Buddha » Short Stories http://blogs.rediff.com/hungryindian Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:07:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 en hourly 1 Sigh of relief… http://blogs.rediff.com/hungryindian/2009/12/14/sigh-of-relief/ http://blogs.rediff.com/hungryindian/2009/12/14/sigh-of-relief/#comments Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:07:47 +0000 Manoj http://blogs.rediff.com/hungryindian/?p=10 Arun kissed on her forehead. He could see her eyes roll upward. She was sweating. Tiny drops of sweat lined above her thin lips. She wiped it with her kerchief. He kissed her lips. She pushed him away.


‘w-h-a-t?’ he asked, frowning.

‘ No, you gone mad?’ She said, smiling.

‘W-H-Y?’ he asked, visibly upset.

‘No, Not today Arun. I am not prepared.’ She said.

‘Please, w-h-y?’ .
 ‘ Its dangerous today.Not today Arun.’ She said, smiling, trying to sound persuasive.



He caught her hair and pulled towards him. He kissed again on her lips. His hands circled her. There was no stopping him, passion had masked him. He was already aroused. She tried to push him away, but he was much stronger. She had to give in. He was kissing her neck. She felt his hands on her back, massaging her gently. She too felt passion sweep inside her. Her grasp on his shirt got weaker by the minute.



He was unbuttoning her shirt. She resisted, but there was no way he could be stopped. He slid his hands and caressed her breasts. He pulled her shirt. He kissed on her navel.


The rotating fan looked down at the two naked bodies; it could see passion disgorge into the air like steam from a cooker. It continued to look down at the two naked bodies with yearn. Skin rubbed against skin, curves took the place of starkness, and hands felt and stroked the curves.



He stopped abruptly. He lifted himself and walked towards the chair on which hung his blue Jeans. He pulled his wallet and searched. A blue sachet of Condom emerged. The neck of the sachet was slit, which revealed a pink, rubbery, moist and lubricated condom. It took a silhouette.



The fan continued to look down at the bed below with longing. The couple looked like one conjugated corpse, bunged in between by sudden jerks. Arun stopped in between, as if exhausted. After a while he continued. A sudden roar followed, muscles tightened, hand-clasps stiffened.

The bodies separated, the oneness stopped, separateness creaked. Two naked mortals lied close to each other; devoid of passion; ceased with lust.

 Two weeks passed since the Fan last saw Shalini in his room. It disapproved the ways of the humanity; the adulterated relationships, the lust for flesh, the shortness of human remembrance. It remembered how Arun had vowed his fiancé few days back, and how Shalini had spoken about her boyfriend who lived in Bangalore. The fan had seen many couples, some in love, some were just couples, and some were married. Yet it was confused about Arun and Shalini. “What were they? None of it that I knew, Just that they worked in an office together. They were just colleagues. And yet they behaved for a short time, as if they were married, as if they were in love” It said to itself.


It remembered the short conversation in between the lovemaking.

 “I love you Shalini.” Arun had whispered.

“What? What did you just say?” She had asked.

“ No, I just meant that in case you get pregnant, don’t worry, I will marry you. Only if your boyfriend rejects, that is.” He had said.
 “Stop-It . In your dream will I marry you. Have you looked into a mirror?” She had screamed.



It was a Sunday morning and he was awakened by the ringing of his mobile phone. He sluggishly picked his phone. It was as if a bombshell had exploded that Arun mounted from his bed and shouted.
 “w-h-a-t?”
‘”I think I am Pregnant. I missed my….”, She repeated, sounding more distressed and dramatic.

“No, I mean, It can’t be possible. I used condoms.” He was rubbing his eyes as an obscurity had enveloped his vision.

“ What do you mean? “ She sounded annoyed.

“ No. amm, I mean, check once again. It may be a delayed thing.” He said.


All hell froze when she told him that she had confirmed using a pregnancy detector. The two lines were very obvious and clear.


