Creative Writing Contest: Official Entries

Rules and instructions for Creative Writing Contest can be found here - http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1425445

This will be the thread where I post the official entries. It will be locked with no comments. A new thread will be created for voting when voting opens. Questions pertaining to the contest can be asked in the thread linked above. 😊

Official Entry #1


I picked the picture story posted by gulshan.gobar.

I want to highlight the fact that spammers are real people who should be treated humanely and not as social outcasts.

Link to the story page: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/1414743?pn=3

/*begin story */

Once upon a time there was a guy named Gulshan
The quintessential prodigal spammer who knew how to use his keyboard like a machine gun
To post messages thoughtlessly, deliriously, aimlessly and audaciously

He poked fun and tried to outrun,
The honey bun, who shines like the Sun, Sarina the number one
Defenselessly, dangerously, artlessly, adventurously

He couldn't stun, no one
So he posted a picture story of his own
As a last resort, it was sweet and short

He went through the motions,
Laid down his emotions,
Craved for affections and explained his actions

A smile followed by a bigger smile indicates that he is not hostile, that is his style
Told us it is worthwhile, not to trash pile,
Confessions, intentions, passions and seeming imperfections

A LOL followed by a ROFL, a nuke followed by a stern smile, an Ermm followed by a shocked expression
Convey misunderstood aggression, implied suppression, manic depression in rapid succession
As you can see, he had limited options, willful adaptions, and dwindling occasions to clear all misconceptions

An Ouch followed by a Pinch, a Sleepy followed by a Dead and the final pitiful Cry
This is not a bad guy, he only wanted to fly high, feelings were in short supply, he just wanted to drop by
My sincere appeal to you, please cast away your perceptions, stop with these prohibitions, enough with the processions, time for validating the reasons

Are not spammers people who are real
Why should they be told to kneel and conceal
Why the strong reactions, why create factions, could we live and let live with occasional inactions?

/*end story */

Official Entry # 2

I have chosen this story as love is the greatest gift. In love we tend to be idealistic and I do not think there is anything wrong with that. But sometimes in love there is much pain too. NF has taken great trouble in piecing it together and I hope I am up to the task.

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1414743&PID=31031548&#31031548

Official Entry #3

*Moderators Note: Entry has been disqualified. Author does not wish to edit the story or change it any way*
Edited by return_to_hades - 13 years ago

Official Entry #4


https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/1414743?pn=21

tnx
Edited by return_to_hades - 13 years ago

Official Entry #5

INTRO:

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/31160495

When I saw "this is rth", by none other than rth, I thought that it contain lots of masala and wackiness and not to mention chutzpah(the fact that she submitted a grand total of 1 pic). It inspired me to write a wacky story on bollywood. I dont think anyone of you will be too offended. Noone gets killed , except maybe a deer, but if you sue me, then sue disney for making bambi :/
And perhaps some of you who like certain actors will get hurt, but I dont care! 😆 Grow up!
Anyway without further ado here's my story!

This is RTH

My meeting with bollywood:

"These useless fellows have ruined the culture."

Those were the words of our pet Achuthaan from college in our first

year. The useless fellows in question were messrs Shahrukh "Smokey"

Khan and Salman "Idiot" Khan. The method of ruining the culture

according to my dear friend was smoking, man and deer slaughtering

among other things. Another philosopher and friend of mine was in

possession of a theory which held that Shahrukh Khan funded the

Taliban. I was considering cracking a Jay Leno joke, but a 4th

party intervened and rubbished the second friends theory. He said

it was, in fact, the taliban who funded Shah rukh ji.

I was quite shocked, frankly about shahrukh, as I always thought he

was a really swell dude! Save for the smoking :(. Anyway I decided

to go to mumbai, aka the "dirtiest place in the world". I went by

third class train and thoroughly enjoyed myself, singing with the

mumbaiyya hicks, the famous songs of kumar sanu and himesh

reshammiya. I had a cold, so the naslity came through very

naturally :).

I reached mumbai by midnight, as I heard this was the safest time

to walk alone in mumbai. I met very kind people who offered to take

my luggage for free and were very fast in transporting it - they

practically ran! Then I reached my hotel, which was a quaint place.

By "quaint", I mean small, run down, infested with rats and bugs,

smelly and cold. I hopped upon the dreamland express.

In the morning, I found my luggage! Aww those guys gave it back. Oh

sure, the gold and money were missing, along with the supplies, the

cosmetics and the- arghh. But, I didnt worry, I simply took a

stroll over to Rajesh Khanna's house. He was drunk as usual, and I

pretended to be an old flame wanting fiscal support. He smashed his

wall and threw me a few gold bricks. He then asked me to dance for

old times sake, which I did.

