PicStory : Power

Mahijur Rahman had felt intoxicated with power for the first time at the age of 16 when he was chosen as the Head Boy of his school in a small town in Bangladesh. Suddenly, the students feared him and the teachers respected him. This was not a feeling that he had ever felt before and he enjoyed it a lot.

Now he had to figure out how to hold on to that power. So in college he started participating in the elections and soon became the President of the University. It didn't take long for him to realize that no one is as powerful as a politician holding his chair. Bit by bit, year after year, Mahijur began building his clout and within ten years, he had become a critical member of the ruling party.

His golden opportunity arose when the party president and the running Prime Minister decided to step down due to health reasons. The party chose Mahijur as its face and all his hard work paid off. He won by a landslide and was chosen as the Prime Minister of his country. To Mahijur, there wasn't a high, bigger than this in life, and he relished every bit of it.

Unfortunately, this joy of his was short-lived as ten years in office, and he was shot dead by an individual who didn't agree with his policies and decisions. However, Mahijur had such a big impact on the citizens of Bangladesh in those ten years that they asked a well known artist to put up a wall art right at the border so that Mahijur could watch everyone entering the city.

Even after death, Mahijur continued enjoying his power over his country!

                        Pic details: Clicked on the streets of Porto, Portugal in Sept 2019

#PictureStory 45 : Heart

Even before he turned three, Alex's mother was telling him stories of different heroes and different personalities from various parts of the world.

She was keen to inculcate the values of equality, respect, tolerance and acceptance within him as she knew that the world didn't take long to bring its shroud of racism, bigotry, colour, caste, religion and many other filters just to keep differentiating one human being from another.

Quite often, the stories had characters from the figment of Alex's mother's imagination as her objective from every story was to make Alex a better human than the day before. Even when Alex started going to school, his mother's stories protected him from getting corrupted by the worldly views.

At the age of 14, when Alex discovered that he has feelings for other boys, he confided this to his mother. She showed complete support to Alex, and told him that there is only one thing that matters in this world, and that is love.

'It doesn't matter who you love, as long as you keep loving without judging the other person and are willing to open the window of your soul to that person without inhibition. Pure connections happen when two souls connect, the physical form outside is not important as it is just a haven for the soul." said Alex's mother, reassuring him.

Today, Alex felt that among all the heroes that his mother had told him about, she forgot to tell him the story of one hero - herself.

Pic details: Clicked on the streets of Basel, Switzerland in Aug 2019

#55wordstory: Themes: Week 9

Theme: Platonic

It was a small seed at first. Too small to even notice. But soon, the roots took their place. With every passing day, the roots grew stronger. Uprooting them now was impossible. This small seed of 'Doubt' grew so big, that it stopped differentiating between physical relationship and platonic friendship and ended a beautiful journey. 

Theme: Noise
Rajeev: "I am buying lots of noise making crackers for my son Sid. After all Shor Na Machaya toh Mazaa Nahin Aaya"

Sail: "That is good but ask him to be careful. I still feel sad for Rahim. After last year's incident, the deafening sound of silence is the noise that bothers him a lot." 

Theme: Angst
It was a momentary lapse of judgment and Rajan's short-temper, which led him to hit Roshita.

She went to another room and closed it to decide her next set of action between her sobs.

The choice was between calling the police or forgiving Rajan.

She decided for the latter by hanging herself from the fan. 

Theme: Brazen
Having always been a topper Derek didn't want to miss it this time either. But this time it was different.

He was caught cheating. Instead of being brazen about it, he broke down. The death of his mother a month back didn't allow him to prepare and his first attempt at cheating had fallen flat.

Theme: Furtive
Sitting at a cafe in Paris, Raul kept giving furtive glances to Lolita while sipping his cup of coffee.

Anyone noticing this would have thought Raul to be shy and not being able to walk across and speak to her.

No one knew that Raul was a detective hired to keep a watch on Lolita.

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 7

Theme: Kill
For miles and miles, all one could see was the pure white expanse of snow like a canvas. The mountains stood tall and proud with no hubris or arrogance.
But it all changed 13 years back with blotches of red spoiling the pristine beauty and taking away the silence.
Kargil – something we will never forget.

Theme: Damage
Being teenagers, their emotions were fragile. A trip to the amusement park got her heart in her mouth. The roller -coaster ride made her scream and he laughed at her. The relationship was damaged there and it was a closed case. She was just trying to understand love and all he had was lust for her.

