So much for love

"Why hasn't he turned up yet?"
I think aloud, sitting in my room all by myself. I have been expecting him today, especially today, but he doesn't show up.
"He must be busy with work, you fool, he has a lot of work, unlike you"
I think aloud again, knowing that there is no one to hear me or my thoughts, not even him. But it is true, he works so hard, I understand, he may not have all the time for me in the world. He is an important executive in a big bank somewhere, I don't know much details, but he is pretty important. Sometimes, he goes to work early in the morning and yet never return at night. Of course, I don't stay with him, but such details don't escape, do they?
"Those times...."
I let out a sigh. I did stay with him for a long time, until one night he came home,

"I got a job, with a big raise" He said with a glitter of happiness in his eye. Of course, that glitter made me happy too.
"Wow, that is amazing, when are we moving then?" I said, a little loud, the prospect of exploring a new city showing up in my voice.
"Uh, ermm, I don't think we can move together, it's an expensive city, and for me to make some money, I need to go alone" He rued.
I won't be a burden, I say, but he simply bends down, kisses my forehead and promises to come back and take me soon. I know he means it, and I don't want to be a hurdle in his career, so I reluctantly agree. He did make it big in the new city. He climbed the corporate ladder very quickly for his age and at least now should be the time, he promised he would come back.

"Hush, I hear some footsteps, it's him, he is finally coming"
I am trying to silence my thoughts to hear the footsteps approaching the door, but my heart is racing, and I can't hear anything but my own heart beats. I cannot stop myself. I get up,open the door and shout out his name in the corridor, only to see a stranger passing by, giving me a look, with his lips forming the word 'crazy'.

Embarrassed, I shut the door, run into the pillow on the couch and lay there for a while. My thoughts again returning to him. It was around a year ago, when he had showed up after a long absence. He looked nervous and little jaded. He started,
"I need to tell you something, I am....I got...married" He finally blurts out. His words hit me, pinch me, but I still love him.
"I still love you" I say with a smile and hug him. "Promise me that you will take me with you, I know you can't stay with me any more, but we can be in the same city." I add, trying to empathetic.
"I will continue visiting you" He says, evading my question with a smile.

Still clutching on to the couch pillow, I realize that it is now warm and wet, probably with my tears. But I was warned.
"I am telling you sister, he doesn't belong to you anymore. He won't come for you. He may visit you sometimes out of guilt, but it's not him anymore. He belongs to another woman, let go of him." My sister had tried to explain to me the situation.
"I still love him." Is all I could mutter.

I have almost given up any hope of seeing him today. I reach out for the refrigerator to get some water, and that is when I hear the door bell. I drop the bottle from my hand and rush for the door. I am panting, but it doesn't matter. I hit the couch on my way to door, but it really doesn't matter. I reach out for the door knob to open it, but my vision is getting blurry, and the door is spinning in front of me. I am trying to hold out for the knob, but it is trying to run away from me. Finally I grab the knob and open the door, to see him standing. But I am being dragged down by something, some invisible force. And now I am lying down, I see a frenzied look on his face, everything is getting dark around me.

"I am sorry, I am late, mother" are the last words I hear from him.

Image Courtesy - 1) thewrecking.net

                            2) artsy.net

The Timeless Invasion: Final Chapter

Chapter I and Chapter II  of this series, before you read this.
=======================================================
"God, there has to be something to stop these demons. Help us please." Tiwari was pleading, in front of a Ganesh idol.
His PA appeared discreetly and spoke once Tiwari was done praying.
"Sir, we have an incoming from the CIA chief, he says he has information which might help us"
"Put him on immediately" He said while running out.

He went into the Indian embassy in Nairobi and headed to the communications room. The communications room was a small dingy room with a computer, a typer, a small radio unit and a telephone in it. The cobwebs all round showed how often this emergency room was actually used. Today, it was all going to change.

"Mr. Tiwari, if I am not mistaken, this is a secure line, isn't it?" CIA chief asked, in a somewhat mocking tone.

"Yes, it is, even if it wasn't, I don't think you have anything to worry about right now. Please enlighten me with whatever you know about the situation at hand"  He replied, sarcastically.

