Action Army - An Action movie

I have been thinking about this movie for the past 20 years. And that was when I started watching our Tamil heroes super action movies. It was when I was introduced to super power megablasting stars like Sathyaraj, Vijaykanth and many others. And it was not just the 80s that were awesome, Indian James Bond JaiSankar also made me rethink about the song and sentiments dominated tamil film industry. Finally this story is going to bring all these heroes together for us now.

The movie starts with our hero one and only Vijaykanth who is living in PattiveeranPatti talking on phone with Airtel customer care representative. He says “Hello”. The lightning strikes in the background. And we enter for the title song. Lot of girls are dancing with cellphone in their hand pointing it like a gun. The lyrics goes like “He is the new iPhone 4. Powered by open Android. He is a Robo. He says Hello” and our Hero keeps on saying hello with different phones while wearing bluetooth headset on the other ear.

The movie continues. “yema ponnu, ithu ennoda 400avathu call.” speaks Vijaykanth.
“No sir. Our records show this is only your 3rd call to us.”comes back the reply. The sweet voice belongs to the college going part time working school dress wearing Nayantara.

“Ennaku athu theriyatha. Naan sonnathu intha mobila naan pannikirukira motha calls. But unga billula 410 calls bill pannirukeenga. Yennu theringukalama?”

“Of course sir. But why are you worried about 10 calls and wasting 20 minutes of everyone’s time. For wasting all these time, you could have commented to 100 persons in Facebook. Oh sorry! I think you village man would not know what facebook is” Nayantara replies back bored to getting stuck with an old voice.

Vijaykanth simply smiles and starts talking.
“Facebook was invented by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004.
Now it has a total of 500 million active users.
In 20 minutes, following happens in Facebook.
Tagged photos: 1.3 million
Event invites sent out: 1.5 million
Wall Posts: 1.6 million
Status updates: 1.8 million
Friend requests accepted: 1.97 million
Photos uploaded: 2.7 million
Messages: 4.6 million 
Comments: 10.2 million
Nayantara is now mesmerized and falls in love with Vijaykanth. But before she could speak anything the call disconnects. Our hero just sensed bad guys in his house. He goes to the kitchen and finds that all knifes and utensils are gone. He has nothing but a Coke bottle to fight with. He smiles and takes it out to the hall. Out of nowhere, 100 gangsters surround him with AK 47. Vijaykanth shakes the coke bottle vigorously. Everyone starts laughing. Then all of a sudden, he releases the cap and the compressed fizz comes out of the bottle and starts attacking everyone like a fire engine water hose. All villains are caught in surprise and they die to the powerful Coke. After the fizz gets over, the remaining guys start shooting. Vijayakanth deflects the bullets with the empty bottle and kills the final bad guy by throwing the bottle at his mouth.
Realizing that the Secret Indian Crime Kommittee wants him dead and must have been planning for a long time, he drives to Chennai to save Nayantara who he is in Love with. Why else would he wanted to call Airtel Customer care and talk about 10 calls for 20 minutes.
Nayantara is still in office trying to work, but starts dreaming. The first duet song starts. “Hello caller. I Love you Kalvar. Oh Dark knight. It is a dark night.” Vijaykanth is seen walking around Nayantara who keeps on changing dresses every second.” When she wakes up, her shift is over and she leaves the office. While walking back home through dark alley, 10 guys start chasing her and start shooting with AK47. It is the SICK guys alright. If you did not notice, SICK stands for Secret Indian Crime Kommittee. Nayantara runs off with high heels and short skirt and falls into the arms of one and only Vijaykanth. This time, with no coke around, he fights with Aquafina water bottle taken from Nayantara’s bag and kills all 10 of them with the final one choked by covering the water bottle over his head.
Vijaykanth tells that he was the person who called her in the morning. Surprisingly, she starts loving him more and more. They both then travel to see his senior secret CID agent JaiSankar. JaiSankar and Vijaykanth had worked together for SICK and are retired now. JaiSankar lives as a school teacher preaching Ahimsa for 2 second standard students. Seeing each other after long years, they talk about their past and tears drop from JaiSankar’s eyes. They soon realize the killings relate to a very old mission in SriLanka. Nayantara points out a newspaper that mentions that a female journalist was killed in an accident recently and another column about young man who was wearing a kurta and jeans pant was also shot dead. Vijaykanth and Nayantara goes to visit the female journalist’s parents. They know the young man was shot dead for his bad dress taste.

The mother of the journalist is Manoramo aachi and she speaks about her life and Amma and finally says that her daughter’s laptop, computer and iphone were taken away by AK47 yielding policemen the night her daughter was killed. Lucky for our hero, they left iPad because they couldn’t decide whether to classify it as a gigantic phone or laptop. While they were wondering where to find clues about the killings, Nayantara realizes that there is an App for that. So with few taps and swipes she retrieved a list of people’s names. Vijaykanth was impressed and he loves her more.
Unable to figure out what the list means, Vijaykanth decides he has to meet the action King. Once considering himself as the reincarnation of Bruce Lee, this action King became a discipline of Superhero Vijaykanth very soon and carried out several missions for the nation mostly by jumping and punching the villains for he is short. Action King Arjun also happens to be the most knowledgeable person of all SICK activities. Though old now, he believes himself to be still an young soldier and tries hard jumping higher and higher. Arjun figures out that the persons in the list belong to the team that carried out a secret mission in Srilanka 25 years ago.
In the mean time, CBI officer Jayam Ravi is given the order by his boss Nagma to kill Vijaykanth immediately. Jayam Ravi as a loyal officer agrees to shoot our hero and salutes her. He sets up a trap in a night club where Vijaykanth, Arjun and Nayantara are having dinner. Arjun always vigilant figures out the trap and dances on the stage to distract the CBI officers. Shreya who happens to be dancer for the hotel also dances with him with clothes as minimum as possible. Threatened by the screen time, Nayantara pulls Vijaykanth to the stage and all four dance to an item song. “I am hungry. I eat Jangery. Aadi pada vaa nee”. At the end of the song, Arjun cuts off the lights and Shreya helps them run through the dark while the officers search for the torch light. Remember Vijaykanth need not carry torch light. He has night vision eyes by birth. But when Jayam Ravi using iPhone app for torch light fires a bazooka at them, Vijaykanth gets in the middle and saves Nayantara even though he gets hurt on the arm while deflecting it.
Hurt and running from the CBI, army and SICK people, our heroes reach the Lady Superstar Vijayasanthi’s house who was a police officer once and had beaten up rowdies and corrupt politicians for long time. She treats Vijaykanth’s wounds which got transferred from right arm where he was hurt originally to left arm. Nayantara feeling sad about the wound cry holding his right arm while the wound is transferred again to left arm. They sing for the next song in Alaska. Nayantara shows she is a strong person by showing well in the snow. Vijaykanth just smiles and walks in Pink colored coat.
With JaiSankar returning to the group and the action team grown stronger to five including Vijaykanth, Nayantara, Arjun and Vijayashanthi, they decide that they have to go to CBI office to find more information. And the only person who knows how to get inside is the ex-ISI agent Mansor Ali Khan who was also lover of Vijayashanthi. But she had to shoot him to show her loyalty to Indian Police. Hurt both in body and heart Mansor has become bit mentally ill and is always seen with uncombed hair and speaking drunk. Also an enemy to Vijaykanth and Arjun and was hunted for many crimes including smuggling, terrorism and for being simply crazy, they knew it is a difficult but the only choice they have. Unwilling to help first, Mansor finally agrees so that he can see his lost love at last.
Together as a team, they infiltrate CBI building and gets the secret documents from Documents Keeper Charu Hassan who patiently tell them that he is counting on them for bringing out the truth to the world. After fierce fighting and blowing up the whole building, the action team leaves unharmed. Jayam Ravi was hurt in the battle but starts to think that Vijaykanth might be a good guy and questions Nagma. Nagma wearing high make up and low cut blouse warns him not to question her and just follow the orders. He dreams about his past with Nagma when they were lovers until she gets promoted and dumps him. He remembers the good old days dancing for a song in Africa.
With the new information, they find that only one person other than Vijaykanth is still alive. That is Sathyaraj now a Mayor and about to become the next chief minister. The secret mission in Srilanka was to extract Sathyaraj who was on peace mission was caught misbehaving with local people there and was eventually held as prisoner. Fearing that the news might affect his political future, he is killing all the persons involved. The team confront Sathyaraj in a forest bungalow in Ooty and ask him to surrender. But lying that he is innocent, he escapes from the heroes. Vijayashanthi and Nayantara who are watching from outside the bungalow realize it is a trap and they are surrounded by CBI officers. Jayam Ravi calls Vijaykanth and asks him to surrender so that nobody will be killed. “Surrender. That is the only word I never like in any language” replies back our hero and they start fighting. Hundreds of CBI and army men fight against our three heroes who fight with pistols, swords and throwing back the grenades. There are even replays for the best catches and throws by our heroes and the verdict is always OUT. After enraging gun battle, heroes finally escape only to leave JaiSankar shot dead in the end and Nayantara gets captured by Jayam Ravi.
Wounded and worried about the loss of their dear senior friend, Arjun and Vijaykanth sing a patriotic inspiring song along with Vijayashanthi and they decide that they will fight to death to bring out the truth. Nayantara in the mean time was tortured by Nagma. Nagma threatens to kill Vijaykanth if she does not tell her where Vijaykanth is. Nayantara gets confused whether she should consider Nagma as a real CBI officer or not. When Nagma was trying to torture her more, she gets a call from Vijaykanth. He challenges her that he is going to kidnap Sathyaraj in a ceremony that night.
The CBI protected ceremony opens with Anuska dance on the stage and Jayam Ravi keeps on talking on his walkie talkie asking everyone to be alert. Sathyaraj mesmerized by Anuska walks to the stage to congratulate her performance. With a surprising twist, Anuska removes her face mask revealing it was Vijaykanth dancing all along. The fight starts again and Vijaykanth escapes with Sathyaraj by breaking the wall with his fist and making his own way to the escape van driven by Arjun. Vijayashanthi gets hurt in the middle of the fight and when she is about to be killed by 3 CBI officers, Mansor AliKhan saves her and carries her away safe.
For the final showdown, Vijaykanth arranges an exchange of Sathyaraj for Nayantara in an abandoned warehouse. Jayam Ravi’s doubt that he might not be on the good side gets cleared when he reads the documents left by Vijaykanth for him. He switches side in the last minute and the fight reaches the climax with Arjun and Jayam Ravi fighting the bad guys; Nayantara fighting Nagma and Vijaykanth kicking Sathyaraj’s ass. Sathyaraj captures Nayantara and threatens Vijaykanth and says “Yenn Character-iye Purinjika Matengiriye”. Vijaykanth gets very angry and starts speaking for 15 minutes continuously. Sathyaraj becomes deaf and surrenders and Nagma turns good and falls on Jayam Ravi’s legs. The film ends with Vijaykanth & Nayantara, Vijayashanthi & Mansor, Jayam Ravi & Nagma walking away followed by Arjun and Shreya who just happens to be a dancer in a bar near by.


