Hi Malini, I am Krishnan. Naan Idha solliye aaganum nee avlo azhagu, inga evanum “Hello Archana here” she said and he completed “Ivlo azhaga oru, pchup Ivlo azhaga pathu irukka matanga” he smiled and added “Karthik here, nalla caller tune”. “Oh neengala, I have a different number of yours..this is a new number. And nalla lyrics manapadam panni vechi irukeenga” she said. “Ha, this is my dad’s number, the one which you have is my Bangalore number. Enna vishayam kalailiye orkut’a?” he asked. “Hmm, last week team lunch ponum, andha photos ellam ennoda mobile la irundhudhu. Team mates wanted me to upload them that is why early morning orkut session.” she said. “Btw how did you find out my profile” he asked. “Ha ha went to official Hindustan community and searched for Karthik” she said feeling good about her intelligence and blushing without him finding that out.”Hmm, Cognos data warehousing training veena pola” he said. "So whats the plan? for sunday?” she asked. “Enna plan, will be leaving to Bangalore tonight that is the plan.” he said. “It is just ten in the morning and you are already worried about going back to Bangalore…Periya workaholic pola ?” she said hoping desperately that he will ask her out. “Workaholic’a? ha ha ask my manager” he said. “Hmmm, btw I used the shampoo today, it was really good.thanks!” she said. “Oh great….hmmm lunch ku velia polama ?” he asked and immediately added “I will come and pick you in my car, no scooters”. “Ha Ha Ha, even yesterday had you told me that you had come in car, I would not have forced you to ride with me in my bike. You looked like some one who just got out from an auto after a big fight with the auto driver” she could not control herself and broke in to a laughter. “Adhu sari, innum kevalama aedhuvum thonaliya?” he asked. “Sari when will you come here?” she asked. “What is the time now? hmmmm, ten aagudhu..I will come to pick you up at around 12.30..is it okay?” he asked. “hmm, okay naan free dhan” she said.” Sari appo B4N” he said and disconnected the call.

He called her just before leaving his home and told her that he would give her a call once he reached near her house. Once he came near Ashok Pillar he gave her a call which she promptly cut. After few minutes she came out and stood near the gate with an umbrella, wide open above her head. She saw the huge SUV struggling to enter her street at a distance when she folded her umbrella and called out “Amma naan poitu varen”. He parked the car right in front of her gate and lowered the power window to smile at her and waved at her to hop in. The minute she entered the car and closed the door, the air filled in with a chocolate flavour from her moisturiser. “Semma veyil” she said and waved her hanky in front of her face. He adjusted the AC vents to point at her and asked “Enga polam?”. “How about komala’s ?” she said. He liked that place very much, it had been the saviour when he was in Singapore. He smiled at her and put the vehicle on gear. It hardly took them 15 minutes to come to Komala’s. From the other end of the road he slowed down and noticed that there was not enough space to park his car. “Edam illa pola irukke, lets see” he said and started to gain some speed. When he came around the round about, he said “we can try Veg Nation that is also a good place”. She was okay with any place she just wanted some time to spend with him. “Hmm, lets go there, even my friends say its a good place.” she said.He directed his car straight to the parking lot of Veg Nation.

Veg Nation was famous for their buffet and they opted for the same and a waiter came to welcome them and asked, “ Table for two sir?”. “Yeah” he said. The waiter took them to a table at the far end of the hall. They started with some salads and Panneer Pakoda which was the starter for the day. Like any other girl she was so tidy when she ate and was too slow . By the time he had finished his second helping of Panneer Pakoda she was still continuing her salad. When she went to get herself some sauce for her Pakoda, Karthik noticed a girl talking loudly over her mobile with lot of animation on her face entering the room. He momentarily raised his left hand to his forehead and started to give himself a small massage with an audible sigh, “Nasama Pochu”. Archana came back with her sauce and baby corn and peas pulav, same time the girl with the mobile saw him and opened her mouth in shock, so widely that he could have stuffed atleast four pakodas into her mouth all at once. She abruptly cut the call and came to their table almost running. She was staring at him and at Archana alternating from each other. “Hutch Nai maari aendi pora edam ella pinnadiye thorathura?” Karthik asked; of course he was not serious. “Naan nayave irundhutu poren. Nee enna? veetla ponnu pakkaranga nu sollitu, nee thaniya inga oru ponna pathutu irukka?” Varsha asked resting her hands on either side of her hips. Archana was totally confused and tried not to react. “Ada cha aendi maanatha vangara, Ivanga than andha ponnu” he said pointing at Archana who smiled at Varsha apprehensively. “Ivangala ? enna mariyadhayoda solra? ponnu vunna vida perivala?” she asked and started to laugh at her own joke. Archana, who was smiling till then changed her facial expression immediately and started to stare at Karthik. “Nee onnum thappa eduthukkadha, ava apdi dhan. loosu, peru Varsha. Hey loose, avanga peru Archana” he said. Varsha slid herself next to Archana with such force that Archana might have fallen out of the sofa. Archana shook her face in disbelief and turned her face towards Varsha only to see her face almost touching Varsha’s, who was displaying all the teeth wide and white like a tooth paste ad model. Before Archana could realise what was happening there, Varsha had clicked a snap of them together on her mobile and was holding it for Archana to see. “Nalla irukka?” Varsha asked. “Hmmm” Archana said without opening her mouth. “Neeyum lunch ku vaadi” said Karthik looking at Varsha who did not answer his question said “Enna panra? Vunna pathi indha dubakooru aen kitta onnume sollala” pointing to Karthik. “TCS la work panren, Neenga enna panringa?” Archana asked back. “Naaan rendu pasangala romba naala route vidren. Ha hah ha.” she started to laugh uncontrollably. Archana decided she was indeed a nut case. “Enna bayandutiya ? Naan Yahoo la work panren” Varsha said still laughing. Archana was not sure how she went to yahoo. Varsha answered a call in her mobile, “Enna? New Yorker poitiya ? Enna Veg Nation vara sollitu nee aen anga pona? poda loosu, sari varen iru” she finally cut the call and turned to Archana to say “ Rendu pera route vidren nu sonnen illa? avanga kadayadhu. Idhu moonavadha orthan. Sari naan kelambaren ha ha ha” Varsha said and took the spoon from Karthik’s plate and took two spoons full of pulao from Archana’s plate and stuffed it in to her own mouth before leaving. “I am sorry, Ivala naan inga paapenu therinji irundha I would have not brought you here.” he said. “Phew ..” Archana sighed still not able to believe what had just happened. “Yahoo la than work panrangala illa mail id vechitu irundhale work panra mari nenaikaranagala? “ she said. “Ha ha Yahoo than “ he said. “Eppdi ivanga poi Yahoo ?” she asked. “Hello IIT Bombay ava” he said with lot of pride. “IIT Bombay va? shock mela shock. Ivlo dhana vera aedhavadhu irukka?” she asked. “Irukku, IIM – B la seat kadachi irukku avalukku” he said. “Yahoo, IIT and IIM..super aana vunga spoon’a eduthu aen plate la irundhu saptutu povanga.” she said removing the spoon from her plate. “Btw Varsha nu sonninga, who is she?” she asked. “Ava aen chithi ponnu, amma side. Avanga family’e appi dhan, avaloda annan innum mosam. IIT, ISB and PhD from MIT. Ippo Goldman Sachs la work panran” he finished. They finally finished their lunch with payasam and gulab jamoon. He settled the bill and they both came out.

