In The Name Of Beauty

Beauty in its pristine form always comes with gravity. It not just pulls us, but pushes us as well. That’s how, movement happens…That’s how, life gains its momentum and makes us, US. This very momentum pushes a photographer close to nature, a painter close to female body, a poet close to fantasy and a scientist close to discovery. Beauty fuels. Isn't it?

DISTRESSED…that’s how I describe myself in one word these days. With an unstable job, directionless career and confusing twists and turns that my professional life is taking I was completely clueless of the worldly happenings. As if the world meant nothing to me. Who knew, someone from this world only, was about to show me a world in itself?

Someone – Good afternoon Sir...Am I speaking to Rishi Sir?

Me – Yes, whose this?

Someone – Sir, this is Jitender...what happened Sir…it’s such a long time that you haven’t visited our store…is everything fine?

Me – Oh Jitenderrrrr…yeah I was a bit busy yaar…

Jitender – Sir infact I tried to reach you several times in the past 3 weeks but your cell was not reachable…

Me – Oh ok…I was out of India yaar…

Jitender – Sir, you remember few weeks ago, you placed an order at our store for a Caruso & a Raffaello…we have got the Caruso for you and were trying to reach you since a very long time… just thought to call you last time before placing it for another sale…

Me – Oh yes, I remember… what about Raffaello?

Jitender – We have already placed an indent for that and will be getting it in next two weeks…

Me – Fine… I will come and buy it in the next hour…

I took my car and drove to the mall…

Consciousness and loyalty comes automatically if you are in love…even if the subject of your love is a brand. That’s what is true in my case at least. The moment I entered the store, I was greeted by Jitender. He knows me quite well as I have been visiting his store quite frequently as a loyal customer since past 4 years…

Jitender – Sir you are lucky to have this Caruso as someone wanted to buy it today. I just realized that it was ordered for you and so I held it for a while to call you. Luckily, this time you picked my call. Otherwise it would have gone to that customer.

Me – Well, good things cost time…and the time was just right for me today…so yes, I am lucky to have it…he he he

Jitender – Nice line Sir…good things cost time…I used to think it costs only money…seems you are a writer too…

Me – Oh don’t you know I am a blogger as well? But this line isn’t mine…I got it yesterday from a close friend in her SMS…anyways; I am slightly pushed with time…so let’s hurry up…

Jitender – Ok Sir…just give me a minute; I will bring that Caruso for you…

Me – Sure…meanwhile, do you have anything else in your new collection…

Jitender – We have recently got a few Dolcettos, but all of them are dark…

Me – No no no…leave it then…just show me the Caruso only…

Jitender brought the Caruso and held it in his hands to display it to me. He was standing near the entrance and I was more towards the inner side of the store…actually he wanted to show me the piece in a fair light…for its glossy effect.

Jitender – Sir I really like your choice…especially the way you choose light colors…see how bright this one is looking.

Me – Wowwwwwwww…so beauuuuuuuutiful…hooooooooooooo

Jitender (moving towards me) – I told you Sir…I am sure; it's a perfect match for you…

Me – Wait. Just go over there and show it to me once more…the way you just did it…

Jitender – Ok…this way, right Sir?

Me – Hold it there itself… Wowwwwwwww … I haven’t seen such a beauty since a very long time…

Jitender – Exactly Sir…especially, the light shade of purple with a mix of blue makes it more beautiful, isn’t it Sir?

Me – Hmmmmmmm…just wait there itself for some more time…

Jitender (turning back) – I thinkkkkk …you are looking at something else, prrrrrrrrrobably those two Chinkeys in black and white, in the opposite store…

Me – Two Chinkeys? There is only one…the other one doesn’t seem to be a Chinkey.

Jitender – Well Sir, we work here so we know, both of them are Chinkeys…

Me – Whatever, the other one is so beautiful…what’s her name?

Jitender – We don’t know her name…it’s not too long for them to be here… Even my boss is after her…

Me – Tell your boss to be happy with his wife and kiddos…

Jitender – He he he…Thank God, he is not here today…Do you want me to get you her name and other details? She won’t mind talking to me as our stores are opposite to each other…

Me – Nopes, leave it…I just want you to fetch me the Raffaello as soon as possible.

