Dudurudh

Part 5/5 She ran straight to Gladys aunty's shop, crying uncontrollably and sat at one of the benches. Gladys walked over, calmly and sat beside her. She looked up at aunty, momentarily holding back her tears and then put her head on Gladys's loving lap and resumed crying. Gladys signaled to one of the other students around to close the temporary wooden shutter and put up the "closed" signboard. Then, assuringly stroked the crying angel's hair to calm her down. A few minutes later, when the crying stopped and she was sitting up again, Gladys asked her what happened. "He told me that he loved me and asked me if I felt the same and I said no but I actually do but when it ends it'll ruin everything we've had and I don't want that for him or for me and I don't want to complicate this relationship Gladys." she said, fighting back her emotions. Having listened to the whole story, Gladys laughed, stood up and walked into her kitchen to make some...

Part 5/5 She ran straight to Gladys aunty's shop, crying uncontrollably and sat at one of the benches. Gladys walked over, calmly and sat beside her. She looked up at aunty, momentarily holding back her tears and then put her head on Gladys's loving lap and resumed crying. Gladys signaled to one of the other students around to close the temporary wooden shutter and put up the "closed" signboard. Then, assuringly stroked the crying angel's hair to calm her down. A few minutes later, when the crying stopped and she was sitting up again, Gladys asked her what happened. "He told me that he loved me and asked me if I felt the same and I said no but I actually do but when it ends it'll ruin everything we've had and I don't want that for him or for me and I don't want to complicate this relationship Gladys." she said, fighting back her emotions. Having listened to the whole story, Gladys laughed, stood up and walked into her kitchen to make...

Part 4/5 The early morning sunlight filtered through the dusty window in her room and kissed her forehead. She'd only gone to sleep a couple of hours earlier and didn't appreciate the love that Mother Nature was showering on her. Rudely, she turned her face away from the window but the unrelenting golden sun rays graced the tender skin on her neck as they tried to wake the sleeping maiden. Unable to sleep anymore, she tossed her blanket aside and dragged herself out of bed and walked up to the half broken mirror hanging over the wash basin. Her eyes were red from all the sleepless nights she'd been having. As chief organiser of one of the mainstage shows, she had to be the first to reach college in the morning and the last one to leave. As she brushed her teeth, she ran through all that she'd planned for the day. They were done with setting up almost everything. All that was left now was to invite the other colleges. For the organizers, it was the last leg of the marath...

Part 4/5 The early morning sunlight filtered through the dusty window in her room and kissed her forehead. She'd only gone to sleep a couple of hours earlier and didn't appreciate the love that Mother Nature was showering on her. Rudely, she turned her face away from the window but the unrelenting golden sun rays graced the tender skin on her neck as they tried to wake the sleeping maiden. Unable to sleep anymore, she tossed her blanket aside and dragged herself out of bed and walked up to the half broken mirror hanging over the wash basin. Her eyes were red from all the sleepless nights she'd been having. As chief organiser of one of the mainstage shows, she had to be the first to reach college in the morning and the last one to leave. As she brushed her teeth, she ran through all that she'd planned for the day. They were done with setting up almost everything. All that was left now was to invite the other colleges. For the organizers, it was the last leg of the m...

Part 3/5 Instantly, he remembered her. How could he ever forget that face. She was the prettiest girl he'd seen in college. But in the few hours that they were together, working on the college magazine, he couldn't gather that courage to tell her that. He remembered getting lost in her beautiful earthy brown eyes. In his mind, he was quite romantic. That he was too shy to actually say what was in his mind was the biggest tragedy of his life. " Hi " she said again, waving her hand this time, wondering if he hadn't recognized her. "Hi!" He said timidly, blushing but trying to hide it. " I came to return this, thank you " she said, pushing a neatly wrapped umbrella through the grill. She saw the perplexed look on his face and told him about how she was trying to get his attention the previous evening in front of shazia manzil. "Luckily for me, this umbrella fell out of your bag! I would've never reached home in that rain if it wasn't ...

Part 3/5 Instantly, he remembered her. How could he ever forget that face. She was the prettiest girl he'd seen in college. But in the few hours that they were together, working on the college magazine, he couldn't gather that courage to tell her that. He remembered getting lost in her beautiful earthy brown eyes. In his mind, he was quite romantic. That he was too shy to actually say what was in his mind was the biggest tragedy of his life. " Hi " she said again, waving her hand this time, wondering if he hadn't recognized her. "Hi!" He said timidly, blushing but trying to hide it. " I came to return this, thank you " she said, pushing a neatly wrapped umbrella through the grill. She saw the perplexed look on his face and told him about how she was trying to get his attention the previous evening in front of shazia manzil. "Luckily for me, this umbrella fell out of your bag! I would've never reached home in that rain if it wa...

Part 2/5 He walked past the railway crossing and the local grocery store, generally a very "happening" locality in the otherwise sleepy suburb. Not today though. The heavy clouds looked all set to pour its fury down on the simple folk of the neighborhood. The grocery shop owner pulled down the shutters, cursing the rain gods for all his misfortunes (as if it was their fault that his daughter ran away and got married to the local tailor. ) The railway gate operator pulled down the transparent plastic sheet and covered the opening where, legend has it, a window once stood. There were birds flying around frantically and trees swaying softly. The dream still troubled him. He looked up to the sky hoping for some answers. A large drop of rain landed on his nose and proceeded to flow down his face. He wiped it off with his shirt's sleeve. He noticed a sudden increase in the activity around him. People were running for cover, hotels being shut, windows being closed, leaves of coc...

