Mudhan Mudhalagaa... PART III

First few days in the project were good. I spent them in reading the documents. We four were supposed to lead teams with 6 members each. One fine morning 25 or 30 new joiners entered into my project ODC. There were more boys compared to girls in the batch. ‘Good’.

Me and Raj were reporting to the same PM. That afternoon he called Raj first and introduced his new team. After the introduction he came to me laughing. When I asked what the matter was, he just grinned. He sat down in his PC and started typing something to the other two in the internal messenger. When I saw them, they both lifted their heads and had an identical grin as that of Raj’s.

PM called me and when he was about to introduce to the team members, I nearly fainted. There were four girls and two boys. ‘This is going to be difficult’, I thought. Having 4 girls in my first project as a module lead will be a nightmare. I now knew why Raj was laughing. I am going to kill those three.

PM: Gautham will be your module lead and he will be reporting to me (‘Romba Mukkiyam’). He has about 3+ years of Industry experience and is a technical expert. You can go to him for all doubts (‘Edukku ya mela mela build up kudukkara’). He is new to this role, but he is a very good team player (‘Kandippa Ponnunga Irukkum bodhu illa’). Please introduce yourself. Ladies first (Naatukku romba thevai).( He grinned. All of them laughed and I gave a small smile. God only knowsthat, I am crying inside)

Girl 1 : I am Megha. I did BE ECE and I joined here as a fresher, a year before and my native is Erode. (First day in the new project, konjam decent a vara koodatha. Jeans-um, Make-up um konjam over thaan. UK accent vera. Erode la porandhu , ivvalavu build-up a ????)

Girl 2 : I am Anitha . I did BE EEE and joined here with Megha. My native is trivandrum (Kerala Naadu).

Girl 3 : I am Pooja , I am a fresher . I did BE ECE in Hyderabad, my native. (Homely aana ponnu. Neat a dress panni irukka. Ammavukku ivala romba pidikkum.)

By the time, I came out of the reverie, all where laughing. I guessed PM might have told a joke.

Girl 4 : I am Divya , I joined with Pooja. I did BE CSE and my native is Madurai. (Decent aana ponnu thaan)

Boy 1 : I am Naveen. I did BE in IT. I have 1 year of experience and my native is pollachi. (Namma ooru payyan. Vaada raja, va,va,va...)

Boy 2 : I am Deepak. I did BE in EEE and I am a fresher. My native is Trichy. (Payyan pakkathula thaan irundhan, halls kalandha cigarette vaasanai. Pugai podara varo!!! Ok)

When I came out of the conference room, I went to Raj who was just preparing to re-locate from the cubicle beside me. He just laughed and went. Much to my distress, Megha sat in the cubicle behind me and Divya in the cubicle on my right. Naveen was diagonally opposite to me. Pooja sat in the cubicle farthest from me.I was trapped with two girls near me. But I had a weird feeling that said ‘It would have been better if Pooja would have occupied Megha’s or Anitha’s place’.

I gave them the documents to study and other documents for the new project we will be working. That night Deva, Raj & Ravi gave me a very hard time in the room. Each of them had more boys in the team. But ignoring that, they were very happy that there were more girls in my team and I would now have to talk with the girls.

The next few weeks before the start of work in my module were bringing a change in my life. I also noticed more about girls. Anitha was more on phone or on her mobile. Megha was also on phone but comparatively less time than anitha. I was interested when I found out that Pooja was rarely on phone and for a less time. Divya also spent less time on phone. Both the boys received more missed calls than incoming calls. I asked myself, why I am analyzing these things. Maybe, I am a ML now, so I have to see all these things.

My team also came to me for doubts and clarifications. As Divya, Pooja and Deepak were freshers, they came more frequently than the others. Pooja asked more among the freshers. Every time she said thanks to me, she smiled and it was more beautiful. Yes, I started to enjoy the smile and I was no longer uncomfortable among girls, but not too free. I was changing. I started to go for tea with the girls in my team. The change was visible to my friends and they were happier. Mostly I used to come a little late to office and leave a little late than the usual timings. So I greeted the team with a good morning. I did this even in my previous project, but only to boys.

