Lyrics Eight

“....Anaivarum uranggidum iravinum neram,

Enakkadhu thalaiyanai nanaithidum neram...”

“WTF!!” “How the hell they forgot to wake me up?”

I just took a quick shower, groomed, put on my Bond Suit and shoes and almost ran down the stairs.

“Relax Rahul. Am still waiting for you.”

Ria, as beautiful as ever. A bright pink saree, it almost looked like white, with all the glittery stones and stuff. I almost whistled looking at her.

“ You too look awesome today.” She complimented me.

“Hmmmm.. Maybe..” she just giggled trying to hide her smile with her hand.

“Shall we?” I offered her my hands.

“Hmmmm...” She accepted it and we walked through the aisle in the middle of the hall.

Both the sides were completely filled with people, many were standing and kids were running around. I couldn’t make out who is who. Couple of videographers was moving around and one of them was just walking backwards in front of us focusing us.

I turned my attention towards the stage. My mom, dad, Ahmed, Karthi, Ravi, Divi and their partners except Ravi, in-laws were all waiting for us. The whole stage was decorated by beautiful flowers.

“Flowers!! Oh shit!!”

“Honey, watch your tongue”

“Forgot the red rose.” I was completely frustrated.

“Hmmm.. Its already taken care of. Enakku unna pathi theriyatha enna.”

All I could do was smile, not for the rose, for getting her. Suddenly I felt she was pulling my hand. She just tripped on the video camera wire and was falling over.

“Ria!” “Ria!”

I couldn’t get hold of her and was shook out of it.

“Dey.”

I was staring at Ahmed.

“Man, I told you not to go to Palakkad.”

“Its not Palakkad. The dreams have not gone at all.”


5 years, 10 months and 8days ago

“Just relax man. I’ve asked my brother to start immediately, once we hear from him then we can come to a conclusion.” Ahmed has sent his brother. We hoped we could hear from him in another 1 to 2 hours.

We finally received a call from him around 5am. Ahmed didn’t allow me to speak with him.

“Hmmmm....” “oh....” ”ok.... “when...” “Sure??” “Oh...” “Now??” “Ok..” “We’ll be there” That’s all he spoke on the phone.

“We have to start immediately.”

“Everything is ok right??”

“Ya da.. They have got her and they need someone to take her home and she has mentioned your name.”

“My Name!! Oh.. What the hell was she doing in Palakkad?”

“God only knows”

_

We reached Coimbatore around 3pm. Reached Palakkad around 4pm. Ahmed’s brother was waiting for at the station.

“Riaz, what did the Commissioner mention?”

“Huh? Hmmmmm...ya...the Commissioner. Nothing. Just wanted to make sure she is a college student and some signatures.”

“What about their parents? Do they know about it because I donno why they are calling me instead of their parents?”

“They have informed their parents and they are on the way.”

“Oh ok”

We were there in about 20minutes.

MALAMPUZHA POLICE STATION

“Guys it says Malampuzha?”

“Ya man.”

“Why...”

“AC is waiting here for us.” Riaz interrupted before I could complete.

He was a typical Kerala Policeman with thick moustache and was quite fair.

“You are Rahul?”

“Ya”

“Ok.. Good.. You can come with us..”

“ jeep ne vilikkae.. avane namada kooda kootikondu pogam..” he was speaking something with the constable.

Suddenly Ahmed said something to Riaz and he spoke with the AC.

“Oh...then he can come with you. Just follow us.” Saying this he left with the constables. We took our car and followed the police vehicle.

“Dey, why are we going to GH?”

“Nothing man. He has some work on the way. You just wait in the car. I’ll be back.” Ahmed left me before I could ask anything.

He was almost gone for 15minutes. I lost my patience.

“Riaz, what’s going on?”

“Hmmmm...Nothing...” The tone itself said there is something going on.

“Where is Ria?”

“Ya ya ya...hmmmm... We are gonna meet her.” It was like they were hiding something from me.

“Ok... Am going in..” I started walking towards the entrance, I didn’t wait for his response.

“No no wait.. He’ll be back.”

I asked a constable where they were and proceeded in that direction. Once I turned to the veranda saw a old women sitting and crying. At the end of the veranda I could see Ahmed talking with the Comissioner and couple of other guy. Suddenly one of the guys saw me and got furious. The other guy and the Commissioner got hold of him. Ahmed came running towards me, once he saw me.

