The Tree

I don’t know if it was the sleep in my eyes or the December mist that made it difficult for me to see clearly. Well I can’t be blamed for either, it was 8 in the morning.
We parked our bike and got off for a cup of tea and a smoke (for those who did pull a drag or two).
A friend led us to ‘The Tree’ he told us that this is the ultimate Hippie spot in all of Goa.
‘Hippie’--- suddenly my eyes opened wide. I was always very fascinated by them.
And there, the first thing my eyes stopped at were his long blondish dread- locks, almost reaching his waist. He was in a dirty white banyan above Khaki multi-pocketed 3/4th. How is it, that my bones where shivering in this cold even though I was layered in clothes, and this man stood there in minimum clothes as if it’s the middle of march? The answer is the ‘Magical Mix’
As I moved a little closer to the tree, I was amazed to see a circle of Hippies waiting for a whiff of the magical mix.
‘The Magical Mix’, Tobacco and Marijuana, crumbled or roasted in a clay pot called the ‘Chillum’
The transcending music in the background, the smoke mixed with the mist, and the tree…..this seems to be another planet.
A word about this tree…. It’s crazy! Three trees entangled in one- Neem, Peepal, Bud
It is said by the Hindus that when all three trees meet, it creates positive energy. I think it was this positive vibe that energized me at an instance.

From a distance, I could see all of them rhythmically move to trance, and pulling huge drags from the chillum one by one in the circle, I couldn’t stop looking at them.
The bright colored psychedelic clothes the girls wore, the weird tattoos on their bodies, some of them were bald , most of them had dreads, which they tied up artistically, decorated with tiny ghungroos or woven with bright florescent green, acidic pink, eye catching orange and other glowing colored threads. The bald ones got rid of their dreads, my friend informed.
I was stirred out from my reverie, when the cup of tea finally arrived. Around the tree, there was a platform where you could sit and share the spliff or simply sip on the steaming tea. So I plonked up on the platform, still staring awkwardly at everything around, I made my self comfortable by sitting cross-legged.
Hari Om! All of them chanted as one of them kneeled down to shoot the chillum, one of them lit a matchstick and gave light, and thus started another round of charas.
I was still fighting against the cold, with my cup of tea passively; the enchantment somehow dissolved this feeling.
One of them turned around, his cold blue piercing eyes looked at me as if I am the offender, with a smile he pointed to the small temple on the other side of the platform,
‘No Shoes Please’ he said in a weird accent, maybe Russian, maybe German, or was it Israeli? Whatever it was, I quickly took of my chappals and apologized. An apology to him, an apology to the tree and an apology to myself for forgetting my own customs.
It’s funny when someone from another culture reminds you of your own.
I looked at the temple he pointed at, I saw a small Shivling. I smiled to myself.

Hari Om! This tree sheltered the porch and provided solace to the hundreds of Charasees, each leaf tells a tale, of which an echo I will never forget, of the culture I just saw…..an experience that shall remain!

Woh Purane Din.....

some of my Grandfathers Juniors and my dad's colleagues came home today. they had especially come to meet my grandfather. he is a retired chartered accountant, and a very good one. over a cup of tea and a few evening time Diwali special snacks, they spoke to my grandfather as i sat listening to them. they spoke about how my grandfather used to work, and how scared all of them used to be of him. they spoke about the times when they were training to be CA s, and how they used to doze off on the table where they used to tally the Balance sheets, how they ran to the 'Dhabaa s' the day they got their stipends....how they ran around to look for one piece of paper....woh purane din...
it was nice to see the smile on my grandfathers round shiny face. i felt proud. finally someone had taken him back to his times. they praised him and told him that he was their inspiration. no matter how modest one may be, two word of praise does make you feel loved and respected. its human nature.
their conversation left me thinking how my grandfather would have been in his prime, i would love to experience that side of my 'papa' as i call him fondly. when i look at his spectacles sliding down the bridge of his nose and his snow white hair, i wonder if those glasses would slide down in the same way in 1958?

Picture of Hollis Woods

Today, in the afternoon, when i had nothing much to accomplish, i put on the TV and surfed through the channels, suddenly my eye stopped at HBO, a movie was just starting, an animated kind with slow soft music.

