Disclaimer:
The blog written below is a pure work of fiction. Any resemblance to those living or dead is purely coincidental. The incident shared in the blog is collated from various experiences of the author while travelling to different places and fictionalized with imaginary happenings over certain real incidents that happened over a period of time.
Chennai to Bangalore: My Journey with a girl…….
Genre: Comedy A Short story by Karthik.
It was a hot Sunday afternoon. I was accompanied by my male friends (My misfortune!!) to Koyembedu bus stand, Chennai for my onward journey to Bangalore. We were three in number and our conversation swung towards girls in our lives as well as our school/college mate’s lives. Fact No:1 (Whenever two or more friends of the same gender meet after a long time, there is 99% probability that the conversation will maneuver towards the opposite gender and there is still higher probability that the discussion will be of love stories and affairs between our school /college/office friends.). I had booked my ticket in KSRTC Multi axle Volvo bus and we have reached the bus stand more than an hour in advance and had enough time to poke upon love stories. Varun, the most talkative person in our group started the conversation by live reporting the status updates from our friends. Everyone paid minute attention to the conversation as if a company’s board meeting was going on:
Varun: Hey guys, did you know Sathish and Rakshita got married last month. They loved mutually since school days and after facing many hardships along the way and finally with their parents consent they got married.
Karthik: Hey Varun, It’s unbelievable da. I had never seen them uttering a word during school days and no one had a trace of evidence that they were in love. They were also from different states. How they fell in love da?
Varun: You see Karthik. The power of love works wonders. You have to experience it to understand how it works.
Balaji : Hey you know what happened to the love of prasanth and shravanthi? Shravanthi refused his proposal and Prasanth is still unable to cope up with the feelings and emotions and he is very much depressed nowadays.
Karthik: OMG! Prasanth loves her since Std Six from our school days to till date but shravanthi is not responding to his love request. I can’t understand the subject: girls and love. In one case, love overcomes all obstacles to end in marriage and in another case; Love fails to enter the first stage i.e other person’s heart even after several attempts. (It’s a very complex subject. I bet anyone to do a Ph.d successfully in the subjects of understanding a girl’s feelings and how love works differently for different sets of people. No one can ever do it.)
Varun: The power of love works wonders but with one condition. It has to exist mutually between the parties involved. Then only the feelings & emotions of love will be reciprocated by the other person. It’s all about feelings and chemical reactions happening inside the brains of both the persons.
“Karthik, you start loving a girl. You will understand everything about how love, emotions, feelings & chemical reactions work? Have you ever loved any one till date?” Varun asked.
Karthik: The concept of chemical reactions was so fuzzy for me to understand. How without a person’s knowledge these reactions takes place yaar?..Nope. You all know that I was a studious boy during college days. I never had time to fell in love with a girl.
Varun: Poor chap, There is still time. You go, search a suitable girl and fell in love. The fact that you have a steady job in hand will work to your advantage.
Karthik: No da. Varun, “ Can we decide whom to fall in Love. We can’t go in search of love. It won’t last. It should happen on its own accord. It has to hit us…. make us topsy -turvy. It has to be with us. That is true love. “ ( In the film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya (VTV). Young super star Simbu has told.
Varun: Dey . In the film VTV, Director Gautam menon was with Simbu da.. That has given the confidence for him to utter such things. If you go by the principle that Love will happen on its own accord. Then you may have to wait till old age. Mind it.
Karthik: It’s true that I don’t have director Gautam menon with me but I have the helping hand of true friends like you..
Varun: Karthik, You have touched our hearts da. We will help you to fall in love with a girl da.. Don’t worry. Just act as per our advice.
Karthik: I am really fortunate to have friends like you. I believe that you people won’t land me up behind bars.
Balaji kidded, “karthik, Do you still believe Varun? I feel pity for you…”
(Meanwhile the KSRTC Multi axle Volvo bus has just landed in platform no : 3 with thirty minutes for departure.) I waited for the crowd to disperse inside the bus. I am allergic to crowds. I can’t understand the logic behind many people getting inside the bus in a sense of urgency immediately after the bus has arrived. Given the fact that their seats have been confirmed. Then why the hell they run mad into the bus just like having a glimpse of a famous film actor. I think in India, it has become a habit. The scene resembled cows running madly after seeing fodder from a distance..(Funny Sight!)
