cake.
‘How do you handle the 3D projection in air?’
‘I’ve named it Holovect. Its a laser based volumetric display system,’ Raman raised
his wrist a nd pointed to t he edge of p
rojection. ‘It modifies air in a b
ox shaped in the
section of s pace,’ he made a box around t he map with his f irst finger, a nd continued,
‘the laser beams reflect and refract on it. And. .boom.’
‘And the software?’
‘Its android,’ and the location sign glowed red, denoting the end of journey. He got
up, turned it off by placing his palm over the dial, and walked out of the roadside
restaurant.
‘Wait. .we can talk about a partnership, and investment,’ one of them shouted f rom
behind.
‘Real y?’ Raman turned back and demolished al of them, at once.
The Sun had started to drop heat bombs from up t here. O
utside, it was t he Sun that
was scratching him, and inside were a flood of memories that seemed to appear al
of a sudden, after years of drought. The years without l ife he cal ed them. But in a way,
the prison was where he realzed what true freedom is. With freedom vame silence,
with silence came peace. And with peace came freedom. I wish i could be caged forever
with her.
A black chervolet cruise passed through the underground parking entrance and
Raman’s heart skipped a beat. He wiped his white T-shirt and walked inside the
building. The elevator door was about to be closed when a woman saw him rushing
to catch the lift, and she blocked the door with her hands. The doors pul ed back
14
The Sun, Moon & the Muse
again, providing Raman enough time to enter inside steel box tied to ropes. The
woman smiled, and he smiled back. Little things the world does for us.
The lift opened to a gal ery, super tidy and w
hite. A
nd it was exceptional y s ilent. T
he
floor was reserved for the owners, executives and managers.
At the other end of the gal ery were the offices. B
eside the l ift were t he stairs. Vacant.
He peered down and found a place in the balcony at the right of elevator.
And he could s mel t he fragrance o
f jasmine on the floor. Whetever she w
ent, s he left
a trace of her charm and sniff. And it took him to the period when they met for the
first time.
It was love at first sight.
The moment she saw him, she fel in love with him. And though he felt the same,
that his heart had started beating al of a sudden, it took him some time before he
realized he was in love. She made me aware of my own existence.
That day, he was feeling the same.
He didn’t had to wait much when the elevator door slid open again and a woman
appeared. She was formal y dressed, with thick black hair tied in a bun, and
drowned in her mobile device. Her eyes were magic, though he could not see them.
She stepped into the vacant corridor, and the mobile fel from her grip as s he raised
her head and glanced at the figure s tanding i n front of her. For a m
oment, both were
stil . Frozen. Drowned.
Remember me?
No. Just never forgot you.
-----*-----
2
‘Do you have them, the stones?’
‘I’l have them today, Mr Z.’
‘I am sure you wil . Al depends on your claims, son. A
cquire the stones by today, for
I shal be arriving tomorrow to take them myself,’ the old, shivering voice with a
poetic accent shook him up from sleep.
15
The Sun, Moon & the Muse
‘Are you?’ the man got up from his bed, shaken by the sudden chaos t hat the man at
the other end had created. Something is definitely not right. ‘I’d start preparations,
then.’
‘Just surprise me with the stones. That wil do.’
‘Sure I wil .’
‘Sure you must. For if you fail, I wil burn you, alive. ’
He got up from his bed and put on his r obe. It was stil dark outside, b
ut the sudden
intrigue in his sleep m
ade him restless. And bloodthirsty. Hurling across his bedroom,
he dial ed a number on his phone.
‘Where is that mother dugger?’ He screamed as soon as the cal was received.
‘We are keeping an eye on him. He is stil inside the house.’
‘Make sure he is not fooling you around. He is an asshole crook,’ he yel ed, and
disconnected the line.
*
Shehzad Qadri was his name. And he was a synonym of death.
For the world, Mr Shehzad was a businessman. One of the leading real estate
developers of North india, but that was only a mask he wore for the world.
and his business included everything that made him gain more control. Murders,
kidnappings, assaults, loots, robberies, scams and drugs, he was into every il egal
thing that happened in the north indian states of India. The man had a private army
of his own, a lot of goons with latest automatic weapons from the middle East.
Qadri lit up a cigarette, to silence the restlessness that had b
estowed upon h
im. And
began dial ing numbers again. This time, it was not answered, and he smashed his
iPhone onto the floor of his giant bedroom. The phone didn’t shatter, as Steve Jobs
had promised.
Today is the day. The thing that started five years ago was about to end that day. At
Least he thought so.
He had never believed in magic or supernatural things until he met Guha, the man
who changed his reality, and the man who showed him the t ruth. I t's n ot about m
oney.