Theme: Envy
Radheshyam's car was getting scratches daily and he reported to the police, who caught Manekchand red-handed.
On interrogation, he revealed his jealousy on seeing the new 32-inch TV of Radheshyam and so he did this.
When police realised the brand of the TV, they had a hearty laugh. The brand was Onida - 'Owner's Pride. Neighbour's Envy'.

Theme: Death
Meera and Sameer exchanged their vows and said “Till death do us apart” amidst friends and family. Theirs was a love marriage after three years of courtship.
Meera’s bad dream turned out to be her premonition when Sameer met with an accident.
The words that rang in her head were: “Till death do us apart”

Theme: Supernatural
Everyone thought that Karim was alone and lonely. He did not think like that. He had an unwanted companion with him for years.
It seemed as if there was some supernatural power that ensured that he was never alone and pain was his constant companion.
Karim longed for solitude, at least without this companion.

Theme: Blue
It was the first art class of the six year olds. The teacher asked them to draw and colour a river.
Everyone except Ameya coloured the river blue. He coloured it black.
When asked, he replied " But madam, I've always seen the Yamuna as black and never blue. My house is on the river bank".

#55wordstory - Themes: Week 5

Theme: Taste

It seemed like a case of murder for robbery, but the autopsy report revealed poison in his blood. The police found no evidence of poison in the house. They didn't check the wall plaster that was coming off. His brother knew he loved the taste of chalk from childhood and hadn't given up as yet. 

Theme: Words

He got into a relationship early in life. It was game of scrabble which led to the initial sparks. What followed was knowing each other more. Love blossomed further while graduating in English Literature. Its been years and they're still going strong. As a writer, today, words are his addiction and his companion for life. 

Theme: Alcohol

Being a car race driver was a thrill and a passion for him. Every win was celebrated with a success party with a glass in hand throughout the evening. Soon addiction took over and now every loss also follows a similar pattern. Only difference is that the word 'success' is missing and he parties alone. 

Theme: Seduction

Ice cubes: Check

Strawberries: Check

Honey: Check

Chocolate sauce: Check

Ragini was pleased with her shopping list. Rajan looked at it and smiled. "I am impressed sweetheart and am looking forward to a night of passion and seduction".

"Oh Shut Up Rajan. This is for the birthday party of our four year old." Rajan sighed. 

Theme: Fight

8.01 am. The fast local to Churchgate was packed. A push here and a shove there was leading to arguments and fights. This was the kind of opportunity Suleman looked for. Picking pockets in such a scenario was pretty easy. He did not know that CCTVs had been installed last night on the Western Line. 

Theme: Possession

While playing, Jhanvi hurt herself. Her mother took her tears in her hand and said "These are pearls. Don't waste them."

Few days later at the mall, Jhanvi innocently went to her mother and told her "Mom. If Papa is not buying you that pearl necklace, please use my pearls that are in your possession." 

Theme: Irony

Growing up in a middle class family with limited means had made Michal stingy. This nature of his caused a lot of stress in his marriage to a girl who liked to live the good life. Michal has changed now and he indulges and pampers himself often. Ironically, this change happened after May left him. 

Theme: Taste

It seemed like a case of murder for robbery, but the autopsy report revealed poison in his blood. The police found no evidence of poison in the house. They didn't check the wall plaster that was coming off. His brother knew he loved the taste of chalk from childhood and hadn't given up as yet. 

Theme: Games

It was raining heavily and Sonu was getting bored. His father made a paper boat in front of Sonu and put it in the puddle. Sonu saw this as an exciting game. When it rained next, Sonu made many boats while his father was asleep. He thought the money in his father's wallet was paper.

Theme: Name

He was being felicitated for his phenomenal work in cancer research and he dedicated his prize to his mother who had succumbed to the dreadful disease ten years back. But even after such success, filling a form that asked for a father’s name made him cringe. Living the life of a bastard was a curse. 

Theme: Bollywood

"Were you a barber in your past life?" asked the brawny actor.

"What? No! I mean how do I know? Why do you ask?" said the famous action hero.

"Because you love using the scissors a lot on the editing table!" said the brawny actor and walked off.

The action hero was stumped and speechless. 

Theme: Distance

Adnan proudly posted his half-marathon pictures on Facebook, and there were 55 comments. Adnan running a distance of 21 km was unexpected. People asked him when his philosophy - ‘Live to Eat’ had changed and how had he managed the weight loss. The word Liposuction was not mentioned even once by him in any comment.