Grenades and Soap Bubbles, A short story by HAC

“The fault in our stars,” he chuckled. She looked at him as a murderer of the moment and went back to reading. Their flight was delayed, while he was getting bored, she almost drowned in her book.

“I’m a grenade and at some point I’m going to blow up,” he disturbed her again with a quote from the book and waited for her to complete it.

“And I would like to minimize the causalities, Okay?” she completed it with a smile.

“Okay,” he smiled back.

“I didn’t know you had this quote still in your skull, what else do you remember?” he has her full attention.

“I remember that no one told Hazel Grace that she was not a grenade, instead she was a soap bubble,” he chipped wafers in his mouth.

She waited for him to explain. He didn’t. But kept looking at her.

She gave it a thought and put her opinion on it “Soap bubble? Yeah! I guess. She surely short-lived but didn’t hurt anyone. Like a soap bubble, she floated through everyone’s life and spread happiness. Everyone around her carried the same spark in their eyes that one can see in a kid’s eyes, laughing and clapping at a soap bubble,” she closed the book and ran her fingers on the cover, as if feeling it.

“No, I meant somebody blew through her mother to bring her into life,” he laughed. “But you make sense too.”

She laughed with him, and declared him a total jerk. Totally unaware of the fact that he had seen her cry while reading the book. And, he chose to be a boy first that could make her smile with lame jokes before being a man who could comfort her in his arms and wipe her tears off. Because, wiping off tears is soothing, but making her believe that tears do not exist… is a whole new story. 

-Himanshu Appie Chhabra

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Magician, A Short story by Himanshu Chhabra

“You are a charmer,” she said, curling up under my arm so that my hand rested on her head. She read an abstract from my laptop before concluding this statement.

Before I could give her a response, my mind stopped me to notice the beauty of how we were surrendered with the darkness and how she soaked all the light genesis out of my laptop screen. The light was evident of the intensity with which she was looking at me for the response.

“Magician to be precise,” I finally responded. With no clue why I said that, and what I was supposed to say next. She made herself more comfortable in my hold. And, in that particular marathon of second, I felt the glory of every new cell she touched on my skin and sadness of every cell she untouched. I felt my skin fragmented by the fragrance of her skin.

“I am a magician. Have you seen them doing their tricks? Have you seen how magic works? How they take all your attention to one irrelevant point and do something where your attention isn't. Same goes with me. I will look deep into your eyes, as if I will dig your soul out of them. I will neatly keep all your attention with my eyes. Your eyes quaffing mine and then I will put my palm on your waist. You will think that you got my trick. That I will do something with your waist. You will pretend that all your attention is in my eyes but your mind will secretly follow my moves on your waist. How limited I am with the way I touch you, soft and tranquil. And, I will do nothing. I will just hold you for a while and then move my hand away. You won’t have a clue that your heart isn’t there anymore. I would steal your heart with stillness of my eyes and coldness of my touch. That's how you will know that I am not a charmer but magician.”

She smiled.

“I don’t believe you.” She folded my laptop and we were accompanied by complete darkness.

“You don’t believe what?” I asked.

She held my hand and placed it on her waist, “That your hand will land between my second base and the third base and you will pull it away.” She pressed her lips against mine.

She was right. I didn’t pull my hand away. (I won’t tell you where they went. Ummm… Abracadabra, they disappeared.) The magician was amused itself the way he was tricked by his own trick.

-Himanshu Appie Chhabra

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Snowflakes and Samar, Chapter-1 by Himanshu Chhabra

Snowflakes and Samar

The metro honked and paced out of the station. They were still standing there. With her sobs dying in his chest and tears surpassing the holes in his sweater, leaving salt spots on his soul. He filled the gap between his fingers with her hair and supported her head. Her little arms were trying hard to lock him in them. “ Don’t go,” she fisted his sweater with both hands and hugged him with all the energy left in the universe. 

She could feel his dim heartbeats one after the other. Until he decided to depart. His hands trailed off off her back and her eyes constantly pushed back the tear shores hitting the dryness of his eyelashes. The next metro was already there on the platform. He had to leave now.

“Please don’t go,” she screamed her heart out. The station echoed for a while.

“I Love you December…” His soul muttered. Yes, he was still in love with her. The love that was so pure that it refused to ski down his eyes.  However, there was no way it could last forever. There was no way Samar and winter could happen together. They were all opposite, always fighting with each other. He still remembered the day when he gave her this name. When he called her ‘December’ for the very first time. The day when Amber became December. He still remembered the exact words her said to her, “Amber, oh my December. You are the one where every season ends. You are the one always beside summer. No matter how many years pass by, we would still be there accompanying and always before and after each other. We are the seasons that control time, sunsets and sunrises. We are the seasons that make this world move upside down.”

