A promise kept through time

Childhood is a great experience. While you’re growing up you will never know how cool and awesome it is. You will know it only when you’re hurrying off to work and sit down in your office seat, dripping sweat from your forehead, that it was one of the best phases of your life.

The same thing happened with me as I was pushed back into one of the proudest moments of my life, when someone asked me “Do you smoke?”

My mom was getting me ready to send me off to school. I was 13 and It was my first day of high school. My mom was fixing my tie as I saw my dad enter through his shop. We had a shop that led directly into our home. I saw my dad was smoking. He picked something heavy with both of his hands and was balancing a cigarette on one of his lips at the same time.

I heard my mom say… “Now you are big boy Thousif. There will be ‘friends’ who will teach you things that are not good.”

“Hmm..” I murmured as I continued seeing my dad do the balancing act and go into the shop. My eyes followed him the whole time.

My mom continued “You should be aware that, there are bad things that you should not try.”

“Like what?” I asked.

My dad entered to pick something again. My mom looked towards my dad, “Like smoking” she said

My dad turned around. He was in one of his moods, but I could see a sort of helplessness in his eyes which said ‘I am addicted to this son and I can’t help it’.

“So I shouldn’t smoke if my friends ask me to, is that what you’re saying?” I asked

“Yes” she replied “Smoking is a very bad habit, it ruins your lungs, health and most importantly your life” she said curtly, looking at my dad.

I innocently turned my eyes towards my dad, “but why shouldn’t I mom?...” I said “Dad smokes!

My mother was surprised at my retort. “Well…” she said “I have no answer for that”. She looked at my father “Why don’t you ask your dad if he has one?” she said, smiling an oh-you-are-in-trouble-now-daddy smile.

My dad just stood there, stunned by what I had said. The cigarette he was balancing on his lips fell to the ground. He quickly stomped on it. He looked at me and calmly came towards me.

‘Oh man. I am gonna get spanked’ I thought. I saw my dad come near me and sit on his knees. He looked into my hands, held my hands and asked me “If I stop smoking from tomorrow, will you promise me that you will never smoke in your entire life?”

From the time that I had seen my dad as a child, he had been a chain smoker. Having his own shop was an added incentive to his habit. He would smoke up to 3 packets of cigarettes a day. One after the other, one after the other; It never stopped.

All the while I had watched him, I wanted get rid of his habit. My mom always used to show me pics about what horrible things smoking cigarettes could lead to, and say “Stay away from cigarettes”. And whenever I saw them, I wanted to make my dad stop smoking cigarettes. ‘If I could just get him to quit’ I used to think, ‘If i could just…’, and lo here was the chance.

I met his eyes and said “No dad. If you stop smoking from tomorrow, I will never smoke in my entire life.”

My dad looked into my eyes, ruffled my hair and said “Ok, why tomorrow! I am quitting cigarettes right now!”

I turned towards my mom and saw the look in her eyes. It was like I had done the impossible. She had asked my dad to quit many times, but he hadn’t. It’s not like he hadn’t tried. He’d quit for a couple of months and then start up again. You can exactly blame him. He had the poison right in front of him every day, and he just had to smoke.

I saw my dad after that day. He struggled. The initial days when you quit smoking after having smoked for like 20 years is never-wracking. It’s not like doing drugs, but its close. I saw him every day and he never put another cigarette on his lips.

As I was growing up, I had many instances where my friends forced me to smoke. Seeing that I had a shop which sold cigarettes, they all wanted me to start smoking and be their supplier. But I didn’t.

It was tough. Every day I used to be around cigarettes, and seeing my friends smoke and say it was amazing to smoke, I wanted to try too. I was made fun of, bullied and made to feel that I was missing out on something great. Some days I was so frustrated that I used to take a cigarette and keep it on my lips and suck the air through the cigarette, just the air. I wanted to see what the fuss was all about; but I never lit one and smoked.

As I grew up, each time a ‘friend’ asked me “Do you smoke?” it used to remind me of that time, and that promise my dad made and kept.

It has been 13 years since my dad quit smoking and each time anyone asks me the question, I say “No. Never have, never will”.

Every time a conversation about smoking comes my way, I am reminded of that promise. I say to myself. “My dad left smoking cigarettes for me. He could have said I won’t stop, but he did. He kept a promise made to his son, and I will keep the promise I made to my dad”.

It has been 13 years and both of us haven’t smoked a cigarette. I could say it is because of that promise, but what I see is love. Our love and respect for each other has made us stray away from a dangerous habit.

I see my dad now and feel proud. My dad sees me and he feels proud. That moment in my childhood was 100% real. It taught me that parents can do anything for a child and if children try, they can do anything for their parents. It might be a small thing, but for me it means a lot. It made me see my dad as a entirely new person. It made us a family; a loving, caring and 100% real family.

This post has been written for 'The Kissan 100% Real Blogger Contest' on Indiblogger.in.

Disclaimer: The images have been taken from Google and Imagesbazaar.com. I do not own any of these photos.

The story of the faulty stairs and the head-butting goat

Work work work, that’s how life has been. But then comes the bonus of working in an AD agency every week. Holidays on Saturday and Sunday when I can finally go meet my parents and everyone living at my aunt’s. There are a total of 8 people in my aunt’s home and that includes 2 of my bhabi’s. Among them is my fav bhabi Tasmia :).

She is adorable and helps me out in every possible way. Cooks all my fav dishes and is a real fun person to be with.

I’ll tell you one thing, people who are nice are always taken advantage of and it was no different with my bhabi. Only this time, the advantage taking selfish human being was me. Yes, I can be cunning too :P.

I was on my weekly visit to my bhabi’s home, when I saw that they were shifting some things from their storeroom in the house below(in which they were living) to the house above(where they are living now). I saw them carrying heavy items and I being the nice guy that I am offered help. I started carrying things and then I saw the dinner set, entirely made out of crystal. It was a magnificent piece, so beautiful, and very costly. I offered my help in carrying it too, they were reluctant, but finally let me (Arey, I am 22 years old yaar, or 23? I am confused :P) .

As bad things always come my way, this day was no different, I started carrying and then it happened. I saw a cat at the road beside sneezing relentlessly and jumping up in the air. I started laughing totally forgetting about the dinner set i had in my hands. It started doing some really crazy antics, when the goat that was going beside it was irritated and rushed forward to head butt it when the unthinkable happened.

A guy who was walking without a care in the world got a weird surprise when the charging goat mistakenly head butted into the guy’s behind, getting its horns stuck there.

It was freaking hilarious and i was laughing so hard that I dint notice my footing on the stairs and lost my balance and DHADAAM!!! the whole dinner set came crashing down. Everyone in my aunt’s family came out, I looked at the man who was still struggling to get the goat’s head from his behind and I looked at myself and said ‘we both are screwed today yaar’.

My Bhabi saw the disaster of a dinner set and started yelling ‘What the hell happened here?’.

I quickly shifted my head from here to there and an idea flashed in my head. I yelled back ‘It’s all your fault’.

‘WHAT?’ she said surprised.

‘How many times have I told you to get those steps fixed’ I said pointing my finger to a dent in the stairs where the cement had come out.

‘It’s dangerous, dangerous!! I’ve said it so many times but nobody listens to me. Now see what has happened’ I said.

‘So you stepped on that and fell, and I have to believe it?’ she asked looking at me.

