Man, this is fast. 15 hours for a story, with 8 hours of it going to sleep. I enjoyed writing this story a huge deal, and this is among my totally arbit self made stories. So, I dont expect everyone to like it. But I liked the idea, and I think it'll rather make a good movie, than a story. So you could probably view it like a script. But still, awesome experience! Thank you all
Ever yours,
Chappli...
Friday, 5 March 2010
Chapter 9
Years later, I got to know that Rakesh Goyal had married Shvetha, and his major plan was to get Shvetha, and getting her separated from me was just the first step. As I was thinking about all this, the bus came to a halt. It was high time I left the bus, and it was pretty urgent. I bade goodbye to Shvetha, gave her a hug, and wrapped a shawl around my face as I got down. It was all I'd see of Shvetha, or so I thought, and started moving on. As I walked on, I passed by the poultry farm Rasa owned.
The poultry farm would hold amazing significance for me. It was where I had slit the kidnapped Rakesh's throat last evening. Ever since I got to know Rakesh was Shvetha's husband, I wanted to kill him. I could not accept the fact that Shvetha had done something that foolish, and I wanted to correct her mistake. I kidnapped him, made her come to Chennai with some big cash, and firstly killed him off.
But when Rakesh was killed, I realised the story was only half finished. Where would the big dad of it all go? So the next step was simple. Go home. It was five years since I last went home. People had no idea as to what I was upto, and what I did. I walked in and sought a private audience with Rasa. As I was chatting with him, I stabbed him, twice, very quickly and escaped through a secret entrance of the home, one which I used to use a lot when I was a kid.
Rasa's men were now searching for me. I had to make my life somehow. But I had the way. I felt my pocket and there were 25000 million dollars. Shvetha taught me the art of picking pockets, and now I made a living out of it. I had been a very good student and I showed my teacher exactly that. After all, she didn't need all the cash, it was after all Rakesh's, and that bastard had an entire fortune waiting to be spent by Shvetha. Shvetha had passed on the baton to me, and I made it only stronger!
The poultry farm would hold amazing significance for me. It was where I had slit the kidnapped Rakesh's throat last evening. Ever since I got to know Rakesh was Shvetha's husband, I wanted to kill him. I could not accept the fact that Shvetha had done something that foolish, and I wanted to correct her mistake. I kidnapped him, made her come to Chennai with some big cash, and firstly killed him off.
But when Rakesh was killed, I realised the story was only half finished. Where would the big dad of it all go? So the next step was simple. Go home. It was five years since I last went home. People had no idea as to what I was upto, and what I did. I walked in and sought a private audience with Rasa. As I was chatting with him, I stabbed him, twice, very quickly and escaped through a secret entrance of the home, one which I used to use a lot when I was a kid.
Rasa's men were now searching for me. I had to make my life somehow. But I had the way. I felt my pocket and there were 25000 million dollars. Shvetha taught me the art of picking pockets, and now I made a living out of it. I had been a very good student and I showed my teacher exactly that. After all, she didn't need all the cash, it was after all Rakesh's, and that bastard had an entire fortune waiting to be spent by Shvetha. Shvetha had passed on the baton to me, and I made it only stronger!
Chapter 8
We rushed to Shvetha's place on the bike. But on reaching, we realised there was no "Shvetha's place". We thought we'd taken a wrong turning and retraced our steps back, but we realised that it was gone. It was blown up. All we could see were dead bodies, of men, women, small kids, pet animals and of course rubbles of the thousand five hundred other things which were part of the household.
Shvetha went paranoid. She couldn't place how it all happened, in fact all she could do is match things as to which stuff among the rubbles were hers and which weren't. She frantically searched for the gold bangle I'd gifted her a couple of years ago, but in vain. What she found in turn, was the head of her seven year old brother. The sight was too hard for her to take. She fainted right there.
When she woke up, I was still there beside her. I refused to show her the bodies of her parents. Both their bodies were destroyed beyond any sort of recognition. The faces were hardly identifiable. I could recognise the clothes they were wearing and hence put one and one together to get two.