This movie genuinely moved a heartbeat. it was about an orphan, who was shifted from family to family to find a perfect home.....this kept me wondering is there a perfect home?? a home where there are only laughs, no sorrows...only births no death?

she is made to believe from a very young age that she ruined everything around her, as the movie proceeds, the events because of certain situations do turn out to be that way,what she doubted did become her belief after all.
like most Hollywood stories, this one as well has a happy ending..she finally does get a family that she wants, but the journey up til there is very dramatically portrayed...a must watch.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

Let’s begin from where it started. I was crossing the busiest of the roads in Mumbai two days before I loose my ‘teenager’ title. My phone rings…my favourite (and only) Aunt called to ask me if I have left for the station to catch a train to go to Hyderabad. I make an obnoxious face. Its only 7!!!! My train leaves at 10. She yelled back, it felt as if she was standing across though she was a 700 kilometres away. She asks have you packed?? A spat a lie. Shit!! I have a train to catch in 3 hours, I have to pack and travel half way across this city. This time I made another obnoxious face.
I sprinted to the 3rd floor of my building in 16 secs and started to pack. I finished packing in 20 minutes (phew!! if you were a girl you would know) my phone rang 30 times in those 20 minutes…Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, Cousin Brother, Roommate, Best friend, not so close friends….all the people who would never call me when I am bored staring at my ceiling they remembered to ask me about the paper, the weather my birthday plans…traffic!! Yes traffic!
I packed my bags and was ready to go it’s almost 8 now, to reach the VT in this time I had to either run or hire a jet, which I could possibly not do, so I quietly left. The proportion of my cell ringing and the battery dying was inverse. We almost travelled towards VT, suddenly my aunt calls to tell me to catch another train with my cousin as my ticket for the VT train was not confirmed, so I now had to go to Dadar. To change the path was not very difficult, so we did we were anyway near Dadar, now its 8.30 then my dammed phone rings again “go to VT the ticket has been confirmed”….shit!! I can’t do the shuffle, the traffic was just not moving at all, and I got of the cab and almost ran to the station to catch my cousins train which left at 9. It was this train or the local to go back to Bandra. I met my cousin on the platform; this damn phone will not even stop ringing now. We were supposed to share a berth as my ticket was not confirmed I was on the waiting list.
After raging arguments with the taxi driver, fights with the people from the other side of the phone, the battery fighting to live I finally got into the train with my cousin. The ticket for that train was not a confirmed one, it was on waiting list. Now my only fear was, when the TC comes to check my unconfirmed ticket, he will throw me out. I had visions of being thrown out of a moving train!
We had boarded the train at 9.30(P.M), so we expected to see the TC by 11, but he did not turn up. Phew! Both of us had not eaten at all, so when the railway food man cam ewe both made a face and ordered for a ‘Veg. Biryani’ something is better than nothing. We ate 3 bites of the Biryani and discarded it. We were asleep by midnight. I woke up the wailing of a kid and checked my watch. 7! Damn only7. I had 8 looong hours to kill. Thanks to the invention of the laptop, we saw 2 movies and I read every word on every page of Vogue, I admired Aishwarya’s pictures a million times.
Then at last we landed Secunderabad station. And within an hour I was home, at my Aunts place.
She told me that I had exactly 20 minutes to feed my face and have a bath, coz we had to leave for a party in half an hour!! Ya right! So, I travel for 12 hours, come home, wear my best clothes and leave for a party?? Yes. I had to. So I did.
We reached the place we were invited to. It was a farm house nearly 3 hours out of the city. The funniest part was the name...”Button eyes” huh? What the hell does that mean? Either way, what was funnier was the name of the swimming pool…”that’s it!” yah that’s the name….
We ate approximately 2 chicken birds (if we count the number of kebabs, Taangs, Tandoori’s we ate) and ate some more. At 12, all of them gathered and suddenly started singing Happy birthday to you…… people I did not eve know! It was great fun. Then out of no where, emerged a cake! Which I cut. Soon after that my phone rang constantly and rang till the time I got home.
What a way to celebrate my 20th birthday!! I had loads of fun. Happy birthday to me…

A TRIAL AND AN ERROR

“Dr. Nicholas Scott, you are convicted for the murder of Mr. Jeff Miller, you can thus face death penalty or serve life imprisonment”
Loosing a best friend and a roommate was not something easy for me to accept.
Loosing a husband and a lover was even more difficult for Carol.

How much I regretted the day I introduced Jeff to My best friend and his wife. I can still vividly remember how enchanted Jeff looked when Carol walked across the room to greet me. I don’t blame him; everybody was in love with her beauty and her charisma. Those soft blonde ringlets and those dreamy eyes…. It sometimes kept me pondering as to why she is still married to a man she doesn’t see when she wakes up in the morning because he has already left for the hospital and doesn’t get to sleep in the comfort of his arms in the night because he is out drinking. Besides carol is an intelligent woman, she is young, exceedingly gorgeous, and comfortingly amiable and yet so lonely….

