The ticket

He has been in chennai for more than a year now. Though he is long way away from his  home, he had grown quite fond of his adopted home. One of the biggest challenges he faced daily was his commute from Koyambedu to Chrompet (The commute path for the benefit of the readers here). A stretch that is 17 km, usually takes something between 1 to 2 hours depending on the mood of the traffic. The travel in the bus  was quite simple. Get in, get a ticket from the conductor and then go to sleep. Getting a seat was hardly a problem as his stop coincided with the start of the bus route. He knew the route like  the back of his palm and could navigate with ease using the public transport.

He was very tired due to an ever increasing work load. He had been contemplating getting a  motor bike to ease his commute. He  nonchalantly entered the bus that was standing in the bus stand. He saw scores of people walking by. The average commute time was easily over a hour for a travelling professional. He could now rest in peace for the good part of next 2 hours. The bus was getting full and as it started, he saw the conductor navigating slowly through the crowd and coming towards him.

In order to help the conductor he wanted to keep the change ready for the tickets. As he counted the coins and to his surprise he had 2 full rupees short. For a moment he was stunned and confused and missed a stop where  he could have  got down. He conductor was close to him and quickly thought of a plan. " Bhaiya, 1 ticket Anna Nagar" he said confidently. The conductor looked at him with   disappointment. In the local language Tamil, the conductor started saying, that the  bus is not going in that direction and he is in the wrong one. He looked at  the conductor confused. People who saw the incident unfold, began to explain to him in broken Hindi and English about what he should be doing. The conductor gestured him to get off and get the bus in the opposite direction. And obliged with a confused and a small smile unnoticed by others, he got down at Kasi theater.

Within minutes another fully packed bus arrived and took him. Since the conductor was in the front and it was already late he took his own sweet time to issue tickets to the passengers of the backside door. But he could not escape for a long time. He was asked for ticket after the second bus stop. Though he had enough money, he was high on the adrenaline and used his trick here too. "Before getting in, why don't you silly fellow see the bus number properly? Now the driver will stop at alandur bus depo. You can get down there." Shouting at him, the conductor moved to the next person. He was extremely happy for having covered a long distance without any ticket. When he got down from the bus, he heard someone sympathizing him in Tamil. "Poor boy! He has to go back all the way to get his bus now. He doesn't even know the language". Some one else helped him by telling the number of the bus, which would take him to his destination. He thanked him whole-heartedly for his kind gesture on him and walked away, with a painful smile.

By this time he had become very bold. As the next crowded bus came along, He consoled himself for becoming a liar and decided to have a complete free journey on that account. He remained at the back and wanted to get down as soon as he could. He was calm and was masking his nervousness enjoying the view from the footboard. He had a terrible shock when he saw the ticket checker waiting at the entrance, where he was supposed to get down. He showed the folded ticket which was used by him in the morning and disappeared  as quickly as possible.

He could not believe his luck. Slowly guilt and pettiness started clouding him. He saw an old man sitting by the road side. He gave the old man the rest of the coins he had and started walking home.  

The Football

It was  getting boring for Ramesh. He was not good at this at all. He was the last defender and one of the least involved players in the playground. It is the unspoken rule to make the worst player in group the goalkeeper and the next worst as the last defender. It was amazing that he was one of the fastest runners in the class, almost making it to the school athletics team, still found himself considered one of the worst players in the pitch. He did not mind because, it gave him enough time to take rest in between the multitude of special classes he had to attend. He was standing almost 25 yards away from the action. The ground was large and was  divided into several small sections with each group playing a different sport. It was surrounded by tall buildings all around.

This time around,  2 classes were sharing the ground.  The boys played football and the girls played dodgeball or chocho. The boundary between chocho and football pitches was non existent.  Ramesh was getting bored. He wanted to spice up the whole occasion, after all it was the first PT period after the monsoons. He got an idea. He wanted to spoil the girls' game by hitting the football into the chocho pitch. Stella was busy playing along the edges of the football pitch. She was one of the most studious students in the class and sat in Ramesh's adjacent desk in the classroom. She was also a teachers' favorite. Ramesh had his pick for the girl to target. With a wicked smile he set about putting his good evil plan into action. Stella was playing in his close proximity.

Wanting to get more involved in the play, he pushed up and started shouting for the ball to be passed to him. He wanted to play in such a way that, everyone would think that the ball was unintentionally hit at the girls. One right moment came. An opponent was progressing quite fast towards the goal. Ramesh quickly moved across and tried to hit the ball as hard as he could. To his embarrassment he kicked thin air and the ball hardly changed directions. The opponent was past him in a jiff, Ramesh refusing to give up chased him. He got to the ball and this time caught the ball near perfectly. He had hit the ball perfectly in exactly the right direction he wanted to. To his horror he had caught the ball too well and could well bodily hurt her. Involuntarily he shouted "Stella, ball!!".

There was  a huge thud sound. Stella alerted by Ramesh, expertly evaded the ball. But Ramesh, keeping his eye on the ball had failed to notice the goal post near by and hit the post hard. He was knocked out cold. When he slowly opened his eyes, he felt a bloody nose and Stella was sprinkling some water on him.

20 years down the line, Stella was angry. "Ramesh, see what a brat your son is turning out to be. I dont think I can handle him anymore!!".

"Dont worry stella!! I will take care of it."

With a straight face, Ramesh called his son separately. He winked at him and said, "Its ok to be naughty some times".