“I told you to wait in the car man!”

“Why should I? What’s going on? Who’s that guy? Where is Ria? She was not there at the station.”

Ahmed was just standing there calm and he took out something from his pocket.

“Rahul, this is for you.” He handed out an envelope.

“To Rahul” and my phone number was written at the bottom.

Hi Rahul

Missed Me? The other night when you dropped me, I dint know that you will be never coming back to pick me up. The last happy moment of my life was the dinner and the cool bike ride with you. And really SORRY SORRRY SORRY. This time you should definitely accept my Sorry’s, these are for your head. How’s your health now? Your injuries have healed right. And can you tell SORRY to Divi on behalf of me, I know you will? I couldn’t return her calls. My dad was asking me “When are you gonna elope?” I was keep on lying “No Never...” for almost a week, guess he has found out that I fell for you. I don’t know when it happened was it “When you used to admire me during your vacation classes?” or when you asked “Are you my friend?” No no... I guess its when you asked “iiiiii....ice cream”, it was cute. You know I was cursing you “Why dint you hug me a little longer?”, that stupid Ahmed interrupted before you even actually hugged tight. And Rahul, you should see this place at night, really beautiful, standing on the edge WoW. Probably you must be wondering why dint I tell you anything about it. I know it wont end well. One way pain is always better.

Sorry Rahul, I am selfish, “I love you Rahul”.

See you dear mayb in 80years.

RIP

Ria Rahul

_

“Does he have BP?”

“No doctor. Nothing that I know.” “Doc, he had a small accident a month back and suffered from concussion. Does that affect anything?”

“Hmmmm.. Definitely, it’s a possibility. Just don’t leave him alone for a few days, until it gets into him.”

“Can we see him?”

“Sure”

“Can guys please tell me what happened?” I just yelled at Ahmed as he entered the room.

“You remember the guy, I and the Commissioner were talking to, that’s her fiancé. They had their wedding tomorrow here in Palakkad. And her fiancé, he was the guy who beat you up. He has brought her out for the evening and somehow she managed to..”

“Please, Don’t”

“Ok. Her parents don’t know anything about this, they are on the way for her wedding. They have sent her here 15days back.”

“But how could she do this man??” I was in tears and broken down. I couldn’t say anything else.

She was in hell for a month. I never even thought that she could be so strong, at heart. She was made to starve, locked out, tormented and was forced to. I couldn’t hear more. I just wanted to see her one last time but Ahmed just took me off from that place before her parents arrived.

We loved each other but never were lovers.

_

The operating room was really tensed and was filled with voices.

“Push push..” “Breath breath”

“Can you give another 10ml?”

“Doc, she is losing consciousness.”

“Look at here honey. Ya.. final push..” “We can see the head.”

She was sweating heavily. Nurses were holding her hand and tried to help her out. It was the final few seconds, I couldn’t see her struggle and was waiting outside the room but could hear every bit of it. Her screams were getting louder and louder.

It was the final scream “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...” and I jolted in my seat.

“Day dreaming honey?”

“Hmmmmm.. Ya kind of”

“Mrs.Raagini Rahul, you are next mam.” The nurse called out for her name. She was in her 8th month now.

It was no more Ria in my dreams. Its been 2years now since we got married and its been more than a year since I got Ria in my dreams sorry its always Raagini in my dreams for the past one year.

“Naan aendra sol ini vaendamm,

Nee aenbathae ini naanthaan,

Inimaelum varam kaetka thaevayillai,

Ithupol vaeraengum sorgamillai,

Uyirae vaa...”

Lyrics Seven

“...paadhachuvadu thedi thedi kaalgal oindhu ponadhey..

naalum azhudhu theerthadhaale kangal yezhai aanadhey....

.... pogum vazhi nooraanadhey,

kanneerinaal seraanadhey....

illaadha uravukku naan seiyum abishegam.....”

I ran into the church. It was deserted. No sign of anyone. Ran to the Altar and quickly looked around. It was completely abandoned. I took my mobile and tried calling Ahmed but I couldn’t reach him.

“Something is not right!?”

I came outside the church and looked around the perimeter from the porch which was at an elevated position. It was still dark and cold.

“Ahmed..” “Ria..” “Anybody there?” I screamed at the top of my voice.