It's about a lot of money.
Behind every il egal operation going on in the NCR region was streamed by his
organization, the QQ. within a matter of years, he raised the sound of his voice so
16
The Sun, Moon & the Muse
loud that anyone who dared to take a stand against him w
ent deaf. And dead. It was
the power of fear and control that he w
orshipped a nd believed in, and t he money h
e
earned helped him earn many powerful friends. And powerful foes were destroyed
along the way. Incredibility was his mask.
His iPhone beeped again, and a message flashed on the screen. ‘He is out. Headed
for Gurgaon.’
‘I’l meet that mother-bugger in the Sun.’
The Sun triggered a memory inside him, a memory that could be blamed to mark
the beginning of al the the muddle in his happy, body, choppy life. Guha certainly
left some profound impressions on his mind, as did with many more, including
Raman.
The Sun a nd the moon w
ere in love with the muse. The Sun, who had grown up to be
a wil ed, fearless warrior, could never e xpress his l ove for V
yana, t he muse of science
and innovation. The Moon, who grew up to b
e a p
oet, w
as too shy to express h
is love
either, and only dreamt to recite her the poem he had written for her Both the
cousins mended their lives around the woman, the Sun stayed with her al day long,
and the moon accompanied her through the dark of night. Both of them moved the
earth and sky, heaven and hel to win her love, but her heart didn’t b
eat for either of
them. There was someone else in her thoughts. He was a traveler from the mortal
world, and who changed the fate of the 13 realms.
Qadri tried to stop the story that went on playing inside his h
ead. It was told to him
by a stranger during a flight from New Delhi to Pune, a stranger who influenced
him in a way no other could. The stranger was professor Animesh Guha.
He took out his gun from the secret locker behind a painting in his bedroom. The
gun was already loaded, he maneuvered it at his b
ack, and covered it under h
is white
shirt. Give me the stones, or give me your miserable fucking life.
-----*-----
3
17
The Sun, Moon & the Muse
Raman and Namrata were drowned in each other’s e yes. One good t hing about love is, it
never ends. It gets latent when the lovers have to part their ways. But it shows itself
up again, when the time is right. Either of them didn’t say a word. Words didn’t
matter. Namrata was flooding from inside. She tried to say something, but her lips
trembled. Raman’s eyes were wet too. You see, men general y don’t cry. But if they
do, it's not for nothing.
‘Namrata, may I have a word with you?’
Her senses returned to normal as his voice reached her. The first thing i wish to see
every morning is your face; and the only voice i want to hear- yours.
So be it. The bel y laugh after the conversation echoed inside them, and both could
hear it, two birds lost in each other, kissing and cuddling.
Old wounds that appeared to be fil ed with time were now green again, and the
sudden sensation was melting al the ice that had frozen on their hearts, over the
years. But sometimes, the right way is not the easy way.
She wiped her tears, took a few deep breaths before asking him, ‘When did you get
out of jail?’
‘A few days ago.’ Raman said, his eyes fixed o
n her. Her h
ead w
as down, b
ut she w
as
raising her head in between, only to find that he doesn’t wants to see anything else
except her.
‘How have you been?’ he asked in a subtle tone.
‘Does it matter. .how i am. . or your daughter has been?’ Namrata’s voice roared,
giving him a glimpse of al that she had to go through. Anyone could guess it was
devastating.
‘I know i made some wrong choices. But if you listen to me-’ before he could
complete, namrata interrupted him, and yel ed at him in a pressed voice.
‘Your wrong choices have cost me a lifetime of pain. And your d
aughter. .she thinks
about suicide at an age of five. This is what you’ve left for us.’
Her words stung him like a thousand bees had pinched their needles al over h
im. ‘I
know she needs me. And i know you need me. And that is why I am here.’
‘Make it fast.’ she said, wiping off her tears.
‘They’re after me. They fol ow me everywhere, day and night. And something’s
coming. I can feel it.’ Raman said, pressing his voice as much as he could.
‘Had you felt that way before, we’d living a happy life together.’
18
The Sun, Moon & the Muse
‘Stop saying that every fucking time,’ he yel ed, scratching his head. Raman found
himself stuck, undecided about what to say. The woman waited for sometime, then
turned back and started to walk toward her chamber at the opposite end. ‘Go away,
Raman. Nothing’s left between us now.’
Raman clutched her arm, not letting her go.
‘I was trapped,’ he said, and she saw the fear gripped him. ‘Guha let me into this
trouble. Now they’re after me,’ he paused as his terrifying face flashed back again.
The man made for terror, by terror.
‘What do they want?’