She rang the doorbell of my house knowing I would be home working on my novel all day. She needed company and I needed a break. We drove to the grocer and had lunch together. Our conversations raced from nick’s drinking problem to how interesting she found Jeff and how lonely she was going to be when I would go to Egypt for a week to complete my novel on Cleopatra. It was clear both of us enjoyed the company of the other, we got along well.

Meanwhile, when I was away I was not aware about how close Jeff and Carol had become. Jeff was not only blessed with champagne coloured hair, chiselled features and deep dark entrancing eyes, but he was also a smooth talker. He was good with women. His career as a Soap star had just set off. Why wouldn’t carol like him? Any women would….

Couple of times I would see carol and Jeff strolling down in the neighbourhood, seeing them in the coffee shop. But what I discovered one night changed it all. It changed the way I thought about Jeff and my impressions about Carol…
I still remember it as if it was yesterday. I had gone for a drink with an old classmate, I thought I would drop by Nick’s house to see them, but no one was home. It was around 12 in the night; Carol is normally at home at this time. It was Sunday, moreover the finals between Chelsea and Manchester United were going on I assumed that Nick was at home. I immediately called Nicks Cell phone and found out that he was at Woodside Inn, drinking, and watching the Game with a few of his friends. I asked him where Carol was, and like me he assumed that she was at home. Suddenly in the rear view mirror I see carol walking from my house across the road to her house. I promptly drove off so that she could not see me.
When I walked into Jeff’s room I saw the rumpled sheet that depicted an evening of passion. Jeff was in the shower, he obviously heard someone coming, from the Bathroom. He assumed it was Carol. He said,” Carol, sweetheart, you better head home, Danny must be on his way home, and besides I don’t want your forever outraged husband to find out you were with me he might just kill you….and if Danny sees you here…things will complicate”

I spent a week of sleepless nights and I realised that a helpless anger was simmering in me. If I tell Nick about this, I wonder what the consequences would be. I don’t want him to harm carol. But nick was my best friend. It was my duty to inform him.
I decided that I will tell him this when all three of us are together so that if they get into a fight I will resolve it there and then.

On a Sunday when Jeff and Nick both were free I called Nick over for a drink or two. This was the hardest thing for me to do, but I had to do it. Nick walked in an hour late, he was pretty drunk, and before I could stop Jeff he already offered him a drink. Nick will never refuse a peg of Scotch. One followed another. I did not want nick to drink anymore so I decided to tell him now.
I asked him to come to the study with me, where I told him all that I had caught sight of. Rage poured upon him like a trembling flood and he swayed in the sudden grip of anger towards the living room where Jeff was sitting. They immediately got into a fist fight. Jeff was younger and much more powerful than the short, fat and balding Nick. Suddenly there is a Gun shot…….
At the sound of the gun, a frantic carol came running to my house. When I let her in, she almost fainted at what she saw.
Loosing a lover and almost loosing a husband was not easy to accept.
The rest of the evening was spent in running up and down the hospital and the cop station and I knew the next few months will be spent in the Court room….
Carol was having a hard time. Nick was under arrest .Her anxiousness never for a minute subdued. The image of Jeff’s dead body painted in blood and the image of Nick lying there almost unconscious with a gun in his hand haunted the living daylights out of her, and the trial was only a week ahead.

Carol and i walked into the courtroom, the judge sat there motionless looking at carol from head to toe. Nick was standing in the witness stand. I glanced at the jury and tried to imagine what Nick was going through. It must have been a blood curdling intimidating feeling. Nick looked straight into my eyes as if he was accusing me of something. I looked down….
The trail went on for another hour. They called Nick’s close friend and colleagues for their statements about Nick’s character and his drinking habits. The defendant was Jeff’s long time girlfriend Susan Alexandra, who filed a case against Nick.
Nick had nothing to say in his defence because that night he was so drunk he could not remember the series of events at all. Carol was called to the witness stand where she confessed everything about her objectionable relationship with Jeff.
I was the prime eyewitness and the only one. My statement would be the deciding factor. But due to constrain of time, the court was adjourned to the day after.