"It seems your guests are from a different time and nation altogether. They are humans, not aliens, but Humans from a newly created African country"

"Newly created country? Are these people some kind of rebels, where did they get such machinery from?" Tiwari almost shouted his questions

"Calm down my friend. These people are from future, they come from the year 2500, from the North African  Union. They are heavily advanced, as you can see, and pretty intelligent" He added.

"And I am supposed to believe you, because you are the America ?" Tiwari snapped.

"No, because, we have a guy, a white American, who has been enslaved by these North Africans, and who has ample evidence to prove that he is from year 2500. Switch on your computer, I am sending over the pictures." He paused for Tiwari to boot his machine. "Now look at the machine we found him in. He says he stole it in his master's absence. Who apparently was hatching plans attack India, Pakistan and China somewhere in the past. He just came back visit his land in its glory." He sighed as he finished. Apparently appalled by the fact that his future generations will be enslaved. "Karma" thought Tiwari.

"That is indeed a lot of staggering information. We know what we are dealing with now, but we still don't know how to deal with them" Tiwari said thoughtlessly. He looked at picture of John, looking delighted at the Sun and visibly excited at the sight of Hudson river. " What is with your future man looking so excited with Sun and a flowing river?" He added.

"Ohh, that. He says, he has never seen Sun and a water source. These people survive on basic synthetic water, created in labs. By the way, we have sent our F16s and Stealth bombers to assist your airforce. Let us all pray to God(that the attack doesn't come to us)." And he hung up the phone.

"Sir!" His usually calm and composed PA barged in. "Our Airforce, combined with the USAF, PAF and Chinese PLAAF were doing a great job in holding back these demons. But, it seems, these artificially intelligent humanoids have developed aircraft out of nothing and are giving our pilots a very tough time. Given the rate at which these humanoids evolve, it won't be long before the combined air force is driven away."

Kokala and Matsuba were relaxing in the luxury of Presidential palace in New Delhi. They had everything going according to the plan. They had just heard the news of the termination of General Musharraf and the Chinese Prime minister. The major cities in these three countries were dusted.

"It seems like, Rain, something we studied as a historical phenomenon, did occur till year 2000" Matsuba said. looking at the approaching rain clouds. "Are our humanoids capable of handling water?" Matsuba got up alarmed.

"Relax Matsuba, we had tested these humanoid under humid environment of our synthetic water generation facility. They will be fine" Kokala said, while breaking an Indian bread. Something he took liking to on this sojourn.

While they were gorging on the natural food, it started raining outside. The weather turned pleasant. Kokala and Matsuba were not missing home. This is what they imagined world looked like, and now they were living their dream. They wanted to feel the rain. They went out and saw that one of the humanoid guarding them stood still.
"Go and close the gates" Matsuba ordered. The humanoid didn't move.

Matsuba noticed a few red spots on the humanoid. He moved closer and noticed that the humanoid had stopped functioning. He was shocked. His General had just mentioned that these humanoids were tested under humid conditions.

Kokala understood what Matsuba was thinking. The humanoids should have been working. It may be a defective one, he thought to himself. He opened his mouth to taste the water and spit it out the moment he had it on his tongue.
"Acid!" He exclaimed.

"Welcome to the BBC 8 PM. In the recent turn of events in the strange attacks in Asia, the humanoids in New-Delhi just stopped moving after the heavy downpour last night. It seems the first monsoon showers over a thickly polluted Delhi produced what people call the Acid rain. Some of the captured humanoids who had some, as yet unknown alloy, corroded under the acid rain so quickly, that they were immobile within 5 minutes of the rain. The interim Governments in the affected countries have quickly deployed cloud seeding in  the affected cities and success is coming their way. We are expecting an update on this attack soon. Stay tuned for more updates"

Matsuba switched off the television in the hotel they were staying at in London.
"We have to go back Matsuba, we lost the battle we were so confident about winning" He said in a soft tone.
"I am sorry sir, we were under prepared." Matsuba said, as he deployed the Super Car'uba'.

