Crossroad

Finally the crossroad that he had been waiting for came into sight, or at least he thought so. He just hoped that it wasn't another mirage like before. He couldn't control his anxiety and decided to quicken his pace. The straps of his heavy bag were already biting into his shoulder, but he continued, lest he miss it again. There was still that feeling on the back of his mind that kept stomping on his optimism, telling him that this was just another mirage and he should not get his hopes high. But nevertheless, hope was the only thing that had kept him sane and alive for so long and persuaded his optimism to rise every time it fell.
And then he saw it, there it was. Was that smoke what he saw. He couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen a lot of mirages but never smoke in them before. This was it. This was the real deal. He bagan to jog and the run. Yes there it was, the bus that would take him to the paradise city. He had finally arrived at the first crossroad in time for the bus to Paradise city.
There was a big puff of smoke, and then a bigger one followed. He bag to sprint. No. Not now. Not now when he was so close. The bus began to move, and he tried to pick up his pace. He gave everything he had to catch it. He ran and he ran. Sweat pouring down like rain. He was literally drenched. He could feel his feet cramping up but he didn't give in yet. It was just an arms reach away. He could catch it. He would still be able to get on board, and then he fell. His legs cramped and he got a stitch in his stomach. He tried to get up but fell down again, and again, and again. And then he saw the smoke disappearing in the distance.
He just lay there. He could see the moon behind the clouds in the east and the sun in the west. And he just lay there. He was falling down, down into a dark abyss. There seemed to be no end to it. He had a funny feeling in his stomach. The feeling that you get when the elevator of a skyscraper first starts its journey down. The feeling of weightlessness. He was falling down and now he was afraid. he opened his eyes and saw the stars again. He sat up, had a small meal, some water and the began walking towards the next crossroad. There was still hope left in him. The hope that he would be able to fulfill his dream some day. Yesterday, he wasn't even sure if it was possible. Today he almost missed it, no no, he almost caught it, almost fulfilled his dream. So that was some definite progress. He still had hope.
Minutes became hours, hours became days and days turned to weeks when finally the next crossroad came into his sight. The bus was waiting. The anxiety in him began to ebb again and he could feel the adrenaline rush. He took a few quick steps and began to jog. Should he run faster, will the bus wait for him long enough, should he sprint? He suddenly stopped and stood still looking at the bus, with all the questions still buzzing in his mind. And finally he decided. If it was meant for him to get on it, maybe it didn't matter if he ran or not. He would be able to get on it regardless. And; he just walked.

Dreaming a Dream (Part III)

Read part I here
Read part II here

Unlike the first jolt as the train was moving at a considerable speed now. It was so strong that some people sitting on top almost lost their balance and one big dude (big as in muscular) who was napping fell off his chair. Luckily for us, he held onto the railing and didn't fall down. There was another big sound like a small gas canister exploding and then loud scraping noises. The whole train car was shaking vigorously and all the bags and luggage were flying in the air. It was a perfect chaos and people were screaming all around. He looked at Urvi, she had her eyes shut tight and looked scared. He looked at his reflection in the window and saw the frightened expression on his face. He was holding onto the armrest tightly and Urvi had her hand on his again, her nails digging deep into his hand. He let out a shout but it was drowned in all the chaos and no one took notice. His felt his adrenaline pumping as the big dude fell down near his feet onto some overly stuffed bags (thank god he didn't get hurt).
He felt the train slowing down, but the noise and the vibrations did not abate yet. Finally after fifteen agonizing minutes, the train came to a stop and there was dead silence all around. Everyone looked at each other for a moment and then began collecting their belongings hurriedly. He turned to look at urvi. She still had her eyes tightly shut and fear gripping her beautiful face. Her hand was still clutching his tightly. He lightly put his other hand on top of hers, she opened her eyes, looked around in a daze and then let go of his hand. It was numb with pain. He looked out the window and saw that the train had stopped at that unused station that he used to pass by everyday. He got off his chair and held out his hand for her. They moved towards the door cautiously trying not to trip over someone or something when they heard another loud explosion and saw fire at the end of the train carriage. It was pandemonium all around again.
He saw a couple people trying to open the emergency windows without luck. What an irony but it looked like they were shut tight from lack of use. He hurried towards the other door aways from the creeping fire and tried to wrench it open without any luck. Urvi was crying. His face started to burn from the heat of the fire. The big dude asked him to move over, took a step back from the door and rammed straight into it. It gave away at the hinges but still held tight. This time dhruv rammed it hard along with the big guy and as the door gave way, he fell head first out onto the gravel and twas all darkness.


