My Dad My Hero

“Papa, I want you to show something” Shantanu said as his tiny hands tried to hide it behind his back. 

Chintan looked at his innocent face and asked “What is it beta?” A sheet of paper came out of his back as he handed over to him to look at it.

It was the drawing of Chintan flexing his muscles while young Shantanu stands away from him with a big smile and saying “My Dad My Hero” in big lettered words.

Joy showed up on his face even as Shantanu looked at him and asked “Do you like it?” He took him on his arm and said “I love it” as he kissed him on his forehead.

“Dad, you pay the man his money back”. “I don’t like any one screaming at you”. He watched his son speak and moved his hand across his hair and hugged him tight. “Yes I will. I will pay him back”.

Earlier in the day, Shantanu was playing with his friends in the compound when they heard the commotion of a man screaming.

They went to investigate the noise and found one of the men accompanying Shantanu’s dad screaming at him.

“I want it back. I do not want any excuses. Next time I won’t be alone, there will be more people and I will beat the shit out of you” he yelled at the top of his voice.

Shantanu watched the whole fiasco and hid behind the tall child as his father looked at their direction, stood there for a moment and then walked inside.

That night as Chintan put Shantanu to sleep; he could not help getting touched by his kid’s gesture. He vowed to himself that he would become the hero he wanted him to be.

Indifference

It was a lazy Sunday for Subhash who got up late in the morning after Vaishali’s constant nagging to get up. He opened the main door to pick up the newspaper lying there.

As he started reading the headlines, one got his attention. The headline “Man killed in preventing robbery” caught his attention. He feared if what he was thinking was true. His wife Vaishali sat beside him with the tray carrying cup of tea for both of them.

Seeing his colorless face, she asked “what happened? why do you look so pale, has something bad taken place?”.

Keeping his newspaper aside he took a sip from his tea. He did not know how to begin, but he had to tell her. “You know last night Mrs Motwani’s chain was robbed by two thugs on a bike” “You are talking about that thick, long gold chain that she keeps wearing all the time”. She asked “yes that was it” he replied. “How did you come to know about that?” She enquired.

“I happened to meet her while coming home and it took place right after I left her” “Did something else happen too? You look worried”, she said wondering what was troubling him. 

“A man got killed it’s in the papers” he said showing her the newsprint.  She took the paper in her hands and started reading it. After a few minutes, she pulled her head out of papers and said “it says that the woman who was robbed ran away and there was no witness who was coming forward to report the same” “Yes, as the man got stabbed, she ran away in an auto” he said. “How can someone be so insensitive? The least she could do was to help him; after all he was trying to help her”. She said getting enraged. “Did you do try to save him?” expecting him to reply.

“I could not, by the time I reached near his body, crowd had gathered and he was already dead. No was willing to take him to a hospital or else he could have been saved” he replied somewhat dishearten. 

“These are bad times we are living in today; nobody comes forward to help others due to fear of legal hassles. Nobody does anything unless it happens to them” she said sadly. The reaction was expected from her as being a social activist, seeing people’s apathy infuriated her to no end.

The phone began ringing when Subhash was taking a short nap in the afternoon. After picking up the receiver, Subhash kept listening and said yes. He soon kept it down and made another call. He asked the caller to call out Vaishali and had exchanged a few words with her. She was away at a neighbor’s house where all the ladies of the building had gathered for a get-together. Soon after, Vaishali was back at home. 

“What happened, I was having such a good time”. She said keep her head on his shoulder. “I got a call from the police station” he said to her. “They have told me to come down there for an inquiry regarding the incident”. “How did they come to know you were there?” she asked shockingly.

“I don’t know about that, will come to know once I go there”. “Can I also come with you?” she asked? “No, I’ll manage it, I might come late don’t know how long this would take”.

The police station was a stone throw away from Subhash house. As he entered the police station, he could sense a strange kind of silence in there, which made him wary.

He was told to wait till the sub-inspector comes in. The sub-inspector came in after some time. He asked the constable who gave him a file for approval. “Saheb, we had him called for inquiry in the M.G. road robbery case” pointing his hand towards Subhash. “Okay” came the reply. 