Jitender – Ok Sir…you really have a very nice choice…

Me – Yeah! I know…you are not referring to the Raffaello or Caruso right now…isn’t it?

Jitender – He he he…will you pay by card or cash?

Me – Card please.

While Jitender was swiping my card, I could not stop myself peeping out; in the opposite store…I was completely mesmerized by the sophisticated persona that girl was carrying. She was attending a customer and I was attending her. Her grace made the entire store look so pinkish as if it was an exotic location. I felt completely captivated by her flashy splendor. As I said, beauty in its pristine form comes with gravity. And I gradually started feeling the effects of magnetism from the one, whom I felt was not a Chinkey…he he he

Jitender – Sir, just a suggestion, if you like something, go for it…that’s how I got my girl

Me – Yaar you are such a handsome guy, just like the movie star Jitender…he he he…you will any which ways manage to get a girl…he he he

Jitender – Chalo Sir…next time you will come for Raffaello, I will give you her details…promise…

Me – He he he…why are you so determined to hook me with her? I will still be a loyal customer even if you don’t do that…

Jitender – This is not for the sale of our store Sir…I just want someone to suite you, especially when you wear the kind of attire you shop from our store…he he he

Me – and why do you think she would suite me and my attire?

Jitender – that’s something which we will tell you naa Sir…

Me (sarcastically) – The question here is – will I suite her and her attire?

Jitender (handing over the carry bag) – We would make the match accordingly…he he he…your shirt Sir…

Me – Can you do me a favor? Just join some match making company and leave this job for me…I will do the needful for myself…he he he…especially after seeing this visual delight working in the opposite store, I would love to work in your store…he he he

Jitender – He he he…You won’t like to work under my khadoos boss…

Me – Ahh, you don’t know how khadoos every bosses are these days…even my team members call me the same…he he he…anyways, call me once you get the Raffaello…

Jitender – Sure Sir…have a nice day…

Me – You too…Bubye

I stepped out of the Zodiac Store… only to learn that the store, in which I was peeping in, was a kids wear store called Monnalisa…suddenly, something struck my mind, just like a lightening…and I was whimsical about everything. The entire episode seemed quite melodramatic to me. But then, dramas do happen in real life too…isn’t it? Having a Mona-Lisa smile on my face, I moved on…completely fickled by this frivolous, charismatic and an unplanned encounter with this moonly beauty (who was NOT a Chinkey…he he he).

Visions of beauty can also haunt a person sometimes…he he he…and believe me, they are more disturbing than nightmares…because they come with everlasting hangover…quite un-diminishing sometimes. May be that’s the reason, I could not sleep that night.

Jitender – Sir? Is there are problem with the shirt you bought yesterday?

Me – Oh No! It was perfect. However, you did not show me those Dolcettos yesterday…huh!

Jitender – But you don’t wear dark colored shirts.

Me – What’s the harm in checking them out for Friday dressing? He he he

Jitender – Ohhhhhhh! I got it Sir…I will show you the Dolcettos, exaaaactly the way I showed you the Caruso yesterday…I hope I am not wrong…

Me – Well, you are super intelligent. Do that for me please…he he he

For next half an hour, both me and Jitender got indulged in checking out various Dolcettos from every possible angle so as to get her visioned in between…he he he…He was trying hard to display shirts on himself just like salesmen of saris do…he he he…And I was rejecting all the shirts so that he can get another one for the display…that’s how we played for about half an hour…just to get a few glimpses of the exquisite female at Monnalisa…This time, she was marking something on a packet kept on a large white table with a black glass on it. At the same time, she was talking to the other Chinkey girl. Suddenly, both of them had an outburst of laughter…and I was once again bewitched by her glitz and glare. I think they might have cracked a joke. Her giggles had sorcery on me, as if I was possessed by her scintillating enchantment. She touched my soul from within and I suddenly realized that I had one...

Jitender – Sir, by tomorrow, I will fetch you her name & contact number...else if you want, we can go speak to her right now…

Me – Hello…don’t be mad…I don’t want any of her details…I just came here to check out the Dolcettos…he he he

Jitender – Sir…if you won’t put yourself forward, how will things move on then?

