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The book cover

Here's the book cover people... This is the first mock up of it and is getting worked up currently. Thanks to Nirzar and the whole of Realcubes.com team! Take care. :)

Picture Perfect

Can mere words do justice to something that is as beautiful and as pure as the heavens themselves? Probably. Probably not. The richness, the exoticness, the heart felt honesty of the words may somehow help the reader imagine the beauty and magnificence of the moment. A beautiful cherry red Mustang went whizzing past me. The ambience of the dimly lit room awakened the solitude of my heart. I could hear the heavens singing, as I stood atop that snow laden, gentle mountain. White silvery clouds glide almost imperceptibly against that immensely blue sky. The music that streamed out of his fingers touched my deepest feelings; I felt music rush through my veins. Her endearing innocence made me live like a child once again. All these and countless more epitomize and exemplify the grandeur, opulence and beauty of our surroundings. They help us visualize and feel the writer’s experience as our own. Visualization is a good exercise. Anything manifested as a reality was first conceived in the mind’s eye. By relating to the experiences of the writer, we are in a way, bringing those beautiful moments into our own existence. And that’s where the catch lies. The writer has described his emotions through his own set of thoughts translated into words. Another person may experience something similar and describe the moment using his own set of words. A third person who has read any one or both of these experiences may experience something similar, yet there are enough variations in his experience for it to be a part of his own unique individuality. That is where mere words, no matter how catchy, fall short. We evolved from objectionable grunts to perceivable sounds to words to photographs to videos. Today, a photograph or a video, people argue, pretty much suffices to convey all the emotions it’s supposed to convey. A picture after all, speaks a thousand words. (A video is merely a set of fast moving pictures). Agreed. But I’d say unspoken words. Let’s say, there’s a photograph of a beautiful sandy beach. The panorama of the picture makes you one with the roaring waves of the cerulean ocean. The sun, as it plunges into the horizon, disperses its orange subsistence onto the surface of the ocean. The evening zephyr and the cool granular sand, provide tranquility to our hearts. However, these, or any other words, still fall short. An elaborate description has been given of how a particular scene ushers a sea of emotions inside us. Yet, something’s amiss. Our feelings are too dimensional to be fitted into a singular plane of linear arrangement of alphabets. When we see a beautiful photograph, our eyes, the windows to our souls, imbibe the picture into us. Yet, in spite of the numerous attempts to describe how we feel, we convey our feelings best through silence. The rapt, silent appreciation speaks far more than any sound ever annotated. Silence is the prefatory, the middle man and the conclusion. Words merely fill in between. However, it’s only through silence, that we understand the importance of words. It’s only in silence that we find our answers. But after all’s said and done, I am no prolific writer. When it comes to conveying something, I am better off using a camera or a guitar than a pen for my ardor for things. And if I have to describe that beautiful face, a camera comes head and shoulders ahead of everything else. As you may have guessed already, I am talking about Esha.

Esha, in a sense, is a very unique beauty. As such, she is your typical girl next door. A plain Jane, she always avoids using makeup, fussing with her hair and wearing loud clothes. She lets that gentle, affable smile of hers convey the purity of her heart. She speaks. She speaks a lot. Cute things, Wisdom things, Love things, Common sense things. A beautiful amalgamation, with each ingredient in the right proportion. But at the same time, she inter-spreads her conversations with silence. She very well knows when it is required of her to stay silent. She is like music, silence inter spread with sound. And that’s what I love about her. Well, there are also a host of other equally important things I love about her. Her endearing innocence, that softening smile, her alluring skin, those feeble, delicate fingertips, her cute childlike voice, and most importantly, her sparkling eyes. She’s an ensemble of everything angelic, everything that love can define. She is the girl who makes you smile each morning when you wake up and smile at night when you lay down your head. Her fervently child like antics make you want to simply stare at her and to admire her every moment. At the same time, she has a brilliant feministic grace to herself. And the best part is, there is absolutely no artificiality to her behavior. She speaks, behaves and lives, with an open mind and an honest heart. If you have but one look at her, you’d understand. Over all her years on this planet, she has molded her body to portray her inner feelings, feelings which forever breathe love, innocence and happiness. And this is what I love the most about my girl. My girl, is My girl.

“Did you write this?” I felt a bit sloshed out. I felt a bit shaken.