He remembered a lot more than that. He remembered every breath they exhaled on each other’s skin. He remembered every whisper over the phone call, witnessed by so many nights still hidden somewhere beneath the blankets and pillows. He remembered every dress she wore. Every word she ever said, as well as every word she was about to say.   

The metro honked and he knew now was the time. He scooped up his bag and hung it on his shoulder. A door opened right in front of him and he left. He left without looking back at her. The last thing he could hear was a sentence badly wrapped with tears. “Please stay for one more day… Please.”

The metro started to move and soon he was out of her sight. She had lost him. Her cellphone that was already lying on the marble floor lightened up with a text.

‘Samar: We need to talk.’

She quickly picked up her cell phone and started to type a reply. However, sooner she realized that the text was sent an hour back. There was nothing left to talk about now.  An hour back, when things were different. An hour back, when they were still together, madly in love. An hour back, right before the moment that made them apart. An hour back, when the ‘Stay’ did not split into two words- ‘Don’t go’.

She fell down on the floor and stared at her cell phone screen for a while. All she could read was his name over and over again. His sweater was no longer there to soak her tears. They fell on after the other on the floor. All lonely and distant from each other. A stranger helped her to stand again and handled her bag and cellphone.

“Thank you,” she sobbed. The stranger was gone before she could thank him well.

“You want one day from me, and I can’t spend another day with you,” someone was standing right behind her. The voice was familiar. The fragrance was familiar. It was Samar.

“I want you to tell me five words.  The ones that could convey exactly what you are feeling right now. I don’t want sentence. I don’t want stanzas. I just want five words from you. And, in return I will give you something.”

She turned her head towards him and went completely blank for a while.  He always had this effect on her. He held the power to stop all her senses with just a blink of an eye. She wiped her tears and ran to hug him.

He stopped her. “Five words…” he said.

She stood still with tears in her eyes and finally spoke after a couple of seconds later. “Sorry… Love… Silver… Again… forever.”

She said the first five words that hit her mind. The feelings were conveyed. His mind filled the space around those words with more words. Words that formed sentences and stanzas. Words that couldn’t make him stay but made him say. “Five days… You have got five days. Not from the future, because I cannot see any future with you. Not from the present, because we are nowhere near each other in the present. I give you the power to spend five days with me from our past. Any five days that can make me fall in love with you again. Any five days that can make me stay. I promise I will behave like a person I was that day. There won’t be any adulteration in feelings from my end. Just try to make every moment count.”

He finished and started to walk towards the staircase. “And… don’t play it as a game. There is always someone who loses in games. And, you won’t want any of us to lose.”

He finally disappeared.

...to be continued...

-Himanshu Appie Chhabra

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Undeterred Courage - My ray of hope among the dark clouds.

“In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.”

– Albert Camus

Tortured beyond imagination by my own parents, I have finally pushed through the pain to build a life of hope. As a child, at first I was taught by my mother to be comfortable and responsive to a man’s touch. I could hardly understand what she wanted me to do until one day, my parents sold me to an agency that dealt in child trafficking. That seemed like an end to my life.

For few weeks, I was provided food and clothes that looked good. But all that comfort was short lived, and then the unthinkable happened. I was dressed in skimpy clothes and my face was painted in heavy and cheap looking make up. Then, I was made to stand with few other helpless girls. A price tag was put around our necks and we were literally auctioned before the prospective clients.

I was shuddering in utter disbelief. At that moment, a client bargained me for sex. He took me to a room and told me to strip. I refused his offer immediately. He grabbed me by the hair, forced me on the floor and raped me forcefully, taking away my virginity. I was terrorized and felt as if I had lost myself. The girl who came out of that room wasn’t me anymore. I could not recognize myself in the mirror.

After that day, it was on a regular basis that I was put in rooms with different clients and was supposed to please them, entertain them, and what not. Mentally I was lost, emotionally I had killed myself, and physically I had no choice but to lay naked in bed with some strangers. I didn’t recognize the sun or know what the grass felt like!

Image Source: cargocollective.com

It was only after several months that I finally got my one chance to escape from that hell. Everyone seemed to be busy and I was willing to give myself one chance to revamp my life. I took a leap of faith from the back side window when no one was noticing and ran with all my might.

I decided not to go to the police station as I was terrified. After several days, I ran into a counselor who helped me regain my optimism. She took me to a doctor and I was put on medication. My road to normality has been a bumpy ride. I would have fits of rage, long nights of tears and terror, and few suicide attempts. It was only after hundreds of visit to the doctor and being in regular touch with my counselor that I finally heaved a sigh of relief.

