As usual on Friday evenings Rakesh goes to the neighborhood irani café in the sleepy suburban area of old city to meet his old friends smoking his favorite brand of cigarettes sipping the hot chai. For the past few weeks he was completely stuck in the office for the project he was working on which was in the final stages of completion. Thank God! The task had been successfully completed and he was now free for atleast a week. This was usual for the software employees like him. He belongs to a small town from coastal Andhra similar to most of his friends and colleagues who had come for work in this city of pearls. The irani café owner knows him very well and his bunch of friends.
His smoking addiction started during college when smoking was considered to be fashion and style. Puffs of smoke filled his hostel room during college days. He was always lauded the way he made shapes with the smoke releasing it from his mouth and nostrils sometimes. His friends mostly constituted of smokers and drinkers but he liked the company of these people because most of them are intelligent like him or atleast they felt so. This addiction to smoking had made him loose his beautiful girlfriend and also angered his parents. He was close to finish off two to three packs in a day. It was unusual to find him without a cigarette.
Later when he had joined the meditation and yoga classes through his uncle whom he admired a lot he was temporarily out of smoking. As they say everything has a first time he became a smoker again with a lesser intensity, this time around four to five cigarettes a day. This basically started out with his boss in the company who had offered him a cigarette on the very next day of his joining the company which he could not reject. Thus started the saga of Rakesh’s smoking once again.
Now that the project had come to an end, he was deeply relaxing sipping the chai at nawab’s café. His friends have to come in about half an hour so. They are all childhood friends and meet regularly on fridays at the nawab’s place which is their favourite spot. Nawab’s was a small chai baddi in good old city of Hyderabad. He had grown from being a small chai baddi to a big café in the corner. His sons chotta nawab and khan had parted ways and put up separate café’s at different locations. The chotta nawab runs the old nawab’s café whereas khan has a restaurant in secunderabad.
It was around 6.30pm when all of the friends were busy chatting about their days’ work. One of them suggested they all go to the Madhushala Bar. The Madhushala situated inside the street was a place for all the smokers and drinkers. Usually localites hang out there after days work. It is a place filled with laughter, chatter occasional shouts by the drunkards and seems like a heaven for all the drunken. Madhushala Bar had been notorious at one point of time because of its night club activities but due to government rules now it had transformed into the new Madhushala bar and restaurant. One can find some regular loyal customers to the bar.
Rakesh and his friends have started on their bikes to arrive at the bar. As it is a norm for them to order a common round of drinks starting the session with their favorite rum, they ordered snacks to munch on along with the drink. After a round of drinking and blabbering, Rakesh took out a cigarette from his pack which he always carried along with him. The waiter who was around serving the second round of drinks immediately warned him not to light it inside the premises of the bar this angered Rakesh but he reconciled to the fact which he has seen in the news about the ban on smoking at public places. In India as it is a common practice to break the rules he did not think that this rule would be so strictly applied even to the bars which were usually smoker’s heaven. Rakesh as such is a kind of person who gets anger but subsides immediately as he cannot fight anybody owing to the principle of non violence nah! He does not have the physical strength and internally is actually timid. He actually covers up such facts in his conversations.
He has immediately stood up along with his another smoker friend, Pranav as such is a non smoker but he takes passive smoking too much seriously and is habituated to passive smoking. It is not his intention to become a passive smoker but only a precaution from becoming an active smoker. During his childhood Pranav was a kid who never knew what it was like being away from house, he was also not a regular sports person like his friends but a very studious child. Due to teenage fantasies he had lost interest in studies in his plus two and has not fared well in the competitive exams due to which he had landed up in a not very good college. He had altogether different company of friends and there he was taught to drinking. He tried smoking but only thing he got was cough and two days of medication. Thereafter he stopped smoking but eventually got used to passive smoking.
Now that they were smoking heavily and discussing issues at work place Rakesh thought about his lost girlfriend for a while and was asking about her whereabouts nowadays. Rakesh’s girlfriend mona works for the same company as Pranav. Mona loved Rakesh but due to his addiction to smoking she quit her relationship with him and is now happily married to a non smoker husband who also happens to work with Mona in the same office. After that incident Rakesh never loved another woman.
