The Revenge

Disclaimer: The names of characters and situations occurring in this story are all fictional and any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental. The story is purely for leisure reading and the author at any point does not mean to make fun of or degrade any caste, religion or sex in the story. If you think so, it is purely unintentional and the author apologizes for the same.

I had a troubled childhood. And I hold all my relatives, the endless list of uncles and aunts and my neighbors, another endless list of uncles and aunts, responsible for this. My only fault that I can remember was that I was a cute kid, with chubby cheeks, a mop of curly black hair on my head and round plump buttocks.

Whenever these people would come to visit my family during festivals or we went to visit them, I would be put to third degree torture. My cheeks would be pinched, my hair would be ruffled, my belly would be poked and tickled, and if they ran out of ideas my buttocks would be slapped so that it jiggled. And they would all laugh with sadistic pleasure as I would make faces and try to wriggle out of their grip, trying to get away from them.

Soon I reached a point where I was scared to death whenever I heard of a family get together. I started to device plans to escape the torture, wearing a cap to prevent from my hair being pulled or applying too much oily face cream on my cheeks so that people would not be able to get a proper grip on them. Once I even thought of placing a thick cardboard under my pants to protect my buttocks, but all in vain. The torture went on, I continued to suffer and people continued to pinch my buttocks and laugh with sadistic pleasure. But this story is not about my helpless sufferings, it’s actually about my revenge.

As I reached adolescence and hair started to grow all over my body, the tormenters stopped harassing me. But there was one lady, (name not disclosed because it’s classified information) who didn’t stop. She used to live a couple of blocks away from our house and she had befriended my mother at one of our neighbors’ weddings, a few years ago.

She was a good looking, married lady, much younger than any of the other tormenters, and had a nice, voluptuous body. She used to come to our house during the afternoons just after we came back from school and have had our lunch. She used to come to our place sometimes to learn to knit, or sometimes to learn a new cake recipe that mother had tried or sometimes just to chat. And every time she came I had to run for my life.

Sometimes I would hide on the terrace or in the garage but she would call out my name and come looking for me until she would find me. And then she would pinch my both cheeks, pulling me towards her and I would sway too and fro, screaming helplessly. But she wouldn’t stop at that. She would hold my face close to hers and smother me with kisses on my forehead and my cheeks which would leave my whole face wet. Sometimes she would hold me very close and in all the excitement her duppatta would fall off and her huge breasts would be right there in front of my nose, the cleavage showing through her deep neck salwar suit. And it was such an incident that prompted me to take my revenge.

It was actually after my thirteenth birthday when we were newly into our teens and were discovering ourselves that this incident happened. At that time the discussions with friends revolved around the things people did on the first night of their marriage or around the huge breasts of some actress in a new movie or newly learnt jokes on private parts of people. Each time someone would mention a girls body part I would feel a sensation all over my body.

One afternoon this lady was half way through her ritual of tormenting me when she held me very close and suddenly her duppatta fell. I could see her cleavage right in front of my face. And then it happened, accidently my face brushed her breasts, her open cleavage to be exact, and I felt something move in my groin. I pushed her back, turned around immediately so that she was unable to see the bulge in my pants and ran from there. I must have sat for at least an hour all alone on the terrace before the bulge in my pants finally subsided. But all the time I thought about her soft cleavage and realized that I had actually enjoyed the whole thing. I was secretly happy.

It was Holi, the day when I finally came of age. I was on the streets with my friends, putting paint on everyone in sight, when I saw her opening the gate of our lawn and enter. I dipped my hands in dark green oil paint and rushed in front of her and greeted her “happy Holi aunty”. Her face, hair and hands were all red with gulal and her white salwar suit had a few color spots here and there. I could see her cleavage through her transparent duppata. “Happy Holi”, she replied with a big smile, and caught hold of my cheeks. I could see there was some red color on her teeth as well.

She bent down, started pinching my cheeks with both hands, and started to pull me towards her. As soon I reached very close to her breasts, I pulled her duppatta very lightly which she didn’t seem to notice and it fell off her shoulders. She gave one big pull to my cheeks, and I almost fell on her, but I raised my left hand to prevent myself from falling directly into her breasts and my hand, wet with deep green oil paint, landed on her right boob. It all happened in a flash and I don’t know whether it was my reflexes or male instincts which told me to squeeze her breast really hard. I did, and almost immediately removed my hand. She stood shocked for a second, her mouth open, looked at her breasts, her duppatta on the ground and then at my face as I looked at her with my left hand raised and my mouth open.

“Shaitaan (demon)”, she screamed. I ran. She ran after me screaming, “Shaitaan rukk jaa abhi batati hoon tujhe. (Stop you devil, I will teach you a lesson).” I ran out of the house, she followed me. I turned around and saw her running after me in her white salwar suit, tying her duppatta around her neck. And as she ran her round breasts bounced up and down, the right one deep green in color.

The Big Red Bicycle.

“Baba!” he cried and ran into his grandfather’s open arms, as soon as he saw him arrive at the gate of his house at the far end of the lawn. The grandfather was happy and received his grandson with a tight hug and smile on his face. “When did you people come back?” asked his grandfather. “We came back this afternoon”, replied the boy. “And how was your vacations”, asked his grandfather putting him down again and holding his hand as they walked towards the house. “It was great, Baba, I learnt how to ride a bicycle. “Oh really, that’s wonderful!” exclaimed his grandfather. “Yes, I learnt it on Rohit’s old bicycle, it felt great. “ He said excitedly. “You know Rohit has a new bicycle now, a big black one. I didn’t ride it I was afraid I would fall off, and everyone would laugh at me.”

“You don’t have to be afraid of people laughing at your mistakes. Everyone falls off a bicycle when he is learning”, said his grandfather, as he opened his bedroom’s door and switched on the fan and light. The boy climbed up the bed and opened the window, the cool evening breeze started to drift in bringing along with it a faint smell of newly sprouted mangoes from the tree nearby. “Did you fall off the bicycle too?” asked the boy. “Yes I did, many a times”, said his grandfather. “Did Papa fall off the bicycle too?” he asked again. “Yes he fell off too”, his grandfather said, the gentle smile never leaving his face as he sat down on his rocking chair and the boy settled down on the bed.

“Did everyone laugh when Papa fell off the bicycle?” he asked. “Yes they did, they laughed at me too when I fell from the bicycle. But your father never gave up, he continued practicing and see now, he can not only ride the bicycle, but the scooter and our old jeep too.” his grandfather replied. “I will also practice then and I will learn to ride the big bicycle without falling off it” he said and ran out of the room. The grandfather gave out a short laugh and looked at his grandson as he ran out with a twinkle in his eyes. He looked at the calendar hanging on the opposite wall, his eyes rested on the next Thursday of the month it would be his grandson’s tenth birthday. He smiled.

