P.S : Before you start blasting me after finding this new post is nothing more than the translation of the marathon story i had written "Enakkoru Girl Friend venume", I would confess it myself... It was a long time since I posted anything in our office Bulletin board, and so I thought, I would publish one of the stories there...And so, I translated this story to publish it there...Phew....Translation was a real toughhhhhhh job...... :(, It took me more than 3 days for editing, trimming, (some tamil mokkais sounded more mokkai while translating it into english :D) And so this was that finished product... Some visitors to my blog would have avoided studying the Girl friend story coz of the length of that story, and a mixture of Tamil and English words... For the benefit of those ppl :D, I thought, I would post the translated version also at the blog.... :).. So here you go
Warning: Just because I say this story is in English, if you expect a Prithz level of writing, you would definitely be in for disappointment... This has been written in plain local english with strong tamil flavor :D.. Be aware of the fact you will be encountering so many grammatical errors...Feel free to correct it....:D
Are you the one for me...!!!
[Translated version of Enakkoru Girl friend venume ]
Raju was just staring at the monitor....He looked at the system time once again . The time was only 10 minutes to 12. Uh..Oh.. at least 20 more minutes before he can call his friend Sasi for lunch. Gosh...he never thought bench life would be so boring so soon. No work to do, No friends to chat with, None of his friends were online at that time..Even his onsite friends have gone to sleep after the day's fight with their offshore counterparts...lazy gooses.....no soul is available to talk in mobile even... Suddenly everyone appeared to be so busy with their work, while for Raju, the clock appeared to limp like a boozed old man on its way to the next minute..
Till last week, Raju also was in a project, a critical project as they always say…In IT industry, even a project not worth its salt will be called as a critical project, if the client is demanding…..Raju was not having a even minute to spare, overflowed with so many tasks to complete. Phone bells never stopped ringing in Raju's cubicle, from the onsite coordinator who spit fire even fiercer than a dragon, from the Testing team bugging with bugs always, from his Project manager who pings him too often to know about the current status… Particularly in the previous week, the work was just too much, with so much of his routine works got affected. He was not able to call his loving sister Nivetha also, whom he considers so much closer to heart more than anyone else. Nivetha is studying in IISc Bangalore, staying in a hostel. Raju never failed to call dear nivee at least once a day ever since she went Bangalore two years ago.. Hmm…from being such a busy bee to a zombie now in a space of 5 days … hmmmm…IT life for sure is a pendulum Raju thought.
Feeling restless, Raju looked at the time again. It was 12:09 now. He was convinced that lunch time was up and hence called Sasi at his extension.
Sasi : Yes Sir!!! Wassup?
Raju : Time is up…Come lets go for lunch
Sasi : dude… hardly 2.5 hours since u had your breakfast, you want to go for lunch so soon eh?
Raju: what to do da, if there is nothing else to do, eating is a good pastime at least….
Sasi : haha, mate.. You had been an all-rounder in our college, remember? Now you are looking all round in your shape…. Get trimmed man!!
Raju: now…cut that crap.. lets go
Sasi: Mann…so many tasks to complete before EOD
Raju: haa… you say tasks to do for EOD… am here Eee otting with nothing to do :(
Sasi: (amazed) Wow…how are you coming with such awesome one-liners?
Raju: Shut up..chalo, lets start
Sasi: hehe…Raju…. You know rite, I was following this girl Rupa, who joined our company recently.. Looks like it will work out….. I managed to get her consent for lunch today…So sorry da…… :D
Raju: hey sasi…..
Sasi: one minute man…looks like some onsite call is coming.. I will call u later..bye…
And thus Sasi hangs up the call… Raju got peeved… Oh God… not again!!, he thought… Not so long ago, Raju used to go lunch to the Food court with a big team… But the lunch team shrunk gradually as days passed by, when guys dropped out to go lunch on their own with their girl friends or fiancée. Raju could never understand, why is that a guy always prefers to part with their friends, when they get into Love… Is a love relation, so different, that you have to de-friend all others… What nonsense!!!, Raju never had liked this concept of Love and from all what he had heard, seen, portrayed in the movies he has seen, he hated Love more than anything else.. Raju felt more irritated. He longed to talk with his dear sister Nivetha, who is the only one in his entire world, can make him feel better and lighter. "How much I missed talking with her over the past few days", he thought, , "hope she does not blast me for not calling her…" Raju came out of the wing to the lawn, and calls nivee at her mobile
Nivetha : (all smiles) Helllooo brother…
Raju : Hey nivee…how do u do?
Nivetha: am sooper… how are u doing?
Raju: am fine too dear… Sorry pa, could not call u at all last week….you know, I was daily slogging at the office till midnight 12, 1…and had to come even on weekends..thatz why could not call u at all.. So sorry da… I think Mother would have told u about this
Nivetha: yea yea she told…. Thatz oki anna.. no probs…. I was fine
(Raju was surprised…usually even if Raju missed to call her one day, she would tore him to pieces the next day…. Now she is remaining quiet… strange!!!)
Raju: hey nivee, something odd with you today…hmm…Never mind… I asked you to get some T-Shirts for me rite… were u able to go shopping over the weekend?
Nivetha: oh no anna, I did go shopping last Saturday, but I was able to get only a shirt for you, didn't have enough money to get T-Shirts …. They were so costly…
Raju: oh never mind nivee, I will pour tea over the shirts you have bought for me and convert it into a Tea-Shirt myself…. (chuckles)
Nivetha: aargh…anna..you and your PJ's… wont you ever put a full stop to it?
Raju: hehe, even if I fall in coma, I will only put a comma to the PJ..will not put full stop…. (laughs, as Nivee groans at the other end) hey hey ok, no tension, … I got to tell ya something….
Nivetha: (interrupts) Anna listen, I got an important thing to tell u too….
Raju: foul foul…I only started telling first…
Nivetha: oh anna, Girls are the first… I will tell no, please….
Raju: aargh…. Oki.. go ahead….Tell..Tell…
Nivetha: Wait..wait..Tell me one thing before that, you are my very good brother rite, Whatever that is happy for me is happy for you also rite?
Raju: oh nivee…why this doubt….ur happiness is my happiness. You are my..my…
Nivetha: stop stop… don't start ur la la la music… this is not la la la matter, rather ooh-la-la matter….
Raju: what are u trying to tell?
Nivetha: u are not getting ah? Tubelight u are…Anna…I think I am in love with our Nandhini aunty's son Gokul….
(Raju was shocked…he could not believe his own ears)
Raju: (panicky voice) what……come again...
Nivetha: our Delhi aunty nandhini is there na, her son Gokul………. I love him…. (blushes)..He too loves me a lot (blushes again)
(bangggggg……. Raju felt like million thunders striking him…. Love…Love…the same thing that had distanced his dear friends away from him….you too nivee…. Raju was fuming with anger..but since he does not know how to express his anger to his sister, he remains quiet…)
Nivetha: anna…what happened, why have u gone into mute mode?
Raju: err….Nivee……..
Nivetha: (interrupts) anna anna… Hold on oki.. Looks like Gokul is on call… (blushes)… I will call u later oki… (blushes)… So sorry anna (blushes)…. Hehee… bubye (hangs up the call)
Gone….What a day it had been for Raju… first his best friend Sasi, who ditched him completely and gave company to his new found romance, now his alter ego, his own sister..Nivetha… My God…She too in Romance…huh.. That kid never knew the spelling of Romance so far… This was she used to write like "Romeo and Juliet have fallen in Romans…." for English exams..Now she is in love herself……how ridiculous…. Raju feeling dejected returned back to his cubicle….
[A day later…]
Twilight time, Besant nagar beach….Raju was lying on the beach sands near the shore looking at the waves that wetted his knees and went back. Amazing he thought, that just by looking at the waves could calm the wavering mind. Probably, the turbulence of the mind and the sea go in synch with each other….Depression in the sea bring rains, depression in the mind also bring rains, in the form of tears from eyes….. :( Hmmmm… when youth around him, chatter away with their girl friends sipping a cup of coffee, here he was, thinking philosophy…How sad…
At that instance, someone tapped Raju from behind. Raju turned back…. Surprise…Surprise…It was his childhood friend Magesh alias Magi whom Raju was seeing after a gap of 2 years… According to Raju Magi was the first "traitor", who ditched all of his friends after picking up friendship with a girl. He was now happily married with that girl….. Irrespective of the ill feelings he had with Magi, Raju was more than happy to see his best friend after 2 years, especially in the state of mind he was in…
Magi : Hey man how do u do
Raju: fine da… how are u doing..how is ur lover…sorry sorry..ur wife doing?
Magi: She is great da..am fine too… What are u doing here alone…and you look like you are depressed… whatz the matter.. Any love pain?
