Hey You (Netru Indru Naalai series) - Indru

 📱 April 3rd

She Hey

He Hey…

She Hey… Wanted to check something with you… Coming to your town for a conference, trying to book accommodation. Which one should I pick, Hilton or Marriott?

He Don’t do Hilton, Marriott is generally better, including breakfast! 😀

She Oh good, then I’ll pick the Marriott

He Good. So when are you coming here?

She It’s the 23rd and 24th this month. It’s really a last-minute plan.

He Oh good. I suppose you are driving down here?

She Nope, flying. It’s an early morning flight, should land by 8. Need to be at the conference center by 9

He That’s early! Anyways, I will come pick you up.

She No no, I will catch an Uber.

He No, I’ve got you.

She Okay…

📱 April 23rd 8:05 AM

He 📞 Incoming voice call

She What timing! Just landed. Are you here already?

He Yes… come out to pick-up point A. I will circle around and be there in a few minutes.

She Okay, okay.

8:21 AM She waits at the pick-up point, and he drives up

He Hey… get in.

She So you do know how to call?

He Yeah, I’m not social enough to make calls. I would have texted to check if you had landed, but then I can’t text and drive too!

She Okay, okay, I get it. Anyways… I thought you had a smaller car. I remember you telling me about it, not this big one.

He Yes, I changed it about a year back. Needed more horsepower.

She I don’t know about horsepower. All I need is a box with wheels which can take me from point A to point B.

He Okay, now where are we going? You mentioned an office or conference center?

She We have a training center here. Got some boring sessions today. Will check in to the hotel later this evening.

In few minutes, they reach the training center. She gets off, thanking him. 

He So, do you have dinner plans?

She I’m not sure. I need to check if they have organized dinner. Let me find that out first.

He No worries. Let me know. I can suggest a few options for dinner, or if you need a ride to the hotel, just let me know.

She I don’t want to trouble you. especially if they have dinner set up for us. I will manage...will get a ride back to the hotel. But I’ll see if we can escape out for dinner.

He Sounds good. See you later then.

📱 April 23, 3:24 PM She texts him...

She This session is so boring! I’m so sleepy… They have some kind of packed dinner here for later. I don’t want it, not after what i had to eat for lunch here! I want some hot Thai food… Can we go to some Thai place?

He Thai… There is a really good one not far from your hotel. What time will your session end? I can pick you up.

She These folks will mostly hang around for dinner and chat here till 7! I can get out by 6 though.

He make it 6. I’ll pick you up at the same spot I dropped you?

She Yes, that works for me.

6:05 PM He picks her up. They drive to the Thai restaurant. After few rounds of cocktails and complaints about the day, she brings up a few memories from the last time they met. Especially about that day (Netru). He smiled a lot, avoided old topics, ate little, listened well, and paid the bill! They drive to the hotel. He walks with her to the reception to get her checked in. They both go to her room and continue chatting a bit more. This time he is one doing all the talking. Again about the past but not so much about known memories. He delves into his own state of mind, perspective, and feelings. This made her a little emotional, her eyes teared up a bit. He did not know if it was his talking or her yawning that brought the tears! Seeing her yawn frequently, he starts grabbing his keys and initiates the exit routine. 

He So what time do you have to be there at work? Do you plan to eat breakfast here or…?

She I need to be there by 9:00. I’m not keen on breakfast. I have some bars; that should do.

He Ah, okay! I thought I will join you for breakfast here, their breakfast buffet is actually pretty good.

She I can give you company, I’ll eat very light though, but you can enjoy your breakfast.

He Deal, then I will meet you at the lobby at 7:30. We can do the breakfast and then drop you at the center before 9.

She That’s all good. But I’m pretty bad at waking up in the morning. Alarms don’t work for me. If you are coming to pick me up, can you take a key and come in a little early? Wake me up at 7? I’ll just need 15 minutes to get ready, I promise.

He said nothing, took the key from her, wished her good night, and left.

April 24th, 6:35 AM He reached the hotel parking lot at 6:15. He could not sit in his car anymore. Already, he couldn’t sleep since 3 AM. He starts walking towards the lobby. He is not used to walking slowly, but he purposely walks slowly to burn time. He drags himself very slowly to the elevators and then across the 3rd-floor corridor. It’s 6:44 AM, and he is standing right in front of her door. His mind is racing with a hundred thoughts of what he should be doing next. Should I knock? Should I just use the key and get in? Will she be shocked to see me if she is still sleeping? How do I wake her up? Open the curtains or tap her? After much internal deliberation, he opens the door and gets in.

As he walks in, there she is, all dressed up and ready, giving some final touches of makeup. She looked fresh, very professional, and ready for the day. 

She: There you are… I thought you would come early, like 6ish, to wake me up. 

He: You…you..(stutters) said 7. I did not want to disturb your sleep. Those last few minutes are very dear.

 

She: Yeah, I know… Anyways, I couldn’t sleep after 4. Been wide awake since 5, thought of texting you, but then didn’t want to disturb your last few dear mins of sleep!

He just smiled, but inside his head, he really wished she had sent that text, or at least he had made the call to come in earlier instead of sitting in the parking lot! The rest of the day she will be at work in her sessions, he will be at work, and I will be waiting to see how they both wind up this trip in the evening (Indru)!

Mad...MAD Life

 This happens...

Then..Radio silence for the next three days...Sagar stays home, never left his room...

