Can You Kill Her !

He opened the underground water tank…suddenly a stench left  Babulal dizzy…he caught hold of the nearby guava tree, and managed to maintain his balance . He wanted to shout , but his voice failed him miserably. Then he just slumped on the floor, leaving the iron lid of the tank fall with a big bang !
Sarita came running after hearing the loud noise! “What happened Babulal ?”  She asked the still white faced Babulal,  who was as life less as what he had seen!   Sarita came near the tank and shook him hard. Tear were flowing down the eyes of Babulal incessantly. All he could manage was to point out at the tank lid.

Sarita still puzzled at his behavior, tried to lift the heavy iron lid but could even budge it..She called her husband..”Ajee sunte ho ! Come here soon ! “  The tall 6-feet framed Gyan ji, came hurried yet calmly. “Can you help me, open this lid!”  Gyan ji , who was as it is tensed since last two days of press hounding him, came and lifted the lid in one go !   Babulal’s head again turned toward the water inside.  By now his tears were slower but his sobs had become audibles.. He pointed again inside. ” Bhabhi ji” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Gyan ji who was about to leave , stopped.!   Sarita and Gyanji looked at each other and then inside.!   Gyanji left control of the lid !   Sarita who used to think she could handle anything under the sun, fainted !

Gyanji who could feel his legs weakening had no choice but to hold his wife with his trembling hands !   “Babulal, help me” !   Babulal , the loyal orderly, picked up his madam’s legs while the IG Mr Gyan Prakash, lifted his wife’s torso towards the bedroom from the aangan.   Sarita was unconscious. Babulal looked still a mess. Gyanji still dazed, was wondering who to call.  “Should I call the police ?” , but I am the head of police here …

He just sat there on the mattress bought by the dowry of his one year old wedded daughter -in law
(DIL)!

The DIL was missing since last 48 hours, after a fight and argument that had prompted him to take some cruel measures against his rebel DIL. He was 100 % sure that his police training will help him save his skin anytime !
He and his wife had tied the DIL with ropes then covered her with loads of new paper sheets. And using his old walking stick both husband and wife had taken turns to beat the poor DIL who had lost her consciousness long back..   Thinking she was will not move, they untied her and placed her on her bed !

The husband ,Manoj was not coming back for another 15 days from his short trip toUK.

Sarita and Gyanji, ate their dinner, watched all the tv serials one by one, jumping from zee to sony to star…then came and were ready to sleep off, to get ready for another busy day next morning.   In between they would look at each other from the corner of their eyes. Both did not speak a single word.   Sarita, could not control her curiosity. She went to check the damage she had done …!

Mithu was still unconscious !

Sarita slowly lifted the dupatta around the hands of her DIL. Smiled at the achievement , as there was no mark even as tiny as an ant on the hands. Newspaper did its miraculous job after all!
She checked the back too to assure herself and probably to satisfy her sadist mind, that had been itching for last many years!

She closed the door, not locking it, as she knew the maid would come by and knock at the DIL’s door early morning.   Again with the satisfied look and smile she gives one more look at the hapless girl , and returns to her bed, where Gyan ji was already snoring…

The incessant knocking at the door by the maid, woke first Sarita and then Gyanji.
They frown at the un expected thought and wore their slippers simultaneously and ran towards the noise!

The maid with a tray of tea was knocking . The tray was by now looking quite shabby with the spilled over hot tea ! Sarita pushed Gauri to her left side and sternly asks her to stop making noise.

“What happened? Why are you creating a ruckus here ?” She questioned Gauri, trying to control her worry. “Hope everything is fine” she said aloud..which was meant not for her DIL but for her own latent worries.

She pushes the door hard , which opens without any resistance ! Angrily she turns back to give her usual dirty look to the maid , who had by now managed to squeeze inside the room !   Inside, Mithu was not on the bed. Sarita knocks the door of the bathroom and tells Gauri, “Keep the tea here and leave” .

Guari moves the bedsheet and places the tray on the bed. She wipes off all the spilled tea with a   tissue paper and leaves the room to start her breakfast routine in the kitchen !    Sarita sits down on the bed, picks up the tea meant for her DIL and takes a sip. Her thoughts are now much sober metamorphing from the criminal to a casual mother in law type !
In her thoughts she doesn’t even realize that she has neared the last sip and still there was no sound in the bathroom. She gulps the final sip of tea, keeps the cup back on the tray! Thats when it dawns upon her the scary   thought! She gets up and starts banging the bathroom door with both her hands!

Again the maid runs back in ! “What happen Bhabhiji ? Why is Didi not opening the door ? ” while uttering these words she opens the latch   which was locked from outside !  The door ajar, no one inside!  Sarita can feel tiny droplets of sweat on her forehead forcing themselves out ! Suddenly her head has become heavy and her jaws clenched tight, she starts   breathing heavily !

