From the beyond - part 1

Ashok sat still in the darkness. In that darkness, he could feel the thrum of the engines. It had been 18 hours stuck inside a cramped metal container costing about 10,000 rupees the square feet you get to rent for a few hours. That's how his mind had always worked. There had always been a costing psyche to him throughout his life.

The internal lights suddenly came on followed by the static on the PA system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, We are now preparing for our descent in to Chennai. The captain has switched on the....."

Ashok searched for the seatbelt to put it on when he realized that he hadn't unbuckled it from the time he got on board at NY.

The plane continued its descent and soon was safely latched to the gate. He made his way down the aisle and outside the airport eventually.

"Ashok...Inga..here man...here" there was a voice screaming as he stepped out of the terminal. He turned to see his father's friend, Mouleeswaran or Mouli uncle as he recalled him with a placard in his hand. 

The card read ASHOK MURALI and in small letters below S/o MURALI SUBRAMANIAN.

He walked the length of the walkway and finally caught up with Mouli uncle. It was 4 in the morning and surprisingly Chennai was biting cold. 

They both rushed to the parked Maruthi 800 and struggled a bit to put the baggage inside.They both got into the car and started their drive in silence.

"It was a peaceful thing, happened in his sleep. The doctor said there was no pain or suffering." Mouli uncle said breaking the cold silence.

"Hmm hmm" Ashok murmered. He really didnt want to talk about it. He was still sleepwalking. The moment he got on the call with Ambujam maami a day back, till now, he had been just sleepwalking, scared of waking up to the reality of his father's demise.

But it looked like that sleep would be disturbed soon. He had to wake up to the reality. Wake up to the fact that Mr. Murali subramanian was no more. 

The car's horn broke him out of his thoughts. They had reached their home. It was just the way he had left it three years back.