‘Then what bhabi, why would I lie to you?’ I said and my gaze shifted to the guy on the road who was now kicking the goat which was trying to head butt it again. I snickered.

‘See see’ my bhabi started ‘..breaks my favorite dinner set and laughs too’ she said pointing towards my smile.

‘How can you say that bhabi?? What if your son had dropped those plates slipping from those stairs, would you have blamed him the same way you are blaming me?’ I said hurt and started to cry.

Wow Thousif is so emotional you might say, it’s nothing like that. The reality is that I have this ability where I can cry without reason. I know it’s weird but I can cry at will, it’s not an awesome quality but I think it’s kinda cool.

So, I started tearing up and the whole atmosphere changed.

‘I could have seriously hurt myself you know’ I said sniffling and my bhabi melted.

‘I have said so many times to repair those stairs but you bhabi you….’ I sniffled ‘You never listen to me’ I said and sniffled some more.

She totally bought into it and said ‘It’s ok, don’t cry. Yes the mistake is mine I should have got your bhaiya to repair those stairs’ She said and started collecting the broken pieces. I joined in smiling as I thought how cunningly I escaped from the situation; later in the evening I saw my bhaiya fixing the stairs.

Good day indeed I said to myself; even though it started with a horrific accident. Yeah, sometimes you have to be cunning to escape from a bad situation, even if it means crying fake tears. I am so proud of my abilty :P.

This post was written for the Indiblogger contest ‘Sets you on fire’

Disclaimer: All images have been taken from google. I have no right over any of them.

The daily office ride..

Each morning I enjoy my ride to office. Not because I ride my favorite bike to get there, but because I pass by boss’s house. I try to wave him a hi and see that I reach office before him. A little bit of buttering up and being on time always helps if I miss deadlines and all. So the morning of 22^nd July wasn’t any different, or so I thought.

It was raining. What do you expect in July otherwise? I was just hoping it’d stop for one hour till I reach office and just as I finished that prayer I saw, it had indeed stopped raining. I thanked the lord and started riding my bike.

As usual my boss was waiting outside for his car to pick him up. I saw him and gave him the most awesome smile I could muster. 32 teeth, no 30 actually 2 actually have fallen out, do not ask how. Seeing my smile he returned it with a sly smile of his and as I was passing by him I dint notice the one thing which I should have noticed at any cost- A big, deep, muddy, dirty water puddle.

Splash!! And my boss’s pant was soaked from top to bottom. I let out an agonized cry from my throat involuntarily. My brain kept saying, ‘you are screwed Thousif, you are screwed’. I left my bike and ran to inspect the damage, and I said, almost screamed ‘what sir, why were you standing outside?’

He was taken aback, instead of apologizing I was asking stupid questions. I continued ‘You should have stayed inside, the rains have made this road a mess, you should have been careful’

Instead of taking the blame I was blaming my boss itself. I think he was thinking, first order of business, sack Thousif raza for unprofessional conduct.

I continued ‘but do you know sir who is to blame for this mess?’’

He looked at me quizzically. ‘The government sir, the bloody government; Look at all these potholed roads. If they had done their work properly, you wouldn’t have suffered this way’

‘But you have eyes to see right?’ He asked ‘you could have avoided it’.

‘Yes sir I could have, but if I rode my bike a little along to the side, I would have fallen into that ditch. I could have died; do you want me to die sir?’ I asked and pointed towards the ditch which was so deep that even light couldn’t penetrate it.

‘Hmph’ he grunted and went inside his house.

Without invitation I went inside his home. Looking at me he started yelling ‘I had a very important meeting today and look what has happened’ he pointed to his filthy pant ‘and I have a raging headache now’ he added.

He went inside his room and started looking at the clothes searching for the ones which he thought were clean.

‘Sir, ma’am is not at home?’ I asked

‘She has gone out on a holiday, and by the why are you inside my house?’ he asked

‘To help you sir, to help you’ I replied

I continued ‘Sir, you search for the pant you want. I’ll make you a tea which will reduce your headache’ I said and bolted to the kitchen before he could say anything.

The one thing I am good at is making tea, I’ve got rave reviews for my tea making skills because that is the only thing I know to make without screwing up. I made the tea and it was ready within 10 minutes, so was my boss.

‘Here sir, a hot cup of tea just for you’ I said

‘No I don’t need all this, I am getting late’ he said

‘Sir, the traffic would be a nightmare now and if you go in your car you’ll never reach. Just sit down and drink this tea, I’ll take you in my bike’ I ordered, kind off.

He thought for a moment and then sat down and drank the tea. He took the first sip and a smile lit up his face, quickly he finished it completely.

I quickly ran back to my bike, cleaned it a little and asked him to take his seat and took him to the office through the shortcut which I usually take to reach office. He was surprised to reach the office earlier than expected.

He got down and went to the conference room where the meeting was held. Usually being the one late for every meeting, everyone was surprised to find him this early.

He came out of the meeting and came straight to me and said, ‘I should be angry with you but I won’t be. One is because of that tea and second is because of your presence of mind I reached office early. From next time drive carefully ok’.

I said ‘Sir, I guess it’s better if I do it again. Get you all dirty by spraying muddy water on you’.

‘Why?’ he asked taken aback.

‘Because that way I’ll get to spend more time with you and show you how capable I really am’ I said beaming. He just smiled and left.

Another day another disaster averted. I smiled widely and walked back to my cabin, thanking the stars and obviously- my tea making skills.

This post was written for the Indiblogger contest ‘Sets you on fire’

Disclaimer: All images have been taken from google. I have no right over any of them.

How i made mission impossible POSSIBLE

I have been a big fan of Mission Impossible movies. The Movies, the soundtrack, the concepts all have been awesome from the first movie. Ok, I do agree they have lost their charm a little. But, you can’t argue that they are the coolest movie franchise to ever come out.

When I got to know about the 4^th installment in the series and saw the trailer which had Cruise climbing Burj, I was awe-struck. I wanted to see it First-day-first-show. But fate and life always has other plans. I work from monday morning till Friday night. Yes, it’s not a day that I work; I work the whole week with no breaks in between. I cannot do anything in these 5 days and I thought, ‘Shit, I can’t watch the movie on the first day’ and till I tried to get tickets on Saturday, and to my dismay, every one of them was sold out.

There were some tickets available in theaters where the sound would be shit, and also as they were too far away from where I stay, i dint wanna go. Also, I had to travel back to my hometown at 5pm and would be only returning Monday morning for another hectic week ahead, so I admitted I’d have to give it a miss. I was sad as I wouldn’t be able to catch the movie, but then came the phone call.

It was my friend Madan, The guy who I hate the most. He bullied me through school, made out with a girl whom I had a crush on and made my life hell through high school. He called me (He always finds my number, no matter how many times I change it, believe me it’s a mystery) and this is how the conversation went:

Madan: Did you get tickets for MI:4?

Me: NO…

Madan: Oh sad man, guess what!! I got two tickets, me and my girlfriend are going.. :D

Me: and why did you call me?

‘To rub it in your face’ he said and cut the call. Yes there are some persons who are that mean. Believe me.

My other friend Naveen came into my room and saw my sad face and said, ‘it happens man, cheer up. It’s my brother’s b’day today so come let’s go do some shopping’. I said I didn’t wanna go, but he dint listen. Finally after pleading and making sad faces and everything that he could do to make me agree, I finally did. But guess where he took me?.. Come on guess…

YES, to the same freaking mall where Madan and his girlfriend would see the movie which I wanted to see so badly.

