Journey to Jupiter

It is a new day in this arid state of California. Once the most prosperous cities in the world has grown out of control with most sophisticated tools around but the place still is buzzing with new companies. New start-ups , new ideas and fresh mind are still hottest things. Humans have prolonged the life to over two centuries, they commute to office through air-planes. A few people still use road systems but only those who have leisure of time. For everyone else, it still is a cut throat place. One has to go by the books. The law and order situation has changed tremendously with each of private sector companies how giving full rights over the employees who work for them. Protest have ended in vain and people employed by a company are under jurisdiction of people within the company.
Things have changed though. Humans have inhabited Mars, and tours from Earth to Mars are as common as flying to other countries. Most of the places which can not sustain life on  Earth, due to increased pollution have been deserted and void for human visits. One may still find a few souls going in and out. Absolute freedom is now achievable. Going by the different standards , California is still a place to be.
In this place , there is a scientific laboratory, trying to find ways for human race to survive on Jupiter. Heading the research team is one of brainiest head on this planet. 
 

A girls diary

1^st Feb 2012

Very weird day.

To start with again I was late n felt guilty that handsome husband of Pooja had to take an inside turn for me bcoz I cud not reach my pick up point on time, but that’s ok I have bigger tensions in life than to think about how to grab attention of Pooja’s husband early morning at 8, when all 3 of us are enjoying this 2 min ride for different reason, before getting on the battleground to fight for our heavy day in office.

I have regular embarrassments in office, theres nothing new in it. It comes in various forms…physical (considering my figure), intellectual, technical (thanx to BB, tabs n wats app on mobile phones), professional since it’s a workplace. Not to forget each type has to be a public embarassement since I work in a corporate. And there is my regular audience, my colleagues, frnds and their frnds adding each passing day so that my frnds don’t have to take the pains to repeat the jokes cracked on me- they just have to introduce them to me (even my workstation would do for that matter). Next time onwards they can enjoy it firsthand.

But today was a weird day. My receptionist who happens to be in awe of me calls me up when I was  in middle of something important. Let me take time to express here what does ‘middle of something important’ means in corporate office. If you are planning your leave not looking at the calendar or your deadlines but studying your weekly canteen menu, if you are checking out new joinees list having photographs, finding out the most complicated excel sheet to keep open on ur PC for the whole day when u r busy in some other important thing, when u r trying to find the direct or inverse proportion of ur neighbour’s salary and job profile- then my dear friends you can proudly say ‘I am in middle of something important’.

So coming back to the point when I was ‘in middle of something important’ my receptionist called and said something which made me recheck my passport – my country of origin & my date of birth to confirm myself about my age.

She asked me to open YOU page on Mumbai Mirror and suggested me to read what was written in bold letters “Secrets of having that perfect Kiss” and a half size photo of a cute guy n very cute girl smooching. And below were written 10 so-called rather so –assumed secrets of a perfect kiss. I coolly ignored the page asking my receptionist what to read on that page but I guess this much humiliation was not enough for God (thru receptionist). She said ‘read it mam, its for your own good. You need it.’ I still tried to maintain my mental balance, don’t knw how much I succeeded but I told her that all this is crap and this just corrupts our mind and we should not believe it. It sounded like my Mom telling me the same things about the zee horror show when I was a kid. If only my mom knew that I still remember her words of wisdom, only the situation is different here, she would be so proud of me. But my receptionist would not give up and answers back ‘mam, that’s why your life is so dry and boring. Read it, its actually true and very helpful. It will spice up your life’.

 Thanks to corporate life there is constant flow of emails in the inbox and you have a perennial excuse of ‘I need to reply to a mail urgently, I’ll get back to you asap’. I did the same with my receptionist and kept  down the phone.

But just like zee horror show music- aaaa….aaa…aaah ahah aaaaah aaaah…keeps haunting for days her words kept haunting my mind. To start with why she thinks my life is dry and boring. Just because I hear her desperate dream stories of having a bf doesn’t mean that my life is also the same or does not have any other mode of entertainment and even if it is the case, atleast she should not have problems with it- I am her only loyal audience.

