One Cup, One Billion Dreams!

2^nd April 2011, the one of the most memorable moment in my life, INDIA has won the cricket world cup. I just want to make sure that it is written down somewhere, the feeling is incredible!!!!! I have splashed my Facebook wall with status,  liked every status about the victory, tweeted about it and yet I am full of energy!!! I might as well write this down for the next generation!

For 23 years of my life I have heard about the 1983 world cup victory, how Kapil Dev lead his team to victory beating the mighty West Indies. But I could never experience how they felt, when they narrated Kapil dev’s 175 which helped them to get into finals or India defending just 183 in finals or Kapil dev running backwards to take viv Richards catch in the finals or Mohinder Amaranth taking crucial 3 wickets. Every time I see someone narrating the story, their eyes sparkled and the energy level was phenomenal. I knew they have experienced something special!

Many years later India won the T20 world cup in 2007, first of its kind, it was special, a new generation was born. A race of people who defied the traditional Indian approach! Yet, people wrote that off saying “Indians got lucky!” “it is just T20 cup!”.  Huge question mark was raised “Can India win the  50 over world cup?” The record and statistics weren’t the totally good:

1996 – humiliating defeat in WC semi’s

1999 – Out in Super 6

2003 – A brilliant run stopped by Aussies, I still remember the finals it was before my chemistry exam. I skipped entire “organic chemistry”  portion to watch India take on Australians. By the end of first innings my spirits were beaten to death, yet the my heart hoped for a miracle to happen. I even cheered when there was a ten minutes rain stoppage! Once again a humiliating defeat, rubbing salt to the wound, the agony!

2007 – A  world cup every Indian fan would like to forget! The embarrassment!

2011 – A magnificent performance by TEAM INDIA! WORLD CHAMPHIONS!!

Why 2011 special? Frankly this is the first time I have seen so many mass campaign for cheering INDIA. It might be because of the social networking (FACEBOOK/TWITTER) factor, every Indian fans made sure that they were united behind the team. This I believe didn’t happen before, yes you had campaigns, but those didn’t have the impact. The Facebook updates, tweets every possible way to convey, it wasn’t just 11 people fighting for India but 1.2 billion! In Wankhede Stadium, it was clear when the crowd started singing “Vande Mataram” to inspire the team, to let them know they weren’t playing alone. “Bleed Blue” campaign was a tremendous idea, it made sure that every Indian supporter was “BLEEDING BLUE”!!

Another specialty was this Indian Team had self-belief and more importantly the people/fans believed this team could do the magic! It was never one man’s performance, it was purely team effort, which was really amazing to see and made people to believe more and more in them! Plus this team has a beautiful chemistry, there was no cold war between seniors and juniors, players backing each other! When you watch them in the field you can feel their passion and love for the game.This is India’s dream Team!

When Dhoni hit that last six, I was screaming on top of my head, the wait, the agony, the pain, the passion, the love for the game, the faith in the players, everything came true!! Running on the road screaming on top of the voice, with so much energy running through the body, I was sure anything on my way would have been smashed apart!! I am sure every Indian team supporter would agree on it! It was the night when 1.2 billions hearts were beating in unison! Emotional break down was not only to the players but also for fans!! These victory moments will always remain close to heart and will be watched a million times and yet the feeling will never vanish!!!

When the time comes, I’ll tell the next generation about the story, when 1.2 billions hearts cheered and prayed together, the story of INDIA’s 2011 WORLD CUP VICTORY! Tell them about THE SACHIN, Dhoni, Yuvi, Bhajji, Zak and Raina’s…. Men who painted the world BLUE!  And I am sure to have Goosebumps and sparkly in my eye, when I tell them about the epic win!! Yes, I was alive when India won the world cup in 2011!



 

 Image courtesy: google,cricinfo

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Philophobia

The clock in CST Mumbai station showed 8.30 PM, Rahas has been waiting patiently in station for more than two hours now. He looked at his friend, Vaagmi, who was having his 8^th cup of coffee; Rahas was still surprised why Vaagmi decided to accompany him. More than two hours over now, they have been waiting in station to send off Atiya. The thought of her name made his head go light. 