I saw Madan waiting there inside the hall, waiting for his girlfriend. I couldn’t stand it, if life wasn’t fair I was about to make it fair and I thought of an idea.

I saw the ticket master talking with his buddies and I tried sliding in without being noticed. They are not stupid so they obviously saw what I was doing and as I was about to slide through, they held me and asked: ‘Ticket please..’

I looked from here to there, but couldn’t find Madan, ‘damn it’, I thought and suspicion rose in the face of the ticket collector. He said raising his voice ‘Sir if you have the ticket please give it to me and move, there are others waiting in the line too’. I was trying to search Madan through the crowd that was inside the theater lounge but still couldn’t find him. I said to him ‘wait, I’ll get them to you in a minute’. He raised his voice and said ‘It’s now or never, give the tickets if you have or move out’. Listening to all this commotion, couple of police officers who were nearby came and said gruffly ‘Boy, you either present the tickets or get out of line’. I saw the face of the police officer and I knew this was getting out of hand.

I finally had to admit defeat, the plan I had in my mind wouldn’t even see the light of the day and as I was beginning to back out I saw him and yelled ‘Hey Madan…’ Surprised, he automatically called my name ‘Thousif??’. I told the ticket collector, he is my friend and ran inside, they all followed.

I started hatching my plan

Me: ‘What yaar Madan, just because I fought with you, you took the tickets and ran inside, what kind of a friend are you??’

Madan: 'But…'

Me: (cutting him off) ‘What but, ok baba I am sorry ok, don’t act like a stranger now, it happens sometimes, now give my ticket to these people and lets go inside the theater’

Madan: (In shock) WHAT??

(his face was exactly like this :P)

Me: ‘Why are you so shocked dude?’ I put my hand in his shirt pocket and pulled out the tickets quickly peeking at the serial numbers and said to the ticket collector, ‘See 10000673, that’s the number right?, here it is, you can take it on my behalf’ I showed it to the cops and gave the ticket to the collector guy which he took and went cursing me under his breath.

Madan dint know what the hell was going on, and as all of it happened in less than 10 seconds he was dumbstruck. He looked at me, held my collar and started yelling at me.

I yelled back: ‘Saale, all through the high school you made my life hell and now you wanna see my favourite movie without me?, That won’t be possible because today I am your girlfriend pretty boy’ I said and gave him a wink.

He was just about to punch me, when he saw his girlfriend on the entrance having a scuffle with the ticket collector arguing that her tickets are with her boyfriend.

Leaving me he ran to her girlfriend and she started arguing with him straight away, yelling ‘You don’t care about me’, ‘You are an !@#@!$@$’ More than the movie I was sure I would enjoy this scene the most.

Finally he left consoling his girlfriend and I got to see my fav movie, without getting punched in my face and absolutely FREE. Payback is a bitch :P :D Yeah!

This post was written for the Indiblogger contest 'Sets you on fire'

Disclaimer: All images have been taken from Google. I have no right over any of them.

My magic 2 hour clock to break the cursed Hymn

120 minutes, that was what was offered on the table. ‘Go on take it’ said a voice inside me. As much excited I was to pick up those minutes, I was also scared. I thought how useful these could be and at the same time I also thought, being the lazy guy I am what would happen if I turned them into another lazy memory…..

No you won’t! said my heart, and I believed it. And when I picked up those 120 minutes, I imagined what they could offer to me and amazing would be the understatement to what I could do with those 2 hours. This is how I would spend my 2 extra hours in a week…

Day 1: Monday

Everybody thinks life starts on a Sunday, but life really starts on a Monday. Many people like me hate to get up in the mornings. Standing in queue for the bathroom in a PG hostel where I live, just to take a hurried bath so that I can reach office on time, or 15 minutes late as the records show. Yes that’s my start of every Monday.

Day goes by and evening approaches, in all my work, youtube addiction and messaging that someone special, I forget to have any time for myself. I want to, ‘but there is no time’. It’s like a hymn that my lips have learnt to say without my knowledge. There at that particular moment I realize what I have in my pocket. My 2 hours. My extra 120 minutes where I can do anything I want.

An invisible alarm starts up for my 120 minutes and the world stops. It’s just like in the matrix training sequence, where they can pause time. Whatever happens in life doesn’t bother me, because those 120 minutes are mine.

I start by doing my most favorite activity in the world- Writing.

Even though I am a copywriter I barely get time to write what I truly love- Poetry. It’s not like I am a big shot at it or anything, hell I don’t even follow the rules sometimes. But poetry is one way through which I have lived through many of my emotions. Be it my first breakup or how much I hate war. Poetry has always helped me to express what I feel in a much better way.

Tell me i love you with so much depth

That the ocean itself, screams out looking at your's.

Tell me i love you with so much strength

That the hurricane falls down on its knees, weeping out of its glory.

Tell me i love you with so much intensity

That even the raging forest fire turns itself to dust, in shame.

Tell me i love you with so much love

That love itself may find its true worth today.

This is of my favorite poems.. and inspired by this i wanna write something like this.

Trust I this world, because it gives me hope with each sunrise.

Trust I every person I see, because I see a smile waiting to breakout in everyone of them

Trust I this time, because I know it will come, where I see all I hope coming true

The only problem is just placing that trust on myself, to believe.

I know it’s nothing much, hell maybe others will think its complete crap, but I don’t care. It’s my life and the way I see it, anything that makes me happy as long it’s not illegal, is good enough for me :).

And suddenly that alarm goes off, saying my time is up.. That’s how I would spend every Monday of mine. A poem to start my week, which would make me believe that anything is possible. That world can be a place where I can do what I love, no one to hold me back, not even my own lazy self :).

Day 2: Tuesday

Same ordeal follows, but I am so happy with what happened yesterday I cannot wait to start up my 2 hour clock which allows me to do all the things I love.

Tuesday is a day filled with just as much work, presentations and all those things. But it is also special because it’s an unofficial lucky day in our family.

According to my mom, everything from a fridge, TV, to a washing machine that we have bought for our home was on a Tuesday.

Following this tradition, I am going to shop. With the small salary that I have, all of it goes into expenses. After that whatever gets saved, I cannot spend it coz of that hymn again.. ‘there is no time’. So Tuesday’s I am going to shop. Online shopping is easier and will get things delivered right at my doorsteps. So from a water bottle to my fav pair of jeans, I am going to shop for everything that I need and window shopping for all the things that I want. I want to shop online, because nobody makes a sour face when you go out of the store without buying, so… :P.

Day 3: Wednesday

I want to write again. As much as I love writing poetry, I love writing stories. I have written 3 short stories still now. They are not awesome or anything, but I like them.

So starting that magic 2 hour clock I am going to start writing again.

You may not believe me, but I have at least 17 stories in my mind which I would love to get on paper. I know the start, I know the climax and I know how every one of them is going to end. So why am I not starting… again.. the hymn ‘there is no time’ comes back. “OK, all right, you are just plain old lazy” you might say but just picturize this.

Travel for 1.30 hour every morning in the bus to reach office within 9:30 (if my boss is reading this, I try sir, I really try :P). Stay there for almost 10 in the night to reach back home by 11.30. I just don’t have the energy to be creative enough to write. So Wednesday’s I am going to assign to writing again, because I want to get published.

