Story: My First Love

I was sitting at the first row in the Physics Tuition class. This was evening batch of forty students with both girls & boys almost equal in numbers. Lecturer created a curve on the board & turned towards the class. ‘Who will explain this graph to me? Anjali, You tell me.’
I whispered to my friend Dev, my best friend & schoolmate too, ‘Sir has gone mad, there is no student in the class with this name’.

‘Shhhhsss, three new girls were transferred from morning batch, seems there were not good looking guys in the morning batch.’ He said. I also smiled in affirmative like we all were supermodels studying in evening batch.

Anjali stood from the second last row & could manage only few words ‘Sorry Sir, I don’t know’. She instantly became red seeing everyone was gazing at her. Girls’ looks were like ‘What?? You don’t even know this?’ but guys were not that cruel, they were sympathetically seeing her or I should say admiring the beauty. But they were not to blame.
It had been three months since I joined this tuition classes & there was not a single good-looking girl in the batch. Guys used to say that all beauty queens came in morning batch. They were proved right when I saw Anjali. She was tall, fair, pretty & far better than the other girls in the batch. She had shoulder length hairs that she never tied. I liked her sharp features & those beautiful big eyes on her oval face. The face was a bit red at the moment but even then she was looking very cute.

Then suddenly a piece of chalk flied & crashed on my head. ‘Mr. Prajapat’
It also crashed my thought process and I realized that I was the only one left who was still staring at her. All eyes were now at me. ‘Prajapat will explain this graph to us.’ Lecturer declared.
I stood. ‘Shit’ I thought, ‘How could I forget this?’ I very well knew what that curve on board was about but the straight curve of my blank mind did not allow me to think anything. Lecturer was upset; as I was his favorite student but then it was first time my heartbeats were generating exponential graph.

That day onwards I lost my concentration in studies but was well focused on Anjali. I forced Dev to change our seats to the last row so that I could see her wherever she would sit in the room. I had all the counts how many times her hand ran in her hair or number of times she changed the pens of different color that she used while taking notes. Of course Dev was not happy with changed behavior of mine. He started giving me lectures on ‘How chasing a girl can make you a failure in your board exams’ which fell flat on my deaf like ears.

It had been two weeks since the first incidence & everyone in the batch knew what I was up to. Probably Anjali also came to know by this time. She started noticing me what all I was doing during classes. I was afraid to imagine how she would react now. To my surprise she started passing me smiles whenever our eyes met. This made me crazy & I was too disturbed to focus on anything anywhere, be it tuition classes, school classes or at home. Days & nights I was dreaming about her & life came to halt.

One day after tuition when we were returning home Dev said, ‘You will ruin your board exams, half yearly exams are round the corner & you haven’t finished syllabus of any subject yet. Buddy, you should stop thinking about her or the better solution is to propose her.’

‘No. I can’t.’
‘Why?’
‘If she refuses?’
‘That will be great. At least you would be back to your track’
‘No, I don’t want to come on track’ I murmured.
‘You have to. See tuitions are getting over in a month, and then you will not be able to see her anyways.’

My heart sank; he hit that at right place. His words got stuck in my mind. The whole night I could not sleep. Next day in school I told Dev that I was ready to propose her but we need to figure a way how we would do it.

We both scratched our heads for next three days but could not come up with any such good idea. By then idea of proposing her occupied my mind so badly that I started proposing her in different styles in my imaginations.

Fifth day Dev came up with a plan.

‘Tomorrow we will run from class before her as soon as class would be over. We will hide ourselves somewhere in her way to home & you will give her a letter in which you can write your feelings about her.’

I gave him a disgusting look ‘So this is your idea?’

‘I know the idea is old but it works, haven’t you seen in movies? Love letters always work’

With no other choice I reluctantly agreed to that idea.

Next day we left from the class as planned, rode on our bicycles & reached at the place we already identified on the way. We hide ourselves near to a hanuman ji’s temple. We both were breathing faster but my heartbeats were running like train engine.

Ten minutes later I saw her coming. Luckily she was alone & slowly riding on her cycle. As she came nearer my heart paced at a speed I felt that it would burst today.

