Inbanathan's Better Half

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

" Why do you want to go to Kodaikanal for a school reunion after 15 years?" asked Inbanathan to his wife Latha. 

"We never had such a reunion in so many years. This would be the first one ever! There would be so many things to catch up with friends!" said  Latha who was speaking about the reunion of the 2005 batch of the St Peters Matriculation school, where she had studied till her 12th class.

Inbanathan, a software engineer basically from Coimbatore lived in Bangalore with his wife and two girls aged 5 and 3 years.  As his wife was very keen to go, he decided to go to his native place with the girls during the weekend so that his parents would have the opportunity to meet their grandchildren. They would also be able to pitch in for tending to the kids in Lata's absence. It was agreed that Latha would take a bus to Kodaikanal and come to Coimbatore after the event so that they could all return together to Bangalore. 

The grandparents were very happy to see the girls. They made the weekend memorable for them taking them to Black Thunder, the biggest water theme park in Asia and also to the VOC park & zoo. The girls had exciting things to relate to their mother when she joined them on the night of Sunday. The plan was to relax during the day time on Monday in Coimbatore and return in the night to Bangalore. 

After the family was back in Bangalore, Inba began to notice some distance in the behaviour of his wife. Contrary to expectations, she was not speaking much about the reunion. When asked , she merely kept mumbling that "it went well"  When the' mood off' continued for over a week, Inba was concerned. He found Latha to be absent minded and not paying attention to what the children were saying. Sometimes, she ran to the balcony along with her mobile phone and seemed to be in a conversation. 

One day, three months later when Inba returned from office, he found the house empty. Looking around, he finally found a chit on the dressing table saying " I am leaving. I met Senthil at the reunion. Our love for each other was rekindled and we cannot live without each other. I am taking the girls. Don't worry. They will be safe and well looked after .. Senthil has promised me that." 

Inba was shocked and did not know how to respond. He did not have an address to which he could go and at least bring back his girls. The next few days were panic ridden. He frantically called everyone whom he thought would be able to guide him. Some advised against filing a police complaint in view of the stigma attached, while others opined that it was the only sensible thing to do. Finally, a police complaint was filed without much fan fare. Not much progress was reported by the department even after months. 

In the meanwhile, Inba came to know that Latha and Senthil had moved to some remote area in the city limits of Hyderabad. By then he was totally exhausted. He had no energy to take action in the matter. After the initial show of solidarity the family and friends had returned to their routine life.  As it is , Inba was slipping in achieving the monthly targets at work. They were condoning it for the moment out of sheer kindness. This cannot be expected to continue as a business is about profits and not charity.

He also received information that there was a storm on the side of Senthil 's family as well. His wife filed for divorce and took their only child to live with her parents. According to the 'source', everything is not well with the run away couple either. After the initial excitement of rekindling an old flame, the practical difficulties of day to day living was beginning to hit them. They had given up steady sound jobs to grab those below their worth and competence. Senthil who had been initially treating the girls like princesses was now getting irritated with them frequently. He was also missing his son. 

Then it happened. Inba received a feeler from a distant relative saying Latha was willing to return if she could be forgiven for the lapse that occurred due to the 'force of circumstances'. Two days later he received a call. It was his elder girl Divya. "Daddy we want to see you!" she wept. Inba did not know what to do. His parents had already been putting pressure on him for a second marriage. He had stalled it saying it was not possible as first formal divorce had to be obtained.

 In India, a decision is not just about two people making it. Whole of society have and want a say in it. Loneliness, deteriorating health and performance at work was killing Inba as well. He had to take a decision sooner than later.  

NB: This post is a part of challenge #BlogchatterA2Z  

Harita's Maiden Reportage

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

This story goes back to a time when there was no social media and people depended mainly on the print media for story and headlines. Comedy actor Sidharth Kulkarni of Marathi cinema was in the news for the wrong reasons. It was reported that fans had gone to his residence to invite him for a cultural function as chief guest. Sidharth, 'according to sources' was not only unfriendly but threw them out of the house saying "Get out!". 

The chief editor of Cinema News, Ram Gopal felt that something was amiss. He had been following Kulkarni for quite a few years and he was known to be very sober and mild mannered personality. It seemed almost unbelievable that Kulkarni abused his fans and threw them out! Yet, all the competitor magazines were selling the story with relish and increasing the sales of their magazine.

Ram Gopal sent word for the new recruit Harita. As soon as she came, he got her to relax, offered her tea and made some small talk including queries as to  how she was finding the work atmosphere. The editor explained the situation and told Harita to dig deeper into the matter as the story so far does not corelate with the basic nature and temperament of the actor.