Chapter 4

He hated Sundays especially when he is in Chennai, it meant he had to miss the family for another long spell until he next visited Chennai. He was logged in to his MAC laptop which he had bought when he had gone to New Jersey couple of years back with a strong coffee next to his mouse pad which was obviously missing the mouse. He was randomly browsing some web sites with gtalk minimised on the task bar. “Karthik lets go to super market and come back, illana vunga amma thittuva” his father said. His father was a very successful auditor with handful of clients who occupied the top elite list in South India. When he works, he means business but if he is at home and not in the small room that said “Number Factory” on the door, a very friendly person but not a favourite for Karthik, he had always answered “Amma” whenever some one asked him “Amma chellama ? Appa chellama ?” and he new he was serious on that, but his father never used to mind that. He himself was a mamma’s boy until she died couple of years back. He loved his mother to that extent that he had literally stopped going to his office for almost three months and had asked his junior associates to take care of the office. “Karthik, va super market poitu vandhudalam” he said again. “Vandhuten pa” he said and gulped the rest of his coffee in one shot and smacked his lips. He had refreshed and left his computer without locking with his orkut scrap book window active. The moment he got up to leave, the refresh completed and the page loaded again, only now there was Zindagi Rocks :Are you there? 0 minutes ago. He came some forty minutes after doing the vegetable shopping in Spencer’s daily. He came to his room with a big tropicana tetra pack and a large Lays classic salted bag and sat in his computer chair. He swiped his finger on the finger pad and the monitor displayed the brilliant graphic that the apple is famous for. He entered the password and the orkut screen appeared again. He saw Zindagi Rocks :Are you there? 0 minutes ago. and saw the photo next to Zindagi Rocks. It was Archana and the photo was supposedly taken when she was shouting ecstatically from a very close distance. No wonder she was enjoying the moment, she was being licked on her face by a cute little puppy pug. He refreshed the scrap page again and saw four more scraps.

Zindagi Rocks : Ping me once you are there. 7 minutes ago

Zindagi Rocks : Testimonial ellam balama irukku ? 16 minutes ago

Zindagi Rocks : How do you know Srinidhi? She is there in mutual friends list. She is my cousin sister 24 minutes ago

Zindagi Rocks : Helllllllooooo ?????? 34 minutes ago

Zindagi Rocks : Are you there? 46 minutes ago

She had apparently analysed his profile inside out and was wondering how she found out his profile in orkut. He started replying “Srinidhi was my college jun” and decided not to complete that and clicked on Zindagi Rocks. His screen refreshed and was now showing her profile. He clicked on Scrap and found that she had locked her scrap book so were other links. She had only one testimonial which that read Happy Friendship Day in asterisk. He Placed his mouse pointer on some icon on the screen and the tool tip read 94 percent trusty and moved his mouse pointer a little and the screen tip read 85 percent cool and moved the mouse pointer a little and stopped abruptly after looking the three hearts - fully painted Red. He was both happy and cursed the bloody male community. He took out his blackberry and took out her number and shouted “Appa voon phone enga?” and his father said “It is there on the sofa”. He took his dad’s iPhone and erased something systematically on the bottom end of the multi touch screen from left to right with his thumb and a small arrow followed his finger and the phone was unlocked. He typed four numbers which were displayed on the screen as four asterisk and he placed a call to Archana.

Contd..

He parked the scooter and they both went inside the eat out and found almost all the tables full. After five minutes they could get a table and they settled there. “You drive good” said Karthik.”I have been riding scooter for almost 5 years now” said Archana.”Where do you stay in Bangalore?” she asked. “I stay in HSR layout along with my friends. We have taken a room. Started out with 6 guys, two got married and moved out with their families and one guy is in Texas. So right now only three guys, myself, Andy and Shiva.” he said. “So what do you guys do for food? you cook?” she asked. “We cook at times and at times we go out to eat. Have you been to Bangalore any time ?” he asiked. “Yeah rendu vaati vandhu irukken, once in my twelfth, it was a school tour then four months back oru KT vanga vandhen” she said. “Sari aedhavadhu order pannalame?” he said.”You can order anything” she said. “Oh adhu konjam risk aache, vungakukku enna pidikkum nu theriyama aepdi order panradhu?” he said. “Paapum vunga taste eapdi nu?” she said restlessly adjusting her hairs. “Hmmm, sari self service pola irukku, naan poi order panren” he said and left to place the order.

