Fair Play

It had been 3 weeks since Ali had been buying these lottery tickets everyday. It had infact become a worry for his family since he was spending all his savings on it...

One fine day as usual Ali picked up the playwin lotto slip and was going to select the numbers,

when someone kept a hand on his shoulders and said "Select 5, 24, 65, 72. I leave the 5th number to you. Lets see what luck you've got.."

Ali shrugged off his shoulders and said " kaun ho bhai aap. Apne kaam se kaam rakhiyega. Fokat ke ye pravachan apne ghar pe sunaaiye"

"Teri marzi..." grumbled the guy and walked away...

 

That Sunday, Ali went to the lottery shoop to find out what were the numbers...

"3 numbers bhi sahi aagye toh 1000 rupye toh ban jayenge" he thought to himself.

He was flabbergasted when the numbers came out as 5, 24, 65, 72, 91.

"How could this happen. was that guy some babaji or what" he wondered..

A thousand thoughts flooded his mind, when the same guy came out of nowhere.

"So Ali, ready to make a deal. Its quite simple. I help u win the lottery while u give me 5 lakhs. Not a rupee more, not a rupee less." The guy spoke with a serious voice.

Ali hung his head down and agreed reluctantly. "But why did u choose me." Ali asked.

"You'll See" smirked the guy while they walled back towards Ali's bungalow.

Ali had no money or asset except the house which was his ancestral wealth. Also how could he trust a guy who came out of nowhere only on verbal deal.

He decided to ask Nasser, his friend and the only educated fellow in the village. Only he could give him a sane solution, he thought.

Nasser, son of the zamindar (landlord), was simple and straight forward with his question. "Do you want to take such a risk? If Yes, I will arrange the funds."
This lightened up Ali. he immediately nodded his consent.

"Look Ali, I'll need your house as a mortgage against the money I give you.My father wont lend a single paisa without a security, you know that well." Ali nodded again in agreement.

Nasser drew the papers while his accountant gave the money to Ali.

"Ali, dont give the entire money to him. Give half the amount now and the balance after the work is over. And at any point you feel cheated in the deal, just back out. At any cost I want my money back on time. I dont care what you do with it" Nasser said. 

The next day the guy arrived at his place with an envelope...
"Ready? You got the money?" He asked
Ali nodded..

The guy put his hand forward. Ali hesitant handed half the money.

"What the heck is this, half money is not what we spoke. Give me the full amount now. And the next time, decide what you want to do for yourself. Dont go to your friends and leak the plans. You have No idea what you are up against."

"Now the full money or this" the guy removed a gun from his back and stuck it in his head.

Ali immediately raised both his hands and agreed to give the money.

Once he received the money, the guy gave Ali an envelope and said that the numbers were inside.
"Dont worry, I dont make shitty deals" the guy said and walked away

Ali went to the lottery center and picked up those numbers, and waited patiently for a week..
With each passing day he became more and more stressed and it was taking a toll on him.

Finally the day arrived and he went to the lottery center to claim his bounty.

He was awestruck when he saw the numbers on the grid. It matched exactly with the numbers he had chosen.

Thanking a thousand gods he went to the lottery center guy and gave his ticket and to claim he money

The lottery center fellow immediately was taken aback and called up someone from his telephone and confirmed the ticket number. 

"Oh, okok sirjee. That's a great news. Bye" saying he put down the phone

Ali was told yo come the next day and claim his money. Likewise he went to the store and waited with mixed feelings. He was relieved when the storekeeper called him in and handed him a suitcase. Ali was ecstatic. He could not believe his luck.

He collected the money and without even counting it, left the place and headed straight to Nasser's home.

Nasser was happy when he heard the News.

"10 lakhs you've won eh!!! Ab toh tu badaa aadmi ho gaya" smirked Nasser.

Finally after all the pleasantries were exchanged, Ali opened the suitcase to take out the 5 lakh rupees and give it to Nasser.

And then something happened which made the world around Ali crumble....

