by Amith vikram
Reverie
A collection of Short Stories
By Amith Vikram D
Creative content for business and entertainment
Contents
1)The Fallen
2)In search of Bliss
3)Stranded
4)The Seven Islands
5)Moments of Joy
6)Jewel Thief
7)Bermuda Triangle in Indian Myth
8)Silent
9)About the Author
The Fallen
He looked surprisingly calm. There was a hint of pride in his modest appearance and conscious tranquil behaviour. Bhuvan, aged 26, was wearing a white shirt neatly tucked inside a blue jeans pant. Everything was perfect, he thought. This is the dream. He took his laptop and walked towards the bus stop. He was attending an inauguration function of his friend's English Academy as part of the team. He had designed the website for the company. He felt like a winner at last, walking down the beautiful streets of Bangalore with a sense of attainment. He never told anyone about this project and thought of surprising everyone with his remarkable feat. There were more projects in store at the function where he could meet more people. He smiled wondering how everyone he knew would react. It was around four in the evening which meant cool gentle breeze, the sun hiding behind the clouds, which made him even happier. After waiting for a while, he got the bus and there were many empty seats. He took a window seat at the back to enjoy the cool breeze and to feel the joy, after a very long time. He relived the moments of his earlier days when he had to take major decisions in his life and which had affected his life to a large extent. There was a general opinion about Bhuvan which was openly expressed by his parents, friends, teachers and all the people who had met him, and that was- You are indifferent. Somehow people seemed to know more about Bhuvan than he himself. He was an ordinary person but was fairly intelligent and had a sense of humour. He considered himself as a fallen man.
Throughout his life, all the decisions that he took had rebounded. He claimed that he took the decisions by clinging on to one principle-reason. Yet he had failed beyond measure. He finished his 12th with great effort, but he could not complete his bachelor's degree in engineering. Bhuvan was extremely depressed and disgusted with his life but he maintained that the decisions he took were right. Now finally he was relieved, more than anything, that he was financially independent. He somehow had learnt about web-designing and was fully dependant on that for his life. He had moved to Bangalore from Mysore in search of a call centre job to
maintain the expenses until he could establish himself independently. After about forty minutes, he reached the spot. The building which they had hired to start the academy was fully decorated with flowers and there were tilaks and rangolis everywhere which meant rigorous puja had been performed. He went inside and was greeted with enthusiasm and was introduced to the rest of the members of the team as a web developer, although he was nothing more than novice. A devotional song was playing in the background. He was briefed about the list of programs for the evening. To his pleasant surprise, the inauguration was quite a big event. The chief guest was a prominent figure among a section of people. This is the dream. The website was designed in a very short time. So there were a few adjustments that he had to do before the launch. Twenty minutes passed by and still he was not happy with the outcome. The guest could arrive at any moment now. Everyone were outside waiting to welcome the guests. He could have left it like that to join the crowd outside. But he wanted to do his first task perfectly. While he was trying to edit a certain component, the whole website crashed! He could hear the crackers bursting outside which meant the arrival of the guests. He stood there feeling blank. He wanted to disappear forever. Pulling himself together, he tried a few things hoping to resolve the issue. No dough. He thought frantically. Should he take the laptop along and flee the place or should he just flee leaving everything behind? Just then the chief guest along with the team and other guests invaded the space. Without thinking otherwise, Bhuvan simply walked out as if in a sleep towards exit, quickly put on the slippers which he saw first and fled. He ran a few yards, frequently looking back, and caught a random bus without knowing where it was going.
20 years later......
