Frankly Spooking Giveaway Alert

Anybody wants Kindle copies of Frankly Spooking?

If you happen to visit here, please do get in touch. (I doubt I'll hear from any of you, I know I've been away for far too long this time, but well..what better way to get back in touch than by sharing copies of my book. Yeah, for now, Kindle/e-copies only :( )

So, yeah. Want it? :)

With all Due Retrospect

'Feels unreal. Seriously.' (I even heard an echo, I swear)

In the past too I have taken breaks from this space for months together, sometimes more than this one, yet this time round, it feels like the longest. I don't know why - it just seems so.

Returning to this space feels like coming back to a post-apocalyptic (pun wasn't intended!) blogosphere where you feel you're the only one left on this planet. No, seriously. I know it sounds dumb but to be honest I had no intention of returning today. Writing these opening lines are just my way of saying 'well, I'm here now - might as well pen something down'.

I'll come to the real reason of why I returned here later on, maybe toward the end of the post, but let me just put out those thoughts that took shape as I opened up this page. You know, in many ways it also feels like I'm talking to myself (remember the post-apocalyptic thing?). There was a time when I'd wait like an eager pup to open up this space and shoot those words out, mostly stories. I knew there were friends/readers waiting for those and I too was eager to get the feedback. Something tells me this post is going to remain unread for a long long time. Not that it bothers me. I know how this area works. Having gone for so long now, a lot has happened offline, in my life and in the lives of my regular blogger-friends as well; some of who have better (or shall we say busier) things to attend to, outside of this space. And some of them continue to blog too, God bless them. I visit them regularly though am not so regular at leaving comments these days (the 'why' of which is another post altogether).

Ok, coming back to the real reason of why I decided to peep in here today - it's silly actually if you really look at it closely, but I guess I just needed a place to vent.

Something happened this morning that had me thinking. I won't go into the details of what it was; it is irrelevant. I was actually in the middle of a discussion with a colleague when this happened. It was a message of sorts. I couldn't really grasp the depth of the message at the time, it all happened in a few moments. But later when I mulled over it, I realized how fragile our lives had become. The message like I said, wasn't really something to worry about a lot, it was a sincere one, one that I respected too - but when I thought about it again, replayed it back in my mind a few times...something snapped inside me. Like I'd been accused of something I wasn't even party to (in the real sense, at least). I actually laughed out a little while later, but try as I did, I just couldn't bring myself to mend the 'snap'. So I left it at that. Time will take care of it just as well.

I know, this sounds very much like the ending of 'Burn after Reading', but you know how it is, right..what with intolerance and browbeating being trends of the day. Suffice to say, my resolve to steer clear of unnecessary emotional tetherings has only gotten stronger.

So, from here on, I'm only going to focus on the most important things that need to be taken care of, and nothing else.

Oh, and a happy new year to all of you (yeah, yeah...it's February. I know). May you achieve whatever it is you set out to achieve in these 365 days.

Sorry... 366.


****

Miles to go before...

This is a story that's kind of true. I say kind of because something similar happened to a friend of mine many years ago. I've just changed the settings.

And oh, this too, is a Frankly Spooking outtake.

******



The headlights of her car zig-zagged like a laser sword on the long winding and near-empty asphalted road. It soothed her. Varsha eased her grip on the wheel, never realizing how tense she was all the while. Maybe it was the soul music coming from the radio. She smiled and lowered her window. It felt good. She wondered why an empty highway in the night was always associated with all things sinister. The warm summer air told her a different story altogether.

She was about to glance in the rear view mirror when a car whizzed by, so close it almost threw her out of the way. She steadied the wheel.

“What the hell…” She muttered as she saw the car a few hundred meters ahead of her, tearing down the road in a mad rush. “Bloody rash drivers,” She thought and got a grip on herself.

She glanced at the radium in her wrist watch. 9.30 pm. She was just under an hour away from her destination. She was visiting her parents who lived in a nearby town. Wanting to avoid the weekend rush the following morning, she’d decided to tow the trip this night itself.

A few kilometers down the road, she spotted the same car that had rushed by her, slower now.

“Thank God, some sense prevailed,” She smiled. She was close now, almost ready to overtake. She was passing by the car, curious to see the face of the driver. An oncoming headlight on the opposite side of the double road helped her with that. She gasped.

It was a small boy at the wheel.

She turned to the road and drove past him, glancing every now and then at the diminishing car in the rear view mirror.

“What’s gotten into this fella? How did he get behind the wheel? Nobody stopped him?”