The case only had 1 lakh rupees...

"No, No this must be a mistake.. This can't be right. There is only 1 lakh in here" Ali exclaimed. He was literally in tears.

"Go asap and check with the Lottery fellow. Go now. I'llI'll try doing something from my end as well" remarked Nasser.

Ali ran all the way to the lottery shop. He was running with his life on his sleeve.

Eventually when he reached, he found that the store was closed and the shutter was downed. He was so mad with rage now that he went and opened the shutter up himself only to find the shop was vacant.

How could this be possible. I met him just today morning he retorted to himself, While Nasser arrived at the spot along with a few policemen.

Nasser could only pat the crying fellow and ask him yo calm down. What else could he do.

The shop fellow had run away and going to the police was ineffective.

Nasser took Ali home and handed him a packet of 1 more lakh.

"This is for our friendship sake. Now take these 2 lakhs and go find some work in a city.

I have to tell you to vacate your house immediately, for I have to recover my 5 lakhs asap. If my father comes to know that I helped you, I'll be killed".

Ali was dumbfounded. There was no way to go for him. He eventually decided to go to the city and find some work while living on rent in a small shanty. 

He called up Nasser to thank him for his help.

"Are its nothing Ali. U stay safe. That's enough" saying this, Nasser kept the phone down.

He picked up the receiver to make another call.

"You received the full amount from Ali that day??"

"Yes Sir" said a person on the other side.

"Cool.Enjoy. also keep a tab on that lottery shop fellow. He needs to stay away from the village as far as possible"

"Will be done sir" 

Nasser again disconnected and called another number...

"Shaikh sahib. Deal pakka samjho. Bungalow khaali kar diya aur mere naam karwaa liya".

"Are price is negotiable. You tell me what price do you want it for?"

"3 crores!!!! Deal. Main abhi papers banwaa deta hun"

Nasser hung up. He knew he was the real winner in this deal...

-Shravii

Winner takes it all

His “Spidey” sense was working overtime today. “Killer Instincts" was what his friends called him.

Taking one last look at his work, He stepped on the gas and hit the road. His work there was done.

The D day had arrived. The clash of the titans for the coveted NPower football championship. The Red Giants were to take on The Royal Blues in an epic final.

Jose, the Reds coach was with his team. He was taking them through the pre-match warm up and practice. He'd noticed that the team was quite nervous. He signaled his team to round up.

"Guys, I want you All to give your 100% while playing today. I know each one of you is a bit nervous on how to tackle Micheal’s goal scoring streak. But remember, if we stick to our style of play, we can literally reduce them to shreds. I believe in each one of you, question is, DO YOU?" Jose could sense that the team looked upbeat and ready.

Just then Thomas called him on his cell. "My Office, Now!!!”. Thomas was the director of The Red Giants Football Club and also was a footballer himself

Jose knocked "May I come in"...

"Oh cut the crap old man... Come on in and sit" Thomas exclaimed.

Jose wondered what was so important just 10 minutes to the game. But all he could manage was a smile.

"So, the lads ready for the game eh?" Thomas asked.

"Of course, the preps have been fantastic. I am confident about the team." Jose spoke.

"And, you have made any special arrangement for handling Michael" Thomas winked. 

"What, No No. No special plans. Our gameplay is our strength you know that Thomas" Jose remarked.

"To hell with your game play Jose. I know Michael won’t be playing today for the Blues.They say he met with a freak accident yesterday night and fractured his toe. Now all of us know that without Michael, their team doesn’t have a chance."

"Oh yes sir, but they also do have other players!!!" and Jose sarcastically spoke while smiling devilishly.

Thomas rose from his desk, went towards Jose's chair and putting his hand on Jose's shoulder, 

"Well played boy. You, my man, are the Man of the Match today. You almost single handedly won Reds the match"

"Actually I use both my hands while driving Thomas" Jose remarked and both shared a laugh.

"By the way, did you wipe the blood off your car" Thomas enquired.