“I am sub-inspector Omkar Patil” he said moving his hand forward, Subhash reciprocated his gesture. “We came to know that you were present when the victim Rajiv Sharma got killed while preventing the robbery on Saturday evening on M.G. road” he said looking straight into his eyes.

“Yes I was there” Subhash said not knowing what to expect. “Here is the visiting card that we found on the scene of crime”. He took the card from the sub-inspector’s hand and then realized it was the same card that he had given to Mrs. Motwani. 

“Are the robbers caught?” he asked as curiosity got to him. Omkar gave him a glance and said “they will be if people come forward and let us know who they were and how they look”.

“Anyways, you tell me in detail what you saw that evening”. Subhash told everything he knew. “Can you tell me something about how they look?” He remembered the face of the person riding the bike as he had wore a headband and told the police about the same. 

“That’s great”. Omkar said with a smile. “We will call you again and have a sketch drawn with the help of our artist and if need be we will also call you up to identify the accused”. Subhash was okay with that as he felt he should be fulfilling his social obligation. “Also if we do catch him, you will have to testify in the court as you are the sole witness in the case” said Omkar who kept staring at him, expecting a reply from him. 

Lone witness!!! Subhash had found himself caught off-guard when he heard about that. “Sole witness, there were so many people there, did no one came forward?” he asked.

“Nobody likes to be involved in these things, as they think the system would make their life miserable. They turn a blind eye to incidents like these and then if the police are not able to find the accused they blame it on our sluggishness”.

“If people like you come forward to help us catch the thugs, we would more than happy to see them behind the bars” said the sub-inspector who seemed to be venting out his ire on public’s apathy. Subhash understood his plight and then made his way back home.

“How did everything go?” Vaishali asked him as she gave him a glass of water. “It was okay, I might be called again to draw a sketch of the robbers and probably to identify him” he said. 

It turned out to be a quiet a day for Subhash who switched on the television to divert his attention. The news channel flashed the news how a man who tried to save a women got killed in the process of preventing it. 

It caught his attention and he increased the volume to listen. The image on the screen moved in to show the crying wife of Rajiv Sharma who was inconsolable. The reporter told how the family that includes his wife and six-month old baby and an old mother to look after lost their only bread winner of the family. A tragedy had taken place and it would take time to overcome it. They don’t know what the future hold for them?

The public’s apathy was very discomforting as hardly anyone came forward to provide information about the incident. The lady whom the victim was trying to save from getting robbed is refusing to say anything on it and has not filed any complaint. 

Tells a lot about the kind of society we live in today. A society without conscience. That was the parting shot of the reporter.

The whole incident had left Subhash shaken. 

Here was a man who was trying to do something right, and here we are trying to disassociate ourselves from being a part of it. Was this a wake-up call, to fulfill our duties as a humanitarian and listen to our inner voice? Only time will tell, as he penned these thoughts in his dairy and switched the lights off.

Cougar Love

“Think about it” said Anita as she left Sushma alone to ponder.

The past two days as she went about her morning walks, her eyes were in search of someone desperately and were not like her normal morning walks.

Sitting in her office, her mind kept overworking about absence of Neel during his morning walks. She wondered if he too got the drift about what was going around and decided it’s best to end this relationship. All kind of thoughts kept coming even as she kept staring at the mails that awaited her reply.

They had met during their morning walks when she had sprained her leg and he helped her. One thing led to another and they became good friends who would end up having long conversations. As they lived nearby, they would often provide each other company in one another’s house.

Everything was going fine, until one day on her routine morning walk, she heard another walker telling her friend about how she was trapping the good looking young Neel in her love trap.

Her world had come shattering down when she heard about the gossip that going around about her and Neel, all of which made her wondered about her relationship with Neel.

She considered him a good friend and enjoyed her time with him and would miss him when there were days they did not spoke.

Her mind raced into the past looking for clues to know if there was more to their friendship. Lost in her thoughts she stood in front of the mirror going through minute details of her looks and figure as she imagined Neel besides her.

“Love can happen at any age, it does not see who it falls in love with” said Anita to her whom she had confided about the rumors going on and about her feelings.

