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 …