Maya

In the outskirt of the north of the capital city of India was a small residential area, Rohini. It was a beautiful place. Unlike the other parts of the city, this place was blessed with huge greenery and pleasant atmosphere. Due to thick borderline of flora the temperature was three to four degrees less than the rest of the city. People who were working class and belonged to different states of India had settled in this area.

Maya, a young married woman had chosen this place to live after getting married with Rajesh whom her parents had chosen for her. Maya was a beauty queen. She had inherited the beauty from her grandmother who was from Afghanistan. Her grandfather was a soldier in Indian Army and had gone on a war to Afghanistan and came back home with the victory and a beautiful wife. Maya had learnt to live an independent life from her grandmother.

She took most of her decisions on her own since childhood but when it came to her wedding she was strongly declined to tie the knot with a man she was in love with. She was a software engineer and was working with an MNC in Pune. She had filled Pune as her first preference for her first job posting as she loved the city, because of its clean and pollution free environment.

Rajesh was a good looking soft speaking man with a happy go lucky nature. He was an IIM graduate and was working with GE capital that paid him handsome package. He loved mixing up with new people and making new friends. Neighbors loved him for his outgoing and helpful nature. These were the traits of Rajesh that had attracted Maya towards him. Maya accepted him, his family and friends whole heartedly. Her world revolved around her husband. She used to get up early went for jogging, and after coming back, she would make tea for herself and her husband who had become habitual of opening his eyes with a warm hug from his wife. He loved the fragrance of Maya’s sweating skin. She would prepare breakfast, pack his lunch and did nothing for herself until Rajesh left for his office.

It’s been five years of their amazing married life. But for the last six months an evil cloud was hovering over their beautiful relationship. Maya had seen many incidents that left her suspicious about Rajesh. He had recently got a promotion. With a handsome increment in his package work load and responsibilities had also increased on his shoulders. He came home late. Maya had to eat dinner alone most of the times. In bed they conversed less. Maya was always looking for an opportunity to get Rajesh’s phone. Rajesh changed the lock pattern of his phone every day. She was tired of asking him of his unusual behaviour. She asked whether he was dating other woman. He refused and pretended that he loved her the most. In fact, he was playing dual role. He was dating Sheetal.

Sheetal was a single mother of a three year old son. She was Rajesh’s colleague. She lived few kilometers away from Maya’s home.

As Sheetal and Rajesh worked in the same office, they decided for car pooling.  Maya was aware of it and she had asked Rajesh to stop car pooling with Sheetal. Rajesh did that. He did that to show, that Maya was more important in his life. Time passed and frictions began at home. He spent more time in office. He started going office on weekends to avoid the naggings and with a hope to work more.

When Maya could not bear this anymore and didn’t get any clue of her husband dating Sheetal she called Sanjay. Sanjay was Rajesh’s best friend. Maya thought that Sanjay would confirm the extramarital affair of her husband. Without delay, Sanjay reached Maya’s place.

Maya prepared coffee. And they started talking of her well beings and Rajesh who was on a business trip to Singapore.

‘What the hell is going on between my husband and that bitch?’ Maya’s patience had reached its limit and she was ready to burst.

Sanjay knew that she was anxious. Look, Maya. There is nothing going on between the two of them. Just a little bit of healthy flirting, I’d say.’

‘Flirting? Healthy flirting? Really Sanjay…’ She rolled her eyes in disgust.’ That’s what you men call it? There is nothing healthy about flirting, Sanjay, not for a married man.’

Healthy flirting is a term introduced by perverted men who want to lend legitimacy to their extramarital dalliances. Flirting invariably has a sexual connotation to it. She got up from her seat and walked around the room gesticulating and muttering something to herself. Suddenly she stopped, turned back, looked at Sanjay and asked, ‘Did my husband sleep with her? You are his friend. Did he ever tell you anything about it?’ 

Sanjay tried his best to defend his friend and he knew he was doing wrong but he had no choice. He had already warned Rajesh to stop dating Sheetal but in vain. While leaving, he saw a strange sourness in Maya’s word when she said that she would take a strong decision if Rajesh continued doing so.

One day Maya decided to meet Sheetal. She chose weekend to visit her so that she could see if Rajesh was staying with Sheetal. Sheetal took Maya’s visit as a surprise but she welcomed her with a warm heart.

‘Hi, Maya. How are you?’

‘I'm fine, Sheetal. You must be doing great. No?’ Maya said sarcastically.

Sheetal did not reply and requested her to sit in the living room. Maya took a seat and saw Sheetal’s son sitting playing on the sofa. She took him in her lap. She offered him some chocolates and began playing with him. Sheetal couldn’t believe her eyes and found it strange.

‘What would you like to have?’

‘Nothing. Thanks.’ Maya continued, ‘Thank god, he doesn’t look like Rajesh. I wouldn’t have hesitated slitting his soft throat.’ Maya said, running her fingers around the kid’s neck.

Earth slipped under Sheetal’s feet. She got shocked and began to shiver. She ran to Maya, snatched her son from her and shouted, ‘Get out of my house. What’s my fault if you are infertile?’

Her words pierced Maya’s chest. She didn’t say anything and left.

Maya reached home and wept until tears dried in her eyes. She felt sorry for behaving like a psycho at Sheetal’s place. She was a kind woman. And she loved kids as she knew that she would never become a mother. She felt completely broken and hopeless. She had stopped going out with her friends. She skipped jogging in the morning. She did not eat properly. Her sleep got disturbed. She became weak. She looked for reasons to become happy. She missed her parents, her ex-boyfriend, and herself. She started drinking wines.

One night, when Rajesh was out on a business trip, Maya switched on her laptop and searched for detective agencies in Delhi and found most of the agencies were working for the people like her. She contacted one over phone. She was told that a detective would visit her. Within an hour, a person came to her and introduced himself as detective Ramesh Babu. He had a rich experience of twenty years of looking after the extramarital cases. He was a smart person. Maya gave him pictures of Rajesh and Sheetal with other necessary details that the detective asked for.