" As I know Sidharth well, I will talk to him and ask him to give you an interview. Let us get the story from the Horse's mouth! As your first major assignment, this will open doors for better things. So put your best foot forward Harita." he said  

Harita thanked the boss and returned to her table with mixed emotions like excitement on the one hand and anxiety, apprehensions on the other. As she was new to the job, she wondered how she would be treated when she went to meet the actor. Will she also be spoken to harshly and face the ire of the actor like his fans did? Anyway, she felt comforted by the fact that she was going on an invitation and also had the backing of her editor. 

When Harita  rang the door bell, she was greeted by by a woman who said "Please sit down. Saheb is expecting you."  As she was waiting for the actor, Harita looked around the living room. The show cases were filled with number of trophies Sidharth Kulkarni had won for best comedian including a couple of film fare awards. From behind, she heard the voice of the actor " Ah, I have been waiting for you. what would you like to have? Tea or something cool? 

From then on they had a long conversation tracing Kulkarni's career thus far and his future projects. Harita wanted to bring up the 'incident' in a natural, matter of fact manner without offending the actor. But, before she could raise the issue Kulkarni said " I know you want to hear about the 'fans' episode. 

"Yes sir... If you don't mind" said Harita falteringly. 

" Well, these guys barged in unannounced last Wednesday. They said that they had a function of their cultural association on 24th of next month and they wanted me to be the chief guest. "Did you check with me whether I am free before fixing the date of 24th?" I asked them. 

"No but we knew that you will surely come! Please make it convenient sir. We have committed to our members and even published pamphlets"  

I told them " Look I am not in the proper frame of mind to accept any invitation in the near future. Please understand and fix someone else. But do so after checking with the person first." 

This annoyed them and they started arguing with me. One guy said" Cinema loafers like you should understand that it is we who make you. Without us you are nothing! Understand you comic punk!" 

This was the last straw. I got up and asked them to "get out!" 

" But sir, why did you get so upset ? After all, you are a public figure and used to invasion of privacy" asked Harita. 

" Harita, you should know that we are also human beings. Three days prior to the incident, my wife Sarla had a miscarriage. We had been eagerly looking forward to the arrival of the baby after many years. At one time, we had given up hope of ever becoming parents. We were so happy when she conceived after a series of treatments and prayers. And then this..." 

" Very sorry to hear this sir" said Harita feeling so inadequate as a young woman to express appropriate words of  solace. 

" These guys came with the mindset that they were doing a favour, inviting me, a comedian as chief guest. Therefore they did not feel the need to check with me or even seek an appointment before barging into my house. At that time I was in an emotional turmoil; blaming myself for not taking adequate care of my wife during pregnancy. I cursed my profession for taking me away for days  for outdoor shooting when my family needed me the most. " 

"Sir, I now understand very well why you behaved with the 'fans' the way you did. We tend to forget that public figures also have normal emotions of disappointment, grief and anger like anyone of us." 

As Harita took leave and proceeded to her office, she felt that her very fist assignment was a very enlightening experience. She thought of the headline for her reportage. Would "Truth of the Matter" be good enough? Well, she would leave that to the chief editor. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z  

Gopal 's Story

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Gopal had been serving in a public sector  telecommunications company for more than three decades . Over the years, he rose steadily in the corporate hierarchy and had become the GM of HR.  He was now on the verge of retirement with a couple of years to go. At this stage of his life and career, an incident happened. 

There was a lot of Buzz in the company. A new person Ms Lalitha Jayaram had been appointed as the chairman of the company. She was a dashing go getter, a tough task master who proved that she could  deliver results. She had transformed her previous loss making company in to a profit making one, in under 3 years. A lot was expected from her in the new assignment as well. 

Gopal and three other officers of the HR department were present at the airport to welcome the new chairman. Although he was running a high temperature, Gopal went to the airport as he wanted to greet the chairman on the first day. The plane was however running late. They had reached the airport at 3 PM in time for the 3,30 PM arrival. However, even at 5.30 PM , there was no clarity as to when the aircraft would arrive . Suresh one of the HR team members looked at Gopal and noticed that he looked very tired and exhausted. He said " Sir, this flight is likely to be inordinately delayed. You go home and take some rest. We will handle it." 

