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Route # 34

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by sojourner, Apr 26, 2011.

  1. sojourner

    sojourner Silver IL'ite

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    When I was growing up in Chennai, bus Route # 34 played an important part in our lives. It would pass us as we went to school and came back. We saw it as we played on a nearby college grounds in the evenings. It also provided us an escape to go to fancy places like Mount Road and Marina. There was a girl called Padma whom some of us studied with for a while. Her father was one of the drivers on this route -- this also made us feel a particular closeness to it.

    There was a boy called Raju in our neighborhood, who was about my age. In good writing, you are supposed to "show" and not "tell", i.e., describe events and happenings so that readers can form their own opinions of the characters, rather than come out and state what each character was like. Since I am not a particularly good writer and especially since I don't want to be late for work [:)], I will violate this rule and come out and state what everybody thought of Raju: he had a screw or two loose.

    One summer, I went to stay with some relatives in Triplicane (taking Route #34, I am sure). When I came back, I found out that I had missed all kinds of interesting things at home. (Story of my life.) Raju had told somebody that he was in love with Padma and that he was going to marry her. (He must have been in 9th or 10th grade then.) I am sure that she did absolutely nothing to encourage this nonsense. However, this was still bad news for her -- her name was going to be tarnished. One day, Raju was walking along the road, without a care in the world. A bus was coming from his front. It happened to be Route #34, with Padma's father driving it. Seeing Raghu, the cause of major grief for him, was too much for Padma's father. (The news about Raju's bragging must have spread.) He stopped the bus in the middle of the road, came out, and punched Raju in the face. (He could have lost his job because of this but I don't think that he did, fortunately.)

    This news also spread. I am sure that Raju's parents beat him up. The next thing everybody heard was that Raju decided to kill himself and went and lied on the train tracks near Nungambakkam station. His parents went and got him. It later turned out that Raju did not actually lie on the train tracks but about ten feet away from it, but this was still high drama.

    About thirty years after this, I was eating at a restaurant of long standing in Chennai. Our host was Raju's brother. For a moment I thought of introducing myself to him but decided against it.
     
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  2. sreemanavaneeth

    sreemanavaneeth Gold IL'ite

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    Hello sir,

    Good evening. Route #34 took a very good diversion at the end. One way good you have not introduced yourself to Raju's brother. Still you are not aware what has exactly happened to Raju?? You have nicely summarised and made me laugh. OLDEN DAYS ARE GOLDEN DAYS ALWAYS
     
  3. rgsrinivasan

    rgsrinivasan IL Hall of Fame

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    Leads to a very good plot Sojourner. Nice to read such incidents any day. Thanks. -rgs
     
  4. mssunitha2001

    mssunitha2001 IL Hall of Fame

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    >>>>"what everybody thought of Raju: he had a screw or two loose."

    So funny .....:rotfl:rotfl


    Teenage memories.....They seem crazy as years roll on...right ????!!!!!!!!!
     
  5. SARASVADIVU

    SARASVADIVU Silver IL'ite

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    Hello sir,

    Enjoyed reading it..especially had a :biglaughat this:
    ....>everybody thought of Raju: he had a screw or two loose.

    Pora pokkila yaaravathu film-maker unga title-a register panna chances irukku:)
    (remember there was a tamil movie 12-B)

    Cheers

    Saras
     

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