पुरानी किताब (An old book)

पुरानी किताब
तुम्हारी अलमारी में आज एक किताब मिली
काफी पुरानी
पन्नो को पलट कर देखा
एक अक्षर में तुम्हारा नाम था
काफी बार पढ़ी थी तुमने लगता है
पीले पन्ने सिलाई से निकल रहे थें
एक पन्ने का मुड़ा कोना बता रहा था
तुम पढ़ते पढ़ते शायद वहां पे सो गयी थी
एक पन्ने पे पानी की बूँद से बने दाग ने बताया
के तुम वहां पे रोई थी
मैं वो पन्ना ढूंढ़ रहा था जिसे पढ़ कर
मेरे बारे में सोच कर तुम शरमाई होगी
नहीं मिला
काफी पुरानी किताब थी शायद.

Hey is that you again. - III (Sequel)

Note: This story is the 3rd part of a 3 part story. Even though it can be read as a separate story, the author would recommend you to read the 2nd part Can I Hold Your Hand – II (Prequel)

Summer 2013:

“I thought you left smoking.” He heard a female voice say.

He turned around and saw her smiling at him.

“Times have changed”, he smiled back brightly, a pack of Marlboro Lights in his left hand.

“But I see you are still a movie buff”, she said, noticing the latest Richard Linklater movie in his right hand.

“How have you been”, he asked. “I am good, what are you doing here”, she asked. “Well, I was in the city to lecture a bunch of college kids”, he said. “Lecture huh! And why didn’t you let me know?” she asked. “Well, I didn't have your number”, he said. “You and your lame excuses, you had my mail and chat id right”, she said. He gave a sheepish smile, lowered his eyes and scratched his head.

“You will be punished for this”, she said. “Do you have to punish me every time we meet”, he said in mock protest. “Yes”, she said. “Ok, what’s the punishment”, he asked. “I know a good French restaurant nearby, buy me lunch”, she said.

They went to the payment counter. He paid for the pack of cigarettes and the DVD. They came out. He turned to go towards the parking lot. “We have to go this way, come on”, she said. They walked.

They reached the restaurant took a table and ordered the food.

“How’s your hubby”, he asked. “Ubberbusy”, she answered. “And kids”, he asked. “I have a one year old daughter, she has started walking now.”

He smiled at her. She smiled back. She had the same smile he noticed, just a few fine lines beginning to appear near her eyes.

“And how’s your wife and kids”, she asked. “Don’t know”, he said. “We got divorced last year and haven’t heard from her since then” he said looking out of the window.

She looked into his eyes. He turned and smiled at her.

“And what happened to you hair”, she laughed. “Well, you win some you loose some”, he said.

They talked about old times and common friends. She never asked him about his life again.
The attendant appeared with the cheque. She reached for her wallet. He stopped her. “It’s my punishment, I will pay this time”, he said. “Ok”, she laughed. He paid.

They came out of the restaurant. “I have a car, should I drop you somewhere”, she asked. “No, I am fine”, he said. “Have dinner with us tonight”, she said. “Sorry, I have some engagement tonight.” She did not ask again, she knew he would never come.

“Ok then, bye and next time you are here let me know”, she said. “Yeah sure I will”, he said with a smile. She sat in the driver’s seat, started the engine and waved at him. He waved back turned around and started to walk.

He reached the parking lot and slumped into the back seat. He asked the driver to switch on the music system, and take him to the hotel. The car started to move he closed his eyes.

She reached the parking lot of her building, switched off the engine, heaved a long sigh and closed her eyes.

She was about to get out of the car when she noticed a magazine on the dashboard, left by her husband. The headline said “Top five Asian entrepreneurs of the year”. A familiar face smiled brightly at her from the cover page. She smiled back at him.

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person dead or living is purely coincidental.

Can I hold your hand - II (Prequel)

Note: This story is the 2nd part of a 3 part story. Even though it can be read as a separate story, the author would recommend you to read the 1st part I Will Miss Holding Your Hand - I

The moment he saw her entering the Internet café he knew there was something about her. She took the computer behind him. He turned around to see what she was doing and could clearly see her computer’s screen.

