Ajeeb Dastaan....

I took my ticket and entered the bus. Mine was seat number 27. The next was still empty. I sat and got my self busy with a novel. After around five minutes, I heard a sound that was sweet and feminine but seemed to be very familiar.

“Excuse me. That seat is mine.”

I looked above. Even the face was familiar. It was Richa, a very old friend of mine. She used to be my grand senior during the first year of my graduation. We had never met after that. But we’d spent a very good time together. I got lost into reveries of that golden period of my life.

My graduation days were simply incomparable. We (Sunny and me) always stayed together. The whole class of ours was quite dull, full of staid and dumb idiots. Since we were the only fun loving creatures, we had to be friends. It was as natural as the laws of gravity. Our friendship grew more intense during a trip in first year. On that trip, we were alone from the first year and all the seniors were busy enjoying in their groups. We tried to intrude into a couple of groups but we were not welcomed eagerly. The girls were few and boys didn’t want any sort of competition. And for a boy, a trip can’t be fun without any girl. It’s a fact. We tried our level best to enjoy among ourselves but how could we tolerate our seniors having fun.

Then Sunny’s eye caught one of our grand senior, Gopal. He was sitting alone with a couple of girls. And Sunny never missed chances. Within seconds he was away and sat with Gopal. I was surprised to see him totally engrossed in their talks. I thought of joining them but wasn’t able to gather enough courage. After every couple of minutes, Sunny looked at me and passed a taunting smile. Jealousy was creeping up in me. Adding more to it, Gopal got up from there and joined his male friends. Now Sunny was alone with them.

After few minutes, one of those girls looked behind towards me. Then Sunny waved his hand signaling me to join them. Now it’s the time to go, I thought.

I went there and Sunny introduced me to them. They were Richa and Shreya. Both were good looking but to be very frank you can’t rate anyone gorgeous. They were quite simple but smart.

“Hey Abhinav,” called Richa.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“Sunny told that you know palmistry.” She said and within a flash of a second their hands were in front of me. You just need to signal these girls that someone knows something about palmistry or astrology; they would reach there within no time. But why did Sunny told that about me. I never wanted to be a babaji in front of them. I just hate him for that. But then I realized, that was the reason she looked behind at me and then asked Sunny to call.

My palmistry increased the chemistry between us. We all were together for the whole trip. Sunny got close to Richa and me with Shreya. Shreya told me that even they too were alone from their class. They were also our grand seniors but from different branch. Gopal was the only one they knew among all in the trip. There on we enjoyed with them and they always maintained a distance which must be there between seniors and juniors. Then we went to an amusement park where we took rides together, we went for boating together, we ate together and even danced together. We got very close to each other with in no time. I’m not sure Richa and Sunny, but I and Shreya got really very close.

After dinner we went for a movie. All were quite excited to see king Khan as Devdas. I sat with Shreya. Movie started and I was drowned deep into the ocean of dreams and don’t know what happened after that. Some loud grins and guffaws wake me up. I was surprised that Shreya’s head was on my shoulder and my head on her head. I rubbed my eyes and looked forward; both Richa and Sunny were standing right in front of us and laughing. It was quite embarrassing for me. And how embarrassed would she be, I thought. A girl found in that position with a grand junior; it might be funny for a guy. But for a girl, it is just a matter of ridicule.

“Oops… Sorry.” I said, looking into her eyes. She was perplexed but tried well enough to hide her embarrassment.

“Oh… it’s fine.” She replied and looked at Richa wrathfully, clenching her teeth. Richa was silent immediately. I wondered if Shreya was the Don among girls. We got up and went to our bus. This time I didn't sit with Sunny, but with Shreya. Now even our seniors looked at us with envy.

The bus started and I looked back towards Sunny’s seat. Even he looked at me and we exchanged smiles. Returning from a trip with a girl sitting besides you; it is always looked upon as an achievement in the world of bachelors. I looked at Shreya; she gave me a cute smile. But that smile was authoritarian: a smile of a typical grand senior. I just thought for a minute, what if I have sex with her, she would lead the show instead of me. I just laughed on my thoughts. But then I thought that why would she lead. She’s senior according to academics but I would be senior to her in what I was thinking. Suddenly her voice brought me out of the amazing world of my thoughts.

“Abhinav… Abhinav…” She said, shaking my arm.

“Yeah. What happened?”

“Where are you lost?”

“Oh… No where… just looking at the lights on the hill.” I replied. How could she know what kind of light was I thinking of.

“Oh wow. They look awesome!” She said with mouth wide open. I don’t know whether to call these girls silly or sweet. But I don’t know how they get attracted and find happiness in such small things.

“Hey Shreya. You know what?”

“What?”

“You speak very sweetly but your voice sounds childish. I mean ... you understand right, as innocent as a small kid.”

“Yeah. Everybody says that… Didn’t you see me at Jhankaar?”

“Jhankaar? What’s that?”

“You don’t know Jhankaar? Amazing? That’s the inter year cultural fest.” She said as if she was talking about cricket world cup. How could a first year student know about a cultural fest which he has never seen? And how was her childish voice related to the fest? Only god knows how these girls relate things, I thought. 

“But how’s your voice related to that?” I quizzed.

“Duffer… I’ve been the best singer of the institute for last two years.”

“What? I’m sitting with the best singer of the whole institute? That’s amazing! ”

After that I kept on insisting her to sing a song but she kept on refusing. Finally she agreed. It was raining heavily outside now and bus was moving very slowly. It looked as if the rain, the clouds, the road, the trees and the whole world was going to accompany her. She started:

“Ajeeb daastaan hai yeh
Kahaan shuruu kahaan khatam
Yeh manzilein hai kaun sii
Na woh samajh sake na hum

Yeh roshni ke saath kyun
Dhuaan udha chiraag pe
Yeh khwaab dekhthi hun main
Ke jab paddi hun khwaab see
Mubaarakein tumhein ke tum
Kisi ke noor ho gaye
Kisii ke jitne paas ho
Ke sab se door ho gaye
Kisii ka pyar leke tum
Naya jahaan basaaoge
Yeh shyaam jab bhi aayegi
Tum hum ko yaad aaoge ”

When she ended, I was completely engrossed into it. I had heard that song a lot of times but it never sounded so beautiful. I was speechless, spellbound. I don’t know it was the situation, the time or her voice that created the magic, but what ever it was, the song sounded mellifluous like never before.