They took off, seeing the world of the past for the last time. Knowing that they failed. But happy that they weren't caught

"Your Highness, we are sorry, we failed you" Kokala said, with his head low.
"You did a great job general, do not worry" The king said, laughing out loud. Kokala was surprised. "Do you not see what you have accomplished? You have laid the foundation of modern Africa. After your departure, the Asian countries would reverse engineer our humanoids and become very powerful and form alliances. Your little trip will be kept a secret or made out to be an alien attack, while the our ancestors would have found out by then, that it was us who did this. Making them confident that they can rule. Soon, by year 2025, African Union would have been formed. The Americas and the west will oppose them. Asia will support us. A world war will break out, Asia, having now acquired power, will support us, to fend off the western supremacy, which had laid its eyes on growing power of Indian and china. This war would continue for nearly a century. The whites were already fearful, when your little servant John sneaked out after you to see his glorious lands."

Seeing Kokala startled at the revelation, he added

 "Don't look surprised, you read about him in the military history we taught you years ago, you just didn't think it was your John."

"So, we actually triggered the events which would lead to our current position today, our supremacy?" Matsuba suggested

"Yes, and now that you have accomplished the revised mission objective, lets gather ourselves and decide how to defeat India and China. We should start with..." The king was cut short by his emergency beeper. It was from the research lab. He answered it.

"Sir, we had attacks on our Research and Development division by what looks like Indians.They came in something they call as "Samay Yantra". They took  some our super car'uba's and destroyed the rest , even the humanoids, and are probably heading somewhere...". The voice just went off, and so did the electricity.

The words by the technician were the last, the king, Kokala and Matsuba ever heard. This invasion too, was timeless.

The Timeless Invasion chapter- II

Note- In case you haven't, before you start with this part, why not read Chapter I. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The super 'Car'uba was a first time experience for Kokala. He had been in 'Car'uba since as long he could remember. But this was new, travelling back to the modern medieval age, where they still used Airplane and Cars, all the precursors to their modern invention. It has been sometime since they have been travelling in this and this has been the longest he has been in this metallic cockpit. Suddenly, he had to shut his eyes, it became very bright. He realised, he was seeing the Sun, for the first time from Earth's surface. It was beautiful, but he knew that this sight would last only a hundred years more.

"Sir, we are about to land in a minute, location coordinates 19°2'32"N   72°54'21"E, current name, RCF colony, chembur" Matsuba said in a Military command.

"Any nearby place, whose criticality will help us?" Kokala replied, returning from his train of thoughts

"Yes Sir, BARC, RCF itself and some old world oil refinery" 

"Let us plant our stuff then quickly"

They got landed exactly where they thought they would. Their landing could have caused a stir, had it not been for the disguise the 'car'uba was designed to take. It was now resembling a Daewoo Cielo, and no body bothered where it came from. They got down from the car, their attire still the new world, and they realised the mistake.

"Aey Kalu, Where did you get this car and fancy dress from?" A middleaged potbellied policeman stopped them while they were at it.

"From the year 2500, I suppose" replied Matsuba, smiling at Kokala, their job was done, they could now announce their arrival.

"You think I am a fool, come with me, I will lock you up and you will remember exactly where you got this stuff from" He replied, crashing his stick on Matsuba's leg

"I don't think I would like that" Firing his laser impulse on the constable.

"Let us do this quickly sir, we have covered all the cities we planned to, lets send the message back to start it. We should not delay this" Matusba said, looking at Kokala with a sense of urgency

"Don't you remember, the time conversion which was taught to us, we have been gone only for a second, but yes, every second counts, lets do this" Kokala replied with an easing smile.

He had to rush in, and rush in quick. He had no idea what was going on, and he wanted some ideas, even if it came from some old brains running this country. He barged in to the Home minister's room.

"Tiwari, do you realise, this is midnight, and I am in an important meeting" the HM said.

"Sir, I am the RAW chief, and if a RAW chief is barging into your room, he knows exactly what he is doing" He said in an authoritative tone. 