“Do I look like someone who lets people write in his personal diary?” Aditya had that usual air of arrogance in his voice. “Reading is a different question altogether.” He added, almost immediately.

“No, but…”

“But what?”

“It’s really nice.” I actually wanted to tell him that something else but didn’t. Aditya at times scared me with that voice of his.

“Thanks.” I could feel him heaving a sigh of relief. I wasn’t looking at him in that moment.

“Thanks a lot.” He added further. I knew I had to break the cycle. I did.

“Tell me one thing…”

“Yes?”

“What made you write this? There has to be some significant event that happened that made you write this.”

“There is.”

“What is it?” I shot before he could complete his short sentence.

“I call that moment Picture Perfect.”

“And it has to do with?” My interview style questions kept coming.

“Capturing forever that beautiful face in a photograph.” Aditya seemed to be now lost in a world of his own.

“You mean Esha’s?” I tried to bring him back to the place where we were. There was still a lot left to ask.

“Yes Princess, Esha’s.” Aditya replied calmly. I guess you can think only one thought at a time. Either love or hate, but never both simultaneously.

“Please elaborate.” I tried to keep my side of the conversation as short as possible.

“Surely.” And he began.

“It happened at the start of our relationship. Fresh in love, we used to do some cute little thing or the other to surprise each other. They were mostly instantaneous ideas by virtue of which we tried to get the other person smiling. It was like we had wrapped ourselves as a gift for our better halves.”

Aditya paused to study my expressions. I tried to look as attentive as possible. He continued further.

“That day, we were strolling around in a place a bit far from my college. This place’s got everything- juice bars, ice cream parlors, restaurants, coffee shops, book stores, cloth outlets and even a B-School. Young, old, singles, couples, everyone had retreated under its early evening roof. The trees, with their arching branches, spread a soothing blanket all over the place. If you observed closely, for a change, you saw a lot of happy faces at one place. Something’s that’s very rare for our city.”

“I know.” As short as possible Anchal, as short as possible.

“Among this diversified population were present me and Esha. No marks for guessing that.” Aditya smiled. I smiled back in honest acceptance. He continued

“She knows how to carry herself well. That is why, anything she wears, she looks marvelous. But when she wears something black or pink, the marvelous quotient rises exponentially. Those colors complement her absolutely fair skin beautifully. By the way, she likes to wear brown color tee shirts a lot.” Aditya stressed overwhelmingly on all the “LY” words.

“That’s true.” I had seen Esha’s photograph. What Aditya said, fitted in perfectly.

“Generally, she wears western outfits. That day, however, she was wearing a black color Salwar Kameez. It had beautiful patterns in red, golden and green. The patterns reflected off the dress with a radiant vibrato. Though I like to see her in western outfits more, the dress she was wearing that day synthesized my mind to appreciate her in something traditional as well.”

“Okay.” Aditya’s language was getting more flowery by the minute.

“By the way, if you are to ask me what do I feel about different colors, I’d say that Pink is for cute, sweet and lovely, red’s for hotness, white’s for purity, brown’s for her favorite color, and black is for sexy.” Aditya added almost immediately. “And yes, black is beautiful.”

“Yes Despo.” I said with a hint of mischief. Aditya smiled in return. He wasn’t interested in any mischief currently.

“Thanks. I don’t know about me, but Esha definitely has a good sense of colors. It’s like she wears clothes as per the weather. And to be frank, the weather’s always awesome because she wears such beautiful clothes.”

“So did you finally click click?” I tried to remind Aditya the reason of the conversation.

“Yes. Click click click many times.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yes. But the silly girl kept telling that her face is not photogenic.”

“Then?”

“I tried to butter her up into it. At the onset, she did some nakhras. But she’s too sweet to hold fort for more than 20 seconds.”

“That’s sweet.”

“Yes. And of all the photographs I clicked that day, two of them hold a special place in my heart.”

“And when are you going to tell me how you felt about those?”

“Obviously now.”

“Please elaborate.”

“Sure.” And he began, once again.

“In the first photograph, she’s smiling with her face tilted slightly to right. The cool evening breeze had made her hair bounce and flutter that wee bit to make for a perfect photograph. Her eyes have a definite twinkle in them. Her smile was so wonderful that you had to see it to believe it. That photograph was a perfect epitome of a girl truly in love. I still feel like it happened only a moment ago.”

