Arc Rocks

Close Apart Chapter-16 (Untitled) Aditya wasn’t at all recovering from his sad state of mind. He made numerous efforts to track down information about Amrita & her family, but nothing useful came up. Manish was concerned about his friend’s wellbeing, and so he called up Komal and cleared all the confusion that they were having. It was Sunday morning; Aditya got a call from Komal. “Hi!” “Hi…” “What are you doing today?” “You mean this afternoon?” “I meant now!” “Well, nothing actually!” “Then we can meet…” “Look Komal, I am actually not in a mood to…” “Moods, as they say, are made… and not imposed!” “That was exactly what I intended to remind you…” “Great! Then see you in half an hour at Pizza Hut!” “I guess I don’t have any choice…” Aditya knew he would have to get up from his bed and get ready if he wanted to be there on time, but he sulked. World has changed from what it used to be a few days earlier, and he didn’t feel a thing about it that’s left to live for… ******************

Close Apart Chapter-15 “Shock n’ Awe” “Hello! Ahmedabad riot relief helpline? Listen, would you please help me out with a piece of information? I am looking for a family in Bharuch. The Chopras, a family of three, Amrita, and… goddamit what’s her mother’s name!!” “Please hold on, do have any land mark?” “Yeah, the house is near the main post office…” “Oh God! Man…” “What’s up?” “I am very sorry to inform you but that area has been severely messed up!! Totally burned down, not a single block stands!” Aditya was in a state where a part of his mind was telling him that all these are just another bad dream. But the other part was starting to accept the fact that he would never be able to accompany Amrita to another trip of hers. ************************************************** “You lied to me?” Manish was yet to have the real shock. “So who was that girl?” “It was Komal. Our Boss’s daughter.” “What?” “Look you wouldn’t believed me if I told you the truth then.” “What truth?” “That Amrita

Close Apart Chapter-14 “Mayhem!” Aditya woke up that morning just as usually as he would have been in any other day. And a phone call from Manish was the last thing he was expecting before leaving for his work. “Hello, what’s it?” “Turn on the television!” “Would you tell me why?” “Not everyday you get a chance to thank god for your decision to move to Delhi… just turn that damn thing on!!” “O.K. I’m doing that” “NDTV India it’s coming live…” “What?” And mayhem was waiting for him… “The skyline of Ahmedabad is filled up with smoke and flames as buildings and shops have been set on fire by the rioting mob. This is a direct retaliation for the 26 February 2002 fire which killed 58 Hindu Karsevaks and injured 43 in Godhra.” The phone receiver fell of Aditya’s hand. He could still hear Manish’s cracking sound of astonishment in between the deafening sounds of the helpless people coming out of his television. “The riot is in its growing stage!! People belonging to both Hindu & Muslim co

Close Apart Chapter-13 Few Hours Earlier That Day 26th February 2002 Kolkata “All routes in this line are busy, please try again later” Aditya dropped his cell phone in disgust. “When these cell networks will give better facilities to roaming customers?” Aditya looked frustrated, well he should be, because he’s now trying for the 3rd consecutive day to get Amrita on line but he has not succeeded so far. To top it all, he can’t even call her home telephone! Strict orders. Suddenly his cell rang! Aditya picked it up in one flash to see “Hi Aditya! Manish here.” “Tell…” “I was guessing tomorrow will be a hectic day for us…” “So?” “So I was thinking if we could fix the meeting today…” “What meeting?” “Arey! The meeting between me and your girlfriend!” “That’s not possible!” “Why?” “You said tomorrow…” “Why not today?” “Because… Because…” “Because she’s not here… right?” “O.K. tell me the place, let’s finish this off.” “That’s the spirit!! Coffee House, Half an hour.” “Well…” Aditya was in

Close Apart Chapter-12 “Amrita’s Diary” 26th February 2002 Ahmedabad Dear Diary, It’s been a long time since I last scribbled. Many things have changed since then. My relationship with Aditya has strengthened a lot. He’s sweet, nice & responsible. A kind of man that I’ve always dreamt of! Fate has never been so nice to me. No dear, I am not in doubt. I’m just afraid! Papa’s health has been not so well these days, it’s a tough time for our family. I’m in two minds whether to tell mom about Aditya in these situations. But she did notice the change in me. Aditya, you’ve changed me a lot! Never before I’ve been so happy and cheerful in my life. You’re a magical person! Revitalizing my soul by the touch of the magic wand! I feel I’m complete. Am I blushing? Look what you’ve done to me! You say that you’re having a tough time there; staying away from me… well my situation is no better! Adi, you’re the finest thing that has ever happened to me. Every time I’m near you, I get overwhelmed w

