while boarding buses and the rule that men should board buses through the rear door and ladies through the front entrance is strictly followed there.

Here I see some self discipline playing a clear role in maintaining hassle free travel experience. May be we should also stop complaining and try to follow some discipline if we need some good change!

Irreversible...Based on real life incidents

Few years back @ Asan College of Management Studies

There was only one difference between Mayuri and Mrunal. He showered his love for her openly. She never revealed it except for her eyes which could never hide her longing for him. They knew they like each other but never felt it was strong enough for a life long commitment.

December 25, 2006

It’s been a long conversation since yesterday. 113 minutes talk time over phone, 164 sms’s either way in the past 24 hrs. This is 10 times more than their daily average. At the end of the day Mrunal had to do it. He spoke his heart to Mayuri…asked for her hand forever. He was prepared for both in reply…yes or no. Mayuri was quick and firm in her reply. Mrunal was quite happy and excited about her reply. “If both our parents accept, we can marry. Else no sad faces” this is what she replied. For Mrunal, this was a strong green signal, hint of acceptance from her side. He jumped in joy as though he had conquered the entire world. He felt he was ‘SHAHJAHAN’

October 2007

The talk about marriage broke out at Mayuri’s house. Very hesitantly she revealed to her parents the existence of a very private and prominent space for Mrunal in her heart. The news soon reached Mrunal’s house too. All discussions and decisions were kept outside the purview of Mrunal and Mayuri. Finally what they heard was a strict ‘NO’ from both the ends. The relation and contacts between Mrunal and Mayuri slowly faded away.

July 4, 2008

Mrunal had come with his mom to kanchipuram to attend their family friend’s wedding reception. This family friend happens to be a distant relative of Mr. Durairaj. Mr. Durairaj had come with his family (wife and only daughter Mayuri) for this wedding. He was busy trying to find an alliance for Mayuri there. People of his caste had come there in large numbers. He was confident of finding a good match for her daughter there today. Walking out of the dinner hall, Mrunal noticed Mayuri silently watching him. None of them took the initiative to come close to talk. It was time to start home for Mrunal. With a heavy heart he left the place to get the car. Mrunal’s mom had observed all this.
She could feel the pain in both Mrunal and Mayuri’s eyes. She moved out of the hall without leaving a chance for Mayuri to get a glimpse of her.

Mrunal was driving silently. His Music system was switched OFF, which was quite unusual. After 15 minutes of driving, Mrunal’s mother asked him to stop the car. Mrunal had to drive back to the wedding hall. His mom asked him to do so. On reaching there, she went straight to meet Mr.Durairaj. They both spoke for a while leaving nothing but speculation for Mrunal and Mayuri. Mrunal’s mom was trying hard to convince Mr.Durairaj regarding Mayuri’s wedding with Mrunal. But Mr. Durairaj was strong with his caste based convictions. Finally he agreed to have Mayuri’s wish granted if Mrunal and Mayuri’s Horoscope matched. To keep the promise alive, he brought in a astrologer from the crowd to check if the horoscopes matched. With the available info like name, date of birth and star details, the astrologer tried to the matching stuff. All he had to say in the end was that, it wasn’t good to go ahead with this marriage. Mrunal’s mom quickly asked if there was any alternative to it. The astrologer suggested a name change for Mayuri. He proposed that her name be changed as Puja so that it can be taken as a match in terms of numerology at least. But Mayuri’s father was strictly against this. He said that there was no room for adjustments in terms of her daughter’s life. This left Mrunal’s mom speechless. She didn’t know what to do next but to silently leave the place.


Any decision taken today, good or bad will be irreversible. Mrunal and Mayuri’s life leaves behind many questions unanswered here. I do not know what will happen next. Time keeps tickling without waiting for us. Neither does it give us company to celebrate our victories nor share words of relief during sorrow. The only philosophy left with Mrunal and Mayuri to keep their life going on is… ‘This too will pass’

Gresham’s Law of Planning

Gresham’s Law of Planning states that a person with responsibility for both routine activities and long-term planning is likely to find the routine activities taking the greater part of his time.

I found this to be very true. Daily routine takes more time or most of our time under two scenarios.

