Swabhabakabi Gangadhara Mehera
Love Practical
Abinash Raj
Scene-I
‘There is nothing called love. Everywhere you will find relationships based on mutual need of two persons. So you find your way as I have no interest in you’, the girl told a person seeming her ex-lover. The boy replied back ‘so you mean that the time we spent together during past several years is a waste…...’ ‘Who told waste? Even today I consider you as one of my best friends!’ the girl told. ‘Ok! As you wish’ the boy replied & turned back towards his bike parked at a distance rubbing his forehead. It was a hot afternoon after two showers of rain during day time in the month of July & the traffic on the road was normal as usual.
Scene-II
‘Can’t you hear me? I’m waiting in front of the entrance of IG Park. Find one ice-cream vendor near Soochana Bhawan boundary wall, who is dressed in a black T-shirt. You will get me standing nearby… the girl was speaking someone over mobile who seemed to be her boy friend. 7-8 minutes later… a boy, tall and dressed neatly, arrived driving a motor cycle. Within no time he located the girl of his dreams smiling at him and smiled back. He locked his bike there & both headed towards the park entrance. ‘Why you made me wait for nearly half an hour. I was scared of that black man looking at me vigorously. Henceforth come in perfect time’ the girl told the boy pointing towards a cigarette smoking young man. ‘Ok! As you wish’ the boy replied while checking the purse inside his back pocket. ‘IT sector is reviving & top companies are planning to recruit more number of staffs within next six months’ the Soochana Bhawan mike announced…..
EVOKED STIMULI
Surya Pratap Mishra
Some day in my life...
It was around 8P P.M. As usual I went to the mess with my friends to take our food. The food served at IIT was awful, to say the least. So, we decided to go over to the adjacent canteen instead. My dinner consisted of a plate of butter noodles, one plate of bread-butter and two cups of hot ginger tea. While having food, our discussions ranged from the recently concluded GATE examination to the biggest psycho amongst our friends. I went back to my room after taking dinner. The computer was running and g-talk chat window suggested that a friend had messaged me while I was away. She was already offline. So just messaged her back and closed the chat. I had some important graphs to show to my B-TECH project guide. I thought it would be a better idea to complete the graphs first. So I started working on that. It took two hours to finish up the task. Finally all the graphs were done. Origin Pro 7.5 has helped me a lot. I checked the g-talk list again. However, there wasn't anyone online who I thought would be a good company at that time. I had already watched two movies that day. So sleeping was the only option.
The next day.....
I opened my eyes with great reluctance. I was inside a soft blanket. And felt that my hands were wrapped around someone. I was shocked…. That person was looking at the other side. As I tried to get up from bed in haste, I had a look at that person. To my utter astonishment, I saw a woman!!! In her light green gown, with black long hair and black eyes she looked pretty. She seemed to be around twenty three years old. She looked happy as if she was smiling in her sleep. I was terribly scared... I had totally no clue about anything. I stood there looking at her, still thinking what had happened. I remembered that I had slept in my hostel room!!! “Where am I?” That was the only question running in my mind. Suddenly she woke up. Rubbing her sleepy eyes she got up and rested against the back of the bed. “Good morning honey!” She said. I did not know how to respond. I even did not know her. I had never met her in my life. But she seemed to recognize me well! I stood there blank faced. That was a great dilemma in my mind to wish a “Good morning” to that unknown lady. She smiled at me and got up from bed and walked towards the large mirror to her right. While she watched herself in the mirror, she asked me to get ready for breakfast. I had no option! I immediately went to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I was still trying to figure out the situation. From inside I could guess she was still standing in front of the mirror as if she was innovating something about her looks. “Oh God!!! What these women are!!” was the thought that crossed my mind? But suddenly when I realized that I was querying about the identity of that women who was behaving as my wife, I thought I was in a terrible dream. I tried to pinch myself, but could not the pinch although I could feel was not hard enough I guessed. As I turned around, I stared open-mouthed at the mirror. “Whoa!!! Who is this?” That was not me!!!! I examined the face closely. That was me, but I looked older!! And it was definitely not the same clothes I wore last night! I started to get panic. What happened to me over a night? How did I change so much? How did I get to that place? And who was the woman outside?
