She circled around him ... once, twice and so on. They say seven such circles complete the quest for the life partner. But she didn't want that tonight.
Why would she leave him married now? Why would she do it when he couldn’t even sense her?
Another circle and she flew around … in a jest that was so like
Vishal tried to look around, eyes vague as ever. He did notice a movement. The curtains flew and the table lamp vibrated … the bed sheet appeared to flap its corners.
Is it the wind?
Vishal felt as if he was not alone in this room. For some reason, the room smelt as if
Has she come back … for once?
She teased him … gave his couch a gentle push. Vishal looked back … felt a movement, but didn’t find a grain of life. His body had developed a nagging ache … something that may have resulted from days of not eating, and his living off the bottle.
He got up … and hesitated to open the laptop lying on the table.
Why would he look at the last e-card
Was he paralyzed waist down?
Something alerted him … but not before he got this push again from behind. He got up … and tried to stand on his feet. She laughed again, this time louder than before.
Vishal sensed the longing for
Wasn’t he man enough to take that in his stride?
Poor men, she thought. They seem so strong yet are so weak from inside. Sensitive creations of God, she thought … but let him grieve. At times, the distance did bother her too. She was free to roam around. Still Vishal couldn’t romance her anymore.
The laptop was switched on. While it booted, Vishal could sense that the room had slowly been filled with a known smell … as if
Vishal signed on his internet, and opened his mailbox. In the last three days, there was a bunch of mail that piled up on his neatly maintained inbox. But
He didn’t want to then, but today he was longing to see her final message:
‘Sweetie, now you smell me right? Keep longing for me … and when you return to your bed tonight, feel me as much as you can. Watch out before I make my first attempt to visit your kitchen. Beware, naughty birthday boy! ... Mmmuuuuaaaah’
She did sign off … but she never got to enter his kitchen. The meal she had planned had passed away with her. He remained unfed … those candles were never lighted.
His hands reached for the glass. He poured a few drops of raw scotch into his dried throat. His eyes twitched … the face made that cryptic sign of gulping the rough, rugged drink on the rocks.
He looked back at the inbox. Somewhere on the top, there was another message with the subject – ‘get well soon, Vishy’. The sender was Anuja, his best buddy from work. He hadn’t noticed it earlier … and clicked to open it.
‘Dear, love is a journey that unfolds tragedy at every step … yet the passion remains’, she had put just a single line.
Vishal paused. He seemed to get a subtle hint from Anuja’s message.
Anuja expected him to understand her growing affection for him. He thought for a moment … his vision blurred. From behind the cupboard door panel, he could see a darker shadow move swiftly towards the window.
Before he could sense the movement, she erupted in a demonic laughter. This time, the sound echoed around all corners of the bedroom. The curtains shivered, the table lamp shook and the bed sheet seemed to fly away from the bed. Vishal sensed an eerie break in silence as he fumbled to close the mailbox and shut the laptop down.
Vishal clasped his hands, in an act urging forgiveness from
Within seconds, her spirit made one hurried circle around him. The room trembled as if there was a tremor … the glass window panes crackled.
And then it rushed out violently through the window.
Never to return again.
Click here to read The Impatient Soul - Part I
15 comments:
Okkkaaay... if there is no 'next part' then i am mighty dissapointed :(
the story seems incomplete..
ye bahot hi touching hai... so kaal fir se padhunga..... fir comment dunga...
(abhi to joke diya hai)
ooo..u made me so sad idlemind ...very touching ...its really very difficult to cope up when u lose sum1 so dear .. i completely ustd what vishal is going thru ...
i cant digest the spirit thing, its just not possible for me...
so i assume he might have been hallucinating, as u have already given the option as he was drinking and without food and sleep for quiet a long time..
the story was nice,, much better for someone who belives in spirits and such stuff
aaj dubara ye story padhi..
pehele first part padha, fir ye dusra part...
kahin ku6 atak chhut raha hai,
ku6 bhatak gaya hai aisa feel huwa end me.
there is something wrong in d end..
ku6 khatak sa raha hai mujhe..
aur tara ko bhi..
Frankly I liked the story, though I felt you ended up in a bit of a hurry.
I may be wrong in my interpretation, but the way I look at it is that a person cannot continue to live with unfulfilled dreams. New ones arrive and fill up a person's world of imagined presence of the past. Once they do, the imagined past flees.
Alternatively, it's possible that Tara loved him so much that even in death she wished him to be happy. She recedes to make room for the world to move on and make Vishal find new meanings in it.
Whichever way I look at it, I also feel that everything is happening in Vishal's mind alone.
DD
@ Chhaya - I know ... there's more that can be said. But this is where I end ... may be others won't.
@ CrAzYy...!;) - hahaha, joke ke baad story padhna mana hain kya?
@ vicious - thanks for reading though ... and yes, both souls were impatient here, that's what I wanted to portray.
@ Uncommon Sense - Whether one believes or not, reading doesn't make one do. So, in case you thought he was hallucinating, so be it.
@ CrAzYy...!;) - Yes, aisa hi lagta hain. Doosre ek ladki ka mail padhna ek immorality-sa dikhaya hain. But one may disagree, lekin mujhe to do dilon se khelna thaa ... pyar se, reality se nahin.
@ D.Dasgupta - thanks for your interpretation. The rush is probably because I didn't want to spend time in writing about the complex build-up of two minds. Their external actions is what I narrate, again the aim is to enjoy the love between a man and a genie.
i completely agree with mr dasgupta's first interpretation ..that the void in our lives is sooner or later filled up ...
but u have really made my heart heavy
@ vicious - relax my friend ... this was just a lighter look at love. May be I succeeded, may be not.
Good to see some friends rejected the idea, they may not like tampering with the 'idea' of love. Some others, like you, have taken this with a heavy heart.
Don't be too serious with this ... this was just a figment of my uncanny imagination.
hmmm.....
waise ek baat me jaruur kahunga..
is story ka teesra part jarur banaiye..
Very nice story and I have loved it. It is very touching episode and looking forward for more like these.. Thanks for sharing.. :)
How are you? Looking forward for a new one from you..
Goodness gracious me! This story has left me in a state of receiving goosebumps perpetually!
I can see that the spirit is not real, it was never meant to be. Vishal has been too involved, too committed to let go of Tara that easily. A loss that can never be recovered from. Deep within himself he knows he needs to move on, yet the strings of the past keep tugging at him. He wishes to break free, yet is weak to let go. Hope Anuja brings new perspective and new direction to his life.
My my.. I am thrilled, dumbstruck. And I am still having goosebumps!
-Vittal.
@ Its my life - thanks for visiting ... and I do hope to write more stories here, based on real life.
@ Vittaldas Prabhu - thanks my friend! I needed this ... and though many have criticized me hard, yet I find solace that I could make hearts impatient ... a little more after reading the story.
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