Life was simple for Rahas until college, like any other average Indian men his priorities were simple: Friends, Food, Cricket, and Sleep! But everything changed on the first week of college, his first Physics Lab, he was totally lost, she was tall, had long hair, sharp nose and beautiful deep eyes. He couldn’t take his eyes off her; he was ogling at her across the room! He didn’t notice a cute, elegant figure joining him in the table until the professor started speaking. Even on the first lab the girl next to him had everything ready, neatly wrapped record note, lab note, pencil, pen, scale, eraser, two color pens…! On the other hand Rahas only had a note, unwrapped; the first page of the note already had too many “lost symbols” on it, a pen without cap in pocket. She turned and looked at him with a smile and said “Hey I am Atiya!” Throughout the lab session Rahas kept ogling across the room. When the lab was over, Rahas was about to leave when he heard Atiya’s voice “you should reduce looking across the lab a little or else you will lose the one note you have!” Rahas felt a red hot whiplash on his face, he wanted to hit back on her but he couldn’t find the right thing to say! He looked around no one heard the conversation; he collected his note and rushed out of the lab! That is how Atiya was, simple and straight as an arrow. It turned out Atiya was Rahas’s lab partner on the other labs too. Even though rahas felt a little insulted, he liked atiya’s attitude. He was looking forward for lab sessions, he started liking her company. As every lab partner in college, he also got her mobile number, the lab conversions extended to mobile messages. And over a period of time it became phone calls. Neither of them realized how deep their relation was progressing. Four years of college flew by, rahas was waiting in railway station, and today Atiya was leaving India to purse her academics abroad. Rahas was mixture of emotions, he was happy for her pursing her career but devastated as she was moving away from him.

Vaagmi: “You alright dude?”

Rahas: “I guess so…!”

Vaagmi: “you guess? Listen I am not sure how much she is attached to you or if she is mad about you, but one thing I can see in your face is that you are mad about her so tell her how you feel!”

Rahas: “Are you nuts? Do you have any idea what she might think about me? After all these years of being friends, she will feel that I have cheated!”

Vaagmi: “what if she is waiting for you to say something?”

Rahas: “Let’s put it this way, you know how straight forward she is, she talks to every guy that doesn’t make me special!”

Vaagmi with a sarcastic smile: “and yet she asked you if you can come to station to send her off?”

Rahas: “as a friend…!”

Vaagmi: “then why not her other ‘guy friends’? Why you? ”

Rahas: “may be because she trusts me!”

Vaagmi: “Trust! Nice word to hide the feelings. Then why does she trust you alone?”

Rahas: “I might be one among her close circle of friends!”

Vaagmi: “And number of male member in the circle?”

Rahas: “I don’t know!!”

Vaagmi: “Explain this to me, she updates you even if a lizard went past her a mile away to the most intimate stuff, am I right or wrong?”

Rahas: “she could be updating others also!”

Vaagmi: “At night 2 AM?!”

Rahas: “she considers me as a friend!”

Vaagmi: “Let’s reverse the situation, what if she proposes you? Will you accept?”

Rahas hesitated and answered: “frankly, we guys are so desperate we will accept if any girl proposes!”

Vaagmi: “I am not taking about any girl, I am talking about Atiya, and from your answer I can see that you will accept!”

Rahas: “I told you we are despo’s we will agree if any x,y ,z proposes!”

Vaagmi: “come again why you are not telling her your feelings?”

Rahas took a deep breath: “what if she stops talking to me? I don’t want to lose what I have now!”

Vaagmi rolled his eyes and murmured: “Unbelievable!”  Walked off to get another cup of coffee!

Rahas, took a gulp of water, this was not the first time he was having this conversation. But every time he had this conversation it pushed him to the edge, he had to regain his composure and think straight. Atiya was different from other girls he knew, he remembered the day clearly, he was walking with her to lab and talking about “FM and AM transmission” experiment when Vaagmi came running and signaled for me. Atiya also saw the signal and with all esteem she stopped talking and looked as if she understood. Vaagmi updated the “drunken” situation of their friends and both of them had to leave immediately to “rescue” their friends which meant bunking the lab. Rahas was undecided on how to explain the situation to Atiya, he went up to her but she spoke first: “If you need to go then go”. Rahas looked her face, there was no anger or disgust or frustration, but there was no smile either. Rahas knew he probably had to explain a lot in the evening. But to his surprise Atiya didn’t ask him about why he bunked lab or where he went, but some part of him wouldn’t settle down until he told her about the events. Eventually he did tell her why he bunked the lab and where he went, to his astonishment she was not angry because he was friends with people who boozed, all she said was “until you are not addicted to things it is fine to have fun” the image of Atiya in Rahas’s heart grew very tall. She was not the types who wanted to meet outside or hang out after college. She knew when to give space and privacy, which impressed him. Vaagmi was back with his cup of coffee, Rahas was still deep in thought.

Vaagmi: “I am not sure why you can’t tell her feelings! She won’t ignore you after that as you think!”

Rahas: “Ok I’ll come your way, what do you think I should do, go and propose now?”