'So the doomsday didn't turn out to be that exciting after all' said Bhuvan one Tuesday afternoon. Priya who was busy in the kitchen waited for Bhuvan to further add his comments. 'Turns out, some dead leaf sunk in a drain near kengeri marking the extent of the day' Bhuvan continued. Priya sighed 'huh, is that what you are writing this time? For god's sake Bhuvan, get a real job, at least once in your life'. This was an exaggeration, he thought. He actually had two jobs which he loved to do. He had his own private tuitions going on although he himself was an engineering dropout. Nonetheless, he made more money than the students who got graduated. Besides he was also a writer, although he never made much money from this as his reader base was just his family and friends. He sometimes had a doubt if even they were actually reading any of his work. His beautiful yet intelligent wife Priya simply termed his jobs as 'boasting and bragging'. Priya made him a cup of coffee and sat on the couch to read a book which was not written by Bhuvan. Priya laughed remembering something from the past - 'In fact, you were the one who was super excited about the doomsday, weren’t you? You were so happy, thinking all your miseries would finally end'. Bhuvan didn't say anything in reply but concluded his writing - women, with their characteristic truthfulness when it comes to men, could be more devastating than any doomsday! – He closed the book and went to sit next to his wife. He looked at the ceiling as if he could see the future on it.
'It doesn't matter what I do for a living anymore' said bhuvan thoughtfully, still staring at the ceiling. 'I have high hopes on Prithvi' continued Bhuvan 'still nineteen years old but the passion and regard he has towards the tradition makes me proud'. 'Like what?' asked Priya who seemed to be in a sort of denial for this false-pride. 'Haven't you noticed? In spite of the pizzas he still loves the masaldose, he religiously reads Deccan Herald, prefers darshinis over fancy restaurants and he has never been to Cubbon park except that one time when he went on that school trip'. Priya couldn't help but smile at this, looking dearly at her husband admiring how he cherished some simple aspects of life. Suddenly the phone rang. Priya answered the phone. After hanging up the phone, she said 'Apparently your son is having an attendance shortage. I never knew that this was part of such a noble tradition’.
The next morning, Bhuvan went to the college to meet the principal. He was dressed formally, a blue and white checked shirt neatly tucked inside a black trouser. He walked inside the Principal's office. The Principal was not there but there was another gentleman sitting inside the office. Bhuvan went and sat on the empty chair next to the gentleman. 'Bhuvan?' said the man who noticed Bhuvan’s typical hair style. 'Abhi!' Said Bhuvan. Abhishek, the founder of the English academy, smiled and stood up 'It's been twenty years since we have met!'. Bhuvan stood up too smiling from ear to ear although with a bit of embarrassment 'Indeed. And I believe you know why, he he'. 'Oh you were such an Idiot back then' said Abhishek. 'I know, and I am really sorry for what happened and I really want to make it up to you. Ask me anything' said Bhuvan meaning what he said. 'Nothing! Old man, I'm your friend! I can understand mistakes can happen. But what I don't understand is why you are so sensitive about such things to an extent that you become paranoid' said Abhishek. Bhuvan stood in silence, still smiling a little, agreeing to what Abhi said. Abhishek continued 'You always wanted your life to be perfect like, as if in a novel. But why? What's wrong in being an ordinary person and leading
an ordinary life?'
Bhuvan replied 'My friend, I have failed in my life. That Bhuvan is long dead now. I could never understand what he wanted, that was the problem. It was like finding your way out in pitch darkness. If it was wealth or such sort of aspiration, I'd have been at peace. Because I got them even without trying. I went to severe extents to find out what I really wanted, but in vain. Now I have become cynical about everything. But then I said to myself- I will stop doing mind-numbingly stupid things and try to become politically correct to fit inside the society. I guess, things will unfold some or the other day, like how you bumped into me today. I'll just wait until then. In fact, there's nothing more rewarding than an ordinary life.'
Abhishek said 'All I can say is, it’s a good start, after almost twenty years. You faced what was your worst fear back then. Now we can only laugh about it'.
'Yeah, even twenty years ago, people would've laughed at me anyway' said Bhuvan.
They both stood silently for a moment.
'So what happened after that escape, huh?' asked Abhishek
'Well I decided to become a monk and so went straight to an ashram, but things didn't work out that way' replied Bhuvan.
'Hmm, so you realized about karma marga is it?' said Abhishek.
'No! What's that? Name of a street? No It's just that they didn't let me stay there with free food and doing nothing by the day' said Bhuvan.
They both laughed.
