One Summer Afternoon.

As the announcement rang through the empty platform the train smoothly glided and screeched halt. An unruly crowd got down from the train and rushed towards the exit.

It was a summer afternoon. The sun was shining with all its might at the zenith. Duppattas, hair, ties, loose ends of sarees and turbans were fluttering westwards with the hot wind. No one was smiling. No one could have smiled in such a weather. Everything there was, was silent, except for the announcement box which played away its two language recording in monotony.
A dry gloom set on the metro platform as the digital clock above struck two, in angry red, blocklike numbers.

As the doors closed and the train rattled away from the terminus, the crowd hurried down, jamming all stairs and the few escalators that did not have yellow "under maintainence" boards on them. Far in the air conditioned glass boxes, the clerks who, to valourize their corporate worth take pleasure in calling themselves 'metro assistants', sat with their emblems of sophistication hanging from their crisp collars and stretched with boredom. The security guards had lay their AK 47s down to relax with gossips and power naps. An electrician was fiddling in a corner with a passage box and a screwdriver. A bald passenger who had wished to make an enquiry, frowned in his moment's despair. He had wadded his way through the sea of people, to the customer care only to find the office vacant and impotent.

Beautiful women are not rare a sight at the metro station. A girl dressed in a white and pink salwaar kameez was walking down the stairs that faced the deserted customer care. She was tall and fairly young of age, was slim and dusky in her demeanor. Her eyes were heavily lined with kohl and upon her ears dangled long but beautifully crafted pieces of silver metal. Lusturous locks of her long loose hair batted in random, against her face and the light pink dupatta draped stylishly around her, showed ripples, as the weather played in it.

Far in a corner stood one of the metro assistants in vigilance, his hands on his hips. He stood in front of one of the glass boxes and surveyed the crowd as they placed their cards and tokens on the electronic passageways and made their exit. On his face it wasn't hidden that the heat was slowly taking a toll on him. Subconciously he envied his fellow workers who sat in the glass boxes and with determination fought his desire to rip off the piece of his uniform which hanged from his neck, which in the sweltering heat was suffocating him.

He stood there in vigilance, but all that he was really doing was gawking at the girl. Nobody seemed to notice her as she quitely decended the steps. "What a charm." he was thinking to himself, as he stood there lost in his longing for one such woman, to favour him. Cursing in the next moment, that in reality his dream seemed but so very distant.
"I wish I had a chance to talk to her. Look at her, she is ice cream", and he didnot even realise what desires had come across in his perverse subconcious.

Mirculously in the dullness of the afternoon, his luck had heard his sighs and his pleas.
At first he couldn't believe his eyes. Did she actually all of a sudden halt midway on the stairs? She was indeed standing on the stairs, supporting lightly her head with her free hand, as if she would loose her balance and fall. She stood there, in that position with an expression on her lovely face of something that had suddenly dawned upon her. Something unbearable.

He was praying to his stars for something to happen which would give him a chance to talk to her. He had already had the whiff of the mild possibility.

She sat down on the stairs. Unable to hold onto her weakness anymore, she had burried her face in her hands. "This is it". He was triumphant. Luck had granted him more than he had asked for. He wanted a chance to talk to her, but now he could snub her from the little authority that his office had bestowed upon him as a metro assistant. She was here, flouting a rule. The magic wand had given him all the power that her beauty and distance was commanding over him so far.

With his best airs, he walked over to the ailing girl and said, bending over her to the stretch civility allows, " Excuse me, sitting on the stairs is not allowed". There were no fears now. He was the shark. She was the little fish.

But the girl didnot move. She sat there like stone, upon the stairs. He cleared his throat, and this time turning the volume of his authority a little higher, he repeated his sentence. The girl still didnot move.

He was little disturbed and not to mention a little hurt at his self esteem. An anger seemed brew from his wound. This time he tapped her bony shoulder curtly with his index finger and repeated his objection for the third time. Within he shivered with excitement for the matter was now going but little out of hands. She could fling up and start a fight. He secretly wished to create a scene. A quarrel with a beautiful customer is much of a flaunting, more so if you are in for the rule that she is flouting.

But, in answer to his tap, she merely raised her head and stared blankly at him, as if she was clueless where she was and who he is. Her face was lined with tears marks and molten black of the kohl. She was gently crying.

That gaze in her eyes conveyed to his insides, that tremendous pain that she was in. It is difficut to tell whether his humanity or his professionalism provoked him, he tonned himself down and voiced one of the softer lines his training provided to his vocabulary, "can I help you".