Vaagmi: “yes if you feel so…!”

Rahas: “How do I know when I ‘feel so’…?”

Vaagmi: “it is the decision you make!”

Rahas: “how do I know if this love?!”

Vaagmi after a long pause: “Love is when you understand the person really quick and start seeing the world through their eyes!”

Rahas was amazed by his reply, his mobile buzzed, it was her call, and rahas answered it and got up. “She is here, near the platform, are you coming?”

Vaagmi: “No, carry on! Remember don’t make a fool of yourself, be bold and say your feelings, you don’t want to live rest of your life in regret that you missed the chance.”

Rahas: “we will stay in touch…!”

Vaagmi: “Question is how long? How much touch are you with your school mates, you may love them but not the same kind of contact you had before! Remember this Rahas, as time goes if you don’t tell her your feelings she is going to drift out of your life”

Rahas: “No…! We will stay in contact forever like this!”

Vaagmi: “you very well know that is not practically possible!”

Rahas didn’t say anything but started moving towards the platform; the clock showed 9:15 PM, her train was scheduled to leave by 9:30 PM; she is going to visit her relatives and fly abroad from there. Rahas heard so many voices in his mind, there she was waiting for him, even now he was impressed by her elegance, she was not stunning beauty yet she had the grace and charm which would haunt you forever. She smiled and waved at him. Everything around him slowed down, as if someone had pressed the “time slice” button. His eyes were fixed on her, everything else was just blurred. He might have made a very bad decision of coming here to send her off. He smiled at her and said: “All set to go?”

Her eyes sketched his figure and replied with a slow steady nod off her head.

Her parents were already seated inside, Rahas could feel the vibe, she wanted to say many things but she couldn’t. Her eyes became moist “you will stay in touch right?”

Rahas had to inhale deeply to prevent the tears rolling out: “Yes definitely!”

Atiya: “I’ll miss you very badly!”

Her words were like hot iron on his heart but he didn’t want to give up what he already had. Rahas tried clam his thoughts:

Dear Tummy, sorry 4 all the butterflies. Dear Pillow, sorry 4 all the tears. Dear Heart, sorry 4 all the damage. Dear Brain, you were right she is my friend.

Rahas eyes were damp when he replied: “I’ll miss you too…!”

Atiya: “Can you do GRE and come with me for MS?”

Rahas felt as if a lightning bolt had hit him, his heart screamed “Say YES! Say YES!” but his brain controlled is action and rahas replied it with just a nod of his head. Rahas heard the announcement, her train jolted ahead; Atiya had her face pressed against the window watching rahas. Train started gaining speed, rahas was trotting along the train, saying “bye” a million times. The voices in his mind got stronger:

"It's impossible" said Pride… "It’s risky" said Experience…  "It's pointless "said Reason…

"Give it a try" whispered the Heart.

He only saw her hand reaching out of the window, Rahas screamed: “Atiyaaaa…!” At the same moment, gunshots was heard, everything went chaotic in few seconds, people started screaming, people were trying to get out of the station, rahas was trying to catch up to the speeding train, pushing past the mad crowd, he tumbled and hit a pole and fell down, out of nowhere a hand came and pulled him on to the floor. Rahas couldn’t feel his body, his chin had started bleeding cause of the hit, and rahas turned around to see whose hand is holding him down, it was Vaagmi. For few seconds he hoped it would be Atiya…! Vaagmi was screaming to him something “terrorist…. Two of them… guns… open firing…”, but rahas was so lost that he couldn’t make out what his friend was saying to him. Rahas felt his life drain out of his body, every moment of his life with Atiya flashed before his eyes and his head hit the ground unconscious. 

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A Bald Story

What is the most embarrassing situation in life? Stood up by girl? Insulted in front of friends/colleagues? Naah… Visiting a Barber shop! A hair salon! Before I make the justification for it, I should clear up few statistics which I made up! We all know that there is a huge number of hair shampoo/conditioner in the market… the reason is pretty obvious cause the maintaining a good hair is becoming a herculean task these days, leave out the aged people these days youngster are struggling on it!  More the demand and hence more products; let us say 80% of the people I know falls into hair problem category. Hence assume the below as ‘our’ story not as mine alone! :) 

Experts say cancer spreads within the person and the person would never notice it until it is too late. Hair loss is one similar case but with a small difference, even if you don’t notice it everyone else does! :P One fine day you wake up to brush your teeth, look into the mirror to find a new mole on your forehead, a mole you never knew about. You feel happy like a small kid having found something new, but after few seconds you realize the ugly truth of how it came into existence! The light near the mirror exactly highlights the part on head where you are losing your hair; this is like a Newton’s untold law, eighth wonder! I am sure those 80% of people I mentioned will be nodding their heads now! ;)