I exchanged the gold bricks for a few 40 - 50 crores.I traveled to

SRK's house by donkey and knocked on the doors of mannat. He opened

the doors and his front teeth sparkled. I was overwhelmed with the

shininess and enquired "how the hell are your teeth so white, man?"
We had lunch - a few chickens, barbeque hog, cows tongue, cat's

belly, monkey tail, and some gum. I asked him if he funded the

taliban. He said it was the taliban who funded him. Aah so my other

friend was right. I asked him where I could find salman khan.

According to him, salman khan was in an std booth calling vivek

oberoi. again.

I searched std booths far and wide. Then I smelt somthing. Deer

blood. I followed the trail of deer blood until I came across an

injured deer next to a phone booth. A muscle headed lummox was busy

talking to someone on the phone. I asked him to come out. He

didn't. I then asked him in hindi if he had drunk his mothers milk

then he should come out. This sort of stuff works in Mumbai. Then

we had a heart to heart talk on him running arround killing people.

"Why do you run around killing people yaar?" I asked.

He replied "I want to steal their underwear and rule the world of

bollywood muhuhuhuhuhahahahahaha!"

I was shocked.I had to warn the bollywood guys. I first met

amitabh, who was adjusting his wig. He came in and recited a few

boring poems, and jaya bacchhan laughed irritatingly. I asked them

if they still were uncomfy about rekha and they shut up.They were

shocked about salmans evil plan. They called abhishesh and

aishwarya, who was drunk.

We gathered preity zinta,saif ali khan, kareena and even akki, who

charged 2 crores.

We gathered round salman's house and confronted him.

"turn yourself in, you fiend!"

"never! hahahaha!!!"

Then shahrukh khan came from behind. We were saved.

But!! We had been duped, hoodwink, bamboozled, swindled, and above

all, cheated. :(

Srk told salman "Hurry! run away with the chaddis!!"

We were shocked, but we caught the 2 rogues and beat the alcohol

and tobacco out of them. "It wasnt our plan, we have a boss", they

cried like wusses."He lives .. THERE." They pointed to the public

toilet.

We were shocked. How could we go to the public urinal?!!

Saif said, "Hey waaauw, that place is stinky!" Akshay kumar said

something too, but it was some punjabi trash talk involving the

words jhatt and tu si and lassi, so we ignored him.

I tugged at salman's.. hair(on the head). "Hey man! That cost me

200000 dhirums!"

"Tell me where your boss really is, dirtbag." He whispered

something in my ear. "Say it, dont spray it dude.", I requested

him. Nevertheless, I was shocked! We then reached the bosses

hideout."Come out, you vile villain!" I shouted heroically,

standing behing preity zinta. 

Two men came out. Two sides of the coin actually. One was a man

who, for no reason whatsoever, was awarded the nobel prize, the

other, the man responsible for 9-11. Barrack Obama and Osama bin

laden stood side by side. "Why are you making salman steal

chaddis?!"

"haha, the chaddis are for us! " laughed osama. The dubious duo

then did a dragon ball z like fusion. "FU-SION-HA!" Now, although I

had speculated the resultant would be Obama bin laden, it was none

other than....SHAKTI KAPOOR!

"Noone can stop me now! yahahahaha!!!" Said shakti.

"We live to serve you now, master", I said, knowing there was no

chance of victory. Shakti came up to me, with his cheap wig and

cheaper goggles and told me , "dude, just give me your chaddiand

I'll grant you your freedom.... LITERALLY!"

I gave it to him and ran like a mad dog with my chaddiless tail

between my legs back to my home. What an adventure!

Thank god I didnt take my lucky chaddi with me. PHEW!

                          THE END


Edited by return_to_hades - 13 years ago

Official Entry #6

I have chosen Meena's story, it's nice and short, and gives a lot of room for interpretation, however this story is only loosely based on it.

https://india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1414743&TPN=21

Ishq Vishq Pyar Vyar

The day had finally arrived, Mohanlal and Krishna (Krishna is a girl, this is no homo marriage), were to solemnize their relationship at the fire altar today.  This day will change the course of destiny, for the few the individuals mentioned here, in a way they'll never forget.

Scene - at the wedding,

It was an exceedingly bright hot sunny day in Chennai, the atmosphere was fun and lively, guests were pouring in from far and wide, the band was one of the finests in the city, their lead singer was a local favourite, he was dressed up like Shammi Kapoor in O Haseena Zulfon Wali, with a funny hair-do, entertaining the crowd like he usually does with Rafi songs, this talented young dashing singer, went by the name of "Jetty the Sketty".

But this story isn't about Jetty the Sketty, this is about four girls, four girls who innocently fell for five guys.

Let's meet our first girl - Meena.  Meena was a very attractive young girl, of marriageable age.  She was wearing this beautiful green shalwar kameez, sitting there quitely in one corner, chit-chatting with her friends about last night's Atif Aslam concert, and what a disappointment it turned out to be, a complete waste of time and money, when suddenly she receives a phone call from her mum, asking whether she found any sona munda gabru jawan that she might be interested in, "No mum, I told you, I'm not interested in marriage, and everyone is ugly over here as it is, now stop bothering me about my shaadi!", Meena said, and hung up the phone, but ALAS!, fate was about to play a funny irony. 

