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jaiganes

18th January 2005, 04:20 PM

"Somebody is chasing me. I haven't looked back to see who it is but my heart is racing @ 120 beats per minute and i am moving at tremendous speed. Am I running or am I revving in my violet colour Pulsar? Ah I must be running. I can see the new Nike running shoes thud into soft and wet ground. What is this? I seem to leap effortlessly some 10 feet ahead?? oops the eucalyptus treeline seems to end 100 metres ahead! No Sh*t I am floating ahead like some one has pushed me @ very high speed!!! The ground seems to end and Oh MMMY GGODD there is no ground underneath!! I am falling!!! NOOOOOO".
Anand wakes up suddenly and looks at his time piece screaming 6-15 A.M. Time to get up for office. The sights and sounds from his night's sleep still linger on in his mind. Some images felt like they were real, like images that are from his recent life, but cannot remember when and where they had occured. He makes up his mind to jot down these dreams in his diary and check up whether these images will come to pass in reality one day?? Quickly he cleans up his bed and switches on the geyser simultaneously brushing his teeth. In no less than 30 minutes, he is in the front door about to lock his door. He remembers that he has forgotten his wallet and ID card and rushed back in cursing for the fact that he is wearing his shoes and he took pains to clean his house before leaving. He also remembers that his mother used to delay cleaning the house if menfolk were hurriedly leaving for their work. After retrieving the wallet and ID card, he runs forward to the entrance of the "Royal Whispers" apartment complex. He thanks his stars that he took the ground floor of this apartment instead of first or second floor. He felt really nice and a lingering thread of pride peeped in his psyche everytime he saw the apartment complex . True to its name it is priced royally, even for the 1000sft. 2 Bed Room flat of his. at 7-05 he could see his company's blue coloured bus wind its way through the Bannerghatta road and stop before the apartment. He said hi to the driver of the bus and got in. This was the bus's first stop as his apartment was located in an area almost close to the Bannerghatta national park near Bangalore. The driver was not very happy initially when Anand moved into his new house as it was a good 10 K.M from his usual starting point. In two months since then, Anand wore down the irritation of the bus driver with his smile and wit. Anand was a pleasant person to talk with as he was well informed and always looked at the lighter side of life. Always positive, his spark and congenial nature rubbed on to the driver too. Driver Lingappa , warmed up to Anand and always gave him some time to board the bus. He also called Anand's mobile whenever Anand could not be seen in the stop. Cutting across intellectual and economic boundaries these two guys had become good friends. As Anand boarded the bus, he could notice two things out of normal. To start with he could see the starting letter "I" on the side covered in mud which had dried. The name of the company read "NFOCOMM" . The second and more striking thing was the face of Lingappa. He looked sullen and his eyes were gazing ahead without any emotions. Anand was surprised as he knew Lingappa to be very sincere worker who always kept the bus very clean even in rainy days where the whole stretch from the ring road in Bangalore city to Bannerghatta was a slush.
Anand starts his chat with Lingappa with a typical "Aenu swamigale chennagidhiraa.." in kannada. The response he gets from Lingappa shocks him and surprises him. This day is not going to be an ordinary day for him. That much he knows. .....

Shakthiprabha.

27th January 2005, 09:17 PM

What took him by surprise is the lifeless gaze which lingappa had. "Iththini" was all he said, which tremendous stress on the word. A frustration was lingering along his reply.

The bus was moving at snails pace in all known badly ruptured Bannerghatta road. The phase of life, Anand pondered aloud.

The ups and downs did not spare anyone from lingappa to Anand.
He immediately remembered his trying time of joblessness couple of months back, which almost drove him suicidal.

Before some more passengers could get into the bus and prevent their personal exchange of information, Anand wanted to gather the reason for sullen looks of lingappa. He pursued his talks, with his usual charming glint.

And Lingappa answered, an answer that shook Anand almost on the verge of tears. It was unbelievable.....(continued)