11 Hours

by Daniel Paul Singh

  I always thought to myself that the person I marry should be a ‘perfect’ combination of beauty and brains. Needless to say, she seemed to ‘perfectly’ fit the bill. She was the first and the only girl who made me believe in ‘love at first sight’, rather, ‘second sight’ in our case. I was ready to forgo my principle of ‘marrying only the girl of my mom’s choice’ after seeing her, yes, you read it right, even after seeing her. That’s what our movies teach us, don’t they?

  The classes continued every weekend and I made sure, I took that seat in the class from where I could monitor every move of hers. It was January 2005 and FB wasn’t quite famous, so that was how we men used to stalk women. Through a few friends I came to know that her name was Brindha and that she was studying in the very same school where we had our classes. She stayed somewhere nearby as she used to come to the classes by walk. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any common friends and I still hadn’t gotten an opportunity to talk to her. One day I managed to stealthily follow her to her house in Thillai Nagar. I maintained a considerable distance as I traced behind her when she was about to get into a large house, which was painted in Orange, in the 3rd street of 5th cross. I wondered if Orange was their family color. An old man came near the gate to take her in, should have been her grandpa. She jumped up and plucked a neem leaf that was hanging above her head, as she walked in. Strangely the tree was protruding through their compound wall. I turned around and ran away as quickly as I could before she could notice me.

  K. A. P. School, where we had our classes, did not have a proper restroom. There were several days where we had to control the urge to pee in order to avoid getting into the nasty smelling, awfully maintained toilets. However, on certain days, we couldn’t escape and had to yield to nature’s pressing call. One such day, when I was returning from this painstaking ‘bio’ break, I saw Brindha along with her friend Madhu walking in front of me.

  I felt it to be the best opportunity to initiate a conversation with her and spoke to her casually. “Excuse me, Brindha. How do you guys even study in this school? The restrooms are a mess; they stink so much, there is no water. This is very bad”

  To my surprise, Brindha’s face expression changed to that of an enthusiastic child as she turned around to respond. I thought she was restrained, but when she started talking, she just rattled non-stop!

  “That’s the specialty of our school, you know. Forget about boys’ restroom, the girls’ restroom is even worse! It’s out in the open. Imagine!”

  “I don’t want to imagine. And there are no fans in the classrooms as well. It is hectic with summer approaching.” I continued my list of woes.

  “See, even if there are any fans, they wouldn’t function. They are just showpieces. Only one fan works, and that is placed in the principle room.” she couldn’t have certified her school better.

  “Ha ha ha… I never knew you talk so much. I thought you were a quiet girl.” “Ask about my school, I can give you lectures.” she said and left along with her friend, who stood silent for most of the conversation.

  I was surprised with myself to be able to talk so easily with my ‘crush’. [I considered her as ‘crush’ by then, was too timid to think of ‘love’]. It was fun; it was different, it was what I had been longing for a while. I felt that I was enjoying my ‘boyhood’ to the best only then!

  After that, I made use of every opportunity I got, to talk to her, admire her and dream of our conversations. We had a very small classroom, and the girls and boys occupied adjacent rows. After every class test, we had to exchange our answer sheets with the folks in the next row to get it corrected. I made sure that Brindha’s answer sheets always came to me. All the boys in my class knew by then that I had ‘special feelings’ for her. They addressed her as ‘my girl’. In fact, everyone knew that I had a crush on her, except her.

  Brindha Krishnan... She always wrote her name as ‘Brindha K’ in her answer sheet. Lost in her thought, I even wrote my name as Robin K once, instead of A. I realized what I had done only after I got back my answer sheet post correction. My friends picked up every chance to pull my legs that day leaving me embarrassed.

  On April 1st2005, I decided to propose to her. I had made all plans to secure myself from the pain of being rejected. I had convinced myself saying if she were to accept, all would go well, but if she rejected, I could just say “Happy April Fool’s day” and run away.

