The Black Man's Curse

Disclaimer

All the characters and incidents in this story are real . Any resemblance to any fictitious character , living or dead, is purely serendipitous .

I did not plan this. Not that i was not going to write about this. I eventually would have . But not now. Now was a time to write about other things , things less dramatic ... things more pleasant.

But as destiny would have it , and indeed its destiny which has it all the time, events took an unexpected turn and i am compelled to write about this now.

Before i proceed to the actual storytelling , let me introduce the main characters :

Herr Venkataraman Santhanam aka "Venki"

He is the principal protagonist of the story. Well there is a lot i can tell you about this guy. Indeed i plan to dedicate a post for him. But for now a short intro would have to suffice.

Venki is a cheerful guy from IIT-K (Dept . 'Batti') . Don't be fooled by his name. He is originally from chennai but he is a born and brought up 'Dilli ka Launda'.
You know he has a good command of hindi because he passes the ultimate test ,
using the "desi " gaalis , with flying colours !!
Now what you need to know about him is that he is an affable chap with a happy-go-lucky attitude. He would befriend anyone and everyone he meets. Now this can be a dangerous thing to do ... As you are about to discover soon.

Herr Joseph (supposedly so) aka "The Black Man"

Let me now introduce the principal antagonist of the story . And as in any good story he is also the principal character of the story (Who wants to see a batman without a Joker ,right ?)

Well one thing you really need to know about the black man is that ... well, he is Black . Now before you draw out your swords and start calling me a bloody f***ing racist , let me clarify that i am not alluding to his skin colour ( which , by the way , is black ) .

What i am referring to is his intent .. his diabolic mind . He symbolizes all that's dark and ungodly and wrong with this world. He is Satan's own son... no he is Satan himself . ( Alright this is too much of an exaggeration , but will help you get in the mood )

Extras
Will be introduced as they come along .


Now Let's delve straight into the story .


May 16 , 2009
Max Planck Guest House

"The day sucked ". Venki thought out loud while he cooked dinner ( Cooking being one of his many talents .) He was in a terrible mood , his usual cheerfulness gone.
" Who the hell stole the cycle?. And i thought Germany was supposed to be a safe place and all. And what would i tell him... " .

Suddenly he heard a sound and in a flash he was standing right at the kitchen door. It was almost as if his fears had materialized right before his eyes . Holding a basketball in his hands , sporting a muscular body , The Black Man approached a terrified Venki. He could feel a lump forming in his throat.

"Hi" , smiled Joseph (The name he gave to Venki) "How are you?" .

"Hey . i am good . So wassup ?" Venki managed. He was a bit encouraged , seeing that smile , but his fears has not yet been allayed.Understandably so.

"I want to talk. We sit in your room? " . (English is not Joseph's forte) Joseph seemed pretty cool about it.

"As if i have a choice " rued Venki. "Sure " He said aloud.

Once inside the room , Joseph began " I meet English guy at basketball today. I surprised , he with my cycle. So i asked him..."

"Your cycle .." Venki tried to clarify.

"I talk. You quiet. He tell me, you sell my cycle to him for money. You fucking the wrong guy. I a drug-dealer. If you lie, i kill you. You try to fool me!! "

To say that venki was scared shit would be a gross understatement.. He was all alone in a new country and here this black , muscular guy was sitting in his room , claiming to be a drug dealer and threatening to kill him . As he later put it " Meri buri waali phat gayi !!" - Maybe this expresses it better.

" That cycle cost me 400 euros. I want my money. " growled Joseph. And before Venki could react ,he hardly was in a state of mind to react , Joseph began rummaging around . He snatched Venki's wallet and took out all the money.

"All the money !!!" Venki sprung back to life . "Please " , he pleaded, " I need the money . I have no more. I did not sell the cycle. It was stolen today morning. " He has lost all hope of not being robbed. He was thus trying to minimize the loss. "At least leave some!!".

Joseph looked at him. Venki was cutting a sorry figure. " Okay. I leave with only 230 euros rite now.But i find out the truth. And i kill the liar" he threatened menacingly.

And as suddenly as he came, The Black Man left.

(To be continued ...)

One Month Later ...

"Its been a month ", i thought, as i sat on my chair , staring at my laptop ,listening to 'desert rose' , eating an apple (two actually) and enjoing the bliss of laziness which seemed to descend upon me from the overcast skies . Its an unusually lazy day , Not that i am usually active , But even the hyperactive shashank(More on him later) was feeling lazy so i guessed it must be the weather.

I looked at my computer screen, this time with more purpose ," June 19" . So it indeed has been a month since the day i arrived in tuebingen. For the uninitiated (Really why are u even reading a blog about a guy u hardly know!!) , i am here at Max Planck institute to do a summer intern. And ,as you know by now , it has been a month since i got here .

So what's the deal with it being a month ? I mean its not as if it has been a month since when you first met your girlfriend (You better remember that !!) ? Why write a blog about it ? Well , well folks ... i conceived of this blog long back , a month back to be precise...

" Good Morning Everyone . This is your Captain. We are approaching the Vienna International . Please fasten your seatbelts. We will be landing in 10 mins " .
a male resonating voice woke me up on the 19th of May as i was aboard flight OS-34 of the Austrian Airlines. I looked outside ( As a true indian i had asked for a "window seat ") and was dumbstruck ... As the morning sun rose and illuminated the clouds ... it looked so ethereal ... a heavenly kaleidoscope.

Suddenly the plane tilted to its right . And we began to descend into the clouds. And as the wings cut through the layers of clouds ( You could feel the resistance) and the vision below became clearer , i was greeted by another pleasant surprise . You see the way i used to picture Europe was a very modern place with tall skyscrapers and traffic rush. But the scene i beheld told a different story. I saw acres of farmlands and farof forests . The houses looked all quintessentially non-urban. The streets were not crowded. It was one of the , most picturesque sights i have ever seen. A perfect Kodak Moment.

And it was then , in that moment , that i decided that i would shed my characteristic laziness and would certainly write a blog about my stay in Europe .

So why did i wait for a month to do it ? Well to understand that you have to understand something very fundamental about me .. I am Lazy. Its not always apparent , indeed some people refuse to accept it , but those who know me the best know this for a fact. So keeping with the spirit of being lazy , i procrastinated... and again... yet again... till i got tired of procrastinating ( M too lazy even to do that) and i set a date " Alright , I am going write a blog after one month has elapsed since my arrival in tuebingen . On the 19th of June that is ." (Alright May was 31 days but u get the point , don't you?)

So here i am , on the 19th of June , writing the first post of this blog. But now i am tired of writing . Hopefully , i would continue this some other day. Till then ,

Take Care
-Aman.