As she made her way to congratulate the couple, she tripped over a cable that was lying on the floor, but fortunately, God sent someone to save her, well not God, I - the writer of this lame story did.  This stranger appeared out of nowhere and caught hold of her in mid air.  It was a moment that changed her life completely, forever.  She was absolutely spell-bound, completely mesmerised, captivated by his heavenly good-looks, time had stopped for her, who was this dashing and stupendously handsome, immensely sexy man?, with features resembling that of a Greek God, she saw Rab in him.  He smiled, and said "You should be more careful" and winked, flashing his pearly white teeth as if it were a Kodak moment, then suddenly someone called for him, "Hey Mammootty, we need you here!", Meena thought, "Mammootty?, is that his name?.. OMG! OMG! what a freakingly sexy name!, this Mammoo is going to be hubboo whether he likes it or not!", it was his thick black extra manly moustache that did it for her.  She called her mum to tell her the good news, however the silly girl didn't even know whether he's single or taken?, such things happen in love.

So we move onto the next scene - lunch is ready, and the guests are lining up in queue.  One of our guest's standing in queue is the seemlingly elusive Mister.K, standing there singing Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun to himself, when a couple of ladies standing behind him caught his attention, "Mohanlal must've done some extra good karma in his past-life, for him to get a girl like Krishna" said Gauri to Sarina.  Not one to stand there whilst people spew unscientific nonsense around, Mr.K turns around and censures the both of them for their belief in karma.  Gauri gives him a dirty look, thinking, "What arrogance!", and rebukes him for his intolerance for personal beliefs.  Mr.K, known for his low threshold for bullshite, makes a audacious claim, "I can take all you karma believers with one hand tied to my back", sensing this was going to blow into a full-fledged fight scene, and hence spoiling the ceremony, Sarina suggested to take the fight outside and sort it out there, so all three proceeded to the car park, and spent the entire week arguing in futility.

It's now time to meet our second girl - Shad.  Shad was a fun, care-free girl, she had a great sense of humour, except she failed to understand that not everyone appreciates her weird jokes, as a result, she often found herself putting her foot in her mouth, one too many times.  This time she was joyfully singing "Rape Me, Hate me, Do it and do it again, Waste me, Rape me, my friend", whilst she was standing in queue, it was her favourite song by the band Nirvana, except people around her weren't aware of it, they stood there completely horrified, with their mouths wide-open, the word "disgust" was written all over their faces.  Shad completely unapologetic, carried on singing away, that is, until a fine gentleman walked past her, she was besotted by him and began following him like a brainless zombie.  However, the union was never meant to be, Summer was already married, poor Shad spent the rest of her life living in the thoughts of her muffins, she eventually ended up in a mental asylum.


Moving on to the third girl - P1nk.  P1nk was one of the hotties at the wedding.  As usual, she turned up late.  Jet the Sket piqued (thanks SVCG for the word) interest in her, she told him that he was looking like a clown in that 60's attire, and told him to go and change if he's serious about her, so off he went to get changed.  In the mean while, P1nk was scouting for talent, cause that's the only reason she'd turned up to weddings in the first place, it just so happened that the only guy who piqued her interest was the groom himself!, so she started hatching a plan to separate them already.  Jet the Sket returned, P1nk thought to herself "hmmm... not bad, doesn't have as much hair as I'd like my men to have, not of Mohanlal's hairy standards, but give him a few years, and he'll blossom into a fine hairy lil thing", so she decided to keep him as a side-dish till then, Jet was over the moon!, and started singing Rafi songs in celebration.


The last girl to be bitten by the lovebug was none other than our dearest lil Angel-likeDevil, she was smitten by Debu, the gullible teenage whizz kid.  She wrote "I love you" on a piece of paper, and got one of the lil kids to deliver it to him.  Debu, slightly confuzzled, opens it, and couldn't believe his fortune!, looks up and sees Angel across the hall smiliing at him, he smiles back with an exceptionally cheesy grin, he wrote back saying, "Hi, I'm Debu, I like Physics, and I can communicate with horses", and gets it delivered to her.  She chuckles upon reading it, she wrote back, but as Debu was about to open the paper, his dad intercepts, takes the paper out of his hands, reads it, and is fuming with rage, he grabs hold of Debu, takes him to a secluded area, and kicks the crap outta him.

So what happened to Meena?, well she eventually married Mammootty jaan, they had 10 lil Mammoo's and Mamee's crawling around the house.  Jet the Sket managed to grow hair like a gorilla, P1nk forgot about Mohanlal, and got married to him.  Shad was eventually cured by Dr Dev Patel with his path-breaking chicken dance therapy, they too ended up getting married.  Debu grew up, he stopped communicating with horses, and learnt how to communicate with girls, he was still dating Angel.

What happened to Mr.K, Gauri and Sarina?, no-one knows.