  I had bought a red rose and a greeting card and was waiting for her to come out after the class. She came along with her friend Madhu (as always). I approached her nervously. I guess she should have seen me sweating profusely with a visibly trembling hand. I had the rose and the card in my bag. I stopped her for a minute and pulled out the card and the rose and gave it to her.

  She folded her hands and looked at me, expecting me to say something.

  “Would you accept this?” I asked her.

  “What is this?” she questioned.

  “I think... I think... Brindha, I never believed in love at first sight, that’s why I fell for you when I saw you the second time. I haven’t seen a girl more beautiful than you. You have the brains to go with your beauty, and all my life, I had waited to find a girl like you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. I want to live my life for you” I rattled.

  Her face turned pale. I thought that she was about to scream at me and slap. Then, she thought for a moment and took the rose and the card from me.

  “Thank you.” she said.

  “Is that all? Is that a yes?” I asked her.

  “Yes, it is!” She replied.

  I didn’t know how to react. I wanted to run naked around the ground.

  “Like, Really?”

  “Yes, Sir! And... Happy April Fool’s day” She said and bit her lower lip giving me a look of sarcasm.

  I had to react immediately to change the situation in my favor. I acted like I was disappointed that she found out the prank. “Aaaaah! Smart girl... and I thought I could fool you. Better luck next year maybe.” I gave a sheepish smile and wanted to run away.

  “Keep trying.” she said and returned the greeting card and rose to me.

  I felt I was rescued from the guillotine at the very last minute, just before it could cut my neck. I let out a sigh of relief and rushed to my friends, who were eagerly waiting to hear the ‘proposal story’ and its outcome. I narrated as to how thoughtfully I fooled her. The silly things we do when we are kids!

  I dared not to talk to her for a while and kept avoiding any eye contact with her. She seemed to have taken the incident lightly and didn’t change her attitude towards me. The next time I brought myself to talk to her was on the last day of our coaching. All of us were ready with our ‘autograph booklet’ to pass it on to our friends and bid farewell.

  “Write something.” I handed over my booklet to Brindha.

  “Should I write, ‘Happy April Fool’s day’?” She smiled.

  “As you wish.” I smiled uncomfortably.

  “Keep smiling as always, and make your dreams come true.” she wrote.

  “Leave your number as well.” I said shyly.

  “I have written my landline number.” she said and handed over the booklet back to me. That was a decent farewell after all.

  Since it was her landline, I never thought of giving her a call. Also, every time I thought of her, the April Fool’s Day incident came to forefront and I decided against contacting her. Three months later, I got my results, and I secured considerably good marks to get a merit seat in one of the reputed colleges in Trichy. Life changed after college, new people came into life, new friends, new relations, new problems, but still Brindha occupied that corner of my heart somewhere. It was a special place reserved for her.

  Time flew by, and I was in my third year in college and had considerably moved away from constant thoughts of Brindha.

  One fine evening, I was browsing through my old diaries and autograph booklets, when I happened to find the note from her
. As I reminisced the fond memories of her, I felt a gush of hope springing from within. The note had her landline number that she had written three years ago.

  I had no idea if she was still living in the same residence. In all probabilities, they could have vacated the house. Brindha could be studying now in some other city or staying in a hostel. Even if her contact number had not changed, there was no guarantee that she would remember me. May be, I could narrate the April Fool’s incident again. With such uncertain train of thoughts, I dialled her number and waited with bated breath for someone to answer. A young lady answered the phone, and I nervously asked for Brindha. Then, I heard the familiar voice I was waiting for, “Hello!”

  “Hey Brindha, this is Rob. Robin from ASPIRE coaching center. Do you remember?”

  “Of course! I do, Robin. How are you? What a pleasant surprise! How did you get my number? Is today April Fool’s Day?” she responded with her usual enthusiasm.

  “You gave your number to me Brindha, remember? I just can’t believe I am talking to you after so long. I doubted whether your number would have changed by now. And let’s not talk about THAT day.”