The long journey

It was getting cold. The new place had bare minimum stuffs. They have been here for a couple of weeks.  He was yearning for the warmth of his bed, the secure feeling his wall used to give him, the sound of kids playing in the street, the  vendors shouting their throat off to sell their meager possessions and the aroma of the mom’s food.  His mother's cooking did not have the aroma anymore. His sister was too small to remember the past and his parents were really happy to not to remember the past. They were glad that 2 years of running had come to an end.  It was only he who missed his buddies, the brown sand, the fun associated with the dirt and the happiness related to the scorching sun.  Now even the milk and the water tasted different.

His mother called him to go to the market to get some vegetables. It was cold. He had to dress up for at least 10 minute before he could step out of the house, while he saw the kids play in the street in their tshirts. The neighborhood was clean and he could hear almost zilch sound.  The people looked so different, they smelt different. They spoke a language he did not understand.  His parents have been telling him constantly that the place is safe. He has been o the school only once. Not many kids could talk to him or wanted to talk to him.

He walked hiding behind his mother. The sun was bright outside, he was still feeling cold. There were a few kids playing in a caged football ground. One of the kids was down injured and the football had rolled out of the ground. Involuntarily he moved forward and hit the ball back into the field and quickly ran to walk behind his mother.

One of the kids came outside the caged field and called out and asked him if he would like to play with them. Another kid even spoke the language he understood. The kid felt elated and was not feeling down anymore. He looked at his mother with the hope that she would nod her head.  His mother could sense the excitement in his eyes and slowly nodded her head. In no time the kid ran off into the cage and she sat on the bench nearby. For the past few months he had his football for company and tired the tricks he had once seen. He was never bored of practicing alone, but nothing felt remotely close to playing on the field. It was his field now.

He did not have the shoes to play on this field nor was he in the right attire, but that did not matter. He did not understand a word other boys were talking. The first pass he got, his mind froze and he passed it on to an opponent.  The boys were stronger, but was not about to give up. He took his time to understand the players around him. The boys were all powerful and good athletes, but he was nimble and very fast,  and had the desire to keep running forever. His teammates had slowly started noticing him and see how good he was and he got the ball more often.

The game was getting more and more interesting and passionate. He was slowly but surely winning over admirers. And there was that moment on the pitch. One of the boys won the ball and passed it on him. He evaded a couple of challenges and moved towards the goal. There was another boy running parallel along with him shouting for the ball. He understood for the first time the words he was talking. He waited for the right moment to pass the ball to him to score!!! And he started feeling at home.

P.S: The title is credited to a recent toastmaster speech I had heard. 

The Question

“Hello, Is it Sita? Ramesh’s mother?”

“Yes speaking.”

“I am calling from the KV Karaikal. I am Ramesh’s class teacher. I want to talk to you about Ramesh. Can you please come to the school?”

A bewildered Sita was taken back. “Is he doing allright? What happened to him?”

“Nothing Mam. We want to talk to you about him. That’s it”

Sita did not understand why she would be called to the school. Though not very bright, Ramesh was a courteous boy and rarely got into fights. But this was a new school and he just started going to school alone. She had a swirl in her stomach, with an unknown fear and rushed to the School.

Ramesh was standing outside the teachers’ room waiting for his mom to come. It was his punishment to stand there.  He was hanging his head down and could hear whispers behind him.  He wished the teacher hadn’t called his mom.  The principle’s room along with teachers rooms were the first building a person would bump into when entering the school.

When Sita entered the school she could already see Ramesh standing in front of one of the rooms. She was rather relieved that Ramesh was fine. But Ramesh standing there made her curious. As she went closer to ramesh, her teacher walked out.

“Hello Mrs Sita. Good afternoon. I’m Ramesh’s class teacher”

“What happened to Ramesh? Why is he standing outside ? What did he do?” She enquired with a concerned tone.

“Ramesh has become a bad influence on his class mates.”

It had all started in the morning. Like any other day he was cycling to his school.  He was new to this school and city. It required lot of crying and fight to get to use the cycle.  Recently moving into double digit age corridor, Ramesh was feeling important. His usual road was blocked and had to take a detour travelling through a different path.  It’s a road he had not taken and was warned not to take this road. The new road had a lot of bumps.

‘Thud’ He hit one of the bumps and fell down. He fell side on and the cycle was crushing him from the top. Quickly a lady who was standing near by came to help him. She instantly removed the cycle.

“Are you feeling alright?” she enquired.

Ramesh started to sob a bit though had no major injuries. She dusted him off and asked “ Do you want something to drink”?

Suddenly a man jumped in out of nowhere and pushed away the lady.

“Don’t touch the boy.  Now you want to spoil small kids too? You dirty prostitute” The lady was saddened and walked aside. He quickly turned to the boy and strongly grabbed his shoulder “you should not be talking to that lady.  Now keep going to the school.”

Ramesh was stunned. He couldn't understand what happened. The one who was nice to him ended up crying and ran away, while the one who had hurt him, felt accomplished.

Curiosity had gotten over him. "What is a 'prostitute' mam?",  Ramesh asked this question to his teacher with his widened eyes after reaching school. His teacher was shocked to hear this and still thinking of what would have led to this inquisitiveness.

"Where did you learn this word from?" She asked in utter rage and shock. She instantly had called up his mother.

And Sita was in the school facing his teacher.

“Ramesh is being led in the wrong company and it can affect the kids around him” she said concerned. She even threatened them about taking this issue to the Principal if he carried on with this shenanigan. Sita assured her it was be the last time Ramesh does something like this. When Ramesh narrated the whole incident to this mother, his mother’s response surprised him. She told him sternly not to talk about this again.