I know I have the ability to write stories which people would care about, even if they don’t turn out to be bestsellers. I know I have that within me and with these 2 hours I am going to complete that. I am going to write all the 17 stories, currently stored in ‘D:\THOUSIF\BRAIN\ SECTOR 37\ Stories to be turned into novel’ and try to get them published.

Day 4: Thursday

As soon as you step out of college and get into a job, you dedicate yourself into it in such a way that you forget some things. In my case, it was my friends.

Yes, I am a horrible person; I can say that by the dirty looks that you are giving to me. Trust me, not a day goes by where I don’t remember them. Everyone has done something special for me and I remember them every day, just not able to pick up that phone and call them.

Work does stress me out, where a brief might come any minute and I have to run into a meeting. So starting my mystical 2 hour clock, every Thursday I am going to call every one of my friend even if it’s for 5 mins and let them know that I care about them.

I have always believed in the value of friendship and with this vow, I am going to keep the promise made. No matter what happens, these 2 hours are dedicated to my friends.

Day 5: Friday

I start this day with a smile because I know tonight is going to be the start of the weekend. I am going to start the 2 hours and I am going to plan what I am going to do in the weekend. Every week the same thing happens, either I plan too late or I just do things in such a hurry that nothing satisfies me. I have to read the novels I rent on the bus, I don’t even have time to just sit back and relax to read a book. So I am going to sit down on Friday, switch on to my fav internet station and plan out the things to be done for the weekend.

Day 6: Saturday

My fav day, because I can get up in the morning anytime I want as it’s a holiday. Yayyyyy :P. Still I don’t understand one thing about holidays. As soon as you get up, the day goes so fast and turns into night in a blink, even if you are doing absolutely nothing.

Here’s an example of how that happens: Get up at 11, bathe, breakfast, till then it’s time for lunch, I watch a lil TV its already four and till I plan to do anything its 10 o clock.

So the Saturday that is going to come I am going to work on what I planned on Friday and I want to do something that I have not done for a long time (Read: Almost never)

I live in Bangalore, so on Saturday I want to hop on the first bus and reach Madikeri, my hometown where my parents live. The ride is almost 7 hours and till I reach it’ll almost be evening. I just want to reach home take a bath and activate those 2 hours and within these 2 hours I want to cook with my mom.

I want to do it because, my mom has been very lonely after my sister passed away 2 years ago. I haven’t been able to give her proper time because of my studies, projects, and work. I want to be with her to talk to her and know everything happened in that week, and I want to cook because I want my mom to know that I care for the things she loves. She loves cooking but because I live so far away she has lost her interest in it. She feels there’s no one to cook for. I want to reinstate her confidence and show her that I care about her and I care about her cooking, and I want to be there for her to see her smile while we are having dinner. I want to use those 2 hours for that, to see her smile.

Day 7: Sunday

Another holiday, I am home and I can wake up to the sweetest alarm I’ve heard in a long time. My mom yelling my name asking me to wake up and take a shower :P. I have missed that alarm for 3 years now. The thing about mothers is that, you only get to know their true value after you are on your own.

So I want to listen to her voice calling my name and then go down and hug her and say good morning and devote the day to the most important person in my life, my dad.

Being in his shop all day for the past 27 years my dad has done a lot. He has worked day and night, even on Sunday’s, to give me a good life. I want to be there for him and help him with the shop. Activating my 2 hours, I want to help him more in the shop to give him that 2 extra hours of sleep which he has lost for the past 27 years. I would savour every minute of it and I would love to see the fresh look in his eyes when he wakes up again.

As evening comes, I would say goodbye to them and catch a bus back to Bangalore to start my week again, but this time I would have the magical and very very useful clock of 2 extra hours in my pocket. The 2 hours which would let me do all the things that I love and care about.

All this would be possible with the 2 extra hours I’d get from Surf Excel Matic where I can turn the hymn ‘…but there is no time’ to ‘ …but I have 2 extra hours’. The 2 hours that I get, I am going to spend making a lot of memories and I know that I’d love each minute of it.

This post was written for the Indiblogger competition ‘If you had two extra hours in a day, how would you spend it?’

I want to thank Indiblogger and Surf Excel Matic for giving me a platform to express what I felt. I had a lovely time writing this post; it would not have been possible if not for them. Thank you.

Disclaimer: All images have been taken from google. I have no right over any of them.

a thing called beauty

The beauty of this world starts from the first moment the sun wakes up in the morning. Flowers bloom inviting the day to live for its fullest glory. Birds sing along in hope and enthusiasm getting ready for a new and exciting adventure. And every person in this planet wakes up thinking… ‘Oh hell I’m late again’..

Human, is a very intriguing species. I can say that with full confidence, because I am a human myself. (Most would doubt that fact seeing my wired antics like a monkey everyday ;))

Considering all the other species, human is the most complex being of all, and yet is the most beautiful creation of god. If I sit down to point out how human is the most beautiful creation, it’ll be another year till I finish, so I’ll only say the very important ones. Starting with… Birth.

The beauty of life starts with the first day we come into this world. Even though we are crying while we arrive, that day everyone is smiling, because that is the day everyone in that delivery room believes that world is not such a bad place after all. Looking into the baby’s eyes, everyone believes that, life is beautiful. That day there is so much of joy and happiness, that one would want nothing else, nothing at all. Beauty starts that day, that moment, because as we arrive, we bring that joy, happiness, hope, delight and pleasure into everyone's lives around us.

Love.

As we grow we learn many things, our first steps, first words, first naughty tricks and as we grow, we tend to learn one very special thing. We learn to love.

Starting with the first things we learnt, to the first person we saw (not the doctor who delivered us :P), we learn to love each deed and each person whom we spend our time with. As a child we don’t even know what love is, but still we love a lot of things.

This course of love takes us through a sea of emotions throughout our lives. From the first steps to school, to the first time we bunk it. From the first time we break a rule to the first time we admit it.

Love is such a strong force that it makes a human who is. Starting with our parents to that first special someone we feel for. Love has a beauty of its own.

It makes us believe, it teaches us to trust, it shows us how beautiful life can be and shows us, that no other force in the world can compete to this, love would suffice. Love is enough.

Some would argue when I say every single thing we do is for love, like even brushing your teeth or taking a bath. But honestly every human does some or the other thing for love, just for love. That is the power of love. That is the beauty of love.

Death

One of the things almost every human goes through in his life is seeing death, some way or the other everyone is affected by it. Couple of months ago our hearts went out for japan when it was struck by a tsunami, even people who weren’t affected by it were concerned and prayed for the country and its people, that no one loses their dear ones. That is how death connects every human on this planet.

Death as everyone says may bring horror and fear into someone’s life, but I would say it also gives us strength and power so that we learn how to live our life without that person. I can say that personally because I have been through my sister’s death.

We used to fight every day and get on each other’s nerves. My mother was fed up of stopping our fights, but still every day I used to share whatever happened in my life with her, and she did the same. We were like best frenz, and I remember her smile and the sparkle in her eyes, when she read a blog post I had written mentioning how special she is to me just 18 days before her death.

I remember that moment when I first got to know that she was no more, it was horrible. I cried like I had never cried before, I wanted to say so many things, apologize for all the faults and fights, but I couldn’t. Days after it, I and my parents lived like zombies; it was like somebody had hit a mute button on all our lives. But as days moved on, we learnt to smile remembering her memories, laugh remembering her antics with fixing her hair every morning, and that is how we grew strong as a family.

