The Story I didnt like much

This is one story I never liked but written just for the sake of it. It is a write India story with the prompt highlighted in bold.

I observed him carefully as he walked to the door. I knew that time was running out but suppressed the urge to check my watch. I took a deep breath and started counting in reverse under my breath. "Ten, nine, eight, seven..”. one..zero, expecting the unexpected. But no, he cut the cake and the whole crowd was on roll with high-fies going all around with loud cheers of happiness but tears rolled out of my eyes. How did they do this? How could my plan go wrong? What to do next? Who will help me? Whom to approach now? Million questions were lingering in my head. I had to act fast and somehow stop this group by All Means.

I had been ambitious from the beginning, though I was from a humble background from a faraway village Thalakunda near Ooty, the queen of hills. Beautiful green eucalyptus trees and pine trees surrounded my house. The needle like pine leaves impressed me both when green and dry. The blooming flowers, the chirping birds, the stunning morning dews, the charming silence and the pleasant chillness brought a conducive living atmosphere for the 50 odd families that lived in Thalakunda. School was at a distance of stone’s throw. Was fortunate to have friends who were very innocent and helpful. Life could never be more beautiful. My parents were simpleton who also preferred to be close to nature and would take utmost care to preserve this beautiful treasure Nature given to us by the lord. All this attracted me to develop deep interest in any subject related to nature- Botany, Zoology, Geography. My hard work brought me here to NYRAA - world renowned research firm, joined this team with lots of hope At first I was dismissive about the whole idea, but now I was flabbergasted seeing what was happening. All the hard work that I and Benoy have done for all these years, all the toiling we did in the botany lab, the computer lab, the research lab is finally going to yield results.

Mother earth with blooming flowers, chirping birds, wonderful aquatic and terrestrial animal kingdom which included human beings, had now turned a war zone. I could now clearly see the effect on earth that had NO ozone layer. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals found mainly in spray aerosols heavily used by industrialized nations for much of the past 500 years, are the primary culprits in ozone layer breakdown. The penetration of UV radiations had affected the reproductive cycles of all living beings, including single celled organisms like phytoplankton, which formed the bottom of the food chain. The DNA mutation had happened in all living organisms, dog, crow, snake, lion, elephants etc. The dogs had only a single leg today, with no tail, the crows had gone pale and the lions had lost all their hair and teeth. Snakes had become weak and looked like tiny worms.

I worked on my action plan before loose myself and the endangered species to mother earth. First I had to do skin graft operation on myself and then on all living species that were present. Before that to energize myself, I took out the bottle with label OC12C from my pocket. It had green molluscs kind of jelly.  I quickly took 12 of them and popped them into my mouth. These are made from extract of Elysia chlorotica and Sea Algae. I looked my image in water pool nearby and saw the complete result of my research. Yes I had completely turned dark green, flat and translucent and now could float completely in water. Remembered the day when Benoy had found that certain sea slugs were solar-powered. We investigated further and found out that certain molluscs had symbiotic relationship with chloroplasts which they steal from algae that they eat. Within the cells of plants and algae, photosynthesis takes place within tiny structures called chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are the remnants of a free-living photosynthetic bacterium that can be swallowed by microbes. But even then, these chloroplasts didn’t get digested by the microbe. Instead, the two formed a permanent partnership and produced energy. This led us to research further on this and led to invention of OC12C Jelly which would replenish the human body with chloroplast when needed and turn the human body flat and translucent.

Before going on a diet of OC12C, skin graft needs to be done to prepare the human being genetically to become solar powered. The mitochondria present in human DNA are protobacteria whereas the chloroplasts that are solar-power plants of the plant are cyanobacteria. But both still have their own DNA and a very bacteria-like membrane. If humans wanted chloroplasts for self or for any livestock first genetically we first need to modify the host animal to express proteins required for chloroplast function. It has been estimated that about 70-90% of the genes required for chloroplast function are provided by the plant’s genome. This is the reason why OC12C needs to be consumed as much by us.