"Not a trace" Jose rose from his chair and waved goodbye, while he could hear the sound of the fans cheering Reds 2nd goal in 10 minutes.

-Shraviii

Deceptions

Akmal just kept starring at John... Their lives were so different. Yet as fate would have it, both lived under the same roof...
"U both are such Contrasting personalities", their landlord would exclaim whenever he saw John.. look at Akmal beta. So calm and composed. U on the other hand, Hopeless.

But Akmal envied john... "Such a carefree bandha he is... Look at me...
A terrorist jihadi, sent to kill people"

Akmal was slowly starting to feel love within him unto others. A year back he had so much hatred filled inside that he wanted to kill anyone in sight...
But now he wanted to live. He could not confess to anyone about his background or motive. Not even to John. For he feared repercussions.

He always kept to himself. "Not a single extra word to be uttered" were his precise orders from across the border. And he was living in Mumbai under the disguise of a Engineering Aspirant from Kolkata who was scheduled to give his entrance exams..

John also was an aspirant but he seldom cared to study.. he enjoyed his life to the fullest, but through his own simple means. He loved music and Football and always would take Akmal to watch him play..

Such was the camaraderie which got built in a matter of 7 months that both became dependant and more importantly, Akmal had changed.

One day while listening to a Lucky Ali song "Anjaane raho mein" a tear came out of Akmal's eye and he broke down in front of John... He narated his entire past...

"I wanna leave this Jihad" Akmal exclaimed when,

Bang Bang Bang...

3 bullet shots were fired.
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"Saalaa insaan banne chala tha ye akmal kaminaa. Kya training de rahe jo tum log waha pe. Abhi 4 aur ko bhej do.Aur yaad rahe, mere baare mein kuch nahi bataanaa. Parakhna mera kaam hai"
Rehman disconnected his satellite phone. Ever since his plastic surgery in Pakistan, he looked atleast 5years younger...

"John" he smirked "What a funny name I've got"

-Shraviii

Swades

Param waited patiently at the local municipality office with his son and his father for his turn. "Aaj ye flood relief ka kaam khatam karke hi jaataa hun" he mumbled.

Their town had witnessed heavy flooding recently due to a nearby dam overflowing.  He himself was quite well to do and had no interest in the flood relief which the state had declared for the residents.

"Areeee aur kitna time lagegaa sahib.Hum garibon ke pet mein laath mat maariye janaab. Poori kheti beh gayi hai aur ghar mein ek daanaa anaaj nahi bacha"
Param's attention immediately turned towards the commotion at a officer's desk nearby.

"Abbe Oye bhikari ki aulaad" The govt officer exclaimed "Jyaadaa shaanaa banega na toh saale nakli entry karke tere hisse ka anaaj aur paisa main le loonga. Jyaadaa hoshiyari na kar."

Just then as Param returned to his own file, He heard a thundering slap...

Sataaaaaaak...

The next moment though, the officer was on the ground while the farmer who slapped him stood there fuming furiously. Param immediately left the place..

On the way back in his car, he exclaimed to his son "Bade hokar tum aise kabhi ni karoge, Samjhe... Ye kisi sarkaari naukar ko maarna fully galat baat hai. Yaar kuch rishwat de diya toh kya ho jata.. ISS DESH KA KUCH NAHI HO SAKTA"

His father who was listening patiently interupted..
"Param, the last statement u made did hurt me a bit.
Tht poor farmer had nothing to fall back on. Only the govt money which he is rightfully supposed to get.. In a way, he stood up for his rights..For in his mind, tht was the only hope which remained."

When I was in the freedom movement I always had the option to choose... Either peaceful means or revolutionary methods... But all were directed in one direction... A Ray of Hope... Independence to my nation... Though our methods were completely world apart, at no point did we even think ki iss desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta...

"Badlaav aayegaa, aur tum hi ye badlaav laoge.. mujhe yakin hai"

Param smiled...It had been 15 years since that incident in the year 2013.

And his dad was as always Right... The change had indeed arrived... Though through tough choices... Neverthless....