She was baffled at the misfortune that had struck her. But then, was it misfortune, or was it .... She immediately understood, it had all been Rasa's idea. But what took me by surprise was, the girl who was madly in love with me, the girl who blindly believed me all the while, based on the words of few others suspected me of being part of the conspiracy. This happened after she asked me if I could marry her then and there. This was when I made my life's biggest mistake. I refused to get married to her without Rasa's permission. She was disgusted, and slapped me tight. Then, wailing, she left the place. As she went off, I saw part of my life going away, but I did not have the words in my mouth to ask her to stay back. I was majorly responsible for all this. After all, Rasa was my father.
I rushed back home, and my father was celebrating his success with his protege. The man who had masterminded the entire thing, Rakesh Goyal, my father's right hand!!
Shvetha went paranoid. She couldn't place how it all happened, in fact all she could do is match things as to which stuff among the rubbles were hers and which weren't. She frantically searched for the gold bangle I'd gifted her a couple of years ago, but in vain. What she found in turn, was the head of her seven year old brother. The sight was too hard for her to take. She fainted right there.
When she woke up, I was still there beside her. I refused to show her the bodies of her parents. Both their bodies were destroyed beyond any sort of recognition. The faces were hardly identifiable. I could recognise the clothes they were wearing and hence put one and one together to get two.
She was baffled at the misfortune that had struck her. But then, was it misfortune, or was it .... She immediately understood, it had all been Rasa's idea. But what took me by surprise was, the girl who was madly in love with me, the girl who blindly believed me all the while, based on the words of few others suspected me of being part of the conspiracy. This happened after she asked me if I could marry her then and there. This was when I made my life's biggest mistake. I refused to get married to her without Rasa's permission. She was disgusted, and slapped me tight. Then, wailing, she left the place. As she went off, I saw part of my life going away, but I did not have the words in my mouth to ask her to stay back. I was majorly responsible for all this. After all, Rasa was my father.
I rushed back home, and my father was celebrating his success with his protege. The man who had masterminded the entire thing, Rakesh Goyal, my father's right hand!!
Chapter 7
"Hello, Shvetha Goyal here!.... Oh Shit, where,... Oh really! OK, I'll come ASAP!"
The call reminded me very closely of that fateful call seven years ago which sealed our fate. After cutting the call, her eyes started to swell. Then she turned to me, and on seeing my face, her tears increased rapidly.
I knew what news she had recieved on the phone call, and I first wiped the tears off her face, and buried it into my chest. Shvetha hadn't changed one bit over the years, she had remained to be vulnerable to shocks like these, and she took them all with that standard helpless expression on her face and a few tears.
I kept thinking about how stuff would've been if that terrible evening hadn't intruded into our beautiful lives. Life would've definitely not been the way we were living, I guess I'd have been a cleaner man with Shvetha around. It would have been a lot of fun, and a lot of happiness, lots of love too.
Probably we'd have completed college, we'd have good jobs, and a small little family, probably been self sufficient, and in all, I'd have been living a life, people would've envied. But it wasn't to be.
The strife outside seemed to come to an end. I thought if it was time I got out of the bus. It wasn't too safe in here either. But as I was thinking, Shvetha got up from my chest, and controlling her tears, spoke, "He, Goyal, was a traitor too! The BASTARD!!"
The call reminded me very closely of that fateful call seven years ago which sealed our fate. After cutting the call, her eyes started to swell. Then she turned to me, and on seeing my face, her tears increased rapidly.
I knew what news she had recieved on the phone call, and I first wiped the tears off her face, and buried it into my chest. Shvetha hadn't changed one bit over the years, she had remained to be vulnerable to shocks like these, and she took them all with that standard helpless expression on her face and a few tears.
I kept thinking about how stuff would've been if that terrible evening hadn't intruded into our beautiful lives. Life would've definitely not been the way we were living, I guess I'd have been a cleaner man with Shvetha around. It would have been a lot of fun, and a lot of happiness, lots of love too.
