There were a series of burglary in the rich residential enclave of Wimbledon Heights. Wimbledon Heights was located in the town of Little Lake and was divided by Wichita trails which ran through the centre of the residential area.

The local cops increased the patrols which lead to reduction in the number of burglaries but not completely eliminated. The burglaries happened during day time when most of the folks were gone to work and kids off to school. It was a quick thing with the break-in and exit not taking more than a few minutes. Most of the homes in the area had alarms but by the time it was verified and cops called in the thieves were gone.

There were town meetings and politicians getting calls from the rich contributors to the election funds which resulted calling in help from the county.  Jim Just got a call from the Mayor of Little Lake and Mike Harvey Senior Detective from Denton County was assigned the case.

"Work your magic" said Jim assigning the case to Mike.

"Yeah let me get the pixie dust" replied Mike sardonically.

It was a lazy afternoon with heat index creeping up in spite of it being spring. The hot Texas sun obviously had not gotten the memo about not raising the temperatures up in spring. Mike trudged back slowly to his pod with chicken fried stake from his lunch still a huge lump in his stomach. He should not have had such a huge lunch, now reading the file was going to take a huge effort thought Mike.

He thumped the file down and went in search of coffee. With luke warm coffee he started scanning the pages in the file.  The file contained copies of various calls made by the alarm company and the follow up done by the patrolling cops. There were no eye witness to the crime and hence no vehicle number or probable suspects to trace. The thieves it seemed had the whole process under control where in they made their exit before the cops entered the complex.

Mike leaned back in his chair and put the feet up on the desk. He sat back ruminating all the facts that he had gleamed from the file. It was an interesting case he mused.

"Mike…" someone called

He got up with a jerk and landed his feet on the ground with a thud.

"You were sleeping"

"Thinking" said Mike with a sheepish grin.

He got up saw it was late in the day. He grabbed the file and decided to head out.

*********

Next morning he decided to drive down to Wimbledon Heights. It had rained the previous night bringing down the heat index, Mike rolled down his windows letting the cool breeze blow in.

He took the exit for round grove from I-35 and started driving west. Round grove was a long loop that circled the twin towns of Little Lake and Lakeview; with every road in the two towns an offshoot from it.  Little Lake was towards the west of Round grove and Lakeview to the east. As one drove on Wichita trail for about a mile one would reach the entry on the South side for Wimbledon Heights. The entry was just a huge arch with name of the residential complex embossed on it.

As he drove in, Mike could see the stark difference between Wimbledon Heights and rest of the town. The trees were greener and lawn was manicured; the houses if you could call them that were mansions. There were jogging and bike trails all around the complex; he also passed a club house with tennis courts, a small lake and of course a golf course.

He drove around getting a feel for the lay of the land. Every road from Wichita ran into a dead end with a bigger McMansion at the end of the drive or merged into other roads that looped in side the complex.

It was an Aha moment thought Mike.

************

Later that day he started going through the file with the residential map. The break-in happened irrespective of there was security or not. Items stolen were game boxes, DVDs and any cash or jewelry left unsecured. Most of the break in happened between 10am and 2Pm when the residential area was the quietest.

He called the local cop shop at Little Lake.

"Do you have bike patrol?"

"Yeah" said the officer

"Instead of cars, can you have cops at either end of Wichita trail on bikes?"

"Sure"

"Also, let them not be in uniform and infrequent intervals"

They hung up.  Mike got busy with other cases and files on his desk.

*******

Mike had his bike hung on his SUV the next day and knew he needed the exercise. What better place for that than Wimbledon Height, he thought. He stopped at the local precinct and discussed his plans with the Deputy Chief.

"Worth a try" said the Chief

 Mike as per plan was to operate from Little Lake police station. The next call in from the alarm company, he was to join the patrol. First few weeks were quite or they were false alarms.

Mike started looking at the break in analysis more closely. There were about thirty incidents in last few months and it happened in houses with alarm and without alarm. That gave him a thought; he walked out of the cubicle into the captain's office.

"Can you get me a list of alarms registered with the town?"

It was a requirement in most towns that if you have an alarm it be registered with the local police. If it is not registered and there is an alarm outbreak or break in then the visit from your friendly neighborhood cops would cost as much as five hundred dollars.

"I will have it emailed to you"

Mike sorted the file by alarm companies. Most of the households had registered with AXT which was a national based company while there were a few registered with Johnson Alarms.  He did a Google on Johnson Alarms and found it was a new company established about six months ago. Their monthly fees were also cheaper compared to the national chain.

He picked up the phone and called AXT. After a lot of routing he finally got hold of the technology officer at the local office. He fixed an appointment with him for the next day.

Early next morning he was in sitting in the conference room with the technology officer from AXT. After brief initial pleasantries Mike decided to dive into the matter.

"Can you provide me a list of employees who quit your firm in last few months?"

"I can email it to you" said Anand

"Do you have a lot of turnover?" asked Mike

"Very few officer" replied Anand

"I see that you have a good competition from Johnson alarms for the market share" said Mike

"Johnson White the CEO used to work with us"

"Why did he quit?"

