All The Small Thrills!

I am a peaceful person but that does not discount troubles in life. Last week, I was threatened by a man who claimed to have been to jail five times. One thing led to the other; and another; and finally I was caught in a situation where I was alone with him and his associate for a good four hours in the dead of the night. I asked him why he had been jailed five times. All the reasons he gave me were political in nature. He had not killed anyone or bombed a building or molested a child or raped a girl. But he derived his happiness from the fact that he had just led the life of a prisoner once upon a time. Basically he thought, that could scare everyone and that - that gave him a revered image in the society. While I shall restrain from disclosing what led me to these people and the rest of the story, I have to tell you that we departed on a good note exchanging smiles and hand-shakes.

Speaking of hand-shakes, I remember a weird incident during one of my bus travels from Palaghat to Coimbatore few years back. There was this gentleman seated next to me. He seemed to be a well-mannered person, spoke impeccable English and started the conversation with a good hand-shake. I had thick beard then - with the usual villainous grin. He said that he was a weapon dealer and asked me if I wanted weapons. I instantly knew that he mistook me for someone else, but I continued talking. We discussed about all the latest bombs and guns available locally. Not to make him feel bad - I asked for his number, told him that I would give him a call if I find need and got down at the Ukkadam bus stand.

Ukkadam bus stand. Sparks in me a different memory altogether. My brother's new bike was stolen by a rival gang. We were searching the bike in every nook and corner of the city. Next to Ukkadam, there was a place where stolen bikes were dismantled and the parts sold at a very cheap rate. The place - as expected - was very spooky, with all the ill-mannered people there. I picked up a very bad fight with those men and got thoroughly beaten up. That was when I realised - the shaktimaans and the superheroes were only TV characters.

Getting beaten up. It surely teaches you more than a few fighting lessons you pick from such experiences. It definitely smoothens your social behavior. Helps you keep your calm and know when to time your rage so the opponent is totally decimated. I was beaten up two other times by the RSS men, received serious threat calls thrice; and there was a group that sought to kill me with knives and I made a miraculous escape. I prefer to keep the reasons behind these - forever in the dark.

The dark. It was one in the night. We were walking. My friend and I. We heard a woman's cry and proceeded in that direction. Saw a drunken man mercilessly beating the woman and her small kid. We looked at each other and plunged into action. Beat that guy properly till he fell on the ground and could not get up. The woman was crying even more loud. She spoke in Kannada. Said - the man was her husband.

Husbands and wives. Have you ever seen wives pumping up their husbands and instigating them for a fight? This happened in Madiwala over a silly vehicle parking squabble. Close to ten men from their houses in the street came out - with their women howling at us asking their men to beat us. Just four of us. After a few punches and kicks, we somehow made peace and left for Nandi Hills.

I can go on and on. But before I start boring you, I shall stop here. You might laugh at these or you might feel what stupid of a guy I really am. Or you could have faced fascinatingly better thrilling situations. However be it, these things help us understand and appreciate our world better. Though you might choose to disagree with me because you feel that there is some degree of danger associated with each of such incidents, these - I feel - are absolutely necessary to make the person who we really are and to truly acknowledge that the world we live in - is perfectly lovely and amazing!