Probably we'd have completed college, we'd have good jobs, and a small little family, probably been self sufficient, and in all, I'd have been living a life, people would've envied. But it wasn't to be.
The strife outside seemed to come to an end. I thought if it was time I got out of the bus. It wasn't too safe in here either. But as I was thinking, Shvetha got up from my chest, and controlling her tears, spoke, "He, Goyal, was a traitor too! The BASTARD!!"
Chapter 6
It was an early winter morning. Shvetha and I had planned to travel to Pondicherry, for a getaway. The Ashram was something I always wanted to visit, but never actually had gone to. I thought in the process, I could catch up on some cheap booze too. Though Shvetha wouldn't have been very approving, I would have convinced her.
On that day, life seemed perfect. The bike ride to Pondy was something I could never forget in the years to come. Al Pacino talks in "The Scent of a Woman" about how it is something that is very difficult to forget. Even today, I could cleanly make out and separate the scents of the cologne she wore, and her hair, and if given an option, I'd have chosen that of her hair. The trip to Pondicherry along the East Coast Road was the gateway to heaven.
After the serene Ashram atmosphere, and the booze getting trip I embarked upon after plenty of cajoling, we got going back to Chennai. On the way, she gave me a hug and said she felt like this would be the last time. I wasn't exactly the man for superstitions, but you don't do much other than respond when your girlfriend hugs you. So, I hugged back and told her this would not be the last time. Little did I know that Shvetha was going to be correct once again, as always. As we were driving back to Chennai, her cellphone rang, and she was greeted with some terrible news!
On that day, life seemed perfect. The bike ride to Pondy was something I could never forget in the years to come. Al Pacino talks in "The Scent of a Woman" about how it is something that is very difficult to forget. Even today, I could cleanly make out and separate the scents of the cologne she wore, and her hair, and if given an option, I'd have chosen that of her hair. The trip to Pondicherry along the East Coast Road was the gateway to heaven.
After the serene Ashram atmosphere, and the booze getting trip I embarked upon after plenty of cajoling, we got going back to Chennai. On the way, she gave me a hug and said she felt like this would be the last time. I wasn't exactly the man for superstitions, but you don't do much other than respond when your girlfriend hugs you. So, I hugged back and told her this would not be the last time. Little did I know that Shvetha was going to be correct once again, as always. As we were driving back to Chennai, her cellphone rang, and she was greeted with some terrible news!
Chapter 5
You realise sometimes, months or even years after the break, that you, to a major extent were responsible for the end of a wonderful relationship. I have been in such a situation, many a time, when the very thought of how my relationship with Shvetha ended would give me a nightmare. To this date, the fact that I couldn't give Shvetha the solidarity she needed at that point of time could not be accepted by me!
She wasn't exactly the happy, bubbly Shvetha I'd once known now. She was evidently broken. My guess was she wasn't very happy with me around. Then she turned at me. I didn't want her to see the drops of liquid that had formed around my eyes. I looked around, as if I was searching for something. Then she spoke!
"You can't cheat me Dinu. I still remember you."
I turned to her, my eyes swelled up. She nodded with an understanding smile, and wiped the liquid off my eyes. Then she started speaking about her married life, frankly speaking, something I did not have any interest listening to. But it was her speaking, and I was not let with many an option.
She started telling me about she met her eventual husband Mr.Rakesh Goyal in a supermarket in Colarado. She liked him a lot in a few encounters, and when he asked her out, she agreed readily. Then they got married. But that was when the problem began. He was a drunkard, she said. She hadn't known this till she got married. All girls are stupid, I thought! Then, she tried to correct him, but neither did her attempts, nor did rehabs work. The entire tamasha around this issue reached a peak when he went missing. A few days later she got a call saying he was held in India and she could trade him for 25000 million US Dollars. Someone was definitely trying to set his life up, I thought! This, she courted as the reason behind her India visit.
