Graph·o·pho·bi·a

Maggi(d)essert

2012-01-19T15:08:00.000-08:00

Hot (Or) Cold 'Maggi(d)essert' What do you need? Maggie Milk Honey Kesar (or) Vanilla Essence Permitted Color (Kesari Powder) Cashew Raisins Chocolate Sauce What to do with these? Boil the milk and keep stirring till it turns mild yellow and you get a nice aroma of extra boiled milk (I can see Harish Jaiganesh is already drooling...) Add 3 spoons of non-flavoured Honey to it and continue stirring for 1 minute (Ramakrishnan Gunasekaran wants the taste it right out of the gas stove...) Add Plain Maggie to it (Keep tha masala packet aside and use it for som other snack preparation) and Remove the container from the gas stove and add Kesar (or) Vanilla Essence to it (Ankur Priyadarshan's eyes are open extra wide now) Add permitted color and decorate with Cashew, Raisins and Chocolate Sauce and serve hot or refrigerate and serve cold (Subramanian Nagarajan asks why have you made only such less quantity...I want more)

The enigma of Kolaveri Di

2011-11-27T13:29:00.000-08:00

Mama notes eduthukko...appidiye kaila snacks eduthukko. (Mama take notes and along with that take some snack in the hand). After hearing the above lines, As i sit down to write this blog, Pawar getting slapped or Indian IT companies among world's lowest-paying employers are also news which i got to hear this week but the video of Kolaveri is counting 7,640,926 now and is making news.

Dhanush's Expressions shown during the recording is vivid. I can see Anirudh enjoy his recording. This single has taken the media by storm for sure.

There was a similar song released for a selvaraghavan movie named Mayakkam Enna which also stars Dhanush is equally catchy. Check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB7r1g6ABMk

2011-11-27T13:14:00.000-08:00

Rewards and Recognition

Many a times we do crib back at office that we are not rewarded aptly for all the contribution we do to a project or an organization or whatever.Today i realised that it holds good a million times more at home too.In personal life have you ever rewarded people at home for what good they have done good to you countless number of times?

Now you will ask What made me realise this all of a sudden. I was appreciated for something which i did today by my beloved.A surge of energy, a feeling of satisfaction filled my heart...

So now, when was the last time i did something like that at home to my wife, dad, mom, sis, bil, fil, mil....Still thinking? Now thats bad...isnt it?

If you think it would be foolishness to do this at home as it would look formal, cut that idea out of your mind. Take my advice, this is not formal at all.

It would be the most personal thing you ever did ...Its appreciation time.
Get set go!!!

'Superheroes' ...what do they do to their costumes

2011-09-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

Was watching Spiderman for the 'n'th time and then a sudden thought came to my mind....Be it spidey or the man of steel...they disrobe in a corner of the street and resume from their non-charismatic alter egos to the 'Superhero' status within seconds during times of crisis...leaving all the thoughts about how they would 'Save' the world...my thoughts went to the costumes.....!

Maybe given the current economic crisis this though crossed my mind....

What would happen if they kept disrobing from their humane attrie on some street corner every time they saw some need for their Superheroisms...how much would they be spending on costumes...or would they fly back to get their costumes and put them in the washing machines daily...Isnt it a million dollar question????

Anybody wanna turn hostile after reading this...forgive me! All this just came to my mind and i scribbled it down...Happy reading!

An Ounce of Fear

2011-09-04T14:57:00.003-07:00

23:45 PM Pearl Premier Residence

It had been a nice get-to-gether. Avinash had met his mom and cousin after a fortnight. The last visit was very short to deliver a set of contact lenses for his mom. This time it was Nitu’s Birthday. Ever since Manish Uncle passed away she was staying with mom. Avinash had gifted Nitu a nice digital watch which had made Nitu’s face go pink in glee. She would show it off to her schoolmates tomorrow. Driving back after the party, Avinash was filled with nostalgic thoughts. Buying some canned milk and cereals for this week’s breakfast, Avinash reached back at Pearl Premier Residence by 23:45. It was darker than expected and Avinash realized that the street lights were not working. But something else was amiss. Avinash took some time to realize that even the lights at his Pearl Premier Residence were off other than the main entrance lights.

Gangadhar his servant was supposed to be at home. He had a pile of clothes to be washed and some simple cooking to be completed. Even if all this was over he should be at the stables, inspecting Flash and Moti. Flash was Avinash's personal favorite. Avinash had spotted Flash in "Sliver Stables" the yearly event of sale of Race Horses. But now even the stable lights were off. To park his Fiat in his garage, Avinash stepped out of the age old fiat which he liked to drive, carrying his ancestral glory. There was no light near the Garage and hence Avinash had to switch on a pen torch which was in his fiat’s key chain. The garage keys were also in the same bunch in which the pen torch was. So Avinash stopped to remove the garage key from the bunch so that he could see the lock while opening it with the pen torch.

Avinash was about to remove the key when he heard a sound. At first it was too feeble to consider it as a sound near him. Avinash gave a small giggle thinking of the darkness playing pranks in his mind. Then the sound that he heard and the clarity and closeness at which he heard it made his bowels churn. He felt a cold sweat trickle down his forehead. Giving a small break to whatever he was doing, Avinash listened carefully without moving from his place. A few minutes passed by and he heard nothing. Then he proceeded with removing the key after wiping his forehead. He removed the key and the pen torch from the bunch and put the car keys into his pocket, when all of a sudden he dropped the garage key and the pen torch down on hearing the sound again. This time the sound was dangerously close and he could hear it very clearly. The pen torch hit the ground and went out.

What Avinash heard was making his knees turn into Jelly. He was scared to such an extent that he was afraid to bend down and search for the garage key. He rushed back, approximately calculating the directions to his Fiat in the intention to switch on the headlights. Fumbling with the car keys, Avinash managed to open the door of the car and jumped into it. When he was about to start the car he realized that the steering was wet and sticky. To reduce his fear, he felt the lights of the car would help. But the car wouldn’t start. Cursing his luck, he continued to try for getting the car lights on. Nothing seemed to be working. Then Avinash remembered that he had a lighter in his pocket. Desperate to see light, with the same sticky hands Avinash dipped into his trouser pockets and picked up the lighter. To his relief the lighter worked. The light was supposed to bring strength to Avinash, but it worked out to be a nightmare. The Fiat's steering and seats were smeared with fresh human blood. The doll gifted by Nitu to Avinash as a symbol of love was also drenched in blood.

With great difficulty he controlled the intention to scream out. Deciding to step out of the car Avinash pulled back to get up when he noticed that the other door of the car was open. Avinash's dictionary lost a word today. Courage was a word used in a distant land. Mustering little strength which was left with the intention to live, Avinash stepped out of the car. A cold breeze began to blow. To add to all that happened, his lighter lost the flame. It was out of fuel. Avinash felt like he had not

Drunk water for days. His stomach was so empty and his body was drenched in sweat. Not knowing what to do, Avinash closed the door of the car. He had no intentions of closing the other door till he either got some light or he heard Gangadhar shout out for him. When all this is over he would take Gangadhar a nice class on how to be more sincere at work. The next sequences of events were so fast. Avinash heard the same voice, this time very close to his right ear and unmistakably it was Manish Uncle's voice. The voice repeated the same words - "Its time to go...Its time to go" but the voice had a strange roughness in it. It had been 2 and half years. The drive back from Manali still ran like a home video in front of Avinash's eyes. Ruthless he had been to push Manish Uncle out of the car to make him hit the incoming lorry and prove it to be a suicide. Manish Uncle had heavy financial problems at that time which made it an easy task for Avinash to prove. All this was for his money and property.

Next Day 7:30 AM PM Pearl Premier Residence

Gangadhar rushed into the house with 3 packets of milk and the newspaper. He had not informed Avinashji about his sudden need to go back home as his wife was expecting. Gangadhar saw that the house was crowded and there were police vehicles also standing. Reaching the crowded garage area, what Gangadhar saw made him cry out. Avinash's body lay near his car. His neck was having the twin marks as if bitten by a snake or that of the so called mythical Dracula. Avinash's Eyes were popped out as if he had seen something and was frightened to death. The police were moving the crowd away so as to start the post mortem work. Gangadhar left the milk and paper in the doorstep and checked with the police if they had called Avinash's mother. They had not. Hence he called up Avinash's mother and told that she had to come down for some urgent work for which Avinash wanted to take decisions after discussing with her, hiding the aspect of Avinash's death to an aged mother.

Avinash's mother went to Nitu's room to make sure she was sleeping so that she can leave her with the maid and go to meet her son. Nitu was sleeping hugging to a Doll. Avinash's mother smiled on seeing Nitu happily sleeping. Then she realized something.

This was the doll which Nitu had gifted Avinash yesterday...!

Thanks & Regards

K.V.Prasanna

2010 Doomsday

2011-09-04T14:57:00.001-07:00

October 5th 2010; 2145Hrs

Jeremiah 12:4

Jeremiah’s Question
How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered?
Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished.
Moreover, the people are saying, "He will not see what happens to us."
Divine Reply
Has not my inheritance become to me like a speckled bird of prey
That other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts, bring them to devour.
……..
They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
They will wear themselves out but gain nothing.
So bear the shame of your harvest, because of the LORD's fierce anger.

Christopher experienced a spine chilling experience while reading the lines the Bible today. It was quiet a regular habit he had cultivated, to read the Bible, twice every day. He was a catholic; bit not a very devout one. He was among the semi-modern types. He wanted to live the whacky life and also be religious, striking a balance rather. But today’s realization from the Bible was mind blowing. He had it all there written for him. Yet he did not heed the advice.

Christopher had been given the assurance by the President of the United States of America himself, that he would be honored during the next convention with the award for Humanitarian efforts. He had not donated to charity a great sum of money or done any orphanage improvisations or anything of that sort. There were speculations that 2010 would have the doomsday in it. He didn’t know if this had been anywhere close to it. But Christopher had saved mankind on the 4th of October 2010.

