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.

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.

The brand new Bangalore kid – part 3

If you are thinking when did part 2 come out… well it will come out… but in the last post one of my fav bloggers suruchi *hugs and kisses her* ;) asked me to talk about a particular incident so I am writing about it now. This incident happened after the incidents which I wanted to reveal earlier, so now part 3…. Now put your finger on your lips (sexily ;)) and read :).

Life experience #43 : Getting thrown into a river(or was it a stream… anybody know the difference? ;)) …40ft deep and feeling awesome :D

To start with I have to tell you, I was always a kid who was his parents fav and they protected me more than how angry birds protected their eggs :P… it was always school and home, college and home. I dint mingle with frenz much and always used to be home more than outside. And I don’t blame them, my mom loves me a lot and she dint want anything to happen to me, so she always insisted to come back home early.

In all these I lost out on many moments. When my frenz used to call me to someplace suddenly, I was always skeptical. Should I go? Shouldn't i? What would mom think, I was such a momma’s boy! :P, anyways coming back to the issue, I never hung out much with frenz, I wanted to but just dint wanna upset my mom too.

But coming to Bangalore, WOW, as I have said I have done a ton of things, and one among them is being thrown into that river.

Arpit and suruchi get angry and say: ‘Ab story shuru kare gab hi, ya sirf back story bolta rahega?, we know u were kind of a wuss :P and u became bolder after coming to bang, start with the near death experience all ready!!’

Ok suruchi ok :P he he. I can imagine her smile and it looks beautiful, (I donno about arpit, coz I don’t imagine him like that ;). Still his smile is cute too, I’ve heard a couple of girls say , don’t ask who arpit :P, it’s a secret).

So back to the story, Chavan is a magician, I donno how is does it. One moment he is suffering with a 104 degree typhoid fever, next moment he is saying: ‘Pack your bags we are going to Goa’ :P… he is so eccentric and lively and I love that fact about him, this time though it was the trip to a nearby place called Dubare forest :) (its famous for elephants)

(Actual Dubare Images :))

Being in kodagu all my life, I still hadn’t visited a lot of places. So for Dussera he said he is going out with his frenz and asked me to come along. I was being lazy again, but he insisted and next thing I know I am in madikeri (my hometown :D) sleeping in the room chavan and his friend rented. Let me now introduce the 3 very interesting frenz of chavan(and mine too :D)

Chandan (this guy is the definition of cool)

Amit Vikram (He the funnest person I have known, when drunk :P)

Mr silent good hearted person (Actually I forgot his name :P, sorry yaar :P)

So all these guys including me and chavan were in madikeri. Chandan is a guy with multiple pluses. He is good with cracking jokes, can hold onto to his liquor like a rock, and knows to make awesome cocktails too. So that day in the room we all sat down and he started preparing cocktails for everyone. I looked at him in awe as he concocted a potion with… hold your horses… Mango ‘Slice’(yes the juice). Nimbooz :P, Teachers brandy, lil lime and Salt on the edges of the glass ;)

I donno what it’s called, but all the guys who drank it, loved it. What started as just one glass turned to 2, 3, almost 4. (They stopped because the salt ran out :P). I was seeing them enjoy and I really wanted to steal a glass and taste it, just dint, couldn’t,( maybe I will cross that barrier one day too :)). But as I saw them enjoy, the same feeling came as the last time. Happy, content, and free (without being drunk ;)) and I loved it.

Amit is THE guy when it comes to laugh. At one time I asked him ‘dude how do you laugh?’ He started and that was the end of it … ha ha ha my god, it was so funny … Its like a combination of Ravan+The joker of batman and its LOUD :d.. We laughed and laughed and Chavan was like, ‘Oh stop you’re gonna make me throw up :P’. Honestly at that moment I saw and felt what I had been missing all these years. Hanging around frenz is fun, drunk frenz is even more fun :P. I have never had so much fun as I had here IN MY LIFE and it was just getting started.

