Chapter1: Off the wall

I went to the 11th floor and it was a bright sunlit afternoon. The pool on the top floor mirrored the burning sky above… the water in the pool was disturbing the office decorum by kissing the walls of the pools with the help of the Loo blowing above…
With the help of the Loo?

Well… loo mean hot breeze (recap: during scorching summer holidays your mother scolding you: bahar nikla ton taang tod dungi).

I went to the nearby hingy-boundary wall and looked below…. Everything looked so happy-so tiny below. People seem to be ants carrying their loads on their backs (read laptops) and pacing for their workstations.

Wished to jump off the wall like jumping off a cliff into the river (here: parking lot). And… all the troubles would vanish somewhere….
The second moment: a wave of fear ran through my body…
I was holding a paper glass and to estimate the amount of the height of the building and the pain to be suffered; I threw the paper glass. It started flowing across different layers of air crossing floor by floor and finally touching the top of an i20… gently…

I saw myself jumping off, flowing like the glass and finally bumping into the top of i20… with the twisted neck, un-turbaned head, drenched with blood and still…

Bang!
Like the glass; can’t I get an easy death?

I gathered myself, remembered the family members, the Girl Friend and Alex; and was going to jump off…

Cell phone rang: Tring … tring (when someone is sad, the glossy life migrates to a matt one: hence the classical ring tone: tring tring…)

I stopped; took my right foot back and answered the call:

Hello! Whos this?

A gentle female voice-replied:
Sir, I am calling from the Credit Card division of HDFC Bank and we have a pre-approved personal loan scheme for you. Would you confirm your address, date of birth, employer’s information, blah….blah…..

I am not interested!
Sir, please listen to me and then make your mind…

My body got re-fuelled with Liquid Oxygen (enthusiasm) as I was familiar with her voice…
Who was she…..?
Anna, my estranged ex-girl friend…
Though I recognized her but didn’t let her recognize me…. I kept listening to her; jumped off the wall towards the 11th floor
Sat there for some time; in front of the pool; taking the wall as a cushion…and listening to her….
The telecon progressed so did the story….
Chapter II: When Cupid struck!
Few years back, there was a small town guy, orthodox, humorous yet very emotional; happens to meet a girl in a Y! chat-room.. the former(needless to say: it’s me) …  being addicted to chatting .. but this time …something was different… it wasn’t just an attraction towards the opposite sex… it was something different.. love as people say… just happens..
They started conversing over chat, calling through skype and finally meeting in person:  DT, Rose garden, Sukhna Lake, Sector 17, McDee, et al…
Cupid was on the prowl…
They started becoming addicted to each other… and finally the cupid struck.
Families jumped into the scene and their wedding date was set….
Happiness was all around….nobody knew that a problem is awaiting…
One day left for the wedding day: preparations going on in full swing… and then…
Anna, eloped…

Chapter III: Being a Lovelorn!
I became alcoholic … didn’t know: what to do?

Where to search her?

How to get rid of this solitude?

I simply didn’t know the answers…
Sleepless days, restless nights (since I was in the night shifts)…
I destroyed all my paintings, tore all my love letters and uninstalled Y! messenger and Skype from the system….

However, nothing helped… finally.. I went back to my passion… chatting(re-installed the same) and the lady luck shone on me: another girl became my net-friend….
In order to completely wipe out the memories of Anna, I left my job and my place, got a new job at a new place.. Gurgaon.. (do not go by the name, it is a city not a gaon)…
If the worst has already happened, only good could happen now….hoping this ….I tried to start my life again from the scratch…
Chapter IV: New Company/ New Place
Sky-rocketing buildings, Metro, Malls… Gurgaon… this placed added fizz in my monotonous life…plus the New Company was simple amazing.. amazing culture… amazing people ..
And… gradually… I and Franck became friends..
Oh! I forgot to introduce Franck….he was my manager in the new amazing company….
Frolic time: A Team outing was setup at an Amusement park in a nearby town ‘Manesar’… and I happened to meet Franck’s wife…to my shock and surprise: she was Anna…
Oh God… why did it happen? Why did she elope and marry him? Did they know each other?
My mind was bursting with questions…..unanswered questions… the questions I have never expected.. the answers I would never know….
Somehow.. I started socializing (read: team outings) especially to meet ‘her’…
Somehow, the love started again…
Somehow, Franck smelt something fishy …
And he hired a spy to eavesdrop the background of the fishy stuff. The spy submitted the reports to him…and Franck became aware of our love.
Hence, he got perturbed… solitary…and he hired a killer to kill his wife. Every scene was setup.. the killer entered his home.
The Killer killed the lady.
Franck came back home at the ‘scheduled’ time in order to get the ‘good’ news. However, as soon as he saw his wife crying and the dead body of his sister, he started shedding tears…the killer killed her sister instead of his wife…reasons unknown..
I went to attend the last rites ceremony of his sister and another shocking event occurred… she was the same girl who became my net-friend…
Oh God! First one eloped and married him and the second one turned out to be his sister and is dead….

Chapter V: The Free Fall
After these setbacks, Franck took some PTOs (personal time off) and came to office, finally. As soon as he saw me, his face turned red. I turned to the side and broke the sight connection. However, his wounds were still fresh… he was filled with guilt of killing his sister.
I tried helping him but in vain…
One fine Monday morning, he came to the office and went to the 11^th floor and did the free fall.. his body got tattered and he was relieved from his guilt by losing his life.
Anna came to know the entire story and she told me:
We would never converse or meet ever.. Did you get that?

I lost Anna forever.
I was responsible for the loss of 2 innocent lives.
Hence, I decided to re-do a free fall from the 11^th floor like Franck did..
Chapter VI: The Last Fall
Now, I have narrated my whole story as my call got disconnected (HDFC bank one)…and I was lost in my own thoughts.. and the real world….a world full of troubles..

Then, I heard a sweet female voice.. it got louder… and louder…

I realized that it was the voice of my wife ‘Anna’ (trying to wake me up….)… and that the above story was just a part of my dream/ nightmare..

But, who was Alex?

Why did I remember him when I was about to jump….?

Anyhow, I will figure out the same in my next dream…