Time : 11:57 PM
Riyaz lit a cigarette. His office was on the top floor of that old, dark red highrise. And he was standing near the stairs to the terrace. It had been a long day for him. Almost the entire hierarchy of his superiors had had a screaming session with him, for a faulty production decision he had taken last week. It had resulted in the company losing a good deal of money. It was only due to his status as a star performer and the fact that this was the only mistake that he had ever committed that had enabled him to escape the hatchet. As the cigarette slowly fell off as ash, Riyaz thought about his job and childhood dream. It wasn't remotely related. He had always wanted to become an astronomer. Even as a kid, the thing that made him the happiest had been gazing at the stars and the constellations. One thought led to another and the cigarette reduced itself to a stub. He dropped it and stamped on it. As he was about to go back to the office, he noticed that the terrace door was ajar.
Time : 11:57:30 PM
Rahul was in his bed. He was unable to sleep. The creaky fan and the ceiling paint which was about to peel off did not exactly soothe away his tensed thoughts. He had been out of a job for the past three months. The house owner had given him some leeway initially with respect to the rent because Rahul knew him well. But, he had prolonged it too much. And, the owner was getting impatient. He turned sideways. Suma was sleeping peacefully. She was the silver lining of his life. He took a deep breath. They had promised themselves not to have any kids till the situation stabilised. She had a small part-time job as a stenographer in a firm nearby. His thoughts went to the job interview that was scheduled for tomorrow. His old friend, Nair, would be in the interview panel. He envied him. They both passed out from the same local engineering college but he had managed to reach a high position within a short span of five years. Nair knew him well enough. He knew that Rahul had all the necessary skills required for the job and communication was his only problem. But, Rahul was sure about tomorrow as the job itself did not need much communication skills. Besides, Nair was there. Tomorrow, he would write a new chapter in his life.
Time : 11:57:45 PM
The car raced through the empty streets. Sanjay was driving at breakneck speeds. No. He was not exactly a rash driver. But, Jacob was lying injured in the backseat. Ranjith was also there at the back trying to talk to Jacob, gently encouraging him. It had been a really bad accident. The three of them had gone on a trip to the nearby beach. They had always loved the beach. It had been a reunion of sorts that day in the city they called home. It had been almost two years since they had gone their different ways. And as usual today, inspite of having a car, Jacob wanted to take his bike out. Even though, there were only three people. Sanjay clenched his jaw. He was not really accustomed to high speeds. There were not many cars on the road at this time of the hour. But, any unexpected diversions or incidents, could completely mess up his driving at this speed. It could lead to an even worse catastrophe. Sanjay took a glance at the back of the car. He blinked his eyes for a fraction of a second and pressed the accelerator. He would reach that familiar dark red landmark in around one and a half minute at this speed. A hundred meters beyond that was the hospital.
Time : 11:58:30 PM
Nair was sipping a Bloody Mary at his friend's party. The disco was filled with his people but he was sitting beside one of the tables in a thoughtful reverie. He and Anjali had another quarrel today. It was a minor one. But, the frequency of such quarrels had been increasing lately. He had a feeling that Anjali was not telling him something. It was true that he had been spending less time with her but it was not like she had any mush syndromes. She had always been a partial tomboy, plucky and beautiful. Enough so, to sweep a relatively no-nonsense person like him off his feet. He smiled. He would make up to her, he decided. He would have a frank talk with her tomorrow night. He sipped some more of the Bloody Mary.
Time : 11:59:15 PM
The cold, night wind gently lashed at Anjali's open hair. She looked at the view beneath her. The city was relatively silent that night. She closed her eyes. She could see Nair's face. A droplet of tear slowly ran down from her right eye down the entire length of her right cheeks. She slowly moved towards the building ledge. The ledge was a shade darker than the dark red paint, which enveloped the outside of that building, where the small boutique she managed was situated. She had no idea why she was doing it. It wasn't worth it. But, her mind was numb and her feet kept egging her on. She loved Nair, she was sure. He loved her as well. The thoughts which were consuming her should have never existed in the first place. Her feet almost reached the edge. A seemingly infinite bottom beckoned to her. She, standing at the highest point in the building, felt swayed. She did not even hear the blazing car horn, whose volume was slowly increasing.
Time : 11:59:20 PM, IST, Earth Time
In one corner of the cosmos, the thing some people called God, some others called Fortune and yet others called the Universe, smiled to itself. It never was omnipotent or omniscient or omnipresent as many in the cosmos believed. It was more like a gambler, who was able to roll a couple of dices here and there, do some dirty tricks, change a couple of digits in the many equations. However, the interesting thing was that it always gambled in a similar manner. When it rolled those dices, it rolled them keeping faith in a particular variable called the human spirit. It hadn't yet counted its win and losses. But, with the widest possible grin, it rolled the dices again and gambled for that resolute race called humans in that very highly random cosmic game.
