Rehan in Delhi

It’s Friday night, the unfettered city

Resounds with hedonistic glee.

He feels a cold cast of self pity

Envelop him, his family

Out here in cold November night in Delhi, Rehan is in bed, invoking the sleep to dawn on his eyes. Today has been a taxing day. A sudden call by boss and Rehan is ordered to accompany marketing guy to the capital. Why? Well they are here armed with all information to woo their prospective clients, trying to win a rat race called “Bidding”. Being pretty senior engineer and one equipped with technical acumen, Rehan is the one expected to come up with those technically convincing term while marketing guy would hold his own in distribution and supply chain. “Well pretty sound decisions my boss takes” Rehan faintly smiles while unsuccessfully counting few more lambs in a lush green field(an old ploy to seek much evaded sleep’s shelter, a game his dad invented to calm down Rehan when he was agitated kid bound with tremendous nervous energy).

November mornings in Delhi are pretty romantic. A morning walk through the garden and dew glistened leaves shimmering all around are there to be witnessed. Days come with a complete packet of slightly tickling wind and that sweet sunshine. As day settles down to dusk, slight chill sets in and rendezvous with goose bumps start as one starts the bike and hears the monstrous roar of the engine. Well Rehan loves these traits of Delhi and that makes him happy to give this city a fleeting embrace once in a while.

So what tomorrow has on its platter for me? Rehan thinks aloud. Couple of meetings with the client have to take place, where a metaphorical tug of war would be enacted, “impress the client with our technological capabilities and we would win it hands down” His boss said to soothe his nerves before he flew to Delhi. And yes he has to meet his cousin Shweta and of course Vinny .

Alarm rings and after struggling with couple of snoozes, Rehan wakes up in the morning. Nattily he gets dressed up for most important meeting of his life. He stares at the mirror which reflects his confidence honestly and candidly. When screaming car screeches to a halt at Cannaught place , he comes out of it and looks back at the marketing guy to gauge his confidence and all he can see a slight smirk playing on his face. Pretending oblivious to it he takes the lift and two gentlemen are on the forth floor in a jiffy.

As expected client turns out to be a tough hard taskmaster, Rehan could only think of his kirana wallah as some one more stingy looking for a return from every penny invested. Both gentlemen satisfied with their effort come out with optimism written large over their faces. His mobile plays that trademark ringtone of his and suddenly and he is blessed with few choicest abuses from the other side . Hmm who else Vinny of course. And flooded with college memories Reh is off to meet his college chum Vinny.

Sandy, Love for Six pack and Her

Sandeep got off from his new Pulsar and strode towards the club.`surprised ah! you must be some one who was born with proverbial silver spoon in his mouth , running a bike and that too a pulsar? No, this is not another young man going bad because of dirty money seen all around. Sandeep just liked his friend Vinny loved that roar of engine when it was about to give wind a run for its money. Bike was his only true friend, Sandeep was always accused of being phlegmatic, someone who never really got attached to people, someone whose eyes were never welled up with tears or so his friends claimed. He doted on his pulsar and yeah only 180 cc would do for him. He claimed of getting goose bumps hearing his slave’s voice when ordered to pick up . “ghon ghon grrr grr “ and slave used to pick up at master’s behest and master used to get thrilled. The very master was goinn to have a pot shot at his second love, yeah pool what else? He was already running late by 10 minutes, still he felt running around didn’t go well with his image. Always a bit careful about his perception , young man sauntered the pool room with characteristic swagger in his walk.

So He entered the pool room, and all eyes turned towards him. He took the
stick and hit a straight shot. The guys clapped. He was 'Sandy' and he was on his way to becoming the coolest dude of all!!

He bent, to hit another one. And felt his stomach. "Man, I really need to work out on my abs". Ah another those of pretensions, pretending to be perfect. Perhaps six pack abs was a criterion to live in this world? Perhaps peer pressure and a bare Salman Khan was taking its toll on him. No one knows what triggered it in him, not even his bum chums appreciated this freakiness yet they survived him and pampered him.

With a gloat over his face too much perceptible on his face he got into the gym and worked out for an hour. When he came out, he saw her. She was playing badminton. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was also an employee of his company. And she hated him. Why this abhorrence ? Some one please told him . He had many night ruined over simple boy girl chemistry which does turn awry in some cases, who says affinity is always as positive as sulphur is to oxygen.