Next in line of thoughts– is it that obvious that I need to read such articles? What makes her think that I never kissed in life or I am a bad kisser. Is she representing a secret group of boys whom I dated which I am not aware of? What makes her think that such articles would help me, do I look that desperate? Does she think I am a teenager and supposed to tear of that article, take it to the washroom and giggle with her over it?? Does she think at all???

Last one being closest to reality, I believed that and thought about this page. This You page claims to introduce you to your innerself, desires, laws of nature but actually it just tests your patience for tolerating such non sense and introduces to other pervert people who are in quest for their innerself (new limits of pervertness)

With all such thoughts hovering over my mind, whole day I tried hard not to think about HIM. I kept myself busy with all the possible important work I could do right from cleaning my desktop screen to my laptop bag, from getting the Xerox of a document which belonged to another department to going to  washroom every hr (without the newspaper cutting).

Finally it was hour of freedom,6.30- official sign out time. I retired myself to the window seat of our AC coach on my way back home. Since I had nothing to do so-called productive work which I do in office, I was left with only the traffic view outside, honking horns and radio music to my rescue. But before I could change the channel the damage was already done. I heard it….Dil ko tumse pyaar hua, pehli baar hua ,tumse pyar hua….Main bhi aashiq yaar hua, pehli baar hua, tumse pyaar hua…..

I could not change the channel, my fingers refused to move. I could not hear the horns, could not see the traffic outside. Was not sure if the bus was even moving. The only thing I could see was memories of  that day……

Flashback

I was tired and sleepy after a 3hr delayed flight from Delhi to Mumbai. It was my new job and first time I was out on a business tour- a tour where your only business is to rip off your company in all the possible way right from getting sponsored your food, roaming charges, rickshaw bills to the shampoo you steal from the hotel while checking out even though its free.  My parents were very proud that finally they can have some peaceful time at home when someone else is bearing the cost and facing the embarrassment of stolen shampoo. But still with all the excitement they came to pick me up at the airport. I just don’t understand the fetish of Indian parents coming to pick their kids at the airport even if the kid is returning from Goa. They will hug you for 1 minute and as if the hug had some magical powers, your parents undergo into a split personality. You are crticised for what you are wearing, for the flight you choose, your hotel name, room tariff even though its company sponsored, what you ate in flight, ate or not, why you look so tired, was there anything wrong in the trip, download of family gossip when you were away…all at the same time and same place…airport!! And you keep wondering where did all the love go after that hug.

Since I’ve already had the experience of all this, I was well prepared for it. I did not bother on combing my hair or checking on the spread kajal as I was to go back home only that too with my parents who would anyways comment on my looks. Plus it would give a look that I m very tired as if I only navigated the aircraft and would be saved from the bombardment of queries. With my this stupid solid plan in my mind and one stroller in my hand I walked out from the exit door of the airport looking for my parents.

Before I could spot them, amidst of all the eager faces, bored taxi drivers, uniformed sophisticated hotel pick up drivers, I saw the face which skipped my heartbeat for a second and I ignored him. Was not sure if he was actually here. But I looked back at him, if he is not here still I should not miss that handsome face looking at me. To my surprise rather shock, it was him, Gaurav was here!! Wearing crisp white shirt, dark denims and ofcourse his favourite navy blue provogue belt. Traces of thick silky black hair falling on his smooth forehead. Fair complexion, high cheekbones and that perfect cupid bow shaped dark pink lips. My heart just had a bungee jump till the stomach and came back to its position when those dark lips gave me crooked smile. Has he had some facial for me or I just forgot how handsome he looked. And why is he wearing goggles at 9 in the night? Why I did not comb my hair, did not clean up the spread kajal, where is my perfume....even though he is far away, I want perfume. Thank God my brain was having so many questions in my mind and was slow enough to generate neural impulses to my hand which was about to wave at Gaurav. Before my brain could give signal to my hand, Gaurav did and indicated me to look at my right side. And there I saw a hug and numerous questions were waiting for me. Universal confusion of choosing one among parents and love. 