‘That is the problem,’ h
e jerked his h
ands and c ontinued, ‘I h
ave no idea w
hat they’re
after. They think i am behind Guha’s death and I have hidden whatever Guha was
supposed to hand over to them, that night.’
By that night, he referred to the night when he w
as arrested, and h
is master had died
mysteriously. ‘They even attacked me in prison. And they’re after some stone.’
Namrata’s forehead stretched. The stones. She didn’t say anything for some time,
then asked him, ‘Do you know where they are?’
‘No. God, No,’ he jerked his head in air and swiped his fingers across his hair, as if
his head were ful of red ants. ‘Guha told me nothing related to any stone.’
‘What did he tel you when he asked you to….’ she left it incomplete, assuming he’l
get her nerves, stil .
‘I only agreed to help him find a way to enter the museum, and return back safely.
This was the deal.’
‘And what happened after he returned back from the museum?’
‘He was shot. He c ould barely say a word. I could s ee from his face t hat he had failed.
And terrified of something, or someone. Probably him.’
Namrata was deep lost in her thoughts, her heart wanting to say something both
had forgotten in the clutter of the world. I missed you.
‘Tel me, why did you a greed to help him? I f i t wasn’t money, or adventure, w
hat was
it that made you join him, even after….’
‘My machine. The light. H
e knew a way to solve the p
roblem of e nergy. My machine i s
my work of lifetime. And i took my chances to make it work.’
The woman opened her mouth to say something, but resisted her desire to do so.
She had the answers to the many of his questions. He hoaxed you.
19
The Sun, Moon & the Muse
The elevator door opened again and a man walked into the g
al ery. He w
as tal , with
fair skin and handsome physique, and wearing a nice suit. As he saw the old couple
standing mid corridor, he stretched his eyebrows, clutch his fist and grinded his
teeth. His creamed white face had turned red. ‘Namrata. .what is he doing h
ere?’ He
screamed, and it was enough to make her drop her jaws off.
She didn’t respond, just moved a step back as he approached closer. He came closer
to them, and stood a feet away from Raman. Namrata had already moved herself to
a safe distance, out of his reach.
‘Now that you’re here, you’re dead,’ said Samarth, scowling.
‘Trust me, it's not the first time I am being threatened. But I am stil here.’ He
replied in a nerdy, formal tone.
‘You don’t know who we are.’
‘I know exactly who you are. And you’re a….what they say….a douchebag.’
Samarth was too impatient to control his ferocity. He grabbed Raman by the col ar
of his shirt and pul ed him closer to y ou. ‘I’l count t o 10 and you’l disappear b
efore i
finish.’
Raman was no less. He got hold of his white c ol ared blazer’s edges a nd pushed him
on the floor. Samarth staggered, and fel down.
Namrata was scared, impatient and wet. She wanted to stop them, but either of
them wouldn’t listen. Both the men had their shares in making her life miserable.
The first one shattered her dreams, the other one shattered her peace.
She rushed to support Samarth. Raman had grabbed him by the blazer and was
dragging him al over the floor. Raman whirled h
im one last t ime, with al his might,
and Samarth col ided h
ead o
n with the wal . Namrata gave him a hand, but he jerked
her away, and she fel down beside him.
Raman could not bear it. He closed his fist and smashed a punch o
n Samarth’s bozo
face. The punch hit his nose, and a stream of blood turned h
is white face a nd blazer
red. Samarth screamed in pain, and bolted on him like a wounded wolf. As he came
closer, Raman turned to a side and p
lanted a kick on his ass. S
amarth’s head col ided
with the opposite wal this time, and he drowned into unconsciousness.
‘Go a way from here…. J ust go away,’ Namrata screamed w
ith her m
aximum capacity,
enough to tear off her vocals and burst out into tears. She fel on her k
nees, and h
id
her face in her hands.
20
The Sun, Moon & the Muse
Raman moved a step closer, wanting to hide her i nside his chest and disappear. And
never return until al her pain hadn’t disappeared.
‘Please….leave,’ she said, without looking at him. Her sobbings continued, and
Raman could hear them as he descended down the stairs. That day, her tears d
idn’t
stop flowing. And neither did Raman’s.
Yes, Men do cry. And when they do, you must know its true. Raman’s eyes wet too.
What scared him more was her distasteful condition, an effect of which he was the
cause. He kept stepping down, with nothing but her voice echoing inside his head.
The third of June was recorded to be one of the hottest days of the summer. The
wind had just vanished. It hadn’t rain even once. And the Sun wasn’t showing any
mercy on the mortals. He put on his black aviator, and walked out of the building.
-----*-----
When I Tell You A Story: Book 1 (Black River Trilogy) Page 16