Postnotes:

• This is not a original story. I would never think like this. It is just a remake of the english movie RED.
• There was a tough competition on who to cast for Jayam Ravi’s character. But for remakes, who else will be suitable better.
• I would have considered Rajnikanth and Kamal, but the movie is about retired people and we know they never retire.
• RED was actually a good film to watch. While the director rightly termed it as Action comedy, our Kollywood would simply release it as action movie which would be comedy for the viewers.
• If you have read the story and still reading, you are the biggest jobless person in the world. As for me, what to do? I am bored and alone as Chini is enjoying her vacation in India.

My mobile battery was down

“My mobile battery was down”. Was that a lie? No. But was it the answer to the question? May be not. But everyone assumed it. I did not attend the call not because my mobile battery was down, which seems correct. But there is always a land line. The truth is, I did not remember about the call. Coming to think of it, I did not remember because my mobile did not remind me with the alarm. And the reason for that is "My mobile battery was down". Looks like I was not lying at all.
“Are you alright?”, a colleague asked me. I obviously was not listening in the meeting. “I am alright. Just that I did not sleep well yesterday night.” I lied. The meeting went on as usual with few talking and none listening. The meeting appears to be a time for everyone to meet without any agenda. So people even talked about what the agenda should be. I never listened and I am not listening now. My mind was everywhere except the meeting. As my ears picked few buzz words like “deadlines”, “deep dive”, “out of the box”, my fingers were swiping the polished table. It was drawing short horizontal lines removing the thin layer of dust that has settled in. After few swipes, the coarse dust has come off and it was all smooth. My finger tip liked it better now. I kept on rubbing it for a while applying pressure more and more. Slowly the smoothness was gone and the finger tip no longer was going straight. The friction increased and the table could not keep it quiet. It started screaming with screeching noise. The more and more I moved my finger against the table, the more the sound increased. It was as if the table was in pain. Ironic, for it was me who was in pain. Still it kept screaming and the pitch went on higher and higher. And then in a sudden moment, I stopped. The room was in silence. The table stopped screaming. I looked around where everyone was staring at me. Wide blank eyes all focussed at my face wondering what has happened. They would not understand. None of them would. I moved back my chair and ran out of the conference room. I was sweating all over my face. My fingers would not be still. Emptiness was sticking on my hand and I did not like it one bit.
Running fast to the men's room, I was glad that nobody was inside. The mirror showed a very tired face. Tired and longing hard for something to happen. Turning on the tap, I washed my face trying to find some strength. The warm water took away some of the drowsy look on the face. But the heart still felt the unrest in my mind. I looked at the mirror which could have showed a better face if not for the water vapors settling on it hiding away the reflection. I touched the glass wiping the water slowly to get back the view of my face. The more I try to clean the mirror, the more I felt the heart pounding faster. The face was turning pale again even though I couldn't stop swiping on the mirror which was already clean. I keep swiping faster and faster until I heard the sound of someone entering the room. Not willing to get caught, I rushed out of the men's room after successfully evading a crash with a stout gentleman. I walked in panic towards my cubicle holding on the walls once in a while and trying hard not to get others' attraction. Nevertheless there were few who would turn with a suspicious look. An awkward smile was all I could give them and with the dizziness increasing more, I leaned against the wall, dragging myself toward the cubicle. With just few feet to go, I could feel my air ducts close making me suffocate in a wide open air conditioned room. My fingers screeching against the wall only said that the wall is not smooth enough. With few seconds left to pass out, I entered my cubicle and tried to scream for help. But as fate would play, my voice was gone and my little puff searching for air could not alert the chair-glued nerds from the next terminals. With nobody to help, I took my phone of which mobile battery was down from my pocket. With only few ticks away from losing consciousness, I plugged the charger pin to the mobile trying to wake it up. Few seconds and even another passed and I know I do not have another second left. My repeated press on the buttons were not worthy, as I passed out on my desk.
Time either a minute or an year is always a blink of an eye for those who are just waking up from the dark void. It was the familiar chime that woke me up. I was not sure how long I had passed out. Oxygen was rushing to my lungs and my brain could get the energy first to hear followed by a blurred sight of the mobile screen lightened up. With the vibrations of the chime sending more oxygen to the lungs, my brain finally got the scent of my small cubicle feeling it home. The fourth sense was already up as I eagerly reached for the mobile with my hand. I touched the screen that caused a tingling sensation that spread through my body rejunivating the muscles that were almost dead for so long. I followed the instruction "Slide to answer". "Hello" I said. I could talk and my voice was back. "What took you so long to answer the phone?" asked my wife on the line. "I don't know.... my mobile battery was down". I said. It was true. I should have never let the battery of my iphone get drained.

