mystery solved(part 3 of the story)

Ullas had almost come to the conclusion that Neha was the culprit. His friend s uncle was an Inspector in police department. He approached his friend s uncle. When ullas narrated the day s incidents they decided to visit Neha and enquire.

At Neha s house…
Neha s house was locked. Now the suspicion grew. Ullas did not want to risk calling neha again. So police uncle made the call this time. Rough voice of Mr Police "hello. Is this Miss Neha?"

A soft voice came from the other end "yes neha speaking. Who is this?"

"I am from police department. I need to talk about your friend Rohan. I am at your house now. When will you be coming?"

"I do not want to speak about him. And I will not come there now."

"Miss Neha do not mess up with police department. You might find yourself in trouble."

"What do you want to talk about Rohan. Ask me now. I am not in town since last week and wont be coming for another week. So if you want to talk about him either wait for 1 week or talk now."

No need for further questioning realized both Ullas and the Inspector.

Inspector " Ullas, Rohan might be fine. I ll anyways take your complaint and see what I can do."

Disappointed that he was no where comparable to Sherlock Holmes Ullas went back home, and began to think again. Tanya s conversation came as a flash. "People can still make out the stain and the marks. …. I do not like red…"

Could it be Tanya ? How could it be? She was always calm. Even after their breakup Ullas and Tanya remained as friends. How could she have killed him.. Again he called up the inspector and let him know about his next suspect. Inspector told him that he would pay Tanya a visit and enquire

Just then Tanya called up. "Hi Ullas. I am sorry. Could not talk to you properly when you had called. I was arranging things at my new place"

"New place?"

"ya I didn't like this part of the city. No friends here. So I shifted to southern part of the city, with some of my friends. I had shifted last week itself but had not got time to settle things."

"oh ok." 'how could I ever compare myself to Mr. Holmes!!! I am pathetic' thought ullas.


He was in no mood to think about the other possible suspects. Rohan was one of his close friends and that day's incident was kind of a shock for him. He didn't know what to do now. Basically he didn't want to do anything. 'let me get drunk… again…' he thought. With in no time he had lost count of time. And of course he had lost his senses too. He was uttering nonsense, singing sad songs.

After some time (or lot of time…) he woke up (still not in his senses though).

"hey Ullas!! Man!! You are drunk again?"

"Hey rohan. Missed you man."

"hmmm. What made you get so drunk?"

"it was a sad day. You wont understand."

"believe me. My day was the worst. You cant beat mine."

"ya I know. Had totally forgotten about that incident…"

"You know about it? How? Who told you? None of our friends were there. Had you called her up?"

"Rohan you are asking too many questions. And I am not in the right state to answer them all. I know about the incident. Do not ask me to explain now."

"ok fine. even if I ask you wont be able to answer… I know that too"

"Rohan, where did it hit?"

"man!! How do you know? Well it hit me here" said rohan pointing at his heart.

"did it hurt?"
"I don't know…. It was all over within fraction of a second"

"2 shots…" said ullas.

"you know a hell lot about this. Yeah 2 shots" said rohan.

"ullas you have had enough. Go sleep now."

"ya. I better sleep now. wait a minute, I forgot to ask. Who did it? The 2 shots."

"I thought you would have figured it out by now, looking at the amount of information you have collected… it was my latest girl friend… or rather last girl friend."

"oh her… ya how could I have not thought of her… I thought it must be one you old girlfriends… ok so mystery solved. I ll sleep now"…..

Next day…. 'Mr. Holmes, I solve mysteries when I am drunk. Can you beat me??? How could Rohan s latest girl friend have missed my suspicion!!! Poor rohan. I told you she was dangerous, but you never listen to me' said Ullas to himself.

"how are you man? You were drunk."

" I am fine no…."

No he was not fine. there was something wrong. Either he must sill be drunk and imagining things or still sleeping and having a dream. How else could he see Rohan in front of him, and talking to him!!!

"why are you staring at me? Are you back to you senses of still lost somewhere?"

"Rohan!! You are alive??"

"of course I am. What s wrong with you? You spoke with me last night. Remember?"

"I thought you were dead…" and he narrated his last evening s adventure.

