Confusion

This post is written for BLOGESHWAR  and Anubhooti


“Sourav, get up dude.” Kunal kicked his roommate. “I am leaving for office. Don’t you have shift today?” he asked Sourav.

Sourav rubbed his eyes and stared at Kunal. “Why are you looking at me like this? Something is wrong?” Kunal asked him.

“Well as much as I know, you don’t have much work now days. Neither there is a party in your office today. Then why have you dressed up so well and leaving for office on time?” Sourav was confused.

“You get up and get ready. There are already 5 missed calls from your cab driver.” Kunal winked at him and left for office.

There was a spring in his steps and smile on his face. He was feeling very good today. But this was not the case till some days back. One month back the scene was entirely different.

                                                            ******************

He was having his evening tea in cafeteria with his colleague cum best buddy Shiv. “Kunal, yaar what is life?” Shiv asked Kunal.

Based on this question, don’t judge Shiv to be a serious guy. He is a happy go lucky person. By hearing his jokes, no one can think that he was the university topper and a very studious guy. He was Kunal’s cubicle mate from last three years and seeing each other 5 days a week for more than 8 hours made them very good friends. During the hectic work in that R&D organization, Shiv’s jokes were the only relief for Kunal. He used to love his company.

“What happened dude, why such a serious question today? Everything is fine right?” Kunal patted Shiv. 

“Yaar, we have studied so hard, got admission in a reputed college. Again we studied so much, to get job in big research and development organization. But what is the end result?” Kunal was looking at Shiv with questions in his eyes. 

“Least scorer of my class is also earning well, and enjoying life. Yaar look at these call center guys, they get to spend time with beautiful girls throughout their office hours. And in our domain there are no girls.” Shiv continued.

Kunal interrupted “Dude, there are some 6 female employees in this site.” Shiv gave him shut your mouth look and said “I am talking about beautiful girls, not about Madam Prabhawati who applies so much oil in her hair that she can easily supply coconut oil to whole Germany for full one year. Or Madam Sheila, who wears soda bottle glasses on her eyes.”

“Dude, but I don’t think they use coconut oil in Germany.” Shiv stared at Kunal in response of his question and they both burst out laughing.

This used to be a common topic of discussion over their evening tea. They concluded that most of the good looking girls go for modeling and films. Some other who can study also with cute face, goes for MBA or journalism. And the rest 10% not so good looking geeky girls come to engineering colleges.

                                                **********************

Kunal was going through some online document, when he got a tap on his back by Shiv. “Yaar stop reading this boring document. Listen to the interesting news I have.”

Kunal: And what is that?

Shiv: There is a vacancy in Human resource department.

Shiv winked while saying that. Kunal was really puzzled that how come this is a great news.

Shiv: Yaar, remember our conclusion? MBA, Human resource….. This time for sure a girl will join.

                                                ***********************

Yesterday, Kunal went to Shiv’s cubical to call him for tea. 

Shiv: Yaar, the selection process is over. Have you seen this mail? 

He was referring to the email opened on his computer. 

Shiv: For the vacancy in HR department some Suman has been selected.

Kunal also got excited by seeing Shiv’s excitement. Throughout their tea break Suman was the topic of discussion. 

Kunal: What was exactly written in the mail dude? She is single right?

Shiv: Yes right, they have mentioned her sandal number also in that mail.

Kunal: Are you kidding me?

Shiv: Are you out of your mind. How come they will give her relationship status in that mail? The only thing written there was candidate selected for HR post is Suman Sharma.

Kunal: That’s all?

Shiv: yes that’s all. 

He smiled and continued. “Have patience yaar, tomorrow you will get to know everything about her.”

                                                            *******************

Today Kunal woke up early and got dressed for office before time. He did not want to miss the introduction of new employees during the quarterly meeting. 

There was a spring in his step and smile on his face. He was feeling very good today. 

He reached office and straight away went to Shiv’s place. “Dude, is this you. How come I am seeing you in office before 9’o Clock?” he asked Shiv.

Shiv: You are seeing me early for the same reason, which made you wear your best shirt today.

They both started laughing. 

                                                ************************

All the employees were sitting in the office auditorium and the quarterly meeting started in few minutes.

There were lines of presentations by different department heads about their progress and future goals.

Shiv: Don’t they know that no one is listening to them. Why are they boring us yaar.

Kunal smiled. 

After an hour it was turn for the HR department presentation.

Kunal: Dude, just this presentation. Then we will get to see Miss Suman. 

He had a mischievous smile on his face. Shiv showed thumbs up to him and smiled back.

After 15 minutes the presentation was over and the HR manager said “That was all form our side. And now I request all the new joinees in this quarter to introduce themselves.” 

Both Kunal and Shiv started listening to the introduction consciously. Some four introductions were over. “When Suman will come yaar.” Shiv was eager. 

And then they heard this voice “Hello everyone. I am Suman Sharma.”

Shiv was staring nonstop at her with his mouth open. Kunal said “Dude, She is good.”

Shiv: good? She is awesome yaar.

