A VERY SIMPLE "AAM" STORY:-

Amar was happy for coming home after a long time. As he sat inside the
train, he bought a bottle of Frooti, his favourite drink. He was surprised to see
the old mango drink in bottle form. Earlier, he used to have it in a box container.
As the train started to move, Amar got immersed in a deep thought
of his good old days when he used to play cricket with his best
friend Ramesh and after they returned, his mother used to give
them Frooti, which they liked like anything.
Such was their friendship that they thought of opening a shop
together called “Frooti Shop” which would sell only frooti.
But destiny had something else for them. Their
‘FROOTful’ plan went for a toss the day Ramesh got selected in a reputed
college for his good results and Amar in not such a good one.
Their roads got different, friends got different and finally it took a toll on their
friendship. Within a year, a fight over a petty issue broke the frinedship
completely. A couple of years later, Ramesh went out of the country for
further studies and Amar found a job.
He was returning home after 3 years. He had stopped
drinking Frooti after his friendship broke. But he couldn’t resist  that day.
As the train entered a tunnel, he suddenly saw some objects flying
around him, trying to tell him something. Amar tried to
ignore the objects. But they insisted on telling their story. They
were “RAMGO” and “SHYAMGO”, best friends till
now, even after death! Surprising, isn’t it? This line was enough to make Amar
interested in their story.
“RAMGO” and “SHYAMGO”, best buddies, lived on a big tree.
Everyone talked about their friendship.  All mangoes used to love them. They
played and spend time together. They got drenched in
rain and enjoyed the light breeze under the moonlight. They also helped
each other with leaf-shades during sunny days
One day, Kabir bhaiyya came with a saw and broke their house.
They pleaded, cried so much, but all went in vain. RAMGO and
SHYAMGO got separated when they were loaded in baskets and taken away,
never to meet again. After a month, when SHYAMGO was taken near the
pulping machine, he saw RAMGO’s dead body, lying in the basket as he was
taken out to be thrown in the vat. SHYAMGO knew that his death neared too
and was going to be in the same position as his best friend.
SHYAMGO was dead, his body thrown in the same vat as his friend. They
met, but after their death.
However, their souls got united once their juice was put in the
same FROOTI bottle. They decided to narrate their story to the person who
would be drinking that bottle of FROOTI.
Amar’s eyes were filled with tears. He understood the true meaning of friendship and what it means to lose a friend, that too if it is the best friend.

Horror-ible POST

It was a dark and stormy night and unfortunately I was not alone at home. Infact, along with my father, mother and brother, there were a few relatives who had come to meet me after my exams were over with chocolates and sweets.

 Along with this, no doors were creaking, no unusual sounds, no blood drops, no unnatural shadows (except those present in the house and that too due to the candle light as the electricity was not present, probably due to the fact that the electricity board members have gone on an indefinite strike following no hike for the second consecutive year), no rain, nothing.....except for the fact that there was a huge storm as it happens in the month of April which in Bengali we call as 'Kalbaisakhi'.

 Ok I hope nobody is liking my story for the simple fact that there is no element of horror in it and some genuine spine chilling moments which should be present in a horror story. But let me ask you readers a question.....is it necessary that a door should creak or some shadow should be seen in a horror story?????

Fine if you really want some spine chilling moments...then read on....... the day was Friday the 13th (another necessary component for a horror story), when we all were sitting at home enjoying our coffee and mini samosa and suddenly the cups started to shake....and a small crack developed on the wall.....don't worry baba it was just due to the sudden earthquake happening in this part of the country measuring at 6.8 on Richter scale. The force was such that threw off my pant and shirt from the hanger and allowed the small crack to occur.

 "Forget the quake and concentrate only on your food"-was what instructed by my father, his eyes glowing white...................................again you shivered, don't worry it was not from the eyes, the glow was due to the candle light getting reflected thorough his spectacles and nothing else. I completed my food and quickly ran to light another candle as this one was already on the verge of  death. When I touched the candle, I found some blood on my hand……..........feeling afraid I quickly ran to aunty only to find that she was shivering tremendously.................ok ok you don't get afraid it was just that the candle was red, brand new and aunty had fever which she couldn't understand till now...............
 Well after all these spooky incidents, the electricity finally arrived after almost 6 hours when we were about to go to bed. The next day I woke up, I found myself changed...............................changed means a year change, as today was my birthday.....Ha Ha !!! .....................................................................................................................................................................…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Well this was what I did want to write after I was thrown out of the house by the 'OJHA' when I went there to scare them and take revenge for killing me years ago for a small reason.................................. taking two mini samosas from my master’s plate which I shouldn't have done as I was their (child) servant.