Christopher’s profile read thus:

NAME Prof. Christopher Patrick Wolfgang
UNIVERSITY/INSTITUTE University of Tarturenta,
FOCUS Theory of biological mimicry, imitation and mimesis

Thinking about the series of events that led Christopher to save mankind, gave him goose bumps. He had been called on 2nd of October 2010 1906 Hrs by Joseph Walter Galt of SZH Unit (Safety from Zoological Hazards Unit) straight from the White House. It was kind of weird for Christopher to receive calls at this time. That too from such a person in high ranking from the White House

He had been reading in the NY Times for the past few weeks about a variety of topics. But the news which interested him most was (of course due to the closeness to his focus of study) the fact that a lot of disturbing and unexpected behavior had been reported in the past 2 weeks by Pet Animals. Some news lines read like the following:

“380 poultry missing from Kansas Poultry Farm. The owner, his wife and 2 children found dead in the house which is very close to the farm. Post-mortem reports reveal heavy scratches on the bodies of all the victims. Scratch marks were matched to Poultry.”

“A Dog bites the master of the house in Cincinnati and kills him and injures his wife. Dog tested for Rabies and not positive.”

“Rats nibble up internal wiring at a Las Vegas downtown fashion shop, causing a big fire and huge loss of property and lives.”

“An army of birds attack and take down a grain yard in North Pennsylvania leaving 7 injured and 18 dead”

“Buffaloes cause terror in Northern part of Latin America when they trample 20 children near school zone on getting wild.”

All these sounded weird. The reason was all of this happened within 2 weeks in different places. The weirdest thing was that the government had decided to evacuate people to the nearby Forests for safety. And luckily it was working. The so called Wild animals did not cause any trouble to them. It was more peaceful out there in the forests. In fact the kids even started playing with some of the so called ferocious animals. Something out of the world was happening.

The White house summon came with a big logic behind it. They wanted Christopher to use the patented device which he had designed for the University of Tarturenta which could translate the animal linguistics to understandable English word equivalents. With Nanotechnology in place since the year 2009 all devices had been shrunk in size significantly.
Christopher’s device was no more in size than a handy music player. Though it could not give the exact sentences spoken, it could grab the audio and convert it to the equivalent words. This had been an amazing invention by Christopher which earned him patent and also 3 awards out of which one was the prestigious president’s award. That is why the president had remembered Christopher now in state of emergency.

Christopher had completed all the paperwork necessary on the 3rd of Oct 2010 by 16:30 Hrs at the White House after the regular security check and frisking which Christopher had to go through. He was introduced to Joseph Walter Galt and 3 other officials who would be accompanying him in this mission. Among the other 3 was a kid from high school. Curious about the fact, Christopher had asked him why this kid was there in the mission. Joseph Walter Galt laughed out loud in his military style of a loud and clear laugh and said “This kid Jason had a baby elephant as a pet. The elephant had fled into the forest a few months ago. He somehow saw the elephant in TV while the refugee camp coverage was done and pestered us to take him with us.” Christopher asked, “But how did he get access to such a secret mission?” Joseph replied “Shh, keep it to yourself, he is the son of the President’s ex girlfriend and the first lady also knows that the kid is coming on this mission”. Christopher smiled back an acceptance of secrecy. After all it was their own beloved president.

By that time things had gone even worse. There were further complaints of Pets turning notorious. Monkeys had escaped from the nearby circus and were creating havoc by biting elderly people to death and opening gas valves and setting them on fire.

The President had called for an urgency meeting. Christopher was unable to believe what was happening. This was the second time he would be in the proximity of the president and that too on his invitation. After a quick speech to the team on what the mission was all about and why Christopher was invited into the team, the President dismissed the team and asked Christopher to stay back. He told Christopher “Son, understand that this mission will not only save a lot of lives but also save us from a lot of shame. Many humans have been treating the animals in the most unimaginable manner. We are now paying for it. But a lot of innocent people are also suffering. Keep in mind that the community is dependant on you.” Christopher said “Mr. President, I will do my level best to serve the community.” Saying this he saluted and turned to leave. The President added a last comment: “Hey Christie! Take care of Jason during the mission, will you? He is precious to me”. Christopher smiled back and nodded a yes.

The mission started at 2145 Hrs on 3rd Oct 2010. A limo arrived and picked the team with secure escort group and took them to a private access airbase. This was the airbase for the Air Force One. But it had other privileged mini Jets and Choppers. The team was assembled in the airbase and gave instructions on the chopper safety equipments and precautions. Christopher could see the real excitement gleaming in the kid’s eyes. “Luck Fellow” Christopher mumbled. The Kid turned to him and said “Yes indeed I am. I am going to get back Tony”. Christopher assumed Tony must be the name of the so called pet elephant.

By the time the team landed in the forest it was 2315 Hrs. The team was dropped off in a safe area identified by the chopper control desk at the Pentagon. While the team got ready with the attire which will help them casually walk through the dense forest, Christopher started setting up his equipment. Even now, Christopher did not know why he had been sent on a mission to check what the animals were expressing in the jungle when the problem was with the pet animals in the cities. Maybe the President wants to confirm if the Wild animals are really secure and they can shift base to the forests and continue till the problem is solved. Anyways, it was an order from the Leader which had no question of refusal or second thoughts.

The equipments were connected. “Mimozet” as Christopher called it was the size of a handy music player and could be connected to a pair of earphones to listen to the translation and also record it. The “Mimozet” had a high power mic which could capture audio clear enough to translate it. The Orthwell’s research group had offered to fund for better microphones by the end of this month. This had excited Christie as he could do more research on this.

They had been given co-ordinates to the location where a lot of wild animals had been concentrating. It was 25 Miles away from the human refugee camp which had been setup once the authorities found that the wild animals had become friendly and they could stay here to avoid the problems of the pet animals. The team moved slowly. They were equipped with high power torches and sensing equipments to avoid water bodies and potholes.

Finally they arrived near the mentioned co-ordinates. They were safe enough to stop the journey a kilometer before the actual location. They had smeared “Green Lock” lotion on their attrie to prevent the animals from smelling the existence of humans. This was also a proud patent of University of Tarturenta, Bio-Chemical Research division. Settling on a high rock which gave them visibility, Christopher pulled out the night-vision binoculars. He could see no signs of activity in the direction of the co-ordinates given.
Just when he was about to turn back and ask Jason to message the control base about the co-ordinates again, Christie saw some movement. He focused the night-vision binoculars to the location where he thought he saw some movement. What he saw made him shiver. He saw a big army of animals gathered in a location. They were all standing in a particular direction, as if watching something strange or exciting. Giving instructions to Jason that if he saw Tony also he is not supposed to make any noise, Christie directed the whole team to move forward in the direction where the animals were gathered. He asked the team also to switch off all other transmitting equipments and keeping the “Mimozet” only switched on.

When the team attained enough proximity to start hearing what the animals were conveying, Christopher adjusted his earphones and started listening. Jason saw Christopher’s face change showing a horrifying expression even in that low lit environment. The others whispered asking Christopher what was he hearing. He connected the multi ear plug dongle and handed 3 sets of ear phones. On listening to the words as translated by the device “Mimozet”, the whole team had the same expression in their faces.

Hurrying from the location, even after multiple protests from Jason to see “Tony”, Christopher called the control base and asked them to order an evacuation of the refugee camps in the 25 Mile vicinity of the wild animals within the next 45 minutes and bring them back to their cities. He also declared that the cities will be safer now. He also added that a special task force be sent to the region to fill a particular lake with sand until it goes dry and make sure the animals are given the right dose of novo-medulata and anti-locifilin. Novo-medulata was a drug invented to make anyone forget the past. The dosage determined the duration of past to be forgotten. Anti Locifilin was a drug to identify and remove existing non acceptable drugs from the blood based on 5K-Bio standards. After doing so, the team left in the chopper to the city taking back a crying Jason. Christopher had his answers ready to the President for the reason of Jason’s grief.

The next day morning Christopher and the team submitted their detailed report to the President. The 13th Page of the report had the translated message written on it. After reading the report, the President was not only awestruck but also ordered the removal of concept of Zoological parks, Sanctuaries, Circus and allowing Pet animals in the cities. Forests were declared places of National credibility and not for tourism. His statement ended thus. “They also require their piece of right, their own birthright. Let them live in peace”.

The aspect that made the President take this decision was the translated version given by Christopher. As the President was more interested in listening to things, Christopher had placed a translated audio extract in a Blue Ray Disc along with the report. The President carefully removed the disc from its cover which had “Confidential” mentioned on it. Placing the disk in the player, the President switched on the device.

The message sounded thus:

“…Our brotherhood …served ….as planned. They helped by creating trouble…get humans… into forest…we did …act well…for bringing confidence…for humans…to stay in forest now….pigeon Martha sent to advice…brotherhood to stop action…tomorrow sun rise. For our King Lion and Knight Tiger who are no more existing in the face of earth…We attack … before sunrise…on the shelter of the countless humans…Thanks to godly lake…we were enlightened…Hail the King and Knight…Then there was a trumpeting sound as that of a huge elephant’s”

The President removed the disc from the player and placed it on the E-converter which destroyed the disc and brought out a fresh and ‘empty’ blue-ray disc out. Christopher had really saved the world. Thanks to “Mimo” and thanks to the continuous development of technology.