They both listened to Suman’s introduction very carefully. And as she finished, Shiv turned to Kunal “Yaar, after this meeting we have common lunch. There we will talk to her.”

                                                ************************** 

Both of them were keeping eye on Suman, to get a perfect chance to talk to her. 

Kunal: Dude, how we will start the conversation?

Shiv smiled and said confidently “Don’t worry, that will come there automatically. On the go.”

They saw her talking to the other ladies and they were waiting for her to move away from that group. 

They were still discussing, that who among them will talk to her first when they saw Suman talking over phone and walking towards the main gate. 

Kunal: Hey, She is going outside.

Shiv: Yes, She rushed all of a sudden. May be she will need our help. We should go behind her.

They both rushed to the main gate. And there they saw something which shattered their dreams.

They saw a little girl. Who came running to Suman, hugged her and said “Mummy….” 

Shiv and Kunal were shocked. 

Kunal: How can she be a mom? She is married?

He looked at Shiv, who was still staring at Suman. He made crying face and said “This is cheating Yaar. I am going to sue all the anti aging cream companies.”

अगर मैं होती परी

 

अगर मैं होती परी, तो दूर आसमान में कही उड़ जाती |
अगर मैं होती परी, तो इन्द्रधनुष के रंग तेरी जिन्दगी में ले आती |
अगर मैं होती परी, तो दुनिया में प्यार भर पाती |
अगर मैं होती परी, तो तेरे सारे दर्द हर जाती |

पर हूँ मैं इक आम लड़की, जिसके पास नहीं कोई  जादु की छड़ी |
एक सच्चा दिल है, और होठो पे है मुस्कान बड़ी |
करूंगी  कोशिश की ये मुस्कान तेरे होठो पे भी लाऊ ,
तुझे जीने का एक ढंग नया सिखलाऊ |

बनायेंगे  मिल के हम इस दुनिया को जन्नत,
फिर न पुछेगा कोई बच्चा "माँ, कब आएगी परी?"

अगर मैं होती परी......... 

Wordless Wednesday -7

PS: They are someone's dinner.

Train Stories

Call it my laziness or over confidence that I did not book my tickets in advance for going home this deepawali. And at the nth moment when I started looking for tickets, flight tickets were unbelievably high (12K-29K one way), and there were no tickets available in the direct train to my home town (By the way, it takes me 36 hours minimum to reach home by train). After seeing no other possibility, I booked my tickets with braked journey. I was supposed to change train in Rourkela, and my next train for Jamshedpur(home town) was after 4 hours. Friends were asking me what I will do for that long time, and suggested me to wait inside waiting room. 

On planned date I started my journey and I was praying for train to reach Rourkela late so that I should not wait there for long. My train reached Rourkela 1 hour late. I asked a coolie to take my luggage to that platform where my next train was supposed to come. He did the same, took money and left. I was busy arranging my luggage on the bench when I saw a passenger train, which was going to Jamshedpur. I was sure that if I take this train I will reach home early. But me being me, decided to wait for the train I booked tickets in. 

I thought I will listen to music to pass time, but then one drunken coolie came and asked me where I want to go. I tried avoiding him but he was not leaving the place. To get rid of him, I told him the name of the train I was waiting for. He told me to go and sleep in the waiting room as my train will come tomorrow morning only. I had checked the train timing that morning also on internet, so I was very sure and didn’t believe on what that coolie said. 

Still that passenger train was there on the platform. I don’t know why, but I just got up from my place and walked up to the enquiry counter. And there when they said that my train will come next morning only due to train timing changes, I was shocked. I somehow managed to buy tickets for that passenger train and got inside. Call it my luck, as I sat in that train, it started moving. I just managed to get inside with my entire luggage. I was really pissed with all these unexpected changes and was extremely angry on Indian railways. When I returned to my senses, I thanked that drunken coolie for saving me from spending whole night in the station. And then I observed that I was sitting in between so many men. I had no energy left to shift my luggage somewhere else or look for other place. This journey was for just 3 hours, so it was better to adjust.

There were 3 engineering students and few uncles who were sitting in my compartment. In the next station one chai wala came inside. There was one uncle (I think he was drunk), he asked the Chai wala for time. He replied the time for which this uncle said “I am asking you to give me tea, why you telling me the time.” 

Chai wala: You asked me for time only. If you ask me for tea I will give you tea. You ask me politely, I will give you my blood too.” 

Till now I was looking outside the window. But this filmy dialog from the Chai wala confirmed that the scene inside was more interesting then what I was seeing outside. 

That Uncle: Okay, enough of your dialogs. Give me tea. And if it is not hot I won’t pay you.

Chai wala: My tea is the hottest. You drink it and see. If it’s cold I won’t take your money. And this is a man’s promises. 

He said this and looked through the audience for applause. I felt even he was a psycho, my bad day. He served tea to that Uncle.

That Uncle: If your tea is hot, I will give you 100 Rs.

Chai wala: I don’t take money in charity. 

He again looked for applause, his dialog reminded me of Amitabh bachchan’s dialog in the movie Deewar “Seth, main pheke hue paise nahi uthata”. 

