Topsy Turvy

Topsy Turvy - Suryanshu Mishra All characters and events in this story are fictional, with the exception of one. He was sliding fast, through a dense outgrowth of piercing branches and drying leaves. His feet were bloody and his bruises were multiplying fast. More than the pain, his mind was racing against the slide, trying hard to grasp onto some stable branch or some rocky outcrop, which would break his fall. His head was bouncing off various unknown shapes and the dirt was blinding him. Down he went, until suddenly he could see the sky break out above him. The trees and the scramble suddenly gave way to thin air as the slope dropped dead in a sheer cliff. His legs went flailing in mid-air as he grabbed what was happening in a split second, terrified to the core. His body gave an abrupt twist and he reached out blindly for something to hold onto. He could hear his mind scream as his fingers twined around something and his torso lurched and came to a hanging standstill. He panted and huffed and opened his dustfilled eyes. He was swinging at the edge of a precipice, with a yawning void below him that disappeared into darkness. Only his right hand held him from certain death as it stuck onto what it had clasped. He screamed for help, but his voice emerged as shattered glass, dissipating quickly into the thin night air. His eyes adjusted to the half-moon night and he looked down into the void. What he saw now sent glaciers down his spine. Crooked, shattered and twisted faces were leering at him from down there, calling out his name softly. His eyes widened in horror as those faces reached out with skeletal hands, hands that grew longer and longer as they reached out for him. He shook his head, disbelieving that this was happening and looked up. His eyes met his right hand and then he saw it. He was holding onto a leg of a corpse, cold and beyond hope. His own legs lurched and kicked against the cliff walls. He looked up again and this time his eyes froze as he saw that the corpse was sitting up and its rotting face was looking at him. There was something vaguely familiar about the face, and like a speeding train it hit him. The face was his own, splintered and burnt, and half-crushed. He shuddered from the shock and his hand let go. The cliff-edge and the night sky went further away from him as he fell, screaming. With a scream, he landed on the floor. He was covered in sweat and his eyes flickered both ways. He staggered and like a madman, he felt his own body. It was in one piece, he realized, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was his own bedroom floor. He took in the surroundings even as his senses struggled to emerge from the lucidity of that nightmare. The clock on the bedside table showed 5:17. It had been roughly three hours since he had finally gone to sleep, and yet it seemed like he had not slept at all. Yet another night where he dreamt of his own corpse. Yet another terrifying fall into the void. Was that a glimpse into his own inner darkness or was that the sum of all the fears that he had been fighting? He had gone to sleep thinking of the one person on his mind. Her piercing eyes transfixed him every time he walked into the office and saw her. The moments with her felt like pieces of sugar melting in a warm cup of coffee, and every word she spoke stirred them slowly. He was still not able to place at

what time her floating images turned into a tumble through the ravines of his turmoil. The faint rays from the eastern sky forbade any further attempts to sleep, and with the usual sudden jerk that broke off his thoughts, Tej somersaulted and stood infront of the mirror. His hair was ruffled and his right hand still had the same ache below the elbow. He smirked as he saw the bruise below his left cheek, the ache having stopped hours ago. He reminded himself that he had a check-up scheduled next week. If it had not been for her, he would have most surely procrastinated about that for the rest of his life. On the other hand, his mind was still fumbling from the rattling terror of his nightmare. He switched on his jukebox and walked into the bath. All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land Trying to find, trying to find where I've been. He finished brushing and stepped into the shower, turning it on. The warm, thick gush of water smothered his face and he gasped for breath as he fumbled trying to reduce the flow volume. As he stood there, the previous night flooded back to him vividly, as the Led Zeppelin legend played out from the other room. At Nisha’s birthday party last night, the music, the laughter and the fake camaraderie that dripped through the evening, had made him want to get out of there. But he couldn’t. How could he? Many of his waking moments had burnt themselves out thinking of the moment when he would say it to her. A year back, he had just arrived here from Mumbai on his second assignment abroad. The city was fresh and unknown, and he was on the upswing. He had arrived here with Sanju, for whom it was the first time out of India. Rising stars within Sirius Software, they were the first team to be sent onsite to work for Harold Brothers. Sanju was his old friend from their engineering college, and knew him inside out. Crazy, naïve Sanju. Always running off chasing imaginary lives. Always reaching out for him when he was in trouble. What would he do without her? He stepped off the shower, wiped himself and rummaged for some clothes. Nothing was ironed. The weekend was supposed to have been a boisterous one with the guys, but he had opted out so that he could shop for the most amazing gift that he could find for Nisha. He was as lost amongst the options as a deer would be in a city. He had spent the whole of Saturday checking out all the best fashion houses that he city boasted of, and yet his mind could not figure out what was best. Finally, he had woken up Sanju by phone on Sunday and dragged her out of bed almost literally. It was she who finally led him to this little bookstore by the riverside, where he found a rare copy of Musings, the first of John Quister’s anthologies. She knew Nisha loved Quister, and he had kicked himself mentally for having forgotten that. Well, he was in love, and he could excuse himself for being forgetful in love, if not unmindful. But how did Sanju know about Nisha’s choices? Well, he had to ask her that when he