The Beginning of Death

I waited for him in the hall. An uninvited guest, as I am all the time; disliked by everyone on the earth though it is very likely that they all will meet me at the end. Of course, I do not come in person for everyone. I have my minions at my disposal that would have their fun doing the work for me. And I make my presence only for those who are "worthy" enough to stay alive but still have to go. As "fate" calls it, it was God’s will. They get cheated by "fate" all the time. Yet they believe it. What an irony! Especially, this person here, Mark as he is rightly called is my Mark. I marked him. He is not like others. He is a special person and it is time for him to move on to his next destiny even though his destiny in this life will go unfulfilled. Destiny like time will not wait for anyone; though unlike time it can be chased on. But his chase is over now and he soon will lose. As I told before, his time is up and he have to go. Even Duke has to go. But not me.
I am getting tired of this. It has been an earthly hour and he is still away planning for something that is never going to happen. When they find out of him tomorrow morning, things will change. There will be war. And I will reap the harvest. No. Wait. I will send my minions instead. After another hour of restlessness, I sensed him walking towards his room unaware of who awaits his appearance. I walked to the door to greet him with my scythe. Raised above my head, I waited for him to come and face "Death". The knob turned with a click as he entered and I swung my Scythe.
And then it happened. Before, I could tear the soul out of his flesh, a sword clashed my blade producing a spark that lighted the whole place and pushed me back inside. I was moved few feet behind and I held guard for the first time waiting to see my challenger. Still shining in bright light, my rival stood there holding a long sword that I very well recognized as the Solarbringer forged in the molten iron river of the primitive earth. It is believed to be forged by the Gods and yielded by the Guardians of Existence during the Earliest of the wars to defeat the Undefeatable. And here it is in the hands of my adversary who is challenging he does not understand. I am impressed at myself. The work of God is needed to meet me face to face. Still sharp with his eyes, he jumped on me with the Sword raised above his head. The blades again met and a lightning crashed on the ground. I pushed him back and swung my scythe as he dodged with ease and dived back and took guard. I smirked and ran towards him revolving myself into a spin with the blade ready to cut anything that comes in contact. He dived again avoiding his end again. As I rested my spin, he yielded the Solarbringer and started bashing as much as he could while I deflected every attack while still happy about watching a worthy Guardian after a long time.
Every living creature has a bond between soul and the body that keeps them together against harm from casual dangers and deadly minions, that is me. Depends upon the will to sustain life and the Karma he have lived for, the bond generates energy that makes life stronger and difficult for me to finish my job. For most creatures, the bond generates passive shield that can withstand only weak forces of darkness and easily get succumbed soon. But for creatures with high Karma and grace, the bond produces an active spirit called "The Guardian". The Guardian is destined to protect the bond till it lasts. But as "fate" terms it, everything that has a beginning, has an end. So the Guardian protects the bond till it end comes and there by brings the end to the life it guards too. And it happens mostly in my generals’ hands or in special case like Mark, has to be mine.
The guardian raised the Solarbringer that looked majestic with its 40 inches blade and extra ordinary 10 inch hilt that forces one to hold the sword with two hands and yet confuse the opponent for a double edged sword that can strike even on the handle side. He swung the blade and it clashed again with mine. The blade remaining against each other, he pushed it hard trying to push it over me. "Do you know what you are fighting for, Guardian?" I laughed at him. "I am death! I cannot be defeated, you blind man" I growled and pushed his sword away. He remained silent and moved in circle waiting for his moment to watch me lost stance. I have seen these pathetic Guardians doing the same again and again as they are told. Their entire life has been written as a Haiku with only words meaning "Fight till Death conquers you". As I lowered my arms a bit, he moved in and struck with his sword towards my left. It met the Scythe and he backed again. I must admit that this is a worthy fight that I have been waiting for so long that I forgot how long it has been since I have to watch the rival’s eyes to determine when his next attack is going to be. The eyes speak before your own arms get the message for action. His eyes spoke swift and hard that it made an impact inside me with every action. Could he be the one to bring the change? Is it time for Duke to go? Is this the beginning of a new era?
The fight continued on as the clashes produced more destruction and thunder as it deafened everything around. With fight aggravating for heavenly hours with both of the players incapable of giving up, the clash moved across seas and oceans and on to the deep forests and finally to the Almighty’s feet at the edge of the river of Void. Fighting harder and harder I wished for the first time, that this should get over soon and found his eyes blinking for a second and before I could interpret its meaning, the sword came to my left and hit the handle taking it away from my grasp. The next bash almost sliced my arm as I dived away to leave the blade untouched. I grabbed the weapon from the ground and moved with a spin on him as he went on moving behind deflecting each attack with the Solarbringer. And with the final attack, I struck hard the blade over his head but he moved away in the final split second.
As the scythe hit the ground, he kicked it taking it away from my grasp once again. And this time, he was lucky enough to wound my arm with his blade and I fell on my back rolling away from the sharp edges reaching out to my weapon. Like a true soldier, he stood there waiting from me to gain ground. "You have no idea what you are doing?" I shouted at him. He really has no idea. "Why do you not understand that death can never be conquered?" There is no win in this fight. "You arrogant slayers never try to realize the simple truth" I was aloud trying to make him understand the inevitable. He never spoke. His eyes were blind yet fixed on me. "Fools!" I laughed. "Victory is not your destiny. You can never stop fighting. I am just trying to offer my help to end this torture." Like drumming on the deaf ears, he stood still with guard. "Okay! If you want it that way, so be it." I decided it is time for the ultimate test. It is time to leave the destiny in the hands of the "fate". I raised my weapon for one final clash. The storm rose high and the clouds gathered together breaking the silence with thunder. It started to rain. He held his hands tight on the sword and raised his arms ready for the strike. The final blow will tell us who would succeed. Whatever the end is, you will not survive. "The Gods play the dice. Let us play with Strength." I ran towards the Guardian with the scythe in front, he too followed unaware of what lay ahead. As the thunders roared as we came close to each other, we swung the blades finishing the fight as we crossed our path slowing down the run at the other end. He turned around still holding the Solarbringer firm in his hands but lowered towards the ground. He knew his opponent could not hold the weapon after the blade has sliced across the torso. I dropped the scythe. My hands would not obey my will. And my legs failed too. I let down myself on the ground. "Well done, Guardian. Well done. You have finally done what most of your kind is not even worth to think of". I let out a loud laugh. Like the only keeper of the secret, I laughed at his ignorance. "Your will to succeed have made you lose your destiny. " I looked at his proud yet confused eyes with full of questions. Of all the questions that haunted him, it is not ‘what next?’ that troubled him but the question why no one told the end of his destiny that frightened him. "You still do not understand. Do you?" I laughed for one last time under Duke’s skin. "It is time for Duke to go and you to embrace death".
And as the last word echoed, I revealed him the truth. "When you conquer death, you become ‘Death’. And I remain forever." As he moved behind realizing his stupidity, the Solarbringer disappeared and the scythe replaced its place in his hands. As the remains of Duke were blown by the winds, his face grew darker and the cloak covered the body that was once protected by Golden armor. The destiny rewritten, the Guardian of the light reincarnated as the Reaper of souls bidden to the commands of the Gods. And the Gods have spoken his first task in his new destiny. "The soul of Mark".

In search of my Author - Preface

"What did I do to deserve this?"

Standing amidst the debris
with a gun in his hand;
The hole ending on his head.
His mind with all doubt and disbelief,
He recalled his life so long yet brief.
He questioned the Supreme Power
To discover himself; to know his purpose.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Into the unknown, he decided to go ahead.

This is the life of "Saathaaravan" born to an ordinary blockbuster hero and indifferent born-to-become mother heroine in a normal Government hospital in a remote village on a perfectly natural thunderstorm night. But what was abnormal was that he happened to be just a natural baby with no signs of turning out to be a great hero. At first, when his mother-to-be was admitted in the hospital, the delivery had to be postponed for weeks as either the lightning or the rain wouldn’t appear on the night and his father-to-be was adamant on getting the lightning as it would be the perfect start of the new hero, their son. And one final day, the lightning did come. But there was also one other pregnant heroine who did not have any child for many years got admitted in the same hospital. Happiness knew no bound inside the father-to-be that they hoped for their child to be switched by the careless nurse who wouldn’t tag the children yet keep them in the same cradle. This might prove to be important for their son's story to grow up in a different place and finally join with them after 25 years. And they need not even find a girl for their hero. He would probably find a girl in his college later most probably one who dresses suitably for the hot climate in India. With high hopes and dreams, they prayed to their author for blessing them so kindly with such a blockbuster son.
But as the director would intervene, the author had an entirely different script for their son. Actually, the author never had a script for their son. He wasted all the time in a hotel room drinking and you know what for all the money the producer gave him. So when the child was born, he was neither switched by the nurse nor did he have any disability that would make his dad neglect him for which he would worry all his life. Disappointed to find his son with everything normal, he even arranged for a kidnapper to steal his child and gave him an iPod with the family song that he sang with his wife when she was pregnant. But before the kidnapper could kidnap the child, he tried to hear the song and got his eardrums blown over. The father had sang too loud as they might be in a different country but still he wanted to be heard when he son plays after a long time. So finally, with no plans working out in favor of the child becoming a hero, the father named his son "Saathaaravan" which means "Ordinary guy" with much dislike. He hoped that his son's story will at least be named after his birth name. But we all know even that did not happen. And this is how the story began or that is what everyone thought so.

To be continued...

