NAAZHIGAI Part 8

On the way home: @11PM

Maya: This time we’Il join you as well to Sriharikota

Vicks: What?Why?Are we going on a mission or on a tour?

Maya: You know paani ki choti choti bunda eak sagar bana sakthe hei!!

Prathi: Haa Maya, Plus what will Subhu do all alone with you, VIcks?

Vicks: Nithi will take the call here……

Nithi: Okay then, Maya, join us you can help in teaching the bad guys a lesson and Prathi, as you wish, you can take care of Subhu

Me: Hello Hello! See us in action then you will know, you also come Prathi.

Nithi: Okay then, Vicks, arrange for a jeep for us to go to Sriharikota tomorrow noon, we would need time to prepare.

Me: Haa Maya inform your college that you won’t be present for few days. Prathi, we will inform boss tomorrow

The next day @ Office:

Prathi was in a hurry to complete the day’s job and was delegating her work to her juniors.

Abhay: Guess you hired your assistant, Mam?

Prathi: Hey Hai, Hmmmm, Yeah….

Abhay: Thanks again for meeting with me. Let me take leave.

Prathi: Hey Hey, but I hired you.

Abhay: What?

Prathi: Yeah, you got the job.You're my new assistant.

Abhay: I am? I can't believe it.

Prathi: Me either………….Okay, let's get started.First, I need you to go downstairs...find a woman named Natasha and tell her to go home.

Abhay left the room.

Me: Ready to leave? How's Natasha working out?

Prathi: Oh, my new assistantis working out. Yes.My new assistant was very happythat I hired ‘HIM’.

Me: So you hired yourselfa little treat, did you?

Prathi: I know hiring him wasnot the smartest thing I've ever done.But from now on,I swear this is strictly professional.I’ll tell him what needs to be done and we can leave.

Me: You know guys can be hard and sturdy, so never take the lead on guys…

Prathi: You are talking about the incident in college? Ha haha..

She winked at me. The incident flashed before my mind:

In college:

After first year, Vicks went to C.Sc department.  Prathi,Nithi and I opted for ECE and Maya opted for EEE

Nithi was cute with innocent look and smile, I liked him. I came to know him as Prathi’s friend. 

Heard his achievements in archery and cricket, I was moved within. Girls from other classes would come to our class just to admire his looks, the way he attracts so many girls without doing anything, I became one among them (secretly!!) though I made fun of them and scolded them to concentrate on studies which I myself couldn’t. I reasoned out early that he was not interested in any of the girls. Half of the class would talk about him, usual stuff for a popular guy.

Days rolled by, we were in same class for each and every day, it was so difficult for me not to see himat least once in every 20 minutes.He never studies for exams but somehow manages to score a decent score everytime. We joined in different clubs and I made sure Prathi and I enrolled in the same club as Nithi’s.

One was the ‘Happening11’ club. We dint know anything about cricket apart from the ones I used to play with Vicks when I was a kid. I used to even fight for changing channels when a match was onin T.V at home. We just had 9 enrollments in the girls’cricket team. Prathi and I used to go fully prepared every evening with white tee, white tracks and a cap. Nithi used to train our team and coach us on the basics.

One day Nithi was involved in an argument with the other gang in college for some reason that they spoke ill of our team member. He became more popular and was called the

savior of the weaklings.

Nithi was on his way to submitting his records and I was standing on the way.

Nithi: Ahem, Will you please leave way

Me: Yeah sure, one sec ,one sec, I heard you fought with the bad guys yesterday? Vicks told

Nithi: Yeah I tried…

Me: If it was me, I would have winked and made them fall without any fight.

Nithi: Yeah, Yeah heard that…

Me:  Are you making fun of me?? I’m talking and you are walking away?

Nithi:What? Please don’t comebehind me.I am rushing for a submission.

Me: Hello, I’m behind you?? Don’t have any ideas.

Nithi: You are not??

Me: No, One hundred percent.

I was so much humiliated, I couldn’t sleep that night. I know it was silly,I cried and I had a battle between my heart and mind to forget him once and for all.

I got a text message from Vicks asking if he could share my number to Nithi since he asked.

I said Ok.

In ten minutes I received a text message from “The Nithi” saying

“Sorry, I had to rush to the lab for submission I couldn’t answer you properly”

I felt anger, vengeance and happiness mixed with micro earthquakes in my heart.  Should I say,“It’s alright” or should I bounce back? That was the first text from Nithi to any girl, Prathi said he dint even have her number. Should I leave without responding? What if he thinks I’m rude? He was rude to me in fact.

My fingers typed many versions of the first message to him none of which left my outbox. I deleted whatever I typed and ended up saying “Hmm”

He replied, “Keep in touch, Good night” with two smileys at the end.

I was shocked and happy,Is that him?!! Even then I couldn’t sleep.

Now:

I smiled as I was reliving the moment in my mind. The jeep was ready, it was noon. Uncle made Krish to join us this time as well.We reached the BOI branch at Sriharikota. Nithi went inside while Krish followed him few minutes later inside. We were waiting outside.

Bank Manager: Welcome Sir. You wanted to open an account for your friends,Right?Take your seat Sir.

Nithi: Yeah very much, but before that I would need to visit my locker.

Bank Manager: Sure Sir, our lockers-in-charge will unlock with his key first after which you have to unlock with yours.

Nithi went inside the locker room. He opened the locker number "24". He was shocked to find nothing except a paper.

Nithi took it and came out as he was skimming through the script in it. We all rushed to the hotel, locked our room tight, and closed the curtains, gathered around a single bed around Nithi as he unfolded paper.

Me: Hey Nithi, It’s your handwriting!!

Nithi read it loud……            

“Hi me,

If I’m reading this message then I must Thank God for being in this world. I would now need to rescue the person who took me;he is a good person and is working for a good cause.

I chose to forget all that happened since he convinced me, but I belong to the same world as his and I too have the same courage to work for a good deed selflessly.

Why should the soldiers alone have to lose their lives in the battlefield? The king and the common people also have the same responsibility to save the crew.I won’t understand what I’m writing now, but let me be clear to myself.

A guy of my age named “Partha” came to meet me that night after I dropped Vicks.

He was the same guy who participated in the hacking competition in Philippines. He said he was threatened by the jury and the sponsors of the event to help themas he had the talent to hack and debug the codesthey had, and that the competition itself was a setup.

It was all staged to find out the best guy who could help them do their deed. The rest was all followed by usual ceremony to show the world the competition was true. Hence they made me and Vicks the winners of the event though we were the second best.

He said he decided to ask my help for the same reason as we were second best and that I was friendly. He said they were after him but before all that he wanted to know what was in it, as he was sure they were bad people.

He promised me that he won’t get me involved in the mishaps and wouldmake me forget all that happened. I volunteered and decided to help him and he staged my disappearance with my help. He has planned to give me sedatives to forget all this tomorrow.

But I however manage to save my memory writing this. Partha is a scientist in the ISRO and I might find Partha in Satish Dhawan Space Centre. I just need to save him and get the bad guys to the good cops”

We were all speechless, so was he.

To be continued….