Love Transit by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (desktop ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Chapter 1

“Get that tool, please.” Vinay called over to his fellow colleague. The chassis of the bus has reached the final frame work. For the past two days, every one in his team was busy in welding.

Dazzling lights from the welding torch brightened the space. Though Vinay always worked with his protective shield that protected his eyes from the heat evolved from the light, surprisingly he felt tiredness setting in his eyes.

For more than two times he went to the cooler at the corner of the working shed and washed his eyes with the water. For sometime he felt relieved, but after one hour, he started to feel the tiredness in his eyes.

His eyes became red and started to water. Constantly he felt an irritation in the eyes and he could not resist his hands to rub the eyes again and again. Seeing Vinay’s discomfort, his friend Vikram took him immediately to the dispensary at the factory.

The workshop in which Vinay worked is at one corner of the factory. The factory sprawled in a vast land and took more than 30 minutes to go from one block to another. The workers usually ride in their bicycles to get to the place.

The administrative block stood at the entrance to the factory. Vikram took his cycle from the shed and asked Vinay to sit at the backseat.

He, then, rushed him to the dispensary. The medical doctor at the dispensary gave him eye drops as a first-aid and asked Vikram to take Vinay immediately to the eye hospital. The doctor told him that Vinay need immediate medical attention from the eye doctor and things can become worse if he delayed.

Vinay, with his eyes closed, listened to the conversation between Vikram and the doctor. Vikram informed this to their Foremen and took Vinay to the eye hospital. The bus building factory in which Vinay and Vikram worked took more than one hour to travel. Every one came to work by the factory bus and if anyone missed the factory bus, they always missed half-a-day of the work.

The bus shuttled between the city and the factory for more than six trips. Each trip started at a particular time and if anyone wanted to go home or else where, they have to take the bus at the exact time. Until the scheduled time, the bus never started and workers have to wait patiently.

Vikram checked the time for the next bus trip. It showed 12 noon, and they have to wait for more than one hour. Vinay’s eyes started to water more and he could not even close his eyes and rest for a while. Fortunately, Vikram’s uncle also worked at the administrative block. Vikram got the bike from his uncle and took Vinay immediately to the hospital.

It took more than 45 minutes for Vikram to get to the hospital. As they traveled by bike, the direct sun light fell on Vinay and it made his eyes water more. Vinay desperately wished to reach the hospital as soon as possible to escape from the strong sun light. The roads completely occupied by flowing traffic disrupted their travel and at every signal they stopped for more than ten minutes.

Finally, when they reached the hospital, both eyes of Vinay looked swollen and red. The eye lids looked thick and heavy. Vikram after parking the bike at the vehicle stand took Vinay inside the hospital.

For some time, Vikram felt overwhelmed by the procedures at the hospital. Vikram made Vinay to sit at the waiting lounge and rushed to the reception to enquire. The girl at the reception desk asked him to fill in the registration form and asked him to wait.

It took another one hour until Vinay’s turn. The attendant at the hospital gave some clean cotton to Vinay and asked him not to rub his eyes any more. Vinay could hardly open his eyes. Even closing eyes turned to be a discomfort to him, and it made him constantly to open and close his eyes. Vikram held Vinay’s hand within his hand, and asked him not to feel stressed.

Looking at his discomfort, the attendant took him immediately to the Foreman. The foreman could understand the seriousness of the problem, and asked the nurse to give him some eye drops immediately. Then, he asked the nurse to take Vinay to the near-by room and asked him to lie down for a while.

The nurse asked Vinay to open his eyes and applied the eye drops. The eye drops did wonders. Vinay felt cool inside the eyes. Vikram helped him to lie down on the bed.

“Vikram, have you informed my mother?”

“No. Why should you unnecessarily make her feel worried? I will tell her when I drop you at home. Now, lie down and take rest. I will go and get your medicines first.” Vikram moved away from the room to get medicines from the near-by medical shop.

Vinay has joined on duty after a month. One month ago, exactly on the same day, he got married to Saranya. Vinay could not help thinking about Saranya, and started to worry, how she will take it.

After spending moments of romance and love for more than 30 days, he reluctantly returned to work. But, he could not understand why things took a sudden turn within few hours after he joined work.

The doctor advised him to take rest for another one week and told him to resume his welding work after a month. Vikram returned after 15 minutes with the medicine. Dropping Vinay at his home, he informed both his mother and wife about the eye problem.