‘Let’s run from here, I can’t do this,’ I said.
‘Why?’
‘That I don’t know but I can’t’
‘No, you have to do it today. Remember if you don’t act now you will never see her’

Again, same attack at same target. She was not very far now. I gathered all my courage, prayed to hanuman ji & moved towards her.

She was on the other side of the road; I took out the letter from my pocket, thought one last time & moved forward to cross the road. I was in the middle of the road when I saw Sharma uncle across the road. Sharma uncle was our neighbor & very irritating person. Every time he saw me, he would ask hundreds of questions related to my studies & my future plans. He had a son who was studying in 5th standard; he wanted to make him an engineer. He used to go to hanuman temple every Tuesday & unfortunately it was Tuesday.

I did not want to waste that moment discussing my future plans while my future was going away on the cycle. So I pretended like I had not seen him & instead of going straight I changed my direction to walk diagonally towards right so I landed approximately ten meters away from him. I took a deep breath & did not look back at Sharma uncle. Since Anjali was coming from the same direction so I could not see her either.

I rehearsed my dialogues one more time & prepared myself to be ready for the encounter. I guessed she was close enough & I was ready to call her as she would pass by. She did but before I could call her name, I heard my name from behind ‘Sanju Beta’ I turned, Sharma uncle was waving hands & I was rubbing my hands to give him a big blow.

‘How come you are here at this time, Beta?’
‘Uncle, I was coming from tuitions, today is Tuesday so I thought of taking blessings from the temple.’ I was helplessly looking her going away.

‘Very good, very good beta, you should come here every Tuesday.’

‘Surely, Next time I will come here when it wouldn’t be Tuesday’ I thought.

Next half an hour he asked same boring questions about how his son should study to bring good marks in board exams in future & to get admission in engineering college. And how I should setup my future goals & work hard to achieve them. I thought if he was not there I would definitely have achieved my goal today itself. I gave a frustrated look at Dev who was even more frustrated because he thought that the game would be over today but I was still hanging in.

We dropped the idea of giving letter on the road because it involved a lot of risk. First, any known person could catch us like it happened that day. Secondly, if the idea backfired & she shouted then many unknown people around would come to rescue her from two devils.

Another week passed. We were still finding a way to give her the letter.

Next day I got another chance. The class was over & she had stayed back to ask some questions to lecturer. I waited outside to finish her discussion. Dev was also with me. Being a true friend, he was very concern about my condition so he wanted to finish this drama off as soon as possible. After 15-20 minutes she walked out of the class & moved towards her cycle. There was nobody around so it was a golden chance. Dev pinched me to go to her & give the letter. I put my hand in the pocket to get the letter. To my surprise, the letter, which I was carrying for last one week, was not there in my pocket.

‘Oh Shit. Is that with you?’ I asked Dev.

‘What?’

‘The letter’

‘It was with you only. Check properly. You Moron’ He shouted.

‘No, it’s not in my pocket.’ I searched my bag as well but could not find that.

‘You idiot. Where have you lost it? Remember, we are screwed if some one gets a hand on it.’

‘OK. We will figure that later. For now, no need of any letter. Go and say directly to her.’ Dev said

‘No, I can’t…..I can’t say that. Why don’t you understand?’
‘Go, I say’ and he pushed me so hard that I almost bumped into her cycle.

First time I was looking her from so close. And all those dialogues that I mugged up lost somewhere in her eyes. I wanted to speak all my heart out but could not say a single word. I was just staring at her with my mouth open.

‘Stupid!!’ She said & left from the place.

Another fiasco. Dev was pissed off with that.

Later I found that the letter was left in my pant’s pocket, which I was wearing a day before. Luckily mummy did not check the pocket before putting the pant in the washing machine & my first love letter was washed out by Surf excel.

It was month of October & Diwali vacation was going to start. Tuitions were getting over in next two days. I went to Dev & said that it was last & final chance to fix that all. He agreed again & suggested ‘This is diwali time & you can give her a greeting card. We will not write anything stupid but just the diwali wishes on it. If she accepts that means she is interested in you. How about that?’