Raju: (a dry smile) yea yea… Love pain only… But it was those ppl who were near and dear to me, were on love… but the pain is for me…. :(
Magi: What happened da?
[Raju explains everything up to Nivetha's love story]
Magi: ha ha ha ha
Raju: Idiot, why are u laughing
Magi: sorry..sorry dude (laughs), but I can't help laughing at your childishness. I can very well understand that you feel lonely without those dears near u. But it is not fair on ur part to be expecting them to be always with you la.. Everyone have a life for their own and sooner than later you will also have one on ur own...
Raju : yea yea I understand all that. I agree that marital relation is the most important relation in our life, but isn't there a limit to everything. I hate this very concept of love da…….. It is a stupid thing….It makes a person selfish... You know, there is a proverb about Friends, "when the whole world steps out, your friend steps in"… but with Love… It is like…When a lover steps in, the whole world literally steps out of that person's mind.. how mean!!!
Magi : hahaa… dude….quiet true … But see.. It is human tendency to get all excited about anything new that you would experience. And when that is a love relation, the excitement knows no bounds because the very thought that you have got that person to live with your entire life is just amazing u know….
Raju: I cant accept this da…. Take the case of my sister, how can you say, she is good enough to choose her own relation..She is hardly 22…
Magi: Come on, 22 is age enough to make ur own decisions about life
Raju: hey…how can she dare do such things… without the knowledge of our parents, without telling me…
Magi: dude…Love is not a job offer to discuss with every ppl and then take a decision… It is a feel da…you can never know when that feel strikes you… Infact I would say, she told you first, then your parents, just out of her respect for you…Now what is ur problem… how is that guy Gokul?
Raju: hmm..Gokul is our distant cousin actually…we used to play together during our childhood. Later they moved to Delhi.. Just recently, we met him in a marriage function. He was teasing my sister there itself…He came up to Nivetha and told, hello madame.. how do u do.. Nivee was irritated, she shot back "hello sir, I am not madame… Call me Nivetha…" you know what he replied??? He said… "Oh nivee… I didn't call u madame… I addressed u as mah-dame"
Magi: hehehe, fundoo guy eh?… Ok how about his family?
Raju: hmm, his dad is an IAS officer, his mom, our aunty is a house wife… Good family only…
Magi: Then what is ur problem man… These days, the younger ppl, in the name of love, roam around with some useless fellows. Ur sister is great, she had thought about ur parents, family first… She had chosen, keeping in mind how your father would have chosen a guy for her marriage…You and your parents should take pride in that
Raju: Whatever da.. I cant accept this…
Magi: how can you da…Have you ever been to any places other than your home or office? Come out of ur shell da, look at the world around you… Love is not bad at all, Just understand… Marriage is an inevitable thing in our life…. We will not be able to select our Parents, we will not be able to select our siblings, and in most instances we will not be able to select our friends also… these relations just happen… But marriage, if we have a chance to see the person we love to be with….won't that be great? Just think…. Are we not planning for our studies, our career etc.,???… Isnt our personal life more important than these things? When we get a feel on someone, feel that they are the one for us to share our life with… that is a truly a great feel da
Raju: hmmmm
Magi: After all marital life is all about perfect understanding…. Not often you get a feel about some one in your mind, and they get the same kind of feel on u... it is really rare when that happens.. That is the power of love da, To make the better part of our life sweet, having a sweet heart as our better half would be great..wont it be? Not that I am against arranged marriage…not at all…. It is just that, for people with balanced minds, love marriage offers a higher chances of a happier life…. I am damn sure Nivetha has the perfect mind and perfect thinking… Come on da, are u not having belief on your parents' brought up?
As Magi lectured on the power of love, Raju felt a spark and his face got brighter
Raju: Psst da... I never knew the greatness of love so far.... Actually, I think, I had understood..what i had been missing in my life...ada...What love da... (gets up) Here...I have got up da and started.... I am also going to love!!!
Magi was stunned.. He never expected this.. he was like trying to defend for Nivetha's love, but never expected it would boomerang in this fashion...As he looked with shock, Raju left the place with delight....
Reality slowly dawned on Raju, as he returned back to home. Doubts started pouring in, as he stood in front of the mirror at his room, and pondered about it… It was long time since his entire reflection… a bulged belly, a head that threatened to turn into a helmet soon, Gosh……. wasnt this too much for a 26 year old, Raju was worried…. Nevertheless, somehow he should get a girl friend sooner than later, he thought, before Nivetha informs about her love to our parents. Suddenly an idea struck him as he remembered his colleague and a good friend Vijay. There can be no better person than Vijay to help him…, Raju felt….
Vijay --- Raju's colleague, a savior and like a Godfather to those who were in love. He would give excellent tips, ideas and tricks on how to win over a girl's heart. Whether the ideas get clicked or not, the love would get clicked for the person who came to Vijay. From approaching a girl to proposing to them, Vijay's ideas were just perfect and practical. Raju, inspite of being a good friend to Vijay, never liked Vijay's Love Guide role a.l.a "Shajahan" Vijay, as Raju abhorred love himself earlier. But now, he was going to Vijay for the same thing....... Hmmm...sighed Raju...He used to be very shy to even talk about love...Such was his allergy to the word Love, Romance..... that Raju used to wear only digital watch and avoid watches with Roman numerals in it, since when the dial on such watches ticked, he felt it sounded Romantic (Roman Tick) to him.......Weird it might sound, but he used to be like that earlier......Hmmmm....those were times when there was not a girl in my life... but to Knot a girl into my life, I should shed such kind of mindset, he thought...........
Having made up his mind, Raju approached Vijay at his cubicle the next day
Vijay : Hey Raju, hi..howdy
Raju: Hiiiiiii am fine da, how are u doing
Vijay: am excellent maan... so wassup
Raju: nothing is up da, rather my morale is down........ dude.. I need a help from u da...
Vijay: Oh...tell me buddy....watz the matter?
Raju: Suddenly I developed an interest to love some one da....But having been shy so far in my life, I dont know how to do that, you have to help me man...
Vijay: (Surprised) wowwwww... man is that you talking?.... I couldnt believe myself...Watz happening here?
Raju: Oh come on da, so far I had been of the view that only Kazhudhais (donkey in Tamil) do kaathal (Love in tamil), Singam (Lion in Tamil) would remain single always....
Vijay: Now what happened, that made u think, rather to remain in single, to mingle with some one, and make ur jungle life into full of jingles?
Raju: Hmm..So many people around me are selecting their life partner through love..that had inspired me also... I dont know da, dont know how to put that...but I want to love......thatz all I know
Vijay: hahaa, great da, you show the symptoms of Love... Love is like GOD only... We believe and do so many things related to it, but we will never be able to reason for that....Hmm..anyway I think, this feeling to love had come pretty late in ur life...
Raju: What to do da, During my teenage, I used to stay away from love out of shyness and also I was worried, that if I try to love some girl or tease them even for fun, some day, it might affect my sister later in her life........ Thatz why I had always been a good guy to girls... Also I had been of the view, that to flirt with some one, or to have interest in some girl is an unforgivable sin,
Vijay: Hmm...Whatever...... Now you want to love and is seeking a girl rite?
Raju: yea da, but not some girl....... She should be as gorgeous, as say, Asin... (blushes)
Vijay: Asin eh..... man..have u ever seen ur reflection in ur mirror?
Raju: da...we love and marry only once in life... so we should always aim for the best da...Only if we aim for someone in the range asin, we would at least end up getting some one in the range of our cousin...
Vijay: hahaa.. awesome man.... O.K...Let us try a different route for ur love... Love at first sight wont work out for u, lets try Love at first site...
Raju: what are u telling da?
Vijay: itz the same old formula, but in a different style....What would youngsters do in their college life, go to various women colleges and try their luck there la...
Raju: yea.....
Vijay: same thing, What you need to do here is, log into ur Orkut, visit various women's college communities, and select a girl who interests u....
Raju: how come da, do u think girls would put up their photo and all in a public community like orkut?
Vijay: What do you think man? With so many models of digicams and mobile cameras in the market, girls today never miss a chance to click themselves and put their picture online.. you could find their up to date pictures in their orkut albums… They would never worry about privacy or that their personal pictures exposed in an online community, with chances of so many notorious ppl with dirty thinking can have access to it….
Raju: deiii.. so are u trying to tell that I am a guy with dirty thinking?
Vijay: cool buddy cool, I didn’t mean u, I am telling in general…….. you don’t mind…. For your love to wORKoUT, there can be no better medium than orkut, you visit ladies college communities, select a girl who interests u, note their activities etc., and put a scrap in their scrapbook… Don’t put meaningless scraps, rather observe their scrapbook and their friends’ scrapbook where they reply and write a scrap accordingly
Raju: Do you think they would reply to my scrap?
