The Lieutenant Part 5: Shopping

The Lieutenant Part 1: Meetup at the beach

The Lieutenant: Part 2: She takes him home


The Lieutenant Part 3: At the Bar

The Lieutenant Part 4: Comics


Her phone was ringing, it was Monday, as hectic and maddening and hectic as it could get. It was Arvind, she was partly irritated, partly felt a nice tingling feeling in her tummy.

‘Whats it’

‘When do you get off today missy?’

‘I don’t kno, it’s gonna be late’

‘I’ll be at your place at 8:30’

‘What, why, didn’t you just hear me, I’m gonna be late, then I have to meet people, why do you have to be so difficult’

‘Cause that’s how I am, 8:30!!!’

‘I won’t be there’

‘I know!’

She felt more irritated than she already was.

She reached home at 11, there was a dinner meeting she had to attend. He was there outside her flat sitting in the stairs reading a book.

She half screamed at him ‘didn’t I tell you I wasn’t gonna be here till late, why don’t you just listen’

‘How do you manage to get irritated so easily, its really funny to see you get so worked up, though in a way it can be nice also, it used to really really turn me on…and hey I’m not complaining I got a chance to complete my book, so chill, but If I could come in I really do have something I need to talk to you about’

‘Oh ok, and yes do come in, please, where’s my hospitality!!! What’s the matter?’

‘Shopping’

‘Shopping?’


‘Two weeks ago you got Rahul new clothes, yesterday he again came back with a bag with a new t-shirt and water bottles’

‘Yes and it looked so nice on him, and the bottle really went well with his clothes’

‘Dudette I know you are really very excited about him, but he’s a kid, and kids get spoilt very easily, I’ve tried very hard to not let him go that way and I would really appreciate it if you could keep that in mind’

‘But he had a bad day at school’ she pleaded

Almost raising his voice ‘And retail therapy is not the answer, and while we are at it, he’s not a girl, he doesn’t need so many clothes nor to accessorize. God woman!!! I tell ya you still manage to drive me crazy’

‘Don’t you dare raise your voice to me, I will take him shopping as and when I feel like’ she retorted

‘And you will get a solid whacking from me if you do that’

She slapped him, hard and crisp ‘How dare you!!!’

‘You care to try that once more and check whether you’ll go over my knee or not’

Her eyes growled at him…a long tense pause ‘I’ll go make some coffee, you’ll have?’ She moved to the kitchen with that rhetorical question. ‘I should’ve said yes to you then only shouldn’t I’ She asked with her back to him as she lit the stove

‘Na I think that would have been as dumb as your previous moves’

She turned back surprised ‘But isn’t it what you wanted’

‘Yes, but not you, my loving you isn’t good enough, it’s a necessary but not a sufficient condition, you didn’t want me and that’s what counts’

‘I didn’t know what I wanted’

‘That’s a different problem and had a different answer I guess’

‘So you don’t hate me for pushing you away?’

‘You broke my heart, what do you think!!! But beyond that I never held a grudge against you, I knew you were confused and lost. Plus despite a kind of similarity in so many things we were temperamentally very different. I needed tons of attention and you weren’t the type, who could shower it. I could never read you or know how to treat you the way you needed to, I just know one type of treatment that is to treat a person royally, and you were just too full of contradictions for a simple guy like me.

But you know what hurt most…’

‘What?’

‘That you clandestinely pulled out of the relationship. One day we were deep into each other, then you disappeared and when you came back you weren’t the same again. A relationship requires a lot of communication to build trust. You didn’t add enough cement around the iron bars for the base to form and our relationship went from beautiful to messy

Anyways that was a long time back’

‘Do you still love me?’

‘Can I have my coffee or you wanna superboil it, cause it really seems done’

‘Oh shit’ she giggled

Ruining the Stars

The mystery of the cosmos and how it affects us is pretty intriguing. Even if it is true, how significant is their effect on us?

I did a little survey about two years ago trying to find out whether sun signs could be taken as an effective indicator for success or failure or relationships. Out of the hundred odd people who filled it, the trend was almost half split. 50% people had partners of compatible sun signs. The trend for 'dislikes' was also the same.



