Without you

He opened her unrelenting palms to reveal a crimson red hand sheltering the carcass of what may have been a beautiful red bud once. The bud was embedded so well in her hand that it appeared as integral a part of her hand as the fate lines. Though not much of her fate was in her hands. Not even the strong wind blowing across could separate the bud from its resting place. He ran his hand softly over her palm, the loving touch drawing the bud with it, maybe that’s what the bud yearned for all its life time, a touch of love.

He opened the letter; the letter that once accompanied the bud. It had the same smell on it as the perfume that she herself had worn, though by now she was robbed of most of that pleasant smell.  He glanced at her as if asking her permission to read the letter, she hadn’t battled an eyelid since he arrived, her constant stare and expressionless face did little to reveal the pain in her heart. He opened the letter, wet from lying close to a crying heart, trying to comfort it.

“I know this is the most important day of your life and I sincerely hope the news and this letter doesn’t reach you before it happens.
I just wanted to reassure that you are nowhere at fault, I am the one who failed but I couldn’t help it.
I even tried to act on your advice but couldn’t. I don’t know how to try and find love again.
I never tried before and I never tried with you. With you, it just happened, It was happening every moment I spend with you or without you, thinking about you.
If I had any control, I would have chosen not to fall in love with you. Finally I realized it wasn’t love I yearned but it was you.
I can live without love but not without you”

The letter felt uncharacteristically heavy now, he hurriedly closed it fearing the emotions in them will drown him. He looked back at her, the cold stare was still there, but not as cold as her lifeless body, ironically wrapped in a lively Red Wedding dress. He dropped the letter in a aseptic plastic bag, the letter would be a vital clue in reaching a verdict in the seemingly unrelated double suicide case. This was the easiest murder case for Inspector Sanjeev to solve but the most difficult one to go through.

Oye Chucky Chucky Oye - Part 4

Some days have passed since Pavan’s controversial suspension and he has finally managed to shed the “Bad boy” tag he had acquired, which did get him attention as Chucky assured but of the wrong kind. Well, all is on track for him as of now, He and Sarika are finally together, well not in the way you would like to think, but together in the same training project group and considering that they are the only ones in their group really interested in coding they end up spending lot of time together. Chucky also has a new girlfiend, yet again! and more importantly a new phone, with 30 day battery backup and insta-cooling so hopefully no more Mobile mishaps.

One not so fine day, Chucky talking to a batch mate.

Chucky: Aaj kal apna Rakesh (aka love ki free home delivery) dikhai nahi deta,training se nikaal to nahi diya. Ek subject mein to usko pure Zero marks mile. Argue kar raha tha examiner se ki aap ne pyaar se check nahi kiya isliye mein fail ho gaya, ab kam se kam 0 to heart shaped banake do agli baar padhne ka motivation to aayega, ha ha ha.

Batchmate: Are, tujhe kuch khabar hi nahi hai kya, uske saath bahut bura hua. Yeh to pata hi hoga ki woh apni girlfriend ke liye jalebi banana wala tha.

Pata hai, GF ke naam ki jalebi, puri Duniya mein publicity kar raha tha, koi mithaiwale se setting bhi ki thi usne. Lekin exactly hua kya?

Tujhe to pata hi hai uski gf ka naam kitna bada hai, Kashmir mein suru hota hai aur Kanyakumari se u-turn leke wapas aata hai, ab normal size ki kadhai mein kahan banana wali thi uske naam ki jalebi, extra large Kadai mangayee gayee. Sab sahi chal raha tha initially, lekin chotese stove pe woh jumbo kadai kahan balance hone wali thi, palti ho gayee, 2^nd degree burns dono haath pe, dus din ke liye padha hai Hospital mein saath mein mithaiwale ke 2 assistants ko bharti karwa diya.

Very sad, uski GF bhi dikhayi nahi deti, lagta hain sadme mein chali gayee.

Are nahi, jo 2-3 jalebi isne banayee thi woh usne kha li, ab leti hai uske baaju wale bed pe hospital mein.

Aiyla woh kaise?

Is bond ne jalebi banate time bola ki Jalebi mere dil jaisi lal (red) banani chahiye, to extra Kesar (Saffron) dal diya usmein. Kesar nikla adulterated, food poisoning ho gayi uske GF ko.

Mujhe to chinta hospital ke baaki patients ki hai, pehle hi swine flu faila hua hai, ab isne jaate hi naya epidemic faila diya hoga, Loveria, he he.

Suddenly, Chucky notices Pavan passing by, looking gloomy. Chucky runs to him.

Chucky: Abe kyun Devdas ki regression testing kar raha hai, ab kya hua tujhe?

Pavan: Kuch nahi (not sound convincing).

Kuch to hai, chal lunch ke liye hi jaa raha hai na, mein bhi aata hoon saath mein.

In office canteen, Pavan gets the lunch coupon and joins the food queue while Chucky is still checking out the menu, suddenly he hears loud voices.

Pavan (shouting): Boss, ek fishing net milega?

Canteen guy (comes running): Sir, woh kis liye?

Pavan (still very much loud): Ab is paneer gravy mein agar Fishing net phekenge to kahin jaake paneer ke 1-2 tukde milenge.

