The Last Letter

It was 11.00 Am in the morning and the day for Caroline was going as usual at work, on the phone as usual managing the inbound and outbound tourists. Her two hand phones would just not stop ringing, making her confused to decide out the two which call was more important.


Soon it was lunch time and today she decided to treat herself with good Grilled Sea Food and wanted to spend some time with herself, she soon called for her car, a Black shining Mercedes Benz. Chauffeur in White Uniform with a P Cap quickly got off the driver's seat and opened the Left Rear Door for Caroline.

Driver was about to shut the Back Door when a voice from the back stopped him to shut the door by Caroline's personal assistant. She was running with an envelope in her hand and handed it over to the driver asking h hand over the same to Caroline as Urgent and Personal was mentioned on the Envelope.

The handwriting on the Envelope seemed very familiar to Caroline, her facial expressions suddenly changed, the old age lines suddenly became prominent on her face, the think lines on her forehead looked more deep. Keeping the letter in her hand she commanded the Driver to turn the car towards the National Highway leading to the International Airport and asked not to stop or turn the car till she commanded.

Now slowly she started to open the Envelope, she had lot of questions in her mind before even starting to read the content of the letter, it seems she had a hint about the who the author of the letter was.. with some reluctance she started to read the letter, and it said :

Dear C,

It has been 55 years since we have met and communicated, I did not have your contact details till I read about your company in one of the leading Business Journals of the United Kingdom.

I would like to congratulate you on your success in your business, I always knew you would do well and make a mark for yourself.
Since we have not communicated in years I think this will be the first and the last letter from me since we last met, as by the time you would receive this letter it would have been too late for you to reply back and there would be no contact address for me as I will be gone forever.

Years spent with you were one of the most memorable ones and are still fresh in my mind and heart. The look in your eyes, the million dollar expression when you would see me anywhere was the one to die for.

You looking at me from far away, and whenever my eye would catch your looks, you would look some where else and believe me i always pretended not have noticed it.

I know you wanted to spend most of your time with me but could not due to obvious reasons and I think there is nothing to regret for.

Alot has happened since then and there is very little time to tell, life has been good to me and now I am breathing my last moments and before my last day I want to tell you that I miss you and apologise you for not been able to give you a chance to pick me up from the airport as we had talked about.

Hope you own a Black Merc now and yes I am still a Bachelor

Love & Remember me Always. Good Bye.

YY.

Caroline's eyes were moist, her face was red, in her cracked voiced she asked the driver to turn the car away from the Airport and take her to the restaurant where she had met YY.

Freedom.

"Freedom is my birth right and I am free"

Do we know that we are free and have the right to live with our own will and without fear?

Freedom is a mindset, it is we who define parameters and standards of performing any activities. It is we who trains the mind and overcome our own fears, and if we fail to do that our mind becomes the slave of the fears. This is where the freedom is lost and the Fear Masters the Brain. The dependability of a person increases on other factors and lives on the likes and dislikes of others.

Do we really have to live with likes and dislikes of others? Nobody owns each other , every individual has his/her's identity and they have to live as per their identity and behave as per their characteristics, each individual will make a different positive mark in the world.

Freedom is every body's birth right, each one of us need to realize our freedom, overcome our fears, spread our wings and fly Free....

My Apple.

As a child I would visit this Apple Orchard every evening to take a walk and spend some time with myself.

One such evening while I was on my regular walk I spotted a beautiful Apple hanging from the tree....it was so red and shining that I wanted to pluck the Apple and keep it with me. The Apple was too high for me to reach and I was too young to climb the tree....so i decided to have it one day when I can climb the tree.

My visits to the orchard was now only confide to the Tree with the Beautiful Apple, I would spend hours looking at the Apple, imagined holding it and keeping it with me and not eating. Everyday it looked better and my want for it increased as the days passed.

One day on my routine visit to the Apple Tree or as I called it My Apple Tree, I found My Apple missing from the tree. First I thought I had reached the wrong tree and started to look for the correct one but something within me kept telling me I was at the correct Tree and the Apple was gone.

Yes soon I Realized the Apple was gone for ever, someone else had climbed the Tree and taken it. Still I see that Apple on every tree, climb it and take it and then realize it is not what I once wanted to have.

Nawab Khan

As the day passed the brightness of the Mayur Mahal had started to reduce. Being the favourite room of the Nawab in the Harem, he spent most of his time with one of his queens of the day or better would be the flavour of the Day.

The Day was passing fast and Nawab Khan was still in the bed with Badi Bibi his favourite so called queen. Nawab Khan was in the room more than his usual time spent and that day he called for his clothes and his valet at the Mayur Mahal to get him ready for the day ahead.

Soon the Nawab was ready and out of Mayur Mahal, with a Paan in his mouth and decided to go the library instead of the Court. Reading was his second liking after Women.

The whole day passed he was still in the Library and reading, the aroma of lamb being cooked travelled from the royal kitchen into the library, the sunlight coming from the huge library windows seemed to be fading, this when Nawab Khan realised the time he had spent with his two loves " Women and Books".