'Hmm, you kept saying you'd never marry in this lifetime. What happened there?' asked Abhishek.
'Yeah, I tried that too. But then everyone thought I was gay and so I had to marry. No, just kidding. I guess things just happened. It was not in my control'.
'Huh, I'm not surprised at all Bhuvan. Even after twenty years, this is your standard line. Nice and convincing though' chuckled Abhishek.
'By the way, how come I'm meeting you here? Do you have a son or daughter studying in this college?' asked Bhuvan
'Yep, my daughter. She has a shortage of attendance' said Abhishek.
'No surprise' said Bhuvan
‘What?' asked Abhishek
'I mean today's generation. Or should I say today's education system' said Bhuvan
'Yeah, must be the education system or both, if you ask me ‘opined Abhishek.
The principal entered the room at that moment smiling briefly at both of them. They both introduced themselves to the principal as concerned parents.
The Principal said 'I'm afraid but Your Son Prithviraj and your daughter sindhu will not be able to sit for this semester exams since they both have shortage of attendance. I've got reports from students and teachers alike, that they spend most of their little time in college together and the rest of the time roaming around the city'
Bhuvan and Abhishek looked at each other horror struck.
The Principal continued 'They are both asked to meet us here in the office as soon as they get the message, where ever they are, as they are not here in the college at this moment'
After twenty odd minutes, Prithviraj and Sindhu entered the office. Abhishek started shouting at Sindhu and she started crying. So Abhishek, Bhuvan and the principal had to console her instead of scolding. Bhuvan was very much upset.
'So you want to tell me something?' said Bhuvan to Prithvi.
'Yeah dad. This is going to happen, me and her. How do you like her?' said Prithvi sounding casual.
'Shame on you son! Is this the age? You see, in your age, I turned down many offers from even better looking girls than her. Do you know why? It was against the tradition to even indulge in talk with pretty girls' said Bhuvan.
Prithvi narrowed his eyes, half-unconvinced, half-lost for words and finally said 'It's not about how she looks, dad!' shaking his head in disagreement and exasperation.
'Ha' smirked Bhuvan 'My own son! Never expected this level of stupidity from you. What are you now, eh? An idealist? Or a self-righteous fool?'
'Relax dad. I was just kidding. There's nothing of that sort. We are just friends' said Prithvi smiling.
He thought of saying ' very typical' but chose not to. But instead asked ' So where did you take her all this time?'
He said 'Oh, Cubbon park'.
In Search of bliss
It was Wednesday afternoon in Bangalore brilliant weather conditions, peaceful, calm, everyone were either working or sleeping. Rahul was looking out of the window from his bedroom sitting lazily with a dreamy look. He was looking at the trees which were waving as the wind blew. But something was missing. About ten years ago this same thing was blissful, joy but he couldn't feel that way now, no matter how beautiful the setting was. He decided to take a walk. After like five mins, he came back with red bull lays and few other vegetarian and non-alcoholic stuff. 'okay, let's try now' he said to himself. The red bull was good for a little while, the chips got over too soon and he watched the same sitcom for the nth time. When he felt lost he used to travel. It felt good for a couple of times, but not much surprise in it anymore. Rahul had maxed out on everything, except travelling in his own private jet to NewZealand or experiencing the street music in Spain or living in a palace like home with a trophy-like wife and illustrative kids who were ten times more good looking than him!
'So if I am done with life, I guess I'll start working' he thought. 'Okay, where do we begin...open gmail, facebook, youtube, outlook, music player and notepad'. He noticed he'd got a reply from one of his targeted client. 'oh a business trip then, should be fun' he thought. He was supposed to go to madikeri, a town on a hilltop, on the purpose of business. Madikeri is a tourist spot and known for its natural beauty, hills, vast coffee plantations and very pretty and bold girls. That kind of cheered up rahul. Perhaps this'll give him the much anticipated bliss, joy. He arrived in madikeri on friday evening, checked in to a hotel which was suggested to him by a friend of his. He threw his luggage and himself on the bed, but ouch. 'This is not the kind of bed that they show in movies, this is more like the ones in a hospital' he thought. He looked around. It was OK, very clean, spacious, a tv on the corner. But he was a bit concerned with the ceiling(what?). It looked really thin, it was not concrete but some cheap material. He feared the fan or the whole ceiling might just fall on him.