Hail the King and Knight…

And the Clock struck ‘One’…

2011-09-04T14:56:00.005-07:00

And the Clock struck ‘One’…
It was an Atkins and Downs clock. Being an interesting antique piece Jai loved it the most. That was the reason why Jai had not sold it even when he had his hard times. He could not forget the days when he used to eat only 2 times a day, work at Lalcharan’s tea stall for 6 hours to earn 25 Rs and a lunch. But now he was quiet well off. He owned a house now and ate 4 times a day.
Thinking back, Jai could not control his smile. There were days in life when he thought he should leave this wretched world and end the misery. But now he wanted to live. He had found a path which was dangerous but rewarding. While working at Lalcharan’s, Jai once met an over obese, stinking rich man who had come to drink tea at the shop. At first Jai did not understand why such a rich man should come all the way from home in his car and take tea in the shop. Then he stuck a conversation with the man. He came to know that the man’s name was Hiralal and he was a diamond merchant.
After enquiring about the personal details of Jai, this rich man then asked Jai if he can do him a favor. Jai agreed to it. He asked Jai to come to his home and help him solve a problem. Jai went along with him to his home in a car. The house was looking like a royal palace. After entering the place, Hiralal took Jai to his private room. Then he started saying what his problem was.
Hiralal had liking for an antique piece of art which was available in the government gallery and had come up for Auction. Due to sudden lack of funds Hiralal could not buy the painting in the bid. His possessiveness towards the painting increased day by day. His problem had a solution. He asked Jai if he could get the painting for him. ‘Get’ is a very dignified word Jai thought. This was the first time Jai started to steal. He was well rewarded by Hiralal who was happy.
From then on Jai started stealing for him as well as on request. He became so skilful that the police had no clues left in the place of theft to trace back to him. He worked for a motorcycle manufacturing firm in day time and did his favorite duty at night.
Jai slowly mastered the art of cold blooded murder also. He joined 3 different gangs in different cities and learnt the usage of knives, guns, poison and other methods to kill. He slowly built his skills and became a paid killer.
Jai planned on what to do about every penny he earned. He bought a place to stay and some good clothes to look normal in public and a lot of equipments which will assist his nocturnal activities. In one such attempt to kill a local bighead, Jai came across this Atkins and Downs clock. He liked it and picked it up. He made sure no evidence was left at the location. Since then the clock has been decorating his personal room.
In the last 2 days Jai witnessed something bizarre happening. It was not scary on the first day. Jai had the habit of setting up an alarm in his clock at 6 am. Till date the clock worked fine. He used to wake up on time and got o work for the outer world. Two days back the clock sounded the alarm at 3 am, in spite of Jai setting it at 6 am. First day he thought must be his mistake. Then second day the alarm went off at 2:00 am. Jai thought it must be some specific technical issue. He did not want to take it to a clock shop as it was a stolen antique and people could easily identify from where it was stolen.
What happened the next day was something which Jai will never forget. The chimes were heard at 11 pm. Jai was shocked. He started understanding a pattern in the chime. Every time the clock chimed at an odd hour, Jai recollected the very next day at the same time he was murdering someone. Jai recollected all the days he had gone for murder. How come it had started its chime all of a sudden? He then realized that some times the timings overlapped and hence when it sounded the chime on a particular night he would be doing another job and hence did not get to hear it.
Jai decided to confirm what he was suspecting. He could not go and share this with anyone also. He was a loner which helped him a lot in his nocturnal work. He decided not to take any activity the next few days. The first day went without a chime from the clock at odd hours. It just chimed at 6 am as normal. The second day was also normal to Jai’s relief … or rather to Jai’s astonishment! Yes it was astonishment no doubt. Does that mean the clock knew that when he was going to execute a murder?
Gathering courage, Jai accepted an assignment the third day. It was to be completed the next day in the early hours around 1 am. Since Jai went out of the house and bought some stuff and came back he forgot about the clock. He made all the stuff ready for next day morning to go to office and also prepared the knife and gun which he would carry for the next day late night assignment. Then after having a heavy dinner and a glass of milk he dozed off.
Jai woke up at 1 am. He heard the clock chime. He was terrified. He moved from his bed slowly as it was dark and walked towards the direction of the bookshelf in which he kept a torch. There was no other sound audible other than the chime from the clock. He picked up the torch, switched it on and directed it towards the clock. The clock showed 1 am and the chime was coming from it. Jai was worried. Why was the clock sounding the chime at 1 am? Was it indicating his assignment the next day? Keeping in mind that he had to go for normal work in the morning, Jai took the torch and placed it near his pillow and dozed off again.
The next day went on fine. In the evening Jai prepared himself for the murder. The 1 am assignment went on well. Without leaving any trace Jai left the house where he had murdered 3 people. On the way back, he saw a local police patrol roaming around the streets and was about to hide when the policeman noticed his movement. He pursued Jai till a particular spot, but then he was no match for Jai’s speed. Jai finally managed to reach home without the policeman in pursuit.
It was 2:30 am by the time Jai came back home. He ate a little from whatever was left in the refrigerator and dozed off. The next day went off normal. There were reports on news channels about a murder suspect seen by a police official and Jai laughed to himself. Jai went to have dinner at a famous restaurant and came back home by 9 pm. After watching some TV he dozed off at 11 pm.
Jai woke up with a start. At first he did not understand what happened. The he realized the wretched clock had sounded its chime. He searched for the torch and switched it on. Turning it towards the clock he saw that the time was 1 am. He sat there petrified. He could not understand how this was happening. He had not accepted an assignment for tomorrow 1 am. Either there must be something wrong with the clock or someone must be giving him a task in the day tomorrow. Whatever it was Jai felt very tired. His jawbone was aching and his eyelids were heavy due to disturbed sleep. He switched off the torch. He could hear a dog howling at a distance as if in distress. But the sound faded away and Jai slowly took a dip into the ocean of deep undisturbed sleep.
Sitting at work desk and expecting a call from someone who will probably give an assignment to kill was a painful task for Jai. He had never waited for a task like this. Then after some time Jai laughed at himself. What stupidity did her demonstrate by imagining that there would be an assignment. After all this could be a mistake of the clock which Jai is taking too much to his head? He continued work for the rest of the day and went back home.
Jai had slept off at 9 pm. It was quiet early for him but he felt very tired. A sound made Jai wake up with a start. It was not the clock. It sounded as if someone broke into the house. He slowly picked up the torch but did not switch it on. He walked out of the bed towards the main door. He was about to switch on the torch when he felt something sharp pierce through his chest with a lot of force. The torch switched on and fell down. Jai also dropped to the floor. He could see a guy run for the room where he kept all his precious belongings. Jai could not shout. Not because of the injury but because of the realization. The torch was rotating on the floor. It swept the darkness away wherever it went. When the torch turned to the direction of the clock, Jai had notice that the time was 1 am. The clock had warned Jai about his own death…not of his next assignment.
The next day news papers and news channels talked about the murder of a paid assassin and a former thief and the commissioner was hopeful to find the killer also and said that with this person dead the level of crime will come down considerably.
Shoumick was looking at the News channel happily. He was satisfied in what he did the previous night. He had robbed the most dangerous killer and thief in this unknown town. This town was proving out to be a profitable place to be. Then he decided to go for a walk and changed into casuals. While walking out of the house, Shoumick crossed the living room of his house and went close to the clock, rubbed it slowly and kissed it. The clock was his most favorite booty of the previous night. He then proceeded to the main entrance of his house… and the Clock struck ‘One’!!!

Azadirachta Indica

2011-09-04T14:56:00.003-07:00

Azadirachta Indica
Chittaranjan was amused by the sequence of events that had happened in his life in the past 6 Months. He had come to Baghmundi after leaving his profession as a botany teacher in Kolkata public school. He had been very satisfied in life since then. 'Being' or rather acting as a ghost buster has its own difficulties. One needs to get dressed to suit the profession, prepare chants and enact certain dramatic sequences to keep up the belief. The most difficult part in this act was that he had to drive away a ghost which he himself believed did not exist.
After taking a heavy dinner, Chittaranjan was sitting and relaxing in an old wooden easy chair in front of his house, when a group of people arrived in a bullock cart. A woman and two men got down from the bullock cart. Then they were talking to another lady who was not ready to get down from the bullock cart. With great difficult they persuaded her and pulled her out of the cart. She was a girl in her twenties. When she turned her face towards Chittaranjan, he understood why they had come to meet him.
Her face was pale white and convoluted to the most unimaginable extent. She was yelling at the people who had brought her there. Her dress was torn. As they walked closer, he could hear her shouting "chhere dao!! Ami oke mere felbo" (Leave me, I want to Kill Him).
Sandy ran out of the house and stood near Chittaranjan when these people arrived. Now, who is this Sandy? Sandy was a research student who had come all the way from Mexico to study the Indian culture and the beliefs. He had met Chittaranjan in Kolkata public school long back and had somehow found his way to Baghmundi also to find where Chittaranjan stayed. He was wonder stuck by the cultural heritage in India. He put forth a lot of questions on beliefs, demi-gods, ghosts, tantric following, His area of specialization was “Belief of spirits and rituals in India”.
Sandy came very close to Chittaranjan and whispered in his ear. Chittaranjan smiled and replied back loudly “Don’t be worried Sandy! She says in Bengali “Leave me, I want to Kill Him”. These are purely due to beliefs which people have about ghosts. I have been trying to educate them and they are slowly learning. There are still some who need to be enlightened. I will make sure they understand the facts and live a better life”. Sandy felt more comfortable. But still, seeing the young lady in a trance, Sandy was taken aback.
Chittaranjan studied her face. She was not looking at anybody directly. She was in her own world. The yelling was increasing by the minute. Chittaranjan decided to take them to a place where he did the rituals regularly. It was very close to the cremation grounds of Baghmundi. Sandy refused at first to come. Then Chittaranjan explained that these are the aspects which Sandy should catch on video and use it for his research. Sandy agreed half-heartedly.
Taking a cloth bag which contained all his tools for the ritual, Chittaranjan and Sandy left to the location in a cycle. The bullock cart had already reached the place. They were waiting anxiously to free the girl from this debacle. The girl’s yelling had come down but did not stop altogether. Sandy could not see much as the lighting was very less and hence he could not see any faces clearly.
Chittaranjan asked Sandy to choose a nice place from where he could take pictures and record video of the happenings. He said that such details would help his research. Then Chittaranjan picked up a bunch of leaves from the neem tree nearby. Taking that and the lemons from his bag he walked towards the girl. The girl still had the convoluted face but it was a little better now. He picked up ash from a packet which he had brought and kept it along with the neem leaves and the lemon. There was a heavy wind today which was very common in this time of the year. He sat down and started a fire with the wooden sticks which he had collected last week. Slowly he started chanting some mantras after making the girl sit in front of the fire and asking the elders to hold her.
Sandy wanted to witness this ritual for the first time sitting on top of the neem tree. He needed a nice place to shoot the video in the whatever lighting was available by the fire lit by Chittaranjan. He was shell shocked. What kind of rituals is being performed to remove a ghost and that too in what location? Slowly the reactions that started coming from the girl made Sandy shiver. The girl got into an uncontrollable trance and it required 3 men to control her including the night watchman of the graveyard. But Sandy also noticed that Chittaranjan was rock solid sitting and chanting mantras and hitting the girl with the neem leaves. Sandy thought that it requires a lot of guts to be out there at this hour of the night in a graveyard try to drive away a ghost out of a girl. But then he remembered that Chittaranjan did not believe in ghosts. Maybe that’s why he has the guts.
After close to 35 minutes, the girl was jumping up and down. Finally she cried out loudly like someone in pain and landed flat on the ground and fainted. Wishing good luck to the people and telling them to apply the ashes given by him on her forehead for 45 days, Chittaranjan picked up all the articles which he had bought and asked the old man who was the girl’s grandfather to come and meet him at the house tomorrow morning. After asking them to leave without looking back as part of the ritual, Chittaranjan went and picked up some more ash for his forthcoming rituals. Then he turned back and started to leave.
Then he called out for Sandy, He noticed Sandy sitting on the neem tree. This must be a really nice piece of video or a nice set of pictures which Sandy has taken for his research. He was planning to go to Kali ghat next Saturday to picturize more of the rituals. Sandy got down from the Neem Tree. Chittaranjan forgot to bring his torch today. So he walked out of the graveyard with difficulty as his eyes were not yet accustomed to the darkness with Sandy following him.
Walking further he reached the road where a faint street light showed. He then said to Sandy who was walking next to him that this is how the rituals happen and how people feel that the ghost is removed. Generally these are mental disorders which reach such a state that the human body reacts weird due to heavy irritation of both mind and body. Then he asked Sandy how the photo shoot or video had come out and was the session useful. There was no reply. Chittaranjan was worried that Sandy did not like being part of the ritual and was now afraid of seeing such happenings.
Chittaranjan turned back to pat Sandy on the shoulder and tell him to be bold. In the faint light what he saw made him stand rooted to his place. Sandy spoke: “Tumi ki bhabchho - ami ekhan theke eto taratari chole jabo? Ami esechhi oke ei prithibi theke muchhe felte...” (Do you think that I will leave this place so fast? I am here to erase him from the face of this earth).
Stating this, Sandy moved forward into the dim light. His face was the epitome of evil. Seeing Sandy’s face and the way he spoke Bengali (A language not known to him), Chittaranjan was shocked. The most shocking part was that the voice that came out of Sandy’s mouth was more like a woman speaking.
Chittaranjan Fainted.
It is said in Indian mythology that the neem tree (Azadirachta Indica) is a favorable tree for the ghosts.
Azadirachta Indica, to be continued…

