The Mystery

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 17; the seventeenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following
Blog-a-Ton.

"This is a real story. The names in the story are real.The three of us had gone to watch a Rugby match in Marseilles, France over the week end. While returning we discovered that the Public transport was not available till our hostel hence we decided to walk & lost our way. I have tried to re-visit the scare of that night."



Shobhan was vehemently thumping on the glass pane with his both hands but there was no reaction in the room. It seemed like; the sound was not reaching any ears. He continued it for a while but in vain. He stood on the staircase for a while, holding the sidebars & then returned to the other two. His face wore a sad but determined look; he had not given up yet.
Shashwat looked at his wristwatch but it was so dark it was an effort to see the time. He exclaimed, "Abbe!!! Its 01:00 AM it’s almost 45 minutes since we jumped over those gates. Let's sleep on these staircases, we have no option now. We would see that old man tomorrow morning when the door opens. I would give him two slaps below his ears". He said so but his face was communicating something else. There was fear on his face but it was good to talk. Talking somehow was reducing the fear.
Vithal asked him, "Can you translate this in French, Three Indians found dead outside a French chateau. Apparently they were trying to enter the castle. Further investigation is on" Hearing that Shobhan got angry. He shouted,"That’s a real possibility if you guys don’t shut up. Think guys!!!! Think".

Suddenly he saw some movement inside the room right at the end of the stair case. A shadow was moving around & then another coming closer to the window. Shashwat said, “Let’s run, it looks like a ghost". None of them believed in ghosts but the whole thing was quite scary.
It was a dark European night. Although it was September, it was too cold for the Indian trio. They were inside the courtyard of a French chateau. It was a big second empire style castle built on a hill. It was quite an imposing structure. It was surrounded by a big park at the back, which was going downhill. It would give a panoramic view of the city. On the two sides there were huge open plots which had started to look like jungles because of the shrubs & huge boulders lying around.
There were some big old trees in the garden in the courtyard. The shadows of which were adding to the darkness of the night.
The castle was a three story structure. The gothic style with those paired columns, boxy mansard roofs had made it look scarier. The front side had four round staircases going right to the top. They were all made of wrought iron. The only light which was on in the courtyard was to the right most corner of the building. The light & the Stair cases added to the look & made it scarier, almost like a scene from any hitchcockan movie. The more they were looking around; it would feel more & more scary. Suddenly the wind started blowing. The tree leaves fallen in the courtyard started moving around making that typical hissing sound. Shashwat now also realized that they had not noticed the noise of the night bugs, the crickets. He joked, "The sound of the night bugs is ditto like of those back home". He received another scold from Shobhan for this untimely joke.
Since they were already noticing the noises around that made them more skeptical. Shobhan suspected of hearing some noises from the close by buildings. He thought these sounds like the noise of the rowdy boys encountered by Vithal while going to
the castle. He turned to Vithal & enquired what had actually happened. The noise had become clearer now & they became fearful if the gang was coming towards the palace. After all they were in a port city & they all had heard about the gangs in a port city.
The trio was at Grenoble in France on an official assignment. Somebody at office drew their attention to the ongoing Rugby world Cup in France & they decided to watch a match. That had brought them in Marseilles. It was a late evening match. They had already been through lot of trouble for getting an accommodation in the unknown city. This castle was away from the city centre but never the less they had a place to return to. The manager had told them that, the castle would be closed by 10:30 & gates would be locked after that but especially for them he would open the gates if they return by mid-night. All they had to do was, make a telephone call. With the city maps at their disposal they made elaborate plans to return to the castle after the match. They had become confident of returning in time.
After enjoying the wonderful game of rugby they started towards the Castle. The suburban metro was on till a particular station, from where they had to walk to the castle. They disembarked at the right station but lost their way after that. After a long walk in the unknown city they had finally got to the palace, the youth hostel. But they had missed the deadline & the old man, the manager would not respond to any phone calls. They had made umpteen calls but none was responded to. They had given up on him & hence jumped in from the tall gate of the palace.

