Once Upon a Time- Part 2

She stirred the tea again lost in thought.

She hadnt thought it possible for them to be separated,let alone separated the way they had. Definitely not this reason.

It was something very workable Vidhya had thought then. The issue was relatively simple. It was on one of those lazy afternoons after a heavy lunch of macaroni and ice cream at Malvika's place. They were researching for their project when an IM window pops up revealing Malvika to be in a relationship without Vidhya ever hearing about it. Once Vidhya recovered from the initial shock, she had questioned Malvika about it. It had taken time for her to accept that Malvika was in a relationship, a cyber one at that without so much of a mention to her but she quickly convinced herself that she had taken things much too seriously and it was finally Malvika's life and she had every right to make a decision about it. She was her friend, her best friend. She would stick by and try her best to ensure Malvika's happy.

That incident wasnt quickly forgotten but lost its importance over time. A year or 2 things were going great, just like how they were before the incident gave a new aspect to their relationship. Malvika and Rohit had met and things were happy between the two. Soon, Vidhya was on chatting terms with Rohit too. She had wrongly assumed that Malvika was cool with the arrangement since it was Malvika who had introduced her to Rohit. It was only later that she started noticing a few digs, a few meaningless taunts being targeted at her. At that time too Vidhya couldnt quite figure what was going on and assumed there was something wrong between Rohit and Malvika and left it at that.

Then came the blow. Hard, sudden and harsh. A lot of hurtful words were thrown at her. Most of them baseless. Her innocence and friendly nature had been taken for a ride. Malvika had blamed Vidhya for her failing relationship with Rohit. The distance between the two, her stubborness or his temper and her sensitivity didnt seem to strike as the reason. What had struck instead was the acquaintance Vidhya had with Rohit. Perhaps the only fault, if it could be called so at all, was that Vidhya had heard out Rohit's little tiffs with Malvika just as she had when the other told her about it and pointed out the other person's point of view. That is what Vidhya identified as her "fault".

That was it.

Vidhya was willing to work on it, talk about it. She wished to justify herself.Malvika hadnt given her the chance. In the angst of her failing relationship, Malvika hadn't realised that she had not only accused Vidhya of taking her boyfriend but had belittled their friendship and the opinion Vidhya had of Malvika.The accusation, in the light of it itself seemed harsh and the more Vidhya hurted over it, she began to see new aspects of their friendship she hadn't noticed earlier. Her blind trust in Malvika, her absolute concern. her confidence that come what may Malvika wouldnt get her wrong had all crashed. To reality or to nightmare, she didn't know.

3 years had since passed. Last year, Malvika had called up to wish for Vidhya's birthday after trying to contact Vidhya through various channels and finally tracing Vidhya's number through a mutual friend.The first few chats were awkward, abrupt. The wound was still sore for Vidhya, though it had begin to heal with the help of other friends. Their relationship had obviously changed but it still felt as though things could one day be how they were before. However the one thing that had changed for certain was Vidhya's ability to blindly trust and her understanding of relationships.She had made a vow then, 3 years ago that never again would she interfere in anyone's relationships unless they come outright and ask for help. Three years and the vow is still in place.Things weren't back to normal yet, definitely not but at least they were speaking again and here she was to meet the same person for the first time in flesh and blood after the war of words.

With one last sigh, Vidhya gulped the now cold tea and resumed staring at the doorway with the steady impatient tap of her foot giving the background score for the rush of thoughts in her head.

Once Upon a Time- Part 1

"Damn! I'm late again. She is going to kill me." Malvika muttered to herself as she rushed to cross the road. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about Malvika on first glance. She had the ability to blend into her surroundings, her petite structure helping her. She still had a 15 minute auto drive to reach the decided location and went about trying to find an auto who would come for the meter charge than multiples of the same.

Vidhya tucked her fringe behind her ear and waited at the corner table with a cup of tea scanning the crowd through the steam for the woman who was to be here 15 minutes ago. Clear, simple and sophisticated. That had to be the first things which struck anyone when they saw Vidhya. She stood out in the local crowd. It wasn't only her height; there was an aura around her that commanded respect.

It had been 3 years since they had met. Only a year since they had rekindled their friendship. A friendship which many wondered at. They were opposites- Malvika and Vidhya. Malvika was sensitive and unafraid of wearing her heart on her shoulders. Vidhya never let people see her anything but either cool,collected and cheerful or hot headed. Malvika needed to work hard to hit sixties in academics while Vidhya effortlessly touched the eighties. However Vidhya was the creative one between the two, far more expressive and romantic than what many assumed. Malvika was the cleverer of the two. She knew what one could do for her. Most people felt Malvika was the introvert and Vidhya was the extrovert. In reality, people knew as much about Vidhya as they knew about Malvika which was almost nothing.