Calming down he added "Sir, some strange activities have been taking place, starting with Mumbai. A few explosions were reported near the RCF, BARC, Oil refinery, Borivili national park, Mulund Yogi hills. When the police and CISF reached the spots, expecting a lot of chaos, they were ambushed by strange men. Men who looked like men, but acted like robots. And they are many. They have destroyed half of the city and killed numerous people. The Army from Nasik cannt was called in, but they just walked into a death bed. These robots are so agile, that they cover distance of miles within seconds. Our soldiers, our artillery none of them survived. Currently, its only the airforce which is inflicting some damage on them. However, these robots simply evolve to avoid and defend an enemy attack.

"Before they move out of the city and spread, contact the PM and prepare for nuking the city. I don't think we have a choice left" HM said in a tone of despair.

"How many cities will you nuke sir? They have spread to New Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. And they have got the PM and the president. Their offices and residences were blown to bits.

"What am I supposed to do now, the PM and the president are dead, and I am sitting far off in this African continent?" the HM replied " It surely must be a ploy by the joint Pakistani and Chinese defence to destroy us" he added in a jolt of anger.

"Sir, these robots, wherever they are from, they have got Lahore, Karachi, Beijing, Shanghai and many other cities in China too. I have got in touch with General Musharraf  and we are working on a strategy to thwart this, although we don't know where to start." Tiwari said in a helplessness tone.

General Musharraf was in his new acquired office when he got a call on hotline. He wondered why someone would call on the intelligence hotline directly to him and not the ISI chief. He was shaken to hear the RAW chief at the other end. However he had to pause the call, as his domestic hotline now started ringing. When he was done with the domestic line, he picked up the RAW hotline and blasted " You will pay for this, you have destroyed my cities, this is an act of war, and we know it is your new technology". He could be pacified only when he was told that 5 Indian cities had been nearly destroyed, and equal number of Chinese cities had suffered too. He knew he wasn't dealing with a regular enemy, but an enemy of the entire race. He used the best and the only possible choice, collaborate with the Indians. Though, he could only stand amused that he was collaborating with a nation with which it had gone to war 4 times and as recently as an year ago at Kargil 

John's curiosity had got better of him, he wanted to see the glorius lands of Americas and how superior his race was. He knew how his master had got into the Super 'Car'uba and he knew exactly where the other one was parked. He had to get some stuff though to prove his identity and to prove where he was from. He took a map, a book and some sketch his master forgot on the table and got in. He entered a date, exactly 500 years ago. 13-11-2000.

You would want to see this Mr. President, a video of a strange man, but his strangeness shockingly is authentic.

"Sir, let me ask you again, where are you from?" Asked the cop,

"I am John, I come from the North African union of the year 2500. Glad to see a white in command"

To be continued in the final chapter...

The Timeless Invasion- Chapter I

A few days ago, after a lot of pestering by my mother, I sat down to clear my old books rack. It has been a mess and I had avoided getting into that mess for years now. Grade after grade and year after year, the pile of books just went on increasing. The rack had books since Grade 8th till my Engineering final year.It was then that I came across an old note book. Its first page had a date from the year 2000 and written for some pages was a story. A story I had written in 8th grade, lost and forgotten!

It was around 13 years ago, when I, a brand new teen had started reading a lot of sci-fi fantasy books. H.G Wells, Issac Asimov were my inspiration and I started imagining that such a future would come, that such a thing as time machine is possible and that there are invisible men around us. I thought, that yes, I will write a novel and get it published. All at an age of 13! Obviously, I wasn't capable enough to write even a 150 page novel. I ended up with a short story. So here I am, publishing the short story. All I have done, after 13 more years of life and 9 years of more education, is to simply proof read the original text, divide it into 3 logical chapters and iron out some of the obvious grammar errors. If you find the story, a cheap science fiction, remember it was written by a 13 year old.

                                                                                                                                     13-11-2000

"Hey you" He shouted
"Yes master" John replied, the tray in his hands shaking
"You white dog, why is the drink so cold?" The glass in his hands shaking, but not out of fear
"Master, you mentioned 3 cubes of ice, I did exactly that"
"Look John, this is not southern Africa, where white slavery is being abolished" He took a sip and continued "So you better keep that tongue of yours in check"

He heard a voice from his tele screen mounted on the ceiling
"Sir, I wanted to have a word with you in private, may I come in? I am currently only a few 100 miles away" On seeing John, he added " No whites either, Sir, they are dumb, but I don't trust them"
"You may come in Matsuba, it will be an all black talk, don't worry" He replied.

