Disha; only her thoughts mingled through my mind with each step I took towards that cabin in the darkness. This all was so damned confusing. Disha, she was like one of those perfectly crafted Bollywood beauties. Always charming and surprising, she made it sure to become a heartthrob of the opposite sex. She had a figure like a model right out of the fashion magazine. Her milky white skin tone was fairly tanned. She had small round face with high cheek bones, raven black eyes and an adorable smile that would make you forget almost anything. Her long dusky hair would always be left open as if she’d pity on the wind that whizzed by. She had a distinctive way of her own, like a seductive charisma that would make it impossible for anyone to hate her. Simple as it was, she was sculpted with everything a man could ever wish for and was meant to be loved.

What have you got yourself mixed into?

I moved closer to the cabin. There was some heated argument going on. I could barely make out the conversation which seemed like longitudinal waves; the intensity of voice ascending to screams and descending to whispers within regular intervals of time. But one thing was totally clear to the naked eyes, that this wasn’t about the company or anything related to work. It was something different, something personal. 

I stood behind in the darkness near the hinges of the door. The door was half open giving me a side view of everything inside. The room was brightly lit just like the office hours. Disha was sitting on an office chair, leaning ahead with her elbows on the glass table and holding her head in her palms. Singhania standing in front of her on the other side of the table was partly visible to me. His blood shot eyes emitted strong evil vibes. I could feel the tension in the atmosphere around. I wanted to go there, hold her hand and make her feel better.  I was going nuts.

Hell.

“You… you are sick...” Disha’s voice was merely a murmur. There was a capitulated frustration in that voice

Singhania moved from behind his table and came near Disha, now totally visible to me. Alerted like a hunted deer, she sprang up instantly but he held her by the elbow preventing her from leaving. Then he held her jaw in his palms and pulled her near.

“Don’t mess with me whore. I’ve paid you more than you deserve for you slutty service.”

I almost stumbled in the darkness. I felt a knot forming in my stomach. For one slight moment I went numb. Things were perfectly making sense now. Slowly everything dawned upon me. Best projects, company sponsored hotshot business tours, new flat; one thing was always common with her success graph: that bastard.

Now I know your success secret. You bloody bitch.

An intense rage seared within me. It was pure hatred. I felt like someone had stabbed me right through my heart.  I removed my cell phone and moved a bit closer. I held it in front myself and started video recording. He was still holding her close, his grip around her waist and her jaw in his right palm. For a few moments nothing happened. Then she said something and spat on his face. I couldn’t hear it and I was least interested in it. But right then he slapped her hard and she went a bit off balance, crashing on the office chair behind. He held by hair, placing a firm grip on her mouth preventing her from screaming. 

 “You Whore!”  He smashed her head on the hard glass table. Blood spattered out of her mouth with a desperate cry for help.  There was such an agony in her voice that it sent bone chilling reflexes down my spine. I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise. But I didn’t flinch a bit. I moved closer for a better view through my cell camera.

You deserve this bitch.

She was passing out; the impact of that hard hit to her skull had done its job perfectly. Her mouth was open, blood and saliva running out of it as she struggled to fight back. Her motions were impassive. She lay on her back on the glass table. He struck her two blows and began to undress her as she fought back unsuccessfully, kicking him, scratching his face as he pinned her face down and fastened his grip on her.  He took his belt and fastened it around her neck and started strangling her. He was constantly hitting her while he ravaged her again and again. She was struggling with all her might but she couldn’t out do him. Her hands were flying all around, desperately trying to grope onto something. Right then she turned her head and in that split moment her eyes fell upon me and our gaze met. A surge of energy dashed through her. I saw it all in that moment as that flash of hope in her eyes cried and begged for help from me, I saw it all, that hope transform into despair and all her strength draining away in tears and blood. I just saw it. Finally her weak hands got hold of a metal pen holder. With all her might she heaved it in the air and landed the hit on his left shoulder blade. His grip loosened a bit as she tried to push him away but right then he pulled her down and smashed his right fist in her face. That hard blow knocked her unconscious. She gave up. Her naked body was bruised and battered in blood.

I backed off. I was shivering vigorously. I felt sweat beads trickling from my forehead. Slowly, I backed off few more steps and zoomed in on him. He was damned nervous, finally the animal within him had calmed down. He leaned over her, gently pressed his forefinger just below her earlobe on her neck. He seemed relieved, that meant she was still breathing. I put my cell in my pocket and swiftly moved towards the stairwell. I leaned back to the wall taking cover in the stairwell. Nothing happened for a while. I stooped ahead and peered in the dark corridor. He stood in the corridor. His deadly posture had transformed into total panic. He seemed to be calculating his next moves. Then he ran right towards me. I got in instantly and leaned back on the wall. I heard his heavy footsteps beating on the cement flooring as he whizzed past me. It all happened like some succeeding sequence; the elevator approached, the elevator door opened and closed, the corridor flooded with light and again plunged into darkness. NO doubt he was headed towards the security room. CCTV cameras.