Night grew, we went out outside where everyone was enjoying the festival of dusshera by dancing in front of the temple idols. These guys danced like crazy, I wanted to join in but had the camera in my hand, so I went my back to the room and till I dumped and came back, I saw everyone was exhausted. Still it dint dampen our spirit to roam around in the night.

Actually the thing is, in Madikeri the night is awesome on Dusshera, because the whole city is lighted up and devotees build huge creations of god and demons to tell the story through mock models, which are huge, usually taking up almost 3 to 4 tractors. There are 10 temples who make these models and prizes are distributed for best 3, people finish up celebrating dussera in Mysore and leave to Madikeri for the night, it’s so popular.

We too wanted to see what each temple had done, but Amit vikram was so exhausted and dizzy from the dancing, that we saw him puking at the side of the road … and it was funny. The way he was swaying from side to side, the way he almost got his butt beaten by a cop, while he was sitting on the road, and even after puking multiple times was full of energy to roam the whole city :P.

It was FUN, just being there, it was so fun. Chavan looked at his condition and said ‘Lets go back we are in no position to roam the city with this heavy head feeling, and we’d probably get our asses whooped with Mr crazy Amit here acting as Kistu Mukherjee every 2 mins’. So we saw the intelligence in his decision and went back and crashed on our beds.

To be continued…

(I know you all are boo hoo, where is the real story you cunning fox :P… but the post has grown long, I’ll post the rest soon, till then I hope you had fun reading it. I will post soon promise, see I promised and came back right? ;), so I will be back soon :))

Till then. Take care. I love you all. Happy Diwali BTW :)

Love to each and every one of my reader, I love you all, hope you guys have a grand diwali, be safe and have tons of fun ok :). Love you

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 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

The Pain Of Satisfaction - Part 5

Part 5

The plane landed at Delhi airport, farhana took her bag and went towards the exit gate, in a little distance she saw ankita, but before she could reach her, the media came onto her asking hundreds of questions, “why have you come to India?”, “is it because of you, that the riot started?”, “how was your house bombed?” “Is your dancing to blame for everything that happened?”, they were like blood hounds let loose, ankita's father Prakash raj, came in and with help from the police, controlled the situation, half an hour later everyone was home, as they were having dinner ankita looked at farhana, she saw that farhana was not eating properly, after finishing dinner ankita showed farhana her room seeing it farhana's eyes filled with tears, ankita seeing this consoled her, then when farhana got better she left, farhana sat on the bed and questions asked by reporters flashed in her mind, sobbing again, she clutched the pillow and cried her heart out.

Next day ankita came to wake farhana up, she was in shock to find farhana was not in her bed, she looked beside to see farhana crying silently in the corner of the room, ankita said “Whats the reason farha why are you here? and what happened?, why are you crying?”, farhana looked at her and said “I killed my parents ankita, because of my dance, I destroyed everyone's life and now I feel like burden on you, I don't wanna live, I just wanna die” saying this farhana brushed her aside and ran towards the window,

Ankita swiftly seeing this caught her hand and said “Stupid girl, what the hell do you think you are doing?, you are just giving up are you??. I know things that shouldn't have happened did, but that doesn't mean you give up, bad things happen, you just have to deal with it, and try to find happiness in new things which come into your life,” saying this she hugged her “don't you ever say like that again, we are like sisters, no not like, we are sisters from this moment, is that a promise?” farhana dint answer, “tell me farhana we are aren't we?” sobbing farhana said “yes”, Prakash who was watching all this from the door said, “i just had one daughter till today but now I have two” he came in and the 3 of them hugged each other.

In the evening ankita called in farhana for practice but she refused, ankita came to her and said “See farhana I feel how you are feeling, cause I felt the same when I lost my mother, I too dint want to do anything, but my dad encouraged me and thats when I took up bharatanatyam, and thats how I met you, if I hadn't moved on, I would be no where now, pain is always there in our lives, but we have to learn lessons from it and leave it behind, I know you are hurt, but believe me once you start back dancing you will feel much better” farhana raised her head, ankita said again “ believe me you will, and I too have to see how the dance queen dances , wont you give me a chance please my Barbie doll, please please please..........” a smile appeared on farhana's lips and it was just like moonlight appearing on a dark night.

