Index...

The following are as set of short stories I've written. Each story has a li'l twist at the end, mostly humorous & u'll definitely laugh after reading it. Try to guess it as u read the story. Some of them may sound real, but they are entirely imaginative ( atleast I havenot come across in my life ). Each story is written in a single go and unedited ( me being a lazy fellow ;) ). So, mistakes if any, are regretted ( kindly report them to me).

Stories are in reverse chronological order,i.e stacked up. pls read them in the reverse order, i.e, queue-FIFO- to avoid ambiguities & for more fun.

Please do write ur comments/suggestions, clicking on comments section at the end of the corresponding story. nJoY.. & "keep guessing the ending till the end." Till now around 100+ ppl hav read them & I asked them to rate one which they liked most. ( no.s in brackets indicate that )

Present ones:
1. Catch me ( the train ) if you can - 31
2. The Chat Girl - 22
3. Return of the Genie - 28
4. The Perfect Proof - 19
5. I wonder ( a small poem )

Future story releases planned:
6. Blessing in Disguise
7. Final Destination

--sd/- Arvind... aka.. AK43 ( Aravind Krishna - Rollno. 43 ;) )...

I wonder.......

"Variety is the spice of life". So, just for a change, a small poem instead of a story. ( but the trademark remains.. so keep guessing :) ). Hope u like it! Will comeback to stories, once the sem starts. Please write ur comments.

I wonder....
----------------

I wonder why...
   a child, looking pretty shy !
   should incessantly cry !!
   till her throat becomes dry !!!

I wonder what...
   makes a mild cat !
   run over a rough mat !!
   chasing after a wild rat !!!

I wonder when...
   a silent lion in the den !
   comes out roaring all of a sudden !!
   making the whole jungle bedridden !!!

I wonder how...
   a circus kid looking so callow !
   could hold tight a heavy arrow !!
   & aim it very straight and narrow !!!

Finally,
  I wonder how, when, what & why I wonder !
  The answer to all above wonders is "HUNGER" !!
  so..... have a Thums Up - Taste the Thunder :P !!!

sd/- AK43 ( njoying the last day of summer vacation :(( )

The Perfect Proof

It has been a long time since I posted. ( I had gone home for my summer vacation). I hope you found the first three stories interesting as well as the endings snap. Lets get into a bit of math with this story. Hope u nJoY this one too. Keep guessing & Pls do comment.

The Perfect Proof
---------------------

"........ there ends the proof..", concluded Mr.MuthuKrishnan, scribbling the last line of a pretty lengthy proof of an algebraic theorem on the black board.

It was the mathematics class on "Methods of Proof" at Springdales Intl. school, Hyderabad. MuthuKrishnan was a man in his mid 30s, a very enthusiastic, excited, ideal maths teacher. He was my favourite teacher ever, but I had never got a chance to impress him. I always sat in the last bench of the class chatting with friends or sleep during class hours, staying aloof from what was going on in the class. But, somehow this particular chapter aroused some interest in me.

Mr.Krishan spoke aloud, "Let me give you a simple yet powerful method to prove such theorems. First of all, memorize all the formulae in the list I have given. Now keeping in mind what you should be proving, proceed step-by-step by taking the expression on the L.H.S ( left hand side ) and applying appropriate formulae till you get the desired result."

"Excuse my sir!! What should we do if we are stuck at any step & can't move forward ??", asked the class topper Santosh curiously.

"Nice question! In that case, start afresh from a previous step & apply some other formulae to proceed. By practice you will be able to visualize & judge better as to what formula is apt at eacg step".

This particular discussion added to my interest & I felt the method described easy as well as reliable. I felt this is my chance to prove my mettle and impress Mr.Krishnan as well as my girl friend who was sitting in the very first bench, as she always does.

"Now take down an interesting problem as homework. It is a quite challenging one compared to the other problems we have done till now. The best solution will get a nice gift from me." This in turn tempted me. I ran back home, skipping the cricket match I had to participate that evening, took a quick shower and went on to our terrace with a few sheets of paper & the mathematics textbook.