Reading further on the subject gave me possible explanations for the same. Firstly its not jst about your sun sign, you have a moon sign too, then within your sun-sign you have a rising planet. And if you go by the Chinese they believe the year you were born in also shapes your inherent personality. Numerology says that within a sun sign the exact date (summed up) gives an indicator of who you are. Limiting ourselves to just these factors lets see how the equation pans out.

You could be an

'Virgo' Sun Sign
have 'Mercury' as your rising planet
With a 'Taurus' moon sign
Born in the year of the 'Rabbit'
With A numerology of '4'

So you see even if the cosmos does affect us, it doesn't make it any simple for us to find our perfect one

But i hope while reading all this a question struck your mind...so does this mean our actions and behaviours are predefined?

Does that mean a Cancer guy and a Leo girl can never make a happy couple?

Like always I won't give an answer, leave you to find it yourself...but here's my take on it...if you really like a person and that person likes you back...i doubt the sun signs can get in your way...coz there's that thing we have...choice...and as much i believe in the power of the sun and the stars...i believe more in the power of choice

Can I take him home mama

Ok I am quite young, only 27, not married, don't even have a dog...but look at the kid below...he's a steal...i wish they'd let me adopt him

The Lieutenant Part 4: Comics

The Lieutenant Part 1: Meetup at the beach

The Lieutenant: Part 2: She takes him home


The Lieutenant Part 3: At the Bar

“You OWN ‘Comics’!!!!” she almost screamingly asked / accused him as they waited outside Rahul’s school to pick him up.

“Yes”

“That didn’t figure in your I do consulting, I teach at Harvard story”

“Naah, it was just a stupid little idea that turned out to be brilliant. Remember that rice guy the one who used to mail music. Well he really likes comics and one day sitting in a bar I thought all bars are so morose, we need some fantasy in here, we need some heroes, and so ‘Comics’ was born”



“Stupid idea? It’s the most brilliantly run Chain of Pubs, in three years it has gone on to become an international chain of stores with 130 locations across the world. It managed to get onto the cover of Times magazine and won 20 dozen prizes. Dammit half the world is using it as a case study in their MBA classes. Including me when I go to teach.”

“You would make for one hot teacher” he joked

“Shut up” she said her way of saying thanks to a compliment “But your name’s never figured. Everytime the name of that guy….shit!!! He is rice boy isn’t he”

Arvind grinned.“Yeah he’s the CEO, it was really him who built the whole business. I just built the organization. My official title there is ‘Head Janitor’”

“ ‘Head Janitor’!!!! like always you are full of surprises Arvind, like always”

“Think of it, its very simple. In a pub a customer’s experience is made by two things the barman and the janitor. Glasses break, drinks spill, the loos get dirty. Would you want to go to a pub with a dirty loo??? Now I could never fling a bottle in the air, catch it and make a drink also. I found a guy who juggles five bottles in the air and makes a drink. He’s got the flair for it, I made him the head barman, I preferred to be the Head Janitor, I can mop, and mop well. But more importantly in my organization nobody looks down upon the job of a janitor…and that’s how it is done…when the top of the organization can be found washing the dishes on a busy day and nobody finds anything odd about it. That’s how organizations are built.”

“I didn’t know that, most of the case studies that I’ve read have been on how innovative ‘Comics’ has been right from seating design, drinks, and my personal favorite, crispy fresh comics available at your table and for pub members you can put a demand for any comic you like and they’ll have it the next time you visit”

“Yes, we spend a lot on buying comics, like casinos throw away their cards, we gift away all comics that are not crisp and clean. But that’s all cock and bull stuff any other ass would have done just that if he wanted to run the pub successfully like all casinos do. It’s a no brainer. What people don’t know about is that in our organization we have no company policies, no rules, and no performance targets. And we have 100% employee engagement.”

“No what!!! How do you run a company with no rules, no targets? That’s crazy”

“No it isn’t. We hire people for their attitude and run the company on culture. A barman is a barman cause he likes to mix drinks. We don’t ask him how many hours he wants to work. He works till he enjoys mixing the drinks. The accountant working in the back office likes his worksheets. When it gets boring for him, he stops. When people start enjoying their work they just keep doing it better and better. It’s a very different world most people are not used to. In our organization you won’t last if you are a sloucher or you don’t like your work. You only last if you like what you are doing, and we make working here fun. There’s absolutely no pressure, there are no profit earnings to be met, and we are a private limited company.”

