34 to 45 - Prologue
Prologue
June 25th 1995
“Damn I
missed it!” he groaned in frustration as he saw the Beach Tambaram local pull
out of the station as he ran from the staircase in Nungambakkam suburban
station. “Why did the egomaniac choose today to have the discussion on the
project?” he rued. The egomaniac was the de facto HOD of his department, The Computer
Science Department in the self- financing Stream of Loyola College. A stream
that had an odd timing that ensured its students never fit in with the other
students, coming in when the Day College ended and going out nearly the time
when the Evening College ended. It also ensured that the return trips from
college were always in the peak hour with the office crowd for the students
taking the train like Rajesh. The highs of getting into one of the most
prestigious colleges in the country waned soon for Rajesh when he realized that
he and his classmates felt like misfits since they simply could not fit in.
He
walked up to the coin operated public phone on the wall looking for coins in
his pocket. His frustration increased when he saw the large “Out of order” in
chalk scribbled on the wall. “Damn! Damn! Damn!” he exclaimed. That was the
only expletive permitted by Iniya who frowned her beautiful face each time his
favourite words inadvertently came out and it took a lot of practice to
restrain himself these days.
“I
really must get one of those pagers. Actually I need to get pagers for both of
us” he thought wistfully. “How do I tell Iniya that I am late?” he kept
wondering looking at the station clock. It was 7.40 PM and the chance of
meeting Iniya looked very bleak today. As he looked around in frustration he
saw the telephone in the station master’s room and the room unattended. He
looked around furtively and crept into the room and picked up the mouthpiece.
He quickly dialled the number and kept an eye out for the station master. He
heard the phone ring at the other end and he promptly cut the line. Then he
counted 5 and dialled again, he let it ring again. This was their code and if
she was there she will pick it up instantly. It was promptly picked up and an
angry voice said, “Idiot! later”
A big
smile covered his face as he heard the term of endearment and then the station
master walked in.
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