Girls Are Stupid !!! (Part-5)

 Previous episodes:

Part - 1 (Click to read) 

Part - 2 (Click to read)

Part - 3 (Click to read)

Part - 4 (Click to read)

“I wish you had fried chicken.” I said, facing that hostess and passed a taunting smile to Shivali, “... something of KFC sort.”
“No sir, even I wish that,” replied the lady, smiling “… but a chicken sandwich is all we have.” She broadened her plastic smile.
“No-no… Thanks a lot.” I said, winking at Shivali. At last, she sighed and her eyes brightened just like Jerry did after an unsuccessful chase by Tom, if you remember Tom and Jerry. But yeah, I don’t understand why these veggies hate us so much.
The plane landed. We were standing near the conveyer belt to get our bags.


“You know what, Gaurav?” she said.
“What?” I asked, curious as she had already came up with some strange things whenever she called me like that.
“You are a nice guy.” She said, smiling. I don’t know from which part of her brain this thought came up but why did she have to tell that. I could feel something wrong somewhere (daal-mein-kala). I know I’m a nice guy, I felt like shouting that.
“Oh thanks…,” I replied smiling back, “and you are a sweet girl.”
“Sweet or stupid?” she winked.
“Both.” I laughed.
“I knew… I knew… you have been thinking that.” She too laughed.
“What?” I asked with suspicion.
“Yeah…,” she laughed more, “Ok, tell me one thing.”
“What thing?” I asked, surprised at her enigmatic laugh.
“Do you know about Aranya?”
“Aranya? Who’s she?” I asked, more baffled.

“Oh come on… at least you should know about it quite well.” She said as if Aranya was some girl whom I’d ditched. I really didn’t know whom was she talking about. I had never ever known any girl called as Aranya. Yeah, I do know Ananya, the lead character of Chetan Bhagat’s 2-States.

“I really don’t know yaar.” I said, frustrated.
“Hmmm… Might be…” she said, “that might have been a small thing in your life.” Now I was beginning to get irritated.
“Hey please. Don’t test my patience. Come up now. What are you talking about?”
“Wait…” she said, laughing again.
“Why the hell should I wait.” I shouted, much more irritated now.
“Because my bag has arrived.” She said, picking up her bag from the conveyer belt. I gave an embarrassed look and stepped back.
“Oh… Anyway, now tell. Who is Aranya?” I hissed. She laughed again.

“Who nahi, what kaho. I’m talking about the tech fest, dumbo.” She said. I don’t understand why these girls love this word dumbo a lot but yeah, I was completely taken aback. This girl had really surprised me. Aranya was the name of the tech-fest which was organized by our college and I had always been a major part of it.

“What are you trying to say.” I asked, trying to hold my nerves.
“That you have a very poor memory.” She retorted.
“Means?” I asked. I wondered if I really sounded dumb.

“Means that I know you are from Thapar Institue and… I remember that you were SPOC for computer science events.” I had no words at all. “And you… you don’t even remember who ate your brain the most during over-night programming contest.” She said, still laughing. I was still stunned. I was in a misconception that I had been fooling her for a long time but truth was totally opposite. I was embarrassed to the core.
According to what she said, there was only one girl who was coming to me every now and then and she even won the contest but this girl, she never looked like her.
“You mean you were in the winning team?” I asked, just to confirm.
“Yes…” she replied proudly.

“But that girl… she was… I mean… you are… I mean… you can’t be that.” I didn’t know how to express that the girl she was talking about was sort of ugly and very irritating, especially her boy-cut hairstyle. I simply hate that but she, she was quite good looking. In simple words, she was HOT!

“Now, I’m not getting you.” She said. At last, I confused her too.
“I mean you looked quite different that time.” Somehow I managed to say. She laughed again.
“Yeah… Say directly that I look beautiful now.”
“Hmmm. You do.” I blushed.

While all this chat, I forget that I was standing there to get my bag and when I realized, it had passed me but luckily, it didn’t reach the end. I sprinted towards the bag, jostling through the crowd gathered there and got all kinds of gestures from those people. I was lucky that that Sardar uncle didn’t come my way. Finally, I got hold of my bag just before it reached the end. I came back and stood near Shivali again, putting my bags onto a trolley.