Rohan could do nothing but laugh…
"dude I was in a theater watching a movie, with her when you called. and as battery was low, my mobile got switched off. I told you that I would call later… but may be due to noise you could not hear me. And then we went for dinner… so got late.."

Ullas was slowly understanding now…
"but rohan, yesterday you were talking about 2 shots … and you said it was over with in fraction of seconds…"

" Oh that… that was my latest breakup… and about 2 shots… I don't want to talk about it…." Said Rohan rubbing his cheeks.

terrorism? here? no way...

'terrorism? here? no way... it is only in certain parts of the country'

do you really think so?

well. think again.

what exactly is terrorism?
what is the aim of terrorist?

'living under the threat of a bomb getting detonated at anytime, killing hundreds.'

'living under the threat that some hooded stranger from a far off land would come with an AK47 and open fire, without even thinking whether the victim is kid, man, woman or aged people'

are these real signs of terrorism?

may be...

but imagine this...
you are living in a neighborhood where you know everyone well. but... due to latest incidents you can no longer trust anyone... you view each one with suspicion. you think that every move might have some ill intention.

is not the latter one more disturbing?
i think this is really being under terrorism...
the lates incident of 2 suspects (students from professional colleges in hubli) being caught is really disturbing...

i see myself looking at everyone with suspection everytime i go to my hometown...

towards solution of the mystery(part 2 of the story)

One could clearly see the aftermath of ‘Sherlock holmes’ in ullas. His mind was racing now. He was now thinking about all possible things that could have happened to Rohan. He was sure that he had heard 2 bullets. He was not sure if rohan was the victim. But ‘rohan s mobile getting disconnected’ - being a co-incidence was too much for ullas to think, especially after reading Sherlock holmes. He waited for sometime hoping that Rohan would call back, but when he got no such calls, he came to the conclusion that his dear friend was the victim of the 2 bullets that he had heard.

Calming himself a bit ullas began to have a recap of the call. What else had he hear… he was sure of a female voice. But this clue was not sufficient even for Mr. Holmes thought he. Yes it was raining heavily, where ever Rohan was. But it was not raining here. And Rohan was in the same city. ‘There might be something in news about this locality where it rained heavily today. Time to listen to local news’ thought Ullas.

Tuning up the local channel Ullas waited for new about rain. And here it comes…. ‘northern part of the city had a surprise visitor today – Mr. Heavy Rain, causing the temperature to reduce a bit. Although there were traffic jams in few places, people were happy of his surprise visit……’

“yes!! So the incident took place in the northern part of the city. But Rohan had planned for a movie somewhere here… what made him go to the other end of the city? He might have gone to meet Suhash who is going to the US in some days, and probably this incident happened later” he guessed.

So he called up Suhash “hello suhash. How are you?”
“hi yaar. I am fine. Listen I am not in city now. Been traveling since yesterday, so battery is low. I shall call you back as soon as I reach home. Ok? Tell me if there s something urgent”
“oh ok. Nothing urgent. Carry on then. bye”

What else could have happened….

Just then it came as a flash of light. Ullas knew his friend Ronan too well. “one of his girl friends would have called him, and this fool would have gone. Or worst case he might have made a new one. I cannot elp in case of new GF. At this point let me assume that he had been to meet one of his old girl friends.as of I know there are 2 girls who live in northern part of city, both of whom were once upon a time Rohan s girl friends.”

Tanya…

“hi Tanya… ullas here…. How are you?”

“oh hi ullas I am fine how are you? Idiot, cant you do one thing as you are told to do? People can still make out the stain and the marks. Make it neat. Everything should be as before. I do not like red…. I am sorry Ullas. I am getting house cleaned. Have sent the whole day instructing these people but still they do not do as told. My full day wasted. I should have done everything myself. So how are you?”

“I am fine Tanya. It had been a very long time since we spoke. So I called. You must be busy. I ll call you later……”

So she s been at home all day. It cannot be her. Let me call Neha and ask.

“hi neha. Ullas here… how are you”
“fine”

It was clear that neha was not happy to hear ullas s voice. and it was also clear that she did not want to hear anything related to Rohan. her voice was alarming.

“why did you call up?”

Check mate thought ullas.

“nothing just wanted to ask if rohan had come…”

Before even he could finish his sentence she roared “don’t you ever mention his name to me. I have had enough of him. I will never see him again, nor will he... and if you mention his name again I will kill…”
Ullas could hear no more so he just hung up.

