Mdn Story Contest

Complete-the-Story Contest! Hi, Well, Plz go thru the following... ************************************************************************

He was nervous. It was 6:30 PM already and still there was no sign of her. In the meantime, he had gulped down 3 glasses of water and visited the bathroom an equal number of times. Five years...five long years since he had seen her. Today would be the first time they would be meeting after their graduation and he had decided to make her aware of... Well, his ears turned red at the thought... Yes, today he would be letting her know how special she was for him.... It had taken him a couple of hours to gather the courage to call her, asking to meet at this restaurant. And it had taken him a couple of days to finally decide upon exactly what to say and how to say it. He had learnt the lines by-heart, practicing before the mirror at least a dozen times. But, now... as he looked at the red rose in his hand and the darkening sky outside, he was beginning to have self-doubts about whether she would come at all..... ************************************************************************

Read it? Okay... now, here we go... What you have to do is, use your imagination and complete the story! You can think of any kind of ending...happy, hilarious, romantic, tragic, bizarre, horrifying… Just anything will do. Kindly note that this is NOT a competition…. Hence stories should not be adjudged against each other. This is just a literary exercise, aimed to make all of us break out of the routine and think something different. So those who are interested, charge up your imagination and hit the keyboard! Yours, -G. Submissions So Far… Sr No.

Author Name

Page No.

1.

Chetan Apte

02- 03

2.

Nimish Goray

04- 09

3.

Gautam Soman

10- 12

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1. Chetan Apte’s Version ….. I have had freedom of naming him as Rohit and her as Renu. Hope no one minds it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rohit was nervous.

It was 6:30 PM already and still there was no sign of Renu. In the meantime, Rohit had gulped down 3 glasses of water and visited the bathroom an equal number of times. Five years...five long years since he had seen Renu. Today would be the first time they would be meeting after their graduation and Rohit had decided to make her aware of... Well, his ears turned red at the thought...Yes, today he would be letting Renu know how special she was for him.... It had taken him a couple of hours to gather the courage to call Renu, asking to meet at this restaurant. And it had taken him a couple of days to finally decide upon exactly what to say and how to say it. Rohit had learnt the lines by-heart, practicing before the mirror at least a dozen times. But, now... as he looked at the red rose in his hand and the darkening sky outside, he was beginning to have self-doubts about whether she would come at all..... -----------------------Rohit waited for her over 2 more glasses of water and same number of visits to the bathroom. He had never waited for any one in life for so long. Those five years also seemed to be smaller than this hour of anxious wait. He was not sure whether she had found her prince charming meanwhile or she was still single like Kajol of Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai! Finally Renu was there at the venue making him wait for over hour and half! He was just wondering what excuse she will give now because she hardly had came late during the college years hence generally there were no excuses from her for being late. She sat herself on the chair and had the water Rohit offered. Since it was five years of darkness, no one knew where to start from but some had to break the ice! Their last meeting was on the graduation day itself and it was a decent farewell to each other. It was during those five years that Rohit had started liking her and was slowly falling in love with Renu It was in those 5 years after MBA Rohit had established himself as a renowned consultant in civil engineering. Renu was impressed with the new and improved look of him. “Yes Rohit! How are you? Nice to meet you after so many years. Seems like Renu had lost count of the years so Rohit corrected her, “Five years, Renu, it’s been 5 years after our MBA! What are you doing all these years?” Renu had no immediate answer to this so she asked Rohit about him, his career etc. After MBA, Rohit joined his father who was a successful building contractor. Rohit stated telling her about how he joined his father, “I was looking for some job with a builder as marketing guy.