Gauri runs out and starts looking into all other rooms and attached bathrooms one by one! She peeps out of the kitchen window to check for any missing car ! None ! All the cars were still at the parking ! She runs back   and nearly screams at Sarita ! ” Didi is not in the house ! “

By now Gyanji has understood the whole scene. After all he was a gold medalist IPS officer , batch 1968 , the National Police Academy , hyderabad !   His mind starts working on damage control. He calls the local SHO to come home asap !   Then he calls Mithu’s parents at   Bangalore ! The maid picks up the call at the other end. Without letting the cat out of the bag, he asks her ” Lakshmi, how is everything? ” . “All is fine saab ji, how is didi ? “. He mumbles something and disconnects the call.

Now he could feel his brain doing a tandav , jumping from one thought to another, not able to reach any logical conclusion ! He makes a call to Manoj, but throws away the cell phone on the sofa out of anger, when the call   could not be connected ! Damn Airtel !

His phone rings again. He rushes to pick up the call assuming its his son !
” Yes Hello IG Gyan Prakash here !” , he nearly yells on the phone !

“Goodmorning Sir !  I am calling on behalf of Channel six sir !  We have received a vcd which you might be interested in sir ! May I come there with my team sir ?
Also we would be asking a few questions to your wife along   with you sir. “   “hello sir, are you listening ? “.

Exactly 10 minutes later the whole IG bungalow at greater kailash II ,new delhi,  was swamped with press from different TV channels and print media !

Gyanji was hoping this was just a mere dream and soon he would be woken up by his wife with a cup of tea !

“Goodmorning Sir ” , said Charu, the reporter from Crimes India of channel six entering the living room steps ! The smile on her face was that of a winner who has just won a million dollar lottery and was about to cash on   the same.

“Sir the copy of the vcd is sent to the CID for their observation and comment. I would like you to see the vcd yourself before rest of the press is handed a copy as asked by the sender ! ” , Charu said trying to   control the eagerness  in her voice!

“Saritaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  !  Come here ! “  Gyanji was livid and shaking with hundreds of emotions running down his mind !

Sarita was unable to believe her eyes!  What was playing in front of her eyes was like a nightmare.

By then the chief of crimes department from CID Mr Ray had also entered the living room and was watching at the TV screen with disbelief !

<< Sarita enters the room of her son and daughter in law, Manoj and Mithu .  She has a bottle of cough syrup, Corex ! Manoj was suffering from very bad cold and flu since last one week !  She gives him two large spoons of the cough syrup. After a while she is back in to the room with a glass of water and two tablets of DCold.  Manoj pops them and thanks his mom!  She asks him if he had packed his warm clothing ! Manoj nods his head that was  already blasting with terrible pain. He asks his mom to give him something for his headache.
Sarita who had turned into self doctor since Manoj was born, thought for a moment and came back with a paracetamol 500 mg.
By now she had given Manoj a potent dose of vasodialators, central nervous system depressant and blood thinner to his already weak body to take Manoj into hopeless state of  drowsiness !

Mithu was silently watching the whole scene from the corner of the wardrobe door. Tears flowing down her eyes. ( how well the camera had captured her sadness !).    Wondering silently, did she do anything wrong in making him have two large goblets of wine and a large whiskey on the occasion of their marriage anniversary tonight !  May be that was the cause of the severe headache!

Manoj asks Mithu to call mom and dad. When they arrive he, bends down to touch their feet and hugs them.
Knowing that the odd flight timing of 2:00 am by Lufthansa Airlines will not be too comfortable for anyone in the chilling  december night in Delhi  to drive a distance of  30 km and back, everyone bid good bye.

Lights go off and everything is eerily quite !  The camera very vividly captured the hatred in the eyes of Gyanji and Sarita, mercilessly hitting Manoj,   covered under pile of newspaper !  The vcd runs blank for next 5 minutes or so which seemed more than hours…    >>>>>>

Babulal,  was looking at his Saab and Bhabhi ji with disbelief and shame !

Why , what, why  was the only question that everyone was asking but no one was ready to break the ice !

Sarita and Gyanji slumped on the sofa!

Babulal, calls to the CID c

hief and points to the underground water tank, where Manoj’s body had been floating upside down !

TV channels and print media have a ball of a time replaying the vcd on and on causing an avalanche of emotional stirring within the country !

Gyanji and Sarita were sent to NIMHANS at Bengaluru for their mental analysis before sending to the jails separately, Gyan ji to the Naini central jail and Sarita to the Tihar jail  for life !