Me – Probably, the best way to move on is to move with a distance…so let it be that ways…

Jitender – Sir…don’t get yourself into a serious relationship…just keep it as a friendship…

Me – Buddy, you can’t even be a friend unless you are serious about friendship too…he he he…and why are we assuming that she would even talk?

Jitender – Sir, leave it on me naa…I will handle it…

Me – Listen…don’t do anything…leave it as it is…there is a very thin line of difference between handling and manhandling…and both you and me are man…possibility of manhandling is greater with us…he he he…

Jitender – As you say writer Sir…you always play with words…he he he

Me – And I am good with that dark purple Dolcetto…let’s finalize that

Jitender – Sir, are you really buying this shirt? I mean, I have never seen you buying casual colored shirts…

Me – I wasn’t here for that girl but for the Dolcetto…people change and so do their preferences…he he he

Jitender – he he he…you are really one of your own kinds…card or cash?

Me – Card only…that ways I will get more time for action, isn’t it?

Jitender – Yes…you are right…he he he

For the other two days, I got quite busy at my newly rented house, setting up inverter, Dish tv connection, Airtel broadband and so on and so froth…Those were the busiest days of March as I had to simultaneously manage a few urgent work at my office too due to fiscal year closing. Whatever I was indulged into, I always had her angelic image in my mind…And at the same time, there was a constant sense of awareness that angels happen only to Gods…we all are born with a God and a Devil within ourselves…In the course of struggle called life, most of the times the Devil takes a front seat and we become like him…Darkness surrounds us and distorts the very meaning of our existence. It makes us look ugly (read bald & obese too in my case…he he he). It makes us feel lethargic. It takes us away from our goals, aspirations and well being. It fills within ourselves pessimism, depression and hatred, till the time we destroy ourselves gradually. And the net effect of all these, somehow takes us away from our own divineness. That’s how we loose beauty and that’s how angels don’t touch our lives…Quite philosophical, yet a true eye opener. And if it is true, then why should we allow the Devil to be on the front seat? Why not strive hard to repair what ever we lost to him and try to regain it…

Jitender – Which shirts do you want today Sir? Your Raffaello is yet to come in our store…

Me – Do you have something in Vicenza?

Jitender – Vicenza is all about ties and not shirts.

Me – I know, but you sold me double cuff shirts without cufflinks and ties. How will I wear those shirts?

Jitender – Sir, as far as I remember, you already bought a pair of cufflinks a few months ago…so I did not ask for it. Moreover, you only told me that you don’t wear ties in your office.

Me – Well we do sometimes, especially during client visits.

Jitender – Sirji, what are you doing? Why are you wasting your money?

Me – He he he…that’s not a wastage but investing?

Jitender – but what’s the return?

Me – Not all investments reap return buddy. Besides, your Caruso and Vicenza might help me strike a deal with my clients…he he he

Jitender – Sirji, try to strike a deal with this store manager first…

Me – Is she a store manager? Wow…

Jitender – I have 4 years of work experience and I am still a customer care associate. Anyways, leave it…Are you sure you want to check those ties and cufflinks.

Me – Yes. I am 100% sure…go ahead…and show me only the best ones…the way you did for those shirts…he he he

Jitender – Ok Sir…waise she is not a Chinkey…yesterday only I got to know…

Me – I told you she is not…by the way, what else did you get to know?

Jitender – Sirji just wait for a few days…I will give you her address, phone number and her birthday too…he he he

Me – And what will I do with those things?

Jitender – Send some flowers, cakes and gifts to her on her birthday…learn to handle females Sirji…

Me – He he he…I am not a Romeo…neither is she my Juliet…why should I even bother?

Jitender – because if you won’t bother today, tomorrow she might walk away with some other Romeo…

Me – He he he…You are a complete comedian, you know that…who knows, she might already have a Romeo in her life…he he he

Jitender – Then you should be a Shahrukh Khan of Darr…Remember – I love you KKKKKKKKiran…

Me – He he he…You really are a joker if you like stammering Shahrukh Khan…he he he…and her name is also not Kiran…

Jitender – How do you know that?