I looked at her, she was waiting for a response but I was quiet. I didn't know what to say. Some things are so beautiful that any sort of praise seems trifle. But my expressions spoke well about the extent to which I liked the song. After that, the whole aura turned romantic. We discussed about each other’s love life, past affairs, crushes, likings and all. She told that all the guys she had in her life were not suitable for her. She wanted someone who was up to her standards such that she could respect him. That was quite reasonable for a girl, I thought.

After the trip, the world seemed to have stopped for me. I was lost in her dreams, day in and day out. I feared talking to Sunny since he was prone to make fun of me. I spent my days in a hope to meet her. And if ever I met her, the day seemed to be lucky and on every meeting, we had a good time. I wished to talk to her every day but she didn't have a mobile phone. I often quizzed my self whether it was love or not, but I had no answer at all.

Days went on and time kept on flying. We used to meet twice or thrice a week at the maximum since we were in different departments and she was quite senior to me. Then after a long time I got chance to see her amply when the Jhankaar was on the cards. Since she was the Over All Coordinator, she was seen roaming around in the campus for various arrangements. I was really impressed by her work, and in fact every one was. She had a celebrity status in the institute. But what I liked the most in her was that despite of her status and her hectic life, she treated me very well. She never made me realize that I was junior to her and stood no where near her personality.

Her course was going to be over with in a few days. She was still the same for me. The song she sang in the bus still resonated in my mind. It was not an ordinary crush, but I was surely in love with her. She didn't have a mobile phone but I used to wait for her call every time. I had saved every phone numbers from which she had ever called me. But it really haunted me that she was going to be away within a few days. Time went on flying and it took her along with it. Her course was completed. She had left the institute for ever and was placed in a reputed IT company in Bangalore. I cried a lot.

One day I was sitting in my room when Richa called me. It was only second or third time she had called me. She was someone who never called without any reason. This time the reason was strange, very strange. She told me that Shreya got a message from my mobile number which contained something very contemptible.

“What?” I asked. I was completely shocked as I had never messaged her and more over she didn't even has a mobile phone.

“You know it Abhinav. You sent that, not me.”

“But I never sent any message. And when did she buy a new phone?”

"As if you don't know, Abhinav. She got it as a gift from the sponsors of Jhankar." She said.

"No way, Richa. I don't even have her number."

“Come on Abhinav didn’t you propose her?” She said very coolly but I was stunned. It really froze me. I knew, I never messaged her but the matter was that who messaged her if not me. I had never told anyone that I loved her so much. And moreover no one used my phone. Not even Sunny.

“Why would I message her, Richa... when there’s nothing like that.” I clarified.

“Did you give your phone to anyone?”

“No way. Why should I?”

“Not even to Sunny?”

“No!”

“Oh… I don’t know how it happened. Whether you messaged her or not but it is true that she got that message and it was from you. By the way tell me one thing.”

“What?”

“Do you like her?”

“Hey come on. Yes I do like her. She is a fantastic grand senior, very talented and a nice person at heart. I respect her more than I like her.” I said with full enthusiasm.

“Oh ho… Stupid… I didn’t ask in that sense. I meant, do you feel for her?” She asked. I don’t know why she was asking but she was true. But how could I have admitted. She would surely have made fun of me in front of Sunny. And moreover I never thought about it since I knew, I wasn't her choice. I didn't meet her standards. I preferred to deny and rightly so.

“What are you up to Richa? You people are my grand seniors. You know, for me, Shreya is the most respectable person in the whole institute. And you are talking like that.” I replied. Shreya would surely feel great to hear all that, I thought. We ended our talk after that. Richa never turned up again. And neither did Shreya. They went to Bangalore for job. After that incident I never had a talk with any of them. I always waited for her call but she never did. I searched her on facebook and orkut but she wasn’t there. Everything ended but still there was one big mystery in my mind. Who sent that message?

“Abhinav… Is that you?” The voice was same, but this time it was not a phone call. But it was Richa herself standing besides me in the bus asking for seat. Time had changed many things and also healed many things. It was more than two years since I had talked to Shreya. The feeling didn’t trouble me too much now but yes, I still missed her.

Richa was looking a lot sexier now. She had gained a few pounds of weight but it complemented her looks. She was also going to Delhi. We talked about many things about our college time and it was a great feeling meeting her after a long time and luckily our seats were together too.

“Hey you didn’t marry”

“Nooo. I wasn’t in any hurry like Shreya.”

“Like Shreya… means?”

“What can it mean stupid? She married. What else?” She said in her usual tone. I was shocked. Even if she was out of my life, even if I never thought of marrying her, even if I didn't deserve to marry her, I felt an excruciating pain: A pain of a broken heart.

“Oh, that’s great news.” I said, pretending to look as happy as I could.

“Yeah it is. This time she got someone much better than a foolish grand junior.”

“Foolish grand junior? I’m not getting at all what you are saying.”

“Yeah… You never understand anything. That’s why you are a fool.”

“Please tell me properly Richa. Please.”

“Oh yaar. I don’t know I should be telling this to you or not but she had a liking for you. But you! What to say? You are a typical mamma’s boy. You respect her, but you didn't love her. Huh.” She said. It was the biggest shock of my life, even bigger than the shock of her marriage. That feeling can never be expressed in words, never.

“And… what about that message which I sent?”

“Message which you sent...” She said in a very confused tone, “You sent some message?”

“You told me no, the last time you called.”

“Oh that message… You see that’s why I call you a fool.” She giggled, “She never got a message from you.”

***********************************************************************

That was enough for me. I just closed my eyes and drops began to trickle. The song again started resonating in my mind. Finally it ended with the line...

