Kathir was in his office immersed in hectic work .

His auditor was sitting right opposite and cracking his head equally .

Kathir had asked to clear off the work at Trichy as soon as possible .

Though the auditor couldn't raise a finger against him and ask the reason for the urgency , he somehow understood that Kathir was all set to clear off his residence at Trichy for good .

He had signed in new projects both at Chennai and Dubai ,that were to commence in a couple of months again .

As well , with his RanganScans fetching him more than the expected profits , obviously his presence at Trichy wasn't required as of now.

He had been working on another project in Trichy itself since last year ( some time after their wedding ) that was almost on the verge of completion .

So putting two and two together the auditor easily came to the conclusion that Kathir wanted the work to be completed before he moves out of Trichy .

More than that he couldn't ask the young man any other question _ he wasn't that cordial like his maternal uncle nor his grandfather .

It was always strictly only business with Kathir .

Auditor : MV : Shabba ....kaalaila erunthu vellai seyyuroom . Mariyathai , ubasaripukelaam panchamillama ,nalla than gavanikran !
Aana sariyana kallooli Mangan _ vellaiya thavira oru vaarthai kooduthala pesa maatengran ! Orae Moodu manthiramaala eruku .

Kathir : Then , Mr.Auditor , is it over ?
Antha site work oda ,clear aagita sollunga _ I ve arranged lunch for you .
Atha finish pannitu , next project ah paatha pothum .
But at any cost this total work has to be completed within tomorrow .
Athuku mela enaku spend panna time illa !

Auditor : Thoo ...tho ...mudichudalaam thambi .,hi ..hi _ Thambi ku romba awasaramoo !
Suduthaniya kaala la kottikitta maathri thavikringalae _ enna vishyam thambi ,
En kitta ninhe thaaralama sollalaam _ naan unga thaatha kaalathu aalu !
MV : Mister Auditoram la !

He tried to mint some straw for gossiping amongst his colleagues in the club .

But _ Kathir once again proved he was a hard nut to crack .

Kathir : Well ...this is an urgent work sir , unga working pattern therincha naala than ,en age group la ,CA s erunthum naan ungala enaku fix pannen.
I hope you keep up with my expectations .
Mathapadi .....suduthani kaala kottina , epadi erukumnu ninge than ,kaal la kotti paathu therinchukanum .
And....Haan ,one more thing ... ninglaae sonna maathri,ninge en thaatha kaalathu person _ so naan epadi ungalku thambi aaga mudiyum ?
You can call me by name itself _he paused ...with due respect ofcourse .
Intha 'thambi' _ 'kambi" laam vendaamae !

A curt and sharp reply that made the old man shut his mouth .

Auditor : mv : Mr.. Auditoraam ! Due respectaam !
Naan paaka porantha payyan..__.hmm , yen yethukunu unmaiya sonna koranchu povaanoo .
Evlo than vaaya kindinaalum , oru vaarthai vida maatengranae .
Ithae , Sadha va eruntha inneram ,kekaamaiya ,veetu kathai laam kottirupaapla .
Athan chinna pasanga sagavaasamae vachuka koodaathu !
Enna naasooka cut panni vidran _ hmm ,aana , payment double madanga koduthudran .
Athu onu Iwan kitta !

A snap was seen before his eyes ,

Auditor :Tha...enna Tham....haan , Kathir sir ?

Kathir : Romba nerama yennavo yosichutu eruntha maathri erunthuchu .
Athan koopiten .
Lunch is awaiting you sir _ if you are done with your work ,you can move in for lunch .

Auditor : Ithoo ....thoo... poren .he shut his LP down and zipped off the files temporarily . Getting up he asked Kathir ,
Neenga saapda varala ?

Kathir didn't answer immediately .

Instead his face changed into multiple shades of red that was too difficult for the auditor to decode .

Not making him wait long. , Kathir answered in short .

Kathir : I'll have mine later sir . In my room itself . Ninge ponga _Tippu will serve you ,

Auditor : hi ..hi .... ungalku mattum special saada ?
Ennaiya vitutu ninge mattum thaniya katta poringa pola ....

Not replying to him immediately , Kathir reached out to his desk and pulled a small thermo box and showed to him .

Kathir : This is my lunch . Cereal porridge .
You are most welcome to share it .
Next room la ungalku , Trichy special Hakkims biriyani + NV meal is waiting .
Its up to you to decide .......

He said with a dry smile that didn't reflect in his eyes .