I ran towards them, hugged them, answered their questions, reacted to Mom’s gossip about a distant cousin getting engaged, dad’s cribbing of getting the car from parking lot, mom’s counter cribbing on why to park the car so far, etc etc… I turned back to see what is he upto, but he already vanished. I sat in the car thinking was he for real or just that I missed him so much that I actually imagined him there. Its not a film going on and if he was for real then how can he just vanish without even saying a ‘hi’ to me. If he was there atleast he should have called or a normal ‘hello’ even with family like what Ajay devgan did in Yuva would not have harmed. Why doesn’t he watch hindi movies. I was upset with him and with myself, if it was my imagination. Whatever it is, I did not like it.

 I thought of SMS-ing him while I was on my way back home but then I had to check about his existence on the airport few minutes back so I kept myself occupied with questions and gossip dose coming from my parents and refused to text him. As soon I reached home and crashed down on my sofa my cell phone vibrated. I knew it was a msg and who was the sender.

 It read : I am waiting.

I replied : Wait is over, I am back in town.

1 new message received : You need to be back in my arms, irrespective of town. I am waiting outside your building.

Again there was a bungee jump by my heart. I informed my parents that I forgot my official cell phone in car and will be back in 10 min. I still couldn’t believe that he followed 30kms all the way from airport to my building. Even if he was not waiting down there, I can utilize the 10 min time for calling him and scolding him for such jokes. I wore my slippers and rushed down.

A sky blue wagonR was waiting down stairs a little away from my gate. I walked down towards the car, peeped through the window to check if it was his car. The fair complexion could not be missed even through the dark sun film of window during night time. I opened the door and sat next to him. His crisp white shirt and provogue belt confirmed that it was him on the airport and also that he was there for me. He was gazing at me endlessly. This time I could see straight into his twinkling eyes, could smell his perfume, can touch him, wanted to ask him why is he here. Confused what to do first, I just lowered the AC of his car and asked him ‘why were you wearing goggles at the airport?’

He answered with a child like innocence: Bcoz I didn’t want to miss a single chance of impressing you when u step down in the city. I wanted to be the first one you can see once you come back, I wanted to grab your attention anyhow. I was confused whether I look good with shades or without it so I took a chance of with shades as it was airport, its normal there. Now you can see me without shades here.

By now I was done playing with AC and switched to music system. I was just flipping through the channels avoiding him to the max. I stopped at a frequency where a half sleepy man was trying to be seducing and solving love problem of nocturnal human beings with the help of love songs. I snapped back, Gaurav Arora, don’t act smart with me, I noticed you at the airport. There was no need for you to come all the way to Thane. Why have you come here? Still concentrating at the dashboard.

Actually I came to check the effect of delhi water, air and boys on you. All 3 are quite harmful for you. I wanted to show you my new shades and also there was no date waiting for me tonight so I thought I’ll just check out the crowd at airport and I found you there.

I just changed the channel in anger and the song played 

Aarzoo hai mere sapnon ki

Baitha rahoon teri baahon mein

Sirf tu mujhe chaahe ab

Itna asar ho meri aahon mein

Tu keh de haske to tod doon main rasmon ko

Marke bhi na bhooloon main teri kasmon ko

Main to aaya hoon yahan pe bas tere liye

As I was about to change, he held my hand I turned to him and before I could reply back to his nasty comments, before I could change the frequency, his cupid bow shaped lips had found its target. He held my face in both hands and kept on kissing me as if asking for compensation for every minute of the time I was in Delhi. His hands caressed my neck and thumbs on my cheek, now radiating heat due to my misadventures with AC and lack of experience in kissing, since it was my first one. For a second he stopped, blowed my hair falling on my face behind my ear and continued kissing my cheeks and lips. It was not the air he blowed but the love bestowed upon me. I wanted to love him back but was still scared to kiss on the lips. I kissed him on his smooth clean shaved cheeks holding a hand over his broad shoulders and neck. I could sense he was still very happy and his crooked smile turned into a full moon smile. His smile was killing and it did kill the time. I saw the time, gave a good bye peck on his cheek once again and before it could start all over again, I unlocked the door.

He said good bye but his eyes did not. I couldn’t feel anything till the time I reached the lift. Only thing that was going in my mind was the song….Dil ko tumse pyaar hua…the only last thing that registered in my mind.