Ramesh wasn't that young to not be able to differentiate the injustice being done to that girl, but he was not old enough too to understand the reasons behind it. In the evening he was determined to know why people were behaving so strange around him.  When he returned from the school he reached to the cupboard in the storage room and dusted down his father’s old websters dictionary without his mother knowledge.

25 years later.

Ramesh was walking in his house’s garden with his older daughter who had just turned 8.

“Appa what is the meaning of the word prostitute”? She asked.

The Cycle

Ramesh was becoming restless. It was almost 4 15 pm and still his mother was preparing the food. “Amma, I will have extra milk before going to bed” he was pleading. “No kanna, only 5 more minutes”, she tried to convince. Ramesh knew that his chance of batting today was diminishing by the minute and he was helpless. He was 8 years old and was slowly realizing the benefit of not protesting too much. Just as he was about the start his shrilling screech, his mom emerged from the kitchen with hot bakodas and coffee. Without much fuss he ate and left the house in a jiff in his cycle.

Though he was very happy to have a cycle, it was an old one passed on from his brother.  He had always wanted his own new cycle. As he cycled ferociously to the cricket ground, all the boys were huddled around something. Ramesh fought through the crowd to see what had created the commotion. In the center, was a new beaming cycle! It had a smooth texture; the shine and the smell of new metal were weakening the minds of all the guys around. Next to it stood Rahul, with a glint in his eyes and a smile in which all the 28 teeth of his was visible. It was his second bike. The boys were trying out the new bell which bettered the sound of a Mozart’s symphony. Many were queuing up to ride the new bike.

 It was particularly painful for Ramesh. He had agreed to reuse most of his brother’s old stuff, but had always asked for a new cycle. It was a matter of pride as cycle racing was a big thing among the kids and when was asked to take his brothers cycle, he was quite disheartened. But seeing one of your rivals getting something you carved for was the tipping point. That whole evening Ramesh was so disappointed that he did not care when he neither got a chance to bat or bowl in a cricket match. His mind was completely clouded by the image of the new cycle. To add fuel to his disappointment, Rahul was having a field day, scoring runs left right and center, as well taking wonderful catches.

As soon as the match was over he went home like a Zombie. He hated the cycle he was riding on. When he reached home his eyes were filled with tears. He shoved the cycle in the garden and went into the home. Angrily he went to take bath without talking to his mom and dad who were sitting in the living room.  The tantrums started during the dinner. He was stubborn and told his mom he would not eat anything. His mom was pleading him to have something and then his dad would arrange something. But he was adamant that until he gets a new cycle he would not eat anything. His mom was losing patience. “See he is not listening to me. Do something,” complained the mother.

“Ramesh, what is your problem?” his father patiently asked him.

A sobbing Ramesh slowly told his father about the greatest injustice committed to him. He father tried to reason out why buying a new cycle was not a good idea. But his was reasoning into deaf ears. Even extensive cajoling did not work. Finally giving in to the tantrums of Ramesh his father finally agreed to get him a new cycle the next day, much to the bewilderment of Ramesh’s mother. Finally ramesh had his dinner and went to sleep still agitated.

The next morning his father took his old cycle to his garage repainted it. To make it more attractive he added a horn of a discarded automobile and kept it ready for Ramesh.

Ramesh returned from school and was simply excited to see a shinning cycle and was particularly excited to see the horn. Unsurprisingly that evening he was the center of attraction in the playground also. Both Ramesh and his father were happy that evening.  

       

The accident

The mornings to the office are always conjusted. People have no time, be it on the car, motor bike, public transport or on foot, the mode of transport is immaterial. The suited guy uneasily trying to maneuver his BMW or the impatient school kid who does believe that his cycle has an infinite power to evade traffic; these scenes are trivial to a seasoned traveler like Ramesh, who resonates the very pulse this everyday traffic. What frustrated him to the core at the beginning, became a part of his morning routine. Ever since he bought his Skoda Rapid, he had shut himself from the outside world, enjoying the solitude of the music on his way to work. The construction for the metros, the pavement encroachments, the ad banners that supplement the shades and coolers, the non existent traffic symbols, the road dividers that are as big as the road itself, all add to the canopy of the morning traffic.

Few minutes into his journey, that started like any other day, Ramesh saw a small agitated group at a cornor that was unusual for the location. Curiosity got the better of him. He slowed his vehicle, parking it along the road and got out to find out the reason behind this untimely commotion. As he got out there was a person shouting, “Just called the ambulance, they should be here within 15 minutes”. There was another calling, “ There has been a bad impact on the head. Its important that he is taken to the hospital as soon as possible.” Only then Ramesh realized the gravity of the situation. There was a young boy lying on the lap of a middle aged lady. She was sobbing, holding the bleeding head and trying to stop the blood with her red saree. With the moist throat, she blurted out, “ There is the General Hospital near by. Can some one please get an auto. I don’t want to wait for the ambulance.”

Seeing the plight of the woman, Ramesh involuntarily responded, “you can use my car. Guys can you please lift him up carefully?” Three men from crowd, quickly heeded to his request and along with Ramesh picked the boy up. She was holding the wound on the side of the head tight. There were tears seeping out of her eyes continuously. They carefully moved him to the back of the car seat. She sat next to him. One of the other guys called up the hospital and told that the boy is on his way and asked to keep everything ready for their arrival.