She was tired of the craps happening in her life. She made herself understand that she can’t force anybody to love her. She wanted to work. She wanted to explore the world. She wanted her life back and she was okay if Rajesh was not there. She could not spend any more time with a person who was cheating on her just because she couldn’t become a mother. She wanted to leave Rajesh but Rajesh wanted her to suffer more so that she would divorce him herself.

He was aware that if the divorce happened with mutual understanding he would have to share his property and money with Maya equally. Maya wanted divorce but she required the evidence of her husband’s extramarital affair.

She had left her job because Rajesh didn’t want her to work. She calculated how much she would have earned if she would have continued working. She desired her share from her husband’s property and move out of his life. She had no grudges for Sheetal neither she had any complaint with Rajesh. All she wanted was a new life. She could have left her share in Rajesh’s property and bank balance but she didn’t want the world to laugh at her just because she was a woman and her fate was to suffer lifetime.

  

Rajesh returned home with lots of gifts. Maya saw Rajesh. Initially she couldn’t understand. Rajesh ran straight into her, hugged and kissed her on her cheeks. He lifted her up and shouted in joy. ‘I'm sorry Maya. I've hurt you. You can punish me. I love you.’

It was evening. Rajesh requested Maya to change quickly as he wanted to go out on dinner with her. She got confused. She was pretending to be happy and was faking everything before Rajesh but he looked different. He behaved like initial days of their marriage.

Maya got ready for the dinner. Rajesh did it to distract her suspicion on him. He wanted to play well on both the sides. He couldn’t leave his wife. At the same time he could not control his sexual fantasies towards Sheetal. At restaurant, they ate dinner sharing fake smiles. Rajesh put his hand on hers. She felt warmth in his touch. He looked into her eyes and tried to read her plan that she had made while he was away. After suffering so much, Maya had learnt to be a trickster. Rajesh pulled her hand and kissed on her wrist. He smiled and said, ‘I love you.’ Maya said nothing. She controlled herself and did not allow her to give right answers of the questions Rajesh was asking in the car while driving back home.

They reached home. Rajesh parked the car. Maya was asleep in her seat. Rajesh got down, came to her window, opened the door and lifted her with great care. He looked at her innocent face and kissed on her lips. He wished he could love Maya again. He took her to the bed room. Maya was not sleeping. She was faking the sleep to see if Rajesh was calling Sheetal over phone while driving. He didn’t. Rajesh was walking one step ahead. He was trying to win Maya’s trust once again. But when he had lifted her from the car, she felt a different sensation and it was like she was getting her love life back. As soon as she was placed on bed, she opened her eyes quickly. Rajesh was kissing on her forehead. She kissed him back. On his lips! Rajesh wrapped his arms around her.

‘Just five minutes.’ She said and ran towards washroom.

She undressed herself hurriedly. She quickly lifted the bottle of hair remover foam and applied everywhere on her legs, hands, armpits and private area. She brushed her teeth, removed hair and wiped her body quickly. She wore a short night gown and gave a miss to the undergarments. She opened her hair and spread perfume all around her body and ran towards her bed. Rajesh was waiting there. She jumped on him. They kissed each other passionately. She grabbed his hair, turned him down, rode on him and put his head between her breasts. Suddenly, she heard a message tone on her phone. She leaned and picked her phone from the side table. It was a mail from the detective. She quickly opened the attachments and got shocked after seeing the pictures. She punched Rajesh and threw him away on the ground.

‘What happened?’

‘You, son of a bitch. Look at these pictures.’ Her blood began to boil.

Rajesh looked at the pictures that were taken at IGI airport where he was hugging Sheetal before they took separate taxies to their homes.

‘So you have left detectives after me.’

Argument began and they fought till midnight. Maya was firing abusive words that pierced Rajesh. When Rajesh couldn’t bear the fight, he wore his clothes and began to leave.

‘Go and fuck that bloody bitch.’

Rajesh said nothing and left home and went straight to Sheetal. She was sleeping. Rajesh pressed the door bell continuously. She woke up and opened the door.

‘What happened, Rajesh?’

‘Maya has left detectives after me.’

‘What the fuck.’ She got happy because this is what she was virtually pushing Maya for.

She calmed him down and prepared drink for the two. They sat in the balcony and drank till early morning. Sheetal had poured petrol into the fire of Rajesh’s hatred for his wife. They prepared a plan to eliminate Maya.

They contacted a contract killer the next day and asked him to visit Sheetal’s home the same day. It turned dark and they waited for the person. He came.

‘You’ve to do it carefully.’

‘I’ll do that, sir. But how much will you pay me?’

‘How much do you want?’

‘5 lacs.’

‘Given.’

‘After killing her create a scene at home like somebody was trying to rob cash and Maya’s jewelries.’ Sheetal suggested.

‘I’ll make it look like that only.’

‘Make it possible by the coming weekend.’

‘I can make it possible now!’

‘Not now. I’ll leave home by Saturday morning and you’ve to do it at night. And stay away from this city till Friday.’

‘Okay, sir.’ He disappeared into the darkness of the city.

Rajesh went home. He said sorry to Maya but Maya didn’t listen to him and drank wine all the time. She cried and stayed locked inside the other room while Rajesh was at home whole week. The week looked like years for Maya.

Saturday came and Rajesh said that he was going on the final official trip after which he would not need to go on any other trip. Maya heard him saying behind the door. She unbolted the door and came out.

‘Before leaving, don’t forget to sign the papers kept on the table.’

Rajesh walked to the table and found divorce papers.

‘So you want divorce now?’ He grinned.

‘I'm already tired of everything. Please do not ask any question. Sign and leave. Go and get married with that bitch.’

‘What the hell...’ said Rajesh after reading all papers. Maya had not asked for a single buck and she had claimed that she wanted the divorce. Suddenly, the contract killer flashed in Rajesh’s mind.

He fished into his pocket and took out his phone hurriedly. He dialed his number but it came out of service.

