Girl on Platform 10

“50 Rupees Sir”
“No! Its only 40”
“Sir we agreed for 50”
“Don’t lie! Why cant you autowallah’s speak truth?”
“Sir Petrol prices have increased sir, 40 Rupees is too little sir”
“I am not giving anything more than 40 bucks, just take it”
Anand thrust the money in the hands of autowallah and headed towards the Railway station entrance. This has been a routine fight he has been facing during his weekly trips to and from Chennai. He is not a “Yet-another-Bangalore-techie” who splurges money on anything and everything.

Anand never liked Chennai, especially because of the hot weather. Whenever he visited the city, he used to make sure that he stayed indoors. Places like these make him think that fan and Air conditioner are the man’s greatest inventions yet!

After picking a cup of iced tea, he walked into the Higginbothams book stall to stay in the air conditioned environment and kill time. The book store owner gave him a stare; he can very well judge who is going to buy and who is going to do window shopping, just from their looks and appearance.

“The same old stuff, why aren’t there any new books?” murmured Anand.
“If you come here every week, you won’t find much change in the collection. Come here after 6 months, you will find new books” The store owner replied back with a rough voice.

As he walked towards Platform 10, he noticed a pretty girl walking past him, carrying a sports bag. She must be about 20 years old, wearing jeans and red tops, thick frame glasses and a mild fragrant perfume. She must be an angel, thought Anand.

As he reached Platform 10, he started looking for a place under a fan. His train would take another forty five minutes to get to the Platform and he couldn’t imagine standing somewhere in that hot weather. He soon spotted a place that was right under a fan and as he sat down, he could hear heavy gasps from others who missed that place just because they were 2 seconds behind Anand. This is perhaps the best place in this platform, thought Anand. He soon settled comfortably in his place, with his ipod and a Salman Rushdie novel. While he was reading, he could smell the same fragrance and as he looked up, he saw the same lavishing beauty crossing him. He also noticed that she gave a quick glance at him as she crossed by. Wow, that almost pierced my heart, thought Anand.

After couple of minutes, as the girl crossed him again, the same thing happened, but this time, the duration of her glance was slightly longer. She also passed on a casual smile at him and he was completely blown off! Oh my god, she is really watching me, thought Anand. He had always had a reputation of being a big flirt, right through his school and college years. This was yet another chance to further his reputation.

As the girl crossed his place once more, she stared at him again and also flashed a cool smile at him. Wow, she is really seeing me, thought Anand. He waited for her to cross him again. Anand waited for several minutes, but she didn’t come back. Enough waiting; let me go ahead and look for her, thought Anand.

Anand picked up his stuff and started walking in the direction in which she was headed earlier. He almost reached the end of Platform 10 but he didn’t spot her. He also looked for her in the book store and the hotel but he couldn’t spot her. He searched for nearly 15 minutes and finally gave up the search. Hard luck this time as well, Anand consoled himself. As he headed back to Platform 10, he remembered that he had squandered his comfortable seat. He rushed back to see if it was still available. As he walked towards the place, he could see a young lady, wearing a red top and thick frame glasses, sitting comfortably in the “most wanted” place. What a loser, Anand cursed himself as he reached out for his hand kerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

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(Dedicated to S - This is my B'day gift to you :) )

The Brown box

"Good evening Mr.Sidharth! You have a parcel sir, please collect it from the front desk. Have a great weekend!"

I was surprised to hear the voice mail message that evening, after coming back to hotel from work. As I dropped my suitcase on the sofa, I played the message again to make sure that I wasn't dreaming, especially after officiating a quarterfinal match between two of the hottest stars in the women's tennis circuit.

I have been a nomad for the last 8 years, shuttling between US, Europe and Australia on refereeing duty. The name Sidharth Kapoor is now a well established "brand" in Tennis circuit, being the first Indian referee to officiate in all four grand slam finals. The only people who knew my whereabouts are my parents, who lived somewhere in Amritsar. I wasn't used to getting a "parcel", especially at a hotel in New York. Tall, well built, handsome, chain smoker, vodka addict, divorcee - these are some labels with which I am usually tagged. Tennis, of course, was my first love, which lead to the break up of my second love, Neena.

After changing to casuals, I rushed to the reception to collect the parcel from the receptionist. It was a brown box, with just a label on top which said "Amazon.com". I also noticed a tracking number beneath it.

"Hey Jane, do you have any idea which parcel service delivered this brown box to the hotel?"
"No Mr. Sidharth, I wasn't there on duty when it was dropped off"
"Ok, No problem, Thanks!"
"You are welcome!"

