This is the story of a man’s rise,

of how fate took it’s profound price.

 

It happened in the age of kings,

it was a royal matter of swords and rings.

 

Long ago there stood a huge empire whose rulers worshipped the sun,

an empire that had always fought and won.

 

It began in this huge empire’s heart,

when two souls in love had to sadly part.

 

In the richest plains of the empire lived a girl,

just one glimpse of her would make men twirl.

 

She was Eva, that was her name,

and her bewitched looks had gained her fame.

 

To win her many had tried,

and in the quest all those hearts had died.

 

But Adam was the name that boy,

for whom her heart would beat faster in joy.

 

Their love was true and sheer,

and when they would stand together, everything else looked peer.

 

Everyone who knew them had a deep faith,

in the fact that nothing would part them but the mighty death.

 

Yet fate had something else on its mind,

it was going to be huge and one of it’s kind.

 

Far away from these plains, power was being handed down,

in a huge ceremony where the prince succeeded the royal crown.

 

All the important rulers from far and wide,

were invited to bless this royal throne where powers bide.

 

And so did the kings and queens from the farthest lands,

bless the new ruler with their mighty hands.

 

Amongst these rulers of the strongest reigns,

was one very able king of Danes.

 

For years he hath a friendly alliance with this mighty throne,

and over the years, stronger it had grown.

 

He had many good attributes but all were in vain,

for he nurtured one vice that attracted him disdain.

 

He was a man lecherous and full of lust,

and this very thing was going to make his times worst.

When the grand ceremony saw its end,

all the royal guests did their ways wend.

 

And so the Danish entourage rode through the richest plains of the land,

this was where it all began as fate had planned.

 

Eva’s radiant beauty caught the Danish king’s sight,

and so did befall on her the trouble on a rainy night.

 

By dusk the Danes had rode,

captivating the damsel, to their abode.

 

They had sinned in the night’s darkest shade,

but one man had seen them as they wade.

 

An old man who stayed in a field,

had seen Eva abducted by men who were veiled.

 

And this news tore Adam’s heart,

hurt and cleft it apart.

 

He could no longer see the bright of the day,

he locked up himself and his life turned gray.

 

He was heart-broken and full of gloom,

the world to him was a place of doom.

 

But soon he got up from his mourn,

with a hope in his heart that was tattered and torn.

 

He knew he had to fight for his love,

for his Eva, for their vow.

 

But it wasn’t easy and he was to strive,

for he had to fight the Danish throne and survive.

 

The strength of love was not enough to fight a throne,

he knew it well and his worries had grown.

 

Yet there was one man, who could help Adam in Eva’s quest,

power resided in his hands and he was the best.

 

And so Adam met the man feared by many,

and told him of the things that happened on the night rainy.

 

 

The powerful man asked Adam to put away his fears,

for he was a friend of the Danish king since years.

 

And so he sent a message to the king of the Danish lands,

asking him to return Eva in Adam’s safe hands.

 

But the Danish king couldn’t see what lay beyond his lust,

the horrendous future which could turn him to dust.

 

 

And so he refused his friend’s request,

making it clear that the friendship had gone waste.

 

This reply enraged the powerful man,

who was none but the new ruler of the sun-clan.

 

And so stood behind Adam the mighty crown,

with a zeal to bring the Danish pride down.

 

The sun clan thus marched to the land of the Danes,

with valor in their hearts, fire in their veins.

 

The Danish king could see the skies that lured,

where annihilation and fears hovered.

 

But his mind still stuck to lust,

his values were lost and his thoughts carried rust.

 

And so began a gory battle,

which was going to be the most fatal.

 

Swords soaked in blood,

and death spread like a violent flood.

 

The Danish king knew he won’t win,

and so he committed his last sin.

 

Thereafter he went out to fight,

with a lost heart full of fright.

 

Adam slew the Danes with his sword,

“Behold fate!” he roared.

 

But a great tragedy struck the sun clan.

when death swallowed the powerful man.

 

An arrow stuck in the mighty king’s throat,

it all happened as fate had wrote.

 

The sun clan saw their king fallen and dead,

their hearts were smothered and their valor did fade.

 

A crestfallen Adam’s blood stirred at the Danish king’s sight,

and to his troops he told to gather might.