Everytime I write certain Chapter of a story, I usually play some wonderful songs in background, they reflect the mood of the chapter I write. So I thought, why not sharing those wonderful tracks with readers! So that they can also listen to these when they are reading the chapter, I hope this will make the reading more lively and responsive. So look out for the ambiance music track in the end of each post from now on,(They can either be Streaming music or Available for total download).Simply listen to the track while reading and I hope this will enhance the story part. Comments are Welcome since this is just an experimental part!! Arc

Close Apart Chapter – 11 “Sweet Day Out” Aditya was in a dilemma, he was not able to think from where he was going to make Amrita meet Manish when he clearly knew that she won’t be coming to Kolkata for the next few days! Just when he was considering “eloping” a valid alternative, his cell phone rang. Aditya lazily raised the display to check who was calling. To his utmost amazement he saw the display showing “God” calling!! Aditya couldn’t make anything out of it! He seemed to have two minds in answering “God”! But I guess he had no other options! “Hello! Who is it?” “Wasn’t the display of your cell phone telling my identity?” “Komal!! This is not funny. You just …… but… when did you do it?” “When you left your cell phone here… so, what’s your plan?” “Well I’m planning a little spiritual time span between me and God, because there’s a thing that I’d like to share with… let’s say her!” “So…” “Its 4:30, we meet exactly after 1 hour, at…” “Baskin Robbins.” “Come Again?” “Well it’s a cake

Close Apart Chapter – 10 “Just Another Day (Without the One You Love)” Aditya was supposed to spend somewhat seven days without Amrita, but already on his day three, he felt like that he couldn’t handle this anymore. “The Reliance customer you are trying to call is busy, please try calling later.” And then she went on saying this crap in many different languages, but they all meant the same… Aditya was struck in his life with no clue of his wellbeing whatsoever!! Aditya dialed again, this time it rang!! “Hey sweetie! What’s up?” Amrita said over the phone. “Wow! Amazing!” “What’s Amazing?” enquired Amrita “It’s just that hearing your voice brings a smile on my face!” “Just a sec! I guess I’ve heard this in some movie…” “Oh come-on, don’t you get the feeling behind those words?” “Yes I got!! Now my dear, could we conclude? I’m on roaming and I don’t want to answer stupidly when mom asks me whom I am speaking to…” “You haven’t told her about me?? About Us?” “Not so early stupid! I am l

Close Apart Chapter 9 “Surprise!” Aditya was too tired to get back to work, but he had no other options. When he got back, he found that Manish was gone for the rest of the day!! “Great!” he thought, “now I even don’t have anyone who could now listen to what I have to say!!” Aditya was upset, really upset. It was hard for him to carry on his work. His head felt like it was going to burst open with headache. Just when he was thinking of visiting his boss so that he could ask him to excuse him for the day, he realized that he’s cell phone was missing somewhere!! “Where the hell did I keep it…” Aditya searched around for a while till the truth hit him that he left his cell phone somewhere he shouldn’t have kept. It was like a bolt from the blue!! Aditya couldn’t think what he should do then. All the contacts, and reminders, and what about the fact that Amrita only knows his number!! “Disturbed?” Aditya knew this voice! Although not for a very long time now but it was no doubt distinctive.

Close Apart Chapter-8 “Here She Comes…” Still coping with the pain of leaving his ‘lady love’ for the rest of the week, Aditya dragged himself towards the platform where Rajdhani Express was about to arrive. Komal was coming in the couch AS2. So when the train arrived Aditya went near the coach and waited for her to pop out. A few moments later a young girl came out. Aditya had some genuine doubts about her being Mr. Arora’s daughter, he never thought that his daughter could inherit such beauty, but when he saw that she was actually giving a feel of looking for someone, Aditya approached. “Excuse Me, Miss Komal Arora?” “Yeah!?” “Aditya here, Actually Mr. Arora had an important appointment so…” “But Dad Said that he’ll be here!!” “It was a last minute change!!” “Look! I don’t need this…” “Excuse me?” “I mean I don’t need anyone to receive me at the station and escort me to my home!! I am old enough to handle these things.” “I can understand…” “No you can’t! So just show me where the car