Confused in his voice and tone as well as not wanting to starve himself on a porridge the auditor immediately left to the next room to enjoy his sumptuous meal .

Auditor : mv : Cereal porridgeam la .
Kanjiku stylish ah peru vacha aacha. Evan saapidratha atha .
Kodi kodiya sambaarikraan _ verum kanchiya kudikran . Intha kaalathu pasangala purinchukavae mudila saami .
Namma poi biriyani ah vettuvoom _ intha sidumoonjiya kaalaila erunthu paathae ,manda kolambi poi kedaku !

Kathir !

He was swirling in his revolving chair staring at that small thermo box in front of him .

He had no idea of eating that also .

Not only that day _

Since the day Ramesh had told him that it was Mullai who had been cooking his meals the whole year ,but had never ever tasted a morsel for herself he somehow didn't feel like dining on rich meals .

He didn't know why _ but somehow it affected him deep in heart .

Even before itself he hadn't taken his food regularly but it was only after Ramesh pointed it out and educated him with the information about her cooking and eating habits ,he completely refrained himself from dining his routine and favourite cuisines .

Some guilty consiousness  clogged his throat not allowing him to dine in peace .

Not that he was so saint like _ he wasn't Christ nor Buddha to leave aside all worldly pleasures for some one s sake .

He wasn't an inch of that type _ every fibre of his was interlinked with attitude and arrogance ,

But for sure there was a change within him after knowing about it .

It wasn't that alone !!!

Kathir s impression about her had already started changing the night he saw the valuables of his mom in his room along with the money she had kept for her thaali .

He held a respect for her and was indeed amazed at her self respect .

Infact it was from then , he started to think about her on and off.

It had started just as a spark !!!

Getting reminded of her and that act of hers once a while in a day _ at the start .

Without his knowledge it started growing sky high _ he himself didn't realise that he was often thinking about her .

And after Ramesh s revelation that "often thinking"about her had slowly transformed to" almost always " thinking about her .

Nope _ he hadn't fallen for her heads over heels  all of a sudden ,on knowing about all of this _ this wasn't a two and half movie for things to move at jet speed and they happen to sing duet immediately .

Kathir s thoughts encircled more and more about Mullai these days. .

He was deep in confusion as well analysing her deeds _ but couldn't arrive at a clear cut conclusion about her .

He thought about it _ about her , day and night !

Night ?

Yep ... nowadays  , sleep had bid him adieu for good and he spent the whole night well awake all alone in his room ,with his mother s potrait alone kept beside ,in his bed itself .

Somehow hugging that picture of hers and closing his eyes with the thought that she is nearby him ,gave him some comfort _ he usually dozed off some where nearing dawn , clinging to her photo .

Days had passed by in silence .

Kathir had almost stopped eating for taste .

He fed on Ramesh s  compulsion or whenever his tummy cried aloud in hunger .

Food was just for keeping himself alive _ he strived in stale bread and porridges much much willingly , strangely it brought a satisfaction .

He felt satiety in starving in himself _ none of the family knew this .

He had distanced from the family since his announcement about theAnd0vorce . And had planned to inform his grandparents once they returned back ( it was on the request of Skandan ) .

Indulging himself deep in work alone gave some peace of mind .

Kathir wanted to vacate Trichy as soon as possible and shift back to  Chennai , get to see his grandfather once he returns from US ; and then move onto Dubai for his new venture .

In the meantime , Kailash had interacted with him twice with regard to buisness . Kathir too had responded as usual .
Pragya too spoke to him - Kathir wasn't indifferent ,he replied to her as usual ,but carefully awoided giving her false hopes .
Somehow after Pragya' s behaviour on the day of his divorce he didn't want to give an ounce of hint of getting hitched .
Not only that _ something else came along his memory whenever he thought about Pragya s behaviour and the day of his divorce _ her kiss !

The way she kissed him as if a hungry little kid devouring it's favourite chocolate as much as it could before being snatched away from its hand .
Not to forget the manner he responded too !!!

It didn't register in his mind then _

But now ,

As and as thoughts about her occupied his mind he analysed each single act of hers in detail .

Still he wasn't able to come to a clear cut conclusion about her behaviour .

But on the whole he held respect for her _ his respect for her had increased for sure !!!

Shaking his head once more he just a spoonfull of porridge in his mouth and went back into thoughts .

One year full ah ,kasta pattu variety variety ah cook panniruka.

Enaku ennalaam pidikumnu kettu vachu cook panniruka .

But once kooda awa atha saapida maatalamaee ?