Death spares no one

He woke up early, jumped off his bed, switched off the night lamp and rushed to the kitchen in hurry with totally fucked up mood.

He switched the gas stove on and looked for the tea pan. He found it stuck among the other utensils on one of the shelves. He struggled to pull it out. Some of them fell on the ground and the kitchen filled with musical rhythm as if a kid was weeping monotonously after he got slapped by his mother.  He placed his feet on them - one by one to calm them down.

He threw tea pan on the flame and poured some water into it and then added milk into it. He didn’t wait for anything and added sugar and tea leaf into the liquid mixture. He scratched his head and ran to the balcony.

Dawn was about to break down. He looked into trees and scratched his head.

He had woken up irritated. Every second the thought of death was creeping over him from his toe to head.
I’ll die soon. The words echoed in his head.

He came back to the kitchen and found the tea overflowing the tea pan. The flame had died. He turned the switch off, separated tea from the wet leaf and drank whole in a go.

He ran back to the balcony, stopped at the waist length boundary wall, scratched his head and then suddenly he began to run and ran into the bed room and then to sitting room and then to bed room again. He had just visualized his death and all he could do was; running away as soon as possible.

‘Death spares no one.’ He said to himself and laughed.

He was a tough guy. He pulled his shorts up and tightened the lace of it, wore sports shoes without thinking of socks, picked the bunch of keys from the table and rushed downstairs towards the parking lot.
                                                           ****

He was riding his bike now thinking ‘I’ll die soon.’ And riding bike was his last wish before death.

On the way, he saw a pond on his right hand side. He stopped and made his bike stand on its stand and began to run towards the pond. He crossed the road without caring of the vehicles which were running down the road with great speed from both the sides. It was his one long jump and he sank into the dirty water.

‘You’ll die soon.’ He heard the words echoing from all sides of the water. His feet touched the soft mud at the bottom of the pond and got reflected. His body began to float up softy. A group of little fishes paused swimming before him and said ‘you’ll die soon.’ They laughed and swum away. He popped up to the surface of water and swum to the bank of the pond and ran to his bike.

His bike had touched the speed of one fifty. He was not driving the bike now. The bike was driving him. It stopped on its own. He jumped off and began to run into a roadside forest. He saw some men sitting crouched with some water bottles on the ground.

‘You, fucking assholes, you’re dirtying the environment.’ He said and grabbed one of them with his collars. He made the half naked man stand up and began to slap him on his face. The man looked confused. Others rose up with their water bottles and began to run away, leaving their shit behind to fertile the soil.

He chased them into the forest but they disappeared into tress. He had into another world. He saw trees speaking to each other. They had big face and big eyes of the shape of egg. They spotted him and stopped the conversation.

‘You’ll die soon.’ They said and laughed.

He scratched his head and ran towards unknown direction.

It was another world. It was a different place. He saw some groups of huts with their upside down. Men had four hands, one face and three eyes on their back. Ladies had huge breasts above their buttocks on their back and their feet were missing. Kids were playing, running on their heads and feet flying up towards the sky. When they saw him, they stopped. Men, women and kids surrounded him. And behind them the huts had walked little to encircle the crowd. He stood at the center of the forest, surrounded by them. Then they asked him to dance before them.

‘I don’t know dancing.’ He said.

‘No problem. We’ll teach you the art of dancing. Welcome to our world.’ They chanted together.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ He asked.
‘We’re spirits.’

‘What?’
‘Yes. And you’re the one as well.’

He fainted and collapsed on the ground which was shacking

A simple Love Story

He had fallen in love with her at first sight. This was natural in him. He would start loving a girl at first sight! Since he was a boy of thirteen!

It was a Sunday evening. Weather was fresh as a rain had just stopped after showering Delhi for continuous six hours. A white BMW stopped at the parking area of the Metro Walk Mall. One of the back doors opened and a pair of black boots landed on the ground. Other gates also got opened and some cool dudes got down. A beautiful girl emerged out of the car. She was wearing short cloths.

He was parking his old Yamaha RX 100 at the same parking though the area was reserved for the cars only. His eyes, hid under half broken helmet, rolled to the car and he kept staring at it with curiosity for some time. The car was shining more. He was confused; to look at the girl or at the car!

 
His eyes were fixed on the black boot girl. She came out, stretched her arms, removed her big sunglasses and brushed her long open hair. Her hair was almost touching her waist. Three boys, who had come out of the same car, walked to her and discussed something. She nodded, adjusting her sunglasses on the top of her head.

They began to walk down the decorated clean cemented lane, which was the only way to the entrance of the mall.

He threw his broken helmet on the ground next to his bike and followed them. Before that, their eyes had met once. She giggled when she found him looking at her as if it was normal to her.

After getting their bodies scanned with the metal detectors, they were inside the compound of the mall. They guy was so much into hurry that he jumped over the scanner and paced his walking towards the group.

‘Sir,’ the metal detector man said to him from behind.

‘I'm not your sir.’ The guy said in hurry and walked without a pause.

The metal detector man grabbed his wrist and pulled him near entrance and scanned his body. The guy had starched his arms without looking at the metal detector man as his eyes were moving where the group moved.

‘Are you mad or what?’ the man said to the guy.

‘I'm sorry. I don’t have time to deal with you. I’ll speak to you later.’ The boy said and ran towards the group but the group had disappeared somewhere.

He ran to the spot where he had seen the girl while getting his entrance business done.

He ran his eyes to his left and right but the girl was nowhere, nor the boys who were accompanying her.

He then looked up to the sky to curse the God but dint as his eyes felt on the girl who was walking towards Pizza hut on the first floor area.

Three steps jumping at a time and he was on the first floor now. They checked into Pizza hut. He rushed behind them and grabbed a seat in a corner. They discussed for next ten minutes and but result was still awaited so the girl ordered the waiter to get a good chicken pizza for four along with any four mock tails.

‘Sir, any order?’

‘Hmmhhh..’ the boy said, vaguely.

‘Any order, sir.’ The waiter repeated his question, standing before the guy.

‘Oh, I'm sorry.’ The boy said, taking out his wallet.