After ten minutes, I went inside the bus freely. Varun and Balaji accompanied me.
What is your seat number? Karthik, “Varun asked. “Seat No : 11”, I said.
I landed myself comfortably on the aisle seat. Window seat next to me was left unoccupied. Everyone loves to be seated in the window seat for the reason that it will provide nice scenery and you can observe the happenings of the world at a distance. Often the sceneries we come across while travelling in a bus or train invokes our thought process and leads to a pleasant state of mind. I wondered who will occupy that seat this time. Suddenly a good looking girl in twenties (it seems) came in front of me and started a conversation.
“Excuse me, Is it seat no:10, Can you please make way for me? . I have to get inside.” She said
“Yes. Of course. “ I said. She placed her luggage on the top and landed comfortably on the window seat. She was perspirating at that time. I thought that she came in a hurry to catch the bus.
I never expected this to happen. I took my seat. On my previous occasions when I am seated next to a girl, always some guy will turn up from no where and say that I am her boyfriend. Can you please exchange your seat so that we can sit together? But this time, it didn’t happen. With hardly five minutes for the bus departure, Varun and Balaji asked me to come outside the bus to have a discussion.
“Hey karthik, you are so lucky to have a good looking girl besides you.”, “Happy journey”. Balaji said
“Even the girl is not married da. So befriend her and start a conversation and enjoy your journey”, Varun said.
Hey Varun, How do you know that the girl is not married?
Varun said, “ I observed that she is not wearing Mangalsutra and engagement ring on her fingers.”
(Fact No: 2: It will take less than a minute for a boy to scan a girl for the first time and make interpretations in mind.)
“Varun, If you had shown these analytical and interpretation skills in your job, then you should have got promoted much earlier.” I said.
“Thanks for the compliment”, Varun said (with a sense of pride in his voice as if he had cracked a tough CAT maths question successfully).
Karthik,” Don’t be shy. Just start the conversations by saying, I wish you a happy journey. May I know where you are working? Just start like that and see her response and take the conversation forward. This is a golden opportunity. Don’t mess it up.” Varun said.
Pointing out to tag line (Sleep like a baby) of the KSRTC Volvo bus, Balaji added, “Karthik, Don’t sleep like a baby but romance like a Romeo.”
I said, “You guys had gone crazy to the core.”
Varun and Balaji said, “All the best Karthik” (as if I am going to appear for a job interview.)
The bus is ready for departure. I stepped inside and settled in my seat. The bus started to move.
I gazed at her for a second. She has closed her eyes and started praying. I guessed that she might be praying for a safe accident free journey. I too closed my eyes and prayed for ten seconds. (May be because of that girl’s effect over me.)
I opened my eyes and my mind started thinking “How to start a conversation with a girl whom I am meeting for the very first time?” I wondered that it would be better if Chetan Bhagat has given some expert tips on this subject in his novels. Normally in tamil films, the hero starts the conversation with an unknown woman by saying this line. “ I had seen you somewhere.” I thought to myself, No that would not be apt. After considering many such proposals, I decided to start the conversation by wishing her happy journey. ( Varun suggested me).
I prepared myself by saying several times “I wish you a very happy journey” in my mind just like a film actor rehearsing several times for a difficult stunt scene in a movie.
When I am about to tell her, my heart stars to beat faster as if I am appearing for my first job interview. (Fact No :3: whenever a boy starts a conversation with a unknown girl for the very first time, his heart will beat faster).
She is sitting in the window seat and is staring on the road outside.
I closed my eyes and had taken deep breadth to calm myself. Suddenly, I heard a sweet voice which had resemblance to film actress Trisha Krishnan, “Excuse me Gentleman, if you don’t mind, Can you please alight and make way for me? I have to take my bag from the top shelf. Please.”