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Selling a residential project is more concept selling than just apartments. But being civil engineer, I was more interested in the execution, construction part of the industry so I joined my father. I worked on his projects for 3 years as engineer and a thought came to my mind why not to start a Project Management Consultancy, PMC for short, firm? It is a good business! A PMC firm is the link between the architect and the owner or the developer” Rohit was explaining Renu. Renu was hearing to him with lot of interest. But was talking very less! So to open her up, Rohit started talking about the festivals, the management quizzes they organized during the two years of MBA. This key worked the virtual room Renu had locked herself in, for last four years started opening up….. “I used to dream of joining the armed forces but my mother always denied this and didn’t let me join the Military Academy. The reason she gave was, being her only child, my mother didn’t want to loose me. I agreed but with the condition that I will marry an army officer and my mother had to agree to this. Do you remember Colonel Damle, who was our chief guest in the 1998 Equinox? I had sought his appointment and had met him after the festival was over. “After a few meetings with him, I had said him that I wanted to join the Army but could not for family reasons. I think he liked my honesty and my respect towards the Indian Armed Forces. About two three months we were meeting each other and on my birthday that year, he proposed to me in a very royal way, that suited an Army Officer and I had no reason to say ‘no’ to him!” Rohit was awestruck to know this. His dream was almost shattered! Now what was he going say to her, to a married girl? Rohit lost all the courage he had gathered in last two days. Rohit had a funny thought even in that situation, that he is practicing in front of the mirror and his mirror image was laughing at him like crazy! Still Rohit wanted to listen to Renu, so he gulped some more water. He somehow managed to keep his face normal. Renu was continuing, “We got married soon and Anil, his name is Col. Anil Damle, had to move to Guwahati for posting. Initially he went alone and I flew there after two weeks. Meanwhile he had arranged for a family accomodation. On the weekly offs we used move around. The last place we visited together was the Kaziranga National Park. It was a nice trip. “As we returned home, there was a messenger in army uniform waiting outside our home. Both of us had a real bad feeling looking at him. As per his request I went inside the house. Soon Anil came in and said that he has to move to Kargil since there is news of some unsolicited movement there. The message was clear. It was war!” Rohit was now very keenly listening to her. He had watched the war on TV. Renu was now loosing the hold of herself. But was still saying what she wanted to… “We first moved to Pune because Anil wanted me to stay with his parents. Anil immediately had to report to Kargil. He used to talk to me on satellite phone every third day I had given him the news that he was going to be father soon. One day, the phone rang at the usual time. I

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picked up the phone and it was not Anil on the other side but was Captain Rashid, Anil’s junior.” By now Renu’s eyes were full of tears but she gathered some courage, “Captain Rashid’s voice was really sad. He asked about my well being and that of my in-laws’. I told him not to make me wait more. And Rashid gave me the bad news! Anil was bravely fighting with his AK56 on the hills and the artillery at the ground was backing up him and his men from ground. It was heavy shelling from the top, too. Rashid was firing his AK56 balancing the radio on his back. Anil was giving the co-ordinates of attack to the operators of the mighty artillery on the radio. Then there was a big explosion of a rocket propelled grenade in front of them. Apparently they had had cover behind a big rock. As all the dust and smoke from the explosion settled, Rashid found that Anil was lying dead next to him with so many splinters in his chest….” Now Renu burst into a little loud cry. Rohit was speechless. After a little while, Renu started talking further, “I fainted hearing the news. When I was in my senses, I was in hospital and my mother and in-laws were around me. Then the doctor gave me another bad news, that I had had a miscarriage due to the shock.” Rohit rally didn’t know what to talk. They left the restaurant. Next morning Rohit told this entire story to his parents and that he was thinking of marrying Renu. Couple of days later Rohit’s parents went to meet Renu’s mother and Late Colonel Anil’s parents and asked for their consent about re-marrying Renu. After some thinking they all agreed and called upon Renu. She was surprised to see Rohit’s parent there. Rohit’s father told Renu, “Rohit wants to marry you and he had asked you to meet him in the restaurant because he wanted to propose you for marriage. But he didn’t have enough courage to open his heart to you after knowing what you suffered from. But he has clear intention of marrying you and your past does not matter to him and hence to us too. Rohit has made it clear to us that he still loves you and it is not sympathy for which he want to marry you.” Renu didn’t know what to say, neither her mother and Late Colonel Anil’s parents had any idea what she will say in reply. She just nodded in acceptance! Rohit’s mother went to her and hugged her to be daughter-in-law in affection. Now Rohit and Renu are happily married. Rohit’s PMC is doing well and Renu has started a school for the orphaned children of Indian army officers and Jawans who have become martyr in the war.