meets her next today. He picked up a brown shirt, one of his favourites, and ironed it with a self-alarming deftness. Someone told me there’s a girl out there With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair. Took my chances on a big jet plane, Never let them tell you that they’re all the same. Zeppelin was magic. Had always been for him. Today was the day. His heart beat faster when that thought sprung from the wells of his recollection. The tremors of his nightmare faded as he buttoned his shirt and tucked it in. He fed himself some cereals and looked at the clock. It was 6:05. Time to get out. He poured himself a glass of juice, gobbled some more cereals, grabbed his bag and keys and headed out. The little pilot guiding his brain shivered a little as he stepped into the sultry morning and walked towards the station. Fall was approaching and this year, he could smell it in the morning air. Or was that the smell of anticipation mixed with a fear of rejection? He will find out today.

The sirens in the city always managed to open her eyes before it was time. Even when it was a late night, nothing changed. The remnants of the previous evening reached out over the hours and clawed into her back. She opened her eyes and squinted from the first rays of the sun that fell on her face. She lifted the pillow and put it on her head, turning the sun out for another five minutes. But all she heard was last evening’s music, the laughter and the mirth of the office grapevine. Even Eddy had lost his bearing, emerging from his impregnable shell and finally having some fun two years after his wife’s death. Most people from the office were there. It was her birthday party after all. Nisha Singh’s birthday party. Even though it was a Monday evening, desks had emptied out at seven and everyone had headed down to the Latitude with her. She had been made to feel like a queen. First, Ben and Paul from the Mortgages team had led a tap dance performance dedicated to her, which had got everyone rollicking. Then Laura and the girls had crooned her favourite tracks for her, even though their voices turned shrill towards the end. Her lips curled up as those thoughts paraded themselves while she threw off the quilt and slipped into her shorts. She tiptoed into the other room where her flat-mate Maria slept. She could even see her breathing in and out under the covers and envied

her for having a window that faced west. While she brushed, she thought of what happened later at the party. The moment around ten when Tej walked up to her with his radiant smile, and with the mop of hair on his forehead gelled back. He was wearing a brown jacket and smelt nice. “Hey Nisha, you look fantastic! Much like the cherry on the sundae. Many happy returns of the day!” He gave her a hug and handed her a gift, which she was sure was a book. Oh, that reminded her – she should check out the gift! “Thanks Tej. You are late. Where were you?” “Oh you know – I like making an entrance”, he winked, and smiled, before someone interrupted and wished her. Through the evening, she noticed him looking at her strangely with a somewhat nervous edge to him. She had found it amusing to some extent, since they both knew each other for the last four months, ever since she had joined Harold Brothers. He was usually a go-getter, always on the run, fast with management and extremely ambitious. Being a contractor from an external firm, he usually spoke his mind without fear, though that did sometimes raise eyebrows from some on the floor. She liked him a lot. He was brilliant at his work, incisive as a kitchen knife and made light of every situation. He always teamed up with Jon and Piyush to pull off jokes, which bordered on being pranks but somehow always made the person at the centre of it laugh. Ever since she had the walk with him on the beach a few months back, on their office outing to Hollis Beach Resort, she had got to know him a lot better. She learnt about his growing up in Bhopal under the shadow of his father’s death, his inability to go abroad for his undergraduate due to his family’s financial situation and his one hundred and one jobs while he studied to pay his sisters’ school fees. She learnt about his work at the Centre for Autistic Kids in India, which he later carried over when he came here. He was kind and curious, sparked up and enthusiastic about most things that his life touched, inspite of his difficult self-upbringing. She thought about that in many empty moments, and she looked at her own life. A rich father who made it big here in his twenties made life very easy for her. She got to go to the school of her choice and she got to travel to India as often as she wanted, to meet her relatives there. She was always keen to emerge from his father’s media-glorified image and away from the rigmarole of a nine-to-six job. She had thought of mentioning this to Tej and Piyush and plan a project in China where they could do something big for children. They could “Uhm, Nisha, can I have a moment with you?” The clock on the wall behind the bartender showed twenty minutes to midnight and Tej had already had a few drinks. “Sure. What’s up?”

