South diary

" Most people... are like a falling leaf that drifts and turns in the air, flutters, and finally falls to the ground. "

Hermann Hesse

" And that was a good movie", said Litesh coyly as we head out for the exit in the PVR mall. And we continued to talk about the plot until we were left with the only roof, the pitch-black sky. We stood there for a moment to just embrace the beauty( I mean the city ! )

  

You can have an eloquent view of the Vijayawada city, Bhavanipuram Island and the river Krishna from the Kanaka Durga Temple that relaxes on the top of the hill near the banks of the magnificent river( Damn magnificent )


The city is still spreading , laying its hands to the farthest corners that are under its reach. She is merciless with her scorching heat, but when the night falls she turns calm. If you are willing, you could hear her breath. And if you are really close to her, you could even feel her beat.


We did not know the city, especially the language ( atleast properly) but we fairly enough know the bus numbers 252 and 116 . Because they lead us to our destination, Raman Bhavan 3; and to many other campuses too . The campus lies in the outskirts of the city surrounded by hills and farms ; taking bus was always a better choice than the auto-rickshaw. 'Cause you have to deal with them in Telugu (even the fare has to be considered). But sometimes we were left with the only option of Auto-rickshaw, as where the hell would you find the bus at 1 am !


' Hey, we need to buy the Intermediate books ! ' said Soumodeep softly , as we left the mall. The cool guy from Orissa.


Samarth further continued, 'Even I have to buy few reference books. '
' Okay then, let's head for the Lenin street. What do you all say ? '


Litesh and I looked at them, and simply nodded.


We marched towards an Auto- rickshaw below the street light. Body little tensed, slight discomfort on our face. The perfectly imperfect prepatory phase of delivering all the Telugu we knew.


' Ekad ki ? '( To where ? ), asked another driver who appeared out of nowhere.

' Lenin street', Samarth handled the situation quite instinctively .


' Ainta mandi unnara ? ' ( How many people ?)


' Nal-guru' ( Four of us)


The driver stared at us from his seat. His facial expressions indicated as if we might rob him. Maybe we carried the same expressions, and he tried to reflect back.


' Kuchandi ' ( please sit), his tone suggested as if he was doing a favour. Well he was, but getting paid for the service.


'Ainta Anna? ', Soumodeep asked the driver for the fare before we entered the Auto.


' okko kariki muppai ! '( 30 per head). He put it blankly.


Soumodeep retorted, ' Kaadu aana. Okko kariki kanisam Padi' ( Nope. Atleast 10 per head ). We nodded along with the damn beautiful smile on our face.


' Aithe Irwai '( Okay then 20), the driver replied with a serious look.


The moment he said ' Irwai' we all drifted toward the other Autorickshaw. We did not want to coax him. It was unexpected to the driver. His eyes rolled out !


He yelled back at us.
' Ra ra, Kuchandi. Nenu tisukelta.'


The hack worked, and we finally somehow settled for fifteen rupees each  :)

Lenin street is located near the Beasant Road, from where people, including students used to fulfill their basic needs. This part of city was always full of hustle and bustle. Literally always.


The constant honking of vehicles, people negotiating with the vendors, the pleasant aroma of sweets,  the sputtering while frying, colourful temples, coconut trees across the roads, men with white Sandalwood tilak and dhoti, and women with frangrant Jasmine flowers on their ponytails. And the odor of dosas and idli-sambhar all along the path. Did I forget to mention the sultry atmosphere ?Damn.


Their devotion toward movies, mother-tongue and land would always intrigue us. Believe me, they live the movies. Ask them their name, and a sanskrit book would be thrown on your face. And men are always in an entirely different swag.
But somewhere along the journey, our paths did converge, and so we ended up in Andhra.




' And there slips another day from our hands... Or maybe it is like this always.', pondered Litesh while looking at the sky, as we waited for the bus at Lenin street after buying the books.


And I continued being irritated , ' Dang. All that shit of lectures and assignments will continue from tomorrow for another month... '


'... until we get another Outing.', Soumodeep looked at me, and predicted the rest. Our dull faces showed how much freaked we were, except Samarth.


The three of us looked at Samarth, and he was patiently waiting for the bus.  Apparently, nothing seems to affect him, and that used to put smile on our faces.




Litesh wrapped the whole scenario in a simple phrase - the silver lining.


Samarth smiled back, as he noticed we were staring at him. His smile was contagious like a five year old child.


Gradually, noise in the atmosphere levitated along with the spirit of people as the bus arrived. The number 116 painted in red on a white plate hanged in the front. And that served as a cue to rush like others. Somehow we manged to enter the bus and settled our tired bodies wherever we could find any space. The bus began to follow its usual route like everyone.

'Ticket, ticket....'
Started asking the Ticket collector . Here the front part of bus is occupied by ladies. So, we were standing in the rear part of the bus. We collected our tickets for RB3.
( We have never experienced any problem with bus, except, when we climbed into a wrong one : |


Brakes screamed at a few more bus stops, and then the next stop was our college.
It was quite uncomfortable to hold the grab handle. So, I clenched to a seat.


 As we used to head to our campus a different aura prevails in the atmosphere. You can hear the roaring sound of engine, the calm wind touching and then parting away, and the damn silence of people.  Felt like, as if all the dumb steady figures are marching to their graves.


A single expression on their faces, eyes fixed, and all being stucked in an entirely different dimension. Like the way darkness blend with day, and turns into night. The same way you will find yourself merging with this atmosphere too.


United you stand, until you look at them . Some striving for more while others trying to just meet their daily ends. Some need not sympathy while others need hope to feed them. And you could find a caged mind yelling what freedom means. Few who have created a hell here are now asking for heaven. Some living the lies. And the majority seems not to care.


We all can relate to them. Yet, our skeptical minds can not make any sense but if your heart still says- we all resemble the same color with subtle variation in shades.


I would say, you must listen to your heart then.


The bus came to a halt, waited for a few seconds, and left. There we stood four of us, totally uncertain of what tomorrow brings. And then, advanced to the campus.


Last things last. Despite the differences you may still relate to them, because we all share the core aspects that even the time and circumstances can not erase. And when you put these differences in light, they start to fade away.

So, the moment you step out of the bus, you are one with them. And guess what, you might end up saying-
' See you soon. And yeah, I will come back again.'