Death may seem like the greatest enemy of all time, and honestly it is, but death also makes us stronger, makes us trust more, gives us strength and teaches us to love our dear ones as much as we can, more than we can.

Death too has a beauty of its own, it is the most painful experience one has to go through, but still it teaches us, that we are stronger than what we believe ourselves to be, that bringing back that one smile on your parents face can be the most rejuvenating and satisfying experience ever. That it’s not death who conquers us, we conquer death, by learning to smile again, to be happy again and keep that person alive with our memories, and creating new ones as we live along.

Personally for me if I have to explain beauty, its life itself. Just living your life is the most incredible experience ever. The beauty of life is life itself, because it is journey like none other. We learn from every step we take and every decision we make, may it be good or bad. We live life.

Life is best lived within the moment, that is what i learnt after my sister's death. if i was sad all the time, i wouldn't have found the courage and strength to make my parents smile, and make them feel better and assure that i am there for them.

So all i wanna say is if you are happy, smile and laugh as much as you want. If you are sad, cry and wail to your heart’s content, because tomorrow is a new day. And that new day brings back that view of fresh blooming flowers, birds singing to wake you up with their sweet voices and your daily screams of… ‘Oh hell, I’m late again’ ;)…

This is my first submission for a competition at indiblogger... i couldn't have been more happier... thank you Indiblogger and Yahoo for giving me this chance to express my views thank you :)

The return of the return of (the return :P)

So so so i'm not dead :P... ok you have heard that before, but still (guess it should be my daily status update :P) any hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

OK got a lil bit of tarzan into me :P so anyways... i'm ALIVE.... hurray :D

besides a couple of very low sounding yeah yeah's and under the cough swearing of 'oh shit' :P...i'll shamelessly continue!!

The year is coming to an end so there are a lot of memories to be shared

From the time i flew a plane(a real one), to a place where i lost like 10 competitions in 2 days but gained tremendous self confidence. From a place where i thought i'll somehow get up at 6 in the morning to a place where i slept at 2 every night(yeah it was the same day i made the resolution that i'll get up at 6 :P) Everything!!.... is to be shared.... but till that time (yes i'll be back again!! yes, this month itself. God u guys ask so many questions :P)

Here is something i wrote,so that u remember me by and appreciate the love we have in our lives :) enjoy..

EVIL M: Shut up and write quickly would ya... hey guys hi:) *wink, wink* that winks are only for the hot girls out there OK... gay boys... shoo shoo :P

Words are the only thing i can give to you my darling

Because they whisper a small volume of the valley of love, i have inside

Many feelings in my heart i feel

but words seem like a disgrace, to describe their true appeal

The feel of which i speak to you

is not just in my heart, its in my soul

because its yearns for and finds true love, in only.... your's

Its not just what we have in our hearts that makes us...We

Its who We are and what We have become

From the timeless eternity love has proved its place among us

And made everyone believe

That no matter what you are or who you might become

any day, and i mean any day, love..... will give you that strength

Even in the weakest times in your body, or

in the hardest of times in your lives

Love will always make you strong

and make you believe.

That love wasn't born out of life.

It was life, that was and always will be born out of

......Love

Till next time its me Thousif Raza, (and EVIL M ;), wassup girls!!!! ;)) singing off... have a blessed christmas :)... and no new year wishes cause i'll be back till then ;)

.....And if you wanna give me gifts, well send me a email, my account number is a big 16digit code ;)and CANNOT be leaked out so... jaldi say send me those emails ;)

Take care everyone...cya soon love you all..XOXO . Christmas hugs :) XOXO take care :) :) :)

Transition towwards hope

First of all thank you so much for the support you guys gave me in the last post, i was so so so happy to see your guys comments, it was the highlight of my holidays this year :)... EVIL M too sends his regards, i think he cried a lil bit :P
(EVIL M: that's a lie, it was you remember)
anyways he wont admit it :)

I'm thinking about writing some serious stuff(It'll come soon), so dint write anything from the past two weeks, but i want to share something with you guys...

When i broke up with my girlfriend, something happened inside of me, it was like a feeling i can never put in words, it was a hard time getting over her, still not am....

But during that period of time when i broke up.... the poet inside of me, wanted to talk, i know it sounds funny, but the way those emotions came out I'm surprised myself.... so i just wanted to share this poem with you...

In the infinities of beyond, I lay unabashed
Believing in a worth no other man believed.
In this permanence of solitude, i found this self,
Resonating me, but none like any



In search of respite, i travel along unfollowed paths,
Where every step taken forward, pulls me back
towards a halo which i once loved to live in



Now that cloud of comfort, has rained, nothing left
it floats away
i look towards the sun for a new beginning. Still,
in love with the yesterday's sunset.

You might find it funny when i say this, i am the one who wrote that poem, but couple of lines in that poem i've never been able to decode.. but i want to find out, what it says, what made me write those lines,... i wanna know, so if you guys come up with something, it would be a great help for me.... :)

well thats for today... i'll be back next week :).... have an eventful week ahead :)... take care

Time and Love

I have never dreamed after i saw you

After that day, i never needed to

With your touch

That rock became a heart.

No questions arise and answers surprise

There lie no expectations, of which i was once a slave

Meeting you was my biggest mistake

Stole away my sense and sleep

But that is something i will never regret to keep.

Once, God didn’t exist

And now I Believe.

That river flowing by is so merciless

It took you away for the morning next

My eyes search for some sunshine in yours

For it enlivens that rock and seeks for more

Promises i make are my commandments today

And this even death would obey.

Dont worry, i am not in love :P, but couple of dayz back, emotions made me say these lines...

i wrote a rough(Read: Hopeless) copy and asked tulika for advice, and she has perfected it, into this..... Thank you very very much tulika, for finding its true soul.... :)

Xams will be there so i wont be available for this month, (miss me ok ;))

Will be missing all you guyz :)

till next time..... take care :)

Love to hate it.....

Life, Ah…., just as I say that word it makes me think, what is it?, is it something we love to live, or is it something we live to hate, or is it a combination of both… don’t worry no philosophy is coming from this journalism student(Who doesn’t know banana’s worth of journalism :P), but if I have to say about my life, it has been a roller coaster, literally, I mean I am finding new things everyday, which sometimes bore me cause they are the same things.., but sometimes they surprise me to a extent where I ask a question to myself “Do I really know the REAL ME?” well that exact question was answered a couple of days ago

My shopping friend ‘D’, I guess you have read her exploits earlier, If not read it here and here well I honestly dint believe that a person who doesn’t know what she is gonna do the next moment (except chat on her phone or eat ice cream all day :P), would make me experience my life in such a way that would surprise even me.

Well the 2 instances that you are about to experience now, taught me that sometimes what we hate to do, can turn out to something, we would love to do again.

#1. Last Friday as soon as classes got over, plans were made to watch a film, film in my friend’s circle strictly means only kannada, cause reason one being ‘Good’ English films don’t come very often here, and hindi.. woh toh kisi koh samjh may hi nahi aati (Because it is not understood by any :P) except me and a couple others (and to think these are all Hindustani’s lol :P)

So, we were deciding upon the film, when I asked “Which is the film?”

All (A group of ten) replied, “When you get to the theater you will know….”

I knew I was in trouble, I guessed either it would be a cry baby film, or a chick flick(both are same right? :P), but I heard my mind say “Dude you have no idea….” And it smiled an evil grin.