Close Apart Chapter-7 “At The Train Station” Aditya got a call next morning. “Adi, could you please come to the station?” “Now? I mean what happened?” “Come here and I’ll explain it all, will you?” “Ok Howrah, right? I’m reaching” “I’ll be waiting…” After a few minutes, Aditya was there at the station. “Thanks for coming, only this morning I got a call from mummy saying that she wants me to visit her really soon.” “Well that’s sooner enough!” said Aditya “Now don’t starting brooding over it! I’ll be back very soon” “You better be… otherwise someone’s life’s going to be really miserable…” Aditya held Amrita’s hand. “I promise.” “Now when’s your train? You got reservation?” “Just got current reservation, the train’s in an hour.” Said Amrita “Eh… well I need to hurry up, I don’t have any more leaves left, I’m sorry!!” “It’s alright, rush to your work. I’ll be OK.” Said Amrita & pushed Aditya forward. “Take Care!” ******************************************************** “You’re late!”

NEW POST REALLY SOON!! Sorry 4 The Delay!!

Close Apart Chapter-6 “Disappear*” Aditya got back to his office, connected his computer to some website and downloaded software and started working on it. “Aditya! Is everything O.K. there?”Mr. Arora was standing in front of his cabin. “Sir I was just going to report to your office…” “Just saw a Trojan activity on your terminal, so I just came here to check if everything’s alright.” “Nothing sir, just needed to set up a remote access, so just used it, as you know sir, nothing beats them in service.” “I know Aditya! But also know that these Trojans are hackers’ best tools.” “I’ll use them modestly sir, and yes, I’ve fixed their librarian software…” “That’s good! Alright then, concentrate on your work.” But I saw Aditya was busy in scanning the ports of the address which Amrita gave him. What was he up to? “Just as I thought! Almost all the high ports are open… Mr. Bakshi!! You are in trouble!”Aditya murmured. ***************************************************** Amrita was busy at her

Close Apart Chapter-5 “The British Council Mystery” Back to work, next day! Aditya felt a new life in his job; his same old boring cabin looked amazingly refreshing that day, Aditya felt just how only finding a known face in the daily crowd can fill you up with a feeling that whatever may be the situation, you’re not wasting a big part of your life! “Boss calling you… Getting an increment or what?” Manish informed Aditya. Aditya rushed out “Well, we have a case here…” said Mr. Arora. “Where, exactly? Did your mail account block? Or your registry is asking some strings!” Now we hear some ‘Professional Aditya speaking’ “I mean to say in the British Council” said Mr. Arora. Hell broke loose over Aditya’s head! And an irritating voice kept on pinching him from back of his head “I told you, dentist’s idea was not enough fail-safe! Now face what ‘case’ you’ve created” “Sir is this something related to the recep…” “No, no, not in reception! I’m getting the exact data packets from there serv

Close Apart Chapter-4 “The Call*” “That was something heavy!!” said Amrita, referring the meal they had. “You call that heavy? I’m still feeling hungry.” “So, Aditya! How long you’ve been here, doing this job?” “About a year now, already I’ve been promoted once…” “That’s so typically you!!” said Amrita. “Now you’ll say that I also got promoted every year at school!!” “Speaking of school, where are the other guys?” “Don’t have lot of contacts” said Aditya “Just a few, Subhash is in Aeronautics Engineering with IA, Suraj is in the US, pursuing his career as a CA …” “And Amrita is in Kolkata as a receptionist in BC!” interrupted Amrita “That’s right!” said Aditya “So that leaves only we two in this city!” “You know one thing… for the past one year or so, we’ve been walking the same road to our works, only because today I was late, we had this chance to meet.” Uttered Amrita Aditya looked in the eyes of Amrita; he felt that they wanted to reveal something, “My stop’s here” said Amrita and