Case 1:
When we are too obsessed with our routine we tend to neglect our long-term plans. This may be true when our priority is inclined towards the routine activities as the rewards it can gain are quick and more visible.

Case 2:
This happens when we are totally detached with our routine. Routines cannot be skipped. So we tend to drag it on and on, eventually leaving behind very less or practically no time for our long term plans.

In either case, the culprit is not time. We are the only person responsible for our actions. In my opinion, Case 1 is far better a scenario to have in life than Case 2. We end up spending time and energy for what we actually want or enjoy doing. Case 2 is a nightmare. It draws nothing good from you and your efforts. Neither you are happy nor do you build the capability of keeping others happy. Life goes waste whining. Job satisfaction, perfection in what you do, the net result of the job you do, the customer satisfaction and relation, all these depends on which case you belong to. Case 2 will definitely leave you dissatisfied while Case 1 may bring out the best in you.

Finally all I have to say here is…. I’m a victim of Case 2. My routine activities, kept me out of my long term plans and also my most favorite ‘world’, the world of dreams, stories, and blogs. I have fought my way back to my dream place. So my point here is, it’s always possible to do WHAT YOU WANT.

All irritations and hatred arising by virtue of reading this blog can be shown at the comments section 

One ...two...three

Saturday, November 25, 1963, 6:00AM, Near Besant Nagar Beach

“Adi Serupala Naaye…Nee thunga en auto than kidachudha?” Karthick woke up to his usual suprabhatam. Gathering his books, he hurried up to vacate the Auto. He had no other place on earth to sleep. Street autos were his house. Except for the scholarship of college fee, he had nothing to his credit to be named as lucky charm. Drive to become a Pilot was the only motivating force for his existence. Karthick hated weekends. If it was a weekday, a bath at the corporation bathroom followed by a full day at college was more comfortable than finding a place to sit and study during weekends. Still Saturdays were special to him. He set out to meet his two friends Thiru and Muthu. Thiru and Muthu weren’t as poor as Karthick. They had the lavishness of the sleeping in the big seats of the MTC buses. The Thiruvanmiyur bus depot was their permanent address. Nothing catchy in life still these youngsters lived with the will to win.

That day Karthick felt very tired after walking nearly 4 Km to meet Thiru and Muthu. On the other hand Thiru and Muthu had a tough time sharing their breakfast in a single plate. Their mood was bad. Irritation grew within them. But they wisely used it as a motivating force to make good out of it. They had no idea of what they are going to do. But then, they all set out in search of scrap items. They spent the whole day collecting waste products that can be re-used. That night they all met at the beach with their collections. That night was the most interesting night in their lifetime. Their creativity and technical skills overflowing with unbound enthusiasm reflected in the final product. The first rays of the sun sparkled bright across the shore. The shine on the three friends’ face was even brighter. They stood there admiring their work. Piece of Art, Technical extravaganza, they didn’t know how to classify it. They had before them a self designed single wheeled vehicle which runs on force. All you have to do is place one foot on the rider machine and gently have it running with the thrust from your other foot. Karthick proudly demonstrated his invention to his friends while Thiru and Muthu watched it cheerfully. Thiru had a sheepish smile hidden within him. Muthu too couldn’t resist an emotion of great satisfaction overflowing through his eyes. Karthick pondered over what could be the reason behind their happiness. He had no clue until Thiru revealed his masterpiece. He had assembled a small calculator display with a type writer and other electronic articles and made something unique. It looked like a type writing machine with a display! He could show date, time and make other simple mathematical calculations with his new TY-DISP. TY-DISP…this is how Muthu called Thiru’s electronic machine. Thiru was a brainy techno-chap with high ambitions of becoming a space engineer one day. Muthu too is brainy but led an aimless life. Thiru’s company had great influence in him ultimately sowing interest of becoming a scientist in future. The three friends were rich in all aspects except the fact their pockets were empty always.

