CHAPTER
01
“Bro you should come with us. You are the only one who has a little knowledge about the language compared to us. Whatever you say, we will be travelling together” said Daniel. They stood to the side of the crowded street having a hot beverage. Daniel was a young strong guy who was 5 feet tall wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans. He also carried a
thin backpack in which was an art book with some pencils. Accompanying him was, Vishnu and Jacob. Vishnu was a short fat guy who had a messy hair with a medium beard, wearing a casual shirt with jeans who also carried a backpack which was
fat with all the old magazines which he has purchased for his photography to look for references. Jacob was a tall brown guy, lean, wearing a t-shirt and on top of that, a casual shirt with a pair of headphones around his neck, always engaged into music and shooting vine videos to post in his social network site. All three of them were college mates even though Vishnu was in a different course. During college days, it was particularly seen that people from the same state always mingled up together. There were actually 7 people including these three friends who were known as the SPG’s abbreviation for Smoking Paying Guests. The name for the group fells because of their smoking habits and was very popular for getting caught red-handed in public by teachers. Even though the name was said, not everyone in the group was into the habit of smoking. Daniel was one of them who wasn’t
into that. He has tried his hands-on cigarettes but soon left it because he couldn’t withstand the cough that comes for first-time smokers. He coughed so hard that, almost his face looked pale & his eyeballs were going to pop out! Daniel and Jacob were good artists who were very keen on drawing and were into animation. Vishnu, on the other hand, was a writer and was studying video
editing as he wanted to make it into Film making. In order to achieve his dream, Vishnu is now taking a photography class under a well-known photographer who has accepted to teach him the knowledge of composition and cinematography skills. Daniel is a freelance artist doing mural paintings for his clients and other
art projects too. Jacob, on the other hand, is working in a reputed animation company in Kerala where he has already spent almost one year. Jacob has come to his college to collect his certificates as he is trying to find a job abroad. All three of them were facing the same problem as they haven’t received their certificates from the college. But of those three, Vishnu has got some of his certificates as he has faced with some issues in his personal life. On the other hand, Jacob and Daniel have received none of their certificates from the college. When they asked the college authority, the certificates would take another one-month time to reach the college or they would have to visit the university
which was in Tamilnadu and get the certificates in hand. Since Jacob had a job, and he couldn’t waste any more time to travel back and collect the certificates after one month, so they agreed to go to the university and collect the certificates by hand. But none of them knew to speak the language as Vishnu did. Vishnu has spent some of his time in Tamil Nadu on the basis of his
educational purposes. So now while Daniel and Vishnu were having an argument on the travel between each other, Jacob was busy shooting videos for his social media sites. After completing the shoot for his daily posts, Jacob returned to the group hearing the argument even though he didn’t have any idea about what were they talking about. Taking his drink from the shop counter, Jacob asked Daniel about what were they arguing for a long time. Daniel also was planning to accompany Jacob in the journey to the university to receive the certificates but Vishnu wasn’t actually interested to go, as he had only one certificate left to collect and he was willing to wait patiently and get it from college after one
month. Jacob after hearing about the little talk suddenly joined with Daniel insisting Vishnu join the journey with them as they might face trouble with the language. Vishnu didn’t wish to go because he didn’t have enough money for travelling but Daniel said he would cover up for Vishnu’s travel expenses, but
Vishnu should return the money later and they wanted him to go with them. After a long argument which lasted for like half an hour, Vishnu, in the end, accepted to go with them. Vishnu was moreover forced to go with them even though he doesn’t know if he will get his certificate or not because when he asked in college, they told him that his certificate wasn’t ready and it would
take a months’ time to receive it. So, after a long time, the three of them planned to travel and also maybe this might be last time, they will be travelling together. Jacob was already planning to leave abroad looking for a job, Daniel was getting busy with works and clients and Vishnu was on his first steps towards entering the industry.
