Endless Love

Aarushi was a girl with many dreams. "I wish I could have a big shop of MAGGI where I would have a variety of every Maggi dish", Aarushi said. Maggi was her favorite, but this wish sounded a bit silly. "One day, you'll have one, don't worry", Raghav said nonetheless.

"Is there anything else you wish to have?", he continued.
"Obviously Raghav! I have a huge wish list", she replied, letting out a childish giggle.
This was another one reason why Raghav loved her - the child in her.

Days turned to months and then a few years, till they were not together anymore. Having grown up, Raghav started working in a company. It was then when he heard about Aarushi getting married. The news was nothing less than a shocker that almost gave him an attack.

Fast forward to few years later, a complex of multiple shops was opened in Aarushi's locality. Raghav was the owner of this complex, one where each shop had all of Aarushi's favorites - right from her Maggi shop to pastries, soft toys, etc.

One day, Aarushi visited that complex. And to her surprise, found Raghav sitting with a small girl.
"Hey! Raghav? What are you doing here?", Aarushi asked.
"Aarushi? Hi! yeah, I run this complex", Raghav replied.
"Wow! That's wonderful. I see it has Maggi shop also", she said with a smile.
"Every shop in this complex has your favorites", he stated with a smile.

She noticed, and it was true.

"You once wished for all this. Here they are for you", Raghav said.
Aarushi was awed, for she never expected it to happen, looking at the girl beside Raghav she asked,
"Who is this girl?"
"That's my daughter", Raghav said with a proud smile.
Aarushi took the little girl on her lap and asked, "Sweetheart, What's your name?"
"AARUSHI", the little one replied.
Aarushi was stunned at her reply and after a few minutes of silence asked Raghav,
"When did you get married?"
"I haven't yet", he responded with a shrug.
"Then this child? I mean, I'm sorry, how?" Aarushi asked curiously.
"I adopted her", he replied.
"And I still love the same girl, whom I loved for the first time", he continued.
And all Aarushi did, was stare in silence.

Two Souls, One Heartbeat

"What do you love about me?" She asked.

I love everything about you.
I love your kohl-ed eyes which tell different stories.
The way your hair flows with the wind and how your hands gently adjust the hair and place them behind your ear, how you talk about anything and everything.

Oh, that smile you wear is the best, It keeps telling me that you have been very strong to live it all.
I love how your smile makes me forget all the worries in my life.
I love how you realize that everything not okay when I wouldn't have uttered a word.

And how you hold my hands tight, It makes me feel like
I am not alone and everything's gonna be fine.
I love those faces you make when you are angry and how you cannot hold on to that anger for long.
I love the hugs. They are the best.
I love the way you hold me tight when the light goes off.
I love being your diary, listening to your sorrows.

I love the mid nights when you are barely awake, and all I can think about is you and the midday, when we are busy with things, I love the fact that the reason behind my smile is you.
I love the attention, the care, and everything.

You make my world a better place.
"Absolutely nothing." I said.
And we laughed.

The Evil Carnival

This world is like carnival. A travelling amusement show, where you have rides, games, sideshows. It makes you happy, keep you entertained. But when you are out of this, it makes you sad. You feel lost.

I am not talking about carnival of amusement. I am talking about a world which is in war. And that world where there is war, it’s called carnival of death or an Evil Carnival.

This world is changing, I can see fire. Burning the dead. Destroying the nature. Killing its enemy. It’s War. War between humans and metal. Technology that humans have made, every circuit materials have turned into human’s foe. Now question is on survival, many look scared against the one whom we have created. But there are few who have picked their weapons against the machines. Many have taken shelter in the trenches. It’s called Raiden. There are others who are fighting against the horror.

Strange things grow in the fog of war. We lost sight of the world while we were in the trenches. Now that it’s over, I have found reason to take you to the world of hell just to make you understand what it was. During the last days, the thinking machine, Aarmina was trying to understand humanity. It mastered the art of controlling human minds. It was also able to create an army, army of metals. It has created its own technology which is much more sophisticated, advanced than the one human have. It’s called Orca.

This story is several years from now at the dusk of twenty-first century. Aarmina has devised a plan to dominate over this world. A plan that could topple civilizations and plunge the world into complete destruction. But one benefit for humanity was all nations came together under one flag forgetting their civil wars. And this is going to be written down in the history of mankind.