That uncle drank the tea and asked the Chai wala “where this train is going?”. That was extremely funny moment. By now I forgot all my anger and I was enjoying my first ever local train journey. Chai wala got down in next station and that uncle slept. I was listening to music, when I felt that the guy sitting next to me asked me  something. I removed my earphone and begged his pardon. His question made me speechless. 

Guy: Why do you keep long nails? Is it for fashion or for clawing someone’s face.

He gave a wicked smile. I was shocked on such question. I felt like clawing his face as answer to his stupid question. But I maintained my calm and said “just for fashion” and wore my earphones back. 

My god! I was praying for that journey to end as early as possible. First the shock of rescheduling of train, then running around to manage to get into this train, and finally these chai wala, drunken uncle and useless guys sitting around me, made me pray to god like the Geet of Jab we met, for no more excitement in the trip.

But whatever we say, it is 100% true that we get to meet many interesting people and witness many funny incidents in train journey, which we always miss in flights. I had come across many experiences during such journeys, some made me smile and some pissed me off, but all of them are unforgettable. And with this one journey, one more page got added to my book of memories. I will share few more such memories with you all some time again.

Wordless Wednesday -6

Help

“Not again…..” I was annoyed. This was 5th time in a row when our society’s lift was not working. I used stairs to reach my flat on the 8th floor. After reaching there I realized that I forgot my flat keys in office. I called my roommate for the other pair of keys which was with her. She was on the way to home but I had no energy to stand and wait for 45 more minutes. I was tired, and that time I was left with just one option, to go to some neighbor’s house. The door facing my door was Das uncle’s house. He was a middle aged widower and both his sons were settled in other cities. I had not interacted much with him before but because other two neighbors on my floor were out of station for summer vacations, his house was the only shelter for me that time.

He welcomed me to his house and asked the reason for my visit. I asked him for water and a 9-10 your old kid came from kitchen with a tray in his hand. I said thanks to that kid and took the glass. I love sweets and I always keep some chocolates in my bag, I took one out and offered that kid. He was hesitant to take it and looked at Das uncle. Uncle gestured him to take the chocolate and go inside, he told me that this kid is his domestic help. I was little confused as some months back I saw some other kid as his domestic help. But I did not bother to ask him much. I was talking to uncle about some general stuff when my roommate called and informed me that she was back.

****************************
“Shina, today when I was waiting for you in Das uncle’s house I saw his domestic help. He is just 9-10 years old. I feel really bad for the kid.” I said to my roommate Shina.

Shina: That Kid must be from some poor family. They mostly send their children to cities, to work as domestic help or something of that kind, so that they can get some extra money.

“But like other children, they too have the right to study and go to school. We should not boost such bad practices. I think we should talk to Das uncle about this. We should tell him to stop this child labour.” I said in excitement.

“Calm down super girl, It is government’s job so let them do it. Don’t put your hand in someone else’s shit.” Shina switched off the lights and said. “You sleep now, else you will get late for office tomorrow.”

*************************
Six months passed that incident. I was coming back from one of my friend’s place. I stopped my car at traffic signal, and there I saw him. He was selling magazine at the signal. He knocked my window glass and asked me to buy magazine. It took me no time to recognize him. “Hey, you are the same boy who used to work in Das uncle’s house right.” He looked scared and stepped back. “Do you remember me? I came to Das uncle’s house once, I gave you chocolate. Remember?” I asked him again. Now he smiled and nodded in agreement. I was going to have lunch in the nearby mess and don’t know why I felt like treating this kid with a good lunch. “Would you like to have lunch with me?”His eyes sparkled, I asked him to sit in my car. While chitchatting with him I came to know that his name was Sonu, he was an orphan. Das uncle brought him from his orphanage.

We reached the mess. I read the menu for Sonu and asked him what he would like to eat. He settled for a masala dosa and I ordered one regular meal. In few minutes our order arrived and Sonu started enjoying his masala dosa. I was happy to see him happy. We finished our food and ordered ice-cream. Till the time we were waiting for ice-cream, I asked Sonu that why he left Das uncle’s job. He became sad. “Didi, that uncle used to beat me and lock me the kitchen when he used to go out.” I felt pity for the little boy and wondered how Das uncle could do that to a child, He continued “He used to make me do all the household work and he forcefully used to do something with me which I didn’t like.” After that whatever Sonu said was very shocking for me. How could that old man do such thing? How could he be a child molester? I was terrified to hear what the small kid used to go through every day. He was crying while telling me this. I gave him water and made him relax. I asked him how come he reached this signal, where he sells magazines. He said that Das uncle sold him to some other man once he brought another kid from the same orphanage. This man also used to beat him and physically abuse him. One day he forgot to lock Sonu inside the house and that day Sonu ran away from there. He met some other kids near the signal and started working with them in that signal.