That Thursday he came home early in the evening and as usual met his grandson at the gate of the house. He greeted him with “happy birthday”, he responded with a thank you and asked where his gift was? The grandfather called out to the boy’s mother. “Tell me Baba, why didn’t you get me a present”, said the boy tugging at his arms. The boy’s mother came out running from inside the house, the pallu of her saree tugged over her head and stood in front of him motionless looking at her feet. “Get him dressed I am taking him to the market”, said the grandfather. “Tell me Baba what will you buy for me at the market”, asked the boy. “Go wash yourself and get dressed first”, said his grandfather. The boy was excited. He immediately ran into the house dodging his mother and in to the bathroom, he washed his dirty feet and his hands and his face. The mother took out some fresh clothes from the cupboard and gave it to him. In a few minutes he was wearing a fresh set of clothes, clean shoes and his curly hair was combed.

The boy came out and saw his grandfather sitting on a chair in the verandah sipping tea and reading the newspaper. “Baba, I am ready”, he said. “Yes, yes let me finish my tea and we will go”, said his grandfather. “What are we getting from the market? Should I get a bag?” the boy asked. “No we will not need a bag”, said his grandfather. “Then what is it? Tell me Baba, please?” pleaded the boy. The grandfather put down the cup of tea, folded the news paper and stood up. The boy ran and opened the front gate. The grandfather followed him in to the street. The boy walked in front of him, he asked him to hold his hand. The boy came back and held his hand and walked beside him. The boy looked at the shops with excitement. All the time he was thinking what his grandfather would buy him, may be a pair of new jeans or a cricket bat because his old one was chipped at the end, or will he buy him a set of the latest Asterix comic books, like Rohit had. But he had no way of knowing it, he kept asking his grandfather to tell him but his grandfather did nothing but smile at him.

Then they turned into a lane on their left and he saw a row of bicycle shops lined up till the end of the lane. The boy went berserk with excitement. “It’s a bicycle, it’s a bicycle”, he jumped with joy. His grandfather laughed. The crowd around them watched them in amusement. The grandfather took the boy into a shop. The owner seemed to have known him for long and greeted him with a Namaste. The grandfather asked the boy to select a bicycle that he liked and he sat beside the owner to have a chat with him. In few minutes he heard the boy call out to him “Baba, this one”. He was sitting on a bicycle red in color with a red seat and long curved hands, both his legs firmly on the ground. “Do you expect to stay this tall throughout your life?” asked the grandfather coming up to him, “how about this one”. The boy saw that his grandfather was standing next to a big red bicycle with straight handles the latest one that he had seen on television advertisements. He knew all the kids in his block would be impressed with him if he could learn how to ride it. But he knew that his legs won’t reach the ground, so he might fall off and make a fool of himself. “But I will not be able to ride it”, he said to his grandfather. “I will teach you how to ride it, don’t worry”, said his grandfather, reassuringly. The boy smiled at him.

They came out of the shop the boy holding the bicycle and walking beside it and his grandfather walked on the other side of the bicycle. As they reached their block the grandfather asked the boy to mount the bicycle and ride it home. He held the bicycle, while the boy sat on it and pressed his right foot on the pedal. The bicycle took off, the grandfather held the seat and walked beside the bicycle. The boy pressed the left foot, the bicycle gained some speed, he pressed the right foot again and then the left again. The bicycle gained speed and gently his grandfather let go of the seat. He was now riding the big red bicycle all by himself and he had not yet fallen off it. He was jubilant with excitement. He saw his friend and called out “hey look, my new bicycle”. But he was now reaching his house he saw his mother and his little sister standing at the gate waiting to welcome his new bicycle. He applied the brakes, the bicycle slowed down, bumped into a small pot hole, the front wheel wobbled and the boy went flying to the other side of road falling on his back on the pavement. His friend came running to him and picked up his bicycle, his mother came running to him, his grandfather came running to him, his little sister laughed at him and so did his friend. He looked up at his grandfather, tears swelling up in his eyes, his vision became blurry.

“Now that you have fallen you have learnt a lesson, always be careful”, said his grandfather squatting beside him and dusting off the dirt from his clothes. His mother wiped his cheeks. “Come on give it another try and this time be careful”, said his grandfather holding the bicycle and dusting the seat. The boy looked at him. “Come”, said the grandfather gesturing and giving him a assuring smile. The boy sat on the seat, held the handles firmly and pressed his right foot. The bicycle started to roll. Slowly the grandfather left the bicycle, his friend ran beside him clapping and laughing. The grandfather watched him with a smile on his face.

The Passenger.

The passenger on the backseat asked him to stop the auto rickshaw. He slowed down the rickshaw, swerved slightly towards the pavement and stopped. The passenger got out, paid and disappeared into the building just ahead of where he had stopped the auto rickshaw. He kept the money in his khaki shirt pocket and took out his Chinese made mobile from his pants pocket.
He checked the time on his mobile screen it said 12:13 a.m. He got off the front seat of the auto rickshaw, stood on the pavement and stretched. He breathed deeply, took in the cool night breeze and rubbed his eyes. He could hear the sounds of vehicle going by. He got in to the backseat rested his back against the other side of the auto rickshaw and stretched his legs. He plugged in the earphones into the mobile and loud music from the local FM station started to pour into his ears.

It had been a busy Friday evening for him as usual. Ferrying passengers from their offices to their homes, from their homes to the clubs, pubs, restaurants, malls, theatres and to every place they had wanted to go. Most of his passengers on Fridays would be young couples, who held hands, talked, laughed sometimes kissed each other and sometimes did things which he couldn’t bear to see even through his rearview mirror.

He had picked up his last passenger from a multistorey office building, half an hour before he came to where he was now. The passenger looked like one of those who was used to working late even on Fridays. He had a loose blue tie hung around his neck which lay limp on his light blue shirt, which lay taut over his round belly. His sleeves rolled up and a black leather bag containing his computer, hung across his left shoulder. The passenger received three phone calls in the short span of half an hour. All the phone calls, it seemed were from his wife, who kept him asking when he would be reaching home to which he kept answering “in five minutes honey.” Must be newly married he had thought.

The FM station started to play some English song. He couldn’t understand the song but he liked the beats so he kept listening to it. He saw the cars going by in high speed, filled with people who he knew were going off to some restaurants to eat. He had never been able to understand the rich of this city ever since he had come to the city two years back. He had been driving his auto rickshaw in the city since two years and had been to every street where they would allow him to take his rickshaw. Even though he had been in the city for just two years whenever someone asked him since when he had been driving auto rickshaw he proudly said “ab toh bahut baras ho gaye saheb” (it has been a long time now sir).

