THE OTHER END OF A CIGARETTE

This would be my 50th post! Thank you for making LIGHTER SIDE possible! I wrote this story on 7/3/2008, to be precise. Yet, I wanted this story to be a special one, for it is my most favorite post after RAJANIGANDHA. Though the story didn't win me any prize for the creative writing contest for which it was actually written, I don't know why- this story remained to be my favorite!


Saket. A dream, a hope- a friend. He was life. I met him on the first day of our college. I was new and friendless- a castaway. He was then, a hand over my shoulder. A cigarette that we shared then, had bonded us for life.

A life lived, shown itself on those lines across face. A face that had once been handsome- charming. Spread on the couch- in an easy, lazy way, with one leg on the couch and other hanging outside it- his shoulders looked as though they could bear not, any more weight.

Saket knew a person by their eyes. He knew almost everything about everyone. May be that was why people adored him, for he never said anything to anyone what they did not want to hear. Everyone needed him and he was there for everyone.

“Can you get some water for me, Shabd”? It was weak- not the one that I was used to- his voice. It was tired.. No, not tired. It sounded fresh. As though it had not come out for years- not that it wanted to, either.

The cafeteria could never be complete without Saket inside. He always had his place reserved or rather the place had itself reserved for him. He would either be treating or be a part of it, himself. Some other time, when crowd is less, you can even find him with some girl or two. Now, he wouldn’t like me to tell you that!

He always drank his water, chilled. But today, he poured some on his face, his body- his mind! And when he let go of the bottle, he looked as though he had never relaxed that way- not for many, many years.

He hardly attended any of his classes. So it wasn’t a surprise when he didn’t attend any of his classes that day. But then, it was odd. He never attended his classes thereafter. We tried contacting him- that day, the next and the next. We tried calling his home. But it was as though his life had had a wash out- a trail on sand, washed away by water!

Saket opened his eyes. Eyes that could once make anyone yearn to see them all their lives- it had lost its soul. Lifeless, he looked at me and smiled. It was a smile that had been locked away in a cocoon, yet bursting to get out after a long exile. And I smiled back; a smile, too true to be expressed in words. How I had longed to see him do it, and it had been worth it!

“Can you light up a cigarette for me”? I did as he asked me to do. He smoked. Saket was born again from its ashes. He passed it to me. And when the other end of the cigarette touched my lips, I knew- Saket would never leave, again. For he, was alive- again!

A TAG AGAIN!

Thank you, My inner world and River soul!

These are the rules to follow-

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs, letting them know that they have been tagged.

This, will be me:

1. When I'm nervous, I tend to check, re-check and re-re- re- check everything! The result is never "perfect"! I am very careless. But, this re-checking, keeps me assured- "At least, I've done my part"! :)

2. When I am trying to avoid seeing someone or avoid seeing someone else see me- I start staring at my watch! In other words, I cannot live without my watch!

3. I'll spend hours arranging my room. But the more I try to keep it clean, the messier it gets! I just can't work, when my place is- "all arranged". I find it easier to retrieve my things from a pile of junk, than when my room is all "neat and clean"!

4. I am "extremely" lazy. Sometimes, all I do is- sit and keep staring at the wall clock!

5. I am a fantastic "bathrom singer"!

6. I just can't throw away things. I even have my 3rd std notebooks, my imposition papers, my control systems answer sheet, assignment papers, a pencil about 2cm long (guess I used it in my 4th std.!) etc. Not that I try, but I just couldn't bring myself to throw them off! They are my memories, after all!

I now tag:

Vanilla Sky
Arvind
Padma Priya
Suchitra
Ranjhani
Asha

A TAG!!

Phew! I am finally doing this tag! Sorry and thank you, Vinay!

8 THINGS I AM MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT:

BOOKS: I can't really imagine what I'd do without them!
MUSIC: Magic, beyond all magic!
MY BLOG/ WRITING (in general): Writing had always been there. But My Blog helped me grow!
MY DIARY: Not a personal diary. It's the one in which I scribble down my stories. It has seen me as a kiddish- no good thing, and also as some one whom even I do not recegnise!
PEN: I love collecting pens. Fountain, ball-point, anything. I love them.
RAVI VARMA's PAINTINGS: They live on canvas!
HARRY POTTER BOOKS: Need I say more?
( only 7!)

8 THINGS I WANNA DO BEFORE I DIE:

Die?! I think it's too strong! I'd want to do many things- it all depends on one's age. I had mentioned that in some other tag too. So, not 8 things. But these are a few:

Publish one book, at least!
Meet J.K. Rowling and bow before her!
Meet Adnan Sami/ Kareena Kapoor and enquire them about their dietitian( I am serious guys! Can't you see that I'd already mentioned that in some other tag?!)