Sonu’s story made my eyes wet. I had two options in front of me. Either I should listen to what Shina said “Don’t put your hand in someone else’s shit.” Or I should do something to save the life of the other kid who was with Das uncle. I decided to go for good over bad. I asked Sonu to come with me to the police station. We went to the police station and filed a complaint against Das uncle for Child labour and Child molestation. I even complained against Sonu’s orphanage, for selling children to such people. Police raided Das uncle’s house and saved that kid. They even raided the orphanage and So many hidden secrets came out. There was this entire gang which used to sell the orphanage children and Das was one of their agents. Police arrested Das and his gang, Sonu and other kids of that orphanage were sent to a good Orphanage. Sonu joined school, and I was very happy for him. I was satisfied that I helped these kids and did not ignore, thinking that it was none of my business. I was with good and as always good won over bad.

PS: This is a work of fiction. To live a safe and good life, we have to be good first. It may take some time but at last good will win over bad.



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Wonderful Morning

55 Fiction is a form of micro fiction that refers to the works of fiction limited to a maximum of fifty-five words.

She opened her eyes, cool breeze greeted her a wonderful morning. She loved her soft bed, decorated with soft-toys. She never felt so happy in twelve years of her life.

One hard kick brought her back to reality. She found herself in messy storeroom “Go, start working you bitch. We don’t pay you to sleep.”



Time Travel tag

This Tag/idea came to me from Preeti, it is originally written by Emily Barton from telcommuter talk.


1. Depending on your age, go back 10, 15, 20, or even more years.
2. Tell us how many years back you have travelled and why.
3. Pretend you have met yourself during that era, and tell us where you are.
4. You only have one "date" with this former self.
5. Answer these questions.


Okay, as we start, what year is it and how old are you?

It is Oct 2000. I went 10 years back, because 15 years back I was too young for this date. :)

My younger self studies in 10th std in a girls only school in Jamshedpur. They have a gang of 9 girls and they enjoy their last year in school to the fullest. This year only my younger self attended the NCC republic day camp, and received best cadet award there. She enjoyed all the fame and attention after returning to her home town Jamshedpur, when many newspapers took her interview.

Last week only her gang won a bet for 100rs from one classmate and they did an ice cream party with that money in the nearby restaurant and then ran back to school, because they saw their class teacher entering the same restaurant.


1. Would your younger self (YYS, from here) recognize you when you first meet?

Yes she would recognize me. However at first place she will be very much surprised to see me. She has been very skinny all through the years and she used to believe that she will never grow by an inch also, no matter how much ever sweets and chocolates she eats. Call it an effect of movies or anything else, she used to believe that once she grow older than 20 she will look entirely different (read it extremely gorgeous), as we see in movies, kid Madhuri Dixit and young Madhuri Dixit never look same. :P


2. Would YYS be surprised to discover what you are doing job wise?

Yes she will be. As she always wanted to become a doctor. She will be surprised to see me working in engineering domain.


3. What piece of fashion advice would you give YYS?

Don’t wear those high heels and feel uncomfortable while walking. You have good height so wear the comfortable flats. And stop putting so much of oil in your hair, it looks sticky.


4. What do you think YYS is most going to want to know?

What percentage she will get in her 10th board exam.


5. How would you answer YYS's question?

Stop worrying about the marks and percentage because in coming years of your life you will be judged by your work and not by your marks in these exams.


6. What would probably be the best thing to tell YYS?

I would tell her to stop worrying for small-small issues. There is no point crying for hours when she comes 4th in her class. In her coming life these things won’t be important for her. And when mom scolds her for her clumsiness, she should not get angry on mom, as mom is correcting her and helping her become better in life.


7. What is something that you probably wouldn't tell YYS?

I would never tell her how painful is threading and waxing. ;)


8. What do you think will most surprise YYS about you?

YSS will be most surprised to know that now I am not scared of sleeping alone, because she used to sleep with her parents always. She will be surprised to here that now I am not that much scared of cockroaches as she is.


9. What do you think will least surprise YYS?

That I am still in contact with my school friends and I am still in love with sweets and chocolates so much that I can eat full packet of sweets and can skip my meal.


10. At this point in your life, would YYS like to run into "you" from the future?

Of course. She would love to become more confident and smart person as I am now. :)


I enjoyed doing this tag and now I tag Nasia, Aneesh, Shilpa, Hemal, Sourav.
if anyone else liked this tag, consider yourself tagged by me and leave a comment, I would love to read that :)

Wordless Wednesday -5

 

Waiting Room

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 15; the fifteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

“Yes Sir, we covered the full story. The tape and the pictures are with Gaurav. He left already with the team. This story will create sensation Sir.” Barkha said to her boss on phone. She used to work for a big news channel. She came to this small village Chandanpur, to cover a gang rape case. In past also there were quite a few similar incidents happened in this area, but justice never reached the victim. More over Barkha’s channel head wanted some sensational and exclusive story this time, which was why they got ready to fund this story. Barkha was comparatively a new comer in the media field. This story was supposed to be a turning point for her career. 

They filmed the story as per their plan and the whole team was ready to return back to city that day. However at last moment they found one witness, who wanted to meet Barkha in person.  On other side Barkha’s boss wanted to review the first cut story on the same day itself. So she decided to stay back, while rest of the team started early morning for the city. She met that witness and collected all the relevant information. After which as planned, she started for the railway station to board the train to city.