“Knock! Knock!!!” Open the door honey said she. I was ignorant of the next course of action. I was in a fix about whether to tell here that I didn't know her, whether to open the door or not?
Yes, coming in a minute reluctantly said I.
“Be fast, you will get late for office” was her reply.
“Office!!! God, what is happening here?” I was terribly shocked. I came out after sometime. There was no one in the room. I went to the wardrobe and picked some clothes. I was getting ready for office… Suddenly I noticed something on a small rack on the wall. That was a photo frame. There I was, not alone though. She was there too. And we both were smiling. From what it seemed, she was my wife… I could hear a mobile phone ringing at that instant. I looked around and found one lying besides the bed. Whose phone was that? I wondered that was mine! I Picked that up. My God! The mobile had the woman's picture as the wallpaper. And at the top-date displayed as “08:25 AM 12-05-2012”… I was in 2012! I could not believe my eyes. How could I be in 2012? It was only 2008 when I slept in my hostel room last night. Was I in a trance? Had I lost few years of my life somewhere in a black whole? Several thoughts engrossed me. The mobile was still ringing.
“Are you there in the room? The phone is ringing. Pick up the phone.” I could hear my wife.
That brought me back into the room.
“Hello.... Hello Mr. Mishra, this is Saxena. I got to inform you about a sudden change in plan today. Instead of our office, we will be meeting the clients at their office. Be ready. I will come and pick you up in about 20-25 minutes.” That said the unknown voice.
The mysterious Saxena hung up before I could ask him anything. I went out of the bedroom to find my wife at the dining table. She was preparing breakfast for her husband quite unaware of the fact that he had no clue when they got married! In a confused state about how to act in front of her, I wore a smiling face as if she was the only one I ever knew since I was born on this planet. Mr. Saxena arrived in twenty minutes. I said good bye to my wife and set off for the meeting with Mr. Saxena. While in the car Mr. Saxena said he wanted to discuss some issues about the meeting. I was still thinking about the four years that I lost in a night. Moreover, I did not have any inkling to what the meeting was all about. I tried to avoid any discussion on it. ”Oh Mr. Saxena, I know you have worked hard on it. I am sure you have prepared quite well. In fact, I would also like to give you the opportunity to present this in front of our clients. Do not worry. I will be with you and back you up. But I am pretty sure, you would not need that.” I said wearing a false confidence on my face. There was a quick glow on Saxena’s face.
“Really Mr, Mishra?” exclaimed he. “Oh, yes! I am not kidding.” I said with a hidden joy that I was saxena’s boss.
Again I tanked God for saving my life in that bizarre meeting. We reached the clients' office. Mr. Saxena took the lead in the presentation while I sat in the conference hall besides him, pretending to back him up. I was just praying for the meeting to end as soon as possible! The meeting was a successful one. We clinched a good deal! Mr. Saxena was ecstatic and thanked me for giving him that privilege. I humbly replied that he deserved it. “Mr.Mishra, lets take a break now. It was a good day! I will drop you back at your home.” Said Saxena.Yeah ! “Thanks to you Mr. Saxena, we now have this contract…” I replied to him. Mr. Saxena dropped me at my home. That was the after noon around 4 o’clock, my wife opened the door. I followed her to the living room.
“So early today” … said she, with a joy in her voice.
Yeah, the meeting wrapped up soon. Mr Saxena was good enough to drop me home. Can I get coffee? I said her as I was feeling like taking something to take. Oh sure, why don’t you get fresh, you will take some snacks as well, said she. No just I want coffee, I pleaded. A nice aroma of coffee made me a little moved; she definitely likes to prepare good food -I wondered. And she loves me a lot for sure; I was lost somewhere in my thought.
“Coffee”….. “coffee” wake up Suri….
I was amazed; whose voice was that anyway…. Oh God, I was in my sleep and in a dream that was felt as real… I could not believe my eyes, my old friend Sunita was standing in front of me holding a mug of coffee. That was 8 o’clock in the morning. With utter disbelief I took a sip of coffee and that made me get back the lost four years of my dream. I came to know from her that she just arrived and prepared coffee for me to give a pleasant surprise.
SERENDIPITY
Debasis Dash
I cried when I fell down with a thud.