Two years back, he was living happily in his village, married to a simple but beautiful girl, doing nothing all day just wasting his time loitering around with friends. He had left the school after he completed his tenth standard. Not being interested in further studies he never thought about it. Instead he spent his time watching the kids play on the street, sometimes playing with them, or loitered around the fields. Since he was the youngest in the family he was a spoilt one. He had been married to a girl from the other village as soon as he turned twenty. The girl was hardly fifteen and didn’t know how to react when he had touched her on the first night.

His father and elder brother used to work in the garments factory located five kilometers away at the outskirts of the village. His father had tried to get him a job at the factory too but he had simply stopped going to work after a couple of days. He always said he wanted to go to some big city and earn his livelihood working for a big company. So when his uncle from the city called him and told him that he had a job ready for him he was so happy that he didn’t even blink when his newlywed wife cried her heart out. But he assured her that as soon as he had made arrangements for a house etc, he would come back and take her to the city too.

His uncle had been living in the city ever since he could remember. His uncle had come to city and started to drive an auto rickshaw. He had worked hard and saved enough to buy two auto rickshaws. He used to drive one himself and had rented out the other one to some other guy who also was from the same village, a distant cousin. Now this guy had run off and was nowhere to be found. So his uncle had called him, had given him an opportunity to live in the big city, to have a better life and an opportunity to make more money than he could have even thought of making at the factory in the village.

Two things his uncle had warned him to stay away from, girls and alcohol and since the day he picked up his first passenger he had never touched any of them. But whenever a beautiful girl sat in the backseat he would look at her through the rear view mirror, when she was looking away, and think of his wife and her soft skin. In these two years he had been to his home twice at the interval of one year and both times, within a month of his returning to the city, he had heard the news of his wife being pregnant. He had just received a call from his mother a couple of weeks back telling him that his wife was expecting her second child. Every time after he had had sex with his wife, she would make him promise her that, he would take her to the city, and every time he would promise that he would do so the next time he came. His uncle had once told him that the city will give him everything that he wants, but it will also take away everything from him. And this had turned out to be true. He worked hard day and night sleeping in the backseat of the rickshaw waiting for passengers all night but wasn’t able to save enough to rent a decent house for his wife.

The FM changed the song, another English one, the singer was shrieking at the top of his voice and the noise of drums was horrendous. He fiddled with the buttons and changed the channel, the phone started to play old Hindi film songs. He relaxed again watching the street, a car passed by, filled with people. He had never been able to understand the rich of the city. At nights they would go out to expensive restaurants eat all kinds of delicious food till their stomachs would swell in the shape of a pot. And in the mornings they would go to expensive exercise centers, which they called the gym, to get rid of the pot belly.

A taxi sped by, and then a man on a motor bike. He looked across the street there stood girls, of all ages, dressed in loud clothes, sarees, jeans, salwars and what not. They had gaudy make up on their faces, probably bought cheap from roadside makeshift shops. Some of them stood and chatted in a group under the street light, another stood leaning on the bus stop, two of them, who were more women than girls, were flirting and having fun with a drunk, two more were haggling with a prospective client, all of them were waiting for a passenger. He could see their bright dresses fluttering under the street light. An auto rickshaw stopped near the group standing under streetlight, two of the girls both in jeans and t-shirt approached the auto rickshaw, after some haggling one of them got in and the rickshaw pulled off. The other girl joined the gang back.
Suddenly his vision was obstructed by two figures, both girls, in same flashy clothes and makeup. Their lips, cheeks were red with paint and they smelled of cheap scent. “Aey chalega kya”, (hey will u go) said one of the girls. “No”, he mumbled, pulling back his stretched legs as if their touch might cause blisters on his feet. “Nahi jaane ka hai toh yaha phukat mein kahe ko baitha hai?” (If you don’t want to go then why are you sitting here and wasting your time), said the same girl. The other girl spat on the pavement mumbled something, both laughed and walked off. They had gone only a few steps when a car came and stopped near them. After exchanging a few words both got in and the car sped off.

He relaxed again leaning against the backrest of the seat. The cool night breeze and the music in his ear were making him drowsy. Slowly he dozed off and started to snore mildly, his head rolled over to one side. He started to dream. He saw his wife dressed in a bright yellow saree running in the field. He was running after her. After running for sometime he caught her by her waist. He could feel her stomach in his arms, a small bump forming just near her navel. Her hair had the same smell that he had noticed the two girls were wearing. His wife turned around and he saw that her face resembled the face of the girl who had come to his rickshaw and was speaking to him. Her lips and cheeks were painted red and she had black kajal around her eyes. He started to feel scared, and his face became moist with sweat. He was unable to understand when had he married this girl?

Suddenly he felt his body being jolted and he woke up. He heard a man’s voice asking him something. He rubbed his eyes, and stretched himself. He saw a man standing in front of him. He had a girl with him. The girl looked to be dressed in expensive clothes and was pretty, unlike the girls standing across the street. He also noticed that the girl looked very young unlike the man, who had very less hair on his head and had a big round belly. The man had his right hand around her shoulder and the girl had her hand around his bulging waist. “Chalega?” (Will you go) the man asked. He reeked of alcohol. “Gas nahi hai” (there is no gas in the vehicle), he mumbled in reply. The man and the girl left. The man said something in his drunkenness and the girl laughed nervously. The FM continued to play sweet music into his ears. He checked the time on his mobile screen it said 1:59 a.m. He stretched his arms, gave out a grunt, rested his head on the backrest and in a few seconds started to softly snore again.

The Scar (Part - II)

Disclaimer: The story is a work of fiction and is in no way related to any person dead or alive. The names characters and situations occurring in the story are imaginary and any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental.

…. Continued from Part 1… The milkman bent down to keep the bottles and saw a pool of thick red liquid formed beneath the door. The bottles slipped from his hands. He instantly knew what the red liquid was. He picked up his bicycle and pedaled to the nearest police station. He informed the constable what he had seen. Within half an hour Reva’s house was swarming with police. The Police found Reva’s body in a pool of blood unconscious and nearly dead. They rushed her immediately to a hospital. People from the neighborhood crowded the streets to see three dead and one half dead body being removed from the house.

Abhi, Ranvir, Deepak and Shalini came out of the house got into the car and left. Abhi and Ranvir drove in turns for the whole night they reached Agra early in the morning. They went straight to the railway station, “let us all go separately from here, you know whom to meet in Mumbai. If anyone sees anything suspicious, alert everyone on the cell phone”, said Abhi. The left the car in the parking lot and separated.

Everyone bought a ticket to Mumbai separately. The train was not due for next two hours so they waited in different parts of the station. When the train arrived they boarded different coaches. They reached Mumbai late at night and went in different directions. Shalini called up the girl’s number she had got from Baba. The girl lived in a working girl’s hostel. Deepak went to a relatives place and Ranvir went to the person who was a close aide of Baba.