Ankita quickly ran in and brought the gunghroos and tied across her and farhan's ankles, both of them got up, played the music and started dancing, as usual, it was picture perfect, the grace, the elegance was mesmerizing, but farhana was much better, ankita was just in awe seeing her and tried to match up, but how much ever she tried she just couldn't, after the dance both were exhausted and both were laughing, ankita saw farhana and thought “how good she looks smiling, I always will keep that smile on her lips, no matter what”

Months passed by and farhana got better at her dancing and also she cried less, but everyday she prayed for her parents and for the family she now lived with, one day ankita came screaming on top of her lungs, she hugged farhana and said “Guess what is happening in city after 15 days?”, farhana threw her hands up and said “How should I know, you tell me?”
“The biggest dance competition in the world is being held in delhi, dancers from every country are going to come and the winner will be awarded as the best dancer in the world, entries are for only one dancer from the whole country and guess what, you have been selected” said ankita, farhana was surprised “I haven't done a single show, how come they know about me??”, ankita answered back “I told them all about you and also showed them couple of your videos I had taken, and they were so impressed that they selected you right away”.

Farhana was so happy that she hugged her and she was crying again, ankita wiping her tears said ”why are you crying now farha?”. Farhana said “ I am so so lucky to have a friend like you ankita, i am the most lucky person in the world”

“Silly girl, we both are lucky to have each other, but I am more on the lucky side cause I have you” said ankita, farhana smiled again and hugged her, hugging her back ankita had tears in her eyes which she silently wiped off, without letting farhana see.

In the evening as farhana was practicing for the event, ankita was in her room looking at the form of the competition, it was always her dream to compete in the event, she was the one selected at first and when she got to know this, she was very happy, but farhana's face came in front of her and she convinced the judges that farhana was far better dancer than she was, at first they refused but after she showed them the dance videos she had taken at their home, they were impressed,

Ankita had sacrificed her dreams for farhana, but the smile on farhana's face made ankita's pain go away, and as farhana had suffered far more than her, It all seemed worth it, farhana suddenly came into the room and saw her cry, and when she got know what ankita had done, she refused to go to the competition, ankita tried to convince her but she wouldn't agree, in the end prakash hearing to both of them said to farhana “its only because she loves you more, that she cares for you, I know her very well, only and only if you go to the competition will she be happy, otherwise you and ankita, both will be sad, its your decision to take farha”
she answered “but uncle.....”

“No but, you are going thats it, now will you make me sad too??” prakash questioned, “But ....” said farhana, both prakash and ankita made puppy faces and almost were begging, she finally agreed and said yes, “My Darling, I love you so much” said ankita, the 3 of them smiled and hugged each other.

The day of the competition came and farhana was very nervous, but ankita gave her confidence and said “Everything will be all right, just be yourself and I am sure you are gonna win, you know why?, cause you are the best..”, her name was announced and she went on stage, music played and she started her dance, the same expression followed, one look at her dance and the whole stadium was silent, no one spoke, everyone was just looking at her, everything in her dance was perfect, as she was dancing faces of her parents and grandmother came in front of her and she started dancing more intensely, hundreds of emotions colliding in her mind and her heart just made her stronger, and she was even dancing when the music got over, in the end fully exhausted she fell on the stage,

There was ear deafening applause, with cries of “Once more, Once more” from everyone of them present, including the judges, she came down and hugged ankita and waited in anticipation for the result.

The host came and said, “Well the wait is over, Angola D Amgave of Zimbabwe is the winner”, hearing this farhana was left speechless ankita got angry and went on the stage to protest when the host started again “of the worldwide lottery held for this competition”, “the winner of the dance competition, the dancer who will be awarded 'The best dancer in the world' is........... Farhana Khan from India” the crowd burst into a much bigger applause, anikta bit her tongue and came down from the stage sheepishly, farhana saw this and couldn't help smiling, Ankita hugged farhana and sent her on stage, as she was walking towards the stage hundred of thoughts came in farhana's mind, it was her family and ankita that first showed trust in her, it was they who had first believed that she was the best, and now today the whole world knew that she was indeed, the best.