Canteen guy gives him an angry stare in return.

Chucky (to the rescue): Are majaak kar raha hai yeh iski aadat hai.

They proceed in the queue.

Pavan (to Chucky): Jaise Humans ke liye Human Rights aur Animals ke liye Animal Rights waise Food items ke liye Food rights organization nahi hoti kya! Ab is chapati ko dekh,isko to identity crisis ho gaya hoga, mein chapatti hoon ya papad, koi mujhe batao plz,

Shant gadadhari bheem apne dil ki badhas table pe chalke nikal.

On the Lunch table.

Haan bol, wassup.

Woh Sarika (disappointment in his voice, struggling to even complete his sentence)

I thought everything was going smoothly.

Yeah, woh to hai, lekin kal while we were debugging a code on her system, you can’t guess what she did.

Kya?

Usne aankh mari, she winked at me, initially I thought I was mistaken but ekadh baar nahi 3-4 baar kiya, pata nahi kis baat ka isara kar rahi thi but kitni decent ladki samajta tha main use aur kaisi nikli .

Chucky (thinking):- Aiyla, yeh to mere type ki nikli !

Mere bhai, aisa hota hai, don’t worry be happy, Shruti to hai hi especially after breaking up with me uska interest tere mein wapas jaag gaya hoga.

Pavan just gives him an angry stare back.

2 Days later, Chucky again runs into Pavan, still very much gloomy.

Chucky: - Buddy, I have a good news for you.

Pavan: kya meri arthi ko kandha dene ke liye 3 log aur dhoond liye!

Abe, marne ki kya baat kar raha hai, teri life ban jayegi aisi news hai lekin aise nahi batoonga, pehle agree to help me on something.

Help to mujhe waise hi teri karni hi padegi nahi to tera emotional atyachar suru ho jayega, to bata hi de.

Are, jo tu Sarika ke aankh marne ki baat kar raha tha na that is not what you think.

Matlab?

Actually, she has a vitamin deficiency which causes twitching of eyes.

Really, yaar, dil khush kar diya tune, life mein pehli bar jo bola woh tune deliver kiya.

Tub hi sahi item hai, Tujhe dhoond dhoond ke yehi damaged piece milna tha kya, Pati patni ko mangalsutra pehnate hai for lasting marriage, agar teri kabhi isse shaadi ho gayee na tu isko mangalsutra ki jagah woh Pirates ka hota hai na waisa wala eye patch pehna dena nahi to teri shaadi ek din bhi nahi tikegi. Shaadi ke mandap mein hi 2-3 ko aankh mar degi unko lagega honeymoon pe join karne ke liye free mein invitation mil raha hai.

Sadi hui buddhi, band kar apni bakwaas aur bata kya help karni hai teri.

Are, tujhe meri nayi wali to malum hi hai, Soni, thodi conservative types hai, bolti hai tumhare saath akele date pe nahi aaoongi. Movie ka plan hai to tu bhi aaja saath mein.

Main kya karonnga kabab mein haddi banke

Are bina haddi key eh kabab pakega hi nahi. Mast Shahrukh ki movie hai ..

Kya bola, SRK ki, not a chance, you know I can’t stand him one minute.

Achaa, to us din kon bol raha tha Sarika ke saamne ki I am a big fan of SRK.

Hmm, bolna padha tha, Sarika is a die-hard fan of SRK.

To daal le aadat uski movies dekhne ki, mere saath warm-up karle agli baar easy padega. Rab ne bana di Jodi, teri bhi ban jayegi Jodi.

Chal theek hai,bol diya to karna padega. ohhh Jesus, ohh Ganapati bappa save me!

In the Movie hall:

Chucky makes Pavan sit between him and his girlfriend to project his civility. With each advancing scene, the illogical story line and SRK’s acting add to Pavan’s shooting irritation level. Suddenly, he feels something wiggling on his back.

A snake!! no actually this is the deadliest snake I know of, Chucky.

(Whispering) Abe $%^&# kar kya raha hai, saamne jo movie chal rahi hai woh dekh, yahan Dostana part-2 ki filming kyun kar raha hai!

Are, woh romantic scene chal raha hai na to bhavano mein beh gaya, bhul gaya ki baju mein Soni nahi tu hai.

Abhi tere gaal pe mera ulta haath padega na to mere aur Soni ke beech ka difference will be loud and clear.

15 minutes later.

Tu jis mooh mein itne pyaar se popcorn thoos raha hai na woh Soni ka nahi mera hai.

Ohh, sorry sorry estimation thoda galat ho gaya.

Pavan, losing his cool, stands up and starts to leave. Right then, the intermission sign comes up and lights are switched on. Chucky runs after Pavan, tries to catch him by the arm.

Are, ruk.