My mind usually doesn’t interfere, but I know whenever it does, it will be a experience which I would remember my whole life, just like when it had spoke on 2 previous occasions, and both the times it had got me stitches, one on my chin and another in the back of my head ;).

We got to the theater when I finally got the surprise, that the film was ‘Arya-2’

Don’t let the horses of your brain run afar, it is a telegu film (yeah, they are making sequels in regional films too nowadays :P).

I backed out my hands that instant saying I was not coming, as I dint understand one word of telegu, They said you have too… when my mind suddenly interrupted “Friendship can make you do many crazy things, like drinking tequila and throwing up in a disco or jumping out of an airplane without parachute… what’s this… dare boy dare….”

I hit my head and retorted back saying “I can’t, I don’t know a word in that language, it would be like watching a Chinese movie without subtitles, spare me, I hate telegu films”

I begged and cried (with fake tears of course :P), but to no avail, they literally were dragging me into the theater, I was a holding a lamp post just like a dog hugging to its bone , when suddenly ‘D’ came to me and said in a threatening tone “Listen….I am crazy (No doubt there, I said to myself :P) , I mean ccccaaaarrrrrraaaazzzyyyyyy fan of the film’s hero….. allu arjun, even I don’t know telegu(surprise, surprise), still I love to watch him, but I am not going in there without all of my friends, so don’t act crazy, and get your ass in there, or else I will never talk to again” same threat followed with all the others

I was in full surprise, because, barring 2, none in our group knew telegu, I was wondering why are they all so excited to see the film?, but when I looked at ‘D’ smiling I knew… she being a crazy fan of the hero had convinced all that it is a superb film, and as she is THE moodiest person on earth…, all had succumbed…

I said ok, but I got the real shocker when I got to know the ticket fare, “Shell out 170 bucks” she said, I silently gave her the money,

“Extortion, that’s what it is” I cried after her…

“What?” she replied turning back

“Nothing, damn mosquitoes…” I said waving my hands, at that time my mind was laughing like the joker in the film dark knight “170 bucks for a movie which you will not understand a single word… Muhuhaha… one more addition to the ‘most-stupid-thing-ever-done’ list”

I hit my head and said “Be Silent…..” Couple of girls gave me a weird look, smiling nervously at them, I went inside.

Ah the movie…….it was………….. Hell, I mean, the songs were good, I guessed I could understand even chinese to some extent, but not this, and the only image that was flashing in my mind was of a Sikkim girl who studies in our class, because classes are usually done in kannada, and at that moment I knew how her suffering would be everyday, My mind dint leave me here too, it began “Your reputation of ‘No1 Kanjoos’ was ripped to shreds today…. Congrats… but don’t worry, look...The heroine is cute... Maybe she will say ‘I love you thousif’, but you will never know.. Muhuhaha”

I hit my head again, I had a headache and I dint knew, was it due to the film or due to me hitting my head, “Awesome film na?” asked ‘D’ in the interval, I showed her a thumbs up sign with a smile (fake one of course), and took in the grueling second half, everyone was laughing at the jokes except me…

Finally the film ended and I ran outside the theater and waited for others… It was my turn to threaten “Everyone of you are coming to 3 idiots when it comes out….anybody backing out … I won’t talk to anyone” (No we are not 2^nd grade children, but honestly we are people studying our masters :P)

All gave me big smiles and said “Sure”, and the biggest smile was of ‘D’

Suddenly I dint feel so angry on anyone, but happiness engulfed me from inside as I saw them smiling towards me,

#2…… Monday… I came to class, looking at me the group said “We are bunking class, and going to an engagement of our senior’s sister in a village some 150 Kms away”,

“But you know na yaar, I hate travelling…” I said

“Nothing doing, get your ass in gear, we have a train to catch” they said pulling me out of the class and we went.

‘D’ was on the train before anyone, all dressed up, “Hi.. you came?... I am surprised” she said

“Yeah me too” I replied

We reached the place, my ass aching due to the journey and I got another surprise when I learned that we have to go in a goods carrier auto to the place, so we went…. seniors and juniors all including a group of 16 in an auto(If you think how we fit in, don’t ask…), humps were pounding my ass like hammers but as I was going, I saw the lush greenery of the fields which is nowhere in a city, the sun silently smiling from above, the fresh air purifying my lungs, and the screaming by all like monkeys gone wild, I said to myself this is not half bad, but only when I got to the place did I find the real surprise…

The senior called everyone into the home, and we sat beside 200 tons of tobacco (They are agriculturists) and kids playing beside, but it took my breath away when I saw the house layout, Even though the hall was small, the woodwork of the ceiling was like rainbow painted across the sky, and it was so cool in the house even in the boiling sun outside, I mean I have had perspiration even in an AC room in Mysore (sure I had an exam that day :P).

The engagement took place and I saw the whole village had come to participate, there were traditional pujas, music, and it seemed like the whole village was celebrating some sort of festival, we had lunch and when we were to leave, when the senior came to us and said:

“Thank you all for coming, I am so very happy that you all came” she said specifically pointing at me, and gave us the biggest smile I have ever seen, sure the ride back included 13 people crammed in an Omni car (my legs and ass still hurt..), but the experience was invaluable, as I saw the things I never knew existed, and got to see the smile which I could have never seen in my entire life :).

These 2 things that I hated to do till that day taught me one very important thing, that sometimes, what you hate to do, if it brings a smile onto your friends face, I guess one should do it, cause we would not lose anything as we already hate to do it, but if we do the same, the happiness and smile that comes on to your friends face is worth it for every second that it lasts, I mean it’s absolutely worth it…

And, a merry Christmas to everyone of you, may god's blessing be always on you, and may you have a fabulous new year, I thank all my readers for being there for me all this year, and i look forward for your 'divine' presence next year too....love you all :)

Till next time, keep smiling and make your friends smile too…. Take care. :)

The Creative Bug Hits Again ;)

Hey guys hi?, how r u? hope you are all well and good, i guess you might be wondering(Please say yes....) where i was as i dint update last week, well i was little unwell, as i caught a bug going around, but now i am ok and back to spread some smiles, so hurray :P

well today is a very special, because i complete my 5o posts today, and to make that moment even more special i have treat for you.....

I have written a story just for this occasion, so i hope you all read it and enjoy, its a little long, but i promise its worth the journey...

So read it and comment about how good(or bad.... :P) it is, and i will truly feel obliged, and for sure you will be leaving a smile on my face...... thx in advance ;)

Love & Happy Endings ......

“There…. What should I sign this book as?” asked Smriti.
“With lots of love to Farhana Khan…and add happy birthday too…” said Ankitha
Smriti signed the book titled, ‘Love Will Find Its Way’ looking at it brought back past memories, but now they all were like a faint blur, smiling she handed the book back to ankitha.
Ankitha accepted and said “I am a big fan of your books Smiriti ji, when can I expect your new book?”
“Soon, very soon” answered smriti, and saw as ankitha left…

Her look fell on the window, it looked as somebody was watching, and he was acting as though he dint want to be seen, “Another stalker?” she asked herself,
It was just a month before a man named sampath kumar was arrested for stalking her, Smiriti was a successful novelist and a beautiful at that too, Within just a year, she had written herself to fame, literally, it had started out of the blue, she saw just sitting looking at the old photo album of college, when she saw the photo of her college sweet heart Rahul, whom she was in love with at that time, when she had asked him out, He had rejected her saying “I don’t date Behenji’s”, That was the day she had vowed she would never believe in love again.