For the first time in years, I am off medication for depression and can look up to a future. I exercise to keep my mind active, I interact with people (something that I have been frightened of) and seem to fave found a new me.

- The Girl who saw a new 'hope'

Image Source: www.innocentsatrisk.org

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The Girl who had the courage

I was very young when I would often see my mother, curled up in a corner. Her face would always be hidden in her knees and I could hear sounds of sobbing. But I was too scared to go near her, ask her the reason or comfort her. I was naive and vulnerable myself and seeing her like that almost every day weakened me more. I didn’t know who should I turn to for help.

Then, I myself decided to help her come out of that isolation. I didn’t sleep the whole night to check on her from a distance. What I saw that day, took me by surprise! My father entered home at half past midnight and started shouting at my mother. He beat her for no reason and then told her to go away. As she stood up from the floor to leave, he again turned to her and slapped her once more before repeating his dialogue.

I could no longer bear that tormenting sight. I don’t know from where I gathered enough courage to face my drunkard father and I went straight to where he was standing to shield my mother from him. My father was no less than a devil in disguise. Seeing me there, he decided to derive some more sadistic pleasure by hitting me. But before he could harm me, I screamed and screamed with all my might.

Image Source: csrindia.org

In a couple of minutes, the whole neighborhood was awake and banging at our door. I rushed to open as my father looked at me, alarmed as he was taken in by that surprise. Meanwhile, several aunts rushed inside to safeguard my mother on hearing my story. Somebody called the police station, and my father was imprisoned on charges of domestic violence.

That night, I cuddled closed to mum, unable to sleep. I was feeling betrayed by my own father. I was restless and my throat parched but I could not ask for water. My mother was awake all night too. As the sunlight entered our room the next day, we both made a promise to each other – A promise of togetherness! We decided that no matter how many more storms come in our life, we will continue to be each other’s support and not give in to the torture. We will raise our voice against all kind of atrocities and we won’t shed tears for people who don’t care for us.

Today, I am proud to have my mother by my side. She is everything to me – my mother, father, sibling, and also my best friend. I can never ask for anything more. Just a smile on her face relieves me from all the burden and I regain my strength to fulfill our dreams.

- The Girl who had the courage

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An Ugly Love Story, by HAC. Chapter-1

An Ugly Love Story.

Chapter-1

“What’s your order ma’am?” He asked in his sweet voice. He had to maintain that smile for every customer, but this customer wasn’t just a customer to him.  He waited for them to reply. He was wearing a black cap, followed by the black dress of any typical Café coffee day worker.

“Two cappuccinos,” said Shalini and brushed her hair behind her ear. She passed him her debit card and he took it, after a few taps on the screen.

He was surely feeling nervous. His hands were shaking on the Card-swiping machine and numerous sweat bubbles popped out of his forehead.

“Please enter the Pin,” He rotated the machine in front of her and looked up. Their eyes linked.

He blinked.

She blinked.

It happened just like Pablo Neruda has said- ‘Then love knew it was called love.  And when I lifted my eyes to your name, suddenly your heart showed me my way.” He wasn’t seeing those beautiful eyes for the first time, he now maintained the habit of seeing them every day. This was the love story, which was left unclaimed from the almighty. Every element was there to blend into a story, but no one pressed the switch of blender.

She never skipped her coffee, he never skipped to stand on the other side of the counter every evening. Arjun had realized it, but the girl was yet to realize the love that was meant to happen in future. It was the uncertainty that was made certain by the future. Arjun was her senior in the college. Not so rich, hence working in the CCD as a part-timer. On the other hand, she was rich enough to afford a cappuccino every day.

“Here…” He said and passed his pen to Shalini. She signed the bill generated by the machine and passed it back. As they were leaving the counter, he said hesitatingly, “Ma’am! You are blessed with a beautiful pair of eyes.”

Shalini and her friend turned back. Shalini had the smile that accepted the compliment.  However, her friend hadn’t approved it.

Shalini stood silent with a smile and her friend finally spoke, “How dare you?” She shouted loudly. Loud enough to gain everyone’s attention in the café.

“It’s Okay,” Shalini held Ruhi’s hand. She was fuming in anger. Ruhi’s other hand was almost on the table and she was about to climb it and rip off his head, any moment. Shalini calmed her down. She again brushed her hair behind ear and whispered, “Thank you.”

“Sorry…” He looked confused. The muscles of his face sharpened so finely that he looked even cuter. As the dimple slowly blanketed itself in one of his cheeks, Shalini’s heart skipped a beat. She gave him a blank expression.

Ruhi came in between and shouted, “She said thank you. Now, if you allow us Mr. Compliment giver, Can we go, sit, and have our coffee?”