Couple of minutes later the person in the counter called out Kathik, and he got up to get the order, when she said “Naanum varen” and went to get the order. He had ordered a plate of pani puri, vada pav, mosambi juice and strawberry milk shake. They came back to their table with the order. “Milk shake and pani puri is for you” he said. “Oh wow paravala, nalla taste” she said. “Simple to order for a girl, any thing pink will excite a gal, that is why I ordered strawberry milk shake apparam oru ponnu pani puri venam nu solli idhuvaraikum naan kelvi pattadhu illa” he said. “Vera enna theriyum ponnunga pathi?” she said cringing her face. “Ha ha, I was just kidding, I like them both, so if you said I don’t like I thought I will take it”he said. “ha ha ha, nalla samalikiringa” she said laughing and at the same time pushing her hairs back again that were resting on her left hand shoulder.”Neenga enga padichinga?” she asked. “BTech, Hindustan la panninen apparam MBA from Great Lakes, in between two years I was working with Accenture. tenth varaikum DAV, +1,+2 ahobila madam. Neenga endhs school?” he finished. “ LKG la irundhu 12th varaikum Jawahar vidyalaya – KK Nagar.” she said. “Akka thambi rendu perum sema padips pola irukku?, neenga SSN and thambi BITS. kalakuringa” he said. “Naan SSN nu epdi therium? btw avan enna vida romba nalla padippan.” she said. “Vunga bio-data la pathen SSN nu. Hobbies la carnatic music nu potu irundhudhu? paduvigala ? “ he asked eagerly.” What Bio data va? aendhan ipadi manatha vangurangalo?” she said shaking her head violently. “Ha ha naan kooda bio data va patha odane sirichiten” he said laughing gently. “Photo la, happy onam boeing account nu pathen, enna technology? he asked. “Cognos, reporting neenga? ” she said. “ He pointed to Citi written on his tshirt. “Module lead, I work on AML” he said. “Oh, what is AML?” she asked not sounding really interested. “Anti Money Laundering” he said smiling.

They discussed so many things and she had also ordered one more plate of pani puri. He found it interesting and at the same time weird to know that she was a big fan of foot ball and F1 which was very unlikely for a South Indian girl. Apparently a huge fan of Steven Gerrard and Lewis Hamilton incidentally both are English sports men. “You don’t watch foot ball?” she asked.”I am not a great fan, I like tennis” he said. He also found out she was a big fan of Ilayaraja and Pritam and was disappointed that ARR was not mentioned. When he came to know she was neither a fan of Hrithik or SRK he was totally happy and he became even happier when she said her favourite was Shaid Kapoor and Madhavan. When he said he was a fan of Kangana Ranaut, she made an expression that some one makes when stepped on cow dung. He also found out that she was interested in politics thanks to her father.

They left Gangotri at around 5.15. Outside she asked “Do you want to drive?”. He had enjoyed sitting in the pillion and did not want to ride the bike - however he took the keys from her, which she gave after searching for some time in her huge hand bag. “Idhu brakes, konjam power kammi. Left indicator work aagadhu so hand signal dhan” she said giving the KT without looking at him pointing to brakes and the indicator, he was smiling gently nodding his head. For his embarrassment the scooter did not start after a couple of kicks. “Power start pannunga, thats okay” she said trying to control the laughter that was so desperately trying to slip out of her lips. It hardly took 15 minutes to come back to Ispahani center. He got down from the scooter and she slid to the driver’s seat without getting off the scooter.”Okay then had a good time” she said. “Naanum dhan” he said smiling. She got a call from someone which she received “Ah aunty kaise ho aap?, itni saal ke bath mera yaad aayi hei kya?” she laughed for whatever the person on the other side said. “Bilkul aunty, no problem. Aunty abhi main toda busy hoon, kal subhe main call karongi.” she said and laughed again “Okay aunty bye” she said and hung up on aunty. She was still continuing to smile when Karthik asked “Oh Hindi kooda pesuvingala ? hindi padam kooda, puriyama dhan paapinga nu nenachen”. “Second language Hindi dhan and I have cleared 5 levels in Hindi” she said. “Oh great. Btw oru nimisham vandiya park pannitu aen kooda vaanga” he said. “Where are you going?” she asked. He did not reply to that and felt like scoring on her for that, only occasion when he felt he had any control whatsoever that evening. He led the way as she followed him to his black Fortuner parker in the parking lot. He opened the back door to take out the cover. “Hello Mr. Karthik, neenga paatu yaroda vandila irundho ennamo edukuringa?” she said looking a little alarmed. “Ayyo idhu aen car” he said pointing to the graphic that was stuck to the back of the car that read Karthik Shiva Shankar in gold. “Wow vunga car’a? appo aen aenkooda sccoter la vandhinga, idhulaye poi irukkalame? she said. “Neenga dhan ennoda kye’a pudichi izhuthu vunga scooter la vokkaravechinga.” he said. “In fact this is the first time I am bringing this car outside and I wanted to take you out in this. After buying this I left to Singapore.” he added. “Oh, I am extremely sorry, sari vaanga we will go for a ride” she said, genuinely disappointed. Instantly a big smile illuminated Karthik’s face. “Sure? polama?” he asked. “Of course vaanga polam” she said. He went around the car and held open the front door for her to get in. He came back to the driver’s side and entered the car. He was still holding the cover he had taken out from the car. “Oh idhukku dhan inga vungala kootite vandhen” he said and handed her the cover. “Enna idhu?” she asked as she took the cover and was smiling at him appraisingly. He did not answer again and was busy with his right hand pressing the power window button and left hand adjusting the AC flaps to point her and put the vehicle in ignition. The AC churned out just the right amount of power to instantly mix the air within the car with the flavour of raspberry cream that she might have used as a moisturiser and the strong flavour of Italian coffee bean from his perfume. He smiled at her who was still looking at him expecting an answer for her question and noticed a small bead of sweat drifting away from her temple. “Open panni parunga” he smiled finally breaking the silence. She sighed with a very cute smile that was more towards her right cheek with her left cheek almost still. She took out a medium sized pink leather hand bag bedazzled on the edges and GUCCI written on the front. The left cheek that was still till now widened with a smile too and the smile spread to the whole face and a small dimple made itself appear from nowhere on the right cheek. He was totally enjoying the rapid change of expressions on her face. She promptly looked for the price tag and noticed that it was not there and slowly shifted her attention towards Karthik. “Pidichirukka?” he asked. She slowly started to nod her head from left to right and said “I can not accept this. Nothing is confirmed, innum nadakka vendiyadhu naraya irukku. Sorry I can not take this”. “I was not prepared to get married for at least two more years. But I know this is not something that is avoidable some day I will have to get married so I have been buying gifts for my wife to be. I saw the photo of yours in Onam saree. I did not think twice about my decision on marriage. I like you, Enakku vunna pidichi irukku.That is why I am giving this to you. But no pressure on you, if you think I am not suitable for you then I will go back and tell parents that I am not ready”. This was the first time he said vunna and not vungala.