I started to descend down the stairs but suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of my head. My legs started to buckle, I held my head tight with both my hands and closed my eyes tight in pain.

“Rahul?” heard a feeble voice at the back of my head.

“Rahul? Rahul?” the voice became more prominent and opened my eyes.

“Rahul? Rahul? Are you ok man?” Ahmed was the one who was shouting my name. Karthi, Ravi and few of my classmates were standing beside me. My breathing was little heavy that has made him panic.

“Man, you scared the hell outta us dude. Nightmare? Your eyes were really closed tight and your eye balls went crazy.”

“Is there a problem?” a nurse stepped in.

“No no. Now everything is fine. Just a nightmare.” Ahmed made sure.

“Can you guys please leave now?” she almost pleaded and left.

“Take Care man” “Get Well Soon” “We are here, don’t worry” after all these wishes and greetings everyone left. Just Karthi and Ahmed were there.

“Guys, what happened? What time is it? What happened to me?” I asked Ahmed.

“You should tell us what happened.”

“I don’t know. All I could remember was.....” “ You better say. What happened?”

“You have a fractured right wrist, hairline cracks in two ribs and by luck just skin tear and a Grade II concussion so resulting in amnesia for about 30minutes to 24hours.” Karthi had almost loss of breath once he finished.

“WTF!!”

“Ya..I better call the doc”

_

Ahmed just told my dad about the incident, its better my mom doesn’t know as of now.

“Guys, any news about who was it or something?”

“Nothing so far man. Just take care of yourself. We’ll look into it.”

We rented a home for the rest of the semester and also it would be better for me to recover. Almost 4 weeks have gone by, both my ribs and the wrist have healed but still no news of Ria or about the unknowns.

“He mentioned something like’Where is she?’, did he mention Ria?” I had no clue of what happened or Ria.

Just another week of rest and the final check up and to college again. But it was hard to get back to that place. The last 6 to 8 months was really beautiful. Now, without her, the void was still hurting me.

_

“Where the hell are these guys? No one’s picking the call too. Hell guys!!” I got frustrated and moved to the parking lot and planned to leave.


“They want me to work for the project and no one shows up.”

There was a scooty near my bike, the same red one. But I wanted to make sure so I went closer to it and noticed the plates, now am damn sure, it was her vehicle. With the rush of happiness I raised and turned around when someone hit me hard on my head. My legs trembled and I was on my knees.

It was Ria, “Where am I Rahul?”

“Nooooo” I just screamed and sat up straight on the bed. I was sweating heavily.

“What the happened man? Are you ok?” Ahmed woke up from his sleep and asked in a really concerned tone.

“Ya ya... Just a bad dream.” My phone started to vibrate.

“Who’s calling you at this hour?”

It was 2am and the call was from an unknown number.

“Do you know which districts code is 491?”

“No idea. Just attend before they disconnect it”

“Hello. Rahul?” it was a guy with a deep Kerala accent.

“Ya. Who’s this?”

“Rahul, this is Dhileeban, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Palakkad.”


Now


“Palakkad ah? Are you sure you wanna go?” Ahmed was kinda shocked and surprised.

“Just to invite some of my distant relatives man. I gotta go. I will be back by noon.”

“Hmmm ok. Hope you are not going alone?”

“No, definitely not. Karthi is accompanying me.”

“Be safe. Just a couple of more days for your wedding. Don’t wanna make a big mess out here. Ok”

“Ok man. Enga appa maathiri aayita da.” And I disconnected the line.

_

It was hell from morning.

“Dae, Have you sent the provisions to the marriage hall?”

“What happened to the flowers?”

“Have you sent the mehendi artist to her house?”

“The minibus has been confirmed. It’ll be here at 12 sharp.”

Everyone were running like anything, Ahmed and my uncle almost took of everything at the reception hall. Karthi was roaming around finishing off the last minute purchases. And I was just sitting in the home coordinating everything from home because no one gave me any work.

Once the minibus arrived, everyone left for the hall for lunch.

“Machan, You try to get some sleep, you gotta be fresh for the reception” •

Lyrics Six

“...Viralodu vizhiyum vaadum

Viraiginra kaalam nogum

Irunthaalum varugiraen un madiyil naan thoonga

Enai vanthu urasum kaatre

Avalodu kanavil netre

Kaikorthu nerunginaen kan adithu nee yenga...”