They both went inside the bar and mingled with their other two friends who were seriously discussing about politics. Ram was a person who has very strong views on politics in fact he is planning to take up permanent job at one of the parties. He has his family’s support to join full time politics. Ram had been doing many social activities and had contacts in the ruling party of the state. He loves chatting with friends and always loves winning at arguments involving politics. Chaitu the other friend who loves drinking is a silent listener to all that ram blabbers and boasts of politics. He is the most silent person in the group after Rakesh.
The group had just finished the last round of drinks and were asked to leave the bar or else thrown out of it as the time’s up. They were the last persons to leave the bar. As they came out Rakesh felt urgency to light the cigarette and as he fetched for it immediately he was warned by a cop nearby not to smoke in public places. He left abusing the constable and guided the group in search of a private corner or private place. They went to the next street corner where in they took out the cigarette but soon there arrived a bunch of people in a marriage procession, pissed off they drove to the next junction and as soon as they arrived they noticed the commissioner of police building staring at them ferociously.
This time they thought of a nice place to smoke that is the turning near to the necklace road which is notorious at one time. As they were about to light the cigarettes there were whistles blowing police chasing couples who were engaged in secret love making intimacy. Rakesh and his group had to immediately leave that so called private public place in search of another. Finally Pranav declared they will got to his place as he stays alone nobody is there to question them but unfortunately at his place the gates were locked by the house owner and there is no point in jumping the wall either because that would wake up the bull dog tied in the compound.
Despair and frustration were telling upon all of them when all of a sudden they found a secret building hiding in the dark shadows of night. An old dilapidated building which was about to get demolished soon to build flats. An old man is in charge of supervising it day and night he does nothing but drink all day and night. So it was easy for them to barge in and get to the terrace. As soon as they arrived at the top of the 5 storeyed building Rakesh felt a relief and the view of moonlight and city’s outline from the top was mesmerizing. All of them stared at the beauty of the city which is sleeping silently at around 1am. Cold winds were blowing and immediately they required the smoke to keep them warm, Rakesh took out the pack and put the cigarette in between his lips, suddenly he realized he was not having a match box or lighter to light the cigarette.
This was too much for him to handle, he searched everybody’s pockets and ran down stairs frantically. Mad with not finding a match stick he was sick and tired. Pranav, Ram and Chaitu were also in the same state and were desperately looking for a matchbox. Finally after two hours of unfruitful search a great idea dawned upon them, to search the old man’s stinky pockets in hope of finding atleast a match box with one or two matches.
With this great thought that landed upon Rakesh’ already frustrated mind pranav decided he will go and search the old man’s pockets. The three waited with bated breath as pranav was approaching the old man’s cot. The man was around 60 years old with a darker complexion and white stubble and moustache thick enough to scare a 12 year old kid. He was fast asleep lying on his stomach, his right hand hanging loosely from the bed. As Pranav approached nearer the old man moved a little and this made Pranav retract but his friends hinted everything’s okay from the terrace. Pranav now crouching and crawling went near the bed and slid his hand through the pocket to his excitement he found the match box and in a hurry pulled his hand to which the old man twisted and his hand got underneath.
Landed in a fix he waited for sometime and then easily moved his hand that gave the old man a push slighter than a blow of wind and this made him uncurl and pranav removed his hand immediately ran to the top of the building.
As if he had won the race in Olympics he came to the top tossing the matchbox into the hands of Rakesh claiming his prize. As the four of them sat at the edge of the parapet wall of the old building with lighted cigarettes finally in between their lips they had seen the most beautiful view through the fumes, the sunlight in an orange and saffron colored sky just like the tip of their burning cigarettes.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Beautiful Stranger
In Delhi this time of the year never before I had seen or boarded the metro though I was in Delhi previously. Staying in East Patel Nagar guest house of my company with good food and accommodation I felt lonely. Without friends and nowhere to go and see, waiting from morning for a friend I left in the evening outside the guest room for exploring the vicinity which lead me to the park nearby and watching few beautiful older ladies walking to reduce their obese bodies and younger ladies to spend some time outside their comfortable homes with their friends. There were also older men and women sitting in groups gossiping usual topics of neighborhood, sarees, politics, economy and finally America.