Jyotsna had returned from the US just a week back. She had gone there for her Masters degree. She was the best friend of Muthu. She tried to contact Muthu, but he was not reachable in any of the conventional ways. She knew that these friends will always be found along the seashore over the weekends. Keeping that in mind she came there to the beach that evening. And as expected she met the TANGO gang there. Karthick, Muthu and Thiru were very happy to see Jyotsna after a long time. They all studied together at the St.Peter’s college. Though Muthu was close to Jyotsna, Thiru and Karthick were good friends too. It was she who named the trio as the TANGO gang. Jyotsna and the TANGO gangsters exchanged the initial cordialities, having met after 3 years. Without any delay, Jyotsna started with her usual mantras of sweet-chilly words. “You guys will never come up in life…How many times I have told you guys not to be loitering around the city like this? Won’t you guys ever have the mood to have a proper shave? Be sensible…first find a job, find a place to reside, learn to be neat…only then you people will be ever able to think of your dreams coming true..” She was unstoppable. Every sentence she speaks will end with a stern stare at Muthu. Thiru wanted to divert her with their new inventions. She was in no mood for that. She said bye and turned away. She went few steps ahead and came back and shouted at Muthu…”Won’t you come at least till the road to get me an Auto? Should I beg you for this?”

Muthu quickly moved forward saying “Ya sure…lets go”. On the way, Jyotsna with all her love and affection spoke in a tender voice to Muthu. “See… listen to me. I will arrange for a temporary part time job for you. My Cousin said he will work it out for you. Join that. Initially do that job; this will help you in many ways. Please do it for me…” Saying this she got into the auto and left the place waving bye to him. Muthu had no clue on what to do next. He scratched his head and headed towards his friends again…



Today…March 7, 2008

Muthu-No idea about his whereabouts
Thiru-People say he is taking care of his farm house at his native place
Karthick-He was a clerk in a bank, then cashier, then manager, now retired and at home playing with his grand children.

Jyotsna- She frequented the US for studies and never married. She is the eldest and most respected woman in her family. “God Mother”


The mechanical scooter developed by Karthick is now automated…runs on a battery.
The TY-DISP of Thiru and Muthu is now called Laptop… I want one too!

Sanjana will go to School

Krish had to drop his tour midway. Sanjana his 3 yr old daughter had suddenly fallen ill. Riya had no intention of letting Krish know that Sanjana wasn’t feeling well. But when she failed to recover even after two days, Riya had no other way but to call up Krish. Riya’s low tone clearly conveyed her pain to him. Krish was not in a situation to start back home. He had this presentation scheduled the following day. He cannot afford to skip it. So he did not mention about getting back home. But just consoled Riya to take his sister and parents help to take care of Sanjana. The presentation went fine. Krish couldn’t push time anymore. He left rest of the program to his colleagues and rushed to catch the next available train. The next morning he was there at home. Riya’s brows went up seeing Krish, not because she was shocked to see him the very next day, but surprised how Krish could be so late even after hearing Sanjana’s health condition. Krish could see his mom and sister there at the bedside with Sanjana. Sanjana was sleeping. She looked very tired and weak. “Last night we took her to the hospital. 2 drips of glucose were given. Only then paapa turned better” Krish’s mom told in a feeble voice. Krish turned quickly with a shocking look at Riya. His eyes conveyed his displeasure with Riya for not having informed him of the serious condition of Sanjana. Riya silently left the room. Sanjana felt sudden pain in her hands. Her little hand was injected for the glucose supplement. She woke up wit tears. Her tears doubled on seeing her father. Krish was quick to take her in his arms. Sanjana felt very secure in her father’s arms. His shoulder was more comfortable than her favorite pink pillow. Mild tears of pain turned into heavy crying. Sanjana couldn’t help herself stop the crying. Krish comforted her with his usual loving words. Sanjana then jumped to her mom’s care. Food, medicine and care, nothing else prevailed at Krish’s home that day.