There are actually many other things. But, I think, I'd do them first and then, write about them!

8 THINGS I SAY OFTEN:

"Whatever"
"Sorry"
"Thank You"
"I'll do it later"
"I'm bored"
"I'm too bored"
"I'm so vetti" (That again means- "I am so bored"!)

8 BOOKS I LAST READ:

False Impression
Veronika decides to die
Gone with the wind
A Romantic Manifesto
Games people play

List is too long, as I normally never pause..

8 SONGS THAT I LISTEN TO OVER AND OVER AGAIN:

All the A.R. Rehman songs (Roja to Jane tu/ Ada)
Jaiye aap kahan jayenge (Mere Sanam)
Aap ki nazron ne samjha (Anpadh)
Malare Mounama (Karna- Tamil)
In the End (Linkin Park)
Private Emotion (Ricky Martin)
Engu ninnu vannu (Calcutta News- Malayalam)
Peeli yezhum.. (Poovinu.. I don't remember the movie- Malayalam- Beautiful song by Yesudas ji and Chitra ji)

8 FRIENDS I NOW TAG:

Karthik
Amber Light
Padma Priya
Priya
Rajesh

3 more? Who ever likes this tag, can do it! No restrictions! :)

A RETRIBUTION: ANONYMOUS- PART 5

"Hey.. C'mon in, Joy"!

Joy was smiling at Rakesh. He smiled at Patil too.

"I was thinking about you", said Rakesh. "C'mon in. Meet His Patilship". Rakesh started laughing aloud.

Patil was trying hard to conceal his disappointment. He forced a smile and greeted Joy.

Joy settled down, beside Patil. Rakesh's eyes were glowing with happiness. Like a child who has been surprised, pleasantly.

"How are you, Rakesh"? Joy had a soft voice, that was very pleasant to hear.

"Oh, just fine. You know how my wife treats me".

Joy looked uncomfortable. But he said with a smile, "Don't worry. Things will get better. Shall I make some tea for all of us"?

"No. Lekha would do it once she returns home. I know, she is at.."

"I will make one for her too. She could join us, once she is back, right"? asked Joy.

Patil felt that he was in an asylum and both the men, beside him were out of their minds. Rakesh had no wife! She was dead, in that accident. He was looking nervously, at Joy.

Joy seemed to read his thoughts. He said, "Why don't you come along with me, to the kitchen? I am not very good at making tea. You might help me".

Patil nodded. And both men, left to the kitchen.

Joy was letting the water boil. He turned to Patil and said, "I am sorry about that. You know, he still thinks that his wife and daughter are alive".

"No. That is alright. What do you do"?

"I am a.. well.. lawyer".

"Oh! How do you know this man.. Rakesh"?

"We are friends. We went to the same college. Who are you, by the way"?

Patil was excited. If this man was Rakesh's friend, he must know anout Mr. Nobody too. But, he must not take a chance- not now.

"I am just a friend, too. He was just telling me about a friend of his from college, whom everyone called a "nobody". Do you know who that is"?

Joy started laughing. "That was me. I was the nobody, he was talking about".

Patil was finding it hard to contain himself. He wanted to punch this man, hard on face and drag him along to station, right now. No. He must not do anything hasty.

Patil tried to sound surprised. "Really? But why was that"?

Joy was smiling. "Oh! I just wrote a story under the name "Nessuno", for a magazine. It means nobody, in Italian. Let's go to the hall. Tea is ready".

Patil was surprised. How can this man behave so well, after murdering another. He acts so cool. But no. He won't be getting out, this time. I'll make sure of that.

He followed Joy to the living room.

Rakesh, was playing with a Barbie. He saw Joy and Patil. He showed Patil, the Barbie.

"This is Mitu. Anu and I play with her, everyday, you know. She is her favourite doll. Look, I dressed her up"!

Joy, politely said to Rakesh, "You had done very well. I am sure Anu will be pleased. Here, take your tea. Look, I made one for your wife too".

Rakesh was suddenly angry. He threw the cup of tea. He was shaking with rage.

"She is not my wife. She was never my wife. I have no wife"..

Joy said, "That is alright. She was not your wife. That is alright"..

Patil was shocked. What was happening?

Rakesh, suddenly started crying.

"You know, Joy. I am not a nobody. I am a great lawyer. You know that".

Joy was trying to console Rakesh. "Yes, I know. Just calm down. Here, have your tea". He look Patil and gave him an uncomfortable smile- which meant to say- "Sorry about that"..

Rakesh was sobbing harder. "He stole it. That Sumit.. He stole my job, my money, my wife"..

"There..There.. Just clam down"..

Patil was staring at both men, not sure if he could have his tea. And startled by Rakesh's statement!