“And the second?”

“In the second photograph, she is simply staring at the camera, nothing else, just point-blank staring. I had heard people say Be Natural when in front of a camera. At the moment that cute little soul was, I suppose, confused at what to do next. I was furiously clicking pic after pic. There was no stopping me, when I happened to click this photograph. The result is what I call, well, a naturally natural picture!! The innocence in her eyes was beyond words to express. She just calmly looked into the cam and trusted me to do the rest. Thankfully, my cam didn't let me down. Sweet innocence reflected from those eyes, and the quietness and warmth I felt when I saw what I had clicked, I knew she is one of the most beautiful creations ever made. That sweet face, those gentle eyes, time stood still as I admired Esha.”

If I had given Aditya a few seconds extra to ponder, I know he would have come up with something much better, far exemplary to describe Esha.

Top Piano Songs

I compiled a list of some songs that sound nice on the piano

Hope you all like them to. You can find them all on Youtube. Happy Listening. :)



Mozart's Piano concerto in D minor


Dawn from movie Pride and Prejudice


Fur Elsie


Menuet in G Major: J.S. Bach


All of me Jon Schmidt(My favorite)


Bella's Lullaby Jon Scmidt


Trees Kieko Matsui


Like A wind by SENS


Winter Sonata : The following songs:
From The Beginning Untill Now
My memory(My favorite)


Lion King - In The End


Lettre à France, by Michel Polnareff


Hotel California eagles


Under the Bridge by the Red Hot Chili Peppers


If I Could See You Again - Yiruma


Gallop


Asience by Ryuichi Sakamoto


Piano Theme from the movie Final Fanatasy



comptine d'un autre été - yann tiersen



All is my Love Miranda Wong



Canon in D Major Pachelbel(My Favorite)




Rose’s Theme- Titanic



Kiss the Rain- Yiruma



Tum se hi Jab we met

Multi purpose Ice creams

Cute moments are what we all love to have. Cute moments with our friends, cute moments with our pets, cute moments with family and cute moments with our better half. We all love these cute moments for, well… their cuteness, no doubt…. But it’s the child like feeling attached to these moments that makes them all the more special. As grown ups(so called), we generally tend to attach a lot of value to the adage, “think a lot before you act.” Sometimes, we think so much, that we really have no more thoughts left to think. And then we think, “ Why did I think so much in the first place? I would have been better off behaving a bit more like a child. That way, I would have been a lot more happier.” Alas, in this hustle and bustle of everyday life, we have lost that charm of being eternally child like. Try being like a child for a moment. Stop thinking so much about what’s gonna happen next. Trust your instincts for once. Then see the difference.

It was any other routine day for Jimmy and Gina. The college was over for the day and just to make it a little less routine than the usual, Jimmy decided to accompany Gina to her home. Not that he could drop her right at the door step but he could be there with her till the bus stop near her house. That way, they could spend a little more time together. (These two kids always used to try and find some way or the other to spend time with each other. Kids in love, you know). After alighting from the taxi, they made their way to the bus stop. Now, this bus stop, was still a bit far from Gina’s house so they could afford to stay together without worrying about somebody familiar noticing them(or so they thought). Also, just behind the bus stop was an outlet of a very famous global chain of Ice cream parlors. This chain is famous globally not only for the various varieties dished/scooped out but also for their various marketing strategies throughout the history of the chain; both these factors having made the chain the biggest in the world. Jimmy and Gina, both absolute suckers for ice creams, tried to hog as much as their stomach permitted them to. (For Ice creams especially, Jimmy has an insatiable appetite). That day, however, Gina was in a frugal mood. Of late, Jimmy had been spending a lot when they two used to be together. Jimmy justified it by saying that he hardly spend anything when he was not with her. But still, Gina took nothing of it. She told Jimmy that so much spending on her, when she is there or not, is not justified [Jimmy wanted to tell her, that she deserves all the riches and all the happiness this world has to offer and even more, somehow, he minced his words…again] and that today, there would be no ice cream. When Gina said something in a stern voice[she can hardly be stern, her voice is too soft to be that], Jimmy gave everything up hands down. So, he didn’t protest[Hell, who’s gonna protest in front of someone so cute and so beautiful !! ]. Now, everything was seeming normal. The evening traffic was fluctuating in tandem with the traffic lights nearby, the shops were having their peak sales for the day, a few auto rickshaws lined to pick up folks waiting for a little more than normal for the bus, people walking past, either in someone’s company or just in the company of their thoughts and Jimmy & Gina, lost in each other[Awwww… so cute !!!]. Jimmy, though, still had his mind on eating an Ice cream but he didn’t convey it to Gina, lest it would anger her. And he was really scared of angering her[Trust me, he really was]. But somehow, fate plays funny games. If you think strongly about something, you get that thing, whether you want it or not… How, read on…..