They were many sacrifices made, some by her, some by others, but they were all worth it. she walked towards the judges and when she received the prize she remembered her journey till this moment, the stage was where her life changed for the betrayal and the pain that started in her life, and it was the stage where all her dreams had finally come true..

Even though she had lost her family she had gained a new one, she had lost her identity but had gained a new one, she was satisfied of what her life had come to be from what it was, but also felt a small pain in the corner of heart, But now she knew what the pain was about, it was 'The Pain Of Satisfaction'.

Thank you everyone, for reading my story and writing in your valuable comments, i especially thank pawan and anwesa for their eagle eyes, for spotting a mistake when there was one, thank you very much, i also thank keshi for her very sweet comments, and choco and amanda for always being there and supporting me, thank you everyone once again ;), take care have a great day ahead, cya soon

The Pain Of Satisfaction - Part 4

Part 4

She woke up to the cold wind blowing on her face, last night she had thought of a way, as to what she was gonna do, she would have to stay in taliban itself, at least till the prime minister came, she thought of everybody she knew, and only one name came up, there was an old woman Ruksar who lived a little far to her school, farhana had helped her many times, she always asked farhana to stay at her home but she had refused, but today it was different for at least 2 days or more she wanted a home to stay, and ruksar was the only one she could rely on, her leg pain had eased but she was damn hungry, walking down the castle road she saw a shop, she went and bought breakfast, but the shopkeeper had a recognizing look in his eye, she sensed walking without a burkha would just bring trouble, she went into a dress shop and bought one and walked towards Ruksar's house.

She reached to see that she was in home, farhana told her story and Ruksar couldn't help fight back her tears, she said “God is kind farhana, he will help you”,

“yeah he is the only one who I have the most trust on, I believe he will solve all this, but still if I stay here, it will just be more trouble, but till the prime minister comes, I have to, is it ok??” said farhana. Ruksar dint reply but just extended her arms in a welcome stance, farhana ran and hugged her and wept like she had never did, it reminded her of nazneen, and she cried some more and simply like that fell asleep in her lap.

She woke up the next day, Ruksar wasn't there, farhana guessed she would have gone to bring something, she went to the bathroom and took a bath, as she got out she saw Ruksar return, after having the breakfast she got down to think how she would meet the prime minister, suddenly there was a announcement on the radio that the prime minister of India had reached Islamabad and after formal greetings with the president he would start his interaction program with the people tomorrow morning in Islamabad, farhana couldn't lose time, she thought “its 11 o clock now, if I take a train I will reach there by 9 tomorrow morning”, she thanked Ruksar for her help and hugging her one more time, she left, she reached the station and took a ticket to Islamabad, she sat back and thought how her whole life had changed in just a matter of 3 days, there was sharp pain in her heart when she thought of her parents, but she decided now she has to be strong, and held back her tears and stared into the fields beside the window, she felt tired and initially fell asleep.

She woke up to the blaring horn of the train, she looked at the watch it was 6 in the morning, it was still 3 hours till she reached Islamabad, so she began writing a letter that explained her situation to the prime minister, hours passed another horn suggested that she had reached Islamabad,

She began her journey, finding the place was not difficult cause the whole city was talking about the program, she reached the place and when she saw the Que, she was in awe, it extended like a snake with no tail, but still she joined it, the sun was up and it made her situation even worse, as she dint even have breakfast, she felt giddy and almost fainted on 2 occasions, at last at 4.30 in the evening her turn came, after the security check she went in and handed the letter, he read the letter and when he looked at her eyes, it just had truth in them, for a second he had tears, but covering those he said “i will look into this matter 1st thing tomorrow morning, until then you stay here in Islamabad itself, with the army supervision as per my command” farhana agreed and in the morning as promised he talked with the president, the president initially said its just a rumor and no army is involved, but when he showed him the letter the president was in a sense of disbelief, he ordered an inquiry and within the next evening all the officers committed to the crime were apprehended , farhana was called in to confirm they were the same and when she confirmed, criminal charges were booked against them,

