Kalki ....or...not...

It was a fine winter morning in bombay...The way a winter evening can be fine..only in bombay..Here for us...Winter was more like...Well ....not summer (and believe me...that was a relief...as all my readers who have been in bombay...and another place, during the winter, will know...) So this was a fine winter morning, as i told you.Once again..by fine, i mean the weather.....it was nice and hospitable...but my schedule....well...it was a disaster...3 lectures followed by that bane of all mechanical engineering students....workshop practice..or as it was called, in our sophomore(i love long words, don't you ?!!) year..Manufacturing Processes lab...It was the most mind numbing work that we had ever done and believe me...we were students who had cracked the IIT JEE after 2 (and in some cases 3) years of solving math and physics problems of the same type ad nauseum ( oh..and don't get me started on chemistry !) Those among us who loved to twiddle nobs and watch stuff burn, or wished to release pendulums and calibrate strain gauges.. the work seemed below their dignity...which showed from their rigid postures and disgusted expressions as they haughtily gazed at the cutting tip which spewed out metal ribbons, merrily whining all the time(!!)Those among us who had once looked forward to this course enthusiastically...hoping to see hammers and anvils awaiting us...and molten metal flowing all around(Me!Me!Me!)...rather like that Unreal tournament map...(Don't remember the name...and have absolutely no enthu to google it..) were bored by..this..job that was ...well ..it was downright pansy....

Did i say anything about my department...Oh well...now's as good a time as any other..The mechanical engineering department is the largest in iit bombay..with i think, 103 students...Well ..our professors have devised an excellent technique of instruction....something that they undoubtedly borrowed from Mother nature...Of course somewhat tuning it down...for fear of having the SPCA( Society for prevention cruelty to adolescents(though some think that the A stands for animals !) at their doors...Now..Great Mother Nature usually doesn't give any lessons at all..just takes the exam...Well here in Mech. Engg., we do have instruction (thanks to the SPCA !), but....once the exams (and then the results ) arrive..students realise..that the professors have 'done a nature' on them...for only in the end did one actually realize..what was expected...and how miserably short one had fallen of high standards....Well anyway...Now we had better reflexes, our muscles always taut, some of us having purchased (or invented ) devices that could recognize ( and awake from slumber, a student) if it recognised the word coming from the professor's mouth as 'quiz' or 'assignment'...
Anyway...i am rambling...Digressing from the main topic..the events of that afternoon's workshop class...We all assembled in the Lathe and Shaping section....all of us having postponed our baths ( some for fear of getting dirty and others...with the misplaced hope of the same !!)I was assigned to work on a lathe...to reduce the diameter of a steel (mild steel that too!....boohoo...) from 60 mm to 35 mm...which sounds very 'AWESOME !' but really involved no more manual labour than turning a small handle through several revolutions....So i started doing that...doing each task mechanically...with an extremely bored look on my face....Suddenly (oh yeah...it's always so sudden ! and in several stories...inexplicable as well !!) the whole machine broke and came crashing down on my foot ...I only had time to think...'Oh ..so that's why we're supposed to wear shoes in the workshop..Now maybe the bone will just break and not get powdered..!!' when the whole damn thing hit my foot..broke into two pieces and fell on the floor......I just stared....Then there was a flash of light....and the next thing i know..i was lying down in a room so unbelievably white...that ..well...i don't know..it was very white... okay ..(Sheesh..It's hard to come up with good similes ..)A man next to me said.."Ah.. He's awake.."in an unmistakably south indian
accent...
" Where am I?" I asked
" This is a secret government facility..."
I tuned out...The 6 words i had always dreamed of hearing...finally..albeit..i was usually in Israel and the person telling me was a ravishing dusky goddess named something like Ayala rather than a portly tamil guy in a lungi...but what the hell...
" Pardon me..i didn't hear a word that you were saying...i was..uhh....gloating....."
" Well" he said in a very patient voice " As i said.. you are in a secret government facility...You are also infinitely strong and indestructible..well...nearly.."
" Were there experiments ? Did you f***ing check my tensile strength and other shit like that ??( At the same time looking at my hands..Nope...no marks of hooks or stretch marks or the like...)..Well answer me.."
"Err..Let's not get into that shall we..."
" Why did this happen to me..Why now...and How many others are there like me.."
" As to your last question..you are one of 12 identified in the world and the only one in india..As to the former questions ...we have no idea..."
"Ohhh....Gimme a minute please..."
*** Gloat................***
"So... the other 11...they have the same powers as me ?? Indestructibility ? When do i meet them?...DO i have to train?....Are any of them..uhh...aligned against well...us...? Uhhh..who is 'us' ?"
" Well...The thing is ...Nations across the world... have infinitely many scouts in their own countries to spot..your kind...Most of them till now ...have been very amiable..."
"Not predisposed to World domination and the such you mean..."
"Uhh..Yes..."
" Ok..So tell me..What do i do ?? Join some..uh.. league of..uh.. extraordinary gentlemen?(Hey are there any..superchicks ?) Go to some other country as the cultural attache, but really spy on their government ? Help to build a ginormous (gigantic+enormous) shelter in case of tsunamis or nuclear attack ? "( Much in the fashion of "Lemme at 'em! Lemme at e'm ! Lemme splat 'em !!")

" Actually..you'll be working in a foundry at Rourkela...."
...UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCE...

...VERY UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCE...

" Are-You-Kidding-Me ?!"I yelled...

" No...When the first..super human was discovered...all the nations in the world agreed that the use ( I glared..)..i mean...potential of these individuals in the direction of warfare will not be ...uhh...exploited...Therefore...we have decided to give you work in a steel mill....You will be the only worker there..Your super strength and invulnerability will help you run the whole thing smoothly..Also your pay will be...."He quoted a sum..and even my eyes grew wide....
" We have prepared a cover story for you...You will be accompanied by your control...A Mr. Khanna ...He will be your guardian..till you reach the age of 21......"
" Wait a minute....So i'm supposed to work in a steel mill..using my super strength and invulnerability to scoop big ladles of hot steel and pour them into moulds and stuff like that....and just stay in a town like Rourkela all my life.."
" Well..You'll have a private jet....and an airstrip...and who knows..the political situation may change...."( Democrat in Republican clothing....!)
"And what about my friends and my family"
"Memories wiped clean....They've forgotten that you ever existed"
(Sniff Sniff !!!Oh...screw it ...who am i kidding !!)
" SO...."
I'd have to do some intense physical labour..(though how intense it would feel with my super strength i don't know....)and i would rake in the moolah...

Sigh.....

I was Happy....

****GLOAT.........****


PS: A sequel looks good...

PPS:Thanks to my inspirations..Prof. B Ravi (!),Man pro lab,Steel sterling and some high school geography !

PPPS: A lot of stuff about workshop and the mechanical department was exaggerated....though, of course...some was not.....good luck trying to guess which....

PPPPS: Seriously...please comment on this guys...cause i'm really not sure how it turned out....

PPPPPS: Sigh.......