A journey called Life !! [Part 3 ]

Note: This be the third and final part of the series of short story.First one being ,Aur phir Ek Din.Second one , And the Ice was broken.Please read these two first before you start off with this story.

Its been six years.six long years since Rams last visited chennai…
the city had changed a lot with time.He was trying to remember and relate the place with what he left behind then.
Rams was visiting chennai on official work .He got into cab waiting for him outside airport ,which was supposed to take him to hotel.
Looking around he became nostalgic …Those three months he spent six years ago..
those were the most beautiful days of his life…which changed his life forever…he never was the same soul again…
cab was passing by Marina beach…he could see a couple sitting by beach ,below tree in that scrotching heat of summer…and he reminisced …                                                                                                                                                              he was sitting somewhere nearby six years ago …with sireesha.
Life passed on just like breeze of fresh air…he thought it was not really long ago when they were sitting there .
“saar,reached the hotel saar”..cabbie finally broke the chain of his thoughts.
He got down ,had to go to office in another hour or so.so he hurried.Rams was manager with the company he was working for past 8 years,married with a kid.For long time,his wife wanted them to go to kerala,so he decided that they would go to kerala,his wife was to join him once he would finish his work at chennai in a day.
That day ,In the evening,he thought he would take a trip down the memory lane,and visit the places which were his hangouts during his last stay.somehow he wanted to sit there all alone reliving the beautiful memories.Next day his wife was supposed to come down.
“Lets go Besantnagar Beach”.He said cabbie.
On the way after about a mile ,there was an ATM,this was the place he first met with sireesha.He smiled.It was sheer stroke of luck,after all,that they met.
Once he reached the beach,He asked cabbie to wait for couple of hours,removed his shoes ,and went to the shore of the sea.
It was half moon,he always loved it..the waves..the soothing effect of rythmic sound they made..the beautiful moon accompanying it..
He slept on the sand…lost in thoughts…
and they took him right in the past.about 6 years ago.when it was first time he fell in love..the bittersweet memories for the lifetime..
after about two months,he realised that sireesha was as close as possible to his definition of somebody he would wish to spend his rest of life with..time just flew by.those after dinner walks..going out to movies on weekends…sitting for hours on beaches..and talking about everything under sun..
He tried to tell her about what he was feeling about her,but it always was an exercise in futility.
And finally the day came..when he was supposed to move back to puna.sireesha was going to be in chennai for another month before returning to hyderabad.with heavy heart,loads of emtions still locked in his heart ,he packed bags.Sireesha came to see him off .
“Rams,this is for you , a memoir .”she passed on something wrapped in cover.
“Damn”.he cursed himself.
“sorry,sireesha.I didnt bring anything for you”.she smiled ,the very smile which took his heart away.
And the train started.she was standing there till the train disappeared .rams was waving his hand out of train.                                                                                                                                                                                                       Next two months were most difficult in his life.though they were in touch,there was something missing from his life.he was completely lost .It took him sometime to realise that life is going to be difficult without her .He sensed Sireesha somehow was sounding bit different of late,for reasons he couldnot comprehend.
Finally he decided he will go to hyd and meet her under pretext of meeting his friends there.He decided he would tell sireesha whats on his mind,come what may.
“Helllo sireesha” .
“Rams,you in hyderabad ?? when did you come? you didnt tell me you were coming”.
“well its a surprise visit,you see.came to meet my long time friends,actually. And its been sometime we last met. so when can we meet madam,when are you going to take me out for the biryani you were taking at length about”.Rams said.
“haan,haan chalenge.today evening we will meet at Eat street ,husainsagar lake at 6 PM.aur uske baad leave it upto me.waise there is a surprise from my end as well,I will be leaving on onsite assignment next month .isnt that great ?”
He didnt know how to react to that news.That meant he didnt have much time left.
He was very happy to meet sireesha after 2 months ,he felt its been ages since he met her.And he had bought a gift in advance for sireesha this time.
It was 6.10,and still she was not around.
“Damn.”he cursed his luck.every passing minute was like an hour.he already had drunk a bottle of mineral water,and his confidence levels were all time low.
and finally she came.he saw her waving her hand at him from other end of the place.
He was literally spellbound looking at her.He had met her almost everyday before two months.But there was something special about her today.
she looked the most beautiful girl to him at that moment.Time stopped still for sometime.
“oye,kya ho gaya, kahan kho gaya tu?” ,she interrupted.
he faintly smiled,he was yet to recover out of the magical spell she cast on him.
And he could not recover out of that trance whole evening.she was very excited for having him there.she took him to many places that evening on her scooty.The rendezvous ended with sumptuous dinner .A memorable evening it was.
“so how did you like kababs and biryani,sir ?” she asked.
“yeah,they are awesome”.He said.
“kya hua,you alright ? ” .Sireesha.
“i am perfectly fine.I wanted to tell you something but i forgot .anyway some other time.”
“Tu thik tho hai na?” .
“Haan haan.I am alright”.
He cursed himself zillion times for his inability to express himself.
He wanted to tell her that he loved her in person ,but he just couldnot do it that day.Next day morning he was supposed to return to his place.And that meant he wouldnot be meeting her in forseeable future.she was not going to make it to see him off due to some function at friend`s place.And he finally left hyd ,dejected and heartbroken.”If only I could tell her yesterday…”.                                                                                                                                                                                              A strong wave of water touched his feet,and he got up.He realised it was long time he was sitting there.He decided to go back to hotel.Back on the way,he was smiling the way life shaped up after that.
Next day morning he was awakened by knock on the door.
“Hey sireesha,how was the journey ? “
“yeah,it was fine. hey you know what ,I saw that ATM on the way,where we first met.Its still there.Thanks to that autowallah ,who stopped his auto there that day”.
“Nah.Not thanks to autowallah ,thanks to you who called back that night and told me that you love me .”He smiled .
“Hmm,thats true.Hey we shall better  go to cochin tomorrow.today we will stay in chennai and go the places where we used to meet .would that be fine? ” She said.
“Yeah,anything you say madam “.He smiled back. ” A Cup of coffee at Coffee day, a fish at Besantnagar beach,  dinner at Basera and a walk after dinner by the side of beach.Just like good old days.Does that sound good ? ” Rams Said.  “Hmm,I didnt make mistake calling you up that night after all” Sireesha smiled.                                                                       

