Just a Thank You Post

I was always a typical backbencher right from my childhood days. Throughout my entire life I always shied away from extracurricular activities. Well, particularly those competitions for which we required to perform on stage, were really nightmare for me. Oh! I seriously suffered from stage phobia. But the school authority was strict enough and on few occasions, guys like us couldn’t have avoided and had to participate in some of the competitions. I remember those tensed expression of my friends, whenever the results were being declared. Sometimes, even few of my backbencher friends also became little anxious and someone usually used to ask "Why you are taking tension? Anyway you are not going to win any prize" Even though they might have felt little bad, but usually they used to smile and the tension immediately used to disappear from their faces.  But I just can’t deny one thing. Well, I always loved those consolation prizes. Those were some kind of sensitive moments for me whenever the consolations prizes were being declared, usually at the end. 

My stage phobia and the repulsive reflexes for any kind of competitions continued beyond my school days. When I joined Engineering College I was so happy to meet all different kind of backbenchers. Life was so cool that time and unlike school days, college authorities never forced us to take part in competitions. Those days, I was only fascinated by Old Monk and many other friends used to share their friendship with 8 PM, as well. During school days I was so active. Our school was at a distance of about 10 KM from our house and I used to go by riding my bicycle. After returning from school, I used to play cricket/football in the nearby playground. Later in evening, I used to go for tuition and after dinner even used to study for a couple of hours. After joining Engineering College my life started to revolve in a circular loop “Sleep -> Old Monk -> Gossip” But no regrets, it was damn fun and definitely those were the best days of my life.

I’ve been blogging since more than a year and life is quite different after I entered into the blogging world. I like to thank everyone for reading my posts. I get immense pleasure whenever I see any comment on my blog. Well, those comments always inspired me to write new posts. It feels good and sometimes I even take a little pride, as I feel myself as a writer (sigh). I also had the opportunity to make so many new friends. I still remember my first Leibster award way back in January this year. Later, I received few more Leibsters and some Versatile awards as well. Whenever I received any such award, I always tried to bookmark the link and like a lazy man, I used to think that someday I would write about it. Seriously, I never got so many awards in my entire school life and what to say about my college days?

Well, it’s too late, but as people say "better late than never" This post is especially dedicated to all those awesome bloggers who like my blog so much and awarded me with Leibsters and Versatiles. Just want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart and I just hope I haven't missed any of the names!

Deepak Kripal, The Original Poetry

Meera, A Rat's Nibble

Soborowsky, Author's Thought – SLS Oborowsky

Preethi, A BIT OF THIS AND THAT

Sreesha, Petrichor and Clouds

Farzad Minoo Damania, Career Nurturer

guspazha, guspazhachinar (It seems the blog doesn't exist now)

A Novel Idea, A Novel Idea

Kranti Maheshwari, An Enlightening Thought

Diana Pinto, Diana's Musings

Garima Nag, Sweet Sharing

Shanknaad, Shankhnaad

Eli, Expatliv - In Exotic India

Preethi, Tulips and Me

Stallion, The Daily Life

Shwetabh Mathur, Memories

Karan Sampat, The K-Factor

Shilpa Jadhav, Being Mommee

Imli, The Tamarind

Well, it’s a pod like fruit and is used very extensively in cuisines across the world. Oh! I love those tamarind chutnies and pickle so much. Out here in India, people usually know it by the name Imli. Tamarinds are generally very sour and when people put it inside their mouth, their face grimace from the sour taste. When ripe, it tastes unusually sweet as well. The sweet and sour taste of Imli can mesmerize anyone, especially people who are addicted to sour things. It looks so damn tempting whenever someone uncovers it by removing the protected shell, especially when it’s totally ripe. Some people find it so attractive that they feel like eating plenty of them, but as soon as they put the first piece inside their mouth, it horribly stimulates almost all the organs. One piece of Imli is capable enough to make our teeth extremely sensitive towards every possible eatables for the next couple of days, especially those hard stuffs which we have to crunch. But whenever people look at any ripe Imli, particularly in it's half nude state inside the pod, they get very much tempted. 