The judge sentenced them to 125 years of life to suffer and bear the pain of loss of their son alone with inmates who were also waiting to see what kind of parents can kill their only son with such a master plan and for a   mere insurance of Rs five crore !

She reads the last line of the verdict being displayed on the large lcd screen of the Avon Cruise , thinking why did Manoj cheat on her, when she had loved him with all her heart, fought with her parents to spend her life   with the only man she trusted in this world !

Phantasam is Geeky!

Pritam just couldn’t wait to open his laptop, the moment he reached his office. The peon, Babulal (joined at the Trinity Infotec after he quit the IG’s work) was not quite surprised to see Pritam rushing to the office, hurriedly swiping his ID card …in the tune of fumbling like a novice! But Babulal, having been with the forces for 22 years, had learnt never to question or bother about anyone around him! It was worthless to sympathies with the Saab category who anyways would look through him!

Pritam rushed to his cabin or rather cubicle! Put the laptop on the docket machine even before taking off his bag from his shoulder! He sure had something important in his mind to tackle!

While the system booted, he wondered …why it was taking so long today! He thought, getting a little anxious and placing the bag on the side table. In all the hurry he had completely forgotten that his friend and project manager Subhas was already in the cubical and was now coming towards him.

Still engrossed in his own world and thougths, Pritam clicked the browser icon, messenger and finally the skype. He need not think the mundane few steps as his brain and body coordinated in the most bug free programmed executable file as part of the autoexec.  POP! POP! POP! POP! POP !…and there was a wide smile on Pritam’s face …..his body was suddenly feeling the tingling sensation… he could feel the euphoria travel from his brain to his heart down to his groin with that strange yet pleasant feeling ! His senses all on extra sensing mode, as if to grab even the last bit of radiation coming from the lcd screen into his body. Those lovely messages on the screen popups have been ruling his heart since last one month! And yet the irony of the virtual world was that he did not know who the sender was!

A month back while he was chatting with a friend on a popular messenger at his home, he found a request waiting to be accepted! The name was “try_me”! A normally cautious Pritam, accepted the invitation from the stranger at the other end. He switched off his online virus scan software as it made the whole chatting very slow and made the blunder of his life!

She had caught his attention with her interesting messages, that seemed lucid on one hand yet there was a sense of mystery , that was slowly capturing his mind! She had sent several poems and files to him that did their job !  These files had in parts setting up a virus into his laptop, appending one by one behind each file to form a deadly program. The program was designed not to take control of the laptop, but a mind hacking virus that would hack and take control of the person operating the machine by hypnotising him/her!  Thus leaving no trace of an outsider hacking into the network when ever the laptop was connected into the intranet of Pritam’s company! A company that was sourced to code highly secret code for a defense project.

The more he chatted with her, the more he wanted! They would chat for hours until the wee hours, only to be jolted back to the reality by either the sound of the chirping birds or some honking vehicle!  Even then he would be left unsatisfied, thinking of her the whole day, every moment of the day. Suddenly he would smile in the most serious and sleepy presentations, with colleagues nudging him to take control!  Even while at the lunch table in the office canteen, he would be eating and thinking of her. Every piece of fruit on the plate somehow had him smiling, her witty messages, her laughter engraved on them.

He started to read the messages when his PM called out, “Pritam, Good Morning! You sure want a good appraisal this time, eh? Shocked! Pritam clicked the screen behind on the browser in the background. Thanking himself that he was seated in a corner where no one could come from behind and peep into his screen, uninvited!

“Well, you are the boss, all is in your hands.” Pritam said trying to smile.

Even the project manager could sense the urgency from Pritam’s body language. Without initiating any other topic, Pritam quickly gulped the dark and bitter sugarless coffee. He waved to his friend and was back at his seat in exactly five min!

Pritam opened the messenger program again. Blood gushed up his brain as if he had, had a dose of silagra with coffee that was working anti gravity for a change!

The messages were in english but the positioning of the letters were strange … they were more like a beautiful tunnel with several concentric tunnels inside! The fonts were also colored from outer tunnel dark shade to light to lighter to a bright light at the far end …giving that perfect feeling of one traveling into a final destination of pitch darkness… as if he was slowly being sucked into the core of a chasm. He could feel first his head being sucked in, and then like a quick gulp, his whole torso followed in, diving deep into the dark yet surreptitiously doped abyss of phantasm. He could feel his eyes fixed, as if stoned! Slowly both his iris were dilating wider for the want of that extra light to see more, to see the unseen, to find out the figure that seemed to be on the other side of the tunnel, calling him, luring him!