Couple of days passed, farhana said about the work visa to the president, he said “There is no need, you can just stay here”,

“I don't have anyone here, but my friend lives in India, if I go there I will be all right” said farhana, “I said no means No” said the president, when farhana said this to Ankita, she took in immediate steps and with help of her dad alerted the Human Rights Authority, and along with some of her friends she built a community and took out Processions all over the streets of Delhi, Ankita even took the help of the media, she knew using the media was a like double edged sword, but as she wanted all the help she could gather, she did it too,

The campaign was getting massive coverage and was so strong that it took a rage all over the country, finally matters were taken up by Indian president and as the prime minister was in Pakistan itself, Committee was set up and orders were passed on the basis that, as the girl (farhana) dint have any criminal record against her and was also a major, she could take her own decisions, The president gave permission that, she could come and stay in India, the president of Pakistan at first dint agree but owing to further pressure, he took a decision that letting go of her would be far better than making her stay.

Truth had finally won.

The procedure took 3 weeks and after successful conviction of the guilty, she got necessary documents signed from the president of Pakistan and the prime minister of India, She looked up the sky and silently thanked god for his blessings, later her visa was cleared without any hassle and also an air ticket to Delhi was sponsored. collecting everything, she left to airport and boarded the plane, looking out of the window, there were just thoughts, the place which she called home was now no where, she had lost everything that was important to her and was going to place where, she had to find her new identity, to find a new way of life, to find a new beginning...............

to be continued.......................

The Pain Of Satisfaction - Part 3

Part 3

There were sounds of people talking, she looked around to notice that she was in a hospital, she tried to get up but her head felt like it was being hit by hammers, when she thought back what had happened, tears welled up in her eyes, there was a bomb explosion within her house, which was so powerful that it had also completely destroyed the 2 neighboring houses, she dint have any relatives, she dint know what to do, her mind couldn't think of a single person who she could rely on. but it was not that which haunted her, it was the reason why her house was bombed? was it because of yesterday? she dint knew, the headache started to become worse, she looked beside to find some aspirins and gulped it down, couple of minutes passed and she felt better, all the thinking she had done till now had made one thing certain, that now she was on her own now, she couldn't trust anyone.

Calmly collecting herself she go up from the bed, she was in hospital clothes, those always made her nauseas, she looked around, her clothes which she wore, were beside the table, she quickly changed into them, and then went towards the door. she saw a policeman asleep and couple of army personnel just beside the door talking, she was about to step out, when she saw the officer who had slapped her, his one eye was bandaged. and it seemed like he was coming towards her room, quickly closing the door, she ran to the bed and slept like she never got up, slightly seeing from the blanket, she saw towards the door, the officer slightly opened the door to find her asleep and then woke the policeman, farhana seeing this moved towards the door and when she heard what he said, she froze for an instant, the officer was saying "i planted that bomb so that there would be no evidence, and now special force is stationed here, i cant do anything, but you can, i will distract them some time later, so seeking an opportunity in the night kill her, and when no one's around, dump her somewhere OK",

Truth hit her hard, all the pieces of the puzzle fell back in its place, it was the officer who had bombed her house, he was taking revenge on her, she started feeling nauseous again, it felt like she was thrown to a place of pain and suffering with no way out, she just had one objective now, to save her life, she checked the room and saw a window beside, she looked out to find the ground was 2 floors below, but just beside there were couple of sand bags, farhana thought " if i time my jump right, i will land safely", she stepped on the window and made the jump, but her leg got stuck on the windowpane on the way down and she landed abruptly, injuring her knee, it hurt bad when she tried to walk, it was more like limping, she walked slowly, so that no one would notice, she saw across the street to see a taxi coming towards her, she hailed it down and went towards the bank

it was 7.30 the bank would close in half an hour, she told the driver to hurry up, 10 minutes later she reached the bank, she went to the bank manager, he noticed her disoriented look, he asked " Farhana how come you are here??, and that too at this time of the night?" she figured that he hadn't heard about the explosion, "A certain urgent situation came in uncle, I want the locker key you have, I came from a friend's house, so I forgot the key in my home itself, can I have it?” she said, the manger smiled and said “ it's against the company rules, but I will give it, don't forget next time” and handed out the key, she went into the locker room, opening the locker she found what she had come for, the money kept for the vacation trip, which she was to leave two days later, tears came in again, and thoughts of what had happened crept over, she shuddered when the voice of officer came in, she also saw that her family's passports were there, she looked at all and picked her up, she closed the locker and handing over they key to the manager left the bank.