(My heart starts to beat faster just when I tried to speak). She starts to alight.
I said, “Please be seated. I will take your bag from the top for you.”
“No. I don’t want to give unnecessary burden.” The girl said.
No, “It’s not a burden to help others.” Saying this, I took the bag and gave it to her.
“Nice of you Gentleman, The girl said. “ I reciprocated her with a smile.
I just turned forward to notice many boys sitting on the subsequent rows staring at me just like someone is blowing hot air on their faces. Their envious look communicated to me that “hey lucky chap, today is your day. Conquer her.” ( Fact No: 4: Whenever a boy starts conversation with a girl, he will always attract envious faces from the male gender.)
My heart returned to its normal state and I grew in confidence that my benevolent act of helping her would have definitely left a good impression of me on her and I can talk to her freely from now onwards.
(She took a book titled “Life is what you make it, written by upcoming author Preeti Shenoy” and a water bottle.)
She zipped her bag and said to me, “Can you please keep my bag in the top shelf? Mr…” (What’s your name?) “ S.Karthikeyan …. You can call me Karthik..” ,I replied.
I said, “Of course.I will keep it.” So you want to kill time by reading books. It’s a nice practice. I too like to read books. (Who on Earth will refuse when a girl asks for a help from a guy.)
( A sense of deep satisfaction swept over me as if I had accomplished a great deed.)
“May I know your name?” , I asked…. “Aswini” came the reply..
She replied with a smile and prepared to glance through the day’s newspaper.
After going through the various pages in the newspaper, she became visibly upset and murmured something.
I intervened. I said, “It seems that you are visibly upset over something. If you don’t mine, Can I know the reason?”
“That’s none of your business” came the reply from that girl.
“Sorry for the inconvenience.” I said. (There was no reply from that girl.). May be she was still angry.
(I was a little bit hurt by her comments. Girls were really complex and unpredictable. You never knew how they will behave at different circumstances. I felt that it was wrong on my part to ask personal question to a stranger.)
I started reading a collection of short stories titled Wise and Otherwise written by Sudha murthy. Sudha Murthy, wife of Mr.Narayan murthy heads the philanthropic wing named Infosys foundation. Narayan murthy and sudha murthy are livng a very simple life style and sudha murthy’s short stories are thought provoking. Their’s love story is also quite interesting. They are an inspiration for many youngsters like me.
Suddenly towards my left side, I saw a woman in forties struggling to adjust the seat. She was pressing the seat in the hope that it will be adjusted. May be it was her first journey it seems. I helped her by adjusting the knobs of the seat and also I helped her to keep her bag on the opposite side of the shelf so that it can be within her eyesight. She kept it on her lap earlier. I convinced her that it won’t be stolen. She thanked me. (I am getting a sense of relief every time when I help some one in need. I liked it.) Witnessing all these things, Aswini smiled on me. (I didn’t give any reaction. I was afraid of her reaction.)
“Sorry Karthik, I was a bit harsh on you few minutes earlier.” , Aswini said.
“It’s Ok. Actually it was wrong on my part to ask a personal question to a stranger. Sorry.” I said.
“Not an issue.” She said
(I decided that it was the right time to continue the conversation.)
I said, “Aswini, I presume that you work in an IT company. It’s my guess. Am I correct?”
“Correct man! How come you know?” Aswini asked.
“I know from your looks, gestures and your personality.” I said
“Well Karthik, You appear to be a person reader. I have to be careful with you.” She smiled.
“Well I am not a person reader. I am a bag reader. I read the words ‘Tata Consultancy Services’ inscribed on your bag.” I said.
Amidst laughter, she told, “Great man, what an observation Sir Ji? I can’t control my laughter.”
“May I know the reason why you are visibly upset a few minutes ago?” I asked out of sheer eccentricity.