Riyaz lit a cigarette. His office was on the top floor of that old, dark red highrise. And he was standing near the stairs to the terrace. It had been a long day for him. Almost the entire hierarchy of his superiors had had a screaming session with him, for a faulty production decision he had taken last week. It had resulted in the company losing a good deal of money. It was only due to his status as a star performer and the fact that this was the only mistake that he had ever committed that had enabled him to escape the hatchet. As the cigarette slowly fell off as ash, Riyaz thought about his job and childhood dream. It wasn't remotely related. He had always wanted to become an astronomer. Even as a kid, the thing that made him the happiest had been gazing at the stars and the constellations. One thought led to another and the cigarette reduced itself to a stub. He dropped it and stamped on it. As he was about to go back to the office, he noticed that the terrace door was ajar.
Time : 11:57:30 PM
Rahul was in his bed. He was unable to sleep. The creaky fan and the ceiling paint which was about to peel off did not exactly soothe away his tensed thoughts. He had been out of a job for the past three months. The house owner had given him some leeway initially with respect to the rent because Rahul knew him well. But, he had prolonged it too much. And, the owner was getting impatient. He turned sideways. Suma was sleeping peacefully. She was the silver lining of his life. He took a deep breath. They had promised themselves not to have any kids till the situation stabilised. She had a small part-time job as a stenographer in a firm nearby. His thoughts went to the job interview that was scheduled for tomorrow. His old friend, Nair, would be in the interview panel. He envied him. They both passed out from the same local engineering college but he had managed to reach a high position within a short span of five years. Nair knew him well enough. He knew that Rahul had all the necessary skills required for the job and communication was his only problem. But, Rahul was sure about tomorrow as the job itself did not need much communication skills. Besides, Nair was there. Tomorrow, he would write a new chapter in his life.
Time : 11:57:45 PM
The car raced through the empty streets. Sanjay was driving at breakneck speeds. No. He was not exactly a rash driver. But, Jacob was lying injured in the backseat. Ranjith was also there at the back trying to talk to Jacob, gently encouraging him. It had been a really bad accident. The three of them had gone on a trip to the nearby beach. They had always loved the beach. It had been a reunion of sorts that day in the city they called home. It had been almost two years since they had gone their different ways. And as usual today, inspite of having a car, Jacob wanted to take his bike out. Even though, there were only three people. Sanjay clenched his jaw. He was not really accustomed to high speeds. There were not many cars on the road at this time of the hour. But, any unexpected diversions or incidents, could completely mess up his driving at this speed. It could lead to an even worse catastrophe. Sanjay took a glance at the back of the car. He blinked his eyes for a fraction of a second and pressed the accelerator. He would reach that familiar dark red landmark in around one and a half minute at this speed. A hundred meters beyond that was the hospital.
Time : 11:58:30 PM
Nair was sipping a Bloody Mary at his friend's party. The disco was filled with his people but he was sitting beside one of the tables in a thoughtful reverie. He and Anjali had another quarrel today. It was a minor one. But, the frequency of such quarrels had been increasing lately. He had a feeling that Anjali was not telling him something. It was true that he had been spending less time with her but it was not like she had any mush syndromes. She had always been a partial tomboy, plucky and beautiful. Enough so, to sweep a relatively no-nonsense person like him off his feet. He smiled. He would make up to her, he decided. He would have a frank talk with her tomorrow night. He sipped some more of the Bloody Mary.
Time : 11:59:15 PM
The cold, night wind gently lashed at Anjali's open hair. She looked at the view beneath her. The city was relatively silent that night. She closed her eyes. She could see Nair's face. A droplet of tear slowly ran down from her right eye down the entire length of her right cheeks. She slowly moved towards the building ledge. The ledge was a shade darker than the dark red paint, which enveloped the outside of that building, where the small boutique she managed was situated. She had no idea why she was doing it. It wasn't worth it. But, her mind was numb and her feet kept egging her on. She loved Nair, she was sure. He loved her as well. The thoughts which were consuming her should have never existed in the first place. Her feet almost reached the edge. A seemingly infinite bottom beckoned to her. She, standing at the highest point in the building, felt swayed. She did not even hear the blazing car horn, whose volume was slowly increasing.
Time : 11:59:20 PM, IST, Earth Time
In one corner of the cosmos, the thing some people called God, some others called Fortune and yet others called the Universe, smiled to itself. It never was omnipotent or omniscient or omnipresent as many in the cosmos believed. It was more like a gambler, who was able to roll a couple of dices here and there, do some dirty tricks, change a couple of digits in the many equations. However, the interesting thing was that it always gambled in a similar manner. When it rolled those dices, it rolled them keeping faith in a particular variable called the human spirit. It hadn't yet counted its win and losses. But, with the widest possible grin, it rolled the dices again and gambled for that resolute race called humans in that very highly random cosmic game.