Vijay: oh definitely, girls always have this sense of curiosity….they would think, oh do u know me, who are u etc., so they would definitely return ur scrap, what u would need to do then is reply politely and honestly… you should make sure that you never give an impression of a trespasser to that girl… maintain decency and dignity and develop the relation. Continue in this vein and after a while, get her G-Talk id and start chatting with her.. By this time, establish yourself well in her good books, impress her with ur skills, if at all you ever have some and then after a stage propose to her.. This is my master plan
Raju : cool da, actually sounds good…… I would do that
Vijay: yo man… Best of luck :)
Raju: Thanks da, bye
Thus Raju set out on his Mission – Girl friend on ORKUT, as his Love mentor Vijay advised. Raju browsed thru various popular Chennai Womens' college communities and went through the girls' (who were the members of those communities) album and profile. After thorough search and analysis, Raju zeroed in on a pretty girl Ms.Sujatha from one of a college community. Raju closely followed Sujatha's profile, scrapbooks and the communities she was part of. Sujatha was also part of the "Law colleges in Tamilnadu" community, Raju followed her to that community and searched if Sujatha had posted any messages in that community. Sujatha had actually started a thread in that community, inquiring for the best law college in Tamilnadu for her younger brother. Raju sensing this as an opportunity to acquaint with her, replied to her message in that thread, "Hi Sujatha, before answering your question, let me ask you another question, Say, if ur brother takes up law as his profession, will your brother become ur brother-in-law?".
That ploy almost backfired on Raju, as Sujatha when saw the reply, got irked over the fact that some stranger was trying to mock her. As soon as she saw this message in the Law colleges community, a fuming Sujatha visited Raju's profile to verbally blast him. But she paused to take a look at Raju's testimonials, most of which had portrayed Raju as a goody goody kind of guy, a guy who loves making fun in general, but very shy talking with girls.... After seeing the testimonials, Sujatha decided to give Raju the benefit of doubt, thinking he might be a genuine guy with no intention of mocking at her, probably he had only tried to crack a joke, never mind that ended as a PJ. So she got cooled and scrapped back at Raju's scrapbook, lol-ing for his attempted joke and asking him, if he really knew about the law colleges in Tamilnadu. This reply scrap, although a big surprise to Raju, boosted him in a big way. Immediatly he phoned to whomever he knew related to Law field and replied Sujatha in detail about what she had asked for. Sujatha promptly sent a thank you mail to Raju who made use of this opportunity to add Sujatha to his Orkut buddies list and also invited her to G-Talk. The master plan charted out by his master Vijay, was well and truly going on the right path for Raju, as a new relation started to dawn in Raju's life in the way he had wished for.
Sujatha was a B.Com graduate, seeking a job after having finished her college studies earlier this year. Both of her parents were working and her brother Kaushik had finished his 12th standard education. No one will be home during the day time and Sujatha had nothing else to do other than be online and keep chatting, orkutting or browsing. This suited Raju perfectly, as he was also in the bench with nothing to do. This paved the way for both of them to keep chatting with each other for the best part of the day. Slowly, but surely, the friendship between both of them grew stronger and closer. It went to the next level with their chat shifting to mobile from the internet medium. Sujatha would give missed call and Raju would promptly call her at her number. Well, most of the girls would only give missed calls, wont they? After all thatz why they are called "Miss"-ed calls.....
Since Raju was rather soft, decent and talked like a no-nonsense guy, Sujatha had great respect and admiration for him. She shared so many things about her, even discussed about her future plans and career with him. Raju liked this relationship with Sujatha a lot.. He got a girl friend for himself .... This good feel made Raju forget whatever his dear friend Sasi or lovable sister Nivetha did to him as well. But he made it a point not to ignore them as they did to him when they were in love. He daily called Nivetha like ever before. Raju wanted to share about this wonderful relationship he has had with his sister. But just when Raju would have overcome his shy feeling to start the matter, Nivetha would stop him and say "Anna...wait wait...looks like Gokul is on call, I would listen to the news later oki..." and would cut the call. Raju would leave the matter there itself.
A month later, Raju got allocated to a new dev project. Having been in bench for more than a month, he never felt like working at all, that too after Sujatha came into his life, he felt too sluggish to complete even a easier task. Neverthless, the sincere guy he was, he somehow managed to work and complete the task. But this affected his daily chat with Sujatha a lot, something he missed very much. At this time, Sujatha informed Raju that she was going to her native place for a family function. She asked him not to call her and she would be back after 3 days. Since Raju respected her words a lot, he did not call Sujatha then, it was one week since she had left, but still there was no sound of her either in G-Talk or orkut or at his SMS. Raju began to worry about Sujatha's well being and so decided to try calling her. But, Much to his surprise, Sujatha's mobile was engaged, Raju tried calling several times in the day but it was always engaged. More worried, Raju called Indhu, Sujatha's best friend, whose number was also with Raju
Indhu: Hello
Raju : Hey Indhu, it is me Raj
Indhu: Hey Raju, how do u do, how is ur work going?
Raju: All fine...hey listen, how is Sujatha, Where is she, had she come back from her native place or not.. I tried calling her... but the lines were always engaged
Indhu : Oh yea Raju, ever since she got engaged, her phone lines also went engaged..
Raju : (Shocked) Whaaaaaaaaat? What are you telling Indhu??
Indhu : hey yes Raju…. Even I was shocked when she ringed me today to tell this news…… You know rite? She told she would be back in 3 days when she left for her native place last week, but went into absconding…… Today morning she called me up and was all blushing when she told “I got engaged di, my aunty’s son is the groom” ….. It seems that they had gone for a family function at a native place… Her aunt who was present at this function, put forward this marriage proposal to her father it seems…. Even though this was totally unexpected, since the guy is a very chamathu guy, smart, handsome and earning hand full of sum in US, everyone in Sujatha’s family immediately accepted
Raju: Sujatha??
Indhu: yea yea, that loosu girl had a secret crush for him it seems, but was so shy to tell it to anyone for fear of being thought as a bad girl……. She was so happy that her aththan himself had initiated the proposal.
This left Raju shell shocked as he did not mutter any reply……. Indhu thought since there was no signal, she could not hear Raju’s reply…after waiting for sometime, she cut the call
Raju……he was shattered to say the least……. His bad luck with telephonic conversations continued…… Why me…why me always he thought… Whoever I have love and affection for, falls in love with some one else… So far it was not a problem, since those were friendly or sister relations… but now even my lover is loving some one only… Atrocious!!!
Sujatha logs into the G-Talk at this very moment and pings Raju
Sujatha : Hey hi Raju…..
Raju remains silent, he felt too upset to type
Sujatha : sorry da raju, so sorry, I know that donkey Indhu would have told you the matter before itself……… I thought I would tell about my marriage news myself
Raju: so it was really true…….hmmmm
Sujatha: yes da…. I felt so bad for not able to tell u, u know that…. Becoz..becoz… u know you had been a very good chat friend, someone who advised me, laughed with me…….. U know, I was feeling so lonely last two months … with no one at home… …. Bfore I got to know u, whenever I felt lonely, esp after finishing with my college, I would be daily writing diary addressing some virtual character….. After started to chat with you, I left that habit.…. Certain matters, I can't tell to anyone else, not even my girl friends, one reason is that all these loosu friends of mine do not have the patience to hear what I say…… you listened patiently to whatever I blabbered, gave me a chance to vent it out………. And another reason is, don't mistake me Raju.., since I don't know u or have never seen u, it gave me that comfort to tell out certain things, which I don't find with any of my real world friends
Raju felt so upset, as Sujatha continued talking, at this moment, Raju's PM called him to get an update about the Project Status, So Raju tells Sujatha
Raju: Hey Sujatha….hold on oki…. I will BRB (Be Right back)
Sujatha: Oki da…
It took a solid 20 mins meeting for Raju with his PM..When he returned back to his system, he found Sujatha had gone offline leaving a message to him.
Sujatha: What is this Raju, you told Be right back, and u left me back rather… you shud have told Be Left back…. J,O.K…. jokes apart, I won't come online so often hereafter, even if I come online, it would be only for checking mails and not for chatting… It was great knowing u, I will try to keep in touch thru mails…you also mail me okay?… I don't know if I would be able to send u marriage invitation, coz I don't know what would my hubby think, if I say I have chat friends and all….. Sorry da….. I know u won't mind this….Chalo….. Let us part as friends for now….
It was all over… end of a month old relation….. She, who he thought would become part of life, had rather told let us part as friends….Raju could not control his depressed feelings… So he just typed a mail to his PM, telling that he was feeling sick, and left the office….
