Episode 2
I feel great because of your friendship…
I love myself because of your love….
It was the first day in Bangalore when the training started. At the same time in Chennai, Ilangovan was listening to the training given to him along with his batchmates . His phone blinked at the time notifying that a message had arrived.
“I’m feeling very lonely here”
a text from his dearest friend Amsaveni made him feel sad.
“This is your first day so don’t worry it will get better” he comforted her with many tongue out my smilies.
On seeing that she replied, “ha ha ha ya maybe…” Before her message could reach him he called her.
It was a break for him , the same for her so he called her.
“what madam you said that, you would roam the whole world all alone where that storming girl Amsaveni gone…” he teased her.
“no dear…. I felt lonely as there were no friends here but after speaking to you, I am normal. You listen to the class.” She replied in a serious tone.
“Ohh!! Did the lion go to its den? By this time it should have murdered me for what I have spoken” he said teasingly.
“Yeah yeah !!! It’s going to attack you. I can do it on my own and I don’t need any one’s courtesy. You go and see your work” said Veni ferociously.
“It’s Good to see you back, Aams. Sad face doesn’t suit you. Now you are back” Ila was happy to bring her back.
“Ok see you later” said amsaveni and cut the call. When she turned back she looked vani speaking with some stranger.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to hurt you. Mom and Dad are leaving tonight. I was lost in those thoughts that’s why I didn’t reply you” She asked for forgiveness.
“ That is okay, don’t be sorry. I will come with you tonight to send off Uncle and aunt”- Aashiq
“Oh god will he never leave this huh!! I should have left him angry. I shouldn’t have come to Console him” Vani thinked about him in her mind.
That’s when she remembered that she didn’t know his name. She asked him, “ What’s your name?”
“Till now you didn’t try to learn about me and you didn’t even know my name let it be that way. I won’t tell you. Get to know about me. Since this is the first day many will ask for self introduction”
“Is he mad ?” thinked Vani and that’s when Amsaveni reached her. The classes had begun by that time.
In the second half of the day Vani felt miserable. She was indulged in the deep thoughts of being alone in this city , as she had never set foot out of her house without any one and she had never been alone without her parents. These thoughts made her heart heavy. Sadness engraved her. The thought of being alone made her feel sad and her eyes were filled up with tears. She went to her PG along with Ashiq, Mahalakshmi and Amsaveni .
When she reached her PG, she found that her parents had been ready and waiting for her in the car to bid goodbye.
Maha, Veni introduced themselves to Vani’s parents and said they would stay with her in the room. Ashik also said goodbye to her parents. Vani was controlling her tears with all her sadness within herself as she never thought to reveal herself to anyone.
“Madhu be careful. Dad is leaving now ..” Selvam said and also he insisted on some of treasurable and valuable sayings to Vani. As he hugged Vani, Vani’s tears rolled down her cheeks. Selvam was also standing in that state.
Please take care of Vani, as she has never been alone. Be helpful to each other, said Selvam, Vani’s father to Veni and Maha.
We will take care of her uncle, assured Veni and Maha. At the same moment ashik said , “Vani is my best friend uncle you don’t worry I will definitely take care of”
“My father’s biggest problem is, you speak like this. Can you please stop” Vani was murmuring to herself about Ashik.
Neelamathi, Vani’s mother was noticing everything sitting silently inside the car. Bidding bye to everyone, Vani’s parents left for Chennai. Vani was sad and slept under the blanket with swollen eyes.
Say morning Vani woke up at 5 and she as usual got ready for the classes. By 7:00 in the morning she tried to wake up Veni and maha.That time Veni’s mobile was ringing. On seeing that Vani thought that they had set an alarm so they would wake up by themselves. So she went to look after her daily chores. Vani wore a chudi that was fit to her. She pinned her shall on both the sides, then she oiled her hair and made a pleat. She kept a beautiful round sindoor on her forehead followed by a chandan. After getting ready she sat on the bed and was looking at Maha and Veni getting ready.
Maha was considerably tall. She wore a good jean and a short kurti. She had cut her hair as a feather cut, so she just put a catch clip and left the other as a free hair. Then she followed her makeup routine by applying compact powder , eyeliner, mascara, lip gloss and finally she placed a tiny round black sindoor on her forehead. After getting ready she saw her in the mirror by moving front and back.
In the meantime of Maha getting ready , Veni after her bath had her clothes ironed and wore the neatly ironed dress. Applied powder to her face, she made a ponytail tied up high and had a small sindoor on her forehead.
It’s been a practice for Veni, as she has been in college hostel for several years. She never looked into the mirror and got ready. In the time gap she got up ready as soon as possible. But she always wears a neatly pressed dress, that’s the only criteria she has.