And things don’t stop there, the visit to the barber shop; you keep delaying it but can’t stand seeing more hair fall and decide to make the dangerous journey! Entering the barber shop is like entering an uninvited place and adding to the slur you are made to wait, worst part is that the people who are getting their hair done falls into that 20% category! You take a corner seat and start reading a paper; your eyes never look around! When the barber beckons you to the seat it is double nightmare! There are mirrors all around you…! It is as if there is a spotlight above you showing every flaw in your head, crushing your soul!! Just then the barber clears his throat and looks at you. Tongue tied not sure of why the hell you came to this place, you murmur “medium”! He looks at you and your hair a couple of times and as though you have asked him a share of his wealth, he gives a *sigh* and picks up the scissors to cut your consciousness to pieces.

The past starts haunting you, days when you had curly hair, falling on your face and how you refused to cut them short! How the barber found it difficult to cut through your tangled hair, every few minutes he had to clear the scissors and comb to remove the stuck hair, the white sheet which covered your body would almost be black with your hairs…! Just when you start slightly getting your spirits up, you hear the barber’s voice: sir shaving? You don’t find your voice to reply back, that’s all? He is done with my hair? You look into the mirror and don’t find much difference; barber now starts straightening your hair near your forehead. He starts pushing hair from every possible angle to the front, the excruciation, only few hairs make till the half way mark of forehead!! This is the most sensitive and dangerous part, the barber can ruin your weeks ahead with a single cut. You can’t even see what he is doing in mirror as his arm is right in front of your eyes. Those few moments you hold your breath and wait as if your life depended on it (and I literally mean it!). When his hands move away, you are not sure of how to react to silently cry or to howl with pain; the dreadful sight, your head gleams under the focus lights; he then starts combing your hair...! He pushes strands from different angles and somehow covers up the portion! You breathe a sigh of relief, you are grateful to him for saving you from many weeks of agony.  Never mess with your barber he can screw your life!

The removes the white cloth with black “dots” and charges you a very high amount! When you had loads of hair it, the cost was only a few bucks, now it is atrocious!! The barber gives you a look which means “look buddy, it takes skills to cut hair like this to ‘medium’ level and I am not sure when you are going to visit next, it may or may not happen, think this as one last time and pay me!!” you pay the amount and walk out of the shop quickly!!

If you are among those 20% of people who still has good hair! Smile as long as you can because we (rest of the 80%) are sure that you will be joining us sooner or later!!

Technology has grown so much, but why not hair?! Is hair transplant only way to go? Somebody find something ;) :) 

Picture courtesy Google

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The Decision

Iksha, pale skin with jet black hair, dark chocolaty eyes, thin nose and pointed chin, was walking aimlessly wondering how much her life had changed. Her thoughts consumed her, thoughts about the decision she had to make in life. A Decision which would break hearts, hearts of people she loved and cared. She had always tried to avoid this one decision, but it had become inevitable. Her mind was throwing flashbacks at her, life was so simple before.

She was so nervous about her new school, her father a big industrialist had sent her to a top rated school; she couldn’t sell “will miss her friends” as a reason to her father because he knew she didn’t have any in her old school. Teacher introduced her to the class and pointed her to a seat; she took her seat and fixed her eyes on the board. She waited for the lunch bell to ring, it felt like she waited years together for it to ring; she decided to eat at her table itself, that is when she met him first, tall and russet skin, black hair and dark eyes. He had a beaming red smile like a shooting star on the night sky: “Hi, I am Jyran… would you like to join?” there was no uneasiness or nervousness in Iksha when Jyran asked her, for the first time on the entire day she felt she felt better and she joined him.

Iksha: “hi I am Iksha! I am new to this school”

Jyran: “Nice to meet you, where are you from?”

“I live here but I was in residential school but dad wanted me to be in the ‘top’ school!” Iksha said rolling her eyes. Jyran laughed: “I know! My dad did the same to be 4 years back!”