“Do any of us need to come with you?” asked one of the guys who had help in lifting the boy.  “No thank you. I think I can manage”, she replied. “I have my two wheeler on the roadside, can you pls park it some place safe”? He quickly ran and puched the two wheeler to the side and locked it instantly and threw the keys to Ramesh, who had already kept the ignition ready. He kept the keys in his glove compartment and slowly started the car.

“It will take only 5 minutes” he assured her. But her eyes were fixed on the bleeding boy. He was mumbling something and was losing conscience. Now and then he opened his eyes and that was encouraging. Ramesh in spite of being ignorant in most of the things related to medical profession, quickly checked if there was blood coming from his ears. Thankfully it was not. Looking at her, he got reminded of his mother from his younger days. He could see the pain in her eyes. He now had only one task and that was to reach the hospital as soon as he can.

The traffic thankfully was not that bad. Still he had his hand fully on the horn and maneuvered the crowd expertly. As planned there was a nurse waiting outside in front of the hospital and she along with a few others helped in lifting the boy, transferred him to a stretcher and quickly went inside.  She was following them and was stopped at a point. The boy was rushed into the emergency unit.

Ramesh still lingered around wanting to know the diagnosis. A nurse came out running and told the lady standing just outside the door, “We need to quickly check for clots in the head. If there are no clots, it should not be a problem. But before we can proceed further, we want a kin of his to sign this document. Can you please sign for your son?” and she extended a paper on a pad to her.

“Just make sure he is all right.”

She quickly signed the papers and turned around saw Ramesh waiting there. Ramesh wanted to say something to comfort her and give her encouragement that her son will be fine. She came near Ramesh and started searching her shoulder bag.

“Thank you very much for the help. Can you do me another favour also?”

“Ofcourse, pls tell me.”

“My hands are bloody, can please take this phone out of this bag? It’s the boys phone and can you pls call his parents as soon as possible?”

Inspired by the Tamil idiom “petraal than pillayaa!” English translation is difficult. It exactly means a question “A son only if born out of a womb?” Dedicated to all the mothers out there.

P.S if there is some medical BS in this pls ignore.

      

The Judgement

Ramesh was sitting in the balcony, reading the Sunday Times. A retired school teacher, he filled his time with the morning walk, temples,  the newspaper and an occasional visit to the market. Hourly tea-breaks and the spice of his wife’s regular rants made his day. His wife, Saranya despised Sundays as most of the time he was glued either to the newspaper or the television.

Just then, Vikram, Ramesh's son walked in, “Good morning Dad! What news?”

“Oh! The usual run-of-the-mill stories of scams and politics,” replied Ramesh casually as he pointed at the paper.

Vikram, in his early thirties was a highly opinionated man with strong work ethics, worked as a Manager in a reputed firm. Busy throughout the week with meetings and target deadlines, he made it a point to keep his Sundays free of the official clutter, so he could spend time with his family. Vikram grinned at his Dad’s casual comment and settled down on a chair. Suddenly they could hear loud voices. They looked at each other. Putting a hand over his forehead, “Damn! It’s no different here either. The usual grind over petty issues,” lamented Vikram.

“A dash of homemade made baji with national news,” smirked Ramesh.

“How can you be so cool?"

“Will losing my temper fetch me any peace of mind? It’s a blame-game; a time-pass, nothing more than crossword puzzle is to me. By the way did you have your morning tea?” asked Ramesh.

He persuaded his son to get some tea for himself, to lighten his spirits. But Vikram refused to step into the house, as he thought the volcano had erupted and feared that the lava was spread throughout. Finally, Ramesh decided to get a cup of tea for his son and a second cup for himself. He  didn’t bother the volcano as long as he got to gulp the steaming, hot liquid.

Vikram sighed and thought, ‘Hat’s off to Dad’s patience, a go-getter, I can never be like him.’

** Sunday evening, at the beach.

Vikram and Namratha, his wife, enjoyed the crisp, cool breeze that caressed their cheeks and tickled their senses. They walked along the length of the beach, kicked sand and let the surf wet their feet. They shared a plate of hot molaga baji and munched on hot roasted peanuts. They made their way to a lone bench, where there was little noise, except for the waves hitting the sand front.

He had been married just a year ago to Namratha, a bubbly, carefree corporate girl. She was candid and outspoken in her views. A novice in home-making, she had regular confronts with her rather forgetful  mother-in-law, Sarnaya. She was still learning to manage her full time job with her house hold chores.

“You know what happened in the morning,” spoke Namratha coinciding with a large wave that hit their knees.

She didn’t wait for him to answer and blurted out, “Last night the milk had to be heated and set for curd, which usually your mom does. She forgot and left the milk out. Today morning, it got spoiled and two liters of milk got wasted. She holds me responsible for her forgetfulness. I work through out the week and its only in the weekend i can have some peaceful time.”

“If she forgot, you could have either reminded her or it’s a simple task which you could have done,” added Vikram.

“I dare not interfere in her work, she complains about everything. It doesn’t matter, whatever I do, she just has to argue. You know it’s a daily charade,” complained an irritated Namratha.

“You always take the side of your mom, no matter what she does. It looks like you don’t care for me.”

Vikram tried to pacify her, “It’s just that I was trying to make things easier for you.”
‘How could he take any one side? Both of them are dear to him, but they behave like two parallel roads which never meet. He is in a ‘Catch-22’ situation, which they will never understand. It is he who is most hurt in their squabbles.