Initially I memorized all the formulae given in the list given by the teacher & once I felt confident, started the proof. The question seemed pretty tricky and I was confused as to how to proceed. But, as the teacher suggested, I did trial-and-error and kept on trying, wasting several sheets of paper. I revised the formulae once again and started trying afresh, but in vain. This clearly highlighted my lack of problem solving ability as well as inexperience in devising such proofs. I became utterly disappointed with this, so I skipped my dinner and went to bed early. But I couldnot sleep at all, a slight bit of hope still lingering in my mind that I can get the proof.

I got up and prayed to God and decided that I would try one final time. I started yet again, but the same story continued. I was about to give up trying further, when suddenly I seemed to have got the result I was looking for. I couldn’t believe my eyes, but felt greatly excited seeing the result. I took a fresh page and noted the proof neatly, cross checking each step and laid back on my bed.

I waited the whole night for the sun to rise, thinking that this was the day I was waiting for. I thought, " two birds at a single shot ..., I can impress both the teacher as well as my girl friend by this." After my usual early morning routine, I got ready to go to school. I somehow didn’t understand any justification as to why I did each step, but the fact that I got the final result made me feel confident, so I neglected checking it again.

I entered the class & found all of my friends absorbed in a serious discussion scribbling something in their notebooks. I realized that no one has solved the problem. I sneaked a look at Santosh, to see him still trying the solution in his notebook. The discussions held up, as the teacher entered the classroom. After he took the attendance, he asked the class, “hello pupils. did any of you solve the home work problem??." Luckily for me, no one raised their hand. Confirming this and waiting for a few seconds I stood up feeling like a film hero.

"Oh!! No one except Hari seems to have solved it. Hari, could you please write the proof on the board & the gift goes to you if you are correct"

Walking from the last bench, I moved across to the black board amidst huge applause, like an Oscar winner being called on to the stage to receive the award. I could see my girl staring at me with a surprise, yet proud look & Santosh's face was astound. I reached the board, took a piece of chalk & started writing the proof from my notebook. I could hear discussions among my class mates after I scribbled each step. Mr.Krishnan was also carefully looking at it, scrutinizing each step for its correctness.

This went on for five minutes and finally I concluded with the final step, throwing the chalk out of the window with a sense of triumph. I turned back towards the class, only to see the entire class burst into a huge laughter. I felt very embarrassed & could not understand what went wrong until my teacher called me and showed me the final expression on the black board. There I realized my mistake.

It was the L.H.S. !!!!
...............
...............

I had derived the L.H.S back, starting from L.H.S :). I didnot realize this as I had got up in the middle of the night & started at some intermediate step.
I gave a wry smile & ran back to my seat.

(The proof was absolutely flawless, yet not correct, rather it was only a "Perfect Proof" :))

Return of the Genie...

Hope you found my first two stories interesting, as well as the endings snap. ( you can find the two at the bottom of this page.. ). The present one is more of fantasy compared to the first two. Hope you nJoY this one too. BTW, Keep guessing the ending.. :)

Return of the Genie..
-------------------------

"sir!! chai ..", shouted the peon putting a cup of tea on the desk with a thud.

"aawww!!!", got up Madhusudhanan, a middle-aged man from a good midday's sleep.

"Who asked you for chai ?? You foool ..", shouted Madhu at the poor
peon, took a sip & lied down back on the bench again with an anguish.

Madhu is a typical Indian government servant. He comes to the office
atleast an hour late, has 5-6 cups of tea per day, sleeps soundly for 4-5 hours & hardly works an hour or two. This has been his routine for the past 20 years, since he joined as a clerk in the accounts department at the TamilNadu GENCO office, Chennai. He has become very lazy that it started affecting even his personal life.

Madhu has a wife named Shyamala & two children, Divya and Kavya. His marital life was cool in the initial stages, but these days, he is being pestered by his wife daily. His two daughters have crossed their teen age and Madhu began planning for their marriage. He owns a small flat at T.Nagar & a land of about 5 acres in Perambadur, his native place. Things are not going according to plan for him these days, major reason being that his earnings are poor ( though he is taking bribes now and then ). This made him being tortured by the three ladies at home.

On a monday morning, Madhu got up from bed feeling dull & feverish.As soon as he came out out the bedroom, he was welcomed by the usual words of his wife to her maid, "See him. He sleeps happily at home & at office. I had to die the whole day answering everyone. Both the daughters are yet to get married. Yet, he feels pretty relaxed and enjoys life".

