Death for Love

She saw him crumpled up on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. Her love, her life. she crouched down beside him. He was not breathing. She wanted to cry but no tears come out. She looked up at his killer. It was her father... her own father. The man who had given birth to her. The man who had taught her to walk. The man who  claimed to have given  her everything she ever wanted. She thought, 'No, you haven't.Instead you have just taken away the only thing I had ever wanted more than anything else in my life. And why?! Just because he was from a different caste?' But she didn't say anything. She just sat there with him in his warm blood and blinked. Her father was standing towering over her in a fit of rage. "Dad..." she finally whispered. But stopped when she looked at him. He was not her father anymore, he had transformed into someone else. He wasn't looking at her with love in her eyes, but with disgust and pure unadulterated anger, "you ruined our family honour! how could you run away with him?! What did you think I'll never find you!!" He was almost blinded with rage. She kept staring at him with blank eyes, awaiting her fate. She took his limp hand in hers and closed her eyes. The last thing she heard was a gunshot.

P.S. - A post on the similar topic last year - Honour Killings... What a shame!

Happy Accidents!

Serendipity is when someone finds something that they weren't expecting to find. In the simplest of words, it means a 'happy accident' (This is how wikipedia defines it as!). It is one of my favorite words. I mean who doesn't love it when they accidentally find money in the pocket of their old pair of jeans?!


On a little more serious note, I believe love is generally serendipitous. It generally finds you when you are not looking for it or have stopped looking for it... when you get tired of searching for the elusive Mr or Ms Right and try to focus on something else, it is then that BAM! you come face-to-face with him / her. I remember one such encounter - A girl was forced to go to a different city for some project by her boss. She had gone grudgingly, thinking this was going to be the worst trip of her life but she ended up meeting her soul mate! (yeah, that girl is me! ;) )

Do you have any such serendipitous encounters?! looking back on which you can't help but smile... Why don't you share them?

P.S. I had written an almost similar post last year! You can read it here. This one was, however, more descriptive!

True Love

Lying next to him, she whispered,
'would you be my hero, baby?'
he smiled and kissed her on the forehead,
'I would kiss away the pain'
she embraced him and murmured 'good night.'
'sweet dreams' he replied and drifted off to sleep...

On the dance floor, as man and wife, he sang along,
'There is nothing for me but to love you'
she pressed her cheek against his and sang too,
'And the way I look tonight...'
He pulled her closer and whispered, 'I love you.'
She smiled mischievously, and replied, 'Ditto.'

Many moons later, she was old and wrinkly, she said,
'We were both young, when I first saw you..."
He laughed his throaty laugh and sang,
'I knelt to the ground, and pulled out a ring...'
She smiled, 'you said, marry me Juliet, you never have to be alone.'
'I love you and that's what I really know,' he replied.
She held his hand and whispered in his ears,
'you know I love you, right?'
He nodded, 'ditto.'

Few years later, he died peacefully in his sleep,
she didn't cry, she didn't sing, she looked at him and closed her eyes too,
their children came and they did cry... and buried them together, holding hands.

Their tombstone read,
'True love. One died. Neither survived.
they lived together, loved together, died together.'

Note: Yesterday I was browsing through my blog and realized there are too many sad love stories, so decided to write a happy-happy one! :D

Do you like it?

The Proposal

He sat there wondering, 'What had gone wrong? I did everything I was supposed to do. I bought an expensive solitaire, made reservations in the best restaurant, arranged for special music. I did all that effort and for what?! So that she can say no and run off!' He was getting more angry as he kept thinking about it.

'Everyone must be laughing at me! That waiter with the champagne, the violinist, people in the restaurant... my parents, my friends! everyone would make fun of me! I would be a joke! This is the most humiliating thing that has ever happened to me!'

He got up and drove down to her apartment.


He banged on the door till she opened it. Her eyes were all puffy and she was wearing his old sweatshirt. But, he didn't notice that. He was blinded with anger. He shook her and blurted out, "What the hell did I forget to do? I made sure there was everything... a huge ring, the best restaurant, amazing food and drinks, special music, champagne... everything! If there was any other girl, she would have been floored, but you...? you say no to all that and leave?! Did you even think for one minute how I would have felt!"

He let her go and paced  with a hand on his head thinking about what he must have done wrong. And he remembered, "Is this because I didn't get down on my knee?! because if it is, that is really stupid."

She just stood there with tears streaming down her face.

"tell me damn it! What did I forget to do?!" he yelled at her.

She slowly wiped her tears and spoke, "You forgot Love."

"What?!"

"Yes, you forgot love. You forgot me. you forgot us. this everything you did, this whole charade... I never wanted any of this. If you had just stood there with nothing and asked me to marry you because you love me, because you can't live without me... I would have said yes in a heartbeat. But instead you decided to make a show and love was no where to be found. It was all about you... what you did, how you felt embarrassed and humiliated. there was no us... there has been no us for a long time."

He just stared at her open-mouthed.

She went on, "I don't want a solitaire, a gold band would have been fine. I don't want an expansive meal, something you would have made would have been more delicious. I don't want violinist flown from where ever they were flown in from, the song that was playing when we first danced would have been perfect. Instead of that speech you just delivered, two heartfelt words would have been enough. I don't want a perfect proposal, I wanted a personalized one... one that is from the heart and not from your mind."

She stopped for a breath and continued, "You did everything you were supposed to do but love is not doing what you are meant to do, it is what you want to do. So, next time you propose, do it when you do want to get married and then it would be from your heart, and believe you me, whoever she would be, she would definitely say yes."

She smiled a sad smile and went inside closing the door behind her.

He stood standing there under the moon light, wondering...

He Cheated, She Left

"so, you are leaving him?" her friend asked.

"yes. I couldn't take it anymore." she replied, "It was getting too much. The cheating, the 

lies, the constant fights, the yelling... It was messing me up."

"Was he sleeping with someone else?!" Her friends asked shocked.

