The fool

“You did not expect her to prove her innocence to you! Did you?” Dinant asked Dwaipayan.

 

“A person with integrity does not cares what some one thinks about him or her. She did told you every thing once, but you did not believed her. So she decided to not share her problems with you again. I don’t see any thing wrong with that.” Dinant looked at him with a serious expression on his face.

 

“Any way, I don’t think you deserved her, which is why you lost her. I wish she was in love with me.”

 

“Can I suggest you one thing? If you have realized how dumb you are you can simply go and tell her all the truth, apologize and propose her. She may forgive you if you are sincere.”

 

“When you are dealing with a person of substance you either believe that person or forget him. Truthful people don’t mingle with people who don’t trust them. She loved you that is why she tried to bare her heart to you, and you openly showed your mistrust for her and went after Ishani.”

 

“You did not had enough brain to distinguish between a coquette like Ishani and a decent girl like Asmita.” Dinant laughed out loudly. “You should have asked our opinion before messing up the thing. Even a ten year old child would have told you to go for Asmita.”

 

“Still I will suggest you to go and apologize to Asmita and tell her that you were an idiot to act like that. She is an intelligent woman, She can forgive you. Because every intelligent woman knows men are easily fooled by coquettes.”

 

They all were college-mates. Dwaipayan and Dinant were very good friends of Asmita. She was a sober girl with a very sharp brain. Ishani was a gorgeous girl with average brain, funny but she was jealous of Asmita. Jealousy does not have much reasoning behind it, does it?

 

Asmita was quite irritated by her nature because she loved a life out of glares, she would have loved it if she could be invisible but as that was not possible all she wanted was anonymity. Ishani’s jealousy was making it impossible, she was forever dragging her in dramas, blaming all sort of things on her. Her friends blindly believed her and bothered Asmita.

 

Then Ishani got her eyes on Dwaipayan and Dinant. They were the closest friends of Asmita. Dinant shooed her off at the very beginning but Dwaipayan fell in her trap. Ishani wanted to trap him even more because she knew that Asmita had a soft spot for him. She brainwashed him and ruined that relationship and moved over.

The beast

His wife was mentally unstable. Not crazy, just amply disturbed. Too disturbed to drive him against wall yet not enough to be sent to asylum.

 

 

He had two sons. One of them gay the other social outcast. Has been caught too many times stealing. So, though he was old and retired, none of his son had a say against his will. They knew he will ruin them if they disobey him.

 

He forced his older son, the gay to marry. He did not have guts enough to speak against his father. He married a normal, healthy girl. An orphan from a remote village, who was being brought up on leftovers of her uncle.

 

The girl was shocked to notice that her husband refused to touch her. She tried to woo him to her but he stayed as cold as ice and left for Mumbai after a fortnight of their marriage.

 

“Stay here and take care of my family. I will be back in durgapuja.”  These were his last words before leaving her, writhing in agony.

 

 

 

Her father in law soon had his way with her. It did not took him long to overpower that timid girl. Corruption seeped in. To the outside world they were father in law and daughter in law, inside the home they were lovers. His mentally unstable wife guessed it but was intimidated by them.

 

“Open your mouth, and you will be sent to some asylum. I know a lot of medicines, a single drop of them will drive you insane.”

 

“As for accusing me, no one will believe you, because every one knows you are as crazy as one can be.” He laughed shamelessly.

 

 

 

Her husband received a telegram telling him that he was about to become a father. He returned home after the baby was born.

 

They were alone in the night; the baby was sleeping in the bed, “Whose child is this? Dad’s or sujoy’s?” he asked in an amused tone.

 

“I guess I know. He must have had his plans from the beginning. “He said. “I am leaving tomorrow morning, don’t expect me to be back. Don’t have the second issue. In that case you will be in mess.”

 

He turned his back on her and went to sleep.

The old man

“Dada, you remember Suhas?” Ratri asked her, Madhav could see she was visibly disturbed.

 

A pang shot through his heart, “Of course, why not?”

 

“Why are you talking about her after so many years?” he asked.

 

“You remember how ruthlessly dad rejected her when you wanted to marry her? Even though every one wanted it?

 

“I think I have discovered the truth behind it and its disgusting, absolutely repulsive.”

 

Madhav and Ratri were siblings, their father Mr. Jaiswal was a man of easy morale. His wife has separated from him because of that and lived in a separate house. Ratri lived with her and Madhav with his father till they both attained their maturity. Mrs. Jaiswal has passed away a few years ago. Ratri is married with one kid and Madhav lives in USA, he has snapped all terms with his father since the episode of Suhas.

 

Madhav has seen Suhas for the first time in his cousin’s marriage. She was his cousin’s sister in law. It was love at first sight and there was no problem in marriage. His father went to see her and refused any further talks.

 

Madhav tried for a few years to make his father change his mind then he discovered from his father’s mails and phones that he was having an affair with Suhas. He left the country without telling the truth to anyone. His heart was filled with disgust for Suhas and his father.

 

“Anubhav works with Suhas. He told me every thing, and believe me, I felt like killing myself.” Ratri said with utter disgust.

 

“It seems dad had his eyes on her from the day he went to fix your marriage with her. He was even planning to marry her. So he befriended her pretending as you.”

 

“All these years she has been refusing every amorous advances thinking that you love her and will marry her.”

 

“He even calls her up and smses her using your name.”

 

“When mom passed away he befriended her as himself and packed up your identity, that is, he pretended that you are done with her and want it over.”

 

“In one hand he kept on insulting her as you, on the other hand he applied balms on those wounds as himself, hoping she will fall for him.”

 

“He is still keeping her hanging on to you so she does not marries any one else. May be he is waiting for her to grow old so he could again propose to her.”

 

“Very frankly speaking I don’t know what’s in his dirty mind and why he is playing this game but he is ruining my life.” She almost sobbed.