Although, he initially declined the offer, the body pain and tiredness got the better of him and Gopal decided to leave. " Take care of the chairman and explain the circumstances to her." were his parting words as he left for home. When the plane reached, the first question that the new chairman asked was " Where is your head of HR?" The answers given were not satisfactory to her. She felt that the GM had taken her lightly because she was a woman and deliberately avoided welcoming her on arrival. 

The days that followed was an ordeal. Gopal had started out on the wrong foot in the relationship and the impact remained until his retirement two years later. The chairman frequently slighted him publicly ignoring him when he spoke. She often resorted to 'Subverting the chain of command', going straight to the juniors for information and instructions thus embarrassing Gopal. 

Although Gopal tried his best to remove the misunderstanding, he could not change the mind of a person, a very successful administrator but in whose head was lodged a deep rooted idea  that " Men tended to disrespect women, given half the chance!"   

Today, as he looks back at his career, Gopal prefers to think of the last two years as a bad dream. Perhaps it was inevitable, a price to be paid for a bad karma in a previous birth, he consoles himself. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z   

Fatima's Woes

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Fatima's headache or woes were related to her husband Farhan. Mind you he was a good man. Yet, he was too straight forward for this world. If he does not like something or feels an injustice has been done he would interfere. Ever since their marriage, Fatima has been telling him "Let us 'mind our own business' and not get into unnecessary conflicts. But for Farhan, it was a case of "Old habits die hard". He just could not help being what he was in the inside. Pretensions repelled him even when practiced by close relatives or friends.

Once they were travelling and stopped at a town, Katni in the state of Madhya Pradesh for breakfast. At the hotel, the owner abused and hit a twelve year old boy employed by him for not cleaning the tables properly . When the tirade continued for over 10 minutes, Farhan intervened and asked the owner whether he knew that child labour was punishable under law and that he could be put behind bars? It did not matter to Farhan that he was an 'outsider' and was getting into an altercation with the 'locals'. All that mattered to him was standing by what he thought was "appropriate" and on the side of "Justice".

It was under these circumstances that Fatima was happy to learn that her husband, an engineer had got an offer to work in a new private company engaged in mining operations in the Eastern part of the country. The company's township had a wide range of amenities including housing, schooling, healthcare, education, recreation, and shopping facilities. She thought that in such a close knit environment, her husband would have opportunities for less conflicts. Moreover, it was likely that he would be more preoccupied with his work sans distractions.

It seemed that Fatima's prediction and expectations had proved to be true. They had three years of relatively peaceful life in the township. The children were going to a good school run by the company. There was also an I Max theatre in the township that screened the latest Hindi movies on par with the release date in any metro city. Farhan and Fatima being movie buffs rarely missed the movies that were screened on Saturdays of every week. The show commenced at 9 PM and went on to up to 11.30 PM. 

Then, one Saturday this happened . The theatre received a call informing that the the Director and CEO of the project was coming down with family to watch the movie. The Director turned up at 10.30 PM and the telecast of the movie was resumed from the beginning. This meant that the movie would now be over only at 1 AM. The audience, though unhappy, resigned to their fate and was watching the movie. But Farhan being the man he was, raised his voice. He wanted to know why for the indiscipline of one person and his family, so many people had to be put to inconvenience. This action of Farhan had ruffled powerful egos.

Everyone returned to their residences after the movie. At 2 PM there was a knock on Fatima's front door. It was the security guard who had brought a document that appeared to be some sort of a letter.  On opening it, the couple were shocked to find that it was a termination letter addressed to Farhan with a direction to vacate the company's accommodation first thing in the morning. In far flung areas such as the township, feudalistic diktats like these tend to happen and they are able to get away with it too! The CEO of the project was in the good books of the company owner & chairman at Delhi who considered him family as the former's father, a priest performed  family poojas for years at their residence. Farhan knew, any appeal on the decision would be futile. 

A drowsy and  bleary eyed Fatima packed hurriedly , cursing under her breath the impulsive behaviour of her husband. Their life  had abruptly turned topsy turvy. Everything, including the schooling of the children would now have to be reworked from the scratch. The only ray of hope was that perhaps being an experienced professional, Farhan would secure another job without much of a delay.  

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z   

Elsie and her Man

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Elsie had moved from her native town of Bainbridge in the state of Georgia to San Francisco, California 10 years back when she landed a job in a start up tech company. At that time she was full of excitement to move from a small agricultural town to a big city. Since then she had acquired the ways of a city girl both in terms of style and being street smart. 