Jimmy’s parents had gone out somewhere for the day[he doesn’t remember where] and were gonna return home now. They had given him a call a little while earlier asking him about his whereabouts. He had just left his college then. Later on, when Jimmy was with Gina, they called back again. This time, they were the ones to first tell him where they were….. And guess what? They were at the traffic signal near the bus stop where Jimmy and Gina were sitting. From the distance, Jimmy saw that the vehicles coming their way and knew, their parents were in one of them. For a moment, he was stunned silent. His parents didn’t know about Gina[Hell, hardly anyone knew they were a couple. They had kept it all a secret…. An open book secret to be honest…. Cuz everyone had guessed they were a couple, though they vehemently denied it] and he hadn’t planned on letting them know anytime soon either. Jimmy’s mother, is like a mother eagle when it comes to her children. No matter what, or how many millions of people are there in a crowd, she can easily spot her babies. Jimmy very well knew this. Not that they would hang him or murder him or something, but if his parents saw them, it meant a lot of answering was to be done and Jimmy was in no mood for that. [ Later, much after the incident, Jimmy feels he could have said, we are friends, had some work, had to give books, college fest going on, etc etc… blah blah blah…. But would it really have helped, he thinks? ]. Strategically, there was an another shop just adjacent to the bus stop. It was a mortuary shop, whose punch line read, “ If you drop dead, drop in.” Jimmy for a moment did think of hiding in one of the caskets cuz he really felt numb enough for a second. But, running away leaving behind Gina, dazed and confused, would have been too cowardish. Neither could he be brave by just standing there. That was inviting death in a way and then he might as well have had to bury himself in one of those caskets. So, he decided on a less cowardish thing to do. His only resort, there, was the Ice cream parlor, inviting all wanna be ice cream eaters with a dazzling bill board. Without thinking any further[Jimmy’s instincts helped him yet again !! ] , he took Gina by the hand and told her to come along. Since Jimmy was still on the phone, Gina couldn’t make out much of the double conversations he was having. But nonetheless, there were no time for explanations and Jimmy’s somewhat hapless expressions conveyed something was not right. So he followed him and in they went, into the Ice cream shop. By now, Jimmy had kept the phone down and Gina was asking him what’s wrong. Jimmy, whose heart was beating a little faster than the usual, took some time to explain. In a couple of seconds, he saw his parents’ car go past them. The glass doors of the shop saved them[Glass, oh oh…. did my mom see me through the glass… I hope not, Jimmy thought]. Jimmy then told Gina about what just happened. Gina, a little confused still, too thought it was the right thing to do. But the manner in which they simply leaped, jumped and dashed into the shop, obviously caught everyone present’s eye. Thankfully for them though, the only eyes watching them were those of the sales boys present. “Good evening Sir, how may I help you? ”, said one of them. It became pretty obvious, that after the acrobatics they did and someone being so cordial with them, Jimmy and Gina had to buy themselves an ice cream. They simply couldn’t say, “Oh no man, we are just running away from my parents. Nothing big.” Reluctantly, but thankfully for Jimmy, Gina, too agreed. And Jimmy just can’t help splurging on Gina. They helped themselves to the choicest of ice creams available. There is something very cute about watching your girl eat ice cream. Like an absolute child, she is so engrossed in it, that it automatically becomes cute. And to Jimmy, ice cream or no ice cream, Gina looks cute forever.

P.S: There's an another moment of ice creams. It is the first time they had an ice cream together. It ll be put up soon.

Take care.

I pull, You pull, We Pull...

When you belive in something, nothing can stop you. The fire that burns within is strong enough to vanquish the strongest of oppositions. At that moment of glory, nothing and nobody can beat you. That is the power of self- belief.