She wasn't exactly the happy, bubbly Shvetha I'd once known now. She was evidently broken. My guess was she wasn't very happy with me around. Then she turned at me. I didn't want her to see the drops of liquid that had formed around my eyes. I looked around, as if I was searching for something. Then she spoke!
"You can't cheat me Dinu. I still remember you."
I turned to her, my eyes swelled up. She nodded with an understanding smile, and wiped the liquid off my eyes. Then she started speaking about her married life, frankly speaking, something I did not have any interest listening to. But it was her speaking, and I was not let with many an option.
She started telling me about she met her eventual husband Mr.Rakesh Goyal in a supermarket in Colarado. She liked him a lot in a few encounters, and when he asked her out, she agreed readily. Then they got married. But that was when the problem began. He was a drunkard, she said. She hadn't known this till she got married. All girls are stupid, I thought! Then, she tried to correct him, but neither did her attempts, nor did rehabs work. The entire tamasha around this issue reached a peak when he went missing. A few days later she got a call saying he was held in India and she could trade him for 25000 million US Dollars. Someone was definitely trying to set his life up, I thought! This, she courted as the reason behind her India visit.
Chapter 4
Dinesh Chellappa, not a name you would enjoy having, but I guess I did not have an option. It was something I had to put up with, right from the second Rasa's sperm fertilised an ovum, giving rise to the being that was me!
It might look very cool in the movies, but moving about in Sumos and Qualis' with ten people around you wherever you go, waiting to do whatever you want them to, is not always fun. I lost my privacy at a very young age. The little bit of it I gained back was only during college, when I insisted on being a hostelier, citing academics as a reason.
When Shvetha was part of my life, I had forgotten all the shit that was around me. Life was unbounded, and I found new ways to redeem myself. We used to do stuff every couple did, like going to the theatres, and spending long hours staring more at one anothers faces, than at the movie screens, getting into a lonely, but romantic restaurant and eating together to glory, many incidents, and all this was done without the 'bodyguards' getting a clue. Shvetha had always come to talk to me on her own post the parlour incident. She told me about how she loved picking other's pockets and how she had done it for a dare with her friends on me, in the parlour. Slowly, we started getting smitten by one another, and against the usual practice, it was she who asked me out. I would have been out of my minds, to have refused a date of that sort. A few months later, we were going steady.
When summer is on, can winter be far behind! Papa Rasa got to know about this affair of mine. As any stereotyped cliched don dad would behave, my father immediately asked me to get rid of the girl as soon as possible. I knew I wouldn't do it, and so obviously he too would know it. So I expected his next move to be bad, but I did not predict rightly the extent of damage his next move would cause!
It might look very cool in the movies, but moving about in Sumos and Qualis' with ten people around you wherever you go, waiting to do whatever you want them to, is not always fun. I lost my privacy at a very young age. The little bit of it I gained back was only during college, when I insisted on being a hostelier, citing academics as a reason.
When Shvetha was part of my life, I had forgotten all the shit that was around me. Life was unbounded, and I found new ways to redeem myself. We used to do stuff every couple did, like going to the theatres, and spending long hours staring more at one anothers faces, than at the movie screens, getting into a lonely, but romantic restaurant and eating together to glory, many incidents, and all this was done without the 'bodyguards' getting a clue. Shvetha had always come to talk to me on her own post the parlour incident. She told me about how she loved picking other's pockets and how she had done it for a dare with her friends on me, in the parlour. Slowly, we started getting smitten by one another, and against the usual practice, it was she who asked me out. I would have been out of my minds, to have refused a date of that sort. A few months later, we were going steady.
When summer is on, can winter be far behind! Papa Rasa got to know about this affair of mine. As any stereotyped cliched don dad would behave, my father immediately asked me to get rid of the girl as soon as possible. I knew I wouldn't do it, and so obviously he too would know it. So I expected his next move to be bad, but I did not predict rightly the extent of damage his next move would cause!