Close Apart Chapter-3 “Lamb Delight” “Lamb Delight!! Wow, that was some order!” recalled Aditya. Actually, it was about a few months earlier that Manish, a colleague of Aditya tried to hook him up with a girl named Suneeta, who, Manish claimed was one of his girlfriend’s friend. So! On the preplanned Saturday night, Aditya came to this very place and met her. “She was gorgeous!” was Aditya’s first reaction and after a very short stretch of time Aditya started liking everything about her. And when Aditya knew that she was a little bit interested about computer softwares, then it made feel like: “look! Didn’t I tell you earlier? Gorgeous girls like softwares!!” Aditya had this (Well, used to have) symptom of being completely speechless near girls. So he tried to make his order speak of his feelings and he ordered a couple of “Lamb Delights!” Just after the waiter left, Suneeta turned to him and said “Do you know what they have in these?” Aditya was thinking to ask about what she was ref

Close Apart Chapter – 2 “They meet…” “British Council, 5:00 pm, Hmm” The reason Aditya was thinking so much that day, because meeting Amrita at 5’o clock would mean that he would have to leave his office half an hour ago than his usual time. And that would mean that he’ll have to take this matter to his manager’s concern. “At 5:00!! What for? “ “Actually I have an appointment… with my… Dentist.” God knows why Dentists get involved in these appointments!! So, there he was! Out of his office, half an hour earlier than usual.Aditya was feeling a little uneasy. Actually he was never comfortable with girls. An issue which was of a major concern for his fellow colleagues. Many a times his friends have arranged blind dates for him, but all in vain!! But this time it is little different. Anyone who had known Aditya would have gone through a major shock viewing him talk to a girl, but Aditya knew he had a header here. Actually, Amrita was in the same class, in which Aditya used to study… “So yo

Close Apart Chapter-1 “Meet them…” “That’ll be 40 rupees sir…” “Here you are thanks.” And Aditya stepped out on the busy streets of Kolkata. As in any other normal day, he took the tram to reach to his office at Camac Street. He worked as a software consultant in a company named Soft tech in Chatterjee International building, and like any other boss, his too didn’t like latecomers!! “Camac Street!!” the conductor said in lazy tone. Aditya’s office was just a short walk away from there, and like any other normal day it would have taken exactly 5 minutes for him to reach his office, but fate had something else in his mind. Just when he was crossing the street, his eye fell on a girl who was too crossing the street with him. I would personally like to clarify here; Aditya is not that kind of guy who’ll just approach some girl for a friendly talk or something of that sort!! Not now, not during his days of schooling in Dayanand Vidya Mandir in Ahmedabad. He was famous as the geek guy of his

I am going to post a new story very soon! Please bare with me.

Together Forever Chapter-4 "The Last Ride Together (?)" Rohit's voice was chocking under the surge of his emotions "Today, my last wish has been fulfilled. But, Simran I want you to forgive me for not being able to be true to all those promises that I had made to you! And if you can, go away from my life. I can't see you getting emptied day by day because of my awiting death... Go away Simran. Get a better life!" "Rohit! I thought you know me well. But I was wrong. What do you think? Is it so easy for you to go out of my life so easily? Rohit, I won't leave you. I can't leave you!! I am nothing without you and you too are incomplete without me! Nothing in this world can stop me from loving you, and if our love is true no power can let us apart! Not even death. Our last ride together will never come! Since our love is eternal." The sun sank beneath the horizon, giving the whole surounding a tint of red, and Rohit's car sweeped along the

Together Forever Chapter-3 "The Moment of truth..." "Simran, do you still remember that boy? The same boy who was in love with a girl? The same boy who got his love foue years ago? The boy who was too much confident of himself? Too much confident about his happy and glorious future? Today, a day has come when he feels so helpless before God's decision. Simran, the boy is suffering from a fatal disease... named Cancer, Blood cancer!!" Rohit took a breath. "What!!" "Yes Simran, the end of the story is near, and its obvious that the boy will die, maybe in a month or two... but the story cannot end before the boy knows what the girl will do?Here I need your help Simran, What you will do?" Rohit couldn't finish his words as he burst out in tears, Simran came near him and gave him support. "Don't Worry! Everything will be alright soon, there are a lot of cancer hospitals in India, we will find some way out!" There were tears in he

