Sangeetha should be waiting outside.. I have had this satin-like comfortable feeling, everytime I'm in this baggage belt. After picking this up, its straight into my country. Searching among heads, and finding the happy hands that waves towards me. They would have spotted me coming out.. but i will be struggling to figure out my mom and dad. Few gazes, and there they will be. Mighty delighted to see their son. And how delighted i feel ? you should ask the on-lookers. I leave the trolly just like that (this is a fashion) and jump towards them and give them a hug. Boy ! o Boy ! mom and dad.
This time is different. Im feeling quircky. I've come down for my betrothal and marriage (latter depending on the former). I've spoken to Sangeetha over phone, breaking the ice.. and I assumed we were beginning to get intimate. She sounded good, sociable and very practical. Mom is very satisfied with her. After all, that is what matters to me the most.
There comes my baggage. This time one extra suitcase. (and one extra hand-baggage). I made sure, the gift i had brought her is easily reachable. Actually, i got many gifts for her.. but i dont want to give it today. Mom and dad might think otherwise. I can do that later. So, a simple pack of make-up set (thats what usually people buy for their would-be's, dont they)..
There's the Exit. I just take a look at myself. I look good. I make sure the laptop is visible amidst all the luggages. I get out the shirt thats neatly tucked in. I wanted to look casual. I usually tuck in and look formal when i walk out. My dad always likes me formal. But he wont mind this time.
Gawd !This should be a remarkable trip, this time.
dEEP sIGH ! oohg !!
I walk towards the exit. There's a lot of hands, heads and name boards. There's mom and Sangeetha.
It is beginning to rain, as I rush towards them.
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3 weeks later.
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Me and mom are standing in the Check-in counter. We couldnt talk to each other.
The flight is delayed by 30 minutes, due to heavy rain. The rain that spoiled my life.
To be Continued.................
PS - I have no idea, how i'll end this story. I just wanted a plot where we can play around with our imagination. The theme is to tell, how "simple actions/reactions" can deviate the flow of life. Seriously, life's twists and turns (and whirls) are decided by petty things in life.
With that in mind.. can you think of ending the story. (Its a flashback we need !)
7 comments:
If I think of an ending, what will you do :D
Let your imagination go wild. What did the rain do? Did anybody slip and fall? Did any important thing get wet? Go ahead, and let me know when you finish the story :)
it was a rainy day the previous week. sangeetha had just stepped out of the house - a simple action - but she did not notice the fallen power line in the muddy puddle of water. she was electrocuted and died instantly. no sangeetha, no marriage :-P.
it was the rain that spoilt my life....
I had dreamt of this delicate fair maiden, pretty doe like eyes and an angelic smile. I had dreamt of long hair and homely (not plain, but just homely) face.
I had dreamt of unsung melodies in her voice....
Sangeetha was none of those. Can photos and reality be so apart? I often wonder to this day.....
If you are wondering as to why i marriee her...well...let me take you nack to yet another rainy day during my short stay in india....
"She's not my kind of girl"...i said, the frustration showing in my voice...
"But her horoscope is just right for you..infact she would bring great fortunes for you.....", my dad explained, totally unable to understand my point..
"Intha maathiri jaathaga porutham noothula onnu thaan da..illa illa..ayirathula onnu....manasu othupoganam, athaan mukkiyam.....Us la irukkum bothu othu pochu sonniye?", the worry lines were beginning to deepen in my mother's fore head
I didnt have a choice...i gave in..just like i did, when i had to do engineering instead of viscom,yeah, just like all those other days.....
Three rainy days that totally changed my life...
Now I am begining to hate rains....
So did we get along great during our short stay together? NO, I didnt divorce her...just that her Visa processing is taking a little longer, so i am going alone..."
Well, now , you must be thinking that i am a selfish, egotistic beep-beep!
NO, I am not that bad...in our short stay together, i tried to be as nice as i can be....
Yet I couldnt get myself to love her..may be i had just lived with my dream for way too long! Unfortunately, she was not what i had dreamt of!
Did she feel soemthing amiss? I dont know..to this day..as i am about to leave...
My parents and Sangeetha are now walking with me as i make my way inside the aorport. They come wiht me as far the visitors are allowed.