Now, Imli got a very special significance in Bollywood since a long time. As a child, I was very much influenced by the true Imli knowledge. Last weekend after lunch, I simply browsed through the TV channels. I stopped at an 80’s Bollywood movie and enjoyed a relaxing moment for a while. After sometime, one typical scene appeared. Well, the daughter in law showed some extra interest in having Imli and in no time I understood that's actually a happy moment for the family. During my childhood days, I was such an expert in those kind of Bollywood facts, that I couldn’t stop my mouth and always used to showcase my talents. While sharing my knowledge, I never bothered about the kind of guests and quite often my parents had to feel the embarrassment. I still remember that on few occasions, my Mom didn't even allow me to watch TV along with some of the guests. Well, the Imli theory doesn't always bring happiness and particularly when the concerned lady is an unmarried one. In that case, her obsession towards Imli could be very vulgar and parents wouldn’t hesitate to change the channel in front of the kids.

I remember one incident when I was in my 6th standard. We went for a family picnic at the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra, along with several other families. Most of the kids were very much interested about the big tamarind tree nearby. We could see a plenty of attractive looking pod-like fruits hanging all over the tree. Few of the girls simply went crazy and they even tried many desperate attempts by throwing stones at the goodies. I and few of my friends were older enough and already started to feel the North Pole - South Pole attraction. We thought that was a great opportunity to show our talent and immediately climbed up the tree. Oh! as a child I just loved to climb trees, but also as I climbed higher and higher, my heartbeats used to accelerate as well. That was a big damn tamarind tree and we plucked hell lot of pods. Later, people enjoyed those fresh tamarinds with salt and green chilies. It was so tempting and also the smell was simply magical, but I was so much influenced with the great Bollywood Imli story that I didn’t dare to taste it. 

Time passed by and several years later when my wife Anjali gave me that good news, I was so much happy. But I was also little confused, as I never noticed her eating Imli. One day, as I was about to go to the market, I asked her "Should I bring some Imli for you?"

She replied "What will I do with Imli?"

I said "I think you would feel better if you have Imli"

"Are you mad? Go and come back soon"

Well, Anjali had craving for so many things those days, like Ice cream, fish, etc. But I really missed those Imli. I remember one day when she was kind of determined to have Ilish fish(Hilsa). We went to a fish market but couldn’t find any Ilish there and then we visited a different market. That was a tough day and even after few hours of extensive search, we couldn’t find even a single piece of Ilish fish anywhere. Later we went to a well known mall where they still sell wide varieties of fish. But, what the hell? We didn’t get it there as well. Anjali was so upset that moment and she even discussed about the tragedy with few of the customer care executive out there. They politely apologized for the unavailability of Ilish fish and said that the supply was inadequate for the last few weeks. They took her number and said they would call her as soon as the very next Ilish supply comes. After a few days, they actually called her and Anjali prepared the typical and yummy Ilish fish recipe with mustard, that day.  

I Love Guests

I very well remember how I used to get excited whenever any guest visited us, during my childhood days. Well technically, those were the days when landline phones were the only mode of communication. But majority of the people couldn’t afford such kind of luxury, as the call rates almost touched the sky. I think I was in my 8th standard when my father installed the landline phone for the very first time in our house. So, with very limited options available, guest usually used to visit without any prior intimation. Now, some people might wonder “What if there’s no one in the house and all of a sudden guest arrive?” Well, we have encountered such situations many times and those minor issues were easily sorted out. Wow! It was so much fun whenever cousins of our similar age group visited us. But, guests used to come only for few days and their departure was so much painful. For some special guests, I tried my best so that they could have stayed for few more days. I remember how I played an effective trick, when those special guests used to say “Sorry dear, we can’t stay more and tomorrow we will have to leave” Well, just before an hour of their departure, I used to put most of their cloths inside a bucket filled with water. As simple as that and the guest had to stay for another day. Well, I played that trick quite a few times.