Official Entry #7

Link to the pic story:  https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/1414743?pn=9

My story is inspired by  the pic story posted by Gauri. This is a work of fiction and should be taken in that spirit.

So here goes.

 

Dil Kya Karey Jab Kisi Ko Kisi Sey Pyaar Ho Jaaye.

Her car screeched to a stop in front of her house. Today had been a really busy day for Gauri, her phone rang nonstop, her clients were being difficult and her boss, well the less said about him the better. As she got down from her car she noticed that her husband was standing out on the front porch, the two cute girls who were gauri's life were on his back, getting a piggy back ride from him. Seeing the three of them playing together drained the tension out of Gauri's beautiful face. She moved her silky black hair which were framing her face away and ran towards the girls."Mommy you are back" shouted the two them in unison. Her husband looked lovingly at her as his eyes twinkled.

Gauri was putting the last of the dish in the dishwasher when she heard the intro music of 'Dance India Dance'. She wiped her hands and ran towards the TV. DID meant Terrence (the star of DID) for Gauri. Her story started with Terrence, ended with Terrence and in between was Terrence everywhere.  Just the thought of watching her favorite Terrence made her go weak in her knees. Her husband watched her with amusement. "Terrence haan!!" he said and gave Gauri a wink. "OK I will let you watch in peace. I will go and finish some work." Gauri thanked God again for such an understanding and loving husband.

The next day as she was driving to her office there was an announcement on the radio. Terrence was going to be in town. Gauri's heart missed a beat. Terrence is going to do a show in her town, she couldn't believe it. She has to go. As soon as she reached office she ran to her friend Anju's cabin. Now Anju was also a big Terrence fan. "Anju did you hear the radio, Terrence is coming, a show, must go" Gauri blabbered in excitement, her face lit up like a teenager. Anju said "yes I know, I have already booked two tickets for us and I am trying for back stage passes to go and meet Terrence personally." "Oh! I love you Anju, you are the best."Gauri said and nearly knocked Anju off her chair in an attempt to give her a hug. They both giggled like little girls.

The day of the show finally arrived. Gauri was getting ready as Anju was going to pick her up in another half hour. Her husband being the good sport that he was had agreed to take care of the girls. Gauri dressed in a beautiful pink salwar suit. Her beautiful brown eyes were shining bright. She was looking gorgeous. Gauri was in her late thirties but she looked no more than twenty five. Anju gave her a whistle when she looked at the beautiful Gauri.

The show was awesome. The girls had gone crazy over Terrence. Gauri was watching Terrence glued to her seat unable to move. She felt that a few times her eyes locked with Terrence's eyes or maybe she was imagining things. The show came to an end and then Anju whispered in Gauri's ear "guess what? I have a backstage pass, just for you". Gauri nearly fainted but Anju made her run backstage as Terrence was about to leave for his hotel. As Gauri ran to the green room and stood at the door she saw that Terrence was about to leave. "Terrence" she said and Terrence turned to look back at her. His eyes held hers. He was mesmerized by Gauri's beauty. One of his producers started towards Gauri to ask her leave but Terrence stopped him and he crossed the room towards the door where Gauri was standing, his eyes soaking in the beauty of the beautiful angel standing in front of him. "Hi" he said as he extended his hand towards Gauri.  Gauri was standing like a statue absolutely dumbfounded.

"Are you all right?" he asked." Gauri suddenly jolted back to reality. "Yes I am and I am so sorry." She held out her hand. Terrence who was taken aback by Gauri's soft voice, held her hand. He led her to a chair nearby. His producer signaled him to hurry but Terrence just ignored him. It was fairly visible that he was smitten with Gauri. "What is your name? Are you a student?"he asked. " Gauri" she said and deliberately ignored the second part of his question. "A beautiful name just like you" he smiled. His producer signaled again impatiently. "Listen Gauri, I am getting late now for some appointments although I wish I could cancel them and talk to you but I am free tomorrow, would you like to have dinner with me? His eyes looked imploringly at her. Gauri was stunned. Terrence is asking her out on a date. Maybe she had died and gone to heaven. He was still looking at her waiting for her reply. Gauri was still thinking not knowing what to say. Her heart was asking her to say yes. She lowered her gaze and said "Terrence, although I adore you but I cannot accept the dinner date. I am married to the most wonderful man and I am a mother of two kids.But thank you so much."Gauri said. Terrence looked shocked and hurt and said "It's OK, I understand, if I was in your place I would have done the same but I will never forget you. This is one of the most beautiful moments of my life." He gave Gauri a tight hug and whispered good bye in her ear and left.

Gauri turned and walked back with a heavy heart, her eyes welled up with tears. What has she done? She was wondering as she rang the bell at her home. Her husband opened the door smiling, "How was the show and Terrence?" Just looking at her husband made Gauri realize that she had done the right thing. Nothing could come between her husband and her. She ran into her husband's arms and said" I love you."