I stop and turn back to face them. MY mom, as always, is emotional, and she never tries to hide them. My dad was searching words for his emotions....They may be differnt, or even strange, but i still love my parents!
And then i looked at her, my wife, Sangeetha...
I didnt know what she saw in my face,
"I want to speak a few minutes with you....alone.."
She said, as humble as she always had been.
"Yes..", and my parents moved away to a book shop.
She looked up at me again this time and what do i see in her eys, tears..they were brimming..in each little corner of her eyes stood an ocean....
Her lips began quivering, and her hands trmbled as she reached out to hold mine.
I didnt know what was happening...
Will she really miss me this much, I mean, what have i done for her, i havent taken around, our hneymoon trip was to a temple in some god-forsaken village with all my relatives....i hadnt bought her anything after marriage..yet, there she was.....missing me already!
At that moment, the rain got back its romantic nature....
I didn't tell her though..I felt ashamed of myself..she gave me unconditional love, loved me as i was...
I walked away, letting that silence linger on.i climbed on to the plane..it was yet to take of....i looke through the window, it was raining still....
I smiled to myself, took out my cell phone, dialled a number hurriedly before the plane could take off....
"I love you ..", i whispered to Sangeetha
I read the original story...
I saw the last line of monu's version of the flashback (It caught my eye. I didn’t read the thing because I wanted to give an uninfluenced ending...but some damage was done...)
My version of the flash back...
Three weeks earlier:
It started to rain as I left the airport. Rain in Chennai? It must be a good omen. And there she is! My bride to be...I know I said. I said that I've come down for my betrothal and marriage with latter depending on the former...But I knew at that moment: She is the one. Who is said love at first sight is not possible? (Especially if the families are already ok with me and her being "us" ;)...
We got in the car. I wanted to drive. I wanted to talk to her. If I drive I will be able to get rid of any unnecessary nerves and awkward silences, that is if the arise. Dad sat in the back seat with mom. Sangeetha was riding shotgun.
I was very cautious in driving. I didn’t want anything to give a bad impression to her. I tried making conversation with her. The rain was getting heavier now. I was hoping that the roads will not be muddy in my neighborhood. That was the case when I left here last time. I nearly had an accident on the way to the airport that time. Some stupid two-wheeler. It could have been a big fiasco. Well...come to think of it, it was raining that time too... Gods of Chennai must really like me. I don’t know why in our country we associate rain with good omens even if it turns road to slush and makes life on road a life in hell. But I didn’t notice much of the rain this time.
There she is. So close to me. Everything I dreamed of and then a little more. She talks so sweet. She sounds so confident. What an enchanting smile. She is not even bothered that my mom and dad are trying to listen in on every word we are speaking. They teach u manners and curiosity gets the best of them. So much for manners! I don’t care. How many people can say that their love at first sight happened right there in front of their parents with their approval?? I am happy. I am ecstatic. I probably will never doubt mom and dad's judgment again in anything. I never would've thought I will meet such a girl. For a moment our entire future flashed in my head. I momentarily drifted off to dreamland. I didn’t notice a cat crossing the road till it was almost too late...$#iT!! I avoided it by swerving away. Though I was riding relatively slow, the sudden swerving and tiny screeching let out by the car spoiled the mood...All our hearts were beating unnecessarily fast. We fell quiet. Stupid cat! I thought cats hated water. What the hec is it doing on the road now? We resumed some normalcy after that. But mood was definitely spoiled. All were looking at the road now and then nervously. So I too reduced my talk and concentrated on the road. I will have plenty of time to talk once we get home. No problem.
But I was wrong. Very wrong.
Mom told me a while later that I had to take a detour Sangeetha at her home. Oh come on! You should tell me these things a lot sooner mom! I felt like telling that too her. But I wouldn't show my disappointment with Sangeetha there, would I? I did as I was told. Since nothing had been formalized with the betrothal, we didn’t stay at her place long. Well, come to think of it, why did they allow her to come to see me at the airport? Both parents must be desperate or times must really be changing. Hey! I am not complaining :)
Then we took off homewards. Wait till I tell all my friends. I am going to be such a show off! It was raining even more now. More good omens!! I think I must agree to mom and dad's idea of getting married in the three weeks here. They are confident in pulling it off because all our relatives are very close by. Won’t be too difficult to get it done. I told them right there in the cat that she is the one and that everything can happen as they wish. Now its time for me to enjoy myself...oh life is so good.