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2. Nimish Goray’s Version One Rainy Day... -----------------------------------------------------------------------He was nervous. It was 6:30 PM already and still there was no sign of her. In the meantime, he had gulped down 3 glasses of water and visited the bathroom an equal number of times. Five years...five long years since he had seen her. Today would be the first time they would be meeting after their graduation and he had decided to make her aware of... Well, his ears turned red at the thought... Yes, today he would be letting her know how special she was for him.... It had taken him a couple of hours to gather the courage to call her, asking to meet at this restaurant. And it had taken him a couple of days to finally decide upon exactly what to say and how to say it. He had learnt the lines by-heart, practicing before the mirror at least a dozen times. But, now... as he looked at the red rose in his hand and the darkening sky outside, he was beginning to have self-doubts about whether she would come at all..... His heart was filled with skepticism. "For God's sake, do not show me your face again..." were her words when he last met her. Sweety, that was what he called her. "But, Sweety, this is true..." he said.”Please, please, go away. I pray to you. Go away in peace." she said in a choked voice as the door slammed on his face. He could hear her sob as she went upstairs. "Please Sweety, this is me. Call me as soon as you get back" he spoke into the answering machine. Cheekoo was the name given to him by Sweety. "I love your dimples." she used to tell him. His dimpled cheeks looked "cheeky" when he smiled. There were a lot of girls who adored him, and many gave him nicknames. But this one was special, as it was given to him by a very special person. He looked at the darkening sky outside. Will she come? Would she really show up? After all these years? And after all that had happened? "Waiter!” "Yes, sir!" "Umm..." "Another glass of water, sir?" "Well..." "Very well, sir." The waiter was a nice man. He was tall, thin, middle aged, balding and has a stiff upper lip, a strong characteristic of all butlers in the hotel. After all it was the best hotel in this part of town. Booking the table had cost him a small fortune.

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"Hi, I am new to this place." She approached him on the first day of college. He was in her final year, so was she. He glanced at this beautiful creation of nature from head to toe. She was not the typical "babe", she was simply too cute. Her eyes were light, her skin was more or less dusky, more towards the fairer side though, medium height, beautiful face and an innocent smile. "Uh... So?" He simply could not get her eyes off her. His fumbled with his words. Yes! It was his first ever crush. "Can you guide me to the final year History class? I have joined just today. I have no idea about this place. I just happened to see your Identity card and... You are the first class mate I know." "Well, yes. I mean, it is my pleasure..." His heart skipped a beat as he led her to the class. They looked like a perfect pair. He was a tall, strapping lad. She was in perfect contrast to him. 'Well, opposites attract' he thought. Their friendship grew as the days went by. They exchanged notes, then exchanged stories, they exchanges jokes. She depended on him for help, he depended on her for comfort. For the first time ever, he felt that his heart was not his own property. When she felt ill, he felt weak. When ever she felt sad, he used to get disturbed. He was falling in love with her. Slowly, but truly, madly, deeply... He never told anyone about his feelings. He wanted her to be the first one to know. And later, she would be the first to know. The sky was dark now. The occasional streaks of lightning made the atmosphere grim, full of suspense. "It is already late evening." he thought aloud. "Still waiting for some one sir?" "Waiter, I shall order in about ten minutes." "Well, that is the tenth time in the last hour you have said the same sentence sir. Take your time." "Umm, thank you." He remembered the day when she fell ill once. Her parents were not at home. He had rushed to get the doctor. "When shall she get better?" "Cool, boy. This is just a case of flu."

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He never told her folks or his folks about this. 'She shall tell her parents, herself. After all she is mature enough', he thought. She used to get occasional bouts of flu and cold. Every time she used to fall sick, he would get nervous, and fidgety. His folks used to get upset over his sudden change in mood. His mom used to ask "Son, what is the issue?" "Nothing." "Is something bothering you?" Asked his dad. "Please, no more discussion. I am perfectly fine." used to be his retort. Nothing was fine outside the hotel. It was drizzling already. People were running for cover as the rain came down in small droplets. The rain drops reminded of something else. It reminded him of tears, tears of pain. It finally happened. He could take it no more. 'I am going to tell her my feelings.' He said to himself. But, was it a bit too soon. After all, they knew each other for hardly a year. 'Well, it is time', he thought. "Sweety, this is my confession. I love you and no one else...", he wrote on the big small golden bordered card that he bought the previous night. To make it look more convincing, he wrote it in red. Red was to indicate love. 'Well, a red rose with this greeting and that is it.', he thought. 'It is now or never.' He grabbed his bike and rushed to her home. He rang the doorbell and knocked on the door. His palms were sweating, he was perspiring and his heart was beating rather fast. After a long pause the door opened. She was at the door. "Um... Hi!" "Hi! What are you doing here?" "Well, these are for you." He stood there, looking at her face. Her face turned form normal to red, to pale. "Cheekoo,.... you... you are a good friend Cheekoo, but this, this... 'Good friend?' That is it? That was what she thought? "Who is it?’’ A voice roared from inside. "No one." Sweety said. "For God's sake, do not show me your face again..." He was shocked. The ground slipped from underneath his feet. The world spun around. He did not eat or sleep well for a week. His parents were paranoid. They simply did not know what was wrong and he did not tell then anything.