His fingers were typing away like a possessed puppet!  He did not know what he was typing any more. He did not know that he was now on the sensitive section of his office database. Only two people had the password to the file he had already logged into! One by one the files were sent through the hole in the secured firewall that was yesterday opened by Pritam in the similar fashion. The firewall would open for exactly 20 sec and allow the data transfer and then close automatically for another 55 seconds. Again it would open for 20 sec and allow some data transfer and close down for next 55 sec. Today was the final upload and last day of transaction!  All the sensitive files, all the client account data were copied to the far end of the tunnel! The last set of instructions took care of the log files that had been dutifully logging Pritam’s activites since this morning then went to his registry and cleaned a few more entries…clean and done.!!!!!!!!

After the last byte…the screen blinked for a nano sec and was displaying the most mushy poem …written for Pritam by his unknown admirer!  He could feel that finally he was falling in lov too. Having been into the geeky world of nerds and computers, he had left his heart and its call six years behind when he chose his career over his lov, leaving Mithu behind for United States of America! Now after six years a faceless id was making him feel what he did not feel even in his younger days!  He would blush or smile all of a sudden when those lovely lines would flash in front of his emotionless face. Is this lov or what? How can he fall in lov with someone he had not seen, not met or even talked to!  Is this real or was he dreaming! Yet he was not ready to come out of the memorization. As if she was ruling her mind. Making him dance to her tunes. Heck! What the hell!  He loved every moment of his early morning rendezvous with his unknown admirer!

The next morning was his happiest morning, as he was finally going to talk to her! She had promised to give her contact number to him. Babulal as usual did not bother much and saluted him in the typical orderly style, when Pritam swiped his Id Card.

Pritam was twenty minutes early this morning! He wanted to get her number before the project manager turned up into the office!

POP POP POP !!!!!!!!!! …. again the screen was as though turning itself into the familiar tunnel,… but wait ,…today he could see a very pretty face though not very clear … his pupil wide open…. he could sense deja vous, the moment he saw her face…. his fingers typing away a mail to his father , then another to his friends and finally to his office !  He clicked send. Still stoned he got up from his chair and out of the office into the lift.

Soon he was driving his power machine tata safari on the haryana – jaipur highway. .Where was he rushing to, who was he meeting was not clear even to his logical mind, neither did he bother much, as of now. He was, as if controlled by some mind freak, that his speedometer was now reaching the maddening speed of 160 KM/hour in the broad daylight, on the highway. A truck coming in from the opposite side dippered for a long 30 sec and passed by his vehicle as if a hurricane just went by! The deafening noise of the truck hitting the tree which was jutting out of nowhere jolted him back into the reality!

Yes! now he remembered where he had seen that face! That face was none other than Mithu’s, his girlfriend from his engineering days! The face on the screen had winked at him and smiled in that very familiar Mithu style! How much she had pleaded with him but all in vain, Pritam left her in tears, severing all knots with her, only to find her in the strangest place!  As if she had been tracking him all the while! Pritam smiled. Oblivious to the huge truck  that was coming head on ….

PS all pic are downloaded from internet, not mine…

Made in Heaven, Separated on Earth

“Excuse me Ma’am,  you can use this if you wish to ? ” He said to her, softly, that only she could hear. Without turning , she takes the handkerchief and wipes her tears!  At the movie interval she turned to her left side to return the handkerchief to the good samaritan, but, he was gone!  Hoping to return it when he came back after the interval, she keeps waiting for him. But he was gone!  She couldn’t even thank him.

That’s funny! She thought. How could anyone leave a movie as good as this one in the midst? She waits for a few minutes at main entrance of the movie hall, at MG Road, Bangalore. But he never came back! Though she had not seen him, his deep voice was etched on her heart!

His deep voice had struck and registered somewhere in her memory for life. She came back home and looked at the small piece of cloth, that seemed to be telling her something, something that her young school going mind could not perceive then. Faces, sound, smell and touch were a few senses that she could never forget, once in touch!

A year later, she got admissions in an engineering college located on Bangalore- Mysore Highway nearly 25 km from her home!  While attending lab, she missed her college bus back home.  She was in tears. This was her first week in the college and she was still as naive’ as a school going kid. It was dark, windy and raining hard. Rain drops were falling initially softly and later quite harshly on her face. Yet, she could differentiate between the warm tear drops rolling down her cheeks from the cool rain drops hitting her soft skin!  Wondering how long now she would have to wait for the next bus, in the dark, her heart was racing as fast as her tears. A totally drenched young lady can be a feast for lustful eyes peeping out of the passing buses, hostel windows and people passing by. She was dressed in a white chicken work adorned kurta that did not have enough opacity left under the heavy downpour! She tried to adjust her red bandhini dupatta slowly all around her frail figure, in a desperate attempt to ensconce her discerning apprehensions.  Lost in her thoughts, she did not realize that a bike had come very close to her.

