2010

BOJEMA: A Love Lost & Found

Jeffrey Kiran

The Plot
Right through the ages, Love has bee omnipresent in various forms. In this story, I am not trying to portray the joy and pain of love or compare it with the everlasting romantic tales. I am going to take you through a unique story about a normal boy and a girl , who went through the magical journey of love. Our expedition takes us first to a small beach town called Pondicherry, situated in the south coast of India, where we find the hero of our story, Jason Joseph . Raised in an upper middle class Christian family, Jason spent his childhood happily studying in a boy s school. As a bright and well mannered kid, he spent most of his time in loneliness, trying to isolate himself from the clutches of social life, because he had a big complex about his stout frame. He even contemplated becoming a priest after high school but a strong support from his family motivated him to overcome his problems and start all over again. They sent him to Chennai , to learn his trade in engineering, hoping the dynamics of the city life would make a difference to his somber personality. Jason s college days were exciting and his teenage life finally meant something to him. However, the traditional aspects of Tamil culture had a strong influence in his college to such an extent, that it prohibited boys and girls interacting with each other. Anyway Jazz as his fondly known among his friends was not very mindful of this fact and in a way felt comfortable in dealing with such rules as he had limited exposure mingling with girls. Now, turning our ship to the south west, we land up in the cosmopolitan city of India, Bangalore , the hometown of our lovely heroine, Reena Karupaiya . Reena was an outgoing, modern day girl from a middle class family, originally from Tamil Nadu. Hailing from a traditional Hindu family with strong values, Reena was a balanced individual who managed to maintain a traditional city girl lifestyle. She had spent her final school years in Trichy , located in the heart of Tamil Nadu with her grandparents , who had moulded her with strong cultural values. Although Reena was a smart kid, her childish innocence and honesty made her the favourite among other students. An interesting fact about her was her strong affinity towards Christianity as she embraced GOD as one. So how did these two individuals influenced by different cultures meet ? How were they able to overcome their differences and fall in love? Did they marry? Well, that is what you re going to find out.

1. The First Beat

I hope I am not put into the Java batch , was the thought echoing inside a nervous Jazz. He had secured a job in his final college year at Bharath Technology Solutions (BTS), a leading global IT services provider. Like the popular dream of many young Indians, Jazz chose to be a software engineer in a multinational firm. Having done electronics engineering, Jazz was never at home with programming. The pressures of getting a job and satisfying his family got to him, and he reluctantly took up a job in the lucrative IT sector. Jason Joseph, Datawarehousing , sounded a firm voice amidst the huge audience seated for the BTS Induction Program. Jazz was a relieved man, as he felt more at home with databases and related activities. He was grouped along with some of his college mates in a small Datawarehousing training batch. On the other side of the spectrum, we have Reena present in the same auditorium. She had also got placed in BTS through a huge campus recruitment drive. I am very excited and happy Babu! , exclaimed Reena to her college friend. Unlike Jazz, Reena was a confident indiv idual, fresh from her computer science engineering. As luck would have it, Reena was put into the same batch as Jazz. The big day came finally and Jazz was all pumped up for the commencement of the training. Despite being thrilled, Jazz was circumspect as he hardly knew anyone in his batch. He decided to stick with a couple of his college mates. I saw this pretty girl in the meeting .She gave out all the items, we needed in the game; Man! She is one good looking chick , uttered Harsh. Jazz had spoken only a few times with Hari in college but felt comfortable in his company amongst a room full of strangers. He was curious about this mystery girl and was sheepishly starring at every girl entering the room. As he turned away to pick up something, he suddenly felt an aura of calmness and serenity embracing him. He saw the beautiful Reena walking past him. Jazz was completely immersed in her persona. She had a cute smile, which would slave any fearsome warrior. Jazz felt his heart beating strongly, a feeling he had never come across in his life. What s happening to me? Who is this girl?, pondered an overwhelmed Jazz. However, his excitement came to a halt when Charlie, his batch mate remarked, Harsh, is that the girl you were blabbering about? Dude, she is fat. Harsh gave a precarious look and replied, Man! she maybe plumpy but a real cuty. I would do anything to be with her . Jazz was thrown back as the butterflies in his stomach flew away instantly. Looking at Charlie, he dropped his shoulders in distort and said to himself. Gosh! I would never stand a chance with this guy . Char lie was a tall and handsome lad, who had the killer looks to lure any girl. Jazz went into a shell the whole day thinking over what had happened. His whole world had turned upside down. His heart was pumping faster. At this point, Jazz failed to realize he experienced a beautiful beat, the first beat of love. ... To be continued