She didn't notice him. She opened the chat window and began chatting with her friends.

“Superguy: Hi! Wanna chat.” an IM popped on her screen. “412Gal: Who are you?” came the reply on his screen. “Superguy: Just a stranger” blinked the IM on her screen. “412Gal: I don’t talk to strangers.” came the reply.

“Superguy: but I am not a bad person pls chat with me”

“412Gal: no! don’t bother me.”

“Superguy: pls pls pls I promise I will behave myself”

“412Gal: no”

“Superguy: pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls L”

“412Gal: no”

“Superguy: pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls pls L”

“412Gal: ok ok!!!!”

That was summer of 2003, she was a second year B Com. student and he a second year engineering student. They both had come to their hometown for vacations.

2005:

“Superguy: hey, guess what I cleared the interview and got admission I am in ur city now. J”, popped up the IM window on her laptop screen. Her face lit up with a smile.

“412Gal: hey that’s gr8 congrats! J

I have a news too. I got the job. Yay!!!”

“Superguy: hey that’s great. Congrats!

Can I ask you something?”

“412Gal: yeah!”

“Superguy: now that I am here shall we meet up?”

“412Gal: ummm ok!!! J” , she replied with a big smile.

She waved at him when she saw him across the street, he waved back.

“Late at the first meet itself.” She said. “Sorry you know how the traffic is.” He said. “No sorry, you will be punished; you will have to buy me a beer now.” She said. “Beer! You drink beer?” He asked. “No, do you?” she asked. “No” he said. “Then lets do it, come on I know a pub here.” She pulled him towards the other side of the street.

As they entered the pub, Mark Knopfler began to sing “You get a shiver in the dark…”

After a couple of drinks and enjoying some great music, she paid the bill and they both came out of the pub, a bit high.

“You want to eat something?” he asked. “No I don’t feel like.” she replied. “Me neither.” He said.

“Let’s go to the beach.” She said.

“Now, it’s almost eleven!” “Come on, it’s never late here.” She said laughing and pulled at his arms again.

They could see the dim yellow light coming from the buoys as they bounced in a semi circle far in the dark sea. The breeze was cool. He could see her black hair, brown eyes and dusky skin in the light coming from the vendor’s shops nearby. He liked the way she laughed and the way she smiled as she gazed at the black horizon.

She turned to look at him. His eyes wandered towards the sea. She looked at his brown eyes. Not exactly the way she had wanted him to be, but still she could tell her friends that he was tall dark and handsome, made her laugh and listened to her.

"So what do you want to do when you are out of college?", she asked. "Well, may be I will work for some company for a couple of years and then start my own venture.", he said.

"Venture, you mean you want to start your own company.", she said. "Yeah thats the idea.", he said. "And you think you can impress a girl by saying such things in the first meet.", she teased. "No, I am serious, one day I will feature on the cover page of worlds best business magazine.", he said. "Oh yeah, we will see. Now come back to reality.", she said, pinched his arm and laughed.

“Hey I want to tell you something”, he said. “What?” She said. “You remember the first day I IMed you on chat” he said. “Not exactly but kinda yeah, why?” she said. “I had actually seen you at the internet café and stole your id from your screen.”

“What”, she yelled. “Yes, I am sorry, I never told you”, he said. “Why would you do that and why didn’t you tell me that before?” she screamed. “Well I thought you would be angry and wont chat with me, look I am really sorry”, he said.

"Of course I am angry", she said and kicked him in the shin in mock anger. He grimaced in mock pain.

“You will be punished for this”, she said.

“What, more punishment? You already kicked me”.

“Yes and your punishment is that you will have to buy me an ice candy”, she laughed.

“Ok!” he laughed.

They bought an ice candy. She paid. They shared the ice candy.

“You know we are virtually kissing right now”, he said. “Ha Ha Ha! I know you watch a lot of Friends, but don’t crack these PJs”, she teased him, threw the ice at him and ran. He chased.

They talked, laughed and walked on the sand till the cops started to ask people to leave the beach.

