ThE MaRinA epiSodE

A breezy evening on the shores of the Marina in Chennai. I just love this place. A place of huge significance to me because everytime i go there, it takes me back to those beautiful memories that i cherish. Its famous for all the right reasons and of course for all the wrong reasons too..But atleas to some people those wrong reasons wer right. :-) But this time the trip to Marina was different. Always knew it was going to be different right from the time i stepped my foot outa my house. But never knew that when i head back home , it would leave me with so big an impact that i would sit down the very next day and let my xperience gain a textual form.


As soon as i got down frm my bus near the Gandhi statue, me and my frend walkd towards the shore to find more frends of ours waiting there. Heaps of "hi's" were thrown around. Sometimes ending up saying it to the same person once again. Heads turned to look at the newly born source of noise. A few unfamiliar faces were introduced to me. I nodded assuringly when their names were told only to find myself scratching my head thinking of their names when i looked at them again. The gathering had everyone expected to be present there, all except one. And tat one was a very special person indeed. But soon did we realise she was present there too. Not among us , but at a distance looking at us .but even if one of us looked back at her she would sheepishly look away from us. Understandable embarassement i thought. This person that i am talkin about is special for the very reason that she was a girl. Born in an under-privileged family , where every day poses a new challenge, the way she has managed to wriggle out of the discomforts around her and achieve somethin is admirable. Admirable, a serious understatement , i should say.

Andru:

A month or so ago, Times of India had a cover up on a young girl stricken with poverty, to toil hard and top her school board exams. The article even pointed out to she using the street lights for her studying purposes. And i can guarantee you that anyone reading that article will be moved. And some go an extra step in taking some initiatives to help and encourage the girl. A few of my friends did take that extra step. And i volunteered to be a part of it too. So a few of us pooled in money and got some basic amenities for her. Amenities which, though would get exhausted in the longer run, can serve her short term requirements atleast. Above all we hoped that this would give her atleast a small part of the large dosage of happiness and encouragement that she deserves.

Indru:

And the occasion was to give those things that v got, to her, in person. Her parents were present too.She stood there with her dad and mom and two more small kids beside. Another person had come along with her too . Her uncle i presumed. She looked beautiful to me. Beautiful when i say, i dont mean the physical aspect of it. There was this happiness on her face. A kiddish smile accompanied tat face. I believe a smile is the best make up tat can be worn ever. And tat made her look beautiful to me. She was understandably over-awed by the occasion. A group of 10 to 15 engineering students, around her , and all of sudden she is put into a different world altogether. She was wearing a multi colored salwar kameez , a pretty old one too. She had her nose pierced and had her hair plaited. Her dad and mom stood side by side looking at us , their faces had the word 'Thanks' written all over it. She greeted us with "anna's and akka's" . We gave her the things we got for her. She would have uttered the thanks word a million times. She tried avoding that shy expression on her face but she miserably failed in doing so. I whispered to my friend asking what her name was and my friend replied. Powerful name. A name on the lines of Shakthi in Alaipayuthey , i thought. Then all of us got together and a click sound followed. If u weren’t able to guess what I just tried to explain, I meant the photograph. Her mom was egging her on to come to each of us and thank us personally...She tried doing it but her shyness got over her.. Her dad and mom were narrating their day to day xperiences and their fight with life everyday. But i wasnt listening. The only thing that i kept striking me was tat how did she manage to pull it off.

And finally the time to leave had come.....Her dad and mom had put the word "romba nandri sir" in an 'infinite for' loop. But i am sure that they meant it every time they uttered it. I saw her for one last time before i turned the other way and started to walk. Walked slowly towards bus stop ,but my mind was racing. I was thinking of many things at the same time..This journey back home was one of the most thought provoking i ever had...The first one was how did she crack it...from where did she get the inspiration to do something which is gettin me inspired. How did she get the motivation to slog so much. Especially when the evironment around is so intimidating. I even remembered her fatther tellin that there was not a main line electricity connection to her home. They lived in a thatched hut. Will all this not bog her down. But as a matter of fact they dint.. They infact kindled the fire in her..,the urge in her to study. She was great. ,Probably am blowing this out of proportion but i dont care..To me this is a herculean task . Many brave hearted kids do this .There are loads of articles on these people who use the horrifying circumstances around them intelligently.But this was the first time that i met one. A real achiever. And to see her happy was happier indeed.