“Age is not an issue as long as you both know that you are in love and this what you wanted”. However she also warned her that our society has not matured enough to accept the thought of an older women falling in love with man younger to her. “Think about it” she said and left.

That evening, even as the television played out in front of her, she stood lost in her thoughts when the ringing of her mobile and flashing of Neel’s name on the screen got her attention.

He informed her that he had to go on a sudden business trip and hence his disappearance. As they chirped along lost in their conversations, she decided to keeping her feelings wrapped until the right moment came along…

Memories

The thought of you makes me despair
weakens my knees as I wish things to go back to as it was earlier

It’s easier said than can be done now
knowing that we have treaded on to different paths that does not seem to meet.

It’s the memories that still keep us alive
the way it used to be between us

That keeps me going every day
even as your absence haunts me

I await for the time to heal the wound and
to make the memory of you as a distant past
even as the memories of us will remain etched forever in our hearts.

The Crooked Straight Story

As Suraj woke up from his Sunday evening nap, the first thing that his hand searched on his bet was his mobile. His hand scrambled all over the area it could reach but the mobile was not to be found.

He opened his eyes and looked around in search of his handset in vain. He got up from his bed and then came out in the hall. He found his handset lying on the center table and his dad sitting on the couch.

“I want to talk to you” his father said as he made his move to pick his handset. He made his gesture to sit down to the chair in front of him. As Suraj made himself comfortable, inside his mind his thoughts worried what it could lead to.

“What’s going around these days with your life?” his dad asked as his mother brought a cup of tea for him. “Good” he replied. “Is there something that you might want to talk to us?” he asked as he took a sip from the tea.

Confused not sure what it was leading to, he replied “Nothing Dad”. “Are you sure?, do you want talk about the girls in your life, or wanting to get settled down. Should we start searching for a girl for you?”

Suraj looked at his dad’s face and then his mom's which appeared grim realizing that something was amiss here “What happened das, why talks of marriage all of a sudden?”

“Can you tell me who is Vishal?” his father asked. “He is one of my friends” “Then why does his message says “I love a lot Suraj, missing you and you too replied you are missing him. What is that supposed to mean? Are you gay? His father countered him.

The barrage of questions hit him hard and took time to reply. “Dad, you went through my messages, why?” “I was not going to, your phone was ringing, as I was going to pick it up the call ended and read the message “that I need you Suraj in my life, cannot live without you”. I would have more than happy if it were from a girl but from a boy? He said and stopped.

“Please speak up, please tell that this is not true. I know you like girls. Please tell” his mother pleaded with him. “Dad, its not like that, you are getting it wrong” he said and got up and “I am not gay”. His mother seemed pleased with his answer.

“If that is so then why is Vishal expressing his love for you? Is he gay and hitting on you? Has he been taking advantage of you? Answer me” his father thundered.

“There is nothing like that. I am not gay and he is not gay” “Then what are these love messages about? You think we are fool who don’t’ understand anything? Call him right now and put the phone in speaker mode and ask him about the same. Do it”

“I can’t” he replied expressing his helplessness. His parents looked at him amused “Why not” his mother asked as she came closer to her. The tenth of a second silence made them more anxious.

“He is not a guy” Suraj said. “What” his mother shrieked, his father trying to come to terms to what he just heard. “Vishal is a girl and her real name is Vaishali. I put her name as Vishal so that no one knows about us seeing each other”

As he looked on to his parents both were dumb founded and they looked at each other and started laughing….. 

Blind Love

It was a wrong number that led them to know each other as they spend hours of day's and night talking to each other.

They had their common interest and zeal for life. Each wondered about the other person physicality or if they decided to meet face to face what would be the reaction. Would they like each other or hate that they wont talk to each other. The possibility of falling in love was always there more than things going any other way.

The day came when they decided to meet each other. The guy asked the girl to share her picture so that he could identify her. She refused said we will identify each other by our clothes and can meet as we have each other cell numbers. The guy thought there might be a problem with the girl, all kinds of thoughts came into his mind.

As the D-day came closer, he only wished that everything turns out fine.

