Let Your Hearts Talk

Before reading this episode, think of the following from your college day memories. So that you can relate the incidents easily to your life.

I.                    The person you always want to be with

II.                  Your good or best friend

III.                The person you had crush on

IV.                The most surprising moment of your life

Now proceed with this episode.

I SAW THE MOST UNEXPECTED SCENE OF MY LIFE.

Just imagine, you are very eager for your life time trip and when u reach the bus it is very silent without any sound and you can't even see your friends. Yes, as you all imagined at that time my heart beat was like a 100 meter athlete. I opened the curtain with trembling hands and saw the scene. As soon as I opened the curtain everyone shouted "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANJAY". That moment only I remembered that day as MY BIRTHDAY. Yes, they all had planned a surprise for me. I forgot my birthday in the tour excitement. Now only I remember mom made PAAYASAM in morning. But, why no one wished me in home too??? But, I was not able to laugh or think anything. I was in shock until Sanjana and Santosh came near me and shook my hand. Everyone was sitting around the cake waiting for me to open the curtain of the bus. Even they had included the bus driver in this play. They took me to the cake and everyone sang the 'Happy Birthday' song.

Now I had no words for them. I was unable to say thanks too. I was dumb struck. Sanwir wiped my wet eyes and gave me the knife to cut the cake. I thanked everyone and took the first piece of the cake.

'First piece to whom?' Aishwarya asked me in a sarcastic tone.

'Who else? Obviously Sanjana!!!!' Priya answered in witty voice and the girls started to giggle. I saw Sanjana  and she came near me. She took another piece and gave it to me and she had the first one from me.

'I think there is no harm in taking the first piece of cake from my best friend.' She told the girls and wished me again. This is the one thing really I like in her. She always does what her mind feels. She won't do anything for others. To be frank, she is the first girl whom I felt as "BHRATHIYIN PUTHUMAI PEN". My mobile rang and I came to conscious. The call is from my home.

'Hey Sanjay, MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY. Your friends called yesterday evening and told us about the surprise and requested us not to wish you in morning. Sorry Sanjay'. My dad wished me.

'Thanks dad. Everyone really shocked me with this. It is really great!!' After dad, mom and Ajay wished me. Mom told me about the sweets in my bag and asked me to give it to my friends. As soon as the call is over, 'Machi, when is the treat?!' Maama Ram sorry sorry Raja Ram asked me from my behind. He is called as "MAAMA RAM" by everyone in the campus of our college. He is the guy around whom the whole laughter will take place. He will talk very seriously, but everyone will laugh when he is serious.  The main reason is his appearance and costumes. He will completely shave his face and always have a round "santhana pottu" in the centre of his forehead, he also will have a "kumkum" in the centre of the santhana pottu. He will comb his hair neatly by applying gel. The most important factor is the way he carries his bag. He will always bring a leather kind of bag under his arms. Not only his bags, he also took his certificate file under his arms to the interview. His interview session itself was a great EVENT for the whole college. He went to the interview with his file under his arms. Seeing that the placement officer took the file from him and told him

'Don't carry file under your arm. It is not decency. Carry them in your hands.'

'Sir, I feel very comfortable carrying like this. I cannot change my position for anyone.' Maama ram told and started to walk. Hearing this placement officer got fear and he himself carried the file for him till the interview panel. But, interview is not about just carrying file! After the usual 'tell me about you', seeing the resume the interviewer asked him

'In which school you studied your 10^th standard?'

'In Seshadri Vidya Mandir.' Maama answered with a serious tone.

'Where is it?' still keeping his eyes on the resume.

Maama got up from his seat and went near the interviewer and dragged the file to his end a little and pointed his finger on the resume and said 'Here it is.' After saying this Maama came to his seat and sat with his usual serious face.

Interviewer, '!?!?!?!'

After some 3 minutes interviewer came to normal and made himself ready to ask his questions.

'Are you comfortable with technical questions?'

'Yes.'

'Which is your area of interest?'

'Well, my area of interest is ADAYAR!!!!' Maama answered on a very very serious look now.

The interviewer came to the front of his seat and asked' 'WHAT?!?!?!' Now Maama was very cool and told 'Yes, it is a great place to be frank. You can get anything in and around Adayar. Even Besant Nagar beach is very near to Adayar.' Maama became a brand ambassador for Adayar.