“Well, can we move outside for two minutes please? This is important…” “Important? Hmm. Tej…ok, let’s go!” They had stepped out through the side door onto the left terrace. Through the glass doors, she could still see everyone inside laughing away with their clinking glasses. To her left, the city unfolded itself away into the night. It was always a breathtaking sight here. “Umm, Nisha, I have been meaning to tell you this for some time now, but I haven’t found the right occasion yet. You know how we talked about the moment in the future when there will be a choice to make for everyone? When we reach out from behind the curtains of mere formalities and make known the true form of friendship?” “Uh huh”, she vaguely remembered something of that sort discussed with him sometime back. His eyes had gazed into hers as she thought so, and he felt them. “We spoke about this on the beach….” “Oh yes, yes, ofcourse!” Now she was not sure where this was going, but she was beginning to feel the start of something that she would not mind hearing. “Nisha”, his eyes lowered a bit, “well, I was going to say that…” “I am listening, Tej.” The moon emerged from behind the clouds and started listening to them as well, as the slow breeze ruffled his hair. “I… I think you should know this before it gets too late…”, his eyes shifted and he looked inside at the crowded party. “Yes?” her heart was beating somewhat faster. “I think ….” Then he looked up at her, took her hand and pointed it to her side towards the glass door. The whole crowd stood there, with a gigantic cake spelling Happy Birthday and all lights off. Only their faces and splitting smiles were distinct. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!” they started singing. “What !” she stammered and looked at her wristwatch. It was midnight. She looked at the clock behind the bartender. It still showed ten to midnight. She turned towards Tej, who had leant back and now had his trademark mischievous smirk.

“Yeah we put it back by ten minutes”, he chuckled and joined in the chorus. She couldn’t help but burst out laughing as she watched Tej walk over to Jack and Sanju and others and hold the cake higher. She wondered where Piyush was as she opened the doors and saw everyone’s faces clearly once the glass walls had slid back. That reminded her now – where was Piyush last night? She took herself aback when that question popped up and she stared now into the mirror, a frown on her face. Where was Piyush? Everyone had called her and wished her already, and calls came in as late as two in morning. Why hadn’t Piyush called? She thought about this even as she sat on the subway an hour later and headed downtown to work.

The wildfire lapped the purple sky as it shot up through the towering pines and seemed to singe the whole world. She felt her feet land on hot, crispy flakes of burnt leaves as she rushed through the smoke and flames, which somehow did not dare to touch her. She was dressed in a white wedding gown and on her mind was only name. As she rushed through the burning woods, Sanjana Sen felt hordes running with her and they were all shouting the same name, though with different voices. She allowed herself to glance at them, and lo and behold! They all had the same face – hers! They all wore wedding gowns but theirs were burnt black. Even their faces were burnt black. She laughed on seeing them and then looked down at her own feet. They were beginning to burn as well. Sanju’s mind started evaporating as she saw her own feet burning off into thin air. Her legs started disappearing like wisps and it kept going up. But the strange thing was that she felt no pain. She just felt herself disappear into this air though her mind kept running and taking the same name. What was that name again? The honk of a car broke her reverie and snapped her back to reality. The bus was crowded and ploughed inch by inch through the downtown traffic. It was 7:35 am and she was running late. She was supposed to be at work by 8:00 am today. It was her turn today to run the daily update meeting with the Mumbai team. It was all thanks to the wonderful party last night. Nisha’s birthday party was a grand success. It had to be, since she and Tej had planned it. It had been in the works for three weeks now, and much to Nisha’s surprise, most people had turned up, even though it had been a Monday evening. She flicked her hair back and looked at the book in her lap. She did not even

