Thursday, October 29, 2009

Seat belt


He dint knew the name of the road, neither did he cared. Slowly he walked. Staring at his shadow slowly circling around him, as he passed under the array of street lights. His dark alter-ego dwarfing and elongating, as if replaying his life.

In never really cold in Calcutta, but the fog was dense. Moon looked hazy, but beautiful.

A drop of blood trickled down from his forehead and got stuck in his eyebrow.

------------

'We should have started early'

'I know, and it’s the 10th time you are saying this'

'Huh, but what’s the use, Arijit. You had to see sunset at the beach. So did your sun do a little tap dance before it set’, Neera replied.

'Come on it was beautiful, the changing colours of the sky. In Calcutta sky is always dull grey, don’t you get bored of it'

'No, I have better things to get bored of'

------------

The pain was setting in. But he refused to acknowledge it. Slowly he limped forward.

Occasional cars zoomed past him. He wished they switch off their headlights. The glare irritated him.

Arijit searched his pockets. The cigarette packet was still there, but crumpled.

He took a broken cigarette and lighted it.

------------

Arijit's dwarfed Maruti desperately tried to keep pace with the mammoth Lorries overtaking him.

The loneliness of highway was luring him with its overflowing breeze.

Neera looked visibly bored.

'Why don’t you put the seat belt?'Neera asked

'Is there any check post out here?'

'No, but seat belts are not meant for check post, it’s more about something called safety'

'Yea right, as if they don’t tie me enough on Calcutta roads. Let me be free here at least'

'Whatever' She replied, tightening her seat belt a bit.

------------

Few urchins huddled near the burning garbage. The raw smell of burning plastic nauseated him a bit.

But he hobbled towards the fire for the welcome heat.

With his dusty torn clothes, he dint attracted much attention.

------------

'Call Montu da and order sum dinner. I think there is nothing left in fridge' she said

'No network dear. Don’t worry we will parcel something on the way'

'Uff, I don’t wanna have outside food again. Let’s go home we will manage something.'

The fog was turning dense. The sharp glare of passing Lorries turned into distant aura of light.

Mist seeping in through the windows filled him with a musky smell earth.

------------

His head was slowly clearing up. Thoughts and pain rushed to fill the emptiness inside him.

He resisted. He wanted to be void.

He looked at his watch. A shard of glass was stuck between the hands of time. A desperate attempt to stop time.

9:12 it read.

-------------

'What is the time?'

'God, look in your own wrist watch would you' he replied

'Cummon I like when you tell me the time!!’ she smiled

'OK weirdo!! Its 9:10 or something' he tried to read the time.

The light of an approaching lorry suddenly engulfed him. Night turned into day it seemed.

He pushed the brake hard, bit too hard.

A snap.

The car got mind of its own.

The lorry sped away. It was darkness all over again.

The screech of the burning tyre broke the silence.

'Jump out of the car' he screamed to her.

He jumped out of the door and glanced back.

She was struggling to open her seat belt.

Death smiled. Life apologised.

The crunch of the breaking window panes.

The car turned once. Then twice.

The hungry flames lighted the vast fields of harvested wheat.

Smell of burning flesh confirmed.

-------------

He stared at the dying flame of the fire. He sat alone.

The urchins and the mongrels huddled around another garbage bin on fire.

It was going to be a long cold night.

Tomorrow he will cry.
Tomorrow he will burn in guilt for rest of his life.
Tomorrow he will accept pity and listen to those sugar-coated lies.
But tonight he will live for one last time.

Tonight he was allowed to shed just

One Drop of Tear!!

P.S: Tried to keep it short dis time....hope it not too cramped :)

45 comments:

Soin said...

man increase your main wrapper and body wrapper width.. thats why this looks a bit long..but actually its quite short..so ur asking me not to wear my seat belt??and whats with guys and tear.why cant we just shed how much ever we want and where we want.who the fuck said tears was feminine or something..free

Chandni (Chanz) said...

nice and short... it brings you to face the reality that nobody has any control over his/her fate. Even if you are right, fate may play games with you...

thats why they say, "Fuck the rules"...!!

IceMaiden said...