"No, not yet, but he was hiding stuff. he met this girl recently and he didn't tell me about her. i found out when i accidentally logged into his email account. the mails they exchanged were not friendly. They were quite flirtatious." she replied.

"Maybe, you just took it in the wrong way. i guess you should talk to him."

"I did. i gave him a chance to come clean about it but he still didn't mention her. finally, i did and he had the nerve to get upset with me for logging into his account! and we ended up having a huge fight."

"Then, what happened?"

"After two days of constant fights, he finally came clean. he told me that he had gone out with her a couple of times and she had no idea he had a girlfriend. You know last month on his birthday, he was busy in a meeting and didn't come home till 11:30?! Well, guess who he was celebrating his birthday with?"

"Hmm... but hasn't he agreed to break up with her?"

"He said it didn't mean anything serious and he would break up with her."

"that's good right?"

"it doesn't make a difference. I don't think i would be able to trust him again."

"But he just went out on a couple of dates?! Can't you forget about the whole thing, forgive him and move on. You guys are so happy together."

"I can't forget and I can't forgive. I was happy but I guess he wasn't. It's not about the number of dates he went on, I found out about the whole affair and that's why he is forced to break up with her. I am sure if i hadn't, this would have gone longer. maybe he would have slept with her later. And the more I think about it, the more disgusted I feel! There were times when he was with me but his mind was with her. There were times when he lied to me so that he can go and meet her."

"So, what are you saying...?"

"I am saying that I can't be with some one who lies to me. It doesn't matter that he didn't sleep with her, he did go out with someone behind my back. I have to do this."

"Even though he said he still loves you..."

"If he did, he wouldn't have done what he did."

"But, I thought you loved him?"

"I love myself more." she smiled sadly.

"Are you okay?" her friend placed a hand on hers.

"I still hurts to think that he would do something like this. I trusted him so much but I also know this is something that I have to do. Leaving him is one of the hardest decisions I had to make and I am in pain but I know I will be fine." 

If you were in her place, what would you have done? Would you have left your partner if you found out that he went out with someone behind your back? Or would you choose to forgive him / her? Would you be able to trust him / her again? What is your definition of cheating? Which, according to you is worse - romantically thinking about someone else while he / she is with you OR physical cheating? Is walking out of a relationship easier than working on it? Do you believe, 'Once a cheater, always a cheater.'?

A short love story!

This is indeed a short love story, literally and metaphorically. Read on -

Rain. She is running. He stares.

Two strangers. One umbrella. Love blossoms.
 
Life is love. love is life.
 
One year. Love disappears. Fights start.
 
"It's not working out." He leaves.
 
"I do love you." she mutters.
 
She keeps trying. He moves on.
 
He found someone new. She cries.
 
... And it ended. Just like that.
 
Goodbye.

This is an attempt at a six word story. As the name suggests it means narrating a story in exact six words. So all these 9 lines are a story in themselves. And they are subtle stories... nothing is in-your-face here so you need to get those grey cells working!

Now, my twist on this style is that while each individual six word short story is complete in itself, when read together all these 55 words are a story as well... I hope you get it... if you don't drop in a line and let me know that i need to work harder! i won't mind, i promise! ;)

Love and some of it's many cliches!

Okay, now this post is about love and the many little clichés associated with it. Don’t get me wrong I am a true blue romantic! If you have been following my posts, you would know that! I have done my share of being stupid and a little crazy in love... well not as crazy as what people around me have been... but some little crazy things! For example leaving a perfect job and following my husband into the jungles of kerala. Yeah, done that.

Anyway, this post is not about my love life... but rather about love in general and what all it makes us poor mortals do!

So, let’s get started.

Number one on my list of ‘love cliches’ is - 'We fall in love only once.'
This statement or thought has been hugely popularized by our Desi movies. for example, do you remember Shah Rukh Khan in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai who very poignantly declared (not once but twice!) 'Hum ek baar jite hain, ek baar marte hain, shaadi bhi ek baar hoti hai, aur pyar....ek hi baar hota hai'

Applause?! I don't think so.

After declaring this what does he do in the end? do you remember? He very promptly... not only falls in love but marries twice! how convenient... wife dies, assigns his 'EIGHT' year old daughter to reunite the lovers and bam! let me get back with my childhood sweetheart who i had left for the hot girl! Many of you would allege that the dialogue was incorporated in the movie to show that there is no control over how you feel when you find that one true love! So that means Kajol was his true love and not Rani... his wife, the mother of his daughter?! What was that then?! Fake love?! You tell me...
anyway, the point is you can fall in love 'n' number of times and in reality that's what this movie showed! but do we remember that? no, all we remember is the dialogue and follow it religiously!

Another cliché – 'your first love is always special and that is why you can never forget that person. in fact you always, deep-down-inside, love him.

Hmm... now i personally don't believe in first love, second love, third love and so on. love is love, right?! I mean if first love is special, then second love is less special? What about third love...? is it least special?
Now, I agree with the first part - first love is always special... but that is irrespective of the person you fall in love with. (yes, that's right! more often than not in the future after your first love has abandoned you and left you heartbroken, you look back at that person you fell heads-over-heels in love with and wonder... why?! Why did you choose him? what was so special in him?!) For me, first love is special because that's the first time we feel what's it like to be in love... we realize that love sure makes the world go round! It makes you see everything with rose-tinted glasses. You are floating on air, you want to look good for the other person, you experience jealousy if he talks to anyone else but you, you become anxious, you wait endlessly for that one call, one message and in today's age, one friend request from that someone special...

So that feeling is special and by extension that person because he/ she made you feel all that. He introduced you to love and not because of some deep-down-you-still-love-him-and-always-will shit! I mean think about it, if you still love him and he still loves you why are you not together?! you are not together because something went wrong... this could be because of situations that are out of your control, you might say. if it is indeed true love... situations and circumstances don't matter. if someone wants to be with you, they would make it happen and if they can't make it happen, then that love is not strong enough... it's not that special!