remember when she had stopped reading it. She looked at the person squeezed in next to her. He was probably in his forties, with grey hair brushed back and a thoughtful look on his face as he scanned the day’s stocks in the Financial Times. The woman standing next to him was shifting her legs constantly, as if she was not comfortable with the frequent jerks the bus was taking. Sanju got up and offered her seat to the lady, who was delighted. It was better this way anyways, because being too comfortable in her seat made her wander off through wondrous burning forests anyways. The bus was full, and the peak hour traffic wound its way through the maze of humanity. As she stood there, one thing kept coming back to her. It started when she saw Tej talking to Nisha on the terrace last night. It was she who had thought of turning the clock back ten minutes and then sending Tej out to keep Nisha off for a few minutes while they brought the cake out. But it reminded her of her own birthday six years back, when she and Tej were in their first year in college. It had been the first time that she was celebrating her birthday away from home, and she was missing her parents terribly. It had been Tej who had organised the surprise midnight party, just four days before their first semester exam. He had somehow managed to get everyone in the first and second year hostels to be at the auditorium grounds, and arrange a celebration for her. It had been out of the blue, and had been one of her most memorable birthdays ever. Since she was ten, Tejasvi Nayak had been one of her best friends. They grew up together in Bhopal, studied in the same school and even slogged in the same coaching classes, dreaming of getting into IIT. She was there when his father passed away, and he started taking on his family’s responsibilities. IIT never happened, though both had felt they had done well. Her parents had been disappointed, but things looked up when both of them got into another prestigious engineering college near Mumbai. Tej had been cool through that period. “We shall shine wherever we go, Sanju. Who cares about IIT? Anyways, one stays a geek in such places. We are meant for more spectacular paths. You shall see.” She remembered the twinkle in his eyes when he had said that. That time had been wonderful, when they had gone with their friends to Ladakh on a long break. Sanju had never had a serious relationship in college, though it was not for the lack of attention. He had dated a string of girls, even some of her own friends. A lot of them had teased her about him as well. She smiled to herself as she thought of that, when she used to laugh those things off. Tej and her? She had found that amusing at first, but slowly over the years, she had found it hard to think of anyone else in a serious manner. They knew everything about each other, and had so many shared memories. When they left India for their onsite assignment, she had conjured up an exciting prospect of something happening in a distant romantic place. She smiled to herself again. How wrong had she been! Coming abroad had only helped to push Tej away from her. He had taken onto the lifestyle here like a fish takes to water. They started spending less time together, though he was always there for her when she needed him. They slowly made good friends here, though Tej’s circle was

much wider. It was he himself who first introduced her to Nisha, Jack, Piyush and many others. Over the span of a few months, her interaction with Tej had reduced slowly, even if they worked in the same team. She thought about the lunch one day shortly after they had returned from the Hollis Beach trip. They had been both busy for weeks with the release of their biggest project till date, and it was a big relief to have one lunch where they could be together. He had brought Nisha along, who was at her cheerful best as usual. The lunch had been great, except that she saw Nisha and him sharing a twinkle through their eyes. That’s when it had hit her. He would always be there for her - as her best friend. When that realisation hit him like a runaway train, she had choked on her food. They had both stopped laughing and patted her, and she had laughed it off, blaming his jokes for her reaction. Last night, when she had sent Tej out to keep Nisha occupied for a few minutes, she could not help notice how they both looked together outside under the moonlit night. They appeared to be right out of the movies – Tej’s unfathomable look bearing down on Nisha’s yearning gaze tiptoeing up towards him. She knew she could handle herself even if Tej and Nisha started dating. One or two dates was not a big deal, was it? She wondered how Piyush was taking this though. Where had been Piyush last night? She shook her head as the bus came to another screeching halt. It was 8:10 am. She was already late. She looked out. It was still another ten blocks or so. She couldn’t wait to get to work.