They decided to meet at the a railway station wherein she was going to wear black t-shirt and he would don a white one. They both landed and began searching for each other.

Called up each other and gave direction which led them to meet in the real world. This was their first meeting.

After the first meeting, there was a silence for a number of days as they both did not exchanged words between them.

It reminded of the meeting at the station where they both bumped into each other for the first time the gal with the dusky complexion and the guy, fair and tall. It was like they were meeting for the first time with all those long conversation they had erased from their minds as they decided to visit a nearby cafe.

It took a sip of coffee, snacks and conversation that brought them alive again. As they bid good bye their minds running towards evaluating each other and the compatibility.

Love meant everything for one of them and for the other it was a friendship that meant more and could lead to love in the future.

Time came to a standstill as they took their own time to know what they want until one of them decided they were ready to catch up with each other again.

Finally Free

Free is what he felt as he looked at the ceiling and smiled.

His whole life flashed before him as he saw the traces of his failures to get back up on the ground and live a normal life and find an acceptance within the society.

As his vision became blurred, he could only reminisce the good times he had and the regret that he let his family down.

The only thing he felt was the release of his soul from his mortal body as his eyes saw the world for the last time, even as drops of blood dripped on the ground from his wrist.

Lying beside him was his goodbye note stating that he tried hard to feel that he felt belonged but did not and so bid adieu to the world……..

Love Happens, Errr Make It Happen

Ravi knew he had the hots for her when he saw her the first time but never did he brought his feelings for her out in the open. His eyes would look at her now and then.

Somehow instead of making a move, he shied away from accepting his feelings even though she would be the one sitting right in front on him and he was not good at hiding them.

His eyes would move, every time she makes a move, and there were times when they both found looking at each other. He wondered if she knew about it as he thought women were intuitive on such things.

Then there was the day when she was walking behind his back and turned around and looked towards him,  their eyes met and she smiled. He wondered if this was a sign or was the idea of falling in love was taking over his mind.

Still he did not made a move as he thought they were poles apart and instead left it in the hands of fate, if it was meant to be it will. Every day from there on he watched her from a distance then be with her in her arms....

P.S. They say Love Happens, but I think there are times when one needs to make it happen instead of waiting it to happen. What do you think?

Anger

His nostrils flared out the heavy air outside as his eyes shot up with fury. Inside there was the volcano of emotions waiting to erupt but on the outside it was kept on hold, no matter what he felt inside he could not let it out as the fire would have engulfed him too.

His face apparently said it all what he was trying hard to hide. In the end it was indecisiveness that let to the anger to subside wondering what would have happen had if the fire was let loose on the outside.

P.S: This is very different from what I normally write in fiction, so your feedback will be appreciated :))

Calling Her

Varun looked at the number in his cell phone and wondered if he should call her up. It was almost 3 years that they knew each another and had recently exchanged numbers in the hope of talking to each other.

He knew her for such a long time as an online friend that he forgot how they had become friends. He remembered everything what she liked, disliked and secretly wished to fall in love with her.

Staring at her number, he wondered what it would be like to connect with her in real life rather than living in the fantasy world where she was the princess of his dreams and he her knight in armor.

The thought of making the contact had him in jitters. He knew he would love to meet her in person and relive his dream but was afraid of his dream being broken into pieces. What if they were not as good as they wanted to be, what if they did not liked each other as they thought they would have?

He looked at the number and asked himself should he take that chance or live the dream that he has been living on happily?

He looked at the number and pressed the dial button not knowing what it was going to be as the phone started ringing and the voice on the other side “Hello”…

Let's Talk

Imran was having his coffee in a café when two girls walked through the door.  The one in the grey t-shirt dragged the girl in a blue salwar by holding her hand.  As Imran looked up, his eyes met her eyes and sparks flew.  He could sense his heart beat getting faster as they passed by him.  It took a moment for him to realize what happened.

He turned around to have another look of the girl in salwar and again their eyes met.  The girl in grey picked up her cell phone that she had left there.  As both of them were leaving, Imran kept looking at her hoping their eyes could do the talking but she walk past him and left him speechless, wondering what a conversation it would have been had they talked.....

