The Stranger
While Raji was busily packing her stuffs she felt some one's presence behind her...she very well aware who that was..
"Yenna venum paa.."she asked without even looking back..
"Raji maa kelambitiyaa...?"her father asked her..
She turned to his side and asked.. "Yenna vishayam paa..?"
She had guessed he was up to something..
"Raji maa adhu vandhu.."he dragged the sentence reluctantly..
She understood the point clearly...
"Yenna.. yennoda kalyaana vishayamaa..?" she asked sarcastically..
Her father hesitated even more.. to continue with the topic..
"Appaa... naan yevlo dhadavai solli iruken... yenakku ippo kalyaanam venaamnu..."
"Idhaiye dhaaan nee moonu varushamaa solra..unnoda padicha pullaingalukku yellaam kalyaanam aagi pullai kutty nu santhoshamaa irukaanga.."he was grumbling..
"Appaa.. adhukaaga yaarunne theriyaadha oruthana yeppadi paa kattikaradhu..?"
She had fed up with talking about t this topic...
"Illai maa..idhu romba nalla idam ..paiyan nalla padippu ,velai..nalla kudumbam...paiyanum parka romba nallaa irukaaru maa.."he was trying very hard to convince her adamant daughter..
"Appaa ore oru dhadavai paarkara oruthara vaazhkai muzhukka kooda varravaraa yeppadi paa select panradhu..." she clearly stated her disapproval ...
"Appo nee yaaraiyaa vadhu manasula vachirukiyaa maa?"he asked in surprise..
"Appadi yaaraiyum naan meet pannalaiye paa..." she smiled naughtily..
"Yenna maa nee,neeyum yaaraiyum paarka maata..naan paarkura maapilaikkum othukka
maatennaa ,idhukku yenna dhaan vazhi?"
She was about to say something and stopped in mid by seeing the anxious face of his father..
She had decided to give a chance this time..for the sake of her sweet loving father..
"Ok paa,vara sollunga andha paiyana..but indha ponnu paakaradhu ,coffee kudukaradhu ,vizhundhu kumbiduradhu idhellaam naan panna maaten..yedhaavadhu oru public place la casual meeting ku arrange pannunga...naan pesi paarthu yenakku pudichirundhaa dhaan further aa proceed pannanum..yenakku pudikalainaa avlo dhaan yennai compel panna koodaadhu solliten.."
She said very stricktly..
"Idhu podhum maa ,naan yerpaadu panren.."
She smiled seeing her father's childlike amusement..
"Aanaa onnu..idhellaam naan oorukku poittu vandha piragu dhaan.. ok vaa?"
"Sari maa..nee badhirama poittu vaama..."
She stuffed her luggage in the dickey.
Her father was little worried about her daughter driving alone.. but he very well knew that her stubborn daughter won't listen to him ...
"Raji maa paarthu porumaiyaa ottumaa.."
"Appaa naan paarthukaren neenga kavalai padaadhennga...bye paa.neenga udamba paarthukonga..."
She reached the national highways and the car flew in top gear..
She was heading towards Kodaikanal hills to spend her vacation in her friend Lakshmi's place...
Raji had informed about her arrival to Lakshmi and let the stereo slammed her ear drums ...
She had reached the down hills of kodai and got her toll ticket and started climbing the hills...
She was enjoying the ride and stopped at some view points and had taken her selfies..
While turning in one narrow bent.. Suddenly she had noticed one Omni bus was coming from the other side without the indication horn..so she had to apply sudden brake to stop the car at the right moment avoiding the accident..
But she heard a sudden bang on the right side of her car at the back and she was baffled ...
She looked in her revive view mirror and had found that an innova car had hit her car from behind...
She got down from her car and examined the damage of her car..
The rear body was totally damaged and she knew her costly car will swallow a lump sum for its repair..
Her anger seeped in and she walked angrily towards the innova...
Mean time the passengers of the other car also got down ..they were six young men ...Raji was shocked at first but composed herself quickly ...walked near them and asked .. "What the hell you people was thinking while driving..?Who is the driver here..?"she asked angrily..
One person came in front amongst others and said he was the driver..
She very well knew it was not her mistake ..they should have kept safe distance from her car so that they could have avoided the collision at the right time...
She blasted that driver for his irresponsible driving..
The driver apologized to her and accepted his mistake..
"Sorry madam thappu yennodadhu dhaan...neenga sollunga yenna panalaam.."he asked very politely..
"Yenna pannalaamaa...nadaiya police station ku..andha pakkam paarthiyaa...yevlo periya pallam ,nee idicha speed ku car palla thula urundirundhaa yenna aaguradhu..?nee appadiye cool aah oru sorry sonnaa mudinjidumaa..?" she was nowhere to be stopping..