There was no mistake. She was pregnant. He couldn’t think of an answer. He remembered how he had pulled the condom out in between. It was his mistake.
“I am an Idiot, I am a bloody fool”, He cursed.

“What do we do now? Abortion?” he asked in his most composed voice. She was furious to hear about abortion. She sounded greatly upset. She cut the line.


He couldn’t think; his head was spinning. His eyes turned red and he could feel his heart palpitate.
He thought of several options. “What do I do now?” he asked himself, loud enough for the fan to hear.

He imagined breaking the news to his parents. He wasn’t sure how his father would react. He was engaged, he was to marry in few months time. It would be utter chaos.
He had no other way. He had no escape. He knew Shalini would never agree for an abortion.

He would have to marry her. He would have to break his engagement. Otherwise the news would spread like wild fire. He would never be able to walk into his office. He could never face his relatives. He could never face his colleagues. He felt blood rush into his head. He could feel his head spin. He felt tired and restless.
He looked upwards, towards the fan and fell onto the bed. He will have to speak to Shalini and solve the matter.
He tried calling her. Her phone was switched off. He was restless.
He walked aimlessly.
He sat on the bed.

He dialed her number again. It was switched off. He messaged her. The message went undelivered. He resent the message and again it failed.
He walked restlessly in his room, the soft breeze from the fan gently brushing his hair.
He sat on the chair and switched-on the laptop. He tied his hands around his head and looked contemplatively at the fan.


He opened his Gmail  and started composing a mail.



My Dear Shalini,

I am very sorry for what has happened, more so for the reason that I am responsible for it. I know I have done a mistake and I take the responsibility. I would certainly be with you every minute, every moment, and would like to accept you. I would like to marry you, if you agree for it. Please call me as soon as you read this mail. We shouldn’t delay it any further and risk the consequences of it, on our relationship, on our future child.


Thanks dear, I love you.

Yours,


Arun



He was about to click on the send option when he noticed the date. It was first of the month. There was something strange about the date. It was fourth month of the year. It took another few seconds for him to realize that he may have been terribly fooled.

He noticed his phone ring and jumped to collect it. He could hear her faint groans of laughter and he knew he could take a deep sigh of relief.

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The elope http://blogs.rediff.com/hungryindian/2009/09/01/the-elope/ http://blogs.rediff.com/hungryindian/2009/09/01/the-elope/#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:16:46 +0000 Manoj

She was a brahmin. He was a Muslim. The world was two parallel contours. Their world would never hold. They decided they would make it hold.

They would elope. They would elope when the sun rested in the pits of the ocean. They would elope tonight, when the world reprieved from their peccadillo.

The sun fled, tired of illuming the world; Tired of clearing obscurity from the sinister world.

She woke from her slumber. The frightening silence spread like gloominess in the murky night.

She soundlessly carried her bag and walked past her room. She walked past the hall, the kitchen, the prayer room. She reached the main door. She inserted the Copied keys on the rusted lock. The key declined to comply; She struggled with it again. The lock smirked disobediently, as if having a life of its own. She struggled in the darkness, sweating profusely. The key is stuck inside the old, rusty lock. It refused to open, as if conspiring against her elope.

She wondered. She stood thinking. “What would happen to him? What would be of their union, the elope, all the intended life together, as one”.

She heard noises. Her father grumbled in sleep. “Would he be awake?”

She returned to her room, unsure of the future. She sobbed, waded by the bulky pillow; the darkness shadowed her emotions.

Soon it was morning. The sun spread its warmth; waking the world, reminding of its obscurity.

Her father walked hurriedly towards the door. He was late as usual; the qualms of the accustomed world apparent on his face.

He tried to open the lock. “The stupid, rusted, old lock”.He cursed the lock.

The lock couldn't stand the sturdiness of the Iron Hammer. It broke after a brief resistance. Father gave a hard stare at the worthless lock and threw it into the trash.

The lock shed its last tears; having tirelessly served his master until the very night, distraught by the ungratefulness of humanity.

The end.

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