Nigazh (Event that changes Present/Past/Future)

Chapter -1

Mahabhalipuram - 2022

Finally, the coronavirus and the restrictions were off, and the heart of the tourist spot again started to fill for the summer holidays.

The humid wind blows through the shore of the majestic and artistic temple built by Pallavas, which stands tall even after 1000s of years later. All kinds of people watched the marvellous sculptures, which told the story by just being it; some were busy taking photographs, some were just scheduled into the place to find some shade to get away from the sun, and some were using that shade to get intimate and have guts to do PDA, some are trying to calm their crying children, some are playing, and other some are just resting.

In one of the shades, a hand scribbles around the paper like a feather that caresses the cheek. Eyes like the ocean, watching each stroke with intensity. One soul wanted to capture the sights with her hands while sightseeing. She wants to create that pure art that shines like a jewel on her paper without missing a single detail. The hands of the beauty sitting and doing her thing in the shade don't stop. Somehow, her parents knew she would love Thamizh(Tamil) so much that they named her 'Umaiyal'.

Suddenly, the shade that provided her coolness disappeared, one to be faced with humidity. With a heavy sigh, she looks up to find the only annoying person who could do that. It's her best friend Amrutha, who, just like a name, can talk like honey, but she is not so sweet. Umaiyal, in her mind, always wondered why she was friends with her; well, a nerd like her needs her jock, and that's where Amrutha comes in.

'So what's my literature puppy doing here when our other colleagues are exhausted by the heat?'. Umaiyal turned around and saw her colleagues looking tired as they had never seen the sun before. She rolled her eyes and closed her book to pack her things as she had already completed her art; an additional touch could wait for later. Right after her schooling, she got an application to attend Harvard, but it didn't last; she dropped out after just one semester and returned. It was a shock and disappointment for her parents when she rejected everything and returned to her city, Chennai. Well, disappointment isn't new for her family, starting from her parents and their marriage, and now everything is a disappointment. Just like when she was 13, her parents decided to separate cause they were not suitable for each other. The incident causes her to juggle between her parents, one in Mumbai and the other in Chennai. Each now has their very own family and kids, too.

It's like she is the odd one out because her parents are now parents to other kids whom she couldn't be siblings with. When she came back from Harvard, her mother stopped talking to her, even though her father still puts a smile on her face whenever she is around. She knew that it was all not great.

She came back to her city cause she wanted to travel not just to random places but to follow the footprints of Cholas and Ponniyin Selvan. It is her favourite novel; even though it is historical fiction, the places and names are still accurate, along with multiple documents she collected over the years, but something in her says that Ponniyin Selvam is real like Kalki, the author somehow got all the right events which were forgotten but others. Her grandmother is with whom she is very close, and she taught her old Sangam Tamil and pure Tamil to talk and write. Her grandmother wrote half a book on Chola's travel and their path on how they faced multiple challenges, but sadly, she passed away when Umaiyal was 16, right before she went to Harvard. So she wanted to complete the work her Paati(grandmother) started.

So she joined an archaeological information group as a techie who can help with some lame processing help but also gets to travel with them. But many of her seniors are slow pokes and take too long breaks. She met Amrutha during their excavation at Keezhadi(Keeladi). She is like this big, tough woman who doesn't care about others, but somehow they ended up being friends, and now they are BFFs.