Like many other things, my strong affection for guests, is also very convincingly inherited by our little angel Jia. She feels so happy whenever our door bell uses to ring and on every such occasion, she’s extremely delighted. Be it our maid or any delivery guy or any neighbor, she likes to play with each and every person who use to visit our house. Her excitement level is at peak whenever any of our close friends visit us and she loves to play with them till late midnight. About a couple of months ago, Edwin and Apee visited us and Jia loves them so much, particularly Edwin. That evening we ordered some food from outside. As we prepared ourselves to have our dinner, all of a sudden we heard something out of Jia’s mouth. Well, she was saying “Forty, Forty” in her own cute and sweet voice. She was also holding a piece of paper with her hand. It was actually the bill of those stuffs we ordered. Apee was little surprised and she immediately took the bill from her hand and had a look at it. Apee started to scream out of excitement "Aree! How could she recognize 40? She is not even 2 years old"

We asked "What happened?"

Apee showed the bill to us and said “Look here, its written 40 out here”

Actually, out of the few food items which we had ordered, price of one of the item was 40 and it was clearly mentioned in the bill. Apee’s excitement continued further and she praised Jia "Wow! Jia is such an intelligent baby" According to my knowledge, Jia could say one to ten continuously. Even though I had a little doubt about the 40 thing, but still I felt very proud that moment. After few minutes, I smelled something. Well, the smell was quite different from those yummy food in front of us. I immediately checked Jia’s pampers from her back side. Oh! She had done potty and it took us a while to understand the mystery. Well, forty and potty sounds so similar and especially from Jia’s mouth.  That moment, everyone had a good laugh.                         

                                                                  One recent video of Jia talking

The Insusceptible

Everyone looks so happy and people are talking to each other in groups. It’s such a luxurious hotel and also so close to the beach. Well, Goa always fascinate tourists and people at the balcony could hear the soothing sea sounds. Dr Surekha Gupta is talking to some Europeans at the moment. Well, she’s a very renowned Indian scientist and a couple of years ago, she was hired by the world's largest Ayurvedic medicine & food manufacturing company. Presently she is working as the head of their R&D unit. She is also quite well known in abroad and even though the western world still doesn't believe much in the power of Ayurveda, but Dr Surekha always tries her best to spread her Ayurvedic knowledge world across. The world’s biggest conference on medicines and organic food products went very well. Most of the world's top companies in the concerned sector, participated in the two days conference. Aha! they have chosen such an exotic location for the conference and the participants must be wondering if it could have continued for few more days. But tomorrow morning everyone will just leave after their breakfast.

Most of them already had their dinner and they are now simply gossiping and enjoying their drink. I wonder if those are organic drinks? But the way people are talking, it doesn't seems like that. Some of the guest wants to go to the beach, but Dr. Surekha is very tired and asks them to carry on. She then goes inside her room and prepares for some sleep. It's already midnight and the breeze is so magnificent. These guys are enjoying some wonderful time out there at the beach. All of a sudden they hear some unusual kind of sound and they could also see a small ball of fire up above the sky and in no time it touches the sea. It's no longer visible now, perhaps it went deep inside the sea. The guys are simply wondering and starring each other’s faces.

Someone asks "What the hell was that?"

Another guy replies "Might be a falling star"

"Falling star, are you nuts?"

They gossip for few more minutes and it’s already started to get little chill and they decide to go inside the hotel. 