I waited for a moment and went towards the cabin and peeped in. Disha’s naked body lay on his couch. There was an empty bottle of whiskey on the glass table. The room had a strong stench of alcohol. Her belongings were missing and she was thoroughly cleansed. He had used alcohol to wipe out all the finger prints and each speck of clue that would link her to him. But there seemed a lot of work yet to be done. Right then the lights went off and the corridor was robbed of whatever sparse illumination it had. Now there was nothing but numb darkness and brittle silence.

Power cut. Smart asshole.  Better than shutting down the CCTV system.

I closed my eyes, tried to calm down and think clearly. Luckily there was no camera in the elevator. But the parking lot had a couple of them. I had to get out of there without being noticed.  Stairs were the only one way up and down. That was the problem. I walked past the cabin towards the rest room, got in and waited, waited for the bloody silence to crack with the noise of his footsteps.

Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes. Each minute as it burned down seemed like a life time.

I was sweating profusely. My breath was heavy, my lungs burnt. The bitter silence that plagued the whole place felt like it would go on forever. Then two things happened. The corridor echoed with a strange sound, like something metallic thing hitting the floor. After that few minutes elapsed in silence. Then my ears caught the sound for which I yearned. Footsteps. But this time there were two distinct footsteps approaching towards me. I felt my heart beats rising as the adrenalin kicked in. Suddenly the noise died again. I got out. The door to the cabin was closed. I tiptoed past the cabin, got to the stairwell and ran down seven floors. I got to the parking lot, started my bike and got the hell out of there. As I passed out of the parking lot I saw the empty chair of the security guard.

Two distinctive footsteps…

 My roommates were asleep. I took a cold water bath and made some coffee. Sleep didn’t pity me. An hour passed by as I sat alone in the darkness of my room, pondering upon the thing I had witnessed, the thing I had done. Then as I started to think clearly, the value of what I possessed striked me real hard. I had a trump card. This was my opportunity. My moment. Everything I wanted was just in front of me. All I had to do was to claim it and grab it. I wasted no time and began to formulate my plan. I turned on my laptop, plugged in my cell phone and made several copies of the video. I uploaded the video and saved it in my mail drafts.

I made myself  more coffee and stood in the balcony of my room, staring at the big red ball of fire as he rose mighty from the east and painted the blue sky in a carmine wash.  Everything was ready. I just had to wait till the iron got perfectly red hot.

It was around twenty past twelve in the afternoon that my cell phone buzzed.  I looked at the name as it vibrated in my hand. It was Preeti, the receptionist at the office.   

“Hello.” I answered in a calm voice.

“Ajay…umm there’s some serious problem here. You need to come to the office right now.”

“What happened?”

“Turn on the television you will know. It’s about Disha. I can’t tell anymore. Just come here as soon as possible.”

“Come on Preeti. Tell me what is it?”  I asked persuasively.

“Ummm,” she paused for a moment.  “It’s awful. Disha was found at her flat today morning. Aggravated sexual assault.  She was strangled. The doctors said it cut off oxygen supply to her brain,” I sensed she was sobbing, “She... She slipped into coma. Cops are already at the office. Everyone’s been summoned for interrogation. So be here as soon as possible.”

“Alright. I will be there.”  I hung up. The game had begun.

There was a team of five cops. Two senior male and female officers, two male constables and a female constable. Everyone was made to wait in the lobby on the first floor. The constables were busy with all the paper work while the two senior cops questioned and drilled each of the employees for hours. After three hours of waiting and five cups of strong cappuccino finally I was escorted by a constable to the arena.  The conference room was turned into the interrogation room for the male employees. The cops had ruined the conference room. The big table was moved somewhere. There was just a four legged wooden table with two plastic chairs on its either side. The wooden table had an ashtray on it.  Cigarette smell dominated the atmosphere of the air-conditioned room.

“Wait here.” The constable commanded in gruff voice. He left me there locking the door behind him as if I was about to run away. I sat on a chair waiting for my interrogator. After fifteen minutes of waiting I heard the click on the door behind me. I glanced back to see a huge figure, nearly 6 to 6’2” tall, dark with a thin athletic built. He was dressed in a dark tweed shirt and black jeans and carried few registers in his hands. There was shoulder holster clasped around his upper body with two handguns resting below his armpits. Clean shaved, with thinning hair, he seemed somewhere towards late thirties. He had dark brown eyes that seemed to pierce me as soon as he laid his gaze on me. There was something in his presence that commanded attention. He sat opposite to me and dumped the registers on the table. He kept a voice-recorder at the centre of the table and pressed the play button as he fixed his hawk eyes on me.

“Let’s get started.” His voice was calm and definitive.

“Ummm… yeah...sure.” I stammered out abruptly.

“Ajay,” he looked at me for a long moment as he lit a cigarette, “Have one.” He offered me a cigarette. I took one and lit it. What I didn’t notice was that I was shivering like hell.

“You alright?” He asked as he blew off the smoke.

“Yes it’s… it’s just too cold.” I said looking at him. He was making me quite uncomfortable. He was reading my mind.

 “Perhaps…” he took a dramatic pause locking his eyes into mine as his lips curved into a wicked grin, “you are nervous…”

To be continued

We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind,    Isaiah 64:6, the Bible.