As i returned , signboards of Adidas flashing a 40% off sale whizzed past me. And thats when it struck me . How many time have I used a lot more than i used now and stayed a lot less content .. Money isnt it.. Its money that is making the world dance to its tunes .Its money which makes people decide whether they would like to come back to this world a second time or not. Its money that makes life very cruel to some people. Life's irony i thought... A few hundred bucks out of our pockets and we managed to shape smiles on the face of a wonderful deserving girl. And guess wat , it made me happier too.. These few bucks easily are the best investment I have ever made . Forgive me for analysing this beautiful experience from a financial consultant's perspective,. Talking in terms of investments.. Some may even argue that its love which matters and not money. I can firmly say no. Atleast in her case, no. She has wonderful parents by her side doing their best to get her educated. And love can never be scarce there. The only constraint they have , the only luxury that is eluding them is money. Thats wy i say so.....Or probably i really am a money minded guy who propogates the fact that money is everything in life........ Doesnt matter. The bottom line is that a small step from our side made a soul feel better . And am very very happy because of that.

I jus finished reading the above paragraphs myself . Apart from evoking a sympathy in me for those who have endured torture in reading what ever i hav written, I also realised that i somehow managed to not mention the name of the girl throughout. To do so , I ll hav to take you guys two paragraphs upwards. Thats when i started to leave from the beach. Thats when i saw her the last time. And thats when i heard her mom call out "SATYA".

I reached home ... Settled on the chair .... a book, "Circuit theory" written on her head (im sure students confined 2 electrical sciences ll know abt it better).. lyin on the near by table was threatenin me 2 the core...i was staring at the book 4 a while, she had all creepy pictures on her outer jacket .....E p l was on tv ...man united vs chelsea. nO guesses as to what was more inviting. I switched on the tv..I had jus met one of the most inspiring persons i can think of. Her story was so motivating. And my adrenalin overflowed when i heard t too. But now as many of the inspring stories' do ,this story's effect too started fading away. I can only be myself i thought. And satya and only be satya. But u know wat . The inspiration faded. The happiness and satisfaction of helping someone still lingered, and i had a strong feeling that it will continue to do so.

BUS no.4 ( Velachery -> Vec )

It was a beautiful morning. the first rays of sunshine squeezed their way in thru the narrowly opened window of my room. forgive me for the typical bharathiraja start. But soon, its was going to be gautam menon action. The day before was my bro's marriage.. Ceremonies went on till 11. So i was adviced to stay at my uncle's place tat night. The next day i had to go to college. My maths teacher has arranged for a premodel exam, and i surely cant take leave tat day and stand in front of his cabin explaining my situation.. Thats the hardest thing anyone could do in my college.

I'm popularly knwn as "the slow poke" and my uncle was very well aware of tat.. Even in tat tiredness he managed a firm statement ,"if u r late tomorow, you'll miss the bus.. you must get ready as soon as possible..will u? "After i gav an assuring nod he promised me that he'll drop me in the bus stand the next day. I had 2 remind myself again and again that i'm in velachery and not in ambattur that day. because things are not gonna be the same. I hav to get up early( not a big problem) and hav 2 make myself ready in way that ll not disturb any1 who are already tired

(herculean task for a guy lik me).

Before i cud even run the bristles over my teeth properly i found myself on a bajaj motors' product. Checking if i hav all the buttons on my shirt intact, i somehow settled myself behind my uncle who was flaunting his bike riding skills. My uncle's predictions went right, i was late. Late by atleas two mins. But tats all u need. Buses in this beautiful city are punctual u know. I am talkin about the buses run by the colleges which definitely outnumber the government buses here and tat too by an handsome amount.

I was some hundred metres away from my stop but to my agony i found t empty. completely empty. My uncle shifted uneasily infront of me. he just realised tat i had missed the bus. A shopkeeper right next to where my bus stops , gave me that wicked smile. tat "idhelaam enga urupuda pogudhu" smile. He gestured sayin the bus just left. But he added on "sir rendu nimisham munnadi vandurundinga na pudichirukallam". A dialogue always reserved for doctors in tamil movies.I started to hear huffs and puffs from the soul in front of me. Not good signs. My uncle's getting irritated. He has a chauffeur’s schedule ahead of him. But somehow i felt he was making a conscious attempt to not show the irritation on his face.