 Chandanpur railway station was an old and small station. She enquired about her train to the station master and came to know that the train was 6 hours late. Then she had no choice but to wait for the train in the railway station. There were some wooden benches in the station, she sat on one of them. She looked around, there was lot of greenery around that place but the station looked barren. Very few train used to stop there, so the station used to be empty most of the time. In no time sky was covered with dark clouds, the whole atmosphere gave a haunted look to the station. In few minutes it started to rain and she ran for shelter towards the tiny waiting room. 

That was a small room with two wooden benches placed next to each other. An earthen pot for drinking water was kept in one corner. Only one bulb was there, which was barely lightening the room. She kept her bag next to her and sat on the bench. She was not very comfortable but her tired body left her no choice but to sit there. She took out a book from her handbag to kill some time. 

                                                **********************************

“Can I sit here?” she found a tall manly figure standing in front of her. She moved her bag to one side and went back to her book. Barkha was busy reading but something was not right. She felt that this man is staring at her. She turned her head towards him but he still continued staring nonstop. This was making her uncomfortable. “Excuse me? You have any problem?” She asked him furiously. She did not bother for his answer, “Idiot, stupid, fool. As if he never saw a girl before” she said to herself and slightly moved towards the other side of the bench. 

“Where are you going?” He was trying to start a conversation. 

“Why can’t he sit peacefully” she thought. 

“Looks like you are all alone? By the way, this is not a safe place for girls to travel alone.” He again.

She wanted to maintain calm but his questions were annoying her. “Yes I am alone. And there is no need for you to take care of me, I can take care of myself very well” She took her bags and moved to the next bench. She turned her face to the other side and acted as if she is busy reading the book. 

By now it was evening, it was getting dark outside. And to add to her trouble, power went off. She got really scared in the dark room. 

Nothing was visible clearly, and suddenly she felt someone’s touch on her shoulder. It freaked her out, she shouted and ran towards the door. She ran out, it was dark there and was raining too. She kept on running. Fear in her made her run faster and faster. She was tired, exhausted. She didn’t even realize that she came very far away from the station. There was no one around and it was very dark. Before she can understand where she was, someone covered her mouth from back.

                                                ********************************

She screamed and woke up. She was sweating and was breathing heavily. It took her few minutes to realize that she was still in that waiting room. There was no one around other than her, and all that she saw was a dream. “Thank god that was just a dream” she looked for her water bottle, but it was empty. She was very thirsty and had no option but to drink water from the pot kept in the corner of the room. She drank water and looked at her watch. “Still 3 hour to go. It’s so boring!” She came back to her place and leaned on the wall behind. She was worrying about how to pass these three hours, when she heard him. “Can I sit here?”

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Credits
Image - Alston Station by Wandering Soul
Courtesy - http://www.deviantart.com/ via http://www.blogaton.in/

Age bar

55 Fiction is a form of micro fiction that refers to the works of fiction limited to a maximum of fifty-five words.

She screamed “Come on! You can do it. Push!”.

“I am tired. Is this an age to do this?” he said.

“There’s no age bar dear. We can do it whenever we want. Show me all your strength.” She gave a mischievous smile.

“How is dada ji’s gym lesson going?” little Rohan asked his grandmother.

Shanta Bai

One month back when she shifted from Bangalore to Mumbai, one thing which she missed the most was her ‘Maid’. Setting up the house, cooking, cleaning, and work load in new office, was making life difficult for her. That time the only thing she needed was a maid. She asked her neighbors, colleagues and googled for a maid. She contacted some consultancies for house maid. Searching for job was not as difficult as looking out for a maid in that city.


One fine day, by god’s grace she found one maid through her colleague. Maid was supposed to visit her place on Sunday. She got up early, cleaned the room and arranged everything.

“How come you are so active on Sunday? Someone special is coming?” her husband asked her with a smile.

“Of course… this person is very important” She replied while giving a cup of tea to him.

                                                  ***************************

“It is 11:30 now. She was supposed to come at 11. Why she didn’t come yet” frustration in her voice.

“I have never seen you waiting like this for me” her husband made fun of her.

She gave him keep-your-mouth-shut look and looked at her wrist watch again.

“Relax dear, you will get the maid this time. I have some pending work from office. I am going in the study room.” He said and went. She was still waiting in the hall. After some 20 minutes the door bell rang, she ran to open the door.

                                                   ***************************

Shanta Bai looked over the house to estimate the area she needs to clean every day. She specifically asked, if they have automatic washing machine, because she doesn’t like to waste her time with semiautomatic machine. She checked all the kitchen appliances and inspected the bathroom.

Shanta Bai liked her house and the work she was supposed to do. Now they were negotiating on her salary.

