acquaintance.

I got hit. There were 4 terrorists around me and I saw only one. I was standing on a brick-wall hoping to see all of them and pin them down with my new CV-47 sniper. I didn’t last for more than 2 minutes. Fuck Policemen. I swore. I had enough of these policemen. I will be a terrorist next time. I think, loading a new game of Counter-Strike.

I’m not supposed to play this game, or any game for that matter, in office. It had happened to me once. I was playing Bubble-shoot – a stupid silly game where many water bubbles pops up randomly on the screen and I need to click on them to shoot them. I didn’t notice this CCD guy watching from behind. I sit in the extreme far end cubicle in our floor and never thought anyone will ever notice. Can you believe it? He actually waited for the game to get over and he noted my employee ID and sent a screenshot of the game to his email. I’ve been a little conscious, both on the game and the surroundings, since then.

Next day, I see a new face. He was sitting almost 5 feet away from me. He doesn’t have a PC. What will he do without a PC? I wonder. I’m bored to death with a PC. I pity him. 

Hi. I say.

Hi. He smiles showing his smoke-stained teeth. 

Being in bench for more than 3 months gave me enough time to collect so many videos. I was laughing my ass off watching a kid’s expression after tasting a lemon. I don’t remember how many times I have watched this video but it shakes me head to toe. It took me a while to get myself together and to notice another pair of eyes looking at my PC. He, Dinesh (I saw his name), was laughing too. He was looking at my monitor. I asked Dinesh if he wanted to listen to some songs. He covered his wide-open mouth with his palm as if I asked him to take poison. 

I felt pity for him. I showed him more funny videos. He seemed to enjoy each and every video, but always taking extra care not to make a sound even when he wanted to laugh out loud. I finally started to watch him for signs to know if anyone’s around who I should be careful about for he used to stiffen himself for even the slightest creak of a chair.

I’m not sure how many days had passed before I got a message from some guy asking me to send my resume. I was happy that at last I was to get into a project. I was excited about this - new people, new manager, new building and new cubicle. 

I thought about Dinesh. I’m not sure when will he get a PC or if ever, he will get one. He got to meet few other people near my cubicle. I can see him smiling at few others too, with the same sincerity he used to smile at me. He will be fine. He is making friends. I think.

I tell him my cubicle got shifted to Building X. I point my finger to the monitor and gesture no more videos. He shook his head as acceptance to my departure. He keeps smiling. I wonder if those moments meant anything to him for I’m sure he will never re-live those moments.  

When I walk away with my notepad and a few printouts, I hear someone calling out for security. I turn around to see Dinesh talking to him. 

Security - I will never call him that. I think. 

who loves who.

***Vijay***

They were walking in the park looking at the mothers waiting for their children playing. Some of them were shouting at their kids, some running behind them, and some cursing their husbands.

“It’s nice, isn’t it? The kids and the mothers running behind them?” I say.

“Fathers running behind would look better.” She teased.

“I’m not gonna run behind my kids. I’ll let them be.” I say staring at her eyes.

She had something special about her - the cut on her lips? I wanted to kiss her right then and there. She was breathtakingly gorgeous. I felt jealous of her friends, colleagues, everyone who spends more time with her than I do. I wanted to kill them all. The sight of her makes me go crazy. Her hair, black mole just below her lips…everything about her was perfect. My hold on her hands tightened and so did hers, to reciprocate.

“Viju, what are you doing? There are people around. Can’t you see?” She says, shocking for the fact what I was trying to do in a public place. She cursed removing herself from my possession.

I was not sorry and I almost had my hand around her trying pulling her close.

***Shan***

I'm going to meet her after 2 weeks. She had gone home to meet her sister who had come from Germany.

I left office, my work half completed. I just could not wait to see her, to take her in my arms, to listen to her voice, to hug, to ki-

“SHAAAAN” someone called out, breaking my reverie. It was Gowri. She is my HR and we have been friends for as long as I have been in the company. She was my recruiter and that’s how it all started. She was a tall, thin and stout girl with big eyes and a cleft upper lip which actually added to her sex-appeal. Honestly, I'm jealous of her boyfriend.