Next. Now this one is not very popular. I doubt you wont even have heard of it. it goes something like this - "we always our first love is our last and our last love, our first."

I had heard this line some years back (don't remember who said it and to whom, where it was said and in what context) but i still remember it, don't know why.

(you might have seen this as my facebook page’s status also... that is if you follow my facebook page. oh you don't? then you can just click on this link -> The Grey Area  and like the page. simple ain't it?)

okay, now that i have shamelessly promoted myself (yeah i am a little shameless that ways, so sue me!) let's get back to the post... When I first heard it I didn't understand it much, can't claim to understand it fully now also but I think I have got a notion... when we fall in love for the first time, we believe that this is it. this is going to last till the end of time. the one in our arms right now would be the one in our arms forever. but how wrong are we! more often than not, the first love is not the last love... not even close! (Barring those lucky few whose first love does turn into their last love... now are they lucky or unlucky that's for them to decide ;) ) anyway, coming back to the point...  when this illusion that we fall in love only once breaks (trust me it does break!) and we go through many many heartaches, we finally find someone with whom we want to spend the rest of our lives with... that someone who is there for us through thick and thin ( i mean both changing time and waist sizes!) ... and when we find that 'someone' we tend to realize that this is love and all that we felt before was nothing compared to what we are feeling now... we realize this indeed is our first love and all that before was just hormones acting out! how easy it becomes to belittle those very emotions that at that time had made our world go round! Love sure makes us crazy!

Last but not the least – Love is blind.

Why?! why does love has to be blind? You should fall in love with your eyes wide open! You should know what you are getting into! And who you are getting into it with! I have come across many people who follow this adage and quote it to justify their sometimes stupid and sometimes pretty irresponsible decisions! I know people who get inked or leave their jobs or leave their family for the love of their lives! i know of teenagers who have started calling their boyfriends’ mother as their mother in law, who only choose a certain subject because their lover has them as well, who are ready to spend the last penny of their pocket money on phone bills, who lie to their parents through their teeth... is that right? well... to each his own!

but the point is how many of us end up with that person? unfortunately (or fortunately) not many... we grow up and the emotions die down and that love turns into anger, hate and slowly indifference...in that order.

Now, I am not saying that you shouldn't fall in love or am against being in love and doing crazy things for the one you love... i am a full supporter of it. but I am just saying that love should not be blind or deaf or mute or crazy for that matter... i know people who say that if love is logical it is not love... why? why can't you be practical and be in love at the same time? does being an emotional fool a pre-requisite of being in love? not for me!

 And oh, how can i forget... what's with love at first sight?! now how does that work? how can you fall in love with someone by just looking at them?! it doesn't look like love, it looks more like lust to me... lust is at first sight, love take time. you need to know the person, all his idiosyncrasies and stupidities and then if you still want to be with them... well that's love. i remember another line from a movie, 'I don't believe in love at first sight, i believe in taking a deeper look.'

So, people... in a gist... you don't fall in love once! the feeling of first love is special and not the person! first love is not your last and neither is last love your first! Love is not blind! and do take a deeper look before committing forever!

With that I end this post... hope you had fun.

Disclaimer: This post is meant for humorous purposes only. Any resemblance to emotions of real
persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. :P

P.S. if there is any other cliche you can think of... add it as a comment here or at the facebook page by the same name - The Grey Area (OK, OK I will stop promoting it! :P)

ADDED LATER -
One of my friends Parul read this post and added a cliche... "if you love someone, let them free. if they are yours they will come back... if they don't they never were." or something to this effect.

now this is funny... love is not a trap! you don't put people in cages so you can't let them free! and if someone walks out of a relationship... it's because they want to end it. the only reason they will come back is that because someone out there made them realize how worthless they are! they are not coming back because they love you... they will come back because they can't find anyone else! so if you want to be with someone who broke your heart, went out with other people, got his own heart broken and then realized that he should be with you... it's your choice but I would say... if someone breaks your heart once, they can do it again. and like parul said... if they want to come back, why would they go?! stop living in dreams.

Is our generation this dumb and retarded?

If you are a loyal reader you must have noticed that I have been quite inactive lately... reason? lack of an Internet connection... and to get it up and running, me and my husband had to go through a lot of trouble and i mean a LOT of trouble! anyway, the connection is restored and I am all set to type away... :)

This last month when i was not connected to the virtual world I got addicted to the telly world (don't judge me! there are only so many books i can read and so many people i can call!! :P ) in the throes of that addiction i started following MTV's 'reality show' Roadies' auditions. yeah yeah i know, it is not real, it is fake... all is scripted... blah blah etc etc...but i liked watching it... maybe because i am a little voyeuristic (i admit it! and i know most of you are too! :P) but mainly because i liked the stand that the judges took vis-a-vie women and certain issues... and i loved the way they blasted the men (and women) who acted like chauvinistic pigs!

to reach the judges' panel for a personal interview, the contestants / aspirants had to fill a form that has questions such as -

• what do you think about pre marital sex?
• what is your take on live-in relationships?
• if your parents disagree with your choice of boyfriend / girlfriend, what would you do?
• should women wear mini skirts in pubs?
• what are your views on homosexuality? should it be legalised?