He felt slight pain on his forehead and felt a bump with his hand. He opened his eyes and was surprised to find urvi staring right into his face.
'How are you feeling now?'
'I feel much better, thanks for the ice.'
'My pleasure, twas the least I could do.'
He still felt hot, maybe twas because of the big bump on his head. He got off the strether and they walked away towards the exit.
'Man that was the scariest experience I ever had in my whole life.'
'Yes, mine too. I don't know if I would ever be able to travel by train without being scared again.'
'Well, I think I better get going now. It was really nice meeting you today Urvi. I will surely remember you for a very very long time.'
She laughed and held out her hand. 'It was really nice meeting you too dhruv. Thank you for everything.'
They stood there looking at each other for a while when she suddenly spoke out,
'A very long time huh ?'
'Will you ?' Or should it've been won't you, he pondered in his mind.
She was silent again for what seemed like eternity to him 'I don't feel like going to work anymore today, I think I have had enough for one day.'
'Me too, do you want to have a cup of coffee?'
'Oh yeah, I sure want to.' Thank god, finally he asked, she thought.
'Let me make a call to my work first.'
As he put the phone to his ear, he felt something cool on his face, and it started to rain.
Suddenly, he heard a loud bark and opened his eyes. He had fallen down from his bed onto the heater vent, had a big bump on his forehead and his dog was licking his face all over.

Dreaming a Dream (Part II)

Read Part I here

He first smelled the intoxicating perfume that drifted in the air, and then he looked up and ... just kept looking. Twas the most beautiful face he had ever seen (at least in real life). A beautiful round innocent face with perfect skin and no makeup at all (Jeeeez... He hated when girls put excessive makeup), with beautiful flowing silky black (slightly brown) hair all the way down below her shoulders. Her eyes, the hazelnut colored eyes full of eagerness were the best feature by far. He kept looking at her. She put on a frown and started speaking. He suddenly jolted back to reality when she patted his shoulder again. He sheepishly took out his earphones and mumbled an apology and got up to let her in. She smiled and sat down. She took out a book and started reading (confessions of a shopaholic). He was looking at her and was thinking of saying hi, some conversation to kill time during this boring journey, but it didn't look like it would work out. He sank back into his seat as the train gave an unusually big jerk as it moved. He slipped and she slipped. He put his hand on the armrest just as she put hers onto his and held on tightly. As the train moved on and she removed her hand and apologized. This was his chance.

'No, not a problem. That was an unusual jolt. Did it scare you?'
'Yeah, that was unusual.' She seemed embarrassed to admit she was frightened.
It sure scared the hell out of me' he said.
'Yeah, I was a bit shaken too. Hi, I'm Urvi'.
'I'm Dhruv. Do you travel by this train every day?'
'Why do you ask?' Gosh this girl. What 'll she lose if she tells.
'I travel by this train everyday but I've never seen you before. So.'
'Sorry, I didn't mean to be "mean", but I'm new here. So just was being cautious.'
'Oh, where were you before here?' He saw a frown on her face and said quickly 'It's OK if you don't wanna tell. I won't mind.'
She smiled. 'Did you hear about the accident today? Do you know anything about it?' she asked changing the subject.
'Yeah, I saw the message in the station before the display broke. The ticket collector didn't have much info other than that the train derailed'
'Derailed huh. I wonder what could cause a train to derail'
'I wonder too. May be we should google it later.' he smiled.
'Google. The answer to all the questions for us software engineers.' she exclaimed.
'Sorry, but am not a software engineer.' he replied.
She turned a light shade of red 'Sorry, I assumed.' She began fumbling with the book but then looked up as asked, 'Where do you work then?'
'Oh I'm a writer.'
'Wow, that sounds interesting. I've never come across a writer before. Have I read any of your books?'
He smiled 'probably not. 'Coz I don't write books. I'm a feature writer for a couple of newspapers and magazines in town.'
'I stopped reading magazines after coming here. Maybe I'll start again, with your features.' She smiled and went back to her book.
'You are new here, so how do you like the place so far? Have you been around town yet?'
'Naah, its actually been only a couple of weeks, and I was pretty busy unpacking stuff and shopping for the apartment mostly.'
'So you are staying alone huh'
'Yeah, I kind of always have wanted a place of my own where there's no one to tell me how to and how not to do something. This is my chance.'
'Same reason I wanted to have a place of my own'.
'Hmm, another reason, I'm new here and I don't know anyone, and I don't want to be living with a complete stranger.'
He was about to answer her when the train rocked violently again.

Dreaming a Dream (Part I)

Hey guys. I'm very sorry for no updates at all for a long time. Had been preoccupied with lots of work, and just wanted to relax on the weekends. Anyways, here I'm finally. This here is a short story, its my first stint at story telling. I hope you'll all like it. Please let me know if you feel I can improve in any specific part. Now read on and enjoy.