 

“We the king’s men, must not let his martyr go in vain!”

“Aye! Aye!” the troops roared forgetting their pain.

 

As the Danes moved close,

Adam’s strength rose.

 

This was the strength that love breathed in him,

the strength that rose when everything else was dim.

 

And then came the moment vital,

the moment of judgment, the moment of the battle.

 

Adam’s sword plunged into the Danish king’s chest,

and at that instance, the power Adam did wrest.

 

Adam was the man,

who would now lead the sun clan.

 

The empire now extended in Denmark’s lands,

and its power resided in Adam’s hands.

 

But still, his prime aim was to be done,

meeting Eva, for whom all this had begun.

 

The battle had ended and so had its wrath,

but there was still something that lied in the aftermath.

 

Adam’s heart ran faster as he entered the chambers of the Danish king,

he carried a gift for his Eva, a wedding ring.

 

And at the sight of her, he stopped his swagger,

for he could see her heart with a plunged dagger.

 

His blood ran cold and his heart became weak,

in a spur of moment everything had turned bleak.

 

Fate had taken his victory’s cost,

he had won but so had he lost.

 

Two empires and their unified throne,

without the love of his life all alone.

 

He had the strongest crown that rested at the world’s peak,

he was an emperor, so powerful, yet so weak.

 

It was a story of a man’s rise,

of how, his spirit dies.

So, rapes.

Rapes in Delhi, Haryana, Orissa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, rapes in your neighborhood, your schools and colleges, rapes right in front of your eyes. Ha-ha, scary to think of a rape happening right in front of your eyes, eh? A big ‘LOL’ to everyone who says that we are a brave nation. In fact, I see this nation as the most cowardly and weak nation of all time. Weak not only in actions, but also at hearts.

Okay, so another Delhi rape stirred the nation. How did it actually ‘stir’ you? What was your exact reaction on being ‘stirred’? I’ll tell you what happens when we get ‘stirred’. We write letters to newspapers about how shameful this act is, we demand the accused to be hanged, we call psychologists and socialites on talk shows to ‘discuss’ the rape, we put up a status on facebook, and we carry out the futile candle light marches. This is how we are ‘stirred’ all over the nation.

Does that help? When newspapers tell us how vulnerable women are, they make all the women more vulnerable. Mothers tell daughters not to go out all alone, it makes them even more vulnerable and finally, when a man with evil on his mind sees a woman, voluptuous and unconfident, rapes happen. Yes, I know what you are wondering about. Yes, I agree that 5-year old girls aren’t voluptuous, and rapes on kids are shameful spats. But look, it’s happening because of us. When you decide that you don’t want the baby girl, and you do the abortion, the men-women ratio falls. When there is a dearth of women, it doesn’t stop an evil pervert from doing his job. He rapes small girls. It’s like karma on a broader scale. What goes around comes around.

Psychologists tell us what is the mentality of rapists. They have talk shows on the TV for all this. They relate the rape to the rapist’s childhood, and the woman’s clothes. Well, I personally believe its all shit, and psychology has got nothing to do with a rape. Wanting to have sex is one of the basic instincts of humans; it doesn’t require a particular time or place to get executed. When an evil pervert sees a woman in vulnerable conditions, he has an urge to have sex. Right from the cheapest man in the society to actors like Shiney Ahuja, everyone falls prey to lust. That’s biology. The difference between a normal man and a rapist is the morals, values and ethics they have on their minds.

I believe that candle light marches are all a glam-affair. Everyone wants to look pretty, get bytes of themselves, and be momentarily famous. It’s a procession really. Put on white clothes, hold a candle, make a cardboard hoarding that says, ‘kaminey rapists’ ki bajao’ or ‘justice for Nirbhaya’ and walk out. The next day, you are in the papers and on the television. Ironically, if we are going to carry out candle light protests for every rape, there will come a time when the candle-making factories will ‘make rapes happen’. Give it a thought.

Then we have the remedies. Our great government has taken some steps to make things ‘safer’. They banned porn. What I think is that, banning porn won’t take us anywhere. People are somehow going to watch it. But the biggest concern is that, if you take away porn from the youth, they will want to find it somewhere. They’ll try to see it actually and that’s exactly when more rapes will happen. No, I’m not saying that porn is a way to stop rapes, all I’m saying is that banning porn is a way to ‘more rapes’.