"By the way, if you already knew me then what was all that drama for?" I asked.
"Come on, you are not Shahrukh khan that someone will see you once and immediately recognize you." She quipped.
"Yeah..." I didn't know what to say.
"More over, I'm like that only." She winked.
"Oh te pata lag hi gaya." I said, rolling my eyes.


“Gaurav, I still don’t know why you lied.” She said.
“Soreeee. I was just enjoying it.” This time my sorry was longer than the one she said an hour ago.
“Oh… Don’t be… even I enjoyed your company.” We both laughed.
“Anyway, when are we meeting again.” I said when we just reached outside the airport building.
“Aha… Someone is flirting.”
“No... just asking. In the meanwhile, I’ll think of some new pranks.”
“Keep thinking and do come up with some real good pranks. I’ll catch you on communicator.”

“Communicator?” I asked, shocked again. Did she mean yahoo messenger by communicator. No. Not possible. She’s not that fool, I thought.
“Yes, communicator. Don’t worry… it’ll be the last shock. I’ve joined Finacle, Mysore and I do know what Finacle bags look like.” She laughed again and I shook my head once again as Finacle is my business unit and my bag had Finacle's logo on it.

“Sure.” I laughed, on myself this time. This was all I could have done.
“Anyway, bbye. I’ve to get a cab from there.” She said.
“Hmmm… bye.” I said, giving her the way.
“And yeah…” she said, turning back, “Stop thinking that girls are stupid. We are not.” She smiled. I smiled back and bid her adieu once again.




cant be sure of continuing.. ;)

Girls Are Stupid !!! (Part-4)

 Previous episodes:

Part - 1 (Click to read) 

Part - 2 (Click to read)

Part - 3 (Click to read)

“Why did you laugh?” She asked with a bit of anger, genuinely offended.
“Nothing… Nothing… Actually my roomie works with Infosys.” I said. I didn’t want to tell her that I was an Infoscion. And thank god we don’t have Infosys logo on finacle bags.
“Wow!”
“Which Centre?”
“Centre? You mean IBU or DC?”
“I mean which place? By the way, I don’t know what is DC or IPU.” 
“Oh. You are a new joinee?”
“No no… I’ve 2 months of experience.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know what’s a DC or IBU… And yeah it is IBU not IPU, OK?”
“Hmmm. But what is it?” 
“DC means development center and IBU means Industry Business Unit.” I replied with frustration oozing out.



“Ohhhh. I never knew it,” she said, giving an idiotic smile. 
“But how’s that possible? I mean you must know your own unit, right?”
“Actually, I’m under training.”
“Oh…” I laughed. So, she considers training as experience- cool.
“What?” she asked inquisitively, showing her hands.
“You are not experienced ma’am.” I replied, still not able to stop laughing, “Your experience starts the day you join production… You must be in Mysore, right?”
“Haan… but tell me one thing, how do you know so much about my company?” she asked suspiciously. This time she caught me but I thought about it again, it was not tough to prank with her.
“I told you, right? My friend works with Infosys.”
“Oh. That’s what we were discussing na. You totally diverted the talk.”
“Me?” I asked.
“Yeah, who else?” she said, as it was the most obvious thing of the world.
“Fine.” I said in submission and she looked delighted on such an idiotic feat.
“Hey, you didn’t tell me. Your friend is in which center?”
“It’s not center, yaar.” I said, irritated.
“Chal whatever… You understood na?” she asked. 
“Hmmm… he’s in Bangalore.”
“Oh.” She said, disappointed.
“What happened?”
“Nothing… I thought he was in Mysore.”
“He was trained in Mysore only, but later he was posted to Bangalore.”
“I see. He was from which stream?”
“Java.” I said so because I did my training in Java.
“Oh wow! I also got java stream.”
“You want his phone number?” I asked.
“No no…” she blushed taking her eyes down into the ground.
“But you are talking as if you were really very interested.” I laughed.
“Aiwe ee… Actually no use.” she said, laughing.
“No use… why?” 
“He is in Bangalore na.” she said, making a sad face.
“So?” I asked, perplexed.
“Oho budhu… if he’d have been in Mysore, he’d have taught me na.” she said, very confidently.
“And how are you so confident that he would have taught you?” I asked inquisitively.