"He was laid off" said Anand

"Was there a bleep in the system?" asked Mike

"What do you mean?" asked Anand looking surprised by the question

"Our response unit and the residences are not more than 10 minutes away and by the time we reach the location the burglars are long gone."

Anand was quite. After a long time he said "We are looking to see if there is a glitch"

"Let me know, when you finish your analysis" said Mike

Mike knew Anand was hiding facts probably because it will have an impact on the business.  He also knew they lost quite a few customers because of that in the past few months. The beneficiary was Johnson Alarms which significantly did not have a single break in on its watch.

After Anand left he decided to increase his search to find if there was similar break- in   other towns. He found there were sporadic cases in other towns in the Dallas metropolis. Enough of sleuthing Mike decided to go on a bike ride in Wimbledon. He parked his vehicle and took his bike down.

It was still a pleasant morning with hot summer still a few weeks away. He saw a few joggers and bikers on the trail. It was a weekday and hence the trails were quieter. He had cell phone plugged into his ear as he biked down the trail.

Mike continued his journey enjoying the smell of spring still in the air when his phone rang. It was a message from the control room at Little Lake about a break-in on Morris road which was just half a block away from where he was biking. He pushed the pedals down the trail. As he neared the entrance into Morris from Wichita he saw a young man hanging around with a phone plug on his ears. He stood looking into the horizon on either side of Wichita trail. It made sense. The patrol unit was at least another ten minutes away.

Mike biked slowly down the hill as if he was out for his morning perambulation.

"Excuse me" he said as he tapped the shoulder of the young man. The man was startled.

He jumped back surprised.

"Give me the phone" he said using the cop tone.

The guy started to run. He was young and fast. Mike rushed after him on the bike and as he reached close to the runner he extended his feet out. The guy tripped and fell out on his face on the trail. Mike jumped off his bike and was on the back of the fallen man who was now bleeding from the fall.

"You are under arrest son" said Mike

"For what?"  

"What is your name?" asked Mike getting a grip on the guy.

"Josh"

"Let us go" said Mike as he called in for back up.

**********

The patrol car reached the site late as the burglars had vanished into thin air. Mike had Josh sit in one of the interview room and cranked up the air conditioner. He set it at a high of 82 and let Josh sweat for some time confused and afraid.

In the mean time he dialed the last number on Josh's cell. Before he could respond he had an angry voice on the other end yell at him "Dude where the heck are you?"

"Is this Todd?"

There was silence.

"Who is this?"

"Todd your friend met with an accident, this is the police"

"Where is he?"

"He is at the Little Lake emergency centre. Can you please come over there?"

"Sure"

Mike hung the phone. He went to the Captain and gave the news about the development.

"I will keep a patrol unit at the emergency centre and also track down the address for Todd"

Mike nodded his consent. It has been about thirty minutes since Mike left Josh in the warmed up interview room. The heat in the room and an anxious heart beat must have cooked Josh to medium rare.

"Show time" said Mike to no one as he grabbed a bottle of cold water, walking into the interview room.

"How are you Josh?" asked Mike placing the bottle on the table

"Hot and thirsty"

"Your friend Todd is coming in" said Mike still holding the bottle of water.

Josh looked confused tired and all of eighteen.

"Why?"

"Let me lay out the cards. He has confessed and said you are the ring leader"

"Son of a bitch, it was his plans to help Uncle John"

"You mean Johnson White"

"Yes" said a sullen Josh

"Was Johnson involved in this?"

"Ask Todd"

The next few days were frantic with long hours and lot of interviews. Anand from AXT was called back and he confessed to a system glitch.

"There was a sub routine written in which delayed the alarms for a few seconds before the control room was alerted"

 AXT was able to provide evidence that these were written from log in which was not deactivated. The system administrator from AXT confessed to have taken a pay off from Johnson Alarms to reactivate cancelled log-in for Johnson White.

"I was under the impression it was more for copying programs etc and not for criminal activities"

There were a flurry of arrests and Johnson Alarms was shut down.

*********

"So another case closed" said Jim later that week

"Yeah, as I age the pixie dust takes time working" replied Mike

Then it all came to me. My brain shook out of its stupor and I could see the light coming in from behind the clouds.

I was to go to a client site that afternoon. The office was in Flora Fountain, a walking distance from my office. The client I was going to that afternoon was the corporate office of a Dye processing plant. It was a private firm with the partners having interest in more than one pie.

To cut a long story short it was a crammed office. I shared a small cabin with an old man who was there Mondays to Thursdays. The office had a phone and it was a direct line.

The general work area and the inner office of my boss were divided by a glass partition. I recited the number fast and the time to call before Ashok could bring the receiver to his ears and disconnected the line. It was a gamble but then what is life without a bit of risk taking I thought and smiled.

"Hello" he banged the receiver and came out.

"Who was it?" Ashok enquired

"None of your business" I said with a smile.

"You think you are too smart" he said angrily.