Within a minute, the door bell rang. He said "Allow access" in a microphone and the door opened. In came a  7 feet tall lean guy of around 27 years of age. He was wearing a dark grey uniform with white skull cap. Scars on his face indicated that he is a man who has seen battles, and more than one battle.

"Sir, if this white can move out of the room, can we start the discussion?" He said, while giving a look of disgust to John.
"John, go to the kitchen, and put your hand in the cooling machine, till it becomes blue. You would then know what cold is" He instructed John, in as cold a voice, as his drink was

John left the room for kitchen, but not before seeing Matsuba opening his holographic projector and projecting a 3D image of a world map dated 28-05-2500. He enters the kitchen and sees the cooling devices, which he had used moments ago to create ice for his master. Since water was no longer available naturally, the machine chemically created water using hydrogen and oxygen and then freeze it instantly.  His hand will feel pierced, like needles piercing, but he had to do it, his master had ordered him. He put his hand in it and closed his eyes. He remembered his grand father telling him a story.

"Let me tell you a story, which my grand father told me, about the land we belonged to, America, a prosperous and a very rich land. 600-700 years back, our ancestors had enslaved the people who had enslaved us now, however we freed them soon after. However, some 400 years ago, the people from Africa conquered our land of America, which put up a brave fight, but were outdone. Many of us were brought over to the African continent as slaves Since then we have been working relentlessly for our masters. It is our destiny John.."

 He opened his eyes and saw his hand had swollen and turned blue. He took out his hand, he couldn't feel it. It was time to serve hot piping food to his master. The prospect of serving hot food enticed him, or rather his cold blue hand. He took the freshly fried latest synthetic food in his right hand, which was still blue, outside. He was about to enter the room when he heard his master talking to Matsuba and realised he shouldn't have been there, he was told to stay in. But his instincts told him to stay there..

"Sir, China has now joined hands with India and they have set up bases in Quetta" Matsuba was talking with a tone of concern. "It is even rumoured that China and India will soon become one nation. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka had already become a single unified nation 200 years ago." He added

"Hmmm, it is concerning, we need to do something about these Asian nations who have been a thorn for us." He said, while smoking a cigar made in African colony of Cuba. "It was so much easy for our ancestors to conquer Americas, they should have conquered these nations too, before they became powerful, we treated them as allies" He added while puffing out a plume of smoke.

"To be honest, not underestimating the might of our emperor, however, such a huge landmass with such diversity simply cannot be conquered" Matsuba said in a helpless tone.

"Then I think, it is time we pushed our latest invention to its first use, let us get them, when they least expect us" He said thoughtfully. "Let us contact his highness right away and seek his blessing"

He opened the door and looked at the beauty that was waiting for him outside. One of the latest inventions by his team of scientists, he got into and keyed in the location coordinates of the emperors palace in former kingdom of Congo, he did not notice John watching him and Matsuba depart. As soon as he pressed enter, he was whizzing past the space time continuum, covering the distance of thousands of miles in matter of minutes. He could have had a holographic call with the emperor, but with the Asian intelligence on toes, he couldn't have risked it. As he came back from his thoughts, he saw his 'Car'uba in his highness's garage. He intimated his highness on the personal messaging device of his impending arrival and entered the guest room.
He saw the Emperor waiting for him there already.

"Your highness" He said with a bow of head, " I come to you with a matter of great concern"
"I know, India and China will soon be one nation" The Emperor said with in a low tone
"So may I use the.."
"Yes you may use 'the' machine" The Emperor cut in," but remember it is still under development, be very careful"  he added
"Thank you, your highness" He said in a low bow "The Emperor already knows too much, does he keep a watch on me too?"
"General Kokala and Major Matsuba, I hope when you return, we would have conquered India and China in under a minute" The Emperor added and departed to his palace.

Kokala turned to Matsuba, " Get ready to go back 500 years in time Matsuba. Prepare our army, this new machine has given us an edge, they couldn't think off. We can now teleport an entire army through time."

"Yes Sir, I will get the super 'Car'uba ready to land in Mumbai, date, 13-11-2000" Matsuba said with a salute.