There was water below his feet, a river, perhaps an ocean, he didn't know. He was sitting on a ride, and there was a girl beside him. He couldn't remember her face, but could remember that he wanted her to be there, with him, holding his hand in hers. The ride was about to start, he heard a loud thud and then he opened his eyes. He looked around the room and could feel the rays of sunlight falling over his face through the narrow slits in the blinds. He looked at the time with groggy eyes. It was 7:15, yeah that was his friend leaving for work and he was probably late today. He switched off the alarm which was yet to ring and decided to wake up. He thought about the girl, who was she again? He couldn't remember her face but she definitely was someone he knew. Or did he?
An hour later, he was on his way to work walking the now very familiar path with music blasting in his ears. Such a wonderful invention, the MP3 players, he thought. Twas a beautiful sunny day, but the breeze was chilly. He held onto his jacket tightly. There were two thought going on in his mind. His weekend plans and his early morning dream. He had made plans to go to the six flags. And on which ride was he in his dream? Too bad, he couldn't recall. He passed the lake on his way to the train station. The endless lake was as big as an ocean (his eyes couldn't see the end) but for the waves.
He entered the station humming some old hindi number and sat down at the nearby bench to wait for the train. It was late today. He looked at the flashing sign which read "Southbound train delayed due to an accident". Damn. He heard the lady at the ticket machine cursing loudly for gobbling up her change. He smiled. He knew which machine was faulty when you used cash. He was just wondering what else could go wrong on this perfect day when he heard a guy firing a flurry of curses at the birds above. He looked in his direction and smiled. He knew where not to stand. He looked back at the flashing LED display only to find that the messages were all scrambled. He was starting to feel a little uneasy. Was it really a perfect day? Nothing has gone right till now except for the weather, but even that could actually change its face in an instant in this particular part of the globe.
Finally the train came in, almost in time. It looked ominous and he had a very bad feeling about it. He walked towards the last carriage and just by chance happened to a few wires hanging. He got onto and asked the conductor about it but he shrugged it off. He went ahead and sat down just near the door on the aisle seat. The train started and he drifted back into his music with a book in his hand, deep into its plot. The train stopped and a few people got on but he was so immersed into the book and didn't notice anyone until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

A Wrong Man In The Worker's Paradise ...

The man had never believed in mere utility. Having had no useful work, he indulged in mad whims. He made little pieces of sculptures, men, women and castles and he painted. Thus he wasted his time on all that was useless and needless. People laughed at him. He spent his earthlife in useless work and yet after death, the gates of heaven opened wide for him and he was sent to the Workers Paradise.
But this newcomer did not fit well with the scheme of things in Workers Paradise. He lounged in the streets absently and jostled the hurrying men. He lay in the green meadows or close to the fast flowing stream. A girl went hustling-bustling everyday to a silent torrent (silent since in the Workers Paradise even a torrent wouldn't waste its energy singing), to fill her pitchers.
"A - Ha" she cried with concern. "You have no work in hand, Have you?"
The man sighed "Work! I've not a moment to spare for work."
The girl did not understand his words and said "I shall spare some work for you to do, if you like." She further said "What kind of work would you like?"
"Would you give me one of your pitchers, one that you can spare?"
"A pitcher? You want to draw water from the torrent?"
"No. I shall draw pictures on your pitcher."
The girl was annoyed. "A picture indeed! I have no time to waste on such as you. I'm going." And she walked away.
But everyday they met and everyday he said the same thing to her. She yielded at last. She gave him one of her pitchers. The man started painting. When he had completed his work, the girl held up the pitcher and stared at its sides, her eyes puzzled.
Brows drawn, she asked "What do they mean, all those lines and colors?"
The man laughed "Nothing. A picture may have no meaning and serve no purpose."
At home, away from prying eyes, she held it in the light, turned it round and round and scanned the painting from all angles. At night she lighted a candle and scanned it again in silence. For the first time in her life she had seen something that had no meaning and no purpose at all. She saw the painter standing by the torrent and asked him in confusion,
"What do you want of me?"
"Only some more work from your hands."
"What kind of work would you like?"
"Let me make a colored ribbon for your hair."
"And what for?"
"Nothing."
Ribbons were made, bright with colors. The busy girl of Workers Paradise had now to spend a lot of time everyday tying the colored ribbon around her hair. Much work was left unfinished. In Workers Paradise, work of late had began to suffer. Many people who had been active earlier were idle now, wasting their precious time on useless things like paintings and sculptures. The elders became anxious. A meeting was called. The aerial messenger also hurried in, bowed before the elders and made a confession.
"I brought a wrong man in this paradise. It is all due to him."
The man was summoned. Stifled the president said
"This is no place for the kind of you. You must leave."
The man sighed in relief and gathered up his brush and paints. But as he was about to go, the girl of the silent torrent came up tripping and cried
"Wait a moment! I shall come with you."

Shift Yourself

When life seems a tough battle, for a while shift yourselves to the world of imaginations....

Look into the mirror...Your eyes...
The depth...They reflect something...
Catch the message...They have volumes to speak....
View the image in your mind...Flutter...
Glide...Through the time...See the invisible...
Gape in it...Hear the silence...Its got a rhythm...
Breath in the vacuum...Get mesmerized...Feel the flaws within...
Dance along with it...Dive into the river of belief...Get drowned...
Find yourselves standing on he edge of a rock...Stop...Don't walk...
Smell the mist around...Spread your arms...
Embrace the rejuvenated feeling...
Now come back...Retrieve yourself...

Discover the possibility of the impossible, the presence of the invisible, in the joy of being alive, 'coz as a human, you still can do a lot, with time.