“Excuse me Ma’am, can I help you?”

She is taken aback when she hears a voice that sounded very familiar to her ears. She turns back to look into a dark full visored helmet! The rider was sitting still, as if very sure of his anticipation. She looked at the rider, who was wearing a pair of black jeans and a black wind-cheater; both soaked and didn’t seem to have done any good to the rider in protecting him from the piercing rain drops. The longish boots were dripping too, making a trail for all the water falling from his torso towards gravity. She looked at the number plate of Fury Enfield 500, which had the up arrow sign, and was relieved somehow!  Without another word, she went behind him, and sat up on the pillion seat. Still no word from either of them, as if their silent minds were in conversation.  She held on to the sides of the bike seat, trying desperately not to fall off when the biker took turns. The wet and slippery seat was making it harder for her to keep seated safely behind him, also may be because this was her first pillion ride ever! In normal circumstance the touch of wet skins would trigger an avalanche of sensuous feelings ready to devour and be devoured, but here, there were no such feelings, except that both became aware of the powerful aura of each other rather strongly. An unspoken psychological bonding of two souls was in the making, which definitely was emanating from the aura of friendly romance in the nature!     The rain water was now melting slowly on their faces, the rough breeze had transformed into sweet fragrance of “Rajnigandha”.   The once in while jerks seemed like the gentle waves splashing, into soundless fall”. After crossing some distance in complete silence, except for the beautiful sound of the heavy downpour, no one said anything. She didn’t even realize that they reached her home! She thanked her stranger and ran inside her home. He rides off fast! Why did she take the first lift of her life from a stranger, she could never understand nor did she try to reason it out.

After reaching home she explains to her sister, all that had happened and how this young man came to help her out of blue!  And that’s when she realizes that she had not mentioned her house address to the biker, then how did he drop her right in front of her house!

A few months later she goes to watch the air show at HAL grounds, Bangalore.  She has the pass to be seated in the front row, of the air show, as her sister was working on a defense project at HAL, as a research engineer.  When the show was close to the finish, she sees her sister coming towards her with a very handsome young man in tow. Dressed in the dark blue pilot suit, he was a perfect picture straight from theHollywood movie, Top Gun, when Tom Cruise walked towards the audience!

“This is my sister Mithu, joined first year engineering from Bangalore university, and this is flight lieutenant, ElD, posted as test pilot at Air Force Test Pilot School!” Her sister excuses herself when the GM of HAL waves at her from a distance, to introduce her to the other dignitaries.

“Hello Ma’am, pleased to meet you, hope you enjoyed the air show?”  He said taking her delicate hand and he plants a kiss on her hand when she involuntarily offers her hand! His lips didn’t touch her hand, but his warm breath gave her a slight twinkle, both under the skin and in her eyes!

The look in his eyes was like a pair of rainbow enveloping her soul, her body and lifting her from the material world off to the dreamland of love and trust.

The voice, that had been ringing into her ears for more than one year, the voice which would always bring her soul to serendipitous peaceful state, whenever she was reminded of him in the past!    Yes! That was the same voice she had heard twice before and here he was, finally standing in front of her, face to face! He had a very cute smile on his face as if trying to tell her that yes, you are right and whatever you are thinking is right. She was lost in her thoughts and the dilemma. Was he the angelic apparition she had been imagining always?

“Hope you like this?” He said, handing over a cup of steaming hot tomato soup to her!

“Hey! I love tomato soup! How did you guess that? “   She said breaking her thoughts and silence. No answer. He was mesmerized by the simple light blue jeans and the casual white silkish sheen shirt she was wearing. The small diamond pendant over her golden skin would sparkle involuntarily, trying hard to compete with the moonlight sparkle in her eyes.

As they walked little away from the crowd, he told her casually. “Ma’am, that handkerchief is mine! “. Her hand froze; she dropped the handkerchief on the ground. The pilot bent down and picked it up and whisked it in the air to blow off the red mud off the white cloth.

“That was you in the movie hall?” she was now sure of all her doubts.

“Yes Ma’am “he said coolly.

“Why did you go away before the interval?  I waited for you the whole second half of the movie! “She asked him, with a tone that was more of a complaint.

“Well, I was paged by my seniors. Even on weekends we are on duty. So I could not take my hanky back.” He said still smiling and pocketed his long due possession.

“And I hope you never have to take any more lifts again. It’s not safe, you know.” He took the empty soup cup from her hand.

She stood there still. Staring through him, as if to reconcile that it was him all the time, who would appear out of the blue like a knight and then disappear into oblivion!

