The rainy night - 

It was raining heavily and lightning but still she had to rush to the midnight sale at the mall

To a third person Kiran looked like thousands of others , thronging to the mall in search of a

good bargain. But she had a

Mission to find the face which had flashed eiriely on her computer screen an hour ago

A coded mail had arrived from the headquarter describing a woman who could be a

potential threat to the life of thousands of unsuspecting shoppers. It

was akin to finding a needle in the haystack. But she had not expected anything less when

she had decided to join RAW a month ago.

Flash of her badge gave her instant access to the vantage point of the mall, the CCTV room.

Trying to think like the other woman, Kiran zeroed on the ground floor open space where

shoppers were crowding to participate in some event. After scanning through a sea of

smiling faces, her eyes settled on the steel grey eyes hiding behind a scarf.

Immediately springing into action, Kiran rushed down and easily

spotted the woman trying to mingle with the crowd. Slowly Kiran inched towards the

woman, and when she was right behind her

Oblivious to the crowd, Kiran poked a steel barrel into the woman's side and gently pushed

her towards the elevator. Surprisingly the woman did not resist. Once inside ,Kiran

handcuffed and frisked her .To Kirans horror her hand rested on a thick vest which

confirmed that she had got the right woman.

              Who was telling the story ? And whose story was it anyway ?     Sonali Bijur 

The papers which she had left  neatly stacked on the table , weighed down by the paper weight ,were flying around  wildly as though laughing  at the audacity of the paper weight in trying to control them just like Sharanyas thoughts on seeing Arjun across the street  a few minutes ago.

She quickly gathered the strewn papers and sat down at her desk trying to calm her heartbeats . Her life which was so well organised and controlled  until a few minutes ago had turned into a chaotic chatter of questions and memories . What was Arjun doing in India ? That to Hyderabad ? Had he seen her? Had he come  looking for her? 

Brushing all the thoughts aside , she tried to think rationally. It was almost 5 years since she had left Mumbai , cutting all the ties with Arjun and the city . She had infact not even  left any forwarding address  or contact number with the handful of friends that she had made in the office. It was as though she wanted to close a chapter of her life forever . But then as they say You often meet your destiny on the road you take to avoid it

Sharanya and Arjun had not exactly fallen head over heels in love with each other . They had in fact got talking to overcome  the tension and nervousness both of them were feeling waiting in the interview hall. Both fresh out of college, new to the city ,  excited about their first job interview , both had  so much in common that the saga of chatting which began there , continued even though both of them didn’t get that particular job.

Arjun , a Post Graduate  from  NIMC Delhi , had come to Mumbai  the film city , against his parents wish ,  to try his luck in Bollywood . But since he was   Armed with a PG in print media he had decided to knock on doors of different publishing houses and newspapers till he got a big  break in the reel world . 

Sharanya , a Post graduate from AIT , Chennai , had literally fought with her elder brother , a conservative  Iyer ,  to come to Mumbai the city of dreams  , to pursue a short course in digital marketing .  

They had exchanged mobile numbers , to keep each other updated about the interview results and  new job openings   . initially that was the topic of discussion, but slowly it veered to personal grounds . Coming from 2 different tips of India they realised they had more things uncommon than  common which had brought them together . Eventually both found jobs in the city of dreams , unfortunately not in the same organisation  . Sharanya joined the Times as a junior reporter and Arjun found a job in the sports section of The Hindu . 

Both travelled from different parts of Mumbai , Sharanya from Matunga , Arjun from Andheri to Town for work . Like most of the citys young crowd  in the category of” more than just friends “,  Marine drive was chosen as the most practical meeting place. Taking their differences in their stride , they were careful about not promising the nuptial vows and dreams to each other . But at the same time they didn’t totally ignore that possibility. Using the time to know each other and understanding and sharing the problems faced in professional and personal lives , they got sizeably involved in each others lives.  Evening meetings extended to dinners and then to weekend getaways together , still marriage wasn’t ever the topic of discussion.

Both seemed to be happy just being in each others company . There was no place for any other friends in their lives .

It was during one such evening that sharanya had found the diary in Arjuns bagpack. She flipped though the pages unintentionally , just out of curiosity.  She was amazed to find detail drawing of the Mumbai local train stations .  Particulars of some cash transactions  . A sum   which could not be considered as small by any means. A lot of contact addresses and names, nothing of all this made sense .  but she decided not to jump to conclusions and wait for Arjun to come up with a simple explanation. Which never did.

Then she noticed the phone calls . Arjun was very different while answering them.  The Conversations were short and curt . Usually mono syllables.  He would offer no explanation after these calls . something was weird . Saranya couldn’t put her finger on it , but something wasn’t right.

The last straw was finding the pistol. The cold barrel  almost smelt of death sending shivers down her back.  Sharanya  knew  instantly that she had to back outwithout arousing suspicion. Who ever Arjun was , he was dangerous and suspicious  . She thought of avoiding Arjun under the pretext of visiting her brother in chennai.  Arjun too was to visit Delhi during the next week.