**
Monday morning.

As he left the house for his office, when the cost was clear.
Vikram was busy throughout the day. At about seven in the evening, he got a call. For a moment he was in shock, he left office immediately.
**

To his chagrin, the heavy traffic tested his nerves. He yelled at the driver to drive fast. Anger and anxiousness brewed within, he ran to the reception, as soon as he reached the ‘Lifeline Hospital’. Namratha waited for him. He looked at her with pain in his eyes, ‘How’s he?’

“He is out of danger, still in the ICU. They have done a procedure called Coronary Ansgioplasty to remove the blocks in his arteries. Now he is under sedation. You can go in and have a look,” explained Namratha.

Vikram went in to see his dad.  Ramesh was sleeping peacefully; he was surrounded by wires and digital meters which monitored his condition constantly. The duty doctor assured him that his dad would be fine in a couple of days. 

As soon as he came out, his eyes searched for his mom. She sat in one corner of the waiting lounge with Namratha, who was holding his mother’s hand, an oddity. He sat beside them, “What happened, Mom?”

With tears in her eyes, “He had pain in his chest since two days, but he didn’t tell us. He was watching TV, and was drinking his tea. Namratha had just returned from office. He babbled something, the tea cup fell from his hand and he held his chest. Thank god, Namratha was quick enough to summon a taxi and bring him here. The doctors told us ‘more delay would have been fatal’. She was the one who had been handling everything since we brought him in. If it wouldn’t have been for her, I would have been helpless,” said his mom

“Why didn’t you ring me up?” demanded Vikram looking at Namratha.

“We did, but the network was not reachable. We obviously couldn’t have waited for you,” shot back his mother defending Namratha.

‘True,’ he had been at the site today, where signals waver. It was strange that his mother was all praises for Namratha, a volte-face. The way they spoke and comforted each other was new to him. A defiant Namratha was now the caregiver. They had proven him wrong. He was privy to their innate qualities of love and care, especially in need. 
**
The next weekend, his dad was discharged from the hospital with a list of do’s and don’ts. Namratha took charge and both mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked in tandem.
His dad looked at him, meaning to say, ‘Didn’t I say?’ Yes, a blame-game of sorts that did no harm.

Mid Life Crisis

He was happily sleeping while his mobile phone kept on ringing. Having been adequately trained over the years in snoozing alarms, sleeping through a ringing phone was a cake walk for him.  But same thing cannot be said of his wife. Grumbling she picked up the phone and answered it, half seeing who caller was.

“Hi Albert, good morning. Ramesh is still sleeping.”

“Hi Sudha , this is Stella.”  Sudha was surprised to hear Albert’s wife’s voice. Worryingly she sounded agitated.

“Yes, Stella. Is everything alright?”

“Albert had a massive heart attack this morning. We have moved him to the General Hospital. Can you pls come here?”

“Ofcourse Stella. I will be there in 30 minutes with Ramesh. Dont worry. Nothing will happen to Albert. “

“I am trying to be calm. But Joseph also did not pick up. He had slept in the hostel with his friends. They have just taken Albert to the ICU.”

“No issues at all. Do you have enough cash with you?”

“I think so. I have just brought all the cards with me as of now.”

“Dont worry . Ramesh will take care of the Finance.”

Ramesh and Albert have been business partners for over 20 years and have known each other from their school days. Ramesh was hardly a deep sleeper, always a grumpy riser from the bed in the morning.  

Grumpy Ramesh was shocked when he heard about the news.

“Albert is one of the fittest guys I have ever known. How could this happen to him! We are only 48 years old.”

Albert regularly worked out. He successfully avoided having the middle age bumps. He had a healthy life style and was always in control of his health. He looked at least 5-10 years younger than his age.

Visibly shocked Sudha and Ramesh left for the hospital immediately. They were received by a rather nervous looking Stella. Their arrival calmed down Stella a bit. Sudha started to console Stella and sat with her outside the ICU. There were several other grieving families near by. Sudha hated the aroma associated with hospitals. The only time she enjoyed this smell was when her daughter was born. In the recent times luckily neither she nor Ramesh had to stay overnight in a hospital.

  There was some frantic action in and out of the ward, with several medical staff entering the room. Ramesh tried to enquire about the progress to the fleet footed nurses and doctors without any success. After a 6 hour wait, the doctors came out with some good news. They explained for a few minutes in medical jargons that they could only understand, the gist of which meant that Albert is no more critical.  There was relief all around. After about 8 hours, Albert was in a state to see everyone.  Ramesh and Sudha finally left the hospital.

“We have to come here again tomorrow” said a concerned Ramesh to Sudha.

“Yes. I will cook something for Joseph and stella. The hospital food is not upto the mark.”

“Yes thats there. But I have booked a complete medical check up for both of us in the afternoon.”

Sudha was intrigued.  

 “It’s true that we have been trying to improve our dietary habits, but don’t you think you are over reacting to Albert’s situation?”

“Are you kidding!  Albert was the best of the lot. Look at me, my tummy. God only knows what my cholesterol level is. There must be a start. You have also been constantly gaining weight, ever since Lakshmi was born. We don’t take our health seriously.  Albert’s healthy life style must have saved him today. If we get a cardiac arrest, I am not sure if we would survive that.”

“Dont talk inauspicious things.”

“I am just being pragmatic.”

The general check up turned out to be scarier than expected. While both of them were in the overweight category, they also had Hyper tension, near high blood sugar level. Sudha had weak cartilages in her knees and Ramesh had high Cholesterol levels. They also had other minor issues. In short, their health was in a mess. Their medical report was a rude wake up call.