Now

Took a shower, had lunch and left the house with Ahmed and Karthi. We spent the afternoon with tailor making sure my wedding dinner suit was perfect and ready for the day.

“Dey. Gimme the phone?” Ahmed grabbed the phone from me. “Hello Madam. Just 4 more days for the wedding, then he is all yours. Cant you wait for 10mins till he is done with the measurements?”

“Paavam da ava. He is the one who is keep on calling her.” Karthi did his part of pouring oil in the fire.

“Gimme the phone dude.” I was trying to pull it from him but he was out of reach and I couldn’t move as the tailor was taking measurements.

“Is everything done now? Can I have my phone back?”

“Polachu Po”

“Thank You”

I scrambled through the contacts, “R...R...R...R...R...Ya”

DIALLING.... CONNECTING....

“Honey... Sorry was a little busy down here and these guys...Oooof”

“Hmmmm... So where are you guys heading now?”

“Need to buy a shoe for the reception and sandals for the wedding. That’s all I guess.”

“Oh...hmmmmm.. I wanna see you. Cant wait till tomorrow.”

“Hmmmmm well. Can you come down to Boomarang? Nehru Stadium?”

6 yrs and 10days ago

“A Protein Blast for me” Divi answered spontaneously without even looking at the menu.

“For me, Black Forest Dream and a Banana Smoothie for him.” That was Karthi and the smoothie was for Ahmed.

“That’s all Sir?” the waiter was waiting for a confirmation.

“Dude!!” Karthi tried to get my attention.

“Dey” Divi shook me. I just woke up from deep sleep with my eyes open.

“Are you ok Rahul?” she knew I am not.

“Ya...ok..” It was her birthday and I didn’t want to disappoint her by saying a “No”. It had been 2 weeks since the college reopened, she hasn’t showed up. Divi was like “She’ll definitely come to college.”

The time has changed from “When’ll I propose to her” to “Will I see her at all?”

“Rahul, I think some serious issue is going on in her house da. Its better you come out of it.” Divi tried to convince me.

“After all these days, definitely she should have got some clue from you. If she has got that then definitely she would have contacted you.”

“Machan, its time for you to come out of it. You got placed, just get your degree and move on man.”

“Guys, it was her who helped me out for my placements. If it was not her I would not have worked during vacation and maybe chucked out of the project. Its her man, Ria.”

“Guyssss... Shall we move?” “Bill Please ” Ahmed put an end to the conversation.

“Sir, Can you give your Name and contact number? It’s for a lucky draw contest for Christmas and New year.”

“Christmas”, it just struck me.

_

“Its ridiculous man, in the middle of the night, climbing the hostel wall and roaming around the city. If I get caught am sure warden is going to call my dad.” Ahmed was really frustrated but he was behind my back, just for me.

“Relax man. We’ll just look around for her and...”

“And what?”

“If we find her..”

“Ok..what after we find her?”

“I’ll try to speak with her and...”

“There you go again. Its because of you she is gone now.” He almost yelled at me. Tears were the only the answer to his question.

“Oh shit. Sorry da. I didn’t mean to. Damn it” probably he saw me through the rear view mirror.

“Its ok man. You are right, it was me who dug my own grave.”

Next few kilometers passed in mere silence.

“Dey, do you know which church they would go?”

“Ya. I got it confirmed with Divi. Don’t worry.”

I thought it would be easy but once we saw the crowd we almost lost hope.

“I’ll sweep through from the entrance into the church. You try to look around the perimeter and call me if you see her.” saying this I entered through the front entrance, pushing through the crowd.

I moved myself into the left corner of the church so that I could get a clear view. I slowly moved along the side scanning each row. Once I reached the first row, I bent down and ran across the Altar trying not to block the view. But almost everyone’s head were following from left to right, even The Father lost his speech for a moment. I reached the other end and now scanned every row till I reached the rear wall. Suddenly my phone started to ring, there was a big sigh and a frustrated look on everyone’s face around me. It was Ahmed. I had to disconnect his call and came out.

Once I was out of the crowd and I called him back.

“Dey, enna da. Any signs of her or her parents?”

“Can you come little farther out, all I hear the chant. I am near the parking lot on the other side.”