Pavan: (without even turning) Bahut dekh li teri wahiyat harkatein aur yeh ghatiya movie. Koi baalon mein grease lagake aur Bandaro jaise kapde pehan ke stud ban jaata hai kya aur uski mentally retarted biwi ko yeh bhi nahi samajhta ki woh uska pati hi hai. What rubbish, Rab ne bana di ghodi, SRK jaise gadhe ko koi ghoda bana sakta hai! SRK ko to David Dhawan ke saath movie karni chahiye “Gadha No. 1”

and he turns to give one final angry stare to Chucky only to see someone standing right besides Chucky, none other than Sarika. His eyes met her for fraction of a second, but that was long enough for the fire in her eyes to cause him sore eyes, the next moment she walked away in a huff.

Pavan (catching Chucky by his Collar): $%^&# *@^#! Wapis marwa diya tune!

(To be continued)

Prisoner by Birth
A unique set of conditions in the universe conspire to come up with a novel creation that is you. A slight variation in even one of the factors and you won’t have seen the face of Earth but someone else would have taken your place. Born with this gift of uniqueness and individuality where do you go from there. Well not very far, as soon as you arrive the shackles are put in place. When was the last time, your thought was actually yours, you actually did what you believe in?
Humans have been programming computers for a few decades now but Humans have been programming Humans for ages now. You are instructed about what is right, what is wrong, what you should believe in, your definition of beauty, success is all skewed up and these explicit impressions of society on you are just the tip of the iceberg. Everything from your lifestyle to career, marital choices are a direct manifestation of social and peer influences. You run the rat race only to realize you never liked cheese in the first place. Society definitely has a role to play, we are social animals after all; Society is there to imbibe certain behavioral, occupational and other such traits in you but the way society takes over and shapes an individual’s thoughts, eroding free will is what worries me. If it was not for an individual’s independent way of thinking, going against commonly held norms, we would have still known the Earth as flat. So, to put it metaphorically, it is not the World that should shape an individual’s thought but the individual’s unique perspective that should shape the world. Every person is born a leader, a leader of his own destiny, sent to make his own path, etch his own mark on this Earth but when does he turn into a follower or worse a mere spectator of his destiny being shaped by others.
I know I have raised a lot of questions and you ears are already eager for some answers. But, frankly, there are no answers, in fact I do not want to answer questions for you, it will be a contradiction on my part and actually aggravate the problem. The answers should come from within and not elsewhere. My intention was just to highlight questions that you may have come across at certain stage in your life and willingly and unwillingly ignored them or even if you never realized, you should certainly think on. The idea is not for me to become Ayn Rand of this century and generate a set of followers, in fact my only wish is to see everyone become great thinkers in their own right.
Don’t live somebody else’s life, chase somebody else’s dream, find and live yours. The day you cease to think on your own is when you cease to exist, you simply persist aur aisa jeena bhi koi jeena hai laloo J (Translation: That living is not a worth way of living – though your thinking may differ from mine which is perfectly acceptable :-) )
Just be yourself and the world will be yours.

His and Her Love Story (Short story, Romance, Emotional)

 “Renu, Thanks for this second life you have given me and making me understand what Love really is.

Love you always

David”

Although these may sound like any other love quote, to her these were the most special words she had known. She knew that he meant every word of it. Every time she has read this on her wedding anniversary card, for last 3 years, it never failed to bring a tear to her eyes and fill her mind with memories of that evening which changed their lives forever.

That evening some years back

She looked wistfully at the office clock, Quarter to six already, are the clock hands playing role reversal, the hours hand was moving as swiftly as the minute hand! Any other day, she would be packing her bags by now to start for home by 6. But today she had a task to do, as important as any she ever did. She had been delaying it for days, but had made up her mind this morning that no matter what she will ask him out today. The usual doubts started to hound her; will he think that she is too forward? Why should she ask him in the first place, shouldn’t guys be asking girls out? Is he even interested in her? ohh please, don’t start again, I like him and I am just asking him out, not like I am proposing to him or anything.

She seemed to have got a grip on her thoughts, when another wave of thoughts flooded her mind.

Why is he acting so differently from last 2-3 days, usually the most cheerful guy around, he has been acting so down, dull. Did he somehow sense her feelings or something else is bothering him. Maybe today is not such a good day after all, next week for sure. No, it has to be today, I will ask him in an hour or so, anyways he never leaves before 9.

As if reading her mind, David got off from his desk, bag in his hand, heading towards the exit.

(Damn, Lucky me.) To David: leaving so early today, not feeling well, huh ?

Nothing like that, just felt like heading home?

(Go for it, Renu, now or never) Are yaar, I was thinking if we could go out somewhere for coffee.

Hmmm don’t know, I have some plans.

(I am not the one to give up) The moment I asked, you made your plans, don’t be such a spoilsport.

Actually, not at all in mood of going out.

(with a droopy face) you really know how to treat a girl, a girl is requesting and you are acting so coldly.

Finally David agrees and they go out. Though initially David is not in his elements, Renu’s exuberance catches up with him and they end up having the most amazing time.

After that evening, Renu thought David would have picked up the subtle hints she dropped for him and make the next move. But that didn’t happen. Over the next few days, He went back to being his fun loving and friendly self, and it did appear to her that he liked her but something in him was holding him back. Whenever she tried to get to his emotional side, he would go in a shell.

About a month since that evening, he was asked by his Manager about a long term onsite opportunity and he agreed, she thought this was the end of the road for them.