 

“Just wait for a while. Will you?” was Madhav’s only answer.

 

A month later he entered his sister’s flat with Suhas. “Can we have some tea sweetie? Meet your future sister in law.” He said smiling hugely at her.

The admirer

“Will you be impressed if the beggar who sits in the street corner falls in love with you and hounds you for your attention?” Mohan asked him.

 

Suresh was silent. He did not have any explanations. He knew his brother was right. It was his own blunder and he will have to pay for it.

 

Last year he took a new connection, a beautiful sms came from a number, and he answered it. Then some one called him up and they realized it was a wrong number. But they became friends.

 

He worked in a small factory; his friend was a young girl that much he could assess from her voice and way of communication. So he started to boast about his financial conditions to impress her. Soon their friendship turned into attraction. She started to nag him to meet.

 

They met last month; she came down from a luxury car to meet him. She was a gorgeous young girl in her early twenties. But she realized his façade within a few minutes. She was not unkind to him but he felt that her love has vanished then and there. She took leave after a while and went away.

 

Her smses became almost nil since and she stopped picking up his phone calls.

 

He poured out his frustrations to his brother. But he too took the side of the girl. He was ruthless but he was right.

 

Slowly the sense started to seep in his brain. Mohan was true. If he had told Nila in the very beginning that he was poor she might not have advanced the friendship. Or if she did, she might have stuck to simple friendship.

 

There relationship has no future at all. He can’t become a parasite on her father’s money.  He can’t expect her to live in the slum with him.

 

Not only poverty, he was barely educated whereas she was a student of one of the best colleges of Kolkata. She is kind that is why she has forgiven him or else she had full rights to insult him.

 

He picked up the phone and sent her a sms apologizing for his stupidity.

The proposal

“How could you think that she will be impressed by your proposal?” he asked, barely hiding his annoyance.

 

“She never even tries to hide her love for principles.” He shot a glance at him then turned his eye to look at others sitting in the bar.

 

“I agree you were very good friends, your views matched on almost every thing. You are very rich and she is poor. Your favours might have been quite helpful for her.”

 

“Still people like you tend to forget that people who can have the luxury of sticking to a principle for forty years will rather stick to it for the rest of their life. If they have passed their youth in a controlled way why will they lose their dignity at this age?”

 

He took a sip at the glass, and looked at his friend. A girl was singing some popular numbers on the stage. Quite a pretty girl, she was eying them quite frequently. After a while she came down from the stage and headed for the tables.

 

“There are girls who don’t mind a fling with married men, and there are girls who do. Both of these girls are intelligent. One flirts with married men because she knows he will shower her with money. The other does not because she knows that he will ruin her life, reputation and throw her away after a while.”

 

“Why don’t you get one of these girls?” he looked at the bar dancer. “After all you will never divorce your wife. She is quite an alright girl. Apart from that Tina is there. “

 

“I don’t think you will be able to revive your friendship with Jharna, but you can keep my suggestion in mind when you look for part time lovers in future.”

 

“A decent man never bothers an uninterested woman, especially if she has clearly and firmly said that she is not interested.”

 

“I don’t like this type of girls.” Roshan said. “They are too cheap. They will first built a relationship with you and then try to blackmail you.”

 

“If you don’t give in to their blackmailing they will target your reputation and family.” He added, “You know all these stories of kiss and tell.”

 

“well my friend, in that case you should practice self restraint. One mate for a life time is enough. If you feel disgusted with your wife divorce her and marry your woman of dreams. Or else just control yourself.”

 

“Its easy for a bachelor like you to preach.” Roshan sniggered.

 

“Well, I knew I will never be content with a non committal mate, that is why I stayed single.” He laughed, “extra martial affair is common with women too.”

 

“Shall we leave now? He asked and beckoned the waiter for bill.

 

They went out to the night city leaving behind the bar and their discussions. Both had their homes in mind.

Blogging

“You want me to believe you.”

“Actually, if I look back I think it was all my mistake. To lay my blind faith on you, trusting you, thinking that you are my friend.” He said solemnly, in an eerily calm voice.

He, Anil, was a gangster, who has been languishing in an US jail on a life term, was released early because of his good conduct.

The person he was talking with was his white-collared friend in India. Mr. S/K. Khemka.

Anil befriended a girl on internet. They became very good friends instantly. The girl was his only contact with a pure hearted creature. He cared a lot for her. She was the youngest child of a huge family. Both her parents were aged and poor.

Anil formed a deep affection for her and wanted her to get settled in life. He requested his friend Mr. Khemka and he said he will see to it.

He appointed the girl in one of his offices, and introduced him to Anil after a year or so. Anil fulfilled all her whims, finally she married Mr. Khemka’s son and Anil showered her with gifts.

One day, while casually surfing through net he stumbled upon a blog, he saw his own name mentioned there., as the author’s greatest friend. He was surprised and befriended the authoress using a fake name.

He realized very soon that this girl was his actual friend. Who of course has worked for Mr. Khemka for two months and have left him after that because of his extreme misbehaviour. She used to surf from office and have lost the password of the account which she used then.

But, as per her Anil was her friend even now, though he has almost vanished but still he sends her a mail or two once a year.

It did not take Anil much to confirm that she was the genuine girl. He did not said a single word to Mr. Khemka and contacted one of his cousins in India. He found out the whole story within a month.

Mr. Khemka had it all planned before appointing the girl, his computer was bugged, they hacked her account, usurped it and made her leave the job. Then he appointed his son’s fiancé, who was not very averse to freebies in the office, asked her to squeeze the money out of Anil.

He befriended Anil's actual friend using the mails of one of her friends to keep a track on her. First he tried to provoke her to become a nun, then he tried to get her killed but luck saved her. But she got so scared that she started to live a semi-anonymous life, serving Mr. Khemka’s purpose partially.

