The Happy Husband

It was the middle of the month -and a week day too. Perhaps that was the reason there weren't many customers at one of the city's biggest clothing stores. A young man was walking about restlessly looking around, checking his watch and the handful of customers at regular intervals. He was also fiddling with his phone every now and then & checking out women's clothes on the line.

As he kept walking around, his eyes fell on a woman, who seemed like she couldn't figure out what to buy. She was holding the same set of clothes in two different colors and staring at them. He walked up to her & stood right in front of her. The lady took her eyes off from the clothes she was holding up in her hands and noticed that he had a charming smile on his face.

"Why don't you try them both on?". He asked.

The lady didn't know what to say. She seemed a bit startled at the sudden suggestion coming her way.

"Both these dresses will look really good on you... But personally, I think the red one would compliment your complexion better".

"Thank you". She said with a smile that was shy and at the same time a bit wary.

Before she could say anything more, he continued. "We have a whole new collection ma'am".

Pointing to one end of the room, he says, "I'm sure you'll find more than what you're looking for over there".

She smiled at him, this time not so wary as earlier and began to walk towards the direction the man pointed to. As if remembering something, she stopped abruptly and gave the man one of the dresses she was holding. She kept the red dress in her hands and said, "I'll take this one".

"Sure. Happy shopping", he said as he smiled and watched her walk away.

After a few minutes a young chubby woman came out of the trial room. He walked up to her and she showed him how her dress fit, posing from different angles. He gave her his approval as well as some more clothes to try on. As she went back to the trial room he waited outside patiently.

The lady who went to the other trial room earlier came out wearing the dress the man suggested. She looked very good & happy in her new set of clothes.

"Told you", said the man.

The lady blushed and gave him a big smile. She thanked the man and went back to the trial room. 

The man continued to walk around the shop. 

His gaze froze on a tall dusky woman who was taking out clothes from different sections and keeping them back almost immediately. She looked lost and confused. 

He walked up to her and introduced himself.

"Hello! Can I help you?".

She took her eyes from the clothes and looked at him doubtfully.

"I'm Aakaash. Fashion consultant. Almost everything you see here are designed by me".

Her face brightened up as she said excitedly. "Wow! Such a pleasure to meet you!".

She put her hand forward and said as she shook his hands, "I'm Shweta".

"So, what are you in the mood to buy, Shweta?" He asked.

She looked around unable to make up her mind and shrug her shoulders. 

The man went ahead & picked up a few tops and bottoms for her and handed it to her. 

She looked at them with dismay.

"Ohh, my husband is definitely not gonna like 'these' type of clothes", she said.

He looked at her with an amused expression on his face & said, "Well, no offence ma'am... But I'm sure your husband wouldn't have a problem if some other woman wore 'these' type of clothes!".

A chuckle escaped her lips as she agreed to his comment. 

She took a good look at the clothes in his hands.

"Also I believe, you are what you wear, and you become what you wear" he said. "If you are happy in these clothes please buy them. If not, you can try some of those boring daily wear Kurtas at 30% discount".

She looked at the Kurtas for a moment and then at the clothes in the man's hand. She grabbed the clothes from his hands & walked towards the trial room.

A few minutes later, the chubby lady from the trial room, came up to the man & showed him what she had selected. He nodded in approval & accompanied her to the billing section. The lady walked out hurriedly after paying the bill. The man took her bags and followed her outside.

Meanwhile, the other lady, Shweta looked much more confident and happy about her new clothes as she walked out of the trial room. She went up to the billing area and told the girl at the counter "You know, I've always loved shopping here. But this is the first time I've felt so good about it... Thanks to your Fashion consultant Aakaash!".

The sales-girl at the counter took her eyes off her work and looked bewildered at Shweta's comment. "Thank you for the kind words ma'am", she said. "But we don't have any in-house fashion consultants here". 

Shweta looked startled.

A little far away from them, on the other side of the mall, the man was walking with the chubby woman. 

"I'm so sorry baby", said the woman. "I took some three hours to shop. You're not angry no?", she enquired eagerly.

"Not at all. How can I be angry with you?", he said. "I'm always happy. I'm a happy husband!".

-Aakaash Nair.

  22.09.2015

The Tightrope Walker

He was never really an accomplished funambulist in the first place. In fact he was one of those people who managed to throw a surprise at people when they least expected. At times he displayed sparks of genius in whatever he did, yet sometimes he gave the impression that goddess luck was his favorite mistress. The only thing consistent about him was that he performed marvelously under tremendous amount of pressure. It was like a bizarre quantity of pressure was the only fuel that sustained this possessed man.

Nash Skye, was near about thirty or so but could easily pass off as someone barely out of his teens owing to his rather frail looking yet slightly athletic body. His eyes had some sort of ambrosial charm the womenfolk of the village spoke about in fancy terms. Strangely he never got carried away by any of the adulation he got and it almost seemed like he was blind to the beauty around him. No one knew where he came from but the village elders would vouch for the fact that he was a typical drifter who had his heart set in a land of hopeless dreams. 