'Could you please stop it!!!. I asked about you area of interest in your studies. Your favorite subject!!' The interviewer face became red.

'Oh, ok ok. My favorite is Electronic Circuits.' Maama was very cool and serious too.

'OK. What are the two types of transistors?'

'Well, the types are trans YOUNGER SISTER and trans ELDER SISTER!!!!!' Maama told in a serious voice and with the cool look of course. That was the last question from that person to Maama and we hope that was the last question from him to anyone else.

'Sanjay, the journey is about to begin da. Come let's get settled.' Sania called me and everyone started to settle among ourselves. At this point I have to tell about our gang. We are 6 people and our gang name is

SANs

Yes, we 6 are SANjay, SANTtosh, SANwir, SANjana, SANdya and SANia. We are not even friends from school days. We all met in our second semester lab only. We 6 were formed into a group accidentally. From there we are together. I, Sanwir and Sanjana are the naughtiest of our gang. Santosh won't talk much, he will always have his statements in crisp. Sanwir is a good cricket player and he is part of our college cricket team. Sandya is basketball and throw-ball player and she also represented our college in those events. I and Sanjana were the members of college literary club. During our final year we were the main coordinators for the club activities. Santosh is the drums player in our college musical band. Sania is the brainy of our gang, not only our gang in the whole department she is the brainy. She tops the department in all the exams. She usually plays chess and carom only (brain games). She is the one who teaches us during the exams. We all will study together during exams in anyone's home. Mostly we will study in my home. Since I am from outer part of Chennai, all will come to my home like a vacation.

Sandya is a kind of boyish. Her hair cut and her mannerisms will be like a boy. Sania is the baby of the gang. She will believe everything you tell. Very innocent and calm. Sanwir is the Romeo of the whole college. He will always try to impress girls. Usually he will try to impress senior girls. He won't accept Sandya as a girl itself. But, Sandhya likes him a lot. According to her he is her best friend and a person more than that. Sania is a diehard fan of Santosh and she is his first critique too. After every performance Santosh will just see Sania and after her comments only he will smile. I and Sanwir usually go together for sighting. During the fresher joining day we will become the volunteers for the girls side.

We all settled in the seats and now Sanwir became very bright. The reason is simple, everyone sat down and only the seat near Sanwir was empty and Neha is still standing. Neha is the most beautiful girl on earth (according to Sanwir only). She will be good looking, but, too much of makeup and style. So, most of the guys will look at her like a costly Race bike. Everyone wants to see the bike but only a few will think of owning it. Sanwir was one among those few. Neha came close to the seat and Sanwir gave her a romantic look (remember Koundamani's romantic look). He closed his eyes and got ready for the travel with Neha.

She sat near him and said 'Hi.'

She held his hands in her hands. She touched his face with her fingers.

'Hey Sanwir, leave my hands!!! Are you seeing palmistry for me??' Sandya asked in a strange voice.

Sanwir opened his eyes in a shock and searched for Neha. She was sitting in the parallel seat along with Priya.

Then only he realized that as a dream. 'Why you came here? Neha was about to sit here!' Sanwir asked in a low angry voice to Sandya.

'She only asked me to sit here. You were sleeping that time. So only you did not notice that.'

'Damn it. I didn't sleep. I was dreaming about her.' Sanwir gave a look like poet Vairamuthu.

'Oh. I confirmed one long time doubt now'.

'What is that?' Sanwir asked in a very eager voice.

'You are not HALF MENTAL, you are a FULL MENTAL!' Sandya said that and we all laughed at Sanwir. But, Sanwir was still looking at Neha with the same ROMANTIC LOOK.

Santosh and Sania started to talk, no Sania started to talk and Santosh was just nodding his head as usual.

I and Sanjana started to plan some mischievous stuff to keep everyone awake. The main specialty in our gang is there is nothing called boys talk or girls talk, we had guys talk only. Generally, we will discuss everything within the gang. Now Sanwir called me and Sanjana from behind and told us the tour plan again.

Directly the bus goes to Cumbum in Theni district. There we all will bath in 'Suruli Falls' and after breakfast we start to a place called 'Kulamaavu' near 'Idukki Dam' in Kerela. We had seen the pictures of the place and it seems to be a great natural gift to the mankind. There we are staying for two nights and a day. After that we are moving on to other places.