Eventually other travelers who were all passing there also stopped and started watching the happenings...
The co passengers of the innova had watched that fight mutely for a while and one man came forward and said.. "Mam unga problem la yegaloda travel affect aagudhu...we are accepting that it's our mistake..its a travels's car, hae is the driver sent by the travels...so u can take him along with u to the police station..."
Then only she noticed that it was a yellow board car...
They had left the driver alone with her and rode away in a jiffy...
She doesn't know what to do next she went blank...now she was left all alone with a complete stranger in a deserted place...her stomach churned in fear..
She shook her head to come out of her weird thoughts and took a deep breath to think clearly ..she had taken the snaps of the damaged portion of the car and also as a precautionary step she took the photo of that driver as well without his knowledge..she had decided going to police wouldn't do any good,so she decided to go to the nearest service station to estimate the damage...
"Kadavule... yenna thalai vali idhu...?"she thought in frustration ...
She enquired about the nearest service station ..but none gave fruitful answer..
She stopped the car and called her friend Lakshmi...
She briefly explained the situation and asked her help..
"Hey ,yenna di solra..sorry Raji I couldn't come right now ,as I am going to receive some guests shortly...
Nee anga irundhu innum oru 20 kilometres ponaa oru service station varum anga poi paaru...naan appuramaa call panren..aaannnggg pls be careful with that stranger ..."
"Ok lakshmi.."she cut the call the threw her mobile in frustration..
"Yenna aachi..?"he asked slowly..
"Service station innum 20 kilo meters thalli irukaam..." she gave an angry glare to him ..
After travelling for one hour they had reached the service station...
To her utter dismay it was closed as it was Sunday...she kicked the ground in annoyance...
Then She called the service centre in her home town .. and had sent the photos of the damaged part through mail..After examined the photos they said ..she might have to spend 5 to 8 thousand in hand apart from the insurance claim...
Raji decided to ask for 15 thousand from that driver..
She called that driver who was speaking in his phone to someone...he had cut the immediately and came near her...
"15 thousand kaila irundhu selavu pannanum nu solraanga..." she said looking straight into his eyes..
"Iyooo avlo panathukku naan yenga poven..madam naan romba saadhaaranamaana aalu...konjam paarthu seiyunga..."it seemed he was perplexed hearing the amount...
"Adhai yellaam nee idikaradhukku munnadi think panni irukanum.."she reverted back nicely..
He bowed his head down defeated..some where it melted her heart slightly...
"Sari yevlo thara mudiyum...?"she asked...
"Oru 5 thousand naa yerpaadu pannalaam.."he replied meekly..
"Appo unnoda thappukku naan dhandam azhanumaa...naangalum kashta pattu dhaan sambaadhikirom..." she replied stubbornly..
"Saringa oru 8 thousand naan yerpaadu panren.."he said finally..
Her mind jumped in joy.But she acted as if she was not convinced with the amount and finally she agreed reluctantly..
"Naan yen friend kitta solli arrange pannanum madam.. adhukku konjam time yedukkum.." he asked for some time..
"Ok adhukkulla yen friend oda estate ku polaam ..unnoda friend ah anga konduvandhu thara sollu..."
Both started the journey again...
It had already crossed the lunch time..she could hear the grumbling sound of her stomach and had decided to have a lunch in nearby hotel..
She had found a decent three star hotel with in a kilometer ...
"Lunch saapidalaam vaa.."she called him..
"Illainga vendaam..." he denied softly...
"Patni kedakkaradhaala yenna aaga pogudhu.vaa vandhu saapidu..."
She insisted him to come..he was hesitating seeing the grand hotel and followed her reluctantly...
She ordered naan and paneer gravy for herself and he said briyani for himself..
After the food has come they served it in plates and started eating in silence...finally she ordered for an ice-cream and relished it slowly...she had noticed him eyeing the ice cream frequently..
"Paavam Baskin Robbins' laam ivan life la saapite iruka maataan..?"she pitied him and ordered one more for him. At First he hesitated to take that but later he accepted..
She had glanced the sight of him enjoying every bite..which brings smile to her lips..
After they finished their food the waiter had brought the bill ...on seeing the bill his mouth opened in shock...
It was almost crossed 1000...
She paid the bill using her card..and excused herself to wash room..
While she had returned back..
Raji got a call from Lakshmi asking about her where about..
"Yenga iruka Raji nee..? innum veetukku varalai...?'
"Romba pasi Lakshmi adhaan hotel la saapida vandhirukom.. ippa udane kelambi varen.."
"Hey... avana immum kooda kootitu suthittu irukiyaa? Lakshmi asked in shock..