Iksha smiled: “what is your dad?” the question seemed to have made Jyran uneasy. His wide happy smile disappeared hearing that. “He is in Politics, leader of the opposition party” in a very low voice, his dark eyes fixed on Iksha as if waiting for a reply. Iksha couldn’t understand why the answer made him so uneasy; she kept looking at him hoping for an answer. At last Jyran spoke: “listen it is alright if you don’t want to have lunch with me, I understand.” He gave her a weak smile. Iksha: “what? What do you mean?” Jyran: “generally girls don’t hang out with me because my dad is a politician, they think I am ‘evil’ and might create ‘trouble’!” his voice sounded as if he was controlling his anger. Iksha: “that’s lame! I don’t mind who your dad is! Can I have lunch with you?” his pink lips spread like the sun on the horizon, her gaze went straight to his lips and it melted her as bright emotions came right of his face. The beginning of a friendship, Iksha found a true and strong friend in Jyran; They started spending lots of time together in school as well as at home. She missed him badly when she was alone. It was same with Jyran, he missed her too. Jyran was first person Iksha would think of if something bad happens or if something great happens or if she just wanted to talk. A beautiful friendship had blossomed between them.

Time flew by, it was time for them to join college, and both of them had applied for same colleges, hoping they would get in to same college, they were waiting anxiously now. But life had different plans for them, Iksha received acceptance in a college 70 miles away home while Jyran received acceptance from a college close by. They were shattered, they decided against going to college but their parents intervened and convinced them to go to college as they can meet at weekends. Reluctantly they agreed, life started becoming very busy for Iksha, while Jyran was patient for weekends. They would meet at weekends and chatter away all the stories of the week happily.

Only two weeks into college life Iksha was finding it difficult, again she had no friend, but Jyran had few of his friends with him in the same college. She would eagerly wait for the weekend to come. Iksha was trying to concentrate what the professor saw showing them in lab but somehow she couldn’t keep her eyelids open. Her pen slipped out of her hand; She was about to collect it when a boy standing next to her collected it for her. He was 6’2”, had perfect and angular—high cheekbones, strong jaw line, a straight nose, and full lips. His hair was messy; he had slender but muscular body. Iksha couldn’t look away from his eyes; the eyes that you can look into and feel like you are getting lost, eyes you can relate to that are truly windows to the soul. The boy cleared his throat; she thanked him with a sheepish smile and took the pen. After the lab, he came up to her and held out his hand: “Inesh” His voice was so warm and comforting even the ice berg in Antarctica would melt. Again Inesh cleared his throat, Iksha’s cheeks turned bright pink, and she shook his hand and said “Iksha”. Inesh spoke in musical warm voice: “I believe we are in same class, in fact your number is right after mine”. Iksha was so mesmerized in his voice she forgot that she had to respond. Inesh cleared his throat again; Iksha snapped out of the serenity and blurted out “that’s great!” as soon as the word left her lips, she felt stupid that she couldn’t come up with a better reply. Inesh smiled, the corner of his lips hooked into her heart “would you join me for lunch?” she could only nod in agreement.

Inesh: “where are you from?”

Iksha: “70 miles north from college”

Inesh couldn’t stop the smile: “I am from the same place; I studied in the residential school”

Iksha mouth dropped open out of disbelief that was her old school, her father moved her into new school. If she had not been moved they could have met before. It sounded silly to her, why was she so excited about him, this was the first time they are meeting and she was acting like mindless!

Iksha: “I studied in same school until my father moved me to another school!”

Inesh with a surprise tone: “Is it? That’s nice, what is your father?”

Iksha with little frustration in her voice: “He is an industrialist; he wanted me to study in a top school so he moved me out of that school”

Inesh chuckled: “You didn’t like it, did you?”

Iksha: “Not at the beginning but I was fine later” she wanted to tell him about Jyran but she resisted herself. “What is your father?”

The question made his eyes melancholy, it was like she knew this situation before, the change in reaction but she waited for an answer. Inesh: “He is in Politics, leader of the ruling party”

She felt like she had walked into a wall. Inesh noticed the change in Iksha’s face, he took a deep breath “I get this reaction a lot, I understand if you are not…!” before Inesh could finish the sentence Iksha replied with a smile: “I don’t mind who your father is!”

Iksha knew something was special about the relationship with Inesh, it was like the taste of water, you cannot describe it yet it is the elixir of life. Life in college improved a lot; Iksha was falling in love with Inesh. In college Iksha spent most of the time with Inesh and in weekend she would spend time with Jyran. She told Inesh about her good friend Jyran and Jyran about her love Inesh, they were happy for her. On a beautiful valentine day, Inesh proposed to Iksha with a smile like bright summer, Iksha was breathless, speechless, heart pounding and shaky hands, she wanted to say yes but she couldn’t find her voice, her eyes filled up, all she could do was say an yes with her eyelashes. Iksha felt she was the luckiest person in the world to have Inesh. She considered she was tremendously lucky with a friend like Jyran. Inesh and Iksha’s parents agreed and announced the engagement, she loved her life. She had the life every girl dreamed about.

