The Lost Soul Part VIII

I couldn’t sleep that night. I couldn’t eat. Her pretty face kept flashing across my eyes. I was disturbed by her very presence. Bharath happens to be one of my friends at college. He was my classmate. He too had joined for the I.T. course. Priya and Bharath were good friends. They were close. Closer than I had expected. She believed Bharath a lot. That was something I didn’t like.

I thought Bharath could make me get closer to her. I befriended him. I later found out that he had something else in mind. He was a traitor.

Each day with Priya passed like a minute. I decided to propose to her. Something, I hadn’t tried before.

It was the judgement day. I was ready to propose to her. Butterflies were already flying in my stomach. I waited for the class to get over. I was impatient to the core. After the class got over, I called her aside.

My heart started pounding fast. I though I would have a heart attack. I went closer to her. I went ahead.

“Priya, I need to tell you something. I.. I.. I like you a lot”, I said trying to muster courage.

She smiled. I felt happy. “Yeah, me too”, she said.

‘Did I hear her wrong? This isn’t a dream. Is it?’ I thought to myself.

“Actually, I meant, er.. er.. I.. I’m.. in love with you”, I said.

She was shocked for a moment. And then she spoke again. “We’ve been friends for hardly a week and you propose already?”

“I felt so. Did not want to prolong this”, I retorted.

“Hmm. I need some time to think. Mind if I tell my decision a week later?”, she asked.

“No problem at all. Take your own time!!”, I said. Better be a good decision, I thought and smiled to myself.

“It would be a good decision. Don’t worry.”, she said as if she had read my mind and smiled at me. ‘What a girl!!’, I thought.

To be continued...

The Lost Soul Part VII

Jevon was drunk as usual. He had difficulty crossing the road and was seen hurling abuses at people. Aware of his inebriated condition, others decided not to say anything and went ahead with their work.

 He had to cross a railway track to get to his house. He walked in a zig-zag path. A distant sound of a horn was heard. Ravi looked at the direction of the sound. Nothing in sight. He decided to move further. He tried to cross the rail track. He was half way through.

 He heard people shouting from a distance to move away. He turned his head around to look at them. But, it was too late. He was cut into two by a steel portion of a speeding train engine. Two halves of his body lay on the either side of the track. He was dead.

 Others at the scene rushed to inform the police except two. They decided to catch the person driving the train engine, to hand them over to the police. The train engine slowed down. The two ran at their fastest pace.

 In no time, they reached the train engine. They peeped inside to look at the driver. They had the shock of their lives. No one was driving the engine.

To be continued...

The Lost Soul Part VI

A dull weekday. Adhrit drove on his 150 cc bike to the amusement park. He bought a ticket from the ticket booth. He scanned through the rides. He decided to try the old roller coaster. People seldom used the roller coaster, since they felt it was too dangerous. Even then many youths had tried the ride, to display their fearlessness.

 Adhrit showed his coupon to a person near the ride. No one else in sight near the ride. He was happy that he could enjoy the ride all alone and get the thrill of it. The guy examining the tickets appeared to be absent minded. He kept his pen behind his right ear and appeared to be searching far and wide for it.

Adhrit helped him by locating his pen. The guy thanked Adhrit.

 There was only one car attached to the steel tracks. At a time, it could accommodate only two people. He took the seat at the left and lowered the shoulder harness. It locked with a click.

 Next he raised the lapbar and it locked with a click. Everything was in place. The guy who was in charge of the ride, switched it on. The car moved at a slow pace. The rattling of the steel wheels with the steel tracks could be heard. Tiny sparks were seen as a result of friction.

 A big loop was coming up. The car would gain momentum when it went down a steep hill of the steel track. When the car was half way through, something happened. The car had stopped mid-way.

 Adhrit looked confused. He signaled to the guy operating the ride.

 “Must be a power cut”, he shouted and continued to someone at the opposite end of the ride. “Switch on the generator!!”