" Yeh shyaam jab bhi aayegi
Tum hum ko yaad aaoge ”

A Fatal Fate: Inspired from a true story

“My name is Aditi and my ambition is to be an Astronaut,” Said Aditi during the introduction session on her first day in sixth class. The whole class looked at her with envy. She had been the topper of the class since she started her studies. Teachers used to say that this girl has a gifted brain and would rise very high some day. Her parents used to feel proud of the intelligence of their daughter. Their home was completely filled with the trophies she used to win year after year.

Her father was a narrow minded rich businessman of a small town  but he was very serious about his daughter’s education. Since he was born in a family where all the females used to be illiterate, he wanted his daughter to be a graduate at least though he never knew what her ambition was. Actually living in a small town, one can not even imagine what she wanted to be. Time went on and Aditi kept being the number one every year. She never got any competition so she kept on breaking her own records every year. She had no idea what being second was like. She used be called by different names: computer, genius, Einstein and so on. It was like confirmed that she had a brilliant future ahead.

Now she was in tenth standard and was expected to set up a new record in the board exams. Exams came and she did what was expected of her. She got 93.8 percent marks, which was the all-time high in Punjab at that time. She was given a special honor by the MLA of that area. Her parents were extremely delighted because of that. She got huge amount of scholarships, awards and honors. She earned enough scholarships that she didn’t ask any money from her parents for anything.

She got into college and collected all information about becoming an astronaut and came to know that road to become an astronaut starts from engineering. She was undoubtedly the favorite of every professor. Even those who didn’t teach her used to come specially to meet her. She again topped in 10+1 and that too with a huge margin of 19%. That means the person who got second rank was 19% behind her. Being in 10+2, she started preparing for IIT-JEE and other competitive exams and used to top comprehensively in each and every practice tests. No one from their town had been selected for any IIT ever. But she had a great hope and so did everyone else who knew the brilliance of her brain.

Finally the forms for IIT-JEE were out and she bought one happily. She went home and showed the form to her father with delight. She had her dream in her hand. She surely wanted to be the first one from her town to make it to IIT.

“What is it?” Her father asked.

“It is the form for IIT papa.” She replied.

“So… What to do with it?”

“We’ve to fill it and send.”

“Then?”

“Then what… Then I’ll appear for the exam and if I clear, then I’ll go to IIT, the most prestigious institute in the whole country.” She replied with full enthusiasm.

He father laughed. He looked at her brother and here uncle who too were sitting there. Then they all laughed.

“Betaji, have you ever seen any girl among our kinsmen going out of the town to study?” Her father said, moving his fingers through her hair. Aditi was stunned. She had no words but she had to speak. She had to fulfill her dream and for that she had to speak.

“But papa…”

“You want to study na? I have no objection at all. You study as much as you want but we can’t send you out. That’s not allowed in family like ours.” Her father said, cutting her short.

“And bhaisahab, there are good colleges here also. She can study there. What’s wrong?” said her uncle.

“Uncle you just be quiet. Ok. You didn’t even allow Meenu didi to complete her education. Was that an age to marry?” She shouted angrily.

“Shut your mouth Aditi. Now you’ve forgotten how to talk to your elders? Just get the hell out of here.” Her father hissed, “And where’s that bloody form?”

He held that form and tore it off.

“Papa please… try to understand. There’s no engineering college in the whole town. And how can you compare any college with IIT?”

“What do you mean? You want to become an engineer? You want to work in a factory? Great… Now women from our family will work in factories. I’ll never let it happen till I’m alive. Do you understand that? Now get out of here.” He shouted.

Aditi went to her room and cried. That was the only thing she could do. What she had been dreaming since her childhood was to be just a dream. She was not even allowed to be an engineer and being an astronaut? One can’t even think of that. She kept on crying the whole night. Her father had torn the dream called as IIT into pieces. Even her mother didn’t support her. She felt very lonely. She went to her elder sister but even she suggested her to submit to the situation. Theirs was a completely male dominant family and females were only meant to stay at home and look after it. That was what they expected of Aditi. She left the tuitions and stopped studying.

Since her father was very powerful and a rigid personality, even the professors feared to talk anything about her. He was famous that he can beat anyone without any reason. So finally it was all over for her. She had no hope. Even her mindset was changing and she was learning various house hold activities such as cooking and all.

One day she went to college and one of her professors motivated her that one should not submit himself to situations. There are times when one can’t even fight the situation but then he should try to get the most out of the situation. He suggested her to keep on working and to leave rest on God. She was really pleased to hear all that and started working hard as she used to.

Finally the 10+2 exams came. This time again she set a new record. She was 1^st in the whole state by getting 95.3% marks. She got even more honor than she got after 10^th. But this time her parents were not happy as they used to be. One afternoon she got a registered post. It was a letter from an institute called as BITS. It was the scholarship letter which said that she was being offered the admission in that institute and would go through the whole course free of cost. They would also provide free books as well as pocket money. She came to know it in the evening that BITS is the best private institute in the whole country and stands up to the standard of IITs. She was absolutely delighted. She had another ray of hope. Her dreams rose again like the phoenix.

Her father came home in the evening. Again the same drama took place at their home. Her father had the same answer. She could study as much as she wanted but only staying at home. Her second hope of becoming something also came to an end like the first one. There was nothing she could do. She submitted herself to her fate.

************************************

It is not a true story but inspired from one.

This character, Aditi is based on one of my classmates. I admired her a lot. During all those years we were sick of teachers extolling about her. Now you must be curious that what happened to her.

After 10+2 ahe did B.Sc. , quite shocking, isn't it?

Even we were shocked. In fact everyone who knew her was. And then, she got a brilliant percentage in B.Sc. too.

Now get ready for another shock..

After bsc she did PGDCA. and broke all the records of punjab university.

PGDCA is a course meant for morons, not for a genius like her. So even the examiners were shocked to see the replies on the answer sheet. they were as good as, in fact better than engineers.

And after pgdca she started doing MCA, from IGNOU ie. indira gandhi national open university..

and before she completed it, she was married to a businessman in a small town like the one in which she lived. And at present she's a good house wife...

A Good House Wife...

**********************************************************************

I'm sharing this story with you all because I really wanted that girl to rise.