Chapter 3
"Hi, how've you been?", said she.
There's nothing worse than meeting up with an ex-girlfriend and acting as if nothing at all happened. But I tried to be as sweet as I could. My mind continued to oscillate between the shit that happened, the cause of which was predominantly me, and I continued to curse those people who were responsible for all those. By the time, I could answer that one question of Shvetha's, I had mentally run, and re-run, a path of life had I been with Shvetha. All that struck me was regret. I wanted her, but I very well knew I couldn't have her. After all this, and a deep breath, I said fine.
The customary exchanges, and we were back to looking at the seat in front of us, two passengers alien to one another, travelling to Tiruvannamalai. Tiruvannamalai! It struck me then.
"Hey Shvetha, weren't you living in the US? How come your travelling to Tiruvannamalai, and that too by bus?" said I.
"I am based in the States, but I'm here for a vacation. As for the bus, my car broke down, and I decided to move on to the temple by bus, as I am in a hurry now!"
That was it, and another period of silence began. Man, what was with these girls. In love, they make your world stop, and all your time goes to tending them, but at the end of the whole thing, it goes off to a condition of anonymity. Relationships are funny things, more so the ones between guys and girls. The frank truth was I really liked Shvetha still, but I wouldn't accept it for all the money the casinos in Las Vegas had to offer me! So, even I didn't make eye contact. Suddenly she spoke.
"Hey, read in the news that your dad passed away. Guess that bastard had to die that way!" Saying so, she turned back, facing the seat in front of her, and this time I could see a sense of satisfaction on her face. A wry smile crossed my lips!
There's nothing worse than meeting up with an ex-girlfriend and acting as if nothing at all happened. But I tried to be as sweet as I could. My mind continued to oscillate between the shit that happened, the cause of which was predominantly me, and I continued to curse those people who were responsible for all those. By the time, I could answer that one question of Shvetha's, I had mentally run, and re-run, a path of life had I been with Shvetha. All that struck me was regret. I wanted her, but I very well knew I couldn't have her. After all this, and a deep breath, I said fine.
The customary exchanges, and we were back to looking at the seat in front of us, two passengers alien to one another, travelling to Tiruvannamalai. Tiruvannamalai! It struck me then.
"Hey Shvetha, weren't you living in the US? How come your travelling to Tiruvannamalai, and that too by bus?" said I.
"I am based in the States, but I'm here for a vacation. As for the bus, my car broke down, and I decided to move on to the temple by bus, as I am in a hurry now!"
That was it, and another period of silence began. Man, what was with these girls. In love, they make your world stop, and all your time goes to tending them, but at the end of the whole thing, it goes off to a condition of anonymity. Relationships are funny things, more so the ones between guys and girls. The frank truth was I really liked Shvetha still, but I wouldn't accept it for all the money the casinos in Las Vegas had to offer me! So, even I didn't make eye contact. Suddenly she spoke.
"Hey, read in the news that your dad passed away. Guess that bastard had to die that way!" Saying so, she turned back, facing the seat in front of her, and this time I could see a sense of satisfaction on her face. A wry smile crossed my lips!
Chapter 2
Shvetha Mohan was the girl people came to college to see. In a college, deprived of girls, it wasn't everyday that someone like Shvetha joined. She fed the eyes of the testerosterone charged guys like exilir would to a thirsty man in the desert. She studied, she played hockey with the college women's hockey team, sang in the college band Moksha, and was the most familiar face in college.
If the guys in college were crazy about her, she was crazy about yours truly. Yeah, Shvetha was my girlfriend. We met first at an ice-cream parlour inside the institute campus. I had eaten for 75 rupees, and a small pat at my pocket gave me information enough for me to realise that my pocket had been picked. Helplessly as I wandered searching for the guy who picked my pocket. From nowhere, she came, like an angel. Man, at first sight I was floored. She came and asked me if the purse she had in her hand was mine. If it hadn't been for the unpaid bill, I probably wouldn't have even acknowledged the purse. Such were the magnetising powers she held.
