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“അളിയാ പ്രശാന്ത് ഇപ്പൊ എന്റെ വീട്ടിലാ… ഒരു പ്രശ്നമുണ്ടായി.. അവനിട്ടൊരു ചെറിയ പണി കിട്ടി!”

ഞാന്‍ പ്രശാന്തിനെപ്പറ്റി ആലോചിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു… ഏതോ കമ്പ്യൂട്ടര്‍ കോഴ്സ് പഠിക്കാന്‍ എന്ന പേരില്‍ വളരെ നാളുകള്‍ക്കു മുമ്പേ നാട്ടില്‍ നിന്ന് കോഴിക്കോടിന് വണ്ടി കേറിയവനാണ് അവന്‍. പിന്നീടറിഞ്ഞു കോഴിക്കോടുള്ള ഏതോ ഒരു പെണ്‍കുട്ടിയുമായി പ്രണയത്തിലായെന്നു! അവസാനം സുഹൃത്തുക്കള്‍ക്കൊപ്പം കോഴിക്കോട് സ്വന്തം Web‌ Development കമ്പനി തുടങ്ങിയെന്നു അറിഞ്ഞപ്പോള്‍ ഞാന്‍ അത്ഭുതപ്പെട്ടില്ല. ഈ കാലത്ത് എന്തൊക്കെ ചെയ്താലാണ് ഒരു പ്രണയം വിജയത്തിലെത്തിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയുക!

“ഈ ചാനലുകാരെ കൊണ്ടു തോറ്റു…”  ഫോണിലൂടെ വന്ന പ്രശാന്തിന്റെ ശബ്ദമാണ് എന്നെ തിരികെ വര്‍ത്തമാനകാലത്തിലേക്ക് എത്തിച്ചത്.
പ്രശാന്തിന്റെ ശബ്ദത്തില്‍ അമര്‍ഷം പ്രകടമായിരുന്നു. ഇതെന്താ കഥ എന്നാലോചിച്ചു ഒരു പിടിയും കിട്ടാതെ നില്‍ക്കുകയായിരുന്നു ഞാന്‍. വല്ല മെഗാസീരിയലിന്റെയും കുറ്റം പറയാനാണോ ഈശ്വരാ ഇവന്‍ ഈ പാതിരാത്രിക്ക്‌ മനുഷ്യനെ വിളിച്ചുണര്‍ത്തിയത്! അല്‍പ്പനേരം മറുതലയ്ക്കല്‍ നിന്ന് ഒന്നും കേള്‍ക്കുന്നുണ്ടായില്ല. അങ്ങോട്ട്‌ ഒന്നുരണ്ടു തവണ “ഹലോ.. ഹലോ…” എന്നൊക്കെ പറഞ്ഞതിന് ശേഷമാണ് “ഇങ്ങു താ… ഞാന്‍ പറയാം..” എന്നു പറഞ്ഞുകൊണ്ട് വിനീത് ഫോണ്‍ വാങ്ങിയത്.

“അളിയാ ഒരു പ്രശ്നമുണ്ടായി…  ഇവന്റെ ലൈന്‍ വീട്ടില്‍ പൊക്കി.. അവനെ വീട്ടില്‍ കേട്ടില്ലെന്നാ ഇപ്പൊ അവന്റെ അച്ഛന്‍ പറയുന്നത്! “
“അതിനെന്തിനാടാ.. അവന്‍ ഈ ചാനലുകാരെ ചീത്ത വിളിക്കുന്നത്‌…?” ഞാന്‍ എന്റെ സ്വാഭാവികമായ സംശയം ചോദിച്ചു..

“അതൊക്കെ പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ ഒരു വലിയ സംഭവമാടെ… ഇവര്‍ രണ്ടുപേരും സ്ഥിരമായി കോഴിക്കോട് ബീച്ചില്‍ കറങ്ങാന്‍ പോകാറുണ്ടായിരുന്നു..” ‘രണ്ടുപേരും’ എന്നു പറഞ്ഞതിലെ രണ്ടാമത്തെ ആള്‍ ആരാണെന്ന് മനസിലാക്കാന്‍ ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടൊന്നും ഉണ്ടായില്ല.
വിനീത് തുടര്‍ന്നു..” കഴിഞ്ഞ ദിവസം ഏതോ ഒരു ചാനലില്‍ കോഴിക്കോട് ബീച്ചില്‍ വെച്ചുള്ള ഒരു പരിപാടി ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു. ഈ മൈക്കും കൊണ്ടു നടന്നു എല്ലാവര്‍ക്കും പാട്ട് വെച്ചു കൊടുക്കുന്ന ഏതോ ഒരു പ്രോഗ്രാം! ഇവന്റെ വീട്ടുകാര്‍ ആ പ്രോഗ്രാം കണ്ടുകൊണ്ടിരുന്നപ്പോള്‍ background -ഇല്‍ ഇവരെ രണ്ടു പേരെയും കണ്ടെന്ന്!!!”

