Sunday, June 8, 2008

Savere... Savere... Yaaron se milne...

Remember those days..?
When you used to run to school carrying 10 KG bags, your mom running behind you to keep the lunch box inside..
Remember the song.. ?
"savere savere...
yaron se milne..."

This an incident from those days of my life. and I warn you, it is a very filmy story.
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I still remember the look.
Those two eyes staring at me...
big round eyes... full of anger...
That was the very first meeting.
She was angry at me.. and she had every reason to be...
I was the reason, why, she had to change her school.
Incidentally, my Mom had told her mom, that the school in which I'm studying is good, the fee is very reasonable, and overall it is much better than where she was going now...

So..??? She was arguing with her mom.. toh kya...
so what...!!!? Her school was also good.
Everybody in her school loved her.
She was the topper, not just in her class, but in all the divisions. She was the one selected to speak during the prayers. She loved her school.
And all the more, who is this guy and his mom to decide which school should she go..????
But the fact was that she was studying in a Govt. Malayalam medium school, where there were hardly any teachers and even less teaching.

I was in 9th then and was studying in the Technical Higher Secondary School, again a Govt. school but which was much much better than where she was studying.
My Mom did convinced her mother.
She joined, in 7th, in our prestigious THSS.
and once again she had to come to my house, her mother had come to ask, whether I can take her to school with me.
Woooo..... The stare.... She was giving me the same stare.. full of anger... but this time I was laughing at her helplessness.
The school was some 6 km from he bus stop and bus stop 1km from our house, which meant a 2 km walk every day,.

Everyday I reach her house and shout..
"Aunty..."
and the girl would come out.. some times a small smile, more often a blank look. Then starts a march of two kids, not even looking at each other, we walked as if we lived in two parallel universes... Have you seen the ceremony at the wagah border ? We were pretty much like those Indian and Pakistani soldiers..., seeing each other daily..., staying so close..., but still hating each other.
The only relief I had was that more friends joined after half a km walk.

Life was going on like this for us soldiers,.. until one day,
when she fell unconscious in school. A peon came running to me and said the teacher is calling.
Her teacher had called for an auto and was asking me to take her back home. I was a bit hesitant, but looking at her awfully tired face...
She was looking really tired, and for no reason, or reasons unknown to me, she was crying.
I had to console her. but how..
I should speak something to her..
and I asked.. a genuine doubt I had...

"How do you feel, when you fall unconscious ?"

entho...!!! (what...!!!) (kya...!!!) and a smile, was her first reaction. It turned to a big laughter and a lot of many things. She said it feels very good...It is really fun to fall unconscious.. and many more things.. making fun of me.. making fun of the stupidity of the question. But I did not care. She was happy. I could cheer her up. At last we have become friends... and we don't have to march...

Next day I was expecting a happy smiling face.
But it was gloomy. and just after a few meters she said she needed to get a chart.
Can we go the other way today so that she can get the chart?
anytime ma'am...
Little did I know then that the other way was to remain the permanent way for us.. Away from those friends waiting half a km away, eating our other half a km away.

The first day, we went the other way, she was really happy and talking.. She talked a lot. She told me how she hated me for changing her school, how much she loved her older school, how much she hated this new school and a lot other things. When she starts talking it is like boarding a deccan flight. She starts a sentence which she does not know where to end or when..?
But as the days went by, I was supposed to understand whatever she was telling, however meaningless that was.
After all, I was the one who changed her school, and I was responsible for all her unhappiness. Any thing bad happens to her, she would stare at me, the same anger...
even if that is toppling over a stone.. she would look at me with the same anger...
I would laugh and tell.. areh yaar... maine toh kuch nahi kiya..

toh kya.. bacha toh sakte the...
(btw, toh kya was her favourite sentence, every time I try to make her understand some logic, .. this one sentence .. toh kya... failed me..)
Are pani khatam hogaya na.. kahase dedoo..
toh kya.. mujhe pyas lagi hai.. mujhe pani chahiye...

I don't know.. she was so sure .. she as so sure nothing would ever happen to her without my consent.
She was so sure she was mine...

Even in the school, when her friends see me and starts chidafying her..
"See here comes your hero.."

My face used to turn red.. (default color being black, the color change was not that much noticeable though.. )
But she never minded it..
Yes it was so. I was her hero.. and she was never afraid of proclaiming it.
She would make me do all those hero stuffs in front of her friends.. spinning books on fingers, moving my ears.. etc etc etc.. anything which I do to entertain her, I had to do it in front of her friends also.

I could never fail her. I was a hero, a hero, she owned.

But she hated this school. All this english... close but distant friends.. she used to remind me often that it was due to me that she had to change her school, and if it was not for me she would have gone mad in this new school.

But as long as she was with me she was happy...
and like this days went by... exams were over.. results out...
we went together to check our results.

I had topped my class, and she was shouting with happiness like anything. But when I said chalo... now lets see your results, she didn't want to. She didn't want to see her results, Some how I pushed her to the place where her results were published...

Five subjects in red.

"Yeh kya hain.. teacher lal painting kar rakha hai kya..??
ha ha ha ha ha ha...
ha ha ha ha ha ha..."


I don't know whether it was, she failing in the subjects, or the cruel face of mine, laughing at her state...,
she was running.., running back home, crying... both hands on her face...

The whole vacation she did not talk to me. Not even a stare...

and the next year she moved back to the school she belonged to, and we shifted to a new house.

I still remember the stare, full of anger, full of love, and I miss it badly.

Now sometimes, I wonder, how a stupid comment made her come the closest to my life, and another stupid one, drove her away from my life... for ever...?

33 comments:

दर्शन said...

