Saurabh's Lounge

    "Wake up! It's sunrise." Someone screamed at me in the dawn. In deep slumber, I had no intention to wake up and face the demons of the haunted house again. Life literally plays hide and seek with me and somehow I have also started enjoying it. Tried a lot to speak out but as I elucidated in my previous post, counting my failures is not my cup of tea anymore because they are too many. Carrying miserable myself everywhere, knocking every door I can to seek refuge, but sometimes life, like the tongue can be betraying. From dawn to dusk, I do it all over again incessantly every single day. Watching all laugh at the fool called me is no surprise as I have started doing the same, I laugh at myself whenever I do something that doesn't seem to be of this world. Please me not The pleasing material I have become, like a puppet with strings held by multiple personalities out there. I try to find myself but all I see is darkness. Hiding, deep down I pray for this miser...

I was standing outside the Italian cafe, waiting eagerly. A few drops of sweat were prominent on the forehead. Probably the humid weather was to be blamed. It could have been curious as well. It had been almost five long years since I had met Ananya. I saw her standing at a distance on the other side of the road. She crossed the road to reach the cafe. A small tuft of hair accentuated the pretty look. Her flawless frame could turn many heads to see her.   She greeted me with a smile and apologized for the little delay. Out of the anxiety, I didn't bother about her being late. All I cared at that time was how I would be taking it forward. We took the corner table. I wanted to avoid the crowd at all costs. We were escorted by a very courteous waiter. He made us sit comfortably and left. A lot of silent looks were exchanged between me and Emma. A lot had changed in our lives since we had last met. She looked different physically. Age had turned her skin slightly dull...

 Abhinav stood still on remembering his life; last 10 years have been wonderful. Although somewhere something was missing. Lately, he had incurred losses to which he couldn’t hold somebody else accountable. Relationships with his peers, even his wife were deteriorating. Everywhere around him was tension that was building up every second he thought about the loss. Sitting in his cabin in his lavish office, he leaned forward. He started banging his forehead with his fists, a sign of worry. He wanted to put back the broken pieces of his life together anyhow for which he was willing to pay any price. As he leaned back reminiscing the happy times he spent with his family, a smile crossed his lips momentarily. He poured some water from the beautiful silver jug placed meticulously on one of the edges of the table. Silence was so eminent that he could hear even the slightest of the noise. He gave a small glance at the clock on the sidewall, the time was 1 AM. He realized...

Note: This part is in continuation. Please read first part, Why fear your own shadow? and second part, Dim Haze of Mystery , the third part Bringing Back The Broken Pieces Together , the fourth part Sometimes, you have to start from the beginning and the fifth part Silence must be heard before reading this part. "I want you to keep an eye on both of them, Jadhav." Shrikant rose from his chair. He started walking. This is getting out of my hands now! Jadhav interrupted between his thoughts, "Sir, I guess we should look at the evidences once again deeply. I am sure we would find some connection between the two." This irritated Shrikant even more. He had gone through all the evidences several times. "Alright, you may go ahead with that. But before that, let's discuss the case happenings from the beginning."  "Mohanlal was found dead in his bedroom." Shrikant spoke up. "The unusual thing we saw was that his daughter, A...

Note: This part is in continuation. Please read first part, Why fear your own shadow? and second part, Dim Haze of Mystery , the third part Bringing Back The Broken Pieces Together and the fourth part Sometimes, you have to start from the beginning before reading this part. Shrikant sat back on his sofa in deep contemplation. Ishaan was being interrogated at the headquarters; Jadhav was taking care of all. Shrikant was contemplating the sequence of events that took place since the beginning of this case. He wanted to know the one playing a ruse on him. First, it was Vivaan; he died of the car accident. Second, Mohanlal was found dead in his own home with his daughter relaxing in the lawn. The verse written on the mirror was a part of the screenplay she wrote during her college days. Then, the car got stolen. A thief sneaks in, breaks into the Almirah and steals Mohanlal's gun. Lastly, this guy, Ishaan comes into the picture. Now he will help us to solve this myste...