He never thought that she will start blogging…..

Spark of love

“Love does have its time span Tapesh.” She said with a pang of sadness.  “I cant bare my soul to show you how much I loved you then but I know it is true and I don’t have to prove myself.”

 

“If you had held my hand once and asked me to wait for you, I would have never moved on. I would have waited for you.”

 

“But you could not decide whether you love me or not. So you walked away without telling me any thing. You just vanished one fine day. Knowing I truly loved you.”

 

“I waited for you first few months, tried to contact you but you were silent.”

 

“Then I shattered to pieces, thinking I have lost every thing in life. Then the next stage came. I slowly gave in to God’s will.”

 

“Just like any person who has faith in God I started to believe that whatever happens happens for the very best.”

 

“I started to search for the incompatibilities in our relationships and soon they started to heap up.”

 

“Things which we would have brushed away if we were together. But as we were not together, my love was a one sided show those incompatibilities soon took over the love and it was gone.”

 

“Love is like fire, it needs tending, a regular dose of fuel to keep it burning. No matter how strong the flame is if it not tended properly it will die with time.”

 

“Next time when you love someone, give her some reason to keep the fire burning in her heart.”

 

After finishing her words she took her leave and left him alone in the park bench. He sat there watching her walk away. A tall, graceful figure slowly disappearing in the settling dusk.

 

The park was filled with chirping birds, setting down on branches for the night. He too got up after a while, took a cab to station and left the town forever.

Walking away

“Don’t be afraid.” She said with ample amount of justified sarcasm. “I wont marry him even if he begs me.”

“I know he is one in a million.” She added. “I also know that I will never meet anyone like him still….”

“I am refusing him just because he is your son, I am refusing him because I don’t want to steal your only son from you. Under no circumstances will I live under the same roof with an evil person like you. So it should be better if I part my ways with him.”

She got up and left the room without even looking back at him.

Mr. Mitra was observing the girl sitting opposite him. She was his son’s choice. He could not say no to his son so he used his skills on her. Though he had to admit that it was really nasty but sometimes people do nasty things.. that’s how the real world is. He is not an alien, he is also a part of the earth.

His only son left his palace to marry this girl. He boasted that he will stand on his own feet and marry her. He has fixed his marriage with this girl thinking that she was the daughter of a millionaire, which she was not, to add up she was dead against dowry system.

He backed off from the proposal but his son did not, because he was crazily in love with her.

He joined a small office at a meager salary and they both started to wait for a little raise in his salary so they could get married.

At home, Mr. Mitra’s wife got at his neck, she was not at all happy with her husband’s decisions, her views were primitive.. “We have enough money to feed our daughter in law.”

Mr. Mitra finally faked submission and said he will finalize the marriage but he too holds two conditions, first, his son Rohan will have to complete the MBA in USA which he discontinued and during that period he wants to test the girl personally in secret.

Rohan left for USA and Rumki joined one of Mr. Mitra’s offices at Rohan’s reference. Rumki was not even the least interested in Rohan’s background, because she has loved him just the way he was. So it was easy for Mr. Mitra to sit on her boss’s chair without her knowing who he actually was.

He became abusive in a sly way from the day one. He clearly showed her that she was far two sub standard for them. She was treated more like a servant than an employee.

To further her harassment he used his strong influences and placed a few convicted scoundrells in his office to work with her. who made the life of that girl miserable with their perversion. Saying no to him would have meant landing in jail, so they kept on doing what they were ordered to do.

His next step was getting hold of her cellphones and installing spyware on them, in a way that every call, sms is diverted through his phone. The same software kept him updated about her movements. So he could set loose another group of scoundrels on the street to prove she was a cheap woman.

But his game was caught, one of his pawns told every thing to her and his son after absconding to Middle East.

Mr. Mitra returned home, a letter was waiting for him on his table which said his wife has left to live with his son in USA, it also promised him that Rumki is her future daughter in law.

Rebels

21.10.2009

Rajnagar was a small kingdom. Situated in a hilly region. Tall mountains kissing the blue skies circled around the kingdom as sentries.

Luscious green fields and small groves of trees were scattered here and there. A picture of peace.

But it was not, since last few years the dacoity in the erstwhile peaceful country has shot up. Small groups of bandits roamed around the kindom in darkness.

The king was sitting on his throne. His palace was made of marble, different shades has been used to give the palace an exquisite look. It looked like a dream situated right in the middle of the green country.

His throne was made of ivory and gold, his robe was stiched with priceless jewels. His crown burnt on his head like a sun.

He was wearing a dark frown, “General!!! How can this happen every night? What is the army doing?”

His army general, a plump fellow was shaking nervously, fearing decapitation, “Your honour, they disappear like magic before army can reach them.”

“I think the citizens are in cahoot with them.” one of the ministers said.

“Even the spies can not trace them.” another chimed in.

“That only shows your unworthiness!!!!” the king roared. “I will have to look for some other way to controll it!”

“I am rearing a army of idiots in my Court!” he got up and left the Court.



It was a full moon night. There was a small garden near the palace, a brook flowed by it. Suddenly a man appeared almost out of nowhere in the garden.

He took a look around him and when he became confident that no one has seen him he started to walk toward the nearest village.

The village seemed asleep, but it was not. He saw a thin ray of light coming out of the window of a hut. He softly tiptoed towards it.



He could see that someone has tried his level best to not let a single ray of light slip out of that window but it did.

To his surprise he saw a gathering of people inside the hut. They all were common villagers, aptly listening to a group of young people.

He softly hid himself in the dark completely and started to listen. To his utter surprise he realized that the young boys and girls were teaching those villagers.

Suddenly he saw a group of people rushing toward the door of the hut soundlessly.

One of them reached out and knocked the door in a strange manner, a coded knock was exchanged a few times and the door opened. The whole group entered without a sound.