He scanned and found four old ten rupee notes. He looked back to the waiter who was checking out the girl. The boy hid his wallet and said, ‘Bhenchod, meri wali ko dekh rha h.’

‘Yes sir. You said something.’ The waiter said.

‘Nothing. I'm saying I’ll call you when I'm done with this long menu.’

‘No problem, sir. But here is the upgraded menu. You can take Mexican pizza with which a chocolate truffle and a cold drink free.’ Waiter said, handing a new menu to the boy.

In return, the boy showed his twenty four shining teeth to the waiter.

Her friends had been noticing the boy was following the girl and when they found him sitting there, they showed their eyes to him. He smiled in return and mumbled, ‘Chutiye.’

The girl first looked at her friends and then to the boy, who had already said cheese.

She smiled and rubbed one of the boys’ shoulders to calm him down.

He checked out the menu and found it very expensive as price of one good chicken pizza cost his monthly pocket money. He then shifted quietly from table to sofa where some newspapers were kept. He took out the one and made a small invisible hole into it and saw the girl through the tiny hole. She was sure the boy would be seeing her despite seeing her male friends threatening him with their eyes.

She toasted first bite to the three boys and began to eat. His mouth watered. He leaked all over his lips with his tongue and enjoyed the spicy virtual pizza, closing his eyes. At the other side, the girl was physically eating pizza but mentally she was visualizing the boy looking at her.

They were done with the bills and tip and walked out but somehow the boy had lost into an article in the newspaper so he dint notice them leaving pizza hut. The girl flashed a look at the boy and found him busy, looking into the paper. He was no more looking at her through hole.

At some part, she wanted to the boy to notice her leaving.

She checked it for last time, standing outside the transparent glass wall of the pizza hut where the boys were discussing to enjoy some rides in the adventure island.

‘Asshole.’ The girl murmured to herself.

‘What?’ the three boys asked together.

‘Nothing.’ She said with a sad face.

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes. I'm.’

‘Sir, any order please?’ the boy heard it and lost focus over the article which was related to some NGOs which were working for the development of the healthcare system for homeless people of Delhi.

‘Oh, I'm sorry.’ I don’t have so much money.’

‘Sir, we’ve a pizza of just ninety nine for the people like you.’

‘What?’

‘Where is that girl?’

‘Who?’

‘That girl.’

‘Who?’

‘Fuck off.’ The boy said and began to rush out. The waiter followed him to gate.

‘Sir, they were talking of Adventure Island.’

‘Oh. Thank you so much.’ The boy said and kissed his hand.

‘Welcome sir.’ The waiter smiled as he could see the boy’s curiosity for the girl.

Within a minute he was at the entrance of the Adventure Island.

‘What’s the ticket price, sir?’ He asked a security guard.

‘Three ninety nine, sir.’

‘Shit. I wish I was a rich guy, like those assholes.’

He walked slowly to the railing which was next to the gate of Adventure Island and leaned on it and looked into the lake which was artificially made to give a beautiful look to the adventure island and the purpose was boating.

He was tired by now as he had worked whole night at a publishing house as a helper and had distributed newspapers down the streets of Rohini in the early morning so soon he was asleep, leaning on the smooth cold metallic railings.

The boy was born in a poor family and had lost his mother during his birth process so he was seen a sign of evil by his father, his only family member. His name was Rajib. As he grew up he wanted to go to school but his father, a hardcore drinker had forced him to work day and night and whatever Rajib was earning he had to hand it to his father who would slice three hundred rupees notes out and would give them to the boy and would keep the rest which he would spend on his wine bottles.

To be cont..

From Rampur to Pescadero

Chapter: 1

Once upon a time there was a village which was surrounded by the banana trees from its three sides. A big milky river that changed its color every season and ended nowhere flew at the foot of the village.

Kids played most of the times and ate when they had food and slept hungry when they dint have anything to eat. They looked lean and thin, thinner than their parents. Elders never worked except taking water from the river and watering banana threes. The old men sat everyday in morning at a dalan and discussed the village stuffs like whose daughter was seeing a guy who was from another village and the guy from lower caste and of course the politics. The discussion always turned hot when they talked of Congress.

Over there, in a family, a boy was born who was named Ravindra on the name of the great Indian laureate Ravindra Nath Tagore. He grew up faster than other boys. 

Next day to the death of his mother he began to go to school as this was his mother’s last wish. She wanted him to be an educated man and earn something to get some changes in his village. He took it deep into his heart and studied in the school where there were only few teachers who most of the times chewed tobacco and betel and drank palm wine and taught very less and they beat students.

One day Ravindra was sitting on the bank of the river and was lost somewhere, staring at water. He was eleven now and he has been seeing the changing color of the river. He wanted to know where the river was coming from and where it ended. He saw some white leather flowing near the bank. He walked down on white sand to reach to the leather, pulled his pyjama up with one of his hands and entered into water. He took a loaf of icy leather and smelled. It smelled like a dead rat smells.

He looked to his left and found huge loafs of white mountainous leather flowing towards him from the west. He dived into water and water closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes he was at a new place.

He opened his eyes and began to run away from the water body. An old man followed him with the same pace. The old man caught him from behind. Ravindra fell on the wet sand.

‘Who are you?’ he asked the old man.

‘Who are you?’ the old man repeated his question.

‘I'm Ravindra.’

‘I'm James Frank.’ The old man said, offering hand to the boy lying on the ground.

Ravindra grabbed his hand and he was standing now.

‘How did I come here, James?’

‘I don’t know. I saw your body flowing at the bank of the sea and dragged you here, pushed your chest. You spilled water from your mouth and then you opened your eyes and asked for some food.’ The old man continued, ‘when I returned to you with sandwich and water I found you sleeping.’

‘What is sea?’

‘What?’

Ravindra repeated his question.

‘Sea, aamm.. It’s a sea.’

‘Where are you from?’

‘Village.’

‘Which village?’

‘Rampur.’

‘Where is it?’