I was wrong. Very wrong.
Three weeks later...
I am on the way to airport. Mom is here with me. Dad is driving. I should have had a repeat of that day three weeks ago. Instead... I am here without her. Stupid rain. Stupid cat. Come to think of it - stupid black cat. So much for rain being a good omen. How good is good when one black cat can ruin my life! Stupid luck! Damn it! I don’t even believe in this superstition business. Stupid cat! I hate this place!
We reached the airport. Rain is still pouring... I am in the counter with mom. Dad is bringing in more of the luggage. This rain. Who would've thought? But is not raining as bad as one thought it will. In fact, it seems to have eased of just in time to see that I leave this country.
I took my phone. I don’t mind mom being here. I dialed the first number on the speed dial. It didn’t even take one ring for the call to be answered... In fact the person on the other end spoke the first words... "I love u"... I Didn’t even care if mom was there...If anything, I don’t even live in this country..."I love u Sangeetha"... We couldn’t say more...
It has been raining since the day I came here. Getting worse every day. Flood all over the place. Flood everywhere. Even Sangeetha home was underwater in the ground floor. Some good omen it turned out to be! I was supposed to get married in three weeks and fly off with my bride. Instead I am lucky to even make it the airport. I couldn't get a leave extension because I don’t know how long the rain will last and when everything can be arranged for the wedding. Plus there is all this non-sense about auspicious days! I couldn't have just got married in a registrar’s office? Oh wait... event that builing was supposed to be underwater till two days ago. Even if it wasn't underwater, I am sure mom and dad would never agree to a marriage like that...neither will Sangeetha parents.
I realized was still on the phone...I can hear her sniffs... She must love me at least as much as I do. Thank god for cell phones. We have spoken so much over the phone in the past three weeks. She is the one. We belong together.
I got in to my flight. Reached above the stormy clouds. I will be back. We will be married. The sun shone brightly on my face. It seemed to tell me..."I made sure u will miss her... I made sure u will love her... I made sure u will understand each other... And all, I, the sun, had to do, was a take a vacation...just like you took yours :)"
And there was sangeetha waving hands at me...
I took my seat in the aeroplane thinking of the marriage day...
Till the day before marriage day the rain was very normal...but then it took a different course and it started to pour down heavily as though it was waiting to avenge me for some reason...i remember in my child hood days scolding rain for not raining during the day time so that the schools can declare holiday...but then it appeared that rain had taken it seriously, it understood wrongly at the right time and now it is taking revenge on me...
The day before on the marriage day the city was flooded and none could step out of their houses...
now the marriage with me and sangeetha has become a question...
everyone at home were in a state and my mom literally was crying to me and said "unakku poi ippadi aganuma, evlo kashtapattu ponnu thedi kalyana naal athuvum ippadi sothapiduthey" and sangeethas parents were in a terrible state with the sweet girl sangeetha comforting them...
"MARRIAGE POSTPONED BECAUSE OF RAIN." was the message passed to everyone near and dear.
The day decided for my marriage was worst than a normal day and the worst part was to reply everyone in abroad that my marriage didnt take place on the decided day.How irritating it was.....
The comforting thing was sangeetha didnt lose her hopes and she said she will wait...
i wouldnt get leave for the next two years, and my parents were running to check with the astrologer for any muhurtha naal before i start to U.S. Luckily there was one on the day before i leave but this time no big arrangements for marriage...
Parents decided "Kalyanam pakkathula irukra siva vishnu koila"
My parents almost in a very tensed mood heard almost all the channels news and there was another threat of a heavy rain along with cyclone on the same day of the marriage once again.
Truly the rain is planning to avenge me...
Today is the marriage day. Traces of tensions could be found in all faces especially appa ,amma and sangeetha and her parents.
It started drizzling and then lo! it stopped exactly at the muhurtha time. Sigh of relief from everyones faces.
Intha mazhai enna paaadu paduthithu...
If it hadnt rained during this trip i would have got married on the decided date, could have gone to kodaikanal for honey moon , would have got some more time to spend with my sweet sangeetha.
Rain spoilt everything.
This shows that all our young people are dreaming through out the day and night..
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