During his last act, when the villagers were about to write him off, he did the unthinkable. He took the biggest risk of his life and pulled it off with incredible gusto. He let himself fall off the rope exactly when he reached the middle and even as the unsuspecting villagers let out a scream he hung on to it with his two toes and swung like a pendulum until his body came to a rest. No one had ever seen anything of that caliber ever before. Suddenly the tightrope walker was the new God in the little village.


The dumbfounding story of Nash Skye and his incredible act spread like wildfire. It was only about a week back when less than twenty people waiting to tear him apart with their cynicism witnessed an act of divinity. Today there were easily a hundred of them gathered around to see their 'God' perform once again. They waited with bated breath as he walked towards the middle of the rope. THUD! The pale thin man fell halfway through his act & lay paralyzed in a pool of blood even as the spectators began to walk away. Some of them walked away hastily to avoid being in a nasty scene while the others quickly decided to grab a cup of tea from the nearby tea-shop. One thing was quite certain. Everyone in the village had found a new topic to discuss for many days to come 
-The fall of the tightrope walker!




[Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/91515119@N00/1795141144 ]

Lov-E

She was sitting in her favorite place in the balcony of her apartment stroking her slightly protruding tummy & sipping coffee. No, she wasn't a coffee addict like many her age, but probably she figured I'm a Coffee Freak and the coffee she sipped would pass on through the umbilical cord to me. I was lying there half asleep when tiny droplets of coffee trickled on my face and I opened my tiny mouth and tasted my very first drops of coffee. Mommy then stroked her tummy again as I moved inside, thanking her for the coffee. I knew she loved me a lot, though she never really said it like anyone else would normally do. But I was her little baby and she called me sweet names in the sweetest ways possible almost every minute. Also the fact that she named me Lov-E made me believe there was none she loved more than me.

The word Lov-E meant a lot to her as much as it did to me. It was short for Lovable-Embryo and also E for the greatest E’motion in the universe –Love. But sometimes I felt mommy wasn’t too convinced by the emotion, even though she was already impregnated by the feeling and it was growing inside her –everyday, every minute, every single moment. Sometimes mommy would be so lost in her thoughts that she wouldn’t answer the questions I asked her. I donno if she never heard me or if she chose not to listen. But I always spoke to her, I spoke my heart out, poured my feelings into the amniotic fluid and into the blood that flowed in from her body and out through mine. But my words got dispersed in the vacuum and at times were mostly incomprehensible or half baked ones which didn’t matter much to mommy.

Mommy wasn’t convinced about the power of Lov-E that grew inside her and sometimes I think she didn’t want me in the first place. I remember she had asked for some ‘time’ to think over it and get ‘used’ to it. She was excited from the very first day but she was at the same time not too sure if the excitement would last long enough until all this grew bigger. She was afraid she may lose all this excitement in the coming days and all this might be a passing emotion, something that wouldn’t last long…. Just another phase in her life! I guess she had her own share of bad experiences in life but I wanted to scream and tell mommy this wasn’t gonna be like anything she had experienced before. “This was gonna be the greatest adventure ever mommy… You and the Lov-E that’s growing inside you will make it through every storm & every dark day… Get over your insecurities… You juz have to believe me mommy coz I’ll never let you down…”

But she never heard me, and never once believed me. She sat in her balcony and finished her coffee and walked away to do other things more important to her. Whenever she went to her office she was always worried about what her friends said about her. Some of them obviously didn’t like the ‘visible change’ in her and voiced their opinions. Mommy pondered over the effect of the change in her and wondered why she had to go through all this. Her already confused brain worked overtime and with each passing day she fell into a hollow of depression and self doubt. Sometimes it affected me, sometimes I pretended it didn’t affect me at all and closed my eyes and went to sleep almost drowning myself in mommy’s blood which was beginning to poison my mind and my body. The tantrums she threw affected my brain and her silent thoughts were acting like a silent killer and beginning to take its toll on me.

One day mommy said what I had never dreamt I’d hear even in my scariest dreams. “I don’t want Lov-E...” she said stroking her tummy. I was slightly sick and had almost fallen asleep, but those words fell on my ears like a huge boulder thrown on me mercilessly crushing my nimble body underneath it. Maybe she didn’t mean to say it, maybe she had no clue what she was doing. Maybe she said it to herself and didn’t want me to hear it. But it woke me up nevertheless and hurt me much more than she could possibly imagine.

I lay awake all night crying and wondering why mommy ever said those harsh words. Did she ever stop to think what I’d have to go through because of her rash decision? What about my little dreams? What about all those things I imagined I’d do with her? What about all those sweet words she told me from her favorite balcony? What about those promises of giving me the moon? What about those kisses and hugs and loving whispers I dreamt she’d shower me with? What about those assurances she gave me when I felt lonely and lost and wasn’t sure what I was doing in her womb? What about all those times I made her smile whenever I tossed and turned in her tummy? Was this how it was supposed to end? Is this what I deserved after all that we shared mommy?

