MAZHAI KANN

Sinamika was walking down the corridor of the hospital. The grave silence of the hospital and the pastel dull walls always evoke a strong nostalgic feeling in her. As a kid Sinamika had always dreamt about being a doctor while she growing up, being able to cure people of their diseases and the whole stethoscope thing fascinated her, thinking back to those days she couldn’t help but smile at destiny, how her life went from riches to rags in few days, and to think that her best friend’s father was the one behind her destroyed childhood, she felt a sudden pang in her heart. Now is not the time to think about the past, she thought to herself and walked straight to the Intensive Care Unit.

“Look closely, I taught you how to read X-rays, look closely you’ll find a tumor in there”, came a rough voice from the ICU.

Smiling, she pushed the door and entered. Standing there with his back towards the door was the proprietor of the rough voice. “Uh-huh, Abram is in trouble”, she mimicked her friend’s rough voice.

“Hey, Sina”, Abram chimed from his chair.

“Heard that you hitchhiked to Yan city yesterday, Is it true?”, came Mannu’s rough voice.

“Ugh……this is not fair! You are the celebrity kid, there should be rumors about you, why am I again in the spotlight?” Sinamika whined.

“Hahahhahhahhha………,” Mannu laughed at his friend’s complaints.

Sinamika and Mannu were close friends from childhood. Their parents were indeed so close, till there came a time in history when Mannu’s beloved Father betrayed his friend for money and went up to become a billionaire, while Sinamika’s father pained and raged by his friend’s betrayal went on to get revenge on his friend and ended up six feet below the ground. From then on Mannu has always regarded Sinamika as his responsibility, and Sinamika with no relatives and friends ended up being Mannu’s most trusted friend. It was rather a death sentence for her to see the man who has betrayed his father every day, but now being a therapist, she has come in terms with the ways of life and has accepted life as it is. But still, there are times when she felt that her Dad’s death was unfair. Mannu had always known that she has a nagging pain in her heart about her father’s death. He had tried to ease her pain over the years, after all he feels guilty for his father’s act of betrayal, but whenever he tries to speak of him, she was too quick and eager to change the subject.

Sinamika has always been the observant, introvert girl, who’d run away the second someone new comes over to her and starts a conversation. Mannu had always tried to make her date someone, but she always escapes from his ‘date ropes’, as she calls it.

Sinamika always insists that she’s not an idealistic, but a realistic and that she doesn’t believe in happily Ever After’s, whenever Mannu asks her to date someone and take her mind off things a bit, she always has a ready-made reply that leaves both of them in tears

“There is no happily Ever After M, there’s always one thing or the other in your life that keeps popping up, you can’t live without problems, that’s not how life works. Finding someone magically doesn’t change the fact that I’m an orphan, and my mother died bringing me to this world and my father was killed by cause of his friendship, or the fact that I have one friend because he felt guilty of his father’s action and has taken the responsibility of taking care of me and would be happy if I’d just date someone and get off his hair”, She’d always mumble the last part, but Mannu always hears it clear as crystal. “I love you, Si, you know that you’ve been like a sister to me from the day you were born and please don’t say that I want you out of my hair, that’s not true, I just……I just want you to meet someone who would make you happy”, now there’s tears on the corner of his eyes.

She would hug him and apologize and they would forget the whole dating convo for a while, until it pops up again.

“Hey M, I’m going to Yan city today evening, Are you coming? Sinamika enquired.

“What? No one to hitchhike with, to Yan city? Now you want me to chauffeur! I don’t go to random cities with losers.”

“Of course, billionaire Mannu doesn’t go to small riot suburbs, but I’m not calling you stupid billionaire Mannu, I asking my old chap ‘Si, I’m afraid to go to the bathroom, there’s a monster inside’ Mannu to come with me,” Sinamika said with a maniac smile.

“Ugh….there’s no need for you to say that, why would you bring it up”, he whined.

“Of course, there’s no need, why else other than to make your life miserable”, Sinamika gave a lunatic laugh.

“Ugh…. I hate you,” Mannu groaned.

“But what happened to ’You are my sister, Si”, Sinamika goaded him.

“That’s only when you are a cute-cute choo,” Mannu pinched her cheeks.

“Cute-cute choo? What on earth……hahaha…I’d love for the media to hear this, Big bad Mannu calling his friend Choo….,” Sinamika guffawed at her friend.

“I’m not bad,” Mannu protested.

“You, my friend are the definition of bad. You and your infamous ego and temper. You are a total badass. Oh! do you know the kind of fanfictions people write about you, there’s even a few about you being all Christian Grey..” Sinamika blurted.

“What? Christian Grey? Isn’t he the guy……. Mannu gestured with his hands.

“Yep”, but hey, he got his happily ever after.” Mannu laughed loudly at that.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Sinamika chided him.

“Oh, yes! The Riot suburb, I’m free this evening, but Miss Girlfriend Chiya might need me for…..you know…,

“Stop right there, I don’t want to hear about your sex life,” Sinamika grimaced.

Okay! Let’s go, but promise me you’ll get me some Cheeseburger”

“You have billions in your name, yet I’m the one who feeds you everything when we go out, not fair bro, not fair at all,” Sinamika teased him.

“You should feel blessed, plebeian. For you are feeding the King,” Mannu joked.

“Kill me already,”

“With pleasure,”

Sinamika shot him a look, Mannu gave a lopsided smile and mouthed, “just kidding”

“Guys, I think you both should, you know, just go now, if you want to avoid running into his father,” Abram pointed his head towards Mannu.

“Come Si, let’s move. I don’t have enough energy left in me to pick or defend a fight with him now”

“M, just try talking to him”

“What godly explanation could he possibly give that could make him seem legitimate for killing another human being? Just leave it Si. Come let’s go. My stomach needs a serious dose of cheeseburger.”

Sinamika has never liked his friend for picking fights with his father over the death of her’s. It’s been ten years since Mannu has had a decent talk with his father, ten years since her father died. Every time they talk, it always ends with them both yelling at each other, and over the years they just stopped talking. And Sinamika has always doubted that his father hates her because of this, no that she minds him anyway.

“You, Mannu turned towards Abram, “mark the tumors in those x-rays and submit it to me tomorrow,” he ordered Abram.

“Ugh...You don’t forget anything, do you?”

“Oh, that he doesn’t,” Sinamika winked at Abram.

Mannu packed his bag and they both stood to leave.

“You should date Abram,” Mannu said to Sinamika.

“What blasphemy? date a guy who doesn’t know to read tumors in X-ray sheets. Oh doctor you wound me, I thought you had better taste. Where’s the world going?”

Mannu laughed at this. He has always liked Sinamika’s sense of humor, even if it’s twisted sometimes. Her jovial, understanding therapist personality complemented his temper and ego. Maybe that’s the reason they are still close friends after all this time.