Despite the huge number of friends and acquaintances, Vidhya shared her thoughts, feelings and worries with only her closest set of friends who were a group of 6.To these 6 people, Vidhya was extremely sensitive, supportive, warm, caring and at times vulnerable unlike the Vidhya the rest of the world saw at first glance. Of this 6, Malvika had been the closest. Hardly anything was left untold between the 2 of them. They knew each other inside out. At least, thats what Vidhya had believed until she found out to the contrary.

Needless to say, the shattering of the belief led to more than a few tears.

Mysore Mayhem- Part 9

With the tumultuous trip behind me, I reached the doorstep of my home 7 hours later. All I wanted to do was give my parents the tightest hug I could before running up for a nice long relaxing warm shower following it with an equally long or perhaps longer chat with my parents. The very thought made me relax.

I rang the doorbell.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.

Why couldn't they open the door?
I decided I should give them a call. Maybe there was a current cut and our UPS had failed as usual and hence the calling bell didnt ring.

I first called my mom. She always keeps her phone with her.
No response.

I tried my father's number and surprisingly it was switched off.
This is when I got nervous. When it rains,it pours. The difference being I love the rain but I definitely do not love whats happening now!

I banged the door as hard as I could.
Finally a response!

I could see the candle light but couldnt see through the fogged windows who it was opening the door.

When the door opened,I could feel the ground slip from under me.

The face above the candle wick was neither my father's nor my mother's.
It was that face.

My first and last and all the instincts in between ordered me to scream or faint or maybe pinch myself and figure its all a nightmare or that im hallucinating. Most probably I would have had I not heard my parents laughing and coming from behind him-whoever he was.

From relief and relaxation to fear to shock to confusion would probably best describe the change of emotions in the span of a few minutes.

I skipped the hugging bit of the plan and rushed to the shower. Clearly this person was well known to my parents. The chances of me knowing him but not recognising is also high. After a good twenty minutes in the shower with no answer, I walk down to dinner keeping my eyes trained on my mother who was beaming as usual.

“Recognise who this is?” My mom asks in her style of oh-i-know-you-know-the-answer-just-tell-me.
True. I felt like shooting her glares questioning if I knew, would I have freaked so much?

I guess the thought sort of leaked on to my face considering the smiles on their faces. My expression of bewilderment melted into a sheepish smile as realisation began to dawn.

The stranger was an old family friend of ours whom we hadnt met in over a decade.Thats all.
Not any murderer with motive.
Not a stalker
No one dangerous.

Just an old family friend whose face I had forgotten.

I guess that brought a lot of things to perspective except for the pillow pressing and silent escape. Unable to resist the temptation, the first minute I got out of my parent's earshot I questioned him about to come to know that it was indeed my cousins who were waking me up so lovingly and he had merely come to visit after coming to know from my parents that I was in Mysore but saw the sight and came to help them off me but then walked off later feeling it may not be the most appropriate way to say hi after a decade.

Pah! So much for nothing.

Sigh..How can I possibly wait till the next time I have a pillow fight with these lovable wicked rascals called cousins? ;)

Author's Note: This is the last part of Mysore Mayhem. Tune in pretty soon to read 'Once upon a time'

Mysore Mayhem- Part 8

I looked up to press the floor only to have my frail finger be pushed into the button. I wish I hadn't turned to see who the brute was coz I saw that face again. The one of my discomfort, the cause of all the internal turmoil and mayhem in my mind was there,right in front of me. He mumbled a quick sorry before removing his finger off mine and walked out heading towards the tables where breakfast was served.

I was left in a state of shock,relief and confusion that I hadn't noticed the lift doors closing. I let myself go up again. A walk suddenly didnt seem all that tempting now.

The only thing which struck me was that I have to go home.NOW.
It didnt matter if there were still places I had to see or things I had to buy, I had to go home.

I waited till my aunt and uncle came back to the room. I sat quietly through their breaking down my cousin's marks,through their scrutiny of where he could have done better and how,through their comparison of his marks to his peers and cousins (sadly including me). When they finally started planning the trip for the next day, I raised my concern. I told them I wanted to go home. Only because I miss my parents. Nope. No way am I telling them Im psyched by a stranger. Finally after an hour of debating,phone calls and the likes I got a ticket to go back home.

