It was one fine evening of June, Dr. Goswami was planing to start for home. He looked up and rain drops
tapped on his thick glasses. It started to drizzle.
Dr. Goswami started thinking
for a moment while clearing his glasses. After deeply analysing the
intensity of rain and the distance, he has to cover. He kicked his scooter couple of times and left.
Wind andrainslashed
at Dr. Goswami as he approached his house. After parking his scooter and covering,
it with a big plastic. He entered his house fully drenched.
Off course, his
analysis went wrong. A stream ofrainwas splattering on the patio and then a bolt of lightning lit
up the bedroom. There was no electricity.
He dried himself and prepared a warm cup of
tea. While sipping his tea, he picked up today’s newspaper and started reading
it in dim candle light.
“Bamm..Bamm”, someone knocked the door
with full force. Dr. Goswami, who sailing through stars by now stumbled upon earth.
The speed of knocking was increasing with time. He adjusted his glasses, looked
at his wrist watch with ajar eyes and started walking towards door in dilemma.
“Thudd..” Sound came, as someone on the other side
pushed the door with full force and Dr. Goswami hit the chair few meters away from main door.
“Doctor Shahab, please help me, I have
been shot. Please help..” a panicked voice hit his ear drums, while he searching
for his glasses.
After his glasses back on, he saw the
man was approaching towards him with a gun in his right hand. Dr. Goswani was frozen
for a moment before he realised the man was shaking his shoulders and pleading for
help.
“I can’t..” Dr. Goswami broke the silence.
These were his first words this evening.
“Why? Can’t you see I am bleeding” it
was a loud agonizing voice.
“I don’t know..”
Dr. Goswami replied.
“Don’t play
smart with me.. There is a doctor board outside your door..” The man pointed his
gun on Goswami’s head.
“I told you
I cannot, I don’t even know proper first aid..” Goswami shouted in fear.
“Don’t lie,
you have to take out this bullet and save me. If I die you die..Doctor” Man
held his collar and shouted.
“Why don’t you
understand? I am a doctor but not a medical one. I just have a doctorate degree
in literature you fool. “ Goswami yelled.
It was fall of summer. I was heading home for vacations after
semester exams. As I checked the reservation chart, my eyes filled with tears.
First time in my life of twenty one years I had two female companions sitting
beside me Tanu and Manu. I wiped my tears of joy and boarded the train.
Two hours later..
“Beta, what you do?” An uncle sitting beside me asked.
“Uncle engineering” I replied him.
“Technical guy, do you have laptop? Play some song” Uncle
asked me.
I stood up and took out
my laptop in style, opened it. Held it with screen and as I tried sitting down.
Train stopped suddenly. I lost my balance and collided with the uncle. The
impact was so strong my poor laptop broke into two pieces.
“Laptop to sambhala nahi jata, kya engineer banaoge” he shouted at me
rubbing his forehead.
“Bhaiya here’s your Keyboard” Tanu gave me the other half of my laptop
giggling.
The change:
“Bhaiya here’s your
Keyboard” Tanu Gave me the other half of my laptop giggling.
“Darling this is ASUS 2-In-1
Ultraportable Laptop With 10-Inch Tablet, Detachable. And No Bhaiya, I am
Rahul. Naam to suna hi hoga.” I would have replied.
“Oops!! Sorry Rahul” Tanu would
have replied.
Tragedy 2: The
Selfie Embarrassment
Once, I too had a girlfriend. We were in a serious relationship.
So serious that she was going to tell her parents about us.
It was sometime in May. I got a call from my uncle that he is
in Chennai for some treatment and I have to be there next morning. I checked
all the available transport but no tickets. I had no option but to travel in General
Boogie.
I boarded the train. It was a boring journey, so I opened my
laptop and started browsing.
“Hey Baby, my Mom and Dad came. They are on their way to Tirupati.
I told them about you and they want to see your picture. I don’t have any good
pictures of you and the picutes I have cant share with them. Please send me a
selfie of yours. They are here for just two hours. I tried your phone but it’s
switched off.” My girlfriend messaged me on a social networking site.
Only fifteen minutes left. My phone was out of battery. What
now? I was confused. But as they say, There’s always a way though it’s stupid.