The boy thought for a while and answered, ‘it’s situated near a river.’

‘Which river?’

‘A river which is full of white Mountains.’

‘White mountains?’

‘Yes, white leather mountains.’

‘Oh, I see, you’re from India.’ The old man said, chuckling.

‘Yes, that’s my country name.’

‘BehenChod main kahan pahuch gya? Out of India?’ Ravindra fussed to himself.

                                         ****         

Chapter: 2

One month had passed and by now Ravindra had understood that Pescadero had become his hometown and he forgot his father and his village soon. By next month he began to go to school which was drastically different from his village school. White kids came there and teachers were also white. It became quite difficult to understand the books and language. There were many teachers who didn’t drink palm wine and chewed tobacco or betel.

James was happy he and his wife, Anne had got a kid. They were childless couple and had been wanting to adopt a kid since they came to know they would never give birth to a boy or a girl or none of them but Anne wanted something else. She wanted an Indian child as she had heard that in India many new born kids, who were results of the unwanted pregnancy or a girl child are thrown on roadside or big dustbins.

She took extra care of Ravindra because she believed that the God had sent the kid to her. She woke Ravindra in morning, gave him hot coffee and took him for a walk on the costal garden. When they came back from their morning walk, she could make breakfast, pack lunch and get the boy ready for school and dropped him to his school. In the evening James would wait for him in his car outside the school.

At night James would come to Ravindra’s room and tell him some fictions. Ravindra wished all the kids of his village would have gotten the same treatment. He visualized his village friends and slept.

The Godman

I raped a girl and lost my virginity at the age of twenty, and then it continued as an addiction, which soon grew into my need of subsistence like food, water, shelter and electricity. I had become a raping machine that couldn’t be stopped.

It was one of my birthday nights. The party was over. Everybody was gone. The darkness of the night had gulped the noisy evening. Silence had fully stretched its wings. I heard clicking sound of the switch as mother switched off the tube light of verandah. I heard her footsteps moving towards the bedroom where father might have been waiting for her. 

I was wide awake for the next two hours and had decided to elope from my house, the street, and the lovely city, where I had spent my entire childhood.    

It was the first week of January. The night had filled the area with its white foggy smoke and had compelled everybody to stay under the warm quilts. It was all silent. The city had just entered into the world of dreams and I was supposed to roam in the other world for the next seven hours.

I slowly moved out of the heavy woolen quilt. As soon as my Feet touched the icy tiled floor a current of coldness ran through my body. I shivered. I hunted the bed around my pillow in search of my jacket. I put it on, reached to my pocket which was heavy with a thick bundle of ten rupee notes and then I tiptoed toward the main door crossing the verandah, holding a pair of sleepers in my right hand.

Slowly, I wore my slippers and entered into a dark foggy unknown world. The stair case was dark. I looked for the first step, holding the railing with my left hand. Within a minute I reached to the main metallic gate. It was locked from inside. I climbed on it and jumped on the other side which was a road connecting many streets and moved to different cities with an unknown end.

Crickets were singing. Thick dew drops produced a lyrical tapping sound in the trees when they fell happily on the leaves. Dogs barked to warm up their body so that they could survive the spine chilling cold. A wind blew from the west and tapping sound increased and the barking sound paced up slowly. The cold wind hit my ears hard but failed to demoralize me. I moved my head to the right and then to the left. It was all dark. Taking deep breaths, I began to walk to my left. The dogs stopped barking as they saw me walking past them. They followed me. I stopped, turned back and bent down. I rubbed my palm on the head of one of them. And then I touched heads of other three. They were all warm. They made a similar sound of intimacy as they always made when I did the same gesture every morning. They shook their body with a feeling of separation as they knew that I was going very far from them to return never.

Recalling my past, I walked; how my father was after my studies. I never liked the subjects taught in school as my interests wandered around fictions, idea of petting stray dogs, writing about nature, animals and the people who were flying to cities away from their villages. 

Every day, by four in morning, my father would come into my room to wake me up. He would splash some water on my face to hush away the sleep and I had to open my eyes with much reluctance. Since I was a small kid in school, he was after my studies as if I was more of slave than his progeny, who had to study, clear entrance examinations, do professional course, get a job, and look after them. 

The more I thought about it the more my heart ached, my body was unrest and head senseless. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I wiped them and began to run never to be caught by my monster father. After running for more than half an hour I reached to the railway platform of the place where the lord Mahavir was born.

People were lying on the floor. Dim yellow bulbs failed to light the area properly. At a distance of some feet a family slept. All poor. Many of them were passengers and the rest were homeless. I moved to the enquiry office. I had to wait till 2 AM. I walked to a nearby tea stall. The tea maker was sleeping on the counter with his mouth wide open. Next to him lying was a dog. It looked at me nonchalantly. It moved its head into its circular body and slowly closed its eyes. I took it as an approval.

A kerosene stove, a matchbox, a tea pan, some boxes, some cigarette packets, some toffee boxes and some tobacco packets were all kept together. I took the ingredients for making tea, lit the stove after pumping some air into its small cylinder, kept the tea kettle on the yellowish blue flame, poured some water in it and added some tea leaves and sugar. The black tea was ready. I switched the stove off, poured the tea in a glass and lit a cigarette. Suddenly the tea stall owner opened his eyes wide, rose up from the counter, jumped on the ground, grabbed me with my collar, abused, screamed and fell on the counter and slept again. The dog had also jumped with him watched his drama and gradually joined him in his bed. After a short announcement, Vaishali express touched the platform and swirled like a snake beside the platform. Nobody came out of it. I walked close to the door and found it locked. I pushed it hard but failed to open the heavy cold metallic gate. The train whistled sharply and began to move slowly. I ran with it, passing some more doors. One of them was open. I jumped in.     

                    ***                                          ***                                                    

For three years I pulled rickshaw and lived my life. It was the easiest job that I could get in Delhi though an ID proof was necessary. The owner of the rickshaws never preferred any Bihari rickshaw puller as he was always cheated on by them. Some flew to their home town with rickshaw. Some sold them and had alcohol with that money. Some borrowed money to get their daughters or sisters married and never turned back. Some stole money and valuables from his home. All of them had come from the land of Gautama Buddha.

