We Will Always Have Paris

 

Suman was running hurriedly pushing her trolley suitcase with her. She was late at least that is what she thought when she started running.

It was already 14:10 pm and her flight Mumbai to Delhi was supposed to took off at 14:15 pm.

It certainly did not help that she had short legs, a bit healthy and sweating profusely as she try to reach the terminal gate. As soon as she sighted her terminal gate and people still seated around, that she heaved a sigh of relief. 

Her flight had got delayed by 30 mins. She found herself a seat in the back as she breathed heavily in & out.

The delay gave her enough time to calm and compose herself. As she was wiping her sweat, her attention got diverted to the terminal gate diagonally opposite to her.

It was a child's laugh that got her attention. More importantly it was the man playing with the child that left her startled.

 All she could do was, it cannot be... Is it? Is that Jatin? It cannot be... It cannot be him.

Suman saw the guy smiled and she realized that it was indeed him as a dimple had formed on his cheek just like it was with Jatin when he smiled.

She decided to change her seat to ensure he did not see her. She made herself comfortable behind two tall guys which also gave her a vantage point if she wanted to see more of him.

All the memories, the moments spent together with Jatin came back to her jolting her into the past that was forgotten with time.

 Suman would catch glimpse of him, now & then playing with the child which she assumed was his child. There was a women too whom she could not see as she was sitting opposite to Jatin and she thought it to be the child's mother as in Jatin's wife.

Her mind raced with all kind of thoughts but seeing him happy in married life made her little sad. That could have been us...

She knew he was serious about her & they could have got married if not for....

Life moved on & here she was single, trying to find the right guy by swiping guys on dating apps.

The boarding announcement got her back into the present as she made way to stand in the queue for boarding. 

As she neared the boarding counter, she caught a last glimpse of him. seeing Jatin happy made her smile as she walked forward towards her flight.

 Little did she know that Jatin had sighted her when she was running. Although he was playing with his child, his mind also went into a roller coaster ride in the past on how much he wanted her for them to be together for the rest of their lives but it did not transpired.

All he could hope that she was in a happy space as he was.

"We will always have Paris" is what he could think of knowing that was the last time when they were together.

Insta Story

Suchi was looking at him intently listening to what her boss was saying to the bunch of sales guys huddled up in the conference room for the morning meeting.

It took more than half an hour for the every day 15 mins of morning meeting today. Coming out of the room, the day that looked brighter went on to become gloomy.

She moved to her desk and checked her phone and replied to a few messages, checked a few apps and then went about her work leaving a few of them unread.

Across the city, Rishabh had just put up a story on his Instagram sitting on his desk having his sip of coffee and looking at the monitor now and then. After every sip of his coffee, he would check on the number of views of his story but still looked dejected. 

He got up to keep the coffee mug back to its place and poured himself into the work that awaited his attention. 

Time felt still. Every now and then he would check on his Instagram story views and that would make him more restless. He looked at his watch and only 15 mins had passed away since he started his work. It looked like a long day ahead.

It was past dinner time Rishabh kept checking on his phone and the Instagram story. As the night had set in, Suchi was already in bed trying to fall asleep by watching random reels on Instagram. As she got bored of it, she started watching Insta Story of the people she followed.

As the story moved from one person to another, she landed on Rishabh's story. It was about him holding his ears and doing sit ups and saying he his sorry in a hilarious way that got her smiling cheek to cheek as she turned on the other side of the bed.

As she was reading his messages, she got a call from Rishabh whose restlessness got the better out of him as they finally spoke...

The Past

 

 

Sugandha asked Jinesh to talk her friend as she curled herself on the other side of the bed holding a pillow. 

"Let me check with her and message you" replied Jinesh as he kept the phone down. He told Sungandha that she needed the PNR of their flight tickets to cancel. 

"Its in the sms, please send it to her na". "Yeah, I will if you could unlock your phone." he said. 

She gestures to hand over the phone to her and gives it back unlocking the phone. Jinesh forwards the text to her friend as he is laying next to Sugandha as she is trying to sleep.

As he was going to keep the phone next to her, a whatsapp message pops up which caught his attention.

Scrolling through her chat messages, he wondered if he knew Sugandha at all. The night became a bit longer for the sun to rise.

They had met through a common friend a year back. Jinesh never thought he could come across someone who would make him feel complete.Sugandha too felt the same for him. They decided to take it ahead formally as they decided to be together for the rest of their lives.

They both got engaged to be married in a few months. Life could not get any better from both of them.

Sugandha's parents had gone out of town, when she fell ill. With no one to take care, Jinesh decided to be there for her.

He looked at her sleeping and found himself unbearable to deal with what he came across.

All he could think of was did he knew Sugandha at all? Planning to marry her?

Jinesh kept her phone on her side and he moved to his side of the bed. Staring at the wall, all he could think about was the chats from the past.

He kept thinking if he should confront her or not or let past remain the past...

Ram Bharose

"What do you mean by names don't match? I have given you my pan card and adhar card that reflects my name only. I have given them across for other KYC & account opening. What do you mean by name is not matching? No one has ever come back to me once. How can you say name is not matching?" thundered John Alex Stalin on his cellphone.

The bank executive Ram Bharose listened to John and said "I know Sir but as per the new rules put in place. Your government photo id cards full names should match. Your middle name is not matching."

"What the fuck do you mean its not matching? My middle is written in both "Alex Stalin". Are you guys blind not to see? screamed John.

"Sir, I know. Your pan card mentions John Stalin but your adhar card states John Alex Stalin. There is a middle name mismatch." said Ram Bharose.

John shook his head, his hand touching his forehead as he walked up & down the hall "Arre Ram Bharose, woh pan card ke second line ka naam mere abba ka hain na!!" 