We need strong laws, strong government, and a strong mind to overcome these evils. You don’t have to create a hullabaloo to show that you are stirred. If you are really concerned, you got to think. And you also need to introspect. Look at your own mind. Today, as a nation, we are standing on the verge of being a ‘nation of rapes’. If we all take care of just one person from falling for lust, we can make this place safer for women. And that one person has to be your-self. I’m not here to tell you the dos and don’ts for uprooting rapes. I’m just here to tell you that, cut the drama, and get real. Do what you feel is right for your own safety and the safety of women around you.

Let’s not be a nation of rapes. Work on it.

The man lived on the streets and no one cared about him.

He had fed himself doing odd jobs all his life, and now that he was old, he lived on the streets, and slept on the pavements, begging for food and covering himself in rags. He never got the basic requirements that are necessary for a man to live. Everyday, he struggled for food, clothing and shelter. But nevertheless, he survived, and that’s what mattered. Every night, he used to pray God to take him away, in the skies, in the heavens. He wanted to free himself from these bonds of life. He knew that no one really cared if he lived or not, and that’s why he wanted to finish it all.

Yes, he was tired of living life this way, but he was certainly not a coward to kill himself. He wanted death to look upon him and bestow her generosity. He wanted it to happen.

And one day, while he was crossing the streets, a car with a red light on its top hit him. In that one moment, before he could happily realize it, he was dead. Had the streets been empty, his death would have passed unnoticed as much as his life. But fate had otherwise on it’s mind. A newspaper reporter who happened to be on the same street at the same time when this incident of little importance happened, decided to turn it into a story.

He covered the whole accident in news-report and specially added a story about the whole thing to make it a little spicy and provoking a strong sentiment against the minister. For this, he opened a ‘justice-for-the-man’ campaign. His seniors were impressed by this, and soon enough, the electronic media got attracted towards it. The national newspapers published editorials about this ‘grave’ incident, and the news channels ran special talk shows to find out how can justice be brought to the dead man. People began creating uproar against the incident ion facebook, and hash-tags like #justiceforhim went viral on twitter, and a great actor wrote a poem for the dead man’s soul to rest in peace.

A family that lived on the street where the man had died confirmed that he was their ‘family member’. They demanded justice and compensation from the government for the ‘profound loss’ they had suffered. The opposing parties criticized the government for having a ‘murderer’ in their ministry and demanded his resignation. A well known social activist went on a hunger strike for the man’s justice. And the Supreme Court asked the high court to look into the matter.

The whole nation was chanting for his justice.

Meanwhile, the man’s dead body lied in the cold storage, waiting for it’s last rituals.  People still talked about his justice, and his life and death went unnoticed.

And so, like he lived, he also died in the streets, but it seems that, no one really cared.

Once upon a time, there was a boy who was probably in love with a girl, yes probably, because he wasn’t sure himself. She was his best friend, companion, batch-mate and according to him, also his soul-mate. She was a wonderful girl. Yes, she had problems and she used to scoff about them sometimes. But talking to this boy, she either forgot all those worries, or she just didn’t tell him about those.

She was very smart, sharp and intelligent. She could talk about anything from the diffusion of HCL to Viva La Vida of Coldplay. And the boy loved talking to her. They used to talk on phones most of the times and the boy had a tendency to sleep at around midnight. He used to stop talking all of a sudden, fall back and sleep. For this reason, she called him Cindrella which later became Cindy. Similarly, the guy had a name for her. He called her Mr. Fantastic, because she was tall and reminded him of the Fantastic Four hero. Both of them knew how stupid these names were, but the liked it that way. It was their own little thing.

The boy used to tell her about P-waves and Einstein’s General Theory and she used to talk about how unlucky princess Diana was. That was what they always talked about and they never had time to tell each other what they feel towards each other. Maybe they were shy, but we aren’t here to judge them, so be it anything, the fact was that, they talked like eggheads.

She was a calm girl, and the boy was a dynamic thing. He was always full of ideas and embedded those on people’s minds, but whenever it came to this girl, he had to struggle to prove his point. She always opposed him in a signature cool manner of hers. And that’s what he liked about her. And that’s why he was a completely different boy when he was with her.