“Arey main cheez hi aisi hu…” she said, holding the collar of her top. I’m not sure what she’d have held if she was wearing a top without a collar. But the confidence, it was as if she was a master in this art. It surprised me once again. I reconsidered my thought that she was a stupid. She was not at all what I thought she was.
“Hmmm. Jo bhi hai mast mast cheez hai.” I whispered, laughing in my mind.
“What?”
“Nothing… Nothing at all.” I replied.
“You said something.”
“I said you are really smart.”
“wo to main hu…” she winked.


In the meanwhile, that air-hostess arrived again, but with a steward this time. I wonder whether these stewards also acted as eye-tonics for girls as those hostesses are for guys. God knows or these girls know. While I was drowned into my thoughts, I didn’t realize that my eyes were fixed on that hostess. 
“Another chicken sandwich, Sir?” she asked, waving her hand, with what I think was an embarrassed smile probably because of my ha-ha-main-tujhe-kha-jaunga stare. I think even she knew me quite well, like everyone else on board. Thanks to the impression created by Shivali.

I was still deciding whether to buy it or not when shivali gave me a fierce stare and said, “Now don’t dare eat that chicken sandwich in front of me.” It was not a normal request. In fact, it was not a request at all. It was an order, an authoritative one. I shook my head again, smiling.


to be continued..........
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Girls Are Stupid !!! (Part-3)

 Previous episodes:

Part - 1 (Click to read) 

Part - 2 (Click to read)

“Now what?” I shouted at her, with a silencer on my mouth. I’m a typical Punjabi, and shouting is our default trait. Even if I speak normally, I never come to know when my volume reaches the threshold to be considered as a shout. But this time my ego was at stake. I didn’t want to give her any chance to show that I’m rude. I had to show her that she’s the only one who’s rude and insensible. The volume of my shout was low enough that the sound waves would have struggled to hit the ear drums of that Sardar uncle.



“Actually… I wanted to say… that I’m… I’m extremely sorry.” She choked while speaking, struggling to face me, leave apart looking into eyes. I guess, she was among the over pampered lot. But still, she knew that she had made a mistake which could have been a crime for me if we were at an appropriate place. But her face, it looked so cute that even a Supreme Court judge would have forgiven a murder charge. It definitely made me to forget what happened a few minutes ago, but how could I’ve missed a chance to show attitude?

“Oh come on. Don’t give me that... Have you ever imagined what everyone out here might have been thinking about me? Anyway, forget it... You won’t understand…” I replied and started looking towards the window.

“I understand… but you know what, I’m a pure vegetarian… and… and you can’t imagine how much I hate non-veg. We don’t even eat onion you know.” This time she looked nothing less than a 10 year old innocent girl. Now, I was damn sure that she was over pampered and wasn’t out of her parents’ shadows.

“Please… … I don’t give a damn if you don’t eat onion or stuff. How can you just… ” I fell short of words and to express my anger, I clenched my teeth and closed my fist. It was enough to frighten her. She was just about to say something when I abruptly spoke, “Forget it!” She was instantly silent. It was fun troubling her like that. I was enjoying it so much that I could have jumped in air if given a chance.

“See, I’m among those who have never ever touched any sort of non-veg stuff and you threw a piece on my face…” she sighed. “I must tell you that I was already feeling uncomfortable while you were eating that thing and when that piece fell on me out of nowhere, I was just sort of… shocked. If you don’t give a damn, I don’t give it either. I’m still talking to you means that I admit my mistake.” She finally took a breath. I was still wondering if she was asking me to forgive her. It was just like someone writing sorry on a brick and throwing it on you. She kept looking at me, expecting me to respond. But I was speechless. I was never taught how to respond to such sorries. Her husband must be a fire-fighter else that poor would be butchered by her, I thought. I still kept looking at her like a dumb idiot. After a few seconds she realized what went wrong.

“Was I rude again?” she asked, this time as innocently as a child. I think this girl was suffering from multiple personality syndrome, considering the pace with which she changed her way of talking. Or she was carrying some evil spirit in her? It reminded me the Vidya Balan of the Bollywood movie Bhool bhulayia. Or there were 2 modes in which she was operated: devil mode and angel mode.

“Hmmm,” I nodded. “Anyway, It’s ok but you shouldn’t have reacted like that. You didn’t realize but everyone out here thought I did something really very wrong with you… you know what I mean, right?”