Ahmedabad; new city, new ambitions. Success was the only thing on my mind. I wanted everything; I just wanted to own the whole world as early as possible. People were just my means to achieve what I wanted.  Disha; I had first met her when we were working on a project together. Sweet, ambitious, caring and very soft spoken, she was just like that girl next door. I had never thought that I would get related to her in anyway. But that night of 13^th January, it altered two lives forever, mine and her’s. It’s really strange, we can get away from anything, it’s easy to evade any law, and it’s easy to cheat people. But we can never get away from ourselves.

13^th January, it was four in the morning. My shift had just ended. The next shift would start at six. Well, I was done and planning to go home and sleep for the rest of the day. I stretched back in the chair, removed the headphones and massaged my forehead. This job was taking its toll on me. I needed a smoke desperately. I got up and looked around. There wasn’t a soul in there. Everybody had rushed out. Hell. I packed my belongings and moved out. The peon who sat by the elevator wasn’t there. The whole place seemed totally devoid of life.  I pressed the button for the elevator and waited there.

“Ajay.” A lucid, feminine voice echoed behind me.  I turned around to find Disha standing right behind me. Wow, she did remember me. She had beautiful intense black eyes, well protected behind her specks. She was damned gorgeous.

 “You wait here so late? Workaholic huh?”  She winked at me; perhaps I had a chance with her.

Workaholic my ass.

“Nothing like that, I don’t like to travel by the company car.”

“Really?” There was a mystique tone in her voice. I loved it.

“Yeah. You tell me. What’s up with you?”

She pointed her forefinger above, like an umpire declaring a batsman out in a cricket match, “Got a date with the boss my friend,” she said eyeing at the elevator.

“Guess you are gonna be screwed.”

“Fingers crossed.” She blinked an eye sheepishly as she got in the elevator.

“Good luck. Anyways, Singhania is a bastard.”

          

           Those were the only words that escaped my mouth as I saw her nodding her head and the elevator door closing.I wondered where the bloody peon had died.The corridors were dimly lit. Don’t know why but I decided to wait for Disha. The peon had shut all the lights except the one above me. It flickered in the gloomy darkness as if it was about to die too. I sat on the wooden stool and thought about my chances with Disha. I had thought she would have forgotten me long back. I lit a cigarette and sat there wondering. Perhaps I was lucky; perhaps Ahmedabad won’t be that boring after all.

       

           I checked my watch, it had been twenty-five minutes, and the indicator of the elevator hadn’t even budged a bit. Maybe she had taken stairs and was probably gone long back.  Hell why was I thinking about her. I got up and pressed the button in the wall to call the elevator. Few moments passed by in the silence as I stared at those numbers descending in the indicator.  The elevator doors opened, I stepped in and pressed the button for the ground floor.  And right at that moment I heard a voice. It wasn’t loud, like someone arguing desperately. I knew that voice, it was Disha. The door closed and the elevator moved downwards. Disha, maybe I was hallucinating, maybe I was hearing voices due to this weariness. But I did hear Disha’s voice. That was unmistakable. The elevator door opened, I moved out towards the parking lot. The parking lot was almost empty. There were only three vehicles parked there. My Pulsar, Singhania’s Audi and… and Disha’s black Activa. I stood there thinking for few moments.

Something is fishy. Hell.

I backed off, got into the elevator and pressed number seven. Maybe I was just daydreaming after all. The door opened and I got out of the elevator. The corridor was empty, totally devoid of life. It was totally dark except for the momentary light of the elevator. I stood there as the elevator door closed and the alley once again plunged into darkness. Singhania’s cabin was straight ahead on the right side. The door to the cabin was slightly open, bright light escaping through it. I walked towards the door. Something like an argument going on. Scratching of the heels of boots on the floor, flies buzzing around and those two distinct muffed voices. Barely audible noises were becoming more amplified in the obscure silence.  I could feel adrenalin rush through my veins. I didn't know what to do. I calculated the pros and cons.

 Fuck it. I took a deep breath and moved towards the cabin.

To be continued…

LETHAL CONFESSIONS

Onkar Surve||Yogesh Pai

“Ugh! Can't breath!” Neha screamed after Ajay gave her the tightest hug of her life. “I missed you sooooo much” Ajay said happily after releasing her and stretching his ‘so’ long enough to express how much he had really missed her. “Jadya nai aaya…?” ‘Jadya’ was referred to the third bandit of their gang, Rishi who was fat enough to make himself a comfortable couch to sit upon.

“Oh my, my, now these are some familiar faces!” a well known and cheerful voice echoed right behind them. “RISHI!! You are so late you were supposed to be here....” Neha cut short as she stared at him, completely awestruck. “What! Gimme a hug!” saying so the huge guy hugged both of them together, one in each arm. Rishi had changed, rather transformed. They could no longer see his loose tummy, his chubby cheeks and his boyish face. Instead, here was a man who had grown a broad chest with huge arms and had a personality of a role model, and a rather hardened face with a French beard. They could see that he had taken the best out of his gym. “Abhi aise dekhte hi rahoge ya andar bhi chaloge?” Rishi chuckled. They were still staring at him in shock. This was not the Rishi  they knew. He was no longer their old ‘Jadya’.