They always had their physics and chemistry practical classes together and she used to help him with every little thing in the laboratories. She was his savior and he knew that he could do nothing without her. He always wanted to thank her and talk to her after the classes, but he could never do that. Maybe he felt awkward talking to girl in front of a bunch of notorious friends, or maybe he was just plain scared, but he never talked to her there. Back home, the phones were in full action. They talked like they knew each other since ages. They were happy that way, and I reckon, that’s what mattered.

Then this boy began wondering what is it that he shares with this girl? What kind of bond? He came to think of terms like best friends and platonic love. He was so stupid that he even told her once that he has platonic love towards her, and she laughed it off. But then, at some point in this time span, the boy was completely aware of the fact. He loved her. And he wanted her to know that.

When he told her about this new found love, she never said much over it in a response. But he could sense that she already knew all this. He was happy. Yes, both of them accepted the fact that they love each other. But they weren’t in a relationship yet. And so, he proposed her. She returned him a big ‘no’ without any hesitation. She wanted to focus on her studies. Now the love-lorn boy went mad. Not literally mad, but you know, the kind of heart-broken types. He used to ask her for a relationship every alternate day and got refused every time.

Then one day, she had to go to a different place for higher education. He couldn’t do anything but watch her go. He was helpless, but he kept his disappointment to himself and tried to give her the best goodbye possible. She went away.

For some reason, these two ‘once in love’ buddies began having bitter talks. You know, the Chetan Bhagat pattern, the girl goes far away, and the guy hates it that he has to stay back and goes crazy in love, yeah, you probably got the idea now. So, it happened that way. They lacked togetherness, and maybe that’s why they lacked compatibility. Reasons were many, but they all resulted in the same thing. Everything that these two young souls had in the past faded away.

The girl always focused on studies and never strayed anywhere else. The boy was otherwise. He couldn’t bear with the thought of being alone forever. He did fell for many girls, and made many more fall for him. He was, you can say a ‘free-spirited’ guy. You couldn’t keep him stuck to one thing if it didn’t deliver to him what he wanted. He couldn’t be just friends with her. And he tried to be bad toward her in every manner. Because he thought she had played with his heart, which was of course not true. He didn’t wish her on her birthday and she thought this was too much. She scoffed and they quit talking. Things were really not nice between them. Months after this cold-war, she called him on his birthday. And only god knows why, but he abused her. He called her a bitch and everything that could hurt her. She got hurt, and without saying a word back to him, she quit talking to him again.

And when there was such turmoil in between both of them, one fine morning the boy woke up with regrets. He realized how much wrong he had done to her. He apologized. And she accepted it as if nothing had ever happened between them. And they began talking again. This time the boy was not going to make any mistakes. He didn’t want to lose her again. He kept telling her how much he loves her and she always ignored it. Every time he asked her about a relationship she declined.

And then the boy had a tired feeling. He was plain tired. Two years had passed since she had left her home town and this boy for education and for two years, he had suffered the wounds of a ‘one-sided’ lover. But proposing her had been his habit now. He knew that he would not be able to handle the relationship with her if it ever began. He had no hopes from her and not the slightest of the doubt that she would say a ‘yes’ ever. He just wanted her to know that he loved her, and only for that reason, he proposed her yet again. And she said yes.

He was taken aback. Yes, he was happy, in fact the happiest guy then, but mentally, he wasn’t prepared to have this girl as his girlfriend now. He hadn’t expected a sudden positive response from her and the relationship threw him in a situation of dilemma. On the other hand, she was very happy and wished it to last forever. It was her first ever relationship, and she was ecstatic. But it could never go well, partly because of the boy’s incapability to handle the relationship, and partly because of the girl’s high expectations from him. Needless to say, it fell apart tearing everything that they had. She was heart-broken and the boy was sorry.

He still loved her, and by this time I hope, my dear reader, that you understand in what manner he loved her. It was true, but sadly, it wasn’t a relationship material anymore. And therefore, a story which could have otherwise ended in love and peace, ended like just another tragic one.

