It was 5 yrs ago; young Ramachandran was sitting on the window side of Chennai meter gage railway carriage. He looked smart, tall and fair wearing a dark green checked shirt, black pant and well polished shoe. The boy sitting near him was Karthikeyan. Long white and gray thick striped shirt, thick glasses, green color pant with navy blue and white colored sneaker.
Ramasee said “Dude, don’t wear a sports shoe when you wear a formal dress. Wear a black or brown leather shoe”
“As if I don’t know that. I had to buy a new shoe buddy. Don’t have that much money and time for now.” Karthik quickly answered.
“Sorry about that. Anyway, come up with the algorithm for the problem tomorrow” Ramsee asked.
“Why? So that you could copy from it from me as usual” snapped Karthik immediately.
Ramsee smiled and got up from the seat and started walking towards the entrance.
“And where are you hurrying Mr.? Its Sanatorium, you have to get down in Chrompet, remember?” said Karthik in an angry tone. He usually gets angry on Ramsee for copying all his home works and lab works. Still they were best friends since their eighth grade. Though they both are from different departments, they share the same elective subject.
Ramsee turned back to Karthik with a serious face and said “I Know”. Karthik looked puzzled but Ramsee still proceeded towards the entrance and got down at the Tambaram Sanitorium station. He looked around the station for about 20 second and locked his eye towards the back of the station. We walked towards the yellow board where the word “Tambaram Sanitorium” was written in two different languages (Tamil and English) and a patch of black tar in between them wiping the Hindi version of the same.
In the last bench before the yellow board sat a beautiful girl. She was wearing an orange chudidhar. She turned her head with her hand over her fore head giving her eyes some shade from the 4 PM sun. She smiled at him and waived her other hand towards him signaling “hai”. He went near her and looked her down while he was standing.
She asked “What? You don’t seem to be smiling? You should be happy man. You are going to be in US in couple of months, seeing all white chicks, no parents nor girl friend around. Shouldn’t you be happy. Or you are sad that you have to meet this bitch after yet another big fight that happened last week?”
All over last week, Ramsee has been arguing to himself whether to keep this relation going or to end it. But he was just not strong enough to face the break up. But when he heard her, he couldn’t control the emotion inside him. He gave an expression staring at her with a long breath which said “Why do you always have to behave so?”
“Say something or leave. Don’t stand like another lamp post” She told her with an angry tone.
He sat down on the hot cement bench, keeping both his hand on the bench and leaning forward. He turned his head towards her and said “You will never change, do you? After all those argument we had last week, we are still on the same place”
“Why should I change? This is me. If you love you will take me for whom I am. If you require a change that means you don’t love me anymore. You had what you wanted. Had the college dream girl as your girl for 3 long years, boasted about it to everyone. Made out with me, took what you wanted, used me and now you have to end the drama. So all of sudden you don’t like so many things in me, and I have to change. You know I won’t agree and hence you can break up with me. Is that your plan Mr. Ramachandran?” She yelled at him without a breath.
“You are completely mental. How can you even think so many stuffs about me? I love you and that’s why I am standing beside you after all you said. I want to live with you, but you are behaving as if you are mental, an apple gone case “replied Ramsee at the same tone as her.
“Mental….” There were some tears on her eyes. “Mental that’s what I am for you. I am an angry girl, cunning fellow, very possessive, won’t think straight, now I am a psychopath? “
He wanted to say yes. He had it for over a year now. He feels like he don’t want to love her, but he couldn’t say no to her because of his past with her. Also there is a simple fact, that men don’t know to break up that fast. Instead of getting angry, he put his arm around her shoulders and tightened it and said calmly
“Common, I dint mean that. What I meant was, the thoughts of yours were mental and not you. We have been fighting over these issues for nearly close to a year now. If I had been someone who didn’t love you, I would have just said good bye a very long time before. Haven’t I been hanging behind you all these days? Doesn’t it say something to you? Please calm down. Think calmly of all happened and think like an adult. Life isn’t the same way you see in movies. Think and see if anything you said did make any sense to you”
Her eyes smiled and she spoke “then say no to USA and get married to me”
Ramsee loosening his arms took it out of his shoulder slowly and looked frightened by the look. She has never said anything like this before. He just looked at her eyes. She remained calm and her eyes were still smiling. She felt she had an upper hand. She felt she was winning.