The first couple of months they did converse on mail and occasional phone calls, but they soon dried up and it was almost 3 months now that she had not heard anything for him.

However the mail from him that morning will change everything :

“There is something about myself that I never told you. That evening when you asked me out you don’t know the favor you did me. Back in college, I loved a girl, Shruti and she was also in love with me. But due to her family opposition, we had to break up. I never recovered from that. It is not that I haven’t found any girls interesting since but I never really felt with them what I felt with her. Probably I was looking for Shruti in every girl I met after her.

That evening when you asked me out, was the day of Shruti’s wedding, she had called me to inform about it 3 days back. She said she has moved on, I should too. But how could I, she had left me numb, the love I felt with her I thought I could never feel again. That call from here after so many years revived that feeling in me. Love can make you the strongest person in the world, but it can also destroy you beyond repair. I am not a weak person, but that day I was shattered and had made up my mind to end my miseries and my life.

Yes Renu, that evening was supposed to be the last one of my life, I was going to commit suicide.

But you changed all that. I always held myself guilty of not trying hard to make my love with Shruti a success. Thought I didn’t deserve to fall in love ever again and accepted the suffering as my penance. I tried my best to resist your love, to live in the past, but the warmth of your undemanding love started to melt the frost that had engulfed my heart. Somewhere deep inside, I, however, was convinced that I can never do justice to your love.

The onsite trip I thought was destined to move us apart. But, miles away from home, the thing my heart yearned for, the most, was you.
If Shruti made me realize what love felt like, you epitomized Love for me.

I have always wondered, what is it about evenings that make them so romantic, why do couples spend hours sitting, hand in hand, gazing at the setting sun. Probably that’s the time when day and night get to romance each other before they have to part their separate ways.

Every day, when I walk back from office crossing the Westminster Bridge, it is neither the beautiful architecture of the Big Ben nor the grandeur of the West Minister or the vibrant crowd at the London eye that catches my eye. It is the sun setting on the Thames River that mesmerizes me and the purple hues it creates; invariable reminds me of the purple dress you wore that evening. ..

I can totally understand if after knowing all this, you never want to talk to me. You have given me enough sweet memories which I can live my life with.

Most of all, thanks for giving me the definition of love.

Love is that evening spent with you and several others spent remembering that one.

She couldn’t control her tears; the rest as they say is history or rather his and her love story.

Love Scrapped (Short Story, Romance)

“Tall & Handsome or Smart & Dashing?” He asked playfully

“Tall & Handsome” came her reply.

She never chose the answer He wanted her to.

“Thank god, it’s not Smart & Dashing else I had to oblige”

“Hello, Mr. not-so-smart, not-at-all Dashing, don’t forget we are just good friends.”

“ohh puhlease, I was also offering as a friend, what you think of my taste, you are not even close to my type”

He – Dreamy, clumsy and self-satisfied

She – Practical, organized and ambitious

He – likes coffee

She –Ice-creams

He – enjoys trekking mountain

She – a walk on the beach

He – listens to Gazals

She - Rock Music

He – Won’t admit that he loves her

She – Won’t admit that she loves him

Now

He – 26, male, single, Mumbai

She – 28, female, ??, ??

Scrap or Message? He asked himself.

He had been bitten by the Social networking bug around 6 months back and it had been fun ride catching up with old friends, meeting new interesting ones, getting into debates over trivial topics in communities.

But, today, as he typed her name in the search box, he didn’t feel any of the fun and a strange fear gripped him. He felt as if holding the door to a dam and didn’t have in him what it takes, to face the fury that lied on the other side.

With a deep breath, he hit enter. He felt his heart beat synchronized to the page loading bar, increasing ever so steadily as the next page made its way over the sluggish Internet connection. On the next page, crowded with strangers, it didn’t take him too long to identify that one familiar face. How couldn’t he, he had seen her so vividly in his dream last night or is it every night? Collecting his thoughts, he clicked; one step closer to her or maybe to being disappointed. As if having a mind of their own, his fingers crossed and his eyes shifted to the left corner of the page.

Still Single, cool (he high fived the CPU). In Pune, great!

His mind veered to their first meeting, 8 years back in Bangalore.

Back then

He – 1^st year Engineering Student

She – 3^rd year Medical Student

He cursed his friends while walking away from the pulsating crowd.

“Bangalore Med School Rock Show, it’s the coolest fest in town, you will enjoy it” his friends had assured. The only outcome, everything above his shoulder were damaged goods, the neck paining from his amateurish attempts at head banging and the head throbbing from the grating voice of the band vocalist.

He headed towards the college gate, the crowd was still pouring in; He smirked at their foolishness. Just then he saw her, being pushed, jostled by the crowd. He ran to her rescue. Pushing his way through, he pulled her out. She didn’t appear pleased.

“I am from the show organizing committee and in-charge of crowd control; I know what I am doing “she said before running back towards the gate.

“What a day”, He thought disappearing into a dark corner.

“Thanks for trying to help” he turned, she was back “Sorry I was a bit hard on you, the crowd really gets on your nerves”

“Its ok, btw I am … the introductions happened.