I agreed instantly so we both went to the market that evening after class & I took three hours to find a green color greeting card. I bought a new green ink pen to write something on it. I requested Dev to write because his handwriting was readable.

He wrote in big letters ‘Happy Diwali to You.’

‘That’s it? How would she know my feelings?’

‘Dude, I told you, we would not write any such thing’

‘No, at least write something so she can figure out that she is special for me & it’s a special card not an ordinary one.’

So he wrote in big letters ‘Especially for you!!’ on the blank page on the left side of the card.

‘That is enough. Happy now?’ he said.

I folded the card, carefully put it in the envelope & kept in the bag.

The whole night I could not sleep in excitement. I was eagerly waiting for the next day evening. That was the longest night of my life. I got up in the middle of the night, switched on the lights, opened my bag and took out the card, kept in my hand for some time & then put that back in the bag. This cycle continued till morning.

Next morning before leaving for school, I checked my bag to ensure that the card was there since I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake again.

School’s classes were always boring but that day was extra boring. I was never delighted as much before as I was that day after hearing the final bell at 4 PM. We both reached to Tija café to kill one hour we had before leaving for tuition classes. Those sixty minutes seemed like more than sixty days at the same café where we used to spend hours & hours without even realizing that. I was becoming restless now & forced Dev to start for tuitions fifteen minutes before the usual time.

That was our last day & we reached a bit early. Not much students were there that time. We had to wait outside because Sir was teaching another batch inside. More students started coming & they also stood outside. Everyone seemed happier because the tuitions were getting over unlike me who was sad for the same reason. They were exchanging diwali wishes & greeting cards. I checked again in my bag, the card was there. Dev tapped on my shoulder & said ‘Don’t be so impatient, she would definitely come. She always comes just before the tuition starts & you know that very well’.

‘Yeah.’ I nodded but deep inside I knew ‘if she doesn’t come today, probably I would never meet her again’

Ten minutes later, every one from the previous batch was out from the class & our batch started moving in. I couldn’t move an inch; my eyes were still fixed at the end of the street looking for her. ‘Don’t worry; Lets go in the class. She might come late today.’ Dev had said twice & third time he dragged me in.

I was sitting at the last row & searching in the room if I could see her anywhere. But I knew she was not there. My heart was beating low now. I was hearing lecturer’s voice but could not understand anything out of it. I was repeatedly looking at my watch & the door, hoping she would enter anytime. After sometime, a dark shadow appeared in front of my eyes & I could see nothing. A moment later those shadows disappeared & I saw Anjali. She was wearing white dress & looking like an angel. I was seeing the most beautiful girl in the world. She was smiling, waving her hands like asking me to follow her. She was calling my name & I started walking behind her

‘Sanju!!…. Sanju!!…. Sanju!!’

Suddenly, I felt a pain in my arm; I had fallen on the floor. I opened my eyes & she got disappeared. It was Dev who was calling my name. Lecturer & other students were standing around me. Every eye was looking at me but I was looking for those two eyes that had brought me to that miserable state & was looking for the face, that had become part of my dreams but dreams can’t always be true.

Three days later….

I was sitting with Anjali at Tija café.

‘See, how much pain I took for you?’ I said after telling her the complete story right from the first day I saw her.

‘You are so cute. Why were you so afraid of me? Mr. Sanjay Prajapat, you should thank to your friend. This was Dev who came to my school the next day of your collapse in the tuition class. The poor chap waited for one hour outside my school just to meet me. He told me everything & also gave your phone number.’

‘And he lied to me about having a bad stomach & not attended the school that day.’ Now my mind started tying up the loose ends. He was such a true friend.

‘I have something to show you.’ She put her hand in the purse & took out an envelope.
I was shocked as I saw the green color greeting card in her hand. ‘Oh God!! This is with you. Dev told me that he had destroyed the card because it would remind me of you.’

‘No, it will always remind me of your stupidity.’

And we both burst into laughter. I thanked Dev from the deepest corner of my heart.