Me – I mean, I am just guessing…he he he…not every girl is Kiran…

Jitender – And you don’t buy shirts, ties and cufflinks for every girl…isn’t it? And that too thrice in one week…he he he

Me – Hello, those are for my use…ok…girls don’t wear shirts, ties and cufflinks…he he he…now leave this debate and show me what I came here for…he he he

After trying every permutations and combinations of watching ties and cufflinks for about half an hour, right in front of the entrance door to re-vision up the girl in the opposite store, I settled for a pair of tie and rhodium cufflinks. While Jitender was processing my card payment, I was tempted again to collect a few glitters of her twinkling elegance. Her glamour had such a razzle dazzle effect on me that I literally felt healing and rejuvenating from chronic stress. That’s why I won’t mind calling her a Stress Buster.

Jitender – Sirji, we have a Zodiac Store in the City Center mall as well...But I know you won’t go there…

Me – I liked that white table with a black glass on it, in that opposite store…and that’s what makes me visit your store frequently…he he he

Jitender – Common Sir…you are not visiting our store just for that table…he he he

Me – Yeah…there is more to it. I prefer DT Mega Mall to any other mall as it’s closer to my place…he he he. And listen, I will be very busy with my office for coming one or two weeks. But do call me once you have the Raffaello in store…Ok?

Jitender (winking) – Sure Sir…you have a nice day…and keep yourself extremely busy with work…he he he…bye

Well...you don’t notice the passage of time, especially if you keep yourself really busy. It’s been more than two weeks that kept me engaged with worldly things. In other words, it’s been more than 15 days that I witnessed her beaming radiance. Moreover, I did not get any call from Jitender too, for the Raffaello I ordered. So I thought it’s a pretty good time to visit the mall and drown myself once again in the ocean of beauty. While I was driving, I was simultaneously thinking about my last visit where in Jitender talked about fetching me her details so as to do a real time action on her birthday. I was quite thrilled with his idea, though I already told him not to progress with it as I inhibited that she may not like it.

Well, sometimes trespassing inhibitions lead you to an altogether different world.

And this time, I purposefully wanted to be in a different world. After all what's the harm in meeting with new people. Who knows, you may end up creating memories by spending quality time together. Who knows, you might end up finding a friend at least. And if it doesn't work out, life always has a tendency to move on. With those conflicting yet arresting thoughts in my mind, I started something which I am extremely good at - PLANNING…he he he. Till the time I reached the parking lot of the mall, I had everything in my mind. The gift, the flowers, the cake and the way I should introduce myself…he he he…of-course Jitender was also in the whole plan. He he he…

With great excitement, I entered the mall as if I was hypnotized to move towards Monnalisa. All of a sudden, this hypnotism turned into hysteria. I could not see her in the store. What the hell? There was some other dusky female with the Chinkey sales girl. Of course, the Chinkey sales girl was the same whom I saw with the beautiful store manager. I thought she might be absent for work today. But then, why was she replaced by some other dusky girl? To get this question answered from Jitender, I entered the Zodiac Store. Unexpectedly, I was greeted by some other guy who was not Jitender…

Guy – Good afternoon Sir. How can I help you?

Me – Hello. I ordered a cream Raffaello sometime ago and was supposed to get a call from you guys. Just wanted to check the status of my order.

Guy – Order? We have all the shades & sizes of Raffaellos since past two months. But to know which specific shade & size you ordered may I have your name and contact number Sir?

Me – I am Rishi Gajbhiye and my contact number is 98xx8xxxx5.

Guy – Sir, we do have your record in our database, but then it’s not showing any pending order for you.

Me – What? You guys might be witnessing some IT problems. You can call Jitender. He knows me very well and he only took my order.

Guy – Jitender? He doesn’t work here anymore. You might have placed your order in January I suppose.

Me – Yeah! That was the last week of January only. But Jitender reconfirmed my order two weeks ago as well. Why did he leave his job?

Guy – I don’t know Sir. But I can show you all the shades of the Raffaello we have got.

Me – Wait. When did Jitender leave this job? I just met him two weeks ago here only.