-Shraviii

Truth the leveller

"Aaj kitno ko chuna lagaaya bhai. Bag toh badaa bhaari lag raa hai" Chamanlaal exclaimed when they met in their so called office...
"3 laalchi business wale, aur ek churan faayde ka sauda. Fir kya, Loot liya.. Poore 20 lakh.. Haraami kitne laalchi hain re ye sheher wale. Apnon ko bech denge faayde ke liye" Raj exclaimed.
"Toh tu kaunsaa doodh ka dhula hai bey" Chaman added, while they both shared a laugh.

 

He had been working with Sundaram Chit Funds for the past 1 year. Raj knew that the business was a sheer scam. But he got a big cut, so he enjoyed duping people

   Yet, that day was so different. He just entered his cabin when he saw a form on the table. 

He just lifted to see the form and froze in horror with what he saw...

Name:Smt.Nirmala Devi. The photo confirmed it all... His mother's form had been filled in... She was just duped by a scamster in his own office. His world fell apart... His conscience pricked...

 He could not believe what had happened. Anger steadily started rising within him....

"Aaarrrrrgh' he shouted on top of his voice while throwing the vase kept on the table on the mirror on the wall... His anger was so intense that he wanted to beat up every single person in his office who was a part of the scam...

But somehow his legs just gave up and he sat down in his chair nearby. Tears which had evaded him till date started trickling down his face... He sobbed uncontrollably...

 He wanted to talk to her... but what would he say. "Aapka beta chor hai Maa" he spoke to himself..

 He lifted his mom's application and the cash and kept it in his bag... He reached home and there she was waiting for him with a smiling face...

  He ran and hugged her and started to cry loudly... His mother, though shocked initially at his reaction, calmed him down... She sat down on the floor while Raj rested his head on her lap..

He narrated the entire incident to her while she grew more shocked at the incidents which he narrated. "Main bahut bura insaan hun maa"

"Listen beta", she spoke calmly as though she had everything planned in her mind.

"When u started working for this scamsters, you knew what you were doing. 

Being quite well educated,You always had a choice naa.. To choose between what is right and wrong. It is the path which we take which makes us who we are.. 
Just because your mother got duped today, it pricked ur conscience and hurt you badly. Just imagine what would be going through the people whom you've looted all this while. Unke bhi toh Maa, Pitaji, Biwi bachhe honge naa. Kya pataa ab woh kis haal mein honge."

 "Now I'll not say much further, but you know what you should do. I trust you on that". She got up and went into her room...

That moment, Raj got up, and left his house... he reached the street and called out his usual rickshaw wala frnd.. He knew what he had to do...

"Oye Birju, Chal Ramnagar Police Station"...

"Kyu bhai kuch jhol hua kya" asked Birju....

"Haan, Jhol hua...Par ab se nahi hoga.. Aaj surrender karunga khudko... nayi shuruwaat hai ye" Raj said while he climbed into the auto.

He knew he had made the correct choice this time

-Shravii

Micro Fiction: Ego: I won right???

The meter read Rs.27.00.
Akash gave 3 10Rupees notes to the rickshaw walah and waited for his change...
"Chutta nahi hai... 7 rupya khulla do" sandesh the rickshaw wallah said.

"Nahi hai matlab kya yaar. Poora din toh sawaari kiya naa.. kaise nahi hai chutta. Check kar, zarur hoga tere paas".
Sandesh outraged said "Ab tu decide karega ki mere pocket mein kitna chutta hai saale".

"Abbe saala kisko bola bey. Jyaadaa udtaa hai kya. Rukh teri main bajaataa hun". He called up om the RTO helpline and within 5 minutes the local Beat Marshall came to the spot.

Sensing trouble Sandesh apologised to the RTO Marshall and Akash and paid the 3 rupees change. Yes.. he had 3 rupees change all the time.

Next day while akash was crossing the road to catch his usual rick to office,
A carrier van which rammed into him and he died on the spot...
The van did not stop and nobody even noticed the number of the vehicle.