I looked at his face red at having been outsmarted. I burst out laughing laying it thick with glee at his discomfort.

I was in good spirits and more than eager to visit the client. To be honest with you I hated having to share the office space with the old man. He was loud and gruffly. He spoke on the phone too long, loud and in Guajarati a language, which I had no clue about.

It was a busy morning with lot of things to do. Before I realized it was time to go. I let my boss know and trudged my way along with fast moving traffic and people. The rains were gone and the afternoon Sun was bearing down on me. I was glad when I walked into the cool comforts of the air conditioned office.

Surprise! Surprise!

The old codger was in and sitting, across from the chair I normally sat.

Urgh%$%%%% Blistering barnacles as Captain Haddock from Tintin comics books would say.

He was on the phone. I sat in the chair waiting. The phone rang many a time after that, sometimes I picked and sometimes he did. Age had not slowed his reflexes. The calls were mostly his or wrong numbers. Then it came and I lost the battle for quick reflex action at the crunch time or when it counted the most. He picked up and said "Hello"

I was biting my nails hoping against hope it was not her.

Then I heard the four letter word "Ravi" he said

"Give it to me" I said "It is mine"

"You are not Ravi" said the old man.

He then called out aloud "Ravi"

Then I remembered there was a Ravi in the company, a shy young man who kept to himself.

He walked in and the old man said with a toothy grin "a girl for you"

Ravi took the phone and said "hello". The old man sat close hanging on to any word that would come out from the conversation. I was nervous and upset, seeing my opportunity slide out of my hand and there was nothing I could do.

I could hear the girls refer to our earlier conversation during the day and Ravi just kept shaking his head

"Che Che" said Ravi with discomfort.

I heard the voice of the girls talking in the background "it seems he has given us the wrong number".

Ravi kept the phone down and walked away. I was distraught and wanted put my head on the desk and bang my hand on it. Why me? I was inconsolable.

Then I realized the truth 'what God of wrong numbers gives; he takes away too"

It was a telephone call that started it all, a wrong number. This is a tale from long time ago when getting a wrong number was something which MTNL provided regularly as a part of their services.  Only thing that varied is the various plan levels i.e. for example you could get two wrong calls a day or all the calls you received could be wrong numbers. If you called to complain of course it could be another wrong number.

Let me not digress. I worked in a Chartered Accounting firm in town, which was located in an old dilapidated building like the various once that populated the town area. When you got down at the VT railway station (I told you this was an old tale) and walked towards flora fountain most of buildings located on both side of street were a relic from the British era. It seemed that the last paint job and repair work was done to them when British were around.

The building were I did my apprenticeship really took the cake. Its outer exterior was covered with moss, flaking paints and cracks filled with sealants which were made of tar. To be honest the exterior of the building was far superior to what the inner sanctum of the building looked like. As you walked in there were traders sitting on both sides of the entrance selling you goods just imported in from Dubai. Most of their shelf spaces were filled with empty boxes with the real goods stored inside the building under the stairs or the corridors covered with clothes and plastic to keeping preying minds and hands away.

The stairs were made of wood and had a musty odor which got amplified during the monsoon.  It creaked and groaned from years of abuse as one climbed them up to various floor levels.

This was a Friday with rains just making their descent onto Bombay and the scents of the parched earth invigorated with rains filling the air and your senses. It gave the people on the street a spring in their steps and vigor after months of torment in the sweltering Bombay Sun. Normally frowning faces of the denizens in a rush had mellowed a tad bit enjoying the cool breeze as they navigated their umbrellas through a sea of fellow travelers.

The phone rang and it was Ashok and I in the office. Ashok Pawar the peon was cleaning the office as I sat in my chair and watched the swaying trees and cool breeze blowing through the open windows. The boss was not in yet and many a Fridays he came in late.

"Hello" said Ashok

I looked up and asked who it was.

"Wrong number" he said as he kept the phone down.

It rang again before we could say Chartered Accountant. He picked up and hung up again.

"Some girls" he said.

"Girls" I repeated astonished. It had the same affect on me as the rains had on the parched dry earth outside.

Like clock work it rang again and I picked it up.

"Hello" said a sweet voice across the crossed lines. I thanked the Gods of wrong numbers for this stroke of luck.

With hesitation and all the maturity as I could gather as an eighteen year old, I croaked "Hello".

"Who is this?" said the lilting voice

"Who do you want?" I asked with hesitation but growing cadence. I was also afraid the connection could go away as easily as it came in.

She giggled and said to someone "It is a wrong number"

The fact that I was talking over the phone gave me strength and courage to communicate without despair. I was not out of breath or short on confidence.

"What is your name?" I asked looking into the mirror on the wall across.

"What is yours?" she asked and I could hear laughter at the other end. There was definitely more than one girl.

"Ravi" I lied

"Swati"

"Where do you work?" I asked.

"Near church gate" she said.

"Is it the same wrong number?" asked Ashok standing in front of me. I was annoyed that he dared to interrupt my call and looked at him with affront. His face and annoying smile told me he wanted to take part in the venture.