“That’s a nice T-shirt, who’s he? “ (Pointing at the Rock Artist on his T-shirt)

He had bought it last day from Fashion Street; he had no clue about any rock artists leave alone this one. But he didn’t want to come across as an un-cool guy. He remembered something his friend had said, let me try my luck, what are odds a girl will know anything about Rock.

“This is Red Zeppelin, he’s my very favorite”

She broke into a smile “Actually, it’s Led Zeppelin and that’s the band name, this is Jimmy Page, the lead guitarist of the band. Anyway, I was just pulling your leg; I guessed long back that Rock concert isn’t your thing”

Their laughs resonated.

As they walked together, time was running. They didn’t realize that it already was time to leave.

“Coffee or Ice cream?” He asked

“Ice cream”

“Seriously, in this winter night, you want to have Ice cream?”

They had Ice-cream and he enjoyed it too, though he acted otherwise.

Trying his luck “So this next weekend or next?”

“What for?”

“Our next date, I mean just going out types”

“I won’t be so optimistic” She smiled and left with a teasing look in her eye.

They did have a next date. Post which, though both claimed “they had better”, they went to have many such “friendly dates”, mostly along with their friends and a few times, just the 2 of them.

But, somehow as they grew close as friends, Love moved away from them, was it because they were unsure about their feelings for each other or they felt a sort of guilt for even having such feelings for a friend or perhaps for them the prize of Love wasn’t worth gambling their friendship for.

Finally, Destiny made the decision for them when she left Bangalore for her town after completing her studies. Though their friendship continued, the strange arithmetic of long distance relationships caught up with them, I was the one who called last 3 times, why can’t he call. I was really busy, what’s the big deal if I wished her Birthday a day late. They moved on with their lives, their separate ways.

Now

Now, 5 years later, as he was looking at her profile, he experienced an emotion of different sorts.

“Hotness rating just 70 %, LOL, mine is 80 %, I always told her I am hotter than her

And just 170 Friends, whole 35 friends less than me, she really should be doing better”

Scrap or Message? He asked himself.

Finally he sent a message, thinking it to be a safe bet, so even if she fails to recognize me; at least I won’t be publicly humiliated.

He didn’t realize the kind of ordeal he had put himself into. That night, He tossed and turned so much restlessly in his bed that by morning he was wrapped like an Egyptian mummy in his bed sheet and blanket. Office was no different, all animations he designed turned out to be Heart shaped. Later half of the day, he spent regression testing his office web-nonsense software. This software was put to prevent employees from accessing “interesting” sites at work, but somehow he felt it would fail and he could get to the networking site and see her reply there. Well it didn’t and finally at 5 PM (a rare feat for someone who was notoriously famous for staying late in office), when his patience broke all limits, he bolted from the office amidst catcalls from his colleagues
“Have you taken half day off. If you leave now, who will lock the office? ”

Huffing and puffing, when he reached home; his Mom might have misunderstood it to be a bad case of gastric pressure. But it was more than relief that it felt after seeing a scrap from her.

And then the series of scraps started, from the mundane “what’s going on” questions to taking friendly digs at each other to the more intimate of conversations happened online, but would it be the case of history repeating itself. Will they ever tell each other what really is in their hearts?

Finally, after 2 months of scrapping back and forth, they decided to meet in person.

They met in a restaurant in Pune.

Seeking the right moment, he played his card.

“Friendship or Love?”

With a naughty gleam in her eye, she said “Both”

Taking the hint, he decides to play her further “So, what happened to your Tall and Handsome prince, gave up the hope of finding him”

“Well, that is still the 1^st choice, but you never asked me my 2^nd choice”

“What will be that?”

“Clumsy, silly and cute”

“And you found somebody like that?”

“Of course, you”

They had a good laugh over that.

“Finally, for once, you gave the answers I wanted to hear from you”

“Finally, you asked the question I want you to” there was an underlying pain in her voice.

Seeing him taken aback by that reply, she said jokingly

“Before you ask me, marriage or live-in, let me answer it, marriage is the only option”

Later

He – Wants to go to Europe for Honeymoon

She – Wants to go to Mauritius

Friendship sometimes is just a symptom of a bigger ailment, Love and for once, let us wish, the epidemic spreads and we see Love all over the world.

Disorientation

“Mummy Mummy” He woke up with a jump, that may have saved him from the nightmarish dream but wasn’t enough to free him entirely from the clutches of sleep. A strange disorientation gripped him. He looked around drowsily. ‘Where am I’; the darkness of the room made the surroundings look unfamiliar or was he actually somewhere unfamiliar? ‘Is it early morning or evening’ the weak sunlight finding its way through the curtains only made the deduction difficult. Getting up from his bed, he tottered in no particular direction. Trrrrrrrrr, Trrrrrrrrr, he looked back to see something glowing in the dark. It was his cell phone vibrating. (His phone will always be in vibrating mode, a ringing phone, especially when he is asleep always sent a chill down his spine) Though for now he hastily grasped the first feeling of familiarity in that surreal atmosphere. ‘Arvindh Rao’ read the screen, his manager, he answered “Hel…” the weakness in his voice was in resonance with his legs “Hello” he promptly corrected “Sorry to disturb you, I know you have been working all night, but just wanted to know when you will be back in office”. “Soon” that was how accurate he could get.

