KARIKALAN AND THE TIME MACHINE

                                           KARIKALAN AND THE MACHINE

The fear showcased on the face of the Super Star, was ironed out by what Manikkam spoke next, “Sir, all these powers can be with us only till we are in King Karikalan’s Chola Country. Once we are back in Chennai, we would be ordinary people like others.” The Super Star could see Manikkam was speaking the truth. “Sir, even if I wish for such supernatural powers I can’t get them. Whoever uses this Time Machine this power would be with them till they live or stay in the other world, sir. We can fly if we want. Whatever we wish can happen and all we have to do is think of something happening. Time Machine was never created for this purpose, sir. But when the Time Machine came to me all these powers were there for me. Indeed when I first time travelled to Kanji and found his grandfather, I came first to know I was in possession of so many supernatural powers. I could fly like birds. I could mind-read others. And so on and so forth. But when I returned to Chennai, I found myself to be as ordinary as any person on the street. But this old man had come to have all these supernatural powers. With those powers he subjected many college going girls and blackmailed them. But the moment I came to know what he had been up to, I imprisoned him inside the photo frame. And he spent his time by viewing the TV and I couldn’t do anything about it. He knows all the local slangs. He could speak Tamil like any other Chennai folks!”

“Hey! You idiot!” the old man was furious, “Would you say yes for whatever he says. I guess this is why your wife has walked out on you..!”

“You are killing me, grandfather!” exclaimed the Super Star. Then something occurred to him and he lost his cool, “Hey, old guy!” he asked the old man, “Why did you rub that fine woman inside the temple? If you won’t tell me I would make things worse for you. I could even rearrange the way your nose looks!” with that he shot up his cuff and made to hit the old man even as his face was wreathed in a mysterious smile.

But the old man was not the one to be frightened. He kept looking lackadaisically at the Super Star.       

 The Super Star turned to Manikkam, “Now I can tell why your old man behaved the way he did inside the temple this morning, Manikkam. I’ve just read his mind. That woman was favourably affected by somebody present there. And our old man said, having read her mind, why he was very much available. And he made good his threat by actually rubbed her. Am I correct?”

“Ok, my boy,” said the old man, “You are cent percent correct. But my question is what took you so much time to find it out. I kept my mind, just a minute ago wide open so you could read my mind!”

“How difficult to put up with your grandpa, Manikkam! How could you stay with him for three months, I can’t even tell or imagine.

“I couldn’t stay with him, sir. That was why I ensnared him inside the photo frame!”

“But, Manikkam, he, your grandpa, could have easily come out of the imprisoning frames, no? All he had to do was think of getting out and it would have happened, no?”

“Yes, you’re right, sir. But I promised him I would commit suicide if he went against my words as long as he was with me in Chennai. So that had stopped him!”

“You Rascal of the worst type!” the Super Star commented, “You deprived me of all my powers to kiss Valli and have tossed me into this world despite my best efforts to not time travel with you!”

“Because of that only sir, we are here. Otherwise, that is, if you had concentrated inside the darkroom in my flat in Chennai, we would have time travelled to Kanji and this old man could have been dropped there and taking that lizard and a house fly we could have safely gone back to Chennai. Now the Time Machine has taken things into its hands and I have lost my power to dictate terms to the divine device!”

“So you still say the Time Machine has taken things into its hands and you are unable to get it get us back to Chennai as and when we desire?”

“Yes, sir!”

“You rascal! For your own end, you have made me travel in time and I am ensnared in Valli whom I can’t touch and make love to!”

“Believe me. You have a certain equation and sharing with the time machine.” Manikkam said. “And it would find a solution for all your problems in its own way!”