It took a long time for Joy, to calm down Rakesh. Rakesh was now looking at Joy, oddly happy, as though he'd achieved something. He was saying, "I have showed him, what a nobody can do, but"..

Joy looked at Rakesh, sympathetically. "Oh yes, you've! I need to go. It's getting late".

Patil gained back his senses. Let go of his man. Never. But how was he going to get him. Joy had already reached the door, when he suddenly turned back and said to Rakesh-

"By the way, thank you for getting back, my lost diary, my Anamika"...


-------- THE END----------

THE NOBODY: ANONYMOUS- PART 4

"I am in search of..hmm.. a nobody".

Rakesh was staring at this man. He seemed sensible. But this- well, perhaps, he wasn't in his senses.

"Sorry"?

"My name is Patil. Rishishresht Patil. I am the one who is investigating the Anamika murder case. Hope you know about it".

I know that, Your Patilship!

"Yes, I get that much. But Sumit wasn't Anamika. Commissioner said that on TV, right"?

Patil was irritated. "Yes. He did. Now tell me, did you know anything about this diary that Sumit had? You were his room mate and a friend of Sumit's from college".

"Friend? He was my roommie, all right! But he was no friend of mine".

Patil waited. Rakesh spoke again.

"He was a back stabber".

Patil again felt irritated. He could gather that much about Sumit. He was not sure about meeting this person, first of all. Every one said that he was out of his mind. Rakesh, who had once been a celebrated lawyer who rose quickly in his firm- suddenly lost everything due to an accident. Now, he had no family, no job, no money.

The only reason why Patil was there to meet him was that, he was Sumit's room mate at college.

Rakesh and Sumit had worked for the same law firm. There were even rumours that Sumit was behind Rakesh's accident. Patil felt sorry for this man in front of him. But now, he was in no mood to listen to his woes.

"Look, I just need, whether you knew any Anamika when you were in college"?

Rakesh smiled. "No. There was no Anamika. But my daughter's name is Anu. You want to see her photo"? He pointed to his study table.

Patil was really frustrated. But this man was now, his only hope.

"Do you know any person who was a nobody. I mean, who never talked to any one or was not any one's friend"?

Rakesh stopped smiling. He appeared to be angry.

"No one is a nobody. I am not a nobody. You are not a nobody. If we were, we wouldn't be talking to each other like this, would we? But you know, him? Every one called him a nobody. Fools. When everyone calls him a nobody, he becomes a somebody. Idiots. They never realized it. I was the only one who saw it".

Patil was surprised. Rakesh went on.

"He was my best friend at college. He never spoke much. He was the most brilliant boy of our batch. Not many people knew him. And not many remembered him. But I remember him. For he is the only one who remembers me. He comes to see me, often you know".

Patil was desparate. He was shivering. He was trying hard to control himself. He asked, as calmly as possible, "What was your friend's name"?

But Rakesh was looking at the door. There stood a man, thinking, whether or not to enter the house.

Rakesh was smiling. He seemed very happy. He almost shouted when he said-

"Hey.. C'mon in, Joy"!

(To be continued..)

AN UNSAID DESIRE: ANONYMOUS- PART 3

The smoke filled the room. There had never been so much smoke before. The door was opened.

"Rishi, what happened? What have you done to yourself"?

Rishi looked up. He smiled at Dev. Rishi spoke.


"You saw the TV"? Dev replies, "Yes, I did. We both know that he's one big idiot. Why did you run to him and tell him what you'd found"?

"I had no other go, Dev. I just thought, the commissioner should know it, at least. I told him not to do what he did. There is, now, no hope left".

Dev looked thoughtful The silence lingered for a few minutes, until Dev, finally, broke it-

"Rishi, what did you have in mind, originally"?

Rishi lighted a new cigerette. He began-

"From whatever I was able to gain from the reports, the man behind the murder is highly confident about his anonimity. He completely believes that he is a nobody and no one would ever know him.

This man is also sensitive about his creativity. All he wanted was that he, and no one else should claim over his words. And this was where we could've nailed him".

"How"?

"He only wanted people to know that Sumit was not Anamika. As long as the truth does not come out, the real Anamika would remain agitated, desparate. He would've let out his glimpse- again- some how or the other. But now, since he got what he had wanted- there is no hope left for us".

Dev looked at Rishi, sympathetically. They has been friends for a very long time. Dev had always admired Rishi for his intelligence and nerves. He was one honest man- struggling to survive in a leering world, filled with corruption.

Dev spoke again, "If the real Anamika was indeed the murderer, why do uou think he didn't kill Sumit before and only now, after he came out of his shell"?

Rishi knew this would come from Dev. He smiled.

