Mrs Menon in Train

December 24 , Covai Express , 12:30 PM

"Hello , Am i speaking to Pheno Menon" ?

"Yes , who is this ? "

"Sir , we have an opening for network engineer in Chennai, are you looking for a change"

My eyes wide opened - The little girl sitting next gave a nodded response to my smile.

"Oh .. yea , ofcourse .. please go ahead "

"This opening is for network engineer with a reputed MNC in Chennai .They are looking for network engineer with experience in routing , switching , and knowledge in MPLS , you would be sent out to US for a few months of training and .. "

"Wait , which company is it ? "

"Well , this is for XXX Corp sir "

"Hmm , i am not sure whether i would be really interested "

"Why sir , i can guarantee you that they are one of the top companies in India "

"Really ? Then , i dont think their employees would have registered in your portal for a job"

"Sir ... what you mean"

"It means that i am working for them "

"Ohh .. ohh.. Sorry sir ... in that case why dont you refer someone you know " ...

"Well, in that case , why should'nt i take the referral money from my company ? "

"Ohhhh , ha ha ha .. true true sir .. Ok , nice speaking to you "

"I know , its always nice speaking to me , though i am not sure whether its the same the other way around"

I disconnected my call and took a deep breath . Whats more worser that my own company recruiting from all around the globe , but i wont get the right chance ?

Well, Mr.Phenomenon , its always been like that for you , isnt it ? I tried to smile at myself . This time i avoided the girl next to me and instead , turned right .


She smiled back at me . I dropped my smile .

"Hi " She said in a soft voice .

"Hi" . I had to respond

"Are you from Chennai ? Going where ? "

The train has passed Erode and the next stop is Covai . I cant go to California in this train (Thats where all others in the new project would be going to ) . Fuck off old lady .

"Yes , from Chennai to Covai "

She gave me a broad smile . I tried to concentrate back on my book .

"Are you working or studying in Chennai ?"

"Yes , working , at XXX Corp ,as network engineer" .
Not as great as it sounds , all i do is suck some American dicks .

"Ohh .. thats great . Are you malayalee ? "

"Yes , i am from Palakkad " I gave the answer to avoid the next probable question .

"Where in Palakkad? " Her eyebrows shooted up showing her anxiety .

"Well , we were settled in the town , near Manapullikkavu , now we moved to Nemmara"..

"Ohh , is it .. thats so great . we are also from Palakkad " She pointed to the seat in front which was crowded with so many old women .

"Oh great ,. where are you in Chennai? " I had to ask something .

"Well , we are settled in Chennai for about 30 years now , now we are going to Alathur , you know Alathur right ? Thats where my 'tharavadu' is . From there we will go to Thrissur . My younger sister's , daughter's son is getting married " She said in one breath .

"Oh ., thats great"

"I knew you were a malayalee" She smiled as if being a malayalee was the best thing on earth .

"Malayalees can always recognise each other , there is some sixth sense between us"

No one needs a sixth sense to identify a fair , curly haried guy in a Covai express as a malayalee . But still i gave an expression as if to appreciate her sixth sense capabilities .

'Hasili Fisilie rasavadi , un siripilum ...'Girl next to me increased the volume of her China made mobile . Now no one could even hear the train's sound . I felt better so that i can avoid the conversation now .

She patted on my back . There is no stopping a old lady from continuing a conversation.

"Tamil people , no manners , right ?" She gave me a bad face .

I didnt know what to say . I am stuck in between two far ends of a very confusing species called as females . I smiled , which i have learned as the best way to deal with a woman .

"Well .. what is your parents doing ? " Next question

"My father is no more , he was an advocate . My mother retired as Joint director of education and my sister is a lawyer " . I pressed the buzzer and gave the perfect answer in one go .

"Ohh, thats great " She looked excited . I gave a puzzled look

"I mean , i am sorry about your father . These things happen to all good families " She looked down depressed .

Who the fuck told her that ours is a wonderful family ? It just sounds so great.. thats all ..


"And your sister ., she is married , right ? "

"Yea , my nephew is 5 years old " I knew where this was going .

"Thats so great , so where did you study "

"I studied in Chinamaya VIdyalaya "

"Chinmaya ? Which one ? In pallavur " ?

I nodded yes .

"Ohhh wow .... Do you know Bharathi teacher ? She was a principal there ? "

Volcanos erupted inside my head . Do i know her ? Well , she sill never forget my name . I remember the day when she was crying like a little kid in front of all the other teachers and the 5 of us inside the Principals room . "I will never forget you , or what you have done today " I still remember she telling us , with a trembling voice .

For all those who thought that those words have come out of joy , please correct yourself . It was completely the other way around . I will write a different post on that story later .

"Yea , i do " i said softly to my female pal in train .

"Ohhh wow .... " She jumped towards the seat infront of her to catch her relatives . She wanted to tell the whole world about her discovery called as ME . Surprisingly , she stopped on half the way and came back to me .

"Btw , what did you say your name is ? " She sounded really serious this time .

"Pheno" I said

"No no , your full name "

OK , so that was it . I knew this was coming . Malayalee - Palakkad - Unmarried - Well settled family - Good looking (Although most of the factors except the locations are not entirely true in reality)


I looked at her face. She looked like a little kid awaiting permission from her dad to go for playing. This was the last and the most important thing that she wanted to know .

"Menon - Pheno Menon"

"Wow " ... She burst in to joy . She jumped two seats in one go pulling me in her one hand , and we reached right in middle of the entire family .

"Meet PhenoMenon , Bharathi's student , computer engineer " Everyone looked at the new arrival .

I prayed no one would ask about my salary . I kinda enjoyed the attention that i recieved , let them think i am like the other engineer brothers who earned a lakh a month .

" You know we Menon's all understand each other so well "
Another woman who is more older than my pal , took my hand and said . May be Manoj Nite Shyamalan was inspired from this family while making 'The Sixth Sense' .



The events that followed , included me being introduced to each of the family members , and their history , and how we are all distant relatives , and how similar i looked like Santhosh (Ok , i suppose he is some guy in their family) . I finally managed to leave without a family phone number exchange . Thanks to the universal 'i wana go to the bathroom' excuse .

I never went back to my seat , i just stood there near the door . I could see them chatting and pointing at me . I hurried out as the train stopped in Covai .

I wondered whether i made a mistake by not giving the number . The last thing that i want will be a enquiry about me to Bharathi teacher.



Well , the moral of the story is that , if you have to choose between two estrogen filled tanks , go for the youngest one .

My Story in passionforcinema

My story got published in passionforcinema .

http://passionforcinema.com/hmmm

I know its not that much of a BIG deal , but , it still makes me a lot happy to see my article among authors like Anurag Kashyap , Nasuridheen Shah etc . And more over , i think it is the first story to be published there .

I wrote this story , on a chat session with my friend Aishu . She just wanted me to tell her a story , and since i was jobless at office , just went on writing . I think she stopped listening after a while , but i didnt :P . And thus the story 'Hmmm' was made .

Check it out !

:)