Month: September 2021

THE AMBASSADOR

Posted on by Vijay Likhite
Reading Time: 5 minutes

AMBASSADOR

Satish was in high spirits when he received his letter for his first posting in Kenya as an Indian ambassador. He had passed out his Indian Foreign Services examination with a good ranking.

After getting down from an Air India plane in Nairobi, he was escorted to a nice bungalow in the posh area of the city. He was introduced to Jim, a stout young man who would look after him.

After dinner, Satish entered the bedroom. A well-appointed room was having all the facilities one would need. Tired after the long flight, he threw himself on the bed and within few minutes he was asleep.

At around 12:30 Satish was awakened by the barking of several dogs. He got up and drew the curtains of the window. He saw some 10-12 dogs barking relentlessly looking at the small procession of some 10-12 men carrying a coffin. But in the dim light on the street, Satish saw all the men in the procession, well dressed but without a head. He was frightened. All the marchers moving in unison appeared like dead bodies without a head. The procession passed by his window. When it went out of sight, the dogs stopped barking. Satish came back on the bed and tried to sleep. But the march was not going out of memory. After trying for some time, Satish could sleep. He got up late. The attendant was at his beck and call.

While having breakfast, he just casually asked the attendant, “Jim, did you see on the road any procession last  night?”

“No. I was fast asleep.”

“So many dogs started barking together which woke me up. And I saw some weird people carrying a coffin.”

“I did not hear anything from our staff also. May be sir, you saw a dream.”

Satish saw the attendant brushing off his experience. So he did not say anything further.

At 11 in the morning, Satish joined his duties. He was introduced to the staff and he got busy with important office matters.

Satish forgot about the dream. Days after weeks passed and quickly it was nearly a year that Satish was in Kenya.

One day he received a letter from Delhi, appreciating his work in Kenya and asking him to hand over his charge to the new Ambassador and taking charge of the embassy in Qatar.

In a couple of months, Satish was in the office of the Indian Embassy in Qatar,

He was given a well-furnished flat in a high rising building on the busiest street.

Satish found the flat was designed very well and the assistance for him in the flat was courteous.

After dinner, Satish threw himself on the bed and was asleep in few minutes.

At around 12:30 loud barking of dogs woke him up. He woke up and looked out of the window. A procession of 10-12 persons in Arab attire was carrying a coffin. Satish noticed that all those men were without a head. He remembered the procession in Kenya. He had goosebumps. After some time, the procession went out of sight. The dog’s barking mellowed out. Satish drew the curtains and got on the bed.

The next day, at breakfast, Satish enquired with the attendant about the procession last light. He denied having noticed anything like a procession carrying a coffin. Satish was shocked.

After breakfast, Satish went to his office, got involved in office matters and forgot about the incident in the night.

After a successful tenure in Qatar, Satish had to take charge of the embassy in Trinidad and Tobago.

Satish landed in Port of Spain and went straight to his allotted bungalow on  Embassy Street in the isolated area. A nice cozy house with well-furnished rooms, facing the dense forest. Satish was impressed. He made himself comfortable. After a nice spicy dinner, Satish took charge of the bedroom. Tired of traveling, he went off to sleep quickly.

At around midnight Satish was woken up by the sounds of cutting of a tree by an ax. He was surprised to notice someone doing such heavy work in those hours of the night. He opened the window. He found 2-3 persons cutting the full-grown tree with the ax. He was shocked to see them headless. Then one person picked up one large log of bark on his back and carrying it passed by very close to the window. Satish confirmed he was without a head. The person went behind his bungalow and dropped that piece of bark with a big thud. Satish noticed that all the people cutting the tree had left the site. Nobody was to be seen. Satish did not dare to go into the backyard and look for the big piece of wood which was dumped with a big noise. He closed the window and laid on the bed wondering why these headless persons were following him whichever part of the world he was posted. That too just for the first night of taking the charge of posting. But from the distant procession carrying a dead body, the site of their showing up was coming closer. In Trinidad, the headless person came close to his window. But nothing further. He was confused. Tired that he was, he slept sound and was woken up by the attendant when the sun was shining brightly. During the ten months of stay in Port of Spain, there was no trace of headless persons.