Presently, watching the shadows at the window Shobhan thought of giving it another try & he rushed to the window. He started talking to the shadow in the window. For the first time he got a response. The man was clearly terrified. Naturally so, it was unexpected to talk to a stranger in the middle of the night & that too, through the window.
Shobhan requested him if he could open the window & let them in. The man refused it. He said his girlfriend was afraid of the sight of total strangers at the window. He instead, asked Shobhan to keep away from the window or else he would call others of his group. It looked like a hopeless situation but shobhan was adamant. He continued his discussion unbothered. He had become more confident now. His urges turned into kind orders. After a while the man gave up on shobhan & decided to help. He came out & opened the door which was attached to the staircase. The moment he opened the door there was an alarm. The man got fearful & suddenly closed the door. The trio was still out. Clearly, they had missed the moment. But they now knew, somebody must have heard the alarm & there was scope. They gathered at the door, waiting for that somebody to come for the rescue. To their delight, the door got opened. Somebody just shouted to get in & close the door. The alarm had hardly blown & they all got in. That somebody was disappeared. He must have been afraid of an encounter with total strangers in the middle of the night. The trio rushed to their room & threw themselves on their beds. Nobody was in a mood to talk. Sleep came very easily & soon engulfed them to its world. The ordeal was finally over.

In the morning the old man came to their room for his reguler survey visit. He was shocked to see the boys sleeping calmly in the room. His face wore a mystical look. He threw some French words at them; they didn't know what that meant. Those were surely some French expletives.

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Celebrations

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 16; the sixteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Where he goes every day? He knows where my school is. He also knows where my friends stay, almost all of them. But I know nothing about him. Every day he dresses himself like that man who shows up on that big hoarding across the corner. I observe that hoarding every day. There is also a little boy on that hoarding. Someday I also want to dress up like him. The complete little Man.

He leaves home before I wake up & when he is back I would already be fast asleep. I would only get to see him on Sundays. So there is no way to find out where he goes. Every day I observe from the window of my room, all big people leaving from the gate of the society. I wonder where they all go. I wonder if they all go to school just like us. I would like to see them getting scolded by teachers just like it happens to us. Do they fight like us? Do they play like us? Could they be afraid of their teachers?
Shrey's little mind was working up big time about big people.

Shrey was still lying in the bed, thinking to himself. Nila went to him & cuddled him up. These were holiday times & she wanted to spend as much time as possible with the little one. She was at her pampering best now; for the holidays were about to be over.
"Mamma I want to see where daddy goes every day, please ask him to take me along tomorrow". Like all kids shrey knew when to ask the question. Nila made the promise to him. Shrey happily came out of the bed & started his day. Nila could see that there was a spring in his little walk. The kid was surely more than happy.

The next day, Nila forgot her promise. When Shrey got out of bed, daddy was already out of home. The moment he realized it; he started crying. Nila had a hard time to console him. She made him another promise, "I would take you to the chocolate factory tomorrow. & you would love to be there. You would also get to eat all your favorite chocolates there"

Shrey had stopped crying but he had not given up on his quest for daddy's day out. He made a promise to himself to find out about daddy's school.

Next morning Shrey was up early but he did not get out o the bed. From the sides of the pillow he kept observing his daddy. When daddy was out of home Shrey hurriedly got out of the bed & silently went out of the door. He started following Daddy.

The watchman at the society stopped Shrey but he had already worked out his plan. He told the watchman, how mom had asked him to buy chocolates from the store at the corner. He did not object, as it was normal for the society kids to go to that groceries store which was just besides the society. The staff at the store knew all kids from the society.
Soon Shrey was out on the main road. He had kept his eyes on daddy. Daddy was walking with a brisk speed. Shrey had to run to keep up pace with daddy. It was tough but the little mind was adamant. He had marked the blue shirt; his daddy had worn that day. For a while he was right behind his daddy but soon the blue shirt was lost in the crowd of legs.
Now it was a problem. He was at the big square & the blue shirt was not in the vicinity. Although, he was still unafraid he was a little confused as the blue shirt was not in sight. His instincts told him he had to cross the road. He started looking around & suddenly he could see a blue shirt right across. The moment he saw it, he started running towards the other side. There was a big scratching sound on the roads. A big bus had to apply emergency brakes to avoid hitting him. The driver shouted at Shrey. He had made it to the other corner but now he was afraid. The noise of the brakes & the shout of the driver were too much for him. He started crying now.

Suddenly there was a commotion. The policeman at the square took hold of him. Shrey was taken to a corner. The policeman realized that the kid was lost. He queried Shrey about his home, his daddy & mummy. The only thing he could gather was that he was following up his dad. Instead of wasting time, he decided to take him to the police head quarters, which was his reporting police station. Also there was no other way, he could not think of leaving the lost little boy. The boy was still crying. The policeman made him the false promise of knowing his dad & that consoled him. The crying was now gone & he was calm. After a little while they stared getting along quite well.
When they reached at the head quarters, it was the time for police pared. The new recruits had all gathered at the headquarters. The view brought an instant smile on the face of the kid. He could see the big people standing in rows & listening to the orders given by somebody. They started with the prayer, and then they started running. The voice on the mike was shouting instructions. Saawdhaaan !!!!!!! Vishraaam !!!!!!!!! Pichhe Mood !!!!!!! Left Turn !!!! Right turn !!!!
Soon Shrey realized it was a school for the big people.
His smile became bigger, it had turned into a big grin now. He now knew for sure where his daddy & all the big people go every day. It was a triumphant smile. In his mind, he was sure that his dad must be there in that crowd.
The policeman let him be; for he was smiling & looking happy now. The policeman knew, it was easier to talk to a smiling kid rather than a crying one. He too was now more confident of talking to him & trying to find his home.

