Friday, August 26, 2011

A night to remember

As the sun set and the cool breeze started blowing, we decided to walk back home crossing the bridge over Sabarmati. I looked sideways to see Sudha smiling and talking animatedly, yet never looking at me.



'So have you ever tried the filter coffee at Sridarshini?'
Karan laughed out loud and said, 'That's not exactly fair, am just a day old here and all I have see so far is you, though still not enough of you!'
Sudha pondered for a while and said, 'You men, all are just the same!'
She complained, though her cheeks flushed and she fumbled with words.

We all went silent after this, I tried to pretend that I was busy looking down at feet, while they got busy looking at their hands and nowhere in particular. I knew this moment would pass and we would get back to our composed self soon. Somehow it was always left to me to make a humorous remark and break the sudden conversation barrier, but this time I decided to let it linger on for a while more. I wanted her to feel my pain, or whatever unusual emotions I was going through for the past two days.

We walked in silence for the rest of the journey. Maybe Karan already felt guilty about what was going on, and was happy to be away from conversations, or perhaps he was just happy and content with the breeze, but he remained silent. I knew we were finally reaching a point where we needed to talk, and have a conversation where I was also involved. Karan was leaving in the morning and I could feel an odd tension building up between the three of us.

I broke the silence and asked them if they wanted coffee, they both nodded. We were already in the new part of the town and so decided to go to the nearest posh new coffee place, sit in the open and enjoy the weather. The rains in the evening had ensured that the air was cool and extremely pleasant. Karan lit a cigarette and after a couple of drags, offered it to me. As I took my first puff, he started talking. I could see he was waiting for the moment, but somehow I panicked. I was not yet prepared for what I knew was coming, and when the words did start flowing, my world vanished.

I walked back home alone that night with the promise that my world would be returned back to me tomorrow. I wasn't sure anymore; Karan was my best friend and Sudha my wife, yet these promises somehow meant so little now.

Thanks to Vikram Tej for the superb illustration, read and know more about him here and here.

20 comments:

  1. mmmm good could be better...nice illustration..i think tej has become a pro illustrator for ur blogs....

    keep up the good wrk Mr.Joshi

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  2. take a wild guess who i imagined the 3 characters to be... p.s i like how u let the reader think, adds impact.

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  3. @Vishakha: I know you are always disappointed with how my stories end!

    @Roshni: Good to see you here, and thanks for the comment :) Do tell me who these three characters are...am sure u can write it here as well!

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  4. u're supposta guess.. get all 3 right!! (no fun otherwise)

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  5. Loved the way you disclosed the relationship between the characters and the way you ended it.

    Please do stop by and leave your thoughts on my last blog post. :)

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  6. such well narrated story! am jealous :)

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  7. @Roshni: You better acknowledge my ingenuity, I guessed all three right :)

    @Popsie: Thanks a lot, I will surely leave my thoughts on you blog!

    @Chintan: Thank you and I must admit that you comments are very flattering :)

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  8. Hi Siddhartha
    I tried opening your other blog, Wanderer and Chrome refused to open it for the malware warning that it conatins content from bohemian traveller.com which is known to distribute malware etc etc.. yada yada..

    Might be one the widgets of addins you are using on that blog. Not sure. Do check it out.

    Didnt know where else to inform you so commented here.

    Please delete this comment later

    Cheers,
    Shrijeet

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  9. Why walk off? Too scared to confront the truth?

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  10. purba rightly asked! i also wanted to ask the same question...

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  11. @Purba, Shruti: No one walked off...he just stayed back, more like he was left behind. He is now on his way back home, and we really do not know what happens next...

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  12. he has to understand that sometimes there are somethings over which no control can be exercised...he does the bes to walk away becuase the best thing that can come handy can be patience..which can be quite testing and trying too..but its not power over the other but passion for the other that is the most appropriate answer to such a situation. passion can still empower but not the other way around, at least not in healthy way...

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  13. @agrainofsand: This is a very interesting thought, I agree that power has no role to play. Perhaps patience might help, at least in rational thinking...

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  14. That was a nice way to end it, letting the reader curious and come up with reasons on their own..!!

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  15. A post after a long hiatus!! its always nice to read ur fictions !!!

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  16. @KP: I am glad you liked it, not everyone likes the openness of interpretation though...

    @Angie: Yes been a while, I generally end up writing but not publishing them here. I have kept the scandalous stuff hidden away :)

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  17. is that your design? do you have a design blog as well?

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  18. @Sneo: Its is my design by executed by a friend who's is extremely good with illustrations...

    No design blog as of now...maybe someday I will have something. For now, I just share almost everything here itself (except travel)...

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