From Kerala with love

A part of my life story

From Kerala to Chennai, my precious time left is been spent on a train for almost a day’s travel. I hadn’t slept well for the past one week, I was exhausted and my eyes started hurting too. ‘Shouldn’t I be with my family’ a thought arose but I guess my heart preferred this more. The humming sound of metal wheels rolling over the rail tracks was not the only thing that was keeping me awake. I stared out through the window and there was more than darkness that I could see it was a lovely face smiling at me, reminding me again and again, how right I was in making this trip.

 

I reached Chennai railway station at 7 in the morning. It was the worst city I ever been to, garbage thrown all over the roads, hot and humid climate, smelly streets, people dwelling the sidewalks, not an ideal look for such a famous city. It would have been the worst trip I have ever made if it wasn't for her.

 

A man stood outside the railway station told me about few hotels which got room for a fair price. With the few English words he knew he convinced me to go with him for a hotel tour. I was so exhausted that I rented a room from the first hotel itself. The rate was fair, 250 Rs per day. I signed the register gave 500 Rs advance, tipped my guide 50 Rs and he gave me a smile in return with a small node of his head. I took my luggage stared walking toward the lift as my room was on the 3rd floor, it was then the manager told me with a smile “It’s power cut time, you have to use the stairs”- I have heard most of cities in Tamilnadu are famous for something, I wonder what Chennai is for, may be smiling faces - After few dozen steps and few step walk, reached Room number 307, a single bed room with a wooden bed at the center covered with a gloomy green bed sheet and pillows covered with the same which reminded me of a hospital bed. Bathroom at the right side just after the front door and it looked clean comparing the streets, a TV stand was there on the left corner with no TV on it, three glass covered windows were present all dusty and left so that the sun won’t disturb the one inside, the curtains on them were dull and half of it hung on its rail, the rest hung down touching the floor.

 

I changed into my tracks, took a quick shower and went straight to bed to take a small nap. I had a long night in the train and couldn’t rest my eyes for more than few mints. The general compartment was so crowded and I was fortunate to even get a seat to sit on. As my eyes longed for its well deserved rest a beautiful romantic song filled the small room. I knew the song well as it’s the ringtone I set for her. I turned to my right and there it was lying on the bed softly singing and blinking a familiar name, her name. She has already called me more than a dozen times since I started my travel from home. I attended the phone and said in a tired voice “Hello”

 

“When are you coming to meet me?” replied a soothing voice, though it wasn’t the reply a tired me expected, her voice made me fresh and my eyes longed more to see her than to rest.

 

“Within an hour dear” I said

 

“No, you take rest; you haven’t slept a bit yesterday” �" I had already told her about my travel difficulties as I reached Chennai station �" “Sleep for some time and meet me at EA mall around 3, the noon time sun will drain you other wise and be there before me, it will take me 1 hour to reach there from my place and don’t take lunch we will have it together and one more thing �" a small pause - I Love you so much….muah…” She gave me a kiss and waited for me to return the same. “Muah…” I gave her an intense one as I missed her so much. She hung up the phone and a beep sound followed.

 

She loves to talk a lot and I love listening, whatever silly things she said it always felt interesting to me �" women has that effect on men, especially when they are in love. A point to note though, women are most offended when men don’t show interest in their talk- Over these years I always wondered how she comes up with new interesting things every day to talk regardless of my usual say like “What you had for breakfast/lunch/dinner?”, she is full of energy and me not much, it’s this difference in our character’s that made our relationship so intense. She is my push button and the only one knows how to motivate me.

 

A sound pierced into my ears and I woke up rocking the whole bed, it was the sound of the alarm I set on my mobile earlier. I turned it off and checked the time “It’s already 2 O’clock” I murmured.

 

I put the mobile back on the bed and sat there for few mints with my legs crossed, both hands pressed on the bed, staring blankly at the rotating fan above. “I need to get up, wash my face, get dressed and catch a bus to EA” I thought.

 

It didn’t take me more than 15 mints to get dressed and got to the bus stop. I stood there in front of the Rajeev Gandhi General hospital bus stop. I have to thank Google map for not making me a complete stranger in that place. If you are in Chennai and you don’t speak Tamil then traveling in this big city can be very tricky and costly, the only thing that can save you from that is a mobile phone with an internet connection.

 

Few minutes of waiting and I caught the bus numbered S11 going towards Thiruvanmayour. Got a seat next to the door, sat there and listened closely to the conductor as he was shouting the names of each stop the bus made. After three four stops and few traffic delays, “Express Avenue eranjinje” shouted the conductor, I jumped up from my seat and rushed down. From the stop I could see a well stretched building right across the road, one of the biggest shopping malls in south India, Express Avenue. The mall looked massive, stylish and very much attractive. I walked in and was relieved; it’s in times like this that you appreciate the invention of AC as it was 36 degrees outside and no sign of dropping.

 

I dialed her number, after 2 rings she picked up “I will be there in 5 minutes” she said not hiding the excitement, “Okay” I said with a smile and she hung up the phone. She is the one who always hung’s up the phone first; it’s a courtesy I gave her right from the start of our relationship. It may be silly and sometimes she also says so, but I know how much these little things meant to her, so I always try to do small things right rather than big expensive ones. ‘when waiting for your lover, time slows down and minutes feels like hours but if you are with him/her time runs faster and hours feels like minutes’ though I was inside a wonderful building I couldn’t admire any bit of it, we haven’t seen each other for more than 4 months. “It’s exactly 4 months and 17 days since we last saw each other” she would say- I felt happy when she left the exact hours out because that would make her sound crazy as she already must be a bit, otherwise she wouldn’t have fallen in love with me �" Our last meeting was a dramatic one. Though I was handling the lead role, I acted like a dumb one, a hero who has no clue about the script and how to act other can managing a nervous smile throughout the entire film.

 

We were at her house in Palakad, me accompanied by both my parents. During the past four years of romance we both had thought of lot of scenarios in which the encounter between our parents could happen, some with great and the other with worst results, but not dreamed any like this. Our parents were meeting each other for the first time, nervousness filled the air and I struggled for breath, anything could happen. I looked at her, she was standing few meters away from me at the entrance to the dining hall, her gaze was up on me all along, face tensed of course but her eyes had the usual light in them and that gave me warmth inside. I felt slightly relaxed and thus I managed a smile. Hope reflecting in our eyes while thoughts deep inside murmured “Is this our last encounter”. Seven hour drive could turn our four years of dreams into ashes.

 

As I say -I think I am the first one to say this- anything can happen in Love and war. 

Reviews

[Solar]

It was an interesting account to read - it captured the atmosphere of the place and the relationship. Just needs a bit of editing to check for typos. The ending is left rather cryptic - perhaps the story will be continued?