Raja Decides To Bare It All..

Despite his recent arrest by the CBI, former Telecom Minister A.Raja is supposedly on a roll.

Reports suggest that Raja is going Full Monty for the next issue of KhelBaalak,the Indian edition of men's magazine Playboy.Apparently,Playboy owner Hugh Hefner has been paid $1.76 million for this travesty on human senses to take place.

Repeated efforts to get in touch with the ex-Minister failed to yield any efforts until yesterday when Mr.Raja's Secretary,Illaiya Nunnuswami called a press conference,"Respected Karunanidhi has advised Raja Anna not to hide anything from public anymore and hence he has decided to take this step inspite of protests by Kanhimozi and Human Rights activists."

On being mentioned that the advice was metaphorical and not to be taken literally,Mr.Nunnuswami lost his temper,"You Kundi journalists!Always have a problem.This just shows Mr.Raja's honest intent and courageous nature."

Anurodh Nakedani, a NANGU(Nation Against Nightmares Generated by Unclad) activist was anguished,"If there was such a huge furore when a gorgeous person like Madhu Sapre posed naked, imagine what will happen when Raja poses naked.A whole generation will be scarred.We won't allow this!"

Mr.Raja's decision to take this bold step has been bolstered by the fact that he has been approached by Yash Raj Films to replace Aamir Khan as the supposed villain in Dhoom 3.A source closed to Aditya Chopra told us,"Dhoom 3 had to be big.When we came to know that Mr.Raja had already done a robbery of Rs 1.76 lakh crore, we couldn't see anybody else in the role.He is a natural con-artist!".

According to a condition laid down by Mr.Raja, Ms.Kanhmozi is also supposed to feature in the movie,where she'll do a reprise of Aishwarya Rai's Dhoom 2 chartbuster item number 'Crazy Kiya Re'.

Mr.Raja has also recieved support from various Telecom Companies,Shahid Balwa, promoter of Swan Telecom,a co-accused in the 2G scam,told us exclusively,"Mr.Raja had the best interests of common people in his heart.Since the country is already suffering from an 8% plus inflation,he purposely sold the spectrum at a lower value so that Telecom operators don't have to pass their costs to the customers,the aam aadmi!He should be awarded Bharat Ratna for his novel idea! "

Though things seemed to be taking a turn for the better for Mr.Raja, some people aren't ready to forgive him.Shabana,the President of ChAI(Chakka Association of India) was clearly upset with Mr.Raja,"Earlier we approached people using our regular catchphrase,'Ae Raja paisa de re' and people obliged willingly; now people think we are calling them 'A Raja' and get angry,a couple of us got beaten up by a veteran Gandhian in Bandra yesterday".According to Shabana,a PIL will be soon filed against Mr.Raja for affecting their livelihood.

Clearly a case which will be more fun to read about.

Redemption..

6.00 p:m-Just Another Weekday

A futile day.Just like the whole week,the whole month,to be truthful,the past 5 years.

He chuckled to himself as he gathered his stuff and walked out into the world that despite having been cruel,was still his only refuge.

It was drizzling;it didn't bother him;there are far worse things and he smiled to himself and started humming:

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head,

Just like a guy,

Whose feet are too big for his bed

His feet guided themselves;hell,he could have walked blindfolded if was asked to.Habits could be that effective.

1106 steps and he was at his destination.The guard saluted him,he walked up a flight of stairs and opened the door.He was always grateful to find these familiar faces that had been his companions for the past 4 years,perhaps the only faces that had smiled at him in ages.

If misery is relative,so is happiness.In that sense,he felt happy and at this moment he couldn't ask for more.

He walked towards the corner and kept his stuff.He remembered the first time he was here.

It was another set of familiar faces,though much dearer ones.This memory was a ritual too.Thinking about them. Nidhi's carefree laughter, Aniket's mind-numbingly pathetic jokes, Meneka's constant fretting about anything she could lay her eyes on, Ranvir's boasting and above all,his own happiness.The day his first book got published.

He tried to put away those thoughts,afterall he had to live in the present.He himself had written,'Better be slayed fighting with the present than be a prisoner of your past'.How could he forget?!

But it was all lost now.Nidhi, friends,a promising writing career.Afterall,what was left to salvage?

And yet,he knew there was still a part of him that at times felt that he could make things right.The part that made him think of the memory.The part that still had faith in his abilities.The part that believed in redemptions.

As he was musing,Rakesh's face appeared next to him,"Sir,the usual?Old Monk and lime?"

He looked towards his writing journal,unused in the past 5 years and smiled.Whom was he trying to fool?There is no redemption for the damned.He nodded,"Yeah,a large one and keep topping it up till you shut down". He rested his head on the seat,imagined what his life could have been and waited for his drink the same way he had done for the last 4 years.

Home Sweet Home..

Amit looked anxiously at his watch; it was 3.30 p:m,Nikhil should have been back from school by now.

He looked at all the guests in his house and cursed under his breath.

They had to move today.The third time in the past 2 months, all just because of Nishita;she was always finding faults with whatever house they had been moving in.A number of times he had tried to find out her problem,but she just wasn't ready to speak,as if he didn't even exist for her.Something to do with her job probably,he had seen her upset and crying quite a few times.On top of all that,these guests!Why did her parents force her to organize a havan today?!Guess it was just another bad day in the making.

3.45 p.m.Finally,Nikhil reaches home.Amit can see that Nikhil's day has been equally bad.As soon as he sees his father,the 7 year old runs,hugs him,and starts sobbing,"I missed the school bus again.I was raising my hand on all the questions but Sharma Mam ignored me and when I started crying,she left the class.Is Mamma still angry?".Amit consoles him,"Everything will be fine once we move to some other place.Mamma needs some time alone.When she misses us,she'll call us herself"

"But I don't want to go.We left Mamma alone last month as well!"

Amit gets slightly irritated,"Nikhil,go wash your hands,eat something and pick your bag;we are leaving in 15 minutes.In any case,this place is getting too noisy for me.I don't like your Mother spending time with,of all things,religious type of people now!"

Nikhil timidly obeys.

The noise from inside gets louder.

"Nikhil,hurry!!!"

A gust of wind,sounds of bells clanging,smoke drifting from the holy fire,a chorus of voices chanting,"May peace and salvation be attained by the wandering souls!Peace for everyone!In the world of the living and in the world of the dead!!!"

Nishita starts crying,"No!No!Don't make them go away!Amit,Nikhil!Oh God,why did I have to survive the fire?!Why didn't I die with you?!"

Amit grabs Nikhil's hand and starts running away.Until the next time..