CHAPTER 2

LUST FOR LIFE

Now I am going to introduce Krishna Paramatma to you. Not a God; but a man like

us. You might have noted that the character names in the stories have no reflection

whatsoever on their personality. But our Krishna Paramatma is an exception to that rule.

Our Krisha Paramatma was more of a scoundrel than the Krishna Paramatma from

Mahabharata.

One day Ativeeran and Perundevi went to Nochikuppam Beach at seven in the

morning. From the early morning seven, the boats come ashore, heaving fish. These were

the people who fish in their catamarans. They will sell the fish hauled in their nets by the

seashore and leave. Sometimes, even lobsters fall into their nets.

That day, a 70-year-old grandfather climbed down from the catamaran and laid out

the fish from the net. Only two shares of fish had fallen in. He said one share is 150

rupees. In the Nochikuppam market, which is a hundred feet from the shore, the same is

available for 100 rupees. But this fish had not been kept on ice. Every fish was alive and

kicking. The readers of this story will know the difference between iced fish and live fish

only if they’ve eaten live fish.

A pretentious woman haggled over the share for 100 rupees. The grandfather said

he could not sell for her bid. Perundevi interrupted them and said, "Give it for 150 rupees"

and then the pretentious woman gave 150 rupees to the grandfather hurriedly and bought

the share. Just then a person who was standing next to Ativeeran looked at him and said,

"You should not raise the price like this,” in a condescending sage tone. Ativeeran looked

at Perundevi.
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It was a Saturday. Perundevi was at home. In the morning, they’d been to

Nochikuppam and bought Ativeeran’s favorite lobster and a fish they had never seen

before called Udaan. They cooked it together. At around one o'clock in the afternoon,

when Ativeeran was chomping his favorite lobster with great relish, his phone rang. He

never touches his phone while eating. And the phone was in the next room. While he was

thinking of checking the phone after eating, Perundevi got up and ran to pick up the

phone. She has such a habit. It was a good enough habit. If the one speaking on the phone

was some girl, she could catch her sharply, couldn’t she? (Why do you torture Ativeeran

when he moving on to a new life? Couldn’t you catch anyone who is not married? Etc.,

Etc...)

It was not a woman who called; But our Paramatma. His voice held such extreme

sadness. Others should become sad because of him, not the other way around. Ativeeran

has never heard Krishna Paramatma speak this way. "Could you come to the Park

Sheraton right away?" He said.

He and his girlfriend argued. So heartbroken, for the first time in his life, he was

alone out in the world, drinking. He’d also taken 10,000 rupees in hand with him. He even

wishes to kill himself. Krishna Paramatma said this and that in the same manner.

“Why cash? Where's your card?"

"I wasn’t in the mood to take it. Can you come right now or not?"

"Where is Alvar? Didn't you call him?"

“He said he couldn’t come today. That’s why I’ve come with 10, 000 rupees cash.”

But Ativeeran cannot go immediately over any reason. He’d had nothing but salad

all morning. Hungry enough to kill. Udaan gravy. Roast lobster. "I am leaving," he lied

and then he bent over, eating with gusto. But immediately after eating, he has to leave.
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Shouldn’t delay even a minute. Before that, Ativeeran called Vishal and asked him to go

to Westminster Bar immediately.

"What's the matter?"

"Don't ask the reason. Go at once. Don’t fear, Alvar didn’t come today."

The background was that 15 years ago Vishal worked in Alvar's company and was

very close to Alvar.

Then he left the company and joined Alvar’s rival company. But Alvar was not

angry with Vishal because he’d already told the matter.

"Boss, don't expect me to stay in your company forever. I will leave. But not for

money or anything. It just doesn't suit my nature to work in one place. That's all to the

matter."

After that, he left Alvar’s side and worked in another company and then shifted to

another company from there. Unfortunately, Vishal’s current boss and Alvar had a fight.

Not any paltry fight over nothing. But terrible fight. Among those who fell prey to this

fight was Vishal. He cannot cross his current boss. At the same time, the old boss Alvar,

never got friendly with Vishal because of his status.