Within two days, it was Ramesh who reacted first. “I have got us membership in ABC fitness center. They have aerobics and power Yoga also. Its 3 kms from here. Daily morning we can cycle there. I have ordered 2 bicycles also.”

“  I have been browsing the internet for some healthy diet tips. I found this GM weight loss diet plan. It’s assured 5-6 kg weight loss in a week. Its mainly fruit and veggie based. Absolutely no rice at all. Starting from tomorrow let us try that.”

Thus began their quest of finding that perfect health. The first day they woke up at 5 in the morning and cycled to the gym. 1 hour of moderate workout was exhausting but, they enjoyed every bit of it. After that started the GM diet routine.  First  day was fine. But as they entered the 3^rd day, the lack of food and physical exhaustion was taking its toll on them. They were getting easily irritated and started taking out the frustration from lack of food on each other.

It was the 4^th day morning. The fight the previous night was plain bad and they were not in talking terms with each other. They got dressed for the gym and left silently in the car. Ramesh was driving and there was no eye contact at all between them. He stopped at the local restaurant.

“2 plates sambar vadai and 2 ghee masala dosas pls”.

Sweets

It was that time of the year and Ramesh was sitting in his school with great anticipation. His grand mom had come to visit them and she had been really busy making sweets. Today the first batch of sweets would have been ready. He was impatient for the final bell like a ballet dancer waiting for her very first dance performance. Just as it rung, it was music to his ears and in no time was down stairs ghosting past the corridor and playground towards the cycle shed.

"Ramesh, cricket by 4 30 at the BVR grounds?" shouted his friend from a distance.

"Sorry too busy . Wont be able to make it today" retorted Ramesh as he hastily climbed down the stairs ignoring the look of surprise in his friend's face. Ramesh usually was the first person in line for playing cricket. But there are darker things at play in the background. Smelted sugar in collusion with milk, ghee, oil  and other collaborators in their multitude of forms were playing havoc in this innocent young boy's mind. He had only one motto in his life for the day and it was to get his hands on those freshly made gustatory delights. He quickly unlocked his cycle and flashed towards his home.

"Mom, I am  back" he shouted as he was about to enter his ground floor building. He dumped his cycle in the congested place below the stairs and  wanted to burst open that door like Hannuman from the fables. The aroma of freshly fried sweets was piercing his stomach through his nose.

"Ramesh kanna" called out his elderly neighbor lady.
"Hi Uma aunty, good evening" replied Ramesh without taking his eyes off the door.

"Your mom has taken your grand mom for some shopping. She wanted me to give me this key to you. She will be back in another 30 minutes."

Ramesh was stunned, and could not believe how his mom could do this to him. With great disappointment he went to get the keys.  But that disappointment soon turned into elation when he realised that he would be spending atleast 30 minutes alone in the house without his mother's supervision with only the freshly prepared sweets for company. It's like having a deepavali vacations being thrust upon a week earlier.

"Would you like to come in and wait here till your mother comes ?"

"No Aunty I will wait in my house" replied ramesh hastily and grabbed the keys off her frail hands and burst open the door just like his hero Hanuman, but with the help of the keys.  He entered the cosy little apartment and set out for the kitchen. He threw his bag on the bed and did not bother to change his clothes. His eyes were fixed on the kitchen. Every step he took made the aroma stronger and increased his appetite.

He entered the kitchen which was very clean, the hallmark of the presence of his grandmother. Usually it is never this clean and it was arguably the only trade secret she had failed to pass it on to her daughter. Ramesh quickly scanned over the entire kitchen. He knew the blue print of the kitchen by heart and where to locate the most important stuff. He scanned through the shelves for new containers. His eyes were probably betraying him, but he could not find anything new. Refrigirator was his next place to explore. The only new things he found there was his grandmother's set of fake teeth and that day's sambar. His frustration peaked. His mother was quite clever and knew exactly where to hide things.  Ramesh had been successful a few times in digging out these treasure troves.

He closed the refrigerator and hypothetically wore his sherlock holmes hat.  He scanned the room once again carefully. He was the tallest 10 year old in his class. Even the tallest of 10 year olds have a problem and their parents are atleast twice their height. "Think like a criminal and you will solve all the mysteries", he told himself the famous quote of holmes. He took a few steps backwards and looked up. Eureka!! there it was. A complete new stack of porcelain and stainless steel containers on the top most deck of the shelf. The containers happily smirking at him "take it if you can".

His mind the raced fast and looked around for something that could make up the deficit of 2 meters  required to reach the top. The stool in the living room was the obvious choice. He slowly pulled it into the kitchen. He mounted on the stool and tried reaching the top shelf without any success. Still he was off by a few feet. He had to bump up the height. The future engineer had his instincts kick in and reached out to a container that was lying on the floor for drying. He placed the container on the stool. The container had a narrow top and a broad botttom. He placed the container inverted on the stool and  slowly mounted the 2 layers of height boosters. The plan worked to perfection. He almost reached the top of deck of the shelf.

Jealous of the young boy's success fate had to intervene. The container destabilised on the stool and he feel down with a huge thud!! The sweets were so close yet he could not gorge them. As he was contemplating a second try for reaching the top, the door slowly opened. The boy quickly set the container straight, masked his pain in his ankle with a bright smile on his face and then sat on stool keeping his face sad so as to gain his mother's sympathy.

"Mom where are the sweets? " He shouted as his mother entered the kitchen.