Nawab Khan picked up the Holy Quran from one of the shelves in the library, wrapped himself with a beautiful beige colored Pashmina Jamawar Dushala, took off his Royal Turban from the head and replaced it with a white colored hand knitted skull cap and walked brisklly towards the exit as he was getting late for the evening Namaz.

The library was on the third floor of the Royal Palace which overlooked the beautiful Mughal Gardens where Khan would often spend time with his Queens during Winter Afternoons. He had reached the staircase when the two Royal Guards came behind him and an escort right in front of him to make sure enemy's man was deployed to harm the King in the not so well lit Staircase ( the only place in the whole palace which was not planned properly).

While going for his Namaz he was dressed like an ordinary man and he didnot appreciate an escort on his way to the Mosque, like always he asked the escort to follow him instead he following him. Khan had just started his journey when the Azan from the Mosque was heard, this made him panicked as it was clear sign of he being delayed for the Namaz, he started to descend fast down the staircase, at one of the turns in the staircase facing the west travelled straight into Khan's eyes, he shut his eyes with the brightness and loudly uttered "Allaha" and the next moment the Dushalla got stuck under his shoe and he tripped on the stairs.

Nawab Khan's Huge soldier body rolled down two floors to be senseless on ground zero. The Azan carried for next twenty minutes but the words were not going into Khan's ears. The great King was lying dead on the floor..... This was how the last day of his life was spent by the Great King.

Green Chatni

I may not be able to express this but will try my level best......

Recently I visited a wedding ( one of the few things which I dislike but have to for social reasons), the decor of the place was very beautiful, theme being Red and Gold.

Centre of the lawn had an enclosure for the people to sit and to keep the place warm there were huge heaters placed on the side of every table. The guests moving around were one of richest people in town, from the Big Business houses to Big Executives of the Corporate world were there.

After a round of social meetings, I decided to do my favourite thing in every Wedding party is to have a look at the Food ( A Big Foodie that I am ;) and love sniffing food ), there were cuisines from the various parts of the world. Being prepared in the most exotic way, in no time I was on a Food Sniffing ( oops!) Food Tasting spree.........

Now while on my Food Tasting Spree, started from the Thai food counter and had finished with the food stalls belonging from The East Asia, I reached the very own stall of Indian Food ( A Live Counter).....now this is where I just stopped and could not eat after that........ I had taken a Hot Tandoori Roti and was proceeding towards the other counter when my eye just stopped on the Two hands grinding something Green on the Slab.....on going closure there was some fresh chopped Green chillies....some cloves of garlic....Mint and Coriander....yes it was the very own Chatni that was being freshly ground....The two hands went non stop grinding and the people ( so called the filthy rich) kept coming to the counter served themselves with the Chatni and went ahead.....but I was stuck there....my eyes went up to see the person behind this....it was a lady in her mid Forties or maybe early Fifties....concentrating totally at her job.

Looking at her I thought...what was she there for in the middle of no where in a wedding party and grinding Chatni....surrounded by all unknown people who came to the counter served themselves with her preparation ( maybe some would have liked and some wouldn't have) not even paying attention on the hard work she was putting in.

Seeing her dedication and not bothered about her work....I stopped eating....I just served myself with some Chatni...tasted it and kept the plate down...I was done for the evening....dine with the food....there was allot of sadness on her face....I am sure she was there because it was necessary for her to be there....maybe when she started her life she would have never thought of this kind of life....where people around her eating did not even have the worth of what she was doing....just another live counter to make the party/dinner look attractive with a wonderful presentation.

The Chatni kept coming into the serving bowl till the last plate was picked by the guest.....and she was just paid Pea Nuts at the end of the Night.

Give Away!

Did I Give Away the thing very easily? Was he expecting some kind of resistance from my side? or Is it, that I just did not think before agreeing to the terms?

Very strange and unlike me. Now "If" I have troubled the trouble, the fun will be to see weather the Trouble will trouble me or I will trouble the Trouble.

Search for The Unknown.

The forest was so dense and the silence of the surroundings was broken by the singing of the cricket ( Not a very pleasant sound to the ear). The trail was covered with dry yellow/brownish leaves, partially wet maybe with the moisture content in the air.

The darkness of the forest was making me feel really scared, the first thought that came was why did I ever think of getting into the forest, and while I was thinking this the most important question came in my mind that is What was it that I was Searching for that led me into such a Forest ?

I was sure that it was something I was Searching for, but what was it that I was Searching? Was the Blue City? or the Place with the Fountain ? or The place where that funny plane with a weird seating had taken me? or Was it the place where I was riding on the Horse with a Sword in my Hand ?

Deeper I got into the forest, uncertainties of what next and where next kept increasing, one thing was sure that there was no going back as it would let the Ghost haunt me more, yes it was the Ghost that made me run into the forest.

Now I am deep into the Forest, in an unknown place in Search for the Unknown.