In final year of the college, things changed dramatically. The elections were around the corner; this seems to have great impact on Iksha’s life. Jyran’s father and Inesh’s father were competing for the same position. Iksha was with Inesh, his eyes were very dull today, he didn’t have the same charm: “Iksha, I have a request…” the sound of his voice made her shiver, she nodded, “elections are coming up, you might be knowing who dad is competing against, the problem is… dad… dad doesn’t like his future daughter in law to be friends with opposition party, especially Jyran”

Iksha felt the ground beneath her shake, it was an intolerable request: “But how is going to affect his election?”

Inesh: “They might try to get information from you or try to make you get information, emotional black mail! You will be in danger”

Iksha trying to control her anger: “but I don’t know anything and no one is going to kidnap me for information, please!”

Inesh: “Iksha you don’t understand…”

Iksha shouted “I don’t want to!” and stormed out. After reaching home she called Jyran and wanted to meet with him. She met him, Jyran was calm and composed, and he had the “happy” smile on his face when he met her.  Iksha narrated her incident with Inesh to Jyran, to her surprise Jyran was calm as always, she was expecting him to explode with anger. She tried to read his expression but his eyes were lost, she was waiting for an answer from him, but he remained silent.

Jyran: “Iksha… Inesh is right, you have to choose…! I am sorry!”

Iksha whimpered “No… Please”

Jyran angry and frustrated “You don’t understand, you could be in danger, these guys would do anything to win. I don’t want you to be in danger; please it would hurt me even more if I knew I put you in that situation!” 

Iksha didn’t speak, she couldn’t control the sobs, she mumbled “I’ll go away for few months and come back after elections!”

Jyran clenching his teeth’s: “No… results can go either way, even after the results if you meet me or meet him, they would consider it as treachery or cook up stories! Understand Iksha…!”

Neither of them spoke for a long while. At last Jyran in soothing and calm voice spoke: “Iksha I can understand if you choose him, you are engaged to him. I am happy for you, I am sure you will be happy!” again there was a long silence between them, Jyran tired to make it less painful as possible “Good bye Iksha…!” he turned and started walking away from her. She was there alone, not sure of what she had to do or where she had to go. Slowly, Iksha started walking to her home, but she had lost the track of her path and surroundings. She kept walking aimlessly and consumed by her thoughts. She loved them both, Jyran was her very close friend, only one she had, she spent infinite amount of time with him. To faze him out of life was impossible. Inesh was her love; she knew life would be impossible without him. Why couldn’t they co-exist? Why is life playing tricks with her?

It was a crippling feeling, that a huge hole had been punched through her chest; it bleeds despite the passage of time and the pain never stopped. She knew her lungs must still be intact, yet she gasped for air. She stopped abruptly, the road before her diverged into two, she cannot walk in the middle and she had to choose a road. The decision was her to make, which road would she choose…?

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The Theft

Deepak was clear, very clear, the theft has to be done, he needed it badly, very badly, and the question which remained was “how” he was going to do it.

It was a bright afternoon; he couldn’t make a perfect plan. If not this afternoon he will lose track of it, perhaps never see it again! The thought made him shudder; he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He practiced this for long but reality was much bigger on him. He took deep breath again and turned to the guy next to him; “George”, his voice croaked: “I need your help, I am not sure how to tell you about this but I am planning for a robbery…!”  George just laughed thinking it was a joke, but seeing Deepak’s expression, the look on his face changed dramatically from a smile to frown.
George: “what is it you are planning to steal?” Deepak’s reply brought a change in his look again, stiff and nervous, his eyes were just a gash now.

Deepak: “So are you in…?”

George, deep in thought: “hmmm… yes I am in… what is your plan?”

Deepak: “Yeah… about that, I don’t have plan but this has to be done today afternoon!”

George: “You are INSANE! You could have told me this before and why today? Can’t we work out a plan and do it later”

Deepak: “No it has to be today, I have been tracking it for almost a month, it comes back today, and if we don’t get it today it will be lost, perhaps forever!”

George: “What time are you planning?”

Deepak: “12:00 PM, I have double checked that’s when he comes with it”

George his voice hesitant: “Let’s do this!”

George, short and stout, stood up adjusted his belt and straightened his shirt. Deepak, lanky and smart, pushed his spectacles deeper into his pointed nose and checked his watch it was 11:50; “Nothing is going to stop us”

But right then they heard a rumbling voice, which sends shivers across the spine: “Deepak and George, if you both open your mouth again I am going to throw you out of the class! Do you have any shame? Act matured, you are in Tenth now!” They both sneered hearing that, she had no idea what they were about to do! Ten more minutes they will have their “Lunch Break”.

