MY FEW HOURS WITH "A MINUTE TO DEATH"

Book Name: A Minute to Death

Author name: Ganga Bharani

Website: http://www.amazon.in/Minute-Death-Ganga-…/…/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1

My Take on the book:

The story revolves around an aspiring writer who pesters her boyfriend into taking her to crime scenes to help with her writing. The plot opens up a mysterious death of a girl that oddly doesn’t seem like a suicide even if most of the clues seemed to point so. The two time author (Just You me and a secret) is exemplary in her plot development that is bolstered by the language which doesn’t fail an expectant reader, being fluid and well poised, drives the point and the seriousness of the story home.

The thing I loved the most about the narrative was the way the reader was engaged in the plot by the characters taking guesses that a reader would do. The “Guessing Game” indeed. The build of the story was good. Even though, at the end I felt there were a few loose ends in the climax, the crux is so fresh and true that as a writer I or anyone who is maniacally passionate about his / her passions would understand.

The glitch was the classroom sessions between Riya and Rohan that was getting a little repetitive towards the end. But that is something one can overlook while reading a well knit plot.

Character Development:

The character development and describing of the ambiance were so lifelike that within the first few pages I was able to see through as to who is the dominant one, who is the passionate one, who is the helpless lover boy and so on and so forth.

Engagement Quotient:

The engagement quotient is high with the story moving forward with specific set of characters and twists along the way. Though I would have personally liked to know about the psyche of the characters and their back stories, and a few more characters.

Verdict:

A thoroughly enjoyable read with an ending that is beyond the commercial ones. Ganga Bharani, the ace blogger and author delivers a quality book to her readers. 

MORNING NOON AND NIGHT

Morning noon and night…
I sit alone and write…
The song that sings my heart right…

One gives me another shot, another chance…
While the other puts me on a trance….
Drowns me in sleep marking the end of date…
And so, Sun is my hero and moon is the one I hate….
A chance I get, here and now….
To voice my love but I don’t know how…
I, searching for the words, stammer and stutter…
Unable to help the heart that flutters….
“Thou art more lovely and more temperate” seem to be the words that fit…
But oh god! Shakespeare long beat me to it…

Morning noon and night…
I sit alone and write…
The song that sings my heart right…

There is nothing so beautiful to compare her with…
Not in reality, not even in myth…
Looking at my fair lady….
My poetry seems banal and gaudy…
I search for the words from the great and the mighty…
Even theirs fall short in front of her beauty…
Yet, she waits, for me to come soon….
With those beautiful words that would make her swoon…
I try so hard, to pen it down…
A poem that would be her beauty’s crown…

Morning noon and night…
I sit alone and write…
The song that sings my heart right…



The wait is long, and the day is short…
But the prize will be won for all the battles fought…
A day will dawn…
When I will don…
Most beautiful words that could be strung…
Together with music and to be sung…
Till that great day…
I won’t ever sway…

Morning noon and night…
I sit alone and write…
The song that sings my heart right…

key to life!

BEFORE YOU READ THE STORY FILL THIS UP WITHOUT BROODING MUCH OVER IT.
CHOOSE WHICH OUT OF THESE THREE YOU MOST OFTEN THINK ABOUT. IF EQUAL FOR ALL, CHOOSE ALL THREE.
1) THE PAST
2) THE PRESENT
3) THE FUTURE
Now go ahead and read the story.
...................................................................................................................................
The guy took no notice of the red truck speeding towards him. He stood there in the middle of the road with a vacant look in his eyes. He was lost in his own world. His world of regrets. His world of desires. His world of unfulfilled desires. The blaring horn failed to pierce his ears as he stood there staggering on his feet. The screeching of the tires on the hot melting asphalt, fighting against the sudden brakes to stop their progress made many passers-by to turn, yet he was oblivious to it all.

“SANJAY” he heard someone shout his name. And that was when he finally came to his senses. The millionth of a second that was needed for his brain to process the proceedings around him and plan out a plausible course of action was not available. The thundering truck was not loosing speed enough. But, that time was not required, for a pair of hands snatched him from the brink of death at the last nanosecond.