Aswini said , “Hey it’s about the crimes committed against woman nowadays.. Nowadays reading morning news is just enough to upset you and change your mood. Every day you get stories like “Man kills pregnant lover, Twenty two years old girl raped. Some X commits suicide…Y murders Z..etc. It’s pity that in India, still women are not safe. I don’t know how many years we have to wait for this country to become a safe haven for women. Often we were at the receiving end for all atrocities and crime committed out of sexual desires by male gender. Often many men treat women as a lesser mortal created by God to satisfy the needs and fantasies of men. Even the media is portraying women as objects of sex. Nowadays even the highly educated persons of society are also behaving like this. We women deserve a lot better than our present entitlement. We can’t suffer this much. (Tears rolled down from her eyes.) She started speaking slowly as she spotted many glaring eyes around us. I am not against male gender and a particular community.” ( After a five second pause)
She continued, “Even in our female gender, there are many dreadful elements (mostly in *******and ***industry) who are further responsible for degrading womanhood. But men outnumber women in committing heinous crimes. If men might have behaved in a responsible manner by respecting woman hood, we would have been in a much better position as of now.” “How can men commit crimes to a gender which is responsible for his birth in this world? ( Citing Motherhood). ( She finished with tears in her eyes.) . I am sorry if it hurts the male gender. It is bitter truth. I have to tell.”
Her outbursts made me to think of a saying in Sanskrit that “God exists where women is respected.” I consoled her and made her wipe tears. Her tears amply demonstrated how much she was deeply affected by the happenings around her. People around stared at us with a puzzled look wondering what went wrong between us?. (Fact No:5: A women can’t store emotions at her heart for a long time. A women expresses her emotions spontaneously through tears). I wondered how a girl was able to change her emotions from smiles to tears in a matter of a few minutes. Understanding girls was really a very complex subject it seems.
I said “Everything will come to an end sooner or latter. Bad deeds can’t happen for a long time. In the cycle of mankind, good deeds will definitely emerge and replace evil deeds. If a man/woman knows his real nature and purpose of life, then he / she won’t commit heinous crimes out of sheer ignorance. They cannot wander away aimlessly for such a long time by committing crimes against fellow human beings. A day will come when they understand the value of true education and the sheer stupidity of their actions. “
I added further, “Man making education is the need of the hour. One of the reasons for the misery of women in rural areas is the lack of quality education, which in turn leads to a lack of freedom and if she is not economically independent, her life is difficult. But for the change to happen, we have to start a mass movement of education to wipeout ignorance from the minds of people which is the prima facia reason for all evils in our country. Every action is accomplished as a thought during initial stages in human mind and then it is executed as action/deeds. If care is taken through imparting quality education to teach the man kind to reflect upon one’s thoughts and its outcome and if good thoughts are implanted in the minds, then definitely the outcome will be good actions/ deeds. For this change to occur, we have to conduct additional workshops for the children of our country in schools to impart moral and ethical values to make them behave as responsible citizens in the future. It is only possible by self help groups and through CSR’s wing of corporate giants. It’s everyone’s responsibility to make this country a safe haven for all. We have to initiate steps to contain the rate of deterioration of core human, ethical & moral values.”
Aswini said, “Yes Karthik. You have a valid point. Once I return to my company, I will inform our company’s Corporate Social Responsibility wing to conduct workshop to educate the rural masses and special training programs to educate our children about the importance of moral, ethical values & good character. At least we can do something for our future generations by making India a safe haven for women. I will initiate the change.”
“Nice of you Aswini, I will support your initiative.” I said
(At last my lecture works out to bring in a change in her mood. She is somewhat in a better mood now. I hope to divert the topic to calm down her further).
Hey Aswini, May I expect a small favor from you? I am aspiring to be a writer in the near future. I have started by writing blogs of different genre. Here’s my collection of blogs. I have already collected enough feedback from my friends and the persons I know. Now I want to get feedback from a neutral person whom I don’t know. This will help me to know where I stand among the emerging writers.
“Of course Mr.Karthik, Let me read your collections and revert back.” She said.
Ok Karthik, I am going to read your blogs and will tell my observations/feedback when I am finished.
“Aswini, you first read my short love story titled The Healing Touch.” I said.