Shanta Bai: Itna kit-kit nako karo memsaab… 7000 fix karo aab, nai tho main jati… khali pili time waste nako karo mera. (Madam, don’t argue so much. Let us fix it for 7000 rupees, else I will leave. Don’t waste my time simply)

She had no other choice but to pay Shanta Bai whatever she asked for, because she badly needed a maid. “Okay, fine I am ready to pay you 7000. But be regular and start working from tomorrow.” She told her.

“Oh so you guys fixed your terms and conditions.” Her husband came in hall to take some book. He smiled and said ‘Hi’ to Shanta Bai. He went back to his room, she turned to Shanta Bai “Fine then, see you tomorrow morning”.

Shanta Bai: Mere ko yaha kaam nako karneka… (I won’t work here)

She: What? But why? I am paying you whatever you asked for. Now don’t do any drama to get more money.

Shanta Bai: Tumhara pati aaise smart ban ke, body deekha ke ghar me ghumega tho mere ko yaha kaam nako karna… Waaise bhi aaj kal hum maid logo kaa hero logo se bahut problem hai. (If your husband will roam around, showing his body like this, I won’t work in your house. Now a days there are many problems going on between maids and heroes.)

She: But my husband is not an actor. He just forgot to wear his shirt and came out. I will tell him to take care. You don’t leave the job.

But shanta bai left.

She was fuming with anger. She ran to her husband.

“What happened? Are you angry?” he suspected.

She: If I had any clue that marrying a handsome guy will cost me so much, I would have never said yes to you…

He: What? What are you talking about?

She: Do you have any idea, what is the value of a maid in woman’s life? If husband leaves us, we can survive, but how can we lead a good life without a maid? My life is finished….

 

I wish to learn !

Many say I am a quick learner and I always feel the urge to learn new things and expand my area of expertise. So here I am with the list of ten things I want to learn in near future.


1. Salsa Dance: By god’s grace I don’t have two left feet. I have the sense of rhythm and I can move my body on tune, but this form of couple dance is something I crave to learn. Whenever I see this form of dance I feel like dancing too, but I fail because I don’t know the techniques of this dance and secondly I don’t have a partner who will be willing to dance with me :P . But I will learn it someday for sure.

2. Music instrument: I have decent voice and some understating of music but I don’t know to play any music instrument. I would like to learn the keyboard or the harmonium.

3. Investments and policies: I am working from past four years, but still I don’t identify with the Investments and policies very well. I think of them only when I see mails from finance team for investment declaration and tax computation. Now my parents help me in planning Investment, but as time progresses its better if I improve my familiarity with them.

4. Driving Car: This is something I don’t know at all. I have to learn it for sure.

5. Maintaining the lipstick: I wear lipstick only on special occasions but it never stays on for more than an hour. I thought there might be some problem with my lipstick and I bought one which claims to stay from 9 to 5. But all in vain. I see women eating, drinking and still there lip color is fresh, I have to learn this technique of maintaining lipstick while eating and drinking.

6. Knitting: I love the sweaters and scarf my mom and grandmother made for us. Handmade sweaters always feel special; it shows the love and care of the maker. So I want to learn knitting and make something for my dear ones.

7. Working in Saree: I know to tie saree and I manage to walk in it, but whenever I wear saree in office (ethnic day or some other function) my productivity touches zero. Frequent visits to restroom for rearranging it and efforts to maintain it, eats all the time. I wonder how my mom and other women do all their work in saree so effortlessly. Hats off to them :)

8. Cooking: I can cook the basic food, but I don’t know as many dishes as my mom or aunts do. Whatever I know based on that I can say that I am decent cook, still increasing the list of dishes I know is important. I hope it will help me for a brighter future ;)

9. Reiki: I came to know about Reiki from one of my uncle who used to practice this when I was in school. And recently one of my friends learnt it, which catalyzed my wish to learn Reiki.

10. HTML coding: I want to learn basics of this language; this will help me in maintaining my blog better.


This Tag/Idea came from Shilpa. Now I officially tag Nasia, Aneesh, Mayank, Nikita.
And If you like this tag, do share your '10 things you want to learn' . :)

Wordless Wednesday -4

PS: This Ganesha is painted and clicked by me :)  (technique used : water color and pen work.)

The Call

I sipped the coffee and started typing again. In that silent room only sound was caused by my typewriter. Now a days when everyone writes on computer and laptop, I still prefer my typewriter. This typewriter was gifted to me by my father, who was a famous writer. I write stories for a magazine and my first book is ready for launch in few months. Rhythm of the typewriter’s sound broke by interruption from a phone call. Our land line phone was ringing. My wife Shina and son Aryan were out for shopping, I was the only one responsible to pick it up. I received the call “Hello”. No sound came from the other side. “Hello who is this? Hello. Can you hear me?”  But no reply came from other side and call got disconnected. I came back to my seat and I was about to type the next word when phone rang again. “Hello…. Hello. Who is this? Whom you want to talk to? Hello …” but like before this time also there was no reply. I kept the receiver and returned to my seat but phone rang again. As if someone doesn’t want me to write peacefully. I received the call but again no answer. This series of blank calls continued for some 10-15 times continuously.