And ice was broken :) [Part 2]

( This one be sequel to “Aur Phir Ek din ….” . Pls do read that first before reading this one.)

RamS returned to Guest House.The girl was very much lingering on his mind that night and the next day.
“Damn,I should have asked her name..”
It was sunday and he didnt go anywhere ,spent entire day watching TV and reading Catch - 22 ,his life really was just like Yossarrian of catch - 22 right now.He was not sure whether he shoud resign or continue with his present employer ,as onsite opportunity was looking pretty bleak,of late.
It was around 9 PM,he had his dinner and he was back to Catch 22 with his iPod playing Himesh Reshamiya numbers.
Suddenly power went off ,and his lifeline in chenani`s heat , AC ,went down.
“Damn”. He cursed his luck and decided to go to terrace. It was starry night with full moon.He liked that,and he lay down on terrace floor,looking towards sky and listening to songs.
“Hello ” ,he heard a sweet voice,and he turned back taking off his iPod.
And there she was,again within span of couple of days…
He smiled ” Hey ,hi !! ” ,he cudnt hide his excitement.
“What are you doing here ? “RamS.
“Err,I too stay here .Thats why am here,aren`t I ? I came here yesterday,after we met at ATM”
“Yea,of course.How dumb of me to ask that.BTW I am Raman , friends call me Rams and I came here for 3 months stint from Puna cognizant ,what about you ?” ,RamS.
“I am Sireesha ,friends call me Siree .And I also am here for 3 months stint.I came from Hyderabad”,
“You must be maharashtrian,right?” Siree.
“Yeah,I am,why did u ask that ” RamS
“Actually your name and looks made me think you are Tamil but I guess your accent is very much Mahastrian.”
Now that annoyed RamS a bit but he decided to take this comment on his complexion in his stride.
Then their discussions went on movies / kind of work they do / their favorite novels.
Sireesha was well read and that was something RamS liked about her.She had her opinion on almost everything under sun.
“So you have any friends/training batchmates of yours in puna?”,RamS.
“No I dont have any of my friends in Puna office,actually.All of them placed in hyderabad itself.”,she said.
“What about you,you have any friends in Hyderabad office ?” ,Siree.
“Yea,one of my friends moved to hyderabad few months ago.Not sure whether you know him or not” RamS said,knowing his friend`s reputation was no better than his own when it came to befriending girls..
Hey ,I have a good friend in hyderabad COgnizant ,and he teachs me Marathi words every now and then .I know bit of Marathi ,you know ,she said.
“Bhala ho us bande ka”,thought RamS.
“BTW what is name of your friend in Hyd ?” she asked.
“His Name is Apoorv” , He told.
“wait a minute,I guess I know him,does he blog with nick name Footprints ?” ,siree said.
“Yeah,the same bugger,how do you know him?”asked RamS.
“Hey he is good friend of mine and truely a nice guy,he sits in adjucant bay to mine “.  she said,looking very excited all of a sudden. (Talk about creative liberties )
“Err,Apoorv is my college mate and very close friend.world truley is small place,isnt it ?” RamS.
“yea,thats true I never had come across such coincidences before,so I kinda found it exciting” ,siree.
The conversation dragged on similar lines,they were hopping from one topic to other.They argued on few things and agreed to disagree on the fact whether Puna or Hyderabad is better place to be at.
Palping the heated argument in the offing ,Siree changed the topic .
“so Rams,do you have girl friend ? ” asked siree.
“what should I tell now ..”,thought Raman.He could never really come to terms with fairer sex.
“Didnt meet anybody interesting enough.” ,Finally he managed to say.
“Aah,there you go , same old cliche,is it ?” she laughed.
“Actually I never could really connect with girls.beyond a point I find them boring.”,RamS confessed.
“Its as simple as this.You have got to kiss hundered frogs before you kiss your prince or princess charming ,you need to befriend many girls ,understand them in order to choose miss perfect for you,what say ? ” .
RamS sure was captivated by clairty of her thoughts.He never came across anybody as interesting as her.
Finally he managed to say,
“your words make sense.I sure will try to implement it :),BTW enuf of me,do you have boy friend ? “
RamS started praying hard to receive a negative answer.
“Nah,there was a time when I thought I was in love,but I guess I was wrong” ( ~ author suppresses urge to make another guest appearance :)~ ).
“Hey its too late,chalo lets go,need to go to office tomorrow,hey can I come along with you tomorrow to office ?”,Siree.
“Ya sure.”
“chalo tha means we can continue our Hyderabad / Puna debate in Cab.”                   RamS went to bed happily.
It was for the first time that he talked some girl he barely knew this long.
He was wondering whether something interesting was on cards in forthcoming days.