It would probably be most feasible for chloroplasts, along with the required genes, to be added to skin stem cells and applied as a skin graft, as there is a lot of research in this area for burns victims. At first this graft may require regular replacement, but eventually the chloroplasts will be sustainable within the skin.

Now hear I stand green, translucent and solar powered with complete ability to float on water. Now I need to wade through the open area to check if all the DNA mutated species were present and need to do the chloroplast skin graft operation on all species and feed them with enough OC12C Jelly to turn all of them solar powered. While I do this I also need to eat the sun and carry out photosynthesis for my survival.

I was busy doing the same on every species possible. Time was running out. I cannot stop. I needed to save the species and the mother earth.

My self and all living species were suffering a well, due to this man made changes being done to what was present naturally. Our immune system was being attacked by the chloroplasts, but we had prepared another pill ZC19C, antibodies to prevent this. Supplement of ZC19C was also injected to all species and also to be at adequate time intervals.

All species around me were turning green, translucent and solar powered and started floating doing photosynthesis on their own. They all were flattening a well, so could get maximum surface area to eat the sun light.

Because we all had a sumptuous diet of OC12C and algae, the screening components to protect us from the harmful UV radiations was getting created over our skin.

We all took the natural advantage of the excessive water that was all around, due to the melting of ice, because of ozone layer depletion. The photosynthesis reaction would we were doing is as below.

6 CO2(g) + 12 H2O(l) + light → C6H12O6(aq) + 6 O2(g) + 6 H2O(l)

The reaction clearly explains that there is a net loss of six water molecules for every glucose molecule produced. That meant plant-person, plant-dog, plant-snake, plant-lion all plant-living thing would also need a lot more water than a normal living being would require.

So we all floated in the water, green in color, all of us eating the sunlight. Yes I had done it.

Had protected myself and all the remaining living species in the world. Looked at the watch, it showed 31-Dec-2099: 11.59:50 PM. It is solid one year I had been through this mission and had completed the graft operation and also survived through the fury of nature.

I looked for the glass door. I observed him carefully as he walked to the door. I knew that time was running out but suppressed the urge to check my watch. I took a deep breath and started counting in reverse under my breath. "Ten, nine, eight, seven..”. it is only six more seconds to go, to prove that our work could sustain the world when it reaches the doom’s day. I was shivering, praying for the last seconds to end. There is was, two, one, when I suddenly heard a loud explosion.

Everything was shaken, molten fire was spewed all over. We altered the entire living kingdom to be dependent on the sun, and now what is the Mother Nature up to. We were confused and felt that everything was drying up, there was fire all over. Heat that we felt, made us feel we were inside burning deck. We all were slowly getting charred. No one can protect us. All the hard work done by us came as a flash to my mind. I was happy I at least tried something to save mankind. But after all no one can control nature. I understood the power of the nature. Yes the Sun just exploded and I lost. I channelized the whole world on Sun, and now the Sun is no more. I was dying, my eyes remained open, seeing the havoc all around me.

Now I opened my eyes, lying in a bed, to see Benoy besides me, there was celebrations all around me. My team was celebrating around me, with loud cheers, balloons and color papers all over the place. I saw the wall clock. It showed 12.30 PM. Sep 13^th 2015. Yes I had won.

I had successfully gone and launched and played the world’s first next generation immersive Science Fiction game which would take us to the future. The game would take the person playing the game into the immersive world of future, where the person would move far ahead into future and experience the world that would actually exist in future. He would see and feel the future. He would see the transformation of species and transformation of human in future. Person would be provided with gadgets, food, tablets to survive the adversity and would be given the task to save Mother Earth and experience the cruelty that living kind would face in future due to their current acts against nature. This near death experience of theirs would serve as a learning experience to them and would help them become responsible citizens who would work to protect Mother Earth right from today.