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"Hi!" He looked up. There she was. He could not say anything else. He simply stared. "How are you?" she asked. How could he be? For five years, he had been looking for her, finding an answer. What went wrong? What was the reason she disappeared? She was not to be seen at the convocation either. How was she? His mind was filled with millions of questions. "Hi. Sit... Please" He looked at her. She was a shadow of her former self. Her skin was stained, her hair was white in patches, and there were cushions under her eyes. She had indeed suffered. "How are you?" "Fine" "Sweety,... you do not know how glad I am to see you." She nodded. The rain had stopped now. "Waiter!" "Yes sir. Finally, are you ready?" "Sweety, what shall you have?" "Nothing." "No, you should have something." "I am not here to eat or drink. I am not here to meet you too. I am here to tell you something." He stared at her. Was she still upset with him? "But..." "Listen. That day when I asked you to leave, some thing happened." she started. "Yes, some one called you." "Yes, that is right. That was my husband." The words came slowly, but stabbed him in his heart. He grew pale. "You never... told me...". He could not speak more.

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"You never let me. I know we were good fiends, but you misunderstood everything. You were like a brother, and you..." her voice trailed off. "That day after you left, my husband came down. He saw the letters. He knew from the neighbours that you had been here when i was ill...". Her voice cracked. "He was convinced that we were having an affair. He saw you going away on you bike. He picked up his service pistol and aimed at you. I tried to stop him. There was a scuffle and... and...". Sweety broke down. she was sobbing loudly. Loud enough to be noticed by the people in the restaurant. "...and I shot him. The police arrested me. You had been so sweet to me, how could I bring you into this. I destroyed the rose and the card." she stopped. "You mean, you..." "Yes, I told the police that I killed my husband. The judge gave me life..."she looked up. He looked at her. He could do nothing else. His body had gone limp. He was responsible for a murder. The sky outside was heavy. But not as heavy as the guilt in his mind. What had he done? Oh, why did he not tell her his feelings at college... Oh, why did she ever come into his life... "When you called me, I was not on the phone. It must have been the landlady. You did not let her speak at all. When you ask me to see you, she simply said 'Yes'. I am here to see you only because of her persuasion.” she spoke with a firm voice. "Why did you do this? Why?" he asked. "Because, I liked you. You were like a brother. You were a friend. I could not bring you into this." she patted his hand as she said this. "Madam, time, we have to leave soon." a voice from outside the restaurant said. "It is time. I have to go. The warden is a good man. He gave me ten minutes to see you. This is the last time we meet. I did not want to keep you in suspense.". She took back her hand. He could not move. The sky outside was illuminated by streaks of lightening. Yes, a bolt had struck him too. She lifted herself from the seat and walked to the door. She turned and looked at him. He thought she smiled slightly. She has found peace. She felt light. She felt much better. The rain was crashing down. Someone's world had also crashed. He sat in his chair. His eyes transfixed on the door. He could feel a pain in his chest. It was a burning feeling. Outside the rain was coming down in torrents, giving life to the world around him. He felt lifeless. His life followed her outside into the open. "Sir! Sir!!" the waiter shouted. "Manager, someone call an ambulance..."