She wished the time froze and all humans became masterpieces of beautifully sculpted figures, in open land of vast green lush fields, where just the two of them existed. Frozen apples and sculpted serpentine adorned the stone statues.

Why? How? What and several questions were making quick rounds of tornado simultaneously inside her mind?

“How is that possible?” both of them questioned in unison!  Only the tone was different. Her tone was that of an unknown question, whereas his was a tone of the known question.

“When I left the theater, I really had no clue about you. I was only being courteous when I handed over the handkerchief to you, as you were sobbing tearfully. Infact I only saw an outline of you in the dark, with tears glistening on your cheeks in that flashy blue light!  Then a year later, I saw your picture in your sister’s album. Even then I didn’t know that it was you I had met in the theater a year back! The second time, I was out to enjoy my ride on my bike in the rain and had gone beyond the planned distance towards Mysore. And while I was returning back, I saw you, but this time, I knew you, obviously you didn’t know me at all!  So while you sat there trying your best not to hold me, I felt the strangest feeling of being with someone, who seemed to be known to me for life time!  And even though we did not speak a word then, I dropped you at the doorsteps of your house, but this time I left with a heavy heart! I still don’t know the reason behind our past sudden rendezvous, or my feelings. And now looking and sensing your reactions and reading your face today, I am assured that you have felt the same strange feelings and wondered about us, our unexplained meets and most importantly, you still remember me, even though it was a year back that we met ! And that you still have my handkerchief with you and  you still remember my voice! “

“Now that even destiny wants us be together, can we be friends Ma’am “, he said putting out his hand to her!

He was so sure, so handsome and so convincingly trustworthy.

How could she defy destiny. Yes, it was written in bold letters, that they were made for each other! How dare she even give this divine friendship a thought?

Life was no longer the same for both of them!  Life turned into poetry from a prose! Endless discussions, mindful arguments, countless topics and truthful emotions bonded them into the purest form of relationship, called friendship! The world seemed unblemished and all the people around seemed angelic and ethereal acting as an intermediary between him and her!

Never once did they feel the need for physical proximity. Never did either of them indulge in the expression of any carnal desire for the other! They would discuss the most taboo to the most lascivious and yet never feel any such need between themselves. There was a strange merging of two souls temporarily residing in two separate bodies. More than it could be believed, one sided communication was all that would happen, because their minds were tuned to similar frequencies that needed no second decibel.

Then came the day when his  training as test fighter pilot was complete. He was posted to Jamnagar. She was still in her first year of engineering.

The most obvious question was not at all on their focused, career oriented minds. Although the parents and friends had already presumed about the inevitable truth. They both handed over their parting gifts to each other. He kissed her forehead and pinched her nose in his typical style. “I’ll be there for you, whenever you need me“, he smiled.  She hugged him tight for the first and probably the last time and punched him in his abs, in her typical style and said “Don’t you ever forget me!”

She came home and cried for hours under the shower, relived the time when they had met under the powerful showers of the fateful rain three years back!

Later she opened the gift pack to find the same music CD she had gifted to him too, “The Carpenters” along with a sparkling gold anklet!

Smiling all the way to his destination, he wondered what destiny had in store for them now; first brings them together in the strangest of the ways and then parts them after three years of blissful friendship!

Yes destiny did have something unexpected in store for both of them ! He had promised to write back the address and phone numbers once he reached his destination and once he was sure of the posting. But destiny took charge of their friendship. He was posted to a place where communication to and from was not allowed for next two years as he was to live incognito in  another man’s island!

continued from
Made in Heaven, Separated on Earth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Part 1
http://madhuriesingh.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/made-in-heaven-seperated-on-earth.htm

She waited endlessly for all the mails she was writing to him, each day. Meanwhile she did her MBA from Delhi, and was engaged to a very gentle and handsome young man. The only person she wanted to share it was no where to be found. India Air Force would not divulge any thing to any one.

She joined an MNC at Hyderabad. Her fiancé’ was working for an MNC at Delhi. The D date was not fixed yet.

After his anonymous posting completed, he was handed over a big box of letters!  He read each letter at least ten times, till he became part of each word on every letter! Even though he was an over sensitive pilot, he never had any feelings, any emotion run through his mind ever in the past while he bombed the enemy territories. But this day, he had lost control over his emotions. Tears betrayed him, logic failed him and he felt a pain in his heart at the game destiny played with him. He had lost her address!  Where should he reply or who should he call to reach her! He was lost and distraught! He went into a state of inebriate mentally, when the heart was inundated with grief. If tears reflected colors, it would be of blood! If grief had any odor, it smelled death! If body could break open, his body had crumbled into useless shrapnel.