“Ok enough of the lecture now!!! Mr. showoff, why couldn’t you just buy yourself a decent car, why couldn’t you live in town why a house in Andheri, with the kind of money you must be making you could buy one in Malabar hills!!!”

“I could, but doesn’t mean I want to. I don’t need a fancy car, or a fancy house. Those were always your wants. I have Major and Lieutenant with me and a whole bunch of friends in Andheri. Plus we are five minutes away from Rahul’s hospital. That’s the whole point of being in Bombay anyways, that’s why I moved from Delhi to Bombay......Rahul...all the money from this pub thing goes into an NGO which funds under priviledged children. I make enough from Harvard and consulting for a good life."

The Lieutenant Part 3: At the Bar

The Lieutenant Part 1: Meetup at the beach

The Lieutenant: Part 2: She takes him home

“Is this seat taken mister?”

“What are you doing here, aren’t you supposed to be with Rahul”

“He’s gone to bed, I tucked him in, he told me where I’d find you, I hope you don’t bring him here” she said slinking into the bar stool next to him

“Naah, I told him he needs to be promoted to a Major before he starts drinking. How was it with him, you guys had fun?”

“Oooh he’s a delight, we played scrabble and then he played me songs on the guitar, your kid’s very brilliant Arvind, you are very lucky”

“Yeah I know, I know, brilliant he is; his brilliance is his gift and his curse”

“Curse?”

“Yeah he’s got a hyperactive brain, it secrets some chemicals, makes it keep working, when Rahul was little as baby he couldn’t sleep, we took him to the best doctors and they finally figured out what the problem was; he’s living the life on the edge of a blink Kiran, his medicine keeps his brain under check. It’s a very rare mutation so to say, only a hundred and twelve known cases so far, none grew up to be an adult. Every day that he breathes is miracle”



Tears welled up in her eyes “damn you” she said banging her fist into his shoulder “damn you”

“Yeah I know, I know.” He called out to the barman “Aby, get the lady a drink, a stiff one”

She had a sip of her drink “Who were his parents?”

“They were my students at Harvard, a lovely couple”

“Harvard!!! Students!!! did I lose you somewhere?” she asked astound

“Four and a half years ago on a train to Rishikesh this chap was sitting next to me, we got talking on philosophy and he got interested in what I had to say, so interested infact that he invited me to come to Harvard and tell the people there. I do a two month course at Harvard each year on business philosophy. It’s quite popular now.

“Raman and Archana were my students in the first year there. They were also the people who made me feel home in a strange country and became my best friends. Their 3 year old kid, Rahul, became my godson. I don’t think anybody who has ever met Rahul has not fallen in love with him. You should’ve seen him then, he was a pure bundle of joy. They died in a car crash the next year Rahul was four and half, I brought him home. But you know what; I thought I was going to be his dad till I got him home. Major never gave me that chance. Ever since Major saw the kid as he took the first steps he’s been by his side guarding over him, scolding him, pampering him. I was happily relegated to being his friend. Infact he’s so attached to the kid I had to talk to the principal to let Major go to school with him!!!”

“What!!! Really? Awwwww that’s so sweet”

“Yeah”

“And what about you, you never married?”

“I almost did, actually. That’s another funny story. On my plane to Harvard I was seated next to this charming young girl. We got talking; she gave me her number in US. She was doing her masters in movie direction there. I called her up we met, we clicked, everything looked all set.”

“Then?”

“Then her dad invited me home. They are bloody rich people and I mean bloody rich. Her pop told me, son I like you, you’re a nice kid to have as a son-in-law but a marriage is not just a mix of two people its also brings two families together. Stay a few days here and see if you feel you and your family will feel comfortable with us I’ll be happy to give my daughter’s hand to you. The old bugger was right everybody in their family was so rich man, it was like they lived in a different universe altogether. I didn’t want our marriage to alienate her from her family. We discussed this and went our ways. She got married the next year to a movie director she started working with and then the car crash happened and well I’ve had my hands full since then.”

“You never felt the need for another person”

“I’m in my mid thirties now kiddo, there was a time when I needed a partner. I’ve lived through that era, now what do I need a partner for?”

“Don’t you think Rahul would need a mother?”