On day 2 of the trial I was standing in the witness box. The defendant’s lawyer asked me several questions about that night. Some questions where repetitive but framed in a different way just to make sure I am not changing my answers. After my statement, the judge examined the gun and bullets and the fingerprint analysis. After spending 20 minutes with the jury, the judgement was passed. It was inevitable. Nicholas was convicted.
Carols grief skipped beyond borders, she was home all the time, and she never went out, did not meet people and was completely another person I did not recognise.
About a month later, I called Carol home for Lunch. I wanted to go out because there was no food at home. But we just settled on ordering food from the nearby bistro.
I had not seen carol this way for a very long time. She was wearing a pastel pink and white dress. Her hair looked wonderful. Most importantly her face shined, and her eyes twinkled. I was happy she was not mourning anymore. We talked for a while, like old times, about my work, about Jeff and Nick. I offered her a glass of wine.
The doorbell rang; I was fixing her a drink so I asked her to get the door. The food we called for was here. So I told her to take the money from my wallet and pay him.
When she came back, she looked pale as if she just saw a ghost. I asked her if everything was ok. She simply nodded. There was something terribly wrong.

A week later, four specialised investigators including a deputy chief investigator walked into my house. Before I could even think of what was happening, they arrested me.
Fear curdled in my stomach. They told me that Mrs. Carol Scott has filed a case against me. Why?? Did she find out……

Two days later I was standing where Nick had been standing a few days ago. Yes, it was a bloodcurdling, intimidating feeling. The piercing glances of the jury, the stone-faced judge and carol. The look she had in her eyes was a look of deceit and broken trust. All I could do was look down. Before they started to question me carols attorney asked her to come to the stand. The attorney asked her what she discovered when she had come to my house for lunch. She said” I was asked to pay the food delivery man from the wallet by Mr. Daniel Marshall, the minute I opened his wallet I saw an unusual orange receipt, it grabbed my attention because I knew it was the receipt from Mr. Smith’s shop, Mr. smith sells guns and bullets and also repairs them. So I quickly hid the receipt. After lunch I went with my lawyer to Mr. Smith’s shop, where he told me that a few days back Nick had come to get his gun repaired, but he did not collect it as yet. He also confirmed with me that Danny had come to buy some bullets. Note that he came the same day Jeff was shot. Also Nick and Danny bought identical pistols from him”
My heart sank. She is an intelligent woman after all
After carol, Mr. Smith was called to the witness stand and he conformed everything Carol had said in her statement. After what the defendant had to present, the judge asked me if I had something to say. I did not what would I say? It was true I had no alibi….all I said was I did it because I was in love with carol and when I found out about Jeff and her it infuriated. When Nick and Jeff got into a fight, it was the right time for me to get rid of both these men in carols life, and In a fever of unrelenting rage, I used my gun and shot him, I then placed my gun in Nicks hands, he was unconscious, and because I used gloves, my fingerprints did not show. I am sorry Carol.
And today when I think about it I realize that even though I was so conniving about the murder one error and this court trial has turned my life around. I have lost a best friend, a room mate and carol…… For whom I did all this

My thoughts are interrupted by the prison guard as he brings me back to reality which for me now is this 6X6 cell.

The Element of Change.

As I sit over looking the sea in my 2BHK apartment in worli, I think to myself how inequitable the element of change is. Change has not affected these sea waves,but the rocks that lie underneath have changed. A mere wave of water that comes so softly and touches these rock ,have disfigured them over the years. This is what has happened to me.

When I first saw asha I must have been 17, but the moment my eyes fell on her I knew she was the one. And 10 years later, asha delivered Utsav, our first born. I was a sturdy rock then, in my days. The first wave that bought a minuscule change in my life was the death of my second born daughter abhilasha. I remember asha crying for weeks. But I, was stone-faced. Not that I was not sad. I mourned, for a day or two. I recall baby utsav asking me “pa, arnt u sad munni died?” how do I explain now. To whom do I explain now, how much it hurt me, it was difficult for me to show, and now whom do I show?

Asha, utsav and me continued with out lives. My day began at 7 with the newspaper in my hands and got over at 11 with the remote in my hands. I never once sat with utsav or asha. Now when I have no one around I wish I spent every second with them. I wish only time reversed and I was sitting on the dining table without my files and only my family.
But today,all that is left is me and my loneliness. Why? I ask myself, for over my life time I ran after material things to make life easy for my asha and my utsav. And today they are not with me.
The importance of an individual in life often only manifests itself in death. When asha went away the stone that I was shattered. This wave took away from me whatever I had.

My thoughts were interrupted by the door bell. Must be the post man. My monthly remit from utsav has arrived.
Utsav left the country a month after asha passed away. All he said was I have no one here any way….
How ironic he was the only one I had.

Being alone is one thing and being lonely is another. But with me I am not only alone but lonely. And how it kills, a painful slow inevitable end, and all I can do is wait for it.