Her expressions darkened. She tried to say something to him but her words were drowned in the sudden noise. A shrill siren of the next train rang through the empty platform above.

.. and I apologise to my readers.... This was when I had reached the passageway, as I stood in the line of the exiting passengers. I hurriedly pressed my wallet to the sensor. The impatient mob had began yelling at me, from behind.

The Silent Promise.

Once, in Zenny's bedroom, on a wooden shelf sat two very beautiful toys. One of them was Kaloo, a teddy bear, the fattest, the cudliest, the cutest of them all. His large body was covered with dark fur and he had tiny black twinkling eyes which often complimented his lovingly huge smile.

Beside him sat his best friend, Rainbow. Rainbow had come as a birthday gift to Zenny from her uncle who lived in the city. Zenny had decided to call her Rainbow for her pretty dress which had almost all the colours of a Rainbow.

However, Kaloo thought otherwise. Rainbow was a porcelain doll who had the fairest of complexions and round rosy cheeks. Her luxurious dark hair was tied in two long braids which fell on the front adding to her dress the one colour that was missing. But most beautiful of her were the eyes. Kaloo was often amazed by the sheer variety of emotions they could exhuberate. Rainbow was never without animation on her face. All the time Kaloo noticed her, she was either smiling or blushing, either lost in dreams or her eyes would shine with innocent mischief. Rainbow had come to Kaloo as a blessing in his bland, uneventful life. She was the one who brought him colours for his yellowing canvas. She was one reason Kaloo had, to look forward to each day.

Initially when Rainbow was first brought to the shelf where Kaloo sat, she had been skeptical about the big bear. He was silent and ugly as she thought and made awful noises while he slept. It was on that occasion when one night while dozing on their shelf, Rainbow had a nightmare and she screamed. That made Kaloo jump out of his sleep only to find her falling off the shelf. Kaloo had caught her just in time and comforted her as she sobbed away, her face hidden in his arms. Since then, she had been indebted to Kaloo and they had held each other every night as they slept. Since then and forever, they had been best of friends.

It was summer vacations. Zenny's aunt with her daughter came to spend few days at her sisters. Cherry, Zenny's cousin, who was only but two years younger to Zenny loved to spend her vacations with her cousin. It was always fun as they would play dolls all day, go swimming, picnic their afternoons away under the shade of the tree in the garden. Spending the summer together was a bliss for these young girls as they were so fond of each other.

It had never occured to Cherry but this summer when she came to visit, she found herself completely lost with Kaloo. All summer she had adored Kaloo as he sat majestically on his shelf. On the day she bade goodbye, she sweetly asked Zenny with an embarassed hope, if she would want to part with him. To Zenny however, it came as a mild surprize. She was happy that she could do something for her cousin who was so but nice to her. So Cherry had Kaloo to take him with her home and Kaloo with tears blurring his tiny eyes, bade a sad farewell to his Rainbow and left with Cherry to a new life.

Life at Cherry's was however very different from what Kaloo had expected. Cherry had a large room. Much larger than Zenny's which only accomodated a bed, a study table, a shelf and many books. Cherry's room was vast in stature and as magnificient. It had a large bed in a corner with many coloured quilt making it look more cosy. Large shelves covered the remaining walls and they were brimming with toys. There were several more soft figures like Kaloo himself. Though they were not teddy bears, they were bunnys with long ears and red carrots in their mouths, elephants with cute trunks and white tusks. There were plastic dolls with fair hair and blue eyes. A toy train which could hoot, Cars of many sizes, furry clockwork pups and kittys, Bounce balls, skip ropes, skettles. There was an entire troop of men dressed in red and carrying musical instruments.
On one of the walls, was a large mirror in which Kaloo observed how odd he looked with the new background, but nevertheless Cherry always made sure that he never felt out of place.

Cherry unlike Zenny took immense care to give Kaloo all possible comforts. He was her companion everywhere she went. To the supermarket, to the playground, to the family outings. Sometimes even to lay beside her in bed. She even sneaked him to her school once and Kaloo was amazed by the blackboard, the neatly dressed students and the glossy eyes of the stern looking but kind teacher. With Cherry Kaloo saw the world he had never known. He experienced realms which were but beyond his imagination.