"Sir, nahi chalta na, usse first line hona chaiye tha, jaise apka Adhar card main hain. Aap naya pan card kyu nahi banate?"

By this time John is huffing & puffing down the hall unable "Ram Bharose". "Yes Sir". "Tu ek kaam kar woh jo application hain usse aag laga de, nahi toh ek kaam kar usse fadkar dust bin main daal de. Nahi kholna mujhe koi account" he thundered.

"Sir, aap to bura..." is what John got hear as he disconnected the call.

Leela appeared hearing his screams as John's cheeks went red with rage. "That fellow says aapka middle name galat hain. Bolta hain baap ka naam missing hain"

Hearing it Leela started laughing as she sat besides John in her attempt to try and console him.

Seeing her laugh he got more enraged and said "You find this funny? You see how I teach them a lesson. I will tweet this to their CEO on twitter. Phir dekhta hu kaise middle name mismatch dekhta hain"

"Why taking so much stress? Just give him na what he wants and khatam karo. Baat ko chewing gum ke tarah kheech ke kya kar loge"

"Leela, you don't understand. Somebody has to stand to their idiotic demands. Where is it written that full name should match in all government ids? ID main photo nahi dekhta kya?

"John, do you really think you can argue with fools? Tumko lagta hain isse desh badal jayega. I am telling you, just give them what they want and leave it" All John could do was fume at her.

Two days later as John & Leela were having their cup of tea, John received a call and the voice over the other end said "Sir, Ram Bharose bola raha hu. Apne twitter main complaint...."

Leela watched his expressions changed to rage as he cringed and listened. She asked him who it was and he loudly said "Ram Bharose!!!"

Tinder, Ok Cupid...

"I am tried of this finding a wife shit. I am starting to feel that matrimonial sites have fake profiles just to lure us into joining them." complained Nikhil.

"If things go like this, then we will only get Aunties for marriage" Wasim said as both the uncles laughed.

"I have now given up on the idea of getting married, I will live a single life, travel and do whatever I want to do. Maaja ne life jiva nu.(lead a happy life)  Nikhil said into his cellphone.

"What about old age? who is going to look after you? Family family hoti hain baki sab gair hote hain (Family is family, no one else is going to look after) taunted Waism.

"You mean to say that I should get married so that there is someone to take care of me in my old age? Bas yeh reason ke liye shaadi kar lu" (So I should get married for this reason) He asked as his voice grew louder followed by silence on the other end.

"Bas yehi bolna tha??" (This what you had to say) he asked Wasim again. Again there was no reply. "Hello, so gaya kya" (Hello, have you fallen asleep) Nikhil asked.

"Sex" the other voice said. Nikhil thought he heard wrong "Kya?" (What) he countered.

"Sex. men marry for sex. Woh bhi lifetime free." (Men marry for sex as its lifetime free) Hearing this Nikhil responded "Tu bola raha hain jo bhi aadmi shaadi karte hain, woh sirf aur sirf sex ke liye karte hain!!"(You mean to say guys only get married for sex) "Arre nahi rahin. Love marriage ho toh apne choice ki. Arrange ho toh jo mila so..." (No, If its love marriage, its your choice and in arrange marriage, one has to make do with what they get)

"Abe tu kya bol raha tujhe pata bhi hain kya" (Do you even know what you are talking about) he retorted. Wasim listened to him patiently and said "Tu samjah nahi re. Woh Bipasha ka movie dailogue hain na Yeh jism pyaar karna nahi jaanta. jaanta hai toh sirf jism ki bhookh. Woh yaad aagaya tha isliye bol diya" (You are not understanding. You rememer that Bipasha's movie dailogue. The body knows no love, it knows only hunger. Remembered that hence said it)

"Lekin zindagi main ek hum rahi ki zarorat toh sabko padti hain. Yeh baat aur hain ki hum usse parivar agae badana, bacche paida karneka naam dete hain. (Everyone needs a companion. Its a different matter that we say to do it in the name of carrying family name forward, to have kids..)

"Wah babaji wah. Aaj subah subah coffee ki jagah kuch aur toh nahi mari thi na?" laughingly Nikhil asked. (You are great Babaji. Instead of coffee, you did not had anything else right?)

"Tu meri sunta nahin hain. Mera saath rahega toh shikh lega" (You never listen to me. You will learn if you stay with me) said Wasim pulling his leg.

"Toh Wasim Baba, hum dono ki iss samasya ka koi upay hain?" (So Wasim Baba, do you have any solution for our problem?)

"Kuch nahi balak. Jo pryas tum shaadi.com aur jeevansaathi main kar rahe ho, wohi tumhe tinder, bumble, ok cupid aur market main ek naya app aaya hain uss pe karna hain. Safalta zaroor tumhari gale padegi" (You just keep doing what you are doing. You know have to do the same on dating apps like tinder, bumble, ok cupid and there is a new dating app you should try. Success will come to you) Wasim said and both had a hearty laugh.

That evening Nikhil was fiddling with his phone when he remembered his conversation with Wasim. He went to the play store downloaded the app, filled his details and tried his luck on it as he swiped left & right...

P.S.; This was suppose to come a week before Valentine but its never too late.

You can also shop at Amazon below for:

Valentines Cushion Cover
Romantic Love Cards
Swarovski Crystal Neckalce Titanic Blue
RED Hoodie with White Print: Faith Hope Love
Showpiece Couple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Big Boss Big Boss

Radhika was watching the whole fiasco as both Manoj & Rahul were arguing in the meeting. Atul, the manager who had called up the meeting was a mute spectator.