the above mentioned points are just a few examples. there were many more such questions and boy, did the  judges get some varied responses on them! some of them stayed with me, especially the one given by a woman who had cleared her army entrance exam. now, when you are from a city and are educated one expects a certain level of intelligence from you but this woman showed that there is a vast difference between bookish knowledge and actual awareness. when asked should women wear short dresses to pubs she replied - yes they can wear whatever they want but they should be ready to face the consequences. this angered the judges to no end. and i was also a little dismayed. she further continued that these women who wear mini skirts need  a counselling session and then if they still insist on wearing short skimpy outfits, they should not cry if a man makes a comment or if she faces eve teasing. so basically, this 'educated young woman' believed that if another woman is wearing a short outfit and she is raped then it is her fault. the said woman called it upon herself. i was surprised and shocked to hear her justifying her views. one of the judges rightfully corrected her that a woman can wear anything, if she is a victim of eve teasing it is the fault of the men who are doing it. the problem is not in the woman wearing 'revealing' clothes but the problem is with the men who have the thought process that if she is wearing a short dress, she would be 'easy' or 'characterless'. so these men need counselling and not the women. he also added that it is women like her who lead to the downfall of other women. when she would have kids she would tell her daughter that the blame for her being eve teased lies with her and the way she dresses... and she would tell her son that if a woman wears revealing clothes she is a characterless woman. ( i am using the phrase revealing not as a negative term but as a synonym for short dresses or plunging necklines) to tell you the truth i am ashamed to admit it but i also had the similar thought process in my growing up years but thankfully my worldview has expanded... has yours?

that was just one example of the retarded thinking of most of today's youth. the barney brigade as i like to call them. they would want to be like Barney (one-night-stands, drinking, clubbing )but if a woman is a Samantha (from sex and the city) they would not hesitate in using derogatory terms like sluts for them. like there was this guy who said that his sister doesn't go to places like pubs as it is not in our culture. when asked has he been there? his reply was a sheepish yes. so why can he visit a pub but his sister can't? obviously because (a) it is not in our culture and it is only the women who have to follow the so-called Indian ethics and values and (b) she is a good girl and pubs are visited by only loose character women... obviously. (sarcasm alert!)

that was just the tip of the iceberg... there were men who said that premarital sex is okay for them but they would literally kill their sister if she decided to marry someone who was out of their caste (and gave weird senseless and baseless arguments to support this theory as well!)... who believed that premarital sex is illegal (where did that come from? :P )... who believed that people have suddenly turned homosexual and it is a fairly recent phenomenon (that one was unbelievable!)... who thought that a woman who is living-in with their partner is a prostitute (nothing negative was said about the men in the said arrangement though!). Then. there were some contestants thrown in for comic relief like a girl who said that she wanted to work with NASA but didn't know the full form of the same... one guy who agreed with the ayodhya verdict but didn't know what it was (he didn't know what ayodhya was either and had his Ramayana and Mahabharata mixed up!)... one guy who thought rajiv

I can go on and on and on listing the foolishness of the aspirants who wanted to become famous... but i will stop here. however i would love to think your views on the above mentioned 4-5 questions i have listed (in the bullet points)

i hope for the sake of our generation and the one coming after us that all of the content that they have showed till now in this reality show is as unreal as possible and is truly scripted! i want to believe that the younger generation is not as dumb as they have been made out to be on MTV... i want to believe that the coming generation is more aware about their surroundings, are more respectful of the respective opposite sexes, can think beyond bollywood and cricket, has a mind of their own... but most of all i wish that they can break the shackles of age-old convention and stereotypical thinking and are capable of embracing a more logical outlook and a broader worldview.  fingers crossed.

Hers & His... An interpretation :)

Hers - 


She was walking briskly on the dark road. the streetlights were also not working. she was scared and kept looking behind after every few minutes. she was alone. she checked her watch. 8:45pm. she started walking faster. she cursed her boss for giving that extra report at the last minute. it was then that she heard him... the distinct roar of a bike's engine. she turned around, expecting the worse. she couldn't see him. he was still far away. she blinked in the glare of the strong yellow headlights. the bike came near her and the engine died down. she could see the driver now. he was taking off his helmet. she suddenly realized that he could be anyone! she started walking away when she heard him call her name. once again she turned around, confused. he had taken off his helmet. she was relieved to see that it was him. she had seen him once or twice in the office. she smiled. He offered to drive her home. she thanked him and she got on his bike. they zoomed off. As she sat behind him, she kept wondering what was his name? but then thought, who cares. She just has to make through the drive, then again they will turn into polite strangers who would change pleasantries once in a while in the corridor. she was not getting married to him after all! it was just a lift.


His -



It had become his daily routine... to leave after she leaves and then drive past her hoping all the while that she would notice him. but it was his bad luck, she was never alone. always surrounded by those giggling colleagues. But today, he somehow knew he will get his chance. she was working late and so left the office alone, her entourage had already long gone. he saw her walking alone and drove past her. this time he stopped and asked her if she wanted a lift. she had agreed. maybe she was scared walking alone on this dark dingy road. whatever it was he had got lucky! he had got his chance! as she sat behind him, smiling politely,  he couldn't help but grin. and then she put her hand on his waist and he felt a jolt. this is it. today is the beginning of their love story. who knows, they might end up getting married someday! his heart swelled up and he drove all the way with a big smile plastered on his face.


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



If you have been following His & Hers series (or even this is the first one you have ever read) you would realize that this series attempts at showing how one incident can look from two different points of view... generally from the girls perspective and from the guy's.  Take this case, for example... for the girl this is just a meaningless lift... a way for her to get home faster. but for the guy it obviously means much more than a solitary incident. now can you say that the girl is wrong for thinking of this as a one off incident or a co-incidence? or the guy is in the wrong who reads a lot in a small gesture? here you can interpret the girl as a selfish bitch using the guy or as an innocent scared girl who wants to reach the safety of her home. you can view the guy as a stalker or as a lovestruck aashiq... it depends on you. what do you think? is anyone in black? or in white? or are both in grey... ;)

Apart from blurring the distinction between right and wrong, this series also attempts to convey that reality is not same from all points of view.(As mentioned before) it is different for different people.  in this short fiction, from where the girl is standing, this looks like a con-incidence that the guy came when she wanted help. she is completely oblivious to the guy's previous attempts of getting her attention. She got on the bike not because she was attracted to him but because she was scared. From the guy's point of view, it was luck, divine intervention that after so many attempts he finally got his chance. He offered her a lift not because he drove there by chance but because he waited for her to leave and followed her as usual. see, how the girl's reality is different from the boy's reality and this difference is because these realities are incomplete for either of them. they don't know what the other person is thinking but for us who can see both of their situations... we know what is going on in its entirety.

this is fiction but as they say art mirrors life... in life also, what you see is not the complete reality. there are times when you have been angry with someone. when you don't understand how can someone behave like that or act like this. the solution, that helps me, is to look at the same problem from the other person's perspective. put yourself in his shoes (and don't run away as the PJ tells you to! :P) but try and understand what had prompted him to act like this... once you get the complete picture it makes it easier to make any decision. try it and let me know if it works for you.