I did not realize when the song ended and there were traffic updates. My bus almost reached my stop and thanks to my bus-mate pooja I got down at the right time. She was carrying the same Mumbai Mirror which I was asked to read. I thought If only Gaurav would come back and tell my receptionist that I can now write such articles, let alone making notes of it. I smiled, as I didn’t know if he was to come back but I knew such articles surely gonna come everyday and I cant run away. Neither from these articles nor from my receptionist. J

The Best Friend - Chapter 4

The morning of the first exam is hardest for any student, because they are for first time they are not competing against the students in their class or school, but against each and every other student in board, which can vary from one state to multiple states. The representation is deemed true and results a parameter for true strength of a person. The scores in exams would not have been such a big deal, had the population of country been under control. The reservations for each section of the society made it more tough for everyone to get into field of their own choice. Even the easy things are scary. The pressure of parents to fare well in this type of situation is questionable.
"Mummy, who is  going to drop me for the exam. The school bus is not plying.", to which mom replied, "It's gonna be your daddy, honey. Who else kid". Diepti got ready for her exams, which are supposed to  start in few hours. She gets ready and as she is all set , her father was nowhere to be seen. He had gone to police station to enquire about her brother, leaving the girl alone and with a way to find her way on her own. Diepti ran to her mom ,"Mummy !!!! This is not fair , how do I go to examination hall now". Mom was quiet, took out a couple of hundred INR from her shelf and asked Diepti to take the auto. I can go to auto but this is not the way, I was promised I will be dropped off. Mom took Diepti to the auto station , where she saw Simmi,  the smile on her face was wide , as wide as if she saw her daddy. With a plastic bag on the side, she asked her mom if she can go with Simmi, who was going all by herself. It was possibly the first time, and the farthest distance Diepti would go all alone without her parents for the first time.
They sat in auto , and Diepti was all ready to start talking , as Simmi saw her excitement , and reminded her, "Dips , we have an exam today, and we are expected to be talking about it. Did you prepare well for the exams , do you think it will be hard exam".
Diepti was silenced, and then realizing the ground situation she started saying, my brother is missing from our house, since a few days. There is a lot of tension, and my daddy is just so frantic looking for him. I have tried to cover everything I could, Anuj was a big help in getting me started. I just hope the exam comes from first half of syllabus, I would at least pass." The auto was going at its snail pace, going up and down the cracks on the road. It was not before they reached the destination , showed the examination card , and zoomed in for the exam. The exam was hard, it came from the first half of the syllabus , but still very hard. The pen was not working properly, the tip of pencil broke more often , the diagrams could not be made properly and the margins were shaky. Diepti was not finding answers to the basic question, and requested for a restroom break, hoping for a miracle to happen. Nothing too enthusiastic, and a certain failure seemed evident two hours down the clock.
Diepti went straight inside the restroom , the security is very high in such places, but girl's restroom is a place no one can go in and check. Simi saw Diepti, and could tell in an instant, she is not well. Simmi took Diepti by the hand, put a finger on her lip to be quiet , and went in the far corner of ladies restroom. They went inside the same cube, and as if magically , Simmi put her hand outside the window, grabbed the textbook ,handed it to Diepti , smiled and went out. The front page of book read , "Answer all the questions , and write at length even if you dont know the answer, and if you want to know the answers, you have 2 minutes , do it quickly and keep the book back at the window for next person."
Diepti just read the answers, and went straight back to her desk, happily finishing her exam , and expecting good result from this one. Her smile could not be hidden, and her thankfulness to Simmi not expressed in words. The friendship grew stronger by a mile today