These are numerous such cases in India. So, please help me to spread this awareness among all, especially those who are from business background.
Thinking of the business families is needed to grow.
These people are truly wasting a lot of talent. If there's a boy, he's being forcibly put into business even if he wants to study further and if it is a girl then no education at all...

If we can't help gals like Aditi, we can see that we can decrease the number of such victims in coming future... please help me spreading awareness among all...

***********************************************************

A shattered dream : another true story.

Satyam was new to the life of boarding schools and was not able to take bath and dress up quickly. As a result, today he was late again and was afraid that his teacher would hit him on his hand with a scale. He looked at his hands: soft, tender and pink in color like the hands of a typical seventh standard boy. Then he looked at his nails and cursed himself, he again forgot to cut them. He remembered his mom who used to cut his nails regularly but now he was alone. He wished he could run away from there but it was not possible as he was in a boarding school which was located on the hillside far from any city, town or even a village. Then he thought to hide himself in a toilet for the whole day but then he thought that he’ll have to come out of the toilet sooner or later. He was beginning to panic now. His heart was beating louder as the class was nearing.

He stood in front of the door of the class with his eyes dug into the ground. The class teacher had already started the roll call. She didn’t notice him but murmurings and chuckles were getting louder in the class. Finally she noticed. Now the chuckles turned into guffaws. The whole class was laughing. The class teacher looked annoyed.

“Come in you dumb. When you’ll learn to be on time? I don’t understand why these parents send such dumb heads to international schools like ours.” She Shouted and without warning smacked a tight slap on his face. Satyam started crying and covered his face with his hands. She straight away noticed his nails. Satyam had forgotten about his nails already otherwise he could have hid them from her. Teacher was boiling now and the whole class silent. The teacher took out the scale and this time she hit him on the nails. Satyam yelled. He had never felt such a pain ever in his life.

His hands pained for the next few days. Actually he was physically very weak and even the smallest of injuries took long to recover.

English lecture was going on. The teacher asked Satyam to read. He refused as he was poor in reading but teacher forced him to do. He agreed. He was not afraid to read but the only problem was that his classmates used to make fun of him while he read. He started to read. Everything went fine till the first paragraph ended. But he got struck after the first two words of the second paragraph. He was not being able to pronounce it.

“What happened? Carry on.” Said, the teacher.

“Ma’am what is this word hadaaaacke… hadaaache… I’m not getting what is written.” He replied.

“Where?”

“The third word ma’am.”

“What? Can’t you read it you dumb? It is headache. Just get the hell out of the class and let someone else read. You are hopeless. I can give you in written that people like you can’t do anything in your life. Tell your parents not to waste their money on you.”

The whole class laughed holding their stomachs. Satyam had really made a fool of himself. But he was hurt. He had tears in his eyes. He didn’t say anything and stood out of the class for the whole lecture. He was really ashamed of himself and wanted to improve. But there was no one to guide him but there were many to laugh.

Days went on and Satyam’s miserable life continued. One day the class teacher told them that they’ll have a story writing competition the very next day. Satyam was glad to hear that. He remembered the days of his previous school when he his writings were appreciated by all. The teachers praised him for his imagination. Actually being very introvert, he used to think a lot. Some of his friends even teased him as ‘philosopher’ but his teachers told him to take it as a compliment. He had even won many essay writing and story writing competitions in that school. And now he thought he had a good chance to prove himself in his new school.

The day of the competition came. The topic was given and the bell rang. He wrote a very adventurous story. He was actually satisfied with what he had written. He knew that it was the only field in which he could prove himself. The results had to be declared the next day in the English lecture. He went to his hostel and had a very sound sleep after a long time. He had a hope now and that too after a long time.

The day came. He waited for the result very eagerly. He could not think of anything else but the results. Every second seemed to him like an hour. Finally the English lecture started. The teacher came in. His heart started beating loudly. She announced the results. He held his breath after every name being announced but His name was not there. After congratulating the winners teacher came forward again.

“Students, there is something more that I want to share with you people. There is some one in this class who don’t even know how to spell ‘these’. He writes it as ‘thease’. Do you want to know who he is? He’s the new comer Satyam. I couldn’t stop laughing when I looked at it. Call a second class kid, he’ll tell you how to spell ‘these’ but this seventh class fool doesn’t know and he participated in the competition. Huh.”

It was a shock for him. He was stunned. He couldn’t believe that he was not even in the top three and not even the fourth one who got the consolation prize. He was broken not knowing that his story was not even read. He cried the whole night and a few nights after that. His hopes were shattered. He was depressed to such an extent that he never wrote a story again.

love u for ever : another true story

I tried to open my eyes. I’d never felt it so tough to open them. I applied all the force and the will power I had to pick my eyelids up and somehow managed to open. The view was very blurred that I couldn’t see anything properly. Slowly-slowly it became more lucid. I was shocked to see the view. I was lying on a hospital bed. How could I be in a hospital? All I remembered was that I had left for Delhi and was going in my car.

And this hospital was so dirty. I had never been at such a dirty place ever in my life especially since last decade. Yeah, I was born in a very well to do family but since last 10 years I had multiplied my business certain folds. I was married now and had a couple of kids. But no one was here among my family members. I was really perplexed. There was no nurse either. I tried to get up but my body was numb. I couldn’t move.
“Anybody there?” I shouted. In fact I tried to shout.

Listening to it the nurse came in running. She told me that I was in Panipat and brought here around 8 hours ago. I had a road accident and my cell phone was broken so they didn’t contact anyone. I gave her my wife’s contact number and they informed her. Nurse told that her duty is over and a new nurse would come now.

The door opened. The new nurse came in. She was an old and thin lady evidently suffering from malnutrition, having prominent teeth, an ugly looking face with dark circles covering nearly half of it. Her eyes were deep and clearly depicted lack of sleep. Green colored suit she wore clearly looked as if she had altered a bigger one to fit her. I looked closely at her; she seemed to be someone known. I kept looking at her face and don’t know why even she was looking at my face the same way I did. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened in delight. She raised her hand, pointing her index finger towards me and said, “Abhi… Is that you?”
Now I recognized. It was Mary. I was stunned and started reminiscing.