It was well past 8 when I reached the beach after dropping Gowri at her apartment. We, Som and I, had already agreed to meet there. She stays close to the beach. I occupied a seat near the ice-cream parlor which let me have a view of the entrance. I laughed at myself at the logic for it was already dark and difficult to identify someone sitting right next to me.

There she was. Soumya was waving her hands at me smiling. Beautiful. We started walking towards the shore with our hands together, fingers entwining. The scent of her made me crazy. I held her hands tight.

“Ehh??” She says, never turning her face but I could feel the naughtiness in her eyes. I shied away. I always felt she had more courage to face or even tell about her bodily urges. I let go of her hand and put my hand around her waist pulling her close.

***Gowri***

I could see him through the stripes on the glass door.

Wanna join? I had just texted him and seems he haven’t noticed. He continued working, intermittently glancing at his monitor.

My phone beeped. y shud I? does it hv nythin 2 do with me?

y wudnt u, Shaanuu? ;) I reply.

“Hey” he says poking his head through the door.

I wave him inside. I could use some help in creating some reports for the project Shan is working on. And this wasn’t the first time I was asking him to join me for help.

He sat next to me. The cube felt colder than usual. I rubbed my hands together. I couldn’t help but think of the texts we used to exchange. I loved talking to him. His voice...was manly. My legs were shivering. It always did, before moments like this. My eyes scattered through the stripes on the glass door to see if anybody was on the vicinity.

“Hey”

“Mm?” I said, turning, eyes inquisitive, and cleft-lip partially open. That was the catch. That turned him on. It always did. Maybe I knew, I knew what he was about to do for I didn’t make a sound when he let his hand wrap around my back and pulled me close.

***Somya***

“Sorry Viju. Shan got an urgent call from home and he had to leave. That’s why I called you.” I say, sitting on his bike, hands on his shoulders.

“Som, don’t be. You know better than that.” Vijay winks.

“What’s happening with your neighbor by the way? Any updates? Will the love-birds finally unite?” I tease.

“Unite we will. May not be in its perfect sense though.”

“Ah, fuck you, Viju. You never think straight, huh? I think she is a nice girl.”

“She’s nice? She’s perfect and boiling hot. And we met yesterday in the park.”

I pinched him. We had almost reached my place by then. I got down from his bike.

“Than me?” I say, touching his hand.

“Oh. Not as much. You are next-to-perfect. Gowri’s just perfect - she has a cleft-lip.” He says, his hand lingering on my waist, pulling me closer.

***

light of heaven and i'm so happy.

I never knew about the importance of giving credits to the photographers when we are using their photos on our blogs or websites until my sister told me about it. Since then I've been crediting photographers of every single picture I'm using on my blog. 

I used to wonder how that really matters - pictures are free anyway. At least those we find in SXC. And now, I stopped wondering. Guess what? Few days ago I received an email from one Mr. Kevin Petrie asking me permission if he can use my photo. I've no words to explain how happy I was. I replied saying he can use my photo and also asked if he can send me the link of the final work though I didn't expect it.

And here he comes with the link. Light of Heaven - I didn't get a chance to listen to the full song for its not free. Just heard the preview and its wonderful. And I took that picture - top left - the candlelight. It's the same picture for this blog.

I'm so happy that my photo was of some use to someone somewhere in this world. It's more like an inspiration for me to take more photos. I'm loving my camera. I started uploading my pics in SXC and even they have an approval process. I uploaded around 30 pictures and only 7 got approved. They give me a feeling that whichever photo gets approved are good.

You can download them and comment if you like it. The profile is here and my gallery is here.

PS: No photo credit for this blog for I'm the owner of this photo.

speak of the devil.