Let the guns talk - Last Man Falling

.... continued from Let The Guns Talk Oh God! Grant me the power to finish what I started. Grant me the will to hold my weapons till the end. Grant me the strength to be the last to fall. I watched those unprepared eyes not expecting whats going to happen. Talking the same as yesterday and the same as the day before. "Good luck" I said. They heard it. They turned around. Soon enough to know who said it. But not soon enough to know why I said it. I wished them luck to die without pain. Only luck, the unreliable that never comes when you wanted could save them from the painful death. I raised my guns. No particular target to talk, the bullets fired all around the room. They spoke swift and gentle taking the breathe away one by one. There was no place to hide in this room. Nor did they have the time. Even reaching for the gun was seconds away from what was available to them before my weapons tore their heart away. I laughed aloud as I gave way for my guns to do the talking. The sound of the laugh overwhelming the gun shots suppressing the cries of the dead-to-be. Merv fell down as the metal broke his skull and went deep inside his brain. He never stood up again. I gave one to his heart to make it stop. Waste of bullet. Because I know it has already stopped. His dead eyes stared with fear and will remain the same forever. Quick one to raise the gun was Sliz. The exception I forgot to include with the chit chat. My negligence met with a bullet on my arm. And one above the chest. My heart was still healthy. I returned fire aiming for hers. The time was on my side and the bullets reached her heart side. Ironic, I said it reached her heart as if she has one. She dropped the gun shuddering as the blood found a new way out. I stay corrected. It reached her heart as if she had one. Happy I was for a split second. But came rushing to my heart was the ammo from the hole of Vincento's gun. My guns returned the favor by reflex. He fell down still breathing. I clutched my chest trying to stop the blood. Come on! What is the need to rush? Hold on for some more time. It will all be over. It is almost over. I surveyed the room for life. Death surrounded life inside. Blood all over the place added confusion to my count. Only two souls left. One of them was mine. The other lay against the wall across the room waiting for the last moments. I decided to kneel down. Time to take rest. I have to hold on for some more minutes. I dropped the guns that were hotter than hell. I know that is the place where everyone was sent. Oh God! They say we will relive our entire past life in the last few minutes of our life. I do not want them. Grant me few more seconds to live the current life instead. I prayed with my eyes closed. And then the door opened. I knew it is the angel that has walked in. The angel that had once been mine. The one for which I owe everything. The one who changed paths and crossed to the unreachable side of the river. The one I could not watch leaving me alone. Its strange. Its strange that my dying heart hopes for something that it knows would not happen. It wanted her to hold me again. A tear from her eyes dropping over it healing the pain like the Phoenix. One last kiss before I let out my breathe for the last time. My heart is becoming weak losing the strength slowly and longing for love in this lost world. She went towards his side instead. She held him closer killing me more. The raging blood could no longer hold inside my body. I wished to die. But things are not yet done and I waited for those moments to come. But then he died. Happiness knew no bound in my dimming soul. His eyes closed before his lips could reach hers. The last kiss did not reach him alive. What is the point of taking pills after you are dead? The dead remains the dead. I laughed with what is left of me. She dropped his body and walked back to me. She had a gun in her hand. I raised my head longing to see the face for one last time. The face was calm with no emotion in sight. The gun pointed to my head, she stared deep into my eyes. I returned it with smile. She readied the gun to finish off what I started. It is good to die in the hands of the one who longed to live for. But I had different plans for her. The clock ticked as it went down to zero. I decided not to leave her alone in this cruel world. The bomb around my waist would bring us together again. Her emotionless face showed anger. Seeing my smile, it raised a doubt inside her slowly turning to fear. As fear grew it caused panic and was all over her. "It is time", I said still smiling. "See you in hell".

The Second Chance

Axel stared into the darkness of the park. There was no one to be seen. Things were getting bored today. By this time, yesterday, he had beaten up the guy who was wearing large spectacles and a white shirt. He hated white but the guy wouldn't take his shirt off when he asked him to. Axel had to tear it away with the knife while he was still wearing it. The shirt was completely red soaked in blood at the end. Billy got benefited 50 bucks from his wallet. But they left the watch as it was broken by the baseball bat that hit his wrist. Axel never did it for money. It was only Billy who is interested in money. And Cujo stood and barked most of the time. It occasionally gets the chance to bite when some one tries to run. But today things looked so different. Billy was getting tired playing fetch with Cujo. Even Cujo was tired fetching the stick. He stopping giving the stick back to Billy and instead lied down next to Axel who leaned over the tree waiting for someone that he would hate. It was always easy to find someone he would hate. He hated everyone. Billy sat next to him and started playing with his knife. The night was getting cold and they were getting restless. Axel looked far and saw the light from the Church clock. It struck once. It is one hour past midnight. And then, Cujo stood up and barked.
He sounded furious which meant only one thing. Axel is going to hate the one who ever it is coming on the way. They stood and walked towards the stranger. He appeared young and was coming straight towards them obviously not expecting their company. Watching them approach, he stopped his walk and looked at them. To Axel, everyone did the same thinking whether to run or not. And many make the wrong decision of running back. But today, the guy started to walk again, towards them. "This guy has some guts" said Billy laughing and walked fast eager to have fun. They reached close while he seemed not to notice them blocking the way. Billy pulled his collars back as he tried to get past their shoulders and pushed him to the ground. "What is a prick like you doing out here, huh?" Billy shouted while raising the baseball bat from his back. The stranger just stood up silently. He glanced towards Cujo who was barking and then to Billy and then looked towards Axel and spoke. "If you were given a second chance, what would you do?" Axel could see only his blue eyes in the dark. They stood distinct from the darkness and appeared staring straight into him. Billy raised the bat and yelled "You think you are a smart....", and hit the bat over his stomach making him fall down again in an instant. Axel took the metal rod from his jacket ready to have a nice time. The stranger raised slowly from the ground and stared back again at Axel. Then he took a step back slowly. Even though it was dark, Axel could see that the guy was not frightened. His blue eyes were blank and silent. As much as Axel moved towards him, he would move a step backward, but slowly increasing his pace and at one moment, he started to run. Axel unleashed Cujo from his grip and Cujo was glad to get some fun at last. It started to chase while Axel and Billy followed running behind. They ran long until they reached the gate at the north end of the park. The guy opened the gate and ran outside followed by Cujo leaving Billy and Axel far behind. Before they could reach the gate, they heard a whimpering sound of Cujo in pain. Feeling alarmed, Billy and Axel ran fast to the gate and found it to be locked. They could see Cujo sitting not far from the gate while he stood there just about 5 feet away. Cujo was looking up at him. "Cujo, get him boy!!!" shouted Billy. Cujo looked towards Billy and turned back again as he advanced. "Get him Cujo! Take the flesh out of him" Billy continued to shout. Cujo slowly tried to get up and limped back. His left hind legs moved as if it is not attached to the body. Axel saw blood on the ground next to Cujo. Then suddenly, there was a blow from the guy who was holding a wooden plank. Cujo wailed for a second twitching his legs back and forth before becoming still. Billy was furious seeing the sight and ran towards the other exit on the left.
Axel stood shocked on what just happened. He clutched the gate trying to open it. The stranger walked slowly towards the gate. The street lights were far and shadowed his face. He moved closer to Axel who stood on the other side of the gate. Axel could see that he was no more than 20 years old. But there was no innocent look on his face either. His face beamed bright now without any expression of anger or sorrow. Billy found the exit and holding his bat, he sneaked slowly behind him. Axel could see that Billy was no more than 10 feet from them. Then the stranger smiled. In a fraction of a second before Axel or Billy could realize, he threw the wood straight to Billy's knees. Billy caught unaware stumbled down to the ground. The boy turned back to Axel and smiled again who screamed in anger. Billy was slowly trying to get up and he raised himself to his hurt knees. The knees were sure broken as he cried in pain. The boy turned and faced Billy again who looked at him with fear. He walked towards Billy and took the baseball bat lying next to him. He positioned himself to his left and raised the bat as if ready for the swing in the game. Axel screamed rocking the gate trying to open it but of no use. The stranger looked back towards Axel and asked again. "If you were given a second chance, what would you do?" Then he swung the bat hard hitting straight over Billy's neck. The sound of a broken bone came out and Billy fell without any movement. Everything froze for a second for Axel.
The town clock struck once. It is one hour past midnight and Cujo started to bark making Axel come out of the slumber. There was someone coming towards them. Billy stood up while Axel started thinking of what would happen next. Cujo was barking louder. Billy looked at Axel in confusion. "Come on! Its our day". Then he saw the stranger and he could see the blue eyes staring into him. "Wait!" Axel said, "It is not our guy". Billy shook his head in disappointment and threw the stick for Cujo to fetch. The stranger turned towards Axel while he crossed their path and left silently.
"If you were given a second chance, what would you do?" Axel thought.
"I would take the pass"

The Song of my heart

Once upon a time, there lived a honey bee in a healthy honey comb on top branches of an oak tree. All his friends called him as Nectar. Nectar is a happy loving bee and always sang and danced with everyone. Though he was young, he cared for others and helped his colony in all ways. As he is a worker bee, his work is to bring honey from the flowers in the nearby Garden. He is very active and would fly singing his favorite song and enjoyed his work. He was happy that he is helping in the growth of his family, because for a honey comb, work from each and every small bee is equally important and the little honey that each bee brings back will count when filled together.

One day, when Nectar flew to the garden, he saw a small caterpillar on a cabbage leaf. It was so small and was trying to climb high on the leaves. Trying to help, Nectar went down and talked with the caterpillar whose name was Rainbow. Soon, Rainbow and Nectar became very good friends and Nectar would fly down every day to talk with Rainbow. They would sing songs together all the time and would help Rainbow in finding the best leaves to eat. Nectar's friends did not like Rainbow as it was small and lazy eating the leaves all the time. Nectar liked Rainbow very much that he took Rainbow to the oak leaves and they can sang all the time. But the Oak leaves are hard and it was not tasteful for Rainbow. Days passed with Rainbow not eating properly and became sick. Nectar though loved Rainbow very much knew that caterpillars must feed on cabbage leaves and took Rainbow back to the cabbage leaves. When his colony moved to another oak tree far from the garden, he left hoping that Rainbow will learn to live better there.

