Entrenous : INFINITY : The end

She parked the car and walked shakily inside her home. Deeksha was in the hall. She was gasping for breath. "Ma are you okay? We need to go to the hospital right now, come on...". "Pradhyum..." was the only word she could manage and her knees dropped making her fall on to the sofa. Deeksha ran and brought Pradhyum. "Ma, hospital, now" he commanded with love. She shook her head. Deeksha made her mom rest on her lap and held her head. Pradhyum was sitting on the floor beside her, holding her hand. She held both his cheeks in her hands and looked deep into his eyes. The long lost love came gushing into her heart. As she closed her eyes for one last time, she felt what mathematicians always failed to explain and what the spiritualists explained with perfection. Infinity.
THE END.
Cheers,
Hopie

Entrenous : SKY : Part 5

Twenty five years passed since Krishna had left them. Deeksha was now Deepthi's life and soul. Deeksha had completed mechanical engineering to take after her parents and she was working with Ford. And Pradhyum their neighbour. He was two years older than Deeksha and working at PWC. His parents left for the US five years back and he refused to move with them. How familiar thought Deepthi. She noticed those little winks, the texts between them in front of her and those wordless conversations. Their love for each other simply radiated yet Deeksha had not disclosed this to her mom. Time was running she thought. She wanted to settle things between Deeksha and Pradhyum. The sharp pains in her chest had started a year back. She had two unfinished tasks. Deeksha and....
She had fixed an appointment with Frontier for later that evening. She would go alone and drive. She needed to feel the engine. She dressed up and left for the hospital and went straight to the opthalmology department. She went to the records division and stood in front of the receptionist. "My name is Deepthi Krishnan. My husband's eye had been transplanted twenty five years ago. Krishnan. His ID is 20152428... Can you give me the address of the recepient please". Technology had grown so much in twenty five years. Information was only a click away. The clerk printed the information on a piece of paper and gave it to her. She was so overwhelmed - as she was only a step away from meeting the eyes that made her live so long.
She took the paper and left. The sharp pain in her chest was slowly increasing and she began to sweat. She had to make her choice and she knew there was time only for one of her tasks.
She got into the car. She was so used to the voice in her GPS device. As the engine whirred into life, she looked at the sky through the windshield- a faint rainbow. She made her decision then. She switched the GPS device on and clicked 'Take me home'.

Entrenous : FIRE : Part 4

It was their third wedding anniversary. Time had flown like magic. The same morning, she had found out that she was pregnant. Krishna had gone for work the day before and hadn't returned. It always happened before the visit of the leadership. She hated it. She had fixed an appointment at Frontier for later that evening. She was practising various combinations on how to tell Krishna the happy news. As she was cooking lunch, her mobile rang. "Is this Mrs. Deepthi Krishna?" "Hm" "we are calling from Frontier can you come over right now?" Before she could clarify her appointment was slated for the evening the man had hung up. It sounded like an emergency she thought. She switched off the stove and immediately left. She went straight to the reception and announced "I'm Deepthi Krishna, I got a call...". One of the attendants immediately rose from her seat. "Mam could you please follow me?". Deepthi walked behind her trying to keep up the pace, a slight fear began to creep in. Her fear increased multifold as the attendant walked into 'casualty'.
"Mrs. Deepthi Krishna? There has been an accident. Your husband has suffered a head injury and we are not able to save him. I'm sorry" said the doctor. She didnt know which emotion was stronger - sorrow or anger. Unable to stop the tears from coming she said "Take me to him". She immediately took his hand in hers. A faint pulse. His eyes were closed. She rested his head on her right arm like cradling a baby. She wanted to tell him a million things. Everything else could wait. She lifted his right arm and brought his palm slowly to touch her stomach. As his palm was half way in the air, krishna breathed last. She held him close to her feeling the last warmth of him. She cuddled him weeping like a child, thinking her heart beat would give him life.
Her thoughts raced back to how they had fallen in love, how spontaneous it was and their wedding. Three golden years of happy memories. "Mrs. Krishna ?" "Yes Doctor" "Im sorry for the loss. I pray to God to give you strength. At this moment I have to ask you something. Mr. Krishna had pledged his eyes with us. We have a baby needing it right now. Can we?" His eyes. How they always seemed to know what she wanted. "Yes Doctor, please go ahead". His eyes would live on. Strong the woman she was, she wiped her tears and engulfed the reality ahead of her. She informed his parents and they were to take the next flight. She could not bring herself to referring to him as 'the body'. Krishna would be home for the last time.
She made all the arrangements by herself. Her father in law would do the cremation. She insisted she would go with them. As he set Krishna ablaze, she had second thoughts of jumping into the pyre. And then she realized she was not alone. Her little krishna was living inside her.