“What is this sanjay? What is happening to you? Oh god! Why are you doing this to me?” his mother’s wavering words dissolved in tears lodging complaints over the almighty for making her son suffer this way. Her break down in front of so many people irked sanjay’s heart. People were forming a perfect circle around the three people, as it was customary whenever such incidents happened. But that only meant that those people had no better work, not that they cared about the skinny guy with his “geek” glasses, or the old woman breaking down on the pavement of the main road, or the guy who stood there supporting the old woman and glaring at the “geek” sanjay.

But the problem was, Sanjay’s heart only “irked” for such a scene. There was no true remorse or repenting going through his mind. Those strong feelings were dried up for other things in his life. Yet, the sight of his friend Varun, supporting his mother while he, sanjay, stood there helplessly did irk him more.
Without another word his friend guided his mother slowly towards their home. Sanjay followed. Or he thought he did. He couldn’t know for sure, for he was again lost in limbo.

“You are no different from others” his subconscious spoke to him “people around you are just like you. The difference is that, you face your regrets and get lost in them. But they choose to forget. They are sinners just as you are. Incidents and accidents in life happen for a reason. And that reason can be realized and learnt from only by remembering them. Not by getting lost in them like you. Or by forgetting them as everyone around you does.”

But sanjay couldn’t hear his subconscious. He was, as always, lost in his thoughts. Depressed about his life. Depressed about him. A depression that was haunting him for so long that he could no longer remember the source of it. And he no longer cared. He let life pass him by. A chance lost once was a chance lost forever.

He found himself sitting on the same sofa in his living room. “I must have reached home” he thought to himself. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He didn’t care to look who it was. But the same pair of hands which had saved him a quarter of an hour ago pulled him up roughly off his chair.

“I have stood by long enough without doing anything. She may be your mom but I am as good her son as you are! So snap out of it! I need our mom! I can’t let you spoil her health this way!” Varun grunted threateningly.

“Come on man! Give me a break! I am normal. Just a bit down” words sprung automatically to sanjay’s mouth making excuses on his behalf, “I would be normal if I catch a nap for a while” he said. It was true, his lapses were intermittent and a good nap always helped pushing it off, though not permanently.

“I am sorry sanjay. This can’t go on any longer. I have made an appointment with a psychiatrist. I need you to go visit him.” Varun said with finality in his voice.

“You think I have lost my mind? I am not going to see some crackpot screw and eat those sleeping pills! Am not insane Varun!” sanjay shouted unable to believe his ears.

“If it’s alright for you to take sleeping pills of your own, a prescribed set won’t be a bad idea!” varun said “yes. I saw the stash of tablets under your bed! Listen to me sanjay. You are not insane but you are obviously under some stress. Just visit the doc. For the sake of our mom and her peace.”

Sanjay nodded sullenly and followed his childhood friend as he locked the house and went out. The bike ride till the hospital was a blur for sanjay. He badly needed his sleep to get himself together again. Within few minutes (or so it seemed to sanjay) they reached their destination.

“Is doctor Ragupathy here?” varun enquired at the reception.
They made their way into a pristine room with the usual smell that was associated with hospital. There was an old man sitting behind the desk. As sanjay sat on the patient’s chair, varun was repeating his conversation which he obviously had with the doctor about sanjay.
The doctor turned around to look at sanjay with a smile and said, “Just because he is stressed doesn’t mean he has to turn to chemicals for his solution. That would be drastic. I will forward you to a friend of mine he is a psychologist. Luckily he is here in the same hospital.”

“But doctor, what is the difference?” varun asked confused.

“It is a common misconception that psychiatrist and psychologists have become analogous. A psychiatrist is one who gives drug therapies and medications. But a psychologist is one who does counseling and analyze what really is troubling the mind.” The doctor explained.