Athu enna logic ?

Yen apadi sencha ?

Naan , money minded nu awala accuse pannathalaya !

Antha kovathulla apdi senchala ?

Damn !

Chinna ponnu _ hardly 23 yrs ,Naanum Avlo insulting ah accuse panniruka koodaathu than _ athukaaga ipdiya ?

Naanum onum awala yedutha odanae thappu sollalaiyaae ?

Wedding la ishtam illainu thelliva sonnen _ athu awalukum unhappy ah erukumnu yeduthu sonnen .

Alternative arrange pannen than _ athulla interest illaina direct ah sollirukalaam.

Atha vitutu maathi maathi pesinathu naala than ,naan awala antha maathri question pannen !

Vera yenna reason kaaga oru ponnu pidikalanu solra aal kooda commit aava ?

F"* k !

Athukaaga ipadiya oruthi thanaiyaae starve pannikuva ?

That too when she was right under your roof _ Cha .

Nope _ not really starving ,

Saaptruka !

Aana uyir vaala mattum saaptruka _

Apo enaku cook panninathu ? _ His mind mocked him in another way _ Fool , awa unakaaga cook pannala da , intha veetla vettiya vakanthu saapida awaluku ishtam illa .
Nee insult panniruka awala .
So , she has taken cooking like a profession .

Intha one year ah inga stay pannrathukum , awa saapadukum calculate panni , unaku cook panniruka da fool !!

You should feel ashamed for this Kathir !

Whatever it is , Ipdiya oru ponna hurt pannuva ?

Nalla ponnu _ athan ....ipdi yosichu eruku .

Hmm....sonnallae , parents ku awamanam aagidum , athan wedding eh stop pannala nu !

He was retrospectively thinking now of all his words and how she would have felt about it .

He was able to think along her lines now mainly because she earned respect by keeping back the valuables .

Money minded nu naan sonna oru word kaaga , than ipdilaam panniruka ...cha , paavam .

I only didn't realise it _ intha jewelry laam thirumba kodukama poiruntha ,enaku ipo kooda athu therinchu erukaathu .

But though he was now clear that she wasn't money minded as he had blamed her , something else was confusing him as well .

That night !!!

That damn rainy night !!

Because even till date he ain't a remember anything about it exactly .

He couldn't recollect whether he forced her or not ,

And after seeing her stubbornness in this food habits he was all the more confused now about that night and few other happenings .

Ivlo thooram rosham paathava annaiku ennaiya epadi sagichukitta .

What the heck exactly happened that day ?

Onu,naan force pannirukanum _ athulla poorada mudiyaama pooirukanum ....aana apadi nadanthu erunthuchuna ,naan than responsiblity ah accept panrenu erunthenae .

Otherwise ..... otherwise, awalukum athulla ....she too must have been into it ,

But ivlo rosham paakrava ,athuke epadi accept pannirupa .

And athuku adutha naal la erunthu summa kooda en kannu munadi varaathava, epadi atha pidichu sagichuruppa _

Damn .....it's so confusing !

Antha ponnu manasulla enna than erunthuchu ?

Illa ....inum erukutha ?

His mind strangely asked him in sarcasm _ Inimel eruntha enna ? Illati enna?

Athan ....ellam mudinchu pochaae !

Then why are you hitting your head so hard man ?

Intha maathri starve panni enna saathika pora ?

He jerked ..  he didn't know why he stopped the meals ...but in q strange manner it gave him abundance of peace of mind .

As well , he didn't know why he was going on and on, thinking about her activities .

Wasn't she the one who initiated this divorce idea ?

Wasn't she the one who came before hand with the papers ?

And wasn't she the one who was the first to exit the court , inspite of him offering her a safe ride back ?

He still remembered it _ once the verdict was given and the paperwork was over she rushed outside ,as if not hearing his voice : he  stopped her again  in the court veranda itself and offered to drop her at home .

But she didn't even look in his direction _ with a red face she turned around to the opposite side and announced that she didn't want any help , there were so many autos out there for hire , and she would be pick one of them .
She even went on to say that she would be vacating the house that day itself and would clear off .
When he asked where she would go she simply replied , to her friend' s place and left abruptly.

To be honest he again felt insulted by her behaviour then and didn't force her afterwards .

As well with Sadha mama right at his back and Kailesh waiting for him for long outside the court ,he had no other option than letting her go .

But now ....when he recollected again and again the happenings of that day , something else struck him !

The way she turned her reddened face away from him ...