“Sorry, but I wasn’t talking about her eyes, I was talking about yours.”

She blinked.

“Your eyes are so intense I want to look away . . . or never look away, I can’t decide.” He said in one breath.

She blinked.

Her face turned pink and all her anger vanished. She wasn’t feeling shy, she was feeling embarrassed because maybe it was not a compliment, it was a taunt. She was not beautiful at all- this was the only thought that dusted her mind since last eight years. She was over weighted and had this very tiny pony tail to accompany her oversized body.  She always saw an ugly girl standing in front of her, whenever she looked into the mirror. She has been learning that she has been ugly for years and now all of a sudden, someone comes to her and tells her that she has a beautiful pair of eyes. It was unacceptable. It was not real, hence to her, it was a taunt.

She blinked.

He blinked.

A tear blocked her eyesight and the very next moment, he found her struggling to run out of the café. He stood numb, he wanted to run behind her, wipe her tears, and ask her that what made her cry. However, he couldn’t. Love doesn’t happen this way, you cannot run behind it, it always walk to you, unaffected with the situations and equations.

*****

Shimla: Few years Later.

“Grand maa,” A voice came out of the blanket. She was coughing badly. An old lady entered the room with some medicines and a glass of water. As she came and sat next to the girl, the girl pulled her head off the blanket and laid down on her grandmother’s thighs.

It was snowing outside. Inside, the sight was different. When the nature was at its best outside, the girl’s face looked paler if compared to her grandmother.

“Maa… He will come back na?” The girl asked with all her hopes.

The old lady didn’t reply. Silence can answer many questions, but if spoken, the words can become hurtful. Silence is just like a damaged ship. It is gonna sink anyway, but still there are numerous hopes that could and would survive in the end.

A tear drowned from her eyes in the folds of blanket. Perhaps, he wasn’t coming back.

READ NEXT CHAPTER HERE


-Himanshu Appie Chhabra

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The Unknown Equation by Hejal Mehta, Part-1

THE UNKNOWN EQAUTION

25 September,2011 22.15 hours.
Aarav:

I reached the grounds with a friend. It was awkward first wearing those traditional clothes but it all disappeared reaching crowds. The night was a bit dark, the lights were alluring. People were there to flaunt, not money but their colourful, rich, vivid, and vibrant clothes. The ground was ablazed with lights, the girls were inflamed and I was reddened gazing them.

It was my first visit to Gujarat and I was lucky to see Navratri. My father’s friend resided in Ahmadabad after shifting from Mumbai. Dad and I had some business deals which led me there.
I was not in my senses and my ears had ceased to function. The music were on and I was intoxicated for the first time without alcohol or drugs. Unquestionably better than any Bollywood or night parties in Bombay.
                            

We had a glass of chaach (buttermilk), and the 'dandiya' began. Genuinely I didn't enjoy much as I felt lame seeing others managing that 'dandiya' with the dance. After all I only knew to dance in rave parties. I decided to stand aside and watch them.

I removed a fag to smoke and it never lit. What I saw was the awesome complexity of the universe. The night had already chuffed me and now the girl. I saw her noticing me and I went after her till she took me through the crowds. She was no more a desire but a need. I was never after a girl. I was married to alcohol.
She was exquisite and I was pleased as punch. She had already driven me insane and I forgot of my mere existence.

And then I caught her never wanting to leave.I asked if she would come with me. She winked.
Was I in love?my brain asked the haywired heart?
Yes I was.This was too lame.
We ended up in a local hotel room.
"I love you" ,I told her.
And she gave a shy smile.
I went near her to kiss. She was too flavored. Her lips tasted a fresh strawberry. I was lost.I reached her backless top to undress.Her curves were spendiferous. I asked her why she didn't meet me before?
"Life is too short",she answered.

Her hairs laid on my chest. She smelled like a rose.And I felt never going back to my life.
I kissed her all over again. Her ravishing eyes wanted more. I reached for her skirt and in no time she was satisfied. Her shrill sound gave voice to my feelings. I felt stiff and narcotized by her tensile pull. I bitched cocaine for never making feel like this before.
I had fallen into a deep torpor. I didn't knew when I dozed off.

NEXT DAY:
I got up in the hotel room and I noticed thousands of missed calls in my cell. I didn't bother to notice them,but her absence was a pain in the neck.I searched for her but she was nowhere. I was broken,she could have even left her number to find her.

I recalled what she told me yesterday. She lived in the bungalow near the lake.
I was as happy as a lark and finally decided to take her with me,for she gave herself to me last night.
I reached the bungalow as it only existed.
The place was demolished,reduced to nothing.