“Damn!” exclaimed Piyush, stepping into the little puddle near the traffic light. This was so unusual. He never used to be so absent-minded earlier. How long had it been? A week? Yes, a week, since he got the news. He had read many a times about philosophies that undermined the value of destiny and played ball with the swinging arm of randomness. When he studied literature during college, it had been a constant obsession with him, to explore the human mind and understand what exposed its weaknesses. He had spent hours debating with Mr. Holkovich, his professor, about the merits of human introspection and how that helped man diverge from his so-called destiny. If he had not been an atheist, perhaps this is the time he would have started praying vigorously. Isn’t that what most people do in such circumstances? He was twentyeight, and soaring high amongst his peers at Harold Brothers. He was already hosting his own public gallery at 21st Street, juggling time amidst his two passions – art and finance. Life was a smooth sail until last week happened. At first, it had looked like a simple, harmless health drive that they had to organise. Tej and he had been heavily involved in putting together the health drive for the firm, but nevertheless, they decided to join all their colleagues on the test line and get their blood checked up. The drive had been in the planning for a few months, but it had got waylaid when Jack interrupted with his Kilimanjaro hiking plan. Tej and he had both promised him a few months back that they will join him, and join they did. It had been a fantastic trip, though he and Jack had barely managed to summit. Tej had had a better climb than

both of them. When they had returned, he had started developing occasional coughs and difficulty in breathing. When the health drive took place last week, he had used the opportunity to get a thorough check-up done. Last Tuesday, exactly a week ago, he had got a call from Dr Miller, who wanted to see him urgently. That’s when he had broken the news to him. Cystic fibrosis. A rare disease that gave him only five to six months to live. At first, he had thought that Dr Miller had been joking, but no. The test reports had confirmed that. It had nothing to do with his hiking trip to Africa. That had been a mere coincidence. The symptoms were just starting, and it would take him a few weeks to contract more severe symptoms, had been Dr Miller’s grim hypothesis. “I am sending your reports to our Chicago laboratories, for further analysis, as a matter of a second opinion. But am pretty certain that this is it, son. You should start planning to spend more time with your family. I am truly, truly sorry.” He would have wept had he been an emotional spillover. He would have laughed had he been a cynical egomaniac. He was neither. He had gone home and broke the news to his parents. They were first in denial, and as the night went on and they realised that the truth was as real as the dewdrops outside, they had held him close and stared at the half-moon. His whole world had turned upside down within a week. What was the word? Topsy-turvy. He had been planning Nisha’s birthday party along with the guys at office. Nisha, enchanting Nisha. He was madly in love with her, and he had planned to speak his heart out to her on her birthday. Beautiful and smart, she personified all the things that excited him. How would he know that destiny would deal him a joker just before the ace came out of the pack? He crossed the street and turned right. Last night, it was her birthday party. Only he knew how much he had wanted to be there. He would have given anything in the world to have been there. But he had stopped himself from going there. How could he do that, when his life had only limited stock, and death was looming in the near future? How could he dream of the same things again, when each step of his was numbered now? If he revealed his emotions to Nisha now, she would never be able to live with the colliding and overwhelming terror of his situation. No he had no right to do that to someone he loved.