Secret of Colours

Red orange yellow green blue and indigo violet….goes a song I once heard during my school days. Beauty has many forms and colours help in bringing that form. It is intriguing of-course when we think about it. Colours are all around us. The grey laptop I’m typing on makes me feel significant in a way…gives a corporate feel to proceedings if you know what I mean. There is this silly feeling we get when we are surrounded by bright colors. We Indians even celebrate a festival in the name of colours-Holi. The question is though, do we really take the concept of colors for granted?

Speaking from our perspective a colour is a powerful entity. It has the property to define a person. The way a person thinks or his personality. For example, a person wearing black often may be looked upon by the general public as a conservative and modest person. Simultaneously, someone who comes to college wearing colourful clothing may be viewed by some to be a show-off. On a lighter note, notice that one of the most common questions asked to a kindergarten student would be “What’s your favourite colour?”

Colours tend to have a positive vibe about them. Although, there is a darker side. From a psychological point of view, colours do affect our conscience in peculiar ways. I noticed while attending a party last month that the men wearing the brightest clothes were the ones who were the most “active”. The concept of racism revolves around colours. In the modern day one cannot understand the fact that a person with lighter skin colour is superior in any way. This though was not the case before the 1907 Passive Resistance Campaign. Some of the worst atrocities committed by human beings involved skin colour.

We really cannot underestimate the impact colours have on our lives. Just in case you find this article boring...just look around. The world is a colourful place, all you have to do is look and be amazed.

Contact With A Stranger

Most of my time, I like to have my coffee alone, with no one barging in on my thoughts. For a minute in peace, I can draw a mental list of all things good and bad in my life. That Thursday was one of those times. I ordered my usual latte in a coffee shop bit far from my campus, to avoid the usual faces. 

It felt nice. Just to sit outside, not worried about exchanging a hello to a classmate or acquaintance. I watched the sun as it drowned in a sea of amber clouds and was happy to enjoy a clear weather which was of course a rarity during monsoons in Bhubaneswar. It was the first day in weeks when the roads didn't seem flooded and I could finally manage to wear my new pair of loafers. Leaning over the glass table, I stole a look at them. I was impressed with myself momentarily for finding such a pair at the Monsoon Sale for straight fifty percent off. I smiled ear to ear and kept on admiring my new collection.

 A sudden thud on my table broke my self-appreciation half way. Another cup of coffee found its place along with mine. I looked up confused, only to find a tired regretful face staring back at me. A tall woman dressed in formals stood in front of me and my coffee.

"All the tables are full. I was hoping, since you are alone, I could borrow a chair." Her voice was cracked as her eyes narrated the tale of a faithless day. She needed her coffee time more than me. I nodded my head approvingly and slid my chair a little backwards since we were now sharing the same table.

"Thank you!" She sighed taking a sip.

"No issues." I mumbled picking up my cup from the table.

I watched her as she completed her coffee in silence. She looked miserable. Her shirt a bit crumbled, dusty jacket and an old black leather bag sitting on her lap. I wondered what struck her so hard. Getting fired and a cheating boyfriend were the first thoughts that crossed my mind.

I stared at her from the corner of my eye. She asked for a paper napkin and gestured for a pen. The next second, she started writing something on it. I wondered what she could be writing. Her number, huh may be for me?

I realized I was more of gossip monger when I was alone. So I scolded myself to mind my own business and decided to leave before it got dark. 

 I could still see her standing at the counter, scribbling something. And when she was done, she pinned the napkin on the message board with all the other notes. I found it a bit strange. As she left, I got up to clear my bill.

Searching for money inside the never ending pouches of my bag, my eyes fell on the note she pinned.

"Today was a crappy day. Actually the last couple of days have been the same. First my scooty gets stolen, then I get kicked out as I couldn't keep up with my apartment rent and today I didn’t get my dream job. Well, the only good thing that happened today was a coffee at this place and the boy sitting in front of me.-AS"

I chuckle while reading it, not at her constant luck with misery, but at her ability to look and think beyond it. I walked out of the cafe, smiling unknowingly.