Sanjana was getting back to normal. Krish’s attention slowly (though late) turned towards Riya. He saw Riya taking serious care of Sanjana with lots of pain inside. She at the same time had to do enough for his mom and sister. The house had to be clean, food had to be prepared for all and Sanjana required special attention. Riya never slept properly for the past two days. She was always around Sanjana giving her medicine and love. That night Krish couldn’t sleep too. He was observing how Riya toiled the whole day with her day to day chores amidst Sanjana and her health. Riya never compromised on anything. Krish knew she would be tired. Still she never halted for rest. Krish never had time to talk with Riya since he returned from the tour. His love and respect for Riya grew more. He felt gifted with Riya as his wife. He wanted to convey this to her. It was around 5 am, when Krish saw Riya start her day. Riya was pleased to see Sanjana sleeping peacefully. Sanjana had lost her weak looks. She was getting better. Krish too got up but was still in bed with little Sanjana. Riya was about to leave the room when Krish called her. “I want to say something to you”, Krish spoke softly. Riya came close to him eagerly listening to him say…“My love for you is growing”. Riya had no words in reply. She simply hugged Krish and said “Tomorrow Sanjana will go to school”



Note :

Special Thanks to Girl Of Destiny for her significant contribution towards the successful publication of this piece of blog.

WANTED

It was a Monday evening and Raj was reluctantly working at his desk. Sonia called and asked if he can drop her at Guindy. Raj accepted to drop her as he wanted a brief break from work. Sonia was in Sari. Raj gave a weird look at her. “Can’t you go in Auto?” Raj asked Sonia. Sonia persuaded Raj to drop her. Sonia quickly took the pillion seat in her usual style of putting her right leg over the left. Raj warned her to sit properly but Sonia never listened. They both reached kathipara signal. Raj stopped for the signal. He was at the left most corner of the road just few inches away from the platform. Sonia was adjusting her posture and in the course of doing it changed to left leg over the right. While doing so she by mistake hit a person with her leg who passed by. She was quick to apologize but also laughed senselessly. The person she hit was a cop of the traffic department. The way she giggled irritated the cop. To vent out his ego out, he caught hold of Raj. Raj was not wearing his helmet that day. He asked Raj to park his bike aside and come with him to his office near the corner of the road. Raj believed that a sum of 50 Rupees will solve the issue. No helmet, no wallet, so no money and license. This was Raj’s status. So he asked Sonia to pull out 50 bucks from her bag. 4 old ten rupees notes was all Sonia could gather from her shining new bag. Raj pushed the old notes back into her bag and decided to manage somehow. He asked Sonia to wait near his bike for sometime and ran behind the cop to his office.

The office was in the first floor. Raj climbed a strip of narrow steps to reach the office. A medium sized room for the station Inspector followed by a smaller room for his subordinates. This was the organization of the police booth. The person behind whom Raj came went straight into the second room. Raj too went along. There he was asked to pay 100 Rupees. Raj politely explained that he would surely pay them the penalty but only after dropping Sonia at the nearby bus stop. He said he will have to go back to office or home to get them the money. Learning that Raj did not carry his wallet, and that he is not having his license, the policeman used intimidating words against him. Raj who is never used to bad treatment anywhere couldn’t take those words. He quickly jumped into an argument with the cop. The argument grew big soon. The cop was accompanied by another colleague who was too rude with Raj. The cops soon started manhandling Raj. They seized Raj’s I-POD from him, asking him to take it after paying the penalty. They pulled Raj’s ID card too. Raj soon grasped the intentions of the policemen. They wanted revenge for the insult the unassuming girl had caused. Raj’s efforts to pacify them did not work out. They soon started with their word play. The motive was to demoralize Raj. Talking bad about the girl, the policemen started warning Raj. They gave him an open threat challenging him that they will make the girl feel for her act. “Let me see how you both cross this signal tomorrow”, these words from the policeman pushed Raj to the ends of his patience. His bike keys, I-pod and the ID card were now under the custody of the policeman. They locked these articles and Raj was made to wait. He could see Sonia waiting restless near his bike from the window. Raj wanted to come out and send Sonia home safely. But he was denied the chance to move out of the room.

Nearly 2 hrs had passed since the whole drama started. Raj lost his patience. He sensed that nothing was going to be fine. He asked the policeman to let him go. But he was roughed up instead. In a fist of anger, Raj pushed one of the policemen. Trouble started here. Before the policeman could hit him back, Raj charged against the policemen forcefully. Raj caught hold of the Lathi of the cop and hit both the men straight on their faces. The cops fell unconscious on the floor. Hearing the heavy disturbance, the Inspector of the station rushed inside the room with his pistol. Another policeman attached to that station also came in running. Raj hit the Inspector pushing down the pistol from his hands. Now that everything ran out of control, Raj grabbed the pistol and wanted to make way out with no intention of triggering it. But when the policeman tried to catch him, Raj in total panic pressed the trigger. The bullet sliced through the Inspector left arm. There was total chaos there. The wounded Inspector cried aloud in pain. The other policeman ran madly shouting out for help. Raj had no other option to run away into the dark. He escaped from the scene into darkness with the pistol.