But that day the photo album had triggered something inside her, and she started writing a story, a love story, where the girl meets the boy and they find their happy ending, one had turned into 10 and she was known as a queen of happy ending stories, even though the story of her life was sad, she found happiness through her stories, but at the core of her heart, she still never believed in love, when fame came towards her they were many who came near her, just as honeybees coming after a flower rich in nectar, including rahul, who had dared to ask her out, “I don’t date assholes” she had barked at him, she still remembered the dumb found look on his face.

She smiled and got up, it had been a stressful day, but she loved these book signing sessions, it was the 3rd this month, she had another book tour coming up, coming from a small town of shimla, Smiriti had come a long way, her parents had died in a plane crash 3 years ago, and she had survived college on a scholarship, at 22 she was proud of what she had made of herself, Now living in a busy city of Bangalore she was alone, with just her aunt and a couple of very close friends to take care of her.

She went to talk with the book owner, saying she was done for the day, when again the guy looked at her through the window, and now there was another man with him now, it looked as though one was desperately trying to ‘not be seen’ while another was talking to him, even though the other seemed least interested in the conversation “what are they doing…?” smriti asked herself, just then shopkeeper handed her handbag, thanking him she went out of the store..

She dint notice the men, she started walking and she saw them following her, “Not another time, that too so soon, my god, what am I a stalker magnet.......?” she smiled at her own question
"Next turn" she told herself "Next turn I am going to confront them, and slap one hard across his face and ask him, why are you following me?" she started walking a little fast, and turned into the next corner, she waited holding her hand up, she heard footsteps and was about to slap the man, when she saw it was a stranger, Embarrassingly she apologized saying “Sorry", the puzzled man looked back at her and muttered something, which sounded like crazy women, smriti turned back towards the road to see the men but she couldn’t find them anywhere, "Did I imagine him....?" she asked herself again, "I am talking with myself way too much today, If somebody heard me..." she bit her tongue and making a stop gesture to herself, she calmly walked home

She was reaching home, when she suddenly saw the "stalker" guy sitting at her footsteps, "Na, it can’t be him, I am imagining things" she told herself, when she saw the guy waving at her, she got puzzled and quickened her steps to see it was really him, she walked towards him, and he came running at her saying "I'm Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really really sorry…….."he said,
"You better be..." replied smriti
"Yes I am, from the bottom of my heart" he replied, she opened her mouth to curse him, when he stopped her and said, "Before you curse me or jump to conclusions, listen to me once...."
Smriti dint say anything, "I will take that as a yes…" he replied "My name is Sameer Deshmukh, basically I am from shimla, but for work I am now here in Bangalore,”
“And why are you saying me this?” she questioned
“Because I am your new Neighbor….” he replied, smiriti’s face almost fell open, seeing that he added
“…And I am NOT a stalker” he smiled.
“Then what were you doing there at the book shop with your accomplice?” asked smiriti.
“That was not my accomplice, it was my friend, ok let me explain…., I am a big fan of you novels, even though they are girl material, I love reading them, I have read all you books, and when I got to know I was your neighbor, I just couldn’t believe my luck, so when I heard you were signing books at the book shop I ran to see you, when I reached there I met my friend at the window, and I dint want him to know I read your books, so I got nervous, and was acting all weird, but he figured it out” he answered
“You could have come in the shop….” Replied smriti
“I didn’t want to scare you….” he said
“Well you scared me more with your window act, Do you know I was going to slap you,… and where did you suddenly go after following me, you guys vanished like the wind when I turned in to that corner…”
“Well we figured that we were scaring you a lot more, and my friend reminded me about the stalker incident, so I thought I better meet you here itself, and apologize for the not-stalking act” answered sameer.
Listening to it smriti smiled and said “Well you dint actually scare me, but next time stick to the basic, ‘Can-I-have a cup-of-sugar?’ neighbor introduction, ok….”
“Promise……, so when are you moving from here?” he asked
Puzzled she asked “Why should I move?”
“So that when you move to another place, I can buy a place next to you, and introduce myself just as you told me….” He said smiling..
She smiled and said “No need for so much trouble, it’s all good” and started walking towards her house
Sameer ran in front and stopped her “But I feel bad for what I did, can I make it up to you by taking you to dinner?” he proposed.
“Well I am working on a new book so I can’t sorry” smriti was trying to brush him off
“How about a coffee then, I heard Coffee Day makes the best cappuccino around here” he replied
“Well…..” she pondered.
“Oh do you want me to beg now? Please let me repent for the terrible sin that I have done by not stalking you” he pleaded
Well it’s just a coffee she thought, and said “OK”

They went to the nearby coffee day, and talked about their lives, smirti was casual, very casual with sameer, and she found herself in awe because she had never felt so comfortable with a stranger before, and here she was sharing her life’s experiences with him, sameer was a thorough gentlemen, he listened intently and then told about how he had grown playing sports at state level and completed his MBA and was now working as a human resource officer in Infosys. The coffee turned into coffees after 3 cups each, and what surprised smriti was she hadn’t even liked coffee that much, till now. They both walked home and while saying byes, sameer said “I want to talk about your novels when are you free?”
“I guess Saturday…” she replied
“Ok then meet you after 5 days” said sameer, unlocked the house and went in.
Smriti smiled and was about to go inside her home, when she saw the beggar beside her house, she always took care of him, but hadn’t seen him in a couple of days, he made a gesture saying that he hadn’t eaten for 2 days, she took out a couple of twenty’s and handed it to the beggar, he smiled, she smiled back and opening the door went inside and went to sleep

Days passed and they met daily and waved and smiled at each other but dint talk, but whenever sameer saw smriti, there was a genuine warmth in his smile which smriti loved to watch, she was waiting for Saturday to come,
Saturday came and she was still in the bed when the phone rang,
“Hi you remember about our meeting right?” asked the voice
“Who is this?” questioned smriti
“See you forgot already, its sameer yaar” answered the voice
“How did you get my home number?” she asked puzzled
“Well the post man mistakenly left your phone bill to my home last morning, so….” He answered sheepishly. “I hope this doesn’t count as stalking, because I dint intently look up for your number….” He added
She smiled “I too hope so, Yes we are on for it” she replied
“Good, I will pick you up at 6, I know this new restaurant which serves killer Punjabi food and has a great view of the city, I hope you like Punjabi?” he asked
“If it’s not dripping in oil, then I am ok” she said
“Don’t worry, it will be great you will love it, see ya at 6 then… and the phone bill is under your door” he replied
“Thanks” she said and put down the phone.

After the morning rituals she continued to work on her new novel, it was about how kavitha the central character meets a stranger and falls in love with him, who is actually contract killer, and how she transforms him to leave crime and become better, she was not convinced with the idea, but she loved happy endings, “Though I never have one for me” she said to herself, she saw it was 3 in the evening, working on the novel she had even forgotten to have her lunch, closing the laptop she had her lunch, and while she was watching TV she fell asleep, The passing ambulance siren pierced her ears, and she saw the time was 5.30, remembering she was to be picked up at 6, she quickly showered and got dressed, the clock struck 6 and she was still wearing her sandals when there was knock at the door, “It must be Sameer…” She said and went to open the door.