"She mocked at me?Was she only interested in sex?She cheated on me"I roiled at the fact.
There was an old man sitting under a ravaged hut.I asked him if the girl with curly hair lived there.
"She killed herself ten years ago",He coughed.
Love never existed for me. I remarried alcohol again.

I used to not shave my beard for like weeks..Ugly and creepy I had become,but I didn't care.

Months passed but I couldn't forget her face,the night still haunts me. I had been googling whether ghosts exists and the negative answers rose the curiosity inside me.I talked with my friends about and they thought I had turned a junkie. My mind had already became a haunted house finding answers for things I wondered worth thinking for myself or not.
                                      

My parents felt I was brainsick. I would talk to nobody, forget about going to office. Most of the time I would sit at the beach and read Stephen Hawking book-'The Grand Design' about the universe.The normal acquaintance with some non normal thing had scuffed me to read these awesome philosophies.
I had never been so pre-occupied with nature before.Understanding universe is bemusing and conflicting with what is TRUE and still finding yourself in a maze.
Bliss it was for me.
'Thanks to the ghost girl'
And so Science is better than commerce,I finally accepted. Its difficult for a corporate person to say that.
Ultimately it was a quench to find her...

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Written by:
Hejal Mehta

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Marriages 'Made in India' , by Lohita Poosarla Chapter-1

Vathsala was lost deep in her thoughts, thinking hard about her future after marriage, Indian marriages are a boon as well as a bane to our society.

 

“Vathsala are you ready” shouted her mom from downstairs; she has come back from her trance into reality

“Ha Maa, getting ready”

“Get ready, don’t be late, they might be here any time”

“haa ok Maa” she shouted back to her mom.

Vathsala is a typical Indian girl, with many dreams to achieve, she has recently completed her degree and was preparing for many competitive exams, to further study, but even in this modernized day we do find people who want their daughter to be married at an early stage.

Vathsala was a bright student, she wanted to study further and reach heights, and she still remembers the discussion with her dad on the day the match maker has bought this match.

“Dad I want to go with my further studies”

“Vathsala, everything should happen at the right time, so it’s right for you now, if your future husband accepts then you can further continue with your studies”

Now she has come back to the reality that marriage is part of life no one can escape it but as a girl she has many thoughts, about how a marriage life will be, she was tensed, about everything first whether this guy suits her mind set or not , second she needs to leave her whole family and straight away start a new life in a strangers house with his family members, how will it be? There are many questions troubling her, for all her doubts only time can answer.

Her mother has come into her room and upon seeing her, she made few changes to her attire and told few things which every mom tells to her daughter like as soon as you come outside, take blessings of everyone , answer to their questions properly etc.,

She nodded her head for everything. Why girls should do all the sacrifices, why not the guy follow the same procedures, she was fuming inside but she was expressionless outwards.

Her mom left the room leaving her. She was pacing back and forth in the room , She was tensed , she don’t know why , she’s angry , tensed , afraid , all emotions are charging upon her at once. She closed her eyes and took her breath deeply to calm herself and was waiting patiently.

Her mom has come and took her outside, she has done everything as told and her mom asked her to sit placing a chair for her. She sat with her head held down. She wanted to see the guy but she cannot raise her head.

Someone from the guy’s side asked her, “Did you see him? Did you like him?

She nodded her head still looking down.

Guy’s dad asked her father that the guy wanted to talk to Vathsala, as soon as she heard that, she raised her head quickly with a shocked expression, and she accidently saw the guy, he was looking straight at her, with a smile in his eyes , she as a reflex action looked down , she was blushing .

Read Next Chapter here

Authored by:

  

Lohita Poosarla

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Shaurya Forever... A Real Story. Part-1

“Mom I don’t think that I am coming back home.” He probably said his last words.  The pillow supporting his head had also supported him emotionally. All his tears, all his never ending pains of losing every living person has been soaked by the white pillow. When someone close to us dies, we all the living ones, lose just one person. However, we never think about the pain of the person who is dying, who knows that the clock of his/er life is racing and when it will stop, it will steal away everyone. Not even a single person will manage to comfort him/er after death. S/He will be all alone. Shaurya was thinking the same. The havoc created by cancer cells inside his blood constructed the prolong silence in the intensive care unit of Fortis Hospital. He was on the verge to end his fight. Fight not of survival but of life..

Fight to return back home.. Fight to live back those 'Old Times'

“Chikoo…” His mother gripped his right hand with her both hands and sobbed. From last one year, she was angrily shifting the pages of Dictionary of Life to find the excessively vulnerable synonym of life, hope. ‘Hope’ undoubtedly became the synonym of ‘Life’ for Shaurya and his mother..