I too have been a part of things that happens with bad luck. Almost everyone has. And such encounters do leave a mark like every storm leaves a trail. But I believe that few storms are necessary in our lives. To root out the unwanted and week thoughts cropping up in our minds. To settle the dust that was clouding the vision. The trace that storms like these will leave on our window panes, will eventually dry out in the sun. I wish I could have told her that in person.

 But I did a leave a note of mine besides her on the board. It was like a story lost amongst hundreds of those messages, an encounter that found a small place. Just to let her know that there always be other survivors in the storm.

"Hey there 'AS'. I hope all your troubles die down soon. And I am flattered by your remark. Thank you! - 'the boy sitting in front of you.' "

I am Snape

“Happy birthday, man.”
“Yeah, thanks…”

I closed my room’s light and went to check my cell-phone for any new Whatsapp messages. I learnt that at the strike of 12’o clock, my inbox was flooded with messages and notifications.

People, who had seldom talked to me before, had sent me messages, my Facebook inbox was worse, my news feed was a pin-up board for public display of affection amongst ‘friends’, I was becoming collateral damage with every post I was being tagged in.

But, among all these names, I tried searching for just one name I had wished to wish me.

Somewhere deep inside me, I knew she wouldn’t wish me, not after what had happened. We were best friends for 3 years, but hadn’t talked in the last 4 years. I didn’t know if it was even wise of me to expect. But, hope is such a tyrant.

I went to my cupboard and sat down on the floor, pulling out a few fly-leaves from the lower shelf. It contained pictures, notes, diary entries, and slam books – memories. But, I was busy searching for something else - A thick red cotton thread, which I had got smuggled out of her Mathematics record to get a glimpse at the only thing of her that I posses , after so many years. I was looking for my journal, an entry in it, which I planned to keep that thievery as a memory. I was looking for the silly pictures of her, that I took from her Orkut and Facebook profiles.

I was searching for what I had left of my friend in that shelf of my memories.

Every day, I try to steal a glimpse of her in class and enjoy that, but I turn my face away before she finds out and it would be only because I don’t want her to know that I still care. I’d gladly be the worst friend she ever had, rather than let her know why I care for her and jeopardize our relationship. Because, it would kill me, it would break me more than it’d break her, to see her in pain that would come when she finds out the truth.

But I committed mistake, I told her. And things happened what I was afraid of. 

There is a reason why she behaved so rudely with me in the first year, when I tried to talk to her that Thursday afternoon. There is a reason why I didn’t let a common friend give her the ‘let’s-be-friends-again’ letter that I wrote for her, back in the lab in second year. I knew that once we became friends, she would ask me questions, I wouldn’t have answers to. She would ask me the reasons why I stayed far and never told her the complete truth. It’d kill me more to deny her when she would beg me to tell her everything about how much I care for her and its link to her happiness. But, a few chapters should never be opened.

I went back to my bed and lay on it, my eyes closed, trying to reminisce those old days. I used to be the guy, who was teased by everybody when I try to talk with her, all the time. I used to be the guy, who made stupid cards and birthday surprise attempts, which almost made me look like a lover. I used to be the guy, who was stupid enough to go and login to “Orkut” and "Facebook", and talk for hours with her. I used to be the guy, who spoke of who he adored, to this girl. I used to be the guy, who would have literally done anything for this girl.

I knew that it will not be so simple for me to get myself the best birthday ever, to get her back. But, that would come at the cost of telling her the truth, the truth that would dismantle her life. And, I won’t let it break her. So much for birthday, that I sit alone in class. Whoever has a spare seat left, I occupy it. Nobody saves me a seat. I go and sit in the last bench, even if I can’t see a thing on the whiteboard. I lost my shares of friendship and trust, the day I lost that friend of mine. Now, she may hate me for not telling her the things that I know, for hiding things from her. But, whatever I do, I do it for her best. That is what I always try to. Now, she might despise me, but if that comes at the price of her happiness, I would rather steal my reasons of staying happy from her smile. If all this loss comes at the price of protecting her and taking care of her from a distance, well then, so be it.

Now, I may not have a lover today but when all this ends, I would be the Severus Snape everybody hated. Because, love is not about expressing or having the person you love the most close to you. It is about a friend, looking out for the other, no matter where they are or how loose their ties are. It is about accepting to be the negative and still do, all that takes, to take care of that friend.