Only one person knew about his feelings for Nisha, and that was Sanju. It had come out during a walk on the beach on the Hollis Beach trip. He had been looking for Nisha after the evening party, but she had gone for a walk with Tej, someone told him. Sanju had given him company that evening, and as the walk had become longer and longer, he had shared with her his feelings for Nisha. Sanju had been a great listener, and he had also felt as if she also wanted to share something with him. But then it had started raining, and they had to run back to the resort, only to find Tej and Nisha arrive there dripping wet and laughing like idiots. That had been a wonderful trip. But now, where was he headed over the next few months? Will he spend more time listening to each loved one and dedicating his time to solve all their problems? Or will he travel round the world and see all the sights he had not seen? Or will he just take his parents to a cottage in the Rockies and spend his dusky months there in peace? He needed to decide fact. But first, he was going to quit his job today. He walked faster. It was 8:15 am, and he had an appointment with Dr Miller at 8:30 am. He will call Nisha after that to wish her a happy birthday. Last night, her phone had been busy. Trains always sound as if they are going faster when they are underground, and when suddenly they emerge from a tunnel, the world outside gets lighted and slow all of a sudden. Tej always watched out for that moment when the blackness of the tunnel suddenly explodes into dazzling daylight, but the effect was always the same. He leaned against the side bar and watched the others in the train. The guy beside had headphones on and had his eyes closed. The man to his left leafed through pink pages of The Financial Times, while the lady infront of him kept brushing her hair back while reading a Nelson Demille paperback. Somebody behind him was explaining to her companion how she was fed up of her boss. Tej smiled to himself and turned to look outside the window. This day was like another, and he had one more reason to look forward to it. The train disappeared into a tunnel again. He often thought of his Baba, all these years. The ups and downs since his death had become mere specks of passing moments whenever he thought of his Baba’s calm face and the times he had with him. Like a gunny bag against a rising tide, Baba’s memories always served to reduce every situation to its elements and stripped most awe or shock from it. But today was going to be different. He had come close to saying it the last time he was speaking to her, but it won’t be the case anymore. Today, he will say it. Today, he will ask her out. The train came to a slow halt at his stop, and he got off alongwith the hordes. He loved the buzz and energy of this crowd, a multitude of faces, thoughts and destinies

crossing each other’s path and breathing into each other’s backs every morning. He reached the foyer and started walking towards his office tower. He looked at the sky, bright with truant cumulus puffs treading in haste. He reached his tower, swiped his card and waited for the elevator. It was 8:30 am.

“Good morning Nisha. Happy Birthday again!” Jack wished her as he walked by her desk. She beamed and said thanks for probably the fiftieth time in the thirty minutes that she had been in office. It was 8:25 am and she had not done much apart from grabbing herself a steaming cup of coffee from the pantry and checking her emails, many of which were birthday wishes. It was a strange feeling to turn twenty five, as if she was at the peak of a small hill and was enjoying the clash of the elevating feeling of having reached the summit while dealing with the thought of there being nothing higher. Wasn’t this something everyone would feel when they reached this age? Perhaps, and perhaps this feeling would last only today. A birthday was one single day anyways. Nobody keeps thinking about such things once it slips by. She was putting too much importance to a transient question, wasn’t she? Once everyone’s in and busy at work, the whole excitement she was having would die down anyways. She couldn’t help but smile at herself for almost behaving like a child. The view outside was dazzling as always. The water gleamed in the morning sunlight and she could see boats criss-crossing their way, leaving foamy wakes. She wondered how many people shared the same birthday as hers. She was sure that atleast one of the few hundred people in the boats below would be sharing her birthday, and possibly, even the same age. She turned towards her monitor and through the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Tej walking in with some others. Her heart skipped a beat, and she shocked herself. What was that? Why was she reacting that way to the sight of him walking towards his desk? Ok, she had to get something out of her mind. If he won’t ask her out, then she will. Hell, it was her birthday! She can go out of the way. It was a tickling thought. She got up and walked upto him. “Hey Tej!” “Hello, Cinderella! Did you lose your slipper last night?” he chuckled, and gave her a slight hug. He looked a bit tired, and she was sure that he had had a nightmare again. He had told her about them once. “What’s up? Shall we have another party now, to celebrate the day? It’s really just started, you know”, he said. “Tej, can I talk to you? Umm… privately.”

“Sure, Nisha. Right now? Where do you want to go? Shall we go down for a cup of coffee?” Tej coughed and smiled at her. “No, let’s just go into the meeting room in the corner… I have a conference call at nine.” They walked towards the corner room.