You should've rather named me Dog-E mommy, maybe then even if you abandon me I'd be picked up from the street by some dog lover or some social worker. I still may have had a chance to live. But no! I was named this way for a reason, and you forgot what it was. If only you had used the 'time' you had asked for in a better way instead of cramming your head with futile imagination and negative thoughts you may have loved me as much as I loved you. You'd have known we were meant to be and this world would've seemed a better place for me and you. But it was not meant to be!

I wiped my tears and thought for a second. If mommy made a decision I must respect it and accept it, even if it means bringing harm on myself. I held on tight to the umbilical cord and waited for mommy to fall asleep that night. She must’ve been tired or maybe weary of carrying me and the burden I am to her tummy as well as her sweet li’l heart. She fell asleep as soon as she lay on the bed. As the night grew darker my tiny heart beat faster. I had to do it, but I couldn’t bring myself to it how much ever harder I tried.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine my mommy’s kind face. One last time I sent a kiss through the amniotic fluid and said, “I love you Mommy... Forever and beyond” and pulled on hard at the umbilical cord severing all connections between mommy and me. Mommy suddenly woke up from her sleep and groaned in pain. She held on to her tummy and writhed in her bed. Blood gushed into my peaceful home in her tummy and I began to feel a terrible pain engulfing me. My half formed limbs and organs began to feel weak. Before I lost consciousness I pulled all the 'wires' around me and then closed my eyes and embraced my inevitable end.

Mommy didn’t know what was happening to her. She had no clue why this was happening either. That was exactly how I felt when you decided to kill me mommy... Now you know how it feels when a loved one walks out on you. You may regret deciding to kill me someday, but you’ll find that it’s too late to turn back time. There’s nothing you can do now coz I’ve pulled all the plugs at my end and ended all your miseries. But is this the end of everything? No. This is only the beginning of greater miseries for you. You may wanna have another Lov-E someday, but you would soon know there’s no Lov-E greater than me. There’s none who’d love you as much as I do. There’d never be a Lov-E that would be as much a part of you as I was. I’m leaving behind a trail of blood and my body for you which the doctors might call a ‘dead piece of meat’ or just a piece of foetal flesh. Maybe that was all I was to you. The doctors will also tell you that this was the last time you could have anything like Lov-E coz on my way out I've made sure you cannot have another one in this lifetime. I've left behind a void -a home that'll forever be empty.

Each time you stroke your tummy you'll remember me coz that was my favorite place on earth -the safest home where you hid me from the rest of the world and its miseries. You'll miss me when you have coffee coz I wont be there to share it with you and every day, every moment, every thing you do will remind you of me... and you'll miss your one and only Lov-E. You should have thought twice mommy, coz now there’s no going back. I’ll no longer be a burden to you.

Goodbye mommy.

I love you!

Forrest Lump :)

"What's that lump in ur mouth boy?" asked the stranger at the bus stop.
"Thwey yaar shum chwocolates" He replied finishing up the yummy chocs in his mouth.
The stranger looked on and watched Forrest Lump finish what he had stuffed in his mouth.
Then he looked up & held the box towards the stranger and said "My Dee says... Life's like a box of chocolates... you never know what's inside them until u open it..."
The stranger leaned forward to pick a chocolate for herself when Forrest pulled back the box & took a piece & began stuffing his mouth again with more pieces.
She grumbled to herself and got up.
A bus came by just at that moment. She gave Forrest a sore glance & walked into the bus writhing in anger at the insult she had to go through.
The bus driver opened the door & looked at her as she got in & sat on the first empty seat she found.
"WHATTTT?" she yelled at the bus driver, obviously annoyed at being stared at.
"Hmmmm... So, did he share his chocolates with you?" asked the bus driver
"Who? That bloody greedy fella at the bus stop?"
"Yeah! That one..."
"What do u think huh?"
"Well... If he did... i must say you're a lucky lady... If he didnt... then he only did what he always does"
The stranger looked on bemused at the bus driver.
"He's called Forrest Lump in this town coz he always has a lump of chocs in his mouth.. and he sits at that bus stop waiting for a bus to Seattle to meet his Dee... but the wimp has no clue that there ain't no bus from India to Seattle.... and by the way.... He only shares his STORIES with u... he NEVER shares CHOCOLATES with strangers!!!
The stranger sat in her seat with a pale expression.

She had no idea what to say.

As she looked on from the moving bus, she saw Forrest finishing up the last piece in his box of chocolates & takin out a new one from his bag as another stranger came & sat at the bus stop.

:)

..............Dedicated to ma adorable sis Derdriu Hereau... Thanx for the box of chocolates & thanx for all the love you gimme constantly... Thanx for makin this li'l bug a part of your wonderful world. I love you Dee :)) Mwwaaah!