I left that place after sitting idle watching kids and their mothers controlling them. Finally I left that place for something better, but only to my disappointment as there was nothing unusual. Strolling on the wayside I went upto the metro station where I thought of boarding the Delhi metro once again. For a second I thought where to go and it immediately struck me that I have to buy a ticket on Tuesday for Kullu which was to be bought from the Himachal Bhavan which was near Mandi station. Therefore I bought a ticket to the Mandi station and boarded the train for Mandi.
I got down at the Mandi station and headed towards the Himachal Bhawan where I got to know that the counter will be closed by 8PM. I just then hoped that they accept card for the purchase of ticket and moved towards the counter where the man behind the counter said they don’t accept cards. As it was already near to 8pm I thought it was useless to fetch for an ATM and returned to the platform of Mandi station with a ticket to Rajendra Place.
As soon as I boarded the train I noticed a beautiful lady sitting in front of me along with a lady who looks like a typical south Indian lady whose husband is also sitting beside her whom anybody can recognize as a south Indian with his typical Tamil style of putting the Tilak or Vibudhi. Coming to my beautiful stranger, she looks fair and of average height, her special attraction was her nose which is long, thin bulging slightly at the end and straight, her facial features and her skin colour and brownish hair one can easily identify her to be a Sindhi. She was wearing a dark green Punjabi salwar kameez holding two mobiles. Her beautiful eyes have captured my attention to her and she was looking me eye to eye. I started responding to her contact, while she was still talking over phone. We exchanged looks many a time. I still don’t understand what we conversed silently but I felt bad since she was a stranger to me. All the time I was in the metro I sat and stood to give way to an old lady and her husband I felt happy for I had done something good. She has noticed that and I was leaning to a pole while a small kid was playing naughty all the while.
As we were busy exchanging looks my station has been announced and I had to move towards the door. Still managing eyesight like a kid I was watching her while she was talking over the phone. All through the phone call she was watching me. I felt happy and at the same time bad for I have to get down at the coming station. The station has arrived and I had to get down and was waiting for her to see me, but there were people obstructing our vision. This went on till the train left. As I was used to the Hindi films I waited for some more time until two trains coming form the opposite side left the station as if she would be returning by some other train back to talk to me.
My instinct was otherwise and waiting there was literal waste of time so I took another train towards that direction. I thought this is the time to do something different. Alone in the train again passing through the metro stations, I suddenly noticed the green salwar lady on the station which might be the fifth one in that direction. There was not enough time for me to confirm but i just got down from the train and started to move in her direction. She was on the escalator talking to the south Indian lady with her husband beside her. Once outside the metro station, they headed towards the bus stop where they were discussing about something, still following them from behind I stood for some time in the shadows of the street. After sometime they took a bus, I just followed them. After travelling for another half an hour the south Indians got down the bus and immediately I occupied a seat, this time just behind her and she noticed that.
After 15 minutes, the bus was nearly emptying and it was almost 9PM and I landed in a place which I do not know much about. She was walking towards her home and I was following her to catch up with her pace. The street lights were throwing occasional beams of light on the road. It seemed to be a newly developed colony and very few people were on the roads and it is very cold. Silently walking behind her she was looking back at me whether I am following her or not. I smiled at her hoping she would smile back and in return she stopped after a while turned back and asked me straight in the face why I am following her. I liked her gesture and retorted that I liked her in the first instant and thought that she also liked me because she was noticing me from the metro. She did not say a word and just walked on without even replying me why she was noticing me. I wanted to ask her why is she not saying a word but she did not give me a chance, silently strolling behind her she entered into a house which is looking very old. There were many families residing in the house.
I entered into one portion of the building after several twists and turns landed up in a corner of the building which bore a name plate Mr. Rajesh Dandemani. She rang the doorbell and there were shouts of small kids who have opened the door. A little girl and a toddler were at the door. To my shock they started shouting maa. I was taken aback and for a minute I just forgot everything. The lady immediately offered me water and asked me to come inside the house. I sat in the chair and she offered me tea.