She continued “You said, you love me. Right? I understand you don’t like something in me that you want me to change. So do I. I also don’t like you going to USA. Don’t go. Let’s get settled down as family.”
“I am 21. And you still got 4more semesters to finish your degree. Are you nuts? I wanted to do my masters and you know that. You are just saying it for a tit-for-tack. If you had not wanted me to go, you would have asked me not to go, way before. Me going to USA for my Masters is not surprise news for you. “He felt relieved saying that. He was quite happy that he had a point to defend.
“I don’t care if its tit-for-tack or not. I don’t like you to go. If you want me to believe that you love me for sure then say no to USA and stay here and live with me. " She really dint want him to stay. She was in the intention to play a sentimental scene with him at that point. She thought, If he had really loved her, then he would say no to USA, that way she can be sure that he would do anything for her and then she would ask him to go to USA, not to leave his dream of pursuing Masters. She rehersed the whole play in her mind.
“But I care. I do love you. “He dint mean it. He just hoped that it would get better in the future. It’s just a fight. Ones it’s over, he would start feeling about her as he always felt.
“And I won’t do anything that’s meaningless” He finished.
She got angry and upset. She didn't expect him to say no to her. Her short temperness and the situation made her more angry then ever. She brought her face very close towards his face and said “I know why you can’t. You never loved me. You have been acting with me. You wanted to sleep with me. Since I did not allow you to enter in my pant, you are fed up with me. You feel you need not play the drama. Now you want to go to USA and find some whore and do what you wanted to do. That’s it. That’s your plan all along and I figured it out. All along it has been only LUST and not Love. “She gave a mixed expression on her face. Anger on him and proud that she figured something incredible.
“ENOUGH! “ Yelled Ramsee. He didn’t care that it was a public place. Angrily came near to her and said in a low but angry tone “Enough! Don’t speak a word. I am done here. I am done with you, you mad woman. I am done. You insulted me and my love towards you. I feel you don’t deserve me anymore. Think whatever you want of me. BUT I AM DONE.”
She looked shocked. She didn’t expect that from him. He was still angrily staring at her. She didn’t expect her tricks to back fire on her. He took his bag from the cement bench and walked as fast as he could towards the center of the station. There was a train arriving at the same time. He boarded the train when the train stopped. It was only two compartments between Sandy and Ramsee. He turned to her for the last time with the same anger. He was still angry at her for all that she told about him. She was looking at him as an innocent girl longing for something. There were tears running on her face and he could see it from where he stands.
Suddenly in a dark room, Dr. Jones music started to play. He lifted he head from under the pillow and looked around as if he just recovered from a shock. He realized it’s his cell phone and he answered it without seeing the number on the screen.
“Good morning sleepy head. Its 5:45 AM now get up" Said Preethi with a clear voice over the phone.
"Good morning Hon" Said the half asleep Ramsee.
"I called you yesterday night, but it went directly to the voice mail. I left a voice mail wishing you and asking you to call me back. Apparently you had business other than talking to your fiancé." said Preethi.
With Sandy's phone call he did not notice anything. She did leave a voice mail yesterday night around mid night. It could have come when he talking with Ramkey or with Sandy. He really felt sorry. He said "I am really sorry Pree. I was caught up with something else. Also was driving late and was really tiered. And I crashed to bed as soon as I reached home."
"Enjoy as much as you can hon. In couple of weeks, it’s all going to be gone. " And she laughed.
He smiled and thought about his marriage that’s due in two weeks. He is packing his bags to go to India for his marriage coming Thursday.
"Honey, I will call you back in half-n-hour. PLEASE" Ramsee beged.
"No. You are going to go back to sleep, aren't you? “She questioned.
"I am planning to go to the office late. I am really sleepy" Ramsee added.
"Alright, go and sleep my lazy bum" she disconnected the phone saying so.
Ramsee smiled and continued he sleep. He knows his alarm goes off at 6:15 AM. He had already planned ahead for his extra 15 min sleep by pressing the snooze button.
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