'The' PG

This was somewhere in the last week of the sixth month of 2007..(june..for people who don’t wanna use their brains….but by now I think u would have) when Bombay was drowing in the torrential rain …yet another reason to be harrowed, not that problems had taken a left turn out of my life….i was homeless..in Mumbai Nagaria….i ‘discovered’…(with help…I don’t forget to give credit) a … should I call it a bunglow?..a cottage?....i am in a state of confusion.. lets just call it a place….. honestly it looked P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C……from outside…situated in what I may call as a ‘Galli’…..called Chapel road…a cozy yet dirty street( to be brutally blunt) ..an alley…I exchanged what I would describe best as ‘What the hell’ looks with the people I was along with….all they did was smile……

Let me first of all describe you the stairway leading to ‘ the place’… and I insist because a lot of people have gone tumbling down umpteen times…(I wont lie..mee too!)… the set of steps are micro mini…if there is anything smaller…I would use that to describe it….all inclined to an approximate angle of 800…… and then what I saw was amazing..the first thing I really thought was that this is like a coconut…all husky from the out but oh-so-white from inside…what lies beneath was something completely opposite of what a saw outside..for the first time…the first impression was not as impressive as the second one…
The owner of the house was not there so I did not really get a chance to go in yet….

Two evening later I was found packing all my things.. clothes, a thousand shoes and bags…pillows, utensils and all the unusual things that I prayed did not exist at that point of time..coz packing is another crisis….i absolutely hate folding and stacking clothes and all that…gosh!.. a had a ton of luggage….and I pitied my boyfriend…
With absolutely no choice left..no option I set out for ‘the place’…it was probably the most ‘rainest’ day ever my watch ticked 10…my boyfriend already threw a fit because of the 1000 kgs of plastic bags filled with what he termed as’ hard horse shit’….i think he had become epileptic because I was supposed to reach at 7 pm but its was already 10…and with all the possible hurdles….an empty pocket(rush to the ATM)…thousand droplets of water hitting at a speed of 21006783 metres per second(where is the umbrella..or a raincoat…give me a god damn handkerchief then) none of the autos where ready to go because of the traffic…me and my boyfriend were dreanched in the acid rain of Mumbai….and then finally a savior…an auto agreed…I told him ‘Bhaiyaa..chapel road chalo… with that bihari accent he replied kidhaar maadam…chappal…he smirked..i could have killed him… I almost screamed..but it went unnoticed…as the rain hit harder and louder than my words…BANDRAAAA…now we even got the auto walla out of his dry nest…to put I all the luggage I had that took another auto and 10 more minutes on the watch…another fit coming my way….that journey from Lokhandwala complex in andheri to Chapel road in bandra was filled with 2 million hardships…but I got there finally…

And this time I was not giving the What the hell looks I was smiling….and I don’t regret this decision…one of my ‘hit last minutes’… i was trying to balance 3 plastic’wet’ bags…a haversack and myself on the steps…and dhammmmm…I fall…he laughs…I frown…I am a survivor..and I am gonna make it..i got up…and another Dhaaaaam but this time…it was him…and I laughed and he frowned…the house keeper opened the sliding iron door…and then yet another door…she smiled heartily…and showed a little worry..was she worried about me coming at an unreasonable time of 10.55 pm or that I was dripping wet I will spoil her spic and span home…I am not sure…my knight in shiny armour who threw so many fits today single handily bought up so many air bags…trolleys…plastic bags…I was proud…then we saw another set of steps leading upstairs…smaller then the ones outside…and he exchanged the what the f**k looks….but he just smiled and picked the bags yet again….
Ok rewind a few minutes….i finally stepped into the house and saw the owner of the house…a middle aged, middle heighted, pleasant lady wearing a red and yellow batik house gown…with her thick black hair tied into a ponytail in the middle of the scalp… and the house looked like the ones we normally see in interior design magazine…nice textured walls…freshly painted it seems…with a nice dining table right near the entrance…I tried to see whatever much I could without looking rude…then she lead me upstairs….my bf panting behind with my bags.
We exchanged introductions….on the way up….walls along the wooden step set was sunshine orange with golden swirl like thing….and were lit with yellow dimmish lights..the whole effect looked nice..so I complemented..and she received it well..saying me and my husband do this…then I stepped into what she called the pg area…it had 4 rooms… 2 mini bathrooms…2 wash basins…made of glass btw….looked uber chic…she showed me the room that I was supposed to stay in…it was like a pent room…had a terrace attached..(whoa oo)…the room was tiny….had 3 beds and the walls were bright pumpkin orange and psychedelic green alternatively…with the smallest window I had seen hid behind orange flowery curtains…she told me I had a choice of the bed…I was looking around the room and my eyes gleamed the moment I saw the AC which was like a necessity in this humid climate of Bombay…I think she interpreted and said do u want the AC on I smiled trying to hide my kiddish excitement…she put it on..then we talked for a while…and my boyfriend left..so did the owner of the house…I was tired..and plus the AC was on…I slept in an air conditioned room for the first time since I left home to come here and study…it felt nice so I instantly fell asleep to the lullaby of the AC….