Its been so long since I met her. Not even a glance. I don't know why is she so busy these days - her status always shows red and I hate it. I tried to message her once. No reply. Argh! I don't understand why I keep embarrassing myself all the time. I should really stop thinking about her or keep looking for her.

The other day I thought I saw her. I saw her friends actually. She always goes with them and my heart always skips a beat when I see not just her but anyone in her group. It's really weird of my heart to pump adrenaline whenever I see any of them.

Speak of the devil and She shall appear - right in front of me.

I'm not sure if I've seen anyone else who looks so consistently beautiful - from any angle. Or in anything she does - you name it and she is just perfect.

Photo Credit: Cris Watk / Image / Website

flipkart. 1. 2. 3. and counting.

I'm not so sure about what's happening with Flipkart these days. Is it just for me or is it because of the items I purchase or God-knows-what?

Incident 1:

I purchased a book - A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane around a month ago. It was supposed to deliver within 7-8 business days and so it did. I was happy that I got the book because I'd been searching for that book for a long time. I opened the cover and I was shocked. I mean, literally. The book looked OLD even before I opened it. I thought that's how the book might be for I've seen new books which look old. I opened it and went through the pages. I felt the book and its pages are flexible than it really ought to be. I checked the back-cover and there it was - a writing. It wasn't visible. It was pencil-written-and-then-erased. It didn't fail to leave a mark though. It was a used-book and I didn't want to spend Rs.550 on a used book. I contacted Flipkart and they arranged for a reverse pick up.

Incident 2:

Another book again - Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. I wanted to buy that book because I loved the movie. Again, I had to wait for 5-6 business days. At the end of 6 business days, my order got cancelled. I was like- WTF. I contacted Flipkart again. They said the book is Out-of-stock and they will refund the money to my wallet within 7-10 business days. They made me wait all these days just to cancel my order. They could have done this before.

Incident 3:

Not a book this time. It was a camera bag. Again I spent 3k for this camera bag and as usual I had to wait for 7-8 business days. It was mentioned that the product will be shipped on so-and-so date and delivery date would be so-and-so. I waited all these days and the status was still 'Processing' even on the day it was supposed to be shipped. It was supposed to be delivered yesterday and the status was still 'Processing'. I contacted them again. They said they will check the status and let me know within a business day and apologized for the delay. Okay, whatever. And today, the order got cancelled because the product is Out-of-stock and informed me that the money will be refunded to my wallet.

I'm not sure what these people are doing. But you are FLIPKART guys, for crying out loud. I've bought more than 75 items and have spent more than 50K and I'm really surprised to see something like this happening. Happening once is fine. This is the third time. Please keep your inventory updated or  ask your vendors to keep you posted. Checking the inventory once the order is placed isn't a good practice. I hope you guys are not falling behind on quality and services. I've been a strong supporter of Flipkart and will always be. Just, don't let things like this happen again.

Photo Credit: T Rolf / Image

this isn't happening.

This was happening too frequently to be a coincidence. She’s there, again. 

She’s looking at me. She’s making me blush. I look at her. She's smiling - that ever-so-gorgeous smile. I want to sit closer to her. It stinks here. Let’s sit somewhere else, I say. No, he says. It doesn’t matter. I can see her. I’m sure she can see me too.

I can see her looking at me. Our eyes meet a hell lot of times. It’s making me embarrassed. I don’t regret. She’s so beautiful. Next time I should come alone. He always insists to come along with me. I can’t just ignore him. Of course I can. 

I know she likes me. And I like the fact that she likes me.

I haven’t said anything to him. I don’t want to. I look at him. I ask him something. He isn’t listening. What’s he…Oh wait. Why is he smiling? I didn’t ask anything even remotely funny. 

I’ll be back in a moment, I say. I get up and walk past him. I glance at her from the corner of my eye. Our eyes meet again. Not a hint of acquaintance. Yet, she was smiling...at him.

It wasn’t a coincidence. He was always there! He was always there with me whenever she was around.

God, I want to die.

Photo Credit: Dipu Das / Image