I took my 18’ inch , heavy laptop laptop in the bathroom of train. Somehow I
managed to get myself in frame, clicked and sent.
After reaching Chennai I charged my phone. I was excited to
hear from my girlfriend what her parents told.
“Hey, how did it go? What they said?” I asked her.
“Have you seen the picture which you sent me?” she asked.
“No” I replied.
“Okay, I am sending you. have a close look” She replied back.
I received a message within seconds. I opened and it was.. I don’t
have words. Well I will describe a little.
In that there was a person holding laptop above his head like
a banana basket, after enlarging it, in the background was some sentences written
on the wall, like
“Sonai I love you”
“call me 87645***** giralas and antuyies”
The spelling was same and there were many more which I can’t
write here. It looked like facebook wall of some horny chimp.
“So what did they say?” I asked my girlfriend in a hesitant
voice.
“That I am dating a chimp and you are the most stupid person
on this planet” she replied in anger and the call was disconnected.
And Single L
The Change:
I would have detached the screen, clicked myself sitting
there and may be photoshoped it a little and sent. I would have looked good and
the background would have looked good. And who knows instead of being called
chimp, they would have called me JAMAI RAJA.
And later when I would have told my girlfriend how I did it?
“Wow! You are so smart, having cool gadgets. That’s why I dated
you” my girlfriend would have said hugging me back.
“Son, my girl is lucky that she found you.” My Ex Father in
law would have told me and hugged me.
What Happens when a girl is raped and then murdered brutally? There is anger inside you, right? "Kill that bas****, hang him to death whether he is a minsters son or a bus conductor it does not matter, justice should be done" you say.
Then some laureate with a good vocab finds a word from dictionary and calls the victim with that name, followed by a good tag line "Daughter Of Nation" People on online networking sites change their Profile picture to a black dot as a symbol of protest...
And Then after few months..
you change your profile picture and newspaper's are filled with another rape and brutal murder And another word is being searched...
iss desh mein to hum gaay ko bhi mata bolte ha phr betiyon k saath aisa kyu?
Please don't change your DP this time, because the change within can change the world...
“Beautiful girls.. all over the world.. I could be
chasing..” My phone rang. I was in deep sleep. But somehow I woke up. I picked
up the phone.
“hey.. are you awake? The arrival time of your train was
four? You reached or not”, dad fired all questions in one go.
“Yeah! I think so.” I looked outside the train window, “Ten
minutes more...” I could see the old storage located just outside the
station. This was sign for me that I am
home since past eight years.
“ ok.. wait till the sun rises. Night time is not safe.” My
mom shouted from the other side. It seems see grabbed phone from my dad in few seconds
while I was checking where I was. She was faster than a ninja.
“yes mummy. I will wait and come home when sun rises.” I replied her yawning.
I almost arrived. I could see the old rusty sign saying
“TATANAGAR JN.”. I took out my luggage and lined up with other passengers to
get out of the little iron box.
It was still dark
outside and little cold. The place was changed since the last time. The parking
place was shifted to the other side. The reservation counter now had the glass
door. The thing which was not changed was the auto drivers circulating around
you like housefly around sugar balls.
But I had the order from supreme commander, wait till the sun rises.
“Sir! Baridih,Sakchi,Bistupur,golmuri. Where you want to
go?” An auto driver finally asked.
“golmuri?” It just came out of my mouth.
“Yes sir! Golmuri. Come I will take you” He started pulling
my luggage from my hand.
“No I don’t want to go. It just came out of my mouth.
Sorry.” I pulled back my luggage from him.
I sat down on the bench putting my luggage beside. The place had lot of memories attached, both
good and bad, bad mostly. This was the reason I had avoiding coming home. I covered
my face with both my hands. Took a deep breath. I was aware what I was going to
do I will regret bur I was unable to overcome the temptation.
“Bhaiya” I called the rickshaw-wala. Who was searching for
another catch after I denied.
“Yes Sir! Where?” he came running towards me.
“Golmuri first, from their I will tell you. I will pay you
double but do as I say.” I told him.
“Ok sir.” He grabbed my luggage and I followed him.
“Take left, go along the company wall. There is a watch
tower” I guided the rickshaw driver.