Now the chase began. I felt like saying ‘uncle, drop me here . ill catch an auto and chase the bus”. But the two soiled twenty rupee notes in my wallet did refrain me from saying so.
The bike took a u turn and we chose the narrowest road in this universe so tat v reached the bus soon. This can surely be compared to one theme park ride when my uncle evades everyone from school going children rushing to school to those early morning old strollers moving at 10km/day discussing the possible political outcomes of the day. My uncle honked but to no avail. We jus avoided crashing into a cycle rider who occupied around ¾ ths of the road but gave an impression as though he was riding it on the pavement. He used his absolutely impressive tamil vocabulary to give vent to his irritation. And then finally finally in the distance, I saw her. There she is, I heaved a sigh of relief. She was shimmering her way thru the hustle and bustle of traffic. The sunrays fallin on her made her look all the more beautiful. The yellow and black combination swathed over her was mesmerizing. Slowly she came close and stopped. "VELAMMAL", It read on her head . Bus no.4 - " well painted good lookin exteriors but the same mofussil bus interiors inside. The conductor gave me a warm welcome, he's getting promoted today i thought. I finally turned to say good bye to my uncle but was horrified to find out tat he was already 100 metres away. Poor man, he ‘s got his own business to do. And then, to my shock the conductor's facial expressions took a turn. He gave me a queering look and asked ‘ Panchetti velammal thaana sir’. Its so odd to hear people call you sir so soon in life but I had absolutely no rights to argue about tat now. I said ‘ no’ . The pleasant look on his face changed. Now there was an absolutely disgusted man standing in front of me. He growled ‘ get down’. ‘the surapet bus is right behind this one. Get into tat.’ Showing no signs of protest I had to get down. Even though both the colleges lie on the same road it is strict college rules not to entertain other branches’ students in some other branch’s bus. I see no logic in the rule but as many of the college rules are in the same vein, I got myself used to adhering to them. The next bus was mine. I double checked t and got in. The familiar face of the driver was encouraging. The funniest part was both d bus had the same number written on the board and velammal " institute of technology" and "engineering college" names interchanged... was it my mistake then to get into the wrong bus???

Somehow, mission accomplished. The already half asleep inmates of the bus acknowledged the arrival of the new entrant with everything ranging from a sheepish smile from the people I knew to a 35cm dia yawn from the ppl I dint know. To whp all gave me a sheepish smile i hesitated to give bac a big smile(wic i normally do) as i didnt hav the patience to xplain the reason for gettin into bus no.4, if the question to my xplanation is to follow that smile. I never understood how people manage to sleep so fast. It’s only been ten mins since the bus started its journey and some were already snoring. God knows how. The next mission was to get myself settled on a seat, so that I get myself ready for the tough ride ahead. Another funniest thing in the college buses is that, the last row of every bus will b occupied only by the seniors and no juniors dare to claim for it. Even gettin a seat in VEC s easy, but not the last row seats. Bus no.4 was not an exception.. all the seniors sittin in the last row had their legs pointing towards the sky. needless to comment i said to myself and began my search for a place.. The window corners were already occupied and I had to run repeated scans to find a window seat. Window seats were crucial you know. During the second half of the journey they prove to be life saving as they provide the much needed air . And finally I did. And hurray it was a lottery. Right at the centre there was an unoccupied window seat.

Admiring my intelligence , I somehow wriggled into the 10cm gap between the two consecutive seats that these college buses provide. Ther wasn't much place 2 land my foot.. my legs started searchin 4 space to position itself there. Shit I scowled. I reached a position where I hit the leg of the person next to me. He shrieked. I turned to say sorry. But that expression on his face. He looked like an angry dog ready to bite ( mechanical student, i guessed) I somehow got the sorry word out of my mouth.

Every bus has a clock I guess, k atleas bus no.4 and no.24(ambattur) does. And the drivers stick to the time on the clock perfectly. Only the previous week had I adjusted my wrist watch’s time to the same time as that on the clock in bus no.24 so that I reduce my bus missing skills. But to my awe, I found that the clock in bus no.4 was four mins faster than my wrist watch’s time . Now I had an answer to why I missed the bus. I wished I could run back to my uncle and tel him tat it wasn’t my fault. But it was too late. How could my situations make me change the bus with a different clock hung in there showin different time and expect me to notice that too. Rude isn’t it??? ‘Experience certainty’ I told myself and closed my eyes……..

POM!! POM!!! POM!!!!!!!!!!!