12 YEARS AGO

“Ruby aunty… Ruby aunty… Where are you?” I shouted, entering Ruby aunty’s home. Ruby aunty, our neighbor was an old lady around 60. I was very close to her and shared everything with her. Financially she was not as good as us but she was respected a lot by my parents. She was the most educated lady in the whole colony and was the only one who was very good in spoken English. I never used to ring the bell while entering but just used to shout her name and she used to come running. But this time she was no where. I went to see her in kitchen. Some one was there but couldn’t make out as I could only see her back, but it wasn’t ruby aunty.
“Hey! Who are you?” I hissed.

She looked back. She was extremely beautiful: fair complexion, big eyes and bubbly cheeks. She was wearing a light green colored salwar kameez which looked extremely good on her. Over all it was a beautiful face over a beautiful body.
“Rather I should ask you this. Who the hell are you?” She replied.
“Shut up ok. You are a hell not me.” I had to say it. But I really cursed my self as how could I call her a hell, “And what are you doing at Ruby aunty’s home?”

We were still arguing when ruby aunty came who told me that she was Maria, her niece who’d came from Kanpur and had to stay with her for around 15 days.
“How’s this possible Ruby aunty?” I said.
“Possible what?”
“i mean how can she be ur niece? She’s so beautiful and you are so ugly.” I commented. I really used to tease her over everything. We were more like friends. Bu this time this comment was a complement for someone and she was blushing.
“Yeah… but she doesn’t stay with me no, You come to my home everyday that’s why you are ugly.”
“Who says I’m ugly. I’m very charming. Just ask her.” I said pointing towards her.
“What do I know?” She said, blushing with her eyes down.

Ruby aunty went to kitchen for coffee. We sat there and talked. I really felt something for her. Everything was so good about her. I wished if this chat could continue forever. We had coffee and I went to shop but she was still in my mind. I could feel the tantalizing aroma of her body everywhere. That day I couldn’t concentrate on my work. I went home early as I wanted to go to Ruby aunty’s home again.

When I reached home, I was surprised to see something. She was sitting there, talking to my mom and bhabhi. Then bhabhi introduced her to me. We both did our second intro as if we were really meeting for the first time. There were smiles on faces of both. We again started talking like we did in the morning. She was a real chatterbox and was a fun to be with.

The days went on. We became quite close to each other and surely developed a liking for each other but no one admitted yet. She was very close to my bhabhi and my mom too. My bhabhi used to tease me using her name every now and then and asked me if I liked her for marriage and I always denied but blushed. I was not sure but I could smell something of that sort going on in my parent’s mind.

It was the marriage of my bhabhi’s brother the very next day. All went there except me because someone was needed to be at the shop. Since my childhood whenever I was alone at home I used to have my meals at Ruby aunty’s place. This time too, I came from shop and went to her home. It was Mary who cooked for me that night. After dinner we went to the terrace. Clouds were playing games with the moon, sometime covering it and sometimes going away from it, letting it to shower its sensational light on us. Her face used to glow whenever clouds were away from the moon. She was looking into my eyes keenly as if she was waiting to hear something from me. I knew what she wanted to hear but I never had said it to any girl ever in my life. I collected all my courage to tell her how much I loved. I took her hand in my hand and left. We talked about everything but love. Finally we came back, both upset.

Next day I was not feeling well and came back from shop early. I just lied down and slept. I heard the door bell and she was there. She was shocked to find me in such a position. I had fever around 103 degrees. Even ruby aunty came and gave me medicine. Actually even she was not well and gave me that medicine which she had bought for her.
“Ok… Abhi, I shall leave now as even I’m not feeling well. You tell her if you need anything” Ruby aunty said.
“Ok aunty.” I replied and was happy that ruby aunty didn’t ask Mary to came along. I kept my head on mary’s lap and slept.

I was still in the same position when I woke up: in her lap and she moving her fingers through my hair. I looked at her eyes. There was an enormous amount of love and passion in them. I brought her face closer to me and gave a gentle kiss on her lips. She looked in my eyes and smiled.
“I love you a lot Mary.” I don’t know how I got this courage. It might have been the situation or the affection that she had for me. What ever it was, all I know is that I proposed her.
“I love you too” she replied and it was she who kissed me this time. Our gentle kiss now grew more passionate. Our tongues were rolling through each other’s mouth. We were deeply in love. We made love the whole night. It is always a divine feeling to have it with some one you love the most. We were glad that we lost our virginity to each other.

Next morning was special for us. Our love had reached a landmark. We were happy to wake up in each other’s arms, nude. Her sleepy face was looking so pious. The fever I had was completely disappeared.

Suddenly there was a doorbell. It was Ruby aunty. She immediately perceived what happened last night. She scolded us but then agreed that we loved each other and blessed us. She knew that we were best suited for each others. In the afternoon, all came back from marriage. I told my bhabhi about my proposal and the night. She told my mom and they asked my dad about marriage but all were already aware of the girl and agreed immediately. We all were very happy about it. That night Ruby aunty and Mary came to our home for dinner. My mom gave her a gold chain as a kind of shagun. She refused but took it when Ruby aunty asked her.

Next day Mary’s father came to take her. My mom and brother went to meet him to talk about the marriage. We all were shocked when he declined the proposal. He said they were very rigid about the religion and didn’t want to go against it. We insisted him a lot but he wouldn’t listen. Even Ruby aunty tried her best but there was no effect on him. Finally when my dad went to talk to him, he got irritated and abused my dad. This was something intolerable for my family. Now even my family refused.

It was all over. I never saw her again in my life. Even Ruby aunty expired a few days after that incident. I went into a trauma and didn’t recover till next few months. But life goes on.


PRESENT DAY

Here I was, lying on the bed in front of the first love of my life. We both had tears in our eyes. But I was still shocked that how she became like that. How her face turned so ugly? I wanted to take her in my arms but wasn’t able to, as I was not able to move my body. Suddenly she went out and some other nurse came in. I was in that hospital for next couple of days but didn’t see her. Hospital management didn’t have any info about her as that was her first day as a temporary nurse. I searched her a lot but couldn’t find. I didn’t even tell my wife about that and in fact no one else. Still she’s in my heart and I still love her more than anyone else in this world. But the thing which troubles me the most is that she's in a miserable condition.