He smiled, listening to his name from his creator. He was there, all alone, struggling between its creator and destructor; his mother and Cancer. One created him with much of her love and care and other was eating him softly with the time. Shaurya somewhere knew that it was never a fight. He was slave to his death and was a companion to his creator. He could just give company to her, until his master asks him to stop breathing and become palpable. 

In last one year, Shaurya has lost nothing except his hair. He had just gained everything. Life looks much transparent from that bed of ICU. There was no rat race. There was just observance and wait of the final recovery or the final goodbye. 

He was waiting too..

The Wait was for the order of his master, the death, the cancer. 

The clock on the ground floor of the same building was showing 1:25 am. The Calendar hung inside one of the doctor showed 4 January. May be it was the time… They say you recall all your life in the last seven minutes of your life. Shaurya recalled everything… from his birth to the yellow T-shirt he had in his childhood, from his school friend Shekhar to meeting Aayushi.. 

Every single memory just came and shrugged him for a while. 

Everything was right there in front of his weak eyes, his family; a picture in which all of them was together. His dad, Bunny and they were wearing white suits and his mother was there.. Looking forever gorgeous in that red outfit.. They all were together and were smiling at the camera. Those were the pixels of happiness. .
Who knew the smiles would be so short lived.. The smiles were trying hard to remain.. Trying hard..

It was not his fault actually. He could have survived and lived. It was the fault of doctors from Medanta Hospital. The urge to live in his inner shell was so strong that he underwent 11 chemotherapy.  Doctors kept failing and he kept fighting. After the 11th attempt, the doctors finally accepted that they were not capable enough to cure him from the monster called cancer. 

He was shifted to a new hospital, Fortis. It was a new hope but when it is destined to fall wrong, it never falls right. He was treated well there. He was happy that he would be able to survive now. He recovered. The healthy stem cells that were taken out of his body before his therapy at Medanta hospital were now to be placed back in his body. 

A strong chemotherapy was given to him to reduce WBC to the figure of zero and then to place the healthy stems back. However, it was found that the cells were not stored properly and had been destroyed beforehand. All this concluded to make his condition more critical. 

“You will be all right.” His mother lied as she passed him the glass of water. 

“I don’t want this glass of water, I want the other one.” He said with moist voice. There was a story within him, which was making him heavier. He wanted to fly up to the ceiling of the room and then ceiling of the rooms of all the other floor and then to sky, to the universe. He wanted to fly where the life ends…

'Jai Guruji', he finally said with a smile on his face..

Cancer died at last but...

HE DIED TOO.. 

He could just leave. However, he couldn’t. He had to leave behind his story for that. He did so. He left the story behind, story of his journey from his life to death. He left his story in every heart who knew him, the every person who loved him.

And… The story was. “Hiii, I am Shaurya… I.. am..”

••Read Next Part here••

Written by:

Himanshu Appie Chhabra
Parul Parihar
Venu Pandey

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One Life Chapter-1 , by Lohita Poosarla

May 5^th, 2012

Midnight 1’o clock

Sitting all alone in her room, she is silently crying, all by herself. Everyone, her brother, mother tried to console her and to get out of all this, they thought they have succeeded in cajoling her, what they don’t know is that, she is still moaning all by herself. These thoughts keep haunting her every night, not allowing her to rest in peace.

What wrong has she done?  Believing in her friends and trusting them was her mistake? Believing in a guy whom she thought loved her, but has betrayed her, loving him with all her heart was her mistake??

Don’t know what her mistake was but she needs to come over it. That is what is becoming difficult for her now. Thinking about the past, brooding over there, thinking that there is no future for her, she has fallen asleep.

Next day, like a robot she went on with her daily routine, went for a jog with her father, animatedly talking with her parents over breakfast about her career. But you know mother’s can sense anything, if something went wrong. When she was about to leave to her office , her mother said “He is the past , Look into your future  Aradhya, there is lot more for you to cherish in this world , please come out of this , if you need a change , go to Hyderabad  , change your Job , you may get distracted.” 

“No Maa, I want to be with you and Dad”

People keep on pestering into other’s life. They are more interested to know on what is going on in other’s life rather than theirs. Aradhya was doing her office work , when one of her colleague stopped by  at her desk , and was just chatting this and that with her , then suddenly , out of the blue , her colleague asked “ What’s up ? Is there any improvement in that guy’s behavior” Aradhya felt like kicking her in the face, but controlling back her emotions, she just smiled and said “Don’t ever ask that again”

After office, that day she has gone to beach to relax herself for some time. After watching the waves for sometimes , she felt strange , those waves are examples of one’s life, they fall and they rise… telling us that we need to fall but definitely we should rise again .