I jerked my hands in the air indicating that he should leave me alone. After all he was peon. He was taking none of that. He was an employee in the outfit long before I was. Also he carried more weight in the Org chart as he delivered while I was a leach who was still learning the tricks of the trade.

He indicated that he was going to pick the call from inside the boss's cabin.

"Don't" I yelled.

"What?" said the sweet voice

"Not for you. It is the guy at my office annoying me" I said

I had a few seconds before Ashok picked the call inside the office. Sometimes that was enough to cut the connection.

"Can I call you later?" I asked

"Give me your number" she said.

This was the movement of reckoning. What should I do? I hesitated not sure and heard the line being picked inside.

to be continued

Justin was an avid biker. Avid is a lighter term to use for his obsession. He lived to get on a bike and set out to the woods. It was single minded devotion a release like what a devotee would get by going to a place of worship. He subscribed to the biker magazine, researched about various trails during his office hours and dreamed about conquering the trail as soon as possible.

One could say he lived and worked to get on the bike during the weekend. During the week he worked as a database administrator in a large multinational firm, a meek and mild IT geek who one would remember by function but not the face or the name of the person. Justin was a wiry guy with glasses and a receding hairline. He was very quiet and kept to himself. The IT geek during the week was as related to the pumped up biker during the weekend as was Clark Kent to Superman.

The research on the web had brought to his attention the 'Witch hunt trail' which was about 30 miles away from the town he lived in. Justin had saved the information away as place to bike till that cold weekend in November, a week before thanksgiving. The trail even during summer was not crowded as the pathways were rocky and overgrown bushes with thorns hugged its narrow sides. Various wildlife including coyotes and cougars had been spotted on various occasions which further stopped a lot of bikers from venturing into the Witch hunt woods and trails there in. 

Justin reached the park early morning around six with Sun still hiding behind blankets not willing to venture out in to the cold night.  He looked around the parking lot and it was still with not a vehicle in sight. The cold wind and steep drop in temperatures overnight had prevented many a hardy soul from leaving the comforts of their bed and blankets. The biking population has a sharp decline during the winter and a park like Witch hunt with a small base of visitors would have no human presence during the harsh winter weekends at such an early hour.

Justin got out of the truck cheerful, humming a tune in his head as he walked to the truck bed to get his bike out. He was dressed for the occasion with caps, glows, sweaters and jacket. It was still cold. He got his bike down from the truck put his helmet and slowly eased in to the trail enveloped in haze and cold darkness. In spite of the various animals in the wood it was quite as if .

Cold wind greeted Justin's entry into the darkened woods and speed of the bike added to its bite. The trail was narrow with twists and turns at small intervals which made the ride a challenge. In spite of various challenges Justin was making good progress and he constantly glanced at his GPS to ensure the speed, the distance and calories burned with every push of the pedal.

He was riding for almost an hour and sun was mildly peeking from the confines of darkness. The early morning sun rays were playing a game with remainder of night to see who would blink first; the interplay casting the entire woods in a hue of mythical allure.  Justin saw that he was now a stretch of path which was straight and long; he changed gears and increased the speed.

Before long the trees and woods were a blur and the wind teared up his eyes in spite of the glasses. Then he saw him standing in the middle of the road and yelled "heads up". The man was oblivious to the bike and Justin's warning.

He called out again and angrier now. The distance between the bike and man in the woods was reducing at an alarming rate; Justin reduced the gears and made a sharp turn. He closed his eyes knowing the outcome.  The bike ran off the path into the thorny bushes and Justin landed on his head with a thud. He was shaken and thorns were piercing in through the thick layers of cloth. He got up fast and walked out dazed with a spinning head and body still learning the rules of gravity.

He looked to see the man standing in the middle of the path staring into the woods. He was an older guy in his early sixties with thick flowing beard and hair. He was short in stature with a serious face and thick eye brows. The man had a camera on his neck and he was focusing on something in the woods. Justin could not believe the stranger was not at all aware of the happenings around him.   

"Hey you" called out Justin

The stranger turned and looked at him. He was angry at Justin for having disturbed him.

"Did you not hear me?" asked Justin

"Go away" growled the stranger. The voice had an edge cutting through the stillness of the woods.

Justin was taken aback but still hurt and walked towards the stranger.

"You little runt"

"Go away" said the stranger staring into his eyes. Justin felt a coldness seep into his body through the warm clothes chilling his bones.

"Not your time" continued the stranger

Justin crunched his fingers into a fist and rushed to hit the stranger. The stranger raised his camera to defend against Justin's impending blow.

Justin aimed his fist at the strangers jaw and the stranger clicked. Justin was taken aback and stopped in his tracks; the light from the flash taking him by surprise.

"Hey" said Justin and covered his eyes.

He opened his eyes a bit dazed by the light and still recovering from the fall. He looked around and he was alone. The stranger as if had vanished in to the woods.