She told me her name is Meenu and I introduced myself. She works for a company in the other part of Delhi and daily commutes by Delhi metro. I got curious and shot a valley of questions to her. To which there was a cute smile from her. She immediately took me inside the room where in there was a person lying on the bed. She immediately called Rajesh and the man responded with a whine, I was shocked to see him. He was a man of 30 years and badly affected by paralysis stroke. She introduced me to him as a friend from her company. His features barely resembled somebody I could identify with. After that I got out of the room still with few questions unanswered. She started telling me that she and Rajesh were in love and married against their parent’s wishes. Everything was fine until Rajesh got bedridden due to paralysis and she still loves him so much and she was very much hopeful that Rajesh could be treated. Within few minutes I realized how courageous this beautiful stranger was.
Silently I started to move with a satisfaction and appreciation but I had still a doubt in my mind which was eating me away. She had recognized and got up and went inside. I was about to go into the room when she appeared suddenly and asked you might be wondering why I brought you here, saying this she put a photo album in my hand. The moment I opened the album I was shocked to see that face which I can recognize very well. It resembled me.
With a big sense of appreciation, satisfaction and happiness for what life has given to me I took leave of my beautiful stranger and her happy family after playing with the kids for sometime. She offered me food but I said I had fulfilled my hunger. She asked me where I go in this night; I told her that I have to get to the guest house for tomorrow I am leaving Delhi for Kullu. I bade goodbye and left into the darkness of night.
I left that place after sitting idle watching kids and their mothers controlling them. Finally I left that place for something better, but only to my disappointment as there was nothing unusual. Strolling on the wayside I went upto the metro station where I thought of boarding the Delhi metro once again. For a second I thought where to go and it immediately struck me that I have to buy a ticket on Tuesday for Kullu which was to be bought from the Himachal Bhavan which was near Mandi station. Therefore I bought a ticket to the Mandi station and boarded the train for Mandi.
I got down at the Mandi station and headed towards the Himachal Bhawan where I got to know that the counter will be closed by 8PM. I just then hoped that they accept card for the purchase of ticket and moved towards the counter where the man behind the counter said they don’t accept cards. As it was already near to 8pm I thought it was useless to fetch for an ATM and returned to the platform of Mandi station with a ticket to Rajendra Place.
As soon as I boarded the train I noticed a beautiful lady sitting in front of me along with a lady who looks like a typical south Indian lady whose husband is also sitting beside her whom anybody can recognize as a south Indian with his typical Tamil style of putting the Tilak or Vibudhi. Coming to my beautiful stranger, she looks fair and of average height, her special attraction was her nose which is long, thin bulging slightly at the end and straight, her facial features and her skin colour and brownish hair one can easily identify her to be a Sindhi. She was wearing a dark green Punjabi salwar kameez holding two mobiles. Her beautiful eyes have captured my attention to her and she was looking me eye to eye. I started responding to her contact, while she was still talking over phone. We exchanged looks many a time. I still don’t understand what we conversed silently but I felt bad since she was a stranger to me. All the time I was in the metro I sat and stood to give way to an old lady and her husband I felt happy for I had done something good. She has noticed that and I was leaning to a pole while a small kid was playing naughty all the while.
As we were busy exchanging looks my station has been announced and I had to move towards the door. Still managing eyesight like a kid I was watching her while she was talking over the phone. All through the phone call she was watching me. I felt happy and at the same time bad for I have to get down at the coming station. The station has arrived and I had to get down and was waiting for her to see me, but there were people obstructing our vision. This went on till the train left. As I was used to the Hindi films I waited for some more time until two trains coming form the opposite side left the station as if she would be returning by some other train back to talk to me.
My instinct was otherwise and waiting there was literal waste of time so I took another train towards that direction. I thought this is the time to do something different. Alone in the train again passing through the metro stations, I suddenly noticed the green salwar lady on the station which might be the fifth one in that direction. There was not enough time for me to confirm but i just got down from the train and started to move in her direction. She was on the escalator talking to the south Indian lady with her husband beside her. Once outside the metro station, they headed towards the bus stop where they were discussing about something, still following them from behind I stood for some time in the shadows of the street. After sometime they took a bus, I just followed them. After travelling for another half an hour the south Indians got down the bus and immediately I occupied a seat, this time just behind her and she noticed that.