Satish had to shift to Paris as the Ambassador of India to France.

Satish was allotted a well-furnished, superbly decorated flat on the 30th floor. Satish remembered the first night the headless persons would make their presence felt. He wondered how would they appear here in this very crowded place. He took the key to the flat and proceeded towards the elevator. His luggage had already reached his flat. He pressed the button to call the elevator. The elevator reached and the door was automatically opened. Satish stepped in. The elevator man pressed the number 30 without Satish saying anything. Satish was surprised. He thought the liftman was informed about his stay by the reception personnel. On the 30th floor, the lift stopped with a tinkle to draw attention. Satish stepped out of the elevator and while coming out he looked at the liftman. Satish was horrified. The liftman was headless. Before he could react, the elevator door closed and it went down. Satish tried to call the elevator back to his floor but failed, Suddenly he heard a very big bang. The elevator had crashed. Some security personnel came and checked up on Satish’s safety. They heaved a sigh of relief to find him unhurt.

The next day the detailed news reached Satish. After the crash, no trace of anybody in the lift was discovered.

Satish was stunned and shocked. Nearly a year passed and he received an intimation of him being transferred to Mauritius.

When Satish landed in Port of Luis, the capital of Mauritius, there was a long queue for immigration. In the queue, just behind him, a person was trying to draw his attention. Satish looked at him. He handed over a small note to Satish. Satish took that in his hand and tried to read it. When he looked up to find something more, the person was going away hurriedly. Satish read the message.

“Dear Satish.

You may be wondering why a family of weird persons is following you everywhere you go. Read this carefully.

“A gang of a large number of persons in our country is trying to uproot one ideology. They are acting by killing wonderful persons from our embassies who do not follow their ideology. They have killed more than 25 intelligent and dedicated persons during the last 15-20 years. The matter is hushed up by taking advantage of being away from our country. Please take care of yourself. You may be on their list. We do not want any more headless people in our family. Beware.”

Satish folded the chit and put it in the pocket.

Satish noticed some person with a revolver aiming at him. He swiftly dodged the bullet and attacked the person who fired at him. Holding him with both hands, Satish handed over the culprit to the police.

After all the formalities, Satish went to his room in the allotted bungalow. He called the Delhi office and narrated the entire incident. Within an hour a personal security guard joined Satish.

Soon the gang behind the conspiracy was nabbed.

Satish did not face the warning alarms by the headless persons anymore.  

THE DREAM

Posted on by Vijay Likhite
Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

THE DREAM

I was in Delhi working for an MNC. One evening I met Amresh shopping in the market. We decided to have dinner together. After dinner, we started discussing various matters.

” Amresh, do you know? I can predict the death of a person?” I said.

“Come on. What nonsense! “ Amresh said.

“Really yaar. If I look in the eyes of the person, I can tell when he is going to die.” I said confidently.

“Okay. Look into my eyes and tell me about my death.”

“No jokes. Why should we try out this unholy power that I have got?”

“No, Satish. I want to know about my death. Look into my eyes and tell me when I am going to die.” Amresh.

“Okay, let me try”. I went closer to Amresh and stared at him. For 3-4 minutes I was looking into Amresh’s eyes. I was horrified. I wiped the sweat on my forehead.

“What happened Satish? Could you not see my death? Or am I immortal?” Amresh said laughing.

“No. no. I could not see your death in your eyes. I think I do not have that power anymore.” Saying this again I wiped my forehead.

“I knew you were bluffing. Satish, do not bluff on such serious matters.”

Now I was getting compelled to tell the truth. “Amresh, you are going to die just after we reach home,” I whispered.

“Oh my God! That is great. So your authenticity will be tested very soon.” said Amresh with boisterous laughter. “ Satish, you come with me to my house. So that you can arrange for my funeral quickly.”

I saw Amresh was terrified from within. He was scared to stay alone. He needed my company. I agreed to accompany him to his house.