It was in this city that she had met Jeremy who worked in the E commerce company Door Dash. They met at a night club and was instantly drawn to each other. During the dating period of over six months, Elsie could see that Jeremy had alcoholic tendencies. While he was very sweet when sober, he would become violent when intoxicated and get into fights with people in public places. During this time, Elsie's best friend Mary advised her to stop seeing Jeremy, notwithstanding the fact that he was a very handsome man. But, as they say love is blind!  They married with the blessings of family and friends. But as predicted by Mary, it did not last beyond two years. Jeremy was unable to control his tantrums when drunk. 

In the meanwhile, Elsie got a job at a bigger company Sales Force. Although Mary and Elsie parted ways professionally, they continued to keep in touch and met socially often enough. Two years later Elsie decided to marry again. This time it was a colleague working for the same company. When Mary met her friend's fiancé, John at a social dinner, warning bells chimed in her head. There were classic similarities between the two men Elsie had been attracted to. Both of them were very good looking but more significantly both went out of control after a few drinks entered their body. 

This time also Mary sounded her apprehensions to her friend, However, she knew it was useless seeing the moony expression on Elsie's face when she looked at John. This marriage lasted for a year more than the previous one. But this time Elsie was devastated; her optimism and confidence in the institution of marriage was completely shattered. She began to focus on work and stopped dating altogether. 

Mary tried hard to get her out of this phase. She took her for counselling to a very reputed therapist. Elsie was given insights into what they called  the "Relationship repetition syndrome" and  as to why she was drawn to similar people. Sometimes it is about what is familiar and comfortable or it could be what they observed in their parent's relationship and so on. Elsie felt that perhaps the parental factor was the closest in her case. However, all this did not change her inclination to dating or wanting to settle down with a man. It did not bother her that she was touching the age of 32. The other alternative was more painful. 

In the meanwhile, two years after her divorce, Elsie met Tom quite by accident at the Golden Gate Park where Mary had persuaded her to visit to beat the blues. On Tom's request, she had given her contact number but engaged only in polite conversations whenever he called. Mary felt that Tom was sincere as he continued to pursue Elsie in spite of the conspicuous disinterest exhibited by her. 

It was not because Tom was unattractive but the fact that she had bitter experiences in the past that dissuaded Elsie from accepting the olive branch he offered. Finally, finding it difficult to turn down Tom without a legitimate reason, Elsie decided to engage a private detective to spy on him. She hoped that something 'negative' would be picked up by the detective making her task of saying "No" so much easier. This was one time though that she did not share her plan with Mary. 

When the report came from the detective, Elsie found that Tom's reputation was impeccable. He was employed as a senior executive in a leading biotechnology company and was known to be always courteous and considerate in all his interactions be it official or social . He cared for his parents and sister and maintained regular contact. Now, Elsie had no reason to hesitate and she gave the green signal.

The next fortnight can only be described as 'Bliss'. Elsie and Tom spent the maximum time possible with each other and loved every moment. It was a Saturday and Tom had booked a table at a fancy restaurant. Elsie arrived on the dot but Tom was nowhere to be seen. Fifteen minutes later the waiter brought a note that left Elsie totally devastated. She left the restaurant her legs shaking. The note had said something to the effect "Trust is the most important aspect in any relationship. The fact that you spied on me is something I cannot come to terms with. Good bye!" 

Another month passed and Elsie was back to her old life of being single and spending more time at work to beat the feeling of loneliness fueled all the more by the "Tom episode".  She returned on a Wednesday at 7 PM tired, discouraged by the thought of cooking dinner. Perhaps she can order for home delivery. At 8.15 PM there was a ring of the door bell. It was a smiling Tom with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.  

As he entered he asked" Why on earth  did you not tell me the details of your life so far dear ?  If not for Mary, I may have missed out on my beloved and regretted it all my life!" Elsie could not control the tears flowing down her face. Trust "Good old Mary to play angel so many times in my life" mused Elsie. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z  

Dinesh's Obsession

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024,  I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Dinesh grew up as the middle child of his parents in the temple town of Kancheepuram, Tamilnadu. His father, Murugan ran a grocery store, the earning from which was sufficient to comfortably run the family of five. The eldest was a daughter followed by Dinesh and then a younger boy with a gap of five years. 

Dinesh always felt lonely. His younger brother was too young to play with him, while the elder sister had different priorities and interests. The problem was compounded by the fact that Dinesh did not make friends easily. He was not even close to his class mates or the boys in the neighbourhood. 