Seeing them fight gave her headaches, she wished if there was a mute mode like on the tv remote control she could activate. She did that every time Sidharth Shukla & Asim Riaz Choudhary started their non stop verbal duels.

Back in her mind, she was wondering who was Sidharth & Asim among the two of them. Even as they were been pacified by others and in midst of it Atul would speak out which would evoke no response. 

Somehow the meeting ended and as she moved towards her desk she felt Rahul was more of a Asim as he was aaraaraar damn irritating as Salman Khan would say in Big Boss season 13. He would constantly push everyone around to get his work done and would poke endlessly to make his point.

As she sat at her desk, Jyoti grabbed a chair near her and said "Aaj toh kuch zyada hi ho gaya, Atul sirf suno suno karta rahegya" "Chhod na Asim aise hi hamesha poke karte raheta hain" Radhika replied.

"Asim"?? Jyoti said looking at her amusingly. "I am talking about Rahul". "Yes, Rahul only. He reminds me of Asim from Big Boss". 

"Big Boss??" Jyoti questioned. "You dont watch it? this season is good. I am also watching it for the first time only". She said.

"Yaha pe apne masale sulajhte nahin aur tu big boss dekhte hain, wah wah" Jyoti laughed and went away. 'Masale', that is the word that Mahira Sharma would use in the show Radhika recollected.

As she deep dived into her work, her attention was again broken by the raised voice of Rahul. She could see Rahul poking Manoj at his desk while some choose to ignore, others tried to intervene.

She looked at them wondering who they would be, had they been on Big Boss. One by one she was able to relate them to the remaining contestants Paras Chhabra, Rashami Desai, Shenaz Kaur Gill, Mahira Sharma & Arti Singh. 

Manoj had to be the Sidharth Shukla as he was the one who would always have logical answers & would be there for this team.

Happy that she was able to find her big boss within her own department, she went back to her work. 

Minutes later, her eyes went wide as she thought of herself and the character she will play on the show and who would be Big Boss?

Realization dawned on her that she would be the "camera" as she would see everything but would only show what she wanted to. That is what happens when one is second in command.

"Atul has called us both in his cabin" Rahul said to Manoj as they both walked towards it. 

Hearing it Radhika smiled and got back to her work. The mystery of Big Boss stood resolved.

P.S. You can get

Upto 70% off on Beauty Products on Amazon
Upto 70% off on Handbags on Amazon
End of season sale starting from Rs.299 on Flipkart

Dreams Do Come True

Sudhir was taking a piss in his toilet with the door open. When a women in her mid thirties appeared in a black sari with red border, her hair open and a red big bindi on the forehead staring at him.

He turns around and there is no one. He thinks about it being weird and all and goes back to sleep.

The next night he gets woken up in middle of his sleep, seeing the women again standing in front of him, next to him sitting on top of him. This continues for a few nights.

He gets up in the middle of the night, looks around and there is nothing. It shook him so much that he dreaded to fall asleep.

His performance at work slumped, sleeping at work, low productivity to such an extent that he was told to take a few days off to get things in order.

Sudhir being an atheist, thought maybe taking a break was not a bad idea. Lying on his bed, he wondered about the women in his dreams, Was she a figment of imagination or did she really existed? He could not recall seeing her ever. Answers eluded him.

He switched off the lights of his room, hoping to catch up on his lost sleep. Though on the back of his mind the thoughts of the women in sari wont go away.

The next day people were coming in and out of his flat, as Sudhir's body was carried out into the ambulance. Police presence was there making inquires. 

Murmurs were heard that he probably passed away in his sleep. The landlord informing the police that over five years ago a women had died in a similar manner.

A colleague overheard the conversation to whom Sudhir had confided into about seeing the women. He wondered if only Sudhir had paid attention to his dreams from coming true.

Surrender: The Conclusion

Read the first part on this link

The sound of the water droplet falling on the base of the window was making its presence felt like a echo. Girish was sitting across Prasad in his cabin, when Prasad said "Mr. Kamat, as you are aware we dug the place you mentioned, we could not find the bodies as it was decomposed. We did though found belongings which helped identify their identities and corroborated it with their family members".

"Kamat Sir, why did you do it? Why come and confess after thirty years? You are in your seventies, you could have kept this as your secret and died peacefully as a good samaritan. We did a background check of yours and everyone only has good things to say about you. Why give up on all that? Prasad asked him as he looked at him trying to unravel the puzzle.

"I needed to answer myself. I am guilty of killing three people. I am sure their families must be looking for them. I needed closure and they did too". Kamat replied.

"Why kill them? They had paid for their crimes". Prasad asked him. "Not enough. When they tried to do it again." He replied "Again?" Prasad questioned. Girish replies in affirmative.

"Can you let me know what happened?". Girish took out this spectacles and moved his right hand fingers between his eyes and pressed his nose and removed them.

"Even post completing their jail term, they never got reformed. They began haunting my family. My wife, my kids and me. I did what an ordinary citizen would do, file a complaint with the police station and they would get away. Until they got to her. I knew I had to take things in my own hands now".

"My wife was a strong women, She rebuild herself from the tatters she was left with. She had been an independent women, a loving wife and a good mother. She was back into her shell, scared wondering if it was going to happen again. They almost got hold of her the other day but got saved from getting raped."

"I killed them and life has been a bliss thereafter especially my wife who recovered and died peacefully,seeing our children grown up, well settled. We were living happily in our own world and somehow found ourselves under this situation. What was I suppose to do, sit around and wait till they harm my family? I was not going to let it happen."

"One has to take matters into their own hands when the system fails to give you justice". Girish thundered. "Mr. Kamat, I can only sympathies with what you have gone through, but taking matters in your hand is certainly I wont recommend. I know the system failed you, but  that does not happen all the time." Prasad said trying to make his point.