Weeks passed and Nectar got busy working for his colony harder than ever and was again loved by everyone. He started singing his favorite songs every day. Though he always thought of Rainbow, he never went to the garden. He wanted Rainbow to live freely and did not want to disturb. But he always felt Rainbow would be sad without him and would not eat the leaves properly. So after many more weeks, he finally decided to go back to the Garden. He was eager to see his friend grown to a large caterpillar. He flew through rivers, hills and forest towards the Garden. After 5 days, he reached the place. The Garden looked very different and there were no cabbage leaves. Nectar got scared and kept circling the garden trying to find Rainbow. But he was not able to find Rainbow anywhere. He became sad but hoped that Rainbow would have moved on to a better place. On his way back, he saw a Garden full of colorful roses. The roses were so pretty. So he went to take some honey for the colony. When he was collecting honey, the breeze blew over the garden. It was then, he heard the voice of Rainbow singing a new song. Feeling happy, the roses also started to sing a song. Surprised, he asked the rose who taught them the song. The rose said it was Rainbow. Rose told Nectar that Rainbow can always be seen over the Red rose at the center of the garden.

Happy to hear about Rainbow, he flew across the rose garden trying to find the Red rose. He got hurt by the thorns on the way. But still he flew and found the red rose. He called loudly for Rainbow but there was no reply. Nectar got scared as the leaves of rose plant were sharp and hard like Oak leaves. He was afraid that Rainbow will not be able to eat these leaves. And then he saw Rainbow on the top of the rose. But it was not caterpillar anymore. He was surprised to find Rainbow has grown to a beautiful butterfly and was feeding on honey instead of leaves. Rainbow also had wings of 7 colors that shined in front of the bright sun. He flew high to the flower smiling and stood infront of Rainbow. But Rainbow could not recognize Nectar. Rainbow has changed and found a new way to live. Whatever Nectar imagined of Rainbow was not seen now. He started singing Rainbow's favorite song. But there was no reply. Rainbow had forgotten the old songs too. Not understanding what Nectar was singing about, Rainbow, the butterfly flew away leaving Nectar singing the song alone.

Holding the past,
Not knowing the weather changes,
Longing for the same breeze
You return to the Garden,
Only to find the wind blows
In a far away place
To sing some other song
For someone else.

The Twice Folded Letter - Unfolded

Read here for the folded part of the story.....

We all remained silent during the entire return journey. Our company had arranged for cabs and three of us shared one as our house was on the way to hers. Actually, I was little excited and nervous when she asked if she can share our cab. But I think she did not expect him to accompany us for she looked little disappointed when she saw him already seating on one end of the car. So the entire trip was very calm with her looking at the streets all the time while he was trying to call someone, but it appeared no one was picking on the other end. He looked really worried about not able to reach them, though I was wondering when he charged the mobile as it was down from the evening. I also would have tried to make some fake-important calls, but was restricted as I kept the mobile in the pant pocket and felt difficult to take it without disturbing the both of them. So I resorted to watch my watch ticking every second. Funny it was that it took exactly 60 seconds to count 60 seconds. After a long time of following the minutes and seconds dials, the cab came to a stop infront of our house and we got down and she waved us a whispering Good-bye.
"How could you do that?" he screamed once the cab started. Even the cab driver got scared and braked hard. Finally, we entered the home without any further talks. Then it started again.
"How could you do this to me?" he continued. "I thought you were helping me."
I did not know how to reply to him. So I went to arrange the bed to sleep without hearing anything. "I trusted you a lot. This is how you repay?" he pulled the blanket away. I ignored him and tried to place the pillow on the exact top center of the bed as if it mattered. "Are you listening to what I am saying?" he threw the pillow away to the corner. I walked to the corner and took the pillow wondering if he got the answer as "No". Though I wanted to answer each and every one of his question, I tried hard not to create any emotional scene. "Thank God, she didn't reply anything to you?" he sighed with relief. A wave of shock passed over me. "What do you mean she didn't reply?" I talked for the first time. "She gave me the letter, if you didn't notice?" I remarked.
"Yeah! So?"
"So, it means she replied back, you dumbo"
"Yeah! But it is not like she said I love you"
I was getting irritated now. Either he is not able to accept what happened or he is entirely stupid.
"Are you stupid? She gave me the letter. Which part of my words did you not understand? Anyway, why do you bother? It is not like you love her." I shouted back at him.
"How are you so sure of that?" he barked.
"May be because you told me so tonight. I waited for you to speak all this time and I was unable to express anything because I thought you loved her. Now I knew that she is just a Rolex watch in the showroom to you, I realized that I have to tell her."
"Yeah! Did you think how hard it will be to see someone taking away the Rolex you were looking all the time?"
"What are you? A stupid loaf? Did YOU not hear what I said? I love her unlike you. And SHE LOVES ME."
He became silent then. The sound exchanges between us like this had happened before though nothing serious like today and it created an uneasy feeling. I thought I owe him an apology but did not know how he would take it.
"Did you read the letter?" he asked anxiously.
"No. Why?" I completely forgot about reading the letter. All these unexpected events were difficult to cope at the same time that I did not have the courage to read her letter and saved it for later.
"May be it is not a love letter." he said casually and looked at me as if I am expected to agree with him. I could not believe his words. The patience and all the temper I had inside me burned out but I did not know if letting out my fury will help me in any way. I just stood there clutching my fist wondering if beating myself would be a better way to react.
"I am just thinking... it could be just New Year wishes." he said.
I turned back and went to the balcony trying to avoid him while he continued with his improbable opinions. "... or it might be for someone else".
Why would he think in such a bad way? I thought to myself knowing there is no point of getting angry on him. May be he is just reacting for my actions tonight. Suddenly a small spot of doubt appeared on my mind. Could he really be right? This letter might not be a love letter. She never spoke the words.
The spot of doubt darkened in my mind. I inserted my hands into the pant pocket decided to read the letter. When I couldn’t find in the pocket on the right side, I tried the one in the left. It was not there. I checked the shirt. It was not there too. A sudden panic raised inside me. I ran inside and checked the tables and my book shelf which I had not touched after returning to home. While I was searching around all the books, he inserted his hand in-between and took away a book silently. I turned to him while he walked away never bothered about anything. A doubt crept into my mind suddenly. Could it be possible that he hid the letter? It seemed reasonable. And all his questions about the letter moved the favor against him. But it would be very bad to assume beforehand. I was getting confused and checked my pockets again. Nothing was there. With hard heart not knowing how he would react, I called his name and he looked back from his book upside down in his hand silently. But before I could ask anything, my phone rang. Realizing it is her, I took the call
"Hi" I just said and looked at him staring at me.
"Hi" She replied.
I just waited. "Hi" I repeated.
There was a pause. Then she said "So you read the letter?"
I wondered what to say. He looked away and sat on the couch trying to read the book upside down.
"Yeah! I read it. Thanks" I said. Thanks???? What was I talking?
Another pause. "So you reached safely?" I asked.
"Yeah!" she said "Ok. I just wanted to say Good night. Bye" and disconnected the call.
I kept the phone on the table and looked back at him. He was still pretending to read. I know I had to ask him for the letter.
"I am sorry dude" he said still looking at the book. "I shouldn't have told like that. I just did not know how to react." He was calm and talked without any expression. "I did not expect this. But I am very happy for you. You should really know that." I remained silent. "The call. That was she. Isn’t it?" he asked. "Yes" I felt sorry for him. "So did you read the letter? Was it something else?" he asked slowly raising his head. I hit my forehead with the fist. Some people will never change. My mobile beeped. It was a message from her.
"if u rd th ltr, tel me th last sen10c"
I thought for a while. What could be the most probable sentence at the end of the first love letter? Not having much experience in that, I was able to think only of "Yours faithfully".
"ur name, of course" i replied.
Few seconds passed at which I laughed to myself.
Then came the shattering reply. "too smart. i kno u dnot rd th ltr. YOU DROPPED IT IN BUS"
My fist hit my forehead again.
"She said it. didn't she?" he was eager to hear the story.
I laughed at him and called her back.
"I am really sorry I left it in bus. Please tell me what the letter said? I am ...." she disconnected the call before I could finish.
"You lost her first love letter????" he screamed.
"Atleast you agree that’s a love letter now" I smirked and I got my answer back from her.
A message popped in my mobile.
"... sweeter than Honey! I Love You."

THE END

The Twice Folded Letter

************************ DISCLAIMER************************
As always, this is a pure fictional story that my right brain created out of pure imagination. Resemblance to any real life incident or real person is coincidental and the author(thats me) can not take any responsibility for any of your assumptions.