Next morning I met the rest of the family which had a set of grandparents…the owner and her husband, their son and their dog…DOG oh mah god….i am petrified and act obnoxiously when a dog is even one mile away….another problem in my life… I quickly got ready and went out….i was anyway alone..none of the other rooms were filled yet…..i came back a little earlier….by 9 I had an impression to create…she gave me some amazing dinner..seafood…king fish( I am licking my chops right now) and a sabzi and roti and rice..wholesome food …(priced at rs.65 ) I interacted with the son whho studied in class 7 and like all normal boys oof that age discussed with me some cars and compared the songs on my phone, and exclaimed oh u ddont like akon??..i love him…what about the porche 9-11?...or the audi A8..the engine has some blah blah horsepower..i silently listened….acting sweet..creating impressions.. the ac was put on and once again I drove to La La land in the what was it Porsche or was it a BMW?....
Days went on..and I spend comfortable life in the pg eating yummy seafood..talking and buttering aunty and sleeping all through the night in the AC …until….

Broken Arrow

Have you felt like this before?
The silence before the storm….
A torrent of emotions
Suppressed into your heart…
Drenched, you are, with mixed emotions
Love, hatred, compassion

The revulsion has crossed the boundries,
U cry helpless like a child..
the desire to be smiling again is piercing
through your heart…

you are tired of being pretentious
is it true..you seek comfort in desolation?
Your heart is cold and has lost the will to love..
Or to be loved …
Just like a broken arrow..

Your heart is entrapped…
Is it torn apart?
Go seek it someone.. you plead
You want your heart to,
Once again, knowing the warmth,
The joy, the peace
Feeling the flame ignite…

Would you ever be able to…
Complete the unfinished kiss..
Behold my, love
For this is the silence before the storm.

This is a story about two people...how they met...how the fell in love..and how they fell out of love....

part I:
Its about 8 on a monday morning in mid February....Jiya, a typical girl...maybe a little prettier than the rest...with long, straight hair as dark as the moon less night..with big almond shaped eyes lined with kolh in abundance...if you are a perfume lover you would recognise the moment she passed...'chanel...N05'....
It was the first day of her first ever Job...she was exited..rather curious..with big intrusive eyes she looks around in the same way a new neighbour looks when he knocks on his neighbours door...
All the co-workers walk in slowly one by one....the manager comes in too...she calls out everyones name to check if they have all arrived...some of them have not yet...she waits for a few minutes and starts the orientation...it was about 10 minutes when a Boy walks in with shabby hair, droopy eyes,as if his eyes have not closed for a week....he was tall maybe around 6 feet...strong and lean....with gelled spiky hair...with a deep heavy husky voice he asks...."is this the new batch??"...the manager nods...he walks in...Jiya stares at him as he walked past her...she was trying to guess what perfume was he wearing..its smelled nice...her thoughts were interuppted by thhe managers chirpy voice...."whats your name.....? , your are late..make sure it does not happen again"
"Anthony.....i am sorry...it wont"....
The orientation went on for about an hour more..after which Jiya got up gracefully taking care of her lovely baby pink Duppata....she walked through the room with pride...as proud as a peacock....with her long waist lenght hair moving with her...she crossed Anthony...still wondering what perfume is it??...their eyes met...Anthony looked mesmerised..its not his fault he nevver noticed her ,all through the orientation....she could feel Anthony's eyes on her till the time she entered the Ladies Room....
It was Lunch Time now....Jiya walked out after freshening up her face...she made a new friend in the wash room..so typical!...Serena...
"you are very pretty...."serena compliments
Jiya's fair cheeks turn pink as she blushes and smiles.....
"Thanks...Serena......you know this is my first job..i am very excited..."
"ya?...good...when i first walked in i thought i will never make friends with our collegues...they look so......"
...."boring??....ya they do...but there is one....."
"..hey i am starving lets go eat..."
"ya mee too..."
Serena and Jiya became good friends...they sat together all the time...did all girly things like going to the washroom to brush their hair...reapply gloss...talk..the works!