Abhi went to a flat which was owned by his uncle who was now living in Dubai. It was his uncle who had introduced Abhi to Baba when he had got admission in the regional engineering college in Faridabad. He always had the keys to his uncle’s flat. He had visited Mumbai many times sometimes for vacations and sometimes to meet Baba’s accomplices. He knew the city well and used to stay in his uncle’s flat every time he came to Mumbai. But he had never brought Reva to Mumbai with him during the short time he had known her.

The police questioned Reva when she gained consciousness, after three days, but Reva refused to speak. She did not say anything, did not even respond to the doctors question. The doctor said she might be in shock and might start speaking in a week’s time. The police waited, a constable guarding her cabin’s door day and night.

The moment Reva came to herself the only visual in front of her eyes was three bodies lying in a heap with blood everywhere. In a moment everything that had happened that night flashed in front of her eyes. She did not want to speak to the police. She wanted to die. She was depressed with the fact that she had survived. She wanted to kill herself. She kept repeating only one question in her mind “Why did God give me a second life?”

Then she realized there must be only one thing that she should to do in her second life.

On the fifth night she noiselessly unbolted her cabin’s door. She came out and saw the constable snoring on the bench in the corridor. There was not a soul in sight. She came to the reception and saw a nurse and a ward boy sleeping there. The grill was closed but wasn’t locked. She slowly opened it so much so that she could pass through it. The front gate was locked but there was no guard on the gate, so she climbed over the gate. She walked for a long time and reached her house, and still no one in sight. The front door was locked but she knew that she could open the backdoor if she could jiggle the latch right way. The door gave way after she tried the third time.

She entered the house through the kitchen and immediately went to the living room. The room was clean as if nothing had ever happened there. She fell on the floor and broke down. She cried hysterically for some time. When she had no strength to cry anymore she lay on the floor remembering all the good times she had spent in that house with her parents and young brother. After sometime she made up her mind. She decided that whatever happened she would do what she had decided to do in the hospital. Slowly she got up, went to the bathroom and stood under the shower. Slowly she shed all her clothes and stood naked in front of the bathroom mirror watching her wet body. There were bruises on her ribs. She could see blood clots and blue spots on her stomach and thighs. Everything about her naked bruised body reminded her of that night. She saw deep scars on her wrists, the scars of the night which she would never forget for the rest of her life. She broke down once again, sat on the floor and cried, cold water running through her body.

Slowly she got up once again and went to her room. She took out a towel from the wardrobe and wiped her body, put on her clothes, took a knapsack and threw in a pair of jeans and a T shirt. She found some money below her mother’s saris. Tears rolled from her eyes at the touch of the saris. The money would be enough for her to see her through her mission. She left the house through the back door and went to the bus station. She would go back to the college, she decided. She bought a ticket and waited. At four in the morning the bus left the bus station.

She reached the college hostel in the evening and went to her room. She found the room was locked. She came out and went to Abhi’s flat the flat was padlocked and sealed. So she went back to the college again, and asked a few people where she could find Abhi or Shalini, but no one had seen them since a long time. She went to the boys hostel to Deepak’s room, the room was closed from inside. She knocked. Someone opened the door. “Is Deepak here”, she asked. “No he is not here”, said the stranger. Reva turned and started to leave. “He just took all his stuff out, was saying that he had a train to catch, if you are quick enough you can catch him at the station”, said the stranger. Reva turned around and ran, she didn’t even thank the guy.

She ran out of the college and was about to climb into an auto rickshaw when she saw Deepak smoking a cigarette in the kiosk on the opposite side of the road. She threw her bag and ran to him. She caught him by his throat, her nails digging into his flesh.

“Where is Abhi”, she said grinding her teeth in rage. Deepak stood in a shock; he didn’t know what to do. Reva was too frail to choke him but her nails were digging in his neck.

“Where is Abh”, this time Reva cried hysterically, her face wet with sweat and tears.

“He is in Mumbai”, said Deepak. “Where in Mumbai, tell me where in Mumbai”, she screamed again. “Calm down Reva, I know what happened with you was wrong and shouldn’t have happened, but Abhi is too strong and has deep connections”, said Deepak pulling away Reva’s hand from his neck. “Calm down, and listen to me. He can get you killed in no time so don’t be a fool and go back to your home”.

“Home you call that home, you bastards killed my family”, cried Reva angrily. “I will avenge myself, even if I die doing it”, she said a calm setting on her face. “You will have to help, I know you are not one of them. You will have to help me out Deepak”, she said.

“Help you, in what? You really think you can kill Abhi? Don’t be crazy, if he finds out that you are alive and I was with you he will kill us both”, said Deepak. “Please Deepak you will have to help me out I know you are not one of them”, Reva said her hands folded and tears in her eyes. She knew Deepak was her last chance of getting to Abhi.

Deepak knew he will be in trouble if Abhi came to know about this but he believed that whatever had happened to Reva was wrong.

“Ok, tell me what you want me to do”, said Deepak with a sigh. “Where does Abhi stay in Mumbai” asked Reva. “He is staying at his uncle’s flat”, said Deepak. “Give me his address”, said Reva. Deepak wrote down Abhi’s address on a piece of paper. “Now you will have to arrange a spare key to the flat”, said Reva. “No. I can’t do that, this is too dangerous, he will kill me if he finds out”, cried Deepak. “You will have to or I will go to the police”, said Reva. Deepak gave in. “But don’t stick to me, I am taking a train to Mumbai which will leave in an hour. You take the same train but we will travel separately. In Mumbai meet me at this place”, said Deepak and wrote down another address on the same piece of paper and gave it to Reva. Reva kept it safely in her wallet.

Deepak picked up his bag and got an auto rickshaw and left. Reva picked up her bag took an auto rickshaw and left for the railway station.

The next day Deepak arrived in Mumbai. After keeping his bag at his place he went to meet Abhi at his flat. Shalini and Ranvir were already there. “Was anyone asking about us in the college”, asked Abhi as soon as Deepak came in. “No, no one in particular”, said Deepak, sweating. “Why are you sweating like a hog”, asked Shalini. “It’s really hot out there”, said Deepak. He saw Abhi’s car keys lying near the CD player. “I will go wash my face”, Deepak announced. No one noticed. He moved towards the bathroom slowly slipping the keys into his pocket. He went in to the bathroom, shut the door and heaved a sigh of relief. He came out of the bathroom and kept keys near the CD player noiselessly. “I am going out to get some cigarettes anyone wants anything”, he announced once again. No one noticed. He slipped out of the flat, shut the door behind him and gave another sigh of relief. He went out and hailed a cab.

Reva checked the time for the umpteenth time. She stopped a guy passing by and showed him the address that Deepak had given her and asked whether the venue was right. The passerby confirmed. She began to wait again, that’s what she had been doing for the past four hours. It was getting cloudy by the minute and the winds were gathering force. It started to rain.