Together Forever Chapter 2 "4 long years" "That day was the most memorable day in my life, the day when I got you, when I got your love..." Rohit uttered in a hushed voice. " Four long years!! And today, we are here again. It looks like nothing has changed " before Simran could finish, Rohit interuppted "No Simran! Everything has changed. The place, the time, the situation... everything!!But promise me Simran, that you'll not change" There was an irrie in Rohit's voice. "What's the matter? You're looking so tensed! So tierd..." asked Simran "Yes, I'm tierd. Tierd of my luck, tierd of my fate" "What are you saying!" "Yes Simran!! Remember? Once I took your help to start a story? Today, once more I need your help, to end the story..." "Rohit, are you hiding something from me?" "How can you think of that Simran? I can't live if I hide something from you!! But see the iron

Together Forever Chapter 1 "Ride along the silent path" A car raced along the silent path, that connects the city with the country-side. "Remember the place?" asked Rohit while driving the car. "Ofcourse!" said Simran, "Is it a place to be forgotten?" The car finally stopped between a vast field... Rohit continued.. "Yes!! That memorable day & this memorable place! Don't you remember how I made you to come to this place? 4 years back..." Simran smiled after recalling her memories "You were about to tell me something about your story before you wrote it." "The story..." Rohit took a deep breath.."I am still writing the story" Simran was going down her memory lane "You told that a boy was in love with a girl he knew, but the girl was unaware of his feelings, and asked me what the guy should do.." Rohit inturrpeted " And it was your decision of the boy expressing his feelings near the gi

Train Encounter Chapter-10 Epilogue "Truth is stranger than fiction" I've heard this many a times from many of my friends, but never got a chance to verify it. This July (I mean july2006) when I was on my way back to my college in Nagpur, I was struck for 6 hours at Tatanagar station, I didn't have the slightest idea that I'll get to face one of my life's most interesting moments. Yes, dear reader!! What you just got through last 9 chapters actually happened to be my fellow co-passenger!! I came to know about her problems when I had started chatting with her when I knew that she too was going in the same train. She didn't want to tell this "weird" incident to me at first, thinking that I won't believe her, but then told at last. I was awestruck when she told me that the person was going to meet her that very day!! Well anyone can guess what amazement did I pass when the person turned out to be her Boyfriend!! I just asked them if I could wr

Train Encounter Chapter-9 "Face behind the voice" Shalini inched near the door. The swarming crowd that has just popped in made her approach a little slow!! She gave out a desperate "Excuse Me!" every now and then...At last her eye got the glimpse which se was craving for more than a month now!! Shalini got a shock!! Shock of a lifetime. She stood there for more than a minute, just thinking the fact and then recollected herself finally and uttered, "A second more and I would have caught you with your orange t-shirt in s2...How could you do this to me??" "Shalini, believe me, I had no intentions to hurt you... I was just...” "Hurt? Do you have any idea what your joke has done to my life??" "It never was a joke Shalini.Not the day I 1st called you up, not now..." "What the hell do you think of yourself Arun!! Now where is that person whom you fixed up to call me?" "It was me Shalini!! I called you up all these days. I

Eight Down!! Two More To Go!! Wait till the last two chapters unfold the suspence!! Remember.."Truth is stranger than fiction"

Train Encounter Chapter-8 "Arrival" Shalini was a little too engulfed in her memories. She was brought back by the monotonous voice of the announcer... "May I have your attention please. Train no. 2860 Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Express has arrived on platform no.4" "Shalu!! Hurry up!! The train is here!" Mr. Sharma was in a hurry. Shalini quickly recollected herself and hurried up to the coach which was in front of her... "Thats not s4!!" Mr. Sharma shouted from outside. "Oh.. sorry!!" Shalini was in a hurry to get down when she got a glimpse of something... something which came and went away so fast in front of her eyes, yet it seemed like she had recognised it. "Shalu!! What are you waiting for? come'on!!" "Yes Papa." With a hitch in mind Shalini boarded s4 and with a pounding heart, went near her seat,43. She had reserved her seat on an upper berth cause she loved to enjoy an uper berth journey. That meaned tha