I dunno if ANYONE in this age even listens to Pearl Jam.. I do :) Your story had one of their songs called 'Last Kiss' *which happens to be my fav* playing in my mind all the while.. :)

Great story as always :)

Cheers,
Annie.

bliss said...

i am beginning to feel stupid saying it everytime but great story yaaar!!! i mean, its not about the story, its about the words u give it....
'death smiled, life apologised' 'tomorrow he will live in guilt...'.. loved every bit of it...
u tried to keep it short??? i cud have read it on and on!!!!!!! next time, if u wanna write a long one, do it man...i am sure its gonna be just as great!!!!! kudos!!!!
honestly, write a book.. *thumbs up*

buckingfastard said...

@soin: ha..i dint said nything abt wearin seatbelt or not...its just dat...its fate...wearing and not wearing seatbelt has nothin to do wid it...

my protagonist wud be more happy if dat nite...he also wore da seatbelt...so i m sayin wear seatbelt in a way :)

btw da guy who said cryin is feminine..made it damn hard fr us to cry publicly...tru

buckingfastard said...

@chandni: so tru!!! xactly da point i was tryin 2 make in dis fiction...

ruck fules

buckingfastard said...

@annie: (*excitedly) i do....i do...well i do listen to pearl jam...but never really concentrated on da lyrics of 'last kiss'....now dat i did...i cud hav quoted it re!!...thnkxxx!!! :)

buckingfastard said...

@bliss:dunt feel stupid...coz if u dont say it....i will feel stupid dat i m da only one who reads my writings...

thnk u very much...i wait fr ur comment...coz u read so thoroughly...makes da writing worth it!! :D

Unknown said...

Nice post..u always make every post so poetic and the experience one gets reading it is beyond words..u seem to be a total bengal dude!1 Bagu is what they call u ryt?? The bong Connection..:0

@sion...its not that tears are related to any feminine gender as such.Its just that u guys never accept the fact that u cry..:P the famous line..men dont cry is created by u..and not us...:)

Unknown said...

Bangu* i meant

buckingfastard said...

@Madhu: well i luv nythin dat rhymes..so well i like to keep dem poetic...poetic justice eh!!

btw...i luv calcutta...will trade nything fr being in calcutta!!
but why i am considered total bengali babu?? o_0

is it coz my fictions r always in nd arnd calcutta??

-bangu!! :P

Shishir said...

Ahoy bangu!! Never knew that you write. Came upon this blog via a comment you left in another blog.
-Shishir

Lakshmi said...

I loved this one too...
Death smiled. Life apologised...
Gr8 choice of words...awsm...

The length of the post doesnt actually matter.. If its good, ppl will read... however long it is.. thts wat i feel... Keep writing :D

Blunt Edges said...

***applause***

u sure do have a way with words bro...screw the length when the final thing is so freaking great! :D

Anonymous said...

I second blunt edges. That was ironically beautiful. Or beautifully ironic. I'm not sure which.

Death smiled. Life apologised.

The best line I've read this week. Good job.

buckingfastard said...

@shishir: no re!! i dunt write...i typed all of dem...hehe...sorry i kno dat was disgustin..but cudnt resist

keep visitin thou!! :)

buckingfastard said...

@Lakshmi: thnkxx...hope i m able to keep up to maintain u ppl's interest...

kk next time...really long wala post!!!

buckingfastard said...

**bows in either humility or to tie my shoelace**

well yea words always comes to me during non-xam times...

thnk u...i m already floatin in 2 inches high frm grnd!! :)

buckingfastard said...

@post script: i thot fr 15 mins...well i am also not sure weather da line is ironically beautiful or beautifully ironic...

bt still i think more of ironically ironic.. :P

thnkx bro!!

abhijeet said...

haha a-hole...outryt cool but inward emo...nyc post...n ya i swer il nevr wer a seat belt!!

Amit Kumar Das said...

Ur style of unfolding the story reminds me of some movie that I watched ... very nicely told ... and short and crisp words ... keep walking!!!

Fantasies of a Lifetime said...

was blog hopping and came across yours , poignant and sad story , Love the way you tell it .

Diwakar Sinha said...

it was very nicely told...
loved it!

Shreya. said...

i want to be able to write such stories too :(

damn good!!!!!

buckingfastard said...

@abhijeet: yeah!! i hate seatbelt.. dey kill!!! :P thnks!!

buckingfastard said...

@anorak:well i always try walkin...thnkx!! and welcm 2 my blog... btw wich movie it reminds?? i wil catch it fr sure!!

keep visitin!! :)

buckingfastard said...