Pooja was staying in the same area as I am. Incidentally, I met her many times I went out of the room and she always gave that beautiful smile. She was always quiet and talked less. In the office she would also ask me the places and about the shops in Chennai. One day except Pooja all the others went out for having snacks during the tea time. So it was only me and her for coffee break. She asked about by college and school and I asked about her and so we both came to know something about each other. She had an elder brother who was married during her final year and a younger brother, who was doing his second year BE in Coimbatore.

Pooja : Your mobile is so quiet. Don’t you have any girl friends?
I was surprised by this question.
Pooja : I am sorry if I have asked you something too personal.
Me : (Smiled). Nothing offensive. The answer is simple. I don’t have any. So what about you, your mobile seems so quiet for a girl.
Pooja : (Laughed). I don’t have any.

For some reason I was relieved of that answer and I even thought that there was a great satisfaction on her face. Then I guessed I should be dreaming and the rest of the coffee break went in silence before both of us agreed to go back to the cubicle.

The coffee breaks were welcome ones and I had more coffee breaks alone with Pooja. She began to call me in the weekends and always started with ‘It is boring’. The project began and slowly the work load began to increase. The call duration which started with 5 or 10 mins, went on to an hour and the calls also extended in weekdays after working hours. My friends always gave a mischievous smile when there was a call on my mobile. I have always wondered what will be going on in these chat, when my friends did. But after every call I felt something very happy. When the final phase of coding and testing started, Saturdays were also becoming working days for the project. She used to come with me in my two-wheeler during return, as it would be late in the evening or even night, sometimes. I was more and more happy. My module’s execution went smooth and there were less number of defects.

One Sunday, Pooja called me late in the night and said that she was caught up in a place, while returning from a friend’s dinner party. She can’t find any auto or bus for the return and said she was waiting for nearly 45 minutes. I felt something very bad. She said there was nothing to panic as there were 5 or 6 people in the same bus stop, but nothing was available to commute. I took my two-wheeler and rushed to the place in 20 mins.

Pooja : (Smiled) Traffic illama irundhalum , minimum 45 minutes aagum. Eppadi ivvalavu seekirama vandheenga.

I never felt, that I was going so much fast. Now I was a little angry.

Gautham : 45 minutes unna yaaru wait panna sonna. Yen seekirama phone pannala.

Pooja : Sorry. Neenga weekend outing mudichuttu tired a irupeenga nnu nenaichen.

Gautham : Nee inga 45 minutes a maati kittu irukka , ippo tired ellam mukkiyama. (I frowned).
Mudhal la vandi la yeru.

During the return I drove in normal speed. A patrol police stopped us and enquired. I used to carry my ID card with me always and Pooja also had her ID. So we both explained and I dropped near her hostel. But something struck me and was surprised.

Gautham : Hey , nillu. Nee tamil la pesina.

Pooja : (She gave her usual beautiful smile) Appa!!! Kandupidichu teenga.

Gautham : How? (I asked with more surprise.)

Pooja : (She smiled again) Naan 6th to 10th Chennai la thaan padichen.

Gautham : What? Nee sollave illa.

Pooja : (She just smiled again) Appo kathukittadhu 50% thaan. Proj... Chennai join pannina appuram divya kitta kathukittadhu thaan adhigam.

Gautham : Ok. Go and take rest. Good night.

Pooja : Good night (She smiled again).

On the way I felt relaxed that she is safe. I was only thinking about her. Her smile, the way she talked with me and the way she talked with others, even girls. Her smile and laughter always encouraged me. Her words were always consoling whenever I felt irritated. Both had similar taste in reading books. Then the question came, ‘Why shouldn’t I marry her?'

After I reached my room, I saw that my friends were still up.

Raj : Enna da cab-service , late night kku extend aagiducha.

Deva : Dai enna da endha point la irundhu pick-up panna.

Ravi : Dai chumma irungada, avan edho theevira sindhanai la irukkan. At that moment, I want to say what I felt to my friends.

Me : Naan Pooja va love panren da. Kalyanam pannina avala thaan pannuven.

(to be continued...)

All the characters, incidents and situations are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.