His mom could not control her laughter. "The little detective here must have searched the entire house and forgot to check his own table."

Stunned ramesh ran to his room. Lying on the table there was a beautiful little container with a note, saying "Enjoy the sweets. Love - Mom".

The new Milieu

He slowly opened his eyes. His head was hurting, the vision was blurred, the muscles were aching and his mind just refused to turn on. The grass bed he was lying on was an ethereal sleeping pill which he could not shrug off. He then looked around. There was a dense forest cover. Tall bamboo trees, Kinos, Rosewood and Sandalwood blocked his view of the horizon. The noisy birds and the rodents were adding to the cacophony which more or less magnified the pain in his head. He slowly turned his head around, through the small cracks between the trees to see the morning sun rising behind the silhouette that outlined the tall mountains near by.  The  sight of the mountains startled him. His survival instincts kicked in and the information slowly sunk into him. "THIS IS NOT HIS HOME". He had never seen something that was that tall. He wanted to run as far far away as possible. He, summoning all his energy, got up and started to run. He slowly gained momentum, inspite of his frail health and non-existent stamina. But "BOOM" and he fell down. He hit a iron railing which was the barricade. The pain was excruciating and involuntarily he fell down giving up to the pain. His eyes closed and he started floating into the past.

The past looked secure and beautiful. There was the warmth of his mother,protection of his father and the security of his kinsmen all around. The bright autumn afternoon after rains is always a sight to behold. He was happily cuddling on his mother's lap. His father had returned and it was the dinner time. Playing with his brother was one of his favorite pass times, the pressing problem he encountered was how could he outrun his nimble brother who was older than him. As soon as he saw his brother he leapt off his mother's lap and started running behind him like his life depended on it. This was hardly part of the evening plan, but his parents were enjoying the fun their kids were having. After letting them run around for a few minutes, his mom with an authority only parents can have, stopped them on their strides and asked them to come for dinner. The food was ready to be consumed and the brothers in no time started to quarrel about who will get the first bite.

Everything was so surreal, and the reality was like a dream, but his brother was getting the better of him in this fight also. If only he could do something about it. Then as if  some soothsayer had heard his plea and sent down a prophecy, his brother fell down like a heap. His eyes lit up when he saw this and went ahead to gorge the food available. Little did he realise what was happening around. His parents' protection radar was full on and were trying their best to protect him. His smile slowly started fadding when he saw his father fall down just like his brother in front of him. His mother   roared at him to run as fast as he could.  He started running at pace to take cover. Then he saw his mother who was running just behind him fall as well. He stopped and turned around to run towards his mother. He felt it then. Initially it was like a thorn pricking him. Then it was like a big log striking him in his head. The whole world was turning dark and was closing on him. And then it all went black.

He opened his eyes once again. His head was spinning, hurting and his legs were trembling. He was far away from home and all the people he cared about were nowhere to be in the vicinity. Where are his parents and brother? Are they together or are they also confused and alone in some place? Will he meet them? He wanted to let his brother take all the food. Alas it was too late.  He ran in all the 4 directions and everytime  he hit the railing.

Behind the railings there was a small girl standing and looking at him with her mother.

"Mama, why is he so agitated?"

Her mother looked at her and asked her to look at the board near. "Tiger cub rescued from poachers. Will be temporarily kept in the zoo. Be careful, could be ferocious."

"Poor cub, he is agitated because he is yet to realise that he is safe."

The wish

The long and arduous trek was coming to an end. An 8 hour trek on an uncompromising trail for a bunch of amateurs is necessarily not a match made in heaven, but a challenge indeed. Ramesh and his buddies were feeling the ache in their muscles. This kind of weekend get away once a month recharged them completely. The confluence of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, along the western ghats is one of most picturesque places and is sparsely populated. A walk through the nature in the midst of the autumn skies, where the lush green face of the nature smiles through the convoluted path taken by these guys, with the incessant rains as their sole witness, is truly rewarding. With technology left high and dry behind, not by choice, but because of the lack of access for the gadget guys to weave their magic and fill the air with electromagnetic radiations. For about 4 hours they had absolutely no contact with the outside world. Ramesh and  his buddies Rahul and Imran are from Bengaluru. Its their common interest in trekking that brought them together. They have been going on atleast one trek a month for the past half year.

Slowly they were coming close to the human inhabitants, ably assisted with increasing levels of network connectivity in their mobile phones. The first village they reached was a very small one. Completely parched, they went on a hunt for a place that could serve them something to eat. After a 10 minute walk through a colony of thatched roof huts and mud roads, they found a small place that was serving hot tea and some associated edibles. The place looked no different than a hut nearby, only distinguishing feature being the board in the front telling about whats being sold there. The shop had a few customers happily munching the bhaji and having their tea. There was a girl, possibly in her early teens, standing and heating up her mini boiler to make tea. Another young boy, possibly older than the girl, was cleaning the space. As our trekkers entered the shop, they were greeted by a warm smile. Since the space was limited, only 2 could have a place to sit. Ramesh, being the only smoker in the group, let the others sit and wanted to go out for a puff. He was only person amongst three, who could speak the local language, Tamil. He ordered food for all three and slowly went outside stretching his aching limbs.

As Ramesh was smoking and checking his emails and messages in his phone, the young boy came out with Ramesh's tea.

"Anna, tea." He offered the drink to Ramesh.

"Thank you" said Ramesh stuffing his phone in his pocket and sat down on a boulder nearby with his tea and smoke.

