Clarity....

'Raju...Engineering Graduate...Typical nerd of a guy...enjoin the freshly found his independence away from his home and new job...

Hema...Typical city gal... Independent and intelligent... doing Econ Masters from St. Ann's...

Both lived in the same neighborhood.... Bud didn't actually know about each other as they move around in different circles altogether... Till that particular morning...

Both of them were waiting at the bus stop... Unfortunately (?) for them the buses weren't that kind that day... So, Raju decided to take an auto to his office... he got into one and was about to go when he noticed Hema  and said "Hey I noticed you were waiting here for a long time... If you don't mind I can drop you at a nearest point on my way..." She agreed to that as she has this big project presentation in the college... "So, Raju... what do you do?" asked Hema as a courtesy ... "I'm just joined in XYZ software firm a couple of months ago after my B.E... What do you do?" replied Raju... "Oh good for you...I'm doing my masters in Economics at St. Ann's..." said Hema... "Oh St. Ann's... heard that's a good college..." Thus began the hour long conversation they had in that auto in the peak hours of Hyderabad traffic... "Lets meet up this evening somewhere so that we can get to know each other more... Lets say at 6... Coffee Day...Madhapur... is that good for you?" asked Hema... "That sounds wonderful... lets meet at 6 there..." replied Raju...

Raju was excited... He was never asked out by any gal before... Hell... he didn't find the courage to ask any gal out ever before... he wasn't able to concentrate on his work all day... when the clock struck 5, he came out of his cubicle... freshened up... for about half an hour, came out.... bought a bouquet of roses and went to the coffee day... he was fascinated by the Mercedes Benz cars in the showroom beside coffee day and wondered if he can get one of those someday... He dropped that thought as there is a bigger task on hand... to meet Hema and talk to her... so he went into coffee day and waited... and waited...

It is 9'o clock and still there is no sign of her... He has had 6 cappuccinos... at last he has given up... He smiled at him and thought... "She has played a practical joke on me...Or meant it sarcastically...She has probably forgotten about me and the conversation the moment she got down the auto..."

He gave the bouquet to a li'l gal in the coffee day... and thought "At least that kid is happy"...Raju paid the bill and went back to his place dejected...

At the same time...Hema was coming out of the Coffee Day beside the pizza hut in Madhapur...yelling all kinds of swear words to herself in her head... Shez never been rejected till that date... She cursed herself for believing a guy who she just met... She thought that he might be some one special... But as all the other guys he turned out to be the same... She went home and cursed herself to sleep...

Over the next few days they simply ignored each other... 

But one day at a common friend's place... Hema saw raju and snapped...."who the fuck are you to ditch me..." she shouted...He was confused and shouted back " you were the one who ditched me bitch... i waited for you for 3 hours there and made a fool of my self..." this shouting went on for another 10 minutes before the wise common friend intervened and asked "Raju, at which coffee day did you wait  for her?" "The one beside the Merc. showroom" answered Raju.... " And where did you madame?" "the one beside the Pizza hut..." responded Hema embarrassed... All the 3 of them had a hearty laugh at the situation... and at the end the wise friend said " Next time you fix up a date with each other...choose a place which is unique in an area or get the address clear" '

"and after that they never missed any date... and the rest as they saay is history...and lastly many of you ladies and gentlemen might have already guessed, the wise friend is none other than me :)" yelled Suresh while giving a speech on the occasion of Raju n Hema's engagement...

~

Pavan

Lifez a... Well u know wat it is...

"Its a regular April mrng...regular day....regular ppl....going on to do their regular work....in their regular manner.... The only thing that is not regular on that day is that it is rainin cats n dogs that day....

And I got stuck with this damn broken auto on the main road.... The driver went to find a mechanic leaving me n my frend Rahul to watch over the auto.... Today is a very big day for me... I glanced at my watch and it shows 920 am... Gawd!! I have to be there in another 10 minutes or Sujatha will rip my heart out like an angry lioness that she is.... She always likes to take a dig at me whneva she cud.... But its a different ball game altogether today....

It is all because of Nirmala today.... If she had woke me up today before she left, this would not have happened.... and its bad luck from then onward.... I failed to get into the bus.... But I got lucky and Rahul offered me lift in his auto.... But that happiness too is short lived.... here we are on the road, about 3 kilometers and about 7-ish minutes away from my destination and deadline with the raining pouring down as if some one up there has opened the dam gates...

The clock is ticking.... I had to make a decision right now.... Either I go for it or give up.... and as i'm thinking of the possibilities i didn't even like the second option.... So, i have decided to go for it.... So, I got down the auto and started to run...
'Don't go Gopi....' shouted Rahul whom i ignored.... Well he doesn't know the gravity of the situation.... I continued running....
Many things flashed before my eyes.... what would happen if i didn't make it.... Dad is going to be hugely disappointed.... Though he doesn't say anything to me directly.... So does Nirmala.... She is a nice lady and has many hopes on me.... Sujatha will also be disappointed... but unlike others, she will definitely show it on my face....Also that buggar Ramu who is always ready to humiliate me in front of the fairer sex whenever he gets a chance....
And what would happen to me and my confidence.... No... i don't want to think about it.... Aah this roads are jammed.... I cant run and these stupid cars are spraying the water on me....Every1 is looking at me differently... Of course the do.... they don't know wat today is... I hope my bag pack is not drenched.... The guy who sold said that it is water proof... Lets c... Gawd why does this happen to me.... These ppl in their cars are laughing at me.... Sure you buggars.... Come out and have a taste of the outside weather.... you'll come to know.... even i used to laugh ppl who are drenched in rain when i was travelling in a car.... Cant blame them....
No no i shud stay focused on my target....shudn't lose my focus....shud remember wat to do today.... c'mon man move your frickkin auto outta my way....