Already depressed and now feeling feverish, Madhu gets deeply gets hurt by her words and wanted to escape away from her. He decides to go the beach, sit peacefully and think a solution to this burgeoning problem. He skips his breakfast as well as office for that day, goes to the beach. Since it is morning time, he finds literally no one at the beach. He chooses a place near the surfs of the water and sits there to relax. He feels something hard under his feet.

He digs some mud away to find an ancient lamp. He picks it up & finds something written on it, but unable to see it clearly, rubs it with a small cloth. Suddenly smoke starts oozing out of it. He gets frightened and drops the lamp. All the smoke together forms a strange structure, with a face at the top. He can actually hear to it talking,

"Hello Master !!! This is Aladdin's Genie. After my master threw me into the ocean, I somehow got to this Chennai shore, but got stuck under the mud."

Madhu is yet in a shock & unable to believe what was happening. He screamed, "Please leave me alone. Iam already dying with my life. ( actually wife :) )"

"Dont get scared master. Iam grateful to you for your help. Iam returning back to my homeland Genieva, the great land of genies. But, before that I will fulfill your desires."

"Fulfill my desires ?? What are you talking about?"

"Yes master. Your wish is my command. You can ask me 3 wishes,not necessarily now alone. I promise you I will return to my land only after your wishes are fulfilled. But, master remember, I will exactly give you what all you desire, nothing more and nothing less either."

Madhu now recovered a bit & thought what the wishes could be. "Okay let me test it by first wishing one"

" Mr.Genie. Thank you for your concern. My first wish is that, I wanted to be in heaven, meaning the one I always hear about in stories, what they show in movies, with lord Indra and the dancers .... "

" Your wish is my command master. The next time you blink your eyes, you will be in heaven. Hope you'll call me soon with your second wish " disappeared the genie.

Madhu looked around to see the sea & the shore disappearing. Instead it looked like he was in the clouds. He was welcome by two gatekeepers in very strange attire. A cute lady received her from the other side. She was amazing & looked like some angel. She took him to a big hall & made him seated in a wonderful throne. A guy came to him & served some drink, but looking at it, he didnot even feel like tasting it. A bell rang & three beautiful ladies were brought into the hall & they started dancing to some strange unheard tunes.

It looked fine for sometime, but they werenot stopping. He turned towards the lady & asked her, " When do you serve lunch & when can I rest ?"

She answered looking surprised at him, " Master !! We dont have anything like lunch or dinner here. We live on that drink", she showed him the guy with the drinks, " Also, when you are in heaven you dont get sleep."

"What the hell ??", ( being in heaven :) ) exclaimed Madhu. "Is this heaven or hell ? No food & no rest !!! ", he started worrying what can happen to him if he continues. He decides not to waste his wishes, thinks carefully about his next wish. He takes the lamp from his pocket, rubs it again to call the genie.

The genie returns, " Thank you master for calling me very early. Please wish me your second one. "

Madhu replied," This heaven doesnot seem to suit me.I will describe you a place I wish to go & please take me there."

"Sure master ! Your wish is my command."

"I need a big palace on earth with all facilities whatever I can imagine I could. Also get my wife & two daughters, both married to two great princes."

"As you wish master...", disappeared the genie.

Madhu blinked his eyes to see himself along with his wife and children in beautiful dresses moving into a very big palace. It was a huge palace with long corridors & wonderful spacious rooms.

A man, 6ft tall also in good attire welcomed them into the palace. He accompanied them to have a look around of the entire place once. They felt it too tiring though. Finally he showed them their rest rooms. He laid down to have a good rest, but was soon disturbed by a maid. She said, " Master !! Its time for lunch "

He felt annoyed, but feeling hungry followed her to the dining hall. The lunch was too good for him to even imagine. He was served all kinds of soups, sweets and what not. After a long time, he felt his stomach full. The good thing is his wife also started praising him, " How lucky Iam to have such a wonderful husband as you ? "
He felt relieved of all the tensions lingering his mind for many days,
went to his room & fell asleep.

Things were cool for some days, though he felt restless sometimes as he had to control all the servants. Being a lazy fellow, he found moving around the palace itself to be hectic. But he was happy that his wife & children are not pestering him and so didnot find the need to call the genie back and ask a third wish. He was also planning to call the genie, thank him & send him back to Genieva.