Shrey had forgotten that he was lost. For him, it was celebration time; He was successful in his quest.

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GoodBye @ the Station

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 15; the fifteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

I wish I could have returned to say Goodbye. But I could never bring myself to do that. It was tough for me. I could not stand the idea to say good bye to her.
To separate was an amicable decision. We did not even discuss that but the so called destiny took us right there & made us part ways. It was inevitable. He dad was against our marriage, our efforts to convince him did not work. He was not ready to part ways with his beliefs. It sounds strange now but then we were firm that we would get married only if the parents agree. We both had decided this together. When her dad said no my heart had rebelled but deep within I knew it was a barren rebel abreast of any results.
She took up a new job in a different city soon after & I came to this foreign land. I had to run; run away from the past, the future & the present. I left everything behind, almost everything till I came to visit this railway station. One look at the building & tears started rolling off my eyes. The past was back to the present. The architecture of this station is exactly like the one in our city. It reminded me of the day when I saw her one last time. She did not know I was watching her leaving the city. I was scared to say good bye but from one corner of the station I watched her leave. She was in the bogey no. 7 at seat no. 31.

Now it’s a routine for me. I go to this station every Sunday. I wait for this train. I go to the person in the bogey no. 7 at seat no. 31 and say Goodbye. I wait for the train to leave & wave to the person till the train crosses the boundries of vision.

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Credits
Image - Alston Station by Wandering Soul
Courtesy - www.deviantart.com via www.blogaton.in

Return

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 14; the fourteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

It's getting too much now. You would wonder how I could say this for being the one who is believed to have created the whole thing.
Let me explain you; let me try to be transparent as you say in your world.
When I made this world I had a general idea about what I wanted to do. But I had never intended it to be run as per the whims & fancies of one creature. I wanted to create a self sufficient world which would have a place for every creature I had made. Which would run on its own. Once created it would go on & on forever, uninterrupted. It would create & pro-create itself.

I had to my service, the PanchaMahaBhutas, the earth, The Fire, The water, the Wind & the Sky. I went to my laboratory & thought for a long time before starting.
First I made Trees of all kinds tiny, small, big, medium all sizes. I made many species of them. Then put them across the Earth. Now don't ask me why I chose Earth of all those billions of stars. This Tree thing was a wonderful design; I gave it leaves, flowers, fruits & then branches, trunks & stems to hold the whole structure. I also gave it roots & let it make a living. It would live & stop living. Most of all I gave it the will to go on. In your words it was like an intelligent computer program which had its own life. But I did not give them names for; they all were same to me. You gave them names & started making use of them for your benefits.
Then I made the water bodies, the ponds, the Rivers, the streams. I asked Wind to flow around & have a blast. It was calm since nobody knew when. I relieved it of its forced calmness & asked it to be on its own. That created a flow in the rivers. They all went to wherever the flow took them & the earth allowed. That created the seas.
The Earth was so happy to see all this. She had started like it. She loved it. That made me think to do more. I went back to my Lab, thought some more & then designed the creatures. I made many species of them too. I threw them all over the earth. That made a huge impact. They made my idea look so good that I became ecstatic. I felt happy about myself. I was enthused with these creatures. They gave a new meaning to my Idea. These were different designs than trees; I gave them the ability to move around. Some could even live in water. Some of them could even fly using the wind. The earth could not believe it when she saw the creatures. The world, my idea had certainly become a better place. She was now greening with pride. She came to me & gave me a Big Thank you. It made my day. With contentedness I went for a long sleep. I was exhausted with my work & needed a break.