They made their way over to the third floor and waited outside the room with the nameplate “Dr. Rajesh Kumar”. Within a few minutes varun’s cell phone started beeping. After a brief and hurried talk, he made his way over to sanjay.
“I have got to go. Some urgent business has come up. Your turn comes after a while. Dr. Ragupathy has briefed about you to Dr. Rajesh Kumar. After seeing him please wait I will come after finishing the work.” Taking sanjay’s silence as a yes, varun hurried out of the clinic.
Too drowsy to keep his eyes open sanjay rested his head on the wall, while he waited for the doctor to call his number.
…………………………………………………………………………………
“hello Mr. ….???”
“Sanjay”
“Ah, yes. Mr. Sanjay. It would be stupid of me if I ask you what is troubling you I guess.” He said.
“I guess so.” Sanjay replied.
“Ok ok. Now our session today is going to be a simple one. Here fill this up. Which of these do you think the most about? Just put a tick mark below that.” And he gave a sheet to sanjay. It had three columns.


Repenting the past/Acting accordingly in present/Planning the future based on the previous two.



“Hmmm… yes. You have given a Tick mark for the first and nil for the other two. You know what you have become? Compare yourself with these results.” {* table given below}


“You see your problem now sanjay? You are not living your life. Humans tread a small path between the animals and the non living things. Animals don’t repent for the past, and the non living things care for none of them. You need to have a cause and effect relation between your past, present and the future. Keep yourself in check with this chart” he said.


“But… I just space out from time to time. Things keep troubling my mind but I don’t know what they are or why they do so.” Sanjay said dejectedly.


“Have you tried meditating?” he asked.


“Don’t get me started on that! I either end up sleeping or random things keep cropping up in my head. I can’t as they put it “erase every emotion and thought off my mind” I have tried all those a million times!” sanjay said sarcastically.


“SANJAY, WHAT YOU HAVE GOT TO UNDERSTAND IS THE TRUE MEANING OF MEDITATION. MEDITATION IS ANALOGOUS TO INTROSPECTION. “TO ERASE EVERY EMOTION AND THOUGHT OFF YOUR MIND" IS THE AIM, NOT THE PROCESS. MEDITATION IS A GUIDANCE SYSTEM. THE FIRST STEP IS WHERE YOU LISTEN TO YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS INTENTLY. AS YOU ARE NOW. NOW CLOSE YOUR EYES AND TRY TO
MEDITATE” he said and continued
“YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TELL ME, IT MAY BE PERSONAL, BUT MAKE A MENTAL NOTE OF THE FIRST THOUGHT THAT IS DISTURBING YOU. AND NOTE THE EMOTION ASSOCIATED WITH IT. MAKE A NOTE OF TEN SUCH THOUGHTS. NOW, THE THOUGHTS THAT USUALLY COME FIRST ARE YOUR PAST ISSUES FOR WHICH YOU REPENT. THE PRESENT PROBLEMS FOLLOW. THEN COMES YOUR DESIRES FOR THE FUTURE. MAKE IT A POINT TO SET CORRECT AT LEAST FIVE OF THE TEN THOUGHTS BEFORE YOU MEDITATE NEXT TIME. AND THAT MY FRIEND IS THE ART OF MEDITATION AND THE KEY TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE” he said.
“KEEP IN CONTACT WITH ME FROM TIME TO TIME AND YOU WILL NEVER GO ASTRAY” he finished.
……………………………………………………………………………………..
“Mr.sanjay?” nurse called out the name after an hour of waiting. “The doctor will see you know.”
Sanjay woke up. Oddly, not from a nap. There was a smile in his eyes.
“I don’t think I will need his help anymore. But he may need this” he gave the nurse a piece of paper on which he drew a table,{* table given below}
“Now if you will excuse me, I have a few things in my life to sort out.” Sanjay said and started walking away.
The nurse was amazed to see the certainty in the man’s gait and the transformation from the decrepit and dolorous man who entered the clinic with his friend. Sanjay turned with a gleam in his eyes and said,

“AFTER ALL, WHEN YOU REALLY LISTEN TO YOURSELF, YOU ARE SELDOM AT THE NEED OF OTHER'S HELP!”

MY FIRST STORY- CHAPTER 8

“It is a great feeling you know sunny”
Gaurav’s voice was barely audible over the 102 km/hr wind blowing across my face. Yeah right!! I thought, it is always intoxicating, drinks, and smoking. And of course, a reckless 100 in our speedometer does make it to the list. It’s always funny to think, how we lose our cool when it’s not us who are experiencing the “intoxication”, what happens when you get behind another guy in a bike? How does 100 km/hr become, in most cases, the path to realization of god?!!?!