I almost ran to the garden around the church, I didn’t want to walk all the way across to the parking lot thinking I might miss them. It was completely dark and I could hardly hear the voices from the church.

“Hello? Are you there?”

“Ya.. Any signs of her or her parents?”

“Man, I don’t know her parents dude. I mean I haven’t seen them ever. No, signs of her too.”

“Oh” that’s all I could say. I slowly walked down to the

“Ok. Just do a final check around the church then we..” That’s all I said and there was hard hit on my head. I dropped my phone and placed my hand on the back of my head. It was wet. I slowly turned when a man gave me a hard punch on my abdomen. I bent down in pain with my hands on my stomach when another blow on my head again made me lie flat on the flat on the ground, face down. It was dark and the heavy blows made my vision quiet distorted, all that I could make out was two or three guys around me. One of them had a small rod in his hand, probably made of steel. One of the guys came close to me and started yelling. After some nasty words,

“Enna hero nu nenepa?” “Am gonna kick the shit outta you?” “Leave her Alone”

I was lying in pain. Blood started to flow down my face. I tried to speak but couldn’t.

“Hoo..hoo....Who who?”

That’s all I could say and he gave a hard kick on my stomach again. The other guy gave another blow with the rod•

Lyrics Five

“...idhu maatramaa thadumaatramaa?

en nenjilae pani moottamaa?

nee thozhiyaa? illai edhiriyaa?

endru dhinamum poraattamaa?”

“Hello” said Ria’s father in a commanding voice.

“Hi uncle” greeted Divi.

My stupid mind didn’t work and I was still on the line. Just then Ravi barged in and

“Machan, still Divi’s line is busy. What are you speaking so long?” shouted over me. Her dad totally heard everything and just disconnected.

I almost had a sleepless night. My mind was just thinking what would have happened to her.

_

She was not seen for the next couple of days. Even Divi had no idea about her.

“Got any news?”

“No da. I even asked her classmates, they too haven’t heard from.”

Finally she came back to college after 4days. But from then on her dad accompanied her. She used to be there sharply at 9 and her dad will be waiting for her from 3.30 in the evening. We would just meet during lunch. When we asked her about the other night, she said everything was ok. But definitely something was wrong.

Her father was a Bank Manager and a strict orthodox catholic guy. He wanted to get transferred to his hometown Salem but all he got was Chennai and so he is here. Her elder sister is a typical father’s daughter kind of girl. Finished B.Com as his father wanted, got selected in UPSC and is working in railways and exchanged rings with the guy chosen by her dad. Everything decided by her father. It was like he was still in the 80’s. Once I heard these things from Divi, I felt her dad’s approval is even more complicated than Ria accepting my love. The only thing Ria had privilege of was choosing IT but then she is doing B.Sc not B.Tech.

At times she would sink in tears and I and Divi couldn’t do anything. All I could make out was, she had some serious issue going on in her home.

_

6 yrs, 1month and 10days ago

Days passed, it was almost end of the semester. During the semester exams we hardly met.

“Dude, when are you gonna let her know?” asked Karthi.

“Sollanum..” That’s all I could say. I felt it is not the right time. Didn’t want to make her life more miserable, which was already in hell now.

It was the last day of our semester. We had around 3weeks of vacation we had to stay back for our project work and also placements.

We sort of came back to form. She used to spend most of her time in college working on the project. I too joined Divi and Karthi, pretending to do something.

Slowly few core mechanical companies came for recruitment during the first week of vacation. But my scores were low and I didn’t meet their criteria. I attended a couple of IT companies but didn’t clear the written. I was almost hopeless of getting placed.

“Hi Rahul” Ria was a bit happy today. She came towards me with a beautiful smile, after a very long time. It really felt good to see her smile.

“Am I dreaming or are you really smiling?”

“Aye. I am smiling.” She showed all teeth as if in a toothpaste ad.

“Ok ok. Wazzup da? We hardly met during the semesters.”

“Ya. I wanted to mention you about some off campus job fair in a week. Since you are here for the vacation hope you can give a shot.”

“Can my friends join too?”

“Of course, its an open fair. Anyone can attend.”

Karthi and Ria started to prepare me for the off campus. Ria would teach me C programming and Karthi would teach me aptitude.

After few days she started to scold, hit, pinch and pull my ears, if I forget anything or write a program wrong. Then I started to make mistakes just to make her do it. At times I used to stare at her while she is busy explaining something to me.

