Thursday, April 12, 2012

Nostalgia, a realistic love story

This is my very first attempt at blogging and hone my creative side . Posted in my company's blog on Oct 25, 2007. Please post your comments on how you liked this posting.

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"Hey Vijay! Wake up! Its time to get ready. We have to start in another 30 mins. Get ready!" -It was Vijay's mother!

Vijay's parents had planned to visit one of their "Could be" daughter-in-law's house. It was the usual "Pen paarkum padalam". It was not for Vijay, but for his elder brother Ravi. Vijay's mother,Indira had planned to take Vijay along ; it was not a formal meeting between the 2 families. Indira was still sceptical about okaying the alliance. She wanted to evaluate the girl before leaving the decision to her son.


"Here it(the ritual of seeing an alliance) goes again!" – Vijay was commenting to himself about the whole process. His brother is a doctor who is now in working in Chandigarh. They are seeing a girl for him for the past 4 years but with no success. Vijay had infact got used to this usual routine and he started getting ready, nonchalantly.


They were heading to Bodi, a place near Theni (which is infact a place near Madurai, if you had not heard of it ) . The girl's family lived there. It was a long travel from Chennai and soon Ravi fell asleep. When he woke up,he was in his car travelling past some beautiful rural setting that he was used to see in Bharathiraja's movies – the lush green fields, the herd of cattles and the small children who looked at amusement at their car. Vijay was by now thinking, "Just a banyan tree & the Nattamai is the only piece that I missed so far. I should probably settle down in a place like this and do panchayats one day :-) . Wow …what a great achievement it would be ! ".


Just as all these thoughts were running on his mind, they had reached the house of the girl! As they were already acquainted, through common friends, Vijay's parents and the girl's family had no difficulties in breaking the ice on conversation. The girl was not present there ; she was on her way from Chennai to Bodi. She was working for the last 2 years in Chennai.Indira and her hubby Kailash decided to stay in her sister's house which was in the next town and planned to visit them the next day morning to see the girl. Very soon Vijay was sleeping in his aunt's house. The gentle breeze and the rustic background was the excellent setting for him……………………….



Vijay had been transferred to his new office location , which is in Tidel. He had a tough day at the new workplace getting himself acquainted with the new environment and the new set of people. He had always longed to work in the heart of the city, "Chennai – Nungambakkam, Mount Road, Alwarpet or atleast Adyar- why dont software companies have their offices in these places? Atleast this is not Siruseri, thank God!" The initial few days at Tidel were uneventful when compared to what was about to happen in the coming days……..


It was 9 PM. Vijay was leaving from office(typical software hours ) after a long call with his onsite team. Estimates, Deadlines, Quality,Pressure, Value-adds…. all these were his oft spoken words. He was in the lift when suddenly midway , the lift stopped and the door opened. Vijay was stunned at what he saw in front of him….


Banu, a sweet bubbly girl who used to be his collegemate was standing in front of him. Vijay had a crush on Banu from the very first day he saw her. But being an introvert,especially when it comes to gals, he didnt get the relationship started in a easy, cinematic fashion; it took him months to say a "HI" to her (even when she was his classmate!). Slowly Banu and Vijay became friends.Banu liked his sense of humour, simplicity and chivalry. "Chivalry is dead …but u r still a kinda cute! ;) ". They soon became bosom friends but Vijay didnt have the courage to propose to her. Months rolled by…
They were in the final year of their engineering degree. Vijay had got a lucrative offer from one of the leading companies and Banu too had an offer, but it was from another company. Vijay started thinking about what will happen once the college is over? How can I meet Banu daily? Whether she will still be the same? What will happen if her parents marry her to someone soon? All these questions were bogging him down. He started fearing that Banu might forget him.

One day , after office hours, he went to meet Banu in her office.

"Hi Vijay,what a pleasant surprise? What brings you here?"

(Its only you and nothing else) "I am fine. How is it going? I came here just to see you"

"Psst…I thought that you have left your company and joined here! I was happy for a moment seeing you , but you …"

"Anyways, dont worry! IF you want I will be here everyday ;-) " [She likes me so much . Wow God Thank u so much :) ]

But time & distance were cruel players. Banu didnt seem to be affected by the separation. Whenever he used to hint at how bad he feels about leaving the college, friends,especially her, she started paying less attention :( " Why is she behaving like this? Oh God, please help me. Make Banu fall in love with me , SOON!" . But his prayers were turned down by God. One day Vijay gathered the courage to propose to Banu, but she didnt reciprocate his feelings. He felt very bad for himslef as his love has been lost for reason unknown to him.


Banu was now standing in front of him. They havent met in the past 4 years. Banu had got another offer and she was also working in the same location. She was also surprised on seeing Vijay. Vijay now came to his senses, and he offered her a warm smile and said "hi!". She was quiet and didnt respond. "Whats wrong in saying a small Hi? You say Hi to strangers when u r in US, but in India, they dont even return the wishes of an old friend! Strange !" he murmered to himself.


"Hi. What are you upto nowadays" -It was Banu!! She was talking with Vijay now. Now,Time has played a healing role in their relationship and has changed her perception and outlook. She no longer seemed to brood over his proposal to her. They started talking about their job, enquired about their family members and the conversation went for sometime before Banu hopped into her company's last bus to her home.She was still Miss Banu Ramkumar, something which gave hopes for Vijay.

pudhu varigalaal en kavidhai thaalum niraiyudhae
kanavugal vandhu kangal thaandi vazhiyudhae
marandhida en manamum konjam muyaludhae
marupadi marupadi un mugamae ennai soozha


One of the following days , Vijay asked her if she would mind joining him for lunch. He got a postive answer and then onwards they started having lunch together. Slowly breakfast followed and soon dinner too. Familiarity breed attraction in their case. Vijay made his best moves and soon got her consent for their marriage! Banu apologized to Vijay for not accepting his proposal the first time he did , 4 years back as she had her own problems in her family.He was the most happiest man in the world…..




"Munbe vaa en anbey vaa…." the mobile was ringing. It was Aishwarya, Vijay's colleague who is now his sweet-heart.

They both have mutual affection and love for each other. It was initially tough for Aishwarya to make Vijay fall for her and it was more difficult for Vijay to forget Banu and accept the love of another girl. Time and distance again played a important role here. Vijay decided that its wise to "reciprocate the love of the girl who loves you, than , worry about unreciprocating love".


"Munbe vaa en anbey vaa…." Rings again. Vijay answers the call.

"Good morning da"

"good morn ICE! "

"hey enna aachu? Unga annanuku ponnu paaka poniye? Ponnu athaiku pudichiruka? Unga annan kalyanam fix aagiduma? sollu da . Namma route eppa clear ayacha?" ["Whats up? Will this alliance work out? Will your brother marry and make way for us?]


"Theriyala ma. Ponnai inimela thaan paaka poranga! I will call u later. I have to get ready" ["No idea. They are yet to see the girl" ]


Vijay was amused as to why the thought of Banu had come to him after 4 years and that too in his dreams. Why did he dream like winning over her again? " Am I a flirt? Am i unfaithful to Aishwarya?" All these questions cropped up in his mind.


Un kaadhal kittavillai
Kavi Punaiya mudiyavillai — {without ur love , I lost my poetic sense}
Un sparisam kidaikavillai
En iruvugalil urakam illai –{ without ur touch, I lost my sleep}
Un uravu kidaikavillai — {without u, I lost my life }
En vazhkaiyil uyir illai —– by Vijay – Ivan ungalil oruvan(one among you)!

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