Childhood

Dressed in ragged pants and torn shirt, Sheru found himself a place in the shade along the fences of the park. He took out a cloth from his bag and hidden it was zunka bhakar.

As he had the bite of his lunch, he watched the children playing cricket, football and running around in the park. Seeing them reminded him of his childhood days when his heart yearned to play with them but all he could do was see them play as he served tea and washed the cups from the tea stall across the road of the park.

He stared into the park searching for his own image when he felt a tap on his shoulder of another man across the fences who said “Are you going to sit here all day or going to do some work too?”

He got up and put the remaining food covered under the cloth back into his bag and started walking off the park. As he looked back, he knew that the only thing he would never have was a childhood to call his own.

Fate

“I don’t have the change” was Vasu’s reply when the taxi driver asked him for an exact two rupee change.

The driver searched through his pocket and then counted his pennies but he did not had the exact change.  “I don’t have the exact change but here is a lottery ticket of the same price, if you want you can keep it and try your luck said the driver as an unfazed Vasu looked on.

Already late to catch his train back home, he took the lottery in hand, had a look at it and then kept it folded in his wallet.  He walked towards the railway station carrying his suitcase with him.  The lottery ticket had the winning amount of Rs one crore and the result was to be declared three days later.

It was in the middle of the night when Vasu reached his place, traveling through an auto rickshaw.  “How much?” Vasu asked the driver for the fare as he got down.  “It would be forty two rupees” he said.  He took out his wallet and handed him four notes of 10 rupees.  He started searching his wallet for the pennies and then his pockets but could not find any.  “I don’t have the two rupee” he told the driver hoping that he would let that go.  The driver stared at him and said “Sahab, check properly, even a two rupee makes a difference in our life” the driver remarked.  “I don’t’ have any.  I could have brought the change if the shops were open, but its not.  Where should I bring an exact change in the middle of the night?” Vasu flared up.  The driver still did not change his stand.

Standing outside his building, he remembered about the lottery ticket and took it out from his wallet.  “Here is a lottery ticket of the same amount, you can take it and then sell it to someone else or you can try your luck with it” said Vasu handing over the ticket and waiting for the driver to take it.  The driver took the ticket in his hand, looked over it and then said “Kya sahab aap bhi….” made a face and then started his engine and took off.

A couple of days later in the morning when Vasu woke up and took the paper to read.  The headline read “Beggar becomes a Millionaire”.  It made him think about the lottery ticket that he gave to the auto driver and wondered if it was the same lottery ticket.

The news report said that the beggar found the lottery ticket in his begging bowl and decided to keep it to “try out his luck”.  He could not stop thanking the unknown stranger who changed his life by putting the lottery ticket in his bowl.

Mourning

Sitting in the waiting room outside the OT of the hospital; Viren was wondering “Why Adi?” he was going to leave for the US in couple of days.  He did not deserve to end up in an accident like this.  He looked up towards the ceiling and kept praying for his well-being while Keval and Sanket took care of formalities.  For Viren Adi meant a lot more than just a friend they were like brothers.  They grew up together and shared a closed bond.

 
After some time the doctor came out of the OT room and announced “Sorry we could not save him, he had lost lot of blood”  Hearing those words came as a shock to Viren even as Keval and Sanket moved into the room to have a glimpse of their friend’s body.  Viren slowly followed them behind.

“I am not going to cry.  I am not going to cry” he kept saying to himself as he tried to get control of himself and clenched his left fist with all the strength he got.  When he came across Adi’s body lying motionless on the stretcher, he went out of breath; tears filled up his eyes and overflowed across his cheeks.  He could not hold it any longer and cried his heart out.

“You cannot do this do to me.  You cannot die” Viren kept saying as he shook Adi’s body.  Keval and Sanket who watched him mourn got hold of him and took him away.

That night he couldn’t sleep; all he could see was Adi’s laying on his lap, looking at him as blood oozed out of his head.  “Somebody help” he yelled.  “Everything is going to be okay” he said trying to comfort him.  Adi seem to say something but he could not hear.  Viren lowered his head and heard him saying “Tell Mom & Dad that I love them”.  For a moment he could not believed it.  “Nothing is going to happen to you.  You listen to me, nothing is going to happen to you” and all Adi could do was smile….