Girish looked at him with stern eyes and said "Do you know about the infamous Priyadarshini Mattoo Case?" Prasad nodded yes. "You also must be knowing that his death sentence was converted to life sentence. Have you wondered about the girl who lost her life at the young age of 25. Don't you think she had her own aspirations? her family dreams for her. How do you think they would respond that the killer of their daughter is still alive, got married, had a child, becomes an advocate and it took 10 years to deliver justice. Numerous written complaints filed but yet the killer got away. Had the system worked, today she would have been alive instead of getting murdered and raped gruesomely".

Prasad was left speechless. He got up from his seat, moved towards Kamat and said "Sir, I know the system failed but we need to keep trying. Not everyone is a bad apple. I will have to arrest you for the crimes you committed and would be kept in jail till the court hearing comes up and gives its verdict" he said.

"You please do your job" Girish said. Prasad called out to Gaitonde to take Girish away. 

As Mr. Kamat was taken away from his cabin, Prasad looked at him wondering if justice has been truly served given the nature of the case. He moved towards the window and opened it as it stopped raining outside.

P.S. This short story is actually inspired by an old 2001 Sri Lankan movie Aswesuma story plot. I have only read about it, not seen yet it made me think...

Finally, I have some closure.

Surrender

It was raining incessantly. The old door made its creaking noise as it was pushed. The sound of the rains hitting the ground was loud enough to be heard inside the room. It was pitch dark outside as Inspector Prasad looked outside the window taking in the smell of the first rain.

"Sir. An old man wants to meets you" constable Gaitonde said. "Kay zala" (what happened?) he asked as he put his finger into his nose and starts to wiggle it.

"Me vicharla tyla pun toh sangto ki toh tumhala fakta sangel" (I asked him but he states that he will only talk to you) Gaitonde said. "Aat pathav tyla" (send him inside) Prasad chided.

Taking small steps a frail old man walks into Prasad's cabin wearing a cream shirt and trousers. Prasad signals him to have a seat as he walks back to his seat. Once seated into his chair, he look at the old man and said "Tell me, what can I do for you?"

"My name is Girish Kamat. I don't know how to say this or how will you take it but I have come here to confess". Prasad looked at his face thinking he was probably a nut case. He stretched his hands on the table and said "Sir, please don't hesitate, you can tell me. Go ahead".

He gave Prasad a pensive look and said "I have killed three people and want to surrender". Prasad looked at him and ask "When did the killings take place?

"Thirty years back". Prasad thought he heard wrong, "Sir, did you say thirty years back?". "Yes. I did" said Girish looking at him through his glasses. For a moment there was a silence as Prasad stared at Girish for a while and asked "What made you come here and confess this now?"

"My... My... wife Sudha. She passed away two days back" is all he could mutter as his eyes filled up with tears. "Sir, control. I can understand it might be a difficult phase for you. Let me see what I can do? he said.

"Gaitonde" he yelled pressing the bell ring. "Ho Saheb' (Yes Sir) he said as he entered the cabin. "You please note down everything Mr. Kamat tells you and make a note of his address and other details". "Sir, you please go with him & share the complete details with him". "Gaitonde, ekdha tujha kaam zalyawar mela bhet" (Once you are done with your report, come & meet me.).

Post an hour, Gaitonde enters Prasad's cabin as he is going through a file. "Saheb...Toh Kamat mala veda wattoh. Toh thees varsha purvi kelela khoonachi ghatna aata sangto hain. Assa kaun veda khoonachi confess karayla yeto?" (Sir, I feel thar Kamat is mad. He is talking about murders done thirty years ago and now wants to surrender!!).

"Mala mahit hain. Tyacha charana padla vathos hain. Tu bhag tyacha bolnyat kay thath hain kaha. Nahin ter tyacha parivaara bolvayla lagel" (I know, seems like a nut case. Check if there is any credibility to what he is stating or else we will call his family) Prasad said as he moved his hands behind his head and rocked his chair.


(to be continued....)

Memories

As people passed by, Pushpa kept ranting at them. Sitting on a bus stop with her grey hair neatly tied up, wearing an old used pink white punjabi suit. She kept talking to herself as she stared back into people who looked at her.

A little girl walking down the road with her mother saw Pushpa as their eyes met. "Mummy, who is she and why is she talking to herself.?" "Beta, woh pagal hain, aise logo se durr rahena chaiye" ("she is mad and one should keep away themselves from such person"). Her mother said as she passed by Pushpa.

Pushpa heard what the mother told the child. "Pagal nahi hu main. Pagal nahin hu main" (I am not mad. I am not mad) she kept mumbling away as she felt the hurt on the inside.

The only solace she could find was in her memories, the ones where she was surrounded by people whom she called her family...

The Touch

Maya kept looking at herself in the mirror looking at the 40 year old women with long hair wearing a sari.

She kept looking at her, wondering what he saw, when there were so many young girls he could choose from.

There was a knock on the door, Kaun hain (who is it?). One of her girls came in and said "Aap ka Deewana aaya hain. Aapke liye pooch raha tha" (your admirer is here & he is asking for you). "Usko bol agar khud ke salamati chata hain toh katle" (tell me if he does not want harm to come in his way then he should leave).

"Arre kyu itna gussa karte ho, aakhir pooch toh raha tha dekhi nahi isliye" (Why are you getting angry? He was asking for you only because he did not see you today). "Tu jaa yaha se" (you leave).

It was a few months back when Lalit visited her brothel with his friends. They were choosing from the girls standing in a line. I want her pointing at her when she mistakenly stood beside them talking on cellphone.

"She is the madam of the brothel, you choose someone else" the girl said. "Ok. If I want her, will she be available" He asked. "Are you mad. Stop wasting our time. Choose from the girls or leave"  He selected a girl and left with her.