“Yeah, I know… I’m sorreeeeee.” She said pouting her lips. This sorry was pushed a lot longer than the usual one. As soon as she finished her sorry, she looked down in embarrassment. Even I pretended to look towards the window but one eye was still on her. No one spoke for a couple of seconds till she came again, “By the way, I’m Shivali.”

“I’m Gaurav.” I replied, offering a handshake and she responded with a smile.

“Ohk. So Gaurav, you belong to Bangalore?” She asked. I must tell you that, I’m a typical Punjabi by looks. People guess it so easily that sometimes I doubt if it is written somewhere on my face but this girl, she completely changed my views about myself.

“Yeah. Naanu Kannadiga.” I said, in Punjabi accent. I think any one from Bangalore would have killed me after hearing such an accent, “Neenu?”

She looked embarrassed. “Actually Gaurav…” she looked down and then again looked up, “I’m quite new to South India, so I don’t know your language.” Oh God, she actually believed that I belonged to Karnataka.

“Oh. Where are you from?”

“I’m from Punjab.” She said. Oh My God! She belonged to Punjab and wasn’t able to indentify my Punjabi accent. I was shocked.

“Oh That’s wonderful. Which Place?” I asked. Obviously, I was curious to know which part of Punjab has produced such a master piece.

“Jallandhar, I don’t think you’d have heard of it.” She said confidently. I tried my level best to suppress my laugh.

“No no, I know. Its famous for sporting goods and all, right?”

“Yeah, absolutely correct. But how do you know?” She laughed with a special glow in her eyes.

“Actually, I have my colleague from there. There’s one NIT, right?”

“haan.”

“He graduated from there.”

“Oh wow! I’m also from NIT.” She almost jumped on her seat.

“Which year?” I asked. Such an idiot can’t be older than a first year girl, I thought.

“Which year? Do you think I’m a kid? I’m earning, Ok?” She said. Who would have hired this 20+ years old baby, I thought.

“Oh great. Which company?”

“Infosys.” She said proudly. This time I couldn't suppress my laugh.

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to be continued ...
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Click To Read The Next Part....
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Girls Are Stupid !!! (Part-2)

Continued from :

Part - 1 (click to read what happened in the previous episode.)

The sandwich was horrible- cold and tasteless. I sometimes wonder why almost everyone buys the worthless food provided during the flight, may be because those pretty air-hostesses sell them and they just can't resist when those gorgeous ladies ask with so much of affection, pretentious though.

While folding the wrapper, somehow a tiny piece of the sandwich flew off the plastic and landed directly on the face of the girl, obviously the one sitting next to me. I must tell you that the piece was half the size of a rice grain but it was good enough to make her jump off her seat as if I had spilled a whole soup bowl over her clothes.

“What the f***… are you mad or what?” she said, standing off her seat. It was good enough to grab the attention of everyone sitting around. And using the F-word so openly? Oh god, what is she, I thought. It was potentially the most embarrassing moment of my life. There is nothing more embarrassing than a girl shouting on you in public. I couldn’t dare to try getting up and face anyone else. Moreover, no one except me knew the reason why she stood up. I’m sure that everyone else must have been thinking that the girl would have been sleeping and this cheap guy would have tried to do something vulgar with her. Still, I thanked God that I was not in a Punjab or Haryana Roadways bus otherwise the next destination would have been a hospital. Even the guy sitting on the seat next to her, looked me with suspicion.

“I… I…. am…. I’m sorry.” I replied raising my hands in submission, completely taken aback by the situation she created.

“Don’t you know how to eat?” she hissed.

“Oh… what happened beta ji?” asked some Sardarji sitting right behind us. He was middle aged uncle with a few extra pounds. I think few extra pounds would be an understatement. I would say hell lot of extra pounds. Even he was as old as my dad, but was certainly good enough to beat half a dozen guys like me and his stare, it was so damn frightening. I’m sure what would have been going in his mind.

“I’m sorry… and I was not eating. It just happened by chance. I’m very sorry.” I replied as soon as that uncle finished, sensing that she was not quite interested in replying him.

“Nothing uncle. Its fine.” She said with an extremely artificial smile but thankfully, it was enough to make that uncle sit. I could still hear him muttering something to his wife, “eh aj kal je jwaak vi pata ni ki karde rehnde ne.”