Vishal has said a lot about it. The story was fifteen years. It will be eight o'clock at

night before work ends. Alvar will see Vishal pointedly. Such a look means, ‘can we go?’

‘Can we go’ means to the beach. Not to catch fresh air, but to drink. Back then it was just

beer. But even if it were beer, for four-five men one ‘case’ of beer is not enough.

Sometimes even two ‘cases’ will be drunk up. So, the calculation is five to six bottles per

person. Sometimes a single guy will guzzle five bottles and ask for another. Isn’t that

trouble? Do you know what Alvar will do immediately? There will be some crockery that

comes along with side dishes from the hotel. He'll ask to take it, go to the sea, and bring

water in it. Some will go cockily. But what's the point of going? The sea is spinning.
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When they return to the party, the bowl will be empty. But some, even if they cannot bring

back the water without spilling, will get another bottle by smooth talking.

One day, Vishal needed more beer. He had already drunk five bottles. He was

given the bowl. God, it looked ten feet away; but as he walked, the sea seemed to go on

forever. Vishal thought, no man can bring back the water without spilling it in the long

walk. But that day, his bowl held more than enough water.

It was the time Maruti Gypsy had been introduced. If any new car has been

introduced, Alvar wanted to buy it. That's the one that will ride in the sea sand. That day,

Vishal had created a record, bringing back seawater in the bowl for the first time. But the

head, which was steady till the fifth bottle, started spinning like a top when it hit the sixth

bottle. He went into the jeep and lay down.

After the party, everyone returned to the office as they couldn't go home this late at

night. Then a man staggered forward to stand in the middle of the road and stopped the

jeep. They stopped the car, thinking it was someone hitchhiking. But the man said he was

a policeman.

Looking at Alvar, he threateningly asked, "Hey, why are you driving the car

crazily?"

"Who are you to ask it?”

"I'm a policeman."

"Then where's your uniform?"

"I'm working undercover.”

Then Vishal, who was sleeping inside the jeep, said, "Hey, I say I am IG. Will you

believe it?" he shouted.

Immediately the undercover police got angry. He started shouting about every little

thing.
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The next day, it was heard that the station inspector called the policeman and

flogged him with his words. ("Why man, after all these years, if you can’t even identify

the boss from the office building next to our station, how are you going to catch a thief?")

Such years of live and let live are gone. Now Vishal lives in anxiety. Will I see

Alvar? Will such a meeting get magnified with eyes, ears, and nose, become a backdoor

meeting, and reach my boss? What shall I do then? Such questions plagued him. That's

why Vishal avoided going anywhere near Park Sheraton.

But today we cannot see all that. If Paramatma himself has come to the point of

crying, then there is some big problem.

Hastily shoving food into his mouth, Ativeeran left for Westminster

When he got there.

Paramatma and Alvar were laughing and talking and drinking. So, all that

Paramatma said was a lie? The fight with his girlfriend was true enough. It was true when

he said Alvar didn’t come, even the matter about cash was true. Alvar, who said he could

not come at first, came after a while. But how to make Ativeeran come? "If you call him,

he will tell you that he is raising dogs and cats; it will be lame to ask. So, think of some

idea and call him yourself," Alvar said, and the rest of the story was the result.

Immediately, Ativeeran texted Vishal asking him not to come.

If you ask about the dogs and cats story, it is separate from this one. Since I don’t

want those two stories to mingle, I will summarize. Ativeeran keeps two dogs. One is

named Pappu; a Labrador. Will not bite at all. Will never get angry. No matter whom he

sees, he will hug, kiss, and lick as if he is a pup seeing his long-lost mother. Even if a thief

calls, he will run away with the thief. The second dog is a Great Dane. His breed can grow

up to five feet in height. It is said raising a Great Dane will leave you stone broke. That’s

how much they eat. But he won’t leave a fly or feather inside the house. His huge body
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alone will scare away anyone. Since both dogs are pups, Ativeeran can’t leave them alone

in the house and go anywhere. Especially with Pappu's love for water. Labradors are

obsessed with water. Like a water elephant, they want to lie in the water all the time. If

water is not available, the dog will piss and lie in it. Because of this, if Perundevi or their

son Swarupan are not at home, Ativeeran can’t leave anywhere. Alvar just teased about it.

