My Own Bike

When I reached home after a hard day, I was really surprised to see this bike waiting for me in my room. Scindia I don't have words to express my feelings :) I am really lucky to have you in my life.

The Silent Rider

“Thinking of you, makes me smile”

A small greeting card with this quote was on my Ice cream and my fiancée was looking straight at my eyes to see how am going to react. An evening like this with your girl is what any guy will like to have. On seeing the quote I was so excited and felt lucky to have a partner like her. I took the card with no words to say, I just nodded at her as a note of thanks and kept the card in my hand. We started to discuss about our interests, parents and things were going really well. As time passed, I again had a chance to glance the card, and this time I felt that it conveyed a different message. I wondered whether she knows what really happened that day. Instantly things that happened just before our meet started to flash in my mind.

Before:

We planned to meet at her office food court by evening and so from the moment I started my work that day, I had my mind set to keep myself free by 4 PM and so rushed through all my tasks. I dint bring my bike that day and so I thought of taking my team mate’s bike. Around 3.30, I happily got the bike key from my friend and was a bit excited to know that I am going to ride a Pulsar (bike). I identified the bike in our office parking lot. As I wished it was a black pulsar. I gazed the machine for a minute and made sure to put my sun glass to add some appeal. The electrical starting was not working and so I have to kick start the machine. It was a slight disappointment but it dint budge much. The digital meter showed the fuel to 2 units which I felt to be more that sufficient for my journey and so vroom I came out of my office.

It’s a straight road with marsh land on both the sides. The road was neat with not much of traffic and so I raised the throttle to reach there on time. Within minutes the bike started to choke, I checked the fuel valve and everything seems to set correctly. The machine cannot hold any longer when I raised the acceleration and tt stopped abruptly. I brought the bike to the side of the road and without wasting much time, I wobbled the bike opening the fuel tank and all I can hear is some howling sound of air. I wondered how the fuel indicator is still showing 2 units of petrol, cursing the digital meter I got off from the bike. I looked on both the sides of the road without having any idea. I can’t think of anything else but to push the bike as it is a long way to reach the nearest petrol station. With much disappointment I took my sunglass, kept it in my pocket and made my mind to push the bike all the way. When I was about to push, one bike rider seeing my stance came forward to help me. I thought he will offer some petrol, but he said that he will tow the bike. I wondered how he can do that but I said “Yes” without having any clue of what he is going to do. He kept one of his legs in my bike foot rest and started to push it. When our bikes moved I was just cautious not to hurt his leg and kept my handle straight. The bike moved slowly and he offered to take me until the next petrol station, I thanked him so much for his kind heart and felt happy to see people like this in Chennai. It was really strange to ride on such a bike with much of silence; I smiled to myself and saw her office at a distance. As her office approached my mind was in a dilemma whether to go for the station or to meet her. The petrol station is again 2 km from her office. I don’t want her to wait until then and so I asked my rescuer to just leave me before her office. I parked my bike on the side of the road and rushed towards her office.

I dint get time to get the Visitor pass however the guards at the entrance allowed me inside even though I was wearing a different identity card but the real trick is how to reach the food court passing the security gate. I called my Fiancée to inform her well in advance that I may not be allowed inside food court. Just to try my luck I moved to the security guard and asked to open the door and to my surprise the guard did allow me to pass. When I rushed to the first floor and I can see my fiancée is already looking at me from the window. I am sure she saw the drama that I did before the security guard and thought am bold but only luck has played its part here. I waved at her and moved towards her. After this entire struggle I felt really refreshing to see her face. I asked myself to forget all those happened and keep my mind focussed. We moved to an ice cream parlour. When I asked her want she likes to have, she immediately said “Black current”, I wondered how girls keep their answers ready because when she asked the same question, all I can do is turn around and look at the menu. I chose something that started with Italian and we moved to a table.

