The Destination - Part 1

The Destination - Part 1


Disclaimer: All characters and incidents in this narration are imaginary. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

*****************Part 1*********************

Kumar reached to his cell and checked the time. It was 5.10pm on Friday evening; he had to reach the railway station as the train would leave for its destination in 15 minutes. He was planning to attend his friend Kishore's brother's wedding that was at 1am the next day at Vijayawada. Kishore stayed in US and had come to India to attend his brother's wedding. He did not stop over at Hyderabad and so could not meet Kumar there.

Kumar planned to take this train, booked the ticket, but he had to be awake the whole night before to ensure that all his responsibilities at work were taken care of before he started. He did not want to be disturbed this weekend as he wanted to spend time in peace. It was a long time since he had taken some time off from work; he, being a bachelor, was okay to be at work even on weekends, but nowadays he was feeling lonely and wanted a break from routine.

The auto meter was showing Rs.86 and he was still some distance away from station and was stuck in traffic. He did not want to miss the train and think of alternatives to travel to Vijayawada; or worse cancel the travel and be at Hyderabad and come back to office this weekend too! He immediately got down from the auto, gave a hundred rupee note to the driver; who looked surprised and before the auto driver could say anything, Kumar said, "Keep the change!" and started to run towards the station.

He barely got into the train and it started moving. He thought he was lucky and moved to his reserved berth. He had booked an Upper Berth so that he could sleep during the journey. He saw that somebody was already sitting in his seat and he asked in Telugu

Kumar: "Ye seat meedi?" ("What's your seat number?")

Other Passenger: "Meedi Ye seat?" ("What's yours?")

Kumar: "Seat 19. Ide." ("Seat 19. This is the one.")

The other passenger immediately got up and Kumar had the seat. He was tired of running and deprived of sleep and waited for the ticket examiner to check the ticket so that he could go and sleep without disturbance. Meanwhile, a person came in and asked Kumar to adjust in the seat. He was not sure whether he had the ticket for journey and looked at him suspiciously. He said that he was a daily commuter and would get down at Kazipet. Reluctantly, he moved and adjusted in his seat showing frustuation on his face and making the daily commuter understand that he was not happy. He thought he would complain to the ticket examiner about the daily commuters and the inconvenience caused to the passengers who reserved tickets. Almost immediately he pacified himself as he was going to be in his seat only till the ticket examiner comes. After 5 minutes, a neatly dressed person aged about 50, who had a bag with his name 'A.K.Rao' stuck to it, came to his seat and asked Kumar to move. Kumar took him to be a daily commuter too.

A.K.Rao: "Babu, koncham jarugu." ("Boy, please move a little")

Kumar (arrogantly pointing to the vacant seat opposite to him): "Akkada koorchondi" ("Sit there")

Kumar had not finished observing him, he was still looking at his glasses and thought Mr.Rao would not be able to read without his glasses. When Mr.Rao turned towards him, Kumar avoided eye-contact and pretended to wait for the ticket examiner. Mr.Rao sat in the opposite seat and continued..

Mr.Rao: "Ekkada daaka veltunnavu babu?" ("Boy, till where are you going?")

Kumar thought, he need not give details to this stranger, but had to answer otherwise he would be termed impolite (though, till now, his tone or actions were no where near politeness!). He replied..

Kumar: "Visakhapatnam"

Mr.Rao: "I See. Visakhapatnam lo ekkada untaaru?" ("I see. Where do you stay in Visakhapatnam?")

Kumar did not know Visakhapatnam well. Only places he knew were the ones that were shown in movies and songs. Luckily for him, he remembered a movie song and replied..

Kumar: "Gajuwaka"

Mr.Rao: "Ok. Gajuwaka ante Duvvada lo digutaava, Visakhapatnam lo digutaava?" ("Ok. Will you get down at Duvvada station or Visakhapatnam station?")

Kumar: "Visakhapatnam lo ne digutaanu." ("I will get down at Visakhapatnam station only.")

Mr.Rao: "Duvvada lo digachu kada. Akkada nunchi auto lu dorkutaayi. Nuvvu Visakhapatnam ki velle lopala intiki velli povachu." (Why don't you get down at Duvvada station. You can get autos there and by the time you reach Visakhapatnam station in this train, you can as well reach home")

Kumar: "Nannu receive chesukovadaaniki Station ki maa friend vastunnadu." ("My friend is coming to station to pick me")

Mr.Rao: "Alaaga... Sare intaki Vizag enduku veltunnavu?" ("Ok, why are you going to Vizag?")

Kumar was getting impatient because Mr.Rao was passing suggestions on how to travel in a place he is never going to be. He was cooking up information and this person, even though Kumar was not answering properly, was keen on knowing Kumar's past, present and future, he thought.

Kumar: "Naa Girlfriend ni kalava daaniki veltunnanu" ("I am going to meet my girlfriend")

Kumar himself was shocked at this answer. He did not know where that came from because as far as he knew he never had a girlfriend. He had many friends who were girls, but he never had girlfriends, per se.