**************************

Story: Bhola

I stopped there and moved my eyes to the corner where I was expecting someone, but in vain. He was not there; it had been two weeks since I last saw him

After all its mind and we sane people think. Lot of thoughts in my little gray matter started creeping up. Is he alright?? Has he fallen sick?? Has he met with an accident? Has he left the city? Has he shifted to somewhere else?

He is none other than a little boy. I wished for him in my deepest heart and moved ahead.

As I moved forward my mind went backward to remember the day, six months back when I was walking my way home & suddenly heard a voice “babuji……babuji……” and as I turned around, I saw a 10-11 yr old boy coming with a purse in his hands. His appearance was telling me the story of his poverty and suddenly my hand slipped into my pocket and it was missing. Before I could think of anything, he came and said in a low voice “Your purse…..Sir… It fell down when you were taking handkerchief out of your pocket”. I almost snatched the wallet from his hand, checked it and felt relaxed. It had all my credit cards along with 2000 bucks. It was untouched and not even single penny was missing from it; actually the boy didn’t open it at all.

“Everything is alright?”

“haa….. yeah… its alright…Thanks”. I said

He smiled & turned around to go back. I thought this poor boy deserves a reward for his honesty; he could have kept the wallet and enjoyed money as no one knew about it but he chose to return it. I called him… “Hey listen chhotu, what’s your name?” and the little heart said - “Bhola”

I offered him 100 Rupee note, “Keep it, and buy some sweets for you”

He smiled again and said, “Thank you babuji, but I cannot accept this money. I did what I felt right” and he returned.

And I was wondering how we elders overpass moral values in our lives to serve our self-indulgence & this little boy who might really needed the money but still he was honest & lived up to his self-esteem.

And this brought a feeling of guilt in my heart for offering him money.

Next day on the same route to my home, I saw Bhola, behind this flower stall that was setup with a table & short wooden slabs, the table was covered with not so good-looking but a clean fabric. Bouquets were placed according to their size, small one being at the front & bigger found the place in the last row. There were two half filled plastic buckets near the table, their top part seemed broken but the Rose flower buds kept inside were attractive enough to hide their placeholder’s deprived state.

I wondered how I could not notice him before while I passed by his stall daily? The next thought immediately answered my own question “It is a result of our coherent mindset; whenever you look someone in grimy clothes on the roadside, you try to ignore them believing that they will ask for money & they keep following you until you give them something.”

I went to his stall. Bhola welcomed me with a huge smile on his face. This was the thing I liked about him, one could never know if he had any grief in his life. He always greeted his customers with that sweet innocent curve, the finest thing he could do with his lips.

“This is my stall babuji” I could feel the pride in boy’s voice.

I thought to buy some flowers from him. Bhola helped me to choose flowers and also bettered my knowledge about flowers with different fragrance & their use. He started making bouquet with selected flowers. His small hands were slipping briskly on the flowers like an expert’s hands, and within minutes he prepared that gorgeous bouquet.

“How much?”

“Thirty Rupees, Babuji”

I paid him & moved towards home.

It became a routine now, I used to leave from office at 5:30 PM, as my home was at a walkable distance so I preferred to go on foot. On the way there was this stall, I stopped by it & happened to buy some flowers or other. Gradually I learnt the prices of all flowers. Later I used to pick the flowers, calculated price myself & paid him and he put it in a box without counting.

Sometimes, I used to chat with Bhola. I felt bad when I learnt that he never saw his father & his mother too could not survive tuberculosis & passed away two years back. He along with his younger brother stayed with his aunt alongside the railway track. Though she was nice to them & never asked but he paid her some money for rent & food she provided. His aunt was not in his relations; but after his mother she was the one who was taking care of them.

“Why don’t you go to school?”

“Babuji, I studied till 3rd grade, till my mother was alive. She worked in homes to pay my school fee. But after her I had to discontinue studies. Though aunty kept us good but she could not meet the expense of my studies. She too worked as a domestic help. I did not want to be burden on any one, so I started working.

Last year, I got my younger brother admitted to a government school as I earn enough to pay that small fee that they charge & other study expenses.”

