A night to remember

They say when you die, your entire life flashes in front of you for a few seconds in fast forward. But when you kill someone, your life stops. You die for a second with the person you kill.

He stood there with his brown jacket on and blue jean covered with dark red blood stains from the bullet shots. He was hollow just like the holes in his body. His hollowness created a void of pain, silence, and guilt in my heart.

I and my brother looked at each other to confirm our senses.  We were definitely looking at Uncle Eric. The void in our heart became heavy. A rush of blood ran upwards towards our head. The Entire graveyard was lit by the moon to showcase him. I loaded my 6MM, M15 and shot him between his eyes and buried him again in the same spot where we buried him before. The smell of fresh lead confirmed this scenario and the splash of red velvet blood moistened the grave soil and broke the tension.

We buried him deeper this time and settled for a smoke. I saw vapors emerging from my fingers and moving upwards towards the dark ink clouds that covered the moon.

The clouds just drifted from one side to the other without worrying about anything. I was jealous for a second. I wanted to be like them. Gradually the clouds passed and revealed the moon again. It lit the entire graveyard.

A hunch, a sensation, and an alarming effect made us turn and look back. Uncle Eric was standing there with a hole in his head, chest, and pelvic area.  The head rush was back, the tension was intense and my entire body shivered with fear. My hands were shaking with the M15. Though there was no movement or any indication of action from Uncle Eric, his stillness was alarming. I strained my hands and pulled a shot again. The bullet hit his chest and he fell down.

Step by step I approached him cautiously. Something was different now. It was not Uncle Eric, it was my brother.

Ashwin Muralidharan...

Boulder and feather

Now, clear your mind, close your eyes and get ready to listen to the song of the boulder and feather.

Between the beautiful landscapes, stood a tall mountain gazing through the vast area covered by its shadow. It has been there for a long time and seen many changes and creatures. Just like an old sage, time and experience made him renounce all visual pleasures except one. He was always envied by one thing that excited him and made him wait every day to happen again and again. It was his soulful scenery that accompanied by a piece of soulful music.

A while after the dawn the golden lights lit up the stage, the rivers of percussions were flowing to set the rhythm, melodious winds passed through the hollow trees to produce a beautiful track, the vocalists fluttered their wings to take the spotlight and started humming,. Finally the lead appeared to initiate the main song, the main scene and an unfinished story that lives and dies every day without getting a closure.

The lead was a feather, the birds sang about this scene every day. They sang about the elegance it had when the winds gently drifted it from place to place, they sang about the freedom it had, and finally, they sang about the envy the mountain had on it. The tale of this unfinished song begins once again.

The mountain could never move, react, or convey anything. It always wanted to be like the feather which was as breezy as the wind itself. The mountain’s boulders of burden increased every day and the heaviness was intense that it screamed in silence. This disrupted the entire flow and it had to shut itself with a cloak of mist.

This song always got cut with an eerie ending. But, somewhere from afar a big storm of heavy music and noise approached the landscape.

The eerie ending continued with the chaos of screams and thunder.  One of the thunder waves hit the mountain to startle it from its cloak.  Its dark gloominess attracted the waves of thunder. After, several consecutive hits the mountain started to crack and wither in pieces.

IN a distance it could once again see the feather fluttering in an ominous hurricane. This is the moment, this is the chance to set free, this is the time to let loose, sang the feather accompanied by the chorus of little birds from the hollow trees.

A big stroke of thunder shook the mountain and a huge piece of it broke and started rolling downwards. The symphony was at its peak and the rock was in its high tempo. Not able to see or think clearly, it was free finally. It was creating its own music now; it was grooving and moving with upbeat excitement.

As it rolled ahead, it rolled over an elevated path and picked up the feather from the air and continued rolling down. The tempo reduced, the ominous wind faded away, the chaos disappeared and the boulder finally stopped between the trees.