Apart from that, everything seemed good. 'Should I prepare for tomorrow's meeting or should I just enjoy doing nothing, watching tv while eating and drinking'. The choice was obvious. He decided to go to sleep early so that he could get up early tomorrow. It was sharp eleven O clock when he turned off the lights. He was not used to sleeping this early, he was thinking about the meeting finally. Not really, he was imagining how life could be if he became successful Joy, bliss....what's that? He could hear rats squeaking. 'Damn you rats. Why don't you go to sleep now and start playing in the morning?' he thought. After a moment he heard a loud thug, like someone hit the ceiling with an iron rod. He got up now starting to slowly realize, but he wasn't sure. He switched the lights back on and sat on the bed as if waiting for something to happen. And it did. He could hear someone walking around above the ceiling tap...tap...tap and the loud noises were recurring along with the rats squeaking. Just some rats could never make all of these noises, he was convinced now. He switched ON his laptop and googled for some info. He found an interesting WordPress blog about the ancient times of madikeri. " Some five hundred years ago, a group of artists had visited a small village near madikeri to perform a drama. In those days, the wandering artists used to perform during nights which would extent till the midnight. The drama had started at 9 pm and only a couple of people were there to see the drama. The artists decided to perform anyway, but as it progressed into the night, more and more people had assembled. At about 12 pm, it seemed as if the whole town was there to witness the drama. But one of the artists found it peculiar that the crowd was very silent. They didn't cheer, nor clapped, they didn't even smile. He brought this to everyone's notice and everyone thought maybe its their thing or
something. There was a brief interval when all the artists were behind the screen preparing for the next act. This artist not able to curtail his curiosity, peeped out to look at the crowd. He could see each and everyone were sucking the blood of rats! The artist was horror struck. He also noticed their foot was was in reverse direction! The whole team of drama artists packed up and ran. When they enquired the next day, they came to know that the whole town was depopulated because of a deadly plague". Rahul tried to be brave. 'Clearly it can't pierce through the ceiling' he thought. But he googled for more information. He came to know that there are different types of paranormal beings: Some would taunt, some would enter into a human, some would drink blood, some would physically hurt and also some beings could change their shape and become invisible too. It was 12 pm now and he could hear sounds as if someone was sucking juice out of a fruit. 'I don't care if i die. Let me think of lord shiva, the lord of ghosts' Rahul started muttering under his breath, eyes closed. He did this for a few minutes and then decided to watch tv. He started watching a creepy film, which kind of brought some relief to him. Now the sucking sound was gone. It was silent for a while. 'Maybe ghost time is over' he thought. And then the lights went off. And so did his courage. He started muttering again without break. After two minutes, the lights were back on. But there was no more noise.
'I am still alive!' he said. It was already 11 am and the tv and the lights were on. He looked up at the ceiling with disgust. 'All because of this cheap material' he said out loud. He noticed something though, there was a dent on the ceiling and there was a large gap where he could clearly see what's above the ceiling. 'Oh my god, I am lucky to be alive' he thought. He decided to check out immediately. He went to the front desk and complained about the ceiling and the noises. The manager apologized and said that the rooms on the third floor are still under construction. Rahul asked "So has anyone stayed in that room before me?". the manager replied "No sir, you are the first person". Rahul said " Oh, I see". And then Rahul recounted what happened last night to the manager. Rahul also told him about the story he read on the blog. The manager said " Oh, I know that story actually. It's not fiction, but it has happened sir. Also, the artists didn't flee from the backdoor but they switched the act and performed a play on lord shiva". Rahul was amazed by this. The room attendant who had gone to check the room came back and said " Sir, is this yours? It was all over the bed". "What is it?" asked the manager. "It is the holy ash, bhasma, said to be the decoration of lord shiva"