Entrenous : WATER : Part 3

"So if your parents arent coming down, who would get us married Krishna?" Questioned Deepthi. "Us" he replied. "Let us get married by ourselves". "Oh, but I've always thought of a dream wedding. Like the dreams of Andal". He looked at her fondly. "I can manage something of that sort Dee. But I have one request." "Hm?" She said and looked at him pushing the hair from her face away. "You shouldn't go to a beauty parlour. I love you for who you are so you have to just come". How lucky you are Deepthi she thought. "Krishna I have to tell you something... you wont hate me right?". "I cant guarantee, I'll try" winked krishna. "I dont know how to drape a saree" she said matter of factly. "Wear what you want Dee. I love you. Tell me again, will you marry me?". She stroked his cheek and climbed into her shuttle.
Their wedding date was decided by her tailor - the day after he gave her Chudidhar stitched. They both had decided on wearing white. He said the complete wedding plan was a surprise and as the day got closer she got more and more curious. On wedding day morning, he came over in his X5 to pick her up. He was speechless. She was looking so elegant in white. Her hair, as always, was dancing with the wind. She was wearing a small diamond pendant and earrings - the only ones that were not sold by her mother. "I thought you wouldnt come Krishna" she smiled at him as she climed into the big machine. She kept asking a thousand questions which he remained silent for. They drove through ECR and when he took one of the lefts, all her questions were answered.
The man owned a private beach. They got down from the car and his security greeted them with a bouquet. There was a covered walk, with a hemispherical ceiling of nearly opaque glass. The embedded spot lights gave the impression of walking through the sky. She held his hands in awe and tried to capture every moment in her head. The sides of the walk were decorated with strings of multi colored flowers. Puramengum thoranam she recollected. Great going Krishna. As they walked she seemed to focus on a sound that kept increasing in magnitude. They reached the end of the tunnel and she realized what was causing the sound. Waves. There was a small wooden platform where the waves met the sand and both of them sat down letting their feet hang. The waves caressed their feet every now and then. He held her hands. "Erm arent you going to tie something around my neck?". "Dee, Dont you remember the verse? Andal never got one". "So where are the thousand elephants oh learned one?" "My dear Deepthi, this is not about us living someone's dream. This is our special day and lets do it our way" and he jumped with a plop into the sea. He held his hand for her to join him. She ignored his hand and jumped by herself splashing water on his white dhoti. The sky was dark and there was lightning. With thunder playing the wedding drums, with the waves chanting a blessing hum, they stood looking at each other holding hands as a light drizzle pronounced them man and wife.

Entrenous : WIND : Part 2

Her guts. He found it irresistible. Perhaps it comes from having to be with men all the time. He couldnt take her thoughts off his mind. She was great at work. Her findings always reflected her passion and she seemed to find innovative solutions to problems. Her presentations were crisp and to the point mentioning things only that needed to be. He was going to ask her out. Not because she was good at work. Because he wanted to spend time around her. It was past her shift time, 830 p.m. She shut her laptop down, switched the light above her seat off and walked down the five floors of stairs that she always did. She felt a little tired from work and her laptop was bringing her shoulders down. "Hey Dee..." called a familiar voice and she looked behind. "I have already sent the analysis you wanted. It should have been delivered...". She tried to avoid his eyes as they always drilled into hers. "I was wondering if you would go out with me". Was this man mad? She thought. She could no longer avoid his eyes. Even in the dark it was magnetic. And as usual, she got lost in it. He waved his hands across her face "hello....! What happened...?". "No i was just wondering if you knew the crisis hot line number. So I could report you". She turned and paced towards the shuttle. A wide grin on her face. She hoped he couldnt see the grin spread to her ears from behind and danced into the bus. She did believe in love but she didnt believe in going out, exchanging gifts, those ungodly hours of phone conversations and all the drama around it. Was he man enough to accept it? She would wait and see. If not, perhaps he was not the right one for her.
Why is she playing so hard to get? Or perhaps there is something else in her mind? He wondered. It was year ending and they had a set of deliverables unachieved. They spent night and day and accomplished them all. It was new years eve. Their team was making the annual report and the boss had promised them midnight tea after. There was a mobile tea stall right outside their factory. All of them walked together and the smokers split. Only both of them were left out. There was a moment of awkward silence and he broke it. "So why didnt you report me? I never got a call from the legal office...". She coughed. Cornered. Busted was more like it. "Erm their line was busy...". Wouldn't he look elsewhere and talk? Why does he always have to bore my eyes? It was 5 minutes to new year. The smokers were smoking their way to glory. The radio jockeys were couting down. The cold December breeze was blowing against her hair. She tried to tie it but it kept coming out. "Will you marry me..?" he asked. This time she sprayed the tea out of her mouth from shock. She kept the cup and saucer aside. Fire works in the sky. A million sparks above. The New Year had dawned. She would face his gaze now. Her eyes instantly welled up and she took both his hands in hers. It was warm. "Yes". He was her man now on.