This is the essence of an Indian woman.

Official Entry#8

Title:- This is "RTH"

Link : https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/31160495

I picked up the single picture story by RTH as I found it very fascinating. I thought I will quickly write down a short story but it turned out to be quite long!

It's a work of fiction and any resemblance to a person or event in VL or RL is purely co incidental.

********

 

Professor Indy and his assistant Julianne scrutinized the strange symbol in the sacred scroll. They had managed to salvage it from the depths of the underground dungeons beneath the ruins of an ancient temple in the lush green forests of Africa.

 

Prof. Indy the renowned archeologist and his erstwhile sprightly assistant Julianne had many successful expeditions to their credit. Together they had uncovered many a precious artifact. Indy, though running into his 45th year retained his boyish good looks and enthusiasm for adventure and mystery. Julianne had joined his academy two years earlier. 30 years sat lightly on her pretty shoulders. She had proved herself to be a worthy explorer in every sense. Indy had come to depend on her uncanny intuitive inferences that had saved the day for them in many of their expeditions. Ju, as she was fondly called had a mind of her own. She shared Indy's enthusiasm for exploring the unknown. Indy felt that Ju was quite unpredictable at times but then so were all females according to him.

 

A month back a late phone call from the Indian embassy in the U.S.A. had set Indy and Ju , on their present expedition to the dense African jungle. A sacred scroll hidden in a jeweled casket had been smuggled out, putting the country in the midst of a political turmoil. The scroll had a sacred ancient symbol inscribed on it. Deep religious sentiments of the Indians were attached to that symbol though it was rumored that currently none actually knew what it stood for.  Indy had been entrusted with the task of locating and restoring that scroll to the Indian government.

 

Indy's original selection of his team for the expedition had consisted of Ju, Shelly, Kerry, Dan and Larry. On the day of departure all of them reported on time except Larry. He was still trying to understand Professor Indy's brief note of instructions about the expedition. He thought that the note itself was some sort of a puzzle and was trying hard to solve it. The team had to leave without him. Kerry was their dependable   pilot. Dan was an incorrigible flirt and did not get along with Shelly. He reminded her of Don Juan.

However he was always sober with Ju.

 

After a long and dangerous trail Indy and Ju had finally succeeded in getting hold of that scroll even as they were being pursued by a native gang. They had managed to shake off their pursuers and had found a deserted shack hidden behind a dense growth .They decided to rest for some time. On carefully unfolding the scroll they observed a strange symbol drawn on it. It was a circle with four arrows extending outwards. It had the infinity symbol and the dark and light curved symbol of balance, at the centre of the circle. The arrows divided the circle into four equal quadrants. Along the circumference it had further three symbols in each quadrant. "What can these symbols mean'' asked Ju. "Looks like some cryptic message,'' replied Indy thoughtfully.  "Let us start with the upper left quadrant, and study each symbol with respect to its position and relation to other symbols as well as the whole. We need to do that to decide if it has any significance at all," he added.

 

Ju was surprised. "You mean the symbol may be quite insignificant for all you know !" she exclaimed. Now angrily, "Did we have to endanger our lives for an insignificant piece of paper?" She got no reply. Rolling her eyes, Ju remarked ,"The symbol of Superman, batman, packman and dollar  doesn't look all that ancient to me, Indy. These symbols have been put alongside some planetary symbols which could stand for destiny. The circle could be the wheel of fortune." "Very well put  Ju, but  you should not underestimate these Indians. They have a very rich culture and history. I wouldn't put it past their ancient seers to have had foreseen these modern symbols. Many of them are said to have had clairvoyant abilities," said Indy. Ju was impressed with the professor's knowledge and wanted to know where he had got that piece of information. The professor chose to ignore that query, took out his magnifying lens and was soon busy scrutinizing the strange symbol.

 

Ju was exasperated with Indy's behavior and left towards the exit in a huff. "Hey Ju, it is not like you to quit so soon," Indy called out. "I'm not quitting, Indy! I am just going for a breath of fresh air .That helps me to clear the cobwebs in my head. Anyway I don't need to scour the paper with a lens as I have the picture imprinted in my memory by now." With that Ju strolled out of the shack that was likely to be their temporary shelter for the night.

 

The cool breeze calmed her frayed nerves. The past few days had been very hectic and tiring. Several goons had been in hot  pursuit of  the sacred symbol. It took all of Indy's and Ju's ingenuity to give them the slip. Her thoughts went to another time when she had first assisted Indy in his expedition. Her first impression of the professor had been a guarded one. She recalled how she had once emptied a bottle of scotch that she found on Indy's study table and refilled it with plain water. She had seen Indy examining the bottle intently with his lens. He had scribbled some data into his notebook lying beside the bottle. Since Ju was traveling alone with Indy for the first time she didn't want to risk having to deal with an inebriated professor. How her friend Shelly had laughed at her naivet. It was Shelly who told her about the professor's obsession for details and his ongoing experiments in probabilities. It had something to do with the bottle being half full or half empty. Shelly could not understand why Ju should have a problem in dealing with an intoxicated Indy. She herself would have welcomed such an opportunity, but Ju being Ju, could not !