Suddenly she saw Deepak appear from around the corner, he was talking on his cell phone. He reached her and switched of the phone. “I just got a call from Abhi. We are going to a pub tonight, and Abhi will come back home drunk”, he told Reva, looking into her eyes. “This might be your only chance, and by the way if you open his cupboard and look under his clothes you might find something useful”, he said and slipped something wrapped in a white handkerchief into her hand. Within seconds he disappeared around the corner. Reva didn’t have the time to say anything.

She opened the handkerchief and found a bar of soap inside it. She was baffled to see that. She was thinking that Deepak had cheated her but then she examined the soap closely under the light of the shop nearby. She saw that the surface of one side of the soap had a shape of a key embossed deeply on it. She was excited now all she had to do was to find a locksmith, and the rest would fall in place. She asked the shopkeeper if there was a locksmith she could find nearby, he showed her the way.

She wrapped the bar of soap in the handkerchief and put it in her hand bag so that it won’t get wet in the rain which had now tuned into a heavy down pour. She walked in the rain as directed by the shopkeeper.

It was two in the night when the bartender told Abhi and others that the bar was closed. Deepak the only sober one offered to drive the car. He dropped everyone off at their places and finally reached Abhi’s flat. It was raining heavily and occasionally lightening would light up the dark night followed by loud thunder. Abhi got off the car and fell. He was too drunk to even stand on his feet. Deepak got out of the car and by the time he helped Abhi to the staircase they were both drenched. Abhi told Deepak to leave him and go. Deepak did so. Abhi staggered and climbed the two flights of stairs and finally reached his flat door.

He took out the keys from his pocket, water dripped from his body. The effect of too much alcohol didn’t let him insert the key in the keyhole twice. He succeeded the third time. He opened the door, staggered into the apartment and closed the door behind him. His fingers groped for the light switch on the wall. He found one and switched on a lamp in one corner of the drawing room, but his eyes got fixed on the dark silhouette standing on the other corner. His drunken eyes tried to focus on the steady hand holding a gun pointed towards him. He notices some scars on the wrists. He tries to focus his eyes on the face and realizes the face instantly. Before he could react there was a loud thunder crash and then silence. The only sound that can be heard was the heavy rain falling outside.

Abhi’s body lay motionless near the door. Reva broke down and started to cry. She had found the gun in the cupboard hidden under Abhi’s clothes and that had made the whole task a lot easier. Slowly she got up wiped the tears from her face, opened the door and walked out.

The next morning, the clouds were gone and the sun had risen. The milkman came and rang the doorbell. There was no answer. He rang the bell again, but there was no result. After a third try he gave up and decided to leave the milk bottles near the door. He bends down to put the milk bottles on the ground and sees a pool of thick red liquid formed beneath the door.

The Scar (Part - I)

Disclaimer: The story is a work of fiction and is in no way related to any person dead or alive. The names characters and situations occurring in the story are imaginary and any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental.


Prologue:

He takes out the keys from his pocket, water dripping from his body. The effect of too much alcohol doesn’t let him insert the key in the keyhole twice. He succeeds the third time. Opens the door and staggers into his flat and closes the door behind him. His fingers grope for the light switch on the wall. He finds one and switches on a lamp in one corner of the drawing room, but his eyes gets fixed on the dark silhouette standing on the other corner. His drunken eyes try to focus on the steady hand holding a gun pointed towards him. He notices some scars on the wrists. Before he can understand anything there is a loud thunder crash and then silence. The only sound that can be heard is the heavy rain falling outside.

The Scar (Part 1)

It was the first day in the Engineering college that Reva had joined she was sleeping in her dorm when at 2 in the morning seniors began to round up all the freshers for a ragging session. Reva was asked to dance with a fresher who was wearing nothing but his under garments in front of the whole batch. Abhi and his four friends Ajay, Ranvir, Deepak and Shalini arrived at the scene just as the guy in his undergarments was about to put his arms around Reva to start dancing. Abhi stopped the whole thing then and there and rescued Reva who had started to weep hysterically. Somehow none of the seniors protested Abhi’s moves. Reva would learn why later, but for the time being she was in an awe of her rescuer.

That was the day when Reva met Abhi and his friends for the first time. They were in the 3^rd year of engineering and always used to hangout together. Reva soon became a part of the group, bunking classes going out for movies, dinner, night outs and long drives in Abhi’s SUV. Abhi had a flat in the city where they would all get together for drinking marathons. Reva sometimes wondered where they get the money for all this.

In a couple of months she became very close to Abhi. He would share everything with her, sometimes bring expensive gifts, and fought with the warden whenever he dropped her late at the hostel. One evening Reva and Abhi were driving on the highway, just the two of them, Reva opened the glove box to look for some CDs and was surprised to see a gun there. She asked Abhi why it was there. “It’s a licensed one, belongs to my dad, just for safety’s sake”, he said.

He parked the SUV near a dilapidated old building, they could see the sun setting behind the building, and that’s when Abhi told her that he loved her. She liked the simple way in which he told her that no fan fare no extravagance. As darkness fell, they made love in the back seat. Reva spent the night at Abhi’s flat.

The next afternoon Reva bunked her classes and went to Abhi’s flat, she had a duplicate key to the flat now. She opened the door and walked in. She saw Ajay, Ranvir, Deepak and Shalini putting small quantities of white powder in small plastic pouches. “What is this”, she asked. “Blue Magic”, Ranvir said with a loud laugh. Deepak stood up and said “Abhi is not here so go back to the college, come later”. He held Reva by her arm gently and guided her out of the door. “But what is that white powder”, Reva asked Deepak. “That’s coke”, said Deepak in a low voice. “What? And does Abhi know that you guys are using his flat for this?” “Yes he does.” They heard someone’s footsteps coming from the staircase. They turn to see Abhi coming towards them. He gave Reva a tight hug. Reva didn’t respond. “What is all this”, Reva said showing Abhi the white powder and the small packets. “This is business baby”, Abhi said coolly.

Reva started to storm out of the flat but Abhi caught her gently by her arms and took her into his bedroom. After much explaining and reasoning Reva calmed down and gave in to Abhi’s explanations. He kissed her gently on her lips, this time she responded and put her arms around his neck. By the time they came into the drawing room again all the little packets were neatly packed and put into a hollow box which from outside looked like a bound book ready to be smuggled into the hostel.

Next day Abhi gifted Reva a necklace with a diamond pendant. She was thrilled. That night at his flat, Reva noticed a revolver in his cupboard drawer. It looked different from the one she had seen in the car. After the incident Reva never said anything every time she saw them packing the stuff. Sometimes after the work was done they would take small quantities and sniff them, Abhi too but Reva never did that.