[Same day, Evening time]
Same Besant nagar beach… Same sea… Same loneliness…. This time, the waves were more turbulent than the previous time, just like his mind, he thought. He was feeling lot sicker than last time, and was just staring at the sea, when someone tapped his shoulders……… He turned back to see, that it was the same guy Magesh alias Magi who was there…
Magi: Hey da Raju…. Nice to see u here again after a month
Raju: (he gets peeved at seeing Magi) dei dog, don't u have any other work? Are u a romeo, to keep roaming in the beach always… Whenever I come to beach, you are disturbing me
Magi: (taken aback) hey dude..cool..cool… What happened…. Are u angry with me?
Raju: (furious) what then da, Just because of ur stupid advice the other day, I am in this condition
Magi: Oh God!!! What did I say… o.k leave all that… What happened now?
(Raju narrated the entire events in the past one month in detail)
Raju: I was living peacefully with no girl in my life…. After listening to ur stupid advise last month, I hurted myself a lot falling in love…Do you know how much love and respect I had for her? At last, she insulted my friendship by telling that I am only a faceless friend…...Am I only for chatting and time pass?
[Magi keeps quiet as Raju continued with emotions running high…]
Raju: Why me da, why only me always… No one is understanding my love and affection… Look around here in the beach..so many pretty girls falling for some cheap guy with all sorts of bad habits… But for a good guy like me, for my genuine love, only such kind of things are happening
[Magi interrupts…]
Magi : Machi machi one minute… don't just go on talking… Do you know what is the basic qualification for love? …you should never be having any pre-notions or carrying any expectations about the person u are loving….But what you had done?… Browsed through various albums and selected one that impressed you… Love is not best of three choice da, it is something that you should feel from within…..
Raju : Come on da, Is it wrong to expect your lover to be a cute and lovely girl?
Magi : Not at all, if you expect your lover to be a cute and lovely girl, it is not wrong at all… But if you expect to love only a cute and lovely girl, then it is a fundamental mistake da….That too how…….Without any self belief you searched for your love in the world of web… The relation you get out of a virtual world would only be virtual da..Can't u understand that?… You are a software engineer…Don't you know the HTTP protocol, that these web pages use are stateless…and do not persist data in them.… And you had been searching for a relation, that need to be persistent throughout ur life in such a place.. how stupid da?
Raju : Whatz wrong about it da, Arent there anyone whose love or friendship had developed through online or chatting?
Magi : Yea, there has been instances for this… but none of them would have gone with the mindset or expectation of searching their love or friendship over net… That would have developed and their pure love would have carried that forward, rather than them pushing for it…. Moreover, all those internet love successes are more like exceptions than a rule for others to follow…
Raju : Hmmmmm…..
Magi : Further ur basic mentality was wrong…. Love is something that you get to feel when you see that someone special among the crowd of people you see daily…But you… you felt like loving someone just becoz ppl around u were loving… This is only childish mentality… how could you expect that to succeed at all?
Raju : Haa…do I need all this da? How good and quiet I had been, only coz my nears and dears ignored me, I strayed into such kind of stupid thinkings…. People around me, whom I thought as best friends and lovable relation, dumped me when they got a love relation for their own…….
Magi : machaan shall I tell one thing…. When we feel upset or disappointed or feel defeated, it would be so tempting to put the blame on others and think that we have done nothing wrong…bcoz it is so easy for one to feel self pity rather than to own the blame on any issue….But just for a moment, if you empty your tea cup and think with a blank mind, about why things are going wrong for us, we can get to understand better…….. Everyone around you has love and respect for u da… it is only you, who don't understand them… rather I would say your love for them is not true at all
Raju: Hey…me…me??
Magi : yeah you only…First and foremost, if the affection is genuine, no one will be advertising about it at all, as you had been doing… O.K…I accept… you have so much affection for some of your friends and towards your sister… But man, you are selfish…… thatz why you expect your friends and sister to give maximum importance only to you….You are possessive of them and feel jealous when they fall in love.. It hurts you and irks you..…. That is wrong da…Just think…. Can the affection you show be a burden for the ones u love?… Can you expect returns for the love you show to your lovable ppl?
Raju: well… ..I…er…
Magi : Think da, Just because your friends do not accompany you during lunch or because your sister does not talk to you as often as she did earlier, does that mean their love for you had diminished? Is that what you think about your lovable ppl after all?
Raju is unable to talk anything…he realized his folly… he felt like all his ego of "Good boy", "loving brother", "loving friend" getting shattered… He started crying
Magi : dude……. Why are u crying
Raju : I realize da… I realize how selfish and stupid I had been….. I really had been a selfish guy even to my friends or parents or my dear sister…. I never knew the real meaning of love or affection, and always carried a thought that others had always been ditching me…. I feel disgusted now …
Magi : Come on da, why shud u feel disgusted….Actually you should feel quite good about having identified about ur problem… Just think… as u had told, you had already been a good guy…. Now that you have acknowledged about this problem and take steps to correct it, won't that make you a more better guy…. Isn't that reason enough to feel cheerful about? To put it in Kamal's style a.l.a Anbe Sivam, He who accepts his mistake and corrects himself is actually a GOD :)
Raju : you are right da..very much…. (not able to talk)
Magi : Had the people around you not romanced, it wouldn't have made you come out of ur comfort zone to try things, to take a shot at love, to understand yourself or to expose the problems in u…. you would have remained like before with some preconceived notions about urself, without trying to improve urself… See… Even when they hurt, they make u improve, those are the real relations da…Come on da, you are a good guy, with OK personality, a talented IT professional… what more… just that you have to slightly change the way you think
Raju : you mean Attitude?
Magi : u r at-it-dude…. absolutely… Even that is not a big issue, u just need to make sure you don't get caught into any kind of mindset and be flexible, free and feel lighter in ur mind and heart… Good luck da !!! I am damn sure, I would see you with a dame next time I meet u :)
Raju : thanks a lot da machi…. You are right, I am indeed blessed to have such good friends around me and even more blessed to have a friend like you… And my dear sister Nivetha…. I had always mistaken her and had actually insulted her love for me .. Now I tell da.. I assure she gets whatever that make her happy…
Magi : Thatz the spirit da.. bubye.. It is getting dark, am leaving…
Next day… A far relaxed Raju arrives at his office… For the first time in many days he felt a lot lighter and better… He felt like talking to his sister, so he called her up
Nivetha: Hellooo annaaa… Good morning
Raju : Good morning, nivetha, how are u doing dear?
Nivetha: Am doing wonderful anna..…how are u doing… u know what? it was so nice hearing u now anna…..
Raju : hahahaa…watz the matter sweetie?
Nivetha : I have my semester exam today, you know rite?..... bad anna u are…. I thought you called me to wish me luck….. u totally forget ah?
Raju : oooh ooh sorry sorry da.. Wish u the very bestttttttt of luck.. u will definitely score much higher than previous sems
Nivetha : hehe thanks a lot anna…. O.K I have to leave for my exam.. Shall I go?
Raju : yea yea…. Bye..take care…. Hey hey nivetha one minute…
Nivetha : yes anna…
Raju : I love u a lot nivii……….so blessed to have u as my little sister
Nivetha : :D, what happened to you anna?
Raju : Just like that..I felt like telling that now..…. O.K Bye,… Good luck!!!
Nivetha : thanks a lot anna (she hangs up the phone)
Raju felt, he had never been so happy before…. He settled down in his place and checked the mails… He was slightly tensed about his PM's response, for he ran away the previous day without doing the work he had given….But alas, there was only 1 new mail and thankfully it was not from his PM…. Rather it was from Roopa….with the subject as Hi
Aaha… This is Sasi's girl friend right… What does she have to write to me… A confused raju opened the mail….. He saw inside just two lines,
Dear Raju…..Miss Roopa…….. misses You,
Will you accept me as…….., Mrs. Of You??
- With Lots of Love,
Roopa
Raju could not understand anything out of it… He wondered if he was dreaming…. Probably Roopa wrongly sent the mail to me instead of Sasi..or what? Sasi arrived at his cubicle exactly at the same moment
Raju : Hey Sasi, watz this man..your friend has sent some mail to me… Is this for u otherwise?
Sasi : haha dude that mail was for you only…. I can understand your confusion… I was behind her to get her love… But she… she was loving you only da… your good nature, smiling face and helping tendency bowled her it seems… But she felt so shy of expressing it to you at all… Thatz why she came to me, your close friend, for help…. The moment I learnt that she only loved you I threw away the love thoughts in my mind and accepted her as a good friend…. It took me more than a month to convince her to express her love to you directly rather than thru me….
Raju : (Excited)… you mean..you mean…
Sasi : yo man… She loves you da……….