After:

I spend nearly an hour with her, but still I can’t remember what we actually talked about. I thought of telling her about the bike ride but I felt it won’t fall into her subject of interest and so I left it (We softies call it as Data Abstraction) . When its time, we came out of the building and slowly walked together towards the gate. That’s when I felt that am actually walking with my life companion, I saw her for a second and smiled myself and kept walking. I remember she said something about my height but I was in a dream and so nothing went inside my head but the next question was like a thunder bolt that took me deep down to the earth. “Where did you park your Bike?”.

My happiness faded when I saw my bike from a distance. I just showed her my bike and to cover up all this, I did something that a guy never wants to do in his life time.I asked her to take an Auto rickshaw and go home safely. I never known whether she expected me to give her lift to the nearest bus stop, but I don’t want to plant any of such idea in her mind which has something to do with my dead bike. So I accompanied her till the rickshaw stand, stopped her from bargaining the fare, waited until she boards and asked her to text once she reaches home. When the rickshaw moved, I felt really happy that I managed everything well. I have nothing to worry about as I did everything what I planned to do that day, now I was ready to take anything that comes after that. When I turned towards the bike a plan struck immediately. The plan was to take a Rickshaw, get some petrol, come back, refill and leave. I moved toward the bike to park it somewhere near the Rickshaw stand, I sat down, switched it on. The digital meter again showed the fuel as 2 units. I smiled and gave a kick. Guess what, the bike started. I was stunned and dint think of any, I just raised a throttle, made a U turn and roared towards my office. But soon the bike stopped roaring and started crying for petrol. When I reached the marsh land, the bike stopped again!

Only when the bike stopped, I thought why I drove the bike this far? What happened to the plan of taking the rickshaw? Now I have lost that option too. I scolded myself and got down. I started to push the bike on the lonely road. I dint think that as a burden now, I felt satisfied and slowly started to enjoy the push. After five minutes, another biker came and stopped near me. I dint ask anything but he said I will tow it. I said “Tow!!! Okayeee”. I said there is a Shell Petrol station near my office and asked him to leave me there. He started to push my bike and when we slowly moved. I wasn’t looking at the road; I started to enjoy that silent ride. I smiled myself and looked at the skies. I don’t know what is happening to me, in midst of all the trouble I seem to get some help one way or another to do what I planned to do.

The biker pushed me up to the petrol station and left even before I can thank him. The bike was still moving and so I guided the bike inside the station. Seeiing my presence, a service man got ready to tell his usual dialogue, “Good evening Sir, Pleas get down from the Bike to refuel”, but my bike stopped long before I can reach his pump. I got down and looked at him. We shared a smile and pushed my bike to his pump. I filled the fuel and service man asked me to check the Engine oil, I said “I’m not going to take this bike again!” I thanked him and started my bike. On my ride back to office I was totally obsessed with the things that happened to me, I felt that everything went well that day and hope I will have the same support in future.

Now "Thinking of myself, makes me smile" :)

KIRUKKAL

ஜாதி - மக்கள் மாக்களாகும் மாற்றத்தின் தொடக்கம்

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A decision made today, may look foolish tomorrow.
U can vanquish it by asking a simple question to yourself
Is that decision made by you?

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ந__ :
நான் 1970இல் பிறக்காததை எண்ணி வருத்தப்பட வைப்பவள்.

குறிப்பு:
மயிலின் வேண்டுகோளுக்கு இணங்க, என்னை மகிழ்வித்த மங்கையின் பெயர் மறைக்கப்படுகிறது.

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தமன்னா:

என்னை கூப்பிட்டு பேச ஆள் இல்லாத ஊராகினும்,
என் ஆழகு தேவதை வீற்று அலங்கரிப்பதனால்,
பிறிய மனமின்றி, போகும் இடமெல்லம்,
தாங்கிச் செல்கிறேன் என் கைப்பேசியை.

What is Red Fins?

‘’A man is known by the company he keeps’’

First of all, I like to thank all my friends who constantly encourage and guide me in all my activities. Even if I send a crap there is always some kind heart in them to read it fully and give their feedback instantly. It’s their suggestion to put all my craps in a blog so that they can be free from my annoying mails in future :-)

You may wonder why I have chosen ‘’Red fins’’ as the blog URL. This has nothing to do with the gold fish. I’m also one among the million readers, who got freaked up by Dan Brown’s ‘The DanVinci Code’. As a consequence ‘’RED FINS’’ is nothing but an anagram of the word ‘’FRIENDS’’; the thriving force behind all my works.