The old melody continued. The golden light gradually revealed the huge boulder. It was with the feather. Actually, it was on the tip of its stem. Finally, they both were together. The feather got a place to settle down and the boulder got its moment of freedom. Together it turned out to be a master composition by nature.

The Blend

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Image source - Google-Shutter stock

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The Tawdaes were famous for their routines. They were systematic about their checklists and they religiously follow it every day. Their set formula for every day in a week created a culture in thane. The neighbors, friends, and even the entire village loved to observe them. Gradually over the years, their routines turned into rituals. Without the fixed patterns they cannot move ahead or lay back. They have created an obsession to follow them. Together they followed their composed them for every frame of living, from breakfast to bed.

In this systematic garden sprouted a wild orchid, Meghna Dutta. The Duttas was like the wind. They followed the free flow. They were like the torrents taking turns and twists at any time they wanted. They loved surprises. A pattern or set routine was too suffocating for them. They had a free spirit to explore and experience new things.

Like the opposite poles, Tushar from the Tawdaes Meghna from the Dutta's fell in love for the uniqueness in them. They liked the way they were. When one flew high the other gave balance from the ground.  When one felt grounded the other gave the courage to rise above. This match led to holy matrimony.

But, marriage is not just between two souls, it’s between two families. In this case, it was between two different cultures and two different schools of thought. After an overwhelming marriage ceremony, Meghna came to Tushar’s home as a daughter in law. A few days passed by, Meghna could actually see the patterns, the set lines, and the intense discipline.

Then came the surprising Sunday, In Tawdae’s calendar Sundays are the day for activities. They would like to do most of their work starting from healthy exercises to cleaning the house on that day. But, for Duttas, that’s the day to pause.

Meghna and Tushar had a peaceful mindset the previous night. Both in excitement said tomorrow is Sunday. But, they never knew the actual thought in each other’s minds. The thought of Sunday gave subtle smile of satisfaction in their sleep. When it was 6 AM the alarm shook them both.

Both woke up, Tushar with excitement and Meghna with confusion. Just before she came back to her senses things went in fast forward. People just ran in a rapid frenzy around her. When she finally realized what's happening, it was 8 AM. After exercising and taking a bath the entire family was ready for breakfast. Meghna was still in her pajamas when she walked through the living room.

All the eyes were on her and hers on everyone. Tushar was confused. He saw her, saw them, and again saw her. She felt as if she was standing in the court to be judged.

Without saying anything she ran to her room. While running the brush in her mouth in concentric circles she was talking to herself in her mind. What is going to happen now? What will they think about me? What will they think about my upbringing? What if they tell something to Tushar?

Thinking about this, she heard a knock. It was Tushar.  “Meghna”, he called her name. She did not respond, she got panicked, and she stood still, holding her breath. After few seconds Tushar left.

Meghna quickly did the most sinful thing. She took a bath at 8:30 am on a Sunday morning. With a lot of courage and will she took a bath and got dressed up. With guilt in her heart and embarrassment on her face, she went back to join them for breakfast.

There was silence across the table. Hot food was served with cold awkwardness. As Meghna was struggling to maintain eye contact with others, Tushar left the table. Now Meghna was more devastated. Suddenly her father in law asked her to stop eating for a second.

Meghna went back to her alarming zone. She couldn’t understand what was happening. After a few seconds of intensity, Tushar came back with a coffee mug. Her father in law gave her a fresh plate of pancakes and the coffee mug had hot chocolate in it. It was her Sunday breakfast.

Meghna’s seriousness turned into a sweet surprise. Everyone across the table started laughing. She let a burst of subtle laughter to join them. Tushar came forward and whispered in Meghna’s ears – Ahem, the Tawdaes are flexible.

Meghna sweetly smiled and whispered back – Duttas too. Both got back to their eating and followed a different routine that day. They had fun after many Sundays. And finally, Meghna started taking bath early at every Sunday morning.

- Ashwin Muralidharan