<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




This story was told by one of my friends. Location, names, situation; all are imaginary but the theme is true just like my previous story... please read it and do comment..

Once upon a time in infosys

I was sitting on the footpath right outside my hostel building with all my bags packed, waiting for the cart which had to drop me till the gate of the Infosys campus in Mysore. Infosys is one of the better known software services companies in India and its campus in Mysore, where all the fresh entrants are trained is considered to be the best in India. 

I looked at the surroundings. Road was empty and there was no one around. All the trainees were attending classes as it was around eleven in the morning. A lovely breeze blew and I could see some birds frisking, frolicking and playing pranks with each other but I was alone. I was alone when all my friends were in the class. Now even the birds, the wind and the trees had started teasing me.

I couldn't resist myself from shedding another drop of tear although I’d been doing the same the whole last night. Of course, I was checking out but that was not the only reason for the tears. It was something much bigger than that and very much contemptible. I was not leaving the campus after completing my training but I had been expelled from the company. Or I can say, I was being thrown out. I felt like dying.

Then appeared the white colored cart coming from the road adjoining Food Court 2. The cart reminded me of my first day in the campus and took me into the past for sometime.

What a lovely evening that was? How excited I was, when I stepped into the heaven called as Mysore campus of Infosys for the first time and was completely engrossed with the thoughts of future that what I will do and how I’ll enjoy in the campus. First thing that came to my mind that day was to explore the campus and locate all those places I’d seen in those lovely photographs. I sat into the golf cart which took me through some long and winding but neat and clean roads. The first building I noticed was that football shaped spherical building which appeared behind the lush green cricket ground on the right side of the road. In fact that was the only building I’d seen before coming here but I was amazed to see a building on the left which was under construction. It was absolutely phenomenal and resembled the Colosseum of Rome. There was another one which resembled the White House but wasn’t white in color. Some guy in the Cart told that it is GEC or the Global Education Center where we’ll go through our training.

The cart stopped at a small building inside which there was a kind of a reception. We got our luggage checked and room was allotted. The guy who sat next to me in the cab was to be my room mate. His name was Varun and was a tall but slim guy from Punjab with a lot of beard on his face looked as if he’s not shaved since ages but that gave him a typical Punjabi personage. I thought, how someone like me from Gujarat will stay with such a guy who doesn't even bother to shave. Then we were sent to our hostel in another cart. We discovered that our hostel was nearest to FC2 and moreover, the hostel right next to us was a girl hostel. That Punjabi straight away planned to buy a new binocular so that he could easily peep into girls' rooms during night.

I opened the door of my room and could not believe my eyes. It was the best room I’d ever seen with my own eyes and was just exhilarated with the thought that I would be staying here for next few months though with some one who looked to be very unhygienic. But that was not a problem at all because like all the Punjabis, Varun was quite nice at heart. We kept our bags and explored the whole campus. We saw the lovely swimming pool, Gymnasium, Bowling alley, Market and a salon from where Varun got his beard trimmed, finally.

The classes started and we were made to sit in a big room having a huge white board with a couple of projector screens in the front and opposite to that were numerous seats, each having a separate computer system. I was made to sit in the third row and luckily between a couple of girls- both of them had just ordinary looks though. Later, I came to know that we were made to sit alphabetically when I got introduced to them. One was Ganmeet from Punjab and the other was Geetha from Mangalore and sandwiched between them was me, Gaurav Keswani from Vadodra.

Both those girls were quite antithetical in their behavior, style, knowledge and everything they did. Where Ganmeet was quite simple, Geetha was stylish like all ultra-modern girls. Ganmeet was calm, composed and reserve but Geetha was dynamic and extrovert. And most importantly, Ganmeet was logically very sound and a very good programmer where as Geetha was a contrast in this matter too. I realized it when she asked me to debug her first C-language assignment. I was shocked to see the code. She had put the include statement within main. God, she was a B.Tech in computer science. But her cute and embarrassed smile was clearly accepting her weakness. I helped her and this became a routine. Within in no time we grew very close to each other. We used to have the meals together, we used to study together, we used to watch the movies together and we used to go out together. Our friendship grew more intense when she flunked in the first module test of C language but I got an ‘A’ grade and so did Ganmeet. But my roomy, Varun had also flunked. So, Geetha and Varun, both had to appear for the re-test. Everyday I used to teach them and made them to practice more and more. Now we were like a group. Four of us started staying together as Varun and Ganmeet, both being Punjabis grew very close to each other. Now instead of me, it was Ganmeet who taught him.

Then came the retest. I and Ganmeet were waiting for both of them outside the hall. Varun came out happily, clearly showing that he’d cleared and he did. Many came out but she was still in. I was getting worried as only I knew that the hopes were less. It was the last minute when she came out jumping and without speaking a word, threw her self on me and kissed on my cheeks. Many had seen but all knew what had happened. I was stunned and so were Varun and Ganmeet. It was obvious for a guy who never had any girl in his life and was kissed by a hot south Indian girl in front of whole batch. But she took it as a very normal thing and I pretended the same.

“Its all because of you Gaurav, that I’ve cleared it. Hats off to you sweetheart”, she said.

We were not into any sort of relationship but that’s how she used to call me and in fact all her close friends. But there was nothing wrong in it and I enjoyed it. We grew more and more close to each other. She took care of me in every sense: my dressing, my eating and what ever I did. She told me many things about gals which I’d never known.

On the next weekend she took me to Bangalore where she had done her engineering degree. We met many of her friends, my friends and went to famous markets and malls of the city. One thing I could say, she had a very happening friend circle. In the evening we went to a pub where both of us danced after gulping a couple of beer mugs. The dance grew more and more passionate with time. It was my first time in a pub but she was quite used to it. Next evening we left for Mysore which is a three hour journey from Bangalore. But there I’d spent the best weekend of my life.

On the way, we talked about everything on the earth. Then she kept her head on my shoulder and held me which I could say was half a hug. I just responded. I’d never sat like this with a girl ever in my life. Everything was so nice and tender. Time seemed like flying. I wished I could’ve been like this forever. I’d fallen in love with her.