He played once again the only thing that he was allowed to take with him in the posting. The music cd titled “The Carpenters”, the parting gift, which he listened to each day and each night in the past 600 odd days!

The next morning, turbulent winds made scheduled sorties not just difficult but life threatening. It was hot already even though it was early morning. He met with a dangerous air pocket while flying his MIG, but managed to bring her down safely.Destiny was as if beyond its goodness and bent upon proving its powers and exercising its diabolical abilities at its best. He was again asked to fly and this time test a newly purchased MIG. The time was close to mid night. He flew fromJamnagar! The aircraft air-conditioner caught fire in mid air: Zone One fire in turbojet engine: Grade one emergency…

He had to eject, though he tried to force land in the desert between Jodhpur n Jaisalmer. But, it was late. His whole body caught fire ! His legs were entangled in the metallic mass of the MIG, which he had to crash land away from the population after ejecting himself!  A small blast near his legs, transformed his legs into a mass of bloody flesh, with skin, muscles and bones charred beyond repair into a pulp! The survival rate as per the doctors was only 1%. It was again raining so hard that theworld seemed to be mourning and lamenting in his misery, and yet not willing to snap off the umbilical cords with the world around him.

He was admitted in the air force hospital, where a lil doctor attended to him, until he was flown in to Bangalore, still in coma! The doctors at Bangalore hospital advised to amputate his legs! But he refused to give permission for the same. How will he look for her without his legs!

They were forced to reconstruct his legs. He was operated upon for 24 days continuously, day and night. For next six months he was recovering to first get his legs back, then to learn to walk on them!

While at the same time she was hospitalized for a month suffering from an unknown disease she had in both her legs. Doctors suspected blood cancer, but later it was diagnosed as SLE, a disease that has a survival rate of 5 %. Her veins were bursting with severe burning pain below the knees. Why or how this SLE happens, even today it is a mystery ! She was put on heavy dosage of steroids to keep her vital organs working safely.  Her parents and loved ones prayed and cried to see a beautiful and lovely lass turn into a helpless mass.  Her fiancé flew down to be with her and promised to marry her even if he had to carry her in his arms forever !  His love did the magic. She recovered faster than the doctors’ imagined. Nizamuddin Medical College, Hyderabad, celebrated the day she was discharged!  She was to be married next month to her angel. So she planned to spend some time with her sister, who was still working for HAL, at Bangalore.

Her sister had some work at the NIMHANS, Bangalore. She wanted to meet a friend who was getting discharged after months of surgery and recovery.

She tagged along with her sister. She saw the dedication of the doctors when she was in the hospital and had emotionally grown close to the medical fraternity. She promised herself, that whenever possible, she will work for the society in whatever way it was feasible!

They both entered the hospital room. No one was around ! The nurse told her sister to meet the patient in the CMO office. Her sister left for the CMO’s office.

Suddenly she was all alone in the room. She looked out of the window and felt a familiar pain in her heart , when a noise made her turn and look into the eyes of the most trusting friend she had seemingly lost exactly two and a half years back!

“What are you doing in my room, Ma’am?”  He said and later realized who he was talking to!  ”I came to take back my CD, that you gave me ! Am I dreaming?”   His voice chocked. She punched him softly on his abs and hugged him tight and said, “No Darling, we are still on earth, alive!”   He kissed her forehead and pinched her nose. “Mithu! My dearest, I survived only for you!  Whenever I missed you, and felt lonely, I would just look at the spaces between my fingers on my hand and imagine your soft fingers interlocked in mine, for life! “

In a month that they spent together, they shared, lived, cried and laughed every second in each other’s company. They never tattled idly, it was the most colorful drama of the neurons that seemed to be creating sparks between the nerve endings, causing the most creative light and fireworks show! Surely, they did not fall short of any blessings, when they had knowingly and unknowingly never hurt a soul.

A lot of people thought and prayed for the lovely couple they made. They both promised to live happily and trust  always. They both promised to make their married life a success, and promised to sacrifice their most loved possession for making it a reality.

A month later they both got married….

Made in Heaven, Separated on Earth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Part1
http://madhuriesingh.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/made-in-heaven-seperated-on-earth.htm

Made in Heaven, Separated on Earth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Part 2
http://madhuriesingh.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/made-in-heaven-separated-on-earth.htm

A month later they both got married.

She married her angel and he married his lil doctor.  Neither attended each other’s marriage. They had again parted with no exchange of contact details. With a promise that if destiny brings them together, only then they will meet. This time they challenged destiny to keep them away!

“But I will always be there for you, remember that, whenever you need me ” He said.

“But you don’t miss me now, ever!”  She wanted to tell him but her voice choked and failed her!

Eight blissful years had passed.  They both were living happy married life with successful careers.