"Yenna panradhu lakshmi avan innum panam tharalaiye..avan friend arrange pannitu irukaanaam.."
"Hey.. yennadi solra...adhu romba dangerous... panam ponaa pogudhu nee avana kazhatti vittutu udane kelambi vaa.." she almost ordered her..
"Hey illa paa,avana paarthaa konjam nallavan maadhiri dhaan irukku..vera oruthanaa irundhaa idichitu niruthaama poi irupaan..ippadi koodave varamaataan.." Unknowingly she had defended him..
"Be careful Raji..."Lakshmi warned her again...
"Naan paarthukaren Lakshmi..yedhaavadhu vaal aattinaa oru karate punch la avan mooka odaichiduven u don't worry.." Raji assured her..
While talking to Lakshmi she had seen him talking over phone..but suddenly he disappeared from her sight...
She was shocked and came out running in search of him..
He was nowhere to be seen ..then she concluded that he had eloped damaging her car and even filling his stomach in her money..she felt cheated..
"What a shameless creature .."she thought bitterly about him..
"Polaamaa madam" she jerked back with a sudden voice and looked back at him in shock..
"Wash room poi irundhen..."he gave the answer to her questioning eyes..
She was feeling ashamed of herself to think so low of him..
With the mind full of guilt.. she had not concentrated on the road as a result her leg bumped hard on the hard stone..and she was about to fall..he caught her in a jiffy by her waist before she hit the hard ground.
She was badly hurt her leg and it was bleeding heavily..with a gasp...he bent down near her leg and held her leg in his hands ..she shhh...ed...'in pain..
"Yenna madam paarthu vara koodaadhaa.." he tied his kerchief around the wound carefully without hurting her as far as he could...
She was watching all these in astonishment..
She couldn't even walk properly as her leg pained so badly .. seeing her limping while walking...he supported her by her shoulder and made her to sit in the passenger seat and he took the driver seat..
And drove to the nearest hospital...
He carefully placed her in wheel chair and brought her to the causality..
Doctor checked the wound and prescribed some medicines and injection..
He hesitated for a second...
Seeing his state she offered money from her wallet..he denied that and rushed out to get those medicines.
After the treatment she was returning to the car with the help of the nurse...
Seeing her nearing the car, he hurriedly cut the call by saying.. "Love u too dear..."
As Raji was already reached the car and she could clearly heard his last words...
"Love u too dear.."
She stood rooted to her place..
Don't know why she doesn't like the fact that he was having a girl friend or wife..
She asked "Yaaru wife aa?"As casually as she could hiding her curiosity..
"Yenna keteenga..?"he asked in confusion..
"Illai phone la yaaru... wife aa nu keten.."she replied casually as if she was not interested in that matter..
"Illai.. yenakku innum kalyaanam aagalai.."he replied with a smile...
"Appo girl friend aa?"While she asked her breath caught in her lungs..and was very anxiously waiting for his answer..
"Illai..adhu yennoda ammaa.."he said with a grin.
She sighed in relief ..
"Polaama..?"he asked her with an unfathomable glint in his eyes..
She nodded for a "Yes.."
She said the address to Laskmi's estate and leaned on the seat comfortably..
Her mind was in a total mess..she didn't know what does it mattered to her if he got a girl friend or not? Why she was showing so much interest regarding that matter..? The more she was thinking about it.. She was falling in more confusion..
She snapped open his eyes with a sudden brake of the car..
"Oh god..naan thoongitenaa?adhuvum munna pinna theriyaadha oruthan kooda thaniyaa travel pannum podhu..how stupid and careless I am..? She chided herself for her stupidity..
She looked around the place and found that they have reached Lakshmi's place..
She sighed and got down from the car..
Lakshmi came running and hugged Raji..
"Thank god u r safe...unnai paarkura varaikkum naan yevlo tension aa irundhen theriyumaa..?
Lakshmi went on and on..and stopped in mid by seeing the stranger getting down from the driver seat ...
"Raji ivan dhaan andha accident party aa?" Lakshmi whispered in Raji's hear..
She blinked her eyes.. Indicating for a yes..
"Neenga veliyave wait pannunga..naan ippo varen.."Raji said to him and started walking towards Lakshmi's home..
"Hey Raji yenna di kaalula yenna achu?avan accident panninadhula unakku adi pattudichaa..?iru avana police la pudichi kudukaren.." Lakshmi got furious..
"Iyooo illai di,idhu naanaa dhaan theriyaama idichikiten..avan dhaan yennai hospital ku koottitu ponaan..." Raji doesn't like that Lakshmi was thinking very low of him..
"Hey nee solradha paarthaa avan nallavan dhaan pola.."
Lakshmi asked raji to relax for a while and she went to look after her guests...