 It was while she was in Chennai that the News in the paper  caught her attention . The news was about a foiled  terrorist attack in Mumbai. The story revolved around a lone terrorist in the city who was tracked down by the officer from the special forces of the army. The modus operandi of the terrorist was said to be simple , merge in the crowd and lead a normal life until further orders . The terrorist was killed and the officer seemed to have foiled a major plan for which he was awarded a medal.  The words made Sharanya sit up

Who was telling the story ? And whose story was it anyway ? 
The words fluttered and flew in the wind. 

she quickly called her friend in Mumbai to ascertain the facts . When Saranya hung up , she was just sure of one thing that there was some connection between the article and Arjun. So she gingerly dialled his number …

 

A Close Shave – Sonali Bijur ,

 

Ting tong .....ting tong ....ting tong ...ting tong 

Isha opened her eyes groggily thinking she had imagined it but someone was actually there at the door ringing the bell incessantly. The clock confirmed that it was indeed an unearthly hour of 2.30 am. Who could it be? Dragging herself out of bed, pushing all thoughts of negative things happening to her near and dear ones, Isha opened the door and found Kunal standing there. Her heart sank a thousand feet. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Or rather didn’t want to believe her eyes. Forcefully she curved her lips into a smile and moved aside to let him in. Kunal mumbled some apology and deposited his big travel bag and backpack near the door and himself on the sofa.

Isha managed a weak “Is everything all right?" after giving him a glass of water,which Kunal took his own sweet time to gulp down till the last drop and then gave his charming smile. A thousand questions were racing through Isha’s mind. But she forced herself to remain calm and waited for a sensible and plausible explanation for this unannounced arrival. Kunal’s dishevelled appearance added fuel to fire. 

" I lost my house keys " he said. 

The bags he was carrying were still a mystery. 

Isha had not heard from Kunal for the past one week and she was hoping never to. 

Even though Isha was a girl with a modern outlook, she was a bit unwilling to meet guys suggested as ideal for her profile, from a dating site. 

Age wasn’t on her side; she was almost nearing 35. With all her best friends married, the pressure to follow them was mounting from her parents’ side. She living alone in the capital city where women were UNSAFE with a capital, wasn’t helping much either. But being tall, well built, pretty and excellent in her field of work and earning much more than any of her friends had earned her a few years more than them. But finally, she had succumbed to the pressure and agreed to put her profile on some match making and dating site 

Among all the men she dated, Kunal was the only one who had held her attention for more than a few minutes. He had come across as honest and endearing with his boyish grin and chivalrous mannerisms on their first meeting.

She had started liking his mischievous pranks and adventurous attitude over the next few meetings. It was a welcome change compared to all the boring, technically sound, fat bald men she had for company at her office. 

Kunal was too perfect to be true but brushing all the thoughts aside Isha had thrown caution to the wind and agreed to be swept off the floor by Kunal’s charming attitude for the next few weeks.

Initially it was all good when he would pay for their lunches or cab rides, but later on whenever she would insist on paying Kunal would let her and now she had found herself paying for most of his expenses too. This was something disturbing Isha But Kunal had been giving some convincing excuses of expired debit card, forgetting the wallet etc which had not made her see things clearly through the rosy glasses she had wilfully donned. 

A tiny speck of doubt was always present at the back of her mind regarding the authenticity of the facts stated by kunal. He seemed to be having too much time on hand for a software consultant that he claimed to be. His lifestyle was a tad slow for a guy claiming to be on the move all the time and he seemed forever pressed for funds for a someone earning in six figures. The unexplained disappearances and unsatisfactory explanations for unanswered calls and texts were helping her see things clearly now They say one can get an idea about one’s lifestyle from the way one keeps his desk, house and feet. The last being solely Isha's way of judging people and something that she had relied heavily on in the last few years and it had given her near accurate results. 

 

But now seeing Kunal spread comfortably on the sofa, she was beginning to doubt  her assessment . An uneasy feeling was creeping up her spine. 

She decided to save all the questions for later and went back to her bed leaving Kunal sprawled on the sofa already asleep. 

Next morning when she found him still on the sofa, Isha felt that she had probably gotten herself into something messier than she could imagine. 

She got ready to go to the office but Kunal showed no signs of finding the solution for the lost keys. Isha offered to drop him on the way to her office but Kunal said he would deal with it in the afternoon. 

Isha left for her office. 

In the evening when she returned, she found the door ajar. On entering she found a dinner table laid for two with candle light. Kunal had cooked her favourite Pasta with garlic bread and opened the wine bottle that she had been saving for a special occasion. In spite of the uncanny feeling, she smiled. 

They chatted, giggled just like old times but the feeling wouldn’t go away. 

Isha finally broached the subject of lost keys. 

" I had gone to Chennai for a few days for office work and I forgot the keys in the hotel there. Since its a rented house i don’t want to take a locksmith and make a new set. So I have asked the hotel to courier the keys to your address. It should come by tomorrow or day after . This way we can get to catch up on the time we have lost " Kunal said with a bright smile.

" Yes perfect " Isha replied 

They cleared the table and decided to watch a movie. 

It was late so Isha announced that she was sleepy and headed towards her room. To her horror Kunal followed her to bedroom saying " I just couldn’t sleep on your couch last night.  I will share your bed. Don’t worry I will behave myself " he added with a wink . 

Next day was no different. Isha went to office and Kunal watched TV. 

By now the neighbours were getting curious too. 

A week went by without any sign of the keys or Kunal leaving. 

When Isha returned in the evening, she could hear loud voices from her flat. She entered the house and was horrified to see two police people hand cuffing Kunal. 

" What’s happening " Isha asked 

On seeing her one of them said " Madam we are from the Anti-Narcotics Cell. This guy is a drug dealer. We are arresting him on charges of supplying drugs to school children. We went to his old house but the owner said he had vacated and left. We got this address from his call records. Are you his wife? " 

" No, I am not his wife " Said Isha. 

" He is just a friend. " 

Isha looked at Kunal for an explanation but Kunal seemed dazed, in a different world which explained everything. 

The police dragged Kunal and left with him , not before reminding her not to leave the city and  that they will be calling her for questioning if required . 

Isha slumped on the couch, drained. She mustered just enough energy to call her mom and cry.