Train Encounter Chapter-7 "The Drift..." Shalini wasn't sure what she was upto!! She had never allowed any other person to breach into her private world, untill now... The person behind the reciever was literally controlling her activities day & night. Shalini felt that she was spending a little more time in phone. Even her friends started finding her different!! How in this world that the voice was sensing every wish & desires of her!! Shalini never told anyone about this thing. Not even Arun. "Shalu!! The train is on line clear!! It'll be arriving here anytime." Mr. Sharma brought her back into the present. The Time was coming near... Shalini could sense the exitement that was rising high within her. She looked down at her reciever for the last time to check that it didn't show any connections left. She remembered how once she made a try to get information about the no. from which the call came..... "9830..? It must be a Kolkata Hutch no.&

Train Encounter Chapter-6 "What!! He's on the Radio!!" Shalini went back home and helped herself with some food. She was really starving! Then she sneaked into her room & closed the door behind her. She switched off all the lights and sat down at her favourite place, laying her back against the cupboard. She used this place as her very own place in this vast universe. A place where she could think about anything and everything. A place where she was really free to do whatever she wanted. Shalini thought about all those times when she used to settle there in between her board exam studies for sometimes, to ponder about her day so far in general & life ahead in particular. Shalini recalled how she had sat there for hours talking with Arun, who on the other side kept on insisting that the talk is getting too long. He was ignorent of the fact that Simple chats over phone are more romantic than long strolls in silent streets. Arun was always this 'Silent Lover'

Train Encounter Chapter-5 "Mischief, Mayhem,Someone" Strolling on the platform, Shalini was again sucked back into her memories.... nearing june, one day Shalini was sitting in her room, doing the project-work which was given by the instructer of the computer coaching she enrolled a few weeks ago... She was supposed to work on some online pictures which were in her folder. Shalini was very poor at modifying pictures & usually took a hell lot of time in morphing them. But today was her lucky day, she was carefully doing her job when just like a bolt from the blue, a window popped up saying..."MISCHIEF" and before Shalini could react to something, she saw her whole project work was getting disfigured!! Shalini tried to correct it but it was too late. Someone was controlling the workspace from outside, "but how was it possible!?" Shalini thought. Just then another window popped in front of her eyes saying..."MAYHEM" and Shalini saw her whole fol

Train Encounter Chapter-4 "Down Memory Lane" Shalini had never thought that someone would ever propose her!! Well she thought that she was just another normal school going girl, with no interests in other worldly affairs. But her confution went wrong when a boy named Arun asked her if she wanted to be his Valentine... Days had past since then and their reletionship had also matured alon the way... After Arun completed his 12th std, he went to Pune to pusue his career in Medicine, Things were a little painful for Shalini. She was suddenly too lonely. Although Arun called her often but Shalini thought that his voice was becoming colder still, she felt herself drifting away from Arun. Shalini Remembered every bit of the conversation that went on the last time when Arun called her a few days ago... "Hello Shalini??" "Arun!!" "Yes its me, well... H...How are You?" "well I am fine, what about You?" "Hmm..... Just stressed out.. Too much

Train Encounter Chapter-3 "And They Started Talking" "What was that?" "The Truth, Shalini. Wasn't it the thing you wanted to hear?" "Now Look, I am not used to talking with boys and..." "There you are!! Well I dont blame you. Its hard for almost anybody to start talking to someone so freely onthe first day of meeting, and still you cant see my point of calling you??" the voice on the other side had a sparkle in it. "I...I couldn't get you!!" "Lets take it this way, You board into a train, get your seat & start , doing nothing!! Although you can see lots of people around you for you to socialize but how could you?? Will it not create a bad impression to start at once?? So you waste a lot amount of time in just creating your ground before you actually start speaking!!" "And..." "And I hate waiting!! So on a welcome note, if we perform all the formalities now, then we can be going great when w

Train Encounter Chapter 2 "A Month n a half ago.." It all started when Shalini answered the 1st of its kind phone call about a month and a half ago. It was just like any other call from an unknown no. untill she answered to the deep groovy voice on the other side of the reciever... "Hello!" "Hello Shalini!! I wont blame your anxiousness to know who I am. But trust me, I promise You not to let You know about it till we meet." "Who are You?" "Well There You go!! But as I said, thats a mystery. For now I can only let You know that I am a person who want to gain aquintance with You." "What the...Where did You get my no.?" "Why? Isnt it posted on each and every mail accounts, and fourums and clubs you go...NOt to mention about the library!! Is it really hard to get your no.?" For a moment Shalini felt a surge of anger rising from within, she felt like dropping the call at once. But she didn't, there was a strange myst