So even she had not seen Rohan… where could this idiot have gone…
Ullas-inspired by Mr. Holmes began to think as Holmes might have. But nothing came to his clever mind…

Now he weighed each and every word that he remembered Neha having spoken- “I will never see him again, nor will he...” what did she mean by this? “I will never see him again, nor will he be able to see anyone?” . “if you mention his name again I will kill…”. Did she mean to say “if you mention his name again I will kill you too… like I killed him…”’

Neha was very short tempered. She had beaten Rohan on the day of their breakup. And if not for Ullas it would have been worse. So this must be it. That fool rohan went to Neha, may be to patch up. But Neha lost her temper. Rohan might have said something, which prompted Neha to take the extreme step.


ps: to be continued...

getting influenced by a fictional character?(part 1 of the story)

Ullas was sitting on the beanbag, with a mug of coffee in one hand and his new Adventures of Sherlock Holmes book in the other. So much involved in the book he was that he had not realized that the coffee which he was supposed to have drunk was still in the mug. Boiling hot coffee was not ice cold. Not a single drop of coffee had touched his mouth.

Now ullas was finding it difficult to read. Reason? It was evening and sun could not be seen. He was playing hide and seek. And behind clouds is the best place to hide where he could be discovered only if clouds made way, and apparently clouds had not intension to unveil their naughty friend…

Only then did ullas realize that coffee had become cold coffee and his had was paining too. But he was determined to solve the mystery before Sherlock Holmes could. All he needed now was a substitute for sun. “switch on the lights you moron” said a voice from within him.

Lights… camera… action…

There is still some time for the real action to begin. And no need of camera no. so only lights on as of now…

“oh no it is almost 6 now and I was supposed to meet Rohan at 5 30. I ll tell him that I am not felling well. Now where s my mobile….. so he has already called me 5 times now. Hats off to you sir Sherlock Holmes. You got me so much involved that I could not even hear my mobile ring…”said ullas to himself.

‘tring tring… tring tring…’

“Hello rohan, ullas here….”

No answer. Only sound of rain in the back ground.

“rohan, you there?”

“you cheat!!! Your time is up. Say your prayers now.” came a female voice from the other end.

Then suddenly

“bang bang” 2 gun shots. And a painful cry “aaaaaaaaah……”
Then came a shrill loud laugh “haaa hhha woo hahahaha”

And the call got cut.

ullas s brain stopped giving signals for sometime. And then suddenly he realised what had just happened. He was not sure what to do. What could e do? Try calling again? thats the first thing that came to his mind. So again he called Rohan up. This time some other voice answered him “the mobile you are trying to reach is switched off. please try again later....”

ps: next part coming up in few days....

aisa bhi kabhi

abhilasha had just moved into #13 sukh villa. things were still scattered around. 2 of her colleagues who were staying there,were happy to finally get some stay with them to chat and of course to share the rent which was eating a lot of their salary... and what a day she chose to shift. next day was her birthday.

at midnight few more of her friends arrived with a cake and a bunch of candles....

a silent night it was until then. no other sound could be heard. the road was all deserted. the full-moon shining brightly.
the cake was cut, her face decorated with cream and cherry and some of the remaining part distributed amongst themselves...

suddenly akhil stood up. as if he saw a dragon flying by. he started looking around as searching something, something which was not there but he thought was there...
this sudden movement of his made everyone anxious. now he was the focus of every eyesight.

"what is it akhil" asked someone from the group...
without turning back he 'shusshed' at them....

suddenly pin-drop-silence....
howling of the street dog could be heard now (it is more on full-moon and new-moon s)...
more scared were they all now...

akhil was not himself now. the 'always cheerful, making fun of everyone' guy was suddenly demented...

leaving everyone behind akhil went into one of the bed rooms... and then came out of it, then abhilasha 's bed room and came out of it...
one more room left to visit. here he began to quiver. very hesitant to enter...

"akhil what s wrong. you dont look well. are you are shivering. and you had fever this morning. why did you get out of your bed?"