"I wonder if there were any whites in India in year 2000"  He thought to himself, a thought which brought smile on his lips.



To be continued...

Better sorry than late

"You are no longer a fresher" I said to myself as I entered the bay of my new project. I looked around and indeed, I was no longer a fresher, before I even got my new desk, my "would be" team mates started seeking my help in resolving a few technical glitches,the managers started introducing me to the various teams. However, I wasn't bothered about the technical glitches or knowing what work other teams did. I wanted my desk, I wanted my machine, I had a lot to be done before I settled down, and more importantly I wanted to know or rather see who am I sitting next to.

"Does anyone actually sit here ,Kuldeep?"  I asked the guy seated on a desk next to the empty desk besides me.
"No, not really, there used to be a guy sitting here from a different project, I guess he left the company, some fresher is going to replace him soon" He said with a shrug

"Please God, let it be a girl, No, a good looking girl, no ,a Hot girl, but a girl" I prayed, and sometimes, as I learned, Gods do give you a hearing.

"Excuse me", I heard a soft feminine voice calling me out, " Is it your bag? Can you keep it over the table, so that I can sit on this chair?" I looked up from my screen to see the most pretty girl(yet) in the entire bay standing next to me.

"Hail the Almighty"

"Hey, yeah ,uhhh, sure, Sorry" I fumbled with my word and my bag as I pulled it out of her chair.
"Hey, I think I should ask her name"
"You gone nuts? She did not even say a thank you when you pulled your bag, show some self respect, moron!"  A devil named ego shouted from inside me and I caved in to his roar

I gathered that her name was Jagriti, at least that's what her desk name plate said. She had a simple routine to her day. She would come in at 9 am, put her bag on her chair and disappear with a small hand bag for around 10 mins and come back with a glowing skin and amazingly flowing hair. She would then sit at her desk, to probably check out some mails and after doing this for exactly 5  mins she would then  pull out some meal vouchers from her purse and head for the cafeteria returning only an hour later. 15-20 minutes into her work after coming, she would shout out, "Nareshhhhhhhh, this piece of code sucks, how is one expected to debug this?" This guy Naresh would then spend an hour trying to fix her code, while he would fix her code, she would attend a few calls from her numerous friends(because I never heard the same name appended to her 'Hi' when she answered her call). After the tiring code fixing session, she would go to the break out to get some tea. And after calling out, Suresh and Jignesh to fix a sucking piece of code after lunch, she would sit down, surfing sites which always put a smile on her face, the shopping websites. The way she got engrossed in those sites made me feel that she could (window)shop online no end. And then it was time again, she would pick her small hand bag and storm out again, only to come back 10 mins later with glowing face and flowing hair. She would then pick up her rest of the stuff and leave for the day.

I observed her routine for a month and I was surprised by her dedication to this routine of hers. And yes, once in a while if she ever met my eye, she would give out a broad smile, sending my pulse racing.

"I think it is time I introduce myself"
"You think you are too smart? Has she even tried to introduce herself?"
"Enough, Sometimes, no, always, guys have to take the first step, don't you see how broad a smile she gives me when she meets my eye?"
"Fine, go to hell, do whatever you feel like"


"Hey, Is your machine connected to the printer? I need a print out" I finally spoke to her, one month after fumbling with words
"Yeah, why? Isn't yours connected?" She asked in a MATTER-OF-FACT tone
"No, My LAN cable doesn't seem to be working" I said, a white lie
"Okay, here is your print out" She held out the print out for me, it only had my name in bold letters written on it.
"By the way, that's my name on the print out" I said with a wide grin, priding myself for being smart
"Oh and this is my name" She held out her desk name plate on which Jagriti was written in bold. " I am planning to go for tea" she added suddenly, probably in a care-to-join tone

"Is it a statement or an invitation?"
"Sit tight, moron, don't pay heed to her, she is a fresher, you stop acting like one, don't accept her invitations so soon"


"Ohh Great, the masala tea in the cafe is great, you should surely try it" I said in a it-was-me-who-told-you-first tone.
"Cool", she turned around and left. And while she was leaving I thought I heard her muttering the word 'stupid'.