After few minutes I was
there, that place Anand Nagar, Golmuri. I read the address written outside. It was
the same place. The lights were off. Probably everyone was sleeping in the
house.
“Sir! Kahan lagaun gadi?” The rickshaw driver asked.
“just here only. And wait” I replied.
“ahh… ok” he gave me a weird look.
Everything was the same as she used to describe in our late
night talks. The company wall beside her house. Her Dad’s car covered and
parked in front of her gate. The glass window of her room. The lighthouse
inside company premises adjacent to the boundary.
“Its five thirty Bacha.”
Priya said,
“How do you know? We just
started talking.” I replied.
“The lighthouse lights
went off. We are talking from last five hours.” She said giggling.
“seriously? But it
seems like we just started talking. This part I hate most. Now your mom will
get up and you have to drop.” I said in a foul voice.
“Aww!! Don’t be sad,
you also need sleep. And I am going nowhere. I am always there with you. Now
smile and say I love you” Priya replied in a loving voice.
“But I want to talk more. I will miss you baby L” I
replied her.
“Mad boy. I love you
sooo much. Now you also say.. Bacha” Priya.
“wokay.. love you too
baby. Now you can hang up L” I replied her back.
“No you hang up
please, I don’t want to” I could feel the love for me in priya’s voice.
“Sir! Its five thirty. I have other work also.” Rickshaw
driver brought me back to present.
“yes. Five minutes more please.” I asked .
I went near her gate, took a red brick piece and drew a
line. Today I had nothing to gift her. I never thought I will come back.
I saw a plant with
white flowers near the wall. I plucked one flower, kissed and put it above the
boundary of her house. The lights of her front room was switched on, may
someone woke up, probably her mother.
I signalled rickshaw driver to start and sat down. I looked
back, a breeze blew away the flower which I left. This time I didn’t cry. May
be we never intended to be together. Destiny was never on our side.
The flower and the mark was just another failed attempt from
my side. The rickshaw took a turn and so was I forced to go along.
Sometimes you give so much into a relationship and it does
not work. You give another shot but all goes in vain. Yes I had a broken heart.
I thought I found my soulmate but things didn’t go my way and so I was twenty
four and still single, One break up.
“So sir! Where now? “ Rickshaw driver asked me.
“I guess home!” I looked back and said after a deep breath.
“Yeah Home but where exactly your home is I don’t know” The
rickshaw driver replied me sarcastically.
“Sakchi” I answered him. Sometimes, actually most of the
times a heavy heart answers make you feel stupid.
The auto driver headed towards my home. It started
drizzling. May be god is sad for me or he’s just washing away my past to write
something new.
Life
has its own ways to say things. But we don’t realize what it is trying to
convey. When something ends, we believe it’s the end of the universe. We see no
light coming in from anywhere. But we often forget every night after the sun
sets we have stars twinkling in the sky. All we need to do is look up and it
will guide us on our way.
Tushar
was sitting in his favourite bar, Sipping down a peg of scotch. Autumn was
approaching. He could see the leaves shedding down from tree, beside the window he
was sitting. The nest on the branch of the tree was missing the warmth of the
leaves. So was Tushar of any human companionship.
It
was his birthday in an hour. One more year of life, the beautiful life was
about to end. And a new one was about to start. He had the same anxiety and
eagerness, when he used to unwrap the gifts as a child. But today he
was scared to see what was in there waiting for him.
He looked
at his watch, five more minutes before he level’s up. Last year this was the
exact same time when he got the most unforgettable text of his life from Shruti. full
of all the love and affection which could be in this world wrapped in a single message.
“Happy birthday love. I texted you five
minutes before since I wanted to be the first one wish you. May I get the
chance to be wish you on every birthday till I die. Love you so much Bacha :*
<3 .”
He
remembered each and every word of that message. A smile came on his face.
Memories which he had buried deep down in his heart started coming back.
“Sir!
Last order. Its twelve, we are closing. “The waiter brought him back in the
present.
“What?
“he woke up from his dreams.
“Sir,
we are closing, its twelve. Any last order?” waiter repeated himself.
“No,
check please. Thanks.”Tushar said.
It’s
a year and five minutes ahead, when he was happy last time. That was the last
message he received from Shruti. He never got to know where exactly things went wrong.