The old, rusted gate gave out a quirky cry as Rishi pushed it. It was a cool summer night with clear and starlit sky. The place was almost lifeless and an eerie void seemed to encase the atmosphere around. The ominous silence of midnight was interrupted only by the subtle breeze hushing through the leaves of the trees which crowded the compound. The land below was completely covered with dry leaves and rugged grass. This abandoned compound was at a time a beautiful front porch to the wreck of the fallen bungalow. They settled down on a huge rock below the Gulmohor tree. The trio had spent very beautiful times below that very tree when they used to work together at a call centre.

Everything around had a nostalgic touch. This was their smoking adda, their gossip corner, their boozing spot; it was a place where they would find peace after graveyard night shifts and working their ass off to reach targets. It was a place which took away their weariness as they would look upon the breaking dawn after been over worked and treated like machines. Tonight, after six years, they had planned to spend time and hangout together for a whole night.

“Looks like this place could use a sweeper. Rishi what do  you say? Interested?” Neha chuckled and laughed her squeaky laugh. Ajay and Rishi too joined in, they all had missed the quality time they used to spent on their adda.

“Light de,” Neha leaned in and Ajay lit her cigarette. 

“Rush, since when?” He asked apprehensively as he kept the black polythene bags containing liquor on the small rock.

“My friend… Davidoff is a rare privilege where I stay these days. Hyderabad, it did change a lot of things about me.”

“But you’re still the same notorious bitch, that’s something I can blindly bet upon.” Rishi complemented her, blowing out a deep puff, as they burst in laughter. It felt just like yesterday’s thing when they used to sit here and empty cigarette boxes while bitching about their boss.

“Saale Rishi body-shody bana liya…? Ladkiyon ko maar dalneka ka irada hai kya?” Ajay said grinning at Neha. Neha sensed the sarcasm in his words and had to save the situation. “Guys could you please not do this now?”

Rishi, Neha and Ajay had been great friends seven years ago after which a fourth girl ‘Rashmi’ entered the trio and messed up. Rishi  had successfully hooked up with Rashmi who was his dream-girl as he used to say, having no idea that Ajay had secretly loved her for over 6 months. He and Rishi broke up after Rashmi remained loyal to Rishi. Rishi & Neha tried convincing him but in vain. He had firmly decided amidst his depression that his friends, his love, his parents and the world was against him and no-one really cared for him. This created the grudge between them and he had refused to keep any contact with Rishi.

Neha, being the only mutual friend, could not do much. She felt uncomfortable talking to both of them, as now even Rishi had started hating Ajay. Finally, Neha, after 6 years, now that all three were in Mumbai, had arranged a conference call and laid her condition to both of them, its either all three or none. She had made them promise that there would be no cold war and they would be close buddies just like they were in the past. Now, she had to assure that they both maintained their promises. Till then, things seemed to be just fine. It was only their ego which had stopped them from contacting each other. Ajay had moved on. Rishi was soon to be engaged with Rashmi.

Things were back to normal now.

 Almost after an hour of exchanging pleasantries they began to explore each other’s lives as beer came along. They talked about everything and nothing. They were best of the friends yet strangers and now they were making up for the void in their lives.

“Life just moved on swiftly after you took up the Hyderabad offer. A month later even I got relocated,” Ajay looked away from Neha as he let the cigarette smoke whirl around for a while, “But Rishi, he remained loyal toTelemax, to Mumbai.”

“So still stuck up in the IP sector huh?” Neha asked Rishi as they all finished their second beer bottles.

“Nahi re…. couple of year ago Mehta became the director and a pain in my ass too. So, right now I’m working as a customer service representative for Speedconnect, a US-based telecommunication company.”

“Wow that sounds cool huh?” Ajay coxed him further as another round of beer bottles was followed by vodka. He seemed to be cool with Rishi now.

“It’s fucking hell man! I’ve become a US dog,  catering to the needs of our consumers who want to activate their phones, add services to their postpaid accounts, billing inquiries and what not. I’m fed up of being nice to the people who just yell at me no matter how good I am! You know last week....Oooohh shitt...!” Rishi had spilled his vodka on Ajay's briefcase and on his trousers. “I am so sorry. I indulged myself in this conversation so much and the glass tilted coz.-”

“Its all right,” Ajay wiped off his trousers. “Happens,” he winked.

“Sorry,”this time there was mellowness in Rishi's voice. The trio had switched their moods just like any random person switches his car gears.

“It’s alright dude,” Neha placed a hand around his shoulder wanting to make him feel comfortable,“Hum sab ki lagi padi hai…. Chill out.”

“Hmm…life was beautiful,” Rishi lit another cigarette as his impassive eyes were fixed at something beyond his two friends, “It’s all a wreck now. The chutiyagiri we did before was way better than what we are facing now,” Rishi murmured  to himself. “To Life...And apne adde k liye” Rishi raised his first toast. There was an obscure silence after their drink.

“You can’t live in the past. We all have something that haunts us. Everyone has a past….” Neha spoke up after ten minutes as her voice trailed off midway. She settled down beside Ajay, sheathing herself in her own cocoon. Rishi poured in the 5th peg for the trio hoping to cheer up the environment. Ajay had remained silent throughout and had finally decided to speak up.