Raju was literally flying……… A girl loving me!!!..... Oh God!!! And I was searching for a love all over when my sweet heart was just cubicles away from me…. Hmm…if only she had told this a month earlier, he thought….Oh come on, GOD might have thought that Roopa deserved a truly good natured Raju after all!!!…..Whatever it was, Raju knew that Roopa was the one for him…….!!!!
SUBAM
Warning: Just because I say this story is in English, if you expect a Prithz level of writing, you would definitely be in for disappointment... This has been written in plain local english with strong tamil flavor :D.. Be aware of the fact you will be encountering so many grammatical errors...Feel free to correct it....:D
[Translated version of Enakkoru Girl friend venume ]
Raju was just staring at the monitor....He looked at the system time once again . The time was only 10 minutes to 12. Uh..Oh.. at least 20 more minutes before he can call his friend Sasi for lunch. Gosh...he never thought bench life would be so boring so soon. No work to do, No friends to chat with, None of his friends were online at that time..Even his onsite friends have gone to sleep after the day's fight with their offshore counterparts...lazy gooses.....no soul is available to talk in mobile even... Suddenly everyone appeared to be so busy with their work, while for Raju, the clock appeared to limp like a boozed old man on its way to the next minute..
Till last week, Raju also was in a project, a critical project as they always say…In IT industry, even a project not worth its salt will be called as a critical project, if the client is demanding…..Raju was not having a even minute to spare, overflowed with so many tasks to complete. Phone bells never stopped ringing in Raju's cubicle, from the onsite coordinator who spit fire even fiercer than a dragon, from the Testing team bugging with bugs always, from his Project manager who pings him too often to know about the current status… Particularly in the previous week, the work was just too much, with so much of his routine works got affected. He was not able to call his loving sister Nivetha also, whom he considers so much closer to heart more than anyone else. Nivetha is studying in IISc Bangalore, staying in a hostel. Raju never failed to call dear nivee at least once a day ever since she went Bangalore two years ago.. Hmm…from being such a busy bee to a zombie now in a space of 5 days … hmmmm…IT life for sure is a pendulum Raju thought.
Feeling restless, Raju looked at the time again. It was 12:09 now. He was convinced that lunch time was up and hence called Sasi at his extension.
Sasi : Yes Sir!!! Wassup?
Raju : Time is up…Come lets go for lunch
Sasi : dude… hardly 2.5 hours since u had your breakfast, you want to go for lunch so soon eh?
Raju: what to do da, if there is nothing else to do, eating is a good pastime at least….
Sasi : haha, mate.. You had been an all-rounder in our college, remember? Now you are looking all round in your shape…. Get trimmed man!!
Raju: now…cut that crap.. lets go
Sasi: Mann…so many tasks to complete before EOD
Raju: haa… you say tasks to do for EOD… am here Eee otting with nothing to do :(
Sasi: (amazed) Wow…how are you coming with such awesome one-liners?
Raju: Shut up..chalo, lets start
Sasi: hehe…Raju…. You know rite, I was following this girl Rupa, who joined our company recently.. Looks like it will work out….. I managed to get her consent for lunch today…So sorry da…… :D
Raju: hey sasi…..
Sasi: one minute man…looks like some onsite call is coming.. I will call u later..bye…
And thus Sasi hangs up the call… Raju got peeved… Oh God… not again!!, he thought… Not so long ago, Raju used to go lunch to the Food court with a big team… But the lunch team shrunk gradually as days passed by, when guys dropped out to go lunch on their own with their girl friends or fiancée. Raju could never understand, why is that a guy always prefers to part with their friends, when they get into Love… Is a love relation, so different, that you have to de-friend all others… What nonsense!!!, Raju never had liked this concept of Love and from all what he had heard, seen, portrayed in the movies he has seen, he hated Love more than anything else.. Raju felt more irritated. He longed to talk with his dear sister Nivetha, who is the only one in his entire world, can make him feel better and lighter. "How much I missed talking with her over the past few days", he thought, , "hope she does not blast me for not calling her…" Raju came out of the wing to the lawn, and calls nivee at her mobile
Nivetha : (all smiles) Helllooo brother…
Raju : Hey nivee…how do u do?
Nivetha: am sooper… how are u doing?
Raju: am fine too dear… Sorry pa, could not call u at all last week….you know, I was daily slogging at the office till midnight 12, 1…and had to come even on weekends..thatz why could not call u at all.. So sorry da… I think Mother would have told u about this
Nivetha: yea yea she told…. Thatz oki anna.. no probs…. I was fine
(Raju was surprised…usually even if Raju missed to call her one day, she would tore him to pieces the next day…. Now she is remaining quiet… strange!!!)
Raju: hey nivee, something odd with you today…hmm…Never mind… I asked you to get some T-Shirts for me rite… were u able to go shopping over the weekend?
Nivetha: oh no anna, I did go shopping last Saturday, but I was able to get only a shirt for you, didn't have enough money to get T-Shirts …. They were so costly…
Raju: oh never mind nivee, I will pour tea over the shirts you have bought for me and convert it into a Tea-Shirt myself…. (chuckles)
Nivetha: aargh…anna..you and your PJ's… wont you ever put a full stop to it?
Raju: hehe, even if I fall in coma, I will only put a comma to the PJ..will not put full stop…. (laughs, as Nivee groans at the other end) hey hey ok, no tension, … I got to tell ya something….
Nivetha: (interrupts) Anna listen, I got an important thing to tell u too….
Raju: foul foul…I only started telling first…
Nivetha: oh anna, Girls are the first… I will tell no, please….
Raju: aargh…. Oki.. go ahead….Tell..Tell…
Nivetha: Wait..wait..Tell me one thing before that, you are my very good brother rite, Whatever that is happy for me is happy for you also rite?
Raju: oh nivee…why this doubt….ur happiness is my happiness. You are my..my…
Nivetha: stop stop… don't start ur la la la music… this is not la la la matter, rather ooh-la-la matter….
Raju: what are u trying to tell?
Nivetha: u are not getting ah? Tubelight u are…Anna…I think I am in love with our Nandhini aunty's son Gokul….
(Raju was shocked…he could not believe his own ears)
Raju: (panicky voice) what……come again...
Nivetha: our Delhi aunty nandhini is there na, her son Gokul………. I love him…. (blushes)..He too loves me a lot (blushes again)
(bangggggg……. Raju felt like million thunders striking him…. Love…Love…the same thing that had distanced his dear friends away from him….you too nivee…. Raju was fuming with anger..but since he does not know how to express his anger to his sister, he remains quiet…)
Nivetha: anna…what happened, why have u gone into mute mode?
Raju: err….Nivee……..
Nivetha: (interrupts) anna anna… Hold on oki.. Looks like Gokul is on call… (blushes)… I will call u later oki… (blushes)… So sorry anna (blushes)…. Hehee… bubye (hangs up the call)
Gone….What a day it had been for Raju… first his best friend Sasi, who ditched him completely and gave company to his new found romance, now his alter ego, his own sister..Nivetha… My God…She too in Romance…huh.. That kid never knew the spelling of Romance so far… This was she used to write like "Romeo and Juliet have fallen in Romans…." for English exams..Now she is in love herself……how ridiculous…. Raju feeling dejected returned back to his cubicle….
[A day later…]
Twilight time, Besant nagar beach….Raju was lying on the beach sands near the shore looking at the waves that wetted his knees and went back. Amazing he thought, that just by looking at the waves could calm the wavering mind. Probably, the turbulence of the mind and the sea go in synch with each other….Depression in the sea bring rains, depression in the mind also bring rains, in the form of tears from eyes….. :( Hmmmm… when youth around him, chatter away with their girl friends sipping a cup of coffee, here he was, thinking philosophy…How sad…
At that instance, someone tapped Raju from behind. Raju turned back…. Surprise…Surprise…It was his childhood friend Magesh alias Magi whom Raju was seeing after a gap of 2 years… According to Raju Magi was the first "traitor", who ditched all of his friends after picking up friendship with a girl. He was now happily married with that girl….. Irrespective of the ill feelings he had with Magi, Raju was more than happy to see his best friend after 2 years, especially in the state of mind he was in…
Magi : Hey man how do u do
Raju: fine da… how are u doing..how is ur lover…sorry sorry..ur wife doing?
Magi: She is great da..am fine too… What are u doing here alone…and you look like you are depressed… whatz the matter.. Any love pain?
Raju: (a dry smile) yea yea… Love pain only… But it was those ppl who were near and dear to me, were on love… but the pain is for me…. :(
Magi: What happened da?
