Monday, December 19, 2016

B for Bangalore



On a Cold Winter Sunday morning of 2002 Platform no 1 in Yashwantpur Railway Station was moderately crowded. Most of the people were waiting for Howrah Yashwantpur Express to Arrive, the group of people that gathered in the Platform were mostly youngsters waiting for their college buddies or Fresh IT Industry Software Engineers waiting for their roommates or close colleagues.

Time has an interesting toll on most human minds. It can travel for 35 Hours in a train without complaining a bit but when an hour delay seeps in the mind gets agitated and impatient.
That is exactly what was happening among the travelers in the train, most of them were ready after having the morning tea to get down at Yashwanthpur and embrace the Bangalore chill weather, the women had plaited their hair nicely, some chanted their morning prayers, young college girls managed to brush their teeth and put the lipstick on reaching out to their handbag’s tiny pocket, boys struggled to find their sleepers and packed them before putting the snickers on to start running as soon as the train stops in the platform for a rickshaw where a lot of bargain and argument would follow.

Among all this hustle bustle a boy in Ac 3 Tier, B1 Seat number 38, Upper Birth was sleeping peacefully. In his dream land, he was standing on a sea beach looking at the horizon and seeing a ship sail towards the far end which seemed to be the end of the world. In the twilight the beach looked not only peaceful but calm. He looked in his left and right no one was there other than a Ballon Seller. He felt almost like being Rajesh Khanna from the movie Anand, the only difference is he didn’t have the death taking disease cancer. He kept looking at the horizon as the steamer went close towards it. Life is good he felt.  Serene, calm and no complains

A sudden thud and someone calling out “Macha, get down, we have arrived” made Adarsh wake up to reality. He could hardly open his small eyes that had a twinkle in them when he saw everyone is so busy around him, trying to do something. Fraction of a second he realized, where he is and where he actually belongs. Quickly he got down to go to the wash basin and put some water on his face. He asked the fellow Macha passenger – “Bhai aa gaye kya Bangalore?” The Macha traveler nodded and said, “Ya man we are just waiting outside the platform for the last 50 mins
Ten minute from then the Train entered the Platform leading one person towards his destiny. Little did he know it was a new chapter of his book called “Life
Pic Taken from Google

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

A for Adarsh

"Why did you block me?" were the exact words that were typed in the small Facebook Messenger window

Adarsh kept thinking the reason why Priya may have blocked him
Was it because he didn't take her out for the Dinner Date that was scheduled months back
Or Was it because he didn't appreciate her gesture of buying the "Chocolate Mud" from Just Bake as a Shubho Bijoya mishti mukh

The Text got a notification of "Seen 9:34pm" but no one was typing
He thought in his mind its all over, she will never forgive him
But didn't he speak the truth and only the truth to her
Wont a woman like her, who is caring, matured, loving understand all that he said and all that he couldn't say

Time flew as he kept roaming in the grey hallway of his thoughts
Has he done something so bad that he will never be forgiven
He never wants to hurt someone, that was not his intention.
Will all the walks and the drives and the holding hands and the kisses fade away to just one thing he said

After a good 20 mins Priya replied - "There is no use talking to you now. You need time to settle and I don't want to linger things"
Adarsh felt a moment of relaxation, unknowingly he just took a deep inhalation and typed very carefully - "Yes, you are right"
He paused thinking that the tank of angst in Priya will start flowing
Again there was the "Seen 9:59pm" but no "...is typing" was seen
Out of desperation he wrote "You are an amazing person"
Again there was the "Seen 10:05pm" but no reply
Adarsh thought in his mind why is time so heavy on him now. Why does it feel he is in a chamber breathing and he can hear his own breath
This time he wrote "I am no longer at Techno Park now, I have moved out of the place"
Curiosity is a tool to unscrew. Though there was the seen on the messenger but no typing or reply came back.

His mind tried to convince him that he did the right thing. He did tell the truth, he did try to give it a nice ending, but his heart popped up with a balloon of honesty saying You know what you have done

To be Continued.....