She new she had very good looks and very good character and she knew she deserves the best. She has had lot of friends who were guys and not even once did she hear someone telling her how beautiful she was, not that she complained of, nor did she expect her friends to speak with her anything of this sorts. She had never crossed any line that would make a guy to feel any different about her that would jeopardise their friendship. This was the first time a guy was speaking to her about her looks and telling her how he felt about her. This definitely made her feel good, so good. She could feel her cheeks blushing and hot blood flowing straight to her ears. Her ears became pinkish that was so obvious even Karthik noticed it and he did not miss the small ear rings dangling from her ears which confirmed his decision to marry her was indeed correct. He was waiting eagerly for her to react. Each and every second was taking billion years to pass by. He was distracted by the dangling on her ear that started to move rhythmically. He looked a little up to see her looking at him directly and nodding her head up and down and whisper “Pidichi irukku”. She was not sure how her life would be with a total stranger whose only connection with her so far was a cup of filter coffee or in fact butter milk the day before, pani puri, strawberry milk shake and pani puri again - minutes ago. But that moment was defining for her and she was acting on her gut feel. She liked him and she did not have to make any effort to say yes, instincts were there for her to do it. The heart beats that were beating like Shiva Mani’s Drums started to slow down and reached 72 beats per minute for both of them. “Don’t rush, take your time” he said and pushed the accelerator and the fortuner went forward. She was still not completely out from the most important moment of her life. She opened the bag and found it not to be empty.There were three more bags inside. She took out the smallest of the three and opened it and took out D & G sun glasses. She took out the second biggest bag and unwrapped the cover and removed a purse GUCCI again. She looked at him momentarily who looked back and raised both his eye brows twice as if asking a non verbal question. She returned back to the bag and opened the last one. It had four bottles in all, Body works Chocolate moisturiser, Escada perfume and Body works shampoo and a conditioner. “Romba naaala plan panni vangiirukinga pola irukku?” she said. He did not say any thing and settled for a smile. “Ponnunga pathi research panni iukkingala? Pink hand bag, sun glasses, cosmetics hmmm ….” she said. “Adhellam onnum illa” he said and switched on the MP3 player from his steering controls and it started to play Omana Penne from Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya. Some ten minutes back he had mentioned how he had liked her in the Mallu saree. They both looked at each other smiling;though his was flavoured with a bit of embarrassment. "You watched the movie?” he asked. “I liked Karthik” she said and giggled. Again his heart beats started to gain some speed.

Even before the song got over, he was parking the SUV in front of Dominos in Kilpauk. Even here he ordered. He had ordered for a cheese burst pizza and Chocó lava cakes and a coke. Their order came and she offered to get it for them. In the counter there was a family with the mom carrying a three year girl who was crying ever since they come inside the pizza shop. Archana made some funny faces and started to talk in kids language which only girls and kids understood and she took out a bar of perk from her purse and gave it to the kid.She instantly stopped crying and the mom who was carrying the kid smiled at Archana, and said “Akka ku thanks sollu Aishu”. He was looking at her without winking his eyes for a second and was hoping to god that this would end in a happy wedding. She returned with the order and placed the one chocolate cake in his table. “Rendum vunakku dhan” he said smiling again. Though she did not react outward she realised that vunga has slowly transformed to voon. She liked it. “Ok thanks” she said and opened the first one. Karthik cut the pizza with the perfection of a sculptor.”Hmm,sooper” she said as she finished the first of the two chocolate cakes. She totally indulged in the cake like a small school kid. Karthik handed her a paper napkin pointing to the chocolate just below her lips. She took it however without using it, she had licked it and asked “Poiducha?”. “Hmmm” he said smiling intently on how she just behaved. They finished their dinner and left back to Isphani where she had parked the scooter. He got down from the car and came around to open the door for her but she had already got down. “So shall I take this?” she asked referring to the bag he had given her in her hand.She was looking at him expectantly. “There can not be a better life for me than that” he said on a very serious tone.She smiled at him and said “thanks”.

