Mahi Singla & Rohit Sharma
Published by
MAHAVEER PUBLISHERS
4764/2A, 23-Ansari Road, Daryaganj
New Delhi 110002
Ph. : 011 666296697989
e-mail : mahaveerpublishers@gmail.com
website : www.mahaveerpublishers.com
Mahi Singla & Rohit Sharma
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.
First Edition : August 2013
5th Impression : October 2015
12 HOURS
ISBN (10) : 9350880776
ISBN (13) : 9789350880777
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authors imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Distributed in Nepal by
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Printed in India
Praise for 12 HOURS
One of the best short-story collection by Indian writers. - The Hindu
Different emotions expressed beautifully. - Times of India
Powerful! Hard hitting! A must read! - Hindustan Times
Innovative cover and well-written stories revolving around various social issues... One word BRILLIANT! - Dainik Jagran
Almost everyone can relate to one or the other story of 12 HOURS. - Prabhat Khabar
Sensitive, Realistic, and Well-written... 12 HOURS is a perfect blend of Love, Laughter, and Pain. - Sanjay Chauhan (Script Writer of Paan Singh Tomar)
Thought provoking... These stories deserve to be made into movies. Ruslaan Mumtaz (Bollywood film and television actor)
Dedicated To
Every hour we all have lived so far ... the hour we all are living right now ... and the hours we all will be living.
The Hours Behind '12 HOURS'
The journey of 12 HOURS began in January 2013, when Mahi Singla proposed an idea to Rohit Sharma, about a short story collection. It was early morning, and Rohit was sleeping peacefully, after a tired day he had while promoting his debut novel 'Te Amo I Love You'. Mahi telephoned Rohit, and the insistent phone calls broke his deep sleep. He worriedly woke up, wondering the reason behind so many calls. He asked Mahi, if everything was okay, to which she excitedly replied that she wanted to share an idea with him.
Who wants to listen to an idea at 4 a.m. in the morning? Precisely, Rohit asked the same question to her, feeling irritated, but eventually gave up, rubbing his eyes, and groggily listened to Mahi.
Mahi told him that she had written a few short stories, and wanted him to listen to them. Yes, at 4 a.m.! When Rohit asked her the reason, she told him about her desire to script a short story anthology with him, as her co-author. Rohit, who was finding absolutely no time to write anything, frankly told her that he was busy in promoting his debut book, and would prefer to start his novel soon. But, Mahi insisted him to listen to the stories. Left with no choice, Rohit agreed and Mahi narrated one of her stories to him. Soon, his sleep vanished, and he got engrossed in the story. After listening to her story, Rohit told her that he would discuss more on this with her, in the International Book Fair, Delhi.
When they met in Delhi, Mahi narrated a few more story ideas to Rohit, and he was completely blown away. He loved them, but he was a bit reluctant wondering the scope of a short story anthology, among Indian readers. Moreover, he wanted to start his second novel, on which he had been researching for the past three months.
After pondering for more than a week, Rohit finally agreed to co-author Mahi for a short story anthology. They decided to keep twelve stories, and mutually agreed to a name the book as '12 Hours', where each story symbolizes an hour. They were clear that they would not be writing an out-and-out chiclit stories. They wanted to portray every essence of human relationships like husband-wife, brother-sister, father-daughter, girlfriend-boyfriend, friendships etc., and every possible emotion like love, deceit, care, infidelity, honesty, trust, repentance, jealousy, anger, craziness and many more.
Hence, they decided to choose diverse genres. After a lot of sleepless nights, hectic days, keen observations, clash of opinions, testing patience, and extensive thought processes, twelve stories were finalised, written and edited. Thus, Mahi and Rohit, together, came up with this anthology.
We hope you enjoy and live each and every hour of 12 HOURS.
THE 12 STORIES
1. A Terrible Mistake
Admit your mistake, you scoundrel!
Inspector Yashwant Rahane's loud shout reverberated in the blood-stained ears of Karan Thakur. He then felt a sudden, hammer-strong punch, right across his face, cutting the corner of his dry lips. His left eye was swollen, barely open. Dazed, he saw the inspector angrily moving out of the special investigatory cell of the Mumbai Police Headquarters, banging the iron-bar gate behind him.
Karan was sweating profusely, and he felt an excruciating pain in his legs and ribs. His hands were handcuffed, and tied above his head with heavy, wrought-iron chains. His arms almost felt numb. His masculine torso wore the brutal-red marks of the wooden sticks and iron rods, which the policemen had been showering mercilessly on him for the last three days. The piercing yellow light of the high-wattage bulb, right above his head was throwing its unbearable warmth over his torn and sweaty body. There was an uncanny silence in the prison cell, which otherwise echoed the shouts of the policemen questioning him, and his own agonizing and painful groans.
He was the prime suspect of the two brutal murders, committed at the posh township of Hiranandani Gardens, in Powai, two months ago. Though he never accepted the crimes, all the evidences were clearly against him, and the Mumbai High Court subjected him to the rigorous five-day police remand.
The eerie silence was suddenly broken with the squeal of the prison-cell gate, and a cold shiver ran through Karan's spine. Standing in front of him was Inspector Rahane, holding his fully-loaded GLOCK 22 pistol.
Inspector Yashwant Rahane was infamously known as 'Terror' Rahane. He was tall, strongly built, and had a tough face. He rarely smiled, and was considered stone-hearted. His big, bulging eyes and thick moustache only added terror to his overall menacingly fearsome personality. He had a long scar on his right cheek, which he had received while single-handedly fighting a deadly criminal. He had killed that criminal, a serial killer, eventually. He had no family. He had no attachment. He only knew his duty, and that was to bring the criminals, no matter how big or small, no matter how rich or poor, to the justice.
Karan cringed in fear as Inspector Rahane slowly moved forward, and stopped right in front of him. I will give you one last chance to admit, warned Rahane, his eyes glaring at Karan. I will count till three! He aimed his pistol at Karan, whose heart was thumping with fear. Or else, I will pull the trigger.