I had met a priest in a temple the night, I arrived to the unknown city. I had slept on the floor of the temple. He woke me up and his first question was ‘where I was from?’

‘Bihar.’ I said hesitantly.

He provided me food and water for a week and assured me of a job. He narrated his story and told me, that he was an engineering graduate but failed to get a job so he started fooling people by saying that he had come from Himalyas and lord Shiva had sent him to be the head priest of the temple. Every evening he used to give spiritual speeches to his audience comprising of both rich and poor. He took me to one of his disciples who had many rickshaws. I got a new rickshaw and started pulling it with full spirits on the roads of Karol Bagh.

The priest took his share from me for getting me the job, and told me never to disclose about my hometown. In the morning I woke up from my bed, which was usually the verandah of the same temple, washed and wiped the floors of the temple, cleaned my rickshaw at the backyard of the temple and ran my vehicle in morning for the worshippers of the temple and in day time I would park my rickshaw at some distance near a park and took rest inside the green garden where many couples came to enjoy the greenery and sex. I saw many people having sex there and realized that I was a man and I also needed a girl to have sex, imagining it thrice a day. When my mind relieved me from the imaginations of sex I imagined fictions and jotted them down in a notebook. In the evening I would repeat my morning work to pick the disciples (mainly obese ladies) of my priest godfather from their homes and drop them at their places after the spiritual speech was over. I was earning more than any other rickshaw puller was earning. At night I would eat my food at a nearby dhaba, drank wine and slept in the temple's verandah.  

It has been one year. The January came again with more intense cold. One day I couldn't earn much as the fog had halted Delhi for a week. Vehicles didn't show up on the roads. Office going people were invisible. Number of worshipers and disciples decreased. One of those nights, I ate less food and didn’t drink alcohol as I was cashless. Sleeping seemed the toughest task that night. I was continuously shivering on the cold tiled floor of the temple. Many beggars of the city slept there. It seemed as if their body was made up of special kind of metal which was cold proof.

At midnight I heard some noise at the backyard. I thought the priest might have woken up to relieve himself. When I heard the sound of opening and closing of backyard gate I became doubtful and got up. I wrapped my body with a blanket, wore a woolen cap on my head, grabbed a bamboo stick and tiptoed parallel the wall and reached the backside. I expected a thief. When the shadow became little visible in the fog, I was astonished,  I saw a lady in a pair of jeans and jacket, her mouth and nose were covered with a stole and she was walking behind the priest cautiously.

I hid myself against the wall and decided to spy the scene. The lady first entered in the room which was owned by the priest. He looked here and there and rushed in quickly and I heard the bolting of the door. I ran with heavy feet and reached to the door and cupped my right ear which heard well than my left. All I heard was the creaking sound of the bed. I did nothing and waited outside at the side of the wall from where I saw the lady entering the temple premises. The lady appeared, kissed the priest on his lips and walked out of the compound. Two strong lights lit the opposite side of the temple. I heard the ignition of the engine. A big car moved in the dark world of fog and vanished somewhere.

‘What the fuck you were doing?’ I asked, blocking the path of the priest.

‘What?’ He said with a tone as if he was unknown of everything.

‘I saw everything.’

‘What did you see?’ he pulled me in the same room.

‘And I heard the lady’s groaning and the noise of the bed. Look at my groin, its hot and erect.’

‘You, sister fucker, I’ll kill you.’ the priest got angry.

‘Kill me. And I don’t have a sister to get fucked by you.’

We made an agreement that I would be his assistant after a month in the temple society. Only two conditions were there. Firstly I had to let my beard and hair grow and the secondly I never had to open my mouth about that lustful night.

Very soon the head priest was thrown out of the temple and I took his seat. I had also begun to give treatment to my disciples. And the lust arose when women came to get their treatment done. 

The Boy And The Old Man

To jog, to stretch my arms, legs, neck, body and everything except sexual organ, I reach park very early in the morning. First, I warm up my body before jogging like drinkers spice their tongue and mood before taking the first sip of the colorful wines.

The morning is not the same like every day. Small water loggings look like small lagoons there among the small grasses and tiled tracks. It has rained heavily last night. The air is still and the atmosphere calm. The wet branches look blacker, the leaves newer as the rainwater has washed away all the dirt that city pollution has deposited over them. The grasses look fresh. The birds chirp more. They even cry and fight with each other. The crows tease other the bird species with their idiocies. Some broken braches lie on the wet red track as if a young man was made to bend his head down forcefully.

I begin to jog.

I jog.

I stop.

I jog again.

I look here and there.

I jump into grass.

I dance.

I sniff the smell coming from either grass or trees or the leaves or anywhere.

Snif. Snif. Snif.

Like a dog.

Yoga people look at me, confused.

I stare back at them.

They resume inhaling and exhaling the air around.

I close my eyes.

Opening eyes, I start running, suddenly.

I run to the other end.

I pause, breathing, heavily.

I start to weep.

An old man comes near and asks 'what happened?’

I open my eyes wide at him. He gets scared.

‘Are you an old man?’

‘Me?’

‘Yes, you.’

‘Yes, I'm the one.’

‘Ok.’ I stop sobbing.

‘Why were you weeping?’

‘Was I really?’

‘Yes, you did.’

‘No, I dint.’

‘Okay.’ The old man turns right and starts running quickly away from me, screeching, mad, mad, mad.

I look at myself, confused then begin running behind him, crying, where, where, where?’

The old man paces his speed. I do the same. He stops, suddenly.

‘What do you want?’

‘Nothing.’ Then I continue, ‘what can you give?’

‘Nothing.’

‘I knew.’

‘What?’ The old man tries to walk away, but I grip his wrist tightly. He shivers, looking at me and at his wrist, at times.

‘What do you want?’

‘Answer.’

‘Answer?’