One Night Stand

“I am leaving now. Take care”. She said and left as Vinay saw her go away. He was trying to recover from what had just happened. The sheets partially covered his naked body as he sat on the bed.

It was one of those days when Vinay was partying with his friends when he saw her sitting alone at one of the corners of the bar, having a drink by herself. He was mesmerized by her pretty cute face. He left his friends behind and sat next to the girl; ordered the same drink she was having.

They started talking, one thing led to another and then he found himself making love to her. They often meet and ended up wounding in the bed.

Today happened to be their sixth meeting. Soon after their act reached the climax, the girl looked at Vinay and told him “I think its time we stop seeing each other”. “Why was I not good enough?” He said jokingly. “I am serious. I am going to get married in three weeks and we need to stop seeing each other from now onwards”

“Marriage. You are getting married? When were you planning to tell me?” He asked. “Now” she replied. “What about us?” “There was never an ‘us’. You and I both know why we were in this” she said as she got up and started getting dressed.

“You mean, you never had any feelings for me?” he asked her as she combed her hair in front of the mirror. She looked at him and said “No never though I had a wonderful time with you” with a smile on her face.

She kissed him on his lips for the last time and said “I am leaving now. Take care” and left. Vinay sat on the bed dejected. The only thing he was left with was the feeling of being used…

Khauf

Charu went inside her room and felt different. She looked around but everything looked the same. She turned off the lights and lay down on the bed. Her eyes were wide open, the heart beat getting faster. She did not felt right. She looked around the room again. She had a feeling that there was someone watching her.

She would keep getting up in the middle of the night to check if there was someone around. She felt the room getting cold as she covered her body with the sheets. A minute or two later she heard a noise coming from the room. The noise kept happening in intervals which got her attention. She switched on the lights to see where the noise was coming from but could not find it. She went back to sleep as the noise died down.

She turned to her right and could see the curtains blowing away to the fan’s wind. She could see the graveyard and the cross signs through her window which stood opposite to her building. She quickly changed her position as weird thoughts started coming to her mind.

She felt asleep and when she opened her eyes again, she could see thin light emanating from outside. She got up to take a look and there was a candle burning in her living room. Sweat had started forming over her temple as she stood in her room wondering what to do next.

She gathered her courage and saying Lord Ganesha’s name moved towards the living room. The candle lit brightly as Charu approached it and found no one was there in the living room. She turned around and saw an image in white clothes with a candle in hand approach her. Seeing the sight she started screaming.

“What happened, are you all right” the image asked but she kept on screaming. The image got hold of her hand when the lights came on. She looked at the image to find her husband Vishal standing in front of her. “What are you doing here? You were supposed to be at the office” “I was not feeling well. So I came back, I knew you were sleeping so I did not call. I had the house keys with me. Are you alright?” He asked with a concern. “Yes, I am. You got me shit scared” was her reply.

As Charu followed her husband into the bedroom, she promised herself that never ever again she would watch a horror movie alone and that too late night…

Writer's Block

The writer filled up the pen with the ink and took out the blank journal in front of him. He looked at the yellow pages, as he kept his hand holding the pen over it so as to fill the pages with the its ink all over it.

The hand instead of moving remained steady as if there was a conflict on what to write. The hand moved several times but the pen failed to make contact with the paper.

Finally, the pen was kept aside and the pages remained untouched as today did not seem the day to strike a conversation between the pen and the paper.

Khamosh Raat

 

Dark clouds had taken over the city hiding the full moon view.  Rohan hit the steering wheel with his palm as he got irritated over the slow moving traffic.

He switched on the radio and was telling another driver not to move his car between spaces.  The strumming of the guitar got his attention.  “Aur durr kahe roshan huya ek cherha…” brought her image in front of him.  As he listened to the song, he found himself serenading Juhi with the same song. They had been together since college days and he would often strum his guitar singing the same song every time Juhi made a request.

