The last week was almost dull, boring. Well, almost. Until Thursday, when I had to pack my bags and run to Chennai on a personal errand. The journey to Chennai was dreary. I was lucky to find a window seat, luckier still to find it in an unreserved compartment on the Blue Mountain express.
Little did I expect to see my old friends so soon. Well, I found my friend at his house, delivered him his goods, had my bath, my breakfast, and left the place to meet Mrs. Kalaivani and her colleagues. On the way, I sent an SMS wishing her a very good morning; and promptly received a reply saying that I would be contacted on phone when she reached office.
As expected, I did not see her first, but did get to meet her colleagues at the office. As far as I was concerned, I had no pre-conceived images to associate any of her colleagues, with whom I had spoken to only on phone before that. To be frank, I think, they, other than those who knew me already, should have been much surprised to see me. That too, will have to wait till my next session on the phone when (if I don’t forget) I may be able to gather what had been their expectations, and whether I did fit in the picture at all.. Me, for my part, had wanted to see Mrs. Prema in person, and Mrs. Bhooma (pl forgive me madam, but I take the liberty here to say, exactly opposite the way the word sounds, or should I say booms??). Met Mrs. Anitha after Mrs. Bhooma, and waited for Kalai to arrive.
Earlier, I had tried to call Kalai over phone the previous day, to inform her that I was on my way to Chennai. But to my discomfort, I could not reach her. And neither did she call me back seeing the missed calls on her mobile. I safely guessed that it was her usual self, “after all senthil thaane.., I will call him later”. I had forgotten that it had been salary day, or else she would have called me. Period.
Finally after confirming that she had arrived, I just walked into the room stunning her. After the initial shock, we had gotten on to the usual chitchat about family, friends, children, movies, climate and wherever the talk could ever wander. Half-way through another person entered the room – was introduced to her – Mrs. Prema. She was looking so timid, and not a great beauty though, but appeared as though she could manage her children and her home quite beautifully.
My trip was so unexpected, I had never dreamt that I would be spending my day with them, my time was running short, and with an awful lot of people to meet I had to avoid trying to reach others except Tharani. I could not even think of going back to CBE without seeing him. He had so often made fun, criticized, even scolded me for not coming over to meet him. With that in mind, I informed him about my brief stay in Madras. He met me, took me with him to his customer’s place and left me back. My only guilt was that I could not meet Kalai’s mother in person, and that I could not bring myself to (break the ice?) talk to Mrs. Prema, at least to get her in a lighter mood. I think/feel that she feels a lot at home while on the phone, and not face to face.
Even after being reminded of Manish’s birthday, I forgot to get him his b-day card, but managed to get Kalai and Mrs. Prema one each. Even so, it was very delicate to tell her that I had forgotten her son’s b-day card (what a shame!). Meanwhile, Mrs. Prema (so gracious of her) presented me Lord Krishna, neatly packed, with clear instructions that I was not to lose him, and that it was good to have him (Krishna) around (so very thoughtful of her).
The frightening part, you know, is, these little gestures keep reminding you that a lot are watching you, think that you are someone great, hold you in such respect, remind you from not faltering and from misbehaving. Dear people, I am a normal human, bound to go wrong and erring all the while, so, I will try not to. You may keep your fingers crossed on this too..
The best part of the day was the lunch together at the office, and should I say, icing on the cake(?), was the b’day treat exclusively for this cake lover at Cakes n Bakes. Two yummy (like Kalai, pl forgive the comparison Kalai) choco cakes which were sure to raise (raise??, i'd rather say shoot!) my sugar levels completed the celebrations for me. Bonus: getting wet in the rain (the saying goes: it rains only when gr8 people come to the city!!)
My return journey ticket number was somewhere near the 300 plus, with a little pressure from my friend, he did get an EQ released for it, confirming a berth for me. Hopefully, I’ll make my next trip to Chennai announced well in advance and with a couple of days to spare. Bye.
Little did I expect to see my old friends so soon. Well, I found my friend at his house, delivered him his goods, had my bath, my breakfast, and left the place to meet Mrs. Kalaivani and her colleagues. On the way, I sent an SMS wishing her a very good morning; and promptly received a reply saying that I would be contacted on phone when she reached office.
As expected, I did not see her first, but did get to meet her colleagues at the office. As far as I was concerned, I had no pre-conceived images to associate any of her colleagues, with whom I had spoken to only on phone before that. To be frank, I think, they, other than those who knew me already, should have been much surprised to see me. That too, will have to wait till my next session on the phone when (if I don’t forget) I may be able to gather what had been their expectations, and whether I did fit in the picture at all.. Me, for my part, had wanted to see Mrs. Prema in person, and Mrs. Bhooma (pl forgive me madam, but I take the liberty here to say, exactly opposite the way the word sounds, or should I say booms??). Met Mrs. Anitha after Mrs. Bhooma, and waited for Kalai to arrive.
Earlier, I had tried to call Kalai over phone the previous day, to inform her that I was on my way to Chennai. But to my discomfort, I could not reach her. And neither did she call me back seeing the missed calls on her mobile. I safely guessed that it was her usual self, “after all senthil thaane.., I will call him later”. I had forgotten that it had been salary day, or else she would have called me. Period.
Finally after confirming that she had arrived, I just walked into the room stunning her. After the initial shock, we had gotten on to the usual chitchat about family, friends, children, movies, climate and wherever the talk could ever wander. Half-way through another person entered the room – was introduced to her – Mrs. Prema. She was looking so timid, and not a great beauty though, but appeared as though she could manage her children and her home quite beautifully.
My trip was so unexpected, I had never dreamt that I would be spending my day with them, my time was running short, and with an awful lot of people to meet I had to avoid trying to reach others except Tharani. I could not even think of going back to CBE without seeing him. He had so often made fun, criticized, even scolded me for not coming over to meet him. With that in mind, I informed him about my brief stay in Madras. He met me, took me with him to his customer’s place and left me back. My only guilt was that I could not meet Kalai’s mother in person, and that I could not bring myself to (break the ice?) talk to Mrs. Prema, at least to get her in a lighter mood. I think/feel that she feels a lot at home while on the phone, and not face to face.
Even after being reminded of Manish’s birthday, I forgot to get him his b-day card, but managed to get Kalai and Mrs. Prema one each. Even so, it was very delicate to tell her that I had forgotten her son’s b-day card (what a shame!). Meanwhile, Mrs. Prema (so gracious of her) presented me Lord Krishna, neatly packed, with clear instructions that I was not to lose him, and that it was good to have him (Krishna) around (so very thoughtful of her).
The frightening part, you know, is, these little gestures keep reminding you that a lot are watching you, think that you are someone great, hold you in such respect, remind you from not faltering and from misbehaving. Dear people, I am a normal human, bound to go wrong and erring all the while, so, I will try not to. You may keep your fingers crossed on this too..
The best part of the day was the lunch together at the office, and should I say, icing on the cake(?), was the b’day treat exclusively for this cake lover at Cakes n Bakes. Two yummy (like Kalai, pl forgive the comparison Kalai) choco cakes which were sure to raise (raise??, i'd rather say shoot!) my sugar levels completed the celebrations for me. Bonus: getting wet in the rain (the saying goes: it rains only when gr8 people come to the city!!)
My return journey ticket number was somewhere near the 300 plus, with a little pressure from my friend, he did get an EQ released for it, confirming a berth for me. Hopefully, I’ll make my next trip to Chennai announced well in advance and with a couple of days to spare. Bye.
posted by senthil @ 12:48 AM
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