“I will visit your temple every Saturday, lord hanuman; just make sure I reach home safely”
I tried to bribe my favorite god. Apparently, lord hanuman was not hearing my prayers over the wind too! I saw the needle creeping towards 105, steadily. I personally am totally cool with speedy driving, but it is the rash one that gives me the creeps. Why can’t engineering colleges be constructed within the city with all the traffic?!?! Was all that I could think of for the next hasty, adrenaline filled, fifteen minutes.

The blaring horn of the local bus made me thank god for a safe return back into the smoky, dirt filled, noisy city. But the “intoxicated” Gaurav haven’t yet got back to his senses, and we weaved our way past the cyclists and trucks alike. The bulky bike came to a sudden stop as soon as KFC came into view.

“How about a short snack sunny?”
Gaurav asked, already getting down from his bike and walking towards it. As I had no other choice, I followed him in.

“Welcome to KFC sir, what would you like to have?”
The guy at the counter recited his well rehearsed lines in a bored tone. Gaurav ordered his well rehearsed “snack” which would have well been a feast for an entire day for a family.
Laden with chicken popcorns and burgers, we made our way to the table for two, and as always, me sipping my usual crushers. As always there was nothing but the slurping and munching sound for the first few minutes, after we were half filled, Gaurav asked suddenly.

“You don’t like him do you?”
I just kept munching my burger, my silence as a gesture of accedence to his statement. There was a silence he was patiently waiting for the question to sink in and for me to answer. Being a guy who hated beating-around-the-bush talks, I said,
“Why do you have to put up with his arrogant authoritarian behavior?!?!”
And this time, Gaurav took his time; I could see him weighing in his mind what to tell and what not to. And finally, he opened up a story, of the most bizarre nature.
…………………………………………………………………………….

It may sound as an eccentric fable, but three years ago, exactly three years ago; I made a choice, a wrong choice; the biggest blunder of my life.
I was a loner in school, had no friends, no one I considered as friends. I had moved from Delhi and hated the atmosphere around this place. But soon, I made friends in my locality, wrong choice. Started going to night time strolls and before I knew it, they got me addicted, MARIJUANA.

Those were the early days of my friendship with josh, but he knew. I still have no idea how he found out, but one night, I sneaked out of my house unable to control my craving, when I was about to turn the end of my street, a voice right behind me startled me,

“Can’t keep your hands off Aunt Mary huh?!?”
“Hey josh, whats up man? What are you doing here yaar??”
I tried to strike a normal conversation, but my calmness was unconvincing, and my shivering hands betrayed me. When he started talking, playing along with my covert game, I blurted out and confessed on my own, but then when he wouldn’t let me go, I couldn’t control myself. The pain speeding through the nerves and spreading to every part of my body was agonizing. In a frenzied anger I fought him and made a run for it, and didn’t stop till I reached our haunt, the car shed of a rundown, deserted house about 2kms from my house.

When I started inhaling the ganja, the heaven descended upon me, and embraced me in an eternal bliss. As I laid there sniffing in the ambrosia I felt elated, floating along the cosmos, when suddenly the door burst open. I couldn’t make out the person, I was high and all I could see was his silhouette. I felt sponge like hands lifting me up and felt literally floating through the air, and a distant cry,
“This is my friend all you son of a *****”
And I could remember no more. It was as if I had slipped into eternal blackness, all I could remember were the occasional sounds I heard and the inevitable excruciating pain, when I would feel my whole body contort and start writhing and shaking uncontrollably and then the elixir would relieve me, always starting from the left arm, slowly healing every muscle on fire, slowly rising me to heaven.

Void… Blackness… Limbo….

“It’s worse than I thought he has been slipped with PCP… angel dust as some say…”

Pain burning through the body….

Flooding of antidote….

Blackness… Bliss….

Blinding light… Silhouette…

“No aunty its nothing, nothing to fear, we are preparing for exam, he is depressed with his past marks, doesn’t wanna come home before exams.. I ll take care… you stay normal and take care of yourself, I give my word…”

Slipping in to oblivion….