I and Benoy dreamed to launch this next generation immersive science fiction game and did all research to make its launch a success. I observed Benoy carefully as he walked to the door. Now it was his turn to enjoy the experience we had created. I recollected the experience I had. I knew that time was running out for Benoy but suppressed the urge to check the watch. I took a deep breath and started counting in reverse under my breath. "Ten, nine, eight, seven..” and wished Benoy a frightening immersive game experience of future too.

True Love

Another Write India story with the prompt given highlighted in Bold below.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/writeindia/authors/authorstorysubmission/46355452.cms#passage
Prompt given by Preethi Shenoy

She willed herself to not check her phone to see if he had replied. It had been about three days now. She hated that she was constantly checking his 'last seen at' status and yes, he had logged in just five minutes ago. Yet she couldn't stop herself. This sinking feeling to find absolutely no communication from him was becoming unbearable, almost torturous.

And then, just as she sat down in her chair, her phone vibrated. With her heart thudding in her ear, she unlocked her phone and stared at the screen. Finally! It was his message.

But when she opened it and read it, she nearly stopped breathing. She didn't know if he was joking or not. What was this?

She looked at the watch he had gifted her this Valentine’s Day. The beautiful pink watch in the shape of heart had a beautiful girl in her white wedding gown and a handsome guy in his neatly ironed brown suit with a red tie, for the minute and hours’ hand. Every one hour in a day, the two would be on top of each other and exchange their love for each other. How cute, she thought and once again felt proud of the romantic thoughts of him and kissed at the treasured gift of hers and felt safest when it was tied around her wrist. But when again the message flashed in her mind, she began pondering over it and thought if she had she been too stubborn this time. Should she have been little bit more flexible, she wondered.

They had earlier also had many arguments, but their mutual love for one another had always won over their arguments. Her thoughts went back to the days when they practiced the whole day in the music club of their college. She was the college troupe’s lead female singer and he the drummer. Music brought them together. They spoke to each other about music for long hours. They were seen all over the college campus talking about the Raga’s Thalas, Keerthanas and the musicians. Gossip mongers were doing the rounds, scribbling on the bathrooms about the affair between the two, when there was actually nothing of that sort in their minds. Without their knowledge slowly as the days passed, the topics crossed the border line and started becoming more personal. College cultural events always laid special milestones in their life. While planning for college cultural events, invariably there used to be heated exchange on song, singer and band selection, song sequencing and he always after many rounds of war of words, not only agreed to her suggestions, but also persuaded others to fall in line. This was what made her fall in love with him. She feels happy even now, when she remembers the day, she herself wrote in the college canteen walls - her name followed by his name Gita Raghav. Also it was one of the college cultural events day, when he had proposed to her and she gave her consent.

The final year college cultural meet was the place where her parents met his family and mutually agreed to get them both married. The day is green in her memories, when the whole college was gossiping about this meeting. Really she was far ahead of her times, she thought now with pride.

She remembered the days when they started applying for jobs with a greater aim of settling down with each other at the earliest as this was one of the conditions laid down by the parents. She wanted to settle down in Chennai, as she was born and brought up there, while he wanted to move to Bangalore. Again the heated discussions on where to settle down. Fortunately she got a great offer with a big MNC in Chennai, but as luck would have it, he got a job with a company in Bangalore. Finally it was he who forgo the offer to find an alternative in Chennai and shifted to Chennai to pursue her dreams. Once they were settled in jobs, a small wedding ceremony was organized, which united them and opened them the doors to start and live the life they wanted to live. The journey had been beautiful since then. He treated her like a princesses always and still treats her so. But why this reply, was what worried her.