He had followed her all the way to her house in his car citing that it was very late and he would accompany her. Just in front of her house they both stopped and were chatting for some time when she received a call in her mobile. “Amma, vandhuten. Namma veetu munnadi than irukken. Avarum irukkaru” She said. Her mom came out running and said “Ayyo aen veliya ve nikkaringa? come inside, Archu avara vulla vandhu coffee saptu po soluda” She said. “Illa thats okay aunty, no probs.Will come some other day”. She did not say anything. “fine then aunty naan kelambaren” he said and looked at Archana who was having a cute smile on her face and was waving with her four fingers with the thumb holding the bag he had given.

Chapter 3

Karthik was sitting in his car looking at the mirror and smiling how he got the car.Just before going to Singapore on the business trip, Karthik and his family had spent some quality time together in Munnar for a week. Oct 12th – his birthday when they were midway on their Munnar trip. He was happy that he could spend his time with his parents. When they came back from the trip he found not one but two SUV’s parked in his portico. With a confusion he turned back to ask his mother “Who’s car is this?, aen inga park panni irukkanga?”. His mom did not answer anything and was trying to keep herself busy by searching for something that was eternally lost in her hand bag, hoping Shiva Shankar would respond, just when “Belated Birthday Wishes Karthik!!!” said his father with his hands outstretched with a small piece of metal glittering away happily in Chennai’s sun.”Appa!!!! wow, thank you so much…..aen pa ivlo costly’ya….anyways thanks a lot” said Karthik and took the keys in his hands for his new Toyota Fortuner.

He looked back to check on the plastic bag he had put in the rear seat before leaving his house and got out of the car and walked a couple of steps forward while casually throwing two pieces of chewing gum in to his mouth and carelessly pointed his keys towards his car and pressed a button to hear his car making the noise of some animal’s hiccup, twice. Among his friends he was famous for his decent dressing style and today was no different. He was wearing a black adidas tshirt embroided with the text Citi in a place where a pocket would normally be and was wearing a sky blue coloured Levis Strauss jeans pant. He was waiting just in front of Ispahani center with his sun glasses in his left hand and blackberry on his right hand. It was 2.50 PM. He was staring at the Swarovski show room thinking why women were so fascinated about those crystals. “Hello enna enakku vangi thara poringala?” came Archana’s Voice. “Oh, Vandhutingala?” asked Karthik. “You don’t have to call me vanga, ponga ellam. I am 5 years younger to you” said Archana heavily stressing on the age part and giggled.”Oh apdiya? enna di adhukulla vandhuta?” asked Kathik sarcastically. “Hello this is a little too much, you can maintain vanga ponga only” said Archana sounding a little angry which was only superficial. “Illanga, I was just kidding..sorry” said Karthik. “Ayyo, even I was kidding” said Archana.

She was wearing a collared lemon yellow Kurthi and a white patiala. How can some one be so cute thought Karthik, when Archana said “Hello, Whats the plan nu kaeten?” snapping her fingers in front his face. “Neenga Sollunga” suggested Karthik. “Hmmmmm, Ok lets go to Gangotri in Cathedral road, its very near by” she said. “Great, lets go”. She did not wait any further and put back her helmet and ignited her activa and made a gesture by swiftly tilting her head away from Karthik while maintaining eye contact with him and said “Aerunga Polam”. “What?” he said in total disbelief. He had never been a pillion rider with any girl not even with Varsha. Before he could say anything further, he could feel his hands being grabbed and pulled towards the scooter. He looked down and realised that she was holding his hands and he did not know what happened next and they were waiting in the Gemini signal for the traffic to clear and he was sitting in the pillion seat. Never had he been totally controlled by a girl like this in his entire life. He was so angry and wanted to get down immediately but the traffic cleared and she put the scooter back in motion. She was looking at him on the rear view mirror and asked “Hello, Why are you so tensed? I have a license” and winked her eyes while flashing a broad smile . Now he knew why he was sitting in the pillion seat. He totally agreed with himself why he did not say no to sit in the pillion. He could feel her hairs on his face fluttering due to the wind and smell the strong smell of the conditioner . This made the ride all the more interesting for him. He was now enjoying the ride. He took so much care that she did not find out that he was looking at her in the rear view mirror. She had a continuous smile all through the ride. Now she was staring back at him and said “Its been two minutes since I put off the ignition, konjam ernguringala ? weight thangala”. “ Oh I am sorry, and hello I am just 74 Kgs” he said with a broad smile.

Chapter 2

They both got down in CMBT where Varsha’s Father was waiting with his car. “Good morning Karthik, nethu appa oda pesinen, vunakku kalyanamame?” said Varsha's father. “Ada paavi aen kitta solla ve illa? are you even a brother?” asked Varsha and walked towards the car.”Ayyo illa chithappa ippo than photove paathu irukken, adhykullaya?” said Karthik.”Okay come lets speak in the car I will drop you in your house” Said Varsha’s father. “That’s okay chithappa, my friend is coming to pick me up.Naan poikiren, chithiya kaetadha sollungo” said karthik. He waited a few minutes before his friend came to pick him up from the bus station.

He came home to a strong cup of filter coffee from his mom which he cherished every time. His orkut profile would have Mom’s Filter Coffee in five things that I can’t live without with, mother, god’s blessing, ARR music and mother again forming the remaining four.”Amma, I am very hungry, will they give something to eat?" asked Karthik. “Adhellam irukkatum, nee modhalla kelambara vazhiya paru” said his mother. He was wearing a green chinos and a white golf tshirt tucked in to his chinos. His dad was already on the wheel by the time he and his mother came out of the house locking the door. He went to the car and opened the front door for his mother, once she got in, he went to sit on the read seat just in an angle where he could get the cool air from the car’s cooling system and also look himself in the driver’s mirror. His father momentarily touched the Ayyappan idol on the car’s dashboard before putting the engine on ignition. He pressed on the throttle and the endeavour roared to make the sweet engine noise.

