Remembering Mangalore

"Time flies" - one common phrase that almost each of us would have voiced out at some point of time. I was voicing it out once again inside my head as I reached Chennai Central Railway Station at 7 Pm on that Wednesday evening. I just realized that I was clad in a blue and white salwar, the very same one I was wearing when I left for Mangalore for the first time with my parents. Two years in time and two hundred changes in me! I purposefully walked to the same restaurant where I had my dinner two years back, I checked my weight at the same weighing machine, in short I was trying to re-live every little memory because Mangalore and mInfy together is a memory which I wouldn't forget in all my lifetime. "Yatri kripiya gaan bhijiyeh..." The lady on the loudspeaker announced the arrival of Mangalore Mail at Platform 1, ready to take me behind in time and memories which I was very much awaiting for.

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'He' and 'Me'

Disclaimer: This post is more for the author than for the reader. Conventional conservative folks, kindly avoid this one.

He wrapped his strong arms around my shoulders, placed a tender kiss on my forehead and whispered ever so softly "Archu my dear, don't worry, everything is going to be alright". I looked into his eyes and the intensity of love that radiated from his made mine water as well. I clung on to him as if he were my only hope in life and rested my head on his shoulder while he ran his fingers through my hair. How soothing! How seducing! I was lulled to a serene sleep as he continued to caress down my face. He paused near my neck and grinned gently. I meekly protested his sensual touch though it did wonders to my tormented soul. "Not today dear, let's romance after marriage, not today". His grin bloomed to a smile and he looked irresistably handsome that I even wished I hadn't protested. But wait, there was something sinister in his smile. He continued stroking my neck, a little harder this time, that I had difficulty swallowing. "Please, it hurts" I moaned. "Archu my dear, don't worry, everything is going to be alright. I AM GOING TO SET IT RIGHT". He was now laughing and his eyes shone with cruel coldness. His caressing hands were now choking me, he was killing me! I tried to push him away but he was too strong for me. I tried to shout, I tired to scream but there was no sound. I was fighting for mercy, I was fighting fiercely and all of a sudden everything stopped. "Chennai, Thiruvanmayur, Get down." The conductor of the ECR bus announced the destination and saved me from being killed in my nightmares.

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Smile Please Celebrity

“Achhhhuuuuuuu” That was the hundredth time I was sneezing my pet name after a semi-sleepless night of continued sneezes. My bloated face, red nose and watery eyes proudly proclaimed the fact that I wasn’t keeping well. Common cold was not uncommon to me. I knew it was coming right from the moment I felt an itching in my inner throat which climbed up to my head, making it heavy and drowsy and escaping to the outside world thru my nasal cavity with another audacious “Achhhuuu”. I shouldn’t have had that softie twirl from KFC last Tuesday. Either the chill from the ice-cream or my lunch mates casting their eyes on me when I was gleefully devouring my softie was I believe the cause for my suffering (I very much doubt the latter). Whatever, my present facial profile has opened the possibility of me being assumed as a cry-baby by folks who hadn’t heard those sound effects. That’s bad…too bad! I literally had to hang around with my handkerchief to avoid misinterpretations.

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