One such occasion embraced Jimmy and his buddies a few years back. The annual college sports fests were on in full swing and the kids of the "ABC" dept, the one to which Jimmy belonged, were giving the rest of the depts a run for their money. From absolute nothingness up and until last year, they were rising from the ashes and winning almsot everything. Obviosuly, this lead to abc dept being at the top of the points table on day 4 of this 10 days long sporting extragavanza. And the next event to take place was "Tug of War." Though a very short event, it commanded a lot of hype and publicity. One reason for this was that ut an absolutely intense, high testosterone levels game. But more than that, as it was held in the centre area of the college, it commanded the maximum audience. The shouting, clammering, egging on transformed the place into a battlefield. Anyone present there would have been elevated to a new level of higher consciousness where only your instincts work. Jimmy and his friends, were no different.


The abc dept consisted of a bunch of average built guys who if you looked at, really didn't garner much excitement for a game like tug of war. They maybe would have given a tough fight but were simply not tough enough to win. And to add to that, since they were against the "XYZ" dept, they really didn't stand a chance. The xyz dept had been the outright winners for the past three years(year before that it was abc) and before that too, it was mostly xyz winning this event. Thus, it was an apt seeding done. The best against the worst in the first round. The outcome of this contest was a no brainers,everybody thought. The hefty, muscular xyz guys were gonna rought the poor, average abc kids in no time. [There is something inane about watching a helpless person being cornered even more. No matter how much we deny, we all love to feed on such situations. Watching someone being overpowered calls for a great sight for all of us. We are all really a bunch of saddists leaving in an optimistic world built on hope] The crowd too, expected that this thing was gonna get over before it started. And though abc had its fair share of supporters cheering them on,they too were sceptical of their team's chances today. Passion is a good thing but it really cannot help you win everytime, they felt..... So, with a resigned voice, they started to cheer them.

Things too,didn't take of well for Jimmy & Co.


A few days before, during one of the practice sessions, Jimmy had hurt his right foot’s sole. A stone had pierced into his leg, leaving behind a a large hole which was profousely bleeding. A few days on, now on the tug of war day, the wound had healed considerably but any tickle to it meant the freshness of the wound would expose its weakness again. Jimmy was the main stay of the cricket team and he couldn’t risk injuring himself any further. But fate always plans otherwise. J Jimmy was still limping. The wound pricked with every step that he took. Apart from this, the cement surface on which the competition was held had worn out and was piping hot cuz of the afternoon sun. If one had to give 100% in tug of war, one had to play bare foot. Playing bare foot gave way to a lot of permuations and combinations on how you could hurt yourself. And this all was too big a risk to take for Jimmy.




The total weight of the entire team was to not exceed 520 kgs. Miraclously, the hefty,well fed xyz guys totaled exactly 520. They all were weighing almost the same, with the Anchor(The person in the last to whom the rope is tied) being slightly heavier. On the other hand, Team ABC totaled 519 with Irvin and 520 with Jimmy. Team abc had gone with the strategy of a very heavy anchor and the most muscular person in the front, unlike the even distribution of weights by Team XYZ. They also decided upon keeping Jimmy in the reserve for the 2nd and 3rd rounds, this being a best of 3 event. So, Jimmy, weighing 66(back then) was in the reserves and Irvin, weighing 65 was in. Things were indeed this bad. They had fielded the best possible team from their dept. And with Jimmy injured, things were a bit less promising now. And true to everyone present’s expectations, the 1st round went to XYZ. Though ABC did put up a good fight, we all know, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Irvin could hardly hold onto the rope. His breath gave away very easily. Before the heads of the team and its supporters dropped any further, Jimmy decided he had had enough. His instincts(those wonderful things) were working in over drive mode. And he simply said,” I am coming instead of Irvin.” He didn’t care if Irvin felt bad or what the heck. Irvin, too, knew what he had done and gladly stepped aside. And even the others. And even the others, couldn’t say a no to Jimmy. They simply never had said a no to him. In the ABC dept back then, what Jimmy said, was the final word. You never challenged it cuz you knew, Jimmy is thinking in the best interest of everybody. So from round 2, Jimmy jumped in. And alongwith him, the entire band of supporters too got psyched up; though they were still skeptical about their team’s chances. But nonetheless, they somehow got themselves too keep the hope. One of his friends had once(and still does) said to Jimmy, "Nothing's Impossible for you buddy. You can make anything happen. With you around, we are never short of inspiration." That friend,Vicky was in the crowd that day, cheering them on. And yes, so was Gina.[And yes, Jimmy remembers everything about how she was looking,feeling,what her eyes spoke,etc etc. stuff Jimmy always tends to remember from every moment he spent with her... Silly Jimmy!!! :) ]