She thought of going to her friends place, but none of them came to her mind, thinking of the old castle, she started walking towards that direction, the leg still hurt but she quickened her steps, as she was walking, thoughts of ankita came to her mind, would she help her now?? seeing the situation she dint knew, but she had to contact her, as she was the only last hope in her life.

She noticed a business man with a laptop walking in front of her, she walked towards him and said "Sir can i speak with you for a minute??", the man turned around and said "see girl i am in a hurry whats it? tell me quick" farhana said "can i borrow your laptop for a couple of minutes, i have to contact a friend" he noticed her from head to toe, as her look was like a combination of beggar and thief, he hesitated, farhana noticing this said "Sir don't worry, i have a bad wound in my knee i wont run, i have been through hell today and if i don't get to contact my friend,i am just as good as dead, please sir" he hesitated again, but handed over the laptop and said " be quick with it" she thanked him and quickly connecting to the Internet, sent a email to ankita stating what had happened to her, to her good luck ankita came online just to that instant and when she read the email there was no message for a couple of seconds, farhana figured that ankita was crying she waited, a message came “Where are you now?” she said, farhana answered “On the street, I am going towards the castle, I don't know what to do ankita!!, I don't have anywhere to go, oh god I have messed it all up, I am the culprit, I killed my parents, I did............”,

“Don't say like that farha, you are not to blame, the guilty will be punished for the wrong things they have done, don't worry, my dad is the Inspector General in Delhi, he will do everything within his reach, you don't have to live there, i will make the necessary arrangements for your work visa, but it will take time, maybe a week or so, until then you have to stay there itself” said Ankita, “No don't wanna burden you” retorted farhana, “don't act stupid, what are you gonna do there, die!, thats not a option just do as I say all right” said ankita.

Farhana couldn't think, there was no one she could turn to now, things had just gotten worse but still a hope was coming, her heart said to accept, she decided that she will, a message came “What are you gonna do farha?” she said “I will see, cause here I cant think of a single person I can trust” answered farhana. ankita thought quickly, her eye suddenly fell on the newspaper, she said, “hey here is some good news, our prime minister atal bihari vajapayee is coming to Pakistan in the next day or so, and he has said he will hold peace talks with your president, but before that he will also be seen in an interaction program with the citizens of Pakistan you can take your plea there, and make him look into your situation, if that is done, I am sure he will co operate and will make the authorities let know about the scenario” a sense of relief came over farhana, yes that can be done, she thanked anikta and said goodbye, thanking the stranger she handed the laptop to the him and started walking towards the castle to plan her next move.

to be continued............

The Pain Of Satisfaction - Part 2

Part 2

Days passed and talent's day was about to come, everyone in her class were to participate and in schools of Taliban, it was either an essay you could present, a speech or a poem in the name of president, anything else was not allowed, but farhana intended to change all that, she dint tell anyone what her act was to be, even though she was a little scared, reason being her grandfather had come to Pakistan during the independence period from India. And in Pakistan, Muslims who came from India are treated as outsiders and the army always kept a tab on their doing, that was the reason why she was doing this, she wanted to bridge that gap, she thought ”after my performance I will talk about it”.