Guy – Two weeks ago? That’s not possible Sir. He left his job sometime in the first week of February itself. Moreover, he is not in Gurgaon also. He shifted to Bangalore and that’s all I know about him.

Me – February? No…that’s not possible. I was here two weeks ago. He sold me a Caruso, a Dolcetto, a pair of cufflinks and a tie.

Guy (looking at the computer) – The last time you purchased a shirt from our store was in December 2010. Since then you never purchased anything from our store. We maintain records of all our transactions.

Me – Well, you might have certainly missed mine then.

Guy – Did you pay in cash or card?

Me – I paid using my card.

Guy – What’s the last 4 digits of your card number Sir?

Me – 4356

Guy – Well the computer does not show any transactions in past two months with your card ending with 4356.

Me – You must be joking. Can I speak to your boss?

Boss (moving out from the store room) – Sir I was listening to your conversation from inside. Jitender actually left our store in February itself. This sales guy is the replacement of Jitender. And Jitender did not return to our store since the time he left. Plus, we don’t have any IT related problems with the computers in our store. Every transaction is well captured with all the relevant details. You might have visited some other store.

Me – No…it was this store only. I don’t know what’s going on. What about my order for Raffaello?

Boss – Sir, we have all the shades and sizes of Raffaello in our store since past two months. Why will we be taking orders for the products we already have in our store? I will be more than happy to show them to you right now.

Me – Wait Wait. Where is that beautiful girl in the opposite store?

Boss – Beautiful girl? Which girl?

Me (irritatingly) – the one, whom you were after…

Boss (hesitatingly) – Meeeee? S..sSir…I am, I am a married man. I don’t see girls anymore…and there are just these two girls in the opposite store.

Guy – Sir, I think you are not well. You need medical help.

Boss – Probably a psychiatric help.

Me – ok leave it. I think you guys are making me mad. Before I loose my temper, just show me the Raffaello and let’s be done with it.

With a puzzled soul, I picked a cream Raffaello in just two minutes and made the payment through my card.

Boss – Sir you can see, your payment for Raffaello is showing in our computer.

I did not say anything. I was completely numb. There are so many questions unanswered till date. The first being - Am I normal? Or have I experienced something paranormal? Whatever it be I really miss those soul soothing conversations with Jitender who was the only person who could have answered all my questions. I visited the mall thrice in the past four days and I could just see a white table with a black glass on it at Monnalisa. Of-course, a dusky and a chinkey sales girl still work there.

Truly, sometimes trespassing inhibitions lead you to an altogether different world.

And in my world, today I woke up early in the morning. I jogged for about 45 minutes continuously. Picked up practicing the side flip that I left 4 months ago during my martial arts workout. Studied the unread “Risk Analysis” chapter of my course curriculum. Got lots of appreciation in my office for my shirt picking skills as I wore my Caruso today for the first time. Spoke to my boss for accepting a bigger role in my office. And when my mom asked why I wanted to be on a zero oil food to reduce weight effective today only, I replied – “Mom today is April 18^th. As per Dad, it’s Hanuman Jayanti (Birthday) today. We generally start all good things on auspicious days like this one to force our devil to take a back seat”…he he he

My mom did not understand my God vs. Devil theory. Neither did I make her understand that it’s nothing but the PUSH effect of the GRAVITY, which I was talking about earlier.

Those who really want to know the real reason why I woke up early today? I just have one answer…

I still get haunted by the visions of beauty, most of the times I sleep…he he he

Confessions Of An Innocent Killer...

With all the fears in my mind, I loaded the Ecstasy MX5021 with the first and the only bullet I managed to grab from few local goons who tried to kill me.

My hands were literally shaking when I terrifyingly raised it on him. With a dim light near to me, it was dark all around and I could not see his face. This guy was searching me with a dagger like thing in his right hand. Obviously he wasn’t motivated with benevolent intentions. The only thing I could make out about him was that he was behind my life. And if I have to save myself, there was no other way left for me but to kill him. Confusion along with terror, were the only two things I had in my mind. For the first time in life, gathering courage actually took a lot of it.

