Chapter 18: Death, and some Inevitable Things !

"Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives."
- A. Sachs -



My Grand mother passed away!
It's been two days since she started an other journey to an unknown destination. She was ninety nine (1912-2011). Whenever I think about it, I couldn't help but awe. What a magnificent journey ??!!



She lived through three different generations. She would've witnessed the slow but steady invasion of British rule in India. She would've witnessed the long and tiresome freedom movement which involved non-violence, riots, violence and bloodshed. She would've witnessed the unforgettable night of our independence. She, then lived through the change which the world witnessed after independence. Right from the invention of the electronic televisions in 1920's to the latest 'i-pod touch'.
Not an ordinary journey at all ...
Few years back, she was telling me a story about Subramanya Bharathi (One of the ideal and inspiring freedom fighters).
I asked her "Have you seen him?"
She replied "Yeah, But I vaguely remember him. I was too young"
"What about Mahatma Gandhi?" I asked again.
"Yeah, Lot of times! He was always on some trip, protesting something!"
Having written this conversation, I've to include our recent conversation.
Last month I was chatting with someone on Facebook. She slowly came towards me.
"What's this?" she was pointing towards the Facebook screen.
I explained everything about Facebook, about how it works and it's uses. She was so interested to hear about FB. At the end she said "Atlast, the world shrunk to a minimum possible extent!"

ME, MY SISTER, MY GRANDMA ...



She loved me and my sister very much. I always thought that we are her favorite grandchildren. She was so active until the very last day. She told me that she would start her final journey only after my marriage. But I didn't expect that she would leave us the very next day. My dad was so normal when he did all the final duties. He was alright during the funeral. When that day came to an end, everyone who came to the funeral were leaving. After sending off the last family, I went in. My sister was crying out loud, my mom was sobbing and my dad remained silent. After a minute of silence, mom and sister talked about her. Slowly, my dad broke his limits off. He started crying like a small child. We consoled him and started talking about the good things about her. Later, the same silence prevailed again. I felt something unusual. Something strange ... I then, realized something, a part of my family was lost. I couldn't hear her voice yelling out my name. I couldn't hear her slow approaching footsteps, I couldn't see her smile. It's true! A part of my family was gone, forever!


I don't know about her whereabouts. She might be present in this room now, She might be guiding me through this post or she might be sitting behind me with the same gracious smile. I don't know anything about those super natural things. But I do know something. She loved us and if possible she would love us forever :)

Chapter 2: Big Whale Metropolitan

I guess the pilot episode was not a successful one. But 'who cares'? I'm gonna write it anyway. Okay! Lets begin from the place where we left. I was all set to move to Chennai. The big whale like metropolitan.



Finally the day I've been fearing the most came in a very bitter way. The day started with a big fight in an argument disguise between me and my dad. I regret it now. I should've never talked about joining Visual communication again at that time. The moving truck arrived and all things including my 'SUPER MARIO BROS. VIDEO GAME' were neatly packed and wrapped up inside the medium sized container of the truck. Mom and dad decided to take the bike and I got into the truck with all the other goods. The truck started to move as I was staring my house through the open container and the distance kept on increasing. The truck passed over all of the places which I cherished from my childhood. The canal, bare grass fields, small hill, the church chimes, my school, my friends ... everything, every single thing moved backwards and as I crossed the border of my small pretty town, tears rolled down my cheeks and the town got out of my sight. The truck raced in a high speed at once it crossed the town. We passed many county towns and after two bumpy hours, I finally saw the board ' CHENNAI WELCOMES YOU '. Have you ever seen a true sarcastic laugh ? If not, just get a glimpse of that board. After some, half'n' hour we reached a very rich and busy area called 'K.K.Nagar'. I got the address from my dad and when we reached the place my mom and dad were already waiting for us. The very next second after I got down, my dad said " Take a good glimpse son, this is the house in which you're gonna live for the next four years !!!" It felt like my worst nightmare came true. It was a two story building which had four houses split into portions. I knocked the house owner's door while my mom and dad was helping our truck driver to carry things. Exactly after three knocks the door was opened by a girl. I didn't expect that the door would be opened by a 18 year old girl wearing blue colored T-Shirt and shorts. I got a well justified shock which is very usual for a small town boy when he meets a typical city girl.
" Yeah ? "
" ...... "
" What do you want? "
" ...... "
" Ah, got it! You're the new tenants dad was talking about? "
She must've figured that by the truck and my look. " Come in please "
" Hmmm ... I should be helping my dad " I left the place as soon as I finished saying this. After four long hours we were so tired as the house looked good with all the things in its right place. Dad payed the driver and the house was all set. I climbed the stairs to take a look at the terrace. As I said, I was and I am a loner, so I spend all my free time in terrace thinking and staring the sky. But, a big shock was awaiting as I climbed the stairs. I finally reached the terrace to find that there were around ten to fifteen adults, sitting and talking and fifteen to twenty kids, shouting and playing. I also found that each and every terrace in that street were connected and it looked like big giant ARENA !!!.
" This is nothing like I've seen before " I let out a long sigh. ' This is just not my thing ' I thought. But then I didn't know that my life was about to take some series of big twists and turns within that four years. The next week was so hectic as
some engineering colleges got short listed for my 78% ( 12th percentage ) in Anna University Counselling. My dad selected MECHANICAL ENGINEERING in RAJALAKSHMI ENGINEERING COLLEGE !!!