‘Yes.’ I said, losing the grip around his wrist. He breathes calmly.

‘Were you a child one day?’ I ask.

‘Yes, I was.’

‘Do you still remember those days?’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Okay, tell me one thing.’

‘What?’

‘Why don’t the past stop running after me?’

The old man thinks sincerely over my question and in place of answering he asks, ‘why are you asking?’

‘What?’

‘The past and all.’

‘I want to know, that’s why.’

‘What kind of past you are talking of, young man?’

‘Rain,’

‘Rain?’

‘Yes,’ I nod vigorously then I begin, ‘the old rains were nice when I was a kid. I used to focus on each single micro thing that I had seen in the morning after heavy rain of the previous night. I could feel the things around me. But now I can’t feel the things around me. I think, think, and think.

I could go to the gardens. I could see the wet mango trees. I could try to not let my slippers slip on the wet and slippery earth. I could smell the earth and the ripening guava. I could not run like this that day. I could sit and enjoy, seating on the broken branches. The branches on which I once wanted to climb but never did but after………..

THAT MIDDLE CLASS GIRL!

Like most of the Indian girls she was born in a middleclass family. Playing with cheaper toys she grew up. She wanted to play with more toys like PS etc but her parents dint like to spend more on it as they had started doing some fixed deposit stuff for her future. Most of the Indian parents do the same.
Well, she was 3 now so she had to go to school. She went and studied well. She started getting some senses. She saw her friends who were rich. The number was lesser but she loved the way they were coming to her school wearing branded cloths, carrying branded bags and expensive toys. She liked them so made some good friends. Indian education system is very competitive right from the begining. Examinations held and she topped. Her friends lover her for being good human and a topper. She was cleaver too.
Well, following the same routine and bearing her parents' scoldings she grew up. She topped secondary board and then moved to a metro city where her dad had been transferred. The life was different there. There were more rich kids. She loved the place, region, language and high profile culture. Kids usually used to come school in small and big cars. She also wanted to drive car so she decided to fight with her parents to get her a second hand car. The fight ended with a good news. She was going school by her own scooty now. She was a cleve girl. She knew her parents couldn't afford a car for themselves then how could they do for their sweetheart kid so she had aimed to get a scooty which resulted into fighting for car. Middle class kids are more intelligent than rest of the kids on earth. No doubt.
She got mixed with the rich and modern kids. A guy, who was supposed to be the richest in the school felt in love with her and one day he proposed her when she was teaching him some mathematics, sitting in his brand new shining silver mercedes car. She thought for a while and said "I love you too". She was a beauty contest winner of her school so she was getting a lot of offers. This was the reason she stuck to a single guy and was being seen as a couple. She lived happily. Her boyfriend gifted her an I-Phone on her b'day and she loved it. Roaming with a rich guy and going to the posh parties were common to her now.
One day she lost her virginity when she had sex with her guy in his car in the parking lot of the biggest mall of the city. They broke up later as the girl discovered that her guy had started looking for sex only.
She sat in the senior secondary exam and topped again. Her parents gifted her a phone now because she had thrown the gifted I-Phone into river Yamuna after breakup. She got maximum calls from the leading colleges of the city University. But she was blessed with a middleclass parents and such parents love to decide the future of their kids in India so she got admission in an engineering college. First year of her college went in making good friends and testing guys whether there was any who could love her without looking for any profit. She failed and loved being called a single. It was embracing for a beauty contest winner but she loved it. No one knew why.
A guy, wearing faded jeans, extra loose Messi t-shirt and a pair of sneakers met her in a mall where she was standing alone, waiting for her parents to come out of a store. He looked good to her. His long hair, good height, nice dressing sense and the way he approached her attracted her. Unfortunately the guy was new to that city. He loved traveling so his maximum time was being spent on traveling and listening to music.
They exchanged their numbers at first meet. Girl liked the guy and the guy loved the girl. Time passed nicely. One day they decided to date. She decided the place as he was unknown to the city. They roamed whole day, ate a lot, did bowling twice and drank fruit beer too. The date ended with a kiss at the most calm place in a mall, at the staircase!
She loved him, he loved her so they were couple now. Her life was easier now. She started getting distracted from her rich friends as she loved to roam with the new guy yet she had to pay more cash everywhere. Fortunately he was also an engineering student of the same branch so their bond was stronger. Her friends hated her because most of them proposed her but she kept refusing and was being spotted everywhere with a new guy who was not that rich.
She reached the last year of her college and she had decided to become a rich person one day so the day seemed apptoaching. She started studying more and more to get a job which could have paid her more than 10lacs per annum was not an easier task in highly competitive Indian society.
Finally the day came. She got 4 call letters from the leading companies of the world. She joined the company which had offered her the maximum package. She was an earning hand now. After 2 years she bought a big bunglow and a black Audi car for her parents. Her parents loved her more. But something was killing them as their kid had grown up matured lady now and she had been working for years and according to the Indian society they had to look for a man for her. She had got everything that she had dreamt for.
One Sunday morning the girl was having coffee with her parents, sitting on the balcony of her big house. She was surprised as her parents started talking of her wedding. She stood up, holding the coffee mug in her left hand and walked a bit away from them and started staring to the sky and said "dad, there is a guy in this city whom I love since my college days". Her parents got up and rushed to her asking many questions like "whats his caste, he is working in the same company or any other company. What are his parents doing. How much he earns etc".
'Dad, he is a painter. Painting is his passion and he has quitted his job for his passion. I love him.'

The BMW Girl!

He liked her at first sight. She did the same. She went to the metro walk mall with her friends. She got down off the black BMW. He was parking his second hand bike at the same parking. His eyes, hiding under half broken helmet rolled to the car and he kept staring for some time. The car was shining more or his eyes noticed it.

She brushed her long open hair, holding extra big sunglasses in her left hand. She was wearing check shorts which was trying to touch her shining thighs and the grey t was loose enough to cover bodies of two fat ladies. The big black leather boot was high above her ankle. He avoided her dressing sense and kept focusing in her eyes where she had already applied extra mascara. She, with her friends (all boys) walked down the footpath to reach the gate. She noticed a guy, wearing repaired helmet staring at her. She looked back. He broke eye contacts, flashing a smile.