He realized he was in the office dormitory, coming there barely few hours back. Barely few minutes later, he was in his Manager’s room. The Manager’s words were flying past him, he was hardly able to focus on what he was saying, not that he was talking anything new. “We need to have better synergy within the team” “The team needs to improve in these areas” “We need to highlight our work to client more. ‘And I thought the nightmare got over’ he sarcastically thought and even managed a hint of a smile. “I suggest you reconsider your decision about onsite” The Manager had his full attention now. “The team really needs someone like you at onsite” He hated this topic as much as he hated his job. (Though no one realized that as he was almost always at work. That was because he hated himself more and the only joy he derived nowadays was by torturing himself by being at work all the time.) He retorted “I have said this several times before that I am not at all interested in going onsite”. “But why? Any family issues”. He had enough; he was out of the room before the Manager’s sentence could reach punctuation.

That evening, first time in days, he went home. As he opened the door to his home and stepped inside, he could feel the same surrealistic gloominess that had been following him all day through the dorm to the Manager’s room. He turned on the TV and as his fingers in unison with the remote impatiently traversed through the channels, the TV became a strange mishmash of flickering images and cacophonous sounds. His non-committal approach to TV watching gave him the same pleasure as experienced by someone in a licentious relationship without any strings attached. With a heady sense of relief this experience was giving him, he inched closer to holding on to the out-stretched, inviting hands of sleep which alas would turn into claws of a nightmare. In a curled foetal position, he fell asleep on the floor as cold as the coldness in his heart. Yet again like a discordant couple, he left the plush furniture in his room to spend the night on its own. He hated them too; they reminded him of an incident he badly wanted to forget. Tonight that incident would feature in the nightmare that waited him on the other side of his consciousness. Sometimes reality can be scarier than the worst nightmares.

The realistic nightmare took him back on that doomed journey, the journey which started with his onsite trip 4 years back. He and his parents both were very happy with this onsite opportunity. He was happy as he felt lucky to get such a break so early in his career, his parents were happy because he was.

His early days at onsite were busy but still the long weekends gave him opportunity to have fun, He would share details of his trips with his Parents on phone. They would rejoice in his joy and feel like they are seeing the world through his eyes. After completing 1 year at onsite, he planned a trip home however he was a bit late in planning it and the tickets were really expensive during Christmas holidays, so he had to drop the plan.

As his stay at onsite extended so did his work responsibilities and social circle there. His weekdays were tight with work while weekend were filled with outings, lunch-outs, parties. His call frequency to home dropped from once every couple of days to once a week and further. Sometimes, he would forget entirely to call home, calls from Parents more often than not would be routed to his voicemail (They rarely called as they could never figure out the time difference thing and didn’t want to disturb their son when he is asleep or at work) and when they did talk, it appeared to him like one heck of a task as he felt like he has run out of topics to talk to them. His mom generally would make for that by running him through the mundane happenings of their routine life whilst the pleasant ones that is. But one thing, he was pretty regular about was sending money to home. Though whenever he would ask if they bought something from that money, the answer would be in the negative as if they are just safeguarding the money for him. After much convincing, finally they spent it on getting new furniture for the home and a Car. His second attempt at an Indian vacation also failed due to a last minute important assignment cropping up. “You have to be there till the client sign off, what if something goes wrong, you are the only one with full knowledge of the system” his manager had said. On every second call, his mom would ask when he is coming back, Dad were more understanding or at least appeared on the call that way.

One early morning, almost 3 years from the day he left India, his sleep was disturbed by a phone call from India, not from office, not even from his Parents. It was his Uncle, there was a bad news, the worst possible, his Parents had died in a car accident, on their way back from Mumbai. It took him like 4 days to reach his home as there were no direct flights to India from the town he stayed in US. He really felt helpless then; only the support of his friends gave him the emotional strength to make the trip back home. He barely made it to the last rites of his parents. In the 3 years he had not seen his Parents, they were reduced to blurry images in his mind and this brutal accident didn’t leave much of them to recognize either. “Why had they gone to Mumbai” he had asked his Uncle. “Your dad had developed a coronary disorder and the doctor her had recommended them to visit a cardiologist in Mumbai”. He wasn’t even aware of this ailment his Dad was suffering from, they never told him. “They didn’t want you to worry” his Uncle had added. He broke down completely; he switched off his phone, locked himself up in the house, totally cut off from the world. One day, out of nowhere, he found a diary at home. A diary written by his Mom, where she poured her heart out. It clearly expressed the pain they had gone through and affirmed how blind he was towards their feelings. More than anything they just wanted to see him. One particular incident his Mom had narrated made him burst into inconsolable tears. “Your Dad is very supportive, he always gives me strength by saying that our Son is growing in his career and this separation is the price we have to pay for his success. But one night when he thought I was fast asleep which I wasn’t, I found out that he was crying discreetly. I can at least drown my sorrows in my tears; he doesn’t even have that option”

“Tring Tring, Tring Tring” the phone call rescued him from the nightmare. It was from a team member, a project related query; he explained the thing to him, cursing him under his breath for calling so early in the morning. He got up to have some water. Again that disorientation gripped him, he looked around; he wasn’t in his home, not even the dorm, though the place did look familiar.