“Well he had, and life took her away from him and he’s got to live with that. Now if you’ll excuse me I think I think am done for the night. If you could get Rahul ready by 8 I’ll come pick him then and take him to school.” He kept his glass on the counter and walked off “Good night little one”

“Good night” her eyes lingered onto the lanky frame walking out of the bar.

“Aby, you didn’t ask him to pay?” she asked the barman

“Him!!! he owns the place”

to be continued…

The Lieutenant: Part 2: She takes him home

The Lieutenant Part 1: Meetup at the beach


“Kiran aunty you smell nice” complemented Rahul as she laughingly pulled him into a tight hug

“Thanks beta, you are a darling, I wish I could steal you away from your colonel for a day”

“Oh you can aunty, if you promise me pizza you can”

“Oh I didn’t know soldiers of the army could be bribed so easily”

“You are right aunty” he said on beat “make that a pizza and a brownie with ice cream and we have a deal”

“He’s playing you missy, be careful” Arvind pitched in ruffling Rahul’s hair

“Is it all right with you, if he spends the rest of the evening with me?” She asked him

“Sure kiddo, just take care of the young one”

“Lieutenant if you gotta go, go get your stuff”

“I’ll go get him daddy”

“You let him wander alone, on the beach, you’re not afraid?”

“Ha ha, afraid, no, and he’s not alone, you’ll see”

“We’re all set to go daddy” Rahul came back followed by a hopping german shepherd.

“Kiran, meet our third army man, Major”

She grinned “I see we have a whole army out here”

Major came near her and sniffed her, went round and went back standing next to Rahul

“So now you know Rahul’s never alone and why I don’t have to worry”

He picked up Rahul in his arms “whose going to be a well disciplined soldier at aunty’s place”

“Sheesh dad, what sadoo dialogues you make, aunty and me are gonna have a wild time, just chill”

“Ok mister, done deal, chill I will, and here’s your magic potion, remember soldier, two teaspoonfuls before sleeping”

“Sir yes sir”

“Magic potion?” Kiran asked increasingly confused by this whole story inside which the father son lived.

“Will tell ya later”

“Don’t you want to check with your wife first, if she’s ok with me taking Rahul for the night”

“Colonel doesn’t have a wife, he found me when he was on mission in the jungles and brought me home”

She looked at him not knowing what to say

“Aah so you finally bought your beamer, your driver is waving at you”

“Ya I did last year, it a beaut”

“Sure is, take care of my little champ and do remember two teaspoonfuls of his magic potion just before sleeping and give me your card or do you still have your old Mumbai number”

“Ya it’s the same, you still have it”

“Yeah, chal cya, have a fun time you three”

“Three?”

“Oh ya where Rahul goes Major goes, have fun” He waved to them as they got into the car

to be continued....

The Lieutenant: Meetup at the beach

Part 1: The Beach

Arvind!!! A female voice shrieked. Arvind looked up, from his plate of pani puri that he was happily gulping down, in the direction of the shriek. He knew who that voice belonged to, just that after five years he wasn’t sure how to react to it.

She came striding up to him. “I can’t believe it, after all these years”.

“Hi little one, how’ve you been?” he greeted her back.

“Life’s good, I’ve settled here in Mumbai, have my own little company.”

“So you finally became a CEO” he smiled.

“What have you been upto?”

“Oh nothing, got into economic research and stuff, make some money here and there as a consultant, you know me, never the serious types”

“Colonel, come in colonel” the walky-talky strapped across Arvind’s belt came alive.

“Colonel?” she asked confused

“Wait you’ll see” he winked “Come in lieutenant”

“We’re all set colonel” a little voice crackled

“Cover your bases and make your way back then lieutenant”

“Come on Arvind, you’re killing me, what’s all this colonel lieutenant business about”

“Patience, my dear”

“Tell me!!!”

“Like always, no patience in you”

“Daddy” a little boy jumped up onto Arvind’s back from behind.

“How was the game today”

“Was nice daddy, Chandar scored two goals and we won”

“And where are your manners little monkey, say hi to Kiran aunty”



“Hi beta”

“Hello aunty”

“What’s your name beta”

“I’m Rahul, aunty, second Lieutenant Rahul”

She couldn't help but laugh and hug the little second lieutenant...to be continued