The watcher softly crept back to the slit in the window. He saw that the new group was piling up their loot on the floor.

“so the ministers were right.” He thought inside, “the villagers are in cahoot.”

The loot was distributed among the villagers. One of the new comers said, “This will ensure your food for next few months. Now we will go to the next village.”

“If and only if our King cared for us. We did not have to do it… “ he said sadly, “his men rob these things from you during the day hours, wearing his badges in their arms, and we rob these things from them in the night so you could have a piece of bread on your plate.”

“Our king is not a very bad person, but he is blind. And he is being guided by greedy monsters.” The man continued. “For centuries the kingdom has only taken from us, without giving us back any thing..”

“They did not let us get educated because they were afraid that we will know our rights.”

“They just extracted their rights, forgetting the bitter fact that kingdom too have some duties toward its citizens.”

A swift goodbye was exchanged and the group left as silently as it came and disappeared in the darkness. The watcher followed them in stealth.

22.10.2009

A fortnight later the whole kingdom woke up to witness a strange scene.

The whole army was combing each and every house of the kingdom and picking up men, and women from homes. They left for the palace with them.

They were sent to a special section of prison, highly guarded.

The kingdom became absolutely peaceful again.

A few months later the same watcher appeared again in the same garden. He started to walk toward the same village.

This time he saw that the board has been removed from the window of the hut in which he saw the mysterious happenings.

He crawled toward the open window to have a look. He saw a family of four huddled together near a small hearth.

“Baba I am hungry.” One of the children whined. She was ten or eleven years old wearing a rag.

“wait for a while. You ate in the morning, did not you?” the man said gruffly. “Let your mother come back.”

“That was only one bread.” The girl whined piteously.

The watcher heard some movement and levelled himself with the wall. Someone knocked at the hut door. The man opened it from inside. “You are back.” He said. “The children are driving me crazy.”

A woman as thin as a skeleton entered the hut. “Don’t whine.”, she said roughly to the children, “Let me cook the meal for you.”

The watcher stared at the MEAL, it was leaves plucked from some unknown tree or vine. The woman started to boil them and he stealthily left the place.

His next stop was at the window of one of the ministers. The minister was having his dinner with his family.

He stood there and watched their lavish lifestyle, their gala dinner and wastage and crept away from there.

Another fortnight later the king called his courtiers to a special court.

“Is there any famine going on in my country?” he asked solemnly.

“No My Lord!!!!” his cashier answered, “The vault is filled with money and the granary is filled with grain.”

“Are you sure?” the king repeated his question.

“Yes my Lord.” Was the answer.

23.10.2009

“Bring those prisoners to the Court.” The king ordered.

One by one the prisoners were brought in the Court. They stood solemnly waiting for the king’s verdict. Which they already knew.

The king looked at those hundred or so boys and girls, yes they were merely boys and girls. Their ages ranging from teenage to early thirties. Beautiful, fresh flowers a little dulled by six months in captivity.

His eyes zeroed on their leader. A tall, dark guy, with prominent tribal features and strong jaws. His jaws told that he was a man of determination. His age was somewhere near thirty five.

“Whats your name young man?” the king asked him.

“Rajen Tudu.” The guy answered. The king noted he answered him with due respect but slipped the “my lord” part.

He came down from his throne and headed towards him. “Do you know the punishment of showing disrespect to the king?” he asked. “and the punishment of rebelling against the kingdom, causing damage to the kingdom?”

“I know.” He answered. His face showed no fear.

24.10.2009

The king stood right in front of him. He was a few inches taller than Rajen, well built. His hair has all turned white but that increased his elegant charm.

“So you think that you are a Messiah, right?” he asked tauntingly, “Out there to help poor villagers from the evil clutches of king.”

“Lets see how much you can do when you are in power, or to be precise how much you will do when you are in power.” He laughed.

The guards removed the chains from each and every one of them at his instruction.

The courtiers gawked when a group of royal servants carried another throne and placed it just beside his throne.

The king removed his stole and wrapped it around Rajen’s shoulder.

“You were right that night, I have become blind, but that’s because I am too old to handle the kingdom. If I had a child he or she would have been older than you. So I would have been relieved of this duty years ago…” he said solemnly.

“From today onward my whole kingdom will treat you as my son. If you walk your talk, I will happily close my eyes after handing over the headache of kingdom to you.” The king smiled mischievously, as the rebels stood staring at him with moist eyes.

thats all folks (?).... :)

The witness

When Jayati accepted that job in that small hill station she never imagined that she was inviting her own doom. She joined the school as a computer operator cum clerk and was offered a room in the teacher’s hostel.

She fell in love with the school at the very first week, it was for students upto class 12th. She was an average small town girl, bubbly, happy and eager to mix with all. Almost all of her colleagues were married. A few of them were local, but the teacher’s hostel was also full.

She observed within a few weeks that the attrition rate of the school was too high, some of the teachers lasted only two or three months. There were a few teachers who have been working for more than ten years or so but the remaining just came and went. Some left due to justified reason like marriage some without explanation.

She observed with dismay that no matter how much she tried to mix with the teachers they always maintained a cold distance, especially the senior ones, they had only one alibi that the managing committee does not likes their inter-mixing. Strange thing was they used to act the same way in the hostel too, here their alibi was whatever happens in hostel is reported to the managing committee. And strange enough Jayati too started to develop the hunch that whatever happens is word to word relayed to the managing committee. Hence she too developed the habit of keeping silent.

A couple of months have hardly passed when Jayati observed that the moment she used to walk out of hostel to go to school or vice versa a car used to stalk her. She ignored it initially but later she informed her colleagues, who said it must be some one who has fallen in love with her. Jayati outwardly laughed away the matter but became tensed inside because she knew that she was too ordinary looking to be stalked like that.