Bhola told me that he distributed news papers before coming to the flower stall that gave him a few bucks extra by spending an hour in the morning.

Initially I insisted him to start study again but later stopped talking about it, thinking that how much this little chap could do all alone.

“I also wanted to go to school again, but I don’t get enough time; moreover I can afford one person’s study expenses only” Bhola told me once

Sometimes I felt like asking him if he needed any financial help but reminding the first day incidence, I could not dare to ask him.

Gradually Bhola made a place in my heart & probably this was the reason of my restlessness for not seeing him since two weeks.

Hundreds of times I thought of visiting his place near railway track but some precarious feeling prevented me to go there.

One week later I saw a familiar smile welcoming me. I almost jumped to see him but managed to control myself. I moved towards him, He too looked very excited to see me, seemed like he was waiting for me.

Before I could ask anything, he quickly took out something from a plastic bag which he was carrying today. It looked like a card; it was wrapped with a newspaper. He handed it to me.

With great inquisitiveness, I removed the wrapper slowly.

There was this paper where I could read his name on the top and whatever I read below that made me so delighted & bewildered at the same time.

It was Bhola’s mark sheet of 4th grade and he came up with flying colors in all his subjects.

‘Congratulation Bhola!!…. But…how ..you?” I stammered.

“Babuji, many people come at my stall but they do buy flowers occasionally and go their way after purchase. No one has time to talk to me. I always enjoyed talking to you. And I know you wanted to help me in a way or other thatswhy every day you purchase these flowers from me.

The other day when you asked me to resume my studies, I sensed the kind of affection that I felt in my mother’s eyes only. So I made my mind. From that day onwards whatever money I got from you, I started keeping it in a separate box. When I saved enough, I bought books for the 4th grade. I also got enrolled in a school which opens late in the evening. Immediately after giving you flowers, I had to run to attend my classes as the school starts at 6:00 PM. Normally I studied at nights.

It were my exams two weeks back, so I decided to devote more time to studies because I could not spend much time recently due to the work. This was the reason I could not come to stall. Though the exams were over last week but my brother got suffered from viral & I had to be at home for whole week to take care of him. He is well now.

I got my result yesterday only. I could not sleep the entire night as I was eagerly waiting for this morning to meet you & show this report card.”

I could easily figure out that feeling on his ever smiling face which comes up when you share your jovial moments with someone extremely closed to you.

And also felt a bit of wetness in the corner of my eyes.

************************************

Story- A Night at a Fort

“Guys, I am feeling hungry…”. I said. It was 12:00 midnight & we (GG, Sam, DK & me) were doing our assignments in the hostel that was situated in the college campus.”

“Lets go to Thadi ..we can grab something there??”

10 mins later …we were sitting at Thadi having “Keeda” (made of fried eggs along with breads) & Tea. I don’t know where this name “Keeda” came from, but I liked it so much.

Me- “Lets go back & finish the assignment. Prof. Chaddda is going to ask for this in his computer lab tomorrow.”

Vinay (who was passing by ) - “Prof Chaddha is not coming tomorrow; I overheard, HoD was telling to Prof Bakshi today.”

DK – “That’s great…No need to do the assignment. Can do it next week”

Sam – “lets go out ….. ….lets go to Jaigarh fort” was his proposal. He used to give such ideas at the most inconvenient time of reaching the place.

As usual DK & GG agreed instantly and It took a bit before nodding my head. “OK, but we will come back within 2-3 hours”

“Yeah definitely, we will”

We started on our bikes to the fort that is apprx 40 Kms from our hostel on the Jaipur delhi highway.

Sam & DK were on one bike & I was with GG. We were hitting 80 KM/H. There was no traffic on city roads which are normally overcrowded in the day time. “People are not mad like us to come out from their comfortable homes at 12:30 midnight.” I thought.