***

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3. Gautam Soman’s Version

He was nervous. It was 6:30 PM already and still there was no sign of her. In the meantime, he had gulped down 3 glasses of water and visited the bathroom an equal number of times. Five years...five long years since he had seen her. Today would be the first time they would be meeting after their graduation and he had decided to make her aware of... Well, his ears turned red at the thought... Yes, today he would be letting her know how special she was for him.... It had taken him a couple of hours to gather the courage to call her, asking to meet at this restaurant. And it had taken him a couple of days to finally decide upon exactly what to say and how to say it. He had learnt the lines by-heart, practicing before the mirror at least a dozen times. But, now... as he looked at the red rose in his hand and the darkening sky outside, he was beginning to have self-doubts about whether she would come at all..... Seconds ticked away into minutes and minutes into hours. Every time a car entered the parking or there was a feminine voice, he would look up expectantly, only to be disappointed. His emotions were swaying like a pendulum between anger and hurt... anger at himself for looking like a buffoon, sitting all alone gulping down water... and hurt at being made a subject of ridicule. An hour later, just as he was about to give up all hopes and call it a day, a grey coloured Optra stopped by the entrance ..... And there she was, getting down from the back-seat. He could feel a sense of adrenalin rushing thru his body that almost bolted him out of his chair and he was rushing towards the entrance to greet her. But the sight in front of him made him stop in his tracks..... Just as she was about to close the door, a cute little child called her from car and she bent down to kiss him on both the cheeks, closed the door and waved at the man in the driver's seat. The car sped away. He could see his dream being shattered like a Plexiglas broken into a hundred fragments. The situation was clear... she was married, and had a child. As he stood there contemplating running away, she spotted him.

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"Hey!!” He forced himself a smile and proceeded ahead to meet her. "Cute child." He was surprised himself that he could say this. "Ho... arre malaa soDun ek minute hi rahaat naahi to...” she laughed indulgently. He escorted her to the table. As she settled in the chair opposite to him, he managed a closer look at her…. The way he used to when she sat next to him in college, in canteen, in bus... She was looking even more beautiful than he has seen her last….if that was possible. He felt a stab of pain in the heart. She looked up the menu and asked him something; he mumbled incoherently. The waiter looked visibly delighted to take an order of something other than "a glass of water, please." "Bol..." said she, smiling across the table at him, “graduation nantar ekdam gaayabach zaalas!! hotaas kuthe itki varshe?" "Well, I went to Bombay, completed my masters and now working at Winprosys." "Zakaas! I always knew you would do well in life." Admiration in her voice was genuine. "What about you..?'' "Nothing compared to you. After graduation I did one or two short term courses, got job in a firm and have stuck with it since then." “hmm... " He hesitated, unsure how to put the question about marriage as delicately as possible. "When did you get m-" Just then, the waiter, true to his profession's norm, interrupted to serve their order. Over the sandwiches and coffee, she talked non-stop about her office-colleagues, her boss and about some of their classmates. He only made an occasional remark or two, already feeling his mind withdraw in a shell. "ajun kiti diwas aahes?" She asked as he paid the bill and waited for balance amount. "hmmm... aahe ajun kaahi diwas." He had already made up his mind to leave by first train next morning. "arre, mag ghari ye na ekda!! mee sagLyaanshee oLakh karoon dein tujhee" He flinched. He would have preferred to die rather than face such a situation. "uhh,… ho ho, yein yein.." As they walked together towards the gate, she took out her cell. After speaking into it for a couple of minutes, she turned to him and said, "jaraa 5 minute thaambshil ka.... gaaDi yeilach evdhyaat." He just nodded. As they stood outside the gate, looking at the incessant traffic flowing past, he felt all his life was getting lost away in same manner, right in front of his eyes.

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He could take it no more... Suddenly clutching her arm, he turned her towards him. " Why didn't you inform me about the marriage?" "Oh, tuza address kutthe hotaa maazyaa--'' Suddenly she stopped.. "Whose marriage?'' " tuze !! aankhin koNaache ?'' Her face became a mixture of myriad expressions..... " tula koNee saangitale maaze lagn zaaley mhaNun?" "maghaacha to mulga... to car madheel maaNus....." It started with a giggle but soon she was laughing outrageously. "yeDpaTaa, to maazyaa baHiNeecha mulga !! aaNi te maaze jijaaji... tyaala gheun park madhye chaalale hote. MhaNaale , chal tulaa paN soDato, waaTetach aahe..." For a second or two, he didn’t know what to say... Then, he knew. Next moment, he was bent on his right knee. Taking her hand, he whispered,'' Will you marry me?" - G. *****

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