 
Blaring of the horns brought him back in the present.  He moved his car further and switched off the radio as he looked up at the sky.  The thundering had got louder and lighting kept flashing every now and then.

She was looking at her marriage and honeymoon photos when her favorite song was being played on the radio.  It brought back past memories alive which made Juhi tingle.

 
Four months had passed since their separation, still she had not forgotten him.  Her eyes had filled up with tears while droplets of rain start pouring down heavily outside.

Love

 

“I won’t be able to make it” Vikram said.  “Why not?” she asked.  “The flights are all booked and I will now have to book flight for tomorrow.  I’ll give you a call on when I will be arriving.  Love you” he said disconnecting the phone.

Avani got disheartened hearing the news as she kept the phone down.  She was making plans of spending the evening in a romantic candle light dinner.  Knowing that he won’t be around left her sad.

It was seven in the evening when the doorbell rang.  On opening the door she found the delivery boy standing with a bouquet of flowers with an envelope attached to it.  The bouquet was full of carnations and colorful daisy flowers which were her favourite.  She took the envelope in her hand which was addressed to her.  She opened it and found a letter which she began reading.

Dear Avani,

I remember the day when I first met you.  You had me mesmerized with your pretty face.  You were not sure of me, if I was the one, as you kept asking all the questions.  While I watched myself falling for you every time you spoke.  I kept praying; for you to say yes and when you did I considered myself the luckiest man in the world.

The morning starts with you waking me up when I don’t want to.  I miss you at work when the load gets heavy, cannot wait to be with you.  You scold me when you catch me picking up my nose.  Make me cry when you force me to watch ‘saas-bahu’ serials instead of cricket match.  Going shopping makes you so happy but leaves my feet sore.  When you speak I listen and when I speak, you doze off.  You taught me cooking so I could work on holidays in the kitchen while you take the day off.  You cook so better, but don’t talk about it in front of Mom please.

Watching you sleeping beside me, I pinch myself to make sure this is not a dream.  Your eyes reflect your innocence and your smile makes me nuts.  I love holding your hand in mine as we stroll across the beach.  Have silly fights and then making up to each other.  I love your innocence and the goodness that lies in your heart.   My world is empty without you. My heart beats for you.  I love you and want you to know that “You Complete Me”

Yours Loving Husband,

Vikram

Reading the letter, her face expression changed from curious, amused to breaking in a smile.  “He knew. He knew” is what she could think of as she picked up the phone and dialed the number.  “You knew” she said before he could say anything. “Let’s talk later. I am busy right now” he said and disconnected the phone leaving Avani in a confused state.

Before she could react, the doorbell rang and as she opened the door she saw Vikram standing at the door.  Seeing her amused look he said “You were saying” She got the wind of what was going on “You knew and you still pretended” as she hit his chest with her fist and he embraced her into his arms bringing her closer to him.  “How could I have forget?” he said as they looked at each other and she kissed him.

“You better change or we will be late” he said.  “Late for what” she asked. “Dinner.  I have made reservations at Orchid. One more thing; Happy Wedding Anniversary Wife”  “Happy Wedding Anniversary Husband” as they locked their lips for one more time.

P.S.: This turned out to be a pretty long one.  Wishing everyone a Valentine's day and hope they cherish the love they receive.  Spread the message of love :)

Darkness

 

It was Roshan’s first day to the work. As he bid goodbye to his parents, his mother asked him if he had everything he needed. He replied in affirmative and left. Walking down the stairs he could sense the excitement and nervousness in the same breath. Having his companion with him gave him confidence.

As he walked down the streets carefully, he could hear the plonking of the horns, buses & cars passing by and people talking on cell phones, to each other and then out of nowhere he got a push across his shoulder. He fell down, losing his companion not realizing what had happened.

All he could see was darkness which had been his reality since birth. He started moving his hands to find his companion, when a few people gathered around, helped him get up. One of them came forward and said “Here is your walking stick. Are you all right?” Finding his companion in his hands gave him a big relief and he thanked them.
 

Taking his steps forward, he remembered the poem “Koshish karne waalon ki kabhi haar nahi hoti”, repeating the lines in his mind as he went on his way to work with his companion showing the way.