[+/-]At first sight

It is the day I started my career. But that is not important now. It was the day, she entered my life. And its also the same day, he crossed my life. I was in the company provided Guest house waiting for the bus to take me to the first step of my career life. I was tensed for the big day ahead. Being the only person from our college to join the company, I was left alone searching for any face that might say hello. The bus honked and I walked to the bus when he crossed me and ran ahead as if catching a running bus. I slipped and almost fell on the road. While hoping no one noticed me, I got into the bus found him sitting on the first seat. And next to him was the only seat left. I took it and we sat silently for a while. I watched around and could realize most of them are new like me. And most importantly, more than half were girls. I wondered if girls are dominating even in this bus, we really should join the equality rights here. When the bus stopped, few more persons got into the bus and everyone were girls. With no place to sit, they have to stand except for the one who got in last. He stood all of a sudden, almost pushing me from my seat and showed her the seat. Now, I have to give my place for others, else it will look look as if I don’t have any manners. As if I am not the only guy to have the thought, few more guys stood giving up the seats for girls. But every guy who stood were staring angrily at him who was shaking his head too much when she thanked him. My anger on him went away the instant I saw her face. Not a bad decision. I smiled at him who was still blushing for her thanks.

[+/-]The clock and the colors

I was trying hard to stay awake in the boring training session and all I have written in my notebook is the title. He rushed to the training hall and hit my back. He dragged the chair and asked "Where is she?". He was late as usual and all he was worried was about her. "Can't you at least say Hello before you can ask about her?" I felt annoyed. "Ok dude. Hello for today and for every day I am here. Now where is she?". He never gets distracted. "10 'o' clock. In white next to Indigo." I replied and looked back at the trainer. He looked towards his right at 2 'o' clock and asked "What color is Indigo?". Not feeling surprised, I just turned his head towards 10 'o' clock and pointed at her. His head did not turned back for the next whole hour. Then he hit my legs hard enough to make me limp for a day and said "She looked at me!". "Freak!" I said and found her looking at everyone in the class bored. Then she saw me seeing her and smiled back at me. We are introduced well to each other as she takes the last seat left in the bus next to me everyday. And please remember that it is his idea of not coming in the bus so that she can find a seat to sit. I rejected his request asking me not to come in the bus so that he can sit next to her.

[+/-]Reflections of a smoking mind

Our company had a peculiar way of assigning the employee number to the trainees that the order did not appear to be in alphabetical, age or college wise. And it happened in a way that she was seated next to me, while he is behind us turned back. Therefore, even if he turns, he will see only the back of us. The troubles he went in switching places were futile as the employee numbers were already stuck in the respective desks. "Hey! I got an idea" he said and moved his system to the right of his desk so that he will be diagonal to her. Then he placed a CD supported by his cigarette lighter at my desk facing her seat and another CD at his desk facing the CD at my desk. So by the reflections theory, he was able to get a blurred ghost image of her seat. He smiled at me as if waiting for me to award a noble prize for that. "I will give you a better idea. Why don’t you sit next to me and appear as if you have doubts all the time.", I asked. But he was quick in his reply to that. "Dude! She would think that I am dumb". "What about me? I already think you are dumb." She returned back to her desk and we turned to each other's desk as if nothing has happened. Her eyes rested on the CD at my desk. To avoid any questions, I took the CD and kept it inside my book. Looking at the cigarette lighter that was holding the CD, she asked "You smoke?". "Why? Does it bother you?" I asked back. "Yeah! I hate men with smoking habit." she said with a displeasing expression. "So do you prefer women smoking?" We laughed and she thought and replied "May be, you are right. Women do look cool when they smoke." His face turned white who was overhearing our chat from behind. There was no use telling him that she was just joking. When I told him that I can never ask what brand she believes to be cool, he started investigating which brand most girls prefer. I would try to leave him whenever he asks the salesmen about "girls-favorite-cigarettes". Anyway, if there is one thing that came good because of her, it was that he stopped smoking from that day. As a non-smoker, I welcomed it very much. My house can at last be a smoke-free zone.

[+/-]You got mail

Our training days are over at last and we were waiting for the posting letter. Everyone had their fingers crossed praying to be put in their home place or anywhere nearer to it while he was there praying in every religion to be placed in the same place as her. I turned around and she was also in prayer watching the mailbox closely. "You got mail" was all everyone was looking for. And then it happened. A cry came from the far end followed by screams at the other end. People were jumping high and congratulating each other. Outlook beeped in my system and I was also jumping high. There were many who looked dejected and few were crying too. And sadly she happened to be one among them. Obviously, the posting was not as she expected. I turned to him and he was still waiting for his mail. It popped out and I found it to be the same as mine, which means it is not the same as hers. She surely would have felt happy if it is the same location as ours. He was looking at her and he felt sad and pinched me. "What is her posting?". I really did not like to answer. So I told him to ask her directly. When we both looked at her, she was looking at us with her sorrowful eyes. She told something to her friend and her friend looked back at us and nodded. Not knowing what they were talking about, I stood there with blank eyes. She came towards us and stood near me. I could feel her cries within her and before she could say anything, he spoke. "So where are you posted?" It was a big surprise to me for it was the very first time, he has ever said more than Hello to her. She looked at him feeling worried. He added, "I am posted in this DC itself. Where are you posted?" His words had a hopeless expectation as if the question was asked even though he knew what the answer would be. She said "Can you swap with me?" softly. Tears were on the verge of leaving her eyes. Even my heart stopped a beat that I would swap places sacrificing myself by becoming a savior for both of them. But I know it is much harder for him. He can not disagree to her for it would be against the nature of his affection to her, but if he agrees, he would have to leave her away to a far away place.

[+/-]Home Sweet Home

"I told you already about that apartment. It is too costly and it will be difficult for us to get bus from there." I was stubborn. We have developed good friendship in the training days and have talked a lot on anything that might relate to her. So when it became clear that the company will provide accommodation only for the training days, I became the obvious choice to him for a roommate. But moving to that apartment in question is unnecessary and I would be wasting most part of my salary as rent. An apartment with swimming pool and lift access to a three storey flat guarded by a security guard is not important to me. But his point is a clear one. When we both were dumb struck at her request asking if he can swap the transfer with her, as if time was on our side, another guy intervened and asked her if she is looking for a swap to our DC. She thanked that guy hundreds of times and even gave a treat in the canteen. When he heard about this, he took it hard saying that he should have agreed to her; because getting a treat from her is worth staying away hundreds of days away from her in hell. To hell with him I thought. And then when the question of finding accommodation came into picture, I recommended that apartment to her as it is a very safe place and many other girls from our company are staying over there. She is sure of fixing that apartment. With no point in talking with him, I threw the paper at him with ads circled on it which I felt suitable for us. He looked into it for a while and said, "May be we should try the one in the K.T street". It is definitely not near her place. Actually, everything I circled in the paper is far from her. Why is he interested in that place? I raised my ear brows. He looked at me casually, stretched his hands and said "We may not live in the same street, but we will live in the same house number 7."I could do nothing but hit my head on the wall.

[+/-]Nice talking to you

Days passed with all of us busy in the projects. As luck was against him, he was assigned to a different project than hers while as the same stroke of luck kicking me hard; I was assigned in her project. This was not good at all. Because apart from helping with her work, I had to explain him about her work in detail and he would raise questions which even the project manager can not answer. The reason is that he is making sure that she is getting work to the level she can handle. If there is anything that he feels difficult for her, he would automatically allocate it to me. I can not disagree with him as the chance of having a good dinner from his cooking is at hand. As she sits adjacent to me we had a lot of hello & smiles and casual talks too. Also, I can listen to all her conversations including her prayers to God whenever she compiles her code. It is always fun to listen her scolding God if the code did not compile successfully. The moment I told him about this cute behavior, he started talking with God every day. "If she can scold God, He must be close to her. So I better familiarize with him" was his response. The phone at her desk started to ring. She picked up and said hello. As part of my spying job, I have to listen to her conversations for hostile entities (boy friends). "Yeah!... Oh! How are you?... I am fine. Thanks…. No no… I am at my desk only." She sounded casual but with a touch of talking to a stranger. "He is at his desk only. Do you want to talk with him? Sure. Nice talking to you anyway… hey!". She held the phone towards me. Now who in the world will call her to reach me? I took the receiver and there he was. "Dude! Did you hear that? She said it was nice talking to me." "Yeah! So?" I was really annoyed. There was a pause and some strange words echoed in my ears which I later realized to be swear words he have reserved for extreme cases only. I disconnected the call and stared back at my screen. "Is that your friend who used to sit behind us in the training lab?" she asked without turning away from her screen. "Yeah! Why?" I acted casual. "Nothing. The voice sounded familiar. That’s all" she sounded casual and got back to compile her code and started praying again. I am surely going to get a big treat if I tell him that she remembered his voice.

