Arvind Parashar - Messed Up! But All for Love

Messed
Up! But
All for Love

Messed
Up! But
All for Love

ARVIND PARASHAR

Srishti
Publishers & Distributors

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 Arvind Parashar, 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.

Disclaimer : The songs used herein are solely for entertainment purpose and reflect no other interests. While due care has been taken to give credit to copyright holders of the same, any omission is deeply regretted and shall be corrected in future editions. Song credits: p.43: It must have been love by Roxette (1987), EMI; p. 66: Sweet Love by Anita Baker (1986), Elektra Records; p. 108: Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd (1980), Pink Floyd Music Limited; p. 150: Buried Treasure by Kenny Rogers (1984), RCA.

Printed and bound in India

To my mom and dad.

Disclaimer: Smoking is injurious to health. Drinking and driving is never a good idea, even if it is about a pint of beer. Also, do not try any stunt that is carried out in this novel at home.

Especially, do not mess with your spouse and significant others.

Acknowledgements

G irls and boys, men and women, uncles and aunts, and all the species at various stages of your lives, who love life and love reading books, note that I love you all. You may be my fan or a reader or about to become one, note further that I am already connected to you because there is something that made you pick up this book. I promise you would love this story. It is specially hand-crafted for you. It will kick you out of your boredom. Just sip some tea or coffee, lie back and transcend into the world of love, life, thrill and fun.

Messed Up! But All for Love has been made possible because Jayanta Da, you saw some promising author in me while I was launching my first novel in 2015. Da, you will always be my guide and mentor.

Arup, you are a terrific human being. You constantly show me the right path so as to make my literary journey successful. I owe it to you.

Stuti, you are a wonderful editor to work with. Well, candidly enough, I wrote a raw piece of story which you and your team gave the right shape to form a novel.

Overall, team Srishti Publishers, you are a great publishing house to work with.

Last, but not the least, my heartfelt gratitude to all my friends and family who have stood like a pillar of rock from strength to strength. Eventually, that is what keeps me going.

If you wish to connect with me, please feel free to write to me at .

Prologue

Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.

William Shakespeare

T he sunrays lay battered on the ground, sparing my face as the tree gave me the much required shelter. This was a huge bulky Banyan tree that stood still above my head. I began to feel it with my trembling fingers and wondered how could it stand at one place and not feel the need to move. I found it hard to be in such a situation for a few weeks, and look at this tree! I had not slept well in the last few weeks. The four walls paid no mercy. All I had made in these weeks was four hundred and twenty rupees. The count was also not too great. Look at the match. Four twenty. I began to laugh at myself. Some people in the outside world consider me a fraud. Well, I shall soon join the plastic world. A world that had all the fi ngers pointed at me.

In a few minutes, a passerby stopped the car to pee, and the music that he played made me remember Gauri. This was something I missed a lot inside the six by six cell. I should be happy that I was a free bird. But I was not that happy. The only time when Gauri and I had been apart was when I had gone with my chums to Tashkent and she had gone with hers to Bangkok. Those memories, those beautiful memories caused a stabbing pain in my heart. She has gone out of my life now. Forever it seems. I began to howl like a lost child.

All okay, bro? asked one of the car occupants.

Dont ask him yaar. Cant you see he has just been released from the prison? He must be missing everyone, replied his friend who appeared to be a regular at the jail.

I told them I was waiting for my folks to fetch me and take me home. That guy moved his legs as he began zipping up. He seemed relieved. The boys waved at me, and that got me to smile. The world had not changed as much as I feared. Or so I thought.

It had been twenty minutes already. I looked at the watch that was kept in the bag handed over to me by the jail staffer. The bag also had a piece of paper that I used to keep a track of the number of days I was inside. And each day, I used to draw a sketch of her. There were thirty-five such pictures now.

The number coincided with my age. In fact, my birthday went by inside. The prison inmates and the staff celebrated my birthday with a cake and handmade candles. The inmates prepared them. I never counted the number of candles though, and they never made it beyond the count of ten. I could guess so. I was good with numbers, but bad with understanding humans. Most of us are like that. It is only then that it becomes hard to figure out who is the sufferer. It was only a matter of minutes before my folks were here.

Actually, there was no cake. It is all fictitious. What else will I tell my parents? All this cake story and fun should appear quite real, so I am in rigorous preparatory mode. I love to be in a fictitious world; it appears more beautiful.

I have a lot of work to do. I have already lost my job. Ganga tried her best to save it, but they wouldnt listen. I have lots of legal work to do. There will be many visits to the lawyers and the courtroom. I am confident Ill be acquitted. Before 15 th July this year, I was overconfident. Now I am just confident. When Somesh Singhs boss announced widely that I was on the run, and a potential threat to a few, I was shattered. I was eating pizza at Pizza by the Bay across Marine Lines in Mumbai, when two humble looking cops showed up from nowhere. For once, it did strike me to run away. But then, that was a fleeting thought. Tom would have been held captive. The feeling lasted ten seconds and I stretched my sleeveless hands to be cuffed. The cops were friendly; they gave me time to pay the bill. Tom did. He looked at the bill while I looked at the arrest warrant. I was cuffed inside the Innova. Thereafter, I only met Tom as a visitor. Life has changed ever since. I lost a lot of my weight. I always had weight issues. It had become a point of severe concern for me during my marriage. Not anymore.