As she was, coming out the beach, she felt relaxed and relieved. As she was about to start her Scooty, she saw someone familiar coming towards her. As she saw who it was, all the color drained from her face, hot water drops on her cheeks. And again sending her into the past once again ……

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By: Lohita Poosarla <lohitaanu@gmail.com>

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Beyond The End....Chapter 1 , by Nisha Raj

Beyond The End....Chapter 1

by Nisha Raj 

 

 

 

'Meera is in ICCU.' Aditi spoke on the phone.

 'You mean Meera Shah of our batch?' I just spoke without waiting to know who was speaking. 'Ya the same Meera Shah. She is in jamnagar hospital right now. I am going are you coming?'

'Obviously i am coming'. I just shouted madly.

'Cool down be ready i am coming to pick you up in 10 minutes be ready.'

I hung up and than the realization dawned to me that i didn't know to whom i was speaking. I checked my logs and saw Aditi's number. As i sat in the car with Aditi my mind travelled back to our school days. 

Meera Shah: THE MOST POPULAR GIRL of the school. afterall she was best in academics, sports, cultural events and just everything. Thats why she was elected as the school captian. She was the most carefree and reserved girl i had ever seen. I wondered what happened to her that today she was in ICCU. One after another memories flooded my mind and i didn't realize that we were in Jamnagar. As i entered the hospital a typical smell of medicines engulfed me. The wardboy directed us to the ICCU. Horror struck me when i saw Meera on the hospital bed with all kinds of medical equipments attached to her body. NO she cant be our Meera. She lay unconcious on the bed. I sat beside her waiting for her to wake up and know what happened. The doctor checked her and was about to go.

'Good Evening doctor can you please tell me what happened to her?' I asked with the hope to know about the pityful condition of my best friend.

'She consumed 24 sleeping pills. Now please excuse me.' The doctor said with least sympathy in his voice.

I felt as if someone was hammering my head, '24 sleeping pills.' What happened which made a girl like Meera consume 24 sleeping pills?

'Rita' a familar voice called me. I turned. It was Meera. She had woken up.

'Whats all this Meera? 24 sleeping pills and all...you owe me an explanation.'

'Yes i do' she said weakly.'But its a long story.'

'I am all ears. Speak...' I demanded with utter anxiousness in my vioce. And she began....

******

 

 It wasn't just another day of my life. It was as if i had waited for this day since years, and ya finally i was here: ON THE DOORSTEP OF HER COLLEGE. As everyone awaits i had also awaited this day. My college was soon to begin, it was 28 August. Standing there i didnt knew that this college days were going to change my life forever. I was overwhelmed with the thought of staying away from home, mom, dad, sis and more than that my school memories. The very thought of living in the hostel and in a small town like Jamnagar was depressing for me. Afterall i was a carefree girl from a city like Ahmedabad. But that day i kept aside all my thoughts for i was to start a new journey. And a journey without new place, challenges, wierd people didnt seem interesting to me. I was unique and so my journey also needed to be unique. I mentally read the name of my college as I entered the gate ' St. Mary's Medical College'. Soon i was in  the auditorium where was orientation program was to be held. 

'Damm.....its empty...how can i be the first person to come here?.'

I quickly scanned the empty hall. 

'Excuse me. Hello...'. Someone tapped my shoulder.

Oh hii.. i guess you too are a student waiting for the orientation to begin, right? I blabbered.

'Yes. Anyways I am Ritvi And you?

'Oh I am Meera. I am glad atleast someone is here.'

And than everyone started entering. All that unknown faces made me feel sick. Just than I saw him. He was nothing special yet i scanned him. A normal tee , a casual light blue denim and reemless specs. He was busy in his so called cellphone world. He came and sat one row away from my chair. It was there that i saw him the first time. I started scanning all the people around me and he became just an no one in my life for the moment. At that point i didnt realize that the same no one will occupy such a place in my life.

People come in your life and go but some people even after going stay back in your heart.

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A Teddy Bear Love Story Chapter-1

"May I come in madam?” An 8^th grader was standing at the door, with a cute smile on his lips, shed of hair on his forehead, a bag pack on his shoulder, and an apple in his hand. He was the most notorious student of 8^th C. He never completed his homework on time. All he had thought at this age was to become a footballer.

“You are too early for the next class my boy,” Teacher cracked the joke and irony of it was that nobody laughed. He was the star student of class. Be it his extra height among all, or the fights he picked, or be it his friendly nature. He took control over the students of class.

“I was bringing an apple for you.” He said with an ear-to-ear smile pasted on his face.He knew if he won’t flatter her, he won’t be sitting in the class today. 