The bell rang; noise erupted unanimously from all the classes, kids ran out of classes like Wild River! Deepak and George walked cautiously making sure that they attracted no attention upon themselves. They reached the third floor corridor and lurked in the corner, George: “are you sure about this?”

Deepak: “I held them in my hands and the feel is too addictive; you have no idea how much I want it, I was stupid enough to let it go, and I got to have it back! I am not changing my …!” before he could finish his sentence he saw the person whom they were waiting for! He remembered him well, for he has been tracking him for more than one month, he was a ninth standard boy, too short and thin for his age, they could easily knock him down and get it but that would draw attention. He went past them, Deepak and George followed the boy, as expected he entered the last door in the floor, they followed him. Room was filled with students of all ages, some of them searching the shelf, few reading magazine, few chatting in corner, the “LIBRARY” was a big room. They saw the boy carrying “THE BOOK” and produce it before the librarian; the librarian scribbled something and threw the book into a box.

Deepak: “You kept wondering what I was doing in lunch time, I’ll show you what I was doing… wait here, don’t come until I signal you”. Saying this Deepak went in the direction of the librarian, raised his hand in a saluting posture and said “hello sir…!” he struck up a nice conversation with him, slowly he gestured towards the box and asked him if he could help him with it, librarian nodded in agreement, Deepak collected few books and started placing them in respective book shelves. He came for the second round and collected few more books, this time he signaled George to join him. They met in a corner, Deepak was clutching “THE BOOK” as if his life depended on it, and he spoke in a whisper: “do you see the window on the left; it faces backside of the school, it is a over grown waste land, I want you go there and stand, I’ll throw the book out of the window when no one is watching, collect the book and lets meet in class!” George could hardly breathe, what if they were caught, he had no idea what would be the punishment. He nodded and ran as fast his leg could carry him, he jumped over the cycle stand and came exactly below the library window and waited. It felt like he was waiting for years together, the staff room window also faced in the same direction, what staff would think if they saw a school boy standing outside school compound and gawking into the sky! Just then he saw, no hand appeared in window, it was as if someone aimed and threw the book out of window, it came down faster than he anticipated, but still he managed to grab it before it hit the ground. He didn’t wait to take breaths, he ran, like his life depended on it, he made it to his class on in record time! He pushed the book into Deepak’s bag and sat down, still and unmoved, his gaze fixed on something far far away!

He waited and waited but Deepak never came, bell rang again, lunch break was over, yet Deepak never came, was he caught? Was he in trouble? He started to take in sharp breaths, just then Deepak walked in pushing glasses deep into his nose and with a triumphant smile!

Deepak: “did you get it?”

George couldn’t even nod his head, but made an eye gesture towards Deepak’s bag.

 Deepak sat down next to George: “we are in luck you know! The next book comes in tomorrow! I need this more than the one we got!”

George almost screamed in fear, again and that too tomorrow, he needed more time “how do you know?”

Deepak: “Just like last time, I checked the library register and checked the due date of the book, and I know who took it too, she comes in my school bus. She must have finished reading it; records show that she has been extending the due date for many weeks now. We will follow what we did today, it will be fine, no one will know”

George gulped down a lump which kept forming in his throat, “yeah sure!”

Next day, things went way wrong, it was raining cats and dogs throughout the day, and backside of the school had formed a puddle. George felt a big knot in his stomach; Deepak seemed to be more focused.  George in a meek voice: “can’t we do this another day?”

Deepak: “NO! We will find a way!”

The lunch bell rang, the sound seemed to be too loud for George, he felt weak, he tried to stand up but his body wouldn’t budge. Deepak was already walking out of class, somehow George caught up to him. They checked the girl’s class, she was not there; panicking they ran to library. They arrived just in time to see her returning “THE BOOK”. Again Deepak volunteered to return books to the shelves. This time he signaled George to join him sooner, Deepak shoved the book into George’s hand and said: “put the book inside your shirt, tuck it in with your pants near your belly” George’s eyes were wide in horror, he fumbled with the book, Deepak pushed him into the corner of the library, George tucked the book inside his shirt and turned around. Deepak’s face turned pale, the book was protruding out of his big belly; one could see the shape of book even a mile away! Deepak asked George to remove the book and put it in the shelf near him, Deepak continued placing the book in the respective shelves. George just stood in corner, breathless; Deepak returned with last set of books, he grabbed “THE BOOK” out of the shelf and tucked it inside his shirt this time. He held his lungful of air; the small bulge because of the book seems to have disappeared now. Now it all depended on how long he could hold his breath. He continued placing the last set of books in shelf, after placing them he took a magazine and sat down in the last row of the reading section. He waited until the lunch break bell, he stood up and walked in heart of the crowd, everyone was hurrying to get back to the class. He increased his pace but also making sure that he didn’t draw attention. Deepak reached the class and smoothed “THE BOOK” into his back and crashed into the seat taking deep breath.