“Yeah,” he closed his eyes for a while after taking a sip and allowed the alcohol to drown him away. “That's a bitchy truth.” Ajay's voice had started to crack.

“Hey, you alright…?” Neha held his hand. He looked at Rishi who stood a few feet away, his inquisitive eyes fixed upon him. A faint breeze blew off his tears as if whispering at him and asking him to let go.

“I never knew it would be so bad…. Each waking moment of my life….you know...it hurts...I dunno why...i mean it was wrong...” Ajay was now fumbling for words. Tears welled up his eyes as he clutched his briefcase. Whatever he had done, he surely was feeling sorry for it.

“You Okay dude…?” Rishi asked with a worried tone gesturing Neha from the corner of his eye.

Ajay remained silent. Alcohol had taken the better of him. He had let too much slip out which had silently lain within since that dark fateful night five years ago.

“Neha,” He looked straight into her eyes with a numb expression.

“Yes,” she smiled sadly; “I’m here.”

Tears had dried upon his face. It seemed as if a thousand knives were piercing his soul. "I....I have....." Penetrating her with his deep brown eyes, he whispered,


 "I've sinned..."

  

To Be Continued…..

Free Fall

My deep slumber was broken by the vibrations of my cell phone. I opened my eyes to look at the mess of the books scattered all around the table. As I yawned lazily, I realized something was damned wrong. I picked up my chemistry text book and scanned each and every corner of the table.

“Searching something?” My mom asked in such a friendly tone that for a moment even the enemy would have wondered on which side he was.

Hell I’m busted.

“Umm...nothing.” I was in a deep shit.

“So, is this what you were studying all night?” My mom brought out my original copy of The Partner by John Grisham.

“I found it below your Chemistry text book.”   I snatched my cell phone instinctively, switched it off and placed it in my pocket. I always believe that precaution is better than cure. I knew the next thing mom would pounce on would be my cell phone, that is if the things grew worse.

“No mommy, it was just on the table, I was studying Chemistr-”

“Just on the table...?! And coincidently it was below your text book, that too wide open...?” Oh! That was a perfect hit; I was completely vulnerable and outwitted. Now even the devil couldn’t save me, let alone the God.

“Actually-”

“SHUT UP! It’s Preliminary examination. Board exams are just a month away. You are not even a bit serious, are you?” Mom erupted like volcano. My bro, my saviour wasn’t home. I was glad that Dad had left for office (it seemed the only bright side of the situation). And now, as always I had to take the matter in my own hands to save my ass from being whipped pretty badly. It would be whipped; no doubt about it but you can always control the collateral damage.

“I’m serious-”

“Indeed you are, so much that you aren’t still sure about your career.”

“Umm-”

 “And this, what the hell is this?” Mom screamed again, showcasing the novel.

An outstanding thriller, I wanted to tell her but I chose to act wisely by staying quiet, given the pickle I was in.

“We need to discuss about this tonight when your dad’s home,” And with that mom left the room, flaring with anger.

I regretted not reading that novel completely last night; at least there wouldn’t be this dilemma of not knowing the storyline further.  And however, this thing wasn’t over with just a trailer; there would be a full throttle movie tonight. I just hoped that tonight’s movie won’t be as thrilling as last night’s reading.

The moment I switched on my cell phone, text messages pooped in like popcorns.

Patik 10:09am -

‘Are chu

Kidhar mar raha hai?

Ravi car leke aya hai! Jaldi niche aa.’

 I smiled and shut the chemistry text book. It seemed perfectly logical: What I didn’t do all year, how could I manage that in less than an hour’s time...

“Get in fucker.” Ravi shouted as he pulled up his silver swift desire in front of my building. The speakers were bursting with Honey Singh’s most famous song (I don’t think there’s a need to mention which one... ;)) and I could see its reaction as many heads were turning in our direction.  The rear seats were totally jammed but somehow I managed to fit in the space available.

“So how’s chem.?” I asked everyone as they stared at me like I had asked something totally alien.

“Is it Chem. today? 1 or 2?” the guy next to Ravi asked quickly.

Awesome! Everyone in the car only had hot chicks at Kelkar College on their mind, including me of course but I felt good, at least I knew what paper it was that day.

“And Pratik...? Where’s he?”

“Ab use kya dikki me bithau...?” Ravi blurted out in an irritated tone, “I’ve texted him that we are full. We’ll pick him up after couple of rounds. Now let’s roll.” And with that he shifted gears and kicked on to the accelerator as loud, abusive music attracted whole street audience....

  

 Those couple of rounds ended up into a half an hour bird watching session which in turn made us fifteen minutes late for the exam. I could already see Pratik murmuring curses to us as we neared our college.

“We are late morons!” Pratik shouted waving at us irritated as Ravi parked the car and we all poured out. He was waiting with two more friends who were late. That raised our count to eight and gave me some confidence. After all, screwing up with friends is fun.