Vikram told Saranya about eye drops and the prescribed medicines. He asked Vinay to take rest for a while and return to work after his eyes returned to normal. Saranya helped Vinay to change his uniform and made him take his medicines. Saranya’s soft hands made Vinay to feel comfortable.

The cooling effect of eye drops stopped watering of eyes and Vinay closed his eyes and started to sleep. The discomfort that he felt for more than five hours made him go into a deep sleep within a few minutes.

Dreams accompanied Vinay’s sleep, and his sub-conscious mind narrated a poem that expressed his love for Saranya.

Gazing far ahead the clouds on hill tops
Widened eyes search for a way to escape
Flapping wings in a uniform rhythm
Cranes fly high to their homes on tree tops…
Silently lit sparks of fire on the slopes
Slowly brightens the deep dark night.
Reaching for the far lit star
Dreams wade through a deep sleep.
Faintly lit lamps flicker at dawn
Letting cupid to flutter their wings
Satisfied breathing lulls my heart
Cozy hugs are really an art….

Vinay rolled on his side and his hands searched for Saranya. Usually, Saranya snuggled to him and slept with her head on his shoulder. With some struggle, he opened his eyes and looked for Saranya. Vinay found Saranya at the other end of the bed and her calm, serene face showed her sound asleep.

That night Vinay could not sleep peacefully. He felt a sense of irritation in both eyes and could not resist the feeling to rub the eye. He kept on tossing in the bed and he literally struggled to get sleep. The eye lids looked swollen and he felt as though someone placed heavy weight on his eyelids.

Around 3 am in the morning, he called Saranya to give eye drops. Though the redness in both eyes started to subside, he still felt uneasy and disturbed. After taking the prescribed tablet, Vinay felt somewhat relieved and started to sleep as the first rays of sunlight peeped in through the windows.

Chapter 2

It took another four days for Vinay to retain the normal vision. The doctor prescribed three types of eye-drops and asked him to have the eye drops at least four times a day. As doctor insisted that he should refrain from watching television, reading books and working on the computer, Vinay felt bored.

For the first two days it does not matter much. Most of the time, Vinay lied down with his eyes closed and did not strain his eyes. Once the redness of the eyes cleared, and the swelling on the eye-lids subsided, Vinay could not stay inside home.

After his bath in the morning, Saranya helped him to medicate the eye with the eye-drops. He took rest with the eyes closed for a while.

As he started to feel better now, he felt restless. Vinay decided to walk to the nearby park. The park has come up recently and it bustled with activity in the evening times. But, the park looked empty in the mornings.

Except for a few people who sit on the benches and read the newspaper, only crows, pigeons, sparrows, parrots and mynahs occupied the park.

Vinay walked to the stone bench near the fountain in the park and sat down. The cool shades of trees in the park protected him from the hot sunny rays.

Vinay has never been to the park at this time of the day. Only for a few times, at night after having dinner, Vinay has come to the park along with Saranya. He never watched what went on around him, as Saranya captured his attention with her sweet nothing talk. Even if they came for a walk on a full moon day, they loved to walk around the park hand in hand and enjoyed the cool rays of the full moon.

Vinay reclined on the park bench and looked around. Two mynahs got his attention. The two mynahs flew to the fountain and started to take bath in the water. The way they flapped their wings and took bath made him smile.

The male bird took his bath quickly and flew to the grassy area near the entrance to the park. The male bird hopped on the grassy area and started to look for tiny insects. It hopped some distance and with a nod of its head, and with a chirp it called the female bird.

Until Vinay moved over to Chennai, he loved bird watching. His native place, a small village, near the Sirumalai hills, is a haven for birds. All types of birds that lived on the plains, hills and forests, flew down to his village. Vinay has read about bird watching in Chennai also. But, he never got the chance to visit places and watch birds. Vinay felt happy to see so many birds in the park near his house.

Amidst the strayed clouds of sky you little birds fly high! Flapping wings without fear - dive and climb an echo shot with airy waves. Dazzling eyes with swiftness you're seen every where. In misery and sorrow not thinking of tomorrow you ease your heart with songs. Let us learn from you not to murmur a lot but to face with a heart that always beats for more.

On that day, Vinay watched sparrows, mynahs, and some crows. To his surprise, he can see some hawk sparrows also. Hawk sparrows are usually found in large numbers only during the later part of the day when the dusk starts to set in.