That is why Ativeeran was lured in with made-up stories like fighting with his

girlfriend, suicide-ducide, this and that. Even after sending a message not to come, Vishal

was there within a minute or two. Just when he got there and parked his bike, he got the

text message. He said he decided to come anyway; there was no reason to go back after

coming so far.

He told surprising news about the bike parking lot. Regardless of being a popular

five-star hotel, the parking lot looked abandoned with no maintenance. Just one security

guard was dozing on his seat. Even after asking the question "Where to put the bike?" two

to three times, the security didn’t answer. Not wishing to wake the man, Vishal searched

for a place and parked his bike. Even if he’d set up four to five bombs in the area, there

was not a single man to question him. Vishal ended his news by saying that.

With the mention of bombs, I remember a sweet and painful memory. Alvar wrote

a magazine article on the Sri Lanka issue and used his name. "You don't want to do all this

useless work," Ativeeran warned. Alvar was born on the first day of June. Leo sign.

Anyone born under this zodiac sign will not listen to others. To top it all, Alvar was born

on the first day of June. Clean. If Leo and the first of June come together, do you even

want to ask? He won’t listen to anyone by mistake.

His essay on the Sri Lankan issue looked exactly like Lasantha Wickrematunge’s

last feature essay in Sunday Leader. The journalist was killed for his views. Alvar’s office

was bombed. These days, Alvar constantly carries a pistol tucked in his hip. This is the
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bitter part. If you ask for the sweet side of the news, after the terrorist attack in

the Mumbai Taj Hotel, there was a bit of a laugh going on in Park Sheraton. A man stands

at the hotel doors with a metal detector in hand, screening those who enter. But that metal

detector never finds the pistol in Alvar's hip.

That day, both Alvar and Vishal were emotional. They are meeting after many

years. Out of the two, Vishal was more excited. Contrary to his nature, he spoke very

loudly. No matter how much Ativeeran tried, he couldn’t contain Vishal. He was

screaming as if he had already drowned four shots.

It was five o'clock in the evening as usual. Alvar left. Paramatma left, saying to

Vishal, "I will wait in the car, come." It was decided that Vishal should not ride the bike in

such a drunken state; he would sleep at Paramatma's house and leave the next morning.

Then unexpectedly, Vishal didn’t leave; instead, he vomited violently on the very spot

where he sat. He threw up a river. The carpet on the floor was in ruins.

This has not happened once in all these fifteen years. No, just one time it has

happened, but in a slightly different fashion. Bimbasaran from Alvar’s set had once visited

the bar with his girlfriend Vidya Rupini. Ativeeran knew Rupini well. College mates.

Ativeeran felt that she was in some kind of discomfort that day. It may be because this is

the first time she visited such a place. Ativeeran didn't give much attention to it. When

Alvar and Bimbasaran went outside to smoke a cigarette, "Athi, look behind my churidar

top; do you see any bloodstains?" said Rupini. He looked and said no.

She said, "I don't know what it is today; It’s acting out of control. I've changed the

'pad' twice, but the 'bleeding' is a bit too much."

Like always, that day too, Ativeeran got up after everyone left. The spot where

Vidya Rupini sat was entirely stained with blood.

When he went there after two or three days, he noted that place immediately. The

spot on the sofa was clean without a trace of blood. The slipcover doesn’t seem to be

changed. It was the same old cover. What magic did they do?

After the incident with Alvar and Vishal, the following unfortunate event

happened. This is why we never bring small press journalists to these places, Ativeeran

thought. The day was spoiled by Paramatma.

The next day, when Ativeeran called Paramatma on the phone to talk about the

vomiting, Paramatma said something interesting. Vishal threw up in the house as well.

Paramatma said, "It's okay if he throws up; you can clean it. But at one point, his

eyes started to close. I feared he would die."

“Man, he might have closed his eyes in exhaustion; did you fear because of that?”

"Who knows? He used to be sober after drinking like a fish; I don't know what

happened yesterday..."