The moment he turned towards me, he raised his dagger and shouted at me “Oye”… That was the moment; I felt the jerk of the revolver I was carrying in my hand. The sound created by the shot left me completely shocked. For few seconds there was just a point blank silence with only one exception - echo of the shot. In fact there were two. The dagger which slipped from his hand created another sound when it hit the floor. And I regained my consciousness. The Ecstasy MX5021 slipped off my hands too, after seeing the horrific scene. This guy was flat in front of me. His upper body was exposed to a mild ray of dim light and I could visibly see his red shirt which got pierced due to the bullet I shot on him.

Before getting stiff, he whispered, “Aaah! You can’t be Rishi, right?”

“What if I am? Won’t you have killed me?” I replied.

I realized, I inadvertently committed a crime to save my life. Being there for some more time was a bad idea, so I immediately eloped from the backdoor of that place without even checking who he was.

It was 6:00 in the morning yesterday when I reached home after this incident. If I am not exercising, it’s a fairly normal time for me to go asleep, as I do evening shifts in my office. I set the alarm to 4 PM and tried to sleep. What do you think? Having committed a crime, will it be easier to sleep? Bloody hell…I shot a guy dead…how could I do it? Visions of his red shirt and a wound on it haunted me and I couldn’t sleep. While on bed, I was continuously thinking if I should report the incident to the police. Simultaneously, I was trying to estimate the consequences too.

With this background in mind, I was trying to do the root cause analysis of this unfortunate incident. So I purposefully went into the flashback…two days ago, while returning from my martial arts classes, my car met with a small mishap. I was waiting on a red traffic signal when another car hit my car from back.

I was furious over that guy, who turned out to be a local goon called Partha Roychaudhary. While our argument turned out to be a serious fight, he tried to hit me on my face and somehow missed on it. Realizing the gravity of the situation, I grabbed this opportunity and punched him on his face. We both started hitting each other till the crowd interrupted in between and we left the place cursing each other.

I came back home, had a shower and went asleep. That time I hardly knew that it was my last sound sleep. As usual, I woke up at 3:30 PM in the evening for my office. While I was having a glass of milk in the balcony, I unexpectedly saw Partha speaking to few of my neighbors. What the hell this guy was doing near my place? I rushed myself inside as I wanted to avoid unnecessary fight, which I thought was already ended in the morning. I was slightly flustered by seeing this. Anyways, I made myself ready and left my place for the office. While I was near to infinity towers, I saw Partha and his accomplices again. They identified my car entering the premises of my office. Now how would you react when you know that the fight you thought to be ended in the morning still continues with a vengeance in the evening? Obviously, I couldn’t concentrate on my work. Shailly, one of my colleague understood that there is something wrong with me…Upon questioning, I told her that I was just trying to avoid seeing few bad faces…She then asked me to write an email to the team members citing the venue and date of the team party, to which I plainly denied. While interacting with Shailly, I was thinking about Partha and his people. Even during a chat with Navneet, about the team party I reacted as if I wasn’t chatting with my boss, coz Partha was still there in my mind. The disturbance just increased when I saw these goons waiting outside my office. They couldn’t see me as I was along with Puneet in his car. We were going to check out a Samsung LCD TV for him at a nearby mall. However, the tension declined when Puneet and I returned back to office and I did not see them around…Well, it was just the beginning…

While returning home, I thought I should not take my car, back home as it could reveal my whereabouts. I decided to walk through the interiors of Infinity and Cybergreen Towers to reach home. While I was crossing the road to move towards Cybergreen Towers, someone placed a blanket like thing over my head to cover it and tried to push me in a van. Soon I realized I was in the company of Partha and his goons. They took me to an unidentified dark flat outside Gurgaon and tied me to a pillar. Subsequently, Partha disclosed, he would kill me soon. All my pleas to leave me unhurt were unheard. After an hour or so, I don’t know how but Partha and his men had a fight among themselves. I think one of them, retaliated against Partha’s plan to kill me. When this guy tried to untie me, Partha attacked him from back and injured his skull, which started bleeding. Before dying, this guy was successful enough to loosen my knots, which Partha couldn’t realize. When Partha moved to another room, I gradually untied myself and frisked the already dead goon to grab his revolver. I saw Ecstasy MX5021 with a blue semicircle, carved on his revolver which was loaded with only one bullet. That’s how I got this revolver. Using my Parkour Skills which I am practicing these days in my Martial Arts classes, I jumped swiftly from the window to run away from that place. After running for about half an hour, I suspected someone chasing me. To save myself, I entered the backdoor of this factory like building, to hide myself.

