My mobile displayed 3:00 AM as I stopped
the alarm and unlocked it, opening my eyes and rubbing them. There was no more time
to be wasted on bed. I got up and sat straight even though my body struggled
with me to get it some more rest. With great effort, I pulled myself together and
finally found myself in bathroom with a brush in my hand.
Within no time I was out fresh
and took no more time in dressing up myself. In fact it dint even took me more
than few minutes to put on a grey round neck T-Shirt and pull on a jeans. The days
being the starting days of summer, it was really useless wasting time thinking
about dressing options. Anything more than a T-Shirt would make sure the body
would sweat till you get soaked completely in sweat. The Sun and his ever triumphant
rays were in real form and would leave no stone unturned to make sure any
amount of deodorant sprayed would go waste within hours.
I remembered what had happened to
me just a few days back while stuck in a traffic jam on the Outer Ring Road of
Bangalore near Silk Board. I had made the greatest mistake of my life that day
wearing full sleeve dark colored shirt. By the time I reached my office, the
summer effect had taken its toll and almost every person in the office looked
at me twice just to make sure I hadn’t drenched myself wet in some rain. And
when their doubt cleared, that it was sweat not the rain or water from some
unattended damaged pipeline on the way, they slightly stepped back making faces
and trying to stop smelling from their noses.
Imagining that, I sprayed another
round of deodorant all over my body and placed it in my bag. With the bag still
opened, I checked again if I had taken everything I needed for the day. Satisfied
with my small Inspection I closed the zip of the bag and walked out of my
bedroom into the hall. Just as I sat on the chair pulling my shoes, my mobile
rang.
Taking it out, I saw the display,
‘Praveen calling’
“Hello Praveen” I said
“I am waiting in car. Come out
soon” he said and disconnected the call without even waiting for my response.
Putting on my shoes, I picked the
bag, quickly checked the rooms, windows, and lights and stepped out of the
door, locked it, verified the lock once, and walked out onto the road. He was
at the steering and looked serious. Or it just might be the effect of being
thrown out of bed that early. He turned at me and gave his wide smile as I sat
inside his car throwing the bag on the rear seat.
“You look fresh” he said.
“I took a bath. I guess you dint”
I smiled, sarcastically raising my eyebrows at him.
“I knew, be it 4 AM or 4 PM,
nothing makes difference for you when it comes to your silly PJs” he said
starting the engine.
Time was 3:40 AM, as we hit the
Outer Ring Road and were heading towards KR Puram Bridge. One more stop was to
be made and we would be out of Bangalore, on the highway heading to Shimoga. I brought
down the window glass a little to let some fresh air. Suddenly a cool breeze hit
my face, giving the much needed freshness and an unexpected relief. I decided
to keep down the glass until we reached highway and started looking out of the
window at the closed shops lined up on the side of the road.
“Do we need to make the stop?” he
asked with his eyes fixed on the road.
“No. Unless you have to pick and
pack anything”
“We have everything we need.”
“Then let’s not waste any more
time. It will be well over noon for us to reach our destination”
“Hmmm. Long drive”
I turned back to look out of the
window and slowly relaxed back and resting my head on the back of the seat. Still
breathing in the fresh cool air that was blowing on my face, I started thinking
of the day. The long drive on the Bangalore Honnavar Highway; getting out of the
busy City; the destination; and many many other things that waited for us that
day.
I took out my mobile, unlocked
it, scrolled to the message inbox and opened the latest message,
Rescue Operation. Code 206. Details emailed. No time to waste.
Reading it again, I said to
myself “Today will be a long long day!”
Contd Next Sunday…
Vishal…
A fee weeks back the writer has met a girl in movie theater and in bus. I do hope both are one and the same. I wish the writer will meet her again at some other time and some other place.
ReplyDeleteYes Dad! True! It's like the writer facing through the common day-to-day incidents that happen with boys. Some day the writer will come across her again...
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