We're friends, right?

"You're not serious, are you?" Anuj asked while casually turning the pages of The Quantum Theory by Alex Rook.

"What if I say I am?" Anushka questioned in reply. She entwined her curls between her fingers as she looked out of the window.

"Ah! Let me guess. He reads 5 point someone, listens to Beiber and wears I'm-so-kewl band around his wrist," teased Anuj.

"Shut up! He's nothing of that sort. And how come you're mocking him when you haven't dated any better yourself. Remember Miss Page 3? Or, forgotten about already?" smirked Anushka which visibly irritated Anuj. He never liked the mention of any of his exes. He wasn't the kind of person who entertained memories of the past.

"He's into Poetry. A big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. Also, he's got such an impeccable taste in music. I happened to be at the College Auditorium where he effortlessly played Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight. Everybody was so awed by the end of it. But you know the best part of all this? He's amazingly grounded. None of that I'm-so-popular swag. It's like he knows he's kind of a phenomenon in the college and yet he's so rooted," Anushka said in a single breathe. Anuj could sense the magnitude of her keenness by the way she smiled while talking about him. He had never seen her like that before. Sure, she did beam whenever she happened to talk about any of her crushes but he could tell it was something different this time. She was smitten hard. And Anuj couldn't understand why but it pained him somewhere. He put his book down and fixed his gaze solely on his best friend now.

Anuj and Anushka had been the best of friends for so long that now they did not even remember what it meant being without each other. Nothing could keep them from sharing things about each another. At times, they shared their silence too. Their relationship stood the the test against envy of their respective exes. In the brief time that she spoke about the new crush of hers, it grieved for Anuj to know that someday he might just have to let Anushka go. He could not fathom what it would mean to lose her — his best and only friend.

"Well, what about him? Any sign he's interested?" Anuj asked keeping his tone normal while a storm seethed inside him. He was hoping for a negative answer.

"We did have a chat on Facebook the other day. He's asked me if I could show him around a bit since he's new here and doesn't know a lot of people. Good thing Apoorv had already introduced us to each other on his first day here. Let's see what happens next. I honestly have no idea," Anushka said as she clubbed her loose hair into a bun while Anuj sheepishly watched her so as not to catch her attention.

"So, what do you think? Will it work between the two of us?" Anushka asked her best friend.

'I hope not,' said a voice inside his head somewhere. "No harm trying," Anuj managed to say.

"Anyway, I'm not pinning my hopes much. Don't want to be a stupid fangirl. You'd tell me when I start behaving like one, wouldn't you? We're friends, right?" asked Anushka as she got up to leave.

"We're friends. Yeah, right. We're friends." said Anuj like he was in trance.

Anushka grabbed her bag, waved goodbye to a lost Anuj and made her way out of the empty classroom. "We're friends," Anuj kept repeating under his breath while he watched her go.

Independence: A Short Story

Ashima was drinking her evening tea when her 8 year old son came back from his swimming lessons. Harsh dived straight into his mother's lap while Ashima put down her cup and gently ruffled through her son's unkempt hair. "Mom, it's Independence day tomorrow. Our English teacher has asked me to present a speech in front of the school assembly. Help me write it please," said Harsh drowsily. Ashima carried her son to his bedroom and tucked him into his bed quite gently. "Get some sleep first, Harshu," she said lovingly while placing a kiss on Harsh's cheek.

"The speech, mumma," Harsh murmured while he firmly held onto his mother's hand. Ashima dragged the chair kept near the study table and sat down while taking some mental notes about the 68th Independence day of the nation that was due tomorrow. "Okay, how about I help you with the points but you frame it out on your own? You're a big boy now, Harsh. I'm sure you'll be able to do it all by yourself. And you'll do fine," said Ashima while Harsh nodded his head. He had still been holding onto his mother's hand, lying comfortably on his bed, looking inquisitively at Ashima.

"India is an Independent and Sovereign nation. But first let's understand what really being Independent is all about. Independence of a country is a state where the nation is not enslaved by any foreign powers and the citizens live in peace and maintain harmony. Independence means being able to do things at your own free will without you being controlled by anybody. Independence means freedom at personal and social level. You can express yourself. Everybody has equal rights on all fundamental things. There's no fear. There's no injustice. Everything's fair and law watches us all," said Ashima to her attentive son who was wide-awakened by now. "Let me get by notebook. I'll write it down before I forget any of it," said Harsh jumping out of his bed.

"Useless. Everything and everybody here is so useless," said Rahul, Ashima's husband, while he barged through the front door and threw his office bag on the Armchair. "My boss wants me to change the data in the presentation file that we've been working on since last month. He threatens he will hold our promotions if not done otherwise," said a visibly distraught Rahul. Ashima rushed to get him a cool glass of water hoping to calm down her vexed husband. "And this College we were talking about for Rashi has Quota system. I'm afraid she's got no chance with the percentage she scored this year. She might have to give a skip," muttered Rahul as he emptied the glass. Rashi, Harsh's elder sister, was a Law aspirant who had just given her boards this year and was away on a vacation to her grandparent's place. "I'm going out to a colleague's home. Her daughter has been threatened by some religious group on charges of hurting their sentiment by posting something on Facebook. Kids, these days! Always so obsessed with social networking whiling away their precious time," complained Rahul. He signalled Ashima to close the door as he started to leave. "Oh! And lock the door properly," Rahul turned back saying, "it's not safe for women ever in this country. I'll be late. Don't cook for me." 

"India is an Independent and Sovereign nation. Independence of a country is a state where the nation is not enslaved by any foreign powers and the citizens live in peace and maintain harmony. Independence means being able to do things at your own free will without you being controlled by anybody. Independence means freedom at personal and social level. You can express yourself. Everybody has equal rights on all fundamental things. There's no fear. There's no injustice. Everything's fair and law watches us all," Harsh practiced the speech in his room.

A Beginning

So, did not you have a blog already?
I have. 

Then what are you doing here?
Err. Writing. Or atleast hoping to.

Why here? Why?
Because, I wanted to build something from scratch. And then, watch it grow over time. Sure I have done the latter but the former was an untouched territory and I wanted to explore more of it.

What happens to IMAGINEERING?
IMAGINEERING will always happen to be my first kid and I'm always going to be a mom to that blog.

I've been toying with the idea of a (new) blog for quite some time now. I'm in a place in life where I'm looking for impending changes. Even if that means shredding beloved things and ideas to adopt newer ones. I'm hoping to outgrow myself. As a writer. As a person.  I know not where exactly I end up from here but I do know the journey is going to be worth it.

Coming to Two Cents, this blog is going to be the space where I'll dump all my stories and happenings. Fiction, non-fiction and everything beyond that. Honest feedback would always be welcomed. I've always been a sucker for that.

And. So. We. Start.

More in the next blog. See ya...