I, Pratik, Ravi, Raj, Kunj, Sagar, Unmesh and Krishna; we all lined up in the corridor on the fifth floor, pumping our chests out in honour, as if it was a Nazi fire squad we all were about to face and die bravery. I checked my cell phone; it was 11: 20am, we were fucking twenty minutes late. I didn’t know about Unmesh and Krishna but I could bet the rest of us were totally shameless.

“So you clowns have shown the courtesy to show up for the examination,” the supervisor said calmly looking at us; “We are overwhelmed. As in you all are twenty minutes late; so I’m sure that it won’t be a great deal for you all to spend more thirty minutes standing here.” That definitive tone in the supervisor’s voice was enough to make anyone wet their pants. We were lucky this thing wasn’t going to the Principal’s office (actually there was a simple equation in here: If just one or two you would surely land up in the Principal’s office, so the strategy was to screw up in a big number. As we were eight there was a rare possibility that we would end up behind the enemy lines)

“Madam, actually we... I mean I was stuck up in the traffic.” Ravi blurted out hastily as it took few moments for all of us to understand it.

“Waise bhi tum log kya likhte ho hume pata hai beta.... So don’t worry, enjoy your time.” And with that the supervisor left us all in the corridor.

“So what now...?” I asked Pratik, Krishna and Ravi as others were touring the corridor and toilet.

“Practically we can manage another round at the Kelkar college, given we have these thirty minutes in hand.” Krishna added thoughtfully as we three just stared at him blankly. I can’t express in words how desperately I needed something to bang in his head.

After twenty minutes of punishment, which basically made no difference to us idiots, we were allowed to sit for the exam. The fun part in any examination is said to be in those last fifteen minutes. But believe me friends, if you are someone like me, who sits in the exam hall prepared with just one question than I give you my word that the whole two hours are sheer entertainment. The pokerfaced geeks, the worried expressions of the average ones and the peaceful calmness of useless creatures like us; it was a promising masala packed matinee show.

Preparation of chloroform: This was the only question I had prepared and my stars were so good that the question paper mostly had every question from Halogen Derivatives of Alkanes except this one. Man, this wasn’t fair at all! 8 from mcqs (Which depended on skilful navigation), 4 from chloroform and another 2 form sources around: This was what I called project 14, the minimum passing marks and my only target. Hell; it was totally foiled. I scratched my head and started to navigate for mcqs. The one behind me and the one ahead mostly depended on me and as I was totally blank, I hardly expected anything from them.

After fifteen minutes of struggling like a fish out of water I gave up because for the supervisor we eight were already like ducks on a sniper range. One mistake and we won’t have a second chance to think, so I started sketching ladies on the question paper; at least I was making some use of the borrowed pen. I looked at Raj who was on my left, leaving three rows in between. He too was busy sketching skyscrapers on the question paper, probably designing the next tallest marvel in the world. By now Pratik, who sat on the third bench in the row next to me, was on the cricket field, playing for India in his day dream. Ravi, he sat ahead of Pratik and it was clear what he would be wondering about in such a tense situation: bada Gold flake; after all she was his true love. I looked out of the window and allowed myself to drift into my own dreamland where I was signing books already....

“Rape ho gaya yar!” Pratik announced to everyone assembled at the bus stop with already fucked up faces.

“Chill out dude, we all are rape victims.” I added with a sad smile.

“What the Fuck are we all gonna do man?” Pratik asked looking at us all, completely frustrated.

“Probably another round at Kelkar or else a long drive at Pawai... Jaldi decide karo...” Ravi added quickly as I gave him a fiver, man that’s the spirit. That did the magic for the rest of us.

“You guys are hopeless.” Pratik smiled after all and even before we could decide, the rest of the fuckers were already rushing towards the car. Life is simple; you can’t be worrying sitting on dynamite. Whatever you do, everything has consequences but it’s fruitless to keep worrying after you have jumped off the cliff, after you have made a choice. We all were off the cliff now, just enjoying the free fall, no worries, no strings attached....

That Obstinate Thing Within

Completing the journals is one of the most boring things to do in the world. I’d even prefer attending lectures in my college rather than completing them. Handle with care, submit on time, really that’s not my thing. And for that I was on an exile from the practicals, especially Bio and Physics.

It was a crisp December morning. And it was also an auspicious day; after all, I would be attending my second Physics Prac since the year started.  I checked my watch; there was still an hour to go. I sat at the bus stop opposite to my college, looking above at the lucid sky. I wished that I could hug my bed and take a nap. But my wish was crushed very soon as I saw that black scooty approaching. 

“Hi!” Esha’s loud voice echoed for a minute in my head like bells in the temples.

“Done?” I questioned her curiously.

“Yup,” she lightened up with a smile, “shameless....”

Well shameless; that I was. She got her shoulder bag in her hand and handed me my Physics journal.

“Completed?!” I asked; my mouth almost half open in amazement. Yeah that was a big thing. Some Eighty pages of bullshit writing and over a dozen of senseless diagrams and graphs! I couldn’t think what would have happened to me without her. Looking at the completed journal I felt like a damsel in distress who has just been rescued.

  
“Yeah... you owe me a treat for that.”

“Sure.” I was still flipping through the pages. If you know how to work your way with girls, no one can be a better help in the crises such as I was. Esha was a close friend and sometimes her motherly caring nature felt good but most of the time it irritated me.