"I am not very sure about that, yet. I can give you what I think, though. I think, the real Anamika, actually never knew who'd taken his works from him. And Sumit too, was initially not sure whether or not to come out of his shell. But later on, I guess, that Sumit too got convinced that Anamika, indeed, was a nobody. So, he decided to let himself known".

Dev was watching Rishi. He appeared to be desparate, yet, helpless. Rishi had never been so helpless before. Dev was concerned.

"Rishi, let's get out of here"..

Rishishresht Patil. He had never felt pain. He who had accepted the world that surrounded him- he, who had got himself used to the suffocation- who had healed his paining heart- that screamed out. Rishi, was desparate. Secretly desiring to meet a man who had made him helpless and weak. Rishi wanted to meet him- whom the world called- "Anamika".

"I am in search of a nobody", said Rishi.

(To be continued..)

ANAMIKA : ANONYMOUS- PART 2

[After reading my post "Anonymous", some readers felt that a sequel to it would really appeal. But, I personally felt that it was just right the way it was. Later, I thought, why not? I had never written a sequel before to any of my stories. I always struggle to end it, and just end it. So, this is my first attempt at writing a sequel. Hope it's all right!]


"Anamika murdered"..

"He was found dead by...."

"Sumit's relatives, refuse to.."

"... the police have nothing to give us, yet. Jeyant Mishra, with camera man ..."

Patil was exhausted. He swtiched off the television. He had never handled such a bizarre case before! His meeting with the commissioner that morning had been pathetic.

".. murder weapon is a Chef's knife. A carbon steel one. The damages are more for the tang had become loose just as the knife.."

"We don't want u'r theory Patil. We want- Who"?

"We are working on it.."

Patil opened his eyes. He saw the file marked "ANAMIKA" right on top. He reached for it.

Sumit had been quite a successful lawyer, well liked by his colleagues and clients, married, no children, he had been living alone, though, for the past three years.

Patil encircled the word "alone" and wrote "?" over it. He read on.

Since one week before his murder, Sumit had attended nearly four official parties. During one such party, he had drunk heavily and had to be escorted back home by some colleague.

An alchoholic writer? Patil chuckled. He imagined the media's reactions over it!

The pages were full of names of his clients, their addresses.. Patil shut the file.

He knew two facts about the murder. one. The murderer wasn't a proffessional. Two. There had been a very strong reason behind it. Patil had reasons to believe these two facts. The murder was not perfect. The tang of the knife had come off the handle. The murderer had left the blade behind.

Secondly, the murderer had tried to leave behind a message. Over Sumit's corpse, a page from a very old diary had been intentionally placed. The writing over it, read the name "ANAMIKA". Also, the knife had been plunged with such force into Sumit, only a man who has been saturated with anger could have done it.

The telephone rang. He had been expecting this call. He listened attentively. His eyes shrunk and bulged as he listened. He put the receiver down.

Sumit's ancestral home. Wasn't very big, but he certainly had a big family. Patil spoke to the widow, first.

Sumit and his wife had been living together only for about a year. Sumit was alchoholic and almost constantly abused his wife. So, her in-laws brought her back to their ancestral home. No one in his family had ever tried contacting him since then. Next, Patil spoke to Sumit's father.

Commissioner was shocked. "Are you sure, Patil"?

"Sir, Sumit's father claims that as a young man, Sumit was never remotely interested in writing. Infact, he was never very good in any of his subjects. Some of his friends from college too, share the same view about him, as his father.Next, the hand writing on the page from the diary and that of Sumit's do not match. The writing on the diary is a few years old.

I tried contacting "The Messiah". The editor says, that Sumit came to his office a few days back and showed him the diary- saying that it was a collection of his works. Which was when, he also gave the editor, his next story in person, which was again from the diary..

I inquired the watchman of Sumit's building about the visitors he met that day. He showed me the register he maintains with the visitors' names on it. And I found this"..

Patil spread open the register. One of its recent entries read- ANAMIKA..

"And this writing, matches with the one on the diary". Finished Patil.

".. So he was a fraud, then! He was never the writer"!

"I am not sure about that, yet. But I ask you, not to reveal this to anyone until we find the person behind all this.. "

".. Patil, you may leave".

Patil was exhausted. He was also, frustrated. He had one chance. But now, he lost it. There was no hope.

".. the lawyer, is after all, not Anamika, announced the Commissioner, today.."

"... shocking truth. Let's hear what the fans here have got to say on this.."

"... they call it a betrayal of their trust. With camera man.."

Joy switched off the television. He looked at the diary he was holding. He turned its pages; his words, his thoughts. A few pages left blank towards the end- he took a pen and wrote:

"The few pages of Anamika"...

(To be continued..)