The Best Friend - Chapter 3

The Exams

Diepti who used to sleep by 9 PM was in such a deep thought. For first time in her life, she had a mission. Her senses became sharp. It was already 30 minutes past midnight, and she was buried in books. Each problem in every subject which earlier would have either made her yawn, or sleep, or switched the subject altogether was made a friend. Problems eased out. The dinner was cold and bread was hard by the time she went to take the food. For first time in her life, she was sleeping at 3:30 AM and studies was a reason. She was glad, she completed many parts. Next morning she was first to wake up. Being Sunday everyone was lazy in waking up. Diepti went right upto calender and stuck off previous day. She went and did started off with English. The zeal died down, and she started memorizing the essays. She called up Simmi, once she was done memorizing the essay. "Hey Deeps, you sound so tired. Is everything ok. ".
"Yes, it is . I just feel like studying nowadays. I think its the right time to do it,".
Laughing and nearly in tears, laughing, Simi replied, "that's so wise. But what do you do just 20 days from the exams that everyone looks upto, go play boyfriend-girlfriend with Anuj". A pause followed , and an immediate laughter. The things are not getting easy for Simi, who is having troubles in her own family. Her side of story was always unknown to Diepti who found the amazing company of Simi as her turning point in getting to exams.
Diepti has never been more confident in her life, Maths was a cakewalk for her, and for first time, she was confident going in the exams. Three days before the exams started, an unusual incident happened. Her brother went missing. His class XII boards expected to start in a week. Diepti's parents were devastated. They had no clue of what would have happened. His brother was an intelligent guy, who spoke too much. He was verbose and very strong in academics. There was no reason to assume he would have left the home for fear of exams, as the inspector mentioned. It was a clear case of kidnapping, and Diepti was all in tears. She could not help but keep on looking at the hanging keychain, which was gifted to her by her brother.
The only source of Deepti's inspiration was missing. There was a big void in her life. She had gone blank on hearing the news. She lost count of time. All the efforts for the exams were lost, only her brother's face was in her mind all the time. Times when she did not fare well in exams, and her brother used to defend her to the time when she had midnight craving for Ice-Cream would he jump back from the backyard, run out to get an ice-cream. He is now gone, and two days of search didn't bring any results. Simmi came and met Diepti couple of times but didn't spend too much time. Exam time is pressure time for kids.
One day to the exam, and the ground reality hit hard on Diepti. There were no last minute revisions, she had done an effort of lifetime, and it is all going to go down the drain. She was sad, but still can't get off these exams.
Concentration was not the only thing missing, every small thing needed next day seemed to be lost. The admission card to the gate pass, everything comfortably strolled to the corners of room. Sleep also evaded Diepti, and she was hardly slept before her first exam.

The Best Friend - Chapter 2

The need for boy friend was overcoming Dipti's thought process. She was never in topper, and strived to get across 60%. The sudden influence of Simi was evident in her pre boards, in which she managed to scrap through the pass line. This was significantly lower than expectations. Her friendship with Simi was questioned in home, and she looked upto Simi to help. Simi knew Anuj, one who topped in Maths. The subject which would hallucinate Dipti for ages. Anuj, like most guys was more or less into girls, but his intellectual excellence would give him an edge over the others. Simi arranged Dipti to get some lessons from Anuj. Even though hesitant in first place, she enjoyed Anuj's method of getting around problems. He would give each number a relationship of his own. He would use the numbers as friends , and his 10 friends helped him. These 10 friends were 10 numbers whom he used to talk to. No wonder diepti thought he was genius. He can make out the mistakes even before Dipti could try to do them. The exams were getting closer, and the friendship with Simmi getting very close. She would seek her notes from Simmi every now and then. She was not very confident types. Simmi sat with Dipti and told her," it requires each teacher to glance through your exam result sheets, dont worry about anything else. highlight the important words, and you might just strike gold."