“Now...!” she said in a child like adamant voice. I knew it would be fruitless to fool around and after all, she deserved it....

 “So, what’s today’s plan?” She asked as she bit on the pizza. We were at the dominos near the Hanuman Mandir area.  

“Umm nothing... I would be attending my Physics Prac today!” I proclaimed with honour as I sipped my coke.

“Now please stop acting, as if you don’t know what I’m talking about!” She said with a questioning glance.

I never understand why girls like to talk in riddles??

 “Well...umm.” I knew where this was heading.

“Have you talked to her? It’s her birthday man?”

“No.”

“Why?”  She still stared at me with that serious questioning glance.

I quietly sipped my coke. She sensed the drop in my mood; it was the most vulnerable part of me.

Where ever there’s a complexity in a guy’s life, believe me, there’s always a girl associated with it, directly or indirectly. Although it sounds somewhat like a Physics law, its damned true, isn’t it?

“You are calling her. Now!!” She seemed like an excited kid.

“Come on Esha, it’s been four months. And I...I just don’t care. Leave it.”

“Really...? You can fool the world with this I don’t care thing but not me! At least talk to her. Let’s see what we can figure out. ”

 “Alright I will call her.... In the evening... I promise.”

“You want me to call her...?”

 “No... I will.” I agreed although I doubted it....

Physics lab was a different experience altogether. The moment I entered the lab many heads turned around. I was showered with glances that said: Have we seen him here before? How come he’s here? Why he’s here?

And the most common one that said:

He’s here! Is something wrong with him?!!

For a few moments all of it felt awesome as if I was a celebrity. I took a seat near the window behind the crowd. It was something about an experiment which verified the Newton’s law of cooling. Everyone was crowded around the teacher, concentrating and trying hard to get a glimpse of whatever was going on while I sat behind staring out of the window. I really didn’t care about the fucking relation between temperature change and whatever it was.

I thought about what Esha had said. I thought about all the reasons which shattered my relationship. Strangely, they all seemed so smaller now. I thought about everything and nothing. I thought about her...about me. And then from the shackles of my past, a memory of this very day, a year back, unfolded before my eyes, most of it forgotten but those eyes that face still anew in my mind…...

“Get your hands off asshole.”   She buzzed loud enough for the rikshawala to hear, and now rather than concentrating on the traffic, he gave me dirty looks through the rear view mirror.

“It’s not funny.” I blurted out in an angry tone, gesturing at the rikshawala, who still had his devil eyes fixed upon me. She gave me a wicked grin; I was pissed off, and yeah she thoroughly loved it. That wicked grin of her, accompanied with an innocent, naughty charm in her eyes; that was a sign to be worried about. And even before I could figure it out she pulled me closer, cuddling into my arms and placed a peck on my lips. Hell, her touch sent ripples through my body; it felt like I was hit by a current of thousand volts. I clinched onto her and kissed her, and while I was on it I wished we’d reach R-mall real quick because if the big brother thing in that rikshawala would wake up than it wouldn’t be much pleasant for my health.

The auto braked in front of the R-mall and finally I let out a sigh of relief while she was still giggling mischievously. It was afternoon and most of the crowd at R-mall contributed to teen couples and college groups. The last thing I would want to see here were my parents, so afternoon seemed a better option to wander about.

“The auto guy... he was really crazy at you. Your face was worth taking a snap.” She pushed me playfully as we got into the elevator.

“You know you are such a-”

“Bitch.” She looked into my eyes with a glitzy smile. Her smile, just a glimpse of that beautiful treasure, it made my day.

“Yeah.” I couldn’t suppress a smile either. She was an enigma, always vibrant and full of electricity with that who-the-fuck-cares attitude.

“I know that...” She chuckled with a naughty wink as she clasped my hand tighter. I loved to hold her close. It felt like I had achieved everything when she walked along. It felt like I was the king of the world. There was no fear. We got to MacDonald’s on the third floor. It was all pretty jammed up but we managed to get a seat in a corner, besides the C.C.D.

“Give me a minute kiddo.” She placed her bag on the chair and disappeared towards the washroom.

 I got everything on the table and started arranging things. It was my angel’s birthday, and I wanted to make it special for her in every possible way I could.

 The moment I saw her coming towards me I almost skipped a beat. She had changed into a black sleeveless top and denim short skirt which hardly managed to reach her thighs with her red sneakers. She was a treat for the eyes. I was staring at her like an idiot. She had beautiful intense black eyes. Her shoulder length hair were let loose which flicked onto her eyes. She looked flamboyant and it’s needless to say what my eyes were fishing at.

“You look fabulous.” I said as my gaze dropped down a bit below her neck, to the most awesome place in this world... of course for guys.

“Thank you.” She blushed with nervousness.

“I got something for you birthday girl.”

“What..?” she asked apprehensively with a twinkle of joy on her face.

“Come here.”I led her to the table.

“Close your eyes,” I stood behind her with a hand on her eyes as I held her by the waist. I could see that few eyes around other tables were turning our way but that was the least I cared about.

“What’s all this, come on can I open my eyes?”