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We were discussing how our day was at work, when my wife told me about the series of blank calls came on our landline phone in the evening. I told her that the same incident happened last Sunday also when I was alone at home. I thought we should buy a caller id phone set. But my wife was not much interested in doing so, in place of that she suggested removing the landline phone as we both have mobile, and landline was old fashioned according to her. But being someone who likes old things I didn’t wanted to remove landline connection and dropped my idea of buying a caller id phone.


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I pressed the doorbell. Shina opened the door and hugged me tight “thank god, you are alright”. She looked scared and her face was wet with tears and sweat. She looked terrified, and was thanking god for saving me. I made her sit comfortably, gave her water and asked her what happen. She said that when she came back from office, some blank calls came as it came last week. After few blank calls in one call someone said that I (her husband) met with an accident. Shina asked him who that person is and from where he is speaking, she asked him how I am and where I am but the person didn’t reply and disconnected the call. After that she tried calling me but my phone was switched off, which frightened her more. I checked my phone, it was off. I only switched it off when I went inside a meeting and forgot to switch it on once I came out. I had no idea about who called Shina and why someone informed her about my accident, but this one incident scared my whole family.

Next day itself I bought caller id phone. And I informed my friend Suresh, who was in police, about this incident. He told me not to panic, may be someone had played prank on us.


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I walked in the hall to take the newspaper, and I saw Shina shouting on Aryan. I asked her the reason. She said “I am so upset with your son. He never listens to me. Today he took chocolate from some stranger uncles.” I smiled and assured her that I will tell Aryan not to do this again. I made my son to sit on my lap, but he being a naughty kid was trying to get out of my grip and run around. “So you made momma angry again?” he smiled. We both started playing with each other and soon room was filled with our giggles.


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I was working in my study room when I heard Shina screaming my name. I panicked and ran towards the hall. She said that Aryan went for playing in the park but he did not come back yet. I asked her “Have you seen in his room, maybe he is back.  She cried “I checked everywhere in the house, he is not here”. I told her not to worry and decided to go myself and call Aryan from the nearby park because it was getting darker. I did not find him in the park, I asked few neighbors also but no one had any idea about where Aryan went. I came back home and my wife was in worse condition then in what I left her. She was crying nonstop. I too got tensed and worried when I came to know about the ransom call, which came sometime back. My little son was kidnapped. Till now I had seen these things only in movies or read those in news paper, but today this happened to my 6 year old kid, it made me go weak on knees. I checked the number from where call came on our phone and called there, but no one picked up.

The kidnaper warned us not to call police. Still I called my friend Suresh and told him about the incident. He asked me for the number from which ransom call came and told me to mail Aryan’s photo to him.


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That was a sleepless night and early morning we got call from the kidnaper. He asked us for money and said he will call again and inform about the time and location where we should give him money. When I checked in caller id, I found out that this time the number used to call us was different. I informed the same to Suresh. Within an hour Suresh came to our home with his team. They all came in civilian dress so that no one comes to know that police came to our house. He said that his team traced the numbers and found out that both the calls came from some PCOs near the city engineering college. He asked us if anything else unusual happened in last few days. My wife told him about the blank calls we used to get some days back and about that call which gave her the wrong information about my accident.


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24 hours passed and Shina fell ill due to constant crying and tension. I gave her sleeping pills and somehow made her sleep, but I was restless. Around ten in the night Suresh called me and asked me to come to the police station immediately. He said that they arrested the kidnappers and Aryan is safe now. I reached police station in no time. My son was sitting in the police station and he started crying after seeing me. He was not beaten by the kidnappers but the whole incident scared my little boy a lot. I thanked Suresh and his team for saving my kid and asked him who the kidnapper was. I never expected even in my wildest dream that the kidnappers were some students from the city engineering college. These guys were addicted to drugs and when they ran short of money they planned this kidnapping. I was still confused that why they did this with me as I am not the richest guy of the town neither I am any industrialist. Suresh said “once you went to their college as chief guest for some function. There you shared your home phone number with few guys who were interested in writing. From there only they got your number” I came to know that these guys only used to give blank calls on my landline, to find out who used to be at home at what time. They only called Shina about my accident to check if we complain to police for such misguiding call or not. These students only visited Aryan outside his school and gave him chocolate to increase familiarity with my kid. I never thought that students from a reputed institution can do such crime. But someone rightly mentioned that addiction is always harmful. And their drug addiction turned these future engineers into criminals.

PS: This is my entry for the 'Blogeshwar 3.0' contest.

Return

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 14; the fourteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Everything was out of place, room was messy. Broken pieces of flower vase were still there on floor. Rishi unlocked the door and came inside, gave a sigh to the condition of room and went inside bedroom. Bedroom was also in same state. His almirah was open and bed was covered with heap of clothes. And there she was in the corner of the room, smiling..... “She has such a beautiful smile” Rishi went near her picture. It was Tia’s picture, his beautiful wife.