It took almost 45 minutes to reach KK nagar from Adayar. The ride went without any conversation and all three where listening to Sudha Raghunath render some excellent kirtan’s of Thyagaraja. “Adade vanga vanga, nalla veyyila? Sastrigal 12.14 la irundhu 2.19 varaikum dhan nalla neram irukku nu sollitaru”. Said Raghunandhan. “Parava illa sir, problem illa” said Shiva Shankar as they entered the house. Karthik could smell the lavender room freshener immediately after entering the room. He saw his mother smiling at him intently, he never tried to understand the meaning. They all sat in the living room. Aaditya came in with a big tray containing four glasses or rather tumbler full of water and gave it to the guests and his father.”Aen payyan, BITS la EEE padikkaran – Second year. Ippo holidays la inga vandhu irukkan”. “Hi, thats about me” said Aaditya tilting his head towards the direction where his father was seated.”Payyan BITS, ponnu SSN pasangala nalla padikka vechirukinga neenga” said Anuradha, Karthik’s Mother.”God’s Blessings, rendu pasangalum vairam madhiri kadachi irukanga” Said Sree Lakshmi. “Aadi, poi akkava varasollu” Said Raghunandhan. “Akka, vekka padadha veliya va” called out Aaditya as he went in to the kitchen. Couple of seconds later Karthik could hear cups clinging and his father asking in his baritone voice “Nalla irukkiya ma?”. Perhaps it is considered a crime for the boy to look up when the girl is serving the drink during the ponnu pakum padalam and he maintained the same trend and was looking down intently on the floor where a Times of India was lying with a very big advert of Moods covering the bottom half of the page with the girl biting the guys ears from the pillion seat. Suddenly he realised what he was looking at and turned away embarrassed hoping to god that no one was watching him then. He heard his mother asking the same question which his father asked to the girl and also realised the flavour of the air changing from lavender room freshener to a mixture of Fairever fairness cream, Lilly flowers, strong hair conditioner which he always liked. He knew he was the next to take the drink. with in seconds the girl who was decorating rangoli in Archana_Saree was standing right in front of him with a tall ever silver tumbler on the tray. He directly looked in to her eyes and took the glass in his hands. now it was his turn to speak with her. He thought of playing it safe and asked “Filter Coffee?”. Archana started to laugh uncontrollably and ran back in to kitchen. He did not understand anything for a second and his confusion deepened to see filter coffee white in colour with some mustard seeds swimming along with coriander leaves in his tumbler only to be distracted by Aaditya’s voice “That is butter milk, indha veyyil la coffee’a?”.”Dai Karthik maanatha vangadha da” Said Shiva Shankar laughing aloud.”Sollala namma payyan sodhappuvannu?” he asked Anu who was laughing also. This would go down as the most embarrassing moment in my life thought Karthik.

The embarrassment was too much that he forgot how she looked?. He thought his mother will ask her to sing then he realised he had been watching too many old movies. He was expecting Archana to come out so that he could take a second glimpse. But the parents had started to talk about next things.

At around four Karthik and his family came back to their place.He went directly in to his room and was thinking about Moods and filter Coffee? and fell asleep. At around 5.30 PM his mother woke him up to give him some snacks. “Amma, naan ponna sariya paakala” said Karthik sitting in the living room couch watching mute popeye in cartoon network and munching on the hot bajjis made by his mom. “So what Karthik you have her number, it was there in bio-data, giver her a ring and meet her some where” He was hoping to get this as a solution and he thanked god that he got the solution he was expecting. He went back to his room and was fiddling with the thought of calling Archana, when he got a call in his mobile.”Hello” answered Karthik. “Hello Aaditya pesaren” came the response. He did not know of an Aaditya and was trying to recollect anyone from work. “Akka pesanumam” said the voice from other end. Then he realised that the call was from BITS. Oh great he thought. “Sure pesalam, irukkangala?” said Karthik. “Hello, Archana here” came a mellifluous voice from the other end which instantly made him smile. However voice on the other end started to giggle. “Hello, are you laughing?” asked Karthik. “Yeah, Filter Coffee? how did you manage to pull it off?”asked Archana. He recollected the scene and thought how foolish he had acted and he also started to smile and asked “So wassup?”. “Shall we meet tomorrow?” asked Archana. “Ahhhhh, welll, okay Ispahani center at 3 in the evening?” said Karthik. “Fine”. There was a long silence before Karthik broke it “Fine then, deal”. “Good meet you tomorrow and bye for now” said Archana.

Contd..

He opened the first of the three photographs titled Archana_Ascendas.The Windows Live Photo Gallery came alive showing the photograph of a girl in a white kurtha and blue jean standing tall and slim. His mind started to evaluate the height of the girl. He pressed on the right arrow to open the next snap. The title of the window changed to Archana_Scooter. He saw a girl in sky blue churidhar standing next to a Black Activa with the helmet on the handle bar. She was wearing the office ID card around her neck. then he noticed that the girl next to Activa was not that tall or even close to what he saw in the previous photo and he pressed on the left arrow to go back to the previous snap, that was when he noticed that there was another girl on the frame, thanks to the height of the girl in while kurtha he had not noticed Archana in Archana_Ascendas.She was not that tall, a little plump and was wearing a pink and white kurti. He again pressed on the right arrow and Archana_Scooter loaded. He pressed on the plus symbol to resize the picture.”Machi enna panra?” came the voice of Andy. And Andy came close to look at his laptop,”Dai Shiva ivana paru da thaniya vokkandhu figure photo pakkaran….dai yaru da indha paapa?”…Karthik made the same obscene gesture that he had made in sagar except that he was just rude enough to use both the hands this time. “Sari sari no feelings yaaru sollu” said Andy. Andy is a self proclaimed name. His original name was Anand. “Dai this is the girl my mom has finalised for me” Said Karthik.”Means ? O.K. for you is it?” said Andy.”No man I am just looking the photos and she looks okay, lets see”. He closed the laptop to avoid further conversation on this topic and asked “Dai inniki match enna aachu?”