The traffic was clogged like lemon halves stuck in a bottleneck. Sanju looked at her watch. It was hopeless. She was already forty minutes late on the call. The bus came to a screeching halt and she got off, even though she was two blocks away. She started walking towards her block. If she can reach before nine, she could still catch the Mumbai team just in time before they pack up for the day. She walked faster, but the crowd was too thick. She should have just called Tej and asked him to take the call as soon as he had reached the office. She was sure that today was the rare occasion on which he had reached the office before her. She turned round the corner and saw a sight that chilled her bones.

“Mr. Piyush Kapoor?” “Yes, that’s me!” “Dr. Miller will see you now. This way please…” Piyush knocked on the door. This is it, he thought. Another bright day in life. His own laughter bounced off the walls of his brain. “Piyush! Come in. Have a seat here, son. Make yourself comfortable!” Dr. Miller sat at his desk, and there was another man in a grey suit seated on one of the chairs facing him. Piyush wished him and sat down. “Piyush, this is Mr. Peter Swan. He is one of our legal advisors.” Peter Swan nodded to him, and Piyush nodded back, unsure of what was going on. “Uh, Dr. Miller, what’s going on? Did you get the results from Chicago?” Dr. Miller glanced briefly at Peter and readjusted his lapels. He put his pen down and started speaking again. “Piyush, now we have a little situation here, and I assure you that our clinic shall

make sure that your concerns are addressed financially, as well as legally.” “Concerns? Financial? What do you mean, Doctor?” “Well, Piyush, we had a slight, um, reporting error. Umm, you are not sick. The reports got mixed up, and the reports that got filed under your name belonged to someone else from your firm. Your symptoms were just normal flu symptoms…” The words stopped making sense to him. Piyush could not believe his ears. In fact, this was more astounding than him hearing about his sickness last week. The place was the same, but the moment was different. Was he dreaming? “I… I… Dr. Miller, are you sure? This…. this… is …wow! I am not having cystic fibrosis?” “No, son. You are absolutely fine. We understand the pain you and your family must have gone through for the last one week, which is why if you feel you should be compensated, Mr. Swan here shall assist you in filling up a form. I think it would be in our best interest to settle this misunderstanding quickly and amongst ourselves…” “Wait! Dr. Miller! Relax! I don’t want anything. You have just given me back my life. Don’t worry about all that! I know you for such a long time now!” Piyush’s mind rushed now, as Dr. Miller and Peter Swan heaved sighs of relief. Dr. Miller reached out for a glass of water. “Well, if there is anything else we could do…” “Doctor! This is the best day of my life! You know what? I am going to ask this girl out today on her birthday, something I have been postponing for such a long time!” exclaimed Piyush and got up. “Dr. Miller, this is too big! I am sorry but I need to go now! The day has just taken on a new meaning for me.” He looked at his watch and started walking towards the door. It was 8:45 am. “Hey Doctor” he stopped himself at the door, and turned. “You mentioned that the report belonged to someone else at my firm. Who is it?” Dr. Miller frowned and lowered his head. “Well, Piyush, it is not usual practice to share patients’ information like this…” “Doctor, please! I am letting this walk off. Let me know. I shall know sooner or later anyways.” “Umm… ok…. It’s….well, it’s Tejasvi Nayak.” Piyush’s face whitened, as he heard a loud sound outside.

Tej and Nisha walked into the meeting room and closed the door. The room had a great view of the river and beyond. “Tej, look, I know there are many things going on, but last night, when you spoke to me on the terrace…” “Nisha, wait! Before you go any further, I have something big to tell you! I need to know if the timing is right.” “Uh huh….really? Ok go ahead, you first!” “Nisha, I have been playing too cool all this time, but I think its time…” “Uh huh”, her heart beat faster. “I am going to ask Sanju out. I think I love her.” Her face whitened. “Nisha? What’s the matter? Did I say something…” She grabbed him and turned him around towards the glass wall. They both froze. A large jetliner was heading straight for them, for their building, almost for their floor. It was coming straight at them. Tej grabbed her and she screamed and hugged him as they leapt to the floor, a second before the room, the floor and the hundreds others around them exploded into a gigantic fireball of metal, blood, flesh, wood and steel, vaporising them all into nothingness. It was 8:46 am on September 11 2001, and they were on the 95th floor of the World Trade Centre North Tower.