Parking-lot guy Anand was staring at the number plates of all the two-wheelers lined up.
I have been told never to trust the intentions of someone who dares to charge 50 paise extra from poverty-stricken earning professionals (who are most probably parking there to make their way to buy the latest cell phone with a cannot-do-without camera). Plus, hindi movies have taught me that plucking off a number plate from an innocent bike and planting it on a hit-and-run vehicle driven by a criminal (who will also disguise himself astonishingly well with a paste-on moustache) was as easy as turning a roti on the pan.
So I squinted suspiciously at Anand, as if by letting less light-play in my vision, Anand's evil ploy will suddenly be apparent to me. Hmm… our prime suspect is mumbling something.
I know I'm onto something. I decide to move in. To buy time, I pretend I can't find my key. Anand is used to such carelessness. He probably thinks I don't deserve a bike. I have him fooled THIS time… haha!
Ok I am now close enough to hear him softly chanting something. Every 3 seconds, he rolls his eyes upwards, and his fingers wiggle a little. I move closer, acting like I'm tightening the screws on my helmet vizer. Anand's right thumb is moving quickly, placing a light touch on each section of his fingers. His lips are only slightly apart, still mumbling.
My eagle-eyes zoom in to his fingers again. The pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place. Uniform. School. Homework. Number blocks. Fingers. Counting. Add. Subtract. Maths.
Anand spends his workday turning boring vehicle registration numbers into complex maths puzzles. "Timepass, may-dam (madam)" he tells me. So do numbers with more than 4 digits freak him out? After letting out a shockingly shrill ultrasonic laugh, he says the only thing that confuses him is the TN (Tamil Nadu) registration.
The tamilian in me reacts with an indignant "OYE!!" together with imagined angry lungi lifting action (sure to scare people shitless), while Bangalorean in me grins conspiringly at Anand. I don't think Anand cares how I react. He's more interested in (6623*3475) + KA03.
5 comments:
Hey Ro,
Nash meets Ramanujam?
kraz.
:) add to that Diffie and Hellman (cryptography).
and kraz, thinking of an ending to ur to-jump-or-not-jump story has exhausted me. i've thrown in the towel. can we introduce a dirty harry somewhere there & save mr.wanna-chumma-die? :)
Or how about William Wallace shouting " They may take our lives but they'll never take our FREEDOM" and then spearing him through the heart. :)
Then again...why not?
Kraz.
:):)
Interesting.....very.
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