I stood under the awning of the tea shop trying to get as much cover as I could possibly get from the drizzle. I lit up a smoke and waited for my tea that I had ordered. This was my fourth tea in 30 minutes and I really didnt know what I was doing there. I was waiting. The drizzle had started out suddenly and though the people on the road initially felt a bit of relief for the sudden change in heat, it was gaining pace and now it was a irritant. I had shifted positions in the last one hour, moving from a tea shop on the opposite side to this one. I needed a different vantage point. I stood waiting.For what, was a question that I wasnt able to answer to myself. And I have been asking myself that question for so long now. Chandru. This was all because of him.
A week ago. I cant believe it all started a week ago and what an insignificant beginning to all of this. I closed my eyes for a second. To rerun the entire thing in my mind. To relive it.
I was cruising down Whites Road just about to enter Express Avenue. I was running late for a movie. Not unusual. I have never till date, watched a film from the first scene and had the notoriety for being chronically late. That day however, I tried to make up for time lost. I had my own reasons. Main one being a new girl that i have been dying to meet and who was part of the group that i was now going to the movie with. With thoughts of her on my mind, I wrested the accelerator further than it would normally go and was about to break out into a song in my mind. When he came in between the road. It was all so sudden and the fault wasnt entirely mine. He was a lithe and puny figure and had moved incredibly quick trying to cross the road amidst the racing vehicles there. Before I knew it, I hit him and there was a suspension of time and gravity as he flew a few feet before crumbling onto the road. Within seconds, a crowd had gathered around him and I couldnt see what had happened to him. In between the gap, I saw crimson. Blood.
A crack of thunder and I came out of my thoughts to the reality around me. The drizzle was no longer a drizzle and it was coming down pretty strong. More people crowded the tea shop, trying to get an extra inch of foot space to escape from the onslaught.I finished my glass of tea and kept the glass on the counter-top. That's when I saw the car. The car that I had been waiting for, the car that had been the target of my evening.
It was a pretty innocuous looking vehicle, totally nondescript. It looked like any other cab that ferries the thousands of IT employees across the city every day, except that i knew what to look out for. The small sticker on the left side of the rear windshield.FS575. I dont know if there was really any company using the same tag but this couldnt be a coincidence. Same area, same time, same symbol. I recall seeing it a week before, the image burned into my mind. Now, if only...
There..a small girl was crossing the road. She was one among the hundreds of homeless that you see everyday. Faceless, nameless and most importantly nobody to miss her. I watched the entire thing play out in front of me, in slo-mo as though you are running it on your dvd player at 1/2 x speed. The car shuddered to a start and switched on its head lights. The rear door opened but nobody stepped out or got in. The car slowly started moving forward towards the dimly lit section of the street. Irony in the fact that the biggest mall in the city has a seedy neighbor-hood right beside it. I had seen all this happen. Not too long ago. Just a week ago.
When Chandru was taken. Right in front of my eyes. Not this time, I muttered to myself. I leaped on my bike and pushed the electric starter and took off, my eyes not leaving the car or the girl.
Click here to read the next chapter
A week ago. I cant believe it all started a week ago and what an insignificant beginning to all of this. I closed my eyes for a second. To rerun the entire thing in my mind. To relive it.
I was cruising down Whites Road just about to enter Express Avenue. I was running late for a movie. Not unusual. I have never till date, watched a film from the first scene and had the notoriety for being chronically late. That day however, I tried to make up for time lost. I had my own reasons. Main one being a new girl that i have been dying to meet and who was part of the group that i was now going to the movie with. With thoughts of her on my mind, I wrested the accelerator further than it would normally go and was about to break out into a song in my mind. When he came in between the road. It was all so sudden and the fault wasnt entirely mine. He was a lithe and puny figure and had moved incredibly quick trying to cross the road amidst the racing vehicles there. Before I knew it, I hit him and there was a suspension of time and gravity as he flew a few feet before crumbling onto the road. Within seconds, a crowd had gathered around him and I couldnt see what had happened to him. In between the gap, I saw crimson. Blood.
A crack of thunder and I came out of my thoughts to the reality around me. The drizzle was no longer a drizzle and it was coming down pretty strong. More people crowded the tea shop, trying to get an extra inch of foot space to escape from the onslaught.I finished my glass of tea and kept the glass on the counter-top. That's when I saw the car. The car that I had been waiting for, the car that had been the target of my evening.
It was a pretty innocuous looking vehicle, totally nondescript. It looked like any other cab that ferries the thousands of IT employees across the city every day, except that i knew what to look out for. The small sticker on the left side of the rear windshield.FS575. I dont know if there was really any company using the same tag but this couldnt be a coincidence. Same area, same time, same symbol. I recall seeing it a week before, the image burned into my mind. Now, if only...
There..a small girl was crossing the road. She was one among the hundreds of homeless that you see everyday. Faceless, nameless and most importantly nobody to miss her. I watched the entire thing play out in front of me, in slo-mo as though you are running it on your dvd player at 1/2 x speed. The car shuddered to a start and switched on its head lights. The rear door opened but nobody stepped out or got in. The car slowly started moving forward towards the dimly lit section of the street. Irony in the fact that the biggest mall in the city has a seedy neighbor-hood right beside it. I had seen all this happen. Not too long ago. Just a week ago.
When Chandru was taken. Right in front of my eyes. Not this time, I muttered to myself. I leaped on my bike and pushed the electric starter and took off, my eyes not leaving the car or the girl.
Click here to read the next chapter
2 comments:
Truly Amazing. I am becoming an ardent fan of your work. Waiting to read me. Dont keep us waiting. The suspense is too much to handle :)
Thanks...i hope its good enough..the next one is out..
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