But troubles didnot end as he thought. Though his wife & children enjoyed all the facilities, they were not happy these days. Madhu didnot understand what the problem might be. He overheard his wife speaking to her maid, "See him !! He is happy with all the facilities. But what about us, we feel bored the entire day looking at eachother's faces. No neighbours, no friends & no shopping. But, he is pretty happy ....."

Madhu's heart broke. He decided to call the genie, ask him for help.He took the lamp out of his pocket,rubbed it & the genied appeared, looking very happy.

"Master !! Thank you for relieving me. Please ask your final wish. Your wish is my command."

" Sure ! Listen carefully. I will describe you the characteristics of the place I want to be. Take me there"

"Yes master !! tell me"

"First of all, I should be away from my wife & children. I should be able to sleep happily without worrying about anything. I should have absoultely no work to do, that makes me restless. I can sacrifice even good food, if you take me to such a place."

"I got it master. The moment you open your eyes next time, you will be in the place you desire. Thank You master for relieving me. Hope you will lead a life you desire.", flew the genie to Genieva.

Madhu opened his eyes. There was no palace around, neither his wife and children. There was no lamp inside his pocket either. He looked around the place. It looked very familiar to him, but he couldnot recognize it at the first go. His eyes fell on a tea cup that made things clearer.

It was the Government Office !!!!!!!!!!!
( A nice logical ending to a day dream ... right !!!!! :) )

The Chat Girl .......

After a good response for my first story, " Catch me ( the train ) if you can ", following is yet another interesting one. Keep guessing the ending till the end :) !!!!


The Chat Girl !!!!!
----------------------

Mike is an intelligent, active young guy. He has always stood first in class since childhood. He plays the piano other than playing football, swims well, had always been an active participant in other extra curriculars. But,the only thing he lacks is he has no girl friends, to be precise, not even a single one till date. One reason is that Mike is shy when it comes to dealingwith girls. The other reason being that Mike hadn’t stayed at any single place for more than 2 years, since the time his father got promoted as an army captain when Mike was a 10 year old and left Texas. So, he doesn’t have good no. of boy friends even.

Bryan is the only one who has been accompanying Mike since his childhood whose father is also an army captain. Both of them have managed to get admission into the bachelors course of engineering at Univ. of New York. These days, even Bryan had been neglecting Mike (he got a new girl friend named Monika).

“Hey Bryan, how about going to the Rock show at southland park tonight? ", asked Mike.

“Sorry dude ! Iam going out for dinner with Monika tonight. Hey, shall I tell you something? Why don’t you too catch hold of a girl at our college and go on a date with her ? After all, you are smart at every damn thing ... "

Mike had not really worried about girls and kept himself busy always with one thing or the other. But, now since he is in his 20s and seeing all his other friends, he began thinking about when he actually had one. It was when he was at Texas, he had a couple of cute girl friends. Later, he didn’t understand what actually happened, now he has literally none. He felt that childhood was better.

He doesn’t want to get disturbed with these things and so he goes to the football ground to practice. But, unable to concentrate hard, he goes back home and decides to get a new girl friend some how. He decides to go to some chat room in yahoo and catch a girl. He opens his laptop, connects to yahoo and starts looking for some interesting room. One with the title "childhood memories" attracts him. After all, he felt that his childhood was much sweeter with lots of friends and sweet memories.

He starts looking for nice girls ... searching.. searching..when he finds one named Rachel. He starts a conversation with her.

Mike : Hi, this is Mike.
Rachel : Hi, Iam Rachel.
Mike : Given a choice. do you like to be a child or a grownup ?
Rachel : Of course a child. Childhood life is always
enjoying. We need not worry about anything other than play with friends, eat, play, sleep and sometimes study. :)
Mike : Ya.. u r right Rachel. I wish I were a child now. I always miss having a lotta frenz and spending time with them.
Rachel : So, u lack good frenz now??
Mike : Ya, exactly. Thats why Iam here.
Rachel : Dont worry. I will be ur new friend from today.
Mike : Ohh.. gr8. Thank you my dear friend.

........
........