Ok, ok, he was not good-looking. He wasn't even one of the smartest
guys around. His colleagues actually referred to him as 'The Gainda'. How he hated that name!! of course he was doing his his best to get rid of that ugly tag, how he hated Rehan and Abhi for that , for coming up with a blatantly honest nickname; he still hated them somewhere in corner of his heart for being so honest. But he agreed what friends are if not honest? What they are if not ones kicking your ass and telling you how horrible you are. True these company waalahs never did don Rehan or Abhi’s mantle yet he had this paranoid feeling, somewhere down the line they all are doing it, laughing at his expense. Now he sorely missed that honest brutal criticism. But still the girl has to be wooed , and yeah days winged back to the time he met her.

And on the first day she had come, he had shamelessly ogled at her. But that was because he had never seen anybody like her. She blew him away. “She is one for me”, he gushed to his close companions. And for courtesy they nodded in affirmative. She was a blue eyed princess, who charmed many alike him. What to do now? He remembered the day , he was made to drape his wrist in rakhi when he failed to show his affection for a girl. Whom to blame? Yeah, usual suspects Rehan and Abhi. He let a faint smile come through.

He stood leaning at the doorway, dreaming about her, still toggling between his past and present. “Yeah she looks better than that girl Shreya who did that Rakhi act to me”. And then his cell-phone beeped. "Oh God, I will kill the creator of this technology with my own hands!!"
It was Rehan. His college mate. "What’s up Sandeep? Are you happy? What is life for you yaar?” Naah not a marketing survey, this one seemed a profound question, This one took some time to sink in? “What Rehaan means? Seems I have seen it coming” and Sandeep plans to call back his tormentor , one who did so many pranks at his expense.

Posted by Pranav and Ruchir

Dipped in oil

I was waiting at the bus stop. it had been 25 minutes past 6. I was thinking, "Have you ever seen people who don't think about the person who is waiting amongst 35 others on a bus stop? I didnot even have to take the bus. It was disgusting smelling people at the end of the day, when all you want is to sit and enjoy caffeine. It was high time all these people stopped having a nonstop party in their college and realised that some people have long tiring days and standing at a busy bustop can be very annoying. There I saw Akanksha and her friends walking lazily towards me

I still remember I was wearing a black kurta and jeans and had completely forgotten I had left my hair they way it was in my live sketching class. Akanksha came and gave me a big hug and whispersed, "I've gotta tell you something" Can it be anything new?, I thought.

"Anki do you ever have anything new to tell me?"
Anyways so are we walking to Crunchy corners ?

All the others nodded. Seriously i wondered if these guys could ever think without the smoke in their heads. As usual seated at crunchies we are cribbed about how our teachers sucked big time and we would be so much better off if we had just been working somewhere. Little did I know i would miss the day i sat on a round wooden stool and stare at a nude lady. The smell of charcoal that would not wash away after the bath i had at night. The joy of dipping my brush in turpentine.

Akanksha was getting impatient about people taking so long to order, she snatched the menu from Vinny and said, "Everyone will have a cappucino, Thanks!" I patted her, and said come tell me what is it? - Stop sccaring people with whats boiling inside you! She snarled back at me. She gets very irritated when she knows someone know what's going inside her head. She looked at me and said, "It's interesting, you have to hear how it all started. He's not even someone i would want to talk to or would like to know more about. Can I stay at your apartment tonight?

She stared back at me. But I was too lost. I felt I should have paid more attention to her, But I was too busy thinking about this design I had to submit. I looked at her with a vague smile and said, Sure you can stay with me. Akanksha and I knew each other since Class 9, when her family moved to Mumbai. We had spend nights togather studying and mostly discussing how people changed everyday. How we were changing as well, but we tend to stick around each other everytime one of us needed to talk. One more such night. I had a feeling I was going to let her down tonight by not giving her my 100%. It had never been so difficult talking about fear to her, Never been so difficult to tell her, I need to tell you something much more important that what you are going to talk about?"