We lost Sam & DK on the way, but did not stop, thinking that they would meet us at fort itself. We crossed the city roads, hit the high way, after 15 minutes ride on highway we took a turn to the left, fort is on a small hill & the road was a bit narrow. We have been to that place many times before, so I knew that it’s safe to drive here even at midnight. Still, I was a bit scared, “what if someone comes out from behind the trees…??what if we gonna meet a ghost…..& ghost will become our friend? He will help me in the exam time…. will help in winning the gals’ hearts …...no need to study. …a new date every time…wow ... I wont gonna give a damm to those stupid gals of our college (Stupid?? Yes, they are, coz they don’t give me a damm) , I would go with hot babes only…. He will help me in reaching gals hostel & ……”

“Get down…Man…we are here??”

GG’s voice forced me to land my imaginary plane to the ground.

“Crap……These guys can’t see me being happy even in my own dreams”.
I got down …and he parked the bike near the boundary of the fort from where we could easily see the whole city view.

“Beautiful”
Watching the whole city from this height, it looks wonderful in the night, street lights shines like stars. Everything looks so calm here, A cool breeze whispers in the ears, what one could hear is his own breathe. No thought in the mind, a feel of calmness inside. It was this amazing feeling that kept bringing us to this place again & again.

“Hey guys…..you took so long reaching here??” It was Sam’s voice. DK was also following him.

“Ahhha you already here, when did you reach??”

“We here since a long & waiting for you…We also got these beers & pakoras “

Me- “Where did you find these at this hour of time?”

He said nothing just smiled. I thought what a silly question it was. I myself came several times just to get beers from liquor shops on the highway.

1:30 AM – we all were sitting on the wall, having beer with hot pakora and watching the beautiful city.
Me- “GG, you know I wanna kick your ass, coz you interrupted when I was about to enter in gals hostel….you Idiot”
I told them the whole my imaginations about ghost & his friendship.

GG – “Hey there is nothing like ghost. This word just framed to scare people”

DK – “No man, I am 100% sure that ghosts do exist. But people have a wrong perception about ghosts. They think all ghosts are harmful. But you know some of them are really not bad.”

GG – “Ohh So you have done PhD on ghosts.” Ha Ha Ha Ha ha…. “Have you ever seen any??”

DK, - “No I haven’t, but I know that ghosts have this power that they are seen to those people only whom they want to be seen by.”

GG – “I don’t agree, if they are not harmful then what the hell is their purpose in this world, I think they are meant only to scare others.”

Sam – “No man, some of them still want to be as live men, They enjoy talking like live people do & doing the thing what a live man do.”

“then why all the dead not become ghosts?” “Why only a few people become ghosts after death?”

GG found it an interesting topic; he loved arguments. He could talk 3 hours nonstop on any alien topic.

“It’s their destiny that brought them to sudden death & they become ghosts”

And the discussion seemed never ending. No one wanted to be convinced. I was a silent listener in this whole conversation. But I was equally enjoying the beer & Pakoras & admiring the beauty of the city.

3 AM - GG, Sam & DK had all the beers & their argument was still not over. I still had the last bottle with me, but did not feel like opening it.

I – “Hey guys, stop this nonsense. let’s go back”.

DK – “hey ..carry on….I am enjoying it…”

“No man it’s very late, we should leave now”.

They agreed & we were all set to drive back. I wrapped my beer with the newspaper that Sam brought with the pakoras, & kept it in the side bag of GG’s bike. GG started his bike & I sat on the pillion seat. Vroooooommmm ……. I knew that this time he won’t allow Sam to reach hostel before us. We left them far behind before we hit the highway. Though, GG was drunk but to my surprise he had a good control on the bike & hitting 80-90 Km/h.

We crossed the high way & just about to enter the city when we saw two figures standing in front of a petrol pump & waving hand to us. I said “No need to stop here as they could be criminal & there is noone around to help us.” He nodded.

As we came nearer we could figure out that it was Sam with DK. We were surprised & stopped there:

“Guys, you took a lot time to come back.” Sam said.

“Heyyyy….When did you overtake??”

“Overtake??”

By this time our heartbeats raised…

“My bike broke down as soon as we left the city & there was no mechanic around so we had all the way to push it to this petrol pump, after 1 & half hour we reached here. Thank God, this petrol pump was open & we found a mechanic here, it took him another half hour to fix it & we could not make to the Jaigarh. Well, how was your trip??”