The Great Green Kolkata Autos

The whole story is based in Kolkata. So each and every character (though fictitious) and each and every incident (though purely not coincidental) is from the City of Joy.

About 2 years ago, there was a lot of fuss over change of autos from non-bio to bio mode. To make it simple, earlier the autos were 2 stroke which used petrol or diesel as per the machine make. If you read the earlier line, you will think that what’s the problem if a vehicle uses petrol or diesel? All the cars and buses run on the same food of theirs and there has never been a thought of changing them. Then why the hell for autos?!!

Actually the problem is not exactly with the fuel. It’s with the 2 stroke vs 4 stroke concept. A 2 stroke auto engine is lighter, cheaper and produces a significant power boost whereas a 4 stroke is heavier, expensive. But a 2 stroke produces a lot of pollution and has more wear and tear as compared to the 4 stroke ones. Well this was the problem throughout the country and that’s why some upfront states did this change long before it was done here and that’s why there was less pollution in other places when RED was present here. The use of ‘kata-tel’ found easily at a much cheaper price compared to other liquids found a place even in newspapers and its abundant use made the pollution even more grey and dusty with ppm measure given almost every day in newspapers and local TV news channels.

GREEN-ery found its place before GREEN had actually entered the city after 2 days of bandh, road blockade, and demonstrations. All blue – white autos were replaced by the yellow-green ones and atmosphere of the city found some unpolluted air to breathe for the first time in about 5 years. The petrol pumps had a CNG section where all the autos went to fill the gas which was quite cheap compared to petrol or diesel and gave good returns in terms of kilometer travelled per litre of gas and high end performance, reducing maintenance cost.

Still some autowallas found a way out to convert a 4 stroke into 2 stroke and use ‘kata-tel’ instead of environment friendly Compressed Natural Gas. However that was a rare case and it’s not heard in recent times.

Now lets get some picture of a travel in auto and the autowallas.

Legally there can be only 4 persons in an auto, 3 at back and max 1 in front and that too on the left hand side of the driver. Leave the case of a baby who can be taken on lap and doesn’t require a seat. In Hyderabad, I had seen 4 persons at back which is still acceptable as the risk involved is very less. But here you will find 3 persons in front, which means 4 persons including the driver, 2 on left and 1 on right. Invariably 1 person’s some part of the body will be hanging outside the auto with a risk of accident at any time. This means that a single auto carries a maximum of 6 people at a particular point of time with no one complaining and everybody accepting the fact whole heartedly and using it for a faster (not safer) travel (to any place in that case, not only workplace). I have noticed a place in this city where an auto won’t start until there are 3 people in front and if you try to explain, it will end up either in a fight or you being standing in the same queue waiting for another auto or at most travel the distance in a bus. The most startling thing about this section of autos is that one of their terminus has a traffic police station sort of a setup present.

The other common issue which many people face is with ‘changes’. Well I am not talking about the colour change in WB but the ‘change’ with respect to money. Suppose an auto travel costs Rs.6. Ninety percent autowallas demand the exact fare and they are unwilling to give a change even if you offer them a note of Rs. 10. Most of the drivers make it clear at the start of the journey that if you do not have the exact fare, then you may leave the auto and try some other means while some others do the same at the end of your journey with the auto. They give their own explanations, exchange words(sometimes cuss words) and create a ‘scene’ in front of so many people that ultimately you are the one who feels embarrassed and ashamed. Infact I have seen many people giving away their pennies to auto drivers but when it comes to bus conductors/collectors, they scream and howl when the collector wants Rs.4 as change instead of the Rs.10 note, suggesting that the collectors are bound to give changes.

The misbehavior of auto drivers are not only bound w.r.t ‘changes’ only. Picking up and depositing him/her at the required places are not done in proper way all the time. Misbehaviour may happen when a lady sits in front as the auto driver inherently raises his elbow while driving. Many a times some co-passengers try not to keep their hands on their own lap but down on the seat, creating disturbance for the female passenger(s).

Rash driving and passing through the gaps between 2 buses or trucks is a common and although an auto is very helpful during traffic jams, it is also true that the jam worsens because of their nature—‘trying to sneak through any possible gap’. Going through wrong lanes, through unknown bylanes during serious road conditions are some other add on features.

The festive times are what the drivers wait for. Be it durga puja or Bengali new year, the auto fares go up by a minimum of Rs.3 and sometimes they act as taxis and also rickshaws, going to rarest of places where they are not supposed to go on normal days as they are bound  by routes, auto unions and other external factors.

Having said all these, one thing about autos which you can ignore is their presence at the awkward of times. It is those times which remind us the fact that whether you like it or not, you cannot ignore it. It is a medium of transport which has absorbed a certain amount of population on roads, reducing the pressure on buses, making it a convenient way to travel various places.