Justin turned and looked around him. How could the old man run away so fast? That was strange he thought. He walked towards the edge peering into the woods and the spot old man was gazing at. He jumped back, his heart pounding at the site of the cougar.

Then he realized the animal was dead and pale, as if death had taken away light from its being.

He walked back to the bushes, grabbed his bike and turned around. He was tired and the remainder of the ride looked insurmountable to him.

                                                *************

He had not reported to work for a couple of days and was not picking up his cell. The human resource manager called the number listed as his local contact in case of emergency.

She had broken up with him and was reluctant to check on Justin. That evening she decided to pay him a visit and found the cops at his doorsteps.

"You know him" enquired one of the cops.

She nodded.

"The neighbors called in. It was the smell. No foul play is suspected"

She walked in and saw the body. His eyes were fixated staring into the distance and the face was very pale. It was a sight she would not forget for a long time, those eyes and the pale face as if death ..

Vijay was nowhere to be seen after that night. There were cops pouring in to the building late that night knocking down on Gaurav's door. The news was received with a loud cry of anguish by Gaurav's granny. The whole area was crowded with neighbors and kids occupying each nook and corner in the long corridor. The police tried to disperse crowd in vain as the news spread like fire on cotton bales through out the entire neighborhood. Neighbors who could not get a spot on the corridors crowded in the space on the staircase and near the police vehicle trying to find out the sequence of events. The only neighbors who were not out in the open were the Bhave's and Vaidya's.  Couple of cops knocked on the doors of Vaidya's to find out the where about of Vijay. The parents claimed complete ignorance and vilified the neighbors for blaming their son for the episode.

It was decided by the elders that some of them would go with Gaurav's granny to the hospital. Mrs.Joshi spends the entire night in the hospital corridor staying vigil on Gaurav who was in the ICU.  One of the neighbors called up Pune and informed Gaurav's parents who left for Mumbai by the early morning Deccan Queen.

With in a couple of days the whole neighborhood was abuzz with rumors of Gaurav and Shulba's affair and how a jealous Vijay took out his frustration. The news gained more credence as the Bhave's were paid a visit by the cops. It became difficult for Shulba to walk in the neighborhood with people giving her the glare and cold shoulder. Many felt the girl had let her light skin and good looks go to her head. Nobody believed her claim of innocence and lack of involvement in the entire episode. It was to the advantage of Vaidyas to give more credence to lies as it took of the heat of their son.

It was rumored that Vijay was in Konkan where the Vaidyas still had extended family.     Gaurav was out of ICU by the end of the week and left for Pune with his parents to recuperate. 

With so much happening it was very difficult for Shulba to keep up with her studies and the pressure was beginning to take a toll on her. The girl became morose and quieter with each passing day. Her father her only support grew more distant under the constant battering and abuse from her mother. All the blame for Shulba's new found ill fame was laid at his doorsteps. Her mother was very sure the girl had done something to incite so much passion among the boys after all she said there could be no smoke without fire. The final school exams before the board exam were a total disaster for Shulba. The principal called in her parents for a meeting and expressed her disappointment. She was not sure how a smart girl like Shulba goes down hill in such a short time. Vinayak who had a lot of hope for his daughter was crestfallen and had tears in his eyes.

Shulba could not understand why her Gods deserted in her hour of need. Her father's disappointment with her was something she could not reconcile with. She turned more inward, praying harder to Gods and visiting all the neighboring temples. Shulba would go to terrace to study while her mind wandered everywhere but the books.  She hardly spoke to a soul and would walk around with her heads bowed down as if carrying the weight of the entire world on her thin shoulders. . Savita's constant verbal volleys were met with blank stares and stony silence. 

The board exams came and went. Savita wanted the girl to be married as soon as possible, with her ill fame she felt it was difficult for Shulba to get a good proposal. Savita informed her husband about her desire to visit her village to get away from all the happenings and to solicit her relatives' help to get proposals for the girl.

Savita went to her village in Konkan that summer with Sachin.   Shulba stayed back to take care of the house and her father. Most of the neighbors went to their villages for the summer vacation and neighborhood was quite, the only time during the year it was. One hot summer day the week after her mother and brother left for Konkan, Shulba was found hanging from the ceiling fan.

The end

The Vaidyas were related to Bhave's through Savita. Savita and Mrs. Vaidya were distant cousins but no one knew how and what the relation was. The relation had become closer due to the fact that they lived in the same neighborhood and now due to Vijay's interest in Shulba. Vijay was 21 and had taken a fancy to Shulba, which was welcomed by Savita and the Vaidya family. Savita did not yet discuss this matter with her husband, as she knew it was something, which he would object vehemently. Vinayak considered Vijay to be a no good loafer and common street ruffian. Further he wanted his daughter to go to college and graduate to make something out of her life than living in dilapidated dwelling and a life that was closely representative of the abode.