“You kidding me??. We just had drinks at Jaigarh & discussed about ghosts”
“Ghosts” – this word shaken me from inside, I ran to check the bag where I kept the beer.

There was no bottle inside…but there was this newspaper I wrapped the bottle with.

I took it out, my hands were shaking; it was the inner page of Times of India, dated last month. I tried to read it under the head light of the bike.

“Two boys killed in an accident near Jaigarh Fort”, was the heading on a column.

GG & I looked each other’s pale faces & the words in my mind were...

“They enjoy talking like live people & doing the things what a live man do”

**************************

Short Story: Natasha

First time I met her three months back when I was returning from London. It was a usual business trip. The flight was delayed for two hours and I was waiting at visitor lounge after security check. I opened my laptop to finish off the pending work so that next day I could be a bit relaxed in the office.

I got up to get wine for myself when I saw a beautiful, blue-eyed girl entering in the lounge. She was looking for a place but there was no vacant table. Giving her an admiring look I headed towards bar. When I returned she was standing near to my table still looking around for a place.
“Excuse me, you can sit here if you don’t mind” I offered her the vacant seat opposite to my table which she happily accepted.

“Thank You, Very much” She said while pulling her cabin baggage near to the table.
Once settled, she spoke “The place is surprisingly crowded today. By the way, I am Natasha”
“Hello, I am Sagar.” I replied. We did handshake.

She was very friendly and easygoing girl. Within couple of minutes we were talking like we were old friends. I told her about my work and my frequent business trips to London. I came to know that she was working for an export-import firm in Delhi. She used to travel very often to London, Germany, France and many other European countries. This time she was on her way to Paris; her flight was also delayed. She told that she would stay in Paris for two days and from there would take a flight to Delhi.

With Natasha, two hours waiting period felt like seconds. Then there was an announcement for the departure of my flight. We exchanged our telephone numbers in India and I moved towards the Entry Gate.

A week after reaching India I called Natasha but could not connect. Thinking that she might be out of country, I didn’t try again. For next couple of weeks I was too occupied with work to think anything else. In this time neither I called nor did I get any call from Natasha.

Then, one Sunday she called me up and asked me if I were free to join her for lunch. We met at a restaurant and she told that she was quite busy in traveling since the day we met at London Airport. That day onwards we started meeting very often. I never succeeded getting her on phone. She used to call me whenever she was in the city. We spent a lot of time together. She was staying at Girls hostel as a paying guest. I always dropped her couple of meters away from the hostel.After two months, I realized that I was in love as I started missing her so much when she was away to her trips. Always thought about her and could not concentrate on my work either. So I decided that I would propose her on our next meeting.

It was two weeks later when she called me up to inform that her brother Mike was coming from London to meet her. He would stay here for next four days. She tried to do a hotel booking for him but all hotels were booked because of an international business meet held in the city. She asked if her brother could stay in my flat for a couple of days. I agreed because I was staying alone in a two bedroom flat and had one extra room.

While Mike was here, I was very much busy with my office work and could not spend much time with him. He did not mind that. Natasha had taken a week off from her office and she took him to visit many places in the city. Since I was not able to give much time so I made it sure to had dinner with them daily. Many times I thought of talking to Mike regarding our relationship but before that I wanted to know Natasha’s consent too. All these days, I could not get a chance to speak to her.

Three days had passed. Next day, Natasha informed me that she had got an urgent call from office and had to travel to Paris the same day when Mike was leaving. She would be back next week.

On last day when they both were to fly, Mike thanked me for all my help. I drove them in my car to airport to see them off. It was five in the evening. Mike’s flight was in thirty minutes while Natasha’s was an hour later. After see him off Natasha turned towards me, she thanked me again. Her flight was ready for departure and she turned to go. My heart began to race. I wanted to tell her how much I loved her. I didn’t want to wait for one more week to express my feelings. Some force inside me pushed me and I hold her hand and said – “Natasha, I Love You.”

