a mini-story

Kondalarao RAO Palaka (PALAKA@simon.wustl.edu)
Thu, 22 Feb 1996 11:36:55 +0000

Looks like in the telusA land, it pours when it rains :-) And, at
the moment, i can 'see' several readers eagerly waiting for a change of
weather. And, being the opportunist I am, I thought - what better time to
post a short story of mine? this is like the 30 seconds right before
Seinfeld. a prime time for advertising, i mean. or, for posting a story.
So, here I am with one of my first attempts. I appreciate if people could
comment on the story on style, content and so on. thanks.

- rao

Virtue
=====

O! inkaa EDEnaa! inkO padi nimushaalu nikshEpangaa paDukOvaccu.
enimidi-nnaraki kadaa office_ki veLLaalsindi! ee rOjendukO baagaa
baddhakamgaa undi kooDaanoo... ninnaTi party prabhaavam kaavaccu... abba,
raatri party enta baagaa jarigindi! kaDupukee, kaLLakee kooDaa vindE!
rOjoo coosE colleagues kooDaa evening dresses_lO enta different_gaa
kanabaDataarO! Especially, Christine. Wow! she looked sooo sexy! And,
her voice was so sweet! Does an evening dress change a person so
completely? May be it's the humdrum of the office work that hides her
beauty. nivuru gappina nippu!... mana vaaLLeppuDoo "aa ammaayi
nippu-laanTidi" anTunTaaru. do they mean "she is hot"? Christine
certainly is. I should pay her more attention in the office. I will ask
my boss to assign her to my project. Boss.. boss.. what did Ms. Willis
say when she was leaving last night? "Let's meet on time"? naa senses
annee christine meeda kEndreekarinca-baDDam valla sarigaa paTTincu-kOlEdu.

O saari daily planner teesi-cooddaam - just in case. Oh my G-d! "meet
with Ms. Willis and clients at 8:00"! TaimentippuDu? enta time?
EDumpaavu! legu legu, legu veeraa! vaLLanta needEraa raajaa... enta
asambaddha-maina paaTa gurtukoccindi? inta kangaarlO kooDaa...

Brush! brush! brush! brush! -- done. Mechanical engineers do it in four
strokes, huh! So do I. To shave or not to shave? To shave - of course.
Christine mundu dirty_gaa kanabaDa-kooDadu. Shower? Nah! A dab of
Lagerfeld whould do...

enta vEgamgaa ready ayinaa appuDE EDunnara. inkaa breakfast cEyaali. ee
morning traffic_lO ee padi maiLLakoo ara-ganTa paDutundi. ee rOju boss
cEta ceevaaTlu tappavu. andunaa clients mundu. aaviDaki kOpamostE
manishi gaadu. agnihOtraavadhaanlu america_lO aaDa daanigaa puDitE ilaa
vunTaaDu kaabOlu. EmaindilE! maaTalanTundi. antE kadaa! koTTadu gadaa!
sticks and stones may break my bones; but names will never hurt me..

breakfast cEddaamaa vaddaa? cEyaalsindE! khaaLee kaDupu cEsE
hreenkaaraalu caalaa embarrassing_gaa unTaay. plus, I wouldn't miss my
breakfast cereals for anything. andukE, jaanaki nannu "cereal killer"
anEdi...

OhhO! idEmiTi nElantaa mancu! ninna raatri nEnu illu cErina tarvaata
mancu kurisinaTTundi. hatavidhee! ippuDu car_ni clean cEyaDaaniki inkO
aidu nimushaalu...

EDuu nalabhai aidu! kaneesam paavu-ganTa late avutaa-nanna-maaTa. Janese
raatri gurtu cEsindanTE, important clients anukunTaanu. But who cares?
not me! Wait! Don't! Don't turn red on me.. bratiki-pOyEnu. lEkapOtE
inkO nimushamu-nnara late_ayyEdi. hammayya, mottaaniki highway ekkESaa.
mundundi musaLLa panDaga. 35..50..60.. arE! idEmiTi rODDantaa inta
nirmaanushyam-gaa undi? nish-kaaru-shyamgaa undanaDam karakTEmO? naa
vaacee karakTEnaa? This is supposed to be the rush hour. Think..
think... eureka! ee rOju raazu gaari puTTina rOju! ML King birthday.
ippuDu gurtu-kostundi ... Janese holiday rOju office ki rammanTu- nnanduku
apologize ceyyaDam... Grrreat! ika cooskO -- ee padi maiLLoo padi
nimushaallO laagincEstaa. Yes! I'll be on-time.

"There he is! I told you! He is very punctual. Comes precisely on time."
clients_tO ceptundi Janese. Clients mukhaallO relief. tana
appreciation_ki samaadhaanam-gaa O cirnavvu-tO kalipina thanks paarEsi,
clients_tO "I'd hate to keep you waiting -- even for a minute!" anTunTE
lOpala evarO EdO goNiginaTTu anipincindi.
****