What a useless conversation! The brown box weighed around 3 lbs and the size of the box was pretty big. I didn't expect someone to send a parcel of this size, especially when I am abroad. I decided to guess who it might be, before I even open the box. Who knows, it might be WMD or anthrax too. This is America, land of opportunities, where some college freak might want to try something new and play some prank.

"Mamma couldn't have sent this here, she normally sends gifts to my Delhi address" I was trying to figure out who might have sent the parcel.

"Will it be from Neena?"
I immediately looked for my dear ex-wife Neena's number in the Addressbook and gave her a ring.

"Hello Neenu, how are you honey?"
"I am fine. Are you drunk?"
"No, why?"
"Its 1 AM here darling and you seem to have no idea about what time zone others are in! Get lost asshole! Click!"

I could feel the fumes coming out from the receiver's ear piece the moment I heard the handset striking the floor. She is till angry with me I guess. Neena will never change; so will I!

So who else could've sent that parcel? Rishabh is still in Canada but that bloke won’t do such things in his entire life! He is the kind of a person who chose an ipod nano over ipod touch for his girlfriend, just after seeing the price tag; I cannot imagine a kanjoos like him ship gifts to New York.

This leaves me with very little options. It cannot be Rick or Steve or Ryan, all three are bit too formal and they are not the ones who can give a surprise to their friends. It can't be Joe, Rajath, Reema,Parna, Anant... Wait a minute! Will it be Ritu?

Well, it might be Ritu! In fact, I wish it was her. Ritu was my girl friend during my college days in Pune. Tall and slender, blue eyes, long hair and a sweet voice, Ritu was the perfect girl which any man can dream for. We broke up due to some personal reasons, but we still remained good friends. The last I met her was some 4 years back, at a friend's wedding. She was still looking lovely then. Marriage makes women even more beautiful, perhaps. We had a nice long chat then and she promised to surprise me some day. Well, she is one rare species who keeps up her promise, so this might very well be the day she kept her promise!

I frantically began searching for the file in my laptop, where I had noted down her mobile number. After some time, I successfully located it and dialed the number. My heartbeat was racing as I dialed Ritu's number.

"Click, Click, Click...Please check the number you have dialled!"

What a bummer! I tried the same number a couple of times, but the result was the same. I finally decided to open the parcel only after I hear any further information from the sender. I left the parcel on the sofa and headed to the fridge to get a beer. I switched on the TV to divert myself from this brown box episode.

"Tring Tring! Tring Tring! Tring Tring!"
"Hello, Sid here"
"Sidharth?"
"Yeah, who is this?"
"Arre Munna! How are you beta? This is Sonu aunty and Shibhu Uncle here, Remember?"


Sonu Aunty? Oh yes, that aunty with think glasses and a long ugly nose, who once beat me up just because I spoilt her garden with my skateboard adventure! How can I easily forget a stupid neighbour?
"Haan Aunty, aap kaise ho?"
"I am fine beta, it has been so many years since I spoke to you. I have seen you on TV so many times"
I couldn't control my "evil" grin.

"Aunty, you still have a garden? Should I bring along my skateboard to your place?"
"Nahin beta, those were fun earlier. Now I hardly have any interest in such things"
"Haan. So where are you calling from?"
"Beta, I am in New Jersey right now. Listen, I saw that you were in New York for the US Open. I was just looking for someone who will be heading to India shortly, to carry some clothes and toys for Pinky, my one year old grand daughter. Have you met her? She is a wonderful baby. I called up your Mom to..."

I immediately figured out the purpose of the conversation and the mystery behind the brown box!

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Dedicated to A and S for being such a wonderful host! You guys are awesome!!
And to S who actually sent the parcel to my address, without even informing me!!

The Deal

"You still refuse to convince me Hikachi"
Nodd picked up a Heineken before settling down in his leather recliner. He kinda liked to negotiate with someone in that position. But this time, even though a lot was at stake, he continued to be in his own laidback style while talking to his prospective "partner in crime".

"I have no reason to convince a asshole like you, Nodd. You were the one who were interested in me"
Hikachi hit back with a stern face. Hikachi's parents had settled down in Bronx when he was 2 years old. He looked very unusual compared to other Japanese kids in that locality, he was tall, muscular and handsome. The environment in which he grew up made him strong, both physically and mentally.

"Ok, Ok, Atleast talk about what you have done in the past, that has made you so ffffffamous in the underground"
Nodd was not in a good mood. It was very reasonable to be like that, when one is just out from the prison.