Thus started their friendship. They began talking about the childhood days and Mike was amazed at Rachel's memory power. She could explain all the petty things done by her, as if it was done today. They began meeting in chat every day and spent at least an hour chatting. Mike was attracted towards Rachel and he was looking forward to meeting her. He told Bryan about this,

“hey Bryan !!! I got a new girl friend dude. Her name is Rachel. She's
amazing man, we spent a lotta time talking"

“Gr8 ! Where did you meet her?”

“In yahoo chat. Iam yet to see her personally ....." and explained
Bryan a few bits in their conversation.

" Ohh ! Don’t believe in chat rooms Mike. You don't know the actual
identity of the person on the other side. I doubt some naughty fellow might be doing this. These days AI has improved a lot, this Rachel might even be a bot..."

“No Bryan. Iam sure she must be a girl of around 20-25 years of age. "

“I’ll leave it to you then. But, please confirm it first "

A hint of doubt entered Mike's mind. He wanted to end this imbroglio somehow. He decided to meet Rachel in person now. He enters to chat and IMs Rachel.

Mike : Hi Rachel!! Iam desperately waiting to see you in person.
Rachel : Oh sure ! Even me.. Can you come to my home this sunday?
Mike : I'll love it.
Rachel : This is my house address.....


Mike couldn’t sleep well during nights through out the week, thinking about Rachel. He was in love with her, but wanted to confirm whether she is really an young girl or not.

Finally the D-day comes. Mike picks up his favorite dress, gets
into a nice attire and goes to the house the address of which Rachel
has mentioned. He knocks at the door, eagerly waiting for her to open the door. Finally the door gets opened and Mike feels relieved to see an young lady opening it. She looked amazing, with blonde curly hair and a cute face. But, Mike felt that she is not as younger a girl as he has dreamt of.

“Hi ! Is this Mike?", asks the lady.
“Hello .. ya, Iam Mike.. By the way, you're... ", he was about to ask her, when she goes inside and calls Mike to get inside & have a seat. She gets a coke from the fridge, pours it in a glass & gives it to Mike. He gets shocked to see a wedding ring to her finger. He's shocked to find that she is married. He feels that he can not get a good girl friend through out his life. But a slight hope lingers his mind that Rachel is someone else & hopefully this lady's sister or so.

To his relief the lady speaks out, “Rachel will be back in a few minutes Mike. Today being a sunday, she has been to her friend's house. "

“Huh !!! good God ", thought Mike.

He felt relieved & started talking to the woman. He was impressed by the fact that she knew very well about his life and his interests. Probably, Rachel should have told her about him. But, he was very curious to break this suspense of how actually this Rachel looks like, when the bell rang.

The lady opened the door & let a small girl of about 8 years of age to get in. This girl was very cute & resembled the lady. She looked like, coming from the playgroung after an exhaustive game or so. " Probably, this cute little one might be this lady's daughter. But, what about Rachel? Is she this lady's sister? & Is she more beautiful.. hopefully yes... " thought Mike.

" Hi sweet heart !! Go & have a quick shower.. Mike is here. "

" Ohh !! gr8 mom. I'll be back in no time ", she ran away upstairs.

Mike casually asked the lady " How many kids do u have ma'm? "

"Only my little Rachel, Mike !!! "

...........
...........

Catch me ( the train ) if you can ...

After reading Jeff Archer's "36 short stories" filled with gripping narration and his trademark snap endings.. here is a small attempt made by me to write one such story with it's inspiration.


Catch me (the train) if you can...
----------------------------------

I got up early in the morning, unable to sleep well the previous night, filled with thoughts about whether I will get into my dream company or not. I managed to get selected into the top 1000 in the prelims test and had to attend the an interview at Hyderabad the next day for getting into Microsoft. I got onto the terrace of our beautiful house at Tirupati, picked up the three little stones ( I keep them there always ) and started juggling. Somehow, I couldnot cross the usual number that I normally do. I got down and switched on the television.

I ran through all the channels and found nothing interesting, when I suddenly came across the daily horoscope at one channel and it was my sunsign, virgo's turn. The prediction was "Have an eye on the time, during journeys". I had my train scheduled to Hyd at 6:00 PM that evening, so I felt this worthy considering my usual last minute hasty attitude.