Her r e d d e n e d face !!

Why was her face red ?

He remembered their kiss shared in that stuffy small room of the court minutes before their separation !!!

Why did she kiss him at the last minute claiming she was his wife for the next 10 minutes .

She didn't even turn to his side the last 6 months , when she was in his house .

Ahha !

He clenched his teeth in frustration and absolute conclusion .

He wasn't able to derive at a concrete conclusion about her and her activities .

Each one of them contraindicated with the other _

Or rather he was unable to process the delicate and intricate feelings of a tender girl like Mullai .

There was something in her he didn't know _ something about her was clogging his thoughts _ like Snowstorm _  Moodu pani !

But whatever it was ,

He really bore respect for her .

He was clear in one thing _ she wasn't money minded in the least _ she had been so from the start of the wedding !!!

Somehow that thought alone soothed him .

The auditor had returned and the work resumed at jet speed with Kathir prohibiting his food once again .

A couple of days had passed by .

His family was to return back in another day or two .

Few of them were to halt in Middle East and the rest were to board directly to Motherland .

It was a common happening in his huge extended family .

Each one had their own priority .

It was early morning around 3:00 am that day ,

As usual , Kathir who didn't get sleep even after midnight had just slipped into slumber .

His head was tugging into the silver frame of his mother's potrait with him imagining as it was his mother's lap and she was lullabing him to sleep .

In half asleep , that soft hand which was most awaited by him , extended out to his forelocks and kissed off his agony ,the same way he expected to .

He smiled in half sleep , blabbering....mmaa....the kiss pressed in his forehead again and now the chubby hand eased off his frowns and pulled him more into the warmth of the soft fluffy flesh ,

When ,

His mobile rang continuously non stop .

It must have rung atleast more than 4 _5 times .

Kathir woke up with a startle _ only to notice he was all alone tugging in his mom's potrait and the mobile beside had started ringing again .

He picked up ,

Sadha mama !!!

The time was too early morning .

There must be a reason for him to call now ,

He immediately answered leaving aside all their differences till date.

As usual he addressed him ,

Kathir : Maams ? What s up ....innerathuku call pannirukinga ?

There was only sobs at the other end ....for sometime .

And Sadha too answered back in his usual tone .

The uncle and nephew had instantly patched up .

Sadha : Kathiraa .....he sobbed calling his name aloud ,

Kathir : Enachu maama ?

Sadha : Thaa..tha ...appa da !

Kathir : Thaatha ? Thaathaku enna ? Is nt he supposed to land tomorrow _ I mean today ?

Sadha : Atha solla than koopiten , naduvulla varum bothu ....nenju valliyaam .
Transit la paatha bothu heart attackaam .
Severe attack nu Skandan mama solluraaru .
Chennai ku , oru pathu mani vaakula varuvaanga pola .
Dei ....enaku romba bayama , padapadapa eruku da ,
Appa kannu mullikavae illanu .... solranga ,
Kathira .....nee konjam Chennai ku variya da ?

He asked in a shattered crying voice leaving aside , forgetting all their indifferences till date .

Kathir was no less !!

Kathir : Maams ... Ithu enna question nu ketutu erukinga.
Next flight la naan odanae anga erupen.
Thaatha varum bothu awara receive panna ,naan Chennai la erupen .
Don't worry . Mothala alathinga .
Stop crying like a kid maams ,he said with tears in his eyes .

Not wasting time in ranting anymore he arranged for his travel immediately and left Trichy in a hurry to receive his grandfather .

Chennai :

Unaware of his grandson s personal life , his grandfather landed in motherland with the deadly disease .

He was diagnosed with a triple vessel block cardiac disease and heart attack .

Once landed , they immediately wheeled him in to the most famous and promising  cardiac hospital in Chennai .

After the initial investigations ,the old man was shifted to a private special room .

There were a whole lot of investigations to be done yet .

As of now he was kinda stable and regained consciousness .

Once consious his first question was to see his grandson .

And once his grandson came before him and knelt down in front of him with a teary face , the old man asked in a small ,feeble but crystal clear voice.

Saami ,vanthutiya ? Enga unnaiya paakamaiyaae kanna moodiduvenoonu bayanthu poiten .
En appan kaapathi kootitu vanthutaan !
Unnaiya paathuten.....athu pothum ...he paused ,.. and searched around Kathir and asked in that same feeble voice ,

Enga saami , pappa va kaanoom ? Kootitu varala ?

MOODU PANIYUM _ PINIYUM !