The others were gladly arguing which movie they will watch the next day being a lazy saturday. As we all walked out of Crunchy's and said our good bye's I felt a detachment, a disconnect from them. Reh' looked at me and I felt the pressure to tell someone but today I didnot feel like talking to anyone. I looked back at him with a tired smile, and he teased back" I am telling you all this turpentine seems dope you too much"

How did he know it's the turpentine? - I smiled and thought it was just a coincidence.

Vinny.. blind visions

They say your entire life flashes before your eyes before dying. Vinny never understood why. Is God such a sadist that he first designs a man’s death and then goes on to tease him while he takes his last breath. But what about people who are shot right between the eyes? Considering that their very brains are reduced to pulp, it’s safe to assume that they are spared the absolutely unbearable agony of being shown exactly what all is being taken away. “Lucky them!!” Vinny thinks and strains his eyes to keep himself alive. He can clearly smell the pungent odor of burnt rubber. “I am pushing my luck now.. I just wish it weren’t so much fun. Maybe if my headlights worked.. God!! It’s been a month now.. It would’ve hardly taken 10 minutes to get it repaired.. But why am I blaming myself for that.. The horn’s been out for a year now.. Now that’s something I can blame myself for without reservations…..”

He can still see the two red lights in the distance, fading away slowly. “Damn you both like no one has ever been damned before!!” He looks at his speedometer..110.. he hears his engine.. sounds like a frog.. too eager for mating.. a continuous croaking.. He smiles at the thought. “Sorry dude!!” he apologizes to his bike. Vinny loved to talk and he couldn’t stand being alone. Ever since he had finished college, he had developed the habit of talking to non-living objects around him. It was the first time in his life that he was unable to find at least one pair of (alive) human ears all round the clock. He had been spoilt rotten in this one aspect; courtesy his family and friends. Now he was like a kid ready with his bat and ball but no one ready to play. There was a time someone or the other was always ready to play.

As a result, he was now chasing two guys he hardly knew and disliked more than he liked them. He liked them as they were there and disliked them as they were really not there anymore. They had sped away on their sparkling new 180cc and 200cc bikes, caring very little for his hornless and lightless 5 year old bike. He has come too far now. Only if he knew the way.

One last attempt.. a last pull at the accelerator.. maybe he’ll spot them over the bend .. the uphill is slowing him down.. but he’ll catch up downhill.. only if he sees them.. his head is reeling and his eyes hurting.. SHIT!! He sees something.. a shadow with blinking tail lights.. VAN.. almost stagnant beside the divider.. slowly pulling to left side.. 10 meters away.. right ahead of him.. he closes his eyes.. sqeezes them hard.. tightens his fist and with them, the rest of his body.. his knees drawn together now clutching the body of the bike.. he puts his weight to his right knee.. too scared to open his eyes.. ZOOM!! THUD!! THUD!!

Two loud sounds.. silencer hitting the divider and left rear view mirror breaking as it hits the van.. he opens his eyes.. but he is blind now.. slowly his vision returns to him.. he feels light.. and then suddenly very heavy. As if life has returned to him. He slows down. The first image in his mind is that of his mom.. crying for him.. and then of his dad fighting his tears with his right hand around his mom.. his brother bent with his hand over his face and his wife hugging him partially from the side.. and then Priyanka.. sleeping beside her husband.. her eyes wide open filled with tears.. and finally that of his closest friends with expressions of shock and disbelief.
“Ah!!” he thinks, “That’s the origin of this supposition!! It’s not the pre-death as they say, but the near death experience which actually makes your life flash before you. Thank god!! It’s wonderful to see the worst and knowing it hasn’t occurred, like waking up from a nightmare. It’s one of the best feelings.. Life is good.. Life is wonderful.. It’s beautiful.. Don’t kill me god!! Not before I have sucked the marrow out of it like Mr. Frost”

With that he slowly takes a U-Turn and decides to enjoy a gentle and free ride to India Gate before retuning home. “The breeze is good.. So glad I have been procrastinating my tryst with the barber all month.. Off with the helmet for now.. We’ll have a great ride, won’t we?”

Over the pothole his bike wobbles as if nodding in agreement.

Supriya at scratch

Supriya was on a phone call when the she heard the computer beep "1 NEW EMAIL"
she's mumbling, "#7774 - ok got it! " holding her dairy in one hand the phone as she clicks "Show" on the screen.