The whole week Anthony and Jiya did not speak..they just looked at each other..they were probably trying to show some attitude..they ignored each other completely..or maybe they were waiting for the other to talk first?...

on one of the days the manager told them that they have to get into group of two's to enact some kind of a play...just for fun.....
Jiya did not like any of the men in her batch..they were either too old..or looked just plain boring...She was wondering what to do...Just then Anthony who was standing on the other side of the room asks her by actions...Jiya smiled...and nodded....they were a couple ...ehhhh not a couple but were a group.....the manager gave them 15 Minutes to prepare......
Anthony walks to Jiya..."Do you wanna go out like?..its too noisy here...."
Jiya just smiled and followed him out.....
"so...we are supposed to act as husband and wife....so you play the wife..and i will be the husband?"
she laughed...."of course..you would not sound like a wife...."
"oh by the way...." he held out his hands for a handshake..."Anthony"...Jiya shook his hand.....and coquettishly told him her name..."Jiya"....
"its a nice name.......what does it mean?"
"well it means someone who is somebodys life...."
Anthony just gapped open mouthed.....
"Lets rehearse......"Jiya said in her soft yet bold voice...just like her...

The plays were inacted.....Guess whho won the prize?.....it had to be Jiya and anthony......
It was Lunch time....as usual jiya was on her way to her washroom to brush her hair...just then Anthony called out...
"Jiya...wanna join me for lunch?"
"i could....but i share the plate with Serena...yoouy know i cant eat so much..."
"well i can share..."
Jiya just smiled..and walked in the wash room....
Anthony was confused...was that A yes?...should i Wait?....Does she wanna share the plate...was i foolish to ask...?
he decided to wait.....
after 5 minuted Jiya walks out...she looked stunning in her red tight fitting shirt...and Black sexy trousers....hair kept open...freshly washed..it gave a whiff of Vanilla.......the sound of her black stilletos echoed in the passage...she saw anthony..
"Chale?.....serena has gone to meet her boy friend"
Anthonys smile reached his eyes.....he was happy...

this way Anthony and jiya became good friends at work...they talked..the shared food...Anthony gifted Jiya a chocolate everyday..her favourite..sneakers....and jiyas cheeks blushed a darker shade of pink everday....they were falling for each other....
now they sat next to each other....went out on days off...sometimes for lunch...sometimes for coffee....or spoke on the phone for hours together....they spoke about everything...their lives...thier family...their education...likes dislikes.....music....they went for movies...went for loong drives in the late nights ...they were getting closer...wanting to be one...

Everyone at work knew Anthony had a thing for Jiya...he protected her...dropped her and picked her up...gifted her flowers..withouut any occasion.....cared for every little thing....they werent a couple yet!...jiya also had a thing for him deep down...but she had a broken heart ..she could not get over her past.....

it was 2.30 in the night, Jiya and Anthony just finished Work..they were not tired..they were dying to spend to some time alone...with eachh othher...
"Lets go tot he Beach......." Anthony said...he behaved a little different...as if he was pre occupied.....maybe he was in deep thoughts.
Jiya smiled...."sure...i love walking on the beach...."

Anthony walked 2 steps ahead of jiya...normally he never left her side....he did not speak a word...Jiya finally decided to ask him....
"whats the matter...is there something you wanna say?..you look tensed?..."
Anthony lit a cigarrete....exhaling smoke he said.."nah...nothin ya..."
"Fine,.whateva!"......
they walked and walked not a word exchanged....
suddenly....Anthony said....
"so...?"
"so what?..."
"uhhhh..." he was stumbling...
jiya knew what was coming...she waited eagerly for this day.....for weeks..
"tell me...what??"..she was giving her coy smiles again..they made Anthony go weak in his knees..he prayed silentely...please not now..dont give me that look.....
"well ....everybody at work know....that"
"ya go ahead i am listening..." her eyes gleamed in excitment
"that i have a crush on you...."
"oh ya?...who told you?"
"well i do!..."
"ok"
"would you like wanna go around or something..."..he said in his cool dude accent.....Jiya just loved that.....
jiya flashed her famous million dollar smile......she said nothing
"what is that suppose to mean?...."
"well thats for me to know and you to find out!"
"jiyaaa..."he said in his typical style.....
"ya...or maybe...nah!"
Anthony looked tensed as if he will cry now...jiya saw that expression...both of them have waited for a long time for this...she dint want to make him wait anymore...
"do you want time to think...? anthony asked
jiya was loving every minute.......
"no...i dont"
her cheeks by now are red.....she just could not stop smiling......
"i think...i will be your girlfriend"
"u think??"
she smiled...."no i am sure"
there was an awkward silence.....
jiya had to do something.."anthony....its late..i think you should drop me...i am feeling sleepy......"
Anthony did not want to..but he did not want that abominable lull too..."do u have to go??..."
"ya we have work at 1 tomorrow....you need to rest too..."
"i wanna be with you"
"tomorrow...pakka?!"
"ok"
anthony left her home..that night..both of them could not sleep...Jiya kept twirling on her bed..thinking about a lot of things..her past...her present...she felt happy ..she was gonna move on...