As he grew older, Dinesh developed the habit of isolating himself . When he wasn't at school. he could be seen sitting or lying down alone with a book in his hands. Murugan was concerned about his son. He seemed to have low self esteem and feelings of inadequacy. He decided to send him away to Bangalore for engineering. He thought that being in a new unfamiliar place will propel Dinesh to interact with more people and equip him with better social skills. 

So that is how Dinesh landed up in Bangalore. He was to stay in his uncle's  (Mother's brother) house in Frazer Town for some time and then move to a hostel with friends. However, Dinesh took no initiative to find another accommodation but continued to stay in the house, rarely interacting with his two cousins, uncle or aunt. 

Then it happened; a new girl joined the college . She was Tamil speaking although she had grown up in Mumbai since her father was working there. The moment he saw her, he decided in his mind that "This was his girl". Initially he had no guts to converse with her but followed her everywhere like a shadow be it to the canteen or up to the door of her class room. In short, he became obsessed with her.

Actor Dhanush was Dinesh's matinee idol and role model. In a quite a few of Dhanush's movies, although the girl paid no attention to him and even spurned his love, by persistence and devotion the hero got the girl in the end. In this regard, Dinesh's most favourite movies were "Mayakkam Enna" and "3" . In fact he preferred to call "his girl" Deepika, by the name "Yamini" since the name of the heroine in "Mayakkam Enna" was Yamini.  

Initially amused, Deepika began to feel more and more uncomfortable with the behaviour of Dinesh. Yet he simply did not seem to understand that his actions were unwanted and not appreciated. It even seemed that in his head he felt that he had an "entitlement" to pursue and win her! Finally, she decided to complain to the police. For Dinesh that seemed to have been the last straw. The next day, as Deepika was waiting at the metro station to board the train for the college, she was attacked from behind with a sharp weapon and she succumbed to the injury on the way to hospital.

The parents of Deepika who immediately came from Mumbai were inconsolable. From the hospital mortuary, they rushed to the police station and shouted wildly at the culprit who seemed to be cool and composed.  "There is no point madam" said the police officer gently. " The fellow is sick in mind and does not comprehend the enormity of his action".  

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z  

Chitra's Reunion

Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024,  I plan to write mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.  

Chitra was very excited to meet her friend Sarika after so many years. It was very recently that she came to know that Sarika lived in Bhopal. To think that she had visited Bhopal quite a few times in the past but never met her best friend! Anyway, this time she would be spending almost a week in Bhopal visiting relatives- ample time to visit her friend.  

There was so much gossip to catch upon! Relive old stories of batch mates and what they are doing at present. Life can be very strange. Some classmates whom one thought would be losers have done fairly well for themselves while others with a lot of promise had fallen by the wayside.. Take for example , this girl Sushma who was known to be dull , laid back and barely managed to complete the course. She struck gold when she ended up marrying a guy whose business shot up manifold times after their marriage and she now leads a lavish life. 

 Chitra 's  husband  Harish offered to drop her borrowing his brother's car but she declined saying she will take an Uber. She wanted to spend maximum time alone with her friend. Moreover, she wanted to discuss some deficiencies of Harish and his mother too among other things with Sarika. 

As soon as she entered the house, Sarika warmly hugged her. They were meeting after 15 years!  Chitra also happily responded with affection . However, she was taken aback by the haggard appearance of her friend who was so full of life in their college days. She was the centre of attention in most situations. 

Harish was surprised to find Chitra back in under an hour's time. More so because she had spoken nonstop about her friend for the last 3 days. He had expected that she wouldn't be back before sun set. Her face also looked very agitated. "What happened? Did you guys have a fight? " 

" No, no. It is just that I can't bear to see my Sarika like this! All withered, and shorn off  all her vitality." 

" Why? Is her marriage not working well? "

" No, it's not that. Her son Abhi is autistic. For many years now, she has been struggling with feelings of grief, guilt and uncertainty. Added to that there is financial stress and strained relationships in the family circle. " 

" What about her husband?"

"Her husband was initially supportive, But he couldn't cope with all this and ran away. He occasionally sends money." 

" Oh that's very sad.." 

"Worry over her child's future is tormenting Sarika, every waking moment. She now has no other alternative but to work leaving Abhi to the care of his grandmother. But the old lady finds it difficult to handle the boy's fluctuating moods and tantrums"  

Harish could not find suitable words to console his wife. As for Chitra, she had already slipped into a pensive contemplation- "And here was I frequently complaining about things which I believed were huge problems! Everything is so relative..." she surmised. 

NB: This post is a part of  challenge #BlogchatterA2Z