Batch of 1999
Page 11
Tanak
Crossing this road was never so tough. Electromagnetism should have learned something from him. He had the charisma of a diamond. Stars and suns seemed lightless in front of his sober shine. Deep had just came out of the computer institute. Where people were still waiting for him to show up. Now they knew the sweetness of waiting for a beloved. Now they had too much to spent the rest of there year in the memory of the moment when they felt the god of love. It was a new beginning for them when they could experience again all those dreams, bubbles and butterflies in a new light. Doors to their own selves were opened. It was incredible and they had stopped thinking.
The road wasn't much different and untouched with his presence. Every particle was hungry for his touch to lick the nectars from heavens. Air was flowing in Tanak’s direction. Cars, scooters and people were making a curve before passing near him. It could be seen with naked eyes from the top of the buildings that there was something crawling on the road and pulling all the strings around. If someone would throw a ball it had went towards Tanak definitely. He wore goggles because of sunlight. People were looking at him with all the hopes of ages. Making him angrier and lovelier than before. How sweet he was looking in anger. Honey-sweet. Too much of honey. Bitter honey. Yellow and perfect. He had papers in hand. Wow, papers and pen in his shirt, wow pen. And he was not interested. Yeah, not interested. He was not a human being. He was someone else. Definitely. He couldn't be a human being. How a human being can be so heartless. Look the way he was going like he didn't care for no one. Like he was angry on them. Someone should have told him. That how much he was being loved. About their feelings and hopes. Since the time they had seen him. Now it was difficult to keep it up with the rest. To keep doing what they were doing. They had been interrupted, in a way to lose their balance forever. Deep asked for the coke in a shop at the corner. Everyone stopped eating. Deep finished the coke in few gulps and went his way. Offf... It was always hot when he was outside. All this humidity and fire. Seemed like sun was just a few kilometers away from the ground level. Season can really piss-off if it comes to that. Specially in Delhi where even forecast doesn't work. It may have rained in the morning if there is a bright sky at afternoon. No system. No rules. People are thankful that at-least Delhi remains dark at night. Between the hypocrisy of weather and people, all the machines run smoothly. Here are almost negligible natural disasters because in this city there are no mountains and no oceans surrounding it corners. Only a little river with no respect left. There are only people and people and people on all the streets, parks, between the trees, river demolished and abandoned places. So many people that it would tire a calculator to count. They are more than ants, match-sticks and hairs on your head. Running the machine of Delhi is an easy task with so many hands.
But today it was different. Blood was pushing him from inside. Body hairs were looking thicker. He was making too many automatic assumptions of the sudden trouble with surroundings and people. There could be a thousand irregularities and co-incidents on this place. But he didn't want to accept only one. The real one. The truth. That all this tension over the place was happening just because of him only.
It was getting bigger than him and taking over him. good-look and charm is another thing but this thing was cruel. It was giving no choices and chances to anyone coming in contact. He started walking faster and then running to hide behind the road between two houses. He sat there on the stone boundaries and took deep breaths. People inside the house came out with water and invitation to come inside the house because outside was too hot. ‘Being in direct sun is not good for you. Please come inside quickly’ girl in red top asked him. She was close to tears. She was serious. Another woman came out from behind.
'Look mom, he is not coming inside. He needs help,' she told that woman. No I don’t Tanak think.
Tanak walked away from there also. He couldn't shed himself now. They were all over him from all the directions. Plants, animals, air and light. All the elements had fallen in love with him. Birds were chirping. Leaves looked greener. Sky was clean. Tanak was afraid to touch the walls and to talk to anyone. He was walking faster making springs and autumns behind himself. He saw an unused sewer-pipe laying vertically at the side of the street. Tanak went inside. This was a perfect place and big enough for sitting and lying down of an average person with a slight discomfort. Discomfort was not the problem of Tanak. He feared that people would make a circle outside it but nothing like that happened. Only a dog came after fifteen minutes and sat near his lap.
Sewer-Pipe was allowing only a few meters of sight seeing on both sides. It was like looking from inside a tunnel. There was a road on one side of the pipe and a cloth manufacturing at another side. This view was so smooth on the eyes of Tanak. He kept watching the trucks and all the workers loading and throwing bundles of clothes here and there. He wanted to go and help them in loading. Anything to keep his mind off the girls. But he couldn’t do this because results of going out of this pipe could be scary. He started talking to the dog after sometime.
‘What is your name?’
‘Your name is Bumpy from now.’
'Bumpy.’
‘What is your name? Bumpy.’
‘Bumpy. You are a good god. What are you? A good dog. Whenever someone says Bumpy you have to run towards him or wag your tail with smile.’
‘Bumpy, you like me,’ yeah, everybody liked him. wrong question.
‘Bumpy Bumpy, sat on a wall. Your name is Bumpy’ he said in his heavy slow voice.
‘Bumpy look at my eyes. I am hypnotizing you. Haha. Your name is bumpy when I would snap my fingers. 1..2..3.. snap,’ he snapped with his fingers. Dog opened his mouth and took out its tongue.
‘You are great, Bumpy. Or the ghosts would eat me if I has been alone here.’
‘There are ghosts in lonely places.’
‘When you are not in love you see ghosts.’
‘Haaoo... Hooo.. So, one shouldn't be alone and lonely.’
‘So, you like licking hands, Bumpy. I like licking hands. I like licking legs and faces too.’
Cloth factory seemed new per time he moved his face there. If only he could live here forever. Then he laughed at himself. Flowers would bloom if they had heard this laugh. Too much of sugar it was.
3rd page of the diary