Absorved in his new life, Kaloo never for once thought about what he had left behind. He lived here so happy and content that there was nothing he missed, until the blossoms in the garden began to shed their finery and the sun began to shine mightier than ever. It was time Cherry visited her sister again, and indeed they went back to Zenny's together. Cherry and her mother took the evening train, thus by the time they reached, it was almost bedtime. After supper the girls and Kaloo were tucked in bed, when Kaloo began looking around his old home. Everything there was still the same, Kaloo thought. The bed had not been moved, the table was now piled with a few more books, the shelf still had the exact number of toys. How few they now appeared to Kaloo and how very dusty. Suddenly it dawned on him. Wait a minute, there was a little change. Where was the little doll who should have been sitting on that top shelf? On the top shelf were Rainbow should have been sitting sat a pink piggy bank. Rainbow was gone.

The world seemed to turn in Kaloo's mind and it began making him dizzy. The dizzier he was guiltier he felt. How could he have ever forgotten his little girl. How could he have ever ditched his best friend. She had brought him happiness when he had been sitting on the shelf for years in despair. How could he now let go of her love for a little chance of material mirth. How could he become so selfish.

Kaloo shed tears of bitterness. He cried and cried. For the first time since he had left Zenny's room, he realised the incompleteness of his life. But perhaps it was too late. He tried to think but couldnot in his mind dare to even contemplate what must have happened to Rainbow.

The clock out in the dining hall struck twelve. The girls must be in deep sleep by now, Kaloo thought. He freed himself from Cherry's grasp and softly slid down the bed. There was very little possibility that Rainbow would be around, but kaloo had to take a chance. Else he would have had to stay for the rest of his life regreting his mistake. With enormous hope for the slightest miracle he began walking around the room. He checked under the bed. Lifted the table cloth with great caution, so as to avoid the great pile of books sliding over him, and gazed under the study table. With a heavy heart he peered into the dustbin, praying each time he removed a piece of garbage there. He searched for a long time but with hard luck. Rainbow was nowhere to be found.

Tired, Kaloo sat down on the floor. Cursing himself he held his head in his chubby palms and wept. A gloom began to fall around him. Life would no longer be fun for him he thought. His heart was stinging with severe ache. Suddenly he heard faint sobs. Kaloo first thought his sadness was driving him insane but then, the sobs echoed again through the silent room. Kaloo's heart lept with joy. "Rainbow Rainbow" Kaloo began whispering in the still air. He strained his ears and listened carefully.

While Kaloo was gone, Rainbow spent her days sitting on the shelf heartbroken. She missed him every second the big clock in the dinner hall ticked away. Her face began to wear off all the animation. Her eyes lost their shine and slowly she forgot how she once smiled. one night while she was sleeping, rainbow dreamt of Kaloo and that he was falling in a deep dark pit. She saw herself screaming his name, stretching out her little hands to hold his but alas he fell and went far far away from her. She lost him in the darkness of the pit.

Rainbow had indeed screamed as she felt the nightmare shake her bones. But there was no one to hold her. Since then she had spent her life in the cabinet under the shelf, hidden away from the eyes of Zenny's mother, hidden away from the sun.

She stared strangely in to Kaloo's tear soaked happy face, as if she was trying hard not to believe this was a dream. As Kaloo found her lying in the cabinet he was shocked. There was a large ugly crack on the side of her face. Her fine nose was now bruised flat and a large chunk was missing from her knee and her porcelain dress of many colours. Stuffed away in the cabinet, Rainbow had lost all her charms but very myteriously, her presence in the cabinet gave the dark place a pleasant aura. Kaloo held her in his arms. He wanted to apologise with all his heart but only found his voice was choked in his throat. Rainbow had buried her cracked vanity and her hurt soul in his large furry chest. And Once again, they sat together in the darkness, as silent as the moonbeams were, in the lawn outside.

Howling At The North Pole

I am howling.
All night.
Beyond the figures,
whose colours mingle with the dark.
Beyond the routinely round,
serenly shining, Moon.

I am howling.
At the North Pole.
Where I sit on my mound,
Which is but majestically white.
Where the starry snow flakes,
glide their way through the velvety sky.

I am howling.
But alone.
No one ever sits here with me.
No one I have, to celebrate,
my howling record with.
No one I have,
to put a warm hand around me,
and guard me against the chill.

And, I donot wish to share my mound.
For they would throw me off it, If I do.
I donot wish to share my records.
For they would get the green serpents, If I do.
I donot wish the warmth,
I donot wish to be indebted forever.

I am howling,
and I am happy.
Even if, they care but to stay away,
I am happy, at least they care.