He was at his house at onsite. “What the hell, how and when did I come back onsite”. He panicked; he was not sure what to do next. In that trance like state, he picked up his cell phone and dialed the 1st number that came to his mind, his home number. A familiar voice answered, his Mom, he couldn’t believe it. Moment later he realized what had happened, he had seen the most convoluted of dreams. The guilt of ignoring his family had built up inside him and the only way his conscience could wake him up was by showing him this surreal dream. He spoke excitedly to his Mom for almost 2 hours and even committed that he will be home in less than a month’s time. His Mom was equally amazed; she had not seen him talking so enthusiastically to her since his childhood days when he would come back from school and would not even allow her to do her cooking, unrelentingly pulling at her gown; trying to get her attention to narrate every small thing that happened at school.

Somewhere in our lives we have become disoriented, our priorities have changed, we increasingly are getting distanced from our Parents and we tried to cover up for our apathy with monetary compensation.

Your spouse’s love for you may dry up after some years of marriage, your kids may not love you the same once they grow up and move on to “better things” but your Parent’s love for you will always be the same, from your first breath to their last.

You may or may not find your soul mate in your lifetime, but you will always have true love in the form of your Parents. I think that’s why we have Parents, so nobody leaves this earth without experiencing Love.

No matter how un-cool it may appear, take your mom out for movie. No matter how boring you may find his choice of topics, sit and have a discussion with your Dad once in a while and more than anything just spend some quality time with them; that will mean more to them than any materialistic things you provide them.

Oye Chucky Chucky Oye – Part 3 (The language used in this story is a mix of English and Hindi)

The Next morning, Pavan and Chucky heading to office in Company Bus

Pavan (looking towards Chucky’s unusually red left ear): Abe yeh tere left kaan ko kya hua? Phone ki jagah istri (Iron) kaan to laga li kya?

Chucky: Nahin re, kal phone pe baat karte karte aankh lag gayee. Lekin Sweeto (his girlfriend) kahan rukne wali thi, uski baatein chalti rahin, phone charging pe to tha hi, 3-4 ghanto mein overheat ho gaya aur kaan ka haal tawe par bina tel ke buni hui omlette jaisa ho gaya !

Kya batao yaar, She totally loves talking on phone. Agar kabhi call karne mein der ho jaaye, to maafi magne ke liye 2 pappi (kisses) usse deni padhti hain aur 2 uske phone ko. Jab paida hui hogi na, delivery se 5-10 minutes pehle, andar se hi Mom ko missed call kar diya hoga, aa rahi hoon batane ke liye J J

Waah kya ram milaye jodi hai

Are yaar kya thakela driver hai, kitna slow chala raha hai.

(standing, shouting at the driver) Yeh bus company jaa rahi ya picnic par, thoda bhagao bhai.

Bus driver, mutters something under his breath and presses on the accelerator.

(in full volume) oye gaadi chali hai chalanga mar di …………….

Driver, gets even more charged up, speeds up more.

Abe baith jaa mere baap, driver ke andar ke sooye hue Michael Schumacher ko mat jaaga, marwayega sabko

But it was too late, by the time the bus reached office, majority in the bus were suffering from motion sickness

When they enter the company gate, Pavan is stopped by company’s Z+ security.

Security Guard: Sir, Apne dress code follow nahi kiya.

(looking at himself) Kyun, sab kuch barabar to hain.

Sir, Aapka Tie formal nahi hai

Tie mein formal, informal kya hota hai?

Yeh Tie pe chand tare ka design bana hua hai, aisa design wala kapda sirf Sukarvaar ko allowed hain.

(frustrated) To kya Friday ko T-shirt pe dalun yeh Tie.

Achaa chodo boss, galti ho gaya, agli bar se nahi pehoonga yeh tie.

Nahi Sir, policy ke mutabik aapko fine lagega.

Are kyun choti si baat ka batangad bana rahe hon.

Kya sir, Kaise chotta baat hai, kal apna customer aapko aise dekhega to kya sochega, ki India mein logo ko tie pehne bhi nahi aata !

(mutters under his breath) Haan mereko hi dekhne ke liye aa raha hai na client. &@#%& aaj ka din hi kharab hai, Pata nahi kiska mooh dekha tha suboh suboh, of course Chucky ka !

Dejected, Pavan heads towards the classroom for the morning lecture. Seeing Sarika pass by, he starts to say Hi to her. Suddenly, Chucky appears from behind and tickles him.

Pavan : H Haiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii (the tickling made his Hi come out like a scream)

Sarika (turning towards him with a snap): kya hua, aise dhadhe kyun mar rahe hon, pet mein marode pad rahi hai kya, lagta hain Shruti ki tarah tumhari bhi tabiyat kharab hai.

Kya hua Shruti ko?

Achaa badee chinta hai Shruti ki.

Nahin, nothing like that, I mean..

Ohh ho, jyada masoom mat bano, sab pata hai mujhe, don’t worry, minor stomach ache hai, kal aa jayegi office. Chalo catch u later.