Raji slowly walked on the back yard to enjoy the lake view...she had seen him sitting in the park bench and watching the scenery ..he looked more like a statue and an another part of the nature..
She sat at the other corner of the bench without looking at him..
Silence prevailed between them...suddenly out of blue she asked..
"Neenga yenna padichirukeenga..?"
He looked back at her in surprise but she was only watching the vast lake not at him...
They had started conversing with their eyes fixed to the lake..
"Yen kekkureenga..?"
"Chummaa dhaan..."
"Degree padichiruken..."
"Degree padichittu ..yen driver velai panreenga...?" she asked in disbelief...
"Yendha velaiyum kedaikalai...adhaan kadaicha velai ya seiyaren..."he replied casually...
"Neenga venaa unga resume ah yenakku forward pannunga ,naan yedhaavadhu velaikku try panni paakuren..." at that moment she felt the most important thing in her life was to help him to get out of his poverty..
He looked back at her and smiled brightly and nodded his head affirmatively...she too turned his side and their eyes met ..
Their trance had broken by the sudden buzz of his phone...
He attended the call immediately averting his gaze from her...
"Madam yennoda friend vandhutaan veliya wait panraan...irunga money vaangittu vandhuduren..."he informed and walked off quickly..
This time she had no doubt on him whether he would elope ...she very well knew he would come back with money..
She was feeling pity on him...
"Andha 8000 avanukku nichayam periya amount aa dhaan irukkum...perhaps it might have his one month salary...paavam andha kadana adaikka yenna kashta pada poraano"
She was worried for his state...
He came back with a money after a while..
"Indhaanga madam idhula 8 thousand irukku.."
She didn't even moved a bit and stood still..
"Illai paraavallai adhai neegale vachikonga..panam yedhuvum vendaam..."
"Thappu panninaa.. dhandanai anubavichi dhaane aaganum...yennai pathi kavalai padaadheenga rendu long trip ponaa indha panatha naan sambaadhichiduven...idha vanngi konga.."
Seeing her standing like a statue..he grabbed her hand and dumped the money in it...
"Saringa ..appa naan varen.."he had started walking off...
She had seen the money in her hand and then looked out for him..
She felt some part of her body was leaving her while watching him leaving ..her eyes pooled automatically...she doesn't know what was happening to her..she just wanted to run back to him..but she puts all her wits together to control herself from doing that idiotic act.. he was about to take the turn..then only she had realized she didn't even know his name..
She called him loudly.. "Hello unga peru yenna ..?"
He turned towards her with a big smile on his face...
"Karthik.."he replied..
"karthik..." she told his name once in her mind..
Then she shouted back... "Yennoda per Raji..."
His smile grew even bigger and said "Theriyum.." and he disappeared in the bent..
She stood rooted to her place ...Theriyumaa yeppadi..?
Her thought was hindered by the sudden ringing of her mobile..she answered the call without even seeing the display..
"Hello.."she said in a daze..
"Hello Raji maa..oorukku poi serndhutiyaamaa..?phone panna ve illai.."her father's worried voiced brought her back fully from her dazed state..
"Ippa dhaan paa vandhen..."
"Sari maa,un kitta mukkiyamaa oru vishayam solla dhaan phone panninen.."
"Yennapaa."
"Kaalaila sonnenla maa..oru alliance ah pathi..andha maappillai kodaikanal dhaan vandhirukaaraam..unnai naalaikku vandhu paakurennu sonaar maa..maapillai ku Lakshmi veetu address kuduthiruken...naalaikku meet panni pesidumaa..." her father almost pleaded her..
"Appaa... yenna paa ippadi dhideernnu solreenga.." Raji was annoyed..
"Sorry maa... avanga ippa dhaan yenakke sonnaanga...pls maa appaakaaga othukonmaa...naan vaakku koduthuten..
Nee lakshmi koodaiye poi paaru..naan maappillai photo ,phone number rendum "WhatsApp" la anuparen nee paarthukonmaa.."
Sari maa naan appuram call panren bye maa.."
"Aaahh Raji onnu solla marandhuten..maapillai oda peru Karthik..sariyaa maa..vachidaren bye.."
She mouthed an airy "bye" to her father..
The name Karthik brought back life in her..
Her mobile beeped indicating the "WhatsApp" message..
She hurriedly opened the image sent by her father..
Her confused face beamed in delight seeing HIM smiling at her on the screen..
The end..
Hi friends,
This is the "one short story" on KR...suddenly this story line crossed my mind so I have written this story..
If u liked it and wished for an another part..i could write on more part to this story..
Other wise this is the end of this story..
Thanks for reading this story...
Cricket
Udne Ki Aasha
Veer Hanuman
Anupamaa