“Veni, shall I call you as ammu?” Maha asked Amsaveni.
“Hey my dad used to call like that… you can call as you wish Veni gave her permission”
“Veni Vani, it’s rhyming right sometimes that may be confusing, that’s why I decided to call you as ammu.” Maha gave her explanation.
“Yeah, I too will call you as ammu” said Vani.
Then they left for training. Days passed…..
Whenever the thought of her parents came Vani would become sad. At the same time the studies , training chapters made her concentrate on her studies.
Mahalakshmi and Amsaveni have been in the hostel since college. So for them this Bangalore training period wasn’t that much trouble . They are enjoying as in college.
But for Vani it was the opposite. Early in the morning she used to wake up to study and then go to the training center . She was reminded inside a closed circle of this.On the contrast Amsaveni and Mahalakshmi woke up after sun showed up. They hurried their assignments at the last minute. They were enjoying their days like they were in college.
Amsaveni was born and brought up in Salem. Mahalakshmi was born and brought up in Chennai.
Ammu and Maha had an elder sibling who was working in IT. So this field wasn’t new to them. They had a brief idea of this type of job.
Ammu’s father was the panchayat head. Maha’ s father was in a central government job. Both hail from middle class family backgrounds. Since the 11th standard they have been studying in a hostel. Leaving parents behind and staying alone wasn’t new to them. And they didn’t worry about home much.
They both had a very big friend circle in college. Veni had around 10 girl friends and Maha had three male friends and four female Friends.
This way Maha and Amsaveni could connect to each other so they became friends very easily.
Maduravani’s family is also a wealthy family. They have been doing business from ages. But they didn’t study much . They have stopped their schooling and haven’t had a degree. Vani is a single child and she is the first degree holder of her family. Also she is the first person to be into this IT field. She wished to have her job at Chennai, so she didn,t get close to Maha and Amsaveni. She maintained the distance from them.
But the main reason is inferiority complex. She had a belief that only beautiful girls will work in the IT field. Even though she is good at studies which boosted her confidence, she didn’t have confidence in her appearance. The fear of being bullied for appearance made her have very low self-esteem. That was also a reason for her to not be friends with anyone.
Veni and Maha didn’t show any difference with he.r But in the training center she felt very low of herself.
The training days went as usual in Bangalore. One day at night Vani felt very thirsty. She woke up to drink water. At that time she heard a crying sound . She searched for who was crying in the darkness. Veni was crying inside her bed cover. She was speaking to someone and was crying. But Vani didn’t want to interfere in Amsaveni’s personal life. So she didn’t ask her. She had her water and slept.
Since Veni is a good friend of Maha , Vani decided to speak about her crying to her. Veni explained to them that it was his good friend who was at the college. He would speak to her daily and he is the person who wakes her daily in the morning. Whenever she feels homesick she would call him and speak like that. So she said , “don’t take it seriously, he is my best friend.” Vani was astonished seeing this friendship. Is this really friendship? she had a doubt and she was looking bewildered without knowing the fact that she would also gain a friend like this in the later part of her life.
“Is Ila your college friend ? What does he do now ?” Vani asked in curiosity.
“He wakes up Ammu daily. That is his job. He’s doing that daily.” Maha said mockingly.
Hearing this answer from Maha, Vani was totally clueless.
“He is also at the same office, but he is getting trained in the Chennai office” said Maha seriously.
After 2 months they had their first examination in which Vani and Maha got C grade. Amsaveni got B grade. Also other people who enjoyed and studied, have got higher grades . This made Vani realize one thing that to achieve goals it is not necessary to lose all our happiness .We can be happy and can enjoy. At the same time we can concentrate and study. She realized that she got lower grades because she controlled herself and she was in a continuous pressure to prove. That may have impacted concentration which led to lower grades. This was her first life lesson she learnt during her training period .
We have to drive towards our goal also at the same time we should not lose our little happiness. We should be able to balance both. We should enjoy life and we should work for our goal. Vani learnt the biggest lesson for herself.
After their first assessment they had been advised to make a group of five people with the leader for them. This is the IT culture where it quotes that everybody is equal. Till now they had been placed like girls on one side and boys on the other like in college. But now the real IT culture has come into place. They have been placed in groups mixedly.
Vani, Ammu and Maha who were sitting together were now separated.
Maha, Aashik and Vani went into the same group. This made Vani to be calm.
Veni was in some other group. Though Vani has studied in co-ed, her brought up was different. It had a lot of restrictions. She couldn’t be normal. She didn’t know how to handle this situation as she had never been into this. Sitting along and working with guys seemed different to her. But Veni and Maha helped out her. They explained the jerks of this, how to handle it , what is the limit. This made Vani a little confident.
However, the theory and practicality are different. Vani struggled when she implemented this.