Rail Snehidham

I like to thank the lady who made me to sit in this late hour and inspired me to narrate this sweet incident.

‘’Nothing is Random in this world, everything follows a sequence, even Life’’

The above statement is really true and in my case it’s even worse; my Life goes rotational :-( having the same schedule all through the year. I spend all my time in university and work. I am desperate to have some change :-(. I live in a place called Upton Park located in east London, I work part time in a place called Richmond which is actually located in west London. I have to spend nearly 1.5 hours in the underground rail in order to reach my work place. Even my studies don’t bore me much when compared to the idle time that I spend in travelling.

On 03 March 2008, I started from my home and reached Upton park station by 1.15 PM. To my luck within a minute or two, a train destined to Richmond came to my platform, if not I need to make two interconnections to reach my workplace. As the door opened I rushed inside to get my favourite one seater (An isolated seating marked for handicap and elderly people). But all the one seaters were occupied and so in disappointment I sat in a two seater near the window. I immediately worked out my first time killing strategy which is noting but reading newspaper. I took ‘’Metro’’( a free newspaper) from a seat and opened it. As I grazed through the pages, I can see only the routine article related to Beckham, Victoria, Britney, Amy Winehouse, Football and Oscar. It took only 5 min to go through the paper and in frustration I kept that beside me and moved to my second strategy. I took my favourite time killing gadget from my jacket (IPOD) and started listening AR Rahman songs. Richmond is the 29^th stop from my station and it’s a long way to go, so I gently closed my eyes to concentrate on music. But whenever I hear the door opening my mind automatically starts counting the number of stops like a prisoner counting the iron bars in his cell. Nothing worked out well and so I thought to work out my next powerful strategy Code Name: FB (Looking for some hot chicks) and so I opened my eyes near Embankment Station (central London) and wondered if any girl will come around. The door opened and a white lady with a pop hair in a blue gown came towards my seat. She had shining blue eyes and by seeing her wrinkles I judged that her age should be around 70.I dint mind her and so I kept my eyes on the window. My inner conscious told that she is looking at me and so I turned towards her. Yes my conscious is true, she was looking at me. It made me uncomfortable but still we shared a smile and I wondered what will be her next move. Rather than taking a seat opposite to me, she jumped towards the seat next me saying ‘’this is my seat and I love to be here’’. I know it’s her second childishness stage and so I smiled and said ‘’the seat is all yours mam’’. She sat happily next to me. I again turned towards the window to make her self comfortable. My inner conscious prickled my mind again and so I turned towards her. Looking at her sharp blue eyes I can clearly understand than she wants to converse something and so I dropped my right ear phone so that I can hear what she is about to say. She smiled and asked ‘’Are you listening to music’’, I just nodded my head and before I could turn back she came up with the next question ‘’Can I hear that too??’’, I said ‘’sure’’ and kept my right ear phone on her soft ear gently moving her hair aside. I played the Signature Tune. She listened to it and commented that the tune is so soft and wondered how guy like me listening to soft music rather than Rock music. I said ‘’I love to hear soft and melodious songs’’. She smiled and said ‘’that’s good’’ offering the head phone to me. I plucked my head phone again and turned towards the window.

I don’t want to converse further but my inner instinct asked me to do it. For a minute there was a small fight with me and my instinct and as usual I am the loser. So I turned towards the lady dropping my ear phone and asked ‘’where are you going?’’, she gently whispered minding the other passengers in the compartment ‘’Oh me, I am going to Kew Gardens. I am bored of this city life and so I need to see the nature every week. That’s the secret of my happiness’’. Kew Gardens is just one stop before Richmond and I know it is one of the famous natural reserves in UK. I found her self interesting by the way she speaks and was curious to hear more from her.