A couple of weeks later Abhi had to go to Meerut, Reva wanted to accompany him. Abhi was reluctant at first but had to give in to her demands after she repeatedly bugged him. They started early in the morning in Abhi’s car and it was almost noon by the time they reached a semi dilapidated building on the outskirts of Meerut. Abhi got off and entered the building. Reva followed. After climbing a couple of flights of creaky wooden steps they came upon a wooden door. Abhi knocked. A man opened half the door. Abhi said something which Reva couldn’t hear, the man opened the door and let both of them in. They entered into a drawing room, two burly men sat on two sofas across the room. Abhi asked Reva to sit gesturing towards the empty sofa. A man entered the room from, a small passage that connected the drawing room to the rest of the apartment. The man was thin and tall. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans. He looked like he was in his late forties.

“Pranam baba”, said Abhi and touched his feet. Baba patted Abhi’s back gently and kissed him on his forehead. Then he looked at Reva, “Who is she?” he asked Abhi. “She is a close friend of mine”, Abhi said. “I had warned you against bringing strangers here”, Baba said calmly. “She knows about us and is now one of us, besides I love her”, Abhi said. Reva lowered her head and blushed. All the while the burly men stared into the void. Baba smiled looking into Abhi’s eyes. A man appeared behind Baba. Baba put his arms around Abhi’s shoulder and said, “There’s this guy at your hostel, who’s been causing some trouble to us, what’s his name” he guided Abhi to the other room. The man standing behind Baba, said something and followed them inside. The door was closed. Reva couldn’t hear anything after that.

The two men kept looking at the wall opposite to them. Reva sometimes looked at them sometimes at the wall sometimes at the ceiling. There was no window, nothing else in the room except the sofa set and the rugged carpet. The man who had opened the door came out from the kitchen once and offered her a glass of water. For once she thought she would go out and wait for Abhi in the car, but then she remembered she didn’t have the keys. It was at least cooler inside. After what seemed like an eternity to Reva, Abhi came out of the room accompanied by Baba, his arms still around his shoulders. “I hope it will be done without me having to interfere into the matter”, said Baba. “Yes Baba”, said Abhi. Baba kissed his forehead again. Abhi touched his feet, turned around and signaled Reva to get up.

Once back in the car, Reva heaved a long sigh of relief and saw Abhi put a large brown packet wrapped in transparent plastic, into a boot under the driver’s seat. Abhi looked at Reva and smiled. “Who was that guy, and why did you touch his feet and called him Baba”, asked Reva. “He is the CEO of our business”, Abhi said with a teasing smile and revved up the engine. “What were you talking with him in the other room”, she asked again. “Nothing some business talk”, replied Abhi. On their way back to the college hostel Reva asked other questions but Abhi didn’t answer them. By the time Abhi dropped off Reva at her hostel it was late at night.

Next morning as Reva came out of her class she saw Abhi and others roughing up a guy in the parking lot. Reva ran towards them. Ranvir pushed the guy, he fell on the ground, Ajay slapped his head. Shalini stood leaning on the SUV. As Reva approached them, she saw the guy on the ground was Vikram. She had seen Vikram face off with Abhi on more than one occasions and now she knew it was Vikram about whom Baba was talking the previous day. Vikram had once openly threatened Abhi that he would go to the police if they didn’t stop what they were doing.

Ranvir caught the Vikram from his collar and roughly pulled him up. Shalini opened the door of the SUV and Ranvir pushed Vikram inside. Abhi climbed into the driver’s seat. Reva rushed into the seat beside him. “You don’t have to come with us”, said Abhi. “I want to come with you”, she said firmly. Abhi did not protest.

They drove for half an hour and came to the outskirts of the city. Reva kept hearing muffled shouts coming from the back seat but she didn’t look back. Both sides of the road were thickly covered with trees. It was getting dark now. Abhi swerved from the road and stopped the car. All four got out of the car and dragged Vikram out. Reva saw that Vikram’s forehead was now bleeding and he had a cut on his upper lip. They dragged him into the woods Abhi leading the way. Reva followed them at some distance not sure what they were about to do with Vikram.

They reached a small clearing, Ranvir threw Vikram on the ground, Ajay stood there blocking Reva’s view of Vikram, Deepak stood at a distance near Reva, Shalini took out a lighter from her pocket and put a cigarette in her lips, Abhi pointed his gun at Vikram’s head. Shalini turned around and started to walk towards the car, Reva turned around to see where Shailini was going as she passed her, and heard a loud gun shot. Reva turned around and saw Vikram’s lifeless body lying on the ground. She started to yell madly. Deepak held her. Abhi ran up to her and held her close and tried to calm her down but she continued to cry hysterically, and started to vomit. Abhi slapped her on her face so that she might regain her senses but she passed out. “You three get rid of that body, I will leave her at my flat and come back to get you guys”, instructed Abhi and supported Reva on his shoulders and walked to the car.

He found Shalini sitting in the front seat. They put Reva in the back seat. He asked Shalini to go and help the guys. Abhi started the car. By the time they reached Abhi’s flat, Reva came back to her senses and started to cry hysterically. Unable to control his anger Abhi got out of the car dragged Reva out of the back seat and slapped her face hard. That shocked Reva into silence. He caught her by her arm and pulled her onto the stairs and into the flat.

“Now, shut up and stay here, I am going back to the boys. And do not try to leave the flat while I am gone.” Abhi told Reva.

“I will go and tell everything to the police”, said Reva.

“What, don’t be a fool, you think I will let you do that”, said Abhi.

“And how will you stop me, will you kill me the way you killed Vikram”, asked Reva, her hair disheveled and tears rolling down her already smudged face.

“Yes if the need be”, said Abhi clutching her hair and right ear, and pointing his gun to her head. Reva gave out a sharp yell of pain. Abhi pushed her back and let her go.

Reva ran towards Abhi, hitting him on his shoulders and tried to snatch the gun from his hands. Abhi pushed her back again. Reva staggered and fell on the ground.

“Do you think I will be scared of you and not go to the police”, Reva yelled at him, lying on the floor. Abhi bent down pulled her hair again and slapped her face. Reva’s lips started to bleed. Reva caught Abhi’s left hand with which he was clutching her hair and bit it hard. Abhi let go of her hair, snatched his hands out of her mouth and gave a cry of pain. “You bitch”, cried Abhi in rage and slapped her face again. He stood up and kicked her in the back. His second kick landed in her guts. Reva doubled in pain. “You better be here when I come back or I will hunt you down and kill you”, said Abhi, spitting on her face in rage. He stood up once again and kept kicking her until she passed out and did not move. Abhi left the flat.

Reva came back to her senses and was instantly aware of the wreathing pain that her body was experiencing. She slowly got up and felt her face. Her hands became wet; she couldn’t see clearly whether it was her tears or blood. There was no one around she knew that Abhi and others haven’t come back yet. She slowly got up and decided that she would tell the police everything. She knew where Abhi kept a spare key of the flat. She found the key there.