 

A sharp hoot from an owl suddenly brought Ju out of her reverie. It was getting dark now. She reached for her phone. It was a miracle that it was still working. She checked with Kerry and was reassured to be informed that he had managed to contact Shelly and arrange for a chopper .He would be there in an hour's time.

 

She returned to the shack to give Indy the good news. She saw him hard at work writing in his journal. "So have the spiders revealed the secret of the symbol to you before you blew away the cobwebs," joked Indy. Ju glared at him and retorted, "Well, the spiders sent their greetings for you and interpreted the symbol as follows; the world and our lives are made by opposite, yet complementary energies and situations and it will always work like that  till eternity. Man and woman, money and social status, different points of view, paths, personal belief and so on ; wherever we go, and whatever we do, we will always be facing the same things, because life is like the wheel of fortune . It goes round and round bringing us up and down , sometimes stopping for a while and starting again , depending on our personal times, choices, tastes, wishes  and sometimes just guided by the hand of destiny." Indy pondered over it and chose to dismiss it.

 

Just then they were greeted by a familiar sweet voice. They were both pleased to see Mr. Noora, their able and wise guide. Noora had managed to shake off his stalkers and was pleased to be reunited with the two. He had lost contact with Dan. Ju welcomed him with a warm smile and a hug. Noora was sharp and agile way beyond his fifty years and frail looking body. His extensive knowledge about the locality as well as the natives had come in useful on more than one occasion during the current expedition. Noora was also well versed in Indian history as well as mythology. The three of them hit off well right from the beginning. Together they got down to solving the cryptic symbol. After a lot of brainstorming and heated debates they finally arrived at some consensus. Indy offered to jot down the interpretation that they had reached so far.

 

This is what he noted and then read it aloud.

 

Interpretation of the sacred symbol :

 

The infinite intelligence woke up and found itself alone and wanted to become more; or multiplicate,  and experience all its potentialities. It created duality (central symbols - opposing energy / darkness and light).

The duality created the world. The process of creation consisted of four main phases (four quadrants of the circle) :-

 

i)creation ii) ignorance iii) knowledge iv) enlightenment.

Each quadrant has 3 symbols each.

Beginning   anti clockwise –

 

1)   First phase (Creation) – upper left quadrant of the circle

 

A) Sign of Sagitarius  (arrow upon a circle ie spirit/ long journey) - Duality created animate and inanimate things .  The animate things were gifted with spirit or consciousness. They were set on a long journey.

B) Dollar (material comfort) - They started exploring the world and created material comforts

C) Pi (irrational number)- Once material comforts were created they became obsessed with it .They started quantifying it and with that came  differentiation and discrimination.

 

2) Second phase ( Ignorance) – left lower quadrant

 

 A) Batman (dark/evil) - The differentiation  generated evil and man started committing sins .That led to  suffering

B) Sign of Venus (feminine power) – The "infinite intelligence"  gave them  hope , love ,intuition  to overcome the problems. Once they got in touch with their inner selves they realized their folly and wanted to atone 

C) Sign of Pacman (defense tactic by attacking the hostile) – With the power of hope and intuition they fought against the evil and dark forces and turned the tables.

 

3) Third phase ( Knowledge) - right lower quadrant

 

A) Sign of Pluto (transformation/healing) - Pluto's intense energy comes to destroy the old and give place to the new. It's the rebirth, healing or recreation of everything that needs to be changed to bring a positive transformation into our lives .With the help of prayer humanity quit all differentiations and restored the previous state with added insight and great balance.

B) Pyramid of colorful light (creativity, joy and balance) - With the help of a balanced life they found a new light and re explored the world with a shift in the collective consciousness, adding more colors to their life.

C) Music (harmony) Humanity realized the finer things in life and rejoiced in singing,  dancing and revelry;establishing harmony with the divine rhythm.

 

4) Fourth phase (Enlightenment) - right upper quadrant

 

A) Sign of Omega (all encompassing, greatness, end) Humanity  would create a universal language that would help in understanding the feelings and emotions of all other beings, leading them towards all encompassing greatness .

B) Mars (maleness/passion/goal oriented) -They would passionately strive towards developing virtues like positive thinking, righteousness with and adhere to these principles with tenacity with strong goal oriented behaviour.

c) Superman - Then ultimately with the upright lifestyle of sincerity, honesty and compassion the consciousness in human would become aware of its origin and attain  the ultimate powers to reach there.