When I was back, one day I went to my lab. I realized that there were some leftovers in my lab. I must have missed that because of my Ecstasy over my creations, my last designs. With those leftovers I made two new creatures. I thought of doing something different & gave them some more intelligence; a little more than my last design. I spent some more time on them as I had lot of energy & was full of new ideas & enthusiasm especially because of the break.
I threw them in a specially located corner of the earth. The earth was surprised to see this strange creature. She was surprised as she was not aware of its creation. She was wondering, why at all it was made. But nevertheless she let the new creatures be & accepted both of them like all others.
This is how you came into being. But now you have become a dangerous creature for all others. The earth keeps complaining about you. But even I can't stop you. My design does not allow me to do so.
I made land & you made the boundaries. I gave you emotions & you invented war. I gave you rivers & you invented dams. I made you & you discovered & re-discovered me for your own benefits. You even started differentiating your fellow creatures. Not just that, you keep discovering new ways of doing that. The list would go on & on.
No doubt, I did admire many of your doings. I had given you sound & when you discovered language, I was happy, very happy to see the interesting invention giving a new meaning to my idea. But look at it now; you started using it as a tool of differentiation.
And then Money, that most awful invention of yours. But what do I say, I created you & you created money. Do you remember, you created money to help you but now it is controlling you, your actions, your emotions & your motives?

You discovered the so called metals, gases & liquids. Then you started painful ways of hurting the earth to find more of those. Leave apart the earth; you don't even care for your fellow creatures when you do that.
While doing this all you even pushed me inside the four walls of a prayer house, your own discovery of honoring me. It’s another story that you even differentiate among those prayer houses. Many of you use that prayer like a bargain. What do you think? Am I a shopkeeper, like those in your world?
There are some in your ilk who don't even believe me, my very existence but I believe them, I love them some more. At least they don't lie to me, they don't bargain with me. They do not burden me with their life.

I am sad & unhappy with you. I am fed up with you. I am returning to my abode & leaving this earth. Do not worry about the Earth; my design is simple but robust. It would not break. You worry about yourself, your being, your very existence. You break the balance in my design & it would break you. It would wipe you out. But still the world would continue, with you or without you. That's the way I have made it, designed it.

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Goodbye

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 13; the thirteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

They all were having a wonderful time. Neelisha was watching from a distance, seated idly in her chair walking through the pages of some film magazine. It didn't matter to her what was written on the pages she was turning. Her eyes were looking at the horizon. Deep within, She was contemplating about something. Her face was calm & cool but there was something going on in her mind. She seemed to be in a different world completely oblivious of the surroundings. Even the noise the group was making in the Swimming pool didn't seem to bother her. Suketu had tried to get her involved but she wanted some time with herself & he had let her be.
She had been on lots of office picnics before but this group was definitely different. It was an interesting group. Hari,Soniya, Rakesh, Meeta, Mayoor & all others each one of them were a character. That had made the group so lively. The kids were enjoying every moment of the picnic. Generally the group would not leave anybody alone & would make sure everybody gets their share of the smiles. But presently they left Neelisha alone & let her be in her own world.
Suddenly there was a big shout of somebody scolding. Which broke Nileesha's daydream or whatever. It forced her to turn her gaze towards the shout. The shout of scolding was coming from a little girl. It was a wonderful sight. The little one was standing on the chair & most of the group were sitting in front of her on ground. Some of them had not even changed their swimming costumes. It being summer time they seem to be looking for an occasion to get wet & remain wetter.
She was scolding them, screaming at them with sweet instructions. She had turned into a teacher & the group were her students.
She was saying,'Just follow my instructions & if you behave properly each one of you would get a chocolate. I don't want to hear any noise. It should be pin-drop silence.'
Then she started calling them by names. & that brought an instant smile on Neelisha's face. Those were all new names, Mayoor was now Shubh, Nadir was Shaurya, Meeta was ChunMun, Sanjay the teacher's daddy was Shrivatsa Then she started reading a story from her imaginary book. The group was only supposed to listen to the story without making any noise. & they all seemed to be enjoying it. & anyway, they needed to be silent for a while since they had already made enough noise the whole day.
Neelisha got up from her cocoon & sat with the group. The teacher went to her & made her stand, why are you so late Gauri. Now the group couldn't take it anymore. Their smiles\laughs which were held for a long time, suddenly escaped. The group burst into a lively laughter. The little angel wondered what the fuss was about. Her scolding became bigger but now, nobody would listen to her. The teacher started crying. She could not understand that the students were back from their childhood. Shubh was back to mayoor, Shaurya was back as Nadir. They all were now back to being what they were........
Sanjay went to RimZim, the teacher & consoled her. Within no time he brought his daughter to cheerful ways. She went to the other kiddos, with the group. Soon they all got immersed in their own discussion of what game to play next.

The group of biggies had become nostalgic & started discussing the good old school days. Neelisha seemed to be with them but it was so obvious from her face, she was not there. She was still looking at Rimzim, her eyes were moist. It was so clear,there was some unspoken sadness on her face. Some old wound buried deep inside her had opened up. Her face had become so palpable, one look at her & one could not have escaped the goings on. After a while Neelisha started crying & rushed to their Room. Suketu who was just watching Neelisha till then had a word with Sanjay & calmly followed her with Surin, their little son. Others couldn't understand what had happened & started wondering. Sanjay normalized their wondering,'People do not worry, take it cool, they need some time with themselves'.