INVASION

2011-09-04T14:56:00.001-07:00

INVASION

Anna woke up with a start. At first she heard a rumble. Then she heard a weird sound. It sounded as if a million metal pellets were falling on a sheet of Tin.
She came got up from her ergonomic “VF-10 restboard” which shrunk into a small aperture once she stood up. Then proceeding to the place marked “Emergency”, she switched on the “Anti K6” Button. The emergency board cleared and gave Anna access to the restricted region and the internal Kera-fractals stopped emitting luminescence. If Carlos knew that she had broken the K6 code of conduct he would be mad. But today she wanted to take a chance. For the past few weeks she had been hearing these sounds very often and also the rumour that Planetoid region X10:278 was undergoing unexpected parametric changes.

This had happened for the first time 1432 nanoblinks ago. Now she was seeing it happen in front of her eyes. At first she thought it was calcidone crystals falling from the hyper stratos. Calcidone crystals were used for the Semitronics Lab expert analysis for weekly cloning. Last weeks mid-sized cloning had failed because of hybrid meta-derma mismatch.

Anna was starting at the crystals. They did not look like crystals actually. When Sterozol fell from the container, it dispersed on the tray the same way. After seeing this phenomenon happening she was thrilled. She was gazing at the event that was happening, when all of a sudden the hyper stratos went haywire. It was as if the trikonometer had discharged in the Hyper Stratos. The whole stratos was lit up for a few bitnanoblinks. Then it all came back to normal. Anna hit the “Anti K6” button again. The emergency board went back to normal.

One after the other Anna was urged to break the K6 codes of conduct on seeing this event. She went to Qunta-cube 320 which belonged to Carlos. Only Carlos, Anna and Brenda had access to Qunta-cube 320. Carlos did all his analysis in here. Obtaining access to Qunta-cube 320 was not very easy. Anna had to spend 13 bitnanoblinks in front of the DNA analyzer. Finally it beeped thrice and Anna stepped into Qunta-cube 320.

First thing which Anna did was pick up the Jasso-glove. Wearing the Jasso-glove reminded Anna of Carlos and his touch. Then her mind was racing “No time Anna”. She switched on O236D10 with the Jasso-glove. It was a primitive instrument. Anna wondered why it was labeled as “Carlos Lappy Yr 2013”. It had the most difficult interface where Anna used the Jasso-glove to navigate. She started a delve-pad and typed “colorless + shapeless + stratos”. The upshot was slow as only 70 million coverages showed up 2.5 bitnanoblinks but without access code links.

All these coverages were before 2025 AD, which meant it was from the prohibited spawn duration. I have heard Carlos talk about 2025 spawn. They named it in a peculiar way – “Catastrophe”. No one except Carlos had access to the 2025 spawn Andro-Bytes of Data. Anna had coaxed Carlos long time back for the access. Now she tried for the access and luckily it worked. The coverage which she hit upon dated 2024 named as “LRLT2024_LastVisual”. It started streaming; a skinny Carlos came into picture. He was holding something in his hand and talking to it. At first Anna didn’t notice it.

Then she realized something shocking. The coverage showed Carlos in a bay-area where the event was happening. It was the same event which Anna had witnessed few minutes back. The astonishing part was that Carlos had stood in the bay-area when this was happening. And what was that behind him. It was a much wired pixel-grouping behind Carlos. Zooming in further Anna saw something which looked like the ugly tentacles of Zithron, Anna’s playmate. And on top of the tentacles were small protrusions in green dye. The protrusions seemed dangling from, the tentacles at specific places and shaking.
Anna was slowly feeling a clod creepy effect on her back. She remembered seeing this same image in “Cellar Cube 2012” when Sir Sam had opened the entry point for a flash. He had given Anna a glaring look when he felt she was intruding into his privacy. Sir Sam was a grumpy guy who was close to Carlos and handled the spawn protection team at Ulla Lay 4716. But yes, she remembered very well. This image was a replica of the same. But the dimensions of the image shown in the LRLT2024_LastVisual looked different. Then the blabbering coverage of Carlos ended and some text appeared on screen. Reading through the text Anna was excited.

The text read thus:

“What you have witnessed in this coverage is the last occurrence of the hyper stratos phenomena which used to happen before the spawn duration and we used to call it ‘The Rain’. What you saw behind Carlos was not an image. It was an existing object at that duration and we called it “The Tree”. That’s why this coverage has been named LRLT2024_LastVisual – The Last Rain and Last Tree 2024 BC Visual.”

Abra-Ca-Dabra - A lost page from a magician’s diary

2011-09-04T14:55:00.003-07:00

Abra-Ca-Dabra - A lost page from a magician’s diary

Amit is one of those normal kids who rub old rusty lamps, swish and flick half broken tree twigs lying around or talking chalk powder and trying to spray it on some kid and uttering some series of words to change him to some small creature. This word called hope is very funny, always makes us believe some magical experience will happen one fine day and we will be relieved from the trouble that we are into.

Though it was 00:45 am, Amit was not bothered. He had tip-toed out of home from the back door and reached Parag’s House first. There he witnessed what a boy of Amit’s age should not have witnessed. Now he was running. Amit tripped and fell. It was too dark. But he did not want to give up. He had to meet Professor Shinde at his residence near basheerbhag. He had to share the unbelievable scene which he had witnessed today a few hours ago.

He stood up and hastily tapped off the wet mud which had smeared all over his elbows and shirt. In the dark, Amit noticed something. There was something glowing all over him. He realized it was some kind of powder. It was smeared over his half-shirt sleeve and a little on his elbow and arms. He tried tapping it off. Then he stopped. He realized something was happening. Though it was dark, it was not pitch black. He could see the outline of the trees. They were growing. No …it was not only the trees. Everything around him was growing bigger. The building where Prof. Shinde stayed also was growing in size. Ok…wait. Nothing was growing. Something was happening to him.

He realized that it was something to do with the powder which had fallen on his arms. He turned around and found tall dark figure towering above him. A small glow of light appeared by which Amit could see the face of a man. The face was horrifying, but familiar. It was the face of Prof. Shinde. But his face was looking as if it had been burnt by fire sometime ago. The skin had peeled off and blood oozing out from different places. Prof.Shinde laughed out loud. Amit heard the laugh fade away to oblivion...

Swetha had to admit her love. She liked Vincent a lot. When Vincent had decided to study further, she decided it was time to tell him her love. Vincent had jumped up in joy. He liked her too. But had never imagined Swetha would propose to him. She was now returning back from a party. Vincent had dropped her at the corner of Rabindra Sarani which once used to be called Chitpur road and gone further to pick up his dad. She was happy. Her only desperate wish had come true. She had never wished for anything so desperately before in life. The reason being, her father was a very rich man. Anything she needed was there at her doorstep.

Vincent was her ‘dream come true’. She made small jumping steps like a fairy tale kid and was walking towards her bungalow. There was a power cut. Everything went dark. She stopped as if nailed to the spot where she had been jumping around like a school girl, a few seconds before. She was scared. Not only because of the power cut. When she had walked down the path she had noticed there was no one else walking there or coming by any vehicle.

She remembered having a torch in her handbag. She quickly ripped-open the zipper of her handbag and was about to grab the torch when she felt something glitter.
She noticed that some powdery stuff was all over her. It was glowing in the dark like fireflies. She tried tapping it off but it would not go. She was shaking. Something was wrong. She felt a hand on her shoulder which made her jump. She turned back. She could not make out anything in the dark.

Then she slowly saw a light. She could see a face. It was Vincent. She let out a sigh of relief. But she noticed something weird. Vincent was taller than what he was. Then she started shaking again. She wanted to shout but her throat was dry and the voice would not come out. In the mild light, she saw that the other half of Vincent’s face. It was missing. She only saw some tattered pieces of flesh and protruding bones. He laughed out loud. So loud that Swetha wanted to catch hold of her ears and scream out loud for help. But she could do neither of this. Slowly the Laugh did not exist. Neither did the face. Nor did the fear exist.