Vikas the van driver told sandesh "Saale kutte, 3 rupye ke liye ye tune kya karwaaya merese!!!!
Jaan le li ek bandhe ki sirf 3 rupya chutte ke liye".

"Saalaa mereko pulice mein pakdaane wala tha... abhi pahucha diya upar seedha. End mein apun jeet gaya na???"

Vikas just nodded his head in disbelief.

-Shraviii

Winning is everything????

"Oye Veeru" Jay Mehra yelled thru the intercom... "Takle ne bulaya hai..Jaldi aa jaa"
"Thik hai tum jaanaa, main piche aataa" Veeru mumbled in his broken hindi...

Veerabhadra Mudaliar had been working with Royal Valves for almost 10years in their Madurai office and yet, he could not grasp hindi at all.. He always ended up putting in bits and pieces together.

Back in their boss Anand Takloo Gupta's cabin, both Veeru and Jay presented their ideas to him on a deal which both were working to grab .
"Jay...tera idea achha hai Satyam pumps ke liye. ye client ko tu hi deal kar aage se" Anand exclaimed...
"But Anand, Ye idea nahi kaam karna Madurai mein. Main tamil log ko achhe se jaantaa" exclaimed Veeru.

"NO VEERABHADRA, u will not interfere in this project anymore..IS THAT CLEAR???" Takloo exclaimed in a rather high pitch. "Ok Anand" Veeru tamely sighed and left the cabin..

Veeru was Very Upset. Being the top most performer year after year and getting all biggies as clients into this company, he thought he shud have got the 1st preference.
"Bloody Northy Donkey" he mumbled under his breath while Jay came up to him to talk...

"Takle ke saamne bhadaktaa kyu hai tu.. thik hai ek hi toh client gaya..tere inne saare aur bhi toh hain.. chill maar oye" Jay said and went into his own cabin.

He immediately called up his best friend, his dad..
"Appa... help" he exclaimed and narrated the whole incident..
His dad exclaimed "Dont worry kanna, God is great". And he hung up.

Jay had informed Anand that the client had asked for a month's time to get back on the deal, since the deal value ran into crores...

After a month, Jay called the accountant of Satyam Pumps, but his landline was not working anymore...
Feeling something amiss, He immediately reported it to Anand..

Anand fortunately had the owner's mobile number, just in case if a call was to be made...
He called him up immediately..
"Hello Satyam Ramamurthy sir, How r u doing. This side Anand Gupta from Royal valves. What happened Sir, we were supposed to close the deal"

"Gupta, which world are you living in...
I sold my company 10days back and now I am a independent director in it...
Seriously, try to keep a closer tab on ur clients" Exclaimed Satyam.

"Ohhh!!!!! Is tht so.. I was not aware of this development" sighed Anand. Sweat had started forming on his forehead due to the News which he heard later...
He realised there was a bigger game being played out there.

He immediately hung up, and summoned both Jay and Veeru immediately...

"Jay, I am taking you out of the Pumps deal. They specifically want a Tamil speaking person only to deal with them".
"So Veeru kal se tum handle kar lena unko"

"Lekin boss what happened suddenly with Satyam Pumps. Till last month they were ok with me handling them." Jay exclaimed

BECAUSE IT WAS SATYAM PUMPS TILL LAST WEEK.
Its now MUDALIAR PUMPS and they specifically want Veerabhadra to handle their account....

Jay realised what had just happened and left the cabin quietly and was walking towards his,  when Veeru smirked at him and said "I ALWAYS WIN BUDDY...Veerabhadra Mudaliar ALWAYS HAS THE LAST LAUGH"

-Shraviii

Her World

She's always kept to her own self.. Her 3 children meant the world to her...
For, in her eyes, it was a cruel, ugly and cold world outside,and the only thing she was worried about was protecting her little ones from it. They called the small structure their home and were quite happy.