You know why I told you all this? Because that estranged boy and that stubborn girl are among us now, in our facebook friend lists and our acquaintances. And somewhere out there, they are reading this.

They may not have a future together as a couple, but in their hearts they would anyway live upon these memories for a long, long time.

 

Mrudula,

Right now as you are reading this you’d probably be sitting carrying a wide smile on your face. Yes, it’s that one day of the year when you reign over everything. Your birthday. Your eighteenth birthday. And that very figure makes it a bit extra special. Eighteen, welcome to adulthood.

And since it’s this wonderful day, I thought of telling you something. I am clueless about what to say though. Staying 439.8 kilometers apart, words and emotions are the only things we can exchange. First, I was going to tell you how tough life gets, how adulthood is serious and stuff like that. But that would sound crazy. Who wants to hear such things on their birthday from their boyfriend? So I thought let’s leave it to your parents, we can talk about many things apart from that.

It’s funny, or at least many people would find it funny that I’m writing you a letter on your birthday instead of gifting you something. Dumb boyfriend. But wait, I had things planned. I wanted to be there with you on this special day. Spending time together could well have been a great thing. But some things went a little off the track and I had to cancel the plan. Then I thought of sending you something. But again a gift would have landed you in trouble. Same old problem. What do you tell your parents? Where did it come from? Yes, I understand that and I hope you understand why I couldn’t make it there.

You know there are some things which act quite significantly when we chalk out our own little romantic plans. When I tell you that “I’ll be coming to meet you this Friday”, someone can call for a nation-wide strike against Sonia Gandhi & Co. and cancel our plans. When I say that I’ll be calling you in 5 minutes, my phone battery can drain the next moment, and sometimes when I tell you that I’ll be doing something for you, some calamity can befall and restrain me from doing that. Yes, there will be momentary heart-breaks, momentary sadness and an ugly impression of the broken promise. And that is why I want you to understand that we cannot just carry out every task on the foot-hold of love. There are a number of other things which can play key-roles in relationships. Time, conditions and society to name a few.

If love was the only strength in the world, you and I would have ruled the skies. But there are other things that matter. These things aren’t the ones which would never let us do what we want to. These things can only delay our plans. A month, a year, a couple of years. But if we hold the fort, we’ll get our shot at it, sooner or later.

And at such times, what matters is the patience. Patience to carry on things overlooking the sadness. And now I see how strange it is to talk about such a thing when all I really wanted to do was wish you a happy birthday. But maybe it was just another opportunity given by God to talk my heart out.

So on this birthday what I’d really pray for you is the patience which makes things easier in a relationship. As for the strength, we got it the moment we fell in love. For love may not be the only power in the world, but it sure is the greatest. At some point, it overcomes everything that blocks its way.

And now it is time you go and enjoy the shrikhand-puri, the gifts, the happiness and the newest year of your life.

Happy birthday love.

Eating a piece of cake,

Praying for you, and

Always, always in love with you,

Shivraj.

 

Confessions. Confession pages.

Looks like they’re all over and I can already see many of us seeking happiness in it. And maybe that’s why I thought of having a word with you before we get any deeper in this shit.

Basically, I am not against this idea or for that matter any idea that entertains people. Yes, this is funny. Confessing stuff you always wanted to tell someone but never dared to you. It also lets you have the opportunity to lunge in and attack people you’ve always hated. So basically these pages make someone’s day and break someone’s heart. So far, so good.

But look deeper in it, yes, deep in there, can you look at that? That’s the guy whose been told that he looks fucking awesome, and yes, see that girl, you’ve put her on cloud nine. She knows everything that every guy wants to tell her.

Well? Yes, I can see that questionable expression on your face. ‘So what?’ is your question.

So, the fact is that you’re all collectively nurturing their egos. When you tell a guy that he looks good on his face, it’s all fine. But when the same thing goes on repeating at a constant rate and the guy gets praised specially on a social networking site where he can go and read it again and again, it creates this ego within him, this self-image which says, “ You can fuck em’ all. You are the best among the lot.” It eventually gives him the courage to go and ‘pick’ any chick he desires. But look, at that now! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Mr. Handsome and Famous just got rejected.  He breaks down. No, not because of the rejection, but because he sees how futile the words of praise were. This exact thing won’t happen to girls of course. But it may hit them worse when they’d see that although they see all these beautiful words on networking sites, nothing really happens outside facebook, it eventually makes her feel that all those sweet words are just a blunder. She feels sick. That’s psychology.