She started to read. (For the very first time, I observed different emotions on her face while reading my blog.) It was a nice experience for me. Fifteen minutes have passed by.
Meanwhile the bus has reached the outskirts of Hosur. The bus stopped around 7.30 PM at one of the highway restaurants for dinner. We sat across each other in a table. We had Idly and dosa for our dinner. When I paid the bill after dinner, she promptly gave her share of the money to me even after my refusal to accept money from her. She went to the nearby shop. I accompanied her.
“Five diary milk please.” She asked the shop keeper.
Karthik, “One for you, one for mine, Three for my brother ,father and mother.”She said in a childish tone.
“Why diary milk? Any special occasion?”, I asked.
She kidded, “My mother used to say before starting any good deed, we should start with sweet.”
What good deed? I asked with a puzzled look on my face.
From now onwards, we are going to become good friends naa. You are my BF ( Bus Friend) not boy friend. To tell in facebook style, Aswini wishes to be your friend for all seasons. Accept or Reject. Which button will you press, Karthik. she told with a hint of shyness in her face. ( Her tone and childish manner had resemblances to film actress Genelia D Souza in the telegu film Bommarillu.)
“Accept button”, I said.
“Nice, so we are friends now.” Aswini said.
The driver blew horn to give signal that the bus was ready for departure. We got into our respective seats. So Aswini, how do you like my story : The Healing Touch?
“Nice Story. I liked the way you portrayed the character Roshini and her matured way of handling things. Not all love stories are destined to end in marriages. Some end in marriages. Some end in friendship. I liked the message you portrayed that one have to accept the reality and move ahead in life just like Krish did. Love is always beautiful whether it ends in marriages or not. But you have not portrayed the feelings of Roshini after her departure with Krish. Girls too have feelings & emotions Mr. Karthik- The Writer.” She said.
( With Smile on my face) “Great observation Aswini . No one has pointed out this flaw till date. I agree with you Aswini. As a guy, I know the feelings of fellow men but I have never got an opportunity till date to know completely the feelings and emotions of a girl in Love.” I said.
“Simple. A girl will know the feelings & emotions of a girl better than a guy. I suggest you to read the works of great writers like Chetan Bhagat. Have you read Chetan Bhagat’s Two states: The story of my marriage. You can understand the feelings and emotions of a girl in Love better from that story or from some of your real life experiences or from your friend’s love experiences. I believe that your story ‘The Healing Touch’ is inspired from one such experiences.” Is it? Aswini asked.
I said, “Aswini, You are correct to a certain extent. As a writer, when you perceive a concept, then your mind sees the concepts from the light of your own experiences, your encounters with different characters in life and also from the real life incidents of your close friends. Finally the concept itself gets refined & comes out in a certain way from the incidents which made you to feel during certain stages of your life. You can very well understand this when you pen up a story.”
“Nice explanation. You see Karthik, after reading your story, I too like to pen up my story inspired from my own life and my friends’ lives...Suddenly something inside me is urging me to write stories. I usually paint artistic images as a part time hobby.”Aswini said.
I said, “You see Aswini, there is not so much difference between a painter and writer. A writer expresses his inner feelings and thoughts through words and a painter expresses through images. Both require imagination, patience and perseverance. All the best for your writing.”
Aswini said, “ Thanks Karthik. Of course, I need your help and suggestions during the course of my story narration and screenplay.”
“Of course. I will help you but I am not an established writer. I am also a beginner and learning to write stories. First you choose a topic, Genre & narration style. Then prepare a rough draft containing the gist of the story. Then prepare scene wise narration with timelines and finally elaborate every scene with dialogues. If you wish, you can write the dialogues separately and then you can add it in your story. As simple as it gets. That’s all for now. You start writing your story. If you happen to come across any doubts while writing your story, feel free to discuss with me. All the best.” I said.
“Thanks a lot Karthik..So nice of you to share this valuable information. You see One day, I will also give competition to you as an aspiring writer.Mr.Karthik.” Aswini said.
“Of course Aswini . I love to have healthy competition. You read my remaining blogs and give me a feedback.” I said.