P.S. Does this make sense? or you are just happy reading His & Hers and drawing your own conclusions without an interpretation forced down your throats? :P feedback welcome...

To Be or Not To Be... Attracted?!

HIS...

He was quite angry. He was furious. after he had done all the hard work, made the damn presentation, then why, at the last minute, she was assigned to 'tag along' with him? look at the presentation from a third perspective.OK, fine... she was an MBA, she had the degree but she was a fresh pass-out. She obviously can't compete with his 5 years of hands-on experience of working in this field. he had slogged it out. he had all the ideas. he had spent hours with the moronic client trying to figure what they want, what they needs it was his project. It was his baby. And now some MBA was coming to see the presentation and give her inputs because she had the degree! Bah!! he broke the pencil he was fiddling with. he picked up his glass of water and drank it in one go. he glanced at the presentation again and shut down his laptop. he picked up his coat and went out for a smoke. he had to clear his head. tomorrow was an important day. as he released the bitter smoke out in a prefect ring, he thought about the client's daughter. he had never met her but had spoken to her. what a voice! he smiled. going by the way the mother looked the daughter had to be a beauty and didn't she flirt with him a little when they had spoken to fix an appointment today. he tried to remember the conversation. she most certainly had! her throaty laughter rang in his ears again. he put out the cigarette and went back inside. someone was waiting for him. she had his back towards the door but he knew it was her. she was dressed in a formal black trouser and white shirt. her hair was tied in a tight ponytail. he cleared his throat and she turned back and smiled. she seemed a little nervous. she had a baby-like face, round with big eyes lined with kajal. he went up to her and held his hand out. she took it shyly and smiled again. he thought that maybe she wont be so bad. after making small talk they looked at the presentation, together. he ran her through. she observed quietly. afterwards she gave some suggestions and he was quite surprised at first that this young female had some insightful comments to make. As they finished the presentation, she got a call. she excused herself and left. he saw her retreating back and felt a twinge inside...of what, he did not know. he just didn't want her to leave yet. he glanced out the window thinking about a strand of hair kept falling on her eyes and smiled to himself. women! the next day, as he was getting ready for the presentation he saw her coming. she had dressed up in a traditional salwar kameez today. she looked quite pretty, he thought for a moment. but then he got busy with making the final touches on the presentation. as they sat waiting, she whispered 'all the best' to him and smiled. he smiled back. as the client and his entourage entered he looked for the daughter. when she entered, he couldn't help but smile. she was short, tiny with a disproportionate head. clearly beauty skipped a generation. he looked sideways at her sitting beside him and thought once again, 'not bad, not bad at all.'

HERS...


she had got a call in the morning only. she was supposed to go and assist the manager...give fresh eyes to the project he had been working on single-handily for the past couple of months. she was scared. she had heard things about him. he was a workaholic and especially protective about this particular project. she cursed her immediate boss. on one hand it was a prestigious task but on the other, what difference could she make? she had just joined six months back and he had been working for more than 5 years! obviously he knows best. she had even refused to go, but his boss had heard nothing. she had to go tomorrow. she braced herself and called her boyfriend. as usual he had nothing to offer. she had just started dating him and agreed he was cute but he was also pretty dumb. he always agreed to everything she said and recently it had started getting on her nerves. she sighed. he is a nice guy. he loves me. and then another thought came into her mind, he can't talk! she immediately felt guilty for thinking bad about him and said to herself, 'he will change. i will change him.' right now, more pressing matters were at hand. she decided to wear a formal black trousers and white shirt. this outfit makes her look older. maybe that would help her tomorrow. she got up early, got dressed and went to the head office. his office was empty. she decided to wait. after sometime, someone cleared his throat. she turned around and saw him standing there. he was tall and handsome, not in the conventional way. there was something about him that she felt drawn towards him. she smiled. she was nervous, more so after seeing him. she prayed that she doesn't start blushing like an idiot. she came forward and shook his hand. she could feel the butterflies flapping in her stomach. was it because of the task at hand or because of his proximity, she didn't know. she took a deep breath and they sat down to work. she had decided that she would not interrupt him but rather would give her opinions at the end. she didn't want to anger him. the presentation was quite impressive but she gave some suggestions. he looked at her and seemed impressed. she was about to say something when her phone rang, it was her boyfriend. she excused herself and went out to take the call. he always called at the wrong time, she thought. she looked back. she could see him from the glass doors. he was looking out the window. she wanted to go back but do what? say what? she decided against it and went home. the next day, she decided to wear something Indian. she wanted to look pretty. why? she didn't know. she just did. she dressed up quickly and went to meet him. he looked up at her. did she sense admiration? she couldn't tell. she could sense his nervousness and a little bit of anticipation though. she whispered 'all the best' and smiled. he smiled back. the client and his entourage entered. she saw him looking at the client's daughter intensely and then smile to himself. she didn't know what to make of it... but she did know one thing, she was drawn to him...very drawn. And she was confused... very much so.

To be Continued...

His & Hers... 55 fiction style!

I have actually got addicted to writing 55 fiction... And i love writing His and Hers series! So, i decided to mix the two and write His and Hers series in 55 fiction format... here are couple of attempts -

His 'Wedding'...

He never thought that this day would finally come. The day when she will be only his. She was sitting next to him in all bridal finery, looking into the sacred fire. He lifted the mangalsutra and put it around her neck. Everyone cheered and he smiled proudly. Finally his dream had come true.