After having tea, Jacob had to buy a jacket from
the market where he could find some which were cheap and also stylish. So, they moved on to some stores where they have gone through various jackets but they didn’t like it as it looked so lame on Jacob. Moving towards the deep street, they saw a shop which had a red name board which said: “Haji Mastan Textiles”
with a small round LED signboard near the entrance, which showed a sign of a shirt and pants logo in it blinking. Even though the entrance looked small, the shop interiors extended towards the backside. As they entered the shop, a fat man wearing a taqiyah, sat to the right of the entrance with his one leg raised
and rested on the chair. He wore a big white salwar kameez which had stains, which could probably be from his lunch, down to his beard. He had a long beard which actually covered up the neck and extended down his collar. As the three friends entered the shop which was well lit with white LED tube lights, the
shop owner put down his leg and stood and wished the young boys a good evening. The light was so bright that, they felt like they entered into a movie set where some sci-fi movie was being shot. As a reply, the boys smiled back at him and was followed by a question. “How may I help you?” asked the shop owner. Shocked by the English proficiency of the shop owner, Jacob explained to the shop owner about what he was looking for? Hearing Jacob’s demands, the shop owner called out for someone by shouting towards the interior of the shop. “Kamal!!! Idar Aaja. Customer ko sambhaal.” Hearing this, a lean guy, wearing a fancy shirt with big collars, which looked like those shirts that actors wore in 90’s films, came out from the garment racks. He came towards the owner where he was told about
what the customers wanted and was assigned to guide them. Soon he took the boys into the store and showed them a section where the jackets for young adults were sold. The shop was filled with different collections of clothes, from kids to adults, both men, and women. They had clothes for every occasion for sale,
and for every time of the day. After going through all the designs available over there, none of really captured or satisfied their hearts. With a disappointed heart, they went through the last bunch of jackets available. But negative, they still couldn’t find something. Even when they were leaving the shop, Daniel
tried to put some words of hope. “At least, we are going to Pondicherry, where we could see a lot of hippie fashions, so no need to worry much.” That thought made way for a slight hope but still signs of disappointment could be seen in
Jacob’s face.
After thanking the shop owner for his hospitality, they got back to the street. Time was almost getting dark. The prayer from Muslim mosque which was in the next street could be heard. But still, the market was crowded, as it was before they entered the shop. Streets were filled in such a way that
in order to get out, they had to squeeze themselves out of that crowd. After putting in much effort, they made it to the subway station, which was on the main road from where these streets extended. Getting the small brown coin shaped ticket, which was only available for the subway transport, they moved past the platform gates. The clean polished tiles and the well-lit platform had a few people waiting for trains. The platform was well lit, that
Vishnu thought of bringing a music band and start a music concert over there. Both ends of the platform were having stairways for entry and exit. Vishnu saw a few young people standing together and having fun between each other, laughing making jokes about each other, at one corner of the platform, a family that had two kids holding a toy car which was of different colours who were accompanied by their parents and their grandmother lost in the world of the mid-life crisis talks. The two kids were busy arguing about the colour their car has and trying to prove the best. Vishnu also noticed a few pair of young lovers scattered on the other end of the platform. Some talking, some fighting, some stood silent, while some sat together and relaxed on the staircases. Soon, an announcement was made about a
train passing by which was not to their station. They could see some of the lovebirds and the family moved towards the entrance position which was marked on the floor with bright yellow paint. Soon a white painted, shining with the lights of the platform, a fast running beast made its way from the left side of the rails. Slowly, it came to a halt and the doors swooshed open towards the side. A big crowd jumped out of the train, pushing the three young friends backwards causing discomfort even for the new passengers of that train. The platform was filled with people and slowly some of them made their way towards the exit staircases. Some guy even crashed on Daniel shoulders, which made him angry. But soon the crowd was fading away as the next announcement was made. Listening to the announcement, they knew that it was their transport and waited at the entry position. Another train similar to the last one came but was found to be
more crowded than the last one. But comparing to the last train, only a few people got down at the station and the three young friends looked at each other, understanding that this journey is going to be a hard one. With much effort, they entered into the train making way towards the alley which was a better position to occupy seats, if any was found. Standing squeezed to the pole, Daniel and Vishnu started to laugh at themselves for the condition that they got themselves into, while Jacob got lost in the world of music. The various stations came and went by. People got down and into the train but the crowd was the same till their station. When their destination arrived, Daniel who was
familiar with the stations as he has travelled by this mode more than the other two, inform the other two and tried to get down as soon as possible. Like the entry, even the exit also was a tiring and hectic job to make their way past the crowd and make it to the platform. Vishnu was a paranoid guy and was always
afraid if he would lose his wallet and the house keys in the crowd. In order to get his senses high, Daniel has also warned that there can be pickpockets and also sometimes it can slip out of the pockets. When they made it out to the platform, the first thing that Vishnu made sure was whether everything was in his pockets. Being assured of that, they made it out the check-out gates
returning the coin tickets back in the machine.