“You know what Gaurav”, she said.

“What?” I asked.

“You remember that guy Raghav, whom we met in Garuda mall.”

“Yeah! Why?”

“We’ve been in love for last 3 years and yesterday we planned to marry.” she said shyly.

It was all over for me. Ground escaped underneath my feet. I just got away from her in a flash and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I thought I’ll tell you after you meet him. I hope I wasn’t wrong?”

“No... You are right. Anyways Congrats” I said, sounding very low.

“Thanks.” She replied.

No one spoke a word after that for next one hour. She was busy with her iPod and I was with my novel when suddenly she asked,” What happened Gaurav? Why are you so quiet?”

“Nothing”, I said.

She kept on asking again and again but I’d the same answer until she got irritated and said,” you are telling me or not?”

“Its of no use dear. You can’t do anything about it.” I said and rightly so. I loved her and she loved someone else whom she was going to marry.

“Well, let me make 3 guesses.” She said in a very naughty tone and I agreed.

“Ok. Hmmmmmmm. You didn’t enjoy with me at Bangalore?” she asked.

I shook my head straight away. Both of us knew that this wasn’t the reason. I thought she was just trying to change my mood.

“Thennnn... U didn’t like Raghav?”

Now she was coming to the point. This was somewhat the reason but not the exact one.

“Hey. He’s quite good yaar and both of u make a nice couple. And it’s your life; I don’t have to marry him. So, last guess now.” I replied.

“Then… you’ve a liking for me?” She said smiling.

I was caught. In fact clean bowled. She’d hit the bull eye. I turned red. I tried my level best to control my expressions and said,”No way yaar. I don’t like to call engaged nos.”

“Ohhhhh. Mr. Gaurav keswani think about it again.”

I had to admit it now. And this time she laughed. I asked the reason but again she laughed. I was perplexed at her enigmatic laugh. Finally she spoke.

“You know what my stupid.”

“What?” I inquired filled with curiosity.

“Raghav and I are just friends you dumbo.”

She broke into chuckles again. I was confused and even I’d started smiling now and finally started laughing with her.

This time I held her and said, “I love you Geetha... and a lot.”

“I love you too stupid. And had to do it because I knew you were not going to propose me easily” She replied.

We fell in each other’s arms and waited for our destination. Finally Geetha was mine. It was the happiest day of my life. We reached Mysore campus and again got busy into our same daily routine: attending the classes, completing assignments, studying in the class after dinner, going for long walks and kissing each other when ever we got chance. I always used to thank god for the life he’d given me. Module tests came and went. I kept on getting ‘A’ grades and she somehow managed to clear them. Both of us were quite happy. We made a few trips with Varun and Ganmeet to Ooty, Coorg and Mangalore which was Geetha’s home town. We met her parents there who were very humble but her little sister was naughty like her.

Now we had entered the last month of our training. Shortly we were going to have our comprehensive exam which was a mixture of all the modules which we’d studied so far. It also included a practical exam in which we’d to complete a project within 3 hours and it was the toughest thing especially for someone like Geetha. The day for compre came. All of us cleared it but Geetha. Both of us were very depressed. Now she’d to appear for it again. Actually compre is the most important part of the training. If you don’t clear it your training won’t complete. Now retest was the only hope for her.

Retest was the very next day. We were going to classroom after dinner. And suddenly she started crying.

“Gaurav. I really love you.” She said.

“I love you too sweetu. Don’t cry. Everything would be ok. I’m there for you. I won’t let you flunk again.” I consoled her.

“No. I will because there’s no way out. And we’ll be separated forever. ”

“No dear. It won’t ever happen” I said and took her in my arms.

“Gaurav. Can you do something for me?” She asked.

“Of course my love. My whole life is yours.” I said.

“You’ll have to sit along with me tomorrow. You know every one does it. Meenal’s boyfriend helped her out that’s why she cleared. I hope Even I can expect this much from my love.” She said.

I was drowned into deep thinking because it was really risky, In fact very risky. We could’ve been thrown out of the company if caught. But on the other side was my love. What I would do in the company without her because if she fails she’d be out, I thought. Then I just looked into matter carefully that these people never count the number of candidates appearing for a test and how many are extra. Then I thought that I’ll sit on another system and complete the project and submit on Geetha’s employee id.

The day came; we all were sitting in the class room. I was sitting a bit far from her and finally we got the project. It was not at all tough for me. I started working on it and had completed almost half when Srikkanth.M entered into the classroom. He was our batch owner, just like a class teacher in schools. Don’t know how but he’d got the report that no. of candidates appearing were more than the no. in the list. I was shocked. It was a dead end to my career. Coming time won’t be easy for me and I’ll have to face a lot, I thought. I look at Geetha’s face. She was looking as lovely and innocent as ever. But she too was badly shocked. But don’t know why, I wasn’t afraid. Love had given me a special courage and I was doing it for my love, no one else. So what if I’m caught. Srikkanth knew me quite well as I was among those who’d got 100/100 in his module, java. He looked at me straight away and called me.

Srikkanth himself was shocked when he found me as the culprit. But he was helpless as company is very strict against the cheating cases. He asked me again and again the name of the guy for whom I’m screwing up my career. But how would’ve I named my love. I didn’t speak a word. He insisted again and again that Infosys needed brains like me but I would not listen. Finally he gave up and reported to HR department. The same question was asked again and again from me but my love was the most important thing in the world for me now. They then asked me to write a resignation letter and I did the same. I was fired.

Someone’s strange voice hit my ears and I came out of the world of my thoughts. I was still sitting on the footpath and looking at the trees and the birds.

“Come on sir. Sit in the cart.” Cart driver said.

“Oh yes. Lets go.” I replied and left the campus and the company for ever.

Now you all must be having one question your mind. That what about Geetha? Geetha cleared the exam. I think I had taught her enough and rest she cheated from the guy who was sitting next to her. I waited for her call after the incident but she didn’t. I called her but she didn’t attend my call. And most interesting thing is that it has been 8 months since that incident but we never had a talk.