@fantasy lady : yea!!! ur oder name is too long 2 write!! :)

i luv blog hoppers..and more who land up in my blog...so welcome!!

well i intend to keep dem happy but turn out 2 be sad :(

nyways keep visitn!!

buckingfastard said...

@Diwakar:hey thnkx...always special cumin frm u!!! :)

buckingfastard said...

@Shreya:if u wud hav said it b4 writin ur 1st fiction i wud hav blivd u...now ur jst pullin my leg!!

u write pretty awsome!!

welcome and keep visitin!!

Stupidosaur said...

BTW the pic is good! (This is for you if you clicked it)

Chhaya said...

first time @ ur blog. got u from Anorak.. nice writing.. i loved it through out but wish there wasnt that cliche about the tears in the end. i wud have prefered it if u had ended it __It was going to be a long cold night.
___

hope u dont mind me pointing it out. its my own opinion.. as a write you have ful rights to write what you want :)

one more thing, do u must put the separaters between paras? it took me a few moments to realize that it was a single story and not a series of short ones..

btw, apt observations about kolkata. i was there for almost 3 years.. love the city..

wud be glad if u visited my blog.. wud also love to exchange links with you.

buckingfastard said...

@stupidosaur:BTW thnks fr visitn mah blog...welcome...

but i gotta pass ur admiration coz pic was not taken by me...googled it!!

buckingfastard said...

@chhaya:ooo soo much of formalities...

cummon i hate my writing frm da minute i click publish post...so u r on my side thruout!!! :)

yea u kno wat da whole poetic cliche was to justify da line "one drop of tear"...wich i was tryin to keep as my signature style...u will see if u refer past post...

will try to do away wid it...!!

da separators were fr da fact my story was juggling between flashback and present...

else i thot wud be more confusing to relate and distinguish!!

same pinch...love kolkata to an extent of obsession!!! :)

blogrolled u alredy!!! :D

Chhaya said...

@BF - asynchronous storytelling is an art... but u have to trust your readers that they will get it..

i always love it when a writer makes me think :)

blogrolled u too...

i love kolkata so much that i leanred to speak/read bengali even though i m not a bong :D ..

Chandni (Chanz) said...

dude... you have been tagged and awarded... Check ma blog...

http://jainchandni.blogspot.com/2009/11/now-moment-has-come.html

Raghav said...

lovely
it surprised me, the end.
no cos it was tragic, that was a given but cos i expected something else to happen, but u swerved at the last minute.
good one bro

Nivedita said...

i remember my 5 year old neighbour asking me a very serious - why did this happen to the little kitten we'd been trying to save? and i remember being quite upset because i had no answer for the injustices that life presents. it just happened because it did and its going to be that way, always.
i wish you'd avoid the typos, quite spoils the effect of reading :)

Chanz said...

Hi BF

Jut dropped in to say that this is ma new blog. I will be writing on both the blogs simultaneously. I would be glad if you follow this blog too... You have always been a valuable visior and your comments are really imp.. :)

Cheers

Chandni

buckingfastard said...

@Raghav: surprise!! surprise!!...we all luvd to get surprised at da end.....
thnkxx very much!!!

buckingfastard said...

@nivedita: ahh well dat was da moral of my story....not dat u shudnt wear seatbelts...but fate....da funny sad fate!!!

point abt typo noted!!

Iddy Albatross said...

First time that I'm reading a fiction by you, and the best thing I liked about it is the simplicity. Gets the story accross brilliantly. Well conceptualized story, and (I hope you meant it) open to many interpretations. Boy, now I wanna go write something myself :P Sadly though, exams are gonna keep me away from that for a little while. Till then, I'll have to keep reading good stories like this to keep myself happy.

Cheers man... keep writing.

buckingfastard said...

@iddy: yea tough words takes my story away frm me...i like it simple...main point is to get da idea across isntit!!!??

Iddy Albatross said...

Oh absolutely man... glad to see other people following that thumbrule as well. Cheers...

Meenakshi said...

touching story.. the non violent clash of views, the disagreements, the different tastes, the different attitudes, the different persona; all shown very well and the love between them still shown as strong.. so much like real life..Life is not always fair.she was the careful one, but that cost her her life.the way he was the reckless happy guy, yet he'd live on in guilt with suppressed tears.

Shit just happens!

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