"shhhh. stay where you are. dont come near me."

this drained out the remaining amount of courage the other s had.

slowly akhil entered the last room. kruthi s room.

every second seemed to be a very long time...

then suddenly akhil came out of kruthi s room. he looked as if he was drained of all his strength. collapsed on the bean-bag
"water, water please"

abhilasha ran to him with a bottle of water and offered it to him.

"seriously akhil, you are burning. you need to rest. eat something and then i ll give you some tablets. you have very high temperature."

"kruthi, when did you shift to this place?"

"about 6 months ago. we have been here since them. why are you asking this now akhil?"

"how did you get to know about this place?"

"my uncle s friend stayed here"

"this place is not good. abhilasha, you have not unpacked your luggage na? shift everything out tomorrow. i sense something bad here"

abhilasha: "what are you talking about akhil? you are not well. your temperature is beyond 103. and you know you are not yourself when it goes this high."
akhil : "nothing s wrong with me. if there something wrong then it is with this place. i sense something evil here. some negative power. especially in your room kruthi
if i were you i would move at the first chance. there s something really wrong here"



kruthi: "i have been staying here for such a long time and nothing happened. abhilasha is right akhil. you are seeing things. you need rest."
akhil: "ya i am seeing things which you are not... but i am not seeing things which are not present"
kr : "what do you intend to say ?"
ak : "you guys might laugh at me. but i am very serious. i sense a spirit here. it was here when you cut the cake abhilasha. then went to bed... the ceiling fan of you room kruthi."

"what!!!"

ak : "yes. i guess the person staying here committed suicide by the ceiling fan in you you room... and she frequently visits there."

kruthi: "ya i know that. she was a good lady. do not know why she committed suicide. that s the reason why we are paying so less for this villa"
akhil : "you know what 'sukh villa' translates to in kannada ? it means no happiness' "

abhalisha was petrified now.
kruthi: "abhilasha i am sooo sorry. somehow this thing totally slipped from my mind. we have been staying here for so many months. it s all fine. you dont have to worry. and any ways that incident took place in the room where i stay
and dont tell me that you believe in all this nonsense."

abhilasha almost in tears...


kruthi: " abhilasha please say something. i though you do not believe all these..."

abhilasha hardly able to speak "not that i believe... but still you should have told me kruthi..."

total silence for some time

then suddenly a burst of laughter...

akhil "didnt i tell you kruthi, that abhilasha would be damn scared. you owe me a pizza now"



akhil: "it was all pre planned... kruthi told me that nothing could scare you... and i wanted to prove her wrong"

the very next moment akhil had cake all over him, drenched with coke he was...."


kruthi: "ok guys it bed time now.... good bye everyone. tomorrow is sunday so do not wake me up before 12"

next morning 9 am... akhil at the door, waiting for abhilasha to open it... door opens...

abhilasha: "i am ready... where are we going?"

akhil : "i have plans"
suddenly....
akhil : "abhilasha i sense something bad. somethings wrong here. i can feel it"

abhilasha : "stop it akhil you cant scare me with the same story again..."
akhil :"no i am serious this time. there is something wrong. something really strong. from kruthi s room"

abhilasha: "if you do not stop it, i ll kill you now. come lets leave"
akhil: "i am not joking. is she awake? kruthi?"
abhilasha: "no she had asked us not to disturb her till 12"
akhil: "wake her up. now!!"


no reply from the room

no reply

kruthi not answering calls....

the door breaks open...

kruthi in deep sleep.... so deep in sleep that she never came out of it.

enjoy life

day by day we are increasing the pace of our life. we never have time even to call up and say 'hi' to old friends.
life has reduced to 'travel to office- work- travel back- sleep'


in hospital.

"what do the reports say doc?"
"hmmm. "
"you dont have to hide anything doctor. just say it. each time i had a breakup my heart grew stronger. and i do not have the count of crushes/breakups i have had ;-) . so now my heart is strong enough. no stupid report of ours can break it or do it any harm. this i can voucher for. you can have 'vishvaas' in vishvaas"

"listen vishvaas, there have been lots of developments in the field of medicine. almost anything can be cured these days. of course some take time and patience and money too. treatments also depend on the way patient s body reacts to our medicines. there have been cases like your s. some have been cured and some not. and as you know it is always easy to mend a plant than a tree... we can start your treatment. we need your co-operation."

long silence.

"doc, be frank. what are the chances of the treatment being successful?"