Reva came out of the building, stopped an auto rickshaw and went to the police station. At the police station she lodged an FIR and told everything that had happened. After giving her some first aid and promising her that the culprits would be arrested they told Reva that she could leave. Reva said that she was feeling very scared. So the inspector asked a constable to drop Reva to wherever she wanted to go. Reva asked the constable to drop her off to the bus station. The constable drove her to the bus station in a jeep. She told the constable that she wanted to go back to her family but didn’t have the money to buy tickets. The constable bought her a ticket. Reva boarded the bus which started to move as soon as she took her seat.

Abhi reached his flat after dropping Ranvir, Deepak, Shalini and Ajay to the hostel. Not finding Reva in the flat he immediately called Ranvir, Deepak and Shalini and asked them to spend the night somewhere else. Somehow no one could reach Ajay. They left the city in Abhi’s car and went to meet Baba. Baba was mad with rage. “Abandon the car somewhere and leave the city immediately”, he told Abhi. “That girl has been here, we will vacate the place immediately. You make sure that the girl doesn’t lead to me”, warned Baba. They spent the night at a hotel in the outskirts of the city. In the morning they went back to the hostel to look for Ajay, but learnt something else.

The next morning police raided all the places that Reva had told they could find Abhi and his friends but managed to capture only Ajay, who had passed out in one of the corridors of the boy’s hostel after a heavy dose of coke. It took a couple of slaps for Ajay to confess everything and show the police the place where they had buried Vikram’s body. But the police could not find Abhi or the others.

Reva’s family was baffled to see the state in which she reached home early in the morning. They asked her questions but Reva refused to answer. She remained silent and spent most the day crying in her room. By evening her mother had succeeded in getting her to talk. Reva told everything that had happened to her mother and father. They were hysterical with rage. Reva’s father could not believe how she could get herself involved in such a thing.

Suddenly Reva’s younger brother came running into the room and told them that a car has stopped in front of their house and there were four people looking for Reva. Reva knew it was Abhi, she also knew why he was here. Her father ran into the living room and saw three men and a woman standing there.

“Where is Reva”, one of them asked. “She is not here.” Ranvir pushed the man aside and barged into the bedroom. He saw Reva and instantly made a dash for her. Her mother tried to shield Reva with her fragile body but was no match to Ranvir. He grabbed Reva from her hair and pulled her out of the room. Reva’s brother tried to kick Ranvir but he shoved him aside too. He dragged Reva by her hair into the living room and threw her before Abhi. Shalini closed all the windows and bolted the door. The whole family was huddled together trying to protect each other from any harm. Ranvir pulled Reva away from her parents and threw her again infront of Abhi. Shalini pointed a gun at Reva’s brother and threatened that if they did not stay put in one corner of the room she would kill the boy.

As Reva lay on the ground Abhi kicked her in the guts. Reva moaned in pain, her parents gave out a cry. “I had warned you I would hunt you down if you went to the police”, said Abhi. “You took my warning lightly, now look what you have done, police have arrested Ajay, and you have put your whole family in trouble”. He slapped her face and kicked her in the ribs. Reva was on the verge of passing out. She could see Abhi’s face as he pulled her hair and stared into her eyes. Abhi’s voice was only a distant echo in her ears. “I will kill your whole family in front of you and then I will kill you, that’s your punishment”, Abhi’s voice landed on her ears in a hollow echo, as he fixed a silencer on the gun. Abhi pulled her head once again so that she could look at her family. All she could see was blurred figures in front of her and then she heard three blunt shots. For a moment she gained full consciousness and saw three lifeless bodies lying in a heap and the floor below them deep red in color. The next moment the world in front of eyes was a blur again. “I won’t kill you that easily for what you have done, I will give you a slow death to die, you bitch”, she heard Abhi’s voice, which seemed to be muffled. She was too week to resist or even cry.

Abhi asked Shalini to bring a knife from the kitchen. He took the knife and made several deep cuts on Reva’s wrists. She started to bleed instantly. He then asked Ranvir and Deepak to tie Reva’s hands, legs and gag her mouth. Ranvir tied her legs and mouth. He tied her hands in a way that it didn’t block the flow of blood. Deepak was too shocked to move. He was standing in one corner and had not said anything since the time they entered the house. Reva was not moving but bleeding heavily now. “Lets go now, she would soon die of blood loss”, said Abhi. They switched off all the lights in the house and came out of it locking the door behind. It was late in the night now. There was not a soul to be seen on the streets. They all got into the car and drove away.

Reva woke up in semi consciousness several times in the darkness, always aware of throbbing pain in her whole body. She wanted to scream but didn’t have the strength. She would try to kick but would pass out again into darkness. She didn’t know how many times that happened.

The sun had just risen and people were starting to stir on the streets. The milkman came and rang the bell. There was no answer. He tried it three more times, but still there was no answer. He thought he might as well leave the milk bottles beside the door. He bent down to keep the bottles and saw a pool of thick red liquid formed beneath the door.

...Continued to Part II....

Chaos Theory.

Disclaimer: The story is a work of fiction and is in no way related to any person dead or alive. The names characters and situations occurring in the story are imaginary and any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental.

Chaos Theory.

"I don’t care if you have to put a gun on their head to make them wear our shoes, all I care about is our profits", the CEO of Prowear said to Ashutosh. "Did you understand that, now go and next time when you show me your face make sure you have better numbers with you.", he said.

It has been six months now that Ashutosh had taken over as the country head of the leading sportswear company Prowear, which was re-launched in the country recently. After a first bout of unsuccessful line of products and marketing campaigns, everything about Prowear was revamped; top executives were shown the door. The company had launched a new line of shoes to capture the market of sports shoes and now Ashutosh was under pressure from his boss to improve the bottom line.

They were about to launch basketball shoes in the country. Ashutosh now had to make it a cult product to reclaim the actual position that the company and its brands had in the world market.

“You know what a cult brand is, a brand for which people are ready to die.” He addressed his team the next morning in the conference room, “and that is what we want, let’s make our Prowear basketball shoes that kind of a cult product.” “Every teenager must be wearing our shoes, and those who are not must be willing to even die to get their feet into one of the pairs.” The team applauded.

The next week Prowear launched new basketball shoes with a big fanfare. They also started a campaign to select two basketball teams from amongst the colleges of the country, which will play against each other at a stadium in New York. The CEO was happy with the campaign. At the launch party he introduced his son Sumit to Ashutosh. “Sumit is studying in SRV College and also plays for the college basketball team.” The CEO told Ashutosh. Ashutosh understood what he was trying to say.

The next day Ashutosh personally arranged to have a couple of pair of shoes to be sent to Sumit. Sumit proudly wore the shoes to the college and showed them off to his friends. A team from Prowear visited Sumit’s college and declared that they will be selecting two students from the college who played basketball for the two teams that was being built to play in New York. They also had their own coach placed in the college for a week so that he may identify the best players and recruit them into the team. They said that they were running such campaign in over 20 colleges and also on the Internet.