We reached Amresh’s flat in Connaught Place. After entering his flat, Amresh made arrangements for two beds. He changed into a nightdress. All of a sudden I saw Amresh getting choked as if somebody was throttling him. I got horrified. I ran with a glass of water to him. But Amresh was getting strangulated and I could not bear the sight of his wiggling. He was trying to say something but in a couple of minutes, he was silent. Amresh had left this world. I was so much horrified that I drank two glasses of water wondering what to do further? Amresh’s dead body was lying in front of me. The police arrived and saw me sitting near the dead body. They did not need any more evidence. They started dragging me to the custody with handcuffed. I was trying to resist going with them shouting “No. I have not killed him. He was my very good friend.” But police paid no heeds to my cries. They took me to the police van.

And suddenly Bhaskar came into the room and tried waking me up. Maybe I was shouting aloud. I was awakened and I thanked God that it was just a dream.

I got freshened up and had breakfast. Bhaskar asked me why I was scared in the sleep. I told him my dream. Mentioned my power to tell the death of the person by just looking into his eyes. And our friend Amresh died in front of me despite my warning him.

Bhaskar said, “Such weird ideas can come only in dreams”.

“No.no. This is true in my case. I can tell your death by just looking into your eyes.” Satish told Bhaskar.

“Arey, just now I woke you up from a dream and you are saying you have the power to predict one’s death by just looking into his eyes,” Bhaskar said.

“It is okay if you don’t believe it. But I have got that power.” I said.

“Okay. Tell me when I am going to die.” Bhaskar.

“Let me see in your eyes,” I said and in a short time, I was staring into Bhaskar’s eyes. After 3-4 minutes of looking into his eyes, I started sweating. Bhaskar realized that I was terrified.

“Do not worry. If you can not know the death, nobody loses anything. Forget about it. But please, don’t fool anyone this way.”

“No, Bhaskar. I could see that you will die very soon, in few hours.” I told.

Bhaskar was shaken up. He wiped perspirations on his face. And all of a sudden, Bhaskar was getting strangulated. He was getting choked. I was also horrified. Bhaskar was trying to say something but his voice was getting muffled. The movement of his legs and hands stopped. And he was no more. Soon the police arrived and tried taking me along to the police station. I was pleading. “I have not done anything. We were good friends”. The police were firm and they were carrying me with them. I was shouting. But no one was ready to listen to me.”

Chandu entered the room. He found me screaming in my sleep.  He shook me to wake me up. I was awakened. When I realized that that was just a dream, I was relieved.

I got freshened up. I saw that Chandu was smiling at himself. I asked Chandu what made him laugh.

“You were kicking vehemently. You must have had really a horrible dream.”

I told him the dream.

Then he said,” What, looking into eyes and telling the death of the person. Absolutely good imagination.”

I could not bear this ridiculing the power which I had.

I dared Chandu that was a dream but I was sure of predicting death by looking into the eyes.

“Ok. Tell me my death.” Chandu looked at me.

I looked back and stared into his eyes. After 3-4 minutes I was terrified. I wiped my forehead. “You are going to die just now Chandu.” Before I could complete my sentence, Chandu was gasping for breath and in no time he was dead. Police arrived at the scene and started pulling me along with them. I was shouting but no one was paying attention. I was made to enter the van. I was throwing my hands and legs. 

And then only Dilip woke me up. Dilip  said, “looks like you had a bad dream.”

Satish, there is flash news. Our group members Amresh in Delhi, Bhaskar in Chennai, and Chandu in Kolkata were strangulated. All of them are dead.”

I was shocked to hear the news.

 

Petrichor

Posted on by Vijay Likhite
dust after rain Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

After a prolonged summer, the first shower of the season made the atmosphere cool. The petrichor filled the surroundings. Vanita was exhilarated with the aroma. She quickly came out into the garden of her small bungalow in Nashik. She wanted to get drenched in the first drizzle.  The rain God obliged and the drizzle continued for some more time. The passing cloud was large enough that even the strong breeze could not put a stop to the generous fall of the light water droplets.

Vanita was enjoying the episode. That evoked a plethora of emotions that dragged her into the period of college days 5 years back. 

That was the send-off party for the Engineering students who had passed out the Bachelor of Engineering. Vanita had reached the college a bit late. Many students had already gathered. While talking to her friends, her eyes were searching Satish. She had heard that he also had passed out with very good grades. But she wanted to meet him. Wanted to know his plans. And she spotted him. Quickly she approached him.

“Hi Satish! Congratulations.”