He was so right. Neelisha, Suketu & their little son Surin needed some time with themselves. For, they had to calm down Neelisha, who was trying to come to terms with the past. The uncompromising past which had compelled her to do things, to make choices which she would have never made.

*****************************************************************************
It was rush hour at the Family court. Court wallahs were having a busy time. People waiting for Advocates moving around with the black blazers & the typical tie around their necks. It was summer time & really brave of them wearing those black blazers. Some of them standing outside the court building, looking for prospective clients, right below the sign board which read, "Please do not solicit customers here, it's against the ethos of the noble profession, Advocates doing so might be reported".
The courtroom was full of faces, one could observe around & make a list of different possible expressions, like those lists of smileys used in the Internet language. In the corner of the Bench Neelisha was seated huddled with her two children, accompanied by her old mother. The Judge arrived right at 11:00 AM, everybody stood up to greet the wise man, bestowed with the powers to decide the lives of other people.
Neelisha & Satish were a lovely couple, parents to cute twins. But somehow things had gone wrong. The possessiveness of satish which she used to love so much, was difficult to take now. He would not allow her to meet her parents. Even the lovely twins would not be able to meet the grandparents. It was a major bone of contention. Neelisha had made attempts to explain him but he would fail to see the point. For him, all relations had ended the day the families broke the ties. The rebel in him would not let the bygones be bygones. He would apply the same rule for his own parents too.
They would not see eye to eye. Small arguments would turn into fights & fights into uncompromising days & nights spent away from each other. It was a clash of personalities. Lately Satish had turned into an Alcoholic. Workoholic to Alcoholic, the transformation was seamless & fast.
There was nobody to blame. They had married against the wishes of both families. They had come together to give shape to their love, their long courtship & how sadly, life had taken a difficult turn, courtship culminated in a battle at court.
Presently, the judge was ready to pass on his judgement on the custody battle. Counseling had not worked for the couple,hence it was necessary to make a decision. The wise man had to make a difficult decision. He had to apply a simple rule of mathematics. 2 divided by 2 is equal to 1. But where would the two 1's go. Mathematics had no answer for that. The wise man had decided, the 1's would decide where they would go. Gauri & Surin had to make a difficult choice. It was a complex decision for the kids, so beyond their understanding, so much beyond their heart. For the courts it was a simple routine process. The counseller took the kids to a room & made an attempt to explain them what they needed to do & what was in store for them. The kids gave each other a peck on the cheek & whispered in each other's ear. Surin went to Satish & Gauri went to Neelisha. Satish was seemingly calm, atleast, whatever was going on in his mind was not visible on his face. Neelisha was inconsolable. The dam of tears had burst from within her eyes. It was a telling blow for her. Her world had fallen apart. She took Gauri in her arms & would not leave her.
The kids were meeting their parents one last time, for, after this day, Gauri would be with satish & Surin with Neelisha. The choices were made. It was clear,that's what the kids had decided when they whispered in each other's ears.
It was time to say Goodbye.............
Gauri was pulled away from Neelisha and after that day, she could never see or meet Gauri again. Satish had left the city the same day to some undisclosed location, nobody knew where they had gone.

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Wish

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 12; the twelfth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

I wish, If wishes were horses, but then I wonder what would happen to the horses. If that would happen the world would really become a crazy place. Since everybody would be happy & kind of content, there could be a danger that just nobody would want to work. The Jig-saw puzzle would break. Nobody would have the drive to do things & who knows the world may stop to function.
Wish,everyone wishes for something or other and keeps longing for it,waiting for it to happen. In a way wish is the engine which drives the world. When the sun rises and a new day begins ,a new wish takes shape in every heart. A wish to discover life,to learn & relearn & unlearn the ways of the world. A wish makes the day bearable and in a way helps one carry the burden of life. Imagine a day when one have no wishes to look forward to & you would start wondering what you are up to. You are because you wish.
The homosapiens in the stone age wished for a better life & in a way made us what we are. They discovered new ways of living, new ways of understanding the surroundings & new ways to get adapted to the world.
I am sure the creator must have made a wish for a rainbow world,a rainbow of people, a rainbow of emotions, a rainbow of landscapes, a rainbow of seasons, a rainbow of unknown umpteen possibilities & above all a rainbow of wishes to go on & on for a lifetime of lifetimes and here we are. We are the world because the creator wished for one.

It all begin with a Wish...........

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