Finally, she sat down, without even replying me. I didn’t mind and somehow just waited to land at Bangalore. I was already trembling, though un-noticeable for anyone around, especially that idiot. Yes, the girls are really idiots. I laughed at my thought of being lucky. God, I don’t want such luck ever again, I prayed. Again, I took my laptop and continued the same movie.

“A guy can never be just friends with a beautiful girl,” said Harry, in the movie. How true, I thought. And if the girls are as shrewd as this one, I don’t want anything else too. I paused the movie and closed my eyes, still thinking about the incident.

“Excuse me.” I heard it again and now I could well recognize her voice. It was not directly hitting the irritation department of my brain. I again preferred not to reply but this time she looked quite desperate. I could sense her hand shaking my arm in order to wake me up. I was surprised. What the hell was this girl? I had to open my eyes. She was there, right in front of me eyes.

To be continued………….


Click  to read the next Part ....


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Girls Are Stupid !!! (Part-1)

Basically, I'm not someone who hates girls. I don't even say they are 
stupid or something but sometimes you meet someone who changes your perception. 
By the end of this story you might get some idea about them.

   It happened when I returned from home this time. My flight was to take off at 6 in the evening from New Delhi domestic airport. After having a good time with my friends, I reached airport at around 5. I must tell you that it was scorching hot out there and you feel it even more if you live in a cooler place like Bangalore. To make it worse, the air conditioner of my friend's car(which has been parked in sunlight) was not working. I somehow felt relieved when I entered the airport but still the relief wasn't for a good enough time as there was a long check-in queue. By the time I was finished, boarding had started. Again, in a hurry I boarded the plane. Mine was seat number 12F. All the frustration and the heat cooled down when I saw a girl sitting on 12E, the seat next to me. As in all the love stories, she was pretty. Just for confirmation, I checked the seat number once again. My luck has been very poor in such cases, so I had to confirm it. Yesss, I said to myself. She was going to be with me for the next 3 hours of the journey. 

   The plane took off and I started looking for the button to push my seat back. Then, I came to know that Go Air doesn't have push back seats or perhaps, it was not there in that particular plane. You get what you pay for, but it was a good enough chance to initiate the conversation, I thought.

“Excuse me,” I called her.

“Yeah?” she replied.

“Do you know where’s the push-back button? I’m not able to find it.” I said, with a restless look, moving my hand here and there on and around the seat.

“Oh. Even I was searching for the same,” she replied, with a formal smile, “...but couldn't. I don’t think it is there.”

“Hmmm. Even I think the same. Go air it is; we get what we pay for... can't help.!” I remarked.

“Yeah. True.” She smiled. I smiled back.

We stopped talking and I pulled out my laptop from the bag. I started a movie with my ear plugs. I just gave a short glance at her and caught her watching the movie.

“You want?” I said, offering her a single ear plug, taking it out of my ear.

“No… No… Its fine.” She said, blushing.

“Fine,” I said, giving a smile.

Again, no one talked for quite a sometime. I kept myself busy with the movie. I saw When Harry Met Sally for the first time and I never knew that Hum-Tum was a inspired from it. How dumb of me, I thought. But yeah, the movie was well suited to the situation I was in.

After sometime, along with sound of the movie I somehow felt someone saying, excuse-me. I guessed, it would be the same girl. I steered me eyes towards her with utmost care, slowly and steadily. My guess was right. It was she. Instead of replying and showing gratitude, I decided to show some attitude. I didn’t bother and kept watching the movie till I saw the air-hostess coming with the trolley. I removed the earplugs and closed the laptop. Finally, I looked at her and gave a smile. She smiled back but didn’t say anything.

The airhostess reached us and asked for something to eat. I ordered a chicken sandwich and a juice. She gave a stern look when I spoke the word chicken. A typical vegetarian, I thought. She didn’t order anything. I finished but still had a thought running in my mind. Why did she call me that time? Did she want to watch the movie? Did she want to talk anything else? I had no clue and just cursed myself for it.

to be continued...

http://justreadout.blogspot.in/2010/04/girls-are-stupid-part-2.html

PS: written a story after a long long time.

one year of blogging.

Hi..
this blog is one year old now. :)
Exactly one year ago, i started this blog with a story.
Though i'm not into blogging these days but still i remember the time when this blog used to be at its best.

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.