Two days later…


“WANTED”... Raj’s photo from the ID card was enlarged and posters were stuck all across the city as the MOST WANTED CRIMINAL.

Taguer- Tagged by Her

Tagging is fun. I enjoy doing it as long as it is as meaningless as the current one...
I was tagged by Girl of Destiny...

All you're needed to do is to add your name to the end of the list.

The rules are that
You shouldn't use any colors
You should add only a short description
You shouldn't change anything else in the tags.
And there's also a way out where you can let others know that you're not interested in this crap by saying 'No' :-)

Here goes1.-Filipina,2.-Stories,3.-Abroad,4.-Husband,5.Gagiers, 6. Life 7. Everything, 8. Offer, 9. Moments, 10. Food Trip 11. World 12. suffering 13.china's autograph 14.Kiran's My voice15. Boobu 16.Sugar & Spice 17. ~*Girl of Destiny*~ 18. Goofy

Let me tag Sona nd Thiru

Sona and Thiru..if u find time pls do take the cycle further :-)

Love Prevails

Two years of exile... Sweden was a good place। But living alone gave him the exiled feeling. This was no punishment. But the way he opted to make money and to kill memories. It was time he had to accept facts and get back. He felt he should be back home now. With lots of gifts for friends and family, he landed at Chennai. It was so loving to see his family awaiting his return. Hugs, kisses and sweet words marked his day. Chotu, Motu, Lootu, Rootu, Tutu, Batu, Satu, Katu… everyone was home that day.

All had their share of gifts. He was pleased. All done and it was bedtime. Right from time he landed till now, he was waiting to call Nisha. Nisha… his bubbly wobbly friend. Nisha was surprised to get his call. And the first thing he asked her was about Preethi. Nisha was like “ I knew this would be your first question” But without letting out much details Nisha changed the topic. After talking about everything under sun, he again asked about Preethi. “Preethi Preethi Preethi… wont you stop thinking about her?”…shouted Nisha. Silence and then came the reply “ I want to meet her. Take me to her place tomorrow. From there we will go to other friend’s houses and invite them all for a get together”. Nisha couldn’t say no.

Next morning he picked Nisha from her house and they both went straight to Preethi’s house. Nisha entered the house very enthusiastically warmly received by Preethi’s mom.
“Hellooooooooo Aunty…” Nisha yelled at the top of her voice. “This is Raghav”..Immediately interrupted from behind “Raghavan” . “ He doesn’t like being called as Raghav” explained Nisha. Preethi’s mom smiled and asked him to go upstairs to Preethi’s room. While Nisha pushed her way into the kitchen with Preethi’s mom to get herself a coffee and to apprise more about Raghavan.

Raghavan slowly climbed his way to Preethi’s room. He was in observing mood. For him nothing seemed to have changed in that house in the past few years but the biggest shock was awaiting him in the room. Preethi was sitting and browsing through the channels. Dressed in a calm cream colored saree with mild designs in red, she looked very much silent and composed. This was not the Preethi Raghavan had seen few years back. “Heyy” a very low voice with the element of surprise welcomed Raghavan inside the room. Preethi and Raghavan were doing the usual formal enquiring well being stuff when they were joined by Nisha and Preethi’s mom. Raghavan was sipping the coffee served to him when Nisha opened up the topic of the get together. Preethi’s mom sparkled on hearing about the party. She eagerly welcomed the occasion stating that her daughter was badly in need of such a break. “She doesn’t go out at all since her husband’s demise” Preethi’s mom told in deep anguish.