She had made ankita to send her another courier containing a banaras Saree some days earlier, she got ready for the act, when her name was called out she came and from the laptop she played the music and started her performance, some people started to protest but looking her dance everyone was mesmerized, no one present in the hall spoke, it was like they had gone to a place of pure bliss.

she was in the middle of her dance when some army personnel who had come to watch the program stopped her on stage and said” what the hell is all this??” ,“It’s Bharatanatyam” said farhana, there was moment of shock for everyone present, in outrage the head officer standing there slapped her, farhana got angry, and in return, slapped the officer, and said “you have no right to slap or even touch me, I have a right to do as I want” and turned around to walk out of there, the officer held her hand and said “don’t you dare, you bitch” and started removing her Saree, to this many people stood up in the means of protest, the startled officer let her go, the situation was getting tense, couple of youngsters came onto stage and started hitting the officers, farhana moved away and when she looked down, she knew there was going to be trouble, everyone was coming towards the stage, a riot broke out, some army stationed near the school heard the news and came in, it was getting out of hand, some of the people were seriously hurt, the officer who had hit farhana was being brutally assaulted, he turned and saw towards farhana, and when she saw his face, he had such anger in his eyes, that farhana started shivering, she couldn’t stay anymore, quickly changing her dress, she went home.

She reached home, her mom opened the door, she smiled and let farhana in, thankfully no one in her home had heard about the riot, retiring to her room, she thought about what happened today, it gave her a headache, she took a aspirin and initially slipped into sleep, she got up in the morning and quickly hurried towards the hall to find the newspaper, and when she saw the headline, she thought she would faint, it was like she was momentarily paralyzed, the head line read – GIRL STARTS RIOT: 4 PERSONS KILLED, 50 INJURED,

There were beads of perspiration on her forehead, she quickly hid the newspaper, her brain seemed like it had stopped, she sat back on the sofa took a deep breath and told to herself “farhana don’t panic, everybody in the house will know, breathe just breathe, think of something else”, thoughts of her visiting to Singapore during last year’s education program came to her mind, her head ache calmed down to a little extent.

There was sound of bell at the front door, she was startled but went towards it, she opened to find the milkman, she collected the milk and went to the kitchen, kept the milk in the fridge and ran to her room, she quickly dressed up and grabbing her handbag, she thought of going to the old castle, it was the only place where no one would be and where she could find some peace of mind and today she needed it the most, she left a note beside her parents bed table, saying she would return soon, she was about to go through the front door but thought the better of it and silently opening the back door, she stepped out and was just 10 steps away, when she heard the most disturbing sound of her life, she was thrown away towards a certain distance, she turned around to see, and when she saw her house she fainted.

to be continued.........................

The Creative Bug

Here I am this is me, there is no where else on earth I rather be, I think bryan adams sang it, damn everybody is a stealer nowadays well I forgive him, I am a good person you see ;),

Bad joke eh? i know...,well here I am at last. I know I am late but I have got perfectly valid reasons for that (I hope so), more on that later, but here is some good news, yours truly has now completed his degree and is now a Bachelor in Business Management with a a staggering 67% I know its not much (blame me blame me) but mangalore university is one tough nut when it comes to giving marks to students, so if you now have any business to manage or take care of, you know who to turn to right???, well I am happy how things have turned out and I am onto following my dream, that is doing Masters in Journalism. and guess what its my 25th post so let the fire crackers begin :)

Now for the reasons why I was late, its because my very awesome name THOUSIF RAZA M.B was misspelt as THOSIF RAZA M.B in my marks cards, there was a U missing. so I took a U turn and have traveled almost 700 kms in a span of 4 days for its correction, its still in process of getting right, but it will be, so don't you guys worry ;), and the other reason was, that my (*Ahem*) editor (Read: Cousin Brother) was busy with some work of his, at last I had to do most of it, so the creative process got delayed.

And now for the best news, the creative process I said I was involved in was that I have written a story, not a big deal I know, but it is, cause it is the 1^st story that I have written (completely), and also the story was born in a very unique way,

lemme tell you how, I had read probably the best short story that I have read in a long time in my friend anwesa's blog called Unknown Horizons, the story was so good that I was inspired to write one myself, so Anwesa you were the original motivation for this story, thank you very very much for being my inspiration, without your presence this story would never have been written.