എനിക്ക് എന്ത് ചെയ്യണം എന്നു ഒരു രൂപവും കിട്ടിയില്ല… കൂട്ടുകാരന്‍ വീട്ടില്‍നിന്നു പുറത്തായി എന്ന സത്യം ആലോചിച്ചിട്ടും എനിക്ക് ചിരി അടക്കാന്‍ കഴിയുന്നുണ്ടായില്ല!

ഈശ്വരാ…!!! പണി കിട്ടുകയാണെങ്കില്‍ ഇങ്ങനെ കിട്ടണം! ഒരു പ്രണയം വീട്ടുകാര്‍ക്ക് കണ്ടുപിടിക്കാന്‍ എത്രയോ മാര്‍ഗങ്ങളുണ്ട്! എന്നിട്ടും ഇവന് പണി വന്നത് ചാനലിന്റെ രൂപത്തില്‍! എന്തായാലും പ്രശാന്തിന്റെ വീട്ടുകാര്‍ അവനോടു കാര്യം ചോദിച്ചു… ആദ്യം ‘എന്നെപ്പോലെ ഇരിക്കുന്ന’  വേറെ ആരോ ആണെന്നൊക്കെ അവന്‍ വാദിച്ചു നോക്കി… ചാനലുന്ടോ വിടുന്നു… അടുത്ത ദിവസം വൈകുന്നേരം തന്നെ അവര്‍ ആ പരിപാടി പുന: സംപ്രേഷണവും നടത്തി…! അതോടെ പ്രശാന്തിന്റെ ‘കട്ടയും പടവും’ മടങ്ങി! എന്തിനേറെ പറയുന്നു… അളിയന്‍ വീടിനു പുറത്തായി എന്നു പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ മതിയല്ലോ!

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You had never understood, or maybe never ever understand how much I missed you in my whole life. When I started noticing you, you may not have even knew about my existence. But I happened to fall in love with you! I’ve loved you all these years, and I always will. No matter what, I will always be in love with you.

Today, I got a call from one of my friends, who had always cared about me even more than you did. He asked me to forget you, as it seems the most impracticable relationship to work out, on earth. He asked me why I am so stubborn into this, wasting my life on an impracticable love.

But know, my dear, The answer is that I really don’t know! You were the first one I’ve loved in my life, and I don’t know why, I couldnot replace your face deeply etched on the walls of my heart, with any other. Believe me, I have tried it, more than once. Every time, I realised more and more certainly that, I cannot replace your role in my life, with anyone. Me, I may be an idiot, a stupid who cannot live in this modern world, a fool who always see unrealistic dreams. But believe me dear, I can assure you, no one have loved you as I did, no one have missed you as I did.

First, the pain was unbearable, the fear of losing you was killing me. But now, my dear, I’ve started enjoying the happiness in the pain, and of course seeking pleasure in living my life as a dedication to you, no matter what happens. I realised that I need permissions from you, our families, and the society, If I need to invite you to share my life. You know, that may not be a life full of joy. But now I know, I need no one’s permission to keep on loving you, loving you everyday more than the previous day. On this valentine’s day, dear, that, and only that, is my promise to you.

The next day!
We got the key from the owner and got ready for finding out the reality. By evening about 6, the noises had started. I decided to go and take a look. So, I went to the third floor, opened the door, and peeped inside. There was no one! I entered the flat and had a look inside. The lights were turned off, and I tried to switch them ON, but they didn’t. Maybe the bulbs were damaged, I thought. I still saw no one and heard no noise.

I went back, to our room in the second floor. My friends greeted me with astonishment.
“You went to the 3rd floor? The noises, still they haven’t stopped… Listen…” Said my friend!
A creepy feeling filled my mind. I felt a chill going through my spine. I was there a minute before and still I saw no one, heard no sounds.
“What happened?” asked my friends. I told them what happened.
Though everyone was frightened, our egos didn’t allow us to believe in ghosts. At last, we decided- We all are going to spend the night in the third floor flat, together. Hence, after food, we all set out for the third floor. I tried to open the door. To my surprise, it didn’t open!
“Why? You took the wrong key?” Asked my friend.
“No! I opened this lock with the same key today evening.”
“Let me check the serial number on the lock and the key.” Said another friend, and he checked it with his flashlight.
“It is the same! Why is it not opening?” his voice was clearly frightened.
We retreated back to our beds. This time no one spoke anything. At last, one of my friends broke the ice and said.
“Da, I asked Joseppettan. He said he was an atheist when he first came here!”
I knew, I too, cannot remain as an atheist any more.