“Ok. I need a week’s time to contemplate over your stories and your style of writing. I will post my feedback on your blog address. .If possible we can meet at Iskon Temple coming Sunday along with my friends. I want to introduce you to my friends. Are you free? Karthik.”
“Nice. Well I have to make my selves free this Sunday… Agreed… We shall meet at Iskon Temple.”
“Hey.. This is too much. You are showing as if you are a very busy man.” Aswini said.
“I am a little bit busy with official commitments since I work as a Project Engineer- Construction in a leading Engineering consulting organization. I am used to roam a lot from Karnataka to Maharashtra many times for our project.” I said.
“Hmmm Hectic schedule…Karthik..You better look for a job in design or engineering and settle in chennai or Bangalore or Hyderabad to spend quality time for your writing ventures..” She said.
“It’s better said than done. I am trying. If it works, I will shift over there. If it doesn’t, I have a back up plan. Probably in next year, I will be publishing my first book: A collection of twenty short stories of different Genre. I am aspiring to be a writer in the near future.
I feel that I am alive when I am writing. I get the same amount of happiness while writing my stories that Sachin Tendulkar gets while playing cricket and A R Rahman gets while composing music. Writing is my passion. I will see the response among the public for my stories. I have lot of stories to tell to everyone. I want to write more stuff. Then slowly, I will set my sights on becoming a full time writer.” I said
Aswini said, “ All the best for your endeavors. You can make it big. It’s a matter of belief and hard work combined with sheer determination and will power to succeed against all the odds.”
Thanks Aswini, I need your permission to pen up this bus incident as a short story. It will help me to improve my writing skills.
“Permission granted.” How long will you stay here at Bangalore?, Aswini asked.
“I will stay here for about two weeks.” I said. ( Aswini smiled) (After a couple of minutes of silence.)
Aswini said, “I am normally a shy person and I have never talked to any stranger like the way I did with you. I never became friends with anyone in such a short span of time. It was a memorable journey and I am fortunate enough to find a friend like you. I cherish this journey.”
I said, “ Thanks Aswini. In the Journey of life, it is quite strange that sometimes we encounter a person with certain character and personalities in sync with our character and personalities and suddenly our mind develops a special liking as if we had known the person through ages from our previous births. You are one such girl it seems. We became friends immediately as if we had known each other previously. I felt that it was as if we were destined to meet each other in this birth. It was never like meeting a stranger and having a conversation. We exchanged our views, shared our successes, failures, setbacks, hardships of life with open mind and familiarity just like two close well knit friends who knew each other for many years sharing their life experiences.”
Aswini said, “ I agree with you completely. It’s because of destiny, we have become good friends. I hope that we will remain as good friends till our life time.”
I said, “ Why this life time only? Even in next birth, we can remain as good friends.”
“Sure Karthik”, she said (with a big smile & shyness on her face). Meanwhile the bus has reached Bangalore. She was about to get down at Shanthi Colony where her brother was waiting to pick her up. Her stop was about to come. I took her bag from the top shelf.
Thanks Karthik. She kept the book : Life is what you make it : inside and told me…Karthik, “I have not read single line of this book but I enjoyed the journey with you. I will never forget. Soon you pen up our journey as a short story and send it to me.”
Nice of you. Aswini. The title for the short story: Chennai to Bangalore… My Journey with a girl… How is it?
Great title. I like it very much . I am eagerly waiting for the story to turn up. Meet you at Iskon Temple coming Sunday, saying this she alighted since her stop had come and gave a firm handshake to me with a pleasant smile on her face.
We both exchanged our visiting cards and promised to stay in touch.
We both waved good bye to each other. Aswini had gone out from the bus as of now but the fragrance of good friendship still remained in my heart for a very long time. It aroused a special feeling inside my heart which cannot be explained through words.
It was one of my most cherished and remembered journeys till date.
**************************** A Short Story by Karthik********************************
Dedicated to all my friends…….. Happy Reading & Smiling.
With Lots of Love,
Karthik.
