melancholy

On a journey.....

   
         From the brightness of the sun that was streaming through the window directly at his eyes, Kathir deduced that it was late.... Hours later  than his usual time of waking up... His first panicked thought as he glanced around and saw the empty bed was that Mullai had already left to Kerala..... Pouncing up from the mat, he went straight to the cupboard to see if all her clothes were there and just to be on the safer side, he stood on tiptoe to check whether their suitcases were lying around and they were untouched...

    Slowly calmness returned, and his heart rate went back to normal... Today was a Saturday... 3rd Saturday of the month to be exact...she'll definitely be at work... Sighing in relief, he went off to bathe and then hurried to the Supermarket...

       As soon as he entered, he went in search of Kanna... Kathir found him in the store room checking the inventory... "Dei... Naan oru aaru - ezhu naal kadaiku vara matten da... Nee Saravanan kude manage panniko" he informed his brother who stared at him with a worried expression... "Odambu seriliya nae?" He asked, touching Kathir's forehead, in a manner that was so reminiscent of his mother... "Cha cha... Naan nalla irruken da... Oru personal vishyama porren" he patted his brother on his shoulder..

    Kathir did not want to tell Kanna that he would be going with Mullai, because after how he behaved last night, he did not know if she would welcome the idea of him accompanying her... He decided that he was going to buy two tickets, that way she won't have the heart to deter him from coming...

He logged into the IRCTC website and checked whether they were any available tickets from Karaikudi to Kerala and just as expected, all the trains were fully booked... Kanna, looking at his brother swiping left and right on his phone, never failed to marvel at how proficient Kathir had become at using a smart phone... From being someone who did not want anything to do with technology, he had now accepted that it was a major part of everyone's lives...

The bike ride to Karaikudi bus stand was a short one and all the way there, his thoughts centered on how he had behaved yesterday... Maybe he should have reacted differently... Now that he had the time to absorb the news about Anandhi, his heart was softening... He had let his protective nature over her take control instead of understanding her feelings....

He wondered about the man that she had chosen...

That man, had better be a good person... Or else, Kathir decided, that his fist was going to do the talking...

What Anandhi needed now, was not her parents or her siblings... What she needed was a friend and he was going to be there for her..... And perhaps, in this process of helping new lovers unite, he and Mullai could renew their love for each other... Given how things were at home right now, with the friction between his Anni and his wife... This was the perfect time to leave...

Kathir grinned as he felt a teeny tiny bloom of excitement unfurl in his heart, as he slipped the tickets into his pocket, and chided himself for being silly, this was not a honeymoon... They're were going there for a different purpose... but still, the thought of spending some days alone with Mullai , without the disturbance of his family, made him look forward to this trip...

****

Mullai, sitting in her cubicle inside the School office, looked up in surprise when she saw Kathir standing patiently in the queue.... 'Ippadi vanga' she gestured at the door, smiling that he didn't come in straight away... 'Paravala' he mouthed back... He was the first in line soon enough and he slid a ticket through the tiny archway in the glass... She sagged in disappointment when she saw that it was a single ticket... "Ready ah irru.. Night kadai eh mooditu sikirama varen... Bus Karaikudi lenthu" he said and she nodded... And then after saying goodbye and speaking politely to some of her colleagues... He left...