I am cherishing.
This pleasure of calm.
As I blow my lungs with the air,
and howl away this long night.

A king without subjects I am,
Upon my throne.

At the Wide White North Pole.
Stale and Hopeless.

I am getting Lazy.

This is Lame but I just had to upload this. If you have had the E-mail you would know these are Cakes. And If you have had the skills of judging you would know these are of those amazing kinds ... Anyways, Flip back to read my posts .. Cheers!

A Fair Adventure

Once upon a time, there was a playful stream. Near that stream was a little village where lived a farmer and his wife. They were pretty well to do as the farmer was a very hard working man. However they had no children. so the farmer's wife spent her time rearing a poultry for their family. The poultry would provide them eggs for breakfast and later she took the rest of them to the village market to sell. The poultry would also provide them with somptous dishes when the guests came for a visit. All in all, the farmer and his wife lived happily.

The farmer's wife had many hens in her poultry. One of them was Mrs. Prettyfeathers. She was a self righteous hen. She thought the wife exploited them way too much. She really hated when in the morning the wife came to take away her eggs. "This is injustice." Mrs. Prettyfeathers often thought. "Why can't I have all my eggs to myself? Afterall it takes much pain to hatch them."

So Mrs. Prettyfeathers plotted a plan. One day when all the other hens where pecking in the yard, she quitely sneaked away and reached the old grainary.

The granary had once caught fire. The farmer had suffered huge loss due to that fire. Yes, those were the days, Mrs. Prettyfeathers remembered, when many hens where taken away from the poultry and made into dinner. But those days were now gone and the granary was now no longer in use. But this was the place, the hens rumoured, where a sly, red, fox called Mr. Gnaw often made his visits. From this grainary he would steal glimpses of the poultry and make his evil plans, with saliva dripping from his six feet long tongue.

The granary was a spooky place. Mrs. Prettyfeathers had also heard of the ghosts of the rodents who had died in that fire, lingering around this place. As she made a tour of the granary, chill ran down her spine. "How will I ever manage it here?" She thought. But there was no other way. If she layed her eggs in the open, Rain would wash them away. If she layed in the poultry, the wife would take them away. This was thus the only option She seemed to have been left with. So she found herself a cozy spot and settled herself down.

Mrs. Prettyfeathers layed eight eggs and she swelled with pride as she looked at them. They were eight healthy eggs with milky white smooth round bodies. "Beauties!" she thought as she nudged them lovingly with her beak. Thus with her new found happiness, Mrs. Prettyfeathers sat herself on her eight beauties and got lost in dreams.

The day moved on. The Sun wrapped up his orange glow and vanished from the sky. The Moon, with his round smug face, came riding the clouds. The stars naughtily giggled at him, in the background. Mrs. Prettyfeathers snored softly. Her lovely face buried in her warm feathers.

All of a sudden, a very loud "crack!" woke her up. Mrs. Prettyfeathers was jolted out of her dreams. Someone was moving outside. She could hear a sound of heavy breathing and the dry leaves crackled outside as two pair of feet were laid on them.

Mrs. Prettyfeathers realised what was going on. She realised what she had led herself into. She began to pray,"Oh Lord, Please. Not me, not my beauties. Please save us. Please don't send this ugly trouble to us. Please Lord. Please Save us. Even if its just for once."

And then, Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a woman screamed, at the highest pitch human voice was ever known to have achieved. Then yelled a man in his baritone. A bullet fired and several other men were later heard. What had happened, the farmers wife while she drew water from the well in their yard noticed Mr. Gnaw. The water pail fell from her flimsy grasp and as all female species are prone to react in such occassions, she screamed with all that her vocal chords could offer. Hearing this, the farmer thought she was perhaps dying and ran to her aid. Then he too noticed Mr. Gnaw and yelled to his neighbours, "Fox Fox Help Help!!". One of the neighbours ran out with his double barreled rifle and fired. Others too then ran to the venue in the prospect of some entertainment.

This humungous disturbance gave Mr. Gnaw a run for his life and Mrs. Prettyfeathers who was by now almost dripping sweat and tears, was spared for the time being. She had perhaps recited half the bible and sweared several dozens over when it dawned on her that her bad time was past. She was safe again. She heaved a huge sigh of relief and thanked her stars.