Luckily for Kumar, the ticket examiner was at his place. Kumar showed his ticket and went straight to his berth and slept; not giving chance to Mr.Rao to ask more questions.

~ R-Square

The Stranger's Kiss

The Stranger's Kiss

They were travelling by the train and they were not together. He was in his seat and she just settled in her seat. He was looking at her; No, he was watching her intently; No, he was actually staring at her!

She did not notice him as she caught the train in a hurry. She thought she would miss the train. Though it was a short distance she wanted to take the train. She always took the train as the only other option available was bus, and she hated journey by bus. The buses were always crowded and she would never get a seat. Trains were far better, the journey would be comfortable and she would be home early too. On top of that, she could avoid the traffic, which was taking a toll on her already tedious work life these days. She preferred to take a nap always and was happy that she got a seat. She closed her eyes and relaxed her breath by trying to bring back the rhythm that was lost because of the short sprint she made to the train. She was successful in two ways: she caught the train and she had a seat. She was all set for her journey. She closed her eyes not knowing that he was staring at her.

Not sure whether he thought she was beautiful, but he was impressed by her and wanted her attention. He was looking at her and she did not even know that he was here. He was disappointed and probably was angry that the person he wanted to impress does not even think he was worth looking at! In all these thoughts, he unknowingly took out a faint weird sound that woke her up. Not that she was sleeping, but she was at least trying to. She looked around to identify the source of the weird sound and noticed that he was staring at her. At first, she was uncomfortable, but in a matter of seconds she ignored him and closed her eyes again.

She could not sleep. She was thinking whether he was still looking at her. She opened her eyes and he was still staring at her. Only this time he was smiling and he had a little pride in his smile. After all, he had grabbed her attention! He continued the faint weird sound with his mouth wide open. She could not control and smiled back to him. She thought the sound was funny, not weird. Perceptions - those are the things that make this world most happening.

Half the battle won, he continued staring at her with his mouth wide open. Drops of saliva dripped from his mouth and that was not unnoticed by her. She wondered whether he was urging for a kiss!

Angry that there was no response from her, he started to go towards her, but was stopped by the two people travelling with him. His co-travelers were afraid of the consequences if he went to her. This is not the first time they are facing such situation. Similar things have happened before and they were embarrassed before. They knew exactly when to stop him and how to stop him. Most of the times he would listen to them, but sometimes he just wouldn’t.

Few minutes later, the train stopped at a station. It was time for her to get down. She got up from her seat, adjusted her dress and went straight to him – kissed him on his cheek. It was not a peck; it was a good kiss! Without saying another word she immediately got down.

He was overjoyed that he won and shouted at the top of his voice. Everyone around was looking at him and his co-travelers were yet again embarrassed by the behavior of their 9-month old son who was just kissed by a 50-year old co-passenger, a complete stranger, in a train!

~ R-Square

The First Step

The First Step

The “kid” saw daylight for the first time after getting its life. It took its own time to understand the colony – It had seen other babies grow along and was good at communicating with others and playing with others. It was its mother’s pet – and was not let out work whereas others started working long ago. The father was worried that their kid would be incapable and would be mocked in the colony.

Both the parents had long debates on when the kid could start going to work. After all, the father had seen others boast about their kids; how hard they work and how much they could save because of their kid(s) and here he was sitting dumb and unable to respond - all because the kid’s mother would not let it go out. What could she be afraid of, when others of the same age are able to do it!?

Finally, the day arrived - after the uncountable debates with the mother and that summer had come in and would be gone soon. This is the right time to start working – if this is not the time, then the kid would probably be mocked for the rest of its life and there would not be a way to allow the kid to live its life with respect.

A day of pride for the father who could boast about the kid when talking to the friends; a day of worry for the mother with the thought about how it would fare in this mean and miserable world where nobody cared for others’ well-being. The kid himself was happy, shaky, excited, tense and with a mixture of many other feelings that he could barely control. He went to work with all the knowledge he could gain from his parents and by the end of the day he was sure that everyone who came along was happy with the performance. He was bubbly, provided fresh ideas and fared really well and he was already being compared to his parents for what the kid could achieve in its life. All this on the first day – the day the kid took its first step.

While returning back – the kid could see the mother waiting for the team to get back home before dark. They were returning in a line and the kid was last in line. They were very near the hole when it started raining ‘sugar’. Yes! It was raining sugar! There was no line now – everyone was happy and now started breaking the line especially the newbies. The kid was looking at its mother and wanted to avoid the sugar rain and take shelter and thud..! A flat block fell on the kid’s head and it could not get up anymore and lay dead.

Almost immediately the room erupted with applause - the baby had taken its first step! Everybody was so happy in the room and started kissing the baby and appreciating that it had learnt to walk so soon.

Needless to say, no one in the room saw the kid (ant) die under the (human) baby’s foot.

~ R-Square