(turning towards Chucky) &@#%& *$@&, dekh teri wajah se kya hua, she’s convinced now that I am after Shruti.

Pavan goes into the classroom and takes his seat. To his utter dismay, Chucky comes and sits besides him.

Abe yahan bhi peecha nahi chodega kya, itna bandwidth mat de mujhe bhai (pointing towards a guy in another corner) woh dekh Johnson ko, mujhe yahan se uski aankhon mein tairte hue aanshoo dikhayee de rahe hain, jaroor koi solid love problem hoga, jaa usse teri jyada jaroorat hai.

(filmy andaaz mein) nahin, main tera gunehgaar hoon. Jab jab tera yeh bujha hua chehra meri aankhoon ke samne aayega, tab tab mere andar ki aag aur bhadakegi aur utne jaldi mujhe ek jabardast idea aayega. Mein tab tak tere saath saaye ki tarah rahoonga jab tak tere jeevan mein pyaar ke phool na khila doon.

Chupp kar filmy malariyee, mera chehra bujha hua nahi suja hua hai, teri wajah se raat theek se soya nahi hoon.

The lecture starts. During the lecture, Pavan sees that rather than paying attention to the instructor, Chucky is engrossed reading the course material book in his hand.

Pavan (looking towards Chucky) Pehle kabhi to tujhe itne dhyaan se padhai karte nahi dekha (noticing something) abe yeh kya chupaya hua tune course book mein, koi magazine hai kya

Pavan tries unsuccessfully to pull the magazine out of Chucky’s Hand.

Kya kar raha hai.

Dikha konsi magazine hai ?

Bahut achii magazine hai. It contains things that today’s men should be knowledgeable about like Gadgets, Sports, Cars..

And girls I am sure (this time Pavan successfully grabs the magazine) ‘Maxim’ and what is this article ‘Soha Ali khan bares her soul and some other things too’. %^$#@ %@#$%#

(Chucky snatches the magazine back) Padhne de na yaar, kitna boring lecture hai.

Abe pagal ho gaya hai kya, agar M’am ne dekh liya na to band baja degi, de idhar bag mein rakhta hoon.

Unfortunately, Pavan tugs at the magazine little too hard and it goes flying and he trying to catch it, bends and trips over the seat in front. The magazine lands 3-4 rows ahead and the instructor gets her hand to it before anyone else. The bold magazine leaves the instructor fuming and Pavan does not even get a chance to explain his position, not that he would have blamed Chucky in any case.

The next hour was the most embarrassing one of his life. The grilling by the instructor and the batch supervisor was followed by the punishment, 2 weeks suspension, having to prepare and clear 2 of the courses on his own.

Pavan used the 2 weeks break to visit his home.

2 weeks later

Pavan is back in office. Of all people, he runs into Chucky.

Chucky: Hey buddy, whats up ?

Pavan: %^$#@ %@#$%# mat aa mere saamne, sach bolta hoon, gala daba doonga tera

Abhi tak wohi baat pakad ke baitha hai, mein to tere liye good news laya hoon.

Tu aur good news, impossible!

Sach mein, ek nahin do do ! Pehli wali news to tu imagine bhi nahi karna sakta, Shruti is no longer behind you.

That’s obvious man, after that incident..

Nahin re, that’s not the reason, I am the reason, she’s my girl friend now. Tere liye maine apni bali chada di.

Abe chupp kar tere yeh filmy dialogue, what happened to your old girlfriend, woh phone wali.

Are yaar, she dumped me.

Ha ha, muje laga nahi tha woh itni smart nikalegi. What happened?

Aisehi yaar, uski woh phone ki bimari was affecting my social life. One day, I had to go to a party aur uska phone call to khatam hone ka naam hi nahi le raha tha. To main ek friend ko phone tika diya, bola ki tu call sambhal le, sirf har 4-5 minutes mein ‘haan’ bolte rehna, sunti to kuch hain nahin woh, bas apni ramayan sunati rehti hain. Aaj kal outsourcing ka jamana hai, maine kar di to kya paap kar diya. Idea hit ho gaya to I tried it 2-3 times more, ek baar woh Sanju ko bola, usne gadbad kar di. Itna frustrate ho gaya Sweeto ki baton se ke seedhe chila ke bol diya ki bakwaas band karo apni. Ho gaya story ka the end !

Wah..love ki outsourcing; aisi khurafat sirf tere hi shaitani dimag mein aa sakti hain. Good news ka to pata nahi but I am worried about Shruti now, kaise jhelegi tujhe. But, anyway kya fayda, meri image ka to kachra ho chukka hai.

Are, wohi to second good news hai, that incident has not spoilt your image teri image to ab jaake bani hai.

Kya bakwaas kar raha hai.

Seriously, pehle sab ladkiyan tujhe Padaku, boring types samajti thi. But after this, you are the badest boy of the batch and as they say girls love bad boys.

%^$#@ kya paka raha hai.

Bharosa nahi karna hai to mat kar but baad mein aake thanks jaroor bolna jab har doosri ladki tujhe line dene lagegi.

To be continued…..