next day at work....Anthony looked handsome......he was wearing a white chrisp shirt with Blue Low waist jeans...that showed the brand of under garment he wore...he was wearing military converse...his hair spiked never better than this......the whole passage was fragrant because of his perfume...Davidoff..cool water...Jiya loved that perfume...
jiya came in late...she never looked very pretty...she was wearing a Salwar Suit....it was white and pink in color...her eyes looked beautiful...maybe because of the smile that reached her eyes today... her lips were shining and her long thick hair fell so gently on her shoulders her bangels and the sound of her stilletos created a diffrent melody all together.....her bindi sparkled in the light as he walked past the lift into the room...Anthony was already seated..he got up..
"you look beautiful...."
Jiya smiled....and sat down....
by now Anthony told everyone that they were a couple...everyone seemed to be happy....so were the love birds....

part II
“whats wrong with u…….dont scream at me…” jiya spoke to Anthony in a soft sobby voice….
“nothn,,just let it be…”
“but why don’t you wanna meet me?”
“just!”..anthony sounded like someone jiya did not know…he sounded harsh unlike the gentle caring compassionate boyfriend that he ‘used‘ to be.
“fine” jiya did not argue
The entire evening she cried….the kohl in her eyes flew down her cheeks with the numerous tears she cried till dawn.

Things dint seem to work out between the two anymore….none seemed to care enough, the love birds were flying away from each other.

One evening jiya was just visiting memory lane…she remembered their first ever kiss…it was a special moment in their lives..even the thought of it gave jiya goosebumps……….it was around midnight, Anthony and jiya were as usual on the beach together, holding hands and enjoying the sounds of the waves hitting the rocks…jiya felt tired and wanted to sit so Anthony took her to the steps adjoining the beach….anthony sat on the step above jiya , he was holding jiya so tenderely , jiya felt so secure and warm in his arms…she wanted to be like this forever…… Anthony loved the smell of jiyas hair and loved the sensation when her hair brushed against his face……jiya turned to look at anthonys face…..in a fraction of a second she could feel his tongue inside her mouth…. Jiya got butterflies in her stomach..she loved every second of what was happening ,they seemed thirsty for each others love…they kissed for 15 minutes….they did not want to stop they wanted to be interlocked like this forever, but they got conscience of the people around them who kept looking at them….
Jiyas eyes were watering, she could visualize the beach and anthonys hand around her waist, both of them smiling and romancing ….she wanted things to be the way they were…but sometimes…you cant do anything for it…love is a two way process, it does not work alone….

In the coming weeks things got worst…jiya cried night after night…she prayed to god for things to come back to normal……she wanted to be happy with Anthony….
But this did not happen...
Jiya and Anthony could not take it anymore….they had to break up….they had to split from one soul to two separate people who had differences……

Anthony and jiya were on Anthony s terrace…..a lot of memories were attached to the terrace…..they spent nights gazing at the stars, jiya used to lay on his strong shoulders and used to fall asleep talking to him every night…..she looked like a baby in his arm…anthony used to spend the entire night just looking at her sleep…..
But this time the terrace will not leave sweet memories in their minds……jiyas eyes spoke it all..they decided to break up and lead their lives differently… they just sat on the terrace holding hands for a long time…. No words exchanged, the same moment came once again…..there was an awkward silence..they both could not bear it anymore.. jiya did not know how she was controlling her tears all this while…finally she spoke in a soft voice that Anthony will never forget….
“Anthony….i think I should leave now…..”
She hugged Anthony for a long time….tears rolling down her cheeks…she was wondering..when will she ever be able to feel so protected in his arms again?...when will she get enchanted by the smell of his perfume again…..she will miss him…
Anthonys eyes watered too….he wanted her to be in his arms forever…but they knew and had to face reality…..

as jiya walked down anthonys steps…tears kept rolling down….she could once again feel Anthonys eyes on her till she enterd the auto to go home….befor entering the auto she gave one last million dollar smile to Anthony……