“Ria”

“Ya..” she didn’t even turn her head.

“iiii.....” I started to drag.

“You?” she turned and started to look into my eyes.

“iiiii.....ice cream saapidalama?”

“Only when I ask you to study, you want ice cream, snacks, water.... I’ll kill you if you get up from the seat.”

_

Finally, I too got placed in an IT company, 14k salary, Chennai. I came running from the interview hall. Ria and Ahmed were waiting for me. I was at the peak of excitement, I almost jumped on Ria and hugged her. She was like “Hey Congrats Dude....” After few seconds, I came back to my senses. Ahmed was like “Doooooooooooode!”

Called and informed Karthi, Divi and Ravi.

“Dude, when’s the treat? Am your mentor man.” said Karthi in excitement.

“Dey, Anjappar or Ponnusamy?” Divi is all ready with her options.

“Machan,Am out of words! Seri treat enga.” said Ravi.

Ria was standing beside me and listening to all the things I spoke.

“Ria, Tonight, Anjappar. You are coming. Please, no excuses.”

“Hmmmm. Ok. But I have to be home by 8.30. ok?”

“Done”

_

Another memorable night to remember. We were almost shouting when they placed the ice cream and were literally fighting to taste it. We were having great time that we didn’t even mind the time. Suddenly Ria started to scream.

“Nooooooo. Its 8.30.”

“Oh Shit. Just relax. I’ll drop you.” “Guys, finish off the dinner and we’ll meet at hostel. see ya” I literally threw my card over to Ahmed and we both left.

I was flying through the traffic, dodging through the traffic. From Anna Salai to Adyar, definitely 30minutes.

“Left..left...” “Straight” “Take Right after the grocery store” “Stop stop stop here”

“Where’s your home?”

“Do you see a white ambassador on the right?”

“Ya”

“That’s my house”

Someone pulled over beside me in the darkness.

“Ria”

“Daddy!!” She was shocked to see her dad. We both tried not to panic.

“Dad, this is Rahul. He got placed. So, we all went out for dinner.”

“If you want somebody to drop you then they better drop off in front our house.” He said in a angry tone.

She left with her in an old scooter. I didn’t even turn to look at her. I just wanted to leave from there.

_

“Hello..Divi.. Hello?”

“Ya ya....sollu da”

“any news about her?”

“No dude. I have asked few of her friends to let me know if they hear anything from her.”

“Hmmmm.”

“Don’t worry da. She’ll be fine”

Two weeks have passed by, still no news from her or anyone. We tried to reach her parents, but didn’t receive a good response from them. We don’t know whether she is even in the city.

“Where are you Ria?”•

Lyrics Four

“....Netruvarai naeram poga villaiyae, unadhu arugae naeram poadhavillaiyae

Ethuvum paesavillaiyae, indru yaeno ethuvum thoandravillaiyae

Iravum vidiyavillaiyae, athu vidinthaal pagalum mudiyavillaiyae.....”

“Rahul..” “Rahul..” “Wake up..” shouted my mom but it just didn’t a make a big difference. I dozed off the moment I crashed on the bed. I slowly made some movements and tried to reach over the table for my watch.

“It’s 1 O Clock”

I was startled to hear the voice suddenly. I opened my eyes to find Karthi standing by the bed.

“Dude!!” I screamed in excitement.

He just pounced over me with his full weight on my body. Ahmed came running in and jumped on him.

“Guuuys..BeeeHaaavve liiiike famileeeee men” I tried to speak that out struggling to breath and carrying their whole weight.

6 yrs, 6months and 5days ago

Daily sessions, lunch at cafeteria, bunking lab sessions, evening coffee, weekend movies and dinner. Days were really beautiful. We started to see all the movies even the ones with the most pathetic storyline, with the cruel cast of actors. She came with us almost every time we go out. Me, Ria, Divi, Karthi and Ravi were having a hell of a time. Karthi, Mr.Studious, missed it on some occasions but was an integral part of us. He used to complete the assignments for me and Ravi and save it in our folders.

The bond between us was getting stronger by the day. We used to share our happy moments and laugh and also will get emotional at times.

I want to propose to her but had the fear “What if she gets angry and walks off” she might not even accept me as my friend. So, I had to keep aside my feelings for her at least for a while.