Just a mail from her saying he was wasting his time with her. She had someone
else in her life. He never had chance to talk to her. The one last talk he
deserved. One last closure.
He has
been living in hell from past one year. Getting tormented from the memories he
had of his failed love.
The
best memories of our life are often framed in moonlight but also those memories
makes you cry in moonlight.
He
walked down the stairs. He needed a long walk to cherish the memories or cry out
them in moonlight. He was not sure.
“beep-beep”
his phone alerted him that he has some birthday wishes in inbox. But he was not
in mood but still decided to take a look. Eight messages and three miscall.
He
thought of switching of his phone but a text came from an unknown number. He
opened it and started reading.
“Hi,
Happy
Birthday. Always be happy. J
Shruti”
“Why she texted me after a year?” His hands
were trembling.
“Please leave me alone. You know, I
was waiting for you to contact me from past one year. I wanted to talk to you but i have nothing to say. Just one question why you did this to me? I loved you much.
I deserved better.” He texted her back.
“It’s
very complicated. I can’t explain you things. Please stay happy.” Shruti
replied.
“Huh! Happy? How? I was living in
hell from past one year, figuring out where things went wrong. What happened? I
was dying every day inside.
I need answers. Please tell me the
reason so that I could atleast die in peace.” Tushar asked Shruti.
“Ok!
It was my friend Sunny’s birthday three months before we talked the last time.
I was drunk and things went little wrong with sunny. I don’t know I started
hanging out with him often. I was doing things just for fun but day after your
birthday I found out that I am two months pregnant. I am so sorry. I wanted to
tell you but I was afraid….” Shruti replied back.
“What the hell are you talking? You
cheated on me. And the whole time I was blaming myself.
Ahh! Why? I was so honest. I was
planning my life with you and you. I feel pitty on myself.”
“I am
sorry.Please forgive me if possible.” She replied.
“Atleast you could have told me. I
would made things right.” I replied her.
“How?
There was no way out. I had to end our relationship. Sorry” Shruti said.
“We could have married.” Tushar answered.
“I am
married to sunny. Though its not what i imagined but I have four months son.” Shruti texted back the most
terrifying and painful words he had ever heard.
“I can’t forgive you. You ruined everything. Bye.”
He pressed send and threw his phone on road. It broke into pieces like his
heart.
Three
years later…
“Sorry
madam, but we need fathers name in there.” The Clerk said to Shruti pointing
towards a blank space.
“But I
am single Mom. My child doesn’t have a father. Please this a about my son's life.” Shruti pleaded the clerk.
“Are
you kidding me? How can a baby be born without a father?” The clerk replied
back smiling sarcastically.
“Only sharing his DNA does not make one a father. Now would you please tell me my Son
will get admission or not.” Shruti’s voice showed her anger.
“Sorry
Maam but to get admission DNS does count. You can try any other school in this
city or any other city.” The clerk without looking at Shruti replied her.
“But…This
school was my last hope.” Tears rolled down Shruti’s eyes.
Shruti has been struggling to get admission for her son since two months . But every where it was same story, father’s Name.
A small blank on a child’s admission form was enough to blank his whole life.
Shruti
knew her one mistake four years ago has not only destroyed her life but also of
her son. She leaned against the wall in clerk’s office, Slid down on the
ground. Put her head into her lap and more tears.
“Maam,
Please don’t make a scene here. We have other parents also coming.” The clerk
asked her to go out.
“Please
can’t you make an exception? It was my fault. Why my son has to pay for it. “She
pleaded again for her son leaning against the wall.
“Please
maam!! Leave or I have to call security.” There was rudeness this time in the
clerk’s voice.
“Tushar,
Tushar bhardwaj.” A voice echoed in the clerk’s office.
Shruti
knew that voice. She leaned up against the wall.
“Tushar?”
Shurti’s lips murmured by seeing Tushar after four years. She was surprised.
“And
who are you sir?” Clerks asked Tushar.
“I am
the one for who’s name you will fill in the blank column here.” Tushar pointed
towards the Father’s name in the admission form.
“Ohh!!..
ok” the clerk was surprised.
“Why are
you doing this?” Shruti came close to Tushar and whispered.