From then on he would always come look at her, try to know and ended up with a random girl asking about her. He was warned, beaten up but still he would persist.

His pervasiveness got her attention. She later on came to know that he never slept with any of her girls every time he paid a visit.

One day she called him to her room. As he stood there in a corner, she looked at him and said "Tujhe mere saat soona hain?" (You want to sleep with me?). "Aisa nahi hain jaisa app samajh rahe ho" (Its not like what you think) he said. "Toh kya hain, mujshe shaadi karega, ghar basayega tujh jaise bahut londe aaye aur gaaye" (You want to marry me then, start a family? Many a guys like you have come and gone) she countered.

"Main un jaisa nahin ho. Aapko pasand karta hu" (I am not like them. I like you) He said looking into her eyes. She gave it a laugh and said  "Tu dhandewali ke paas aaya pyar dhoondne? (You came to a prostitute to find love?).

He stood there in silence. She walked towards the door, bolted it from the inside. Took his hand, walked towards the bed and then started removing his clothes as she made love to him.

"Chal nikal yaha se. Aur yeh le paise, maaza aagaya. (leave from here. Here take some money, I enjoyed it) as she threw the notes on him.

It had been a while, since she had felt the touch of a man...

Wedding Night

"Phew. Never thought I would get so tried on my own wedding day. That too we have not even started off" Ayush said as he made himself at home on his bed.

He got hit by the pillow. "You think you are the only one. What about me? I was the one carrying the jewellery and the zari saree. Not to forget the flowers on my head" said Sia.

"Who told you to do all that?" "Hello, I am going to get married only once and I need to look beautiful on my big day as she punched him on his shoulder as they both were having a laugh about it.

"Can I ask you something? I wanted to ask you for a sometime" Sia said as she laid beside him. "I hope you know that we both are married now and this cannot be undone" Ayush said with a mischievous smile.

"Do you remember the time when we met each other and after that, I told you that I am not a virgin  That did not bother you especially when you were one. Why did you said yes to me? she asked as she looked into his eyes looking for answers.

"Good for us na, at least one of us is experienced, you can teach me some moves" He said as she looked  at him. "Cut the crap. Tell me honestly."

"I will have you with me, besides me for the rest of my life. Should it bother me what you done in your past when I can be with you in your present & the future. He looked at her and then asked "Do you think I did the right thing?"

"Not bad! I think I did the right thing to marry you" she said as they both laughed again and soon Ayush moved on top of her and they both kissed as their eyes met.

She looked at the glass of milk kept on the bedside table, looked at him "You think you are ready to do it" "I am but not tonight we are both very tired." as he moved beside her.

"Did you just said no to sex? Are you even for real? She pinches him and he reacts with face turn red and she behaving coyly.

"You want me to give into the night for some custom. I wont" as he moved on top of her "I want to savor the moment when I make love to you he said looking deep into her eyes.

The lights went off as  he held her in his arms and they kissed each other.

Time To Come

Coming backing to his home from his evening walk, 80 year old Mohan makes himself comfortable in his reclining chair reading Malgudi Days. Photos of his family hanging on the wall with children settled abroad.

Post having his dinner, Mohan receives a call on his landline and he says 'Ab toh jab bulwa ayega tab jayege. Roz maara toh routine ho gayi hain. Baache sab settle ho gaye hain aur kya chaiye. Theek hain zaroor". "Good night" he said and walked to his room post turning the lights out for sleep.

 His eyes wide opened as he looks at the empty other half side of the bed. As he closed his eyes he was waiting for his time to open them on the other side.

I Like You

Rahil was listening her speak on the other side of the phone as he was gathering courage telling Deepa about something that was bothering him.

His heart beat got faster as he paced up and down. As the voice felt silent on the other end, he blurted out “I like you. I like spending time with you”.

She too reciprocated his feelings. Later she told him that her family was in talks for her marriage. He almost stopped telling her he would like to marry her but held himself back.

Silence had crept in as he struggled to get the words out of his mouth. While she wondered on the other end by asking “what happened”.

The awkwardness of the situation went away as they talked it out.

As Rahil kept the phone down he wondered about circumstances being different.

All he could think about was letting her know about his feelings but he knew deep down probably it was best to keep things as it is instead of putting a yes or no question to their relationship.

Meanwhile, Deepa laid on her bed and the thought of him holding himself back intrigued her.

The Daughter's Cluprit

Suraj ran on the empty streets at the light of the dawn when he found himself breathing heavily by the thoughts that were making a run in his mind.

He found himself a place to sit as the thoughts overran him with his jogging.

Breathing heavily, all he could see was his past in front of his eyes that caught up with him in the present and found it difficult to run away from.

It felt like yesterday, when he was watching the movie on his television along with his wife when his 20 year old daughter Anya stood in front of them saying she had something to say.

It shook the very ground beneath them as they listened to her talk and tears made their way through her eyes and she burst into a cry.

His wife Shaila took hold of situation as she consoled Anya. Suraj found himself numb hearing words her daughter say that she was pregnant.

That night turned out to be the longest night as his mind was filled with thoughts to handle the current situation. He could not believe that his little princess had grown up to carry a child within as he saw playing with her as a little child smiling and giggling.

He searched for the guy who did this to his princess and found that the guy wanted to sleep with her and when she got pregnant, he wanted to abort the child.

Suraj stood in front of the boy's home enraged with anger, eyes shot up. The door was opened by a lady who seemed familiar and he realized that it was none other than Binal.

Binal recognized him and as they spoke the anger disappear into a whiff. He left without telling her the truth behind his visit.