Note: This part is in continuation. Please read first part, Why fear your own shadow? and second part, Dim Haze of Mystery   and the third part Bringing Back The Broken Pieces Together before reading this part.   "What do you mean, ACP? I killed my father?" Aaliyah snorted. The sudden outburst of events had already taken a toll on her. Shrikant was unperturbed. He had seen many criminals like this before. He knew this one was a gimmick as well. For him the more innocent the criminal seems to be, more suspicion he had on him or her. This one was the similar one. "Is that not right that you studied literature and creative writing at the University of Manchester?" Shrikant asked as he gulped down the last sip of coffee. "Also, is that not right that you wrote a screenplay during the course of which this is the part?" He pointed her attention towards the verse written on the mirror in the picture: Neither a crony, nor the enemy But stil...

Note: This part is in continuation. Please read first part, Why fear your own shadow? and second part, Dim Haze of Mystery before reading this part. Shrikant laid back on his chair as he pondered over all the recent series of events. It was already eleven-thirty in the night. Jadhav was about to join him in few minutes. He poured himself some neat scotch, whatever it was, something is not right, something is not right at all. He was taken aback by a presentiment. He was looking for a missing link in the case. He heard the doorbell. He went on swiftly to open the door. His movement was so brusque that he pushed off the glass off the shelf. Jadhav entered the lobby of his home. "Come in, come in." Shrikant indicated him as he walked back into the kitchen. "Is everything all right, sir?"Jadhav re-confirmed. "Yeah, yeah, want some scotch?" Shrikant was belligerent. Jadhav sensed it. He hasn't seen the iron of a man melt like this sinc...

Note: This part is in continuation. Please read first part Why fear your own shadow? before reading this part. Vivaan's case, being a sensational one, was a top story in the news. It required the top cop to solve the mystery. That top cop could be no other than ACP Shrikant. ACP Shrikant had been in service for about ten years. He had solved toughest of the murder mysteries which were regarded as to be reached a dead end. Shrikant had sturdy, muscular built. He had been promoted in his early years to the position because of his swotting attitude and impressive track record. However, this case was not as simple as it seemed to be.  Come out of your cubbyhole, you moron.   ACP Shrikant sat on his chair analyzing the case. The cup of black coffee lay at one of the edges of the table since last about fifteen minutes. After reviewing the file, he banged it on the table. When this will be solved? I am tired of this all. All suspects are proved innocent. Who killed V...

The day started well with beautiful sun spreading its bright rays. Despite the hot sun, the weather was pleasant as it was marked by a zephyr in irregular intervals. Aaliyah was relaxing the sunlight in the lawn of her house. She was in her twenties. Aaliyah had a lean but curvaceous body with sharp facial features. She wore a maroon-white robe with gilded border that comfortably housed her lean frame. She sat there sipping the hot coffee she just prepared. It helped her soothe the sporadic headaches she was suffering since few hours. Vivaan, who was Aaliyah's fiance had been murdered a week back. The incident that gave sleepless nights to Aaliyah. She was also in the list of suspects as it was believed that she had tryst with some one the night before Vivaan was brutally killed, something which was completely denied by her. The ghastly incident took a toll on her mind. She could still remember how she saw the deceased Vivaan for the last time. Her father dissuaded her ...

Note: This post is continuation of the post Silence of the night.  It's advised to read that part before continuing reading this one. Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. All the characters in this story are the product of author's imagination and bear no resemblance with any person or thing living or dead. Any such resemblance is purely coincidental. It is usually said that where there is fear, there is somon who can smell that fear. The same thing was with Prashant Singh. The inspector was often called the mafia of the police department. A dedicated officer, he had joined the police force with two promises to himself. One , never let fear come in his way of doing his work. Two , never let fear out of the lives of the criminals he dealt with!With these two promises, he did a great job. While sitting at his desk, he was scouring to clear unused files and papers, he got hold of a photograph of a woman. The woman in the picture appeared chubby with ...

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. All the characters in this story are the product of author's imagination and bear no resemblance with any person or thing living or dead. Any such resemblance is purely coincidental. Tired of this fight Heart against the mind Till when I would bind? Losing in the silence of the night! One cold December night in the year 2014, the rain washed out the roads off the dust. The wind was chilling to the limit that the bones were brittle, the limbs shaky. Under the dark sky, a woman, in her early thirties was pacing down the deserted street. She was already late for home. The worst  part was that her car broke down in the middle of street as soon she left from office.  At the wee hours, it was difficult to find public transport as well. She passed several T-points and could find no sign of a person except a rare view of few cars. Maybe they are returning from late night parties or probably some wedding . She kept walk...