Beep Beep Beep Beep…

The alarm watch tickled at 4:00 PM which brought me back from the flashback…the series of events moved like a filmstrip while I was trying to sleep yesterday…one thing was for sure…the factory like building was the same place where I killed this guy…now the only thing which I wasn’t so sure of was, whether I killed Partha or his other henchmen…Since I killed a person, I presumed I won’t be spared by law. So I decided to hide the fact from everyone…It’s only that I was worried about the fact that one of those three people who tried killing me is still alive and might try to kill me again. Anyhow, I decided to deal with the situation on my own. I was more vigilant now…but somehow I had to portray of living a normal life, the way I live everyday…so I made myself up to go to office.

I shaved, had a shower, and wore my executive formals with a white shirt. White is the color which depicts peace and that’s exactly what I wanted in life now…and believe me, since I did not join my team members for the dinner party, the evening mostly went peaceful in the office without work…it’s only the nights which create problems for me. When it was dark, I thought to check the outskirts of my office premises, just to confirm if someone still had vengeance upon me. Well, I could not gather enough guts to step outside my office premises completely…so I gazed outside from the entrance door of my office situated just near the reception counter. This is the place where I spend break time sipping tea and having some eye tonic mostly along with Puneet and Brijesh. I got a sigh of relief when Brijesh approached me. Well he was just entering the premises to begin his day. He asked me what I was doing there. I simply lied, citing him that I was waiting for one of my team members to take his monthly 1x1 sessions, where as I was checking if Partha or his henchmen were waiting for me outside. Well I saw nobody, which actually made me relieved.

That night, after finishing my regular work, I drove my car to go back home. The moment I was about to take a U turn from Shankar Chaok, I saw Partha near the Gateway Towers (Ship type building). Fearing him, my steering automatically took the car to the National Highway 8 (NH8) towards Dhaula Kua. Well the rear view mirror showed him along with one of his goons on a motorbike speeding towards my car.

Since the road is pretty wide I thought it would be a wrong move to drive and find safety on that road. So I took a left turn to enter Udyog Vihar where my previous office was situated. I was well versed with the roads and subways there. Due to my unexpected left turn to Udyog Vihar, Partha kind of missed me for a while. Taking advantage of this time, I switched off the head and tail lights of my car and rushed on a dark subway. When I was convinced that nobody watched me, I decided to rush & park my car in the vicinity of nearby bushes and start running on the narrow lanes of Udyog Vihar, which is an industrial area full of call centers and manufacturing units. Since I had to switch off my car lights in the dark night, I had a poor vision while I rushed my car into the bushes.

While doing so, I felt as if I had hit something. When I stepped out of my car, I was shocked to see a slum dweller child lying near the bushes. He was still alive, but unconscious as my car ran over left side of his body which started bleeding heavily. Thinking that he still was alive, I picked him up so as to rush him to the nearby hospital. Partha was still in my mind and I had to protect myself from his cruel intentions too. Fear of getting prosecuted by law for rash driving also started bothering me. Guilt of killing someone also chilled my spine completely. There were too many things in my small mind which certainly went wrong. Gradually I realized my shirt was getting wet by the constant bleeding of the child I was holding. For the first time I literally smell blood that too on my shirt…believe me that was a horrific experience even to describe. His blood spelled all over my body. In fact my white shirt wasn’t white anymore. I thought to grab help from few of my friends. So I called Puneet on his cell. Obviously, he missed the call as his cell phone might have been kept with the office guard. We are not allowed to carry cell phones in our office. So I dialed his desk telephone but he wasn’t there too. I got a sigh of relief when I saw a hospital, where I handed over the child for treatment and left the place. The hospital authorities wanted me to complete the formalities, which I plainly denied in order to avoid legal consequences.