Part 2/5 He walked past the railway crossing and the local grocery store, generally a very "happening" locality in the otherwise sleepy suburb. Not today though. The heavy clouds looked all set to pour its fury down on the simple folk of the neighborhood. The grocery shop owner pulled down the shutters, cursing the rain gods for all his misfortunes (as if it was their fault that his daughter ran away and got married to the local tailor. ) The railway gate operator pulled down the transparent plastic sheet and covered the opening where, legend has it, a window once stood. There were birds flying around frantically and trees swaying softly. The dream still troubled him. He looked up to the sky hoping for some answers. A large drop of rain landed on his nose and proceeded to flow down his face. He wiped it off with his shirt's sleeve. He noticed a sudden increase in the activity around him. People were running for cover, hotels being shut, windows being closed, leaves...

She, is a story of innocence, of fear, of hope, of fate, of true love.  A story, not of him and her finding love but one about their beautiful journey while love finds them.   This is the first installment of a 5 part series. Exclusively,  on dudurudh. He opened the boot of his rickety maruti 800, now almost old enough to pass off as an antique piece. The boot creaked open to reveal a few bags and a disfunctional spare tyre. He rearranged the suitcases to make space for a picnic basket. Carefully, he lifted a mat from it and flung it on the beach sand. Then, with a loud thud that momentarily disrupted the peace on the little coastline, he shut the boot, lifted the mat and walked towards a lonely tree in a corner not too far away. She stood there, leaning on the tree, listening to the music playing out loudly from her phone. She shuffled a bit to make sure the cruel sun wouldn't be able to see her pretty face. He laid out the mat in the shade and walked over to where she was standin...

She, is a story of innocence, of fear, of hope, of fate, of true love.  A story, not of him and her finding love but one about their beautiful journey while love finds them.   This is the first installment of a 5 part series. Exclusively,  on dudurudh. He opened the boot of his rickety maruti 800, now almost old enough to pass off as an antique piece. The boot creaked open to reveal a few bags and a disfunctional spare tyre. He rearranged the suitcases to make space for a picnic basket. Carefully, he lifted a mat from it and flung it on the beach sand. Then, with a loud thud that momentarily disrupted the peace on the little coastline, he shut the boot, lifted the mat and walked towards a lonely tree in a corner not too far away. She stood there, leaning on the tree, listening to the music playing out loudly from her phone. She shuffled a bit to make sure the cruel sun wouldn't be able to see her pretty face. He laid out the mat in the shade and walked over to wh...

With much hype and celebration, our news channels reported a landmark Supreme Court decision recently. NOTA. NOTA or None Of The Above has been made one of the options for a voter in an election. Basically, if you're not happy with any of the candidates being presented to you, you can register your protest by voting for " none of the above". It's a landmark judgement, no doubt. But does it deserve the kind of applause it is getting? But first, let me give credit where it's due. The option to register your protest isn't something new. We've always had it but for three reasons it wasn't very effective. 1) Not everyone knew about it. 2) To exercise it, you'd have to go to the presiding election officer and register your protest vote there. An unnecessarily tedious process and, more importantly, one that compromised your right to a secret ballot. 3) It had no effect on the outcome of the election whatsoever. Now, what makes this verdict so important is...

With much hype and celebration, our news channels reported a landmark Supreme Court decision recently. NOTA. NOTA or None Of The Above has been made one of the options for a voter in an election. Basically, if you're not happy with any of the candidates being presented to you, you can register your protest by voting for " none of the above". It's a landmark judgement, no doubt. But does it deserve the kind of applause it is getting? But first, let me give credit where it's due. The option to register your protest isn't something new. We've always had it but for three reasons it wasn't very effective. 1) Not everyone knew about it. 2) To exercise it, you'd have to go to the presiding election officer and register your protest vote there. An unnecessarily tedious process and, more importantly, one that compromised your right to a secret ballot. 3) It had no effect on the outcome of the election whatsoever. Now, what makes this verdict so i...

Late in the evening on a October day last year, I remember sitting down to watch the evening news. Apple had just won a huge legal battle against Samsung worth about a Billion dollars, launched their latest iPhone ( iPhone 5 ) and launched a mini tablet for the first time,  iPad mini. Raking in profits as usual, for any normal organization, those would've been good times.  But apple had come under severe criticism. Their share prices had dropped considerably since the 700$ peak it had reached in September of that year. For an apple fan ,watching this unfold was quite hard. Apple seemed to be making the same mistakes it had made when it almost went bankrupt a little over a decade earlier when it tried to beat Microsoft in volumes. Only this time, apple was trying to outsell samsung.  But Samsung played it smartly. Pulling apple down to its level and beating them there, giving out a sign of  superiority. The problem can't be found in the balance sheets. The solution wo...

Late in the evening on a October day last year, I remember sitting down to watch the evening news. Apple had just won a huge legal battle against Samsung worth about a Billion dollars, launched their latest iPhone ( iPhone 5 ) and launched a mini tablet for the first time,  iPad mini. Raking in profits as usual, for any normal organization, those would've been good times.  But apple had come under severe criticism. Their share prices had dropped considerably since the 700$ peak it had reached in September of that year. For an apple fan ,watching this unfold was quite hard. Apple seemed to be making the same mistakes it had made when it almost went bankrupt a little over a decade earlier when it tried to beat Microsoft in volumes. Only this time, apple was trying to outsell samsung.  But Samsung played it smartly. Pulling apple down to its level and beating them there, giving out a sign of  superiority. The problem can't be found in the balance sheets. The soluti...