Since this incident, several days had past. Mrs. Prettyfeathers devotedly sat hatching her eight beauties. But to her despair, they still felt lifeless. After so much of her love and toil, they simply refused to show any sign of progress. Since the incident, Mrs. Prettyfeathers began to be more careful while she sat on her eggs. She hardly allowed herself to slumber and was always alert for every little sound outside. However her situation provided her with very little scope for escape if Mr. Gnaw ever returned. Still she had hope in her heart. She prayed that her eggs would hatch soon so that she would leave this nasty place before that dirty fox came back with his puckered face.

Much time had passed and nothing had changed. The Moon had gone on a vacation leaving the stars to twinkle in the sky, on their own. Mrs. Prettyfeathers was giving up on her hope when one of her eggs began to move a little. She was again jolted but this time, from her disappointment to her delight. She cursed herself to have ever thought of giving up and began working hard on her eggs with a new zeal.

That Night, it was drizzling with gale of cold winds dashing against the broken windows of the granary. "Oh! that is not a good omen." Mrs. Prettyfeathers thought. And she was right. Much deeper into the night, she heard the rustle of the wild bushes outside and she noticed a long dark shadow glide through the walls of the granary. Mr. Gnaw had returned.

"Our fathers in heaven. hallowed be thy name..." Mrs. Prettyfeathers chanted under her breath. She was trembling. This time there was no escape. It was dead in the night and the weather outside was bad. The farmer and his wife were tucked together warmly in bed. There was nobody who would scream and nobody who would fire and scare the monster away.

This time there was nothing to be done. The moment had finally come, the moment she had long dreaded. Luck helps but once. It had done its task once but what now? Mrs. Prettyfeathers sat tightly on all her eggs. Too afraid to make a single noise. Too afraid to even move a muscle. She trembled and sweared under her breath but what was the use. No rebellion works as peril blocks your way. The fox was outside. She could smell the stale breath. She had noticed the long dripping teeth in the shadow. The lashing windows were ringing. They were the bells of her doom.

As She heard soft thuds on the front steps, a strong determination rose within her. Like the turmoil outside, it churned her insides. She suddenly felt warm all over and believe me it was not the warmth we feel under our blankets. The Emotion was diffrent. "If this is it, then this is it." Mrs. Prettyfeathers thought. If I have to die, I will, with dignity. Whatever the danger may be, I will die fighting it. My beauties will never need to hang their heads in shame. They will forever be proud of their mother and henceforth will take the path she took." She belted herself. She would strike back.

But then again. Would it be easy to die? Wouldn't it definately hurt when the fox would grab her by the neck and pluck out all her feathers? The very thought made her shiver. Eyes lovely red eyes had dialated and all she saw was darkness. "Is this how it felt to die?" Mrs. Prettyfeathers thought to herself. But she was not dead yet and already it was painful. Oh! her poor beauties. what will happen to them. why did she bring them in this world to only let them into this misery?

The Shadow gliding on the soot covered walls. Mr. Gnaw was patroling before the door, sniffing every corner. The nauseating breath was growing heavier and heavier. The cold wind was now blowing with all its might. Her last moments were slowly ticking away.

Oh! what wrong deeds did she do in her past life that she was having to see this day? Mrs. Prettyfeathers as she sat stiff on some hay where she had layed her eggs, under a piece of burnt furniture, was beginning to get impatient. She was getting tired of this slow moving hour to her final destination. With the tension mounting up, she wanted to have it over with soon, even if it is to end in her death. But then wait, was some miracle to happen again?

And it was indeed so. As Luck would have it but again. Several of her eggs suddenly began to move. She raised her feathers and noticed several of them had cracks in them. Her happiness knew no bounds. But then this was no time to be merry when the grim was at the door. The door creeked open and a red nose made itself visible between where the door had parted from the wall.

Yes, Mrs. Prettyfeathers had managed to sneak away from the backdoor with seven of her eggs. However one was left behind. It had stuck to its mischief and stubbornly showed her no signs of life. Hence she had to leave it behind. The rest of them had hatched into healthy yellow chicks by the morning.

Mrs. Prettyfeathers still remembers her adventure. She never went back to the granary. Though she often longed for that one beauty she had lost that day. But then, she was happy that she would never need to go back there again. She might have lost one of her eggs and her heart ached for it but as we live it is not always possible to have to ourselves, everything. Life had taught her this very important lesson, in its own hard way.

As Mrs. Prettyfeathers sat soaking the winter sun, she proudly looked at her seven fantastic chicks pecking in the yard. She sighed. The scene was indeed, very beautiful.