Love Tremors - Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (polar express read aloud TXT) 📗

“If you think you are sexy your partner will think you are sexy!” – Psychic Deejay ext. 5435

“Lie down, lie down” Someone screamed above all the chaos. Ram wiped his face once again. The cool water drops chilled his stubby cheeks rough with unshaven hair.

Ram’s eyes scanned around him. Terror stricken faces in silent prayers. He could see young girls together like flowers in a bouquet.

Some young girls were sobbing loudly. Most of the men were chatting casually. Though the shake was felt only for a few seconds, it triggered panic and they anxiously waited outside.

Ram’s eyes fixed at an unexpected view of the soft curves of womanhood. It struck him more than the tilting motion of the earth quake.

With a blink of his eye, they disappeared. A hand swiftly pulled down the shawl and hid them from his view.

Susie looked around adjusting her shawl once again. She could not forget how Ram’s eyes caressed her. The unexpected earthquake did not affect her much, but the secret glance of Ram did.

Susie turned away from him. For a moment her face was a mixture of emotional feelings – she was scared, she was embarrassed and she was nervous.

Suma’s hand within Susie’s grip tightened and she looked at her with a query.

“Hi, Susie, what happened? Why are you trembling?” Suma questioned her.

“Nothing, I feel giddy” Susie answered in a whisper.

“Wait. Let me go and bring some water from the canteen” Suma ran to the water dispenser
and brought a glass of chilled water.

Susie drank the water in a gulp. The chilled water gave her the relief and she was able to control herself.

After waiting for thirty minutes, they entered office to resume work.

But once again they felt the swaying movement of the earth and the alarm went on. The emergency exit opened and every one left immediately.

Susie and Suma left office together. They were walking down the road to the bus stand wondering how they are going to reach home. Half way a car stopped near them and a voice inquired if they would accept his help.

Susie looked at Suma.

“Will you drop us at the bus stop?” Suma asked him.

“Yes, please get in” Ram released the lock of the car. Susie hesitated to enter the car
but Suma dragged her inside.

Susie frowned at Suma. But Suma avoided her and continued her talk with Ram.

“Is it not scary to feel the earthquake?” Suma inquired Ram.

“This is not the first time for me. Last year when I was at Japan, I experienced the real shake of the earth. This is nothing when compared to that.” Ram answered her.

“Oh, you have been to Japan” Suma replied back.

“Sometimes nature knocks our senses to realize how precious our life is” Ram replied Suma. He stealthily looked at Susie in the rear view mirror. Susie avoided his glaring eyes uneasily and looked out of the window.

“Stop, here. We will get down. Thanks for saving our walk” Suma thanked Ram.

“Even if you want me to drop you at Adyar I don’t mind” Ram looked at Suma.

“So sweet of you; but, no, thanks” Suma replied him with a broad smile. Suma understood Ram’s intentions and his wish to be with Susie for some more time.

“We live here. We can walk to our place” Ram unlocked the door and let them get down from his car.

“So, me and my car are not blessed to be with you” Ram teased Suma.

“May be some other day we can bless you. Thanks for dropping us. Bye” Suma waved her hand.

“Suma, I think she doesn’t like to wish me” Ram questioned Suma.

“Don’t you know I am the PR manager for Susie? Move early; otherwise you will get stuck in the traffic” Suma joined Susie who was walking a few steps before.

For the first ten minutes, Ram could travel without much traffic. When he reached the main road that connected his home at Besant Nagar, the road swelled in traffic. Everyone wanted to go home and the road was filled with two wheelers, four wheelers and public transports. The huge traffic snarl left no space even for the pedestrians to walk across the road.

The traffic moved on a snail’s pace and when Ram reached his home it was around 6 pm. It took more than an hour to travel the distance that usually took only ten minutes to reach.

“Why did you pull me inside his car?” Susie screamed at Suma.

“If you don’t like, you must have walked away, who asked you to get inside the car?” Suma questioned her.

“I just hate him” Susie entered her room and slammed the door behind her.

Suma joined Susie at the dining hall for dinner. Everyone was busy sharing their experiences about the earth quake and the difficulty they faced in reaching the hostel.

Susie sat down at a corner in the dining hall and started to eat without talking to anyone.

“Hi, Susie, what happened?” Susie did not reply any of her questions.

The next day when Susie started walking toward their office, Suma joined her. But she walked all the way without talking a word with Susie. As they were walking down the long stretch of road, Ram stopped his car.