Both my legs were weighing twice the weight it should be. That made it difficult for me to get up. Every time I tried to get up, I fell badly. After four attempts, I fell flat on my back and looked straight towards the sky. I could not make my mind how to get up. Loud party music was played nearby and the people around me were dancing to the beats. Some people did fall during the process, but they were straight on their feet soon after. I was the only guy out there who couldn't stand on his own feet! The pain in the legs was unbearable and the fact that, I had to get up quickly as people were cruising at twenty miles per hour around me.
Then, it started snowing. Oh God! I Murmured. ‘What am I going to do now…?’ I thought; crawling to shelter was one option, but that would look weird on the bed of ice. Wouldn't it?
Then I started cursing myself for wearing those heavy boots and getting into the center of the ice rink on a cold winter night. I had no experience of ice skating, but still I wanted to try and so had paid twenty pounds to get in there and fell awkwardly four times. That’s five pounds per fall! I tried to remove my skies, but it wouldn't come off. Or I didn’t know how to remove them. But, I had to remove them to lighten the load on my legs so that I could stand up. I was stuck there totally helpless.
“Are you a beginner” said someone above me.
I looked up and I saw a gorgeous girl in her teens wearing a bright red scarf around her neck. She smiled at me and offered her hands. I grabbed it and tried to get up. I got up, still holding her hands tightly. I was still in the danger of falling one more time. The blades in my stakes were so sharp and the ice so slippy that I was unable to stand. “I need something to hold on; other wise I would fall again” holding her hand for support I murmured. She smiled at me. “You can continue holding my hands if you are scared”
“Gee! Thanks!” I said and smiled sheepishly.
“I am not a professional, but this is my third class. So I think I am better handling skates than you are handling yours”. “Okay, now slowly push your left leg and move forward” she said. I just did that, but pushed my leg a bit more and was about to fall again. Scared of falling, I squeezed her hand tightly. “Easy!” she said. I forced a smile on my lips.
“Listen, this is easy. But you have to believe me. Hold my hands and do exactly what I do” She said, looking straight into my eyes.
At that point of time, paying twenty pounds and falling on the ice rink four times seemed well worth. “Twenty pounds is not a big money” I thought. Well, lots of other thoughts were floating in my mind at that time. Normally people in Newcastle have thrown rubbish at me and abused me several times. This was the first time; a gorgeous girl in the middle of the ice rink on a bitterly cold winter night was actually trying to help me. She took me around half the circle. I realized that I can skate though her assistance only. All the way, she was holding my hands, gently and helped me learn.
But, I didn't learn anything. I was only looking at her beautiful blue eyes. She was giving some instructions on how to skate. But, none of them went into my head. After half a round of skating, she said, “Try to implement this technique. You will be fine” and smiled.
“Good bye!” - She waved her hand and joined her friends.
I looked around, still in a state of bliss. None of the things that I saw was getting processed in my brain. The feeling was great. I could never put words to precisely describe that feeling. I looked around, once again. A couple of my friends were in the fourth class. One was skating like a Mickey Mouse and the other like a Robot. I laughed at them for a moment. Only then I realized that I didn't even thank the girl for helping me out. I started searching for her. Actually another beautiful reason my mind got for searching her was to ask her out for coffee.
“Damn! Why didn’t I do that before, when she was with me?” With the limited mobility, I found it too difficult to locate her in the rink. I searched and searched. But I couldn’t find her. She just disappeared.
“Am I the dumbest person around? What an opportunity was then to make friends with her, and probably more...?” I thought as more snow fell on my face. I missed to get to know her. What an idiot… looser was I? But those moments, the skate for half a round, the soothing words from her, were priceless.
Somewhere I read in a book that Columbus discovered America by sheer serendipity.
I began to access, is the discovery of a strange blissful feeling inside me for that unknown girl by any chance, serendipity?