Actually its very true ,sometime we say something which become a true and joyfull reason for anybody ..
and some time vice-versa..
.
.
Though i am not very true believer that We always should speak after lot of thinking and all , I always believe & speak what my heart says ..
and i think u do the same ...

this is really a very nice story ...very small ,precise and lovoable :)

good work !!!

Musings!!!! said...

nice story...and abt the comment...it was unintentional...though it must have hurt her a lot...

Nidhi Jaiswal said...

Though it seems a bit filmy, it is a refreshing and lively story. We do sometimes say things that make someone's day, though they may be trivial things. And sometimes, its the other way round;we end up saying something insensitive. Though they may seem insignificant when we look back, such memories are an unforgettable part of our lives.

Anonymous said...

Hey dude,
You r getting better after evey blog and ur comparisons made me laugh even though I am sitting on my office chair. The comparison of wagah border, deccan airways announcement, and ur stupid question...that was extremely hilarious.......But in the end it was very sad to know that how good friends do not talk to each other just because of small mistakes which we make unintentionally.
Regards,
Bad Guy

Unknown said...

Kannan!,
You lost a heroin... abhi bhi time hai sudhaaro...... I might be wrong but I have observed that you are very casual when others are serious [the case of your climax] and obviously you want everyone serious when you are serious :).... so its o.k... but this story should have changed you but it didn't I'm worndering about that only.....


[b]"When she starts talking it is like boarding a deccan flight...wonderful!!! one"[/b]...infact I believe this is applicable to lot of girls :D

Its always refreshing to lookback your school days... though we might not know the true meaning of love that time, but still the care and affection shared between the opposite sexes at that time is soothing all through the life.. a well explained filmy style melodrama.....

What is that girl doing now??...and why don't you try to contact here?

shrecks said...

very nice..analogies are beautiful...and wat happened at the end might not be wat should have happened for you..but wat happened in the beginning is not what she thought should have happened fr her either..she found out later ...u ll find out later too.. :)
I hope tats clear enuff.. :)

anu said...

hmm.. well written story.. hota hai kabhi kabhi u says things unintentinally but it hurts a lot. thats y ppl say think before u speak..!

Anusha Iyer said...

Dont ever forget this incident. It is like this with 99% of the ladies. So, better be careful...:D

Unknown said...

very nicely written...kept me engrossed till the last bit.
These things do happen in reality with everyone in some form or the other..Some things may sometimes hurt others feelings inadvertently even though we dont intend to do so...

A LONG STORY said...

excellent dost.....HATS OFF TO YOU!!!Its a gem of a story......How come we never see this side of u in real life??

A LONG STORY said...

Ek Aur Short Story ho jaye.....

sharad said...

I agree wd ur version dat a silly comment started ur frenshp wd d gal..but, anodr silly comment ending it..dat's not possible yaar..may be u should elaborate on d part where u tried talkn 2 d gal after ur secnd silly comment..coz personally, i dont believe such a thing cud have led 2 u 2 not talkn ever again..
acha likha d entire thing..mazaa aaya padhne mein..

Raj said...

Simply Refreshing .. Imtiaz Ali style story telling .. Keeping it real huh ! :D

ADITYA said...

Wonderful Story.. Loved the commentary..

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I still cannot believe that this is not a filmy story!!! It is a perspicuous and touching story!!! A good blog again!!!

This applies to all of us... We unintentionally hurt the most loved person of our life... as an adage says "muh se nikali baat aur banh(bow) se nikala teer(arrow) kabhi wapas nahi aate"...

neskay said...

good stuff man...
u have a very wonderful narrative style.. makes for a simple yet compelling reading...
keep writing !!!

Anonymous said...

Perfect !!!!Well narrated story
the best part i actually frelt bad the blog ended ,the feeling u feel when a gud film is abt to fininsh

Tripti said...

I enjoyed reading it :)

especially the analogies .. nice keep going !

Ankur said...

yaar kya senti story likhi hai ..... if it is true then go find that girl and say sorry man !!

Murali R said...

hehehe.. quite funny... though the fact that ur comments drove her away is quite amusing (ahem.. am i getting saddistic in here?) im forced frm within to feel sorry for you..[:D]

Unknown said...

hmm yar actually at the tender age u were both in it is possible for such a thing to happen but still friend m sorry to say i feel "kahani puri ilmy hai" ;) :D

Saurabh Khadke said...

dude...there is some serious talent here man...you should talk to some publisher seriuosly...you have a style somewhat similar to R K Narayan...still a long way to go to actually be compared to him...but i am sure even the great writer would have been proud of stories like these when he had just started plying his trade...kudos...many times over...

Anonymous said...

stereotypical emotional blabber. Dont know why I wasted my time on this.

jishnukann said...

Thanx anonymous ( Sumeet Aggarwal )

But I dont think that comment is enough to create any controversy and increase the readership..

Thanks for the attempt though... :)

Anonymous said...

dat was xcptional,well narratd-......really really filmy,findin it hard 2 believe it was a true incident.....but had fun readin it all d same....cant believe u were so innocent then,chetta.....

Anonymous said...

nice story bhaiya...........
u look to be a story teller.........

Anonymous said...

ha..ha..ha...
great work done...
i dnt know if this incident is true or not but somewhere i can relate myself with this story...n u have expressed all the emotions very beautifully..

n obviously last line is very true...
sometimes it takes only 1 comment to hurt someone...

Mayank said...

Nice story... perfectly narrated :)

lisha said...

hey......
really liked the flow. Short, crisp and very captivating.......
way to go!!! :)
but u dot seem to be scorin with ny girl in ur blogs????

C.Ravi said...

good man !!!!!!!!

very good !@!@!@

Anonymous said...

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Shraddha said...

Amazing story!!!! It doesn't matter whether it's filmy or real.It connects well