Vijay was a high school drop out and drove rickshaws for a livelihood. Most of the time was spent playing cards and drinking creating disturbance in the neighborhood.  There were rumors among the neighbors that he visited brothels too. He was thin as an ice pick, gawky and blood shot eyes burgeoning out of the socket. He was found loitering around the rickshaw stand playing cards instead of plying his trade. He drove customers only if the ride was short, so as to come back fast to the stand or if they were young girls. If the passengers were young girls the mirror was used more for gawking at them than for looking out for the passing traffic.

Vijay was mad the day after Gaurav beat him up. He had rumors of Gaurav's interest in Shulba and his increasing popularity in the neighborhood. He had incited his parents to go and confront the old lady for Gaurav's behavior in the playground to prove his manliness. Instead of coming out as knight in shinning amour riding a rickshaw he came out smelling worse than municipal garbage truck.

Later that week he took out his auto to the rickshaw stand he still carried the bruises from the fight. He wanted to get back at Gaurav to make him pay for the insult and pain caused.  The rickshaw stand was about a kilometer away from the residential area and very close to Dombivili railway station. Before departing to the rickshaw stand Vijay found out Gaurav's schedule from Rahul and his buddies and made plans to waylay him on his return from work.

Gaurav was very disappointed with the turn of events. He had never anticipated things could turn so worse so fast. He could now not even go out and play with his friends. He enjoyed the game and opportunity to vibe with kids from the neighborhood. He worked later on Wednesday of each week and reached the station around nine PM. On such occasions instead of walking the short commute he would take a rickshaw.

He waved his hand and a rickshaw which was not in the queue, came fast stopping in front of him with a fast flourish. Gaurav did not think much of it and got in it though the driver who was in the queue was not very happy and showered choicest abuse at the queue breaker. There was a guy sitting beside the driver and Gaurav could not see their faces in the dark though they both smelled of liquor. He was way tired and wanted get home and his bed. About a block the rickshaw slowed down as it was entering the main road towards Kelkarwadi and two people got in through both sides of the rickshaw. They pushed Gaurav in to the middle of the vehicle.

"Hey" Gaurav protested.

"Shut up" said the guy sitting next to the driver turning back and looking at him.

"I will get down here," said Gaurav trying to push his way out of the moving vehicle. He knew something was wrong.

"Who do you think you are?" asked the guy sitting next to him giving Gaurav a shove with his hands.

"Rambo" said the driver.

The voice sounded familiar thought Gaurav.

"Rambo my foot" said the guy sitting next to the driver.

Gaurav now started pushing and getting up to jump out of the vehicle. The vehicle swayed with sudden momentum and overload of people. The guy sitting to the either side pulled him back to the seat while the person sitting next to the driver pulled out a big knife and brought it close to Gaurav's throat menacingly and said "if you do not sit down mo**** fu**** this knife will create a deep wound on your throat which even the doctors wouldn't be able to put back". He pushed it closer to Gaurav's throat creating a small cut and sharp pain.

"Mother" he yelled in pain.

The vehicle took a sharp left turn towards the saltpans, which was close to the inter-state highway. Gaurav felt a rumbling in his stomach and fear about the events to unfold. The ride was bumpy as the roads were not paved and he saw a group of young kids in the light thrown by the vehicle talking animatedly. He realized it was his last chance and he could sense the enveloping tension in the vehicle.

Gaurav pushed the guy on his right put his head out looking back at the kids and yelled, "Help me these guy s". Before he could finish he was pulled back in and guys on his either side started raining him with blows as he tried to fend himself in the moving and now swaying vehicle. They abruptly turned the vehicle pulling into a dark alley. The guy in the right pulled out Gaurav and he tried to free his hands to run. Suddenly he was hit on his head from back with what looked like a hockey stick and Gaurav gave a blood chilling curl as the pain ripped through his head. He was on his knees and in the faint glow of the far away streetlight he could see the face of the driver.

"Oh my god" he thought.

Vijay stepped in front of Gaurav and kicked him hard on his groins. Gaurav started to get up when he was held straight by guys pulling him from either side.

"Give it to me" he said to the person with the knife.

"No" said the guy weakly but Vijay took the knife unsheathed it and rushed towards Gaurav stabbing him in his stomach. Vijay pulled out the knife and pushed it back in to the same wound as blood started pouring from the open wound. The event had taken a turn for the worse than expected by his co-conspirators and they started to panic. The guys on either side holding Gaurav let go of him and grabbed Vijay pulling him back.

"Leave Me," shouted Vijay with high-strung testosterones and cheap alcohol fuelled rage.

"Are you fucking crazy?" said one of his mates

They pulled Vijay into the vehicle and drove away towards the highway. Gaurav stumbled from the alley on to the road with blood pouring out of his stomach and bruises all over his body. His head weighed like a thousand pounds and it felt like some one was playing in it with hammer and tongs creating a cacophony of sounds. Last thing he heard was the approaching sound of police vehicle as he blackened out.

to be continued

A few days later Gaurav walked out to the ground after the games were almost done. He did not feel like taking part in it.

"Look the Romeo," said Rahul pointing out to Gaurav. Rahul was standing at the wicket with the bat in his hand. At this players around him started laughing.

