The Spin, the Fall, the Rise

The billboard lit on the letters blinked & a few of those turned off, making it spell something different.

In the rain, she stands where a stream of thoughts rains inside her. It's her father's name.

Rani is the only daughter of Sathya, the "gifted survivor", that's what people refer to him as.

Sathya works as a construction worker in DDNC, which lays bridges for above-ground roads and underground metro.

Sathya has survived many near-death accidents, and they believe there were divine interventions that saved him.

Sathya lives in Kanyakumari, the edge of India, and he never misses a day of the sunrise above the ocean.

He lived with his mother in their unprotected shelter that let sunlight to moonlight inside their house.

His mother Easwari is a fighter who runs every day to buy a future for her child. She works as a daily wage worker.

Sathya's world is the sunrise that brings a soft, warm shine inside him. It is like a hug from his father Thiru.

He was 5 years when his father passed away due to a tsunami.

He was found unconscious but holding a firm package in his hand. It was covered in a transparent plastic bag.

It had spinning tops (Bambaram) - a toy that Sathya wanted.

We go to a vision in time.

One fine evening Thiru and Sathya are seated in a boat. The sunset coloured the skies in orange. The cold wind felt precious for its presence along with ever-rising and backing waves. 

Sathya - Appa, Have you seen a tsunami?

Thiru  - No Sathya, but I have heard it from people who have seen it. Imagine a mighty powered Bambaram at the bottom of the ocean.

Its impact is what we see above the water.

Sathya - So can I create it using a Bambaram if I have immense power?

Thiru  - No Thiru, it is created because of several factors. Remember this: to escape from a tsunami, you must keep rowing away from the centre, using its force as yours to escape.T

To keep a Bambaram spinning, you must ensure it has enough force to defy gravity to spin longer, and recurrently increase force using threads to sustain longer from a fall.

Sathya - I can't get what the connection is between these two.

Thiru  - If a Tsunami is a worry, it can either drown you or give you the power to know your capacity. Bambaram is life, you stand defying gravity with balance, taking steps towards your life daily. You fall, stop spinning daily, get up tomorrow start spinning again. Until that one day, a tsunami approaches, so that you can manage and fight to escape.

Sathya - Got it, now when are you buying one for me?

Thiru  - This Thursday, cause it's your Birthday!

Sathya - Thanks appa.

Thiru's life stopped spinning; he fighted to escape but succumbed to the great tsunami's pull & now he lives as a Bambaram holding on to Sathya's hand forever.

Sathya, ever since then, strongly believes he has his father beside him in his every fall and win. He is a promise keeper like his dad.

Sathya marries and settles in his same city. They have a kid named Rani.

Rani loves spending time with her dad, as he visits rarely due to his occupation.

It's Rani's 10th birthday, and her father has promised her to buy a pink flower.

On the day of her birthday, Rani waits near a bus stand where she usually boards a bus to her home. 

She is playing with the bambaram her father gave her. She hits it on the ground and it goes behind it wherever it goes.

On the underground, there is an emergency alarm which tells to evacuate the place due to safety precautions. Still, Sathya hasn't come out.

A helping crowd gets in, helping and relieving the workers from the hazard. 

A man hears a voice I'm here. He is on the opposite side, separated by a collision of rocks.

Above the ground, Rani sees a pink flower falling in front of her. She walks over the delicate area and picks the flower. The bambaram she spinned above create a ripple effect, clearing the rocks paving the way. The man sees Sathya there, lying under a trunk of a tree. He hands over the flower, packed in transparent plastic, covered by mud and points upwards.

The man comes out of a nearby exit & is surprised by seeing a child and her mother right above where Sathya was underground.

He goes near them & hands over the flower to Rani upon confirming Sathya is her dad. She looks at the fresh flower and the one the man gives, throws it away & takes the fresh one.

The man takes the flower and hands it over to the department. 

When Sathya's father came with a Bambaram, he was given a story behind it. He was at an age to understand life & not forget it easily, associate it with a memory rather than to see it as a mere object.

Rani will come back to preserve the original flower. Time reveals true intentions behind actions. 

The man's name is Thiru Kumaran. Thiru in Thiru Kumaran form to keep a promise.

Promises may have or may not have a meaning behind them. In the age when memories were not formed, it's the toys, the parents themselves, who are there for us. Then, after an age it's the stories, the wisdom they try to pass by. Either can be taken the wrong way to misunderstand the intention behind it. But time has all the answers now or later for sure.