She had a very close friend there, actually the only friend, Lata, she was a local resident, Jayati often used to go to her home and talk with her. Lata used to sometimes say things which Jayati used to find pretty odd, she often used to talk about women who has in harsh word become mistresses of rich old people and are happy or similar things. She sometimes used to ask Jayati’s opinion on such things, who used to express her point of view. One day the discussion went to call girls and prostitutes and being brought up in a typical old-fashioned environment Jayati uttered some derogatory words about them.

She felt it offended Lata. After a few minutes Lata asked what would have she done if she was forced into such a net and Jayati told the truth she would have killed herself or killed the person who would have trapped her into that even after thousand years. And she meant it.

It seemed some thing went awry from that very day, the moment she used to walk out of her hostel or school a group of extremely dirty people started to stalk her, their behaviour, the language they used towards her scared the living daylight out of her. She has never seen such filthy human beings. She made up her mind about escaping from there, because she became suspicious that there is some thing going on behind the façade of school. Hence she made an excuse of attending a marriage and escaped from there. She went back to her town and told them that she cant come back due to medical reasons, and requested them to accept her resignation.

A few years passed and Jayati became very certain that there was some thing wrong with that school after all, because she was constantly stalked by a group of strangers wherever she went. It appeared as if they used to get some information about her whereabouts the moment she used to walk out of the home. No matter where she joined the jobs used to terminate within a few weeks, or at the maximum few months mostly without salary. As if some strong and powerful group was determined to crush her.

They scandalized her that she had an affair with one of the managing committee member of the school, and once his wife found out she ran away from there, and is still in touch with that guy in discreet. No matter how much she tried her abusers made it certain that they are trusted, as they were too many in numbers people easily believed them, Jayati’s being orphan helped them even more.

They forced her to move out of her home, her town, her family and live on her own. She did not dared to marry because she knew that they will harm the family she gets related to. So she became strong and firm and started to live on her own. Completely ignoring all the abusive behaviour, because she knew that they will have to be content with only that, and she cant fight them because they are too filthy, too well organized, too powerful and too many in numbers.

Finally she found her answer in a shocking manner, she joined a firm run by the wife of a tycoon of the state in which she resided.

A few days passed and she was mystified because she thought that she has seen her boss before, for days, but used to shrug it off as deja vu. Then one day, the truth struck her, even though her boss was using the name of Nina, and she was married to some one else, daughter of some one else, she was most probably Lata, or her lookalike, but that was hardly possible, because not only did they had exactly same looks, they had the same voice, even the same mannerisms.

That very instant the truth dawned on her, why was she being hounded after so many years. Because she was at the wrong place in the wrong time. And her survival may cause some strong heads roll. She resigned from the job after getting another job, which she knew will be snatched away from her soon.

That evening she came back from office and was just about to relax when her phone rang, she picked up and beamed after noting the name, it was her only friend from that school, reshmi, she was the one who has been hinting her to leave the joh and has maintained the friendship after so many years, never failing to call her up atleast once a week, sharing all her problems and suggesting her way out.

She pressed the reply button, a chill of recognition ran down her spine when she felt that Reshmi’s voice was too similar to the voice of Nina’s husband Bharat Singh, the tycoon, he used to call up for Nina often.

A big industrialist, who ran multiple web based consultancy businesses starting from job to matrimony and outsourcing, and has stricken gold in ten years (just after the time Jayati left that school). Reshmi was the only person who knew her every move, and she was the one who suggested her to seek discharge from the school on pretext of psychological problems, and asked her to contact her trusted psychiatrist who will give her the false certificate.

She got answers to all her questions in an instant. How she was framed, her reputation and life ruined and monitored. She vowed to herself to be more intelligent on friends and face her cheap enemies with courage and strength.

standing tall

Agni was a silent observer, she used to travel for hours in train to reach Kolkata every day to work, her policy was to get a seat near the window and spend the entire journey observing the beauty of nature.

It was very tough for any one to engage her for gossips or petty talks, she preferred polite silence, most probably this nature of her attracted tormented people towards her, she used to observe with surprise the way complete strangers used to open up to her.

One day she was sitting in her seat when she observed a woman of extra ordinary beauty and charm occupying the seat opposite to her, the lady struck up an conversation with her and Agni talked with her in her aloof way.

The next day the lady was already there when Agni came to her typical seat, the lady smiled at her and she smiled back.

In accordance to her previous experiences, the lady started to share her experience with Agni within a month, her name was Radha, she married some one her parents chose for her, but everything went nightmarishly wrong, her husband got bored of her within a few years, even though every thing was picture perfect. Radha’s husband was a gazetted officer, she was beautiful, charming and a wonderful singer and their only son aditya was an angel.

But Radha’s husband Prakash was forever complaining, he used to mentally torture her and whenever she protested he used to call her psychiatric patient and used to bully her to take medicines for same, slowly it became her habit and before she realized she became one and her husband walked out on her.

She returned to her home with her son, her mother was practical she arranged for her separate accommodation, Radha had a huge inheritance from her father, which took care of her financial needs, her mother passed away a few years later.

Radha found a friend and mentor in her brother’s childhood friend Dibyendu. Her brother has passed away in youth but his friend kept in touch with them. He was 14 or 15 years older than Radha, director of an events management company, he devoted himself to settle Radha as a singer. Radha’s son Aditya was studying engineering in Mumbai and had won an scholarship for Post graduation in USA.

After Radha’s mother passed away and Aditya went to Mumbai she and Dibyendu started to mix a lot because they both admired each other, but Dibyendu’s wife did not liked it, she was a small town girl, whose parents did not thought it necessary to educate her properly, hence she had to bid good bye to studies and get married after tenth standard. Anu knew the wide gap between her and her husband’s cultural mindset, so, the moment she set her eyes on Radha she became scared to death. Hence Dibyendu requested Radha to keep their meetings a secret. Which Radha did not objected to because she wanted his help desperately.