Now about the story: The story is in 5 parts which will be posted daily, so check in everyday, I know its a little big, but I promise you, it is worth your every second, so read it fully and comment on it, don't be all soft and warm hearted (be a little though ;)), cause this is the 1^st time I have written a (complete) story, but be honest and point out a mistake, if you find one, cause your comments are like the steroids which will make my writing stronger, so here it comes, enjoy your feast guys

The Pain Of Satisfaction

Dedicated to my Mom and Dad

And specially to the inspiration herself

ANWESA

Acknowledgments

To Rizwan Shareef, for bearing with me for the thousands of questions I asked him and for his precise editing, Bhaiya without you, this story would never have been completed. Thank you

PART- 1

As the clock struck 6.30, Farhana ran like the wind, to grab the radio from her grandmother, her favorite program, ‘Bharatiya Bharatanatyam’ on vividh bharathi was about to begin, she grabbed the ghungroos from the wall and quickly wrapped it across her ankles, as the voice in the radio came alive, she started to dance, the whole family joined in to see her, As beautiful and graceful as she was, it was even more than that when one watched her dance, it was so mesmerizing that the person forgot everything and would find bliss just by watching her, as she danced she was lost in the pleasure and for half an hour she did not stop till the program got over, she fell to the floor, fully exhausted but smiling, she got up and her family applauded like they always did, and like every time, her grandmother nazneen had a tear in her eye, farhana stepped forward and wiped her grandma’s tears, then silently kept her head in Nazneen’s lap, looking into farhana’s eyes nazneen said, “I am proud of you farha, very proud”, farhana just closed her eyes, smiled and slipped back into memories of how it all began………

8 months back when she passed 10+2, her dad Abdul Razzak gave her a radio; it was an unusual gift because, when you are living in Pakistan, there are some rules which you just cannot break and that too in Taliban, buying entertainment things is strictly forbidden, farhana was very happy because she had been asking it for an eternity, she turned it on, and the voice she heard first was of bharatanatyam, she was immediately hooked and wanted to learn more about it, she had heard in class that the Internet can provide anything and as she could use computers quite well, she secretly started visiting her neighbor’s house, cause they had a laptop with Internet, while chatting she befriended Ankita, a professional Bharatanatyam dancer from India,.

Ankita had her own dance school which gave programs all over the world, she taught farhana everything about the dance, learning from her farhana started practicing everyday after school in her bathroom, so that no one could hear the noise, and owing to more help from Ankita, she corrected her mistakes and improved herself, no one in her home knew what she was up to, If there was a sound, she said “it’s just a mouse Ammi”, “Book Fell down Ammi”, and made a new reason every time, in the span of the time that went by, farhana started dancing so good that she could beat anyone, the day of her Birthday came, when she returned home after school there was no one, She inquired with the neighbor’s, they said, “All have gone for shopping, but have given the key”, she took the key and went home and was about to put her back pack down, when there was a knock on the door,

She opened the door, it was the postman, he had a courier, after confirming the address, farhana took it to see the sender’s address, it was from ankita. She quickly opened it and what she saw inside the box gave her the most pleasure ever, the box contained a pair of ghungroos, she tried them on and closing the bathroom door, she started to dance, it was like music coming alive, the rhythm, and the charisma was heavenly. She removed them and quickly getting fresh, patiently waited for everyone to return, an hour later everybody returned and gave her the gifts of the birthday. she received every gift gleefully and in the end said “I have surprise for you”, everyone had the surprised look in the eyes, her mom Rumana asked “what’s it farha?” she said “just wait, and watch”,

She wore the ghungroos, played the music from the laptop she had borrowed and started dancing, everyone i.e. her mom, her dad and grandmother was spell bound looking at her, no one was speaking, after finishing she thought a plethora of scolding would follow her, but to her surprise there was just the sound of applause, she fearfully asked her dad “ are you angry?” Razzak, who was serious till that moment, just looked at her and a smile broke out of his lips. he said, “what should I be angry for?” and then farhana knew, that she had achieved her goal, she was the best at what she did, even though none of them knew what type of dance it was, they found out about it all by farhana and now ankita was also like a family member, as they all started to chat with her daily. And here she was now on her grandma’s lap, Ah it all seemed like a beautiful dream, which she never wanted to get up from…….

to be continued...........