Dumb...No I'm not

The glowing hands of the clock on his desk read past 12 AM. He had been through a long day at work, but somehow sleep was elusive. Something had been bothering him all day. So he decided to call up his friend for a late night chat. She picked up and answered in a sleepy voice. Dang! She had been sleeping. Feeling bad he asked her to go back to sleep. But she won't. Within seconds, she was wide awake and somewhere deep down, he felt lucky to have her as a friend.
After putting down the phone, he stared at the blank ceiling for some time. Seriously, if he had to put down something about her, what would he write. He remembered all the time that they had spent together in school. They weren't exactly the best of friends to begin with. But somewhere something changed and enmity gave way to friendship which in turn gave way to something more. Before he even realized what was happening, they were dating (secretly of course).
In front of the whole school, they hated each other's guts but back from school, they would laugh and joke about  the whole deal. He remembered his birthday when she had given him a rather awesome gift (read speechless). He remembered all the small little things she had done for him, cute in a way. But soon she had to leave. And with her leaving, it brought the one factor which breaks most relationships, distance. They didn't talk for ages and soon he forgot her.
But call it fate or just pure luck, she had somehow managed to get his number in college and one day she gave him a call. It was heaven for him, listening to that voice after such a long long time. They chatted for hours and chatted like they had never left each other's side all this time. He found out she was dating another guy. It crushed him, but he smiled and said that he was happy for her.
He remembered all the times she was down and he would stay awake all night to talk to her and console her. He remembered the times when she would give him chic advice. She had given a new meaning to his life. Through good times and really bad ones, they had stuck by each other. And till this very day, she would be literally the first person he would call to shoo away his woes.
He remembered her asking him to write a couple of words about her. He stared at the keyboard, half visible in the dim glow of his monitor. The glowing hands on the clock now read past 2 AM. Dang! He had office tomorrow. A smile crept across his face as he remembered the one word which would totally summarize her.
Dumb! And a beautiful distant voice in his head cooed...No I'm not.

Time Pass on Photoshop

Most of these images have been developed from scratch using nothing but simple shapes and then stylizing them. Except for the one below and the entitled 'Fading'. Had been wanting to put these up for a long long time. So here they are. Cheers!

 A girl blowing pollens.

 Experimenting with a sphere and smoke.

A digital abstract.

 Tribute to my phone - Nokia X6

 Ripples.

Fading 

Electro swirl

A Beam

Creating Fire.

Friends

The song was pretty loud, loud enough for him to be not able to answer the phone. His recently broken up girlfriend was calling. She hadn't called him in ages now; so why now. He spun down the volume dial and picked up the call.
Her voice still gave him the same feeling as it had for the past 2 years. But today there was a sadness present in her voice. He got alarmed; he still cared for her. And then she told him something which completely muted out the world. The cars, the construction, and everything around him was as if in slow motion. She had stated liking somebody else.
And just like a video goes from slo-mo to normal pace, he was back. But instead of the news killing him as he expected it would, it cleared his mind. As if the great fog had lifted and he could finally see everything. It all made sense. And then he laughed like he had not in the past few months after their break up. He was happy for her, but most of all he was happy for himself.
He remembered a conversation he had with a friend during lunch. Both of them had gone through the same fate, but his friend had moved on and was now a happier person. And his friend had advised him to do the same. But he was stupidly in love, and hence clinging on to the one hope he could hold on too. But now there was no reason to cling on to anything. He decided he would call up his friends and inform all of them.
One of them was in the office. She was definitely more worried than what she was portraying. She said she would call him back later. She was th typical love sick female. Everything was utterly romantic to her. And this news was a bad one.
Another friend who also happened to be busy, had a pretty cold response. She had expected the girl to move on before him anyways. She also would call him later.
His third friend then sat with him and laughed his ass off about how similar their stories were and he could not agree less. But then everything happens for the best, with these words he head back home.
By the time he reached, he realized that his friend had called and missed him. He didn't call back right away. The other had a different approach altogether. She had already begun to hate his ex-girlfriend, and now reading him excerpts from his facebook profile, laughing about how sad a guy she's falling for. 

But one thing that was common between the three of them was that, they cared. There had been times when they were busy or unavailable but when it really mattered they were there for him.


If you know who you are, Thank you...!! And it is truly an honor having you as a friend.

