Hate - A Short Story

The silence of the cold winter night was punctuated by her incessant sobs. She lay at my feet, at my mercy, like a lamb at the butcher's shop. I looked at her, she must have been twelve or thirteen, and her face was covered with blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. "Mujhe Chhod do Sahib"(leave me Sahib) she pleaded. Her innocent eyes stared into the depths of my conscience. My finger on the trigger hesitated. What was I doing? She was an innocent young girl, neither did I know who she was nor had she done me any harm. I lowered the gun and she started sobbing loudly. The distant chant of "Jai Bajrang Bali" and "Jai Shri Ram" was slowly growing louder. The Eastern sky was had a strange twilight from the burning huts.I looked at her and for a moment felt pity for her and for a fleeting moment was ashamed of myself but it was only for a moment. Suddenly images of my room-mates being butchered in cold blood, my girl friend being raped before my own eyes, my hostel being burnt flashed past my eyes. There we were at MG Road watching the procession when someone threw stones at it and all hell broke loose. In fifteen minutes from a model of religious harmony, Tumkur became a cauldron of hate. The girl looked at me and pleaded "Mujhe jaane do saab"(let me go).My eyes met her and we both knew immediately what the outcome of this encounter would be. She stopped crying for the very first time, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and squeezed the trigger, once,twice, thrice. She fell down silently but she wasn’t the only one I had murdered that day, I had murdered the last living trace of humanity left in me.Tumkur burnt in a furnace of hate and so did I.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee - A Legend

Hrishikesh Mukherjee , one of India’s greatest directors passed away on Sunday. He had been battling ill health for the past couple of months and breathed his last at Mumbai’s Lilavathi hospital. It is a great loss for millions of fans like me .Hrishi da has given Indian cinema some of its best films. He never succumbed to making films with vulgarity or crime. His movies were simplistic and explored human relations.
Chupke Chupke and Golmal are the most watchable films ever made. Hrishi da though was not limited to comedies. His Abhimaan was a movie way ahead of his times and very relevant in today’s DINKS (double income no kids ) generation. The entire country wept for Anand and , Guddi became India’s darling. He also produced one of the most heart rending movies , Sadma .The list is unending but no movie has made more impact than his Raj Kapoor starrer Anari .His bittersweet romances have made millions laugh and cry . Hrishi da you will be sorely missed.

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Pluto: An obituary

For years the ninth rock from the sun of had clung on bravely to the outer edges our solar system. The puny planet, which for decades has been confused with a cartoon dog, has been demoted to a “dwarf planet”. 2500 astronomers from 75 nations have decided that Pluto doesn’t match up to the other members of the solar family (who says size doesn’t matter). Pluto lovers across the world are greatly aggrieved but breathing fire are astrologers who ply their trade on the premise of the nine planet theory. This sudden change not only endangers their livelihood but also questions the basic tenets of astrology. Pluto named after the God of the Underworld has been on the brink for ages and is the latest celebrity to be red carded from the playing field. As the debate over this demotion rages on, the ninth rock from the sun keeps doing what it does best – being eccentric.

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