And if you are you being praised on a confession page, I just want you to know that it doesn’t change your life outside the internet. Get real. Look at yourself. What are you? A girl who has a good dressing sense and Photoshop 7 to make those looks a bit better? This won’t get you fans ma’am. It will only get you ‘confessions’ on confession pages. Look at people around you. Someone just cracked the JEE, the guy living next door got his first short film released and the girl whom you used to call a geek, she is already been getting great jobs offer. Look at all those people and tell me, what are you?

I am not saying that the appraise you get is all a big fat lie. I’m just saying that all the praise you get ain’t the reality as well.

And the worst thing about these pages is that, they can kill the blooming relations in just one wall-post. How would you feel when you’d know that the guy who always has been your secret crush hated you to the core? Heart-break? Tears? That will happen obviously. And then the same old story, you’ll hate him back. Stone for a stone. But had you not known this, you’d have continued to love him secretly. And then who knows, maybe someday he’d have walked to you and ‘confessed’ that he has begun loving you. Feels good now, eh?

Well that’s what I’m talking about. If one confession can thwart the whole progress of a relation, I don’t think it’s worth the fun. Never.

And if everything is talked and told and confessed, when will we understand? ‘Aankhon hi aankhon me ishara’ is the retro style we’ve loved for decades. Why spoil it then? You know, some things are better unsaid and unexpressed. It keeps the romance alive and makes things beautiful.

Let’s just not yell at the world about everything we feel. Let’s keep some secrets to ourselves and for our loved ones, let’s just grow up and look out.

A better and beautiful world awaits us outside the doorstep.

Mrudula,

There are reasons why I’m writing this to you. I don’t know how to begin, because this isn’t merely a love letter that would talk of the sweet nothings. These are one of those few things we never really talk about. At some point, such things fill to the brim, and then it’s time we talk it out.

So see, to begin with, it’s about our talks. It’s been a freaking series of cold conversations since the past few days. Yes, there are reasons for it, and I know it very well. Like you go to your tuition and me to my factory workshop. We cannot text each other for around 6 hours everyday. And when we’re done with all those things in the evening, both of us are tired. We don’t have much to talk. Yes good conversations matter in a relationship. All those little things right from ‘what are you having for dinner?’ to ‘what will you wear in our wedding?’ do matter a lot. It’s the fuel that keeps the relationship going. And since we are lacking everything of that sort these days, I thought of explaining the situation to you through this letter. We won’t be talking all day long for maybe another month or so. Reasons are the same. Your tuitions, my factory. But look, if we face all this tough time with a little patience and some understanding, we’ll get through it fine. Love is not always a cakewalk. We might come across things which might threaten our relationship. This one is nothing compared to those big things. We just need to stick together no matter how tough it gets. And then over a period of time, all those beautiful moments will be back with us, all ours.

I love it when you call me, and I really appreciate it. But most of the times when you call me, I’m always stuck up in some shit job and then, I ask you if we can text. And now, putting myself in your shoes, I can see how you’d be feeling in that. Horrible. I don’t know what to say over that, because a sorry won’t make it up. But I promise you, I’ll fix this and we’ll talk our hearts out.

I know just one letter won’t help us to make things better; I know it takes a lot more than this. But see, even when we’re so much in love, there are times when things don’t seem to be running right. Love doesn’t elope at such times; it just hides somewhere, waiting for us to find it back. At such times, we have to work on it together, as a couple. You and I aren’t capable of doing it all alone. It’s not just mine or your job. But together, we can crack the hell loose. At times, I’ll play the lead, and times you decide what we should do about it. That’s how we keep tackling the problems.

The only thing which makes me write this is the fact that I love you and won’t let you go, no matter what happens. And I know you love me too. So no worries, you have my back, I have yours. That way, we’ll never land in trouble.

Just hang on a bit. There’s a lot more fun and happiness waiting for us. I guess I have talked much of my heart out. So maybe it’s time I say the bottom line and finish this letter.

I love you.

Wanting to be with you

& working towards it,

Shivraj.