ExpertDabbler

Dreaded House

The tall chap greeted the head constable.

Head Contable: Enna sir? Enna prachnai? Enna Nadandhadhu?

TC: Sir, ivanga yaaru yedhukku vandhaanganne enakku theriyadhu! Ennamo kaasu 6000 rupa kudu nu solli merataraanga, ennai ketta varthai la thittaraanga, adhu mattumillama ladies ai ellam thara kuraiva pesaraanga…

Head Constable(towards me): Dei, ketta varthaila ellam thittiniya?

Me: Ilave Illai sir.

Of course I lied. I swore at that guy. But never at the ladies. I did not want to categorise and say “Ivanai thittinen, ivanga veetu ladies ay ellam solalai.”

The big, burly head constable would have given one on my cheeks. I had no intention to lose any of my teeth. I had already taken enough for that day.

HC: Olunga unmayai sollidu…

Me: Naan onnum sollalai sir,

TC: Poi Solraan Sir

HC: Seri neengalum police station vaanga. Inspector ayya parkanum.

TC(Rombo Bavyama): Seri sir, yenga vena vandhu sollaren sir.

I was again taken back to the station.

I saw Logs there for the first time after a couple of hours. The police had gone to the hospital where he had been attended and brought him to the station. He had taken even more beatings. He started crying on seeing me. I was confused for a second. I thought he cried because of all the beating he had to take and the way I had deserted him.

Me: Dei , Logs, yenda azhare? Naan edhavadhu thappu pannitana?

He cried even louder.

Only later did I came to know he could not bear to see me with all the bandage and blood.

Madhu’s dad reached the station. Log’s dad and brother came to the station too.
Apparently, Sathy (Log’s friend) had asked someone to inform them.

The Inspector was there by then. He was bigger than the head constable. He too shouted and treated me like a criminal.

The great thing about Madhu’s dad was, being an employee of a Nationalised Bank, he was exposed to all kinds of people. A natural extrovert, he had friends in all the strata of the society. He had a huge network at his disposal.

He met the police inspector and told his credentials and immediately called one of his friend S.
S was close to the then DIG. S immediately contacted his DIG friend and the DIG himself in turn spoke to the Inspector.

One should have seen the change of language with the Inspector and the Head Constable immediately after that.

Suddenly “Dei” became “Thambi.”

Inspector: Enna thambi, padichirukeenga, computer pathi ellam theriyudhu, panam vanga pona jakradhaya poganum. Prachanai na engalai koopida vendiyadhu dhaane? Adhukku dhaane naanga irukkom? Seri rendu pakkamum vendapattavangala poittenga,(Oh how was that? I still am not sure if those TC people had brought in their own recommendations) adhunaale compromisa poidalaamnu nenaikiren.

I was boiling inside. Bastards. They did all the wrong and here I am sitting and listening to all the lectures.

Meanwhile the HC, took me aside.

HC: Thambi, nee enna pannu, oru complaint eludhi kudu.

Me: Seri sir.

I got hold of a piece of paper and pen and started to write in Thamizh what all I could collate and organize in my head. I wrote in detail what had actually happened. I returned to the HC with the complaint paper.

HC: Enna un sogaryadhukku eludhirukke?

Me: Sir, idhu dhaan nadandhadhu.

HC: Inge paaru, neeyum un friendum saibaba colony la irundhu ivalavu thooram vandhu panam kettu adhu periya thagaraaru ayirukku. Ippo yedho DIG recommendation irukaradhu naala dhaan unnai vidaren. Unakku panam venumna naan sollara madhiri eludhu. Illa prachanai dhaan venumna un ishtapadi sei

I had no other option and rewrote the complaint in the manner he asked.

According to that version, there was no mention about the fight, damage et al. It was a request by me and Logs to get back that 6000 Rs. from J to whom we had given the Computer.

Very smart. Police brain.

I finished the complaint and came out. I told the same to Madhu’s dad. He blasted me this time.
He curtly told me that I should me more concerned about escaping without any case/FIR in my name and Logs name considering the situation we were in, truth be damned.

Poor man, I made him come up to a far off place on a cold November night. Coimbatore can be particularly windy at nights during October- November. Especially the remote places.

Eventually, the police got an undertaking form both the parties that we would treat the matter as closed and that me and Logs would get the pending amount after all this. Some solace after all.

We eventually left the Police station at about 12.30. Log’s vehicle which was taken by Log’s brother was in real bad shape. We had great difficulty in moving that vehicle.

Log’s dad personally came to my place. It was about 1 AM and I could see the lights burning in my flat. I could see Amma’s silhouette from below.

‘Poor Amma, how much more are you going to take? All because of me.’ I muttered to myself.

The way she cried on seeing me with all those bandages and blood stains in my shirt was terrible. I explained her what happened in a piecemeal way.

A week after that, we got the news from that station to come and collect the amount. Neither me nore logs were prepared to go. Log’s brother went to collect. A Paltry 1000 bucks. After all the “Standard deductions” at the station. Not to mention the medical expenses Logs incurred and the vehicle repair expenses.

Looking back, I think this incident was a blessing in disguise. Almost five years have gone. This bang was the one that really had me think about what I should do in my life. I realized, working in Logs office was not ideal in the long run.

Madhu’s dad helped me in getting Legal Heir certificate three months later. Without him I would never have obtained that. That helped in Amma getting the family pension.

Meanwhile, I realized I would never make a good accountant, leave alone a qualified accountant. I was not good at academics. But I could fiddle around in Adobe and other stuff because of my background in Photography. I badly needed to do something to start earning.

I continued to do part-time work there. But never again went out for ‘Paisa vasool”. It was strictly bank work in the mornings. In the afternoons I went to a multimedia class conducted by Pentasoft. Now that we got our legal heir certificate, we could access Appa’s savings.

On finishing the course again I was jobless for sometime. But soon, I got a job in an internet company. A year later, I moved to Chennai when I got a job here and now three years after, I am in a much bigger company and looking back I guess I have not done bad at all considering where I was five years back. Logs continues to operate the same business.

This incident also taught me the glorious uncertainties of life. This phrase is always associated much with cricket but I think it is more relevant to life. This incident taught me that while it’s great to dream about the future, its even greater to plan for the next day. And its imperative, necessary and absolute must to live in the present.

I am as much a fallible human with fragile ego and prejudices as anyone else. But I think accepting and embracing the uncertainties of life gives one the much needed perspective to handle life situations and act accordingly.

Thanks to each one of you for being with me right through the 4 parts.

Catch you all with a fresh post tomorrow.

Adios.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 28th, 2005 at 10:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.