“Hey but tell me how much do I owe for the drinks and everything, lets split it”, he said. “Let it be my treat this time you can pay next time”, she said. “Ok”, he said with a smile, not knowing she won’t let him pay for all the times that they would meet for the next two years.

“I live nearby, will you walk me home?” she asked. “Yeah sure” he said.

They walked towards the street.

“Next time, you mean you want to meet me again”, he asked. “Yeah why not, don’t you want to meet me again”, she asked with a smile looking into his eyes. “Yeah”, he smiled back into her eyes.

He held her hand softly. She clasped her fingers around his. They walked.

Note: Click for the 3rd part of this three part story Hey is that you again. - III (Sequel)

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person dead or living is purely coincidental.

I will miss holding your hand. - I

"How much more time do you need?" She asked.

"May be three more years." He said.

"I am sure you will get a good job once you are out of college." She said.

The waves kissed their feet lightly, and they could feel the wet sand.

"You very well know that I dont want to be stuck to 9 to 5 job. I want to start something of my own." He said.

"But what? Everyday you have a new plan. I feel you are very confused. You really dont know what you want to do."

"I know what I want to do."

"You know that my parents have been after me ever since I took up this job." She said. He could sense the tension in her voice. He took her hand in his hand. "Just three years more, thats all I ask for." He said.

She looked far into the sea. He followed her gaze to the dim yellow light coming from the buoy near the dark horizon.

"My sister wants me to spend the weekend with her so I am going to her place tomorrow." She said. "I will miss holding your hand." He said. "I will just be gone for two days will be back on Monday morning." She said this time with a smile. He smiled back.

He didn't sleep for those two days, thought a lot and made up his mind.

His cell phone lights up on Monday morning. "Hey am back in town." The text message said. "Hey dats gr8 lets meetup in the evening, I want to tell u sumthing." He replied. "Yeah sure our usual place 8ish." came the reply.

He found her sitting at the bench on the beach, gave her a apologetic smile and said "got stuck in the traffic." "Not a problem." She said. Their hands touched lightly.

"I thought a lot and I want to tell you something." He said. She looked into his eyes as if she knew what he was about to tell her. Before he could say anything she said, "Back at my sister's place, I met someone." She looked away far into the dark horizon.

"I will miss holding your hand." He said softly.

Note: Click for the 2nd part of this three part story Can I Hold Your Hand - II (Prequel)

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person dead or living is purely coincidental.

The Lover Pines

"So do you want to mary her", he asked, " yes", he said. "Then whats the problem", asked the old man, "She doesnt want to marry me", he said still looking out of the window.

"So does that make you sad", said the old man, "Yes it does", Said he. "So what do u do about it", "I goto the mandir every day atleast five to six times a weak" Said he. "And why doesnt she wants to marry you", " Because she is from another religion", said he.

"Do you still meet her?" " no we are not on talking terms any more", "Why thats so sad" said the old man. " So do you go to meet her" asked the old man. "no I dont I goto to the mandir instead, whenever I think of god I feel I am close to her" he said.

"You should go to her as many times as possible and to the mandir only once in a while and you can tell her that you have given her a place which is higher than that of god's" the old man adviced.
The sardar from Infosys Mohali smiled and continued looking outside the window, as if he was trying to search her beloveds face in the river below the bridge.

The Crush

Bangalore, can be beautiful in the evening and that too on a lazy Sunday evening with less traffic, it looks even better. I had just come out of my cozy little PG room after finishing an excellent novel by Henning Mankel – The return of the dance master. Had some tea and was upon deciding on going to the nearest mall for one of my surveys for my business plan that’s when I noticed the long road towards Wilson Garden just off the K. H. Road (more popularly known as Double Road I haven’t been able to figure why). I settled for the later option. The road is lined by trees on one side mostly coconut trees and the view is magnificent. As I started to walk towards Wilson Garden I was hardly aware of the surprise that awaited at the end of the road.