[Raju explains everything up to Nivetha's love story]
Magi: ha ha ha ha
Raju: Idiot, why are u laughing
Magi: sorry..sorry dude (laughs), but I can't help laughing at your childishness. I can very well understand that you feel lonely without those dears near u. But it is not fair on ur part to be expecting them to be always with you la.. Everyone have a life for their own and sooner than later you will also have one on ur own...
Raju : yea yea I understand all that. I agree that marital relation is the most important relation in our life, but isn't there a limit to everything. I hate this very concept of love da…….. It is a stupid thing….It makes a person selfish... You know, there is a proverb about Friends, "when the whole world steps out, your friend steps in"… but with Love… It is like…When a lover steps in, the whole world literally steps out of that person's mind.. how mean!!!
Magi : hahaa… dude….quiet true … But see.. It is human tendency to get all excited about anything new that you would experience. And when that is a love relation, the excitement knows no bounds because the very thought that you have got that person to live with your entire life is just amazing u know….
Raju: I cant accept this da…. Take the case of my sister, how can you say, she is good enough to choose her own relation..She is hardly 22…
Magi: Come on, 22 is age enough to make ur own decisions about life
Raju: hey…how can she dare do such things… without the knowledge of our parents, without telling me…
Magi: dude…Love is not a job offer to discuss with every ppl and then take a decision… It is a feel da…you can never know when that feel strikes you… Infact I would say, she told you first, then your parents, just out of her respect for you…Now what is ur problem… how is that guy Gokul?
Raju: hmm..Gokul is our distant cousin actually…we used to play together during our childhood. Later they moved to Delhi.. Just recently, we met him in a marriage function. He was teasing my sister there itself…He came up to Nivetha and told, hello madame.. how do u do.. Nivee was irritated, she shot back "hello sir, I am not madame… Call me Nivetha…" you know what he replied??? He said… "Oh nivee… I didn't call u madame… I addressed u as mah-dame"
Magi: hehehe, fundoo guy eh?… Ok how about his family?
Raju: hmm, his dad is an IAS officer, his mom, our aunty is a house wife… Good family only…
Magi: Then what is ur problem man… These days, the younger ppl, in the name of love, roam around with some useless fellows. Ur sister is great, she had thought about ur parents, family first… She had chosen, keeping in mind how your father would have chosen a guy for her marriage…You and your parents should take pride in that
Raju: Whatever da.. I cant accept this…
Magi: how can you da…Have you ever been to any places other than your home or office? Come out of ur shell da, look at the world around you… Love is not bad at all, Just understand… Marriage is an inevitable thing in our life…. We will not be able to select our Parents, we will not be able to select our siblings, and in most instances we will not be able to select our friends also… these relations just happen… But marriage, if we have a chance to see the person we love to be with….won't that be great? Just think…. Are we not planning for our studies, our career etc.,???… Isnt our personal life more important than these things? When we get a feel on someone, feel that they are the one for us to share our life with… that is a truly a great feel da
Raju: hmmmm
Magi: After all marital life is all about perfect understanding…. Not often you get a feel about some one in your mind, and they get the same kind of feel on u... it is really rare when that happens.. That is the power of love da, To make the better part of our life sweet, having a sweet heart as our better half would be great..wont it be? Not that I am against arranged marriage…not at all…. It is just that, for people with balanced minds, love marriage offers a higher chances of a happier life…. I am damn sure Nivetha has the perfect mind and perfect thinking… Come on da, are u not having belief on your parents' brought up?
As Magi lectured on the power of love, Raju felt a spark and his face got brighter
Raju: Psst da... I never knew the greatness of love so far.... Actually, I think, I had understood..what i had been missing in my life...ada...What love da... (gets up) Here...I have got up da and started.... I am also going to love!!!
Magi was stunned.. He never expected this.. he was like trying to defend for Nivetha's love, but never expected it would boomerang in this fashion...As he looked with shock, Raju left the place with delight....
Reality slowly dawned on Raju, as he returned back to home. Doubts started pouring in, as he stood in front of the mirror at his room, and pondered about it… It was long time since his entire reflection… a bulged belly, a head that threatened to turn into a helmet soon, Gosh……. wasnt this too much for a 26 year old, Raju was worried…. Nevertheless, somehow he should get a girl friend sooner than later, he thought, before Nivetha informs about her love to our parents. Suddenly an idea struck him as he remembered his colleague and a good friend Vijay. There can be no better person than Vijay to help him…, Raju felt….
Vijay --- Raju's colleague, a savior and like a Godfather to those who were in love. He would give excellent tips, ideas and tricks on how to win over a girl's heart. Whether the ideas get clicked or not, the love would get clicked for the person who came to Vijay. From approaching a girl to proposing to them, Vijay's ideas were just perfect and practical. Raju, inspite of being a good friend to Vijay, never liked Vijay's Love Guide role a.l.a "Shajahan" Vijay, as Raju abhorred love himself earlier. But now, he was going to Vijay for the same thing....... Hmmm...sighed Raju...He used to be very shy to even talk about love...Such was his allergy to the word Love, Romance..... that Raju used to wear only digital watch and avoid watches with Roman numerals in it, since when the dial on such watches ticked, he felt it sounded Romantic (Roman Tick) to him.......Weird it might sound, but he used to be like that earlier......Hmmmm....those were times when there was not a girl in my life... but to Knot a girl into my life, I should shed such kind of mindset, he thought...........
Having made up his mind, Raju approached Vijay at his cubicle the next day
Vijay : Hey Raju, hi..howdy
Raju: Hiiiiiii am fine da, how are u doing
Vijay: am excellent maan... so wassup
Raju: nothing is up da, rather my morale is down........ dude.. I need a help from u da...
Vijay: Oh...tell me buddy....watz the matter?
Raju: Suddenly I developed an interest to love some one da....But having been shy so far in my life, I dont know how to do that, you have to help me man...
Vijay: (Surprised) wowwwww... man is that you talking?.... I couldnt believe myself...Watz happening here?
Raju: Oh come on da, so far I had been of the view that only Kazhudhais (donkey in Tamil) do kaathal (Love in tamil), Singam (Lion in Tamil) would remain single always....
Vijay: Now what happened, that made u think, rather to remain in single, to mingle with some one, and make ur jungle life into full of jingles?
Raju: Hmm..So many people around me are selecting their life partner through love..that had inspired me also... I dont know da, dont know how to put that...but I want to love......thatz all I know
Vijay: hahaa, great da, you show the symptoms of Love... Love is like GOD only... We believe and do so many things related to it, but we will never be able to reason for that....Hmm..anyway I think, this feeling to love had come pretty late in ur life...
Raju: What to do da, During my teenage, I used to stay away from love out of shyness and also I was worried, that if I try to love some girl or tease them even for fun, some day, it might affect my sister later in her life........ Thatz why I had always been a good guy to girls... Also I had been of the view, that to flirt with some one, or to have interest in some girl is an unforgivable sin,
Vijay: Hmm...Whatever...... Now you want to love and is seeking a girl rite?
Raju: yea da, but not some girl....... She should be as gorgeous, as say, Asin... (blushes)
Vijay: Asin eh..... man..have u ever seen ur reflection in ur mirror?
Raju: da...we love and marry only once in life... so we should always aim for the best da...Only if we aim for someone in the range asin, we would at least end up getting some one in the range of our cousin...
Vijay: hahaa.. awesome man.... O.K...Let us try a different route for ur love... Love at first sight wont work out for u, lets try Love at first site...
Raju: what are u telling da?
Vijay: itz the same old formula, but in a different style....What would youngsters do in their college life, go to various women colleges and try their luck there la...
Raju: yea.....
Vijay: same thing, What you need to do here is, log into ur Orkut, visit various women's college communities, and select a girl who interests u....
Raju: how come da, do u think girls would put up their photo and all in a public community like orkut?
Vijay: What do you think man? With so many models of digicams and mobile cameras in the market, girls today never miss a chance to click themselves and put their picture online.. you could find their up to date pictures in their orkut albums… They would never worry about privacy or that their personal pictures exposed in an online community, with chances of so many notorious ppl with dirty thinking can have access to it….
Raju: deiii.. so are u trying to tell that I am a guy with dirty thinking?
Vijay: cool buddy cool, I didn’t mean u, I am telling in general…….. you don’t mind…. For your love to wORKoUT, there can be no better medium than orkut, you visit ladies college communities, select a girl who interests u, note their activities etc., and put a scrap in their scrapbook… Don’t put meaningless scraps, rather observe their scrapbook and their friends’ scrapbook where they reply and write a scrap accordingly
Raju: Do you think they would reply to my scrap?