From the station, since Jacob was staying with some of his family members, they parted their ways making sure that Daniel was the one who was assigned to book tickets for all of them for the next day’s journey. As they got out of the station, Jacob went to the bus station crossing the road to catch up a bus to his place. While Daniel and Vishnu hired a rickshaw, which went up to Daniel’s place. Vishnu’s place was just half kilometre from there, so he thought he would better walk from Daniel’s place in order to save money. Soon an old yellow and black rickshaw with tattered seats and mud filled floor mat driven by a person who was almost
in his 70’s came up to their position. At first glance of the rickshaw, they knew that this rickshaw driver will be a slow snail and will take a long time to reach their destination. Even while entering the rickshaw, Daniel and Vishnu had a petty argument about who is going to sit on the alley side and on the far
end. But that ended as the rickshaw driver started staring at the two idiots who were arguing for some stupidity on the road. Daniel didn’t give up and made Vishnu get into the auto and sit on the far end. The triumph from that small victory was seen in Daniel’s face in the way how he started to pull Vishnu’s
leg. In a moment of time, that was also forgotten. As the journey started it wasn’t what the two of them were expecting. They recognized that the rickshaw driver was a rash driver. He made it past through the traffic jam with a slight escape from other vehicles and took sudden turns. After about 15 to 20 minutes,
Daniel and Vishnu found themselves alive and reached safely at Daniel’s place. Daniel paid up the money for the rickshaw. As soon as he got paid, the rickshaw zoomed out from the street to his next customer. As the rickshaw turned to the main road, the trails were still noticeable for Daniel and Vishnu. After taking
a huge gasp, Daniel suggested they would have dinner together. After thinking for a moment, Vishnu too joined him towards their favourite place to have their favourite dish, Biriyani. As they started walking down the dark streets filled with trees on one side and houses on the other, Daniel asked Vishnu to check
for any hotels for their accommodation purposes in Pondicherry. Vishnu suggested to Daniel that it was a better plan to go there and stay in any local hotel as their motive was just for a one-night stay. But Daniel resisted and asked Vishnu to start checking. Vishnu didn’t have another chance to say and started checking for hotels available. After walking for 10 – 15 mins, they both entered into another street. This was a commercial street but there was not much crowd as compared to the main city. The whole area was a residential area where some of the middle-class families of that area stayed, and this was the only commercial area that was nearby for the residents to get the
provisions and household items. As the street began, there was a small clinic which had a pharmacy attached to it. The clinic had only one doctor assigned to it, who was an old, fat guy, with more mass to be seen on his stomach part. He had a small day – night reading spectacles resting on his big nose and is always seen busy with filling up some papers. Accompanying him were two lady nurses, of which one was a dark old woman who just knew the native language and the other was a young nurse, fair coloured, wearing a jacket on top of her white saree. The pharmacy was looked after two young guys who dressed up
formally and had a kind attitude towards the customers. Past the clinic, after a few footsteps, on the opposite of the road was a small pop up shop that provided tea and smokes. This shop was run by an old couple where the lady, wearing an old saree who always sat on the chair near the small shop. The shop
was placed on a cart with wheels and it can be moved wherever they wish to. Only a few customers were seen to buy stuff from that shop. Other than tea and smokes, they provide small local snacks, homemade biscuits and toffees too. Moving forward on the other side of the road was a small yet large supermarket
which was owned by people from Kerala. They were run by Muslim people as the decorations and the name board of the shop was seen with a touch of Arabian style. The owners could be mostly from the northern part of Kerala where a large Muslim community was said to reside. Attached to the supermarket, they
also maintained a small fruit and vegetable shop where everything for daily meals was kept. Inside the supermarket, everything from cosmetics to manufactured products was kept and it was always found to be crowded. Daniel always prefers to buy stuff from this supermarket. Moving forward, there were
two big apartments next to the supermarket which was guarded by a single security guard. The guard was a friendly man and always befriend everyone easily. He talks the native language, English Hindi, Tamil and a little bit of Malayalam too. He was an old guy in his 50s or 60s, lean with a stubbed beard, a jovial person which was exactly opposite too his looks and was friends to Daniel too. Whenever Daniel passes by those apartments, the security guard stands up and greets Daniel in a humble way. As Daniel and Vishnu were walking towards the restaurant, the security guard saw them and made way to the road in
order to wish them. The guard, with respect, greeted them with a salute and asked about where were they going to. Daniel replied that they were going up to the restaurant to have dinner and will talk to him later on his way back. Daniel said so because the restaurant will be closed in another half an hour and continued walking to the restaurant. As they turned to the next street on
the next right, A small shop with a burnt stove kept in front of the shop was seen and on top of that stove was a big utensil on which rice was being made. Next, to the stove, there were small trays in which the spices and masala were kept. Beside that was a northeastern guy who was cooking fried rice with the flame