How could he when he was the one who had impregnated her during their college days and got the child aborted. It was as if fate was playing cruel joke on him.

He reminisced his past when he was a playboy sleeping with scores of women making them think that he will marry them but never did. Binal was one of them and the one he got knocked up. He remembered his relief when he was able to convince her for abortion without her parent’s knowledge.

Suraj was aghast to know that her son did this to her daughter. All he could think of not letting his family know about his past.

Anya was taken to the hospital for abortion along with Shaila, she asked for his forgiveness as she held his shoulder. He hugged her and said to her "It’s not your fault".

As she was been taken away he felt as if he was his daughter's culprit.

The Affair

Vijay caressed Chitra’s body all over as she felt the sensation of his touch that made her breathless and scream.

He looked at her as their eyes met and lips locked as they embraced and lost each other in the eternal time.

As their act got over, she turned her back on him. He looked at her back and pretty face and then made a move to be on top of her and asked “Why can’t we be together for the rest of our lives? You know I love you”.

“Is this not enough?” she asked as she wrapped her arms and legs around his body and kissed him.

“No” he replied. “I want you to be my wife” Chitra moved him away as she got up, started getting dressed and said “You know it’s not going to happen”.

“Why can’t you leave your husband and come to me with your kids? You know I have not got married for you” “Maybe you should then she replied as she draped her saree looking in the mirror.

“What about you?” A naked Vijay asked as he got up. “That’s up to you. We can continue like this or…..” Chitra replied as she adjusted her saree.

“We can. You know I cannot live without you” he replied looking at her through the mirror and planted a kiss on her neck and embraced her tightly from behind as they both smiled…

Rain Drops

Rajan rolled down his car window as it came to a halt at the traffic signal. The wind gushed across his face as raindrops touched his face. 

His car engine roared into action as the signal turned green and cruise the empty roads in the night. He reminisced about the night when he and Madhu were together on such a night.

They were into each other arms, kissing even as the taxi they were in kept moving Their passion kept them oblivion to the outside world as they kept looking into each other and whispered “I love you”.

When the time came to depart, he held her palm as she made her way outside the car. Their eyes showed their desire to be together but they went their separate ways. It was a night Rajan knew he will never forget.

As he parked his car he looked at Madhu sitting next to him who had fallen asleep during their journey.

He looked at her for a while, leaned towards her and kissed her on the lips that woke her up. 

“What was that for?” she asked him. He said “We are home” he said and got out of the car with a smile on his face.

The Perfect Crime — IV

Rock music was blaring through the speakers when the doorbell rang. A man in his white shorts and black t-shirt opened the door to find police standing outside. “Sumit Sadh stays here? The inspector asks as and as the guy nodded his head, he informed him to open the door.

They walked towards the room from where the music was coming to find him smoking in the balcony with a glass of vodka kept on the side table and sitting on wooded chair watching the outside view.

The silence of music caught his attention and as he turned over he found them standing next to him. “You are under arrest; you will have to come with us. Constable, handcuff him” the inspector ordered “You cannot do this. Let me know what I have done wrong” he screamed and reasoned with them but they took him along.

Sumit was sitting on the chair in front of Sushil’s desk waiting for his arrival as a constable nearby kept watched over him. Moments after, Sushil walked inside and said “Hello, Mr. Sumit, how are you?” as he sat on his chair.

Sumit looked furious and said “Why am I being arrested. Can you let me know? I have already informed you that I have not done anything”. Sushil looked at him and said “Are you being honest with me. You really don’t know why you are here. Do you really want me to tell you why you are here? 

Their eyes glared into each other as Sumit looked at Sushil and said “Yes I want to know”.

“Okay, so you want to have it this way then so be it” said Sushil as he got up. “You might remember, we had called you for questioning for the murder of Chaitra Raghavan, don’t you?” Sushil looked at him as he leaned over the desk and Sumit nodded his head.

“We got you under arrest for killing Chaitra Raghavan”. “What proof do you have that I have killed her?” asked Sumit. “I knew you were going to ask that, so evidence number one you knew Chaitra and we have your friend’s statement to corroborate it.

“That does not prove that I killed her”. “I know. I am going to present evidence number two. We have text messages to prove that you were in touch with her and that you had spoken to her on the day she was murdered”. He looked at him and asked him “So you still believe that you are innocent or I should provide more evidence to you”

Sumit kept quiet as he looked other way moving his gaze from Sushil. “You still think that we do not have enough proof to nail you” he said as he walked away from him. “We know that you were blackmailing her” He turned his chair around looked him into his eyes and asked “Do you still say that you did not killed her?” he paused and said, “Come on answer me. Answer me, dam it” as he raised his voice.

Silence crept in as tension got built up in the room with Sumit looking down as Sushil waited for a response.

“Yes I killed her”. Sumit said slowly as he moved his head up and looked towards Sushil. “She was going to tell Milind everything and I did not want that to happen. I killed her by putting poison in her tea”.

“You did not want the money to stop coming through her. Am I right?” Sushil thundered as Sumit nodded his head and said yes.

“Take him to the cell”. He said to the constable standing in the room. As Sumit was taken away, Constable Shankar announced the arrival of Milind. 

“Bring him in”. Sushil apprised him of the events that unfolded and that led them to Sumit Sadh, killer of Chaitra. “The vital clue was provided by the landlord who confirmed to see her and overheard about talking about pictures” “Photos? Which photos? Asked a puzzled Milind.

Sushil face got grim as he looked over at Milind and said “He had shot obscene photos of her during their college days and was blackmailing her”. Taken aback, he moved back and said “She never told me of any such thing about blackmailing. Was she in a relationship with her and he made use of her? He asked.