But after a couple of years Dibyendu started to show the symptoms of falling in love, and Radha’s lonely heart was also longing for a companion. But there was only one obstacle, Radha was dead against extra martial relations and Dibyendu was clear about one thing, he wont divorce Anu. But he kept on insisting Radha for a relationship without Anu’s knowledge.

After saying this far, Radha turned for Agni and said that lately she is again feeling a deep urge to start taking those medicines which the doctors have strictly prohibited her from taking.

Agni said after thinking a little, that if she was Radha she would have strictly snubbed any such hints from Dibyendu. Because all it will bring in her life was disgrace and pain. What will be her place in her own eyes and the eyes of her son and the rest of the society?

She said that if she was Radha she would have got her son married and after that would have married some one who will give her the position of his legal wife. The world is too big, there are millions of lonely people looking for suitable life partner, so, if she looks around she sure will find some one who will accept her with her due respect.

She should stop depending on Dibyendu, and become more dependent on herself. She has a lot of assets in herself, which she can focus on, her financial security, looks, talents and so on, hence, she should stop tormenting her self for a marriage that has gone wrong long ago and start to live confidently.

If she stops thinking herself as vulnerable every thing will turn out to be fine, she is an easy prey because she thinks herself pitiable. The day she will start to stand tall she will be able to fight all the pain and frustration. And before she realizes life will start to sing according to her tunes.

A few months have passed, Agni was sitting in the same seat, casually looking out of window when someone touched her shoulder, she turned and saw Radha. There was vermillion on her forehead indicating her marriage and smile on her lips saying it was happy.

She sat down beside her and started to chat incessantly, the gist which Agni could get from her chattering was she has married someone from her music circle, someone who has proposed her more than once, she married him two months ago after getting Aditya’s consent.

Royal marriage

King of simians has fixed the marriage of his daughter with the son of king of Jackals. But as some times happens, the prince saw his fiancé and did not liked her an inch, he ran away from his palace announcing he will not marry her. He will marry some one he likes, not some one his parents select and he does not likes.

He went to an distant corner of the country and fell in love with a girl there, that girl was a very ordinary girl but as hearts some times behave strangely, the prince of jackals fell in love with her deeply. That girl used to see him moving around but never gave him any attention, because she had her own priorities and principles.

The prince started to pine after her and in the pining fell sick, he fell very sick and the news went to his father, he came rushing to take his son home. He went back home with him after promising that he will bring the girl of his choice as daughter in law.

Once in his palace he informed the king of simians about his son’s sickly choice and requested him to handle the matter. The king promptly came to the rescue of his would be relative. He appointed an loyal army of his kingdom to harass the girl.

Those simians did their duty right, they harassed that girl to no end, wherever she went they were sure to follow her, spy on her and harass her, they bribed people near her to harass her and while the prince was recovering that girl was going through hell, slowly she lost her mental peace, happiness and her nature became very suspicious and bitter. Whenever she used to meet some one she used to think that he or she must be a spy of the simian kings.

The king of jackals invited the simian princess and the girl of his son’s choice to the palace together after his son recovered. The contrast was too big and the prince thought that he must have been delirious to reject the simian princess and chose this girl.

So the girl went back to her village and the simian princess and jackal prince married and lived happily ever after.

money and love

Smriti has fallen in love with Anirban within a month of joining his office as his secretary. Anirban had every thing which Smriti never thought any one can possess. He was kind, considerate, patient and most of all he had an extremely good character. They used to work together for hours, some times only the two of them, but never for even a second Anirban has made her feel uneasy. Smriti knew very well that they are not meant for each other, because she was ordinary in every sense and Anirban exactly the opposite. He was rich, good looking, very polished and well mannered. So, she kept her feeling within herself and kept working for him. Her love for him was extremely deep but as she knew that she will never get him, it reached the purest height. A very rare, unselfish form.

One day while they were working Anirban asked her why she was sticking with a small organization like that, and not looking for a better job in a bigger organization. She was a little shocked, then he said as he thinks of her as a very good friend, not a subordinate, he would like her to get settled in an organization where she will get her due. Smriti tried to shrug it off but Anirban started to apply for her, and shoved her to give interviews, within one month she was selected by a lot bigger company, she was utterly confused but joined the new job.

Just two days before her first salary was due Anirban called her up and told her that she is going to spend the next Sunday with him and give him a treat. So Smriti started to wait for him impatiently, she was surprised to see him coming down from a bus.

When he reached her door, she opened it and greeted him with a big smile, he took her mother’s permission and went out with her for a movie and lunch. They watched the movie took the lunch and amidst Smriti’s furious protest Anirban paid the bills. Then when she got really upset he told her ok, if she spends the evening with him he will have dinner at her expense. So off they went to a park.

After they were seated down, Anirban looked at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, and asked her why did she not asked her about his descending from bus in place of car. Smriti looked at her questioningly and he grinned. Then he told her that he was not the proprietor of that office, he was only the manager, the proprietor lives out side West Bengal, that is why he has requested Anirban to introduce himself as the proprietor, so that no one dares to disobey him. He also belongs to a normal middle class family like Smriti. The office car is only for week days. Smriti felt like blessed. But did not dared to hope much.

Anirban slowly placed his hand on hers and told her that his feelings for her were exactly the same as hers, that is why he was so over eager to get her out of the office, so that he could atleast try his luck. And they both just beamed at each other.

Treacherous grounds

His father, mother and sister sat silently when Amit declared that he wont marry any other girl but Shrimayi. Amit finished his dinner and retired to his room.