... Her 'Compromise'

She sat there unmoving, all decked up. She stared into the fire, unblinking. She felt helpless and weak but she knew she couldn’t do anything. It was too late now. As he put the mangalsutra around her neck, she felt as if the noose had finally tightened. Everyone cheered as she shed silent tears. 

* * * * * * * * *

Surprise!

Today was her birthday. He was out of town for a conference and would be back only next week. She waited for his call at midnight that never came. She cried herself to sleep. When she woke up, there was a jewellery case by her side. She smiled as he brought her breakfast in bed.

He excused himself and rushed to the airport. His flight was at 11:45pm. As he sat in the aircraft, he looked at the jewellery case in his hand. He would have to take another flight, day after tomorrow, to come back and attend the last session of the conference. Her smile was worth it all.

55 Fiction!

Some of my attempts at writing 55 fiction... what do you think? Nice? not nice? Should I continue with it or stop torturing you people! ;)

ABUSE!
She looked at herself in the mirror. Her battered and bruised reflection stared back at her, unsmiling. He had hit her… again. He had apologized… again. She had forgiven him… yet again. She applied make up to hide the discoloration and smiled tightly as her eyes welled up and a tear fell down… yet again.

* * * * *

SHE SAT ALONE!
She was sitting alone in her dark room. She was hungry and scared. Outside her parents were fighting again. She heard the distinct sound of a slap followed by the sobs of her mother. Her stomach grumbled again. She drank a glass of water and put on her headphones to drown out the screams.

* * * * *


INFIDELITY! 
She picked up the frame which had a picture of them taken on their honeymoon. A tear fell on the happy smiling couple. She put the frame back on the table along with her mangalsutra, picked up her suitcase and left without looking back…leaving behind a note. ‘I told you I would never tolerate cheating.’

* * * * *

I would also like to know what would you have done if you were in these women's shoes...

If you had been slapped by your 'better half'? What would you have done? Suffered silently or slapped him right back?

What if you were fighting with your husband / wife, and you saw your little girl watching you with tear-filled eyes? Would you stop for her sake?


What if you found out your husband cheated on you? Would you forgive him? give him another chance? Or would you, like this woman, have the courage to leave him?

His & Hers (III)

Continuing with the His & Hers series...

The idea for this post came when I was in the parlour (all the girls and some of the boys would understand that it is not all massages and pampering!). To divert my mind from the pain being inflicted on my poor eyebrows, I started thinking about my two friends who had gone to see the latest release - The social network... and this story just formed in my head!

Here goes (I hope you like it)

His...
Finally, the day had come. He was going to meet her at last. so much planning and research had gone to make sure this meeting happens. on his way to the restaurant he was thinking of that day, some six months before, when he had first seen her. It was on Facebook. She was smiling at him from a friend's friend's picture. Tall, voluptuous, good-looking, with a strand of hair falling over her one eye. her hand stopped in mid-motion of putting the alleged hair back in it's place. one look at her round face, her full lips, her dark eyes and he knew, he had to meet her. he scrolled down to see if the picture was tagged. obviously it was! he clicked on her tag. obviously her profile was locked. These girls!! but at least he had her name. he searched the friend's profile where he had seen her picture. looking at posts after post. finally he saw, she had mentioned the address of her blog, urging the friend to read and comment. he clicked on the blog link. read it... all the posts in one go! now, he knew all about her. 'how can i contact her without seeming desperate?' email id... for feedback. Bingo! He sent her a mail from a fake id. she replied asking him who he was. he smiled, now, thinking how then he had claimed he had meant to send it to someone else with a similar sounding id. honest mistake. she had mailed back saying it's fine but he should take care in the future. he had then replied by saying that he wont bother her again but how it is fate that he sent it to her. he apologized again and told her he'll never mail her again. gentleman's promise. He smiled thinking about it now, 'fate'... such a small word but such a big impact it had had on her. after all he had read her blog. he knew what all she believed in. and as expected she had mailed him back and that's how the correspondence began. and now six months have passed and finally he would meet her. all the hard work of the past months would finally bear fruits. the lying and pretending would end...finally! he was tired of behaving like the guy she would be interested in. only today! last day! That beautiful face and body would be in his arms... just a matter of hours! he had already selected his next target. after he is done with her, he'll move on to her. he smiled slyly.

Hers...
Finally, the day had come. She was going to meet him at last. She smiled thinking about how they had met. how romantic it was. he had sent her a mail accidentally. such an honest mistake. at first she had thought that was what it is. just a mistake. then in the next mail, what he had sent had made her realize, it was anything but... 'fate' such a powerful term. she was big believer in fate and destiny. she had even written a post on it. it was indeed fate that he mailed her. and the innocence with which he had apologized and the sincerity he had shown had won her over. unlike other members of his sex, he had not asked to take the correspondence forward. he had not shown any interest in her. that's what touched her. she had always had men falling around her but for once she wanted someone to see her... what she was inside... rather than her beauty. she had mailed him back telling her about her similar beliefs in destiny and that's how the conversation started. they had so much in common... without even meeting him, she knew he was the one for her. and now six months later, they were going to see each other for the first time. she let out a nervous giggle. She had suggested that they exchange pictures to identify one another but he had refused, he is different from other men. Finally she had met someone who loves her mind and not her body. she smiled shyly.

P.S. this is a fictional account. resemblance with any person or situation is co-incidental! ;)

P.P.S. - People take care and be safe!