Yet the sight of Ramlal approaching towards her got her worried. It brought back her old memories.
He'd killed all of her kin and yet nothing ever happened to him. It was as if she'd lost her voice.No one heard her.

But Ramlal's footsteps brought her back to reality.
Today was different... Ramlal was accompanied by a Fat guy whom he was trying desperately to impress... "Sahib" he called him..

Ramlal walked nearby her place and showed him the area... He did not even pay heed to her...
"Kitna kachraa hai yahaan" mumbled the sahib much to Ramlal's discomfort.
"Hum yahaan reh nahi sakte.Ye sab Fataafat saaf karwao" he said pointing towards her home

Ramlal sprang into action and assured his sahib that everything will be taken care of.
"Bas aaj shaam tak ka time de dijiye. main ye poora kachra saaf kar doonga".

For her, this meant trouble. Ramlal had already destroyed their settlement 2 years back and her entire family had got killed when they opposed it.

Ramlal immediately signaled his men to start working and destroy her house...

The men took up their instruments and neared towards her...

It was precisely at that moment she'd made up her mind on what to do..

She grabbed her 3 children immediately ran across the room and into the adjoining room.
Their she found a small hole and immediately she and her children hid in there...

And the men started their work.. Whooosh..with 1 hit they destroyed her entire home...
All that she had was gone,...

But she was not perturbed at all... She stood still...
She calmly watched as Ramlal's men cleaned up the house..

While Ramlal called up his Sahib to tell him that his Farmhouse was now clean,
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The Spider knew that she could weave her web anywhere anytime she wanted...


-Shraviii

Last Man Standing

Captain Singh was at cross roads.... His small regiment was almost down to 2 jawans...
He had fought the enemy in this territory for so many years now...
It was as if this was his backyard and he was the SHER...
But still to date it surprised him like hell...

His 2 men had fallen like a pack of cards to snipers... God what on earth had he thought when he'd committed to this... 48 hours his team had been on their toes.. Countless attempts foiled the terrorists and still they did not accept defeat...
And he feared the end was not near.. He did not even know how log they would have to go without food, water and most importantly rest...

He sensed some movement somewhere ahead... "Guys.. Ready ho jao..Aage hi chupe baithe hai chu**ye saale". Gaye 48 ghanton se maar ke rakh di hai"

Suddenly there was a loud THUD... "Oye kya hua" Singh asked...
"Dada, headshot.. RIP terrorist 1. Bas ek baaki aur hai chupa hua hai kamina woh door ke peeche" replied his jawan

Suddenly out of nowhere, bang bang.. 2 shots in a row.... the terrorist made a last attempt to cause max damage... It hit the captain directly on his head and chest...

The Captain lay down on the ground , DEAD...
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But it was just a few seconds and the monitor flashed " Counter Terrorists win"....

Huffffffff...Sighed Anshul.... "What would life be without Counter Strike"
while his other friends looked up from their laptops and shouted CHEERS to CS.....

-Shraviii

The Guerrilla

The meeting place was decided. Right behind the sewage drain which ran through the outskirts of the town.. Simply because no one came there after 7pm
He'd said the attack would take place that evening... and come what may it'll be executed...
There was no plan B. Neither was there a plan A.

Nobody knew each other in that group... They all only knew him. No one knew who he was or what he did.. He'd gathered them with a common purpose.."Destruction"

He had already formed flanks within the group.

With his loud voice he thundered "My brothers, I know they are way more than us and can easily overpower us. But we'll fight till death"

"Attack".... They all moved towards the town through 3 different directions.
No strategy nothing.. Just attack whatever comes your way..
His army took to the streets and now barged into homes of people..

But something strange happened..It seemed the town was already prepared for this attack..

His men fell. They were no match to the modern weapons used..The attack had gone horribly wrong..

But he was not the one to give up... He charged towards the town and barged into a bunglow..

He entered the living room and was just about to attack when......WHACK...
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Louie, the mosquito was squatted to death by a human.
"He" died peacefully, knowing that this was not the end for his people, and that his death shall be avenged..

-Shraviii