"Today is my birthday, I will offer her the chocolates at my desk and she would surely demand a treat, I would then take her out to an exclusive restaurant, a date, just me and her"
"Utopian dreams"
"Go to hell, I am not paying heed to your thoughts today"


"Hey, why don't you have some chocolates, it is my birthday today" I extended her a box of chocolates.
"Ohh, Happy birthday" She smiled as she picked up a chocolate.
"Well......" I said, hoping she would demand a treat.
"Ohhh, well"
"Here she goes, Hail Almighty"
"I too have sweets for you, I got engaged this weekend" She said with the widest grin I had ever seen on her face
"Uh-huh, I am on a diet, congratulations by the way" I said, trying hard to hide my disappointment
"And ,I won't be taking a print out to tell his name, It's Akshat" She said giving a hi-five to Naresh who had just joined.

In the following week, she took a long leave of absence, and the next thing I heard was that she had applied for a name change in the company database. Her Facebook profile read her name as "Jagriti Verma Mittal". She returned a month later wearing a bright red Saree and loads of bangles on both her wrists. An hour later, I got a mail from her titled sweets at my desk. I turned to see her opening two boxes of sweets. I picked one up and gulped it down. She looked at me and gave me her regular broad smile. A few hours later, some girls turned up at her desk and spoke to each other intermittently when they got some time off from their giggling. An hour later a few more girls turned up and to the relief of bay, took her outside for some more giggling.
As "Her day" neared an end, she came to me,

"Hey, This is also my last day in office, it was nice meeting you" She offered a hand for shaking. " Also, the next  time I see you, I will surely have the masala tea" she giggled and left the bay for the final time.


"Excuse me, would you please take your bag off this chair, so that I can sit" I looked up from my screen on hearing a strong feminine voice

"Hail the Almighty, circle of life, law of averages!"


"Yeah sure" I picked up my bag from the chair " By the way, my name is Abhishek" I said while extending a hand for handshake.

"I am not going to showcase my bloated ego this time"

"Hey Hi, my name is Khushi" She said, taking my hand
"Do you mind a tea with me?"
"Sure, why not" Way to go, genius! "However I usually have my tea with my boyfriend, do you mind if he joins us?" She said with a smile on her face
"Oh, wait a second, I guess I just got some work, why don't you go ahead"
"Sure, never mind, sometime later" She smiled and started moving
"Do try the masala tea in the cafe, it is rumored to be good out here" I said aloud while she was exiting from the

"Better be sorry, than late" The voice inside me said aloud!

Sacrificed Innocence

"I don't think she should be hearing all this, please send her in" Mom pleaded with my Dad.
"She is a 9 year old girl, and she should know fully about the problems we face" He said, "Come out Paramita" He added in an affectionate but stern tone.

"What can it be about?" I said to myself. "Have I done something which has caused embarrassment to the family? Anindita Ma'am did not even call Dad to school this time for not standing first in rankings at school, neither have I pulled hair of my sister Mishti in a long time". Hesitant and embarrassed, I walked out into the room, having been hiding behind  the curtain and listening to the conversation between Mom and Dad all this while.

"So dear, We have been talking about some family problems here, Your elder brother has suffered a total kidney failure and our farm has not produce any good crop this year. We are in a deep financial problem. We have to arrange for a lot of money for your brother to survive or else find a donor for him" He said with a glim of tear in his eye.

"Can we not buy it from shop? I am sure Banwari would have it, he keeps a lot of things in his shop" I said trying to suggest something useful at least.
"No, we need to find a donor for this" He said in a authoritative voice.
"What is a donor, dad?" Trying hard not to sound dumb.
"Dear, a Donor is someone who can donate one of his kidney to someone who has none"
"Ohhh, then can we not give him ?" I said, trying to sound thoughtfully.
"No, one of my kidney is infected too, I can't give him mine" He said, sounding thoroughly disappointed.

And then suddenly, My Mom started crying profusely. "If we don't get a donor or money, Doctors say your brother will die in 1 month, your brother may not have much time left, pari, not much. And we can't even sell off our land, what will we give in dowry for your marriage otherwise?" and she went on crying. And then I did, what was not expected of me, being a big girl now. I started crying too. Hugging my mom, I could not stop myself from sobbing hard, I could feel the pallu of my mom getting wet from our tears. I felt a hand on my head,I looked back. it was my elder brother.