The words which Simmi said would take Dipti a long way in future. Her mom was one figure who used to worry a lot about Diepti but that would be still a backlog since she used to worry a lot more about her daughter'a marriage. Sometimes she would go upto Diepti and say," Look , get good score , so that you can take science as a subject. Taking science as a subject would help you get through good college, and then you can find a boy for yourself. So please concentrate and get good marks in the board exams in couple of months". Diepti heard her mom for a while, paused and shyly said," So I should study more so that I can find a boy to marry me and you dont have to pay dowry. Is it all about my studies, this is where it boils down to mumma. Boys are found everywhere, they are roaming at all the places, there is no big deal to find a boy to marry," the conversation reflected a part of Simmi in Dipti'c conversation. She was herself not sure what she said or how she got courage to do it.
The exams were getting closer, the pressure was mounting.
Each passing day would Dipti get closer to Simmi, appreciating how well she manages everything. Sometimes she wanted to ask Simmi, if she also had same 24 hours as Diepti did. Then one day, when Diepti was smiling on her way back home after understanding the solution to a critical problem of Mathematics from new colleague-cum-tutor, Simmi asked her,"So, how is your English coming along, and social sciences". Diepti remained silent for sometime and then said,"I dont know. My mathematics is fine now. But then I completely forgot about other subjects.", and for no apparent reason both of them started laughing. When they regained normal sense, Simmi told Diepti, "we are in trouble as the subjects are not getting easy. Don't know why this class X is so important, all the world is after the life of my poor friend,"she satired. "As if you will pass just like that, and I only work hard".
Simi told, "the problem with you is you now think Anuj loves you, and you want to have him as your boyfriend", Diepti was taking her eyes off the conversation, but smiling. "Don't you understand you have years left, and in next 20 days you have your exams. These exams are going to be your test. You want to be an engineer, but thats fun. Boys are just a part of life, and dont get serious with anyone so soon. Have you seen Anuj, he is intelligent, will get a job and go to usa. If you want to be with Anuj, you will have to score good in each subject, else he will be in science, and you will be in arts." The words made smile disappear from Diepti's face, and she determined to work hard. The time was too less and the work demanded was too high

The Best Friend - Chapter 1

Its a story of a small girl.I really dnt understand why a best friend is so big deal for her. She always wanted a best friend a friend who can understand her who cares about her. Who make her feel special she always kept on finding a best friend but she didnt get one.
She got real good friends though. She was very quiet, she wanted to speak her heart out. She didn't have the courage. She wanted to say out loud, but something inside her stopped her. She didnt know how to talk, atleast thats what she always thought. She was best, but she wanted someone to tell her that. She needed a pillar of inspiration , a shoulder to cry and extra mouth to laugh with.

Sometimes its really necessary to have someone who can understand you and give you some courage for what you are thinking is right. then she met with a girl who was bold enough to handle anything and she gave her all the courage to fight with the mean world. The girl who would inspire her for rest of her life. Guys for her were a part of life, not necessary to exist but to tolerate since they were in same society as she was. She was not scared of males hitting her, she took males by storm. Deepti seemed to admire Simi's boldness.

Simi was Deepti's new neighbour, and always amazed to see this quiet little girl doing all things by herself. She tried to talk to Deepti a couple of times, but Deepti would run away. She was just too scared to talk to strangers. Deepti did not want anyone to walk into her life, esp those girls who talk too much to guys. Then one day, Simi caught hold of Deepti and said to her,"Self assessment is so important, a very few people understand this fact.

If you have to find success in your life you should know what you want from life. True happiness is in knowing what you actually want. Once you know what you want from life then find out the ways of getting it. And believe me if you don't know what you want from life nobody can help you. People can help but only if you decide to get something." , and went off. It was so shocking for deepti to listen to these things from a stranger but these things really impacted her from inside.
And she smiled from inside as she had one feeling in her heart that she is gonna find her best friend in Simmi. But yes she was amazed to the fact that how can Simmi understand her so well.
Then she started noticing Simmi. She actually wanted to meet Simmi and talk to her but at least for a month she cudn't get a chance to talk to Simmi. Then sudenly one day Simmi came to her and started talking. But befoe she could say anything deepti stopped her in the middle of her sentence and said will you at least tell me your name and can we be fiends?
Simmi was amazed to listen it from Deepti's mouth but she smiled from inside, thinking that her last conversation really worked well.
She said why not. Infact we already are friends.
And here the story of their friendship began.
They started spending time together. In most of the conversations Simmi used to talk. And her talk was all about the boys. And Deepti is always listening to her carefully and thinking about only one thing that how can all the boys falls in love with Simmi and how easily she handles them.She talked about stupid boys, the smart ones who were fooled by a simple smile, and those who thought they were smart

Deepti always wanted to have a boyfriend not lots of them just one who is reliable, caring and understanding but she never told this to Simmi.
She never wanted to have so many boy friends but yeah she definitely wanted to be noticed by all the boys as all the girls want that but at the sametime she was scared of the boys.
I guess its complicated and girls are complicated.

Bored in Depth of night

In this whole world , when everyone is sleeping , I cant find that thing called sleep.