“I
also don’t know” he replied her back smiling.
“You
know that we can’t be together.” Shruti said in anger but whispering.
“I
know, we can’t be together. But I have in living in hell for four years. I
travelled, I went far. I thought I will forget you but I was not. I tried
hating you. But then I realised I can’t do that. I can never hate you. “Tushar
replied.
“But why this? My child does not have a father”
she replied.
“You
remembered the last time we talked on my birthday. I said this would have been
our baby, my baby. And you only said Sharing DNA does not make one a father.
I
promise you I will be a good father, though we don’t share same blood line but
we both love the same woman a lot.” Tuhsar said holding Shruti’s face in his
both hands.
“I am
sorry. But after what I have done with you I can’t do this anymore. Every time I
will see you I will feel guilt.” Shruti was sobbing.
“See Shruti,
after whatever happened I changed, I tried hating you but I was not able to. You are
the one with whom I want to spend my life. I have left everything behind. I have
moved very far to get closer to you. I want you in my life. It’s ok if you don’t
want but atleast let me be the father of your child. Please. I beg.” Tushar
said wiping Shruti’s tears.
“I
have no words. I am sorry. I don’t know what I want but thank you. You are a
good man. My son is very lucky to have father like you. “ Shruti said resting
her head on tushar’s chest.
“Congratulations
your son got admission. You can collect the textbooks on next Saturday. On back
side of form is the address of the tailor who makes uniform for our school. Thank
you and both of you can leave now. Next. “The clerk replied.
What occurred
in past is past. Mistakes happen, we are humans, the species best known for its poor
judgement and also for the its amazing quality, emotions. which differs us from every other species on this planet exhaling and inhaling oxygen.
Sometimes
you have to move far in life to get closer to someone. Either is distance or
emotions you have to leave things behind and move.
If you really want someone, get far to get
closer. Another story of getting closer. Courtesy British airways. Link : http://bit.ly/1epU8Uj
Our
story begins somewhere in deep forests of Western Ghats. A place very isolated
from normal human life. There was a village named Vpur. Sounds weird, isn’t it?
So to understand what are we doing in Vpur village of western Ghats. Let’s take
a flashback, two hundred twenty years ago… The
day was 21’st November 1783, in Paris, France, the first un-tethered manned hot
air balloon show was performed by the guys having very complex French names. This
flashback thing will take a while, but for the sake of the story I will go
little fast. So French guys test their hot balloon aircraft and but there was
an ambitious vampire who was bored from drinking French blood. So he stole the
aircraft. You must be thinking how? Come on, he was a Vampire. Moving
forward, after drinking a lot of European and Middle East blood, he came to
India. This reminded of you something? Something you read in history?
Exactly, this guy followed the Mughals footsteps. But here is the twist,
Mughals attacked Delhi and this guy came to Western Ghats. The Balloon got
deflated and he had no idea how to fix it. Why? Come on he was a
Vampire. They are dumb. So
our Vampire had no option other than to build a hut there, survive on animal
blood and live in lonely Western Ghats. But that worst was still to come. He
fell in love with an Indian girl there, who was searching for her lost goat. I
know what you are thinking, how? And probably the answer you are
expecting is “come on he was a Vampire” but this time it was not
his inhuman quality which got him the girl. Then what? You are probably wondering? Right?
Come on, the guy was from Paris, Mecca of lovers. White skin, foreign accent,
wearing trousers. I hate to say that but any girl would fall for him. So
he married the girl, had two beautiful children, a boy and a girl. And his life
began. His children grew old had their children and they had theirs and so on.
And after two hundred twenty years we are here in VPur a village full of
species who are half vampire and half human. Well,
now the story gets serious. The Vampires of Vpur were living happily and
prosperously from past two hundred years without harming any human life and
surviving on animal blood.But!! yes we have a but and very Serious
wala BUT. As
world got globalised, we Indian’s got lot of things such as Facebook, Pizza,
Dish TV, AIDS, Spy pen Camera with 16 GB memory which you use as pen drive also
just for 599/- INR. Oops!! sorry I got little distracted.But amazing product, right? Anyways
apart from these things Vpur got something extra, Huge and funded by
government. Government?Your eyes must have widened and eyebrows
rose? But that's not the point I am trying to make. The point is, a wild life
sanctuary was built near Vpur village. That means the days of free food were
over. The
happy days were about to get over. Soon the houses having refrigerator full of
blood had empty bottles in it. The sharp, long tooth’s of Vampires there lost
its shine. The animals got less and the humans increased. You
must be thinking, why they are not feeding on humans? Well, funny story. You
remember the first vampire, the one whose balloon got deflated, I mean hot air
balloon. Well, He married that girl and everything was fine for some days but
honeymoon period ends and wife is wife. Whether you are Vampire or own an
Empire, you can’t make her happy.