“Yes he is recuperating now, soon, we can get him out, but you need to engage him in something else make him addicted to something constructive”

Pain… Panacea… Blackness…

When I again came back to my senses, I was baffled to find myself in a room filled with machines for exercises. There was no mirror or a calendar; I could not see the day or date, or how I was. I tried to shout for help, but I was sapped of all my energy, I couldn’t stand up. It was as if I was held captive. Food materialized under the door. Thinking of where I was and how ended up there made my head hurt. Slowly, as I had nothing else to do, I started working on the machines. Even if I knew I was in captivity of some kind, I enjoyed the peace and serenity.

Occasionally, I blacked out or ended up in seizures, every time, the elixir relived me, but only after I had lost my consciousness. But slowly and steadily the intensity and recurrence reduced. One time, (didn’t know if its morning or night) when I came out of my slumber, I found josh sitting next to me smiling at me. And everything fell in to place, soon, with his help; I started working out more and more slowly getting out of my addiction. Soon I started pushing myself harder in exercise, when I had the craving for the drugs.

Three months had passed. Josh filled me in on how he had pacified my mother and made the excuses for me. I was back home, the board exams came and went, it was a miracle, from the very depths of hell I had managed to clear my exams, and back on track in my life.

From then on, I have felt an un-repayable debt towards josh. Some things in life just are that way. That’s the same with josh. He can sting you like a scorpion and be your guardian angel too.

…………………………………………………………………………….

I couldn’t find my tongue after hearing to the story that Gaurav just narrated. All I could think of was,

“What more strange things are yet to come?!?”

MY FIRST STORY- CHAPTER 7

“Where the hell are they taking me?!”
I thought to myself, as I followed, my four new friends as they took me out of the campus. I need to rephrase that, where is my girl friend and my three new friends taking me? It was kind of hard to decide upon the fact that Kavi was my girl friend, as she was totally a different person around her “friends”. For instance, why wasn’t she looking me in the eye? And why wasn’t she walking with me? But with her friends two paces ahead and I had to follow like an unwanted stray pup?

I was so preoccupied with these thoughts that I lost sight and stumbled, upon something on the ground; it was a solid cement block sticking out of the ground. I bent down to examine it, and realized it had projections on both sides, and the truth hit me in the face. I was being taken in to the ruined cemetery outside our college!!

“What are you looking for Sherlock Holmes?”
Josh’s voice came from ahead of me. I got up and followed without any comment or retort. It was normal for me to never stick up for myself, but why isn’t Kavi sticking up for me? And why not Gaurav or Aruna for that matter? I wondered. And why are they all rallying around a stupid bully like Josh?! And I thought of my grandma’s reaction if she ever came to know I stepped into a cemetery, she would start cutting deals with all gods offering to do this and that, and that would be only after bringing home a priest and exorcising me!! But this was my life, and the person who has unreasonably affected and started influencing it is walking right ahead, and I had to follow my dreams, rather my dream soul mate.

I was too lost in my own private talks that I didn’t realize that all four have stopped a few paces ahead of me. I reached them, and josh turned to me and said,

“Here is the grave of Charles”
in a matter-of-fact voice. I was scared out of my wits, yet, I didn’t want to show it in front of kavi, and it wasn’t like I have never seen a grave or anything. But standing next to a tomb and having a conversation about the person lying within it, definitely didn’t top my top ten favorite things of the day. I ignored the goose bumps travelling up my spine and calmly gave a “so what” kind of a questioning stare.

“We have contacted him through séance but we don’t know much about him, he killed himself due to grief, that’s all he would say. But he won’t tell us why. In order to make peace with him and invite him we need to give him offerings… and that is where you come in”
“So I need to deliver him a pizza or something?”
I thought to myself, and of course I didn’t voice it out. That wasn’t how I worked, I keep the insults and smarting answers within me. I managed to nod in a non committal manner. And Josh continued,

“Remember the bag that Kavi gave you? That contains the required items for you to conduct the ritual to contact, pacify and make him open up towards us. And this”, he held a paper, hand written, in front of my face, “contains the instructions on how to do it, so now it’s your final decision, you have to perform this to get into the group. What is your decision?”
I looked at Kavi, stupidly, hoping that she would laugh any minute now explaining it was all a joke from the beginning. But the few seconds stretching with absolute silence, proved me wrong. Kavi stood with her head bent down. If it was not the wind, it was definitely she who was making that sniffing sound. I thought about dad, mom and the painful past year which had no relevance to the scenario in front of me, yet, as those images flashed across my eyes, I became resolved, and decided what I had to do.