Entrenous : EARTH : Part 1

"Hi I'm Deepthi. You can call me Dee. A chennaite through and through. After having rendered my services to the previous organization for ten years I decided I should move. After all, I should give the other companies some opportunity too..." a light chuckle spread around the team as she delivered her first words at St Gobain India inside the project management office. He looked at her without a wink unable to hide his appreciation for the sheer cheek of hers. How could one describe her looks. Thin. Frail was more like it. Her face was filled with dried remains from her teenage. The ill fitting ten pocketed khakhi shirt and the gray cargo pants suited her well. Her complexion was medium. She was not at all good looking. But there was something mysteriously attractive about her. Perhaps did her self confidence trigger the butterflies in his stomach? He was not sure. He jumped from the meeting room table so his safety shoes made a loud thud on the tiled floor and walked to her. "Welcome to our team Dee" and shook her hands. Rough from the ten previous blue collared years but warm.
"Oh my God would this guy let my arm go or not?" She scowled in her mind. He was her boss. Krishna. Youngest vice president at SGI. Tall, fair, wavy hair, uniform altered to flaunt his well groomed physique. He was good looking no doubt but there would be a lot of arrogance to accompany it. She should be careful with him. Although this took over most of her judgement of him she simply couldn't resist his eyes. They were not of a fancy color but they were sharp. And piercing. Thankful that he finally let go of her hands, she picked her notes and walked to her seat. She immediately switched her laptop on, switched her BlackBerry to silent and oriented herself into the dozen task requedts she'd received.
He looked at her from a distance. He knew her bio data by heart now. She lost her dad when she was five. Her mother struggled and made her an engineer and died eight years back. Since then Deepthi has been by herself. There comes her aura of independence he thought. He was independent too. His parents, both doctors had moved to the US right after he graduated. He simply refused to move with them. His thoughts came back to work and immediately he became engrossed. He picked his BlackBerry and walked towards the water filter checking the new emails that came in the last minute. He picked the paper cup without removing his eyes from the screen. Something was holding the cup. He looked up and it was Deepthi who was staring at him inside out. If only looks could burn he would have been a heap of ash by now he mused to himself. What was it that was attractive about her? He failed to find an answer still digging deep into his thoughts. "I think we're paid to work not play tug of war with paper cups" she said. "I will let you win Dee" and he let go. She placed back the cup in the filter and gave him a stern look. "I like to play to win not to be let to win" and walked away.

A new age love story

His hair was always well oiled and combed to the left. He wore dark rimmed glasses. One couldnt say if he was tall or short by looking at him. Who cares? He thought he was tall.  He was a geek. He knew it not by looking at himself in the mirror but by the way his gang (or how he liked to call them) ridculed him all the time. All through the day. He didnt care. Cause he forgot everything when he merely looked at her. She was tall and fair. Her hair was neatly tied in a bun. She always wore bright colored clothing. Oh and he couldnt name half the colors that she wore. He made it a point every day to memorize those colors.
He saw her everyday. She would walk past where he sat precisely at the same time. She smelled of fresh green grass after the rains. How he wished at least one day she would come here. No. It wasnt going to happen soon. With this wish he bought a rose plant at home. He would faithfully water it everyday with the silent hope it would bloom soon. And it did. The bloom was white. The mere sight of it reminded him of her. He would give it to her that day. The day everyone gave roses to their special someone. And utter those three words. Four he planned - he would also address her.
Days passed and D day was getting closer. He was getting tensed. He would practise every day in front of the mirror sincerely. Would she laugh at him in front everyone? He should be strong he kept telling himself.
The day before and he harvested the most beautiful bloom ever. He plucked it and kept it neatly in a vase to present it the next morning to her. Would he be able to sleep through the night?
Morning came and he walked straight to the rose plant out of habit. The sight he saw was unbearable. The plant was completely uprooted and shredded into pieces. His heart broke and his eyes welled up. Was this a sign? The perfect rose was already there. He wouldn't give up now. He packed as usual and left. He waited for her to walk in. And she did like clockwork. He gathered all his might, picked the rose from his desk and walked to her. He gallantly handed over the rose and delivered the well practised verse. Khappy teechus day miss. His face broke into a smile and he danced his way into kg1b.
Go ahead and strangle me. Or perhaps am already dead.
Cheers,
Hopie