It had been four long years since Riya had slept calmly. After the death of Vikram, there was a lot of stress on her. To relax her nerves, she visited many psychiatrists, took many tranquilizers, but her condition was no better.   Her friends tried everything from music to her favorite movies, but to no avail. She always wanted to be isolated from all and sit alone for countless hours. During the entire night, she used to stay awake till late and talk to Vikram without hearing any reply. Seeing her deterioration, her childhood friend Malini decided to stay with her at her home.  Malini had a slender but nearly perfect physique. Standing at five feet six inches, she definitely was a head turner. With her near waist length straight black hair, she would make many men go crazy for her. When asked by many that why would anybody stay with an insane person like Riya at her place? "She is so depressed that she could kill herself!" Other sayings she would hear were that ...

Disclaimer : The characters, incidents etc. are a result of author's imagination and bear no resemblance with anyone living or dead. If such a case arises, then it is purely coincidental.   One day I will be free. The day will come soon. The words had swept across Manan's mind since his arrival in prison. Once loneliness was his enemy but with the passage of time, it was his only friend. Spending his time in prison, he never kept his mind free. His time was mostly spent planning an escapade or learning new things. Since his arrival till now, he had acquired the skills to speak five languages and gained strength physically through exercise. Initial days of prison were not at all tolerable. Eating stale food, having sleepless nights with nightmares haunting in the day time too was something that preoccupied his minds. "I am innocent. Leave me alone!" The shrieks ended in deaf ears and soon he found himself in a six by eight brick walled prison cell. The f...

This part is continued from previous post. You can read the post by clicking Lighting the darkness! Prashant Waghale was sipping coffee while scrolling the photographs when he received a call from Anup. He had asked Anup to check for the whereabouts of Kanika before she died. He was distracted by a lizard on the wall towards his right. It was trying to grasp a grasshopper. He silently watched the lizard approaching to its prey and feasting hungrily before he returned to his senses. Concentrate Prashant, concentrate! In front of him was a blue folder which housed meticulously placed autopsy report of Kanika.  He quickly scanned the report near the end neglecting the medical jargon. He read the following: AUTOPSY PROTOCOL NAME OF THE DESCENDENT: KANIKA RAI  CASE NO: P-F96J FINAL DIAGNOSIS: I.  HYOID BONE FRACTURE II. TOXICOLOGY (SEE  SEPARATE REPORT) III. BRAIN HEMORRAHGE (SEE SEPARATE REPORT)  CONCLUSION:  (CAUSE OF DEATH) ...

On a not so busy Saturday night, something inexplicable happened. The city populace was struggling its way to have some respite from the burning October heat but Prashant Waghale, was getting more heated up. The DIG was under deep burden of the files piling up in his cupboard as well as on his desk. The moment he was at the verge of solving a case, a new file swept its way from somewhere to keep his mind occupied or sometimes preoccupied. Do hell with this job! Do hell with these cases! Do HELL with these criminals! Prashant was cursing his fate under his breath that he was presented with a fresh new file. He raised his eyes to have a look at the handsome muscular figure standing erect near his table. "Now what we have to deal with?" He asked irritatingly. Anup Sawant was promoted to SSP recently after judging his ability to solve cases without a mark of worry on his face. He had been a friend and colleague to Prashant after they worked on a same case involving political a...

In our lives, there comes a point when we have to deal with someone we wish we wouldn't have met ever. I am no exception to this rule. In fact, I have come across many of such people. I will tell you my story of how I dealt with one of such situations. I was doing some work on my workstation in my office. Usually we keep air fresheners in case of an emergency of some pungent smell that might be a reason to burn our nostril hair. It happened accidentally that we need an air freshener in office as once it happened to be a smell of a dead mouse which literally gave me a feeling close to a person dying of choking when I sat on my chair. I have a colleague who has an obsession (I call it so) of wearing a garment he purchased till it is reduced to threads. This thing was okay for me till our seating arrangement was changed in the office. I was deliberately forced to sit with him as he was a member of our business development team. I used to shout, scream and do whatever I could ...