Aah i can c the building now....My heart is racing as i approached my destination....After i entered the gate, I looked at my watch and my heart sank.... Twas 950.... I'm 20 minutes late.... Sujatha would kill me....Every worst thing i thought would happen will surely happen....I dunno wat to do.... Unwillingly, I started mounting the stairs...."

Meanwhile inside the building Nirmala and Sujatha were pacing here and there not knowing wat to do....
As soon as Nirmala got the call about Gopi, She came there.... She has a gut feeling that its the only place he would go.... Both Nirmala and Sujatha were very tensed.... Just about then, they heard some foot steps on the stairs approaching them....and a minute later he emerged from the steps drenched in rain.... Gopal is here....

Seeing Nirmala there, Gopi ran to her hugged her and started crying...."Sor--ry mom--my i did not com--aa for the exam on--nn time...Auto -aa stopped in the middle-aa-....I ran-nn as fast as i could...."

Hearing to this, Sujatha n Nirmala burst out laughing....
Sujatha, the 1st class teacher said "Don't worry beta,i will give you another chance to write your mathematics exam..." and let out a sharp laugh...
Nirmala, wiping tears form her eyes firmly said "Don't you dare to do this kind of things ever again...." and smiled....
Gopi also smiled sheepishly not knowing wat was happening around him and why every body in his skool is laughing....

This Ladies and gentleman is  one day in the life of  Gopal Krishna, Studying 1st class in St. Josephs School in Hyderabad...

--

Pavan

Serendipity... Revisited...

Its Thursday... 7 in the morning... In A smoggy July London city hotel room, Sam was getting ready... He is clearly nervous... He is checking everything twice or thrice which is very unlike him...

Sam a.k.a. Samir Chaterjee...23yrs...5'9''... Average build... Masters' Student Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi... Working as a college intern in a large mobile manufacturing company in London... He lives about 15 minutes away from the company... Though his day at work starts at 930, he'd go to the kings' cross by 830 everyday... Why Is that...?

It all started a couple of weeks ago, when he 1st arrived in London, he was at the station at 830 in the morning to check out the trains which are comfortable to him to go to work... And there she is wearing a white chudidar walking past him and disappeared in a flash... He couldn't get her out of his head the whole day and the next day he went to the station early hoping to get a glimpse of her... And there she again... But this time, he followed her to the train which became his routine for the coming days... She travelling in the same train that he had to also helped...

Coming back to the present... He got up, cleaned himself, wore the best looking clothes he has... He left the hotel a bit early, got a bunch of flowers, reached the station and waited for her... He finally decided to ask her out after all these days...

Niha a.k.a Niharika Shah...24yrs... Aspiring photographer... Working as an assistant to James Smith, very well known name in the field...

She had a feeling in her gut that day that some thing is gonna happen although she doesn't know what it is... But she prayed that the guy whoz been following her for the last few days to ask her out or at least talk to her... She has noticed this guy whos following her recently... When first she had seen him, she didn't care much.... But after a few days, she began to notice... He seemed to be a good kid... Cute and kinda nerdy... He'd always smile at her everyday and she too responded with a smile...

This day, she felt something different... She took extra care how she looks... She also started a bit earlier to go to the station...When she reached the station, she noticed that guy sitting on the bench with a bunch of flowers in his hand... She was very happy to see him that day... He is really looking handsome that day... He sure took a  lot of care in his appearance... 

But before he came and talked to her, she ran into an old friend of hers who in her super excitement to catch up failed to notice that her friends interest is some place else... Niha couldn't do much as  she was a good friend of hers...

Sam was waiting patiently... He had made it clear to himself that he'd talk to her that day... So he was waiting for that new gal to go away...

Now its 840 and the train they have to board has already arrived... So they got into the train in different compartments... Sam saw her getting into the train in some compartment and decided to meet her on the train... So, the train searching for her...

Niha asked her friend to wait for a while and started walking towards the direction in which the weird guy went... at 850 AM on 7th July 2005, Niha was standing at one end of the train compartment and saw the guy on the other end... She was ecstatic... She could see that the guy on the cloud9...She saw him  walking towards her and she waited for him there....Then It happened... There was a very big spark of light in the train accompanied by a big thundering sound... She didn't know wat happened and everything went dark...

When Sam woke up, he was in the hospital... He his arm bandaged... He also noticed the chaos in the hospital... He came to know that there was a bomb blast in the train in the very compartment that day and almost everyone in there were dead...

While checking out, he didn't ask the cops or the doctors about the gal because firstly he doesn't have the courage to handle if something bad has happened.... Secondly he doesn't know anything about her... The one thing he did do in the next few weeks of his stay in London is not to travel in the Subway....

Coming to the gal... Well she migrated to a different country to remove those memories...

--

Pavan