It was the last few days of the training. We had a couple of tests. I already started to miss her because we definitely had to vacate our hostel once the training is over. We still had one more month of vacation.

The training was finally over and it was the last weekend. I planned for a movie and dinner.

“Hey Divi.. We are leaving tomorrow.. so I planned for a movie and dinner.. Be there with Ria..Please, don’t skip it..”

I had to call Divi whenever I wanted to convey something to Ria because she dint have a mobile phone for her. So, Divi will call to her residence and pass it down for me.

“Hmmmmm...Are you ok?”

“Ya...am good...Just a little tired” I tried not to go down.

“Ok..See you tomorrow”

“Good Night” and I disconnected the line.

_

“Where are you guys? Its almost 6. The movie is about to start.”

“Will be there in 10minutes”

“10!!! Ok.. Make it quick. Am waiting for you outside. Ravi and Karthi have gone inside”

“Ok”

I could see Divi almost running through the gates but I couldn’t find Ria.

“Where is Ria?”

She was panting heavily as she tried to answer.

“She....” “couldn’t....” “make it....”

I didn’t ask her anymore questions. I was in a state of mixed feeling disappointed, sad, a little angry and just took her inside for the movie. Later Divi said “She might make it for the dinner man. Try to snap out of it.” But I knew it is not going to happen.

As I guessed, she didn’t come for dinner too. We sent off Divi in an auto to her home. Me and Karthi had to go to the Central Railway Station, our train was at 10.15. Ravi had to catch a bus to Madurai.

It was a sleepless travel for me. I was just reminiscing about the last 30days. Karthi was surprised to see me awake as he woke up to get down.

“Dae.. You didn’t sleep? Its almost 5 man.” But there was no response from me.

It was 5 in the morning when we reached Erode. Karthi got down.

“So, its only me I guess for another month” my heart said and just then my mobile beeped,

‘wru da?’

SENDER: Ahmed

“Guess Not”

‘Erode..ll b der by 6.30..b der to pick me’

MESSAGE SENT

_

30days, was like hell. Time passed at a damn slow pace. I was not interested in anything. Eat, sleep, tv and pc, the cycle was on and on. Ahmed would come over almost daily and at times stay in my home for the night. At a point of time my mom found something was wrong with me and asked,

“Why are locked up in the house? Just go out, visit friends or do something.”

Ahmed too got frustrated looking me roaming around with the head down. So, he planned for movies often and a trip to Ooty.

As the countdown for college reopening came closer, I started to feel better and came back to life.

6 yrs and 5months ago

Final Year, once this feel is inside you, we start to feel the strong authoritative power but all I had was ‘Ria’. From day 1, it was just her, her and her. Me, Ravi, Karthi, Divi and Ria. Now Ahmed also joined this group. These were the happiest days of my college life. We would almost spend daily in the coffee shop.

Me, Divi and Karthi were project mates. So, as usual, Karthi would take care of weekly updates with Divi lending her help. I would just come over explain the slides or at times just stand in front of the panel and walk off.

_

It was the mid of our 7th semester and it was Divi’s birthday. I called Divi at the stroke of midnight. After few seconds into the call,

“Rahul, Ria is calling”

“Shall I disconnect or you are connecting her through?”

“Wait, let me connect her through.”

“Happy Birthday Dear” were the first words that came out of her.

“Thank You”

“Hey Ria” trying to let know that am here.

“Rahul, I didn’t know you were here. Hmmmm”

“Oh. ”

I started to hear a feeble voice from Ria’s end and it started to get more louder and clear.

“Ria, what are you doing there? Who’s that you are speaking with?”

“Divi pa” she screamed into the phone.

“Gimme the phone” her dad took the receiver in his hands•

Lyrics Three

“...enadhu iravu aval koondhalil,

enadhu pagalgal aval paarvaiyil

kaalam ellaam aval paarvaiyil,

kanavu kalaiyavillai kangalil

idhayam thudikkavillai aasaiyil,

vaazhvum thaazhvum aval vaarthaiyil...”

We entered Coimbatore at the early hours of Friday. A hell lot of changes around the city in 5years. Ahmed used to update me with photos and videos, so it didn’t come as a surprise to me.

“Gimme your phone” I asked Ahmed.