I watched through the glass. They could not see me. But I could. Interrogation rooms are funny. People make funny faces coming and standing in front of the glass thinking it to be a mirror. Little do they know that on the other side, there are a bunch of neatly dressed men who can think sharper than criminals? But all these people in this room did not look like criminals. They were like common people. Harmless creatures who wanted to go back home and were worried. I recognized all of them. There were Prof. Shinde and Parag sitting on one side arguing and pointing fingers at Amit who was in a puzzled state. Then there was this lady Swetha sobbing and resting her head on Vincent’s shoulders. Vincent was both curious and happy. Curious for what was happening and happy for Swetha being close in his arms and resting her head on his shoulders. But he was consoling her from time to time.

I realized that in such common faces, criminals exist too. The people whom I had used my magic on were culprits. I had made them confess using my magic. I felt good. But I did not feel proud. I remembered last year. That thought process made me shiver. That was the last time I had framed someone for the murder which I had committed. Someone not completely innocent but was not good either. But then I realized that many other magicians out there could also be doing the same. So I joined the force to help identify other criminals and prevent cunning people from framing others for their crime. I had to help them identify real criminals who move around with masks of a common man. This made me felt better and gave a sort of comfort that I am compensating for my first and last mistake, though it was a costly one.

It was time now. I will need to be there in 10 minutes at Paris for my Grand finale of my European tour. Being a magician was tough. I snapped my fingers and said “abra ca dabra”, and there I was in the backstage the Paris’ De Gaulle, one of Paris’s latest theatres where my show was about to begin.

The Dream

2011-09-04T14:55:00.001-07:00

The Dream
========
Arun woke up with a start. It took him few minutes to realize what had happened. It was the nightmare again after nearly a month. But this time the nightmare was more lively, more intense and much before daybreak.

Arun is all of a sudden in the middle of a forest all alone at night, where all of a sudden 2 red eyes, like burning charcoal appear before him out of nowhere. Taken aback, Arun tries to run when a hand catches his neck and cuts off the amulet which he is wearing. The amulet lands on the ground smeared with blood. Shocked, Arun sees in the direction where the red charcoal eyes had appeared.

What he saw made him wake up from his dream…A man whose face was covered with muddy slush, but bleeding from the eyes was carrying a small brown bag. The brown bag was wet with blood below.

Arun was more than relieved when he realized it was only a dream. Having woken up, Arun decided to have a glass of water and go then back to sleep. It would be a tough day ahead with the mathematics monthly test to handle, that too algebra.
Arun got down from his bed, went to the kitchen and gulped down a glass of water. As any adolescent who keeps gazing at the mirror, Arun carried the habit too. Arun avoided the mirror in front of the wash basin, since the light there would disturb his aunt sleeping in the hall.
His aunt had the habit of sleeping early and waking up at 4:00 am to start the daily chores. So Arun tiptoed to the backyard verandah, which had another wash basin with the mirror. He switched on the light just above the mirror. Not bad, he looked cool enough to flirt around with Roma. Roma being same class same bench sweetheart of Arun.
But….Oh my god!!!! All of a sudden Arun stood nailed to the floor. The amulet which his grandfather had given him on his birthday was missing. A cold sweat trickled down his neck. His grandfather had given him the amulet after a series of nightmares which had hit him badly last month. The Amulet was a spiritually purified one from the nearest Temple, which was supposed to be hanging in his neck always.
Arun reminded himself that he was not alone and had his aunt to cry out for help. He slowly switched of the light and without turning back to see the open back yard, tiptoed back to his room as fast as possible. Worried about his amulet, Arun was about to get onto his bed, when something soft on the floor encountered his legs. With immediate reflex, Arun pulled back his leg. Switching on the lights of his room, Arun was relieved to see his amulet lying on the floor. He heaved a sigh of relief.
But his happiness was a very short fantasy. At first Arun wiped his eyes, thinking it was his drowsy eyes that created a deception to his eyes. Then it was all real in front of him. The corner of the amulet was smeared with Blood…!

Switch

2011-09-04T14:54:00.001-07:00

Switch
=====

“Death is inevitable.”

Vikas understood and digested this fact, as he had read this in many quotes and books and had seen death in front of his eyes many times when either his friends or his relatives died. He was not an agnostic too. He believed in religious sentiments also.

Standing below the Banyan tree which was located very close to the burial grounds, Vikas was thinking about Kasim.Vikas had met Kasim for the first time when he came back to Mumbai from his Botswana assignment. Being a banker at an NGO, his job demanded frequent travel. He went for a customary visit to Botswana as a reviewer for allocation of funds. On his way back from the airport in a paid cab, The cab stopped at a traffic signal very close to his residence. A beggar came and knocked the window of the cab begging for money. Vikas asked what the beggar’s name was. The reply came as “Mera naam K-A-S-I-M hai Saab. Khane ke liye paisa chahiye Saab. Kuch dedo Na”.

Vikas took out a 10 rupee note and was about to give it to Kasim. The traffic constable came running from behind Kasim and started hitting him with a stick. Kasim fled from the location. The signal went green. The taxi proceeded in the direction of Vikas’s house. He was looking back to see what Kasim was upto. He noticed that Kasim had picked up a quarrel with the traffic policeman. Smiling to himself Vikas signed the bill and got down from the taxi to go into his house.

He then noticed Kasim running towards him. Vikas still had the 10 rupee note in his front pocket. He pulled it out and gave it to Kasim. In the usual gesture, Kasim thanked him with folded hands and went away.

Vikas realized someone was touching his shoulder. He turned to see it was Ajoy. Ajoy was his close friend and stayed in the same locality as Vikas was in. Ajoy and Vikas had come down to attend Kasim’s funeral. Kasim had died the previous night in a car mishap. Some idiot had rammed his car on the pavement. The irony was that the driver of the car was a drunken businessman. He had escaped but with major injuries and was in a nearby hospital.

Vikas thought, “Why do innocent people like Kasim die because some drunkard drives a car in the night and looses control? What is god upto? Why doesn’t he have people like Kasim? Vikas hated drunken drivers. He was not an anti-alcoholic. But his idea of drinking was in a closed environment and not disturbing others.

Ajoy and Vikas left the burial ground. On the way back home, a thought stuck Vikas. He said “Ajoy, why don’t we go and meet that idiot who did the drunk and drive dare devil act and give him some nice piece of advice. You can capture this discussion and we can feature this in our next meeting with Prabhat. Prabhat was their monthly newsletter editor of the NGO.”

Ajoy was also interested. So Vikas and Ajoy reached the hospital. Inquiring about the recent accident and the ICU location Vikas and Ajoy proceeded in the direction of the ICU. There were at least 10 people standing in front of the ICU. Vikas went and inquired about the patient and then took permission from the duty doctor to get in and have a chat with the patient.

When Vikas and Ajoy entered, they saw the businessman lying in the bed with all sorts of medical equipments taped and clinging onto him. Ajoy took out his pen and writing pad and got ready for his assignment. Vikas went and sat near the patient. The guy was almost 6 feet and had a fair complexion. The patient opened his eyes. What he did next was confusing. He smiled back at Vikas slowly removed the ventilator which was stopping him from conversing. Then the patient spoke a few lines.

“Thanks for coming to see me Saab. But I don’t understand why these people standing outside are taking such good care of a beggar like me. And the funny part is they call me ‘Amol’ instead of Kasim.

Vikas fainted.

JAI VEERU - Movie Review

2011-09-04T14:49:00.001-07:00

JAI VEERU
Disclaimer: The below review which you are about to read is purely my expression on what I feel about the movie. No offence meant to fans of actors/actresses/director etc featured this movie .
JaiVeeru - Friends Forever
Though having the habit of watching a lot of movies and also the urge to write movie reviews for a long time, i have felt that i have not yet
risen to the level of criticizing a movie. After seeing the 7:20 pm show of Jai Veeru at Gold Spot (Ad Labs Cinema Hall) at Ameerpet, i felt i
can give it a try. Not because the movie was too good that i could not resist writing. Its because when Puneet Sira can gather courage and
make such a movie called Jai Veeru and also charge Shyam Bajaj , Narendra Bajaj , Varun Bajaj a hefty sum for his direction, why cant i write a
review?
Jokes apart, this movie starts off with some scenes which remind us of Gone in 60 seconds where Veeru (Super Star Kunal Khemu...sorry
sorry Super Star fame Kunal Khemu) is a car thief who sells of the cars he steals and makes a living. As history of bollywood movie making
goes, Veeru meets Jai (Fardeen Khan) at a bar. This is where Jai saves Veeru from 4 brothers of a good looking girl with whom Veeru tries to
flirt in the most common way or i should say the old SRK way. One aspect which i would not want to miss here is the picturization. The best
part of the movie is the way the camera has been handled by K.Rajkumar. A pretty impressive job.

