Pravesh Vir Siddhu - Nice Men Finish Last

Nice Men
Finish Last

Nice Men
Finish Last

PRAVESH VIR SIDDHU

Srishti Publishers & Distributors
Registered Office : N-16, C. R. Park
New Delhi 110 019
Corporate Office : 212A, Peacock Lane
Shahpur Jat, New Delhi 110 049

First published by
Srishti Publishers & Distributors in 2017

Copyright Pravesh Vir Siddhu, 2017

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This is a work of fiction. The characters, places, organisations and events described in this book are either a work of the authors imagination or have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to people, living or dead, places, events, communities or organisations is purely coincidental.

The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers.

Printed and bound in India

To Mummy and Papa,
For your continuous support.

In the end, we all complete our lifes jigsaw puzzle, but the void once created always stays. Some live with the void and some spend their life in search of the missing Piece

Pravesh Vir Siddhu

Acknowledgements

N ice Men Finish Last came into existence with the help and support of the following people. I begin with thanking Muneet, a very dear friend, whose unwavering encouragement helped me bring this book to life.

This book was written over a period of time. Every day I wrote some and mailed the content to Muneet, who read each chapter with great enthusiasm and waited eagerly for other chapters to come. Her interest and eagerness motivated me to continue writing every day. Her criticism, however, did the opposite. But it helped me to better myself. Muneet, honestly, every page of this manuscript was written to impress you. Hopefully I continue to do the same.

A big thank you to my father Vir, for passing on his creative wisdom to me and for teaching me that imagination has no limits. My mother Gita, I am so gracious for everything you have been. Thank you for believing in me long before I believed in myself. I am grateful to my sister Silvi, who set the bar so high that it encouraged me to push myself further. Silvi, you are my role model and one day I wish to become as inspiring as you.

I cannot imagine this creative journey without my friend with paws - Romeo, who sat patiently beside me as I tapped my fingers on the keyboard during the dark hours of the night. Buddy, you sacrificed as much sleep as I did for this project. Your unconditional love kept my spirit and creativity alive.

My appreciation also extends to these three wonderful institutes: ITS Dental College, Indraprastha Dental College and Cambrian College, that helped create timeless memories predominantly with these four friends Vipul, Shalin, Saurabh and Ramneek. Thank you for always having my back.

Nancy, Charu, Prekshya and Patrick you guys were the first ones who said I could, therefore I should write. Thank you for believing in me. My accolades to Srishti for her enticing vocabulary, some of which became part of this book (Next time, try claiming copyright!).

I would also like to extend my appreciation to Dr Sonali Taneja and Dr Manju Kumari, the two teachers who churned the creativity within me. (I still doubt I was graciously awarded above passing marks in lieu of my creative showcases. )

My dear friend Meet, thank you for reading the synopsis at the very last minute and giving me your valuable feedback. Emma, cant thank you enough for re-motivating me and always being there, every time I doubted myself.

Last, but not the least, I would like to thank Jayanta da and Arup at Srishti Publishers for believing in the idea, and Stuti for refining the manuscript with her editorial talent.

To send in your observations or feedback, write to me at .

Game Over

D honi finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd. India lift the world Cup after twenty-eight years with these words from Ravi Shastri, one billion Indians began to cheer in joy. One billion jumped into the air to celebrate. One billion, but one I was the only one who wasnt included. I was on the ground, lying subconscious and battered, and covered in blood.

It was the 2nd of April 2011 and I had decided to meet my girlfriend who had been ignoring my phone calls for over a month. Her name was Noor; she was as bright as her name, and attended the neighbouring engineering college. We had been together since our high school days. Everything was going great until she cheated on me. She was now secretly dating a guy from her own college. I was kicked out of her heart, but I could not tolerate that. And the worst part was that I was kept in the dark about her secret affair. I discovered it through her roommate Swati, who was once my good friend.

It was the 2nd of April and I was determined to go to her campus and talk to her. I chose this day for two reasons one, she always complained that I preferred cricket over her. Sparing time on the very important evening of the world Cup final would prove that she was more important to me than cricket. Secondly, I wanted to avoid contact with her much stronger new boyfriend. I say this as he is a big cricket fan and I knew he would be busy that evening, so it would be the opportune moment.

As the Sri Lankan innings ended at 267/6, every Indian anxiously sat in front of the television screen. Some were praying to god, some were fasting, some had faith in superstitions and some had painted their faces in the tricolor. I was also anxious, not for Indias chase, but about my chase for Noor. I wanted to talk to her and express my love to her once again.

I want to meet Noor. Can you fix a meeting for me please? I said to Swati over phone.

Why dont you understand? She has moved on and it is better that you do too, Swati replied.

I dont want your advice. I want you to fix a meeting with Noor.

Any meeting with Noor will be a meeting with Danny.

I dont care about him. I want to talk to Noor at any cost.

You dont know Danny. He is big, muscular and strong and influential, and he is not as nice as you are, Swati reasoned.

You think I dont have muscles? I am not strong enough? I said angered and I flexed my biceps. I saw the size of the miniscule bulge that popped out. It seemed like even my poor biceps were laughing at me and asking me to calm down. Logic soon took over and I realized that Swati was right these muscles would do me no good.

Do you really want me to answer that question? Swati said, as she knew I was not even close to strong.

I calmed down and took a deep breath.

I am already emotionally damaged. My body has stopped feeling pain. Do you think I care about physical pain anymore?

Oh god! Swati scoffed. Come out of the fairy tale.

I cannot forget her. My voice broke down as I said that.

Okay, dont cry. I will try my best. I will bring her to the cafeteria. You will only have half an hour to talk to her. Okay?

Only half an hour! I shouted, disappointed.

Dont be grumpy. It is more than enough. I can make her sit there all day but that is how far Danny lives from the campus. If she calls him, he will be there in half an hour. And I dont want you to discover your stronger side.

Swati hung up. I had strictly thirty minutes to speak my heart out in front of Noor. Only thirty minutes to speak thousands of unspoken words.