  “It’s indeed so nice to speak to you after so many years, Rob. I am so thrilled that you remember me. And I won’t talk about it” she was indeed thrilled as much as I was.

  ‘How can I forget you, my crush?’ I thought to myself.

  “Do you have a mobile? What is your number?” I asked.

  “Tell me yours. I will message you.” she said.

  I didn’t have a mobile then. I was using my dad’s phone for texting. I gave his number, and after a brief conversation, ended my call. Within minutes, I received a message from her mobile number on my dad’s mobile.

  “That was too fast. Thanks for trusting me and giving me your number.” I texted.

  “How could I not trust you, buddy?” she replied.

  Dad had not put any message booster pack then. Every message cost me a rupee. I still went ahead and texted her all evening. The next day, I recharged his phone and added a message booster pack. From then on, there was no looking back. We started exchanging messages often.

  In few days, Diwali festival came, and I so badly wanted to wish her. I texted her several times, but there was no reply. She did not answer my calls either. I missed her so much. I felt bad that I couldn’t wish her on the first special occasion that occurred after we started chatting. I was upset the whole day and didn’t talk to anyone properly.

  The next day, Brindha messaged me.

  “Did you mess me yesterday?”

  I looked at the message for a few minutes confused. Then, I laughed when I recognized the typo. “I didn’t mess you. I missed you yesterday. Belated Diwali wishes to you!”

  “Oh, ok. Thanks.” she replied and followed it with another message, “I too missed you”!

  I was jumping around in my room. I felt like she had accepted my proposal, and I started to announce to everyone in my college that I was seeing this girl and was committed to her. Whenever my classmates tried to tease me with another girl, I would dismiss that thought and say that Brindha was waiting for me.

  It was later when a friend told me that ‘mess’ was the short form of ‘message’! Well, now I felt like a stupid.

  Christmas was around the corner, and I was out shopping with a few of my classmates. We finished shopping and were heading for lunch, when one of my friend’s friend joined us casually. We all got introduced to this new entrant named, Ramya. She told us that she studied in PARCET, the same college as that of Brindha.

  “Wait. PARCET? Do you know Brindha? She studies there. Brindha Krishnan... medium-built, my height, fair?”

  “Brindha Krishnan... I mean... Are you referring to Brindha

  Ramesh?”

  “No. Brindha Krishnan.” I corrected her.

  “I don’t know her full name, but they all call her Brindha Ramesh.

  Ramesh is her boyfriend’s name.” Ramya gave me the shock of my

  life.

  “What?” My castle came down tumbling.

  ₪ ₪ ₪

  Chapter 11

  The Scheme of Things Prabhu looked down at me with contempt when I said I needed to find Brindha. He couldn’t comprehend why I was talking about some other woman when I was supposed to be searching my wife.

  “What do we do now, Prabhu?” I asked him.

  “Well, you have to tell me. Who is that girl?”

  “Brindha is my friend from Trichy. The last I know of her; she

  was in Australia. I have lost contact with her. I have no clue where she is now, how I am going to find her, and more importantly, why I have to find her.” I retorted in a single breath.

  “Do you have any of her numbers which she had shared with you in the past? Can’t you think of any way to contact her now?” he asked. “I do. I have about three different contact numbers of hers, one Australian and two Indian, but I am pretty sure she isn’t using any of them. Someone else is using her India number which I came to know from its WhatsApp DP and the Australia number took me to an automated voice the last time I called. Her other India number is deactivated. She has also deactivated her Facebook account. To add to the misery, I have missed her landline number as well. I don’t even remember the name of anyone from her family, other than her dad. She hasn’t replied to any of my emails for the past seven months. Come on, Prabhu! Didn’t you read my blog about her?”

  “No, I didn’t read your blog. But, why did you mail her for seven months when she did not reply?”

  “Just to know if she was doing fine, that’s all. It shouldn’t be a concern now. Let us think of how we can find her.”