They lived a cherished life in Singara Chennai. Both of them took a joint loan and purchased a small flat and named it TARA, which was a combination of GiTA and RAghav. She cursed herself now for being so career oriented all through and wondered why she was so hard in pursuing her professional dreams. She re-winded the days when she would endlessly sit to pursue higher studies to quickly reach her way to glory, while he would assist with the house work, take the kids to the park nearby for a play and attend to his call of duty as well. A well rounded person, truly who nicely balanced all the roles he was assigned by the Almighty. 

There were always fights over who would prepare the breakfast, lunch, dinner, who would attend the parent-teachers meeting, who would baby sit, who would do the grocery shopping and all the time, she managed to win the fight. There were times she wanted to evade these and there were times, she wanted to do these chores, in either case she won, or rather, he lost for her. But why this message now. She was almost in tears, as the message lingered in her mind again and again.

Though she was a working women and a strong personality, she always looked up-to him for guidance and never went anywhere without him. She was poor in sense of direction and always lost her way, when she attempted alone anywhere. He also felt satisfied to accompany his darling anywhere anytime and never felt it like a task that needed to be completed. He was secretly yearning for any situation just to be with her and spend time with her. She was his lucky charm and left all decisions to her. Even very small decisions on where to purchase rice, or which cake to select for birth day party or what to order when they go to a restaurant, everything was decided by her and there was a happy consent from him. He had so much in love with her, that he would even wear, eat and do what was decided by her for him. The dress he wears, the car he drives, the paper he reads, the cellphone he uses, is chosen by her. Something hurt him deeply when she didn’t make a choice for him and the same feeling of hurt, was what she felt, when he chose something for himself. Really the two were a romantic couple who got on like house on fire.

There was nothing which stopped their romantic journey. Kids, Career, Money, Relatives everything brought in more problems between them, but love prevailed. Both of them had great understanding for each other and were unstoppable in their pursuit for ultimate glory as far as love life was concerned. Each problem that came in the journey, helped them strengthen their love, prove others and to themselves how deeply in love they were with each other. But this message, was not what she expected from him. Has something gone wrong. She wondered again and again.

This was the first time, she was away from him and that too this far. There were many situations in their life journey, when they faced the question of relocating and staying apart from each other for a while. But they faced all such situations boldly and never parted from each other. Career progression, kids, fame, money, kids’ education nothing could part them, even for a small period. Now what was she doing? She feared the world might mistake, if she refused to come down. Since due to various financial reasons, he could not accompany him. But she only persuaded him also saying that she needs to come here for this short trip as otherwise the world would talk ill of them. But now she wondered, why was she here, when he was there? She cursed herself for taking this decision. She must not have left him alone. She must have been with him only, irrespective of what the world says. She cried loud and thought to herself what blunder she had committed. Will he never pardon her? Was he angry? Was he never going to talk to me? Million fearful thoughts ran on her mind. She tried calling his number, but failed from the day she landed here. No one was helping her to call, as probably they all thought things would slowly settle down. They didn’t want to aggravate this loneliness feeling by making them talk again and again. Perhaps they were all scared that, if both of them spoke, they would change their minds and come together again. Everyone is selfish and more interested in self.

Now that she read his message, she was desperate to call him, but call never went through. This WhatsApp seemed to be a one way channel and she never used it earlier. She never felt the need to know about all this, as for her she had taken for granted that she would be with him and he would anyway know all this.

In the meanwhile he was also crying to himself for having taken the decision to send her so far away, that too when he needed her the most. He purposefully did not reply to her message and that too after three days when decided to reply, gave her a harsh reply telling her just a single word NO. He cried to himself and was going through a pain as if some vital body part of his was cutout from his body. The togetherness that they were enjoying as a couple cannot be described by words.

She couldn’t take it anymore. Whatever the world thinks, she decided that she would act, as directed by her heart, her heart which was overflowing with love for him always. She opened the door and came out and told her daughter that she couldn’t do this and wanted to return back to India at once. She told her that she was happy to see her grandchild, but was somehow finding it difficult to stay back as promised for another six months to be with her and take care of the baby. He daughter was taken aback, as they had shelled huge bucks to bring her hear after having prolonged discussions with her and him, to help her out on this. But having seen her parents from the beginning, she was happily surprised when her mom, consented to come with her. She was always expecting the unexpected from her mom and this was yet another example, as was her consent to come with her.