After her shower, Dr Surekha is ready to go to sleep and switched off the lights. The big window is open and she's loving the cool breezes and the relaxing sea sounds. All of a sudden she hears something. Well, she could also see some sparks of light near the window. The sound and the sparks are becoming more horrific and Dr. Surekha immediately jumps out of her bed and screams “What the hell is that?” She’s about to go outside her room and then suddenly she notices something on the wall. It seems someone is projecting something on the wall and she reads “Please don’t panic Dr. Surekha, we are not here to harm you. We just came to know every details about your innovative immune product. It seems your product is the best immunity product the world has ever produced. We want to know about the ingredients, formula and the detailed manufacturing procedure of it"

Dr. Surekha totally loses her mind and simply asks "What is this? Who are U guys? Why I can’t see you people"

Again she hears some kind of un-tuned radio noise and also notices a glitter. It seems someone is trying to communicate with her. She thinks "Could it be ghosts or spirits? That’s crap, I shouldn’t think in that angle"

Again she's reading some texts on the wall "Dr. Surekha, we really don’t have much time to explain much. We don’t know how you will react and really don’t want to panic you. Believe it or not, but we came all the way from future, from the year 2093. The chemical food and medicines have taken over the entire world out there. The immune system of human beings is deteriorating day by day and particularly for children, the situation is much more pathetic. More than 50% of the kids couldn’t survive beyond 10 years. Well, it starts with simple cough and cold and then it gets chronic. Within a few years they start to suffer from severe asthma, pneumonia, anemia, tuberculosis, bronchiolitis and cancer, as well. We are on a mission to take the exact formula and about all the ingredient details of your Chyawanprash and our scientists would try to reproduce it."

Dr. Surekha is totally speechless and simply asks "But how I can give it to you guys? It’s in my laptop"

Again she reads some projections on the wall "Just keep your laptop on the bed"

She does exactly the same and immediately notices a bright light flashing on her bed. She reads yet another text on the wall "Thanks a lot Dr. Surekha, we’re done and we will have to leave now. We wish you a great life and take care"

Just like a thunder and with those typical cosmic sounds, something moved like a flash through the window. Dr Surekha is simply looking outside and could see a blurred vision of the sea. All of a sudden she notices a bright ball of light at the surface of the sea and it’s moving upwards now. Within no time, it already moved up in the sky and looks like a star now. She's continuously starring at that mysterious thing and in a few seconds it completely lost to her view. Dr Surekha is in a state of shock and is thinking "Was it a dream? No, it can’t be simply a dream. I just hope the future of our kids, I mean the future kids, OMG! 2093! was that damn incident real? Whatever, I just wish for their healthy and secure future"

Image courtesy: google images



This post is written for Indiblogger’s "An Immune India" contest, in association with Dabur Chyawanprash. But unfortunately couldn't submit my entry before the closing time.

Dabur Chyawanprash helps us in fighting against germs, viruses and helps protect against infections, making us free to take on the outdoors, unhygienic surroundings, weather changes, pollution etc.  It is prepared according to ancient Ayurvedic recipes. It includes 49 components, including gold and silver, herbs, honey, amla, pearls, minerals, fruits, etc. Since the immune system of children is still developing, they have much lower immunity and hence are more vulnerable to falling ill, as compared to adults. Chyawanprash, If used consistently, normalizes metabolic processes in the body, enhances immunity and improves digestion.

                                      Since ancient times, it is called the balm of immortality in India.

                                  

Ssshhhh... It's Her !

Initially when I arrived in Bangalore to start a career, I stayed at a hostel in J. P. Nagar 6th phase. Life was pretty hard for me that time. The food was so much expensive and I had to plan a bit in order to have managed my breakfast, lunch and dinner. That time I just wished if I could have stayed at an independent house, so that we could have cooked our own food. But, "Uff Ye Bangalore!" One need to pay 10 months rent in advance in the name of security deposit to rent a house. After a couple of months, few more of my close friends decided to come to Bangalore. Well, the market was slowly recovering from the recession phase that time. 