Her mind was now cart-wheeling with thoughts. Should I force-stop him and pull him over? What if he meets with an accident?

She was still buried in her thoughts when the car whizzed by again.

“That’s it.”

She pulled out her mobile and dialed 100. Busy tone. “Damn.”

She stepped on the gas and sped behind the little fellow. Within no time, he was out of sight. She was terrified of the consequences now. She even passed by a patrolling post by the highway, but it was closed, and there was no sight of a highway patrol jeep.

Swearing under her breath, she kept her eyes glued on the road and went faster. She was going round a bend when she heard it. A deafening explosion like sound. It was a bit muted by the chaotic breeze, but it eventually came to her ears. And then she saw it.

“Oh my God, oh my God…the car crashed.” Her pulse racing she pulled over.

Obviously, the car, out of control at that speed, had careened out of the highway and landed on its back in the fields. She got out and waved frantically at passing cars. Not a single one stopped. “What’s wrong with these guys? Nobody has a heart anymore?” She then looked toward the accident. There was a cloud of dust still hanging in the air as she finally ran down the bund-like slope by the highway that led to the fields. In the occasional passing head-light she could make out the wreckage. She knew the boy was dead. Nobody could survive this one. But stranger things had happened. Children’s softer bone density sometimes saved them from the worst accidents. She was all nerves, but luckily, her training in the NCC helped her keep a straight head, even at such times. She dialed 100 again. This time some blessed soul finally answered. Quickly barking off what happened, and after being assured that the highway police would soon be with her, she slowly approached the car to see about the boy.

She approached the car, crouched, and shone her phone’s light at the car.

There was nobody inside. She stared at the awful wreck for a second before she stood up and looked around. Was he thrown out? She noticed the windscreen had got smashed. It was possible. She scurried around looking for him.

“Aunty,” whimpered a voice behind her, making her jump out of her skin.

“You…you ok, huh?” She stepped toward him.

“Aunty,” the boy sobbed now. As she went near him, she sensed something was not ok. This couldn’t be. He looked fine. Not a scratch.

She stood in front of him, not sure what to ask. She bent down. “Why…why were you driving the car, son?”

The boy sobbed further. “Aunty..I need to get to my mother.”

“Where’s she?” Varsha asked, fearing the worst for the lady. Was she in some kind of trouble?

“Where’s your father?” She continued to ask. But he didn’t answer.

She wasn’t even sure why she was asking him all this. He needed medical attention. Maybe he was thrown out of the car, and landed on the soft fields. Maybe there were internal injuries.

He was about to answer when she said, “Ok, ok..don’t worry, child. We’ll get to your mother ok? But first we need to take you to the hospital. You..you need medical attention. Ok?”

The boy looked puzzled.

Varsha was about to open her mouth when her eyes fell on something to his left, a little behind him. She gingerly walked past him towards the object. It took her a few seconds to realize it was not an object.

It was the boy. Lying face down. But that was impossible. She crouched over the boy, who was motionless. She tried to shake him. Nothing. She felt his pulse. Nothing. Her mind was still in a swirl when he called out from behind her.

“I have to get to my mother, aunty. Please. I have to..I have to.” He kept saying.

She wanted to say something. She wanted to scream. She wanted to get away from this weird scene. But it was like time had halted. Her voice got stuck in her throat. She turned at the limp form again. This time it moved. And then with a loud gasp, the boy sputtered and coughed, and came to life.

Varsha watched in mute horror as he turned his face and slowly got up, holding his head. She then swung back sharply to look at the other boy. But he wasn’t there.

A few moments later, the cops and medics arrived and took charge quickly. A while later, they had contacted the boy’s mother and medics got into their act.

As the boy was whisked off in the ambulance, Varsha saw him looking at her.

She heaved a sigh and slid to the ground, too dazed to even analyze what just happened.

****

Switched

She'd seen a video on YouTube and decided to try it. She gathered all the materials and got to work. An hour later she had a 'scar' running the length of her right cheek. She stifled a laugh as she imagined her poor kid sister's reaction. An April Fool's day to remember.

She tiptoed to their bedroom. Her sister was turned the other side, her blanket covered right till her ears. She switched on the bedside lamp and slowly crept into the bed. She leaned over and nudged her sister's shoulder.

'Siri.. Siri..'

'Hmm,' her sister said sleepily.

'Wake up,' she whispered.

'What's it, Meetu?' said Siri, obviously irritated.

'Wake up, na.. turn.'