[+/-]Riding my bike

"Why am I not invited??" He pulled the plate from me again.
"She did. She told me to invite you too." I pulled the plate.
"But that was just a formality. She never told me directly" The plate was in his hands again.
"May be... I mean may be... she would have called you if you had talked with her before... and talking means more than hi and bye and showing a blushed face." With much force, I pulled the plate away from him while he took the chicken from my plate.
"But you were invited." He said still holding the chicken roast away from me.
"That is because I am sitting next to her in office for the last 3 months"
My eyes were fixed on the chicken all the time. It was a big mistake to tell about her invitation to her sister’s marriage while having dinner. My chicken roast was taken from my plate as he left me like a dog looking at the bone in its master’s hands. I sure have to jump, roll over or catch my tail if I have to get my food.
"I got the invitation only today morning though she is leaving for home tonight." I added desperately trying to get the food.
"What??? She is leaving tonight! Why didn’t you say that to me?"
Oh! Oh! It is another stupid move I made. I did not say anything. I just stared at the chicken roast.
"Which bus is she leaving?"
"The usual one at 10 PM"
Furious, there was only 20 minutes to 10 PM, he dropped the chicken on my plate immediately and ran to the room. Greeted with the greatest gift, I started eating the chicken trying to finish it before he takes it again. After few seconds, he came all dressed up with a key in his hand.
"Hey! That’s my bike. Only I will drive with that. That’s the rule." I shouted.
He just stared back at me and I understood that there are more chicken pieces left and I should keep quiet if I want it. So with priorities set properly, I decided to take two more chicken pieces.
When I had not even finished the first chicken my phone started to ring. It was her number. Things have changed a lot lately. She has become a good friend to me and we used to chat often in phone. She has told about her family, friends, her experiences in life and even the love letters she had received in college days. For some reason, I did not tell him about the love letters. I picked the phone and said "Hi! Where are you? I thought you are going home tonight."
"Yeah! I am in the bus stop. The bus is delayed and I was bored. So I thought I will bore you for sometime."
"No problem. You can try your best. But I will get bored only when you disconnect the line."
"That’s funny." She giggled.
"Anyway, sorry for not able to come to the marriage. Unfortunately, I couldn’t show the invitation as certificate for the only sick leave left."
"That’s ok. I understand." she replied.
Not knowing what to speak about, I kept quiet while she too did the same. With few minutes passing without any words, she said "hey, I think the bus has arrived. Gotta go. Bye" and disconnected the call.
And then almost immediately, my phone rang again and it was his number.
"Where are you idiot?" I asked.
"On the road only. Now listen. Where are the vehicle registration papers?" he asked in a hurry.
"What do you mean? They are in my shelf only. Wait a minute. Don’t tell me that you are caught by the police."
But he was not listening to me at all. He just said "Why would you keep it in home?..... Leave it. I will take care" and disconnected.
I just stood wondering what I could do to help him. After all he is riding my bike. With no idea coming from my mind, I decided to take a break. After 15 minutes of finishing the first chicken, before I could get any ideas, he called me. "Dude! Don’t worry about me. I am fine. It just cost 200 bucks this time."
"Who the hell cares about you? I am just worried about my bike. Where the hell are you?" I shouted at him not able to understand his cool behavior even after being caught by the police.
"On the way dude." He was answering while driving. "listen. She called me and the bus would have probably arrived already. So just return back." "Damn! If it was not for that ________________ (better left unfilled) I would have got her. That ________ (close your eyes and ears again) spoiled all my plans. I was really irritated by his behaviors. For one, there is no plan. All he would do is stare at her from far away which would mostly beyond a sniper range. At most, he would pass her fast in the bike behaving like he never knew her and will make sure she never notices him. So the words about losing her because of the policeman was like India losing the cricket match because the ball was white in color. It doesn’t make any sense. "Whatever. Are you coming back or not?" I asked. "Dude! I am letting this go away. I will catch her in the next stop and come back only after seeing her" "What the hell are you talking about man?? Just come...." That’s when I heard a loud horn followed by shouting noises and the phone went dead. It all happened in a fraction of a second that I was still talking in the phone with half of my mind saying that he probably can’t hear me. The phone is dead after all. I stood frozen for few minutes not knowing what to do. Trying his number again and again though I knew nobody would pick it up. After several tries, his phone started to ring and he answered the call. "Dude! You bike is a mess. I think you have to go to office in bus for the next week"
"To hell with the bike! Are you alright? "I was completely confused how he can talk nuts at this time. Anyway it just made me feel that he is ok.

[+/-]The greatest deed

With the bike still in the ER with the mechanic for more than a week, we got the last company bus to office and were standing all the way in the traffic. He was still looking worried talking to himself on his lost opportunity of getting her due to his encounter with the traffic police. And that’s when my mobile rang and it was she at the other end. "Hi. Whats up?" I said. "Why are you late today?" She asked. Her voice was very low and was not clear due to the traffic. I turned back to him who was in his own world filled with miseries. "Nothing. I woke up late after the big booze yesterday night." "Really! You should have called me." She said. "Sure. We have one more bottle in our house. Do you want to try?" I commented back. She giggled and added "So that’s why you and your friend still appear to be in drowsy state." It stuck immediately that she is also in the same bus and I turned all around but was not able to find her. When I was raising my head to look at the far end, someone pulled my hand from behind and it was she smiling at me. She had been sitting just behind me and very next to him all the time. My minds raced back if we had mentioned anything about her in the bus and relaxed as we did not. Surprisingly, a seat was available next to her and she moved in to give me some space. He was in his world all the time not realizing how close she was sitting next to him. Though I first wanted to avenge him for crashing the bike, with my good soul interrupting me and not ready to get angry faces from him, I spoke in the phone in low voice, "Do you mind him taking that seat. He is still not feeling well." She hesitated a little. "Don’t worry. He is harmless like me" I told her. She giggled and said "That’s ok." I shook him and showed him the seat. When he came back to the real world and his eyes fixed on her and his face was getting red and I was trying hard to suppress the laugh looking at his bizarre stare at her. He took the seat and saw her watching the traffic through the window and turned back giving me a big smile that had thanks written in red all over. I could sense some romantic song singing through his ears. I smiled back like the Almighty except without any halo behind the head. I just hoped he never finds out that I told her that he drinks alcohol.

[+/-]Time to click Good-bye

I was at my desk trying to do some work and when I heard her saying "Yeah! He is here. Hold on a second. Nice talking to you." I turned and took the phone from her. "Of course, I got that." I told him before he could repeat about her nice-talking-to-you words. "What’s up now?" I asked him impatiently. I have to finish of five more modules before leaving to the other DC on a short term transfer. "Nothing. Just wanted to see if she is there. Bye!" he said. "Great! Bye" I replied and disconnected the call. I got back to my work and within few minutes a light flashed across the room. To my surprise and shock, he was there with a camera in hand. "Just thought that we should take a photo together before you leave." he said loud enough for her to hear. She turned around to see us while he looked only at me as if he did not notice her even if it means staring straight into my eyes. Then he looked in all sides trying to find someone to take photo of us and by chance he appeared to have found her looking at us and asked "Could you please take a photograph of us?" She got the camera and focused at us. One can easily say he was staring right into the camera lens. I was glad he was staring only at the camera lens. At least that’s what it appeared to be. Once she took the snap, "Dude! You know what? You should have photo with everyone here before you go. Something that can remind you how great and wonderful people around here are" he spoke like rehearsing for a play in front of the mic. And with similar dramatic pose, he looked at her and turned back to me giving a classic look, "We must take a photo with her." Before I could wonder where "WE" came from, she replied "Yeah! I will like that". Now not ready to get any more damage, I just did what he said and walked next to her while he adjusted the camera for a self timer shot. I could clearly see that he have kept me out of the focus area. With me grinning at him as he smirked back trying to get the perfect shot of her with the imaginative wolf standing next to her; there came the villain to the scene. "You can join. I will take the photo for you." It was our Project manager who is always ready to help us. "Any problem, come to me. There will be no problem" are his famous words. Not able to refuse, he gave the camera and stood next to her. Still happy to have his photo taken with her, he gave a big smile for the photo. Later, his plans of cropping me out of the photo did not work as our no-problem PM had covered the flashlight and everything was dark in the picture. More strange words echoed back in our room for which I do not want to know the meaning ever in my lifetime. By the way, I did not tell him that she asked for that photo next day.

