Tuesday, September 10, 2013
I've got your back!
It was 1730 Hrs
and I had just finished my evening tea. I quickly dialled out to my friend
confirming that I will be there in 15 mins. Our rendezvous was to be on his
building terrace. We always met there for our long chats - he rolled his joints
and smoked, I talked about my theories on life, He spiced it up by adding girls
into the equation, we then debated, fought, made up and called it a night. That
was the usual story.
Today was
however different. I had a lot on my mind with regard my impending break-up.
Things had reached a flashing point (like the numerous times before) and all I
had was the voice on the phone that said "Tu chill kar Maddi. Terrace pe
milte hai."
I grabbed my
car keys, reversed out of the parking lot and sped away towards his place. I
had just turned left near Saint Mary's school when I saw 3 kids practicing on
their roller skates. I eased to the centre of the road in an attempt to give
them enough room and slowing down to go over the speed breakers build in front
of the school gates. My mind was still playing through the numerous scenarios I
wanted to lash out and ratify with him when I reached the terrace.
A loud
power-horn close to my right ear startled me back into reality. My driving
reflexes pulled the steering sharp-left to avoid a sure-shot collision of the
Tata-Sumo trying to overtake me in barely enough space for a rickshaw! I
slammed into my breaks milliseconds later realising that my sharp-left put my
trajectory right onto the children on the road.
The Sumo
sped away after what we called "cutting me" on the road leaving me
pumped with adrenalin. The combination of adrenalin, young naivety, and high
levels of testosterone would have proved fatal that day.
My close
friends called me Schumacher in those days due the way I drove. And no Sumo was
cutting Schumacher on that day only to get away.
I knew that
stretch of road like the back of my hand and could possibly drive there with my
eyes closed. I had every pot-hole mapped out and every acceleration opportunity
assessed. I got behind the Sumo like a shark on a blood trail - my only
objective; overtake and force it to stop.
I passed my
friend's building on the way and caught up to the Sumo by the end of the road.
I swiftly overtook it and stopped right in front of it forcing it to screech to
a halt. I pulled up the parking brakes, switched off the car and was getting
ready to confront the driver. That’s when I realized that I had never been in a
fight before. It was contrary to my basic nature. And within seconds I felt
drained of any energy I had and was overtaken with a sense of fear.
I hesitated
to open the door and sat there just thinking to myself what I should do next. I
glanced at my rear view mirror and saw the doors of the Sumo opening. 3 medium
to well built lads got off and walked towards me. I was going to be beaten to pulp!
I still put
on a strong face and waited for impending doom. The driver came up to my window
and with a sound of arrogance asked - "dikhta nahi hai kya?". Trying
to be cheeky I replied - "wohi toh. Dikhta nahi hai kya? Bacchelog khel
rahe the waha pe. Unko lag jaata to?"
This only
angered him more. He opened my door and shouted - "Chal nikal bahar.
Dikhata hoon tereko." He followed that with a string of abuses which I did
not mind. I was more concerned that if I stepped out of the car, I would be
treated with a series of blows I might not recover from anytime in the near
future. But I still had a sense of pride. I still had a feeling that I did what
I had to do. I bravely stepped out of the car and stood straight. People had
begun to gather around. I was taller that my opponent (if that was any
consolation). Both his friends stood behind him - ready for battle.
The atmosphere
was as tense as it could get. That’s when I heard a familiar voice - "Maddi"
it shouted making its way through the crowd. "Kya hua?" Rohesh walked
in with his familiar cream coloured long sleeved t-shirt and torn jeans. I saw
his face and there was an immediate sense of relief, warmth and confidence.
There was also a sense of shock and disbelief. It could not be possible. There
was something wrong with this scene. I woke up. I was dreaming…
I took some
30 seconds to realise that I had been dreaming of a past incident in my life -
just like it happened yesterday. And it was ironic that I dreamt of it on this
day. It was Rohesh's birthday today (may he RIP).
Twilight was
just setting in outside and I found myself smiling as I replayed the rest of
the memory in my mind. He had come
and stood next to me. In almost a single breath of relief, frustration and
defiance I had shouted - "This asshole cut me near Saint Mary's and
almost had me run over some kids !"
Rohesh was
not very well built. In fact he was even frailer than I was. But he had turned to
the Driver of the Sumo and with a mocking yet confident tone said - "Kya
problem hai? Thoda sambhalke chalaneka. Yeh rasta mein teen schools hai".
The driver
was still not willing to give up. He snarled back another string of abuses with
threats to pulverise both our faces. Rohesh suddenly had changed his entire
tone. He became serious and started his own string of abuses. And when he
finished with that he pointed to his compound. "Mein waha reheta hoon aur
yeh mera area hai. Chal, hath laga sakta hai to laga ke dikha. Tu saala sector
6 mein ghoomta hai na? Dhoond dhoond ke nahi kutte ke jaise maara to dekh
le".
Both, I as
well as the driver was surprised that Rohesh knew where he stayed. And just as
Rohesh finished his sentence Krishna (atleast I knew him by that name) who had
a corner tobacco shop there butted in trying to diffuse the situation. The
other shopkeepers chimed in and ushered me into my car asking me to drive on.
Rohesh got into the passenger seat; I started my engine and drove into Rohesh's compound. I faintly remember seeing the Sumo disappear from my rear-view mirror.
We were
silent for the next 10 mins. I parked the car, got off, locked it and we had made
our way to the terrace. We had sat ourselves on the floor and Rohesh had started rolling his
joint. I was still in a zone soaking in the incidents of the last 15 mins and
letting my heart-rate settle back to normal. And after what seemed to be a
while I had asked Rohesh - "how did you reach there?" He had just smiled
and said - "I've got your back Maddi. Dont ever worry about that. Now lets
talk about your break-up."
I went back
to sleep with this warm feeling that he has my back even today. I just know, he
always will.
:: posted by RagsInRags, 7:40 AM
3 Comments:
.......... :)
Sigh. Don't write such touching stuff :(, does no good to us.
On a lighter note though, I'd like to think that I was in some form an inspiration for the writing part at least :P.
On a lighter note though, I'd like to think that I was in some form an inspiration for the writing part at least :P.
Prash - its a matter of coincidence: your post and my post today. But you HAVE kicked a slowing ball and I hope I can maintain momentum to continue writing :)