His & Hers (II)

I am planning to make His & Hers into a series... this series will be a section of short stories where sometimes conflicting and sometimes agreeable emotions of both the sexes would be visible... sometimes he and she will fall in love and sometimes the love story would end in tragedy, you never know... keep reading and keep commenting! :)

His...
He was waiting at the Metro station. He looked at the watch again. 9am. She would be coming in at any second. He looked towards the gates and she was there. She was wearing a baby pink salwar kameez today. the flimsy dupatta was flapping in the air and so was her waist-length hair. she was looking beautiful.. He looked at her and smiled. She was on the phone, as usual. She ignored him and walked past him towards the metro train that had stopped at the station. she went inside and stood by the gate, still whispering on the phone. He also got inside and stood at a distance away from her, but he could still see her when she started playing with a strand of hair... absentmindedly or when she started laughing at something the person on the other side of the line must have said. He kept staring at her when the train passed underground and the signal went dead. He kept staring when she looked at the phone, disappointed. He kept looking at her when she put the phone in her bag and stared out the window. He kept looking when she started chewing on her lips, lost in thought. He kept staring when she suddenly smiled, maybe thinking something someone had said long back. He kept looking when she walked past him once more to get off the coach. he also got down and followed her, at a distance. She suddenly turned around. He stopped short. He forgot to breathe. she was looking straight at him. he could see her oval face, her kohl-lined eyes, the tiny bindi on her forehead. she smiled, looked down, turned around and walked back... out the gates and out the metro station. This had never happened before. She had never ever smiled looking at him...not in the last seven months that he had first seen her. he never thought she would notice him, ever! He felt happy. A warm feeling filled him and he turned around and crossed over to the other side with a big smile. Her face as she had smiled and then looked down shyly swam in front of her eyes. he went back to the Metro station where both of them had started this journey. he would come back again at 5:30pm to go to that station where he left her this morning, so that they can come back together. This was his routine. these metro rides had become the highlight of his days. what does it matter that he had been getting late to work for the last seven months. what does it matter that his boss had threatened to fire him if he didn't pull up his socks. All that mattered was that she had turned back... and she had smiled. that's all that matters.

Hers...
She went into the metro station. how she hated these long rides to work. the only thing that made it worthwhile was his phone call. she was talking to him as she entered the gates. she saw the metro train just pulling in. she thanked God and walked in. He was making plans of meeting in the evening. She had dressed up because he was going to introduce her to his mother. big day today. Everything has to be perfect. She had worn pink. his mother's favourite colour. she was hoping his mother would like her. he was comforting her and suddenly he stopped talking. she looked at the phone. the signal had gone dead.She put it in her bag and looked outside. she was nervous. She had such plans of their future. And then she remember how he had started calling her his wife. she smiled. her station came and she got down... lost in her own thoughts. she was walking towards the gate when she thought she saw him. she turned back and looked at him. he was as tall as him but... no, he was someone else. she smiled at her foolishness. how can he be here... he is at work. on the other side of the city. she looked down and walked out of the gate. She will not come back here in the evening and maybe, if everything goes right she would never have to come here ever again. she took out her phone from the bag and called him and smiled as he called her his wife again.

... Yes, this is love!

She was sitting in the car, all alone. The radio was playing some old Hindi classics. it was raining heavily outside. she opened the window and put her hand out, feeling the raindrops on her palm and arm. her favourite song came. she started humming along. the other door opened suddenly and she got scared. he came and sat inside quickly. He was drenched completely. he handed her the cup of tea she had wanted desperately. she looked up at him and smiled. his face contoured into a weird shape and he sneezed! she started laughing and realized... yes, this is love.
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She was at home. it was late. she looked at the watch for the nth time. it was almost ten. she looked at her phone as if willing it to ring. it didn't. she started flipping channels. she was not feeling well so he had asked her not to cook tonight, he would have dinner at work and would get something for her as well. the bell rang and she ran to open it. his bag was lying there. she saw him walking towards the gate to close it. she hurriedly looked through his bag, she was hungry. nothing. he forgot! she got upset and sat down on the couch. he came inside and she saw he was carrying a pizza box. he still remembered she loved pizzas, she jumped into his arms and realized... yes, this is love.
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She hung up on him. she wanted to go out and have dinner but he had some meeting and will get late from work... again. she was getting bored sitting at home all alone. she cooked dinner and sat down waiting for him. at last, the bell rang. she went and opened the door. he was smiling. he took her hand and guided her to the car. he opened the door, she saw the red rose lying on the passenger side. she took the rose and smiled. he asked her to sit in the car and wait. he rushed inside and came back with a box with the dinner she had cooked. she looked at him, confused. he started the car and said, let's go out. she realized... yes, this is love.
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P.S. i would keep adding on to it... and everyone is welcome to comment and add a snippet... it could be from a male or a female point of view... true or fiction... :) happy reading and happy writing!

His & Hers

HIS...
He picked up the ring from the platter. The people were laughing and cheering. His friends were pulling his leg, his cousins were teasing him endlessly. Music was playing in the background. People were dancing. a celebratory mood was all around. But he could not hear anything, he could only hear his heart beat... too loud. can everyone else hear it too? guess not. he looked down at the diamond ring in his hand and then at the woman standing in front of her... smiling coyly. she was looking resplendent in pink. he looked into her eyes, big, brown and beautiful but those were not the eyes he wanted to look into while falling asleep. he looked at the lips, full and pink but they were not the lips he wanted to kiss forever. he looked at the fingers, long, slender and perfectly manicured, but they were not the same he had once placed a humble silver band on. His mother egged him on and he slipped the big diamond ring on her ring finger amidst claps and smiles and laughter. no one noticed that his smile didn't reach his eyes except her, standing by the door. no one noticed that plain looking girl standing all alone. No one noticed the silent tear that trickled down from her black kohl-rimmed eyes. No one noticed her small lips quivering. no one noticed as she took out the silver band from her short ink stained finger and place it on the table. no one saw her as she left except him, standing on the stage. For him, this was just the beginning of a life full of compromises.