[+/-]The Phone Call

"Dude! She has not come yet." He told me for the fifth time in the last 10 minutes. "I am in another call man. I will call you back." I replied and disconnected the call. Things did not improve even after being away on a short term transfer. I would have to listen on when she came to office, what she had for breakfast and lunch, who she was talking with and how it made him so upset that he couldn’t code properly on that day. None of his code ever was passed by QA is a different story. There will also be daily notes on how many times he saw her and how many times he thought she looked back at him and of course how many times, he would have called my old desk number mistakenly and would have got her "Nice-talking-to-you-anyway" words. But most of them save a few that involves him would be a repeat to me for she would have told the same in our calls already. After all, she is working in the module that I was looking at before and I have to help her most of the time. He called me again. "Dude! She has never been late before?" "I am in an onsite call now. What do you want me to do idiot." I said controlling my temper. "Dude! Try calling her and see if everything is fine." "What am I supposed to ask her?" I was furious and mocked "Hi! Why are you still not in office? Don’t ask me how I know that. Because I have super human powers which lets me watch any surveillance camera as and when I want. Also I have access to the company security records that send signals to my brain when you swipe your identity card." I was completed irritated by his whining and couldn’t control myself. "You $#%&^%&$" was his reply and it stuck hard on me. It made me realize that he has never used such words at me before. We both became silent for more than a minute and I understood I have crossed the line. I calmed down myself and kept his phone on mute and spoke in the office phone that was on mute earlier. "Yeah! Sorry about the interruption. Where are you right now? ok.. just asking.. nothing.. its just my friend.. Shall I call you back after sometime? Yeah! Sure. Call me from your desk." I disconnected her call and returned to his call. "I am really sorry that I spoke like that dude. Chill down. She should be there in anytime. I will call her and check. Is that ok." I told him with lot of guilt and lies. He too became cool and replied "That’s ok dude. I am also sorry. Just one more thing. Ask her why she is late?" "$#%&^%&$", I screamed and threw the phone.

[+/-]The taste of Margarita

We were seated at three corners of the perfect triangle in a round table for three. It was an uneasy situation and a very awkward one for him. She of course did not know what to do. We were just sitting silently while the entire crowd is chatting and laughing happily over New Year eve. Someone had to break the silence, but it is not going to be me. "So, if your manager around?" he asked though he know the answer to that. It is a definite "No". It was a client sponsored New Year party in a five-star hotel and coupons are provided only to the project members. It was just another way to make people work on New Year Eve. After I returned from my short transfer, I was back in the old project with her. His case was not the same though. The reason how he knows the answer to his question is that he is using her manager's coupon. But still it is worth an attempt for starting conversation. She said "No" and returned back to staring the empty wine glass and I at the half-full Margarita. The main idea of getting her manager's coupon was to sit next to me and stare at her while she enjoys the day with her girl friends at the next table. But things never happen as we plan. I and she were stuck working late in office and had to take a cab together to the party. The only place available was a small round table he has reserved for me. And here we are sharing the table for three.
"You must drink tonight", he said out of the blue.
My eyes just rolled over to his side. One thing was clear. He is already drunk. The vodka shot has already started its work. He was absolutely out of his mind.
"No. Sorry! I don’t drink." I decided not to comment and rolled my eyes back to the drink.
"Yeah! You should at least taste wine for sure. It is New Year eve. Whatever you do today will become past in few hours", he nudged me to help him out. For a moment, I was not able to understand what was going on. A shy guy whose cheeks would turn red at her sight is asking her to drink wine! When I nudged him back disapproving his request, he decided to turn me out. "You know, this is exactly what he would say after getting drunk. He will hold the glass behind his back and would shout, 'I don’t drink! I don’t drink'". She started to laugh looking at me while I just poked his shoulders. But her laugh created different effect on him. One who would give a treat if she says "hi" was able to talk freely while selling out his friend's secrets. "Do you know then he would start talking to the chicken pieces, saying sorry to each of them before eating them." Both were laughing hard while I was the point of humiliation. I also joined with an empty laugh and poked him back. "Stop this or I will have to tell about you too?"
"Like what?" he laughed showing clearing that he was not in the listening mood at least after seeing her happy making fun of me.
Anyway, I decided not to interrupt the fun. After all, the only topic all the three of us can talk is about me. It is the only thing common in the table. So I let it happen and sometimes laughed along with them. The talks went on from my expertise in making puri that look like pappads and snoring at nights to my fear for roaches. His voice would sometimes attract the crowd from the near by tables and more were having fun at my expense. While I joined them for all of them, things went different as he crossed the line. "Do you know about his girl friend?" he said with a broad smile after the fourth vodka shot. Stamping his legs was of no use. "What?" she asked with excitement and confusion on her face. "He is just talking stupid really. Its not true" I said but still got a surprised look from her. I hit the back of his head "What are you saying idiot?" He was completely drunk and continued laughing and pointing his finger at me as if I am hiding something and turned to her "Ask him with whom he is talking every night after 10 PM? He only told that it is his girl friend." She wasn't laughing to that. Neither could I. We both know who that girl was. "Dude! I told that just to drive you away. It is not true" I tried hard to hint him with a strong glare. But it was of no use.
"How does it taste; the drink?" she asked all of a sudden. At first, I didn’t realize what she was asking about. But when I looked that she is pointing to my Margarita, it was strange. I had a slight feeling that she is just trying to change the topic. "It... it tastes good. Bit sour... but good." I managed to say in between her surprising words. She giggled with a mixed smile. "How much will it take to say I am drunk?" she asked again with a big mischievous smile. "Excuse me..." I added though I heard every word of hers. He of course was in complete shock with eyes and mouth wide open. She casually took my Margarita and took a sip slowly. Both of our eyes were fixed hard on the tequila disappearing within her lips. When she kept the glass back, there clearly was a change in liquid level. "Not bad" she said looking at us. We just nodded.

The Countdown
"One glass of Martini please", she added boldly to the waiter. A glass of Margarita and a shot of vodka started its work on her. Though my thoughts were saying that she is drinking above the limit for a fresher, I couldn't object her. For some strange reason, she looked more beautiful with her giggling smile while drunk. I turned to my other side and saw him drunk too. He looked awful as every other men when drunk.
She waved her hands towards her friends in the far table and went towards them.My mind was becoming restless more and more and it had something to do with him sitting on the left side of me. "Why dont you tell her?" I asked. He looked up and questioned back "Tell her what?" he asked.
"That you are crazy about her and torturing me every day talking about her." I moved closer to him.
"Come on dude! I dont torture you". He was cool as always.
"Yes, you do. I am completely irritated by you. She must know about your love tonight" Though my thoughts never want him to express his feelings on her, my mind conveyed that it is the right thing to happen. His crazy love on her has been killing me for a long time. "What love?" he asked with a surprise. "I dont love her" he said still showing his eyes wide open.
"You are drunk", I was getting tired of him.
"I am drunk. But I really dont love her". Somehow he sounded serious. "Seriously. I dont love her."
"But you are crazy about her, you idiot"
"Yeah. I am crazy. But that doesnt mean I love her."
I was getting confused.
"Now listen. Do you remember the Rolex watch with golden strap that we saw in the mall last week. I said that it looked amazing. But I did not buy it. Do you know why?" he asked a rhetorical question.
"May be becuase you dont have the money to buy it?"
"No dude. The point is though it looked marvellous and we were all amazed by it, it didn't suit me." he finished his theory with no explanation. Looking at my confused look, he continued "Its similar to her. Though I am crazy about her, admire her, feel enchanted when she is around, it doesnt mean I love her. I cannot love her. She is differnt and I can never be a perfect match for her." He was sipping his drink after the big speech while I could not decide whether it was the alcohol talking inside him or is it the real explanation for all the commotions he created for all these months in the past. While the both of us were staring at each other. the waiter placed the martini she ordered and without much thought I emptied it immediately. I was completely undecided on any reaction to his unexpected answer.
"You drank my Martini!!" she complained with her childish face as she sat back with us. I just nodded back and looked at her. She looked much more beautiful with her fake complaining face while drunk. And then the countdown for the New Year started and everyone started looking at the huge screen at the center of the hall. They were holding each other's hands in the table in the form of a chain. Following the crowd, I took her left hand and his right hand. He stretched his left hand towards her for completing the chain but it appeared she had no intention of holding him and didnt even bother to keep her right hand above the table. He extended his hand further trying hard to get her attention while she did not notice him in any way and was smiling at her friends in the other table. As the countdown was closing down to ten, everyone was counting aloud with screams and laughter all around while She just kept on smiling at friends and he was trying his level best in bringing her focus back to the table. Then there was just two more more seconds for the New Year. That is when it happened.
"I Love You"
She heard it and turned around surprised.
The New Year was born. Everyone was cheering and wishing each other. The hall was covered with screams and laughter. But it was very silent for me.
"No!"... he said with shock.
"I Love You" I repeated again.
Her look didnt leave any clues of her feelings and I looked deep into her eyes trying to find the answers. I am entirely not sure why I said those words though my heart was longing forever to let her know. The time stood still and it was as if the world had stopped at the beginning of the New Year. We stared at each other's eyes for seconds while the world froze around us. Then came out a tear out of her eyes and it reached the little smile on her face.
Without any words, she lifted her right hand slowly and held out the letter she had been hiding all these time under the table. I reached to it and it felt like holding the whole world but in the weight of a feather. She left the table smiling and ran towards her friends.
"This is not happening!" He exclaimed.

The twice folded letter in my hand
still stretched out in the position
I had received it from her;
my voice stopped all of a sudden;
Every part of me that is left conscious
sending signals to the brain asking
whether it is a dream; my eyes see
only her walking away from me;
left the brain cells creating visions of
the last 12 months that had every day
with something to say about her.