"Anna, where are you coming from?" the young boy asked Ramesh hesitantly in the local dialect of Tamil.

"From the big town, Bengaluru"

"I have been there once. Its so huge. It must be larger than Kotagiri also. What do you do there?"

Ramesh was pleasantly surprised by the comfort level and the inquisitiveness of the boy.  He pointed to the truck near by and said "I build cars and truck. That truck is produced by my company. Rahul works with computers and Imran makes sure we have enough money to do our work." He also introduced his whole group to the boy.

With glittering eyes, he looked at Ramesh and said " Then you must be very well read. What have you studied?"

"I have completed a masters degree in Engineering. Do you go to school?"

"Yes I go to the high school in Kotagiri and I will be writing my 10th standard exam next year! I cycle 12 kms daily and nowadays I am taking my sister also", said the boy proudly pointing at the girl near the boiler also.

"Basically I have studied 8 more years than you as of now!"

Slowly they became comfortable with each other and started talking without any inhibition. The young boy was asking Ramesh all about Bangalore, his higher education and his work. Ramesh to his credit was patiently explaining and answering all his questions.

"Anna, do you have lot of money?" asked the young boy suddenly out of nowhere.

Bit surprised at such a direct question, Ramesh said, " I would like to have more, but I think I have good enough."

"Can I ask you for a help?"

Ramesh guessed what would be coming next. Usually when such conversations happen invariably people want money from him. Though he was kindhearted he usually did not approve of giving money. But he felt bad for this young boy and wanted to give him some money. So ramesh started opening his wallet.

"Ayyo Anna, I dont want your money. Can you please pray for me? Pray that one day I study a lot and become successful like you?"

People, they never cease to surprise.

The class test

Mathematics was his favorite class of all in the 6th grade. The teacher was solving one of the most interesting problems in the chapter "playing with numbers". It was a piece of cake and he really enjoyed solving it very fast. All he required from the teacher was to show which problem to solve and by the time she completes reading the problem, he would have finished it. But today he had to skip solving the problems. With heavy heart he had his math book open on the table, but had his eyes fixed on the book that was open on his lap. His history text book. As much as the migration of Aryans from somewhere middle of Europe to an unknown hinterland sounded not only drab, but also completely incomprehensible. But the class test in the afternoon is something he cannot avoid. As he tried to remember the path followed but the Aryans, he could sense the bout of sleep that was about to hit him. He tried to keep his eyes open. He had not opened his civics books yet. The fundamental rights and duties and adult franchise was waiting patiently for him to master. This simple thought gave him a piercing headache. "I will not watch the football world cup anymore" he promised himself, blaming his father whose football fanaticism rubbed onto him also. The face of Kamala mam, his fearsome social science teacher frightened him and pushed him into going through the most boring text he had ever read in his short career as a student.

 He could not hold off his slumber anymore and involuntarily fell on the desk, with his history book sliding off his lap. "Mam, Ramesh has fainted " shouted the overly enthusiastic boy sitting next to him. His sound was good enough to jerk Ramesh off his slumber. But his mind reacted faster than his eyes and kept them closed. He remembered the girl who had fainted the other day during the morning assembly session. She had received a royal treatment from all around and was sent home to take rest. He thanked the headless chicken who shouted, silently and went on to play the role of poor little kid to perfection. He could hear all the commotion around the room. A moment of fame or rather infamy is not bad for the average kid. His young math teacher had panicked and did all she could to wake him up or rather bring him back to his senses. Ramesh was secretly enjoying all the attention he was getting. "Raju, go and fetch the peon and the PT master" she instructed one of the boys fervently. By the time the those people arrived, Ramesh was calmly lying on a desk.

He precisely knew how he should act now. In another 10 minutes, he would open his eyes slowly and be groggy for a few minutes. He would explain the teachers that he had skipped breakfast in the morning. If all goes well in another hour his parents or atleast mom would be here taking him home. It was the summer and students fainting was a common occurrence. The idea of skipping the class test was too sweet even to imagine for him. By this time, the news had percolated to the headmaster and had cut short his morning rounds to visit the 6th standard F section. The sound of his 6 feet plus stout head master had spooked him a bit, but he was quite confident of pulling off the sick child act. "I have already called his parents. His mom will be here in another 20 minutes "declared the headmaster. It was music to his ears.

The stage two of his action plan was set in motion. Like a seasoned actor getting the role of his lifetime, he showed signs of getting back his senses. There was a lot of commotion amongst the students. "We will take him  to the office room, so that you can continue with the classes" declared the headmaster. "Can you walk Ramesh?" asked the headmaster with genuine concern. On seeing Ramesh node doubtfully, he asked the peon to help him reach the office room. Much to the chagrin of the class, Ramesh left to room and math lecture was to be restarted.  The events that followed perfectly feel in line with the script of the imaginary "faking a faint to skip a class test" manual, Ramesh had in mind. In exactly 40 minutes, he was sitting in the backseat of his mother's car. It was the perfect contraption, with all the pieces exactly falling in the right place. Sitting back, he enjoyed his mother rumbling about his father being ignorant and careless about his health.

As expected he got a royal treatment at home. His mom had taken the day off and started preparing his food. By noon, he was happily munching his favorite combination of Rasam rice and Bhindi fry, watching the highlights of previous day's football match, completely oblivious to the happenings in his class. During the social science period, a very young teacher who recently joined the school walked into a class of relived students, to make the announcement that, Kamala mam was sick that day and the test had been postponed to the next day. The students could use the free period to prepare for the test!!!