Vijay: oh definitely, girls always have this sense of curiosity….they would think, oh do u know me, who are u etc., so they would definitely return ur scrap, what u would need to do then is reply politely and honestly… you should make sure that you never give an impression of a trespasser to that girl… maintain decency and dignity and develop the relation. Continue in this vein and after a while, get her G-Talk id and start chatting with her.. By this time, establish yourself well in her good books, impress her with ur skills, if at all you ever have some and then after a stage propose to her.. This is my master plan
Raju : cool da, actually sounds good…… I would do that
Vijay: yo man… Best of luck :)
Raju: Thanks da, bye
Thus Raju set out on his Mission – Girl friend on ORKUT, as his Love mentor Vijay advised. Raju browsed thru various popular Chennai Womens' college communities and went through the girls' (who were the members of those communities) album and profile. After thorough search and analysis, Raju zeroed in on a pretty girl Ms.Sujatha from one of a college community. Raju closely followed Sujatha's profile, scrapbooks and the communities she was part of. Sujatha was also part of the "Law colleges in Tamilnadu" community, Raju followed her to that community and searched if Sujatha had posted any messages in that community. Sujatha had actually started a thread in that community, inquiring for the best law college in Tamilnadu for her younger brother. Raju sensing this as an opportunity to acquaint with her, replied to her message in that thread, "Hi Sujatha, before answering your question, let me ask you another question, Say, if ur brother takes up law as his profession, will your brother become ur brother-in-law?".
That ploy almost backfired on Raju, as Sujatha when saw the reply, got irked over the fact that some stranger was trying to mock her. As soon as she saw this message in the Law colleges community, a fuming Sujatha visited Raju's profile to verbally blast him. But she paused to take a look at Raju's testimonials, most of which had portrayed Raju as a goody goody kind of guy, a guy who loves making fun in general, but very shy talking with girls.... After seeing the testimonials, Sujatha decided to give Raju the benefit of doubt, thinking he might be a genuine guy with no intention of mocking at her, probably he had only tried to crack a joke, never mind that ended as a PJ. So she got cooled and scrapped back at Raju's scrapbook, lol-ing for his attempted joke and asking him, if he really knew about the law colleges in Tamilnadu. This reply scrap, although a big surprise to Raju, boosted him in a big way. Immediatly he phoned to whomever he knew related to Law field and replied Sujatha in detail about what she had asked for. Sujatha promptly sent a thank you mail to Raju who made use of this opportunity to add Sujatha to his Orkut buddies list and also invited her to G-Talk. The master plan charted out by his master Vijay, was well and truly going on the right path for Raju, as a new relation started to dawn in Raju's life in the way he had wished for.
Sujatha was a B.Com graduate, seeking a job after having finished her college studies earlier this year. Both of her parents were working and her brother Kaushik had finished his 12th standard education. No one will be home during the day time and Sujatha had nothing else to do other than be online and keep chatting, orkutting or browsing. This suited Raju perfectly, as he was also in the bench with nothing to do. This paved the way for both of them to keep chatting with each other for the best part of the day. Slowly, but surely, the friendship between both of them grew stronger and closer. It went to the next level with their chat shifting to mobile from the internet medium. Sujatha would give missed call and Raju would promptly call her at her number. Well, most of the girls would only give missed calls, wont they? After all thatz why they are called "Miss"-ed calls.....
Since Raju was rather soft, decent and talked like a no-nonsense guy, Sujatha had great respect and admiration for him. She shared so many things about her, even discussed about her future plans and career with him. Raju liked this relationship with Sujatha a lot.. He got a girl friend for himself .... This good feel made Raju forget whatever his dear friend Sasi or lovable sister Nivetha did to him as well. But he made it a point not to ignore them as they did to him when they were in love. He daily called Nivetha like ever before. Raju wanted to share about this wonderful relationship he has had with his sister. But just when Raju would have overcome his shy feeling to start the matter, Nivetha would stop him and say "Anna...wait wait...looks like Gokul is on call, I would listen to the news later oki..." and would cut the call. Raju would leave the matter there itself.
A month later, Raju got allocated to a new dev project. Having been in bench for more than a month, he never felt like working at all, that too after Sujatha came into his life, he felt too sluggish to complete even a easier task. Neverthless, the sincere guy he was, he somehow managed to work and complete the task. But this affected his daily chat with Sujatha a lot, something he missed very much. At this time, Sujatha informed Raju that she was going to her native place for a family function. She asked him not to call her and she would be back after 3 days. Since Raju respected her words a lot, he did not call Sujatha then, it was one week since she had left, but still there was no sound of her either in G-Talk or orkut or at his SMS. Raju began to worry about Sujatha's well being and so decided to try calling her. But, Much to his surprise, Sujatha's mobile was engaged, Raju tried calling several times in the day but it was always engaged. More worried, Raju called Indhu, Sujatha's best friend, whose number was also with Raju
Indhu: Hello
Raju : Hey Indhu, it is me Raj
Indhu: Hey Raju, how do u do, how is ur work going?
Raju: All fine...hey listen, how is Sujatha, Where is she, had she come back from her native place or not.. I tried calling her... but the lines were always engaged
Indhu : Oh yea Raju, ever since she got engaged, her phone lines also went engaged..
Raju : (Shocked) Whaaaaaaaaat? What are you telling Indhu??
Indhu : hey yes Raju…. Even I was shocked when she ringed me today to tell this news…… You know rite? She told she would be back in 3 days when she left for her native place last week, but went into absconding…… Today morning she called me up and was all blushing when she told “I got engaged di, my aunty’s son is the groom” ….. It seems that they had gone for a family function at a native place… Her aunt who was present at this function, put forward this marriage proposal to her father it seems…. Even though this was totally unexpected, since the guy is a very chamathu guy, smart, handsome and earning hand full of sum in US, everyone in Sujatha’s family immediately accepted
Raju: Sujatha??
Indhu: yea yea, that loosu girl had a secret crush for him it seems, but was so shy to tell it to anyone for fear of being thought as a bad girl……. She was so happy that her aththan himself had initiated the proposal.
This left Raju shell shocked as he did not mutter any reply……. Indhu thought since there was no signal, she could not hear Raju’s reply…after waiting for sometime, she cut the call
Raju……he was shattered to say the least……. His bad luck with telephonic conversations continued…… Why me…why me always he thought… Whoever I have love and affection for, falls in love with some one else… So far it was not a problem, since those were friendly or sister relations… but now even my lover is loving some one only… Atrocious!!!
Sujatha logs into the G-Talk at this very moment and pings Raju
Sujatha : Hey hi Raju…..
Raju remains silent, he felt too upset to type
Sujatha : sorry da raju, so sorry, I know that donkey Indhu would have told you the matter before itself……… I thought I would tell about my marriage news myself
Raju: so it was really true…….hmmmm
Sujatha: yes da…. I felt so bad for not able to tell u, u know that…. Becoz..becoz… u know you had been a very good chat friend, someone who advised me, laughed with me…….. U know, I was feeling so lonely last two months … with no one at home… …. Bfore I got to know u, whenever I felt lonely, esp after finishing with my college, I would be daily writing diary addressing some virtual character….. After started to chat with you, I left that habit.…. Certain matters, I can't tell to anyone else, not even my girl friends, one reason is that all these loosu friends of mine do not have the patience to hear what I say…… you listened patiently to whatever I blabbered, gave me a chance to vent it out………. And another reason is, don't mistake me Raju.., since I don't know u or have never seen u, it gave me that comfort to tell out certain things, which I don't find with any of my real world friends
Raju felt so upset, as Sujatha continued talking, at this moment, Raju's PM called him to get an update about the Project Status, So Raju tells Sujatha
Raju: Hey Sujatha….hold on oki…. I will BRB (Be Right back)
Sujatha: Oki da…
It took a solid 20 mins meeting for Raju with his PM..When he returned back to his system, he found Sujatha had gone offline leaving a message to him.
Sujatha: What is this Raju, you told Be right back, and u left me back rather… you shud have told Be Left back…. J,O.K…. jokes apart, I won't come online so often hereafter, even if I come online, it would be only for checking mails and not for chatting… It was great knowing u, I will try to keep in touch thru mails…you also mail me okay?… I don't know if I would be able to send u marriage invitation, coz I don't know what would my hubby think, if I say I have chat friends and all….. Sorry da….. I know u won't mind this….Chalo….. Let us part as friends for now….
It was all over… end of a month old relation….. She, who he thought would become part of life, had rather told let us part as friends….Raju could not control his depressed feelings… So he just typed a mail to his PM, telling that he was feeling sick, and left the office….
[Same day, Evening time]
Same Besant nagar beach… Same sea… Same loneliness…. This time, the waves were more turbulent than the previous time, just like his mind, he thought. He was feeling lot sicker than last time, and was just staring at the sea, when someone tapped his shoulders……… He turned back to see, that it was the same guy Magesh alias Magi who was there…
Magi: Hey da Raju…. Nice to see u here again after a month
Raju: (he gets peeved at seeing Magi) dei dog, don't u have any other work? Are u a romeo, to keep roaming in the beach always… Whenever I come to beach, you are disturbing me
Magi: (taken aback) hey dude..cool..cool… What happened…. Are u angry with me?
