BEWARE
"So 5 years have passed! An automatic smile reflected from the eyes of Mr. Paliwal.
Tapping on the like' button below the post on Instagram, Mr. Paliwal finished the last peg of his daily quota of drinking. The wall-clock of his study room is ticking tirelessly. It's half past eleven. Today there is no one in the house. His wife has gone to her sister's house, and daughter is back to hostel. Mr. Paliwal is currently working on 3 projects together. One is a finite supernatural series, one is family drama, and another one is mythology. There is the shooting of an important scene tomorrow, and he is yet to write the scene. By hook or crook he needs to submit the scripts by tomorrow 8 o'clock. Tonight is going to be a hectic night for him.
Before switching off the mobile, Mr. Paliwal looked at the post minutely again. This show had been really a big hit. Such a big hit that even after five years fans are going gaga with it. Yeah, during the last days some problems had started with the channel, that's why they had to end it somewhat abruptly; otherwise Mr. Paliwal had some ideas to stretch it till some more months. However, another new Historical show is coming soon and Mr. Paliwal has been assigned as the script-writer there. He will place those ideas there. He has forgotten the character on whom the show will be made though, however, what goes with the name! He is an experienced writer, and does not need to think a lot before writing anything. He has a stock of 6-7 readymade scripts which he uses in all his new assignments... be it family drama, supernatural or historical, ultimately all are the same stories with same characters and different names; why to bother much?
Closing the door of the study, Mr. Paliwal sat on the desk and opened his laptop. After yawning a little, he opened the word files of his old scripts and started taking some parts of them to mix them and add them in the new script. Shortcut methods of writing a hit serial, and Mr. Paliwal is used to it...
thak...thak...thak...'
Mr. Paliwal jumped up. Oh God, he had slept on the desk only. It is already 1:30 of night and he is left with maximum of his works! Thanks to the noise which made him awake...
But wait, from where did the sound come? It sounded like a firm footstep... as if someone is walking around anxiously. Obviously Mr. Paliwal felt tensed. There is no one in the house; what if a thief breaks in? He tried to get up from the chair, but...
"SIT!
A cold, husky tone rang in his ears! He could not recognize the voice. He does not think he has ever heard this kind of authoritative and controlling voice which has the power to increase the heartbeat in a second!
Before Mr. Paliwal could control himself and say anything, he was flooded by the enraged scolding of that extreme regal voice; this time louder and more intense... not less than a roar of a lion!
"Badzaat! Humare izazat liye bagyar humare samne se uthne ka jurrat kaise kiye tum!
"Aaa...aa...app... aaa... Mr. Paliwal understood that he has lost his voice, while a prominent shadow was clearly visible at the floor. It was looking as if someone was sitting on the chair in front of him...
"Bhoo...bhooo...bhooottt... Mr. Paliwal managed to utter!
"Bhoot! Hum tujhe bhoot lag rahe hay!!The voice shouted... "Humara itna rusbaahi karne ke baad bhi chain nehi mila, abhi humare samne byathkar humara tauheen kar raha hay??
"Ummm... Aapp... Yeehh... Mr. Paliwal stammered vulnerably- "I c..c...can't see you...uuu...
"Huh!! The voice mocked. "You write stories of ghosts and witches all the day, and here you're frightened of my voice and my shadow only? However... It seemed the owner of the voice was a bit softer now. "Don't fright; I will only talk to you. I have promised my queen that I will not lose my control... Else I had planned to chop out your head and feed the street-dogs...and, well... I AM NOT A GHOST! IF YOU CALL ME GHOST AGAIN I WILL FORGET MY PROMISE, UNDERSTAND!! I am a spirit!
"S...s...sorry s.s.irr... who are you! Mr. Paliwal gathered all his courage.
"I am Emperor Akbar! The majestic voice echoed in the room. And subsequently Mr. Paliwal noticed a dark silhouette sitting on the chair, wearing a bright, precious turban with dresses embalmed with various valuable gems.
"Don't tremble! he ordered.
"Y...yes... sir... Mr. Paliwal managed to speak!
"Damn your sir!! I am the emperor! Call me Your Majesty...
"Yea...ahh... Your Majesty!
"Nice! It seemed the spirit of Akbar was satisfied now. "First let me verify... Are you the same idiot who has written the story of the drama that was based on my Biography?
"D...dr...drama! N...nnn...oo si...I mean, Majesty... It was a TV serial...