She looked bewildered, but then smiled. She didn’t speak anything but came forward, kissed me and left without saying a word.

I was so happy when returning from airport. I knew what that kiss meant. She loved me too. I was on the seventh sky. I wanted the whole world know that she loved me too. Suddenly a deafening sound brought me back from my lovely thoughts. Immediately I pushed brake pedal and came out of the car to see what the matter was. A thick cloud of black smoke was going up in the sky. The smoke was coming from the direction where International business meet was holding up. Whole traffic stand stood for a couple of seconds and then started floating without any direction. Everyone was in a hurry to get home quickly. I too rushed to reach home safely. I knew an alternative way to avoid main road traffic. It took me half an hour to reach my apartment. “Breaking News - Bomb blast at International Business Summit” was flashing on all TV channels.

Today I am behind bars. I have been tagged as a terrorist. The later investigation revealed that it was a terrorist attack that was planned by masterminds across the border. They did a proper planning before executing the operation. Interpol confirmed that a regular communication had been happening between terrorists and their bosses for last four days until the day of the blast. The phone, which was used for these communications, was landline phone of my apartment. I did have international calling facility because of my business work. A couple of email communications that seemed to be the status and execution plan for this deadly mission, also sent from my personal laptop which I kept at home when Mike was staying there. To put my point upfront I handed over Natasha’s mobile number and hostel’s address to cops. But they found that the mobile number I gave did not exist and no girl named Natasha ever stayed in that hostel since last two years. The number from which she used to call me was a prepaid calling card purchased using a fake id and address. It was of no use of finding her office address either.
I still can remember her last smile at the airport but instead of “I Love You” from her, I hear only one voice from every news channel, every newspaper, every social organization and every common man of the country - “Hang the Terrorist”.

(The story continues. Click here to read next part)

लो आज फिर मुझे प्यार हो गया

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लो आज फिर एक हसीना से
मुझे प्यार हो गया
इश्क के मैदान में
हारी सभी बाजियों को भूल
बंदा फिर आज शहादत को तैयार हो गया

लो आज फिर दो नयनो में
मै गिरफ्तार हो गया
तीर -ए -नज़रों से छलनी
घावों के दर्द को भूल
सहने फिर नज़रों के बाणों को तैयार हो गया

लो आज फिर एक मुस्कुराहट का
मै शिकार हो गया
थोड़ी ख़ुशी के बदले मिले
लाखों आंसुओं को भूल
संजोने फिर चंद लम्हों को तैयार हो गया

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जुबान में गर हड्डी होती

मतलब पड़ने पे मीठी बोली
निकला मतलब तो नश्तर चुभोती
आसान ना होता अपनी बात से फिरना
लगी जुबान में गर हड्डी होती

पेट की खातिर बिकते ईमान
सौ जुर्म होते पाने को दो रोटी
सारे फसाद ऐसे ही मिट जाते
जगह पेट के गर कमर ही होती

कदम कदम पे मिलते धोखे
दुश्मनी दोस्ती के साथ है सोती
भोंक ना पाता कोई खंजर पीठ में
निगरानी को गर पीछे भी नजर होती

रिश्तों की पहचान हुई मुश्किल
मोहब्बत रुसवाई के आंसू रोती
खेल ना सकता इस दिल से कोई बार- बार
दिल में भी गर थोड़ी बुद्धि होती

**********************

तुमने भी दिया कोई नाम तो बतलाना

रात के अंधियारे में
सुनसान सड़क पे
वो अक्सर है दिख जाता
गिरता पड़ता और लडखडाता
रास्ते में खम्भों से टकराता
अपनी ही धुन में मगन
अपने ही ख्यालों में डूबा
कुछ पल थमता और कुछ सोचता
फिर कुछ सोचता फिर चल पड़ता
पता नहीं किस ओर है जाना
पता नहीं कहाँ है ठिकाना
देखने वाले कहते पागल है
कोई कहता है वो शराबी
कहता कोई उसे दीवाना
कहलाता कभी सिर्फ आम आदमी था
तुमने भी दिया कोई नाम तो बतलाना

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