Bangalore has these old buildings, Buses and even some places that seem as if they are straight out of R K Laxmans Malgudi Days books. And this road to Wilson Garden is one such place it looked absolutely beautiful with all the greenery. It is a wide road with very little traffic and the buildings that are there mostly belong to Bangalore Municipal Transport Corp. The coconut trees swayed in the breeze while some white clouds were flying in the sky. So I walked along enjoying the long lonely walk, I guess I am beginning to like this loneliness. It started to drizzle. I thought it would not rain for long as I couldn’t see any large piece of cloud in the sky. But Mother Nature can be surprising.

I continued to walk enjoying the rain. In a few minutes the drizzle became a steady rain and I was almost half soaked when I noticed a girl walking in front of me tripping on a pot hole and fall to her knees. I rushed immediately to her aid. I offered my hand, which she accepted and tried to stand erect. She grimaced with pain as she tried to straighten her left leg. It seemed she had hurt her knee badly. She put her right arm around my shoulders for support. I saw a clinic around 20 steps ahead of us. I suggested that we should go there. She agreed.

She tried to limp, all the while her right arm not leaving my shoulders and her cheeks so close to my lips that I only resisted giving her a peck (dont ask me how). My left hand was around her waist to support her and she didn’t seemed to mind. She was wearing a orange kurta and a salwar and she was as fair as a girl should be. We were soaked to the skin by the time we reached the clinic though it had been only a few steps but she walked really slowly. At last I helped her climb the last of the stairs to the clinic and she slid into a chair near by. How I wished the clinic had been a bit farther.

It turned out that the clinic had only one lady doctor and that most of the residents in that locality had chosen this very Sunday evening to fall ill. There was a long queue waiting outside the doctor’s chamber though there were enough chairs for people to sit. She tried to remove the wet strands of hair all over her temple and cheek and I thought she looked absolutely beautiful as slid into a chair beside her. She had big blakc eyes. “Does that hurt?” I asked. She nodded feeling her wounded knee. The salwar was torn at the place she was hurt and the wound showed through the torn piece of fabric. I could see she was bleeding. She saw me watching her wound and said “thank you for helping me”. I said that anyone would have done the same thing. “If I am not bugging you can stay with me until the doctor has seen me because I am dead scared of doctors especially of syringes” she said. I laughed out loud and said that it would be my pleasure; little did she know how much I was enjoying her company.

“I am Priya” she said and stretched her right hand towards me, which I took and told her my name. There was some familiarity in her face and voice, I thought that I had seen her somewhere but I was not able to place her just where. I am pretty bad at remembering faces or even names but I have this knack of remembering voices I think that’s a god’s gift. She asked me where I lived and I told her that I was living in a pg on the Double Road. I told her where I was from and what I was doing in Bangalore. She said that she had been all over India since her father had a transfer job. She said that she was born in Jamshedpur then her family had moved on to Kolkata, then guwahati, then ooty and many other cities, which I don’t remember. And now for the past one year she was living in Bangalore with her family and was working for some software firm. All the while I was staring rather stupidly at her beautiful face. I was so full of her that I forgot to mention that I was from Jamshedpur as well. She chattered about so many things and as usual I said very little encouraging her only to tell more about herself. I loved the way she spoke, the way she looked at me as if we had been friends since the 4th grade.

As the queue neared the doctor’s chamber I gave her my hand to hold and get up but she chose the door instead and limped inside the doctors chamber. Since it was a lady doctor and a lady patient as well I decided to wait outside. All the time wishing that the queue had been a little longer. She came out of the doctor’s chamber in 5 minutes and her knee looked swollen due to the bandage. I asked how she was feeling now she said that she was feeling better. I asked whether she would be able to walk and she said that she would be so I didn’t offer my hand or my shoulder this time. We slowly walked out of the clinic all this while she told me how grateful she was that I had helped her and said sorry to have kept me for so long.

We came out of the clinic and hailed an auto and she climbed into it. She said thanks once again and the auto started moving. She waved at me and so did I. I watched the tail lamp of the auto disappear round the corner. And the rain gods smiled on Bangalore once again.

By the time I found this cyber café I was fully soaked and as I sit here sneezing and keying these words into 360 I realize that I forgot to take her number or email id or any contact data of the girl who was my first crush when I was in the 4th grade.