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