Siri turned. Took her a second as her eyes widened.

'Wha..what on earth..'

Meetu feigned pain. 'Please don't tell mamma..'

'But, how.. how did it happen? What did you do?'

Meetu winced and said, 'it's a long story.'

Siri was wide awake now. She leapt out of bed to get the first aid box.

She came back, sat in front of Meetu who was trying hard not to laugh. She rummaged through the box. 'You're crazy..'

Meetu felt something on her cheek just then. She raised her hand to make sure the make-up didn't fall off. Oddly, her right cheek seemed perfectly normal.

She stood up quickly as a puzzled Siri looked on, and went over to the mirror.

The scar was on her left cheek, and a trickle of blood oozed out. And it hurt like mad.

She screamed.

***

Ghosts of Bloggers Past

When I started blogging about 11 years ago, I had no idea what was in store. It was virtually like jumping off a cliff. I didn’t know the first thing about blogging, and was apprehensive as hell. There were no blogging forums, no blogger groups, nothing. Quite a few people didn’t even know that such an activity existed. Surprising because I’m told blogging, or ‘weblogging’ as it all began, had been around circa mid-90s.

Anyway, I was way into blogosphere by around 2005-2006, had made many online friends and was on a high. A few years later, as my blogging dwindled to a few posts a month to almost a few a year, the blogosphere as I knew it slowly disintegrated into fragments. Other social networking avenues opened up – we all know what those are today.

Blogging became a business; a platform to promote not just writers, but also products. It was the ultimate marketing move by Internet marketing Gurus, in what could be called a blogging coup of sorts. Blogging was no longer about expressing one self. It was no longer about jibing into one another’s thoughts, or even bouncing off philosophy or sports, or any other field off one another. It was no more personal. It had gone global, onto a new level.

When I look back, browse through some of my old posts, really old ones from even my previous blog, I saw a warmth, felt a wave of nostalgia that is very difficult to express. Part of it could also be due to the fact that most of us back in those days, belonged to the same age group, give or take a few years here and there. We had common aspirations, common ideas about the world in general, and we were all peeping into the big bad world through the same set of eyes. We could relate to one another.

When I started writing fiction on this blog (well, mostly), it was with the intention of really trying to hang on to whatever was left of my self, my identity in this online world. I didn’t want to let go so easily like so many of my contemporaries had done. I remained, stayed behind, trying to find acceptance in a growing tribe of younger bloggers who were far more sorted out than we were. Their ideas were radical, they had a certain ‘in-your-face’ kind of an attitude which, by all fair means, was necessary to establish their own identity in this rapidly growing opportunistic forum. But, somewhere down the line, I felt myself slowing down, with not much energy in me to cope up. I was, as clichés go, ageing. Most of my contemporaries had found solace in the fast moving world of either a Facebook or a Twitter. They had made new friends, found new avenues to express themselves, not always through the online medium.

Offline, I was pretty much where I was – a day job, a family, all the trappings that came with a life like that, which I chose, of course. The blog was slowly starting to become a fading memory. Until things started picking up again circa 2010, when I started penning a new set of stories, and slowly the audience for those stories started increasing. It was a temporary high, of course. I knew it all along, but gave it good with whatever I had. It resulted in a book, and then some. And I had vowed all along, never to give up on blogging. My blogger friends were now a much more younger and energetic crowd than my middling years, and the thought was sometimes frightening to say the least. This time round, I didn’t even have enough tricks up my sleeve to fit back in. I knew that they were far too different than me to be able to connect. Fiction itself had taken a new avatar. Some of these writers are brilliant. They have an almost methodical approach to their blogging – almost surgical in the precision, if I may add. They time it well, they sign up for promotional programs, they are the new kids on the block who are going to shape the future of this online medium. More power to them.

I’m going all retro because recently one of our old bloggers started a closed group for bloggers of yore, called ‘Ghosts of Bloggers Past’ on Facebook, where we all stood and started calling out our old comrades. It was slow at first, but eventually we came out of our respective burrows and pretty soon, it was a fairly deafening gathering. It felt good. For a moment, we were back in the late 90s and early 2Ks.. we were our younger selves. The feeling was almost tribal, for want of a better word. The group reverberated with the calling and shout-outs of familiar names that we’d once upon a time called each other even in our sleep. Then the noise wound down, slowly but surely. It was a great high while it lasted.