"Hi" said Gaurav "what is going on?"

"Not much" said Rahul "how is Shulba?"

"Why?" asked Gaurav annoyingly

"Well" continued Rahul "Your pining sound reverberates around the colony"

Gaurav walked up to Rahul and gave him a push. Rahul lost his balance and fell over the wicket. Rahul got up and rushed at Gaurav with his bat swinging. Gaurav held the swinging bat with his left hand and punched Rahul on his head. Rahul yelped and dropped the bat as Gaurav moved in closer and started punching and kicking him. Soon the other Kids separated them out and pushed them in different directions.

"Next time you think something this funny ass hole," he said "keep it to yourself"

"Calm down" said someone. Sanjay Gaurav's closest friend grabbed his arm and both walked off the ground.

"What is his bloody problem?" asked Rahul getting up and cleaning himself up.

"This is not first time he is acting like an oaf "said someone "go tell his granny."

"No" said Rahul "I will get him for this"

Sanjay and Gaurav walked out of the neighborhood to the main road. This was the usual route they took to the public park after a game. There was swarm of people going in different directions and at frantic pace, a typical Mumbai evening.

  Lot of young people hung around at the park and many a couple could be found sitting in quieter spots holding hands and trying to steal a kiss when no one was staring at them. With lot of the apartments in the neighborhood being crowded and joint families, the park provided an opportunity for newly married to talk and spent some time alone out of the sight of parents and in-laws. The park also provided young teenagers an opportunity to ogle at couples and watch them get cozy.  The couples also had to watch for cops who would sound whistle and harass people who sat too close or were caught stealing a kiss. In these list of people out to harass lovers were the eunuchs who found this a good opportunity to make some fast buck. They wouldn't move out and leave couples alone until they elicited a rupee or two out of them. The park then had their usual list of vendors and older people who were out doing their evening perambulation.

"What were you trying to do?" asked Sanjay.

"When"

"When you were trying to kill Rahul," replied Sanjay

"He had it coming," said Gaurav "he had been getting on my nerves for quite some time"

"He is upset that you replaced him as the captain for the team and now trying to win Shulba" said Sanjay.

"The girl doesn't even speak to me and you guys are in a hurry to label her as my girlfriend" said Gaurav.

"Well then it is good," replied Sanjay "her mother is a witch".

"Let us run," said Gaurav.

"No you go ahead, I need to see where Atul and his wife are at," said Sanjay laughing loudly.

"You pervert," said Gaurav running and picking pace.

"Meet you here in thirty minutes" shouted out Sanjay walking on to the lawn and on his way to the bushes and trees in the center of the park.

As Gaurav walked up the stairs on the way to his granny's apartment he heard shouts and commotion. He rushed up the stairs not knowing what was going on. He saw Rahul's elder brother and parents at the door shouting at his grandmother.

"Granny" he said

"There comes the little runt," said Rahul's brother Vijay.

"Gaurav" said his Granny "did you have a fight with Rahul?"

"Well…" stammered Gaurav.

"There you go he cannot deny he beat my son," shouted Rahul's dad.

"Gaurav" said his Granny in anguish.

"Granny, listen to me. Rahul was being mean and calling names," said Gaurav.

"That doesn't give you a right to beat him," said his Granny.

At that very moment Vijay stepped close and pushed Gaurav with such force that he lost balance and tumbled backwards. Gaurav hit his head on the wall and looked up to see Vijay smiling at him. He got back on his feet and Vijay raised his hand to slap him but Gaurav this time was prepared and swatted Vijay's hands away. He followed that with a punch to Vijay's face. The punch landed on Vijay's nose and blood started pouring out.

"Oh my god" wailed Rahul's mom Mrs. Vaidya "look what your adoring grandson has done to my son".

Rahul and his dad rushed around his brother as various neighbors poured out into the corridor trying to break out the fight and restore peace. It was a while before the Vaidyas and Joshi's decided to call truce and return to their respective houses.

Gaurav and Mrs.Joshi had a very quite dinner with his grandmother still very upset with him.

Next evening after Gaurav returned from work he picked up his bat to join his friends down for cricket.

"Where are you going?" asked Mrs.Joshi.

"To play," replied Gaurav.

"No need to do that" said his Grandmother "you have done enough to sully my name in the neighborhood that I cannot even look at people's faces".

Gaurav looked at her as he walked back inside. He threw the bat in to the corner behind the door and slumped on to the bed trying to go to sleep.

"Why don't you shut the TV?" said Gaurav irritated.

Mrs. Joshi continued to watch the TV ignoring a sulking Gaurav. He got from the bed walked in to the bathroom changed and walked out before his granny could utter a word. Instead of joining his friends for a game he walked up to the terrace. He saw Shulba standing looking out towards the hill. Gaurav hesitated for a second and then crossed over the parapet walls walking over to where Shulba was standing. This time she saw him walk across towards her but she turned her head continuing to watch the setting sun in the hills.