‘Dear..i ve entered the city..ll call u by noon after havin a good sleep..luv ya’

MESSAGE SENT

6 yrs, 6months and 23days ago

“Rahul, I guess am standing here in front of you. Is there something else more interesting going on in the lab?” disrupted me like a stone on still water.

“illa...I mean no Sir..”

Days passed beautifully just because of her. I just used to look at her, through the glass, all day long sitting in my lecture sessions.

After that night, she used to have a smile as and when I passed her. It was a sign for me to take it to the next level.

_

“Hello”

“Divi, its Rahul”

“Theriyuthu sollu.”

“This Saturday, shall we go for a movie?”

“You are calling me for a movie!! We are the ones who used to pester you, what’s going on? I smell something fishy huh.”

“Hey, you are the only girl friend I have. I meant a friend who is a girl.”

“I didn’t take it the other way. Why are you stammering, nervous..? What’s going on?”

“Onnum illayae. Just calling you for a movie.”

“Hmmmm...ok...am coming.. Just pick me up at my home..”

“Actually.... We have another ticket.”

“So”

“Soooooo.... Can you ask Ria, if she is....”

“Nenechen.. I know you dude. So its Ria right?” she started not allowing me to complete.

“Hey, How could you? I just asked whether she’ll be able to come.”

“Seri seri... scene podatha.. I’ll ask her but I donno if she’ll come”

‘Oh No..!!’

“Hmmmm... Ok...just try your best to make her come”

“Why are you so desperate?”

“Nothing”

Finally it was Saturday, I and Ravi were waiting for them at the theater. I was hoping Ria would show up too. I saw Divi walking towards at from the entrance but no sign of Ria.

“Hi Guys.. Sorry am late”

“Ria?”

“Over ah feel pannatha... She had some work so couldn’t make it.”

That’s it, my second move failed very badly. The weekend was a total upset. It was Monday morning again and I was in high spirits, as usual, as I could see her today. The morning passed away so quickly and with her, even faster. Me, Ravi and Karthi were into the elevator and was about to leave for lunch. I saw Ria running towards us so I stopped the door from closing.

“You guys going for lunch??” she asked me. ‘Is this really happening to me?’ I was standing there staring at her. Ravi started to mumble in my ear “Dude, say something.”

“Hmmmm what.. Ya ya..we are going for lunch.”

“Can we join you? Me and my friend”

“Oh Sure.”

We were walking towards the cafeteria, I was walking a bit faster in front of the group with Ria and her friend behind me and, Ravi and Karthi were very slow coming last.

“Sorry Rahul”

Did I really hear that? I just turned to make sure. “Did you say something?”

“Ya..I said ‘Am Sorry’”

“Sorry!? For?”

“I was supposed to join you guys for the movie but I couldn’t...Sorry”

“Oh..hmmmm..Are you my...hmmm... Am I your friend?”

“Ya... Definitely.. Why?”

“My friends usually don’t feel sorry for skipping a movie. Are you?”

So far whenever I watch her it was like a missed call, no response from the other end. It was different now, I caught her watching me. I don’t know whether that was the usual “watching me” or something more than that. Engineering seemed easier than cracking the meaning for her looks.

_

“Hello.. Ahmed..Divi da”

“Temme dear..wazzup”

“Is Rahul serious about this girl?”

“Ria? I really don’t know. Stayed back for the vacation, maybe she seems special for him. Why?”

“Just he seems to be too much into her. I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Get hurt? What do you mean by get hurt?”

Now

We reached home finally. I got down from the vehicle and was shocked to see no one coming out to receive me.

“Iru iru iru..Athukulla avasaram..Am coming..” Ria screamed at me as I was about to enter the house.

“Hey..What are you doing here at this hour? Ahmed didn’t say anything about you” as I turned to look at him he was not there, probably taking out my luggage.

“Naan than unakku aarathi edukkanum nu nenechen.. So here I am.”

“You know those things huh. I didn’t know that you knew it.”

One..Two..Three..She circled the plate, containing a lit camphor and saffron water, in front of my face. As she leaned forward and tried to place the water on my fore head, “Rahul” Ahmed almost shouted at me. I opened my eyes to see my home in front me.

“When did you sleep man? You were awake when we were crossing Ukkadam.”

My mom, dad, few aunts and few of my cousins, all were waiting for me to get down•