I’ve said this before, and I say this now. Blogging might take on a different meaning for me now. But I’m never gonna forget that hot afternoon of 2003, when for the first time I entered my username and password and signed up for this cyberspace ride, to boldly go where not many had gone before. And even though it’s never going to be the same for me, I will linger on in the far corners of blogosphere, maybe as a star, looking down on a new blogger, as they come online and type in their first nervous words out here. And I’ll smile and say – welcome aboard. Fasten your seatbelts. And brace yourself for the journey of your life.

***

All's Well

Neeraj and Prakash were in Neeraj’s farm house for just over a day and they were bored to death already. Their summer vacations had begun and Neeraj’s father had promised them some great trekking on the mountains alongside their farm house. But unfortunately he had to rush back to the city for some unforeseen business, stranding the two boys in the lonely place all by themselves. Neeraj’s mother, who was also an entrepreneur, was to join them a couple of days later. That left them with more than 48 hours of boredom.

“Come on Neeraj, this is so boring – and I’ve not even got my games with me,” Prakash said, the evening Neeraj’s father left.

“Come on dude, not my fault,” Neeraj said, frowning. He was equally frustrated.

It was an old ancestral farm  house with a medium-sized farmland in and around. While mango was the main plantation, they also grew some coffee and other vegetables. The place was looked after by an old couple, who were now more than two decades old here. Neeraj had little inclination to come to this place aside from the fact that there was some great trekking to do behind the house, a path that lead to the mountains, and offered a great view. He usually accompanied his parents here during the vacations.

The two boys were 14 and 15 respectively. Prakash was Neeraj’s bum chum, and had visited the farm house a few times earlier. This one had turned sour though.

“Why can’t we go trekking ourselves?” Prakash said, toying with the worn out remote of the worn out old television set, as their favorite sport played on the screen. Neeraj frowned some more. “Ha. Alone? Not with my dad around, buddy. He learns of it, we’ll be on the menu here the next day.”

Prakash frowned.

The two boys sat silently, watching the show on mute.

“Hey,” Neeraj said a few moments later.

Prakash looked at him, puzzled.

“How about we do some trekking in and around? You know..just around the place. No going to the mountains and all…”

“As in…?”

“Around the farm man. Just hang around the  coffee plantation. Something is better than nothing, right?”

Prakash sniggered. “And then what? Do some farming as well?”

“Shut up. And…” he said, lowering his voice, “there’s that old cabin also I spoke about, remember?” He winked. Prakash just stared at him silently, a little slow to catch on until it struck him. “Oh, you mean, those ghost stories the old man keeps telling…that one?”

Neeraj nodded.

“But didn’t you also tell me that place was out of bounds for us?”

Neeraj clicked his tongue. “Who’s going to tell papa?”

Prakash was unsure. “I don’t know, dude…”

“ Hey, sissy. You coming or not. I’m going,” Neeraj said, on his feet already.

“What, now?”

“What else. It’s still not dark. We can come back by then.”

“That old goose’s wife keeps looking out for us. What if she notices we’re not around and rats on us? She’s done it earlier too.”

“Man, you’re such a sport.” Neeraj was already on his way out. He stopped at the door and turned, rolling his eyes at his friend. Prakash switched off the TV and got up reluctantly. He craned his neck to check on the old woman and joined Neeraj finally.

***

The vegetation was at a lower plain with a lot of thick growth in between. The boys carried sticks to cut through the thick bush. They spent the first half of the morning simply trekking through the plantation. It was huge and beautiful, and they took a lot of pictures. Neeraj had already uploaded some pictures on Facebook.

A little before noon, they came upon the old well. It was clearly a very old well, maybe a half century.

“Wow,” Prakash said. He’d been to this farm house a few times earlier, but they’d never ventured to this part. He wondered why. Maybe they’d been kept from this place on purpose. Maybe the ghosts..oh well.

“Is this the spooky well? Looks pretty normal to me,” he said.

Neeraj smiled. “That’s what they want us to think. Normal. But I’m sure there’s something.”

They walked up to the well and bent over. It was quite deep, but they could see the ripples at the bottom. Their reflection bobbed up and down as a few pebbles fell into the water.

“Coo…” Prakash piped, his voice resounding across the wall of the well.

Neeraj looked around. Aside from the occasional bird and a distant dog, it was quiet and warm here. He looked at the cabin behind the well and nudged Prakash.

They stood outside the cabin, looking clueless. It was a regular cabin, with just a single room housing the water pump and generator inside. They walked around it and came back front.

“Hmm, nothing unusual here as well,” Prakash remarked. Neeraj nodded and stood.