  Prabhu was lost in his thoughts for some time. I gazed at him. He was lean, 6’4 and fair. He had recently suffered a stroke and had drastically lost weight. He still wore his old clothes that didn’t fit him, and it made him look much older than his age. Prabhu was a genius, to say the least. I could always bank on him in times of trouble. He was an excellent problem solver. I trusted him to come up with some plan or the other which would help us to move forward in this puzzle. Prabhu let out a determined sigh, and I knew he was ready for the adventure.

  “Well Rob, you told that Brindha is not on Facebook, right? Are you sure that she has deactivated her account, or is she just in hiding mode?” he asked me.

  “How in the world would I know? And what is the difference between the two”

  “Never mind... Give me all the numbers of hers that you have and her mail ID.”

  “Official mail ID or personal?”

  “Do you know her official mail ID as well?”

  “Of course, I do. She worked for VCS and went to Australia for an onsite assignment. What time will it be in Australia now?”

  “Early morning, why?”

  “I have a few friends in Australia. Maybe, I could get their help. They could tell me which area the number belongs to, and may be, go check on her.”

  “Didn’t you just say that the number took you to an automated voice?” Prabhu questioned.

  “I did, yes, but what’s wrong in trying?”

  “Alright then, give me all her numbers which you have, all her mail IDs, and call all your friends who you think could help.” Prabhu told me.

  I gave him all the details and made a WhatsApp call to my friend in Australia, Jithesh.

  “How are you, Rob? Long time!” Jithesh was excited when he answered.

  “I am doing fine, Jith. How are you?” I made the customary enquiries.

  “All going well. Tell me, sir! How are things, how is life, how is your wife?”

  “Yeah, all are fine, Jith. Can you do me a favor? I will give you an Australian number. Would it be possible for you to find out who used it? It’s a bit urgent.”

  “What! How urgent?” he questioned.

  “I don’t have the time to explain now, really. I need it immediately. Can you please help me?”

  “Okay, if you say so, let me do it. When do
you need the details?”

  “Maybe, in the next fifteen minutes?”

  “Shit! Are you crazy, Rob? Anyways, send me the number. I will try.”

  Jithesh was a software engineer who had settled down in Australia after his marriage. As I waited for his response eagerly, Prabhu tapped me on my shoulder and said, “Check this out, Rob!”

  “What is this?” I asked.

  We were looking at an Australian telephone exchange website. I wondered how he accessed that.

  Prabhu wasn’t a hacker; I knew that for sure.

  “How did you access it?” I asked bewildered.

  “Remember that CEH class I asked you to join? Well, I am a Certified Ethical Hacker now! I learned this from there.” Prabhu replied.

  “Thank goodness you attended it. You are great Prabhu” I praised him.

  “You know, I have even hacked the websites of our local cab services, just for fun. At times, I manage to get free services from them using my skills.” Prabhu said proudly.

  “Duh, Prabhu! And that by no means is ethical hacking bro. So, what have we got now?” I asked.

  “I know all that crap. Listen, the number is defunct for 6 months. No one is using it now.” he continued.

  “Won’t they give it to someone else?” I pondered.

  “They would, but am not sure why it is still defunct. No use in tracing it, forget it. What next? You want to trace the India number”

  “No use, someone else is using that number. Is there a way we could hack her Facebook account and find any details? Anything about her friends or relatives? If we can get their numbers, they should know her whereabouts. The last I knew, she had a boyfriend. His name is… Well, it starts with G… some Ganpath. See if you can find him. Ganpath is from Hyderabad, working in Bangalore VCS. Then… I remember she has a cousin. She is very close to her. I forgot her name, though… Maybe, I will remember if I can browse through her friend’s list. Other than these people, we don’t have any other common friends at all.”

  “How did you become friends then, you and her, Rob?”

  “This is not the time to narrate the story, Prabhu. Just search on Facebook if you can find Ganpath or hack her account.”