An unsolved riddle
Picture Courtesy- http://www.jscudamore.com
It was about quarter to ten at night. I was sitting at the window seat peeping outside onto the platform; the train stopped. People rushed into the train as the train was running a bit late. A coolie with a suitcase and a big trolley stopped near by my berth. A girl followed the coolie. She seemed to be upset, nervous, a bit scared. Might be she was leaving home for the first time. Whatever be the case I was of course unwitting about her. She looked pretty in salwar but I guessed then, if she were in jeans and top could have looked prettier. The fear, the tension, the worries could not hide her beauty. Fair skinned was she with a round face, long hairs and big round moist eyes. She had her berth next to me. Her father escorted her to the station. He was standing outside the berth, waiting for her daughter to fix the luggage. Then he came near the window. I left the seat for her. I dint know what were they talking, may be those usual parental advises her father was rendering.
Don’t take anything from strangers, don’t get off any stations in between....have an eye on the luggage...Blah blah!!
I could see two drops of tear rolling down her cheeks calmly. The train left the station. She was trying to see her father as far as she could she. And gradually he disappeared. She came back to her seat and offered me my seat back. Thank God!! I love the window seat. If I had the free offer as she got I could have taken advantage of sitting for few more minutes for sure.
Suddenly I discovered a strong crave in me for a gossip with her. But I could not gather guts as she was upset and most of the time I fail in the act of consoling. I preferred to keep quiet until the morning. Everybody went for nap. So did I. Lights were off, still I could hear the sound of her weeping until I fell asleep. I woke up a bit earlier. I saw her sitting on the lower berth at the window. After finishing my routine job I sat in front of her. I was mingled in a duality of thought to tell a ‘hi’ or not!! “Can u please open the window glass”; that was the first sentence she uttered before me”. “God u r great” my mind was graced. “Yeah sure” said I with a spark. “Hello I am Abhishek”... No answer or a turned face would have been a great insult for me, “I am sagarika”... Thank God again!! She was not as dull as I thought of her. And after that we continued talking ... The journey was definitely going to be pleasing for me ... I could make out.
She was a second year MBA student in some college in Chennai, what I could know form our conversation. That was the third time she traveled on train for Chennai. I then was made wrong in thinking her to be a first year student. I though if she cried every time she traveled for Chennai…! That was beyond my courage to ask her such a silly question. Huh…. We talked lavishly. Obviously she talked more unveiling the much heard gossiping talent of women in general and I enjoyed bit by bit. She had come home after long six months stay in Chennai. And she stayed at home for a week; she was describing how she enjoyed each and everyday with her family, with her brother and cousins. Her eyes were enlightened speaking about the days she spent at her home.
It has always been a mystery for me, what ultimately the parents want to gain by keeping their children away from them…is it higher education…! Is it a good job with handsome salary…..! Is it a better and a secured future….! Or anything else….! And why are these needed…… To get happiness in later part of life!!!!! We save our life to live later; I have seen cases where that later never comes. To get a better tomorrow we sacrifice our today. On the other hand to live a so called civilised life, one need everything ……education, money and even more than that. In the process of achieving those, beautiful moments of life are often sacrificed; emotions suppressed and killed. And why….! I never get an answer to this and I conclude…..I am Confused, I am in duality…... Let it be the way it is…I am too young to understand!! But if I were to rule the world I would say. “No children should leave their parents”.
It was lunch time. We had our lunch. In the meantime she would have received at least twenty calls from her home shooting queries that if she was fine and where did she reach. Her battery was drained and she asked me if I could come with her to the AC boogie to charge her cell for sometime. Of course I could!! She charged her cell for about fifteen minutes and we stood near the door for that time. She asked me about my whereabouts. And finally we exchanged our numbers. We came back to our seats and talked for some more time until the train reached the station. I called a coolie for her, we walked to the station gate where we shook hands and she told “nice meeting you”…”same her” I said. She waved her hand and vanished into the crowd. We never met after that. We had contacts over phone. She became a very good friend of mine. She got married 4 years later, and blasted on me because I was out state and could not attend the function.
Twenty five years passed, I still live in Bhubaneswar with my wife and a son. One fine evening I went to attend a marriage function with my family. And there I met her for the second time, she has grown a bit fat, cheeks were chubby with few wrinkles, but she was as charming as she was twenty five years back. I introduced her to my family and she introduced her family to me, she has a cute daughter; who had come back from US after two years to spend her vacation here in Orissa. She will be back to US in a month’s time…for higher education, more money, and good job and yes for a cherished secured future. I am old enough but still I can not understand. It's just I hope she does not weep like her mother.
