Farmhouse (part1)

It was Jatin s birthday. He along with his friends Sanjay ,Chetan, Janvi, Saakshi were at Sanjay s farm house to celebrate his birthday.

“Chootu. You fool!! You brought the wrong cake. This one has no name written on it.”

“Why are you blaming me? You too were with me Chetan. And Saakshi had asked you to get it, and be careful. Not me. But it looks more tasty.”

“Stop it you two. Do not fight. He ll be here anytime. What can we do now? There s no way to get the cake that we had ordered for and we do not have any cream to write his name.” said Janvi.

“I have an idea.” Said Sanjay.

“no thanks Sanjay. We know what you mean when you have that evil smile on your face. We are happy without your ideas. Keep them for yourself”, said saakshi with a “strict no” expression on her face.

Janvi added “yeah we know what your plan is. Let me guess. Tooth paste?”

“Tooth paste is a good idea. But come on Jatin is my friend too. I would not used tooth paste to write his name on his 25^th birthday cake. I would use cream. Jatin always gives us so small piece of cake. I ll write his name with cream, shaving cream and make him eat the whole cake” said Sanjay with wink and a smile but everything faded away when 3 angry faces glared at him, and he decided not to meddle with them.

“Relax guys. It is us that matters not this silly cake. With or without his name, it still is his birthday cake. And like you said Chetan, this looks more tasty. And Sanjay stop calling him Chootu. We are all adults not. How would he feel if tomorrow you call him chootu in front of his girlfriend?” said Janvi

Chetan could not stop blushing. The farm house was about 100km from the city. The city in which they all spent their childhood. The city in which they were educated. It all started from their school days. Chetan was the shortest of them all and hence named chootu, initially to tease and make fun of him and later on… well it became his pet name. Janvi was the only sensible, sensitive person in the group. It was during these days that they had decided that they would spend a couple of days each year at this farm house. The location was very good. It was peaceful. There was a lake nearby where they could swim, and go boating. And it would be a good break from the busy, hectic and tensed city life. And this time they had a reason to celebrate.

Jatin was not upset when he saw the cake. He was in fact happy with the cake. And so at 12 they lit the candles. Janvi was always against blowing out candles. “light represents life. It should always be on. Blowing it off according to me is taking out life from someone”, she always said. They usually listened to Janvi. But this time they were not in total control of their mind. Alcohol too had a say and jatin blew off the candles. Chetan could sense disappointment in janvi s face.

“I am sorry Janvi. I could not resist this time. Here… you have the first piece of cake....” said jatin taking a piece of cake towards her. But when the cake was about to touch her lips he said “ Sorry jaan, the cake looks toooo tasty. Guys everything but this cake is yours.” And swallowed the chunk of cake that was supposed to be for janvi.

Before they realized what was going on, Jatin was on the floor fighting for breath, face turning blue. And before they rushed him to the village s government, Jatin was no more.