July 18, 2008

Maya Memsaab

"Don't think my bike is going to start. Why don't you go ahead, I'll try and get the bike to start and follow", he said, with the heavy rain pouring over him. It was 10 in the evening and he was getting back home from a cafe. It was just his usual routine. He would finish work; ride his bike to the cafe two roads away from his house. Sit there alone or with a bunch of friends and discuss the day's happenings with them. He loved doing that. He loved the quality time he got with his friends.
The rain was being ruthless that evening. The roads were deserted and the occasional bike or car that passed him, were moving pretty fast, splashing the rain water that was now mixed with the drain that was overflowing onto the road. He loved the rains. But that was when he is sitting dry in his house or even in a cafe with his hot cup of latte next to him, a good supply of smokes and a tissue paper. He could sit there and look at the rain for hours on end. He could even get lost when in those moods. Time can go to hell, he would say smiling. It was just way too beautiful to leave and go.
As the rain got him drenched from head to toe, he was stranded on the side of the road near the footpath. The rain was getting heavier now and his bike wouldn't start. He spoke to the bike often. He liked it. He knew she liked it too. "Maya", he would call out, if she didn't start with the first few kicks. She would immediately listen to him and start. They play that game every now and then. If he forgets to give her a wash during the weekend, well Monday morning would be fun. She will have a face that only he can understand. They were made for each other. He would say, "Oh, come on. It was Sunday. It's god's day. I just wanted to chill and not do anything". She would then give him a hope that she was about to start and then stop. I think it's that time of the month for me. He never got upset with her antics. It was just way too playful when both of them were at it.
"Maya, come on. If you need a wash, this is surely not how you get it. Its sewage water for crying out loud. I swear, get me home and morrow morning you're surely going to get what you want. But rite now..." That's all it took. She was up and ready to go, for as long as you wanted her to. They reached home, but not before a handful of call taxi's sprayed them with water all over.
The chemistry that the two shared was something that words won't do any justice. He came to the city four years back, with a master’s degree and nothing else. He never had a bank account. He didn't have a place to stay of his own. But he came in to the city a day before his 21st birthday. His phone ran out of currency twenty minutes before midnight and he was stranded in his cousins house because it was pouring heavily on a bloody April evening and the few friends that he had in that city didn't really want to get wet that evening and so they decided to cancel the plan. "Well, 21 is not a bad number", he thought to himself when he was walking down the steps that lead to the drawing room on the first floor when he came down from the terrace of his cousin's house. He was 21, just out of college in the big bad world. He had been doing small jobs here and there, radio shows and freelance work to make enough money to get himself some beer and pay for the exam fees and not to forget his short films and music videos that was so close to his heart. He had also served coffee in a cafe while he was still in college. Life was completely insane at that point of time. Now he has to do something and he has to do something to make the world stand up and take notice.
"Type my name on Google and you would get a million hits. Pictures of mine, interviews of mine, news and information about me", he would tell his friends during one of their many (infact during every) coffee meetings. A small tea cup in hand and a lit smoke, he would gaze into nothingness and tell his friends, that he is set to make it big and he would surely.
He was kneeling down on the ground, wiping the drops of water off Maya. He took extra care every time he came close to the mirror. He saw his reflection on the rear view mirror and smiled, adjusted his hair and smiled again. Like he was posing for the cameras that were clicking. For the million people who were looking at him and waving, trying to grab his attention for one second. Flash.
"It's the 13th of the month and you still haven't paid the rent. When can you pay?", said a female voice in the background, making him snap out of the world that he was in and come back to earth. So here he was washing Maya at one moment and stuck with the house owner's wife the next. She was big, at least 100 kilos. She didn't care whether there was electricity in your house, or water. Give her the rent and she would smile. No smile otherwise. A phone call on his cell phone gave him a reason to leave that place, only after he made a sign that was more like; I shall pay the rent either today or by tomorrow. The lady gave him a stern look and walked inside slowly, because she couldn’t walk any faster.
All set for a new day, he sat on Maya and smiled. Ten meters down the road, pshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. A loud hissing sound and the bike was sliding to the left and then to the right. Maya had a flat in the rear wheel.
Maya Memsaab always had the last word.

18 comments:

Animated Junk said...

coffee, terrace n rains...n ya time can go to hell as u say.
type my name on google n u wud get a million hits...quite ambitious. i wud settle for a thousand hits ;)
Kisamt konnection with maya.. the embracing bond. i quite feel it with my mobile the most n next the lappy. its definitely a gr8 feel.

Pixilicious said...

you have the gift of creating vivid scenes in the head of the reader with your descriptions. i enjoyed reading this.
and thanks for the comment :)

arvindiyer said...

To Animated Junk..

Oh yes, the bond is truly special. And it feels wonderful:)

To Pixilicioux..
Am glad you feel the imagery that I have tried to communicate. Thanks a lot:)

Meena Venkataraman said...

Nice Arvind!.. :)..
U'r maing a habit of it!

Meena Venkataraman said...

Just curious.. what does Maya make of the rising oil prices...? :)

arvindiyer said...

To Meena..
She is pretty upset. But we have a deal now, I take care of her and she gives me more:) And thanks for the comment.

Zeph Keyes said...

Nice read.. very vivid descriptions.. and, for the record, my maya's called primadonna :)

arvindiyer said...

TO Zeph Keyes...
Welcome back. Been a while since I heard from you:) Primadonna is very interesting too. I Liked the way you said Your Maya was called Primadonna.. like all bikes are called Maya:)

Zeph Keyes said...

They may not be called Maya, but that doesn mean they dont act the same:)

Anonymous said...

MEN!!! Bikes are not your wives!! Alas! I forget that I type this as a comment on the blog of a male homo sapien!

wingsofdeztiny said...

to rajeshwari: oh yes! bikes r our wives.

gud one arvind! the love of a man and his bike just one word to describe ur post" eloquent"

arvindiyer said...

To Rajeshwari.

Maya is not my wife. Actually I would like to call her my girl friend:) And yes, you would never understand the bond we share!!!!

To Army officer..

Saaar, Thanks a lot for the comment and glad that you understand:) How have u been?

Me said...

:-)

wingsofdeztiny said...

doing well. relocated to a place in j&k. the place is beautiful and bloody at the same time. tried to catch up with u and joos this weekend but surya was out of town. anyways i do keep a tab on ur and joos's blogs as regularly as i can. keep up the gud work. am writing when i can , thought not so often. internet is a rare commodity in this wilderness.

Anonymous said...

Dudes!! It is but a piece of painted metal with a motor that helps you commute!! Aandavaa!! Talk some sense into these men!!

Zeph Keyes said...

@ Rajeshwari: It is NOT just a piece of painted metal. Primadonna has a soul and I know more versions of Maya who do as well...
Also, it's not necessarily a guy thing. (I take offence to that!)
Btw, Aandava not going to help.. most of em also male, remember?

arvindiyer said...

To Me (Am not writing to myself here):)

What do I understand from the smile? And thanks for droppin in.

To Prashanth..
Oh that's nice. Infact I was in Srinagar the last one week. Came back to Bangalore Y'day. Had come there on some work. Would have been great if i could have met up with you. Thanks again for dropping in this world often. See ya sometime soon.

arvindiyer said...

TO Rajeshwari...
You just won't understand and NO IT IS NOT JUST METAL. Maya has life, primadonna has life and so does a lot of others.

To Zeph keyes....
hahahahahahah:)