 The guy at the opposite end swore at the person operating the ride. He seemed to have remembered something suddenly. He shuddered. He trembled in fear as he voiced something to himself. “The generator works by itself during a power cut”.

 He had uttered the last three words. He heard a screeching sound. The car moved forward in full speed. It stopped. It moved again and stopped, as If someone was playing with the car.

Adhrit's heart was pounding with fear. The car moved forward. 3 feet. The lapbar snapped. The shoulder harness broke into 4 pieces and flew in the air. He held on tight to the car. It moved again. It halted again, now as if someone had applied brake all of a sudden.

 He was thrown 20 feet into the air. He landed in between the tracks. He was dangling in between the steel tracks. He held on as tight as possible to the steel tracks, as people watched everything in a state of horror.

 He heard a screeching sound. He lifted his head in the direction of the sound. Too late. Snap. A protruding steel portion of the car severed his head. Blood flew in the air. Along with his head. His headless body fell from a height of fifty feet, as people below watched in horror.

To be continued...

The Lost Soul Part V

A train journey to my native. Cool breeze. Darkness everywhere, but not in my heart. The train stopped for a while at a station. No one near me. The Silence was eerie.  I heard footsteps inside the compartment.

‘Must  be the TTE’, I thought.

I searched for my ticket and as the shadow came closer, I turned back to show my ticket. It was a girl. She was pretty. She had black hair, that resembled the darkness outside. Her eyes were brilliant, tucked away behind designer eye-glasses.

She had very white skin and her face shone like a star. I thought I would be better off as a dermatologist. I smiled to myself. She said something. I couldn’t decipher what she said.

“Huh??”, I asked.

“What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen a girl before?”, she asked.

“I’m sorry. I have seen girls before. You’re the second prettiest girl I’ve seen in my life”, I said with a toothy grin.

She smiled. “Who’s the first?”, she asked.

“We’ve hardly spoken and you expect me to say everything personal?”, I retorted.

She nodded her head. I guess she agreed to what I told her. The train’s loud horn interrupted. She closed her eyes and made an expression, as if she was totally disgusted with the sound of the horn.

I smiled at her. She started the conversation. “Hi. I’m Dhyana and am in my pre-final year of engineering”, she said.

“Inaam. The same.”, I said.

“Doesn’t the name Dhyana have to something with music?”, I asked curiously.

“Yeah. It means ‘melodious music’”, she replied.

She started the conversation again. “You are too reserved aren’t you?”, she asked.

“Yeah, sort of. Reserved me and reserved ticket!!”, I said.

She gave me a cold stare when deciphered sounded like, ‘One more joke like that and you’re dead’.

And I decided not to crack any more jokes. We discussed everything under the sun. And even things we couldn’t comprehend. Time passed very quickly.

“So, tell me about your experiences with love”, she asked.

I was little hesitant initially, but later gave in. “Her name is Priya. I haven’t seen a girl like her. Not even in you.”, I said.

She looked a bit puzzled and asked me to continue.

“It was love at first sight. I’d love to have her by my side forever.”, I said and continued. “Haven’t shown even an indication of my love. I don’t know, how I’m gonna go about.”

“Do you have her photo or something?”, she asked.

“Yeah, I do.”, I said feeling very proud.

I took a photo of her, while she was half asleep in class. And did not have the courage to show it to her and tucked it away in the farthest corners of my mobile phone.

“Her? Hmm. No wonder you fell in love with her. She looks like an angel”, she smiled as she gave me back my mobile phone .

My station was closing in fast. So was hers. Both of us got ready with our luggage. As the train docked the station, she turned to me.

“It was nice meeting you. Hope you succeed in your pursuits and good luck. Let me know alright?”, she said as she gave me her contact information.

“Thanks”, I said and continued to walk towards the exit. Priya’s face kept flashing across my eyes. Every girl I looked at look like Priya. No wonder. Beauty exists in everyone and Priya was the serene form of beauty.

To be continued...