“This apple is your breakfast. Which, apparently, you skipped,” She smiled leniently and told the fact. “So, stop lying and tell me what your excuse is for today?” She closed the book she was holding and bookmarked it with her index finger.

“I was doing homework,” He lied confidently. He knew that the lie was lame. He must have had used a better excuse. He never did homework and everyone knew it. 

She bowed her eyebrows and looked at him, “Homework, really?” She caught him.

He smiled. He wanted to say yes but he didn’t. He kept mum and plastered a fake smile on his face.

“Do you know what subject I teach?” She asked a simple question. However, it left him clean bold. He wasn’t attending the classes regularly because of the league matches of football. He was playing for a local club.

He tried to be smart. He looked at the book she was holding. The attractive cover of it proclaimed ‘English Grammar’ with red color. He laughed within himself and thought “Dumb teacher.”

“Are you gonna answer me today?” She folded her hands and asked.

“Its English ma’am,” He smiled and said flirtatiously. He adjusted his backpack on his shoulder and started walking in, without even asking for her permission. He knew he had cracked the punishment thing well and now he would be sitting on last bench, eating his apple and apparently, building clouds of success in his mind as a football champion.

“Wait there,” The teacher interrupted. He stopped and turned towards her. “You said you are late because you were doing homework. Am I right?”

“Right,” He declared.

“So, class, Sarthak has done his homework for the first time. Let us give him the first chance to read the essay on yesterday’s topic.” She glowed and looked at the class. She knew he had not done his homework.

“What was the topic?” Sarthak asked confused.  He had no idea about this homework thing. 

“You must have known it, if you have done your homework,” She smiled suspiciously. Thanks to his classmates, they hooted and someone shouted loudly “A friend to Remember,”

“A Friend to Remember,” He thought. He had to cook a story quickly; else, he was going to be punished.

“Friend… Friend…Friend… Yes, I have a story to share.” His mind thought. His fingers quickly ran up to unzip his bag pack. He had the messiest bag one can have; just two notebooks and four books. One notebook was for rough work and other was of science, as they had an evil science teacher and she had some psychological problem of checking notebooks every day. 

He pulled out the science notebook and randomly opened a page. Coincidentally it was a blank one. He cleared his throat, looked at the non-inked page, and started reading.

I know everyone has written about his or her best friends. I have best friends too. However, they all have written wrong. A best friend is always with us, so we cannot remember him/her. It was all about the friend we lost, but didn't want to lose. Going against the trend, I have written about a friend. I cannot call her my friend, but yes, there was something special about this particular friend. That girl had left an impact on me, and I guess this is what a friend does.

I met her for the first time in first standard.

My hair was not spiky that time. I was half of my current height or maybe little lesser. I used to reach school on time as my parents used to drop me. It was just another day for me. My parents dropped me outside the school and I walked in the front gate. My class was on the ground floor itself. Students had already put their bags on the seats and were out playing with an aluminum foil ball, before morning assembly.

I walked to my seat and tried to put my bag in. I noticed there were already a blue bag and a brown teddy bear. “Who brought a teddy bear in school?” I mumbled. I pulled out the bag and teddy bear and started putting it on the previous bench.

“They are mine,” A girl appeared from nowhere and shocked me. I looked at the girl. She was not in the school dress, which apparently meant that either she was a new admission or it was her birthday today. She was wearing a yellow fluffy frock. I tried to recognize her, she seemed unknown to me. I eventually concluded that she was a new admission.

Her eyes took my attention; they were more milky than normal, like if she was an alien attacking our school. I watched a show in which aliens attacked Earth and they all changed themselves into cute looking humans. She was also cute.

“It is my seat,” I exclaimed and pointed on the bench with my index finger. I had written my name on it with my disastrous handwriting using a pen. Pen not allowed to us but still I got one anyhow. The sad part was that I made a spelling mistake while writing my name. I tried to rub it and correct it with my rubber but it failed. That was the reason that we were insisted to use pencil, I thought. 

Doesn’t matter that the spelling was correct or incorrect, the seat was still mine. I looked at her and was about to throw her bag and that teddy bear, seeing her numb and motionless looking at me with her weird eyes; cute but scary.

I thought she would fight with me, but she did not. Her eyelashes dropped down with sadness and she uttered “Sorry,” I failed to listen but I read her lips. She put her hair behind her ears and grabbed the bag. She looked helpless. Keeping her head low, she walked on the last bench of classroom and sat down. There was some kind of agony in her eyes.

She did not talk to anyone in the class. She kept sitting like a wax statue and I kept looking at her. Every time I looked into her eyes, I felt guilty. Guilty, maybe I was rude and hurt her. 

I ignored her, but then again our eyes met.

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Author:
Himanshu Appie Chhabra

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