"DON'T INTERRUPT ME! Again another roar, which almost made Mr. Paliwal in tears... "Whatever bullshit that maybe, is it you who wrote that idiotic thing named Jodha Akbar?
"Si... I mean, Your Majesty, it was only a tribute of us to your greatness... Mr. Paliwal tried to convince the enraged spirit.
"Tribute, my foot! His majesty shouted. "What do you think, I have come here without investigating?? I have gone through each of the episodes! You made me hung on ropes and being beaten by a joker whom you named Abul Mali! You made me a punching bag, being a prey to all the conspiracies and so fool that easily gets trapped by each silly plan of each and every idiot. You made me kidnapped by those red-headed monkeys of England. Not only this, you made me possessed by a random stupid witch and acting weird. WHAT DO YOU THINK, I WAS A JOKER???
"B...b...but sii...I mean Majesty! In all these stories we have only tried to show you as a strong human being who...
"TO HELL WITH YOUR STORY! You needed a witch to prove that I was a strong human being?? Weren't my real works enough to show me as a proper king? And yeahh... you wrote my biography and mentioned not a single work done by me?? WHAT DO YOU THINK? I WAS SO JOBLESS THAT I HAVE SPENT MY WHOLE LIFE BALANCING BETWEEN MY TWO WIVES AND MANAGING THEIR PERSONAL PROBLEMS?
".No..no... Si... I mean, Majesty! Mr. Paliwal tried to defend. "Actually, the show was about your love story, and not your biography... so to show the kind of love...
"Really?? This kind of love we had?? The spirit mocked again. "My beloved queen used to poke into every single matter and used to lecture me; that was my love story according to you, IDIOT?
"N..nooo... actually si... I mean, Majesty... woman empowerment is important... we tried to show Jodha as a strong empowered woman so...
"Woman Empowerment! "It seemed the emperor was even angrier. "AFTER HUMILIATING MY BELOVED QUEEN THAT WAY, YOU ARE SAYING YOU SHOWED WOMAN EMPOWERMENT?? She was much more empowered than you can even imagine, understood? She has successfully managed the whole market of spice single-handed. She has fulfilled her duties of queen-mother successfully. SHE DID NOT HAVE THE TIME OF LECTURING EVERONE ABOUT WILDLIFE PRESERVATION, BREAKING LAWS TO FREE THE CONVICTS OR RUNNING BEHIND A GIANT!
"Aaa... that was only to show how kindhearted she was...
"Kindhearted does not mean to be fool, idiot! She was a princess, a queen, the empress of Hindustan! And you made her even below-standard than a maid! You even showed her to press feet of another queen! You showed her to elope with an idiot giant! You made her as a brainless lady with lots of tantrums and melodrama! You had also planned to separate both of us by arranging a scene of divorce for no reason! HOW DARE YOU!! I DON'T KNOW HOW I HAVE STILL STOPPED MYSELF FROM CHOPPING OFF YOUR HEAD!
"Si... I mean, Majesty... Mr. Paliwal almost cried this time... "I am just a silly writer, majesty... This is my livelihood... I wrote whatever came into mind; I had no intension to insult you!
"When you have such a bad imagination, you should not have gone for writing! Even the sweeper of Agra fort has better imagination than you! You made me hypnotized by witches; you made my queen possessed by ghosts; you let me to be whipped by some brainless bustards; once you had even killed my dear wife seriously and showed her to come back from death after I cried like an indecent layman!! YOU SCROUNDREL!! I WILL NOT SPARE YOU!!!
While saying so, the silhouette of the emperor has already stood up out of excitement. Mr. Paliwal had closed his eyes and was ready to be fainted; but suddenly a melodious yet dignified woman's voice pulled back his sense.
"Wait, Majesty... Will you go on about me and you only? What about the other people? Ruqaiya Begam has complained me million times. He has shown her as a cold-blooded murderer and a manipulator of Salim.
"Begam Sahiba aap? The tone of the emperor changed at once. "Aap itni aaneka takalluf kyu ki? Hum samhal lete na?
"What to do, my lord... I don't believe your temper. If your blood- pressure increases for this silly reason...
Mr. Paliwal opened his eyes, and saw another shadow standing beside the emperor. She is certainly a woman; wearing valuable clothes and jewelries. She is Jodha's spirit, then? Who knows, if she turns up to be as good as the show's Jodha, she might save Mr. Paliwal from the emperor's wrath.
"Save me, Your Highness... I know nothing! Hence he started crying...