“Maybe we ought to have come here after dark,” Prakash said, chuckling. Neeraj smiled. “yeah.”

“Shall we do that?”

Neeraj looked at his friend and raised his eyebrows. “Are you nuts? I could get killed.”

“Oh come on, you sissy..” Prakash ribbed him. The boys spent some time looking around the place.

“Give me your cell phone,” Prakash said at long last.

“What..” Neeraj started.

“Shh. Just give it.”

Neeraj handed him the instrument. Prakash took pictures of the well and the cabin, and then walked over to the edge of the well. He pointed the cell phone down and clicked a couple of pictures. The well lit up momentarily in the flash light.

Prakash was still leaning over a bit when he looked at the saved picture.

“Holy shit…,” he said, his hand and shoulder jerking suddenly; and down went the phone into the well, with a soft ‘plop’ as it dove-tailed into the water.

Neeraj took a second to register this. Prakash looked down, and then at him, open-mouthed. Neeraj ran to him and looked down.

“What the f…, Prakash…” he yelled. Prakash was holding his head, his face twisted into a knot. “Shit, shit…shit,” he said.

“Yeah, that’s right. That’s what I’ll be doing soon as I go back and tell dad about this…fuck, he’s gonna skin me alive, man. Aaargh,” Neeraj said going in circles frantically, his eyes wide open in horror and disbelief.

“Man…” Prakash clutched his hair, his jaws clenched and he hit the wall of the well with his hand. “Bloody hell.”

The boys then stood for a minute, clueless. Neeraj looked around frantically. Prakash, the ever ‘practical’ one, pursed his lips.

“What are you looking for – a rope? Do you plan to go down?”

“Do you have a better plan, genius?”

“But, Neeraj..we don’t know how deep the damn thing is, man. Just..forget about it.”

Neeraj glared at his childhood friend. “Yeah, it’s easy for you to say that, you moron. It’s not your fucking phone. Dad coughed up almost 30k for this one, and that too because I made his life hell.”

Prakash had guilt written all over his face. “I’m sorry, Neeraj..I didn’t do it on purpose. Come on..I..I’ll get you a new one.”

“Yeah? Like how? By selling your bike?”

The air got a little bit thicker with that comment. Prakash was a middle class guy, and they both knew what it took for his father to buy him the bike. Neeraj regretted it the moment he said it.

“Sorry. I’m…I’m sorry Prakash, I..I’m just so scared.”

Prakash was silent. Though hurt, he knew what his buddy was going through. “It’s ok, dude. It’s my fault.”

The two boys sat down on the ground, thinking. Neeraj was chewing on a blade of grass.

“What made you drop it, anyway?” Neeraj said finally. Prakash looked at him and shook his head.

“They’re right. The well is spooked, dude.”

An involuntary laugh escaped Neeraj’s lips. “Yeah? Is that why you dropped it?”

“Man, you’ll not believe what I saw in the phone. It was weird..I mean..really crazy.”

“Cut the crap, Prakash. Tell me.”

“I saw someone in the picture.”

Neeraj stopped chewing and let go of the grass blade. “What?”

“Yeah,” Prakash said quietly.

“You mean…” Neeraj looked at the well and back at his friend. “There? Inside?”

“Not there..I mean, in the picture I clicked.”

“Great,” Neeraj said dropping his hands. “I guess now we’ll never know, shall we?”

Prakash took a minute to realize.

“Hey.” He shoved Neeraj gently. “Don’t you believe me?”

“Yeah, I do,” Neeraj said half-heartedly.

“Neeraj..”

“I said I do, man, what more do you want me to say? I just find it a little..you know – crazy. It’s not like we’re in a fucking graveyard, and neither is it in the middle of the night.”

“Are you saying you’d believe me only if it were night?”

“I don’t know, I just know that my expensive phone just fell into a well, and my fate is sealed. Is that too bloody difficult to understand. Huh?”

“Ok, ok, man…” Prakash said, throwing up his hands. “Fuck.”

Tired of thinking of alternatives, the boys decided to call it a day. They trudged back to the farm house and after a wash, plonked in front of the TV, neither really understanding or actually watching anything. Their minds were working furiously.

