Preface Superhero stories have always fascinated generations irrespective of age groups. This Short novel is an attempt to create a Superhero from the streets of Mylapore . We see the Journey of our Protagonist , Krishnaswamy from a normal person, to a superhero. We see various emotions and situations he comes across and how he overcomes the challenges. The novel follows his ups and downs and has been inspired by the Superheroes from Hollywood. I blog at ambireturns.wordpress.com with the pen name ‘Krishnaswamy’. For those who have not read my blog, please do check it out and I am confident that you would love it. I started blogging as an experiment and it has pulled me into my own creative world with characters based on real life people. This is a work of Humor and is intended to bring a smile in the face of the readers. It is my very first attempt to write a novel and as a matter of fact, I’ve never read a single novel in my entire life. I would fail in my duty if I don’t mention that Meenakshi (meenuiyer1092.wordpress.com) has made valuable contributions to bring this novel to the present state. So as always, Just sit back, have a cup of coffee and read the book. 1 Chapter 1- The Rise of Ambiman Long Long ago, not so long ago, there lived a man called Krishnaswamy (called as Kicha). He was a docile, harmless man going about his routine. He neither interfered in other’s business nor did have the guts to prevent someone from poking their nose into his business. He was innocent and was a pakka Tachimammu. He was so innocent that he used to drink Filter Kaapi in a Feeding Bottle! But one fine day, when he was in the temple, a mama walked towards him. He was no ordinary person. He was a Radio-Activated mama- A person affected by radioactivation (Which means that he was addicted to the Carnatic Songs played in his Phillips Stereo Radio) . He walked behind Krishnaswamy and Bit him. Bit him real hard Krishnaswamy: Ai Mama! Why did you bite me? Mama : Come on! We need a superhero story and how best to start it than a bite from a Genetically modified person like me? Krishnaswamy : What ? Are you Genetically modified? Mama: You could call it that way because Carnatic Music runs in my blood. Krishnaswamy walks out of the kovil, into the deserted agraharam bordering the temple. He felt an uneasiness in his body. He could feel a metamorphosis within him. He could feel that each and every cell in his body was undergoing a radical change. He came out of the Agraharam, not as a man, but Ambi Man. He sprinted to his home and locked himself in his room. On his table was a Jaadagam, a match for his akka Meenu. He effortlessly concluded that he wasn’t a match for his akka. How did he do it? He used a Logarithm table to decipher it! His super abilities were being churned out. He immediately pulled The Hindu news paper and was sweating profusely . He was able to solve the Sudoku with a 5 star difficult within seconds with the aid of the (a+b)² formula. He was even more afraid . Being Nervous, he started to humm a tune . It was no ordinary a tune . It was a mix of Sindhu Bairavi raga and Shivaranjani raga caught in Attaana raga in Avarohanam. There was a Sanjay Subramaniam hiding inside him! Or was it because of that Mama’s bite? He was confused and came out of his home, to have food and He instinctively walked into a restaurant which he has never heard of in an area which he has never been to. That’s when he 2 realized that he also possessed the power to find ‘High Class Veg Hotels’ in any place in the planet. He realized that he was no ordinary man, He was Ambi Man. After having a Masala Dosai with a hot cup of filter Kaapi, he reached his home and locked himself in his room. Sticking to the cliché script, he opened his Nephew’s coloring book (because he did not have a sketchbook) . He was thinking of a costume he could wear. He tore pages after pages and threw them in the bin (Come on! That’s what Spidey did too, did you question him? ) . After being exhausted, he shifted his eyes to his thatha’s Panchagajam drying in the Mottai Madi. It struck him. He ran to his Appa’s room and stole his panchagajam, added 3 more strands of poonal (just to be more authentic and match with his dress- And readers please, I don’t want to add 3 more strands to my poonal, it is just that the script demands that scene ) He walked around in his locality with that dress. No one could recognize him, including his amma! Such was his attire ! Months passed and he was walking in the streets of West Mambalam, with his super hero costume. He was hungry and forgot his wallet at home. It was navarathri and the streets bore the festive colours. He read a board outside an aam “Sundal would be served to all women . Men should sing their way to earn a bowl of Sundal”. Hungry and determined, he walked in with flamboyance. He sang a Song mixing Karaharapriya, Shanmugapriya and Sripriya raagas. The mami was floored and she handed over the entire stock of sundal cooked for the evening. Although she was an Al- Mama member, she was unable to do anything because such was the attire of our superhero. 3 The temple bell was the signal of distress. If it rang 3 times, paused and rang for another 3 times, Our hero would sprint to the temple like Usain Bolt on Steroids. No No! There was no damsel in distress or a Mama who has been kidnapped. It was the signal that the Abishekam and Arthi was underway, which precedes the Prasadham distribution. We need a Villain and what’s a super hero movie without a Villain ? It was none other than S.N.Lakshmi (The celebrated thief and the brain behind the success of the Italian Job) – For those who don’t know who she is, she is the paati of Tripurasundari from MMKR. Although old, she could pull of prasadam heists with style . The Kovil Vadhyar was in distress now and he pleaded to Ambiman to put a stop to this. Ambiman was determined that he would catch the thief. It was the clash of the Villain and our Super Hero. Who would Win? Does it have the same ending as any other super hero flick? Lets see…… *After few weeks* The thief and Ambiman were taking selfies outside the temple. What happened ? Was Ambiman unaware of the fact that she was the thief ? *Few days earlier* Paati stole some prasadham from the palliarai and was sneaking out when Ambiman entered the scene Ambiman: He Paati Stop! * Paati , our villain has been caught red handed * Paati : Perandi! Enna pa solaria. Ambiman : How dare you steal prasadham? Paati : Kanna Laddu venum ah? Ambiman: What are you saying? Paati : Let’s face it. You like prasadham and So do I. The vadhyar here gives too little for us and that infuriated me. Ambiman: So? Paati : Let’s become a team. We could share the Prasadham. 4 Ambiman after thinking for sometime, Said “I’m in!” As Ambiman walked towards his share of prasadham, there was a power cut for 1 minute and when the power was restored, the prasadam was missing What happened ? Where did the prasadham go ? Let’s see in Chapter 2 5 Chapter 2 – Ambiman Returns As Ambiman walked with his share of prasadham, there was a power cut for 1 minute and when the power was restored, the prasadam was missing What happened ? Where did the prasadham go ? Let’s see in Part 2 When the power was restored, He searched in vain. The Paati too was confused . She did not know what happened or who it was who attacked her . She had lost her prasadham. Just when you thought that Paati was the Villain , there came a supervillain whose identity was unknown to Paati and Ambiman. Who could it be? Paati said “Ambiman! It is you who should find that person” . Ambiman saw hope in her eyes. He knew that if at all there was someone who could stop this, it was him. He vowed to catch the culprit. And that my Readers , is the first time in the history of Superhero stories, a villain became a sidekick to a superhero. Ambiman went back to the sketch board, this time was designing a costume for Paati, the Villain turned Sidekick. He took hours to design one and pinged the design to paati. Paati replied “No Ambiman! I have already got my costume and sent him a picture of her wearing Pothy’s Samudrika Pattu. Ambiman was floored ! Here is a Paati who is in her 70’s who thinks she is in her 20’s . He said to himself “Nevermind, this super hero at least has a sidekick. Let’s not antagonize her”. Together they scanned temple after temple, looking for a Villain. Little did Ambiman know that Paati needed someone to help her visit temples Just when Ambiman entered a temple, there came a couple , who mistook him for a Kovil Vadhyar. Ambiman was like “Yov! This is Superhero blog ya! Not Vadhyar Zoned , come and meet me when I’m writing Vadhyar Zoned 4.