Sanwir wanted to bring a cheer among everyone. So he suggested playing Dumb-C in the travel.

Sandya said 'ok let's play that.'

'Ya, it will be good too.' I accepted Sanwir's idea.

'But, let's play antakshari now and can play Dumb-C after we finish our dinner in Vilupuram.' Sania said and Neha said 'OK' for that. So, as you all expected Sanwir said 'Ya, that's a great idea.' And Sandya also said the same. I and Sanjana became Romans in this Rome. We all started with the game. There will be two teams. The first 8 rows from one team and the rest form the other team.

Neha started the game with the song 'Lesa Lesa....'

'Oh God, what a great singer she is!!' Sanwir exclaimed with his mouth open.

'Sanwir, could you please close the waterfalls from your mouth.' Sandya told and closed his mouth with her hands. 'She is singing good, but not so great.' She added more.

'You are Self-centered and conservative.' Sanwir sarcastically told her and continued to watch Neha.

'Why should I be conservative?' Sandya asked herself. But the answer was a few drops of tears from her eyes. She wiped off them without letting others know that.

The songs continued to flow and everyone became S.P.B, Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sujatha, Janaki and many more singers in the mean time. We all had our dinner at vilupuram with laughs and fun. We boarded the bus again to continue the travel and started playing Dumb-C as per Sanwir's idea. He tried a lot to talk with Neha and to sit near her. But, it all went in vain. The bus was full of fun and entertainment. With all the sounds and laughter the bus was going at an 80 Km/hr over the Cauvery Bridge at 1 a.m. in the morning.

The journey will be continued soooooooooooooon….

'Dai Anna!!!!

Don't you have sense?

Why the hell are you doing like this???

Anyway the bus will come here by 5.30 only.

Why do you want to go to By-Pass by 3.30 itself?

That too in this MAY sun. You are frying me in this hot sun. All my fate!!!!',

My brother Ajay was scolding me, no literally he was cursing me like anything.

But, how can he know the excitement and happiness I have in waiting for the bus. He is just in his 12^th grade. He will also have the same excitement after 5 years, while going for his final tour with his college class mates. Yesterday only our final year exams got over. We had planned this trip an year before itself. So, lots of dreams and excitement.

 'Hey Ajay, you won't understand this. You will understand this only when you feel this. Even though the bus comes here by 5.30, it starts at 3.30 and all my class mates would have started the journey together now. Now, the whole bus will be full of song and fun.'

'Hmmm, my excitement jumps up a great height when I think about that enjoyment.'

He was staring at me like a furious tiger seeing its prey, my SHORT explanation may had tested his patience. We started to walk out of the house to start the bike for our travel to By-Pass, where I was going to go for my life time trip.

I heard my mobile playing 'Oru Maalai Ila Veyil neram' and saw the caller name in the display. The display said it was Santhosh. I and Santhosh are like two sides of a coin. We don't have anything in common except our friendship. He is my best friend and we used share everything between us. I picked the call,

'Hey Santhosh, wats up da? Where are you guys? I am really excited to meet you all. I am unable to sit in my home.'

'Hey Machi, just now the bus started and we are on the way. I hope this will be a great trip. I will call you again after crossing Tambaram. Note down the bus number. It will be easy for you to stop it.'

'Ya, just a minute Santhosh'

'Hey Ajay bring me a piece of paper.'

Ajay gave me a paper in 15 seconds. 'Santhosh, tell the number now.'

 'TN15 A 3500. Note it carefully and stop the bus if the driver misses you. Anyways we will surely stop the bus machi. See you soon dude.'

With that statement he cut the call and I saw the number. The paper was an A4 type and I turned the paper and it was an extra copy my resume's front page. The resume I gave for my CAMPUS interview.

It is always a proud feeling to see your resume some months after your Placements. I too got the same feeling. I started reading the front page of my resume with full pride.