A slow conversation with her lead me to know that she was a sophomore in the same institute. I was surprised that I hadn't seen her earlier. But then, it was when she told me her name, that I realised I was talking to one of the most deeply sought people in the institute. She chatted, and giggled, and again chatted, and kept giggling every one to one and a half minutes, and it all sounded sweet to me. At the end of the conversation, she muttered some gibberish, and then said, "Take care of your pocket lest someone might pocket it in serious vein and you'll be at a loss."
If the guys in college were crazy about her, she was crazy about yours truly. Yeah, Shvetha was my girlfriend. We met first at an ice-cream parlour inside the institute campus. I had eaten for 75 rupees, and a small pat at my pocket gave me information enough for me to realise that my pocket had been picked. Helplessly as I wandered searching for the guy who picked my pocket. From nowhere, she came, like an angel. Man, at first sight I was floored. She came and asked me if the purse she had in her hand was mine. If it hadn't been for the unpaid bill, I probably wouldn't have even acknowledged the purse. Such were the magnetising powers she held.
A slow conversation with her lead me to know that she was a sophomore in the same institute. I was surprised that I hadn't seen her earlier. But then, it was when she told me her name, that I realised I was talking to one of the most deeply sought people in the institute. She chatted, and giggled, and again chatted, and kept giggling every one to one and a half minutes, and it all sounded sweet to me. At the end of the conversation, she muttered some gibberish, and then said, "Take care of your pocket lest someone might pocket it in serious vein and you'll be at a loss."
Chapter 1
It was a humid afternoon in mid August. I was travelling to Tiruvannamalai. Another attempt at redeeming the various sins committed over the time that life spanned. It had been a long journey for me, lots of pitfalls to be where I'd reached. A funny world they say, one which doesn't appreciate the one who deserves it all, and the ones who get it all are the opportunists. I was an opportunist and made best use of all options available to me.
As I settled upon a window seat, the bus drew to a halt. A peek outside informed me of the strife that was going on. Rasa Chellappa had just been killed, and apparently, the entire area was attacked pretty often by his followers. The man had been some kind of messiah to the people of the area, some sort of a father figure. He had been a rowdy in the area from the tender age of twelve. Local crimes led him to the next big thing, smuggling.
They say, the stories of all big gang-lords could be traced to the same old route. Domestic Violence leading to Rowdyism, leading to Smuggling, and a couple of terms in jail, opening doors to all kinds of criminal activities. Rasa was no different. A couple of trips to the Central Jail, and he became largely feared. Said to be a man with a heart of gold, he didn't leave a stone unturned, to get something his men wanted done.
But on a personal note, I wasn't very fond of him. In some way, he had terribly impacted my life. I was actually glad he was dead. But I did not like the strife. As my thoughts wandered away in this note, the strife cleared, and a huge crowd got into the bus. The seat next to me was taken, the face I saw was someone I knew very well!
As I settled upon a window seat, the bus drew to a halt. A peek outside informed me of the strife that was going on. Rasa Chellappa had just been killed, and apparently, the entire area was attacked pretty often by his followers. The man had been some kind of messiah to the people of the area, some sort of a father figure. He had been a rowdy in the area from the tender age of twelve. Local crimes led him to the next big thing, smuggling.
They say, the stories of all big gang-lords could be traced to the same old route. Domestic Violence leading to Rowdyism, leading to Smuggling, and a couple of terms in jail, opening doors to all kinds of criminal activities. Rasa was no different. A couple of trips to the Central Jail, and he became largely feared. Said to be a man with a heart of gold, he didn't leave a stone unturned, to get something his men wanted done.
But on a personal note, I wasn't very fond of him. In some way, he had terribly impacted my life. I was actually glad he was dead. But I did not like the strife. As my thoughts wandered away in this note, the strife cleared, and a huge crowd got into the bus. The seat next to me was taken, the face I saw was someone I knew very well!
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