Music by Bappa Lahiri is not so impressive. Post the saving act by Jai, they become good beer pals and also very close friends. Then
Jai drops his job as a so called mechanic where the owner screams for stealing his Beer from the fridge. They both do car flicking together and
with that money they go to good beaches (out of India ... he he). It could have at least been little nostalgic if the music score in this
situation had been a remix of 'Yeh Dosti hum nahin bhoolenge'...but looks like the director gave no heed to it. In such a discussion Jai
expresses the fact that he sees more cash in Veeru's hands always thought they share the booty. Veeru states he works for another person called
Tejpal which he will explain later.
We have another bollywood ishtyle mein enrty by Anjana Sukhani walking straight out of the beach. Veru falls for her and flirts at the beach
and later invites her for coffee for which she agrees in the first ask...can you believe it? A comic sequence where Jai tries to spoil the date
of Veeru reminds a little of the Basanti Veeru and Jai combination of Sholay. But strictly just a very few seconds. One cannot even try to
compare any scence of this movie with the epic movie Sholay which was inspired by Seven Samurai.
Veeru casually states that he has arranged for a meeting with Tejpal for whom he works and wants Jai also to get some booty out of him.
Its fake notes/money laundering dhanda that he talks about. Expecting the villain to be a goon looking guy i was waiting when i got the shock
of my life. Arbaz khan was to be introduced as the villain. But wait wait...before that the director has tried some twist in the story. For no
reason Jai goes to a semi-demolished building and a person places a revolver at his back. Then the story unfolds that Jai is a police officer
under cover and is trying to get to Tejpal the villain through Veeru, for taking revenge for the death of his elder brother who was killed by
Tejpal. Jai meets his boss/inspector in the semi-demolished building and the boss as usual says he is not concentrating on his duty. Jai
convinces his boss that he is using Veeru to get to Tejpal and would be meeting him shortly. He also asks for relieving Veeru of his crime
record but the boss refuses with little grace.
Tejpal meets Jai and Veeru. with the usual stunts of hero not bothered about the villain henchmen and not allowing search etc, Tejpal
agrees to include Jai also in his gang to do chota-mota kaam. A shipment is to arrive for which Jai is to be taken along with Veeru. Jai meets
the police force and plans with his boss to capture Tejpal. Jai goes in wired to the location which is not traced...surprisibgly. One of the
tall henchmen (reminds me of the James Bond metal toothed killer) finds out Jai is talking to someonbe on a microphone and Veeru does not
initially believe that Jai is wired. Then in a dramatic sequence when Veeru pulls apart the shirt he also sees that Jai is wired. A battle
starts between the police force which is informed by Jai and reached location with the rifles(bah! still automatic guns ka zamana nahin hai!!).
Jai saves Veeru by warning the police force not to fire at him. In an accident caused by a free floating metal hook, Veeru hits Jai in the
forehad with a bullet. Jai drops to the floor and Veeru escapes the scene on a bike which comes from nowhere inside a building in the second
floor (approx). On the way he meets Tejpal and in gunpoint flicks his car (hats off to such a big don who stands dumb when a henchman takes
away his car). The car has a black book which contains all contacts of underworld which Veeru takes along with him (reminds us of Don).
Next scene Jai is in hospital and Veeru is in Bangkok...god knows how. Best part is Jai recovers a bullet injury in the forehead with a
metal plate inside as per the doctor's operation. We get to know that Anjana Sukhani has fallen in love with Veeru after a single coffee date
when he calles her from Bangkok(how good it would be if love was so simple). She also goes to meet Jai, god knows how Jai's boss knows Anjana
Sukhani's number. Anjana Sukhani gets to know who the real Veeru is and flies to Bangkok to meet him and slaps him when he is drinking in a
bar. Jai and Veeru become enemies from then on. Jai thinks Veeru shot at him on purpose and Veeru is still not able to digest the fact that his
friend has betrayed him. Meanwhile Jai falls in love with Diya Mirza who is a nurse taking care of Jai.
Later it is revealed that Diya is the vamp girl of Tejpal, planted to spoil Jai's plans. Veeru is brought back from Bangkok by Jai who
promises not to kill Veeru and bring him alive to his boss. On the way back from Bangkok the plane looses petrol and imagine both the heroes go
unhurt and land just in front of a cliff. Doubts unfold when CBI officer who takes charge of Veeru-Tejpal case send his men to accompany Jai
and Veeru. The names of the officers, as Veeru recollects is in the black book and hence Jai and Veeru escape again.
TEJPAL decides to kill both of them. Now, through a strange twist of fate, Jai and Veeru run together. Will they survive? How does Diya
Mirza bring the twist in the tale is something i leave the readers to enjoy on big screen.
To be frank, It would be better if you get tickets to another movie like Benjamin button or Gulaal in case you are a person who expects
good storyline in the movie. If you really don’t have tickets to another movie and are a bunch of fun loving friends who want to just be
together in a movie hall commenting and doing full time pass...then this is the best option. Jai Veeru...Baap re Baap!!!

My Diary - Page One

2011-09-04T14:47:00.001-07:00

My Diary - Page One

I am Chintu. Mamma call me Abhishek also. Today’s date is 15-03-1983.
Mamma told to write this diary so I will like it when I grow bigger and read the pages.
So I am sitting on small bed in bedroom and writing first diary page. New diary is big and heavy. So I place it on the bed and write first page.

I study standard 4 in Kanchana Metrikulasion School. My school is long away from my home. I carry big red color bag with lots of books and notebooks covered with brown paper. Bag always heavy. I like school only on Friday. Friday is PT class. I can play cricket. I do not like maths. All days I have maths class. Only Friday no maths class.
Mamma leaves me in school and goes to count paisa in office. Mamma office boring. Wednesday Mamma take me to office.

Rohit and Swetha my best friends. But Rohit and Swetha have more people at home. Rohit and Swetha have Pappa, Payal Didi and Tinu Bhaiya at home. I don not know why Pappa is not there in my home. I do not ask Mamma about Pappa. Once Sheela Aunty ask about Pappa to Mamma. Mamma cried whole day.

Now I will go to school. I stop writing diary. Diary not angry with me because I write tomorrow also page 2. I go now and pray to Gods and then go to school. Mamma says “You pray to all gods and will get Star and very good in notebook from teacher”. All gods are different. I like one god in the Poojha room. He always smiling and is also wearing blue colour shirt with bindi in his head. Every month Mamma do special Poojha for this god.

Mamma calling to go to school. Bye Diary.

Love at first sight (Snapshots from a Konkan Getaway)

2011-09-04T14:46:00.001-07:00

Love at first sight (Snapshots from a Konkan Getaway)

Route map:
Interiors of Maharashtra > Amboli > Shiroda > Sindhudurgh > Tarkarli > Interiors of Maharashtra

Duration:
2 to 3 Days

Dress code:
Carry apt wear for beaches / waterfalls. If possible carry a hat / cap - chances of getting tanned very high – carry sun block / tan lotion

Preferable season of the year to visit
Monsoon

My experience
The drive, the weather, the clean not so populated beaches, the 'athiti devo bhava' attitude of Konkan local folks can only lead to one thing - a perfect weekend getaway from all the polluted tension filled normal life which we lead.
It is hard to find loads of sea shells and underwater unique organisms available for visual treat so easily. Its a swimmers paradise I would say. Not to forget the forts that Marathas built and cherish. If I do not mention the scenic beauty all along the drive I would be missing a vital part of the trip.

It was a 2 day trip as we set out to explore the Konkan belt from Maharashtra. Amboli is a must visit place in India. Mind you this is not a casual statement as in normal tourist write ups. It is hard to find 5 waterfalls in the same place with a gigantic valley view. This place is called Kawalashet point. Never miss this if you are somewhere near Konkan / Maharashtra. I still remember the feeling I had - 'Should I go back or stay there?'.

The Amboli waterfall is another delight. Cold pure healty is the nature of water flowing with a great zeal touches which your feet first and then pulls you like a magnet to the very pit of its lap where you can enjoy a nice natural head massage of the drumming water. Mind you...you tend to sleep off due to the natural massage but stay awake, you get to see more of Konkan later also!

We traveled straight to Shiroda from Amboli. Beware, if you are crazy about photography, mind you this trip might take more than 3 days. We reached the resort called green valley which has Tent Huts (Interesting way to stay). After freshening up with a nice cold face wash and some tea we realized that the beach was waiting. The beach was a 5 minutes walk from the resort.

It was a view to rejoice. Barely 4 to 5 people around and a vast stretch of beach all around you. Because there are not many people to disturb, it is an amazing place to be. One can hear the sound of the waves so clearly that at times you get a strange feeling of fear of the ocean also. That’s mainly because of the clear and heavy sound of the ocean. But I have not seen so many crabs moving around freely, mainly due to the fact that there is less population of humans out there. For people who collect sea shells this place is heaven incarnated.

After the refreshing stint at the beach one can take rest in the tent huts and enjoy a nice malwani style dinner. The next day morning Konkan took us to another place which left us open mouthed. The Sindhudurgh Fort stands tall with the waves bouncing. At one point of time when one finds a boat to get into and sail towards the fort, the feeling crosses the mind if the fort is floating on water. Such a delight that fort is right in the middle of waves. The trip towards the fort and the clear water near the fort island, the view from atop the fort walls is all a lifetime experience, inside the fort it was a little disappointing to see burned coconut trees standing unattended and a lot of rough forest type dry vegetation.

A few stalls here and there to see packed chips and artificial drinks made the charm of the place come down. But still all this did nothing to contain the vastness of the fort standing bang in the middle of water. A few temples were around. An option of snorkeling also exists at the shores. Rare species of oceanic organisms can be seen out there. The water is so crystal clear that you often get to see these organisms move so clearly. After coming back from Sindhudurgh, one can visit a beach called “Tarkarli”. New facilities have started blossoming here also for stay and the beach is again a very less populated white sand clue water kind of beach. We found a lot of ‘outsiders’ as we call the Videshi Babus. A long and interesting drive back to Maharashtra with some Marathi food to end the day was a completion effect for the most interesting weekend Konkan Getaway. Don’t miss it!

Destination Mexico

2011-09-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

Heathrow Airport, London
Monday 4th August 2008 8:16 am

This is the first stop (after my take off at Hyderabad city in India) where I could comfortably open my laptop and start typing away my mind. What has triggered me to type down the happenings en-route to Mexico are a series of unexpected and interesting events.

Though my flight was at 1800 Hrs from Hyderabad Airport to Mumbai, considering the fact that there might be traffic I started a bit early, or should I say a bit too early. Here i was at the Hyderabad Airport at 4:00 pm itself, getting out of an easy cab after paying a hefty 800 Rupees for the drop from home to. Airport. And you know what, the first surprise of the day came next. I was allowed at 4:00 pm itself to do my check-in for the domestic flight.

As I was searching for the Jet Airways check-in counter which was free, one lady at counter number 6 called. There was a pile of luggage which belonged to a family trying to check-in for the same flight. Calling an attendant to move that luggage which will facilitate me to go to counter 6 the lady asked for my tickets. I took out my e-tickets and handed it over to her.

Now came the second surprise. She asked if I was traveling international and when I said yes and that the carrier is British Airways, She said there is a through check-in facility from Hyderabad to Mexico and all I need to do is identify my luggage at the Mumbai Airport. I was more than happy. My travel agent had specified that through check-in is not available. And here I was, giving my contact address at the destination Mexico to the wonderful lady who had given me the second surprise of the day.