Later that night his mom called him again,”Karthik did you see the three photos that I sent you? or still adamant? In any case, if you do not respond then your father and me are going forward with this girl.” He instantly remembered that he had not seen all the three photos and while talking to his mom on the phone he typed in his credentials to unlock his machine, Windows Live Photo Gallery was still open and Archana_Scooter was still on the screen. He pressed on the right arrow and Archana_Saree loaded. Karthik was just making the all annoying “hmm” noise as his mother was giving a lecture on the other end of the call. Archana_Saree could have made him tell yes had he seen the photo even a couple of years back. He was looking at a beautiful girl in a cream saree with gold border. He could not control the immediate smile that was slipping out of his lips on seeing how childishly she was smiling for the camera posing next to a floral rangoli that said “Happy Onam – Boeing Account”.”Ennama ponnu mallu va?” asked Karthik.”Karthik be serious, what do you think about the girl? if you do not like her..” just before his mother could complete anything he said “Amma, amma ponnu azhaga irukka! you do what ever you want” he could feel the blood rushing to his ears and he heard Shiva shouting “Dai Andy payyan matikittan da, ponna okay pannitan”. “Bhagavane aen payyan manasa mathinadhukku romba sandhosham..I was so scared he might never agree for marriage” said his mother and Karthik was aware that his mother got emotional and was crying out of happiness.”Amma now what? I have said okay…do not cry” said Karthik. “Ennanga, payyan ponna pudichi irukku nu sollitan, Karthik you have her number in the bio-data venum na call panni pesu.I will call her parents and let them know that we can arrange for you both to meet to take it further..I have lot of work…Kalyana vela ellam aarambikkanum” said his mother, now she was ecstatic and they were on the call for few more minutes before hanging up.

“Sree, I just got the call from Mrs. Shiva Shankar, they want to come to our place to take this further” said Raghunandhan. “Apdiya? enakku kayum odala kaalum odala, amma Archu nee oru vaati andha payanoda photova pathu pudichi irukkanu solluma?” said Sree Lakshmi. “Amma, I don’t have time now, you see and do what ever you think is good for me.” said Archana. “Chella kutti ora vaati paathu vunnoda opinion’a sollidra kanna, amma dhan avlo dhooram solralo no?” said Raghunandhan. “Fine pa, I will take a look at the pic in the office, lunch la call panren, Aadi bye da, amma varen” said Archana while tightly pinching on Aaditya’s Cheek. “Chi podi loose” said Aaditya. “Aadi, akkava apdi ellam pesa koodadhu” said Sree Lakshmi and Raghunandhan at the same time. Before they could say bye she was accelerating her Activa.

“Hey, guy looks cho chweet dee, hey he looks like SRK da, cha he looks like maddy yaar….hey best match for you dee, hey payyan sema smart dee, arch arch enakku vittu kuduthuru di he he he” all her friends were crowding her cubicle and were making all sorts of comments and giggling for each comment.She had forwarded the guy’s pic to her friends and couple of her colleagues. She was listening to all their comments and was working on the Weekly Status Report, though she was looking disconnected from the conversation outwardly, she was totally enjoying each and every comment they were making on Karthik and thought “Hmm, payyan okay than”. She clicked on the send button to send the weekly status report to the onsite lead and same time flipped open her mobile to place a call to her father “Appa photo va pathen, neenga enna sonnalum enakku okay”. Raghunandhan could see her daughter blushing on the other end and said “paru da, aen ponnu vekka padra”.”Appa please pa” said Archana.”Appo avangala ponnu paaka vara solidren da”, “Daddy I have office this weekend, have some support work. I will take the comp off next Thursday and Friday. So indha vaaram vara solladha” said Archana.”Sari da chellam, adutha vaaram oru nalla naalu paathu vara solren, seekaram veetukku vandhuru inniki vunga athayum, maamavum voorla irundhu varanga” said Raghunandhan. “Sari Pa, bye”. She safely put her phone back in her purse and pressed alt + tab on her Microsoft keyboard. Windows photo gallery became active showing DCH002 where Karthik was standing tall with the Patronas twin towers in the back drop. She looked intensely on to the picture for few seconds before saying “Oh Man U fan’a ?” he was wearing the red and white Man U tshirt.Before she pressed windows and L, a mail popped in to her outllook and a small box made itself appear on the bottom of the screen and the subject was guy looks awesome :) it was from one of her best friend.“Vidhya va lets go to third floor cafeteria” said Archana as she grabbed her Tupperware and walked out of her cubicle.

“Karthik, Raghu called me this morning. Avaa avaaloda sastrigala ketangalam and this friday seems to be an auspicious day. Nee leave potu vandhuru” Said Shiva Shankar on the call. Karthik never expects a call from his dad since he was busy most of the day time.”Illapa, I have a deliverable pending that week, kastam pa….hmmmm sari okay I will delegate my work and come. Amma kitta solli enakku Volvo la oru ticket book panna sollu Thursday night. Apdiye Varsha vukkum book panna sollu”said Karthik. “Okay, I am getting another call. Will call you later. Bye” Said Shiva Shankar

Varsha and Karhik were sitting in the fourth row from the rear end of the bus. “Woh lamhe woh baten koyi na jaane” he was humming while also dozing off to sleep just when “Dai Karthik ivlo azhagana ponnu kooda varen kadala podama thoongara vekkama illa?” said Varsha just finishing a call with her boy friend. “Varsha thoongu dee, illana chithi kitta solliduven vunnoda matter ellam adhuvum illama annava pathu kadala poda solra..ellam kali kaalam” said Karthik. “Oh amma kitta sollriya, appo nalla disturb panren, seekarama sollu” Said Varsha. “My god why did you give me a cousin like this? Here listen to vishnu sahasranamam, atleast then you might get good thoughts in your brain and good night” said Karthik passing her the iPad from which he was listening to music from. “Hey iPad,any movies in this?” exclaimed Varsha.”No movies only Friends series and songs, thoonga vidri” said Kathik. “Chi poda” sighed Varsha.