“Hi, Good morning” with a beaming smile Ram opened the door.

“No, thanks, we prefer to walk” Suma politely refused.

“Don’t fuss. It is so hot” Ram requested them once again.

Without waiting for Suma, Susie walked ahead.

“Sorry, she is upset” Suma got into the car and closed the door.

“I am happy at least you know how to respect others feelings” Ram could not understand why Susie need to react like that and felt insulted and hurt. Both of them did not talk anything till they reached the office.

Susie looked at the car that crossed her. “Don’t you know how to behave? Idiot” She murmured to herself.

The roosters from the nearby tress started to crow announcing the dawn. The sharp, shrill musical love song of the Indian cuckoo echoed far and wide across the street. Ram could understand the bird’s yearning to meet its love bird from the rhythmic love song.

The song of the bird also expressed his yearning for Susie and her nearness.

Ram’s eyes looked at the streaks of dawn that spread across the eastern horizon. The early morning breeze carried the fragrance of bloomed jasmines and night queen and enclosed him in a love spell.

Susie looked at the jutka in front of her house.

“Susie, you go in this jutka to day. You can go in the school bus tomorrow”

Susie’s dad helped her to sit in the middle of the jutka. Excited, Susie looked around.
It did not look old and shabby. The jutka looked new and decorated with colorful ribbons.

Susie peeped outside the small window on the side of the jutka. The young jutka man was dressed neatly in a pure white dhoti and a white shirt. His thick black hair was oiled and combed neatly. Neatly shaven and trimmed mustache he impressed her at the first look.

Susie compared her dad with that jutka man. Her father looked plain in his dim colored dhoti and the casual shirt. Susie’s little heart silently compared both of them.

The jutka stopped in front of a bungalow. The servant at the door opened the gate and two children walked to the jutka. The jutka man asked Susie to move to the front and helped them to sit comfortably in the middle of the jutka. In front of the two children,

Susie now looked plain. She looked at her dull uniform and the bag she carried.

The jutka man treated them with respect and ignored Susie. When they reached the school, he asked Susie to get down from the jutka, but helped the two children to carry their bags till their class room. Puzzled by his behavior Susie walked to her class alone.

Every Wednesday evening there was science club after the class hours. That day was Susie’s turn. The teacher asked Susie to speak first on the given topic. Susie had to talk about photosynthesis. The teacher asked her to memorize a paragraph from the science book and explain it before the class.

Susie was able to tell the first two lines. She could not recollect more than that and so stood there without telling anything for the next three minutes. The teacher frowned at her; Susie returned to her place.

Wondering what will happen the next day, Susie walked to the school gate. The jutka man was waiting for her and he gave her a stern look.

“Why are you late?” He urged her to climb into the jutka. Susie had to squeeze into the space left for her at the rear end of the jutka. The return trip to home was scary and she was relieved after some of the children got down at their homes.

“Tomorrow you need not come. There is no place” Without waiting for her reply the jutka man left.

The little heart hurt felt numb with unknown pain.

The next day the science teacher made Susie stand on the last bench for the whole day. It was a punishment for not reciting the experiment without any interruption. Susie with a numbed heart stood on the bench till lunch interval. The class teacher then asked her to sit down when the classes started after lunch.

“No one liked me” Everyone around her gave this impression and she distanced herself from the usual gossips and silly jokes. Instead she turned towards books and books became her best friends.

Yet, people did not stop poking at her. Once in a while she received the comment “You look plain” even from unknown people. Susie’s ears slowly learned to ignore such words and carry on with her routine work. When she entered the teens as any other young girl she also started to have colorful, vibrant dreams. Cheerful and happy, life looked beautiful for her. Yet, people judged her by her looks.

“Susie, you look flat” Her friends giggled at her.

“Nothing here” Once one of her aunts pinched her on the hip and made the nasty comment.

Apart from the sharp facial features she looked skinny and her eyes reflected the pain of her heart. Susie left out from the crowd learned to live in her own dream world.
When Susie first caught the glance of Ram that showed interest, she was surprised. No one ever looked at her like that.

Ram’s eyes penetrated deep into her heart and pulled the strings of love. A heart that desperately wished for someone to love her, adore her and respond to her yearnings.

Ram reached office early. He saw Susie sitting alone at her desk.

“Do you mind talking to me?” Ram questioned Susie in a whisper. But Susie ignored his question and went on punching the keypad.

“I am talking to