Friday, December 10, 2010

Chettipuniam Nights II

According to the encyclopedic knowledge of Varunopedia, the following defines the bizarre creature known as the multi-tongued-toad –

Multi-Tongued-Toad
From Varunopedia, the vetti encyclopedia

(Amphibious distant cousin of the Babel Fish)
For other uses, see Repulsive Creatures stuck to Cycle Tyres (Disambiguation)



A multi-tongued-toad will prey on your stupidity and translate the language of animals for you. In order to make the multi-tongued-toad work for you, you need to continue making stupid comments and it will then get pumped up and start translating the language of animals into whatever language you made the stupid comments in.

As for VBK, he never runs out of making stupid comments such as ‘Oh, came back from FC huh. Had your lunch?’ or, ‘Hey that car has so much dust on it, I think it’s not been cleaned for a long time!’

Now, it so happened that Mr. VBK chanced upon one of these Multi Tongued Toads stuck to the front wheel of his bicycle. (See picture for reference) He gingerly lifted it, placed it in his pocket and continued walking. Since stupidity was in abundance, the toad automatically powered up and stated translating the language of dogs for him. So now, VBK could comprehend dog talk. (Yeaa baby, another Dr. Dolittle at your disposal)

Just as he was cycling out of Mcity and into the previously described shady area of Chettipuniam, he heard voices talking. The mutli tongued toad started translating in a scratchy voice, and it was then that VBK realized that he was overhearing the conversation between two dogs.

“Bro, check this fool out. His girlfriend threw a stone at Kabali today.”

“Yea? Let’s give him some pain.”

Suddenly out of nowhere, two vicious and sufficiently toothy dogs were running towards VBK, claws out, teeth sharp and glinting.

VBK saw them running towards him with kolai veri (License to Kill) and panicked. He mounted his cycle as soon as he could, but in the process of mounting the bicycle, a prominent RRRIIIPPP could be heard; that was when he looked down and noticed, to his horror, a gaping hole in his pants.

What was worse, the Multi Tongued Toad decided to make a grand entrance through the hole into… Err… Into VBK’s private chambers.

VBK was screaming his head off and pedaling as hard as he could so that he could get away from the chasing dogs and also so that the toad would not move further into the … Forbidden territory. In the process he almost ran over an old man who was walking along the road trying to smell the flowers (But ended up getting stung after a few unidentified insects decided to take a bite at his bulging nose)

Anyway the point is, by the time VBK got away from the dogs on his bicycle, he had reached such a speed that the friction between the road and the tyres had put top speeds of the Need for Speed cars to shame and had busted the cycle tyres. He had no way out. The next morning, he would have to walk. And why did all this start? All because Swapna threw a stone at a dog. He wanted to kill her. He wanted to positively, and literally, ensure that she ‘went to the dogs’.

That night, VBK got some moral motivation from his roommate Don on how to do some teeth smashing, nail pulling and other horrific things in that genre. Now that his cycle was unusable, he dismantled the cycle stand from it and now, armed with this weapon, went to meet his fate.

In the middle of the Chettipuniam road where Lorries flattened the Earth, infiltrated the air with endless amounts of dust and jobless people took refuge, VBK the cycle stand warrior went forth. It was at this time, that the dog spoke and this was in turn translated by the Multi Tongued Toad –

“So, you have come to die. So be it.”

“No, I have come to watch you die.”

“Me, die? I would love to see you try!” Barked the dog.

“I’m going to kill you, mangy mutt!”

FREEEEEEZE! This if you recall, is the beginning of our story. And this, my friends, is the unfortunate turn of events which led to VBK being mistaken for a ruthless serial killer and child abuser. It was his misfortune that a small child had been standing in the way of the dog and VBK; this made people think that VBK was actually going to slaughter the poor kid. This was the picture I had painted.

Now, slowly zoom out and notice the intricate details of the painting. This painting hangs in the middle of Chettipuniam tea shop in the year 2020, because the story of VBK and his adventures in Chettipuniam went on to become legendary, and every time a frustrated young software professional goes in and lights a cigarette to drown his frustration, he looks upon this painting and draws inspiration. The cycle stand which was almost used there lies today in the museum of venerable artifacts, as depicted below. Watch out for more Chettipuniam night chronicles.