"STOP NAGGING HER! The spirit of the emperor shouted. "I remember now... not only Ruqaiya Begam; you literally destroyed my son's character. Whatever happened between them was a matter of father and son, none of your business. WHO TOLD YOU THAT HE WAS MAD AT ME AND MY QUEEN AS HE WAS PUNISHED AT HIS CHILDHOOD???
"I... I am innocent my lord! Mr. Paliwal literally cried this time. "It was all the instructions of our madam... She wanted Salim to be the second hero so...
"Now who the hell is this Madam? The emperor looked at his queen. "Do you know her?
"Yes... I researched about it a lot, Majesty... The spirit of the queen told in a sensible tone. "I think he is not entirely at fault. He just worked as he was instructed... I got to know that not only we are the sufferer of all thee trashes. Each and every famous personality who lives in the spirit-land are nowadays scared of these so-called Historical shows. You know, even King Chandragupta was complaining that day...
"Who the hell is he?
"R e Chandragupta Maurya... great king. You know him. This idiot and his madam' have maligned his character as well in another drama...
"Great king, really? It seemed the emperor was jealous. "Greater than me?
"Oh, Majesty... you started again?? However, not only he; even the people of mythologies are gritting in rage. Do you know the Gods are not even spared! What I got to know is there is a business going on here in earth. They make some worthless drama-series named daily soaps and people enjoy watching those mindless trashes. They show what people like to watch without thinking about logics. Not only this man or his madam'; many people are there in this business...
"Yes... Yes... Majesty... Mr. Paliwal got a scope to defend himself... "We only want people to be entertained.
"You shut up, fool! The emperor made him stop. "So then, dear, what to do with this idiot?
The queen looked at him for a long time then smiled. "If you allow may I say something?
"Of course...
"Let's forgive them.
"What are you saying, dear? The emperor shouted. "After such insults...
"Come on, Majesty... You are such a great personality, that too a spirit; it does not look good if you become offended by these bunch of idiots. Best thing is to ignore them, right? People still respect you like God, there foolish dramas will not ruin your image.
"Still... they are playing with the truth!
"Yeah... but there are so many crimes going on in the earth. These idiots are mere kids in front of them... and just think about another thing; there show has actually increased our popularity.
"What?
"True, Majesty. Before this you were only found on the pages of History books; but there idiotic show has brought you to the people. Before that you were only a great emperor to the people... these people has made you a son of next door to the people of Hindustan. Before that they respected you as a chapter of History. And now they love you as Jalal.
"So they have come to nickname level? Interesting...
"Not only that... you know, so many girls are having crush on you? There is a website named India-Forum. 😉 Go and see there, all are crazy about you there... They even write a lot of beautiful stories about us... much better than this idiot of course...
"O really? I have become popular among the modern girls as well? Now the emperor smiled shyly from heart.
"No need to smile this much... The queen twisted her lips. "However, History has forgotten my name, but for this serial, my name is again discussed by people. That is another great gain. She smiled. "So, let's forgive them... You know, today is the 5th anniversary of the show and people are still crazy about it. Let us respect their emotions and forgive him...
"Okay, if you say so, let us forgive him. The emperor looked at a shivering Mr. Paliwal and uttered in a cold voice. "Only because she is telling, I am forgiving you. But remember, from now on if you try to write trashes and throw them on the head of my loyal fans, I will not forgive you again! They love us, they have rights to know the truth about us. Dare you play with their emotions by showing bullshits again, I will make sure we meet again in the spirit land. Understood?
"He is not going to reach there, though... First he has to go through hell... however. The queen yawned. "Come first, Majesty... There is a party at Mr. Khilji's house... forgot?
"Yeah yeah... Let's go, my dear... The emperor said and both of them suddenly disappeared...
Would not it be natural if Mr. Paliwal loses his sense and lies unconscious on his desk after this?
The ray of Sun passed through the glass of window and directly fell on Mr. Paliwal's face. He opened his eyes... Oh My God! What a nightmare dream it was! All because of reading too much about Jodha Akbar's 5th anniversary yesterday... However, dreams are not true...
However, he opened the screen of laptop again. O God! He has not completed writing the script whole night?? How can he just sleep just like that without completing his work? Damn it!
He had no choice left. Very swiftly he remembered a track of Jodha Akbar which is almost similar to the current status of this particular show. He will just paste that and change the names...
"BEWARE!
Just when he was going to press ctrl+c together from keyboard after selecting the part, again the same voice rang inside the ear!
"Not again! Mr. Paliwal almost screamed and then covered his face hopelessly.
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