He threw helmet next to his bike which was standing on double stand as its half stand was broken.
He chased the girl. Her friends noticed it and raised their bros and ears. He hardly looked to anybody. They entered pizzahut so did he. Damn, his wallet was empty. He dint leave the place and shifted his seat from chair to sofa where some newspapers and magazines were kept. She toased everybody and had the first bite of pizza. His mouth watered. He leaked his lips, rolling his tongue all over. He kept looking at her through a small hole he had made in the newspaper. She guessed what was going around her.

They stood up, paying their bills. He rose up hiding a magazine behind him. They entered into adventure island. He tried the same but failed to enter as entry fee was more than 300 bucks which was his monthly pocket money. He saw her going away from his sight. He wished he were a rich guy like her friends. He roamed here and there, visualizing the girl. He kept waiting, standing outside the gate of adventure island. She didn't come for long. He sat on a nearby chair and lost in the dreams.

'who is this? Leme propose this girl. Don't disturb me,' he said, opening his eyes.
He bliked his eyes as he found the same girl standing after him. He rubbed his eyes twice to check whether he was dreaming or she was there in real.
Guess what had happened next....

PIRATES OF THE PETROLIUM

Characters: The Richest guy, The poorest guy, the specs guy and the other guy.

 ‘No, no, I can’t bear it alone. My Hitler dad is going to kick my ass. You poor asses never pay me equally. I can’t do it.’ The richest of four friends said when his poor friends demanded him to get his car because it has been long they didn’t go for a night out party.

‘What your problem? Can’t you steal a key of your car?’ his friend asked.

‘Steal, huh. I want you to get a duplicate key made,’ the poorest said, releasing smoke of the cigarette, making some smoke patterns in air.

‘I can’t do it. Try to understand,’ the richest said. They were four friends out of which one was the richest and rest three were poor. They love partying late night and sleeping with the paid girls. And for this all of them required a car because neither party nor the paid girls could walk at their places, cheaply. The richest guy was tired of paying the petrol price as the inflation was at its apex. Every week petrol price hiked. After making some plans they thought of making petrol themselves but failed after knowing the process of petrol making and crude oil processing.

After a month, petrol price doubled and the car was invisible. They tried to maintain the pace with their parties and paid girls but failed. They were drinking and smoking cocaine filled cigarettes sitting under a Peepal tree on the roadside of a highway at the outskirt of the city. This was one of the ways of their parties. Strange? Youngsters love experimenting and elders hate it.

The poorest guy stood up, holding a wine bottle (concentrated) in one hand and cigarette in the other. He rubbed his eyes as extra dose of wine and cocaine filled cigarette had started plying hide and seek with his head so with the eyes.

‘I’ve a plan,’ the poorest said.

‘What?’ the rest three rhymed together.

‘We can party more and sleep with more expensive paid girls, like models,’ he took a deep sip of wine.

‘Which plan?’ everybody rose up.

‘Look there,’ the poorest said, pointing his longest finger to a tanker which was standing on the other side of highway.

‘What that?’ asked the richest one.

‘A petrol tanker. We’re going to loot it every month,’

‘Fuck you. You poors always talk of stealing and looting,’ the rich guy said, sitting back at the Peepal root.

‘Ohh, why don’t you bring your car everyday then,’ the other guy who was staring at the tanker said.

‘It seems a good idea but how would we do it?’ the silent guy said breaking his silence for the first time.

‘I would plan everything but he has to agree to bring his car for a night. I would manage the rest things,’ the poorest said, taking a deep sip and emptied bottle.

‘You all come to my place Sunday night. I’ve a plan,’ he said. After some abuses and emotional hits the richest agreed to bring his car for a night.

                                                                 &&&&

All of them were sitting on the balcony of the poorest guy’s place. The beer bottles got opened with the opener. The sound of clinking of the glasses aroused and everybody rhymed the word “cheersss”. One hour of sitting, drinking, smoking, drugging fed the plan into their heads nicely. The plan was about to be experimented the same night.

Locking door, they jumped into the car and the engine got started and steering moved to the Chandigarh highway. The highway was not that busy at midnight as the trucks were the only vehicles were visible there. Most of the truck drivers hardly care about the happenings on the roads. One of them was the target of these guys.

The car had already crossed 120 marks on the speedometer. The heavy loaded trucks were giving stiff competitions as they were running with greater speeds. The eyes of these guys were fixed on the target tanker which was increasing its speed. All they could see the tankers was the tanker’s back light. The trucks were running in a long queue where it was quite impossible to get the car in between any two of them. All were sitting in the car, wearing their seat belts tightly. The car started running in a zigzag path. It was continuously trying to plough some space between the trucks. Sometimes left, sometimes right, sometime straight, some time back. It suddenly hit the right front wheel of a heavy truck loaded with steel rods. The seat belts got broken with the stress of sudden turns but the car maintained the momentum. The truck on the other side took a sharp left turn and it went out of control of its driver in seconds and felt into a deep river. A huge splash sound of water emerged and truck sank into the heart of river.

The car was running with the speed of tanker as the driver had maintained the distance of one meter. The poorest rolled the window down, untying the seat belt. He then moved his head out. He could feel the speed of wind when it hit his face. The other guy followed him. The driver was strictly warned to focus on his work only. Driving. The specs guy (silent guy) knew his job so he kept sitting at the back seat. The poorest came out of the car carefully and climbed on the roof of the car. The other guy did the same. He was being dragged by the speedy wind that was blowing in opposite direction but his non-branded shoes were gripping the roof surface tightly. He pointed the other guy to wait. The tanker decreased its speed so the car. He felt a jerk and felt on the roof. He got up and jumped onto the tanker’s roof and planted his feet nicely. The specs guy passed a bag of pipe to the other guy who was sitting on the roof like a cat. The driver focused his job…

 [to be cont….]