VBK's Cycle stand in the museum of venerable artifacts

Monday, October 11, 2010

How I Breached the Gates of Hell - I

I knew I was dead.

Why? I remember pushing in more vodka shots than I could handle and abusing my boss so much that kids and conservative women would commit suicide without a second thought after hearing it; I remember I accosted a random public transport bus; I remember politely asking the driver to get the fuck outta the driver’s seat, and when he didn’t oblige I remember pummeling his head with my ancient Nokia 3100 (People always used to call it sengal, so I thought I would use it likewise), throwing him out and then with an air of Aurangzeb ousting Shahjahan and taking the throne, I ascended the throne of the bus and started driving it in a haphazard manner. It’s not every day that you get to beat up bus drivers and drive buses. And of course, it’s not every day that you die.

That railway crossing I stopped the bus on? Well, let’s just say some stuff on that bus and on that train won’t be the same any longer.

Through the hazy mist, in the bleary distance I observed a cloaked and mysterious figure approaching me. As he came closer, I realized that he was too handsome to be real. His features were carved out so perfectly that he put the statue of David and Michelangelo to shame ten times over. He came over with an air of absolute nonchalance, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Oh wait, I should bite my tongue. I don’t think I’m in the world anymore. He spoke like he was so bored of everything, especially me
.
His tone patronized every cell in my body.

“Ah, welcome, software engineer (SE) number 85,236,574,911,235,841.”

“What?”

“Oh, you’re dead and you’re at the gates of hell.”

“Hell?! What the… HELL?!”

“Yes, now that curse shall acquire more meaning.”

“You gotta be kidding me man. Jesus Christ!”

“Ah, ah, ah. That kind of cursing is not allowed in hell, Mr. SE.”

“Come on! Why am I in hell? I’ve never used f*** and Jesus Christ in the same
sentence, I’ve never …”

“Save your breath while I list out the reasons why you’re here.”

This was absolutely crazy! Why the hell was I in hell?

“For starters, you just parked a bus on the railway tracks. There were 12 people on the bus that couldn’t make it out of there when the train rammed the bus, and the train which came in? The driver and 6 people died on that. You are responsible for the deaths of 18 people. Include yourself. 19 people. That’s worse than most serial killers.”

“But I didn’t do it intentionally! I was just a guy who got pissed with his software job and wanted some fun!”

He shrugged and lit a cigarette with the same nonchalance he had exhibited before. He spoke again.

“Well, as the ruler of this realm, I have nothing to say. I do not sympathize or empathize with you.”

“You are the ruler... You are the devil?!”

“Some call me that, yes.”

“What the… The devil smokes?”

“Why not? And no lung cancer or any other monstrosities associated with it.”

“So how does hell work?”

“Simple. A guy called Coelho said the universe conspires to give you what you want if you really want it. Here it happens in reverse. If you want something really badly, hell makes sure you don’t get it.”

“Err.. I guess that’s how life works for everyone in a non Paulo Coelho world.”

“Whatever. Who cares? So, you’re a software engineer huh. Allow me to outline your duties.”

“Duties?! Nooooooo. Don’t tell me. Please, please, I give you full permission to do anything heinous. Eye gouging, limb pulling, merciless beating with spiked whips.. Anything but please don’t make me do coding again!”

“That’s how hell works. And I take immense satisfaction in informing you that you can do absolutely nothing about it. Hahahahahahaha.”

Well, I had seen and heard thalaivar’s evil laugh in Endhiran (Thankfully I saw that movie before I departed from Earth) and let me tell you. Compound the effect of that laugh a few million, no, a few billion times and even then it won’t even come close to the devil’s laugh. The devil’s laughter made my eyes pop out and reach my tummy, where my stomach was churning at close to ultrasonic frequency.

Wait. Did I even have internal organs anymore?

(To be continued … )