She asked whether I know about the Stephan Hooper who is running the botanical garden. I really don’t have any idea on him and so she started explaining about the activities done on the royal botanical garden. I can understand only bits and pieces from her speech but the way she explained it, the caring words she used, the interest she took to explain this to a naïve impressed me more than the content. I know am a good listener and so I allowed her to speak further and carefully watched her expressions in her face. She seems to be so excited and her blue eyes shined more than before. She told me about the trees, lawn and lake. For her, Kew garden seems to be a divine place out of the material world where she can be in a harmony with the nature. She also added that she is still alive only because of that. I wanted to build the conversation further more and so I asked so many questions. She answered to them politely and from her answers I can diagnose that she is living alone in a flat in central London. She lost her husband 5 years before. A dog is her only companion in home. She is a great nature lover. She wants to travel a lot but unfortunately she has crossed the age to travel abroad. She spends most of her time alone and she started to love that too. She travels to Kew gardens every week to walk near the lake. I found a great sync between her character and mine. I am also a great lover of solitude even though I like spending time with my friends. Like her Kew gardens, I too have so many places where I love to spend my time alone. In my home town Gobi I like to be alone in Pariyur temple and near the river bank, In Coimbatore during my college days I prefer ISKCON and Perur Temple. In Chennai I prefer beach and St Thomas mount. Now in London it’s the Greenwich Park. Whenever I am in a dilemma or depressed I want this loneliness to heal myself. I was so happy to see such a person in my life. I imagined that I too will be like her in my older days.

Sun slowly started sliding into the clouds. It became cloudy and she was so worried that her plan is going to ruin. I comforted her saying that as per the weather forecast there is no rain in London so there is nothing much to worry. I promised that she can still enjoy her walk. My instinct asked to share my experience with her and so I told her about the scenic beauty of Scotland, Greenwich and of course about Indian forest. As I uttered the word India, She too started talking about the coconut trees, boats etc.. She said that she has visited some places in south India with her husband 20 yrs before. I helped her in identifying the place as Kerala. Now there is nothing in between us, no racism nor any communication gap, I felt like a single soul residing in two different bodies. She grabbed my hand and gently held it on her hands. I can still feel the warmth of her in my hands. Now we both became childish. Sitting near the window we found a new horizon to enjoy nature. We found even a mother moving with a Baggage, architecture of the buildings and road traffic as wonderful. But every time when the train door opens I feared that we are going to part soon. For the first time in my life I loved her company more than loneliness. I am sure that neither my friends, parents nor my future wife can comfort me more than her. My mind also planned a way to skip my work today, but I am sure my manager won’t allow that as we were out of staff in our store. As her stop approached she looked into my face with disappointment, I looked into her eyes for the last time and said ‘’I love to accompany you now, but I can’t skip my work now, sorry about that’’. She smiled and said ‘’don’t worry Darling, I will be fine’’. She gently touched my shoulder and descended out. I was looking at her through the window; she went out and turned back. She gave a small smile. Her eyes lost the shine now. She waved her hands. I was so depressed but managed to give a smile. The train started, now everything seems to be alien for me. I don’t want to switch on my Ipod . I need silence; I can still feel her beside me. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I want to be alone. I prayed god that she should live long and the climate should be good enough for her to enjoy the walk. I scolded myself why I dint get her address or phone number, but I knew that we both were in a different world and we had no time to share our contact number. I consoled myself and wished to see her soon. I thanked my instinct which made this event possible. I felt more satisfied as if I discovered myself with her thoughts refreshing my body and mind. As my train stopped in Richmond I came out confidently as if I am reborn to tackle any pressure in my life.

It’s true that our life goes smooth by learning from our own experiences and also by listening to the advices from our elders. But we can find even a better exciting life by just listening to our own instinct. Always be yourself.

‘’♫ If I try to be like him, who will be like me? ‘’

Ask this question to yourself and I am sure you will find a better solution.

Its getting very late now it’s almost 4.00 AM. I need sleep. I think my body will shut down even before my PC shuts down. I am sure today in my dream I’m not going to see any of my friends, parents or some naughty girls, I’m going to see her with her shining blue eyes. Holding her hands we will have a nice walk along the Kew gardens Lake.