His father, mother and sister sat in a close group in the drawing room, thinking hard what to do, they have dug the well, they introduced Shrimayi to Amit thinking that she belonged to a rich family, whereas her father was completely drained. Shrimayi did not knew any thing about Sharma family’s plan, Amit was introduced to her as a family friend. Shrimayi had all the qualities which any family would like to have in their daughter in law. She was sweet looking, well behaved, had good family background. The only problem was her father’s penury. Whereas it was already in the future plan of Sharma family to use Amit’s dowry to set up another showroom.

The next morning Mina, Amit’s sister told him that father and mother are almost ready to accept the proposal, but as Shrimayi is not so rich, they will just test without her knowledge whether she fits in their circle or not. Shrimayi was looking for a job, so Mina said she will appoint Shrimayi in one of her friend’s office and observe her secretly, when Amit said he does not cares whether she is up to their mark or not, Mina pleaded him to agree to make their parents happy and Amit had to give his consent. But he said that no trick will work.

According to plan Shrimayi was appointed in one of Mina’s friend’s office on pretext of reply to her applications. It was a office filled with boys and girl’s of high society, Shrimayi has been introduced to them (before her joining) as an opportunist who has trapped Amit, and every one was requested to help Mina in getting rid of her.

From the day one, Shrimayi used to notice with surprise that every guy in the office was over eager to flirt with her, and the ladies were excessively rude. Shrimayi was of exactly the opposite nature, she started to get very depressed, because no matter how much cold shoulder she showed them the men used to flitter around her and no matter how sweetly she spoke with them the women used to treat her rudely. They were always complaining against her, cooking up things and blaming it on her. Some of the men were also doing the same.

Amit used to talk with her regularly, initially he used to listen to her patiently, then he too started to think that may be the fault is with Shrimayi and started to distance from her. Mina’s friend has already successfully painted Shrimayi as a querulous, un-adjusting, selfish and self centered person above all a flirt who could not keep away from attractive men, even if they were married. Amit was shown dozens of photographs in which Shrimayi was standing or sitting closely with men. Now you don’t have to be with someone to fool a third person, that person’s being with you is enough, is not it? so the photographs were taken in a way that any one will think that Shrimayi was standing or chatting whereas it was just the other way round.

So, by end of six months, Amit was married to a girl of his family’s selection and Shrimayi was thrown out of her office after cooking up a flimsy excuse.

meaning of life

Mohini was busy with the children when Shreya first saw her, she was born and brought up in another branch of the orphanage and joined this branch as office assistant.

She observed that Mohini was a regular visitor on Sundays and most of the holidays. The orphanage was for special children, they were severely autistic, children who were barely in control of their limbs. They were dumped by their parents, who either were embarrassed by their existence or too poor to look after these completely helpless children, hence they were being brought up in the orphanage with lots of care, because the main fund raisers were European or American.

Soon she became close friend of Mohini, even though Mohini was lot senior than her but the friendship blossomed because of similarity in nature. She came to know very little about Mohini because she was a very reserved person. All she gathered was she was unmarried, lived alone, worked in Railways as a clerk. Mohini doted after the children, the thing which surprised Shreya was why was she not married, she might have had her own children.

A few months later Shreya hesitatingly asked her why she has not married, she might have done it even after having her own children. Mohini told her that she belonged to a very poor tribal family, which lived miles away from Asansol. She struggled a lot in the school and college day but could only complete the graduation, without good percentage.

Her parents were very poor and she was the only girl in her village to complete graduation, hence all the marriage proposals she got were from towns and their demand for dowry was huge. One thing which she was dead against.

Then slowly months turned to years and she concentrated on her career, first she worked in a private concern and then a few years ago she got this railway job. And her life changed ever since. She has been flooded with marriage proposals, she cant have her own children at the age of forty, so she made up her mind for giving her affection to the children who really needed it and enjoy her independent life, because with age her interest in marriage has completely gone.

She came to know about this orphanage by accident and started to visit these children because they somehow filled up a gap in her heart.

Crooked masks

Mrs. C and her daughter both believed in the age old proverb, diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Mr. C left her for his heavenly abode at a very young age leaving behind a son and daughter. Mrs. C amassed a pretty amount of wealth, so did her daughter, even though the sources of that wealth was not very clear. Ms. C lived with her mother along with her husband and sixteen year old son.

Mrs. C was furious when her son announced that he is in love with a girl of ordinary background. All her son cared for was good nature and spiritual nonsense. Both mother and daughter talked among themselves and then with Jr. C to no effect.

All of a sudden an idea struck them, they knew that the girl was living in a rented house, and was looking for a change of accommodation, they asked Jr. C to make arrangement of her renting a nearby empty house whose owner was their family friend.

The family has left the house after a tragic accident, hired a caretaker family who used to live there, and left the duplicate keys with them in case they get any tenant for that house. They told Jr. C that they will see if the girl is nice they wont have any objection, but if the girl is not nice then he can back off without causing any embarrassment to himself and the girl.

The girl came along with her older brother, she has lost both her parents in an accident, the remaining siblings preferred to maintain a distance with her in case they had to marry her off in or bear her for the rest of her life, the girl being self respecting allowed them to create the distance and struck off any superficial relationship with them.

Mrs C pretended that she was the owner and the Mr. Vult, the caretaker was her son in law. She introduced Ms. C as her neighbour.

Mrs. C and Mrs. Vult scrutinized them, their luggage and saw that it amounted to nothing, there was no sign of luxury, even some bare necessities were missing. They looked at each other with deep dismay. They held a secret meeting and struck out a war chart.