---------Email--------

From : Rehan
Subject: Re: congrats
Date: Jul 22, 2007 6:08 PM

I want to know the real meaning of life. I want to know if I can make a difference to others . Would some one be happy if he/she sees me overjoyed or would my loss be unbearable to some one?

Reh'

--------

She hangs up the phone in hurry, reads the emails 3 times. She's is about to meet a friend in 20 minutes and she is supposed to get ready and leave. Supriya's brain tells her to get the car keys, but she stares at the screen. She whispers to herself ".. you know there is so much meaning to your life, only if you would listen"
She forces herself to look away at her watch. Opps! she has 9 minutes to get to the cafe. She shouts at herself, and rushes to the door. In less then a minute she is out of the house, puts on some hip-hop to get her back in mood and drives out. She's waiting at the red lights, struggling to get some kajal on. Talking to herself "Oh! if i dont put this on, she'll grumble - you look so horribly old" - She says aloud, "Right! - so bye bye to age!" - and she can feel the man in the next car staring at her; she turns asks him, " So well do you think i look 33" The man gives her a sweet smile and winks. Before he could say anything its green.

Supriya is meeting her college mate at cafe amoretti. It's a dinner that she has been waiting for 2 weeks now. But at this moment she would have preferred to call Rehan and talk to him. REHAN - she thinks, "Do you have the slightest idea i dont eat chillies?" - those were her first words to him 6 years ago. She was 4 drinks down, hungry and fuming when she first met Rehan at a freshers party. Rehan was shocked, he stared with a grumpy face at Akanksha and signed "who is she ?" He got a snarl back, and almost screaming as the music was really loud Akanksha said "My friend from school" - She's getting into the design college here, will be with me till she finds a place.

Supriya is 27, a freelance visualiser at ArtLAUNCH. She's used to be a photographer and before that a producer for a television company. She's too impulsive to stay in one place for more than a year and her friends and family wonder what has kept her at ArtLAUNCH for 2 and half years. Her parents live in London, they visit every 6 months just to check on the house and the huge family - where some or the other person is getting married or delivering a baby or is sick and dying. Those are the lone days when Sup's is at home by 9pm, has dinner at home and meets the rest of the family.

Rehan's Story

Episode 1

Rehan is an engineer, one of those who love to smell machines and who still don’t swear by codes and programs. He is an engineer of those good old times, yet he is young, very young. He has graduated from one of reputed colleges of India. A bright young man he has made his hands dirty in an automobile company that too in an era when they all coaxed him 2 join a software firm. “Get cushioned in an air conditioned office and travel by swanky cars, that’s life dude” His concerned friends used to advise him. Rehan’s dad was a decent man, but very timid person he was. It was difficult for him to believe that his bright son can let go what the whole world was glued to and young man prefers to smell paints and mobil oil to keyboards and thrills of writing ubiquitous codes.

What our Rehan is doing now? A young man of 25, armed with an experience of 3 years he is bit confused now. Where should I head to? What is purpose of my life? This questions haunt our protagonist as he suffers from what we all call “Mid life crisis” . Yeah mid life crisis starts at 25 now. A young man who as a teen swore by likes of Howard Roarks , has lost steam now. “Should I also pursue an MBA just as they all do?” he thinks aloud. Rehan knows that MBA is just mirage and doing it wont make him qualified in real sense.” Yeah it may make me earn better, I can afford goodies in life but is this all I want?” oh our man is as confused as our aam janta who keep sending hung parliament after every election.

Oh is the remote life causing all the trouble? Of course he has to be on his toes, keep running from one place to another to meet vendors and yeah he is mostly away from luxuries a city life love to pamper you with. Rehan listens to an Atif song and is lost somewhere down the memory lane, getting nostalgic he thinks of good old engineering days, He misses them all, his gang—Abhi, Trisha, Sandeep, Vinny, Aakansha and yeah best of them all his bosom pal Supriya. And a faint smile escapes his lips. Oh wistful thinking not again and he hears giving a slight admonishment to himself.

Rehan leaves the day with a note. I want to know the real meaning of life. I want to know if I can make a difference to others . Would some one be happy if he/she sees me overjoyed or would my loss be unbearable to some one? Thinking all this , leaves his eyes heavy and another night is spent on couch with a sinking insatiable feeling..

Posted by Ruchir at 7/19/2007 04:05:00 AM