I spent the whole morning playing cricket with my friends, had a light lunch and went into a small nap. I was suddenly reminded of a watch my uncle had presented me the previous week. He works at Bell labs, Newyork and got me that beautiful watch from US as a token of encouragement for my achievement. Feeling gr8 about it, I got up from bed thinking that it is the right occasion to wear it for my interview. I picked it up from my personal almirah and filled with joy, looking at its black leathered strap, silver coloured dial when my eyes fell on the time. It was 5:00 already and it takes me atleast 20min to get to the railway station.

Considering the morning's prediction, I felt it would be better I started early. So, I called my mom, asked her to get my bag ready, took a little shower, prayed my favourite lord Ganesh to " please, please get me a job at Microsoft ". I took blessings from my grand parents, went out and called for the autorickshaw. When I was about to get into it, I realized that I had forgot the watch & so came running back to my room and strapped it on my wrist. I looked at the time and it was 5:20, so felt relaxed that I can make it to my train in time. It was a cloudy evening at Tirupati and seemed like there's gonna be a heavy rain tonight.

The Auto moved with a moderate speed, travelling through the narrow streets of the holy town. We crossed the serene temple street, Gandhi road and finally came to the busy bazaar street. It looked a lot busier than it usually does, with lots of people, the reason that it was "Gangamma Jatara" the next day. It is a festival special to my hometown and I felt a hint to sadness entering my heart as I had to miss it this year. I closed my eyes, prayed for the deity in my mind for success in the interview.

The auto was travelling lot slower now & with doubt as well as a bit of fear, I looked at my watch to find that the time is already 5:45. I was about a mile away from the station and today's horoscope added to my worries. I explained the autowallah my problem & he said it is better to get down and walk to the station through a nearby passage. He was an old man of about 60 years of age and bowing to his experience and considering the lack of time, I decided to do as he said. I paid him the full fare and started running through the passage he suggested me to go.

Then started the real trouble... it started raining heavily. I was drenched in the sudden drizzle, but had to rush through the waters as I had literally no time left. I looked at my watch, now with mounting tension and it was 5:55, the station is around 200m away. I remembered the words of Dr.C.Narayana Reddy, a telugu writer " Nuvvu ekkalanukunna bassu oka jeevita kalam missu "....

The fact that Indian trains are always late boosted my confidence. But the thing we donot realize is, so are most of the Indians :). Running.. running... I got into the station and looked at the announcements board. My train was scheduled to depart from platform no.3 and peeping through the window of a ticket counter, I found the train leaving from PF 3, so I rushed through the human traffic.

My mom had always advised me not to cross the rails at the stations and one should always take the route through the over bridge. But, finding my career at stake, I decided to take chance this time and apologized to my mom in my heart. The train started moving and I climbed onto the platform and started running towards it. To add to my misfortune, I stepped on a banana peel, slipped over the floor and fell down. I have always wondered how one gets hurt by stepping on banana peels ( had seen only in telugu movies ... ), but I myself had to experience it now. I thought " Why the hell should it happen now ?? :(( ?? " and had to see myself lying in a sorry state to see the train leave the station.

With my hopes shattered, I had a look at my watch and it's 6:05 .. I was thinking " Is this watch unlucky for me ??? ". But I finally decided ..." whatever the reason is .. let me not take any more chances and atleast go & catch a bus so that I can make it to the interview "

With a tired look and broken heart, I came out of the station, ( this time through the normal route on the over bridge ). I was looking for an auto & was welcomed by the same old autowallah with a sympathetic look... may be he came to know that I had missed the train. He consoled me about the same. I asked him to take me to the bus station ASAP and got into the auto.

Looking from the auto, accidentally my eyes fell upon the clock on top of the clock tower outside the railway station and I was shocked to see that the time was still 5:20. I stared at my watch and it was 6:20 in it. Out of the confusion, I realized my mistake with a huge sigh of relief ... " Bull Shit !!!! This is Newyork time in my watch ....huh.... " .....

My First Post - Things to follow...........

Basically I plan to build some interesting stuff like short stories, jokes, poems through this blog. Please apologize any grammatical mistakes or vocabulary errors ( as Iam from a semi-english medium background, from a small town Tirupati in A.P. ). Hopefully this blog will help me improve them...

"chanda mAma rAve.... jAbilli rAve..." antu amma cheti gorumuddalu,
chinnappudu chadivina "chandama kathalu",
vennello chandamama ni chustu kanna kalalu.......

veeTanniTi inspiration to.... starting to blog.

--sd/- AK43