Mukha already arrived and stayed with me for a couple of days at the hostel. Dhiru and Lami were about to come within next few days. Mukha had some friends in Bangalore and somehow he had information about a house and the landlord was ready for merely 2 months advance as security deposit. Without wasting anytime we both went to have a look at the house and immediately booked it by paying some token amount. But there was a minor problem though. The landlord seemed to be very strict and he clearly said to us that maximum 3 guys could have stayed in his house. Well, we were 4 of us and I believed that to be a very minor issue, as the landlord used to stay quite far from there and I thought to sort it out later. It was a one BHK house at a place named R. T. Nagar, in northern part of Bangalore. It’s a fascinating place and the ill effects of IT were not pretty much visible out there those days. Prices of most of the things were much reasonable and particularly chicken, as compared to other main parts of Bangalore. I still remember how we used to have chicken on a regular basis, as the cost of vegetables seemed to almost the same or in fact, could have been a little more.

Life was much better after we shifted to that house and also our tummies/tongue were kind of  satisfied. We had such a great opportunity of reunion of old buddies and really enjoyed some good time. On few occasions our landlord thrilled us with his surprise visits and on every such occasion, Lami used to hide himself inside the washroom. Actually Lami never existed for the landlord and the remaining guys had to submit our Photo IDs to him. I remember one incident when Lami had to remain locked in the washroom for almost an hour. On that particular day, the landlord seemed to be under some kind of serious Fevicol(Well known adhesive brand) effect, as he remain attached to that chair for so long. We simply wondered "What if he would have wanted to use the washroom?" Time passed by and after about a month we made some good friends nearby. They were also "Bekaar" jobless engineers like us and looked for opportunities. They also used to stay in a group and Particularly, Kamal and Debo became quite close to us. Sometimes we used to enjoy lunch/dinner together and not to mention about our love and respect for the Old Monk.

Their house was at a market kind of place, just beside the busy street. One afternoon after lunch, we visited them and were enjoying a cool and relaxing gossip session. Everyone was on the bed and seated close by. The room was alive with those careless talks and laughter. All of a sudden there was a BANG on the main door. What the hell was that? It almost felt that as if someone wanted to break the door. There was complete silence inside the room, as if someone pressed the mute button. One rough and tough looking, and quite daring kind of middle aged lady entered the house. She didn’t talk to anyone and came inside the house. We started to stare at each other’s faces out of confusion and after sometime I heard the sound of washroom flush. The lady closed the washroom door with another BANG. No one in the house dared to talk to her and she left the house through the main door like a storm, with yet another BANG. 

I was kind of shocked and asked "Who the hell was she?"

Kamal replied "Ssshhhh... wait. Did she left?"

After a while the room came alive yet again with their laughter and they revealed the mystery. Actually the lady and her husband had a chips stall just below their house on the main street. They used to come in the afternoon and used to prepare/sell chips till 9 PM. About 6 months ago, the chips couple came to them and asked for a small help. It seemed the lady had some form of sugar problem and asked them if she could have used their washroom sometimes? It started that time and somehow became a part and parcel of their daily life. My poor friends didn't even used to lock the main door from inside, as the lady was pretty much unpredictable and could have BANGED the door any moment. They got habituated with those abrupt blasts at their door, daily on an average 4-5 times. On every such occasion, their mute button worked perfectly fine inside the house and someone would usually whisper "Ssshhhh... It's Her !"

Via Pune

Shrini is waiting at the airport along with one of his colleagues, Mr. Sushil. Well, they both work for a software company in Bangalore and are about to fly to Mumbai to attend some client meeting. As Shrini is from technical team and Sushil is from the business team, they doesn't know each other quite well and interacted  only on few occasions. It's been an hour they checked in and their flight is already delayed by couple of hours. The monsoon is in its extreme form and it seems rain God is much more interested in Mumbai this time. Functioning of most of the flights to Mumbai have been affected.  It’s quite irritating to wait like that and on top of that, all of a sudden the airline authorities is making a bizarre kind of announcement now. Oh! shit, what the hell? Due to bad weather their flight will land at Pune airport instead of Mumbai. They haven't clarified anything about the accommodation of the passengers yet and only announced about the departure from Pune to Mumbai, the next morning.  Shrini looks terribly confused and is starring at Sushil. But why Sushil looks so happy? In fact he’s smiling at the moment. 