Just then the boy sitting behind him patted him on his shoulder, Wordsy: “Did you just pull a book out of your shirt?”

Deepak was shocked, his heart skipped a beat, and how could he be so careless at the last moment. George was by his side now, the look on George’s face was even worse. Before George or Deepak could react, Wordsy took the book out of the bag; it had school library seal over it. He turned to the duo and asked: “did you guys steal this from library?” neither of them spoke, but from the look on their face Wordsy understood from where they got it. Wordsy smiled, “Cool! Neat!!!” George and Deepak looked at each other and then looked back to Wordsy, “Stop worrying, I am not going to turn you guys in but what is so special about this book that you had to steal it from the library?”

Deepak sounded thankful: “you have to read it to know it!”

Wordsy: “so do you mind if I borrowed it to read?”

Deepak knew he was in no position to refuse: “Yeah sure, but please do return it to me!”

Wordsy nodded and smiled, he turned the book to see its name and it read:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

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You Me and God

Ashutosh loved the tea breaks, he took tea breaks between 4.30 to 5.00 PM every day. He along with his colleagues, Mani and Shankar, would go to the road side tea shop and have nice long chats. A break from the fast and hasty IT Company he worked in, they would discussed about everything under the sun and at times above it ;) It looked like it was about to rain but the steady wind delayed the rain, they signaled three "chai" to familiar shop owner and grabbed a packet of wafers.

Mani: "You know I saw a video on face book about the Fibonacci series, made me really wonder about god!"

Shankar: "Yup! Freaky to use Fibonacci series to make unique things, I thought Fibonacci series were used only on viva questions or practicals! :P "

Mani: "Haa haa…! You know it shows how god works from above us"

Ashutosh with smirk on his face: "so that’s how he works? On numbers? :P "

Shankar: "You don't believe in god?"

Ashutosh: "Yup! I do"

Mani: "Then what's with the sarcasm?"

Ashutosh: "I feel that God actually doesn't work! He is just a… just a… you can say viewer or watcher, 99% of things that happens in your life he doesn't control"

Mani: "Dude! He creates human beings!!"

Ashutosh: "Really?! I thought our parents created us :P "

Shankar: "He controls your life; he can change life the way he wants! God is the supreme!"

Ashutosh: "God might be the Supreme but definitely he doesn't control changes in life, it is us who writes our fate"

Mani: "So you don't think God does anything?"

Ashutosh: "Let’s put it other way… Do you all agree that if there is God he exists everywhere?"

Both Shankar and Mani nodded their head in agreement.

Ashutosh: "What I am trying to state is, there is a part of God in every one of us"

Now Mani has a smirk on his face: "Even Osama bin laden?"

Ashutosh: "Yup!"

Shankar: "You have lost your mind!!"

Ashutosh: "As I said 99% of your life is control by you only 1% by God, in that case what I said is perfectly right, Osama choose his path and Gandhi choose his"

Shankar: "You are confusing me!"

Ashutosh: "I am just saying people should stop believing that everything is done by God and start realizing that everything which happens in your life is because of you. People are using God as 'reason' for their actions, if same God created Osama and Gandhi then why the difference?”

Both of them had no answer.

Ashutosh: “I believe there is a part of God in everything, even in the advertisement model you see on the hoarding, call it God, call it x-factor, call it anything you want, but that is what makes everything unique, people should realize that factor is within them, and that factor is just a watcher, whatever you do in life is controlled by you alone! And people who realized it has realized what life is! :) ” 

His friends were giving a weird look, Mani: “Are you saying that hoarding there is God?!!”

Ashutosh smiled, he couldn’t stop it, and looks on his friends face were too animated: “Shall we leave?”

Mani: “You know who real God is?”

Ashutosh:“My manager! He controls my life! :( ”

All of them laughed and started walking towards office. Ashutosh took a last glance at the hoarding and entered the office.

The shape on hoarding relaxed: “For few minutes I thought I was caught! Thank the humans!”

“Ennai thoandi nyaanam kanden idhudhaan en katchi” -  Kaviarasu Kannadasan

“To the question of your life you are the answer, and to the problems of your life you are the solution.”  - Joe Cordare

“Resolve to be thyself; and know that he who finds himself, loses his misery.”  -Matthew Arnold, "Self-Dependence," Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems, 1852

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