Aur Phir Ek Din….. [Part 1]

Disclaimer : This story is work of fiction.Any resemblence with any living person in chennai is purely coincidential.Author holds no responsibility for the same and no lawsuits will be entertained.

RamS was not at all happy….
It had been 2 years since he was working in same company in Puna.
It was high time his employer awarded him with an onsite assignment And now suddenly they were sending him to chennai for 3 months assignment.And Rams Had to relent as they had promised to send him to onsite from chennai,besides there were few friends working there. So with heavy heart he packed the bags and moved to chennai,he had no girlfriend either to whom he was going to leave behind . so he was kinda ok with the fact that he was going to see new place…. He went nuts to begin with.Humidity, the language ,the food, everything…. only respite were his college friends(Nitin and Sumit and their roomies ) who were working there and AC accomodation he was offered which was protecting him from chennai`s weather….

Weekends were spent mostly on BesantNagar beach,watching movies at Satyam ,visits to Pondychery,Tirupati.
But life was too monotonous after a month or so.Onsite chances also were taking time.Not much work either.He was wondering where life was heading and was it worth making move from puna to chennai.

One saturday ,after a movie and a sumptuous dinner with friends,he headed back to his guesthouse.There was an ATM 100 meters away from his guesthouse.He withdrew money and got out of ATM.

He heard a sweet voice ,it was a pretty girl talking to somebody.
“Excuse me , Do you have change for five…?”Some noise and he couldnt listen properly.
He was moving on.
“Excuse me”
Now he turned back.
The girl was talking to him all along.Now it didnt happen too many times that a pretty girl was asking him something ,his luck had never been that strong.

“Yeah ” .He acknowledged her presence.
She was beautiful,that quizzical look on her face made her look even more beautiful.
She looked bit traditional to him,but very confident.And she was in bit if hurry as well.
And his hand fumbled in his pocket to get the change.
Even if he had no changes,he would have run all the way to the nearest shop to get the change for her .
But he remembered he just withdrew 2000 bucks and there sure were five notes of hundreds.
So he got them out and gave them to her.
There was a puzzled look on her face.
“Am I missing something here?” Rams Thought.
“I want change for five rupees”,She said slightly hesitatingly.
He looked back on the road .There was auto wallah waiting for her and then he understood what exactly was happening.
“these girls..” He thought .”They would think of even a buck when it comes to bargaining.”

He checked for change in his pocket.And he came up with 2 coins .One of one rupee and other of 2 Rs.So there was deadlock again.Both didnt know what should be done.
“I had to pay the auto driver 71 Rs.” She blurted.

“You can keep one rupee ” ,and he kept a rupee on her hand.

“Oh no,I can’t accpet that “.She said.

“Ok,we will do one thing ,Take five rupees and give me three rupees you have” Girl said.

“I cant do that either” Rams protested.

“oh thats fine with me”.She took the change and kept the note of five rupees in his hand. “Thank you” she flashed that beautiful smile.

“I will retun your 2 bucks” Rams managed to say who was yet to recover from the magical effect of that smile.

She smiled again acknowledging his promptness.

All those filmi dialgues which were tailor made for this scence rushed through his mind “Duniya bohot chhoti jagah hai,ghumte phirte kahin na kahin mil hi jayenge”He resisted the urge to blurt out something like that.

And the pretty lady disappeared in a short while with her luggage….