Chapter 1

His hand was lazily searching for his mobile phone while his brain was still trying to figure out if the music was from his mobile phone or if it was one of those numbers that was played by the DJ in the late night party that he had attended the night before. A couple of minutes later, he could again hear the unmistakable voice of Sukhwindar, singing the Oscar winning Jai Ho This time however his brain was up and running to its full potential and immediately signals were sent to his senses and he woke up to pick the call, though he was not as alert as his brain. By the time he picked up his mobile to receive the call, the caller had hung up. When he checked for the missed calls, he found six calls, all from his mother.

He dialled his mother’s number and instantly thought otherwise and cut the call before the call went through. He was just aware that his mother hated when some one spoke at home without having a mouth wash right after waking up in the morning. He went straight in to the bath room with his tooth brush and paste, along with the bottle of Listerine. It almost took him ten minutes to come out of bath room.Now he was sure he could place a call to his mother and dialled her number, before the call got connected he went to the cupboard in his room where he had kept a picture of Saraswati and a small Ganesh idol and he stared at them for a couple of seconds. This constituted his prayers ever since he came to Bangalore and he never missed out on his prayers.When he just finished his prayers, he heard a voice from the other side of the phone that was so familiar to him. After all he had been listening to that voice for the past 29 years.”Hello Mom, good morning!!!! had break fast??” he asked. “Ethana vaati Karthik vunakku call pannanum? and its not good morning, its almost afternoon now.” She was obviously not happy about her son getting up that late.”Illama nethu night romba late aiduchu thoonga” said Karthik.”So what are you doing? had your break fast at least?”. It was more of a regular question for which she almost never expected an answer.”Karthik I wanted to talk to you about your marriage, you have been so adamant on this but this time I have decided to go ahead no matter you say yes or not. See, I have mailed you the bio-data and the photographs of the girl. Her name is Archana, photo va pathu epdi irukka ponnu nu sollu, jadhagam porutham ellam nalla irukku”.”Amma, I just came from Singapore adhukulla enna ma avasaram?” said Karthik. “Dai engalukkum vayasachu da, This time no excuse, your father and I have decided to go ahead. And this is not for your permission, this is just to let you know how your wife to be looks. ayyyyooooo andha book stand pakkathula irukku parunga vunga kannadi, Fine Karthik your father is as usual searching for his glasses I will call you in the night in the meanwhile look at the picture and tell me how she looks, bye.

He was sure this was coming and was not much of a surprise since he was expecting this. He was fiddling with more than one thought while he hung up on the call, what to have for brunch? and should he really take a look at the photo and the bio-data and was also wondering why would some one send a bio-data to him as if he was to offer a job, before he could make any decision he was logging in to the mail server from his blackberry. Just when he came to check his mother’s mail after responding to couple of his manager’s mails he noticed that the battery charge was down and instantly the phone went dead. With the technique of a one year old kid he carelessly threw the phone on the bed and went out of his room to find his friend Shiva dancing crazy like a maniac with his iPod clipped to his t-shirt sleeve.

“Shiva saptiya?, dai Shiva , dai Shiivaaa” he started to rock Shiva holding to his shoulders. “Enna maapla, sari mabbu pola nethu night?” asked Shiva still dancing. “First remove those ear plugs and tell me if you guys had your food?” Karthik said. “Pasanaga saptanga da, I am not eating today, I am on a fruit diet today”Shiva sad. He was the youngest in the room, 25 and was a plump looking guy. His entire friends circle was aware about his eating habits, eating like there was no tomorrow on the week days and dieting like an anorexic on the weekends.”Sari enakku company kudu” Said karthik. “Enna maapi veetla kalyanam pecha? Sari vaa polam”

They went to some Sagar which neither of them knew of. “Ondhu Open Dosa amele Ondhu Coffee, dai vunakku aedhavadhu?” Said Karthik. “No da, I am not eating any thing today, hmmm okay one Pineapple juice and kesari bath” said Shiva.They went to the corner of the room to sit in the table next to a table occupied by girls in the dining hall which was otherwise empty. “Dai, look at that yellow….man she is too cute” whispered Shiva. “Dai nee vera, my mom wants me to get married immediately man” said Karthik. “Hey I know that, btw figure apadi?” asked Shiva referring to Archana. Instantly Karthik made an obscene gesture using his hand which he was not using to eat the open dosa. For some reason the girls sitting next to their table giggled all at the same time and started to leave.

That evening went without any interesting events. He decided to take a look at the photo and the bio-data but this time however he was logged in to his company laptop with the Tata Indicom plug to serve plugged to one of the USB ports. He logged in to his mail server and opened the mail from his mother. He noticed that his mother had written a big note in the body of the mail, he did not care to read it and was downloading the attached zip file. He unzipped the file on to his desktop to find three jpg files and a word document. He opened the document first.

Sri Rama Jayam

Name: Archana

DoB: 23.06.1984

Father’s Name : Raghunandhan (Retd. Lecturer Govt Arts College)

Mother’s Name : Srilakshmi (Home maker)

Siblings : One Brother, Aaditya – Second year EEE BITS Pilani

Education : BE, EEE from SSN

Occupation : Software Engineer with TCS

Hobbies : Reading books, Cooking, movies, classical music.

Gotram : Kashyap

Star : Revati

blah blah blah.

“Archana Raghunandhan” Karthik mouthed aloud without any sound slipping his mouth.