"Well, I am an expert with firearms and defusing bombs. Last year, i sneaked past 20 cops to get the Heiza diamond and..."

"But you still got caught by snoooooooooop, loser!"
Nodd's eyes were still closed, he continued to be in the "floating position", with a beer on one hand and cigarette on the other.

"That was because i was cheated by Akaido and i dont expect my future partners to be a snob like you"

"Whoa, whoa, chill out kid, mind your words!"

"You want my credentials, right? I cracked Wurd's maze and I still hold the key to break it under 10 seconds. I didn't reveal it to Akaido just because he didn't allow me to cross the Bridge of Ataca, while we were playing as a team in the World Cyber Games finals. Else we would have won the tournament. And you know that experts struggle with Wurd's maze"

Nodd opened his eyes, for the first time, there was fear and joy in his eyes. Here is a kid, who knows to crack the toughest part in "Counterstrike" game in under 10 seconds. This was something Nodd struggled with, before going to prison for illegal possession of firearms. With the tournament less than 10 days away, it was too good a deal to let go. But being the runner up of the tournament for 5 consecutive years, Nodd felt this is the best chance for him to hold the winner's trophy. And the cheque, of course.

"Done deal, see you at the underground at 5 tomorrow."
"Ok Nodd, but we will still play the druglords side and share the prize money 50:50. Else, no deal"
"Cool man, its 50:50 ok, and we are still the bad guys, chilloooo..."
As Hikachi walked past the door, Nodd gave him a wry smile, trying to remember where he hid his second pistol, before getting arrested by the police.

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Dedicated to all those fans of diablo and AOE, who really tested Logitech mouse and my patience during my wonderful college years...Hey psychos, you guys still rock!

A Short Story

Feb 14,2007 10.20 AM

Thangamma was on her way to "Arulmigu Sidhi Vinayagar" Temple after finishing her routine household chores. It was her routine every Wednesday, for the past 35 years. The orthodox city in which she lived had changed a lot over the last few years. Red balloons and flower bouquets decorated the sides of the street, which once used to be lined up with audio cassette shops playing T.M Soundarrajan's latest work on Lord Muruga, inundated with the smell of rose garlands and Vibudhi packets hitting the nostrils of pedestrians with ease.

"It’s all the effect of kali kalam amma", quipped Muthiah, the lone garland seller near the entrance of temple to Thangamma.
"Yes, the good times are over. Give me one archana thattu, of course with good coconut. I will pray to pillayar for the betterment of the minds of the youth"

Muthiah carefully picked up a coconut among the hundreds spread in the backyard, knocked it carefully with measured force, so as to evaluate the condition of the coconut. He then packed it along with a fresh rose garland, two bananas("Give me ripe ones, not the ones that look like dead rats"),few incense sticks("Don’t give the broken ones"), few strands of the holy "arugam pul" ("Its Pillayar's favourite") and a betel nut for courtesy sake.

Muthiah gave the archana plate to his customer for twenty years, with a respectful bow.

"I hope the coconut is good, I don’t want to see a decayed coconut inside the Sannidhi"
"It’s the best coconut available, 20 Rupees amma"
"What? It was only 18 Rupees last week, how did it increase by two rupees?"
"There were no flowers left amma, everything sold off to some big shop for valandan day"
"Every time you give me some reason or the other and extract extra money, Pillayar paathupar"
She snatched the plate from Muthiah and went inside the temple, after touching the holy steps with utmost devotion.

Subramania Sastrigal was waiting for Thangamma. He knew her routine pretty well, so he waited every Wednesday until 10.15 AM, so as to perform the special archanai for the welfare of her family.
"Ennamma, why are you late today?"
"There was no power in the house, so had to dry the clothes outside"
"Seri, I will start the archanai now"

Subramania Sastrigal started reciting the holy slokas with utmost care. He knew that if he made a mistake in the recitation, he would be caught red handed by a lady who knew all the slokas by heart. After reciting the usual Ashtotram and Vinayagar Agaval, he took the coconut out of the archanai thattu and hit it against the granite rock that lay next to Sannidhi door. As the coconut cracked into two hemispheres, Thangamma could spot something unusual in one of the pieces.
"Amma, Thenga azhugirukku"
"What, Muthiah told that it is the best coconut available and even I verified it, how can it be decayed?"
"Don’t worry Amma, it happens sometimes, nothing to worry. Please get me another coconut and I will continue the pooja"

Thangamma panicked, she knew it meant something wrong. Decayed Coconut definitely spelt bad omen.
"What wrong did I commit? I have prayed sincerely everyday, I never skipped Sankatahara Chathurthi Vratham or Vinayaga Chaturthi pooja, is Pillayar warning me about some impending danger?"
"Nothing bad would happen amma, it is just that he would be happy with a little more bhakthi from you
he will always protect those bhakthas who are sincere. You will do well, don’t worry"

Thangamma was not convinced by Sastrigal's reply. Two years ago, Mangalam had a similar experience at Sidhi Vinayagar temple and her house got robbed the very next day. Will my house also get robbed? Should I warn the Police and neighbourhood?