********************************************************************

********************************************************************

********************************************************************

hi Readers...

firstly i'd like to thank u for the overwhelming response..

and one thing i noticed was that u all have mistaken me as gaurav..

i'm not gaurav..

and one thing more....
its not that only gals use boys.. it can be a boy too...
so please tell all ur friends to read the story so that we can save more and more guys or gals like gaurav....

@ all those who are sending this story to their friends via mail..

please give the link of the blog along with the story...

reason : yesterday i was chatting with one of my old friends who work with infosys. he told me about the story and in reply i told him that i wrote it. and gave him the link of this blog...

u know what he said . that i've copied it from somewhere else... lolzz

and in the end i wasn't able to convince him that i wrote it.. ha ha ha..

so please ...........

And if u hv time, plz read the other postings too..... they r not too bad.. :)

anyway thanks a lot for liking my writing..

PLEASE DO WRITE COMMENTS and express your thoughts about it....

or send e-mail : ankurktiet05@gmail.com

BUT PLEASE DO WRITE..
I'd love to hear from u.

Ankur..

LATE... BUT NOT TOO MUCH

Today Vikram Kant was very happy and why shouldn't he be? After all it was 27th of august, his daughter Reema's birthday. He bought a truffle chocolate cake for his daughter who loved it more than anything else on the planet. It was the most expensive cake in the royal bakery which was situated on the road just below the hill on which he lived. Suddenly it started raining heavily and it grew darker everywhere. The evening now looked like the midnight and lovely scenic beauty of the hill station was now converted into horrifying darkness. Vikram opened his umbrella and climbed up the hill to give his daughter the surprise.
His eleven years old daughter relished every bit of the cake and the atmosphere at their home was engrossed with gay and the joy of the occasion. Shamika, reema's mother had already cooked few of reema's favourite dishes. There was music, dance, dishes, laughter, revelry all around. But suddenly reema started breathing heavily.
All the joy of the evening immediately turned into terror. Reema had got another attack of asthma . The situation became worse when Shamika discovered that the medicine in the inhaler had expired. Vikram just ran out of the home to buy a new one from downhill market. It was still raining but this time he didn't bother to take his umbrella. Reema was breathing more heavily now and had started feeling the pain in her chest. Shamika couldn't do anything but wait for her husband to return with the medicine. But being a mother it was hard for her to tolerate her daughter's situation. Every second seemed to be endless now and it was already 15 minutes since vikram had gone out. The pain in Reema's chest was getting more and more excruciating and now she had begun to whine loudly. Time seemed to be endless as already half an hour had passed.
Terrified Shamika Took the expired inhaler and sprayed into reema's mouth. Her patience had reached the culmination. She couldn't see her daughter dying like that. Expired medicine would do atleast something, she thought. Still there were no signs of Vikram. It was still raining and he was no where on the road till shamika could see. Another half an hour passed and Reema was feeling quite better. Now Shamika was getting worried about Vikram because in no way he could take more than 20 minutes to go downhill and return but it was already one hour. She waited for another one hour and herself went downhill to look for vikram. Now reema was feeling alright and had slept. It was still raining as heavily as before. For shamika it was the most terrifying night of her life. Firstly her daughter had faced such a trouble and now there were no signs of her husband.
She reached downhill to see all the shops closed. There was no one out there whom she may have asked. There was silence of the graveyard and there were no human beings around. Shamika was completely perplexed and had no clue at all. So broken from all sorts, she walked into the alley leading her uphill.
She reached home and saw her daughter in a sound sleep. She laid beside her and didn't sleep the whole night waiting for her husband but he didn't return. Next morning She called up her relatives and family friends but still there was no information about vikram anywhere. She reported to police but even they were not able to find him. Days passed, months passed and years passed. Vikram never returned.
Now reema had grown up and was a beautiful young lady. Shamika found a handsome guy for her and Reema got married. Reema was blessed with lovely daughter nearly 2 years after her marriage. since Reema's husband had lost his parents long ago, so he used to stay with Reema in the same house where she had spent her childhood. Everything was going on quite good for them till reema's mother, Shamika fell ill and died. Now Reema lived there with her husband and her lovely daughter who was also asthmatic like her. Years passed by but no problem occurred and everything went very smooth and nice.
One day it was raining heavily and all the three were having their supper when suddenly Reema's daughter got an attack of asthma. Reema then found out that the inhaler had no medicine and they forgot to buy a new one. Reema's husband wore his raincoat and ran towards the door to get a new inhaler. The scene which happened many years ago came to her mind and she cried, "No.... you are going nowhere. I can't afford to lose you."

_____________________________________]

now there are 2 ways to end this story... u take it how u like.
ending 1:

Reema's husband was astonished at her behavior and asked the reason. She was just beginning to explain him when the door opened in a flash and there was some old man on the door. Her daughter got up and shouted,"here comes my grandpa". Reema couldn't believe her eyes, it was her father, Vikram standing on the door with a lot more wrinkles and beard on his face. Every one was stunned. There was silence all around.
"I hope I'm not too late"Said Vikram handing over a brand new inhaler to Reema.



another ending...

saying this, she gives her daughter the expired inhaler, and, feeling better, the girl sleeps soundly.
then, they decide to not repeat the mistake, and, hence, both of them set out together to buy the medicine.
on their way, the husband slips down the alley, and, into an underground dungeon.
there, he finds a brand new inhaler, and, a skeleton.

reema follows him (she too slips), and, is stunned seeing the inhaler, and the skeleton. she is dead frightened.
a skeleton is here=> no way out!!
husband: "don't worry. u climb on my back, and get out!!! dont worry abt me. ur dad dint have someone to help him out. u have me"
after much deliberation, in the interest of their daughter, she climbed out.

suddenly, the husband had a weird feeling, some tingling sensation at his leg.
seeing down, he sees that, due to wind and all, the skeleton has moved to his leg.

he climbs over it, but, cud not reach to the top. he yells for help, for his wife. but, she did not wait for him!! he breathes his last, knowing that both his wife and daughter are safe.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

but with this second ending the title also have to be changed.. anyway.. the 2nd ending was suggested by one of my friends, prasad..