Monday, May 31, 2010

A Story You May Not Like - Part I

[Spoiler: Part II climax beginning: They never met after that in their life... After all, how can Aravind meet someone who didn't exist in his world...]

Saravanan was in full terror. Everything had gone very wrong that day. Every gestures, every sign he got when he left home was bad. He was leaving to Bangalore from his native town Thanjavur. Every time he traveled, he would pray to the Gods and this time, when he prayed, the lamps got put out by the wind (from no where). He used to get wishes from his parents every time. That day, his father told, "Why do you have to prostrate every time? Leave this habit." Though he told that casually, Saravanan felt really bad and considered it as a bad sign.

To add to his despair, he had got the first seat behind the driver in the right side of the bus (in case you don't know, in case of an accident, the people sitting in the right side of the bus are more prone to much damage and people in the first row in the right side will be the first casualty in case if there is any). Something in his mind told that it is not advisable for him to travel that night. But he has already taken one day leave and he can not afford to take one more day. Though Saravanan does not believe in this kind of bullshit thinking, this day, he felt for sure that something wrong was in cooking...

The bus started and within an hour, the driver stopped the bus and got down. Saravanan didn't know what was happening. He thought, 'Wow... it is my luck... may be a tire is punctured.' But it didn't seem like that. There was some commotion happening outside and people were getting down to know what it was. He was shocked when he saw that the driver had got some kind of nervous breakdown and he was telling like 'I couldn't drive. I want to relax. Please give me some time' and was flailing his legs and hands. The passengers who had got down said, 'It is okay brother. Please take your time. Take rest every one hour'. Never in his life Saravanan has faced this kind of strong eerie signals.

Trying so hard to be cool, he got into the bus and the driver had come after some five minutes and started the bus. When Trichy should have been reached, the bus was still going somewhere outer and there was a sudden break. What the? The driver had found out that, he was driving in a wrong route for the past 15 minutes. Instead of taking Salem road, he had taken Madurai road. It had started raining. After a lot of struggle, the driver managed to take an U turn and reached Trichy. Though it was already late, the bus was not started for a long time. So, Saravanan inquired the conductor about the delay. The conductor told, "The wiper is missing. The driver has gone out to make arrangement".

It was not raining when Saravanan had left home, but now, it is raining and the bus does not have the wiper. 'Shall I get out of the bus and go by another bus?', Saravanan was asking himself. But he asked the conductor politely 'But brother, without the wiper, how can we travel in this rain?'. The conductor answered irritably, 'We have to go by whatever means and however the situation is'. Saravanan got really very nervous by this time and he was asking to himself, 'Should I call my father and tell this?'. He decided a big NO. He couldn't let his family be in terror and he definitely didn't want to terrify them and not let them sleep for the whole night.

But he wanted to talk to someone. This could quite possibly be the last night he was going to live. He didn't want to die in despair and hopelessness if it happens. So, he took out his mobile and called his room mate and one of his best friends, Aravind. Aravind's voice was not encouraging. He seemed disturbed and sad when he attended Saravanan's call. Saravanan told everything to Aravind. He told about all the wrong signs and how bad the situation is. Aravindh's voice became ever more worried and sadder, but still, he told Saravanan that 'Nothing will happen da. You wont die at least until you become an uncle (Saravanan's elder brother was going to become a father in a couple of months)'. They both laughed at this light joke.

Saravanan talked to Aravind for some 15 minutes and he cut the call. Saravanan felt much better, but Aravind didn't feel well. He wanted to talk to Saravanan. So, after 15 minutes of thinking and hesitation, he took out his mobile and dialed his number slowly. Thousands of stupid, sad, terrifying thoughts were running in his mind. When he pressed the green button, there was a moment of deafening silence. He started hearing the caller tune. The full caller tune was played and Saravanan didn't pick up the mobile.

Please click here to read the continuation...

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