Warning: You are headed towards a pile of garbage. Please refrain from using your brain cells.

I started from home in the morning, hoping not to see his darned face again. But alas, there he was, waiting for me, right in the middle of the road. I slowed down a little; maybe he would comprehend that I have to pass by, and give me some space, and not embark on his daily ritual. But he seems to be pretty brainless, because he just stood there; he had not moved an inch. He was confronting me right there and then. As I accelerated, he moved to the left with lightning speed. And the next thing I knew, he was running right alongside me, howling and screaming like never before, his teeth pretty close to me. I lifted my legs, in a sort of high jump posture athletes take when they get off the board, and gave a generous acceleration to the vehicle. Going by the standards, I expected him to stop after a while, lose interest in his quarry. But he was professional; he was perseverant, diligent and most of all shrewd. Shrewd; here is why I say that.

It was about 9 pm. He saw me coming down the lane towards the house. Believe it or not, he pretended to be going into the neighboring house, one foot through the gate, as if trying to deceive his quarry into believing that he is going to be let off today, that he can sleep peacefully tonight. I neared the gate, with rising trepidation, almost believing that I had gone unnoticed. Suddenly he turned around, and started towards me again, with everything he’d got. I rushed toward my house, barely managing to make it into the gate. He just stood there, glowering.

Every journey into and out of my house is equally adventurous; thanks to such a loving dog,
supposedly an ex-pet of one of the neighbors.

I woke up to the scream of the velakaari.
"Perukkanamaa?!!".
I got out of bed, mercury rising inside; fuming before I could get to the door. "Yevalavu kekareenga maasathukku, shanikazhamaiyum nyayathikazhamaiyum varanum?", I asked, smiling politely.
"400."
"Oru manshanukku, vaarathukku 2 naal varathukku, 400 aa?". She had shaken the daylights out of me.
"Pinna!!!" Yeah. Why not! I could ask my company to start paying you instead. I was still recovering from the assault, when she added, "Kodam roppi kudukka 100 kudu."

"Vendaam ma, 500 ellam kudukka mudiyathu." I said, smiling yet again.
"yeaa!!!", she persisted.
"Illai ma, kudukka mudiyathu. Romba jaasti." I said, holding my ground.
"Athu thaan ivvalavu sampathikkariye, koncha kaasu kudukkarathu thaane!!!" she retorted. Why you...!!!

She was getting on my nerves. I shook my head, trying to act like a disappointed customer. I wanted to chase her out to the end of the street, actually. For a moment, both of us fell silent. I reiterated, "Romba jaasti ma. Vendaam."
"Ennaya, vendaam...vendaamnundu!!! seri yevalavu tarai?!!"
"200." I said, mustering up all my courage, quoting less than half as I was.
"Poyaa!!!" She walked off.
And so ended my ordeal, me emerging the supreme winner in the "Battle of the Velakaari".

I plan to shift to another house in about a fortnight. And I plan to stay alone. I believe that by staying alone, I will keep up the drive to work towards my goal single mindedly. I have sometimes.....no; most of the times felt that the attitude around me has kept me from pushing forward with an open heart. I would say that I am more afraid of failure itself, rather than what it would mean if I failed. I intend to purge this one fear from my system. And the first step to this, as I see, is to be away from any negative elements. Elements that keep that fear in me; elements that don't allow me to think rationally, but force me to look out for ways to slip out of such decisive situations. Failure would mean ridicule; not at my inability to succeed, but at the futile effort put into the process of trying. It would amount to bad decision making on my part; something which is given utmost importance in a world that is glutting with managers at breakneck speed.

Fear. Fear is the key to everything. Get the key, open the doors. There is no one to stop you from anything. I sometimes wonder how I would be without fear, and it gives me immense confidence. Alas, only for a moment. There's usually something or the other that I am not happy about; some trivial thing which makes me ponder and ponder; mostly thinking of what the fellow facing me must be thinking of me. How, in the name of God, does it matter?!! It does not. He doesn't know me, nor is interested. And even if he thinks I am a fool, so what? How does it matter to me? These words come easy, what doesn't come as easy is the attitude. As I write, I am more certain that I shall get over this silly thing once and for all. There will always be locusts and pests ready to pick on you. The key is in not bothering about them; not just showing from the outside that you don't bother, that is, with the idea of discouraging them; but from within. Fear is the key to freedom. Get the key. Open the doors and let the sun brighten up life.