"vishvaas, believe me if i could predict who survives and who wont, i would have been God and not doctor"

"but there certainly be some data atleast. please do not keep me in dark. and what treatment are you talking about? do i have to be admitted here?"

"yes. for sometime you need to be admitted. treatments are never painless. you knew me from such a long time. why did nt you tell me about this before. surely you would have got some indications."

"yes doc. but how was i supposed to know it would get so serious!!! will i survive the treatment??"

silence again.

"how much time do i have?"

"may be around 80 days"

silence

"around the world in 80 days" murmured vishvaas.

"what??"

"doc have you read around the world in 80 days?"

"vishvaas now stop calling me doc."

"ok Naina. have you read around the world in 80 days?"

Rishi enters.

R: "hi naina. what do the reports say? how s vishvaas?"
V: "man!! your wife has given me 80 days time"
R: "time for what? to start diet which you were planning for past few decades?"
V: "diet!!! what s wrong with you???. you know i have always wanted to travel like our hero does in 'around the world in 80 days. no fixed place to... just travel. have fun"
R: "what 80 days are you talking about. naina what do the reports say?"

naina almost in tears

V: "dude i have 80 days time. to pack my bag for an everlasting or ever-last journey"
N: " vishvaas dont say that. there still are chance of you being cured...."
V: "dont be emotional naina. this is not a movie where in heroin would run to the temple, dance for a devotional song and pray for me, and i suddenly get up from death bed. this is real life. and i would rather hunt death than staying here and waiting for death every moment"

V: "Rishi, Naina do you remember when we had just started earning we had a pact. that we would go on an outing atleast once in 2 months. then you both got married and happily forgot me and my pact. i too got too much involved in my work. never took any break. always wanted to be the best. 'best employee' 'best coder'. what crap!!!. it makes no sense now. i didnt marry whom i loved. of course i loved whom i married. but again work got in between us. we never had any proper picnic kind of thing. this stupid mobile always used to ring and divert my attention and she would get pissedoff... and then the kids. i never spent much time with them. i still remember my father teaching me how to ride bicycle. the number of times i fell, and patiently he 'the more you fall now the more perfect you become' each time i fell. i still remember how i felt when he bought me my first bi-cycle. he was always there to play badminton with me though i was pathetic. then his 2wheeler. he was afraid that i was not responsible enough to ride a 2 wheeler but still he taught me.... but me!!! i never knew when or how he learnt to ride bicycle and he knows to ride bike now!!! time has just slipped by. i have never spent much time with him"

V: "i have never spent time for myself for a long time. i do not remember which was the last novel i read. i do not remember when was the last time i laughed like the way we used to laugh when we were students. remember rishi the pj you made? only the two of us used to roll on the floor and laugh. i do not remember the last time i walked hand in hand with her on beach. i do not remember the last time i saw the sun set on a week day. i dont remember the last time i ever saw the sun rise. i do not remember where and when i lost the old fun loving vishvaas. now he has come back. and he ll live happily for the next few days he has. i hope that my wife and son ll be the 'young and energetic vishvaas'. he wants to live his life to the best in the next few days he has... he wants to hold her hand, and dance with her on her favorite tune.... there s alot he wants "

V: "i have met so many people. been friends with so many. but none other than you two whom i could count on.
. please do not keep me in this place naina. let me be a free traveler. do not bind me. let go of me. do not waste your time on me when you are sure that i have not much time. instead be with me for some time"

silence

V: "you know what!!! we can all go for a long trip for new year. what say? shall we renew the pact? we can go for 2 trips that way, before i go on my last one..."

worth it...

"hi!! wassup?? what plan for weekend? long time since we had a night-out at the same old place. i have called eveyone, we can all hangover as usual. what say?"

"sorry yaar. you should have informed me earlier. i am traveling this weekend"

"traveling? where to? onsite?"

"no. not onsite. i am traveling from one end of India to another"

"how come?"

"it s been long time since i met her man :-( . she wont be able to come here. so want to go meet her"

"oh ok. understandable. taking leave? "

"no. not left with any."

"are you crazy? you are going that far for just 2 days?? that too with a broken hand!! be careful"

"i ll be able to meet her for few hours only. but it s worth it. anything to make her smile. and i too and desperate to meet her. it s really worh the pain"