After 15 minutes, the bus was nearly emptying and it was almost 9PM and I landed in a place which I do not know much about. She was walking towards her home and I was following her to catch up with her pace. The street lights were throwing occasional beams of light on the road. It seemed to be a newly developed colony and very few people were on the roads and it is very cold. Silently walking behind her she was looking back at me whether I am following her or not. I smiled at her hoping she would smile back and in return she stopped after a while turned back and asked me straight in the face why I am following her. I liked her gesture and retorted that I liked her in the first instant and thought that she also liked me because she was noticing me from the metro. She did not say a word and just walked on without even replying me why she was noticing me. I wanted to ask her why is she not saying a word but she did not give me a chance, silently strolling behind her she entered into a house which is looking very old. There were many families residing in the house.
I entered into one portion of the building after several twists and turns landed up in a corner of the building which bore a name plate Mr. Rajesh Dandemani. She rang the doorbell and there were shouts of small kids who have opened the door. A little girl and a toddler were at the door. To my shock they started shouting maa. I was taken aback and for a minute I just forgot everything. The lady immediately offered me water and asked me to come inside the house. I sat in the chair and she offered me tea.
She told me her name is Meenu and I introduced myself. She works for a company in the other part of Delhi and daily commutes by Delhi metro. I got curious and shot a valley of questions to her. To which there was a cute smile from her. She immediately took me inside the room where in there was a person lying on the bed. She immediately called Rajesh and the man responded with a whine, I was shocked to see him. He was a man of 30 years and badly affected by paralysis stroke. She introduced me to him as a friend from her company. His features barely resembled somebody I could identify with. After that I got out of the room still with few questions unanswered. She started telling me that she and Rajesh were in love and married against their parent’s wishes. Everything was fine until Rajesh got bedridden due to paralysis and she still loves him so much and she was very much hopeful that Rajesh could be treated. Within few minutes I realized how courageous this beautiful stranger was.
Silently I started to move with a satisfaction and appreciation but I had still a doubt in my mind which was eating me away. She had recognized and got up and went inside. I was about to go into the room when she appeared suddenly and asked you might be wondering why I brought you here, saying this she put a photo album in my hand. The moment I opened the album I was shocked to see that face which I can recognize very well. It resembled me.
With a big sense of appreciation, satisfaction and happiness for what life has given to me I took leave of my beautiful stranger and her happy family after playing with the kids for sometime. She offered me food but I said I had fulfilled my hunger. She asked me where I go in this night; I told her that I have to get to the guest house for tomorrow I am leaving Delhi for Kullu. I bade goodbye and left into the darkness of night.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Deepest Desires
A wild fire of the forest
Rampaging beautiful nature
is just like what you had done to me!!
My heart was set on fire
My mind got numbed
I could not think anymore!!
I couldn’t wait for anything in the world…
I was like a calm and quiet river
Spread out in its vast expanse
Until the day you came into my life.
Is it you who had dragged me
or
is it me who had fallen from my forte of austerity?
It seems like traveling in the unknown
Where
Everywhere seems to be blue
And
My journey will remain to be forever..
Searching for hope is like a blind man groping
In
the dark for some light when he should better
be
in the comfort of his home
Is it the God’s will for me to suffer?
Or
is it your pleasure to watch me burning in the flames of desire?
I don’t know if God can save me from this
But
if you wish I could be saved from deterioration.
I leave this choice to you whether to let me agonize
for the rest of my life
or to put some life back into my soul….
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hareesh
Rampaging beautiful nature
is just like what you had done to me!!
My heart was set on fire
My mind got numbed
I could not think anymore!!
I couldn’t wait for anything in the world…
I was like a calm and quiet river
Spread out in its vast expanse
Until the day you came into my life.
Is it you who had dragged me
or
is it me who had fallen from my forte of austerity?
It seems like traveling in the unknown
Where
Everywhere seems to be blue
And
My journey will remain to be forever..
Searching for hope is like a blind man groping
In
the dark for some light when he should better
be
in the comfort of his home
Is it the God’s will for me to suffer?
Or
is it your pleasure to watch me burning in the flames of desire?
I don’t know if God can save me from this
But
if you wish I could be saved from deterioration.
I leave this choice to you whether to let me agonize
for the rest of my life
or to put some life back into my soul….
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hareesh
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