“Not yet, just a moment, you’ll love it.” I whispered in her ears.

“One, two, and three… Now slowly open your eyes…”

On the table I had placed a small black forest cake, inscribed with her name and seventeen candles on it. Around it I had arranged many greeting cards, Cadbury silks and a small gift wrapped box.

“Open it.” I gave her the small gift wrapped box.

“Wow.” she glanced at me as she slowly opened it.  Well to be frank I’m not that bright with things like gifts and all but I had brought her a small Donald duck soft toy (it was her favourite cartoon character) holding a heart which said: together forever.

 “Thanks…It’s beautiful….” She kissed me on the cheek as she hugged me; her eyes were glistening with tears. Trust me; it was a very rare thing. It was the best moment of my life, until then at least.

“Cut the cake...These would have looked pretty awesome, all lit up.” I pointed to the candles upon the cake.

“They will.” She handed me her lighter as I looked at her in amazement.

 “What? It’s for the sprit lamps in the chemistry lab.”

“Cool... a Zippo lighter for spirit lamps.” She pinched me with a devilish grin as I lit the candles.

“Happy birthday angel!” she blew off the candles and cut the cake while I took her photographs through my cell phone camera.

“Come here”. She stuffed a piece in my mouth. Then she pulled me closer getting into my arms, placed her cell phone camera in front of us and clicked a few photographs. It was all awesome, she had cuddled up to me and we both were reading those romantic greeting cards together. She was a constant chatter box and I just loved to stare at her and hear her speak, I loved her voice, I loved every bit of her.

“Now let’s have some fun.” She said as she took her porcelain glass containing Pepsi.  I knew something hell was on its way. 

She took my glass and poured the ice in hers and a moment later took out a 90ml Smirnoff vodka bottle from her bag.

“Hell... ARE YOU NUTS?!”

 “Come on... Now don’t be such a nerd.” And with that she poured almost all vodka in her soft drink.

“You are crazy!” But nothing can ever stop her and now she was in the seventh heaven sipping vodka through a Pepsi glass!

 She was at her highest high, unable to walk straight and all shaken up. I carried her out of the R-mall. It was nearly six thirty, she had to get home.

“You are so cute...” she said in drunken voice as she pulled my cheeks.

“Yeah I know, now let’s get moving dear.”

“No... I wanna kiss you.” She started pulling me amidst the crowded street while I struggled to find an auto along with managing her and keeping my cool.

“You.... come here.”

“Sure, just get in first.” We got into an auto and it felt as if I had saved the day. I don’t know what got into her but she began to weep into my arms and I was all clueless as ever.

“Hey.” I held her face in my palms and locked my eyes with hers. It felt as if time had frozen as I peered into those mystique black eyes, full with tears.

“You should leave me.... I.... I can never love you the way you love me... I don’t deserve you... I... I have just screwed you up...nothing else...”

“Well if it’s about screwing up... I love screwing up but only with you. And-”

“You don’t understand it.... I’m not the right one for you... You are way too good and I’m a very bad person... I...just...” She said in a shrill voice and broke down again.

“It’s not about finding the right person.... It’s about finding peace, happiness and love even with the most wrong person. At the end it’s all about loving, truthfully and unconditionally... I love you and no one can change that ever.”

“Never leave me alone.” she was very close, just a couple of inches between us.

“I won’t. I promise.”  She hugged me tightly and at that moment I sensed she had passed out in my arms. I took her close and caressed her cheeks. I couldn’t help but stare at the sleeping beauty besides me. Someone had rightly said that only women look beautiful while asleep. As I looked at her I was lost somewhere. But don’t know why this feeling of being lost was so close to being found. These moments, they had a magic touch with them, and all I knew was that they will be lasting forever....

“What do you think you are doing?!!” I heard a familiar voice which pulled me back from my day dream.

“Huh...” I looked up at our Physics madam and the look in her eyes wasn’t much appreciable.

“This isn’t a place for your time pass. Get out.”

“Sure.” I picked my bag and left the physics lab amidst the laughter of all. I don’t know why but just instinctively I climbed up to the fifth floor to the chemistry lab.  She had her chem Pracs today. I peeped into the lab but couldn’t find her. I got down and now this thing was really eating me up from within. Some feelings, they sink so deep within that they just become an integral part of you. They make you so vulnerable; they get into you, break you and finally mould you into a strange being.

 I took a seat on a vacant bench in the Sambhaji Park. The Sun was rapidly vanishing behind the Manisha Garden Tower, the tallest one in Mulund East.  The sky was ablaze and it looked as if someone had literally melted gold along. I stared at a photograph of us in my cell phone. She had clicked it at MacDonald’s last year, on this very day. I just thought what she’d be thinking. Had she forgotten all? There was only one way to know.

“Hello...” I heard her pleasant voice almost after a life time.

“Hi.” I managed to say few moments later.

“Who’s this..?”

  “Happy birthday.... Angel.” I couldn’t hold back tears.

“May I know who’s speaking?” There wasn’t a slightest affection in her voice.

I’m sorry.” I hung up. It hurt... It hurt like real hell...

“These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph, die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss....Consume!”

–     Shakespeare