Shrini asks Sushil "Should we ask our Travel Desk guys to cancel our tickets and book a different one?"

Sushil replies with a smile "It’s OK dude. Actually the announcement came as a blessing for me. Well, I’m from Pune and my parents stay out there along with my sister. Our house is also quite near to the airport and we can stay the night out there and can fly to Mumbai tomorrow morning"

It seems Shrini doesn't know what to say, also he doesn't have any other option either and says "That would be cool and I hope your parents wouldn’t mind our surprise visit?"

Sushil replies "What are you saying dude? Everyone will just love to meet you"

They reached Pune by 7:50 PM. It’s raining cats and dogs out here. Sushil’s house is just few minutes drive from the airport. Wow! They got such an wonderful house. Sushil’s parents look so happy to meet his son. His father is a retired army officer and looks like a true gentleman. They are enjoying a wonderful gossip and Sushil’s mom serves them very yummy and tempting "garmagaram pakodas", along with hot cups of tea. Sushil’s only sister Shruti, is doing her PHD in Micro Biology and it seems, Shruti’s friend Anindita is also staying with them since almost a year. Well, they both are very close friends since their college days and Anindita is also doing her PHD in the same subject. Both the girls went to attend some function at their institute and will return home only by 11 PM. Sushil wants to have dinner together and he's very eager to meet his childhood friend in their neighborhood. Shrini wants to have some rest and Sushil’s  father takes him to the guestroom and asks him to rest out there. After changing his cloths, he's now simply sitting on the bed. He’s little uncomfortable in an unknown house and is looking all around the room. His eyes pauses at a nearby wardrobe which is half open. He could see some books and goes nearby to have a closer look at them. Wow! She’s got a good collection of novels. He could also see a photo album and it seems, he’s more interested in it now. As he opens the album, the first random photograph he looks, started to accelerate his heartbeats a little. He’s losing his mind and it’s saying loud and clear "She looks like Anni, his school mate since their nursery days" He could also remember her real name, Anindita Chatterjee.

Shrini is very curious now and is looking at other photographs inquisitively. She looks so different from her childhood days. Is she really Anni? And then, he finds his own school day photographs on the album, including a couple of his single photos as well, taken at their final school picnic day. Instantly Shrini is losing all his control and the goose bumps started to erupt all over his body. His heart seems to be little heavier and even his eyes started to get kind of moist. Some of his school day images flashing randomly deep inside his mind. He could also see Anni’s childhood photographs and is really excited about how she would react once she enters the house, possibly in another hour. He's extremely happy, but very confused. One question is disturbing him a lot, why the hell she kept his photographs on her album and that too in a serial order? It's been so long, almost 10 to 12 years and they didn't have any sort of contact after they left school. Also he couldn’t find any of his guy schoolmate’s photographs out there on the album.

Shrini could recollect his school day memories and especially about Anni.  Well, she used to be a cute looking girl and had limited interaction with the guys. He could remember how his friends used to tease him about Anni. Many believed that Anni had a soft corner for him, but then there was nothing official about that. Shrini could also remember one picnic incident where her friends pulled her legs, while they were enjoying their meals along with some mouth watering fish curry. They teased her as "Dear Anni, you should forget fish and start to eat Sambar, as in future you would have to eat sambar regularly"

Well, Shrini’s actual name is Srinivasa Narayanaswamy and unlike him, both his parents used to be typical South Indian. All of a sudden Shrini could hear some sound at the main door and he's puts the album back inside the wardrobe. Well, the girls already arrived and Shrini could hear Sushil’s voice, as he's calling and asking him to come to the hall. Shrini goes to the hall and could see the ladies. As Sushil introduces him to his sister Shruti, Anni is terribly confused and continues to stare at him. Now Shruti is introducing him to Anindita. Shrini says "You look quite similar to one of my school mate and her name is also Anindita, but we used to call her Anni" 

Anni's mouth is wide open and she starts to scream "OMG!" she covers her mouth with both her hands. She is trying hard to hide her excitement and after a while she says "Shrini, it’s you. Never thought we would meet again. So how you doing?"