I stepped forward without uttering a word, and took the paper from josh’s hands, and gave a nod. And that solved everything; the group was back to normal. All except Kavi, who still found it hard to look me in the eye. Josh was the one, who had a complete reversal of mood,

“Good, you will have to do it on the coming full moon day man. That would be… Monday, so you have two more days to psych yourself to perform it. And personally… I think you will do it buddy”
And Gaurav came up and put his hands on my shoulder, and offered to drop me home as I had missed the bus. And all my polite refusals which I gave were of no use. We made our way to the bike stand near the college. And all the time, josh walking with a smirk on his face and Aruna animatedly talking to Gaurav. But Kavi still walked with her head bowed low. I had the urge to put my hands around her in a consoling way, asking her what was troubling her mind, and as though she read my mind, she came and held my hands and leaned against my shoulder and started walking along with me, in silence.
“What the heck… I could deliver 100 pizzas to all the dead guys here for this!!”
I thought to myself. And yet, as Kavi got on Aruna’s scooty pep, behind her, and I climbed the bulky apache and started off with Gaurav, in the opposite direction, I couldn’t help thinking,
“Have I landed myself in a whirlpool of unfathomable predicament?!”

MY FIRST STORY- CHAPTER 6

“kausalya supraja rama purva….”
M.S.subalakshmi’s voice woke me up early in the morning with her hymns of lord ram. My grandmother always made it a point to rise up before the sun and offer her prayers to all gods that ever were present since the starting of time. I lazily looked at my alarm clock. It was 05:20 in the morning. Personal best, I thought to myself and dragged myself out of the bed, and went through the usual morning “duties” that I had to finish.

I stepped out of the house by 6:30, after my grandmother pampered me with a heavy breakfast of hot idlys to make it to my stop. I saw jealously at my little brother Santhosh still in bed. As I started walking towards my stop I felt my cell vibrate, and was treated to a morning delight, “good morning dear” read the message from Kavi, and my morning languidness was history.

But it brought back, the grotesque things that were in the bag yesterday, right in front of my eyes. I pushed it out of my mind and had a wonderful journey to college, all the while, the cell vibrating every ten seconds, with the words
“1 New Message
From: Kavi”.

Gaurav and I met at the class and we kept the topic away from yesterday’s lunch. I avoided it purposefully, but didn’t know why he did. And I was reminded of his queer expression on our way back to class after lunch, just before Kavi interrupted for talking to me privately. But I was preoccupied about the second lunch I was to have with Kavi, I was secretly counting the minutes to it, and when it did come I was the first out of class to make my way over to the canteen,
“Hey!! Where do yo’ think yo’ are goin’ lover boy?”
I heard Josh’s voice behind me, I turned, and grinning at me, all four friends were standing with their lunches wrapped in neat bags, in their hands,
“Hey sunny come on, we are eating somewhere else today”
Kavitha said with joy brimming in her voice. Before I could tell them, I haven’t brought my own lunch; they took me off to their haunt.

It was a deserted class in the 6th floor, and it seemed it was their luncheon room. No wonder I haven’t seen Kavi in canteen before yesterday, I thought to myself. As soon as we entered, Gaurav, Aruna and josh took one side of a table while I and Kavi took the other.

“I haven’t brought my lunch guys, I tried to tell u that, but you wouldn’t listen”
I said. And josh who had already started on his chicken fried rice said in a muffled voice,
“It does pay to have a girl friend you know”
Spraying me with chunks of chicken and rice. And Kavitha took out a lunch for two from her bag, smiling at me. Unable to remember when I have ever been this happy, I started on the lunch.

