Drama

"I hate you. I hate myself. I will never talk to you again...sob...sob" said Harish and perched up the huge drum in the balcony. Every one in his class was going for the school excursion to Ooty, but for him. Momma says "no" and says she has her reasons. It was so disturbing. Kishore and Harish had been planning for this excursion for so long. They had even saved on their pocket money so that they could go boating and even have ice-cream in the cold weather. Nikhil had even promised to bring his brother's camera. Now everything was ruined.

There was never enough money for anything. Even last month when Harish wanted a Indian cricket team jersey momma said no. "What a worthless childhood it was?" thought Harish. Before he knew, Harish dozed off in the balcony and woke up early morning realizing he had slept hugging Momma. He was distraught and decided to put up a face till he went to school. It was a really bad day for him except for the fact that Vikas also was dropping out of the excursion. He decided to go to the ground and play cricket after class, even though he knew that Momma would be waiting at home.

Finally at 7 PM he reached home still maintaining the face. Kiran chacha was home and seeing Harish said "Here comes my lion". But Harish was in no mood and went straight to the balcony. Momma said "This drama started last night". He could not take this anymore. A huge tear just rolled down his cheek and just then he felt his uncle's hands on his shoulder. He decided not to turn, but his uncle gave him a key and said "My son, Momma has been saving Rs.100 every month since last fall for this bicycle. I want to see you to take a ride".

Harish did not know what to say. He ran and hugged Momma.

"I'm sorry Momma. I've been such a bad son".

"No dear...I've been quite a bad mom the whole of last year"

Chacha said "Now you both stop the drama". Everyone burst into a big laugh.

Chennai blues - III

Finally the last part of the torturous series is here :)
Part I
Part II

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"Welcome to Starbucks. What can I get for you today?"

"Two tall Cafe Lattes with cream, a croissant and a muffin"

"Can I get anything else for you sir?"

"Please use fat free"

"And the name on the cup, sir"

"Pramod...P R A M O D"

"Thanks have a good day...Next in line please"

As Pramod stepped out of the line he saw a familiar face.

"Hi Pramod. How are you doing?"

It was as if lightning struck him. "Hey I'm alright...How are you?"

Arjun's eyes welled up. "It has been a long time...hope alls well with you..."

"Yeah...pretty good"

"I still feel sorry for that night"

"In some ways its for all of our good"

"Yes...I think...may be"

"Of course...You should meet Radha. Hey Radha, this is Arjun, the one I was talking to you about. Arjun this is my wife Radha"

"Hi Radha...You both make a great pair". Radha knew everything about Arjun and what happened that night.

"You are so lucky. Pramod is truly a treasure"

"Boss...I'm far from that"

"You have so not changed"

"Coffee for PRAM 'ODD" said the lady. Radha reflected. She was indeed lucky to meet Pramod. And ever since she heard that story she had always wanted to meet Arjun. And today her wish came true. It was about 6-7 years ago. That was when Pramod was not really sure if he wanted to be with Susan. There was a palpable tension in the relationship and one day, after a long discussion and argument with Susan, Pramod went to pick up Arjun from the airport.

Arjun was coming back after six months and it was not difficult to notice that something was amiss with Pramod. Notwithstanding his jet-lag, he made Pramod to take the next exit so that he can drive himself. As Pramod took the exit they heard a small thud behind and some squeaks.

“What’s that”

“Donno man. Let’s just get home soon”

The next day was probably the worst in their lives. Apparently Susan had been following their car and when he took the sudden exit, she tried to take a sharp turn too. The thud they heard was actually Susan’s car toppling over. Help reached her several hours later and she did not survive the crash. Pramod was shaken and Arjun had pangs of guilt for having made Pramod take the exit.

Shortly, after Pramod relocated and soon enough decided to go to Chicago GSB for an MBA. Radha was doing liberal arts at Chicago and after knowing each other for a while they decided to get together. Arjun moved around too and was now an associate vice president of a large American firm.

“You should come home for a dinner”

“Sure man. I’ll call you soon”

“Take care dude”

“Bye…Radha you are a very lucky gal”

“Yes…Indeed” thought Radha as a tear went down for Susan.

Chennai blues - II

"Surprise, surprise. Just close your eyes and sit here". Pramod sat on the couch wondering what Susan had up her sleeve.

"Ok. Open your eyes now"

"Wow. That is a surprise indeed. Let me try some". Pramod slurped and had a spoonful of the gajar-ka-halwa.

"So. Where did you buy this from?"

"Naughty. I made it for you"

"You are kidding me"

"No. Ever since you mentioned that you miss the halwa your mom makes I was planning on this. I googled up the recipe"

"And where did you get all the ingredients?"

"I went to the Patel store and bought these. The lady was really curious who I was trying to impress"

"And you told her my name?"