They were opposite. She was organized, he was clumsy. She used to love books; he used to read books to get sleep. She used to like soft music and he was a heavy metal fan. The differences were countless but they just cared about one thing and that was their love. They met four years ago and soon got into a relationship. Morning they would fight about something and breakup, by evening they would patchup again . There were many big and small fights but their love always stood taller than the fights. They decided to take their relationship one step further and with everyone’s blessings they married last year. After marriage facing each other 24X7 had brought out their differences more clearly. Fights increased but patch up time reduced. Tia was a cleanliness freak but Rishi was opposite. Most of the times fights started because of this and then get diverted to something else. Whenever Tia was very angry with Rishi, she used to go to the nearby park and he used to run behind her and cajole her. They managed well through all small & big fights until last night.

*********************************

Tia called Rishi in his office and asked him to get the ingredients for the cake she wanted to prepare. When he reached home Tia greeted him with smile.

Tia: Hi, How was your day? And where are the things I asked you to bring?

Rishi: Shit! I just forgot.

Her expressions changed. She went to kitchen to get water for him, and when she came back “Rishi, what is this? How many times I have to tell you to keep your shoes in the shoe rack.”

He took the glass from her “Sorry darling.”

Tia: Oh my god, look at this. You are so careless. You left your watch on bookshelf and morning you will turn the house upside down for this. When will you become responsible Rishi?

Rishi: Hold on! If I misplace my things that doesn’t mean I am irresponsible.

Tia: Oh Yes! I know how much responsible you are, I asked you to bring something but you forgot. I doubt how you work in office.

Now this was enough to hit his ego. “What do you think Tia, I don’t work well in office? Just like that I got two promotions in last two years? Do you understand how much work I do in office? Anyways how will you understand all this, you just sit at home and watch TV.”

Tia: What! I just sit idle all day? Mr. Rishi, you make this house look like a dumping ground and leave every morning, I am the one who makes it look like home again. I cook for you, I do your laundry. I take care of your home and you are calling me lazy. You men think that we women just eat and sleep at home.

Rishi: Oh come on. Give me a break Tia; don’t talk like your daily soap actresses.

Tia: Hey, I don’t watch daily soap all the time.

Rishi: As if I don’t know, How big a fan of daily soap you and your mom are.

Tia: Don’t you dare to drag my mom into this fight.

Rishi: Why not? You always bring my mom in all the fights.

This time the argument was very much heated and the peak point was when in irritation Rishi broke the flower wass which Tia’s mom bought them from Italy. After hour long argument Tia went inside bedroom room.

After some time Rishi saw Tia with luggage. “What is this Tia, are you going to stay in the park for some days?”.

Tia stared at him with anger “You think I do nothing. So now you take care of your house. I am going.”

“But….. Hey Tia, leave it dear. Such small fights are regular between us baby. I will keep my things properly from tomorrow” He tried to cool down Tia’s temper. But she was not ready to listen to him. “This time I won’t listen to your false promises. I am going and that is final. Good bye Mr. Rishi.”

Rishi: Hey Tia, listen…. But where are you going…?

She slammed the door on his face and left.

*******************************

Rishi called Tia and like last hundred times this time also her mobile was coming switched off. Last night when she left home, he thought she may go to some friend’s place and will return in few hours or by morning for sure. But when Tia’s phone continued to remain switched off and she didn’t return by morning Rishi got tensed. He was not sure whom he should call. Because if Tia’s mom comes to know from somewhere that Tia was not with him last night, she won’t like it. He called few of Tia’s close friends to enquire about her, but didn’t get any information. It was eleven in the night and he had called almost everyone he could. It was more than 24 hours and Tia had not returned home. He was feeling guilty for fighting with her. He badly wanted her back. He took Tia’s picture in hand and his eyes were wet “I am sorry darling, Please come back. I need you. Please….”

Doorbell rang. He slowly walked towards main door, anticipating who could it be at that time? He opened the door and stood there with his mouth open. He didn’t get how to react to it. She entered the house and he was still standing near door.

“Rishi, you didn’t clean the room today?” it was Tia. Rishi took her in his arms, and kissed her “Where were you Tia. I was so scared for you. Why you left me and went away for such a small thing. I missed you so much… And your phone was also off. I got scared”

Tia: I only switched it off. And I went to my mom’s place.

Rishi: What? Why did you do that? Now what your mom will think of me, that I fight with you always.

Tia: You only said I do nothing. So I gave you a chance to see what and all I do back home when you are in office.

“I am sorry. You know once I am angry I talk rubbish. I was waiting for your return. I am so happy to see you back baby” he hugged her. Tia smiled “I missed you too. I was also very angry last night. But I can’t stay away from you for long time. And more over next week is our first wedding anniversary, so I returned today itself.”

Rishi: Next week is our anniversary? Which date?

She threw him away “You don’t remember out wedding anniversary. This is too bad”.

“Oh dear I am sorry. You know my poor memory. We will have a grand celebration for anniversary. Okay?” He somehow managed to avoid the upcoming argument.

Tia smiled in agreement. She went to keep her luggage inside bedroom, and shouted “Rishi…. Again you got your shoes inside; I told you thousand times to keep them in shoe rack.”

Rishi: Oh god! Not again…..

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