As we had our lunch the talks were normal, in time I started to think if all that happened yesterday about the paranormal things were just a dream. Kavi was jus then telling me how she had done the lunch for me specially, when I remembered,
“Hey guys! Kavi was telling me about how you guys have to be open about things, so I need to tell you something”
All three friends turned to me with mild interests on their faces, except josh, who was still busy with his lunch.
“I got to tell you, I am not a pro in this ghosts and stuffs. Only after my father died, I got the Ouija board….”
“Ouija?!?! Yo’ gotto be kidding me!!!thats kid’s stuff”
Josh said, resurfacing from his lunch, displaying yet again his sarcastic nature. Loath is the simplest word that might be the least to define the feeling I had on this guy.

“For all the research and the books I have read, it’s not a device to contact the spirit, but just one of the oldest board games”
Josh said in his as a matter of fact voice and again diving into his lunch without waiting for a reply. It was when he again looked up from his busy lunch that he realized that all his three friends were glaring at him,

“Wouldn’t you just let him finish?!?”
Aruna scolded, and asked me to continue. Though I was deeply hurt by what that bam-pot just said, I was never a person to stick up for myself. And in my father’s issue, it was even worse, yet I resolved not to show my weakness in front of Kavi, and so I continued,

“My father died in a car accident…. Hit by a drunken truck driver… And my mother, unable to bear the loss of my father, became…. Depressed… And…”
“You mean she lost her marbles, isn’t it…?”
Josh again cut across me. This time, Gaurav was the one who lost the cool and shouted at him, and Josh retorted,
“Come on I was just tryin’ to cheer him up making fun of it…”
“Anyway” I continued, “she got herself admitted in the hospital and its grandma who is taking care of me and my little brother… after a few days I went into my father’s room, and there in his locker, to which he had given me the key when I was 12, and told me I will know when to use it…. I found the Ouija board. And with it I found a letter from my dad, with a single line… “I WILL ALWAYS BE THERE WITH YOU”. Along with it, a book explaining how to use the board. And since then I have been contacting my dad through it several times to ask for advice and that’s just sums up my expertise with the paranormal activities…”
I finished in a hurried voice fearing I may break down if I continued longer. Kavi silently held my hands under the table, and that little touch gave me more comfort than the hundreds of hugs my grandma and all my relatives gave me to console me. All were too sad to tell anything, and we finished our lunch in silence. We packed our boxes and we strolled out of the room one by one, when I was about to go out of the room, josh put his hands on my shoulder and stopped me,

“Don’t think yo’ are in just becoz yo’ got them all watery eyed, yo’ think yo’ can by your way in with sympathy?? Think again buddy, if yo’ wanna get in, yo’ gotta work for it. Today eve yo’ gonna miss the bus. We have other plans. Meet us at the cemetery by 3.15. You have a few unfinished business”

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This story is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons dead or alive or incidents is purely coincidental. In other words, this book is the output of hours of boredom, sitting alone with nothing else to do.
When we say it’s a work of imagination we fail to realize how little does man imagine outside the reality. And how subtle and inconspicuous is the line that marks the border which separates our real world and the imaginary one.

We imagine THINGS as we say in our life. And throw it off our mind thinking it was just a SILLY THOUGHT or FEAR and that in our intelligent and self realized life it was nothing but a small infinitesimal second of foolishness. But what if life is a long trodden path of foolishness and that fear, the unexplained fear of nothingness was in fact a revelation of sort which lasted for just under a second??!?

What if it were that we are living with our eyes open yet with our instincts shut close and neglecting the obvious? Was that just Goosebumps? Or is there more to it than that??! A touch may be?! Did we just imagine we heard the rustling of leaves behind us while walking on that lonely road at night?! Or was it the rustling of the spirits?!?
HOW DO WE SAY SURELY THERE IS NOTHING IN THE DARKNESS?!
AFTER ALL WE CAN’T SEE IN THE DARK… CAN WE??!?!

Do we ever realize the imagination of a dream when within it? And what is the surety that dream in itself is an imagination??! What is the surety that the blood thirsty vampires or ghouls and other vile creatures in our dream cannot follow us back in to our world?!?? what is the surety that this IS OUR WORLD?!!?

IT HASN’T HAPPENED…….. YET.
That doesn’t mean the world we see in our imagination is far beyond.


Or that the FAR BEYOND is our IMAGINATION.