She was surprised to find a policeman there,
“May I meet Miss Smriti Sharma?” asked the policeman
“You are talking to her” replied Smriti.
The officer face suddenly turned sad “I am sorry ma’am, Mr Sameer has met with an accident, and he is manipal hospital right now, you have to come with me right now” he said
Smriti quickly got into the police car, but at the intersection instead of turning to the airport road where the hospital was present, he turned to majestic, he must be taking a shortcut, she thought….
They reached the place, but it was not the hospital, it was ‘The Bell’ the finest restaurant in city, she was in shock about what was happening, she went in with the policeman, and saw sameer sitting at a corner table, she eagerly questioned him “What is all this?”
“Well you are always surrounded by stalkers and the non stalkers, for that matter, so I thought a police escort would be perfect, so did you like it?” he questioned
She looked at the policeman, he was smiling, she smiled too
Sameer introduced him as prakash, prakash was sameer best buddy, and he had said yes when he had proposed the idea, after a cup of coffee prakash left.
“you were so mean there, why did you have to do that, I was afraid that something might have happened to you, you ass…” snapped Smriti.
“Well I just wanted to point out a element of your novel smriti, because in your novels the girl is always taken well care of, well I thought why not me then…..” he answered
Smriti couldn’t believe she had met this man, he was funny, so full of care and she felt a strange sense of bonding with him, like she had known him from an earlier era, “Am I falling in love? Again?” she asked herself, she smiled at her own question.
He suddenly asked “How come all your heroine’s have happy endings in the novels?
“Well I had not so happy life, my parents died, and the man whom I liked in college turned out to be an ass hole, so I find my happiness through happy endings in my stories” She answered
“Well life is not always a bed of roses, because sometimes you face thorns too, have you ever thought about a sad ending to one of your stories, it could be a instant hit, you know” he suggested
“Yeah it can be, I never thought about it, thanks for the suggestion” she said smiling
“Well glad to be of help, I hope you find your sad ending soon” he smiled and raised the champagne glass; “To a sad ending….” she smiled and joined her glass to his.

After the dinner they got back in taxi towards home, they reached home soon, and after getting down, smriti started towards the house, sameer following her footsteps came in front of her and said, “Can I come inside your house to take a look, as how my favorite author lives?”
“Sure” she said and let him in.

He followed her in and she showed him the hall, the study, and when they were coming in the kitchen, suddenly the light went out, “Oh this power, it always goes out at this time, let me get a candle” smriti answered
“Well we have moon light coming out of the window, it will be romantic” he said and grabbed something behind his back from the kitchen table
“What do you have in mind?” questioned smriti
“Well just a little hugging and kissing” he answered and grabbed smriti and pulled her towards herself, she was puzzled for a moment, but she felt nice in his arms, she raised her lips towards his, sameer seeing it pulled out the kitchen towel he had hidden behind his back and tied it to her mouth tightly so she couldn’t scream.

And with another towel he tied her hands, and pushed her into the corner towards the fridge, her head hit the fridge and she was wounded, blood started oozing out, it all happened so fast that she was in a blur, there were many questions in her head which she wanted answers too, suddenly he looked at her

“You are so confused right now na smriti…., That what is happening how could a guy like me do this to you, well don’t worry bitch don’t worry, you will get the answers, but it’s so sad that you cannot complete your new novel, you know why?, because you won’t be alive to complete it…” he said laughing and picked up a meat knife from the shelf
“You are a perfect example of a bitch, you know that, do you remember sampath kumar, whom you thought had stalked you….. Whom you put him in jail, well he just committed suicide last week, you know why…. Because he couldn’t take the humiliation, he dint actually stalk you, he was so crazy fan of your books, that he fell in love with you, and he just wanted to kiss you… so when he was waiting for his chance that day, you put him in jail, seeing he couldn’t ever meet you again he killed himself with a piece of glass stabbing himself to death” he said almost crying

“I am his brother, and when I heard this news, I was devastated, I put up a plan, and bought this house beside you, it was costly and I had to shell out all my life’s savings, but I dint care, then I made a plan to meet you and take you into trust, I said I will meet you next week, cause I dint wanted you to suspect me, and today I got my chance, blame it on the power department, you were going to live another month, because I wanted to kill you when you least expected, but in the dark when you closed your eyes thinking I would kiss you, I saw my dead brother’s face in you, and anger took over me, I thought why not today?, let’s kill the bitch today itself, and here you are all bound and ready to die, don’t worry, I will kill you slowly so you feel everything, I want you to feel everything my brother felt when he died, I have the perfect plan for your murder, First….. First…. I will heat this knife, then….. Then…. slowly I am going to skin you alive like a animal, so that when the hot knife touches your wounds you scream in agony, then….. Then…… I am going to use this small knife and thrust them into your eyes and pull those out….. because those were the things my brother loved very much so I am going to gift them to him, when I meet him in hell……., You have to promise me to be awake all through it, so that you feel everything, you promise me na smriti….you promise na” saying this he started laughing like a psychotic…….

The fear in smriti’s eyes was like a deer trapped in a tiger’s trap, it was like something she had never felt before in her life, the adrenaline in her veins seemed like it would burst out any second… she looked as sameer started heating the knife… while he was at it, she heard a click and it seemed like the door to the front door open, she looked at it but it seemed like the wind from outside had opened it, sameer too looked at it and quickly went and closed the door, smriti struggled but she couldn’t do anything…. She saw sameer come back and pick up the knife, and slowly he moved towards her and said, “Here comes your sad ending bitch….Enjoy”

He slowly started skinning her arm, when smriti felt the hot knife on her skin, she felt as though she was being burnt, while another was putting chili powder on the burnt wound, it hurt like crazy, sameer started moving the knife towards her fingers, when smiti couldn’t take it any more she fainted..She got a kick to her head just as she was slumping to the ground, “Be awake bitch… I want you awake at every fucking moment when I do this…” saying that he started heating the knife again, smriti’s arms were all burnt up and blood was flowing out like water, “I will not survive this….. I can’t….leave me you animal” she screamed

“2 minutes bitch….. I am coming” replied sameer, there was burnt smell from her blood on the knife, “Here I come’ he announced and came towards her again he was about to skin her other arm, when he felt a powerful blow to the back of his head, he turned back, and the cricket bat hit his face making him faint, smriti couldn’t make out in the dark who was it… he came towards her and opened the towel from her mouth and hands and carried her to her bed, just then power came and she saw it was the beggar who lived beside her house, her hand was bleeding, he asked the ambulance number and dialed on the phone within 10 minutes the ambulance came and took her to the hospital..

She was sitting in the hospital bed, when the police inspector came and asked what had happened, she explained everything, and during the conversation he said, that sameer was good man, but his brother’s dead has made him mentally unstable, he was now in custody and facing multiple charges, saying not to worry any more he left. Smriti looked at her hand and started crying again… Even though she dint believe in love sameer had made him love again, and what had that turned into, she getting killed in her own pool of blood, I will never love again she vowed, but suddenly the beggar’s face came in front of her, he had saved her for the love that she had shown him, by giving him money, maybe love was not all that bad….

She had learned her lesson, that there are not always happy endings in life, sometimes there are sad endings, and one has to be careful every time so that they don’t find one, she looked beside the table and saw her laptop, she opened it and started writing another novel, this time it was her own story which she had just experienced, and even though the whole event was a walk through hell, in the end it was happy ending, because it had given her experience which she could never have had before “Hail happy endings” she said aloud smiling and dug into her laptop…….

I thank you for reading it..... and have a great weekend, take care