“We still have pieces of evidence to tie up together and at this moment we cannot be certain if she was aware or unconscious when the photos were taken. We have arrested him and will make sure that he does not see the sunlight for a very long time”.

As Milind thanked him and left, Constable Shankar asked Sushil “Sir, how did you know which Sumit Sadh was the killer as they both knew her”. “That was not very hard once it came down to two individuals. We just needed to find out their whereabouts when Chaitra was murdered and everything fitted. The phone details also helped. That nailed our guy in glasses. 

“Remember one thing, there is nothing like a perfect crime” Sushil said as he gave a spin to the paper weight and it keep on spinning.

The Perfect Crime — III

Inspector Sushil was sitting at his desk having his morning tea when he heard an old man approaching him with anger and asking him “How could you let him go? He killed my only daughter. How could you let him go? I need an explanation thundered the man as Sushant stood beside him and as Sushil looked towards him, he said “I tried to stop him, but he would not listen” displaying his helplessness.

“Sir, please have a seat” Sushil gestured politely through his hand. As the old man in his checks shirt and trousers took a seat adjusting his glasses. “May I ask who you are and whom you are talking about? He asked him.

“Myself, Vishnu Iyer and I am the bereaved father of Chaitra who was killed by Milind and you let him go knowing that he stabbed her with the knife three times!!” He thundered as Sushil looked at him.

“Sir, please calm down. I know that you are upset thinking we let your daughter’s killer go away but that’s not the case.” “Your daughter had died before he could kill her as per the forensics reports. He was not at home at that moment and we have witnesses and proof that corroborate that”

“Are you trying to say that my daughter killed herself?” he questioned him. “It does look that way but we are not ruling out murder as we could find any evidence of the poison in the house. The watchman of the society also confirmed that he had seen Chaitra going out and then coming back to her home. CCTV footage of the building also confirms it. We checked all the house items for poison and did not find any. In fact when we checked the house, there was no sign of food being prepared”

Tears had filled up in Mr. Iyer’s eyes as he looked towards Sushil and he offered him solace before leaving him outside the police station.

Milind was taking out clothes of Chaitra from her cupboard and putting it in the suitcase as was informed to him by her father to give away all that belonged to her to them.

He noticed the drawers and opened one of them to find it full of accessories to her clothes. There was another drawer wherein he found a dairy.

He found the letters that he had written during their courtship days which took him down the memory lane as he recalled the times of their blissful relationship. As he moved to keep it back in its place, the dairy slipped through his fingers and fell on the ground.

As he picked up the dairy, he noticed the scribbling of mobile number along with date mentioned against it which was a recent one

Chaitra had an unusual habit of writing down dates against anything she wrote so that it gave her a recollection of what it was intended for when she used to forget.

Milind dialed the number but he received the message that the number is out of service. He wondered to whom the number could have belonged and if it could have any connection to her death.

He called up Suhil and informed him about the mobile number scribbled in her dairy. Sushil made a note of it and informed he will get back to him.

Few days later Milind was informed to visit the police station. Sushil greeted him as he approached his desk and he gestured him to have a seat.

“We did a check on the mobile number provided and found that the number was registered under the name of Sumit Sadh but the residential address provided turned out to be fake. So do you know any one named Sumit Sadh? He asked Milind as he looked on.

The name did not ring a bell in his mind. “I don’t know it could be Chaitra’s friend, but I have never heard the name before”. “Not a problem. We are checking with her office, family and friends, I would suggest you also do and if you know her online accounts like Facebook then provide us the login details to check for details”.

“Yes, I will. I don’t remember her login details but the login details are saved in our browser. I’ll message them to you once I am at home”

Milind was looking at his laptop monitor screen as the webpage of the social network loaded. The autofill dropdown list provided him with her login details and as for the password they used to keep common passwords just in case. 

He tried the password and it worked. He went to the friend’s list and put up the name Sumit Sadh but there was no name reflecting. He tried putting the first name and then the last name but the result remained the same.

He tried other sites too but the result remained the same. He decided to get in touch with her friends from her school, college and at office but they were of no help. No one could recollect the name not even her closest friends.

Inspector Sushil also did his bit and was unable to find anyone who knew Sumit Sadh. The case had come to a dead end.

Sitting at his chair, Sushil was sipping his tea when the constable came in and said “Sir, this is Vivek Nair. Dressed in formal trousers with glasses over his eyes he moved forward to shake hands with Sushil and sat down.

Sushil explained Vivek, a computer hacker with skills about the mystery surrounding Chaitra’s death and informed him that they were unable to trace the person online and required his technical expertise to do so. “Would you be able to help if she knew anyone by that name online” asked Sushil.

“Surely we would, provided you have her login details of various social sites. I can run a check on her list of friends and their friends to check if anyone knew him and that way we would be able to know if they were directly linked to her or she came to know him through common friends”

“How long would it take to find out?” “Give me a couple of days, as I will have to do create an application to do the search. You share with me her login ids and I will let you know”.

A few days later, Milind was summoned to the police station. Vivek was already there with Sushil as he joined them in the midst of their conversation.

“Have a seat, Milind. We were discussing about the results that Vivek has filtered out”. “Have we got the killer?” Milind asked anxiously. “Not yet but we have narrowed down the suspects. Vivek, if you could explain”.

“As per the login details that you shared, I created a crawl search that would check for two attributes that in this case would be the first name and the last name. It will check for social network friends and then search if their friends list includes the name. That way we will come to know if she knew anyone by that name through common friends”

Both Vivek and Sushil were trying to read Milind when he asked “Any luck then….” Vivek looked at Sushil who nodded his head and then he said “The search has narrowed down four names that needs to be looked into”. “We need to have them checked. Meanwhile we decided to show you the list first in case if you know any of them” Sushil said looking towards Vivek. Vivek showed Milind the profile and photos on his laptop. “You think, you know any of them?” Sushil asked.