Shruti is also very excited and comments "Wow!  So you are Shrini. What a pleasant surprise. I have heard so much about you from Anindita, right from my college days"

Shrini is feeling little shy at the moment, but he’s extremely delighted to know that even Shruti also knows about him. Well, they chatted for some time and then had their dinner. After dinner, Sushil went to sleep and Shrini, Shruti and Anni continued to gossip. After about an hour Shruti also went to sleep. But Shrini and Anni continued to chat and in fact, they gossiped the entire night. They really cherished their school day memories that night and then early morning after breakfast, Shrini and Sushil left for the airport.

Few days later, after returning to Bangalore, Shrini starts to call Anni quite regularly and use to talk for hours. He thinks about Anni all the time and also likes to chat with her during the office hours as well. Sometimes, when she doesn't reply to his texts for a long time, he becomes little anxious and kind of depress. He wants to be somehow connected with Anni all the time, but sometimes also feel little shy about his frequent phone calls. Well, Shrini have no idea what's going on inside Anni's head? He feels little embarrass about it sometimes and even though it's quite painful for him, but he doesn't call her for a couple of days on such occasions. But then after few days of silence, Shrini usually receives a call from Anni and  she would say "What's up Shrini? You didn't call since so many days" After talking for few minutes, Anni usually use to interrupt and say "Shrini, now you please call me back. My balance is very low and I haven't received this month's stipend yet"

Shrini even use to visit Pune almost every month and whenever Anni asks him about the purpose of his visit, he always say that it’s official. They came quite close to each other and it seems they even understand each other very well. They both enjoy each other's company so much. Even though, they have a very friendly kind of relation, but Shrini considers her much more than a friend. Anni is such a beautiful looking girl and Shrini is so shy and confused. He thinks that Anni consider him only as a good friend and nothing more than that.

But then, one evening Shrini takes her to a mesmerizing candle light dinner. It’s such a romantic place and the calm and melodious violin music at the background is making the environment so charmingly pleasant. Anni is feeling little uncomfortable and asks "Shrini, what kind of place is this?"

After a few sips of wine, Shrini puts a tiny gift-wrapped box on the table. He’s little nervous and says to her "Well Anni, I don’t know how to say? I also don’t know how you would react? I want to gift you something"

Anni is very curious and approaches her hand towards the box. As she touches the box, Shrini holds her arm soft and calmly. Anni looks into his face and they both are starring at each other’s eyes. Anni asks "What happened Shrini? You sound so different tonight"

Shrini replies "Accept this gift only if.. Only if..."

"Only what Shrini?"

Shrini builds his confidence and says "I will be the happiest man on this planet, if I could be able to marry you"

Anni is going kind of crazy and says "What? What are you saying?"

Shrini replies "Yes Anni, I don’t know what to say? But I’m very much in love with you and want to stay with you for my entire life. Will you marry me?"

Anni calmly grasps the box and as soon as she opens it, she’s delighted to see a beautiful ring inside. She starts to laugh and what the hell? She is laughing much louder now, but unable to hide her emotions, as her eyes already filled with water. She holds his arm tightly and replies "I'm so happy to accept this gift from you Shrini"

Image courtesy: google images

This post is written for Indiblogger’s "Platinum Day of Love" contest, in association with Platinum Guild International.


                                            "Platinum, precious metal for those treasured moments"