"Don't worry pari, We will manage" he said with a smile.

That is when I decided, I will find a solution to our problems, I cannot see my mother sob, I cannot see my father so tensed and I certainly cannot let my brother die.

"Dadi Maa, how old are you?" I said, in a lost tone.
"Why do you ask, you have become very ill mannered", She said in a very harsh tone
"Can you donate your kidney to my bro, he will die otherwise, please dadi, please.You are old anyway, my brother has such a long time to go". I said, pleading with all my might.
"You Moron, How dare you shorten my age? I have a long life ahead and I am proud of that. If you want your brother to live, why do you ask me? Go give your own kidney" She said, shouting loud enough for the neighbors to hear. "Girls are always waste of resources anyway, and a burden on family, had you not existed, my son wouldn't have had to worry about your dowry" she added scornfully.

Was I really the cause of all this. Is dowry the gift parents give their daughters at marriage? How do I tell them that I don't want any gift, I will marry a rich guy? Dad told me donor is someone who can give a kidney. Can I not donate my kidney? How does one donate a kidney? and what is a kidney?

"You've gone mad" My best friend Suparna exclaimed.
"But why? I think this is the only way I can help my family, Won't you like to join me? We had promised to stay together always, It won't be tough, trust me" I said, trying to sound convincing.
"Go away, Else I will tell Anindita ma'am that you are disturbing me.

My mom had once told me that when times are bad, no body helps, not even your best friends. She was right. I had always trusted Suparna, and today, instead of helping me out, she thought of complaining about me to Anindita ma'am. So many times I had lied to ma'am to save her from the scale whipping by ma'am. But I am a big girl, I can do it alone, I will handle it all alone.

All things were in place, I cross checked everything once again. As I began climbing atop the stool, I remembered something. I got down and opened my drawer. And there it was. I thought of cross checking the letter. Anindita ma'am would be upset if I commit grammatical mistakes. I began reading...

Dear Mom and Dad,
                               I am really sorry, Because of me you could not save money for buying kidney for brother. I wanted to tell you that I do not want any gift after my marriage, I will marry a rich boy, but you wouldn't listen. Hence I decided to give kidney to brother myself. I had even asked Grandmother as well, but she said, she has a long life to live and cannot give her kidney to brother. I tried to find out ways to donate kidney, but couldn't find one. I tried to use a knife and fetch it out, but I did not know where to start looking inside my body. Hence I have decided to leave it for you to decide how to do it upon me. I guess, to donate something, one needs to die first. Hence I am ending my life, so that finally I can be useful to someone. Now you won't have to worry about brother, he will live long now, like grandmother. You even won't have to worry about my dowry gift as well. Please forgive me for giving you all the troubles.
                                                                                  
                                                                                      Yours Paramita


I realized my mistake, scribbled my name and wrote it below yours. I again climbed back on the stool. More determined than ever. I saw the elliptical rope in front of me. I could see everything through it, it didn't look different. I put my neck through it.
 "Would it pain if I do it this way? Does it pain a lot when people die?"
"Ohh, c'mon, it cannot pain more than it did when i broke my finger,it was so painful"
"Yes, it will not pain more than that" 
I smiled and kicked the stool from under me. I am trying hard to breath, but i am unable to catch any air. It is becoming harder. My chest is aching now. I am trying to get back on stool and stand up, but it has fallen too far. I am unable to use my hands or leg. My whole body had gone numb, I can't feel my body..
"Mom.....Broken finger was not this painful...................................."

This is a real story of Mamphy Sarkar of West Bengal who committed suicide on July 04th, 2011 because her brother had kidney failure and father had a degrading vision. She wrote a suicide note asking her family to use her organs, however a bigger tragedy followed, the note was found by the family after they had cremated her. Her Innocence was sacrificed under the burden of the mortal troubles. This blog is a fictional account of the events, only the premise of this blog is the same, and not the entire story.

God bless her soul.

Click here to read the news item of the above girl