The Lost Soul Part IV

A year had passed and I made lot of friends in college. Bharath, the guy with innocent looks was always with me. He was fearless. He would always end up fighting with some members of the college management.

I avoided talking to too many girls, except for a select few. Christina, a very good friend of mine, was always there to lend me a helping hand, whenever I broke down. She was always there to lift my sagging spirits.

She would be always on the run to make me happy and I confided almost everything to her. She would listen to everything I say, patiently and reminded me about my absent mindedness often.

Sadhana was another great friend, whom I trusted a lot. She would always crack jokes and we shared almost the same thoughts all the time. She was one person, who took to life from a different perspective.

Uday was close. He was brilliant in studies, and had a great sense of logic. He had an extremely good sense of humour and would have me in splits all the time. Bharath would be seen hanging out with his friends Adhrit, Zayan and Jevon all the time, prying for fresh trouble.

 A month passed like a minute. College was paradise. It changed me a lot. The way I looked at life.

**********

I couldn’t sleep the entire night. Something was wrong somewhere. I tried hard to get some sleep, but couldn’t. I switched on my computer and started checking mail. Something was disturbing me internally. I couldn’t concentrate. Three hours passed in what looked like eternity. It was morning.

I had a severe headache, owing to sleeplessness. I got ready for college. I boarded my bus. There was commotion inside a hostel near my college. Policemen were seen at the hostel premises. Something was wrong.

Bharath and I got down to know what was happening. We had the shock of our lives.

Someone had just been murdered. It was a girl. Her throat was slit wide open. She lay in a pool of blood.

Sniffer dogs had already started their work. Bharath and I stood still. Two dogs came near and started barking loud at me. But, only for a few seconds. The dogs started wailing and choked up. The dogs spit blood. In no time, the two sniffer dogs were dead.

I looked at Bharath. Something was not in place. We decided to move from there. I had a last look at the corpse of the girl who lay in a pool of blood. I left the hostel. Adjacent to the hostel was the regional University office. The office staff thronged the place to know what was going on.

Some people cursed those who had murdered her. 

To be continued...

The Lost Soul Part III

An angel on earth, I thought. She was very fair-skinned, with shining black hair, like the ones that appear in the shampoo commercials, except for the fact, that she was not an actress. She let loose her hair.

She was wearing a sky-blue salwar-kameez and as she moved past me, her snow-white shawl brushed against my face. Ecstasy experienced. Something happened, that I did not expect. She came and sat next to me. The whole world came down. I smiled to myself.

I tried hard not to look at her. But, my resolution did not help. By the way, a not so good resolution for the New Year. I was dying to know more about her. It was something I hadn’t experienced before. I smiled to myself. It was love at first sight.

I wanted to impress her. And yes, a fact always circled my head. Boys always mess up in front of good-looking girls. And I was not an exception and neither was she. I was lost in an array of deep thoughts.

“What is your name?”, asked Ms. Vidya.

“Priya”, she replied with a smile. She turned to me. My heart was pounding. She extended her hand. My joy knew no bounds.

“Priya.”, she said with a smile.

“Inaam.”, I replied with a smile.

Her hand was cold and I liked it. Must have been sleeping inside the refrigerator. I smiled to myself and patted myself for my so-called joke.I wanted to die at that instant. But, later I changed my thoughts. I decided to live for her. I felt ecstasy deep within my heart.

The entire one-hour duration of the class passed like a minute. While I was getting ready to leave, she smiled at me and said, “Bye. See you tomorrow!”

I thought, ‘When would tomorrow come? Why did they have 24 hours in a day?’

**********

 It was the lunch hour. 50 minutes of quality time with Priya. No wait. The best moments of life. I was searching for a title for this auspicious moment. Priya by my side always meant that every second was auspicious. While I was lost in my day-dreams, someone came and sat by my side.

 That person’s face was blurred and out-of-focus.

 “Silly me!!”, I said smiling and slapped my forehead.

 My spectacles were hanging below my nose. I adjusted them and had a closer look at the person sitting next to me.