The surface on which the competition was held had taken a severe beating. Wearing shoes meant you had lesser control on your feet movement. Being barefoot gave you the liberty to somehow fit your legs in the cracks and holes that had developed. You could easily constrict your feet and hold tight to the ground. With the shoes on, this thing couldn't be done. Many of them however,on both the teams, didn't desire to do so cuz going bare foot almost surely meant the skin of your sole getting burnt and scrathed and bruised. No one was willing to take that risk. They simply didn't feel it was a good return on their investments. All this while, Jimmy's instincts were working in the background and a voice from within was telling him,"Take the shoes out dude ! You know how slippery they are. Don't worry about the wound. It has healed up and won't be much of a bother." So, Jimmy, heeding his inner voice did so. Some were surprised at what he was doing but he convinced them all by saying, it's not that serious. The wound has healed now. Like I said before, Jimmy's word was final.

Jimmy has this distinctive style of wrapping the rope around his forearms. That way, he says, it gives him even more grip[though it shortened the length of their rope, which can be disatorous sometimes]. Jimmy had occupied the third position in the chain, standing there like the main connector between the people in front and those at the back. The whistle blew. The pulling began. Both the sides, were giving their absolute best. After a while, it seemed like the xyz guys were gonna win this one now with abc literally running out of steam. But like they say, the best things happen when you least expect them to. All of a sudden, there was a sudden surge from abc's side. From God alone knows where, they were able to pull the xyz guys towards them. They were simply not understanding from where this force was coming cuz they all had literally downed their efforts. Or so it seemed..... Somehow, inch by inch, they managed to pull their oppostion towards them and more importantly towards that all important middle line.... And it happened !!! Just Like that !!! Before, they could recover, the refree blew the whistle and said," Round goes to ABC." Everyone around, totally shocked and stunned was simply not able to do,say,feel anything for a moment. And then all of a sudden, the entire premise lets out a Huge roar. They simply couldn't belive their eyes. The ABC team went beserk, shouting,abusing, going absolutely crazy. They were returning the favor to the xyz folks now. A sense of belief filled them up and they now,once again switched sides for the third round. It was perhaps history in the making but it was still too early to tell. Jimmy, felt a slight throbbing in his injured leg at the exact spot where he was hurt but since he was not limping and since they had won a round, he felt, it was really nothing to worry about. Gina, though knew, something was wrong cuz she was perhaps the only one to notice in that entire frenzy and maddness, Jimmy as he was walking, was leaving little spots of blood behind.....