Raghavan had known nothing about this. His mind correlated the changes he saw in Preethi with the mishaps that had torn her life. He couldn’t drink the coffee anymore. He felt that the cup was too heavy. So was his heart. He said nothing. Nothing more was discussed about this topic as Nisha as usual changed the atmosphere with her silly pranks.
It was time to leave। Nisha was still busy talking। Raghavan started moving out. He was about to leave the room when he jus stopped and had a look at Preethi. She smiled and in a very gentle way said “Bye… I will surely be there on Sunday”. Raghavan in a very serious tone replied and left the place without waiting for Nisha. The entire room became numb with his reply.


“I want to marry you. Ask your parents and let me know”

Ek Choti si Love Story

जो कभी नही थी अपना
उसके सात देखा मेंने एक सपना

दिल मे थी वो एक तारा
दुनिया मे लगी मुझे वो सबसे प्यारा

चाँद थी वो मेरी...मेरी सपनो की रानी
शुरू होने से पहले ही कतम मेरी प्रेम कहानी

The Crystal Clock

“Why would a Doctor do this?”
“I know this person has been doing research and stuff on various things, but this one…I don’t understand”
“Is this part of Physics or chemistry?”

Everyone in the hall was amused. All were young budding engineers from various walks of life. It was an old class room kind of hall where the Doctor had invited these people for a demo. The hall was sizzling with questions and doubtful discussions. There was total unrest with the gathered crowd. The doctor entered he hall and everyone went silent. He was a respected personality in the society. He commanded respect not because of his age and profession, but for his interest to serve the society. The Doctor started the demo session with his trademark smile, the smile which most successful medical practitioners use to heal their patients. He proudly unveiled his invention, “The Crystal Clock”

The Crystal Clock looked like a transparent Bee-Hive filled with white honey! At the strike of every hour, the crystals floating over the liquid gathered to form the needle structure and glowed gloriously showing the time. The Doctor did not go into the technical details of the invention. But instead, he focused on his efforts which led to this invention. He stressed the need for young minds to think and work innovatively. He revealed that an accidental discovery during one of his researches with careful calculation had turned into this remarkable invention. He concluded the session giving room for the young minds to take snaps of the masterpiece and clarify doubts if any. Part of the crowd went behind the Doctor asking him technical doubts. Aditya was sitting all this while in the hall patiently. Asking himself why he had come there, he smiled at himself sarcastically and left the room. Only when he was about to start his bike he remembered that he had missed his helmet at the hall. He went back to collect it. He found the hall empty. Everyone had dispersed except or this girl. Aditya was quick to recognize Sumi, the Doctor’s daughter. Having come back this far, he thought he will share a word with her. He greeted her with his evening wishes and politely asked her idea about her father’s invention.

“I have no idea what this is. Every time Dad organizes a demo session, I make sure I’m present there not to miss the hot snacks served. Today the menu is chips and samosas. Chips, Samosa and Coffee…That’s a great combi you know? Don’t miss it. Rush to the corridor” saying this she left the place munching chips…

Aditya had nothing much to think or say… “Nice Doctor…Nice Daughter!”

MILU

The conversation was nearing completion. There was nothing left to talk about in that topic. Already they had covered three topics in the past one hour. He didn’t want the call to end. At the back of his mind, he was searching for a new topic to talk. The last topic was already dragging toward its end. He was running out of words to keep the call live. There was silence for a while…a brief pause…

“I’ am disturbing you a lot these days…hey na?” she sparkled. He wanted to say YES, but he spitted out a NO. Quickly realizing that this would be his best chance to express his feeling for her, he gathered strength and in a very gentle tone, politely delivered his mind… “Yes, I admit. You are disturbing me a lot these days. But I’m ready to handle this disturbance for a life time, if the girl is you”. He was awaiting a response. But he heard nothing. Little did he realize that the call had got cut sometime back. He wanted to know if she had listened to what he said…the call got CUT by itself or she did it. His head was spinning with uncertainty. He immediately called her again and asked if she had got his reply? She said “The line got Cut” With a sigh, he started blushing. Now a new topic…He called her as MILU… She was surprised. “Why a pet name all of a sudden? And what does MILU stand for? What does it mean?” she pounced with many such questions. Before he could put in efforts to answer her, she said Good night citing that it was already too late to hit bed, but before she cut the call, she asked for assurance that he will answer her the next day.

He was waiting for the next dawn…next opportunity to call her…MILU