 

There was pin drop silence as Indy finished reading his notes. When put together the symbol not only told the history of mankind but also foretold its future . It was a few moments before anyone uttered a word. Indy titled it as This is "RTH" .  "Hey, what does RTH stand for," asked Noora. "It stands for Return to Hades because humanity will return to darkness and oblivion after living out all its phases. That's their destiny," explained Indy in a grim voice. He added the full form of RTH inside a bracket beside the title. Ju protested and said that Indy had got it all wrong towards the end. She wanted him to make a few changes but Indy said that the debate was over and his notes were final. Ju looked at him menacingly, dangling the scroll in her hand. Indy had to give in and allowed her to edit just one word. Ju took the journal and replaced the word 'Hades' with 'Heaven'! Noora looked mighty pleased. The symbol had been ultimately decoded!

 

The silence that followed was shattered by the cracking sound of bullets raining outside. Indy grabbed the scroll , Ju clutched the journal and Noora readied his gun . Just then they heard the welcome sound of a chopper. The three of them made a dash for the exit and ran towards the clearing where they knew their dependable friend Kerry would be ready with the chopper.

 

********

Official Entry #9

Introduction at end

Do Pal

                                                   

The girl sat on a bench alone and looked at her watch again. Many angry thoughts crossed her mind while she waited in the park. With no one else to vent it out, she said to herself "I hate him. He is always late. What did he learn about discipline during his army training? If he doesn't come here in next 5 minutes then I will leave and he can go to hell".

 

She was waiting for Vikram who was her pal from college days. Recently they had started to see each other more often. When a few days passed without seeing him, she would feel very lonely. He seemed to be the only person she cared for, but she hated him! He always made her angry. Right now she wanted to dig her nails in his chest to vent out her frustration.

 

Vikram arrived and he saw her face expression. He knew that she was very angry. He said apologetically "I got late because I took time deciding on something that I brought for you".

 

She ignored him and just sat there with a sullen expression. She didn't want to talk to that person. 

 

He produced a red rose from his bag and that started to reverse her mood. "I wanted to tell you that I think of you whenever you are not there. I miss you when you are gone." said he while looking into her eyes which started to suddenly look sad.  She stood up, looked at him and then took the rose.

 

"I love you, will you marry me?" said Vikram.

 

She burst into tears. Vikram was taken aback. "Why?" he asked and he put his hands on her shoulders.

 

She gripped his shirt and its buttons and said sobbing "I hate you. You are very bad".

 

"But why?" he brought her closer.

 

Her heart almost felt like bursting "You are very bad. Just thats it".

 

Vikram hugged her and they sat on the bench. That was the first time that she was so close to him. His touch made her feel different. Her heart was overwhelmed with emotions and she was not able to bear it as her heart started to beat faster. She wanted him so much and she melted into his embrace. Vikram looked at her face and could see tears rolling on her cheeks. It was beginning to become dark and they were alone in the park, with no one around them. He could feel the cold evening breeze tingling his skin. He took her hands cupping it with his hands and hugged her even tighter. She rested her face on his shoulders. Vikram felt her loose silky hairs with his cheeks. He thought to himself that why did she feel weak when it came to him. Otherwise, that girl was fiery and aggressive in front of others. Vikram realized that was because the girl in his embrace loved him a lot. He thought to himself that from now on he will never leave her alone.

 

*****

 

Captain Vikram, unlike his girl, was a strong person. He would often reflect back on his college days. He was very popular among his friends and was an all-rounder in sports. His room was full of the trophies that he had won. Vikram always thought that he will do something for his motherland. His love for her made him join Indian army as a part of JK Rifles and as a part of anti-terrorism squad. He was quickly promoted to Captain and was regarded among the best.

 

Vikram had to regularly go away from home because of his duty in JK. Whenever he used to go, his mother's heart would stagger, but she used to control herself. Vikram used to tell her about his two mothers. One was his mother and other was mother India. When he would go to see his love, he would try to calm her after seeing tears in her eyes. He would promise her that he will take care of himself and she should do the same. He looked forward to the day when he will marry her.

 

Life on duty was very tough. He would regularly call his love and his home to update them once in a while. He used to tell his mom that he missed pakode and used to ask his mom to make them when he will be back. Many times he had seen action when terrorists had attacked his team. Sometimes terrorists would take hostages in homes. Once when his team tried to rescue the hostages, terrorists killed a child.

 

He used to always blame himself for that "That mother would not miss her child only if I hadn't delayed taking aim at that terrorist. What type of monsters would kill a child and innocents?"

 

*****

 

One day arrived when some 5-6 terrorists had taken a family as hostage in a house and were demanding that some terrorists, who were previously captured, be freed. Vikram's team was called to tackle the situation. They took cover near the house and waited for the orders. Vikram had already updated his home about the mission. His mom had told him "Beta, there is another mom and her family trapped in the house. Go and rescue them. God will be with you!"

 

After hearing that news, Vikram's girl felt very weak with many "what ifs" crossing her mind. She prayed for him like she used to do everyday. In the hope of getting some news, she reluctantly refreshed the news page on her laptop numerous times, but what if .... In tears, she hugged the teddy bear that was gifted to her by Vikram.