In spite of being priced at Rs. 4000, the sales of Prowear basketball shoes shot through the roof within a couple of days. The CEO told Ashutosh that the process of team selection should be extended to one month, to boost further sales.

Arvind was the best basketball player SRV had seen in years. He had single handedly won many matches for the college. Sumit was also a good player and was the captain of the team but everybody knew Arvind to be the real star. And when in a week’s time the Prowear coach selected Sumit as the first player to represent SRV College in the Prowear basketball team, nobody believed it.

“I can’t believe it, how can Sumit be selected when I am the star player?” Arvind said to Sadiq. Both were best of friends since school and now in SRV. “I know the reason”, said Sadiq. “What’s it?”

“Ever noticed how the chocolate boy always wears Prowear shoes to the practice”, said Sadiq. “They didn’t spend so much of money just to get us to play in New York, their main motive is to sell their shoes, and that’s why chocolate boy has been selected, because he bought them.”

“But these shoes cost more than Rs. 4000, I will never be able to afford a pair”, said Arvind. “Why don’t you ask your father to sponsor you”, said Sadiq. “He would never agree, he is strictly against me playing basketball, he wants me to start preparing for MBA. And anyways after his retirement I don’t want to ask him for any money”, said Arvind. “Then you can say goodbye to your chances of playing in New York”, said Sadiq. “Can you lend me some money”, asked Arvind. “I don’t have money to take Sana to the movies and you want me to sponsor your fancy shoes”, said Sadiq. “We will have to do something, this is a dream opportunity for me and I just can’t see it going to waste.” Sadiq knew how much basketball meant to Arvind and this actually was an opportunity of a life time for him.

In the class next day Sadiq told Arvind that he had come up with a plan. Arvind was excited and couldn’t wait for the class to be over. They went to the cafeteria after the class was over.

“You know Sunil, the guy who lives in the next building to mine”, said Sadiq. “You mean the guy who drives that new sportsbike”, asked Arvind. “Yeah, that bike’s worth 75000 bucks, you know how he bought it?” said Sadiq. Arvind shook his head. “There’s this guy, his name is Rehman, he lives in Sion, he always has some petty job for people to do and for each finished job he pays 1000 bucks.” “What kind of job?” asked Arvind. “Running errands like delivering packets, mostly drugs, to the given address, but the problem is that he gives a job to a person only once a month, you will have to wait a month to get the job again.”

“And how does this solve our problem, even if we both do one job we will have to wait two months to have 4000 Rupees and by that time the competition will be over.” said Arvind. “You know what Sunil did? He was given a packet to deliver to someone in Mahalakshmi, but he didn’t do it, he sold the packet to Yakub in Masjid for ten thousand Rupees and made a down payment for the bike”, said Sadiq. “How can he do that, didn’t Rahman say anything?” asked Arvind. “No, Sunil came back to Rehman, with a torn shirt and a black eye and told him that the package was stolen. Rehman thought he was telling the truth and let him go.” said Sadiq. “And this is your plan”, said Arvind. “Yes my dear Watson, we will stage this drama and walk off with cool ten thousand bucks enough for you to buy the shoes and for me to take Sana to the Multiplex and a nice dinner.”

“But this is very risky, what if Rahman comes to know, he will kill us both.” said Arvind. “No he won’t, I have spoken to Sunil. He will speak to Yakub tomorrow and then will take us to Rahman the day after. We will have to pay five thousand Rupees to Sunil, that’s his commission. See this is our only chance we will have to do it. You don’t have any other choice. You have to pursue your dream and this is the only way” said Sadiq. Arvind nodded reluctantly, a Prowear hoarding standing tall in front of him, inviting him to play for his dreams.

The next day they met Sunil in the evening after college. He gave them the directions to find Yakub and told them that Yakub would also give them a black eye along with the cash.

The third day they met Sunil again, this time in the afternoon, both Sadiq and Arvind didn’t go to the college and were very nervous the whole day. Sunil took them to Rahman’s small room in Sion and introduced them. After much interrogation Rahman agreed to give them an errand and asked Arvind to come back the next day alone at 3 in the afternoon.

The next day Arvind went to Rahman at 3 in the afternoon. This was the second day he had missed college and his basketball practice, but he knew that it was going to be worth. Rahman was not there in his room instead someone else gave him a packet and told him to deliver it to a person named Shirish in Byculla. The man also told him to come back to the room once the job was done to collect his money. Arvind left. He went to the railway station, and saw Sadiq standing at the far end. The train came, both entered separate coaches. After sometime the train reached Masjid, they both got off and Arvind headed in the direction of the place where he was supposed to meet Yakub. Sadiq followed him at a safe distance, always keeping an eye open for people around him to make sure that no one was following Arvind.

After walking for twenty minutes and asking a few people he located Yakub, and gave him the packet. Yakub gave Arvind a brown envelope in return. “Ten”, said Yakub. Arvind turned around and started to walk, but a man pulled him by his collar and landed a punch on his right eye. Arvind staggered and fell on the ground. The man who had punched him offered his hand. Arvind took it and stood up. This time the man tore Arvind’s shirt’s sleeve, and moved aside. Arvind started to walk towards the railway station again, covering his black eye with his handkerchief. Sadiq followed him keeping the same distance.

Rahman got very angry when he heard Arvind’s story. He didn’t belive it and slapped him so hard that his face turned red. After much pleading Rahman agreed to let him go. Arvind walked back home all bruised but he was happy, now he would now be able to afford a new pair of Prowear shoes.

The next evening after college, Sadiq and Arvind went to a mall. Arvind bought a pair of Prowear’s basketball shoes. He knew that now he had a chance to make his dream come true. At the railway station they met Sunil. He told them that Rahman was very angry and was looking for Arvind. Sadiq and Arvind immediately separated and they both started to walk in different directions.

Arvind was in a lonely alley when suddenly Rahman with two of his men appeared in front of him. “I didn’t do anything, Rahman bhai”, said Arvind, the packet of Prowear shoes in his hands. “Oh really, but I spoke to Yakub, he told me something else”, said Rahman, his gun pointed at Arvinds head. Sadiq watched in horror from the dark corner of the alley as Rahman pulled the trigger. Arvind’s limp body fell on the ground with a thud. Sadiq with much effort stopped himself from giving out a yell. One of the men bent down and took the packet from Arvind’s lifeless hands and opened it. “Look Rahman bhai nice pair of shoes, can I keep it”, he asked. “Yes, yes, why not, it’s a gift for you”, said Rahman without even bothering to look at the shoes.

It was a month now after the launch of Prowear’s basketball team campaign. Ashutosh was sitting with the CEO sipping coffee. The sales figures had tripled in just one month. “Soon we will have a cult brand for which people would be ready to lay their lives”, said the CEO. Both laughed, as a Prowear hoarding standing tall outside the glass window.