She could hear her son-in-law talk cheaply about her sincere, mutual, affection for her husband. But she didn’t mind it and was only looking forward to fly back to India, as she only knew that a NO from him, meant as YES to her question on whether he was expecting her to return back to India in next flight. For a moment though the NO shocked her, she slowly realized what a balanced person he was. He was under tremendous pressure to keep her wife, daughter, son-in-law and the grandchild happy and the only was he could do it was to suffer all by himself. His noble sacrifice to send her with her daughter’s family and be alone, might not sound a big deal to many out there, who see this happening always. But for the kind of life they lived and the love they poured on each other and the affection that flowed between them, this was huge sacrifice. Her daughter understood this, admist the various mocks from her husband and his family, who failed to understand what true love is. But she knew that her Mom and her Dad lived a life which was beyond comparison with anyone and there could be no greater punishment that separating them in their old age, as they cannot live without each other.

She was thankful that god provided this opportunity to once again discover the love she shared with her husband. She was waiting for the flight to land and reach home. She had not told him, that she would be coming back. So she was waiting to see the surprise in his face while she would press the calling bell. She quickly collected the luggage and took the call taxi and hurried back home. It was early morning hours when she entered the apartment premises and found the lights of TARA where on. She thought to herself, how he might have felt lonely and didn’t get a sleep and was awake so early in the morning. When she pressed the calling bell, he opened the door with a hot cup of filter coffee, which she liked most and asked told her” Just now I checked that the flight is on time and that it landed safely. You must be tired, have your favorite filter coffee first”

Tears rolled out of her eyes and his too. Their each move was known to each other and while she flew back home after reading a NO reply, he was waiting for her to come back, after sending a NO answer to her question asking, if she needs to return back. This is true love, which is beyond words, beyond distance, beyond facial expressions, beyond anything else in the world. It flows between hearts of two people united by love and who live as a single soul.

They both hugged each other and did not bother on mocking world around them, who mocked at their love, saying both of them wanted to romance in this age, when they actually had to attend to the grandchildren. No stopping true LOVE.

Happiness

After nearly 20 years spoke to my friend yesterday and my happiness knew no bounds when we had a happy chat that we had to, to catch up with the 20 years that separated us apart. Conversation was so lovely and I really went back to the period we were together and felt so happy.

During the chat she causally told, considering my caliber she had thought I would have been settled in US. OF course this is not the first time I am hearing some one say this.. I have heard this many times from many people and it has always been, as though they feel sorry that I am in India, while I should have been in the US considering  my grades in school and college, my attitude, my hard work etc etc required for so called successful life - of getting settled in the US. I have never ever tried to justify to anyone of what I feel and all along such occasions, just left the conversation open and never revealed of what was running in my mind.

Why do people judge or rather measure happiness and a successful life by money, fame or things like getting settled with a good house and job in a foreign land like the US? May be money determines the quality of life we live. May be it is true. However are these the only parameters that determine if a person is successful. May be not. But person settled in India if he argues in favor of deriving happiness by not going to US, it is just NOT believed by society and think the person says so because he has been incapable to do so, which actually may not be the case. So I do not like going into conversations around this topic, as I find it difficult to explain people and convince them on anything, which I do not want to do also.

For me, if I were in US rather than in India, I would have definitely saved more money, but the clothes that I wear, the food that I eat, the books that I read, the songs that I hear, the stories that I write, the colors that I like would have remained the same. In fact for these liking of mine, US would have been a difficult place, a I would have had to adjust with the clothes, food etc available there. So happiness is in mind and money or place cannot bring more happiness unless our mind allows us to stay happy or unhappy.