Margazhi Pookal - Baagam 3

'Minutes spent with a pretty woman are like seconds, Minutes spent waiting for her are like years'. Vijay was in an highly excited and nervous state. Images of every encounter with Nalini, started rolling through his mind. 'How great it would be, If she said yes', he thought. Minutes turned into hours and time shot past the midnight. The bearer and manager started giving uneasy looks at his table. After convincing himself that he was too hasty in his approach, vijay decided to leave home. He felt like his heart had been shattered to pieces. 'What have I done, She wont even consider me as her friend anymore.. I have lost a wonderful person's relationship', he blamed himself. He was in no state to control where his bike was going. The streets of same old singara chennai, seemed to him like hell and everywhere he turned, he saw her angry face. Being not able to take it anymore, he drove straight to the beach. Parking his bike near the gandhi statue, without even bothering to take his keys, he walked straight to the shore.


Vijay wanted to cry his feelings out loud. He had after all, not spoken to anyone about his feelings for her. It was this day that he had chosen to express himself to nalini. He laid down flat, with his back on the stand and started gazing at the stars. Love is an expression of heart that need not necessarily be reciprocated, he assuaged himself. 'It was not her fault that she did not develop a feeling of love in her heart towards him.' This also doesnt mean that his love for her is going to diminish. He closed his eyes and nalini's face appeared in a flash. 'Eh...Yaarura anga... Enna thanniya, vera ethavatha...', vijay woke up to a coarse voice. The shimmering moon light revealed a dark man with a white moustache and lathi in his hand. Vijay's explanations were not enough to convince the police constable, who decided to book him in a 'sandheha case'. It was the month end and obviously there were some numbers to be tallied in the ledgers. Vijay did not have his company ID card with him, so he decided to call his friend nandhu.


Nandhu was half-asleep when his cell-phone rang. 'Yaarunga athu...intha nerathula.. Unga officela ungala vitta vera izhicha vayane illaya...', nandhu's wife started her usual puzhambal. Nandhu was a team lead and such late night phone calls were a usual phenomenon. Putting on his glasses, he reached for the cell phone. 'Vijay Calling...' , at this time.. he was puzzled. 'Sorry to disturb you at this moment da...One small problem..I am at the marina beach, near gandhi statue.. Can u meet me here? I forgot my ID card and I need to prove my identity to the constable'. Nandhu drove his car to the beach and got the issue settled.


'Any problem?', nandhu asked vijay. 'Sorry to disturb you at this late in the night da... Manasu seri illa athu thaan beachkku vanthen'. Nandhu was a smart person and he sensed that vijay was terribly upset over something. 'Ethuva irunthalum... Naalu peru kitta share pannina... Baaram kurayum', he advice vijay. It was already a very hectic night for nandhu and these words were enough to trigger his outburst. He explained everything, from the day he met nalini, to his painful wait at the taj. 'Ivalo thaan mattera... Ethachum avasara velai irunthurukkum da... Nee vena paaru nalaikku unna meet panni pesuva paaru...', nandhu consoled vijay. Deciding that it was unwise to leave vijay alone, he escorted him to his house.


Next day at office, vijay could not help staring at the empty seat behind his back. Nalini had not turned up for work that day. Vijay could not help thinking that she was so angry with him, that she had decided to stay back at home. He couldn't do any work that day and his mind was completely occupied by nalini. At lunch, he started a 'casual' conversation with nalini's manager and asked her about nalini. She told him that nalini had called her up yesterday and asked leave for three days. This news seemed to worsen his already humongous guilt.


After a long time, he was spending day without nalini by his side. It was hard for him to spend every minute. Her face kept throbbing his mind all day. He realized that he had grown so used to her company in so little time, that he couldnt do without her. 'I was an idiot to have ruined such a wonderful relationship...', he said to himself. His mind was already thinking of ways to mend their friendship, but he had nagging doubt at the back of his mind that it was going to be impossible.