Day 4 6:30 AM:

Sagar wakes up, gets ready, gets on his bike and drives to her house, He parks his bike 2 houses before her place waiting for her to get out. He knows well about her routine, Wake up at 8 AM, and get out for work by 8:30 AM. How is that possible? Does she even take bath? Aah, that doesn't matter. All he wanted was her to get out, so that he can see her...follow her and then go about his day, Usually right around 8:30 ish, she gets out of her house, walks towards the main road, gets past that tea shop and then walks straight to the train station to catch the metro or sometime takes a left to hit the bus depot to take the bus. Sagar ensures he is out of sight and she does not notice him in the street. 

One day he parks in the street, one day near the tea shop. For some reason or blind luck, he gets to see her more whenever he is stationed at the tea shop. This was getting very comfortable for him. Have tea and wait for her to pass. Most days she took the bus, he followed her behind the bus. The tea shop was strategically useful...to park the bike as well as wait & follow her.  As expected the tea shop guy notices him and his routine. He starts questioning about his whereabouts, where he worked etc. Sagar lies but he couldn’t sustain for long. Think about this, he just ordered tea and she is already crossing the shop area headed to the station or bus stop. Now he either has to cancel the tea or rush through the drinking process. Tough! He tried his best to avoid suspicions. 

3 weeks into this routine, he is just drinking tea and she doesn’t show up at all.  He is confused. Either he is late or too early or she has started taking another route. He tried alternate ways, routes, followed the bus, took the train, but never was able to catch a glimpse of her. He almost tried literally every place he could find her possibly but in vain.  

He was clearly confused and upset. But did a good job of showing up for work on time, a little late may be. No one knew about his daily morning routine. People at home thought, it’s just tough work schedule for him. People at work never noticed him being late few days. But reality hits.  He started feeling the weight of losing her.  He realized slowly that he is not able to see her because she is not around anymore. It was hard for him. Very hard. Unexplainably hard.  He could not digest the fact that how ever hard or planned he crafted his routine, he can never see her again. 

Then started the madness. He was not able to beat the pain of losing her. At the same time he was too preoccupied and proud to admit. Nobody knew that he was in pain. And he left it that way. With no way to heal, his only way out of that pain was to choose a much bigger pain. All the pain was in his head. He was convinced that the only way to overcome this pain was to indulge in much severe physical pain. Pain so bad that it will make him forget himself or his true pain. 

It was a rainy night. He was on his way back home from work. The road was pretty empty. He noticed lots of construction sites on either side of the road. Perfect set up for accidents. His pained weak mind suggested that he just let his bike straight into one of those sites and be done with his empty life (life without her). Either die (which he did not want to) or just induce prolonged, deep pain. pain thats deep enough to forget her for a while. And he just did that. He twisted his bike to full throttle and closed his eyes leaving the rest to fate. And boom it happened. 

Heavy rain, Wet slippery roads, and a mad guy in a bike racing in full speed towards some random construction site.. what do you think happened next? 

Miracles do happen. He landed on a big mountain of sand. Totally unhurt, both him and his bike. Yeah there were some scratches to him and his dear bike. Nothing he couldn’t hide. He had no option but to believe in the miracle or the will of god!  He cried, cried out loud that night. No one could hear him cry, thanks to the heavy rain. He needed that outburst as well as the miracle to get out of his routine. A routine where she was no longer there in his life. He knew it was going to be mad...mad life from here on. But he had to live.  Fate ir message conveyed, he had to live on. He knew it was going to be a mad…MAD life from here on. Until...he met her again.

If at all you are planning to read this again, try with this background score to set the mood. 

https://youtu.be/LuXr11w8G74?si=S7g5abjQ78bAuWIS

Celebrity Hater

I’m searching for a word denoting someone who hates celebrities.  I’m someone who jumps to hate or not mind people who are loved & held high & celebrated as special. But when I do get to know them, see them for what they are truly, no one can love them so much like me.  They become special for ever and ever.  Etched in my heart as special. While the  get to knowing them takes some time, there is usually a moment which changes everything. 

April 22 1998 mid night when Sachin slammed 143 to take India to the finals against Australia. He looked like a Lion that day. I was supposed to be sleeping but secretly watched the game. Couldn’t  scream as it would wake up others. But I never slept that night. Probably felt high for the first time in my life.. he became my hero that day. 

Just like that in my 12th grade,  I always knew she was my manaseega mentor, but had to suppress that feeling cos everyone around me bragged about her. But when I knew she was in an accident, I could not control. I almost became a detective. I still can’t figure out what and I how became a detective  to find her address and built the guts to go see her. Probably I did something that no one else did. That’s why she let me in her very secretive life.  For the introvert I’am, I can’t believe I did that. Next few years gave me memories which are good for a lifetime. I had to run away from the world I was in. Now I can’t find her.  The rest of the story is for an another day. 

The world is crazy about SRK. I hated him. Until I saw Devdas. The passion for the profession, the art, the all in he gave in this saga earned him my respect.  I’m not his fan, but I always look him with respect. 

Next up, last in… I still don’t know why that person became special. Was it the show? Or the trust? Or just the dreams?  or what was it… socially weird, introverted beings can be seen egoistic though. Immaturity is a crime.  Makes you hate celebrities, alienates from the dear ones, leads you to erratic decisions( we will discuss another time), but none of this makes the celebrities wrong. Once special they are always special!