Pieces of the Puzzle

...Continued from previous post.

A week later I had to get back to the rigmarole of college and hostel life. I heard that mom did get her way much to my delight. I regretted not being there to witness the balding and the aftermath.

Summer Break, 4 months later..

Central Station. I was apprehensively searching for a familiar face, my forehead and nose pressed against the grimy window bars of the train. Crowds of scurrying people, kids being dragged, smiles and hugs, sea of red coolies, smell of idli-vada. I got hungry; the thought of mom’s cooking warmed my senses even more. Just then, a coolie picked up my luggage and started running out of the compartment.

Sped after him and jumped to the platform. He started to haggle. "30 rupees madam".

"No baba I don’t want a coolie", I tried to explain.

Ok ma, 27 rupees, not a paisa less!

"What the heck. My brother is coming to pick me up; I do not need you Mr. Coolie"

"Fine! 26 ruppes. Special rate only for you!" He furiously yanks the red towel from his shoulder, rolls it and places it on his head. Seats my bag on that cushion before I could protest further.

Jeez! Guess he can’t understand Tamil though he speaks it. I tried French. "Parle Français? S'il vous plaît m'excuser."

It worked. He dropped my bags and walked away scratching his head.

Looked around for my dumb brother. I bet he decided to leave me stranded to repay me for some old altercation. Wait till I get home and tell dad.

On top of it, there was this specimen of a guy who was looking at my direction and approaching me. Really tall and lanky, an earring, the weirdest looking hairstyle one could imagine (like crop circles in a paddy field, he had saved some designs onto his head), yellow netted baniyan and a red bandana around his neck.

Disgustingly Gross!!! What has Madras come to? These rowdies are getting worse by the day!

I tried to ignore him, slowly glancing back in that direction after 5 seconds. Good gracious! Now he is waving at me and grinning. I turned around to look if there was a potential wave receiver. Yikes! It was me!!

Alpha run!!

I picked my heavy bags and tried to walk out of the station as quickly as I could cursing my brother for not making it.

"Alpha! Alpha!"

OMG! The Creep knows my name- such a sick voice too!!

Before I could scream for help, he jumped in front of me, tapped my head and started hurling familiar abuses. I then came to realize that this weirdo was my brother- Beta! Aaaargghh!

Collected myself though it was hard. From the last time I saw Beta- he had shot up a few inches, sprung a scanty growth on his upper lip, broke his voice apart from this absurd hairstyle and clothes.

"So this is your new look uh? I bet the girls dig it." I asked sarcastically.

"Yup! Groovy na! Mom can’t say a thing! Remember? I walk around the neighborhood like this. Mom says she needs a disguise to step out of the house. Hehe!"

I can only imagine. On my insistence we took separate autos home.