 I gasped for breath. It was Priya. My heart was pounding as usual. She was at her usual best. Her cheeks were red. Like an apple.

 She opened her lunch box and started eating. I opened mine and started eating like a glutton. She stopped as if something hard to swallow, went down her throat. She saw me at the corner of her eyes. I stopped eating like an hungry monster and ate my lunch as if I were the most disciplined on earth.

 She smiled at me.

 ‘Aah! My trick is working out’, I thought.

 I made an expression, which made her think I was hungrier. She took the lid of her lunch box and emptied some contents into it. And offered it to me.

 “For Moi??” I asked with the innocence of a 2 year old, with no milk flowing across my face.

 “Yes. For you.”, she smiled.

 “Do you have a spoon? I don’t eat without a spoon”, I asked.

 “And how did you eat your lunch?”, she retorted.

 “Hmm. That was breakfast that I ate for lunch. This is lunch which I have for lunch”, I said, feeling proud of the fact that I had confused her.

 She gave me a cold stare. I understood that she couldn’t comprehend what I said.

 “Here, use it. But, I’ve already used it for having lunch”, she warned.

 “That’s okay. They've had the opportunity to kiss your lips! Something I didn’t get”, I said with a smile across my face.

 She moved closer. The gap between our faces reduced inch-by-inch.

 I was close to her shining red lips.

 Someone poured cold water on my face. “Mooooom!!”, I dragged.

 “Wake up. Its almost 10 in the morning. And you’re not done sleeping yet??”, she asked.

 Aaargh!! It was only a dream. Sheeeeesh. ‘Wouldn’t it happen in reality?’, I thought to myself. ‘Let me catch up on my dream again’, I thought and lay down on my bed.

 Something landed on me. My mom was standing at the door to my room. I thought it was some cute, huggable pillow. I was wrong. It was a broomstick.

To be continued...

The Lost Soul Part II

I felt bad. Really bad. But I was glad no one heard what he said. I came back to my place.

“What did he say?”, asked Uday.

“Nothing. He just asked me about my native place. Some personal details. That’s all”, I said, trying to avoid looking at his face.

The entire day was occupied. I got some relief during the lunch hour and had a 10-minute recess that added to my joy. The entire day passed. But it was long enough. I boarded my college bus. A plump guy sat next to me. I couldn’t see his face, as my vision was getting worse everyday.

“Hi. I’m Sia Sharma”, he said extending his hand for mine.

“Hello. I’m Inaam.”, I replied. Why do these guys add their surnames? Can’t they just say their first names? Sheesh. What a world. I avoided talking to him and managed to catch up on some sleep, after a tiring day. I was beginning to like college. Strange for a student to say, after attending the first day of college.

I reached my stop and walked home. I narrated the experiences I had to my mom. She listened carefully, trying not to miss out on any details. I had my dinner and went to sleep, thinking what was in store for me the next day.

College was fun. I went for a movie in the second semester of college with some of my classmates. A year passed. Second year in college. I joined an I.T. training centre to learn the nuances of programming. It was my first day at the centre.

As usual, I was early. My staff, Ms.Divya had already arrived and we were done with the introduction stuff and other formalities. Some more students joined the class and it was almost full.

I was sitting in the first row and the chairs next to me were not occupied.

“Shall we start the class?”, asked Ms.Divya.

“Yes ma’am”. We all replied in chorus, impatient for the class to start.

“Excuse me ma’am. May I come in?”, said a sweet voice at the door to the training room.

“Yeah, do come in. The class is about to start”, she smiled.

I turned back to look at her. She walked fast. But, everything appeared to be in slow motion.She adjusted her free flowing hair behind her ears. Her pretty red lips glittered in the semi-dark room. My jaw dropped. The prettiest girl on earth. I scribbled something at the back of my notebook.

 

“The prettiest girl on earth,

Came to take away my heart,

My days had always been dull,

You’re my heaven and I’m dying to get out from hell .”

To be continued...