Raju: (furious) what then da, Just because of ur stupid advice the other day, I am in this condition
Magi: Oh God!!! What did I say… o.k leave all that… What happened now?
(Raju narrated the entire events in the past one month in detail)
Raju: I was living peacefully with no girl in my life…. After listening to ur stupid advise last month, I hurted myself a lot falling in love…Do you know how much love and respect I had for her? At last, she insulted my friendship by telling that I am only a faceless friend…...Am I only for chatting and time pass?
[Magi keeps quiet as Raju continued with emotions running high…]
Raju: Why me da, why only me always… No one is understanding my love and affection… Look around here in the beach..so many pretty girls falling for some cheap guy with all sorts of bad habits… But for a good guy like me, for my genuine love, only such kind of things are happening
[Magi interrupts…]
Magi : Machi machi one minute… don't just go on talking… Do you know what is the basic qualification for love? …you should never be having any pre-notions or carrying any expectations about the person u are loving….But what you had done?… Browsed through various albums and selected one that impressed you… Love is not best of three choice da, it is something that you should feel from within…..
Raju : Come on da, Is it wrong to expect your lover to be a cute and lovely girl?
Magi : Not at all, if you expect your lover to be a cute and lovely girl, it is not wrong at all… But if you expect to love only a cute and lovely girl, then it is a fundamental mistake da….That too how…….Without any self belief you searched for your love in the world of web… The relation you get out of a virtual world would only be virtual da..Can't u understand that?… You are a software engineer…Don't you know the HTTP protocol, that these web pages use are stateless…and do not persist data in them.… And you had been searching for a relation, that need to be persistent throughout ur life in such a place.. how stupid da?
Raju : Whatz wrong about it da, Arent there anyone whose love or friendship had developed through online or chatting?
Magi : Yea, there has been instances for this… but none of them would have gone with the mindset or expectation of searching their love or friendship over net… That would have developed and their pure love would have carried that forward, rather than them pushing for it…. Moreover, all those internet love successes are more like exceptions than a rule for others to follow…
Raju : Hmmmmm…..
Magi : Further ur basic mentality was wrong…. Love is something that you get to feel when you see that someone special among the crowd of people you see daily…But you… you felt like loving someone just becoz ppl around u were loving… This is only childish mentality… how could you expect that to succeed at all?
Raju : Haa…do I need all this da? How good and quiet I had been, only coz my nears and dears ignored me, I strayed into such kind of stupid thinkings…. People around me, whom I thought as best friends and lovable relation, dumped me when they got a love relation for their own…….
Magi : machaan shall I tell one thing…. When we feel upset or disappointed or feel defeated, it would be so tempting to put the blame on others and think that we have done nothing wrong…bcoz it is so easy for one to feel self pity rather than to own the blame on any issue….But just for a moment, if you empty your tea cup and think with a blank mind, about why things are going wrong for us, we can get to understand better…….. Everyone around you has love and respect for u da… it is only you, who don't understand them… rather I would say your love for them is not true at all
Raju: Hey…me…me??
Magi : yeah you only…First and foremost, if the affection is genuine, no one will be advertising about it at all, as you had been doing… O.K…I accept… you have so much affection for some of your friends and towards your sister… But man, you are selfish…… thatz why you expect your friends and sister to give maximum importance only to you….You are possessive of them and feel jealous when they fall in love.. It hurts you and irks you..…. That is wrong da…Just think…. Can the affection you show be a burden for the ones u love?… Can you expect returns for the love you show to your lovable ppl?
Raju: well… ..I…er…
Magi : Think da, Just because your friends do not accompany you during lunch or because your sister does not talk to you as often as she did earlier, does that mean their love for you had diminished? Is that what you think about your lovable ppl after all?
Raju is unable to talk anything…he realized his folly… he felt like all his ego of "Good boy", "loving brother", "loving friend" getting shattered… He started crying
Magi : dude……. Why are u crying
Raju : I realize da… I realize how selfish and stupid I had been….. I really had been a selfish guy even to my friends or parents or my dear sister…. I never knew the real meaning of love or affection, and always carried a thought that others had always been ditching me…. I feel disgusted now …
Magi : Come on da, why shud u feel disgusted….Actually you should feel quite good about having identified about ur problem… Just think… as u had told, you had already been a good guy…. Now that you have acknowledged about this problem and take steps to correct it, won't that make you a more better guy…. Isn't that reason enough to feel cheerful about? To put it in Kamal's style a.l.a Anbe Sivam, He who accepts his mistake and corrects himself is actually a GOD :)
Raju : you are right da..very much…. (not able to talk)
Magi : Had the people around you not romanced, it wouldn't have made you come out of ur comfort zone to try things, to take a shot at love, to understand yourself or to expose the problems in u…. you would have remained like before with some preconceived notions about urself, without trying to improve urself… See… Even when they hurt, they make u improve, those are the real relations da…Come on da, you are a good guy, with OK personality, a talented IT professional… what more… just that you have to slightly change the way you think
Raju : you mean Attitude?
Magi : u r at-it-dude…. absolutely… Even that is not a big issue, u just need to make sure you don't get caught into any kind of mindset and be flexible, free and feel lighter in ur mind and heart… Good luck da !!! I am damn sure, I would see you with a dame next time I meet u :)
Raju : thanks a lot da machi…. You are right, I am indeed blessed to have such good friends around me and even more blessed to have a friend like you… And my dear sister Nivetha…. I had always mistaken her and had actually insulted her love for me .. Now I tell da.. I assure she gets whatever that make her happy…
Magi : Thatz the spirit da.. bubye.. It is getting dark, am leaving…
Next day… A far relaxed Raju arrives at his office… For the first time in many days he felt a lot lighter and better… He felt like talking to his sister, so he called her up
Nivetha: Hellooo annaaa… Good morning
Raju : Good morning, nivetha, how are u doing dear?
Nivetha: Am doing wonderful anna..…how are u doing… u know what? it was so nice hearing u now anna…..
Raju : hahahaa…watz the matter sweetie?
Nivetha : I have my semester exam today, you know rite?..... bad anna u are…. I thought you called me to wish me luck….. u totally forget ah?
Raju : oooh ooh sorry sorry da.. Wish u the very bestttttttt of luck.. u will definitely score much higher than previous sems
Nivetha : hehe thanks a lot anna…. O.K I have to leave for my exam.. Shall I go?
Raju : yea yea…. Bye..take care…. Hey hey nivetha one minute…
Nivetha : yes anna…
Raju : I love u a lot nivii……….so blessed to have u as my little sister
Nivetha : :D, what happened to you anna?
Raju : Just like that..I felt like telling that now..…. O.K Bye,… Good luck!!!
Nivetha : thanks a lot anna (she hangs up the phone)
Raju felt, he had never been so happy before…. He settled down in his place and checked the mails… He was slightly tensed about his PM's response, for he ran away the previous day without doing the work he had given….But alas, there was only 1 new mail and thankfully it was not from his PM…. Rather it was from Roopa….with the subject as Hi
Aaha… This is Sasi's girl friend right… What does she have to write to me… A confused raju opened the mail….. He saw inside just two lines,
Dear Raju…..Miss Roopa…….. misses You,
Will you accept me as…….., Mrs. Of You??
- With Lots of Love,
Roopa
Raju could not understand anything out of it… He wondered if he was dreaming…. Probably Roopa wrongly sent the mail to me instead of Sasi..or what? Sasi arrived at his cubicle exactly at the same moment
Raju : Hey Sasi, watz this man..your friend has sent some mail to me… Is this for u otherwise?
Sasi : haha dude that mail was for you only…. I can understand your confusion… I was behind her to get her love… But she… she was loving you only da… your good nature, smiling face and helping tendency bowled her it seems… But she felt so shy of expressing it to you at all… Thatz why she came to me, your close friend, for help…. The moment I learnt that she only loved you I threw away the love thoughts in my mind and accepted her as a good friend…. It took me more than a month to convince her to express her love to you directly rather than thru me….
Raju : (Excited)… you mean..you mean…
Sasi : yo man… She loves you da……….
Raju was literally flying……… A girl loving me!!!..... Oh God!!! And I was searching for a love all over when my sweet heart was just cubicles away from me…. Hmm…if only she had told this a month earlier, he thought….Oh come on, GOD might have thought that Roopa deserved a truly good natured Raju after all!!!…..Whatever it was, Raju knew that Roopa was the one for him…….!!!!
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