Satish was delighted to see her. “Thanks, Vanita. Congrats to you too.”

“Thanks Satish. What are your future plans? What are you going to do further?”

“I am going to do M.Tech from I.I.T. Tomorrow only I am going to fill in the form for GATE. I want to do post graduation in Robotics. What about you?”

“I have not finalized yet. But I also want to do post-graduation. I don’t think I.I.T. is within my reach. I will take admission in Mumbai University only.”

“Ay, come on. Why don’t you also appear for GATE? I am going to apply for GATE, tomorrow. Why don’t you join me? We both will go to I.I.T.”

Vanita remembered, they both applied for entrance test G.A.T.E. Both got admitted in I.I.T. Satish & Vanita got their preferred subjects, Satish got Robotics and Vanita got I.T. After their post-graduation, they both got placed in Mumbai in different companies.

Slowly their friendship, made them the first choice as their life partners.

Vanita analysed Satish’s behaviour. She found him ambitious, hard- working and compassionate too. Satish also wanted to check whether Vanita was fit as a life partner. He was impressed by her career-oriented behaviour, being cheerful and caring. He liked her hobbies of trekking, hiking etc. as he himself loved nature. After scrutinizing pros and cons, they agreed that they were appropriate for each other as life partners.

Got married and started happily their new life. The thick bond of love between the two souls was like bright moonlight spreading a web of affection.

A year passed merrily.

But slowly small disagreements started surfacing. A small spark started inflaming frequently. The behavioural qualities that were appreciated earlier had turned into the cause of resentment. A war of words was a regular occurrence.

Finally, Satish and Vanita reached a stage when they decided to consider the option of separating permanently. Divorce.

Vanita was perturbed. How could a person considered wonderful on many fronts just before a few months suddenly turn to be indignant on many occasions?

“ Probably, I have changed my outlook. I am focusing on the matters of dissonance. I have become more critical of where we discord.

Satish is still wonderful if I interact with him the same way when I had liked him. He has not changed at all. But we both have started emphasizing on the matters of our differences. We are overlooking the points on which we agree.

Adjustment. That is the key to happiness in every life. Also, the matters must not be blown out of proportion. We have to be flexible to accept the partner with the small little disagreements. We must not fall into the trap of ‘the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.’

How can two personalities with plethora of emotions, match cent percent with each other? A discord on one point is very likely to be followed by concurrence  on some other front. Each personality has to be mature enough to treat the disagreement with due importance.

 A painting with only matching colours turns out a bland outcome. A dash of contrasting colours makes it attractive, isn’t it?

Even the petrichor! The wonderful aroma comes after the first rain only after the earth gets baked in the summer, a very hot summer. If it would rain ceaselessly, keeping the environment cool and wet throughout, the petrichor would not get produced. 

That is nature. Some discord is essential to make the life lovable. But one has to learn to adjust. Some sort of give and take.” Vanita resolved and returned into the house. She decided to change herself. The word “adjustment” had got deeply embedded in her mind.

Satish returned home from the office. On finding Vanita completely wet, he exclaimed, “You were not supposed to go to office. How did you get wet?”

“Satish, the first rain of the season is always alluring me. The mesmerising petrichor. Whenever possible, I try to get drenched in the first rain of the season. I was at home and it rained, How could I miss the opportunity? I enjoyed the occasion.“

“That is nice. But when did it rain? I think it rained 3-4 hours ago. And you have not changed yet?”

“Satish, I got wet. It dragged me into introspecting myself.”

“Oh, that is great! What did you think over?”

“Satish, I realized that l in the last few months our points of disagreements have increased considerably. I feel we are getting irritated over each other more than being happy with each other. That should be stopped at the earliest.”

“How great! While looking at the first rains from the window, I was also enthralled. Due to the airconditioned office, I missed the enchanting  petrichor but I too got into analysing our behaviour during the last couple of months. Worried a bit, I had decided to sort out the matters with you once I get back home. And here you are! We will finish our dinner first, then we will mull over the situation.”

After dinner, both of them opened their books of behavioural accounts.

Started writing off the dues from each one. And at the end they found the balance sheet of their life leaning heavily towards a surplus. A big amount of credit balance.

At the beginning of dawn, they cuddled each other and got drenched in showers of love.