Both of them started to shower the girl with excess affection and attention, the girl was simply overwhelmed. But there were few things which she did not liked from the very beginning were their over curiosity in her extremely private matters, why was she still single, why was her elder brother not married, why her remaining siblings did not visit, how much is her worldly possession, how did her parents die….their curiosity was never ending and they kept on repeating the same questions like a pair of parrots, ignoring the pain and embarrassment they caused. Sugar in the plum was Mrs. C’s son in law aka Mr. Vult.
He played his role best, whenever she dared to venture out of her doors he would appear out of the blues and on one pretext or another start talking to her, he was always indecently dressed and over eager for physical contact, the girl started to feel threatened by his lusty nature and started to show her dislikation, now Mrs. C has done her home work right, that guy was an influential political leader of the area. And just like any other political leader he had a wide variety of masks, one for each occasion. In the society he was Mr. clean. Only few helpless victims knew his dirty ways.

Then with Mrs. C’s instruction the Vult family started to play their little games, they used to play cunning little games to bother that impudent girl, the moment they used to realize that she has retired for her bed they used to start all sort of activities, starting from dragging furniture at midnight or their grown but not grown son playing with plastic balls.

The tap used to run dry every day after she used to go to toilet for bath and she had to come out and start the pump, they never used to come downstairs to start the pump, then one day that impudent girl made the mistake of starting the pump before going to the toilet, she had to come out within five minute because of loud banging at the door, she rushed to open the door to see Mr. Vult fuming outside the door how could she dare to start the pump when the tank was not completely drained! She was sternly and very rudely told that it is the system of the house that the pump is started only after the tank is drained of the last drop of water. The message was clear, their intention was harassment.. and they were going to do that.

No one’s life is perfect, the girl had her problems too, her brother’s bossom friend was a regular visitor of their home and that girl had an acute allergy for this guy, the guy was absolutely repulsive, she hated every thing about him. Initially she liked the guy but as his true nature surfaced she first distanced herself from him and then started to dislike him with all her heart. Because that guy was in and out repulsive hidden behind a pretty face. His sole intention was to create problem amongst the brother and sister. So he could reap his benefits from the brother.

Mrs. C and Vult family realized within a month that she had an acute phobia for her brother’s chum, so they set their targets on this, they started to grill the girl to no end and throwing indirect, indecent hints and threats about his regular stay at their home.

As all the mischief was done very cunningly and slyly all that girl could do was fume inside and complain to her brother. Her brother gave her the practical answer, that it was not possible for him to change the house before at least another year.


The girl used to watch with disdain the way they transformed when a third party was around, their voice used to drip with honey then, the girl was a little stupid in these wise ways, so she started to treat them with the disrespect they deserved and Mrs C being a smart lady used all the cards against her, and her son, who trusted them with all his heart backed off from that relationship

musings of budhdhu

Buddhu was sitting in front of Mother Bhagwati, and showing her a queue in a auto stand, a few women were standing in the long line, there were men also, one of the men in front of the women lighted a cigarette and started to blow out the smoke, the women were visibly disturbed but the man chose to ignore them and for the next thirty minute kept on smoking cigarette after cigarette.

Buddhu asked Mother that why did the women not protested when they were feeling so much bothered, after all government always says that cigarette smoking is harmful for health and it causes more harm to those who are nearby and inhaling that smoke.

Mother smiled ironically and showed him a scene, a woman was sitting beside window in a bus, there was a sign on the bus which said no smoking, a man was sitting right beside her, he did not asked for her permission and lighted a cigarette, the lady first fidgeted for a few minutes and then gently requested the guy to not to smoke because she does not likes the smoke.

The guy snubbed out the cigarette, turned at her and snapped that if she is so much choked by smoke she should go by taxis not bus. And for the remaining journey continuously grumbled and taunted the woman. The woman suffered the journey in blushed silence and got down at her stand. Not a single person supported her.

Then Mother Bhagwati told Budhdhu softly, I gave more intelligency to human beings to help each other, love each other but they used it to invent things which are slowly ruining them, and they have become so inconsiderate that they are ruining the entire earth with them.

Cigarette is too harmless in comparison, think, they invented religion, and now they are using it to kill each other, they invented dynamite and its current use is destruction. I think every thing they invent they use it for self destruction.

I have stopped looking at earth a long time ago, it is you who is forcing me to look at them again, but I wont get involved with them ever again, they are creating problems so they will solve it. All I will do is I will help you in your personal problems.

budhdhu

Buddhu was mother goddess Durga’s favourite fawn. One day while mother was busy in work he chewed up the most beautiful lotus of Mother Laxmi’s lotus plant. She got infuriated and cursed him to take birth as a human being.

Buddhu went to mother goddess weeping, mother goddess told him sadly, that she cant revoke the curse, but if Buddhu faces any problem he can come to her at the night after every one is asleep and she will show him the solution.

On Buddhu had to go as a human being, he took birth in an educated family, brought the kindness and virtues of heaven with him. He passed his first fifteen year in peace, but on his sixteenth birthday he went to Mother Goddess asking her answer for a question.

He went to mother goddess and sat down before her, she asked him what had happened and he showed her a scene, a young lady was working in an office with full dedication, but her bosses were regularly abusive to her, in the end she could not bear their regular insults and submitted her resignation, on the final day, when she was to be handed over her salary, they made her sign the salary slips and then bolted the door of the office, all the staffs were watching the drama without protesting, and then they gave her a huge list of works to do before getting her salary. The girl was dumbstruck. She knew that it was not possible for her to finish that mammoth work in six months, it only meant that they wont pay her salary, so she just cleared her duties and left the office in shattered state of mind.

Then budhdhu showed mother goddess the second scene, an year or so later a young lover died a tragic death, and the same organization, which has robbed that girl off her rightfully earned salary, treated her so inhumanly were out on the street to protest for the death of that young lover, keeping candles burning in front of his picture, braving storms and rain.

Then budhdhu asked mother goddess, that did they changed so much over the year or they don’t like live human beings but like people after they are dead?

Mother goddess sat silent for a few minutes, then placed her hand on Buddhu’s head and said, son, its business policy, it does not has any connection with conscience or love. Its just they want their names in newspaper so they have more business proposals in future.