With a sense of contentment I stepped out of the hospital. It was 3:00 am in the morning with darkness all around. My shirt was still wet entirely with blood on it; hence I started feeling a bit cold and was worried about my car too, which was left unattended. It obviously was a wrong idea to leave my car, however going back towards it would just increase the degree of wrongness. So I started walking the narrow lanes of Udyog Vihar. Upon walking a few miles, I saw a mobile trolley (haath thelaa) and a person sleeping near to it. I realized that most of such people who sell stuffs on such trolleys don’t have homes to sleep. So they use footpaths to meet their sleeping needs. Anyways, I tried to wake him up; however, he was in a state of deep sleep. I thought to check his trolley which turned out to be a small coconut water selling shop. Luckily I found a long knife which the seller used to chop tender coconuts before serving it to the customers. I thought to keep the knife in my custody as it could definitely help me in protecting myself from Partha. I moved on, grabbing his knife and leaving two notes of Rs 100/- for the seller in lieu of his knife.

The narrow lanes seemed to be never ending. I was tired of walking and running to save myself. When I crossed the road, to enter into another lane, I somehow made myself visible in the street light. As always, visibility proved fatal for me. Partha saw me and shouted – “Look, he is there…get him”. Obviously he wasn’t alone. Both of them seemed to be the gods of death who opened their arms gloatingly and were expecting my life outside my body. I was literally feeling the spine chilling fear moving everywhere in my body. I normally practice for marathons, but this time I turned myself into a sprinter and ran the fastest I could, from one lane to the other to hide myself from them. I don’t really know how long did this cat rat chase continued, but when I felt I dodged them I found myself on Jaipur highway (NH8). I couldn’t believe I covered a distance from Udyog Vihar to the outskirts of Gurgaon barely running on my feet. A sense of getting chased was still there in my mind and hence getting hidden was the only option left for me. Suddenly I heard few footsteps moving here and there, as if someone was around. I saw this building which I felt was a perfect place to hide myself. Subsequently, I moved in through the entrance of that building which turned out to be a manufacturing unit seemed to have kept closed for few months. It was dark all over with a very dim light inside.

I was cent percent sure; there was someone else in the building other than me. It could either be Partha or his henchmen, I wasn’t sure. This time I gathered some courage to face the situation. So I decided to search this guy in the darkness and get all my answers. I wasn’t feared much, because I felt there was only one person in that building apart from me and I had a knife for any adverse situation. So very slowly, swiftly but precautiously, I was trying to search this guy. That’s when my cell phone started beeping with my James Bond ringtone. I was terrified as the other person might have certainly got to know where I was hiding. I immediately pulled the cell phone out of my pocket and placed it on silence mode. It was Puneet who tried to respond to my call which he initially missed. I kept the cell phone in my pocket, held the knife in my hand tightly and looked here and there to confirm if someone was around me. Suddenly I heard something. As if someone was loading a revolver to point it towards me. Obviously he wasn’t motivated with benevolent intentions. The only thing I could make out about him was that he was behind my life. And if I have to save myself, there was no other way left for me but to kill him. Confusion along with terror, were the only two things I had in my mind.

I raised my knife and shouted at him “Oye”… That was the moment; I felt the jerk of the bullet into my chest. The sound created by the shot left me completely shocked. For few seconds there was just a point blank silence with only one exception - echo of the shot. In fact there were two. The knife which slipped from my hand created another sound when it hit the floor. And I regained my consciousness only to see a blue semicircle along with “Ecstasy MX5021” written on his revolver which got slipped from his hands at a visible distance from me. I was flat on the ground and my upper body was exposed to a mild ray of dim light. I could visibly see my red shirt which got pierced due to the bullet he shot on me. Wait a minute; I was wearing a white shirt, so how did it turn red? Oh God, the blood on my shirt actually made it look red. I looked at the long knife I was carrying and in darkness it looked as if it was a dagger. I suddenly realized that it was the same factory where I initially killed someone inadvertently. Was that someone, me?

I was chilled, aghast, paralyzed and completely shocked.

Before getting stiff, I whispered, “Aaah! You can’t be Rishi, right?”

“What if I am? Won’t you have killed me?” he replied and eloped from the backdoor of the factory.