 

"Teddy, don't worry. Vikram will come back soon. He will bring something for you and me" she told the teddy bear.

 

Teddy was like her kid and she would talk to teddy about her loneliness and about Vikram when he was not there.

 

It was very late in the night. She didn't know when she fell asleep with Teddy in her arms, the lights and laptop on, and the News page open.

 

*****

 

As the night fell, Captain Vikram and his team mates started infiltrating the building as terrorists had started to kill the hostages because their demands were not met. Vikram's team entered the house from the kitchen side. Terrorists were holed up in the upper floor. Vikram's men killed the two terrorists who were guarding the stairs. His team quickly climbed the stairs and then they saw a closed room. This was the place where some terrorists were holed up with the hostages. The room had two doors and both were locked.

 

"You Indians! I told you not to come. I will show you what we can do!" shouted one terrorist and hurled some abuses at them. Mother cried aloud as apparently the terrorist snatched her child.

 

The scene where a child hostage got killed in an previous incident came back to haunt Vikram. He quickly ordered his team to divide into two. In order to focus on separate doors to divide the attention of the terrorists inside. The doors were forced open and two flash grenades were hurled to blind the  terrorists inside. Vikram hurried inside with his men. He shot the terrorist dead who was standing there pointing the gun towards the kid. He shot another one dead who had taken cover behind an Almirah. But, in the bid to save the kid, Vikram couldn't take cover for himself. From somewhere a bullet came and pierced his head. He fell dead in the next instant.  

   

*****

 

The news of brave Vikram and his team circulated on every news channel. His team had overcome the terrorists and had saved the hostages. They handed over the kid to the sobbing mother, but  Vikram had sacrificed his life.

 

The local politician in Vikram's residential town was getting ready to meet his family. He told a guy "If you want to become like me then you have to learn how to use the emotions of the people. Remember that you can fill the stomach of Indians with just some emotional words and some tears. After that they don't want anything. And yes remember to take my photo with his family, with my face fully visible."

 

Somewhere else, the terrorist leader also got the news. He told one of his man "The show must go on. If we have to keep getting the funding and if we have to teach Indians some lessons then we have to exploit the emotions of young minds. Just remember what that politician did to our brothers and we will kill more people for payback. We have to ensure that fight goes on. We need more sacrifices. Go tell the friends and family of the fallen that we have to take revenge for them."  

 

******

 

Vikram's love woke up. Her heart was beating fast as she realized that she had fallen asleep and hours had went past after the news that Vikram and his team had circled a house. Wavering, she refreshed the news page and her heart stopped. She couldn't believe the news page. It was all a lie! Her Vikram would never leave her!

 

She looked at the teddy bear who still seemed to be sleeping. Her heart sank, she felt paralyzed and the pain was unbearable. She refreshed the page after page in a mad frenzy. The face of Vikram on the news articles made her even more mad. She threw away the laptop and asked the teddy "why?".  She started to cry, tore the bed sheet and took the teddy in her arms.

 

"I hate you Vikram! I hate you! You left me for whom? You left me for selfish coward politicians who will continue to use people to further their ends?" she cried with her eyes full of tears.

 

"You went away to fight some coward terrorists who take cover behind women and children, kill innocents that in turn were already troubled by disgusting politicians. You went away to fight the loathsome terrorists who kill easy innocent targets and don't have the guts to fight the real problem creators. They are so narrow minded that they don't realize that the politicians and the terrorist leaders brainwash the young minds and use them for their selfish gains!" she hugged the Teddy tight in a frenzy.

 

"You left me to protect those people who will just read the news article, but will soon forget you and will go on about their lives in a normal way. They will lap up the words of the politicians and will vote for them again and again. All is well in their world as long as nothing happens to them! Problems are for others to solve! A bunch of cowards!" her eyes were red and full of tears.

 

She looked at the sun outside the windows. The sunlight blinded her and she saw Vikram. "I hate you Vikram! You are very bad!" She cried. 

 

"I know and I agree" said Vikram with a sad face.

 

"I am a coward like majority of them. I can't be like you Vikram" she said with angry tears.

 

She realized that she was again with Vikram. The cool breeze from outside brought back the same feeling when Vikram proposed her that day. She hold his hand with her right hand and teddy in her left hand. The sunlight blinded her but she was suddenly happy. She was with him and would have given anything for those "do pal" with Vikram.

 

Those do pal ended with a thud as she hit the ground after having deliberately fallen through the window from the 8th floor.

 

THE END

 

Author's note: This story is based on *Woh Ajnabee*'s picture story "Do Pal" https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/31185802. It can also be related with another story "A Tuesday": https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/31454411
 

I wrote this story to highlight that if we need a happy ending then we need to defeat the brain-washers. The brain-washers who create terrorists to kill innocents instead of fighting the real problem creators. We need to defeat politicians who exploit everyone. We need action instead of helplessness, cowardice and taking an easy way out.

Edited by return_to_hades - 13 years ago