Home sweet home. My haven. My heaven.

Mysore Mayhem- Part 7

Fatigue soon took over and the night was spent in tired sleep.
The mayhem in my mind took no rest.

In fact, it worsened.

My plan for the day was to go shopping and perhaps visit Chamundi Hills. More than the shopping, I wanted to visit Chamundi Hills, not only for the climate but also for the deity there. It happened to be one of those few temples which struck a chord deep and I felt connected.

Instead I sat in the room all day long tending to a supposedly sick sister. I say supposedly because the kid who had severe stomach ache and diarrohea seemed perfectly fine the minute I took to volunteering to stay back and baby sit the kid.

The morning which should have been spent enjoying a breezy ride was spent sprawled on the extra bed thrown on the floor playing video games which were inbuilt with the TATA Sky unit. During a particularly dull game, the door unlocked itself. On instinct, I pulled the kid closer to me. I am used to staying alone and actually enjoy solitude but not in a hotel,no thank you. The knob opens slowly and oh-so-quietly and in walks with a forlorn look on the face- my cousin brother. It was only when I recognised the face and he had started his outburst of poor performance(which I thought was pretty good) in his tenth board exams did I release my breath.

To say I was somehow feeling shaken would be an understatement. I said a few words of encouragement to my bro before telling him to call me if they need anything while I go down for a walk.

With that self-promise of a walk which would clear the head, I waited for the lift and walked in, still staring at the sad plight of well worn slippers unaware that the minute I look up, Id be in for a rude shock.

Mysore Mayhem- Part 6

The buffet breakfast is one of my all time favourites. As far as I have noticed, in any hotel, their breakfast is always the best may it be in terms of the spread or the quality of food. This was no exception either and Im sure I would have enjoyed it as much as I usually do if I didnt have a list of questions swirling madly in my mind.

From that moment in the morning, consciously or otherwise I had been searching for a person dressed in dark. Of course, added to the list of subjects were anyone who resembled the person but that wasnt of much help seeing I hadn't noted the face and most people here were built the same.

One of my techniques of dealing with stress/hyper-activity/depression etc is to walk. Luck so had it that that day's schedule had plenty of pleasurable walking involved. We visited Mysore Zoo and the famed Brindavan Gardens.

While there, I barely had time to think of any of the questions but on the way to and fro, the questions repeated themselves never yielding an answer or even a hint of an answer.

Except for one.
One face.
Nothing very clear yet it was a face.
One which I had noticed at the buffet breakfast, one which I had observed following in the zoo and one which I caught staring at me in the gardens.

Something was not falling into place and I didnt like it.

Mysore Mayhem- Part 5

The next morning I awoke gasping for breath against the pillow being pressed onto my face. With the renewed strength from rested sleep I pushed the pillow off me and started a string of expletives aimed at my cousins only to see a much larger figure run out the window. It definitely wasnt my uncle but my gut instinct suggested I knew the person. I could have taken after him attempting to nab him and perhaps dramatically frame him in the lift or maybe race him down the stairs and miraculously catch him, throw him to the floor and peel off the mask (if he was wearing one) and gasp that it was in fact someone very close to me and stay in that shock till he runs off or slits my throat with a thin blade and then escape letting me rest in a pool of blood a few meters away from the buffet breakfast. Of course I could do all that if it were a movie or fiction but this is real. As real as you and I.

So I did the next logical thing which was to freshen up, trying to recollect the powerful dreams of the night to push the nightmare of the morning to the back of my mind. For every second of the dream remembered and cherished, the unknown dark figure pressing the pillow onto my face kept flashing for a while longer. As soon as I managed to get dressed hoping for the day's sight seeing to be pleasurable,i sat down with my cup of tea staring out the hotel window overlooking the Mysore Palace. The same palace which had reminded me of elegance and filled me with awe,in broad daylight looked as vulnerable as any ancient building (though im not sure if it can be called ancient!). What it did bring to my mind were questions relating to the morning. Was it attempted murder? If yes, why did he run when he could have finished me? Or did he realise that he was murdering the wrong person when I started gasping? But how could he not have realised it when he pressed the pillow to my face? If I settle it as attempted murder, why? I have no known enemies. How did he come in? Why hadnt he locked the door when he had come to do harm?

With so many questions, I left for the buffet breakfast tagging my younger sis along absent mindedly nodding to everything she said and ignorantly agreed to give her one of my favourite chains.