Ø  Name                          :     Sanjay

Ø  Date of Birth               :     28^th May 1987

Ø  Gender                        :     Male

Ø  Father name               :     Maniraja

Ø  Mother tongue           :     Tamil

Ø  Nationality                 :      Indian

Ø  Degree                        :     B.E. Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Ø  College                        :     SRI Sivasubramania Nadesan College of Engineering

Ø  Permanent address    :     31, Anna Street, Balaji Nagar, Chengalpattu – 603002

While reading the resume, that moment came to my mind. That moment is always a great one to cherish. It was the selected candidates list announcing time. After a looooong day they finally came to the end of the first campus day of our college's campus drive. Our college placement officer started to announce the results of selected candidates for 'Cognizant'. The crowd was very much excited and tensed like the people waiting before theatre counter from morning 6 AM for first day SUPER STAR film. The names were being called and no one was from EEE yet. All faces were much tensed and I started to walk back with lost hope. At that very moment, I heard Placement officer calling 'Sanjay Maniraja from EEE'. My name was the first to be called from my department.  Still I think that moment as a dream. Santhosh is the one who pulled me from behind and pushed me to walk to the group of placed candidates. Before I reach the group Santhosh's name was also called and we were out of the world for some time.

'Sanjay, have this money. Take care of health. Don't eat junk foods.' My mom's words brought me back to earth from that dream. (A typical Mother.)

That is really true, Mother is the only person who cares about you more than anything in this world.

'Sanjay, be safe. Don't try any adventures. Friends will say you as a hero. Do not get over enthusiastic and get in to trouble.' My dad advised with a little strictness in his speech. (A typical father.)

'I am not kid anymore, dad. I am 22 and I can take care of me.' (A typical youth dialogue.)

'But you are always a kid for us Sanjay. I and dad will always say good for you. Always remember that we both are living for you and Ajay only. So, go safe and come safe Sanjay.' My mom told and I can see some tears on her eyes while completing the sentence.

After this 'TELE – SERIAL' events, me and Ajay took bike and started to the By-Pass. Chenagalpattu By-Pass, this is not like other By-Pass roads. You can see a lot of vehicles on this road day and night. In morning, you can see many amateur SHUMACHERs' practicing their driving schools cars and as the day passes you can see a lot of lorries with sand from the 'PALAR' river. 

While going in bike or any vehicle I only drive the vehicle. According to me there is no thrill in sitting behind and watch others ride. I won't ride very fast but I love and enjoy my own driving. I was recalling all my memories from college days and cherishing within my mind without knowing the upcoming danger. We reached the By-Pass.

'Ajay, it is really hot na.' I told and looked at my brother. He was hotter than the 38 ⁰C sun. It was 5.15 PM and I guessed they could have crossed Tambaram.

I thought Santhosh should call now and saw my mobile. The screen displayed Santhosh's name as he called at that very moment. I was very happy and attended the call and said 'Santhosh'. But the opposite end was very silent. I couldn't even hear the vehicles passing by and the sound from the bus. I again said 'Santhosh'. Now, I could hear a husky voice from the other end. I was calling his name repeatedly, but no response. I cut the call and thought that there must be some network problem and called Santhosh's mobile. Now it said "Switched off".

'Hey, it is really a bad network  yar.' I told myself and tried some of my class mates. Rajeev, Akshay, Gopi, Venkat, Devi and Aishwarya. All mobiles said "SWITCHED OFF".

I am not sure what had happened. I started worrying about them. But, the later part of my cerebrum told me that 'No problem dude, they are safe and they will be trying to play with you'.

I turned towards Ajay and told him the matter. It was 5.35 PM and at that time Ajay pointed to a distant object. I turned back to see the object.

It was "TN15 A 3500" and they finally came. I really got excited and waved my hands towards the bus. The bus stopped 15 meters in front of the place I was standing.

I took my luggage and told 'TATA Ajay, tell parents that I got bus safely. I will get some goods for you from there.'

After telling this I started running towards the bus. It was a KPN deluxe bus. It was a type of bus everyone could have seen while travelling to some distant places. A typical deluxe type.

I thought my friends will jump out of it and will make a great noise by shouting around me. But, it was the opposite. There was a pin drop silence in and around the bus. The whirling wind was making sound in my years. I stopped some distance before the bus and walked slowly. I saw the bus door was open. I could hardly see any faces through the windows. I neared the bus. The driver was not there. Something in me was telling that everything is wrong here.

I entered into the bus. I moved the curtain that was closing the entrance into the seating area of the bus. There,

I SAW THE MOST UNEXPECTED SCENE OF MY LIFE.