My dad decided my fate for the next four years. Nothing interested me as everything was going on way ahead of me. After paying my fees in the administrative office my mom celebrated the moment by giving sweets to all the houses in that building. At that very same evening I met the girl downstairs.
" Hey, want Kit Kat ??? "
" Wh ... What? Why? "
" I got selected in MIT ( Madras Institute of Technology ) to do my engineering "
" Well ... good for you " I said and left the place. But later I was awed when I read the book " THE WINGS OF FIRE " by Dr.Abdul Kalam. Because Dr.Abdul Kalam studied his physics degree in MIT!!!
Months passed as I raced towards my first day of my college. Those were the days where I begin to understand the life in Chennai and its complicatedness. I was not excited but I really didn't know how to react. Finally the big day arrived. I got ready for my first day out of the four years. RAJALAKSHMI ENGINEERING COLLEGE is situated in the banks of Chembarambakkam lake which is a remote place.


Actually I really loved the place as it was so quiet and natural. At first they made all the first year engineering students to assemble in the auditorium to hear a ' Most boring speech I've ever had ' session. Then they took us to a college campus tour and that's where I met Mr.Selva Ganesh !!!

Chapter 1: Pilot

First things first! I'm a guy!!!
In this pilot post I'd be narrating the story of what happened in my life until this very night. My name is Karthick Sampath (AKA) Sudharshan. I'm another worthless person leading a very normal life in the cross corners of Chennai, capital city of Tamilnadu which is one of the biggest states in India, which is one of the biggest country in Asia, which again is one of the biggest continent in this earth, which again is one of the tiniest planet in Milky way, which again is one of the medium sized galaxy in our universe. This description would go on and on as scientists even found the proof of parallel universe. But, lets skip these issues as the prime focus is my life. The legend was born in the mysterious month of November back in the year 1989. From my childhood I was raised in the small, I mean very small town of Guduvanchery.
Guduvanchery ... the name may sound a little odd to spell, but it is one of the finest and peaceful towns in Tamilnadu. It has long stretched fields and farms, variety of birds and animal life, dense mountain range and long lakes and on the other hand it has modern shopping malls, one little theater, a police station, three junior high schools and few temples.




The picture you just saw is the picture of a dense forest and a mountain range located in Guduvanchery. I had many good friends and the meaning of friend back then was whoever played cricket with me. Even though I had these types of friends I was usually a loner. I spent my time by writing poems for my unknown angel, writing stories, trekking, exploring, travelling, hiking etc. That small town offered many places to explore like caves and haunted buildings ... One thing I still miss is that church bell sound. Under this pretty big mountain you saw, there was a small church which had a big bell and chime. That bell used to Ding for every one hour. That 'Ding' sound would be heard throughout the town. Days passed by and in no time I finished my 12th grade and that's when my life took a pretty big turn. One fine day, my dad called me to do some little talking. I came to know that he decided about my Undergraduate study. He said that I should study Engineering and I have no other choice. He also said about the moving plan.I was shocked, I mean literally ... !!! When dad said about the plan, unknowingly I kept my left hand in the switch socket nearby!!! I had an other plan of studying Visual Communication and to become a film maker! When I said this to my dad, he laughed out of his dad and said "Good Joke!!!"
Mom and Dad decided that we should move to the capital city, Chennai, A big Metropolitan city. I've been to Chennai, a couple of times before that. I was really scared about its size and people. I thought that in the big cities people would be greedy and selfish and unfriendly. I was depressed and felt dejected. I'd loose all my friends and adventures if I move to Chennai. That thought haunted me badly. I spent the last day by sitting in the peak of that mountain range you saw in that picture above. It started to pour. But I continued to sit there and that's when I took this picture. The next day ... I was all set to move to CHENNAI !!!