The teams now positioned themselves for the third round. Jimmy and the anchor,Sunny are absolute video game freaks. Jimmy owned a PSP and Sunny always wanted to play with one. Jimmy had promised him earlier that if he gave his 100% in the tug of war, he could have the PSP. Jimmy,not one to forget what he says easily, reminded Sunny of the PSP and the way he put the message across was nothing less than a coach inspiring his disciple to go for the kill. Many around found it funny, but Jimmy and Sunny, knew what they were doing. Jimmy remembers seeing in Sunny's eyes, the fire lit up when he reminded him about the PSP. Silly kids !! But they are mad about video games. Anyways, the refree now asked the teams to get ready now. Jimmy stationed at position three, kept reminding Sunny about the PSP, who was some 20 feet behind and the last(cuz he was the anchor). Something was telling Jimmy, Sunny was the only one who was gonna fight till the end in this round,even after he himself had given up. The whistle blew and the intensity was set into motion once again. This time, the noise from the crowd was much louder than before. There were now more people cheering ABC on. And the voices only kept getting louder with the second. The two teams, nothing short of committment, were also full of abusive words as well. It was the best way to stay focussed in the game. The tussle,too, this time was much more intense than previous occasions. Both teams were simply not ready to give up. The burly, xyz folks had a lot at stake. The average abc bloks,the underdogs, from simply nowhere, were churning out every bit of imaginagle and un imaginable strength they had. The pulling went on for more than a minute, the longest ever, and still, there was no sign of giving up from either side. But somehow, it was seeming just a bit too much for the average kids from abc to hold onto. The xyz kids were just too strong and after a minute of intense pulling,slowly, their strength was giving away.... Or so it seemed...... Jimmy, who was still giving the best he possibly could on three limbs, was the first to realize this weakening. And tug of war, though a team game, once you are in the motion, you simply cannot turn around and inspire others. The only one you can inspire is yourself. Without thinking anything further, Jimmy let out a very loud cry(I think, he actually abused) and pulled with all that he could(it was the last straw). And he kept on shouting, kepting on letting out a war cry all the while. He had learnt from his Martial Arts' practise days, that letting out a war cry would lower the flow of blood to the heart momentarily for the opposition. He was simply acting on all that his instincts were thinking[He was a slave of his thoughts at that moment... How he wishes it always is this way...]. There was no stopping him, he simply kept on developing a crescendo of his voice as he kept pulling. Jimmy didn't feel it, but later on, onlookers told him, that it seemed like he was the only one pulling from his team for those last 30 secs. And finally, the moment came for which everyone was waiting for.... The whistle blew again and the refree said,"ABC wins." This time, there was no momentary silence. The crowd erupted with a tremendously loud decible. The average kids had done the unthinkable, the impossible. The crowd had gone simply mad at the sight of this. Team ABC, too, had gone crazy. They were hugging each other,punching the air,banging their chests, lifting each other....all the great things men do when the win[The joy of winning is indeed amazing to say the least]. Jimmy, as soon as the whistle blew, fell down on his knees and let out the strongest of war cry till then. He too knew, they had done the impossible. He actually was unable to speak and so like all the others was simply shouting for a few seconds. When the initial excitment died down, the handshakes happened cuz a match like this generated respect for both the sides competing. Along with this, the waning of the initial excitment and noise made Jimmy realize(yes you guessed it right) that his left leg was throbbing very heavily. Jimmy shuddered now, he did not want to see what had happened down there... He was constantly looking for Gina in that crowd, to reassure him that everything is alright, but he had somehow lost her.... He was on his own there, helpless. Helpless I say cuz everyone was either too happy or too sad to bother about anything else. And sooner than later, Jimmy had to face the truth. A Bloody truth. What Jimmy saw, could have fainted any weak heart. The wound, due to the non stop beating and rubbing against the cement surface for the past five minutes or so, had exfoliated into a terrible blood dripping mess. The small stone particles infused deep into the skin were not helping much either. It was now starting to pain, rather Jimmy realized it was paining all this while. Thankfully for Jimmy, everyone around quickly noticed what was wrong and helped him to a place to sit. Andy, one of his good friends from back then was quick to get some anti septic and cotton and rub it over there. Everyone around was now a bit sombre to see what had happened to their hero. But still, Jimmy laughed it off and that eased things a bit. On one side of him was Andy and the other side was Gina. Andy was helping Jimmy wash the dirt and dust off the wound. Gina, who knew what was coming, simply couldn't hide her apprehension. It was all showing in her eyes. Like any concerned love would, she gently touched near the place of the wound to see how much damage had Jimmy's passion caused him. Seeing this Jimmy got angry. Angry cuz, he did not want Gina to touch that bloddy mess of his. She seeing it was more than enough. She shouldn't even see him in pain, he felt and here she was, so near to him,when he actually wanted her to stay away from it all cuz he didn't want her to see him in that state. He obviosuly got angry on her and Jimmy still remembers how quietly Gina took her hands back and just sat there, watching, motionless.....








P.S: The celebrations did not last long. Abc was accused of using some sort of unfair means to win the match. So a rematch was held. This time, the half depleted ABC team lost without a fight. They were too disraught to put up a fight. Xyz, proceeded to win the finals of tug of war even that year. Jimmy,obviously, couldn't participate again. It was not that he did not want to but he could not. Jimmy's late grand mother was counting her last and just the day after the tug of war match, Jimmy had to rush to meet her. This meant Jimmy was not gonna return for another seven days i.e until the last day of the fest. This decision proved decisive. ABC's performance in other disciplines also reduced. They simply didn't have that fire power left anymore to give it their all. Eventually, they slipped from their High's of being the top team till day 3 to being 3rd overall on the last day. However, What goes around,comes around. The next year, they were the Top team. :)