Neeraj lay in his bed later in the night, his eyes wide open. He still couldn’t believe he’d lost his phone, all because of a dumb picture. He wondered if Prakash was really telling the truth, or just …

He tossed and turned. His mother would be here the next day, and …and then he had an idea. He’d tell everything to his mother. She always covered up for him. Maybe she’d come up with something. She’d give him a hearing for sure, but she’d come around. She always did. He suddenly felt light. That’s it. He decided to tell Prakash about it. It wasn’t his fault really. Maybe, maybe he just freaked out looking at the dark picture. Sometimes people did strange things. He sure was pissed at his buddy, but then he was his best friend and had stuck by him through many tough spots.

He got up and headed down to the TV room. Prakash had stayed back to watch a late night movie. He descended the stairs and came to the living room. The TV was on, but Prakash was nowhere to be seen.

“Prakash.”

The caretaker who was cleaning up, came into view.

“Puttaiah, seen Prakash?”

The old man just shook his head and said, “He was here watching TV.”

“ok,’ Neeraj replied. That was informative.

Neeraj walked to the land-line and called Prakash’s cell phone. No response. He hung up.

He called out to him a few more times and went back up to his room. And there, by the window, was Prakash standing with his back to Neeraj. The room was dark, save for the light coming in from the lamp post outside the window. It was something Neeraj’s mom had felt necessary.

Neeraj shook his head.

“Bloody hell, there you are. I tried calling you so many times…”

Prakash turned around and smiled. This irritated Neeraj even more.

“What happened?” said a voice behind him, just then. Neeraj swung around sharply. Prakash was standing behind him, adjusting the string of his pyjamas. He looked up at Neeraj finally. "I was in the bathroom. I think the food was a bit heavy..” He stopped. Neeraj was looking pale.

“What’s up, dude?” Prakash said

“You were in there? Then who was there?” He turned toward the window. The curtain swayed gently. Prakash side-stepped him and came in. “Who was where?”

“There, by the window. Weren’t you standing there, just now?”

Prakash rolled his eyes. ‘I thought I just said I was in the bathroom. What’s up with you, dude?’

Neeraj looked at Prakash strangely. “Holy shit man..I just thought I saw you there, by the window. You even smiled at me.”

Prakash chuckled. “Neeraj..I think you took the well thing a little too..”

Just then Neeraj’s lost cell phone rang out from the bedside table.

****

The Mourning

(Repost Alert! With minor edits)

Asha dialed her friend Soumya's number on her cell phone and waited as it rang. Suddenly she heard voices. Cross connection. She recognized the male voice - her husband's. He'd stepped out with his cell phone just a few seconds back to make an official call. She craned her neck to look outside. Obviously he wasn't aware of it. She listened. The other was a female voice, unknown. Maybe it was a female colleague. She shrugged and was about to hang up...

"Please Priya, you have to be patient. Please."

"Don't you Priya me. You know I've waited long enough." Sounded harsh.

A pause.

"Four years, Hemant. Four long years. Isn't that enough?" she was saying.

Asha's blood froze as she heard the two voices pulling at each other for the next few minutes. Then suddenly she remembered she had to breathe. She cupped the mouthpiece and let out a long, shivering sigh and continued listening.

"Ok, enough of all this. When are you going to do it?"

"Shh, Priya, not on the phone. Please don't talk..."

"OK, ok. but when? You have to tell me. Now."

A long pause. Long enough for Asha's eyes to fill up.

"Don't know. I'm very busy these days. Maybe next week."

"You're lying. You can never do it."

"No, Priya..it's just that..."

"You can never do it, Hemant. Admit it."

"No. NO, I can."

"Ok, one week. But next Thursday, I want to see myself at the mourning."

And the line died.

Asha virtually tore the cell phone from her ear and replaced it on the cradle. It felt like a dumb-bell.

Four years...

***

The house was crowded with mourners. Some wept quietly into their handkerchiefs. Some sobbed heavily. Others looked on, gravely. Priya dabbed her bloodshot eyes and sat in a corner, looking shocked. A hand on her shoulder jolted her. She looked up.

"You are here, Priya. Mourning...and it's thursday. I hope your wish is fulfilled now. That's what you wanted, right?"

Priya sniffed and looked on in disbelief as Asha rose and walked slowly toward Hemant's large garlanded photo.

****

Aage se right

The rights and the wrongs of life are funny. What is right, is not wrong. What is sometimes wrong, might be right. What you thought was wrong becomes right after a while. What seems right, might just about turn out to be wrong in the first place. But just when you decided that it was wrong, a creepy crawly feeling raises it's hood making you wonder that maybe, just maybe it is not wrong in some ways. And when you console yourself and others that the right can never go wrong, something/somebody comes along and proves you wrong.

Right?