Next came the third surprise, which I was not prepared for. The lady at the counter saw my passport and started talking with a nice smile on her face “Oh, so you are a February born?” for which I said “Yes” in a very thoughtful manner. Then I realized something. There are chances that she could be an Aquarian too. I never strike a conversation too fast with a totally unknown person, but I couldn’t resist this time. The words seem to be gushing out of my mouth as if a reservoir gates had been opened. “Am I talking to another Aquarian by any chance?” and bang came the answer “Yes, 10th of Feb” with a very cute smile which is still registered in my mind.

Saying thanks to her and forcibly moving my ass out of the counter as another passenger was waiting behind me, I walked towards the security check, got my hand luggage screened and sat at Gate 26 where the Jet Airways flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai was scheduled to depart. Then I took out the Bhagavatham book which was a English translated version and started continuing what I was reading on my way to the airport. I felt a little hungry. Walking down to the coffee counter I picked up a hot chocolate for a sky high price of 70Rupees and a Spanish Phrase book for Rs.249 which I had searched in Hyderabad in 2 main bookshops but didn’t find.
Finally the boarding call came. I got into the flight and got my 16C seat. As i was looking at all the passengers who were coming in one by one, I saw a very familiar face getting in and going to the business class seating area. I realized it was the fourth surprise of the day; it was the tollywood (Hollywood of Andhra Pradesh, India) actress Ileana whom I had seen. She was traveling back to Mumbai from Hyderabad. This is the second time I am encountering a cine actress in the same flight I am traveling through. The first time was like a dream, I had traveled in the same flight in which the South Indian Cine Super Star Rajnikanth traveled.

Then a mother and her daughter arrived searching for their seats. The daughter’s seat was 16B and the mother’s seat was 16E. I just stood up so that the daughter can go to her seat. Now the fifth surprise, the mother mis-understood that I was offering my seat to her and said “Oh thanks. You don’t have a problem?” Unfortunately I had to say “Yes”. The gentlemen who was seated in 16D was about to stand up so that I can sit in 16E, but somewhere out of all my parallel thinking I had determined to take an autograph from the actress. So I requested the gentleman (An Englishman as I guessed) to be seated and told him that I have something to complete before I sit.

I then took out the Spanish phrase book and my pen. I scratched the pen to check if it was writing and then I went straight to the business class area. This was a brave task for me. I don’t exactly remember when I had done the nearest brave thing before this. I just excused myself for disturbing Ileana and asked her if she could autograph for me. She smiled and asked “Are you sure you want me to sign on this book?” I just shrugged my shoulders as if to say this is the nearest paper I could get to for obtaining your signature. She signed “Thanks, Ileana”. Her signature was as stylish as the way she carried herself.

Smelling the air of success, I walked back to my seat which was now 16E. I donno why such petty things makes one feel great, maybe a short thanks to adrenalin?
Asking for an excuse to the gentleman in seat 16D, I sat down on my seat. I was fumbling around trying to identify where the socket was for the earphones when the Englishman helped me out. Then I sat back and tried the available programs and clicked on the movie “Fools Die”. The journey went on then till Mumbai airport without many surprises.

After reaching Mumbai domestic airport I went to the enquiry counter and asked them about the place where I need to board the shuttle to the international airport. Taking a ticket and understanding that the ticket number will be flashed to board the shuttle, I sat back in the waiting area and made some phone calls to home and some of my friends who were close to me. Expressing the fact that I had obtained a signature from the tollywood actress might have sounded great for me but for them it didn’t have any major “Wow” effect. And I was reminded by my sister over a message in my mobile that the book I was carrying was a Spiritual book. She had assumed that I had taken the signature of the actress on the spiritual book. I explained to her that I had got the signature on the Spanish book which I had bought at the Hyderabad Airport.

Taking the shuttle, I reached the Mumbai international Airport (a very crowded one indeed). Asking for directions to British Airways Terminal, I went into Gate D as directed. Then came the sixth surprise. This time, not a pleasant one. I was informed by the British Airways control desk that my luggage will arrive at 0030 Hrs only and till then I could not check-in. So I had to wait till 0030 Hrs.

I picked up a Sandwich for 130Rs (amazingly high) from the US. Pizza counters and gobbled it up. Then I bought a cup of Tea from a normal Vendor who also charged Rs.15 for the normal cup. Then I sat back waiting for my luggage to arrive. I saw a lot of people being questioned for carrying liquid food stuff and cooker etc., A slow fear started creeping into me. What if after the luggage arrived and the screening happens, I was asked to place all the food stuff and cooker aside as many others were asked to do and leave them at the airport? I prepared my self mentally for such a disaster.

Meanwhile 4 of the crew members of British Airways gave me assurance that my luggage would come by 0030 Hrs and I could board the flight without any issues. Though I was a bit tense, when I heard that this was a daily ongoing happening from one of the crewmembers I got convinced.

My luggage finally arrived. Now came the seventh surprise. I have heard of things happening like a cakewalk. I witnessed it for the first time in my life. The baggage was scanned and cleared without any questions including my hand luggage. In this hurry, I lost one of the locks to my baggage. I thought “Never Mind” bigger problems were solved today. So the loss of a lock is not a big thing.

Then I went into immigration. A lady seated at the desk had a very crisp session with me asking my purpose of visit and duration of stay and the company I represented. I was stamped for travel and got into the gate area where the departure crowd was waiting.

The mother of all surprises came now, the Eighth Surprise. My ticket number was 29A. After calling all business class passengers and special passengers, a call came for passengers in Seats 21 to 30. I walked through. The lady at the desk did something which left me wordless. She struck the 29A number and made it 18A and said that British Airways had given me an upgrade in my ticket.

Since I had traveled once to Berlin before and had taken the KLM where such an upgrade meant from economy to higher economy, I assumed not much of difference would be there except leg space. I stepped into the flight and was directed to 18A. I would have screamed out in joy if it was not for the fellow paggengers sitting there. I had been given a higher class and not a higher economy class. It had a seating arrangement where I could fully stretch myself and sleep with a separate footrest. It had an individual monitor to view the choice of movies / news / programs and a cuisine choice too.

I sat back and enjoyed the moments of luck shining on me. I enjoyed a meal at 0245 in the night, filled up an envelope for 500Rs to UNICEF as kept in brochure the travel jacket by British Airways and then saw 30 minutes of an amazing movie called “The Oxford Murders”. Then my eyes started burning due to lack of sleep and I dozed off for the first time on a flight as comfortable as at home. I woke up at around 5:45 am UK time and had a nice breakfast with juice cereals and bread and then continued watching the remaining part of “The Oxford Murders” and completed it.

Then I started watching “The Incredible” when the announcement for flight landing came. Since the terminal in which I landed (Terminal 14) was the same as the one I was supposed to go to Mexico also, I just got the security check done for my hand luggage and then sat at the waiting area when I started typing this at 8:16 am. Its 9:45 am now. A lady came and sat in the seat in front of me. From her appearance i could easily make out that she was from India and that too from south India.

I struck a conversation with her which ended up in my Ninth Surprise. I came to know she is from Thanjavur which happened to be the place where I studied. Also I came to know that she is married to Jagannathan who was my senior in Shanmugha College. I could identify Jagannathan by a photograph which she showed. I then realized that as people say, the world is definitely a small place. She was traveling back from US to Chennai for her sister’s marriage. We discussed facts about life in the US and a few other details on schooling and college etc.

Anger of the signs

2010-09-01T05:20:00.001-07:00

Anand and Arun Chronicles

Case File 1: Anger of the signs

We broke into the house. It was a nauseating smell. I still cannot forget it. The house was dimly lit. I could make out that a calendar with a poster of Audrey Hepburn and a Map were hanging on the wall. The wall was very dirty. Whoever lived here was not bothered to maintain the house. The floor was filled with dust and the dust was visibly thick. A few books here and there, Empty and half finished bottles of beer were also lying around. We slowly walked down what was supposed to be a huge hallway and reached near the kitchen. As we approached the kitchen we realized that the smell was increasing.

Then we saw it. There was the body of a man lying on the floor face down. His body had swelled and the skin tone had changed. I could not make out the color of the skin tone exactly as the light was dim. But the lighting was enough to make out that the skin tone had changed. Slowly me and Arun closed to the body and took out our torches. Arun was the first to jump back. Then I also stepped back cautiously. Next to the body, there were many huge black scorpions moving around. Arun turned the body so that we could see the face of the dead person.

It was a ghastly sight. The face of the victim was swollen beyond recognition and had blood which was dark think and had formed a clot. Arun almost puked. Still gathering courage, he took out his camera from the bag and started clicking. After the first 2 clicks, I noticed the scorpions move faster and towards both of us. I signaled Arun and we both moved out immediately. It was strange. A man lying un-attended bitten to death by scorpions, that too almost 10 black huge scorpions. It was strange to find such a thing happening in a city locality. Vikram Rathore had been the best in the league. He was extinct now. Thanks to the scorpions. I could not sleep peacefully that night.

The next day I was driving to office when I got a call from Sheetal. Her voice sounded very disturbed and it was evident from her tone that she was crying. I asked her what the problem was. She said something which made me stand rooted. “Keshav is dead. Please rush to CSI hospital in Ali Haider road immediately”. I could not digest the news. Keshav was 26 years old. He had been engaged last week. We had all attended his engagement. And today Sheetal says she is no more! I floored the accelerator, inviting some super cool abuses from the junta-traffic. Not bothering about the curses, I reached CSI hospital well within 10 minutes.

I rushed to the reception after parking my bike outside the gate. Asking for the ward in which Keshav was, I was shocked to know his body was in the general ward now ready to be discharged to the rightful owners. I rushed in the direction of the sign which said “General Ward”. I found a lot of people standing near the doorway, crying inside them selves and not shedding tears. I slowly entered the room. I saw Sheetal sitting next to the bed and crying. Her eyes were red and puffy. On seeing me she stood up and came running to me, took me by the hand and dragged me to the bed. What I saw in the bed was unbelievable. There was a white cloth which was tied up. The white cloth had fresh blood stains. It did not represent a human body in any form. I asked Sheetal where is Keshav. She pointed out the bundled white cloth and cried out loud. I made her sit down and went to Puri uncle.