Gaurav walked to where she stood but instead of talking to her gazed at the setting sun. They both stood there quiet, aware of each other's presence but continued watching the setting sun while stealing glance at each other.  The setting sun was engulfed by the hills and it cast a golden glow on them. The winds blowing from the hills cooled down the remains of the heat from the day and a drop in temperature. Shulba's shivered a bit reacting to the wind and the accompanying chill. Gaurav looked over at her and smiled.

"Pune at this time is cold and one cannot step out without a sweater," he said without looking at her direction.

"Why did you tell Rahul that I was your girl friend?" she asked angrily.

"What?"

"I got beaten by my mom for no fault of mine. I need to go before you spread more rumors" she replied with sadness in her voice and continued walking away towards the stairs.

Gaurav looked at her walk away and was angry she did not give him an opportunity to explain himself. He stood there looking out at the setting sun enjoying the approaching evening and quietness that comes with it.

to be continued

Gaurav's apprenticeship started around six in the morning and he would get back home normally before four in the afternoon. The neighborhood boys would gather in the small area between the buildings and play cricket. Many an occasion on the weekends the game would begin early in the morning with a small break for lunch and go late into night. During the summer vacations and Diwali cricket tournaments were organized. Many teams from in and around Kelkarwadi would take part with spectators taking prime positions across the corridors of building surrounding the ground. Whole Kelkarwadi took part in these tournaments with some of the dads and uncles involved in organizing and umpiring the games. Many a romance budded during these games with batsman and bowlers casting a furtive eye to the corridor to get a look at their favorite girl. 

That year during diwali season Gaurav and his team were practicing hard to win the championship. Shulba was busy during diwali break studying and attending tuition classes for the board exam the following summer. She could not sit out in the corridor as the kids were running amuck and due to extra influx of relatives visiting the residents or staying over. Diwali was a season the whole neighborhood celebrated and the men earned bonus that was spent with gusto on new clothes, lights, crackers and sweets.

Shulba would go to the terrace and study in the space between the water tank and the cover to the stairway. The gangway between these two constructions provided shelter from the rain, wind and hot sun.  It provided solitude to study and also get away from the constant pulls and push of her daily existence. From the terrace she could see the hills faraway that were green after good rains and felt at peace. Like they say in poems her own space she thought. The noise and din of people were left far behind and she could see eagles fly up in the blue sky with such elegance, drifting from one spot to another with no worry or purpose.    Wish I was a bird she would think often and fly away from the rush to live for tomorrow.  The cool wind blowing lulled her into a peaceful space as she sat there looking into yonder.

"Hi" said someone

Startled Shulba turned back and saw Gaurav standing behind her.

"How did you get here?" she asked

"I climbed over that terrace," said Gaurav pointing fingers at the direction from which he came.

"Wow! Are you not scared?" She asked

"It is not a big deal," said Gaurav smiling "unless you look down. Further from this terrace you can see the hills and I come here to paint. Pune has such beautiful hills and I miss them."

"I have never been to Pune," she said wistfully. She then realized she was not supposed to talk to boys. If her mother spotted talking to Gaurav it was enough to get her into trouble. She quickly turned and returned to her books. Gaurav tried talking to her but she ignored him and did not even turn to see if he was there or gone. Gaurav quietly went to the parapet wall and climbed over to terrace of the next building and went back to his apartment.

Gaurav had seen her many an occasion coming and going to school or going to tuition. He wanted to talk to her but she like other girls in the neighborhood would not go for evening walks or talk to boys. He had seen her sitting in the terrace with her books. He couldn't fathom the reason for her sudden silence. He had heard her mother was a tough cookie. He decided later that evening to talk to his buddies and find out.

Shulba felt bad for treating Gaurav badly. She had seen him and knew that he was grandson of granny Joshi. The whole neighborhood called Mrs.Joshi as granny and she was nice to the kids. Sachin her brother could not stop talking of Gaurav's cricketing acumen and his ability with ball and bat.

"Sister you should see the flowing drives from Gaurav's bat. We sure will win the trophy and take revenge for losing last year to Ganesh Nagar" Sachin would say.

"Right" she would chide him "you said last year the same stuff and they beat living daylights out of you guys".

"Well we did not have Gaurav last year" he would say defensively.

"So what Gaurav is Kapil Dev or what?" she would ask

"Shulba should not you being studying instead of talking about boys," Savita would say from the kitchen.

"Mother would you just go easy on her" Sachin would defend his sister. This thought made Shulba smile, her brother was couple of years younger and always tried protecting her against her mother's wrath.

Shulba had seen the girls talking about Gaurav and wanting to be friends with him. Gaurav had climbed over from the neighboring building's terrace to talk to her and she had been rude. He was not bad to look she thought with curly hair and the silly grin of his. She thought about her dad and his being such a nincompoop with no guts to stand up to her mother. The other women in the neighborhood were scared of their husbands while in her house Vinayak had no voice. Her dad loved her and this angered her mom more. It was getting dark and she decided to go home before her mother came up to check on her. Shulba gathered her books and walked down the stairs.

to be continued