Once , she wrote a blog on a TV commercial for an automobile brand, under a name that was fictitious. While replying back to one of the comments, she noticed that the reader had become member of that site, that very day and the comment on her post was also the first comment posted!  Out of courtesy, she welcomed the reader to the site with a welcome note, and added “Mithu” as her signature…..

The reader replied, “Hearing your voice was always better than touching you, because even though I yearn to touch your hands, it’s your voice that touches my soul”, not forgetting to write his signature “ElD” …….

She looked on in glee at the sender’s name, with that knowing glance and smiled. Destiny could not hold them back for long!

She wrote back her contact details and added a message,

“I used to think that two souls can never be separated but now I believe that there is only one soul residing in two different bodies “

The Soulship continues…..

(This is an inspired story from true lives, with several fictional additives. ..)

…

Conversation between Soulmates!

Soul Mate ???
What the hell do you know about what Soul Mate means?

Oh ya! SO only you have the authority to write on abstract stuff, is it?

Well, actually I have thought more about it than anyone I know, so yes I do have some authority than at least YOU !

Ahaa ! Talk of some self proclaimed Guru, that you are, uh!

No , not a Guru, but little more thoughtful of matters and non matters in the world than most.

OK , fine . So Gurudev, what do YOU know about Soul-mate? Enlighten me.

Hehehehe, Enlighten YOU ?
You are my SOUL-Mate. So go discover yourself first. Then understand the depth of the relation between you and me. You will reach your Quest!

Hmm ! ALways procrastinating !
Gawdddddddddd! You and your Vajpayee techniques will one day cause us pain, I pray not  !

Heheheh…

SO what is it about us, Gurudev. IS it the distance that defines Soul-Mates?

No. Not necessarily. But its a good way to test Soul-Macy if I may coin a new word.

Hmm…SO is the concern for your so called soul partner even when you are 1000s miles apart?

Go on, dear. You will answer it yourself. I trust you.

.. Is it the blind trust the I have in you? By the way do you trust me blindly?

Naah!!! I don’t.

What? You don’t trust me blindly?

No. I trust you with open eyes. Even when I see something,or I hear something , unless I confirm it with you, I never believe it.
So I use all my senses yet I do not judge you blindly.
Got it?

Hmm .. I am now getting pressurized.

Why?

Never mind.

OK do you love me?

Well Gurudev, I do love you. But the definition of love for you is different from the love I have for my life partner.

Is it? Try defining it?

OK.
My love for you is purely at the intellectual level, emotional level and a level where only it is UNconditional.
It does not matter to me what I get back in return for my trust, my concern and my love for you.
I feel complete just being in unison with you at the next dimension that at times even I fail to understand.
Did I make sense?

Yes, You did.  This is called understanding. See even when you express a thought that is incomplete or unstructured to the world,
I know exactly what you want to convey.
That’s a rare phenomenon and exists only beyond the five senses!
When the communication starts happening between two minds, not involving any other sense, it starts to define the relationship which is still not understood by almost all.
This relation fall under the domain of Soul-Mates.

HM. So if I have similar type of communications with my life partner, will that turn our relationship into Soul Partners?

Try answering it yourself.

Hmm. Lemme try.
I think life partner should not be considered as Soul Partners.

Why?

Cuz, the life partner is supposed to be for one life. There are definite day to day chores defined that has to attended to by each life partner, for a smooth life. The chores are more of the nature of survival and achievements as defined by the world.
Its more to do with the building home, building career, raising kids, maintaining a social life, entertaining ,doing duties to wards all relationships as per the norms.

So?

So, when do you get out of this cycle to discuss more abstract and intellectually challenging thoughts? The discussion will not be fair to the topic.
There will be clash of interest. A life partner will be more concerned about the current life and its success. Whereas a soul partner ‘s concern will be beyond the materialistic success and achievements in this life. Its purpose is to evolve your partner and in turn evolve into a better human being. To take the idea of mankind to next level.

Brilliant !
There you are. You just answered your own quest and that to in the most simplistic way possible.

I did?
Wow ! Thanks Gurudev !

Naah! You are my Soul Mate with whom I can discuss any thought that comes into my mind, without any botheration, including sex.

But Gurudev. What about the physical intimacy? Does that exist or has any place between Soul-Mates?

Hehheeh!
Why do you ask ?

Well, cuz I am still evolving. And I am human being.

Ok. All I would say is, evolution of mind if needs to go through intimacy of any type, it should not be restricted.
SO you ready for it?

Yes, Gurudev.
YOU are under arrest, for misguiding young minds and luring them into your lust.
Officer, please take him away ! May his soul evolve in the absence of his lust…