"Whatever is wrong with you. I will never get the idea of you secretly dating me"

"Nothing is sure as of now. I don't want the gossip hungry Indian housewives chirp away about us and get the story across all the way back home"

"Are they so bad?". Pramod just finished the halwa and gave back the bowl for a refill.
What does your friend Arjun think about us?"

"Arjun... He will support me in whatever I do. Just that I need to make up my mind"

"Take your time sweetheart". Susan gently kissed Pramod and rested on his shoulders.

Pramod continued his halwa feast. Everything was so sweet about Susan. But for her anguished past, a painful divorce and losing custody of her child. She was too young to have gone through all that. But now that she has found Pramod, life had a new meaning.

Pramod had never experienced so much attention in life. Everything was great about life now. It was all like a dream. But somehow he still knew there was something amiss.

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To be concluded...

Chennai blues - I

"Hey, watch out", screamed Arjun as a Forrester zipped past their small Corolla. "Whatever happened to you. Do you realize this is I70 and not your panagal park main road where there is no lane discipline". Pramod didn't utter a single word. "Take exit 204 and I'm gonna drive after that".

"Susan...I don't know how she is now?"

Arjun set the cruise control and glanced over "Why what happened to her?"

"No da...We had a small misunderstanding"

"What business do you have with American women? You don't even talk to our desi girls"

"I tried to convince her but she would not accept anything"

Arjun took exit 197 and stopped the car in the 'Sonic' parking lot.

"Are you ok? I don't quite understand what you are saying. Whats going on between you and Susan? What doesn't she accept?"

"Boss. She wants to marry me and will not take any amount of reasoning why it cannot work that way"

Six months is indeed a long time. Arjun finished his last project and went back to Chennai to take care of some family stuff and Pramod continued in the same apartment 'coz he was sure of Arjun's return. Bored without company he joined the neighborhood gym and started taking aerobics lessons. Susan had her share of rhythm troubles with step aerobics and so the instructor set up separate times for Pramod and Susan. The typical south Indian good boy he was, he could not help notice that Susan was cute. She was around his age and seemed to be very quiet for the average American. Pramod liked ogling at her but never tried to initiate any conversations until Susan stopped him after class one day and said, "Hey, I'm Susan."

"Hi...I'm Pramod Rangarajan. You can call me Pramod"

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Story...to be continued

Love in the times of Telepathy

It was a Wednesday morning, early march, and was raining heavily. Radha just hung up on a phone call from office and looked at her phone. She just hoped that Shakti would call her and check how she was. She had been waiting for his call since last evening but in vain. She rested herself against the wall clenching the phone and looked up at the ceiling. It was almost a year since she joined this company. Shakthi had joined her project around six months ago but was working on a different module in the same floor. For a long time they never knew each other and Radha being the traditional Indian girl never even exchanged smiles with strangers. One Saturday, late last September, she was waiting for her office cab to drop her home at 1100 PM. Just then Shakthi came by and said “Hi”. She just turned around and did not even acknowledge his smile. As luck would have it the cab broke down mid-way. After more than an hour they finally managed to get a taxi. When she got down Radha said “Thank you” and looked at Shakthi’s eyes for the very first time.

Shakthi was a very charming man, the youngest Senior Manager in the company and unmarried. After that night they started bumping into each other more and before they realized they were spending a lot of time together. Radha was not in the same league and came from a middle-class background. Her father retired last year and was keen on getting Radha and her younger sister married. Radha and Shakthi were getting closer and their philosophical discussions and sweet nothings kept them enamored all the time. It became customary for her to give Shakthi wake up calls every day and last month he took her to his house. She met everyone in his family and they were all really nice. Everything was on a roll.

Yesterday, she came back from work quite early and to her surprise her uncle, Parthasarathy mama, and her aunty were at home. They were her closest relatives and have been by their side through thick and thin. Mama said “Radha, take a day off tomorrow. My best friend Rangachari is coming with his son to see you. His son is a Senior Design Engineer in Motorola, Hyderabad”. A shiver ran through her spine. She knew that her father was trying to find a match for her but this was a total shocker. She immediately called up Shakthi and told him about the new development. Shakthi responded with utter silence. He said no words of reassurance, not even a “It will all be ok”. Radha finally hung up. The Rangachari’s came to see her and immediately wanted the engagement within two days. She could not understand what was going on with her life. Nobody really seemed to care what she thought about the whole thing. She kept calling Shakthi and sent him several messages but of no vain. Tomorrow it was her engagement and she wanted to know what really went through Shakthi’s mind. Did he really like her? Why did he get into a sudden silence? Why is he not responding to her calls and messages? She wondered why she was not living in the era where “Love happened through Telepathy”.
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My first attempt at a small story. My dear friend AS gave me the title and asked me to write whatever I can think about it.