burning high up in the air and with the vessel in his hand, turning side to side for the rice to get cooked properly with masala and spices that have been added. Inside the shop, a small wooden table was placed with a chair where the owner sat, taking orders from customers and collected cash from them. On the right corner of the shop, there was a small blue refrigerator where all the cool drinks were stored. They had different
soft drinks, small juice packets, yoghurt packets and also vegetables kept at the bottom portion. On the left side of the shop was where the tables and chair were arranged for the customers to sit and enjoy their meal. The plastic tables which had two red ketchup bottles with the stains of dried ketchup at tips and
a steel jug of water were found on each one. On the left corner at the far end, a wash section was maintained for the customers to wash their hands before their meals. As Daniel and Vishnu entered, the shop owner who was an old man smiled at them and showed them the way to their favourite table. Whenever Daniel visits the restaurant, he always preferred to sit at the table positioned at the far end of the shop. There wasn’t a reason for sitting at this position for Daniel, but the air circulation at that place was better than in any other places of that restaurant. There was a small window beside this table. The window doors were made out of wood which had holes in them but was covered by political and film posters. After washing their hands, Daniel and Vishnu rested their bags beside them and sat down at their favourite positions. The waiter who was busy in the kitchen which was located inside the restaurant came out asking for their
order. Daniel and Vishnu discussed for a few seconds and ordered two plates of their favourite dish, Biriyani and a plate of Kebabs. They could only buy one plate of Kebab as they were preparing themselves for a long journey. Within the next ten minutes, Daniel and Vishnu received their plates of biriyani while the boy who was standing at the front prepared kebabs for them. As he put the chicken pieces into the hot oil, the sound of boiling could be heard by them. Soon they started to enjoy their meal and parallelly planning out their trip to Pondicherry. Daniel insisted Vishnu to check for some hotels where they could
stay while they were at Pondicherry. And Vishnu without any words of resistance started to check for hotels and inns that were available at the main centre. But Vishnu noticed that these hotels were luxurious as well as pricey too. Vishnu gave a hint about finding a cheap hotel after they reach the destination as booking a hotel for just two days purpose was a stupid idea. Daniel didn’t
accept that idea and stayed to his decision to book for a hotel so they could directly go and stay there. Vishnu assured that he would look for some places and give the necessary details by tonight. Daniel took on the responsibility to book the bus tickets for travel for all three of them. Soon Kebabs were delivered, and Daniel and Vishnu completed their dinner. After paying up the
shop owner for the dinner and bidding him a bye, they both made their way back to Daniel’s house. On their way back, Daniel checked for the security guard but he wasn’t around. So, they continued their walk. On the way, Daniel started browsing for places to visit in Pondicherry. He found several travel websites
and started to bookmark them. After both of them made it to Daniel’s place, and also because time was too late, Vishnu hired another taxi to his place because he felt already filled up by the dinner and he was in no mood to take a walk. Daniel and Vishnu who stood on the roadside started discussing the different places present in Pondicherry where they could
visit. Within the next minutes, a rickshaw with green and yellow paint entered their street. As the rickshaw stopped beside Vishnu, he checked whether the details that were given in the booking application and the rickshaw matched each other. After confirming the details, Vishnu boarded the rickshaw and asked
the driver to start. Before leaving, Daniel reminded him again about the fact of checking the hotel details with their price rates. In return, Vishnu replied that the most important task was to book bus tickets for the travel. After assuring about the tasks, Vishnu asked the driver to start the journey.
It almost took another 15 mins for the rickshaw to reach Vishnu’s position. After paying the fare, Vishnu opened the small black gate of his hostel and climbed the stairs to the second floor where his room was located. The whole hostel was fast asleep, and lights all were turned off. As Vishnu reached the corridors of the second floor, suddenly he received a notification on his mobile. A new group was created in his messaging application named “Mission: Pondicherry” which included three members – Daniel, Jacob and himself. Slowly he opened the doors to his room and kept down his bag beside his bed. While changing into
nightdress, he received another notification with the screenshots that showed their travel details. After putting on his night clothes, Vishnu laid down on the bed and asked about how their stay was going to be. Daniel again reminded him that it was his duty to look for hotels and find a cheap one. Vishnu again suggested his plan to find a cheap hotel after reaching there. Jacob also
accepted that idea and said it was a better plan than booking for some luxurious one for just a stay for 2 days. In the end, Daniel accepted the plan and messaged the whole plan in text.
" FRI 4th May 2018 – Journey by Bus @ 10.00 pm
SAT 5th May 2018 – Appointment at University @ 12.00 pm
SUN 6th May 2018 – Journey back with certificates. "
The plan was approved by all three of them, and everyone planned to meet at the boarding point the next day. By texting that, Vishnu disabled his mobile data and set the alarm to 07.00 am and nodded off to sleep.
To be continued…
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