The Main Gate and The world beyond it.

Hello my Friend,

About 8 kms from the Thampanoor bus stand,on the Vembayam-Venjaramoodu route,there lies a mythical gate and a world beyond,which has been home to generations of youth.

The first thing that you notice as you enter through the main gate(the common name of this mythical gate),is a long walkway and a couple of old and weak dudes with big moustache roaring at you to not walk on the road(if you are a pedestrian)or to keep the correct lane(if you are in a vehicle).You would notice that the road has been widened and a footpath constructed recently and everything looks picture perfect.But,let me tell you,some years ago,it looked like something out of a village hamlet with a single tarred road marring the landscape.It was way more sexier,with a lot of trees.That's when those idiots brought in the JCBs.

As you proceed,you would see a lot of inspiring quotes written everywhere on the compound walls."Stick no bills" would have been better.You walk a bit more and to your right side,you would see a magnificent building,which is basically home to a group of chics and another group of devoted women,who have dedicated their lives to someone born approximately 2000 years ago.Of course,if you are like me,you wouldn't care about the latter.Yes,they purposefully put glass shards on the top of the wall.They know that the world is composed of men like us.

You walk for some more distance..[Loud sounds of bikes].Yes,This happens often.Any inmate of this institution,who has a vehicle,thinks that he is the king of the road.Yes,the management knew this would happen because at a certain period of time in their life called teenage,they were doing the same with bajaj scooters.But since then they have grown old and resent the fact that they have become so,they have constructed three or four ghastly bumps on the road.They are of the opinion that if you speed too much,fuck your balls.Literally.

As,I was saying,if you walk for some more distance,the road splits into two with one going to the left.As you go ahead along this road deviating to the left,you would see an institution and a lot of people trying to escape out of it.No,it's not a jail and yet I agree they are all wearing the same stuff which is such a sore in the eye.Yes,you would hear the dark curses falling out of their mouths but they seem to be such jolly chaps when they reach the walkway.

When you travel back to the main road,you would see a huge institution to the right.There are lots of legends associated with this archaic buildings.One is that great big clock tower.It is rumoured that until the clock stops,The World beyond the Main Gate shall remain impregnable to invaders from the outside trying to influence the natives.It is highly doubtful whether this is true though.There is this fountain of eternal water flow or a tap,if you are one of those lame non-poetic persons,inside this Gothic structure.Laugh all that you want.When all games are done in the nearby arena,it is this fountain that all those young gladiators run shamelessly to.Maybe you would realise it's importance when you spend a good part of your life in this world.The one beyond main gate.

Now,you slowly turn to the left...mark my words...slowly turn to the left.Yes,the slow motion is very important.You see an arena and a spectacular structure right next to it.Yes.I asked you to turn slowly because otherwise you would get dazzled by it's elegance.This my friend,is where my heart stops.All my life,it is to this place,that I keep coming back to.I have heard many an inmates of the World beyond Main Gate lamenting about their conditions.You see,my friend,I can't comprehend them.Don't they see?This is the place where friendships are forged.This is where they all slip and fall into love.(Yes,my friend you are allowed to puke.)This is where they all walk,all the way to the main gate together.(I know!I know!the vehicles.)This is where they jump compound walls to escape out of institutions and to sometimes jump into some of them,despite those glass shards.More often than not,they don't get out of this gate without a pot-load of memories in their bag.Or else,they were pretty dull to begin with.

So,friend,on one of those very ordinary days,you see a nomad wandering about this place with a dreamy look on his face and a glitter on his eyes and you think that he is a weirdo,you are very definitely right.He's just weary of all the hullabaloo outside of that Main Gate.

Kalki

It was a dimly lit room.You could barely see that swaying figure,amidst the smoky haze. But,what caught your attention when you got inside was the piercing odour of the ancient vomit,which was trying to decompose itself. Books lay torn on the ground. The wad of money and the credit cards that lay on the table was noticeable. So was a pack of unopened letters,with a handwritten address.

A photo was stuck on the back of the door. Four bobbing,smiling faces. But, it looked faded. Just beneath lay a bunch of porn magazines, crumpled as if somebody had clutched on to them like a vulture. The photos that stared back at you did not seem like the regulars. They hardly even looked like adults.

Packs of cigarettes were neatly arranged on the shelf. A lot many of them were in alphabetical order. Different names. Different colours. They hadn't been even opened yet. Broken bottles and syringes lay across the floor.

He was sitting in a pose reminiscent of meditation. But, he was swaying. His head was continuously twitching. He was giving a blank stare. His pupils were dilated.They hadn't seen bright lights for some time. Familiar sounds emanated from his laptop. But, he seemed unable to notice. His eyes kept focussing on a dark corner in the room. He wasn't wearing a shirt and bruise marks could be observed all over his body. Some bad. Some worse. His face could be hardly seen amidst his unkempt, long and dirty hair. Loud music blared from the speakers. Violent Music. Photos of beautiful, young girls adorned his wall. Some of them were encircled in red. Some of them were struck out. A bunch of red roses lay over the table. He hadn't stopped swaying.

In a nearby hospital,a middle aged man kept pacing the length of the waiting hall.  He was anxious.You could see the tension spilling out from his face.He seemed adrift in thoughts.The nurse came in."Everything went fine. See, I told you.There was no need to worry. She is fine. Go in. It's a girl." He barely mouthed a 'thank you' and rushed in. His wife was lying on the bed. She smiled at him and turned her eyes towards a small figure, lying beside her, wrapped up in towel. The baby was sleeping. He fell in love all over again. He kissed his wife and whispered 'She'll grow up to be as beautiful as you."

At the other end of the city, a police inspector was driving his car with sirens ablaze. He stopped suddenly near a garbage dump and got out. He noticed the huge crowd watching the scene in silence as his team combed through the area looking for evidence. He slowly walked towards the rotting corpse. It was a ghastly scene. There were many cuts and jabs in her body, as if she was tortured. "Twenty years of age. Evidence of drug use." The forensic surgeon murmured."Evidence of being raped as well." The inspector looked at her face and then noticed a red rose lying by its side.

"Bad business as usual eh, Sir?Need some coffee?"his constable asked. He removed his cap and nodded. It was already evening and at a distance, he could see the sun about to set. It's going to be a long night for him, he thought to himself.