Feb 14,2007 6.30 PM

Sundaram started laughing loudly upon hearing the story from Thangamma that evening.
"Warn Police and neighborhood just because Thangamma tried to offer a decayed coconut? People will brand you a fool and send you to Kilpauk Mental hospital"
Thangamma was not amused with her husband's comment.
"How can you be so insensitive to my feelings? It definitely means some impending danger and Pillayar wants us to be careful"
"If something has to happen it will happen. Just try to forget the decayed coconut incident and face the reality. Dont keep narrating this to everyone around you, especially to Raghavan.He will definitely make some comments which you cannot bear. Can I get some good filter coffee now?"


Feb 18,2007 4.10 PM

"Ouch, it’s damn hot!" screamed Raghavan as Danny tossed a piece of Veg puff to Raghavan. Raghavan and Danny have been friends ever since they met in a Railway reservation counter, six years ago. They went to the same college and are now working for the same Multinational Company. With a six figure salary and no real commitments, life couldn't be much better for both these young Turks.

"How about watching Eklavya now?", Raghavan asked Danny, as he finished the last pack of potato chips.
"Yes machan, but the next show is at 4.30. If we miss that, we have to wait till 8.30!"
"We can reach the Multiplex by 4.30"
"Dei, Is it humanly possible?"
"Indha Raghavan solran, indha Raghavan mudikkaran, I will make it possible!"
"Ok, enough of Rajnikanth style, prove it dork"

Raghavan started his mighty Yamaha 250 cc bike and Danny jumped on to the pillion.
"5,4,3,2 .....And ONE!"

Raghavan's bike cruised past many other bikes and cars in the busy M.G.Road traffic with ease. The mighty Yamaha roared past the traffic signal in the nick of time. Danny heaved a sigh of relief.
"Had we got caught in the signal, you would have bitten the dust"
"Who? Me?? You still haven't seen my best"

Raghavan pushed the bike to its limits, for a moment Danny thought he was flying in the busy lanes of the crowded city.

"Shit! Why is this Innova guy not giving space for overtaking?"
"He doesn’t know that Raghavan is driving the monster behind, let me give him some driving lessons"

Raghavan moved to the right, close to the road divider and pushed the accelerator to zoom past the giant four wheeler. Had Raghavan known that the driver of Innova was just out from Styx pub, he wouldn't have made that manoeuvre.


Feb 18,2007 8.00 PM

The Doctors in the casualty ward were surprised, rather shocked to see an accident victim, come out of it without even a single fracture. Raghavan was tired of narrating the sequence of events for the nth time, but still he continued doing so. He was awaiting his friend Danny, who had gone for an Ultrasound test, just to make sure all his internals were fine.
Raghavan got a breather of space and he immediately called up his home. He got impatient by the second ring, after the third ring, he could hear the sweet voice of his mother Thangamma.
"Amma, I am alright now!"
"I know da, God is great, all my prayers these years has protected you from such a danger"
"I was wearing a helmet and Jacket, only those protected me"
"You still don’t believe the divine power, wont you? Listen, I want to tell you something that happened last Tuesday"
"Leave all that, I forgot to mention about something that happened today. As we crashed into the car, the very next moment, I realized that I was on the road and the bike was on top of me. I started screaming aloud for help. Suddenly, there was this guy waiting for his bus, he jumped amidst the traffic and pulled out the bike with a single hand! He guided me to safety and got me some water to drink. He then lifted Danny and helped him into an Auto rickshaw. I got into the same Auto rickshaw and reached the hospital. Only after we reached the hospital, I realized that I forgot to thank him. Without him, I am sure we would have been run over by some vehicle coming from behind, in that traffic"
"You didn’t tell me this today evening! Anyway, did you at least ask his name?"
"No I didn’t talk to him, but as he lifted Danny, I could see his Company Identity card that displayed his name- R.Ganapathy"

Tears started flowing down Thangamma's eyes, she knew that her prayers didn’t go in vain. She turned back and glanced at the Murugan Stores wall Calendar, she could see Vilayattu Vinayagar smiling at her with a reassuring look.