HERS...
The music was too loud. she couldn't make out what song was playing. she was too engrossed in listening to her own thoughts. She was looking at him as he picked up the ring. It was big. she looked at him and smiled. a shyness crept over her. she saw him looking at her eyes. Can he also see in her dark eyes the dreams of their future? can he also see them like she had... of them being together and happy? she could feel him looking at her lips. is he wishing to place his on hers? she could feel her cheeks reddening. she saw him looking at her fingers. is he admiring the fairness of her complexion? he took her hands in his. an electric current ran through her spine at his touch. he placed the ring on her finger. she looked up at him. he was looking into the distance and smiling. looking at their happy future surely. they will be happy, yes, they will. she smiled and allowed herself to be hugged by friends and family. For her, this was just the beginning of a dream-filled life.

Fate, Destiny... Serendipity!

"Jinko jinko bhi milna hai likha, ishq milwayega;

dur dur se, dhund dhund ke paas le ayega;

kahin bhi ja ke chupo, ishq wahi ayega;

kitni bhi na na karo, utha ke le jayega... "

I've always loved this song from a very forgettable movie... i think the lyrics are so true. Now, dont get me wrong, i am not one of those mills and boons reading, raj-simran kind of romance seeking, gushing at red roses, soft toys and chocolate combo, pink wearing, lovesick puppy. but i am not a cynic either. i believe in love and all that jazz. another thing that i believe in is fate. i believe, in true yash raj style, that someone somewhere is made for everyone. and you may not hear bells, or she may not be wearing a board with your name on it but something does happen when you meet your other half...something that can not be explained in words but just experienced. And i also believe that fate plays a very big role in bringing that someone from somewhere in front of you but leaves it up to you to act on it.

i read in college that according to greek mythology (i love the greeks, especially their gods... they led such colourful lives and had countless children as a result of it!) anyway, coming back to mythology...humans, in the beginning, were a whole... a round, that is both male and female were together in an egg shaped structure. so one human had both male and female anatomy, 4 eyes, 2 noses, 4 ears, 2 lips, 4 arms, 4 legs etc etc... u get it right? they were pretty strong together. so they decided to take over heaven. the gods got scared and our dear dear zeus cut them into two equal pieces, one male and one female so that he can carry one with his many many affairs and keep on producing his many many heirs and heiresses. So, now according to this myth, both these halves keep looking for each other all through eternity for their other respective halves to complete themselves, to again be a whole. 

i kind of like this myth, it is so romantic if you overlook zeus' brutality... one man, one woman supposed to be together forever, seperated and then looking for each other to be one again! this is just a legend, a myth, whatever u like to call but i think it is true... we are looking for our other half, the right half and during that process we meet a lot of wrong ones but it is our destiny to find the right and we do... fate makes you meet them, brings you two closer and then leaves it to you, to either seize the opportunity or be lost without it. i am a very big believer in fate (i am writing it again if that is not clear by now!) and my belief has strengthened by so many incidents that have happened to me and to people around me. 

(NOTE: now i am going to give some examples and not take names again, but since i have learned from my past experience, i have two requests. One - pls dont jump to conclusions, you might read something that you may not like and you might think this is abt you but it may not be so. there are hundreds of people i know and talk to, it could be abt them, pls clarify first before making a fool of yourself on a public portal and ruining my blog space. Two. pls read number one again and follow it. i mean it. )

now if that is clear, example time...

I'll start by yours truly (me... for those of you who need everything spelt out) i met my husband (yeah i got married recently, thank you for all your wishes... you can send gifts and cash too, just drop in a mail, i'll send you my new address ;) ) so, as i was saying i met my brand new husband in udaipur. i was born in delhi, he was born in sindri (in jharkhand), i completed my education in delhi, he did his from managlore university. i had no idea about his existence till 22 years and i am pretty sure he didnt care abt mine either. and then one fine day i am sent to udaipur (or forced at gunpoint, not literally but it sure felt like that) on a work related assignment (i was a wedding planner and i had to go to devigarh to organize one wedding. it was a last minute decision and i was not very happy about it). as i mentioned... I absolutely DID NOT want to go. infact i did a lot of drama but nothing worked. i landed up in udaipur, at the hotel he (my husband ) was working. now, my husband also didnt want me to come. (me as in any wedding planner... he was handling the wedding since the beginning and didnt want any last minute intrusions, or in other words me) so i was at a place i didnt want to be, handling a wedding i didnt want to do, and meeting a person who didnt want me there! but even after all this... we met, we even became friends, and got married within 3 years of knowing each other. after we met, within 6 months of that, both if us left our respective organisations and moved someplace else. sometimes it feels like we were there only to meet each other. it is an example that fate is working someplace somewhere... 

then take this example of another friend... she went to a party where her best friend introduced my friend to her ex (the point of introduction was to see if the guy was compatible for a common friend they have) now my friend started talking to this ex and they liked each other and hooked up instead! now its been 7 months (i guess, dont kill me for getting it worng!) and they are one of the most balanced couple i know... totally complement each other, she loves to talk, he loves to listen ...fate!

another example of a couple who i met on my honeymoon (i went to mauritius by the way, lovely place, you should go there)... their parents arranged their match. the girl was in the UK, the guy was in india. they started talking and chatting. after some months when the girl came to india and they finally met they realized that they have met before at a distant cousins' wedding and had flirted with each other too, they wanted to meet again after the wedding but she had to go to UK... now they are married, love or arrange... your guess is as good as mine!... fate!

last example, another friend went to her best friend's wedding in another city... there she met the groom's best friend who was from anothery country altogether... they started talking, liked each other and now are getting married too! lovely couple and oh-so-much-in-love!... fate!

i have loads of other examples of people who met their other halves in such unexpected ways that make you believe that at that point of time everything was happening just to bring those two people together! people who have no idea about each other but they end up together through some agent, be it a person or a situation. i cant post the rest...privacy issues and all. but if you have any such story, do post them... would love to read them. and if you diagree, then it's even better... would love to hear from you too!

i believe in the saying, match made in heaven... you just have to find them on earth (with a little help from our friend, fate!) all those single people, keep your eyes open, you never know how fate decides to sneak up on you...

Added later, after a friend's suggestion - 

"kitni dur dur ho, un dono ke raaste... mil jate hai jo bane ek duje ke vaaste."