“No. I have not seen them” Milind retorted. Sushil gave a grim look and said “That put us in a tight spot as we were hoping that you will be able to identify at least one of them that would lead us to the killer”

“I would have if I had seen them but never saw them once” Milind replied even as Sushil looked at him taking a note of his response. As Milind looked at Sushil, he looked back moved back on his chair and said “I guess we will have to then question her friends. Thank you for your time. You can leave”

Vivek saw Milind leave and then turned towards Sushil and asked “Do you really think that he is not the killer?” He looked at him and said “In our profession, everyone is a suspect, till we find the culprit”.

“Yes, he used to live here but a few months back he left as we gave the place to rent to another family” said the moustache bald guy who looked at the photo shown by the constable. “Do you know where he stays now?” he asked. “No, he was living with a friend but never gave the address but I do have his number you can check with him. The constable made a note of the mobile number read out by the landlord reading out through his handset.

He called up Sushil “Sir, Constable Shankar here. I have checked with the landlord with regard to the details of Sumit Sadh. He does not live here anymore but he has his number which he has given to me.” “Good job, sms the number to me” Sushil said and hung up the phone.

Sushil looked at the two details of  Sumit Sadh kept on his table and kept spinning the paper weight in his fingers as he wondered who the real culprit would be.

“Can you please let me know why I was asked to come down here?” a guy in spectacles in a blue shirt asks the constable as he sat on one of the side benches inside the police station. “Wait for sir to call you” the constable said and went away.

A short guy with a protruding belly walked in wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. He had a word with the constable nearby and was guided towards the man sitting on the bench. As he approached, the other guy sitting watched him coming over and sits next to him. 

He looked here and there for a while and saw the guy in spectacles next to him. “You are here to file a complaint?” he asked. “No” he replied. “What are you doing then?” he queried as he kept shaking his left leg. “I was summoned here but don’t know why.” “Me too” pat came the reply. “I am Sumit Sadh” sad the guy in spectacles as he move his hand to shake hands. The short gut stared into him and said “my name is also sumit sadh as he slowly moved his hand to meet him mid-way.

Time had come to a standstill as they both wondered if they were there for the same reason. One by one, they both went in Sushil’s cabin and came out after spending quite a time inside.

Constable Shanker stepped inside his cabin and said “Sir, this file of the theft case that you wanted” as he handed over the file. As Sushil looked into the file, Shanker said “Sir, who do you think is the killer among the two?”

“They both say they don’t know her but every killer makes a mistake and we just need to find that. If they did not make any then they will now” replied Sushil as he looked over Shanker.

The Perfect Crime — II

Milind looked at him puzzled asked “How is that possible? She was sleeping, when I entered the room, I put the pillow on her face and then stabbed on her stomach”

“As per the post mortem results that we have received, she was already dead by almost two hours and that she died of poisoning. Which again could be a case of suicide or someone might have killed her. Do you think, if there was anyone else who could have done it?

Sushil looked at him as he appeared lost in his thoughts. “Do you Milind?” he said that got his attention. “What about the man who was having affair with her? Did you find him?”

“No. We have not found anything that would suggest that she was seeing someone. We checked with her friends, office and we also searched for fingerprints at your home, but there were none apart from yours and Chaitra. So there could be a possibility that she was not having any affair” slowly said Sushil as he watched the facial movement of Milind.

After a silence, Milind said “she was having an affair. I know, I have seen her speaking suspiciously. Telling me that she was going to her mother’s house but wouldn’t be there. There have been several such instances wherein things did not add up. 

“One day I checked her phone when she was taking a bath and she had a message that would tell her where to meet. There were messages which looked like were sent by one who was having an affair with her. Did you check her phone?

“Yes we did but we did not find any such records which looked suspicious” “What about her other number? Did you check that too? He asked.

Puzzled Sushil asked him “which other number?” “She had two numbers. One personal and other official number” Milind replied. “We found only one mobile number and it’s this one” Sushil said as he showed the number saved on his handset.

“It’s the other one; she had said it was an official number which she used for incoming calls. She had a dual sim handset, you will find the sim card in it and then you can probably find the person too”

“Okay, we will look into it. The other thing that I wanted to say to you is that we are letting you go since the evidence states that she had died before your attempt to kill her”.

Milind looked at Sushil for a while and then said “Who killed her then, are we not going to find that out?” “We will. We will also require your help in resolving the case”. He got up, shake hands as he ushered him outside until the constable took hold of Milind.

Inspector Sushant entered the room as Milind left and said “Sir, do you really believe that he did not kill his wife?” “Well, only time will tell. We just need to wait and watch till he makes a mistake. After all no crime is perfect” Sushil said as he got up and both walked out of the room.

Been released from the jail, Milind entered his home which remain untouched in his absence finding everything in its place as it emanated strong smell of being kept closed.

He opened the windows, moved away the curtains as the light of the moon entered his home. He went inside his bedroom and sat on the very bed in which he killed his wife.

He looked lost in thoughts as his body appeared numb for a while and then he got up to take a bath. As the sprinkler hit his face with water, he could feel the rush of the water but that did not stopped the thoughts that lingered over his mind. The happy memories of Chaitra would come to his mind.

Why, why would she fall in love with another man, was I not taking good care of her was the question that was wielded into his heart as a knife. Tears stared flowing through his eyes even as the water splashed his face.

He came out, wore a t-shirt and shorts and called up his mother to inform her that he was released and at home. “Do you want me to come? I don’t think you should stay alone.” His mother said. He pacified her and said he would manage and kept the phone as he lied on the bed.