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Disclaimer: All ideas conveyed in this post are strictly mine. No offence meant to anyone. Comments and criticisms welcome

We all knew about the beautiful song “Mile sur mera thumhara” originally produced by doordarshan. If you want to take a look at it, here it is:

This republic day, Zoom TV Produced a new version of the song, titled “Phir mile Sur mera thumhara”. It features various celebrities, ranging from Amitab Bacchan to Ranbir Kapur, Aishwarya Rai to Deepika padukone, Legends to actors. What was lacking? The original message of national integration!

Maybe it means the same,but yet I feel that the ‘charm’ of the original version is lost when it came to the new one. No one is there from the field of cricket, and other sports got less importance too. After watching the song, the question which raised in my mind was that “Can India be represented by Bollywood only?”. A few points I noted are:

• Most of the ‘stars’ are busy in their showoff, than spreading the message of national integration.

• The voice seems absurd for most stars in action.

• Whole seems to be ‘family business’- It features the entire family of Bachchans, Family of Kavita Krishnamurty, Family of Yesudas…

• What is Karan Johar doing in this song?

• What qualification does Vijay Yesudas, the son of yesudas, has, to be elligible to be featured in such a video?

• Where is K.S.Chithra, 6 time national award winning singer, while Vijay Yesudas is representing malayalam music?

Maybe, When Zoom Productions produce such a video, it becomes ‘the song of Bollywood’, or ‘The song of Stars’, or ‘The song of glamour’, but never  “The song of India”!

Do you agree with me?

PS: When I searched in youtube, I got the video link for the new “Mile Sur”. When I clicked on the link, it said “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Zoom Entertainment Network.” . I thought: “Today, the Song of India is also business bhai… “

Guess who said this? Not any silly shopkeeper, but the officer in charge, of a Police Station!

What got me there? Here’s the story:

I lost my old BSNL SIM card, and I needed to take a duplicate. For any other service provider, it’s enough to submit your identity proof to a customer service centre. For BSNL, the ways are different. You have to report the missing SIM to the police station, and get a certificate from them, to prove it is reported!

“You need not lodge a complaint. you just have to report it.” It all seemed a piece of cake when the lady at the customer service centre told me.

Well, so I found myself at the nearest police station, still ‘perfumed’ by illicit spirit caught last day, to ‘just report’ my missing SIM. A short, pot-bellied man (Oh God! Who took him on the force?) with a large moustache welcomed me with a glance of suspicion. I told him my objective, which triggered a series of questions-

“How come only SIM got lost?”
“What happened to the cellphone in which it was used?”
“Is this the only SIM which is lost?”
“Whether this is the first time this SIM was lost?”
“When did you last saw the SIM?”
“Were you alone when it got lost?”

He seemed convinced that there is no way that a SIM can be lost, without a handset. After a lot of questions and answers, he sceptically accepted that there is a chance for that too. Then he called me closer and said in a low voice:

“250 will do. 200 for the SI to sign the certificate and 50 for me to write it.”

I was stunned. “Sir, A new SIM will cost only Rs 49.”

“Whatever”, he replied: “That’s how things are here. For any certificate, 250 is fixed rate. We don’t allow bargains here.”

I pretended to recieve a call on my mobile (Which doesnot have a SIM now!), and slowly walked out of the station; and escaped with my life.

His name is Navi, and he works for a reputed IT firm in india.

“Tomorrow onwards, I’ll cook the rice, It’ll be ready by the time you guys reach here” said he.

Indeed, we should’ve been lucky! He knew that we, from infy come home late everyday. Then, we used to cook rice, and some curries, to eat. Actually, he comes home earlier, but always waits for us to come to start cooking. That was not because he doesn’t have hunger, but because he never visited kitchen in his life, unless to eat something!

That’s him, and still he wants to cook rice for us! Oh, of course we’re lucky!

We agreed. Atleast, we can sleep early the next day.

Next Day!

We were back home to find that rice has been ready. Abhi made some curry, and we started to eat. Surprisingly, the rice was so tasty; Tastier than it ever was! “Wow! Navi has become a good cook!” I exclaimed.

That was when I observed the sides of the rice cooker. Rice has boiled, and overflown all over it. There are some stains too, which normally doesn’t occur. There were evident marks that shows somebody has tried to clean it, but failed awefully!

“You should’ve washed the rice once more!” I said, seeing the stains, it seems the rice is not washed properly.

There was a look of confusion on Navi’s face! He said “It was overflowing, I’ve tried to clean, but…”

“No, I’ve said about the rice, not the cooker.” I explained.

Navi looked more puzzled.

“So…err.., I had to wash the rice????”

Everybody suddenly stopped eating, and looked at Navi.

“Whaaaaatt???? You didn’t?????”

There was a moment’s silence. Then Navi said:

“What? You never told me to wash the rice!, Don’t look at me like that..”

“Now I know where does the extra taste come from!” Exclaimed Shaji.

And he never cooked again!