He
was so annoyed from her that he joined some revolutionary organisation sometime
in 1900’s. Luckily he attended some Bapu’s Session on Ahimsa. He got inspired
by Bapu’s thought so much that he decided no human blood shall enter the
throat of any resident of Vpur. But
let’s get real. He had nothing better to do. But a vampire never betrays his
word. Till this moment no one ever in Vpur has tasted human blood. The
condition was getting serious day by day in Vpur. The food supplies were
getting over. They cant even break in the sanctuary and steal, they can’t hurt
human. What to do? Was the Facebook status of most people of
Vpur. But
when a demon rises a savior is always born. Well, technically in this case Vpur
residents were demon though not by nature. So
where was I, Yes saviour. There was someone in Vpur village who was more
concerned than just updating his status. The Son of daughter of the vampire
who’s balloon got deflated two hundred twenty years ago, VigneshAnna
Murgesh Pallab Indresh Ratan Evan. In short
Vampire, the serious Vampire. Vampire
had some plans, some serious plans. The one which should attract people in a
very benevolent way, Since Vpur village had its pillars on ahimsa so it should
be something humans do themselves. And it was Blood Donation Camp. But
how and who were the target audience? Was the question asked by the villagers
to vampire. But he had everything figured out. The
blood donation camp was planned to setup in front of wild life sanctuary. Yes
the same sanctuary which made them thirsted for single drop of blood and the
donater's would be the tourists who come to see the wilds. Everything
was setup. The plan was to run the camp for a month and the Tag line was “If
you have come to see the wild, then please donate blood to our child”.
I know what are you wondering? Tag Line-yucks. Right. But come
on! They are Vampire’s this is the best they can do. They are good suckers, I
mean good at sucking blood not writing tag lines. So
the day arrived, the first donator came, then second, then third and so on. It
was full house for two weeks. Happiness ran again into the Vpur village. The shine
came back on long sharp teeth’s, now they were sucking stomach full of blood.
The go-downs got full. But, yes again a But.
It seems that after donating the blood, some tourist visited the sanctuary. And
while treating their eyes with the nakedness of wild. They fell unconscious and
became treat to some wilds.
And
rest you know RTI, Media, women empowerment. Oops!! Not woman empowerment. Soon
the Vpur village became hub of journalist, TV reporters. Every activity got
amplified in there. From the tiger that ate the tourist to the Blood Camp
organised by Vampire. First it was praised as noble act by the media. And later
in the evening when they went to bar of Vpur. Bar? Eyebrows rose? Well Vpur was
the most developed Vampire village, though it was the only one. Not only bar,
it had discotheques too but we will go back to later. So
after a long day of reporting, Cameraman Deepak went to local bar. He ordered
The Regular. “Wow!! You served me Vodka with cranberry juice. I love
it.” Was the reaction of Deepak The cameraman when the
bartender gave him the Regular. But
a drinker knows his drink. Deepak The Cameraman after taking the
sip got to know “This is not what he thought he is drinking. But he is
thinking right, what he is drinking.” A
soldier is never off duty, so is neither a Cameraman. He slipped his hands into
the pocket and guess what? He took out that, Spy pen Camera with 16 GB memory
which we can use as pen drive also, just for 599/- INR. I told you it’s amazing
but anyways let move on with the story. Deepak The cameraman covered
the biggest story of the year. The Blood Smugglers. The village was raided and tonnes of blood bottles were found. Vampire
got arrested and all his colleagues. The food depository accumulated by him was
gone in seconds. And the Vpur village was named as the Village of blood
smugglers. Leaving them in a serious condition.