His eyes were also puffed and red. He told me something which gave me the shock of my life. Keshav had gone for a cruise ride and had fell off in to the sea. He had been attacked by sharks and had been killed. What remained of his body after the attack was brought back by the coast guard which was now lying as a bundle on the bed. I felt tears trickle down my cheeks and flowing down to my uniform. I picked up my mobile and called Arun asking him to come to CSI hospital as early as he can. Arun said it would take him some time and he was attending a case. I told him what had happened and went out of the room unable to handle the grief and sat in the chair that was placed in the lobby of the hospital. I knew Arun would not come because he and Keshav did not go well together.

After the funeral I was driving back home. I was tried. It had been a bad day. Keshav was a good friend of mine. I could not stand the sight of Sheetal crying continuously. I understood her grief but could not do anything. Maybe it was fate.

After locking the garage and keeping the milk in the freezer, I went and sat on the couch. The house was at its best. Empty ice cream tubs, half eaten potato chips packets all strewn along. The tea kettle was standing on the stove dark and tired of making me tea again and again. I picked up the remote and switched on the television. The clock displayed 21:08. Some channels boasted of petty information as breaking news and reporters were harassing the viewers with unwanted and cooked up information. I switched channels. Nothing was interesting.

Browsing through channels I hit on one of the traditional channels which were talking about astrology. It was my sun sign Aquarius. I listened to what the astrologer was saying as the day’s predictions. He was saying I would get a nice name in my job … blah blah blah…! Then a thought struck me, Sharks and scorpions. Both victims of the day were killed by non humans and both were representing something. It was a funny thing but could not be ruled out. I picked up my mobile phone and dialed Arun. I heard 8 rings and no response. Poor fellow must have hit the bed as he also had a tried day. He had not turned up at Keshav’s funeral as there had been another case which he had to rush for.

Around 20 minutes later Arun called back. His voice was shaken. He had gone to check out on a weird murder. What he narrated gave a chill run down the spine. “Anand, do you remember Sub-Inspector Chandrakant? He was killed today by someone. And you know how, he was stabbed in the heart by a sharp object. The object looks something like an animal’s horn. But the body is clean. No signs of fingerprints in his body or even in the house. Not even on the murder object!” I asked him how exactly the murder weapon looked like. He described it and I could easily make out what it was. It was the horn of a Ram.

I asked Arun to come down to my place and I also told him that my instincts say that there is a serial killer on the prowl. After disconnecting the call with Arun, I switched on my laptop and connected to the internet. Then I logged into the SIU (Special Investigation Unit) database and scanned for the first victim of the day. Vikram Rathore. He had been a very successful policeman. He had earned quiet a lot and was married to Divya, who was a housewife. I read much more about him and his personal interests. Some information about his family also was available.

Then I started searching about Keshav, who was the second victim of the day. Though that Keshav’s death was just an accident and had no connection to the murders, I did not want to take a chance. Something was troubling me. Though i knew Keshav personally, the SIU files revealed more of his interests. I never knew he was the member of one of the country’s famous NGOs and was also a founding member of two more NGOs. A very rich man indeed he was.

I was about to check for the third victim inspector Chandrakant when I heard the doorbell ring. Leaving the laptop on the couch I walked towards the door and opened it. It was Arun. He had come in his Fortuner and had parked it right behind my Chevy. I welcomed him in and locked the door. After offering him a Blue Label with 2 cubes of ice, I started explaining him the 2 victim’s details which I had gone through so far. We studied the details of the third victim together. As known to everybody, Chandrakant was the most corrupt official known till date. His property details made us dizzy. For a man in the sub-inspector cadre he must have swindled money to get so much of property in his name and such a whooping bank balance.

As we were reading through his details, something alarming struck me. I asked Arun to hold on and went back to the details of the first two victims. All the three victims believed in astrology a lot, including Keshav. And what more? Keshav’s wife Sheetal and Chandrakanth’s wife visited the same astrologer. I had no details about the first victim on visiting any astrologer.

I asked Arun to run through the web directory for the astrologer’s name so that we can talk to him to get some more details. Arun got the number and dialed on my cordless phone. After 5 rings the call went to voicemail. Huh! An astrologer having a voicemail phone (must be a rich guy). He had left a note that he is away and we can call on his mobile. Something in Arun’s mind prompted him to ask me to run through if there were any records for the astrologer. We could not find any records in the name of Dipanker Banerjee. Then I thought of another idea. I downloaded the photograph of the astrologer and inserted it into the face recognition software SIU used for identifying people if their identity was unknown.

Arun started laughing stating that we are thinking the astrologer to be a murderer and I was out of my mind since I was tired due to the day’s work. I ignored his comments and ran the search. 5%...24%....63%...and no matches yet. I stood up to refill my glass for a drink when the software displayed a match found for the face in the SIU database for criminals. The person whom we thought as an astrologer ‘Dipankar Banerjee’ was actually Victor Prakash. Two times convicted for attempt to murder but cleared on account of mental disorders. He had run away from Tristar Mental Hospital Goregaon a year ago and was absconding since then.

Arun almost dropped the glass in his hand. But what was his motive. He was a mentally unstable person, no doubt. But there seemed to be a pattern in these murders. Then something stuck both me and Arun. We both saw on the bookshelf glaring in front of us a Book by the name “Linda Goodman Sun Signs”. Then we realized that the murder pattern was of the sun signs. I quickly referred back the database for the date of birth of all the three victims. We were in a state of shock.

First Victim: Vikram Rathore: 02-Nov-1977 – Scorpio (Bitten by Scorpions and killed)

Second Victim: Keshav Malhotra: 15-Mar-1973 – Pisces (Eaten away by the Sharks)

Third Victim: Chandrakant Kelkar: 12-Apr-1968 – Aries (Stabbed in the heart by the Horn of the Ram)

Victor had used the sun sign of the victims as his weapon. This was a strange case. I had never seen or heard of such a psychopath before, that too in the guise of an astrologer. We realized that he had good contacts in order to arrange for Keshav’s murder by the sharks and Chandrakant’s murder was a cakewalk for him.

I and Arun looked at each other. We had to save more lives. We headed for my dressing room. I gave him my spare bullet proof jacket and wore mine. I picked up my semi-automatic and also my SIU Assault Rifle. Arun always carried his automatic in the holster and had his Rifle in the Fortuner. We headed for the door. Our next destination was Victor’s residence. Arun called for backup and asked them to assemble at a distance from Victor’s residence. I drove Arun’s vehicle while he was giving all necessary instructions. Victor’s residence seemed undisturbed. It was close to 23:45 pm.

The security guard came up to the door on hearing the vehicle’s sound. We showed him our identify cards and took him to custody on account of suspicion and did not give him an opportunity to call up anybody or warn anybody. We then rushed in. We scanned the whole house and realized that he was not there. We started to leave the house when I noticed that there was a reception desk in the front. Must be the place where his so called clients wait for him. I quickly asked Arun to get the vehicle started. Meanwhile I went to the reception desk and searched for any clues. I found a register. A thought came to my mind to pick up this register and I did the same.

I joined Arun in the car and we decided to call it a day. Arun drove back this time and he invited me to drop in for some tea. I agreed as I was hungry. I switched on the light inside the car and put on my reading glasses and started reading the register. I turned pages when I found Sheetal Keshav’s name in one of the lists. It was dated 14-Aug-2009. I kept browsing the pages and noticed Chandrakant’s name with a ‘+1’ marked against it, must have been his wife. I continued my scan on the register and came to the last page. Exhausted I closed the register and switched off the light inside the car. After a while, the car slowly pulled into the colony in which Arun lived. I quickly asked Arun to stop the car. A flash occurred in my mind. I switched on the light inside the car and opened the register again. On the last but one page of the register I saw a name which gave me shivers. The name read “Priya Arun, No 12: St Anne’s colony”. I showed it to Arun. His face went pale.

I stepped out of the car. I and Arun decided to go on foot. Now, we were aware that Arun was Victor’s next target. It was a strange revelation. We could never have thought that Priya (Arun’s wife) would have gone to meet this phony astrologer. It was time to act. Knowing the design of Arun’s home very well, I asked Arun to enter through the main gate casually. I said I would cover him accordingly and took the other route which lead to a garden near his house. I slowly tip-toed into the garden by scaling the wall and then I started climbing one of the big trees. This would give me a perfect sniper position. I positioned myself in such a way that I could see the bedroom French windows of Arun’s house.

I waited. There was no movement till now. Arun entered through the main gate. He walked casually into the courtyard towards the main door of his house. A sweat broke in my forehead. I had to think fast. Then something came to my mind. I picked up my mobile with great difficulty perching on the tree like an eagle. I dialed the number of Victor which I had saved from the answering machine. For a few seconds there was nothing. Then I could hear the caller tune of “Om Jai Jagdish Hare”. Something distracted me. Yes! A faint light was appearing on and off from the balcony of Arun’s house. I disconnected the call. Victor was there. I took aim using my rifle and found a dark human form perched on the balcony of Arun’s house though the night vision monocular fitted on my rifle. I adjusted the vision to make it as clear as possible.

I took aim but waited for the right moment. Arun had reached the top floor by now. He switched on the front room’s lights. I could see the balcony now clearly. The killer was there waiting like a cheetah ready to strike. I took aim and fired my shot. I heard a muffled cough through the silencer and I saw the dark human form fall to the floor. I was not sure if I had taken the target. I immediately dialed Arun. He picked up in the second ring. I asked him to check the balcony with caution. Arun took out his automatic and went to the balcony. He opened the door with caution pointing the automatic at the human form expecting some retaliation but none. He slowly went near and checked the pulse in the neck to confirm the man was dead. He also removed the mask this man was wearing on his face and to my solace confirmed it as Victor Prakash, the psychopath serial killer who could have created some more heinous trouble in the neighborhood.

A detailed presentation was made by me and Arun the next day morning at the SIU divisional office. We were applauded for our brave act. I could still see the dread in Arun’s eyes. Priya’s life had been at stake the previous night. I smiled back and him and nodded my head to convey that everything was fine now.

Victor Prakash was declared dead and his records were updated in the SIU database. Case file 1 was closed. No one in the SIU unit forgot the case of “Anger of the signs“. It had been a weird but interesting case at the cost of one of our best friends Keshav. This hunt is dedicated to Keshav.