Valentines Day

Valentines Day, the day of love as the world knows it. I celebrated this day, after what seems like ages, being single. I must say it pretty much sucks. You can't go to watch a movie because the halls are thronged with couples all wanting to grab the elusive corner seats. And on top of that if you have seen every movie released this week and the only movie left is "No Strings Attached", then I must sat you are in deep shit. You pretty much have nowhere to go. The restaurants are overflowing, the streets are jam packed, the theaters are absolutely out-of-limits, which leaves what? The pubs!
So me and a couple of my friends decide to hit a nearby beer bar to spend valentines day getting sloshed listening to some great music. But apparently even these places are not spared. We had to wait for like 20 minutes before we could enter the place and that too on a Monday. I mean what the hell. Not only that, almost every table inside was full of people either drinking with their loved ones, in memory of their loved ones or to forget the same. You know you are in the wrong place when you have people toasting death to girls right next to your table.
I mean its not that I'm anti valentines day or anything but my recent break up had a lot to do with my decision to booze. But after spending some time in there I realized that there is no point hating what had happened and cursing the whole female race for that. I mean yes some of us have had their hearts broken (and broken a few ourselves) but thats no reason to curse the whole race. I mean given a few months ago, these same people must have been the ones snuggling up to their better halves as docile as lapdogs.
And then it dawned on me (or it could have been the beer), that we as humans are a very jealous race. We cannot withstand anyone else's happiness let alone be a part of it. Your best friend just got committed..."lucky ba***rd", someone got a more awesome cell that you do..."spoilt brat", a great girl walking with a not so great (read pretty lame) guy..."wtf". I mean what in the world is wrong with us? If he's got a better girl, then there is a reason for it. Sure in a lot of cases it is money but there you go. No point feeling jealous of it and getting sloshed in the pub. You want it, go get it.
Everyone of us falls in love. And by god it hurts when it ends. But then again there is a reason why everything happens. May be you'll find a much better girl and fall in love again, or may be someone from the past will turn out to be much more than a friend. The possibilities are endless. But the moment you stop to vent your anger and frustration, you are left with nothing more than a bad headache in the morning. So always celebrate this day (and booze) in happiness, if not for your then for those whom you really care about. After all Dil To Bachcha Hai Ji.

This is dedicated to all my friends who have found , are in the process of finding or waiting to find their one true soulmate, their one true Valentine. Cheers!

That Night

The silent click of her computer mouse was the only sound in the entire room. Her roommate had gone out to get groceries. Wiling away time on the internet was getting pretty boring for her now. Just as she stretched out to shut the laptop out of sheer boredom, a ping sounded on her desktop. Bedrudgingly she opened the window and read the notification. An instant smile spread actoss her face. It was a mail from the boy she loved. He was currently posted on a ship, miles away from civilization, and this was their only means of communication now. Fleeting memories of laughter, long walks and cozy moments buzzed her brain as she cursed the speed of the net. She would change it first thing in the morning. Finally the mail finished loading. His ever smiling face was now fixated in her head reading out every single word as she went through them. She really loved him a lot and she knew that he loved her too. 
But with the next line her world came crashing down upon her. Suddenly his smiling face turned into a surreal grimacing figure she had seen so a many times. Long walks gave way to longer fights and cozy moments turned into the one singular instance that had shattered her entire existence only a few weeks ago. Like a broken record playing in a horror movie, his last words were echoing in her head. He had broken up with her. And in this mail, he wanted to iterate upon the various reasons he did so. This was not the first of its kind, there had been a few before, all having the same end result, pain, cold numb and brutal pain. She read through the lines, the keyboard now dotted with tears, her demeanour no longer jovial but with a heart trying to pick up whatever was left after that incident. She had failed to give him the time that he deserved. She had hurt him beyond measure and he wanted her to know that. Every line was like a gash on her broken heart. It was the exact same thing that had happened the last time. Was she not made for a relationship? What on earth was wrong witn her? Why was she the only person who was failimg again and again at love? 'Love' and 'Relationship', these words seemed so not made for her. For the second time in her life some one had broken her heart but it was all her fault. 
But was it really? What of all the times she had cried herself to sleep because he was the one who had hurt her. What of all the pain and heartache that she had gone through and was still enduring with a smile on her face. No one ever knew about that except for one of her best friends. And she was not the one reminding him of the great screw ups that happened in the relationship. 
No she was not the weak link in the relationship, he was. Yes they both loved each other, true but she loved him no less than he loved her. And that she would have him know, ship or no ship. With a sharp click, the browser collapsed. She would not tolerate this any more. It was about time that she actually started living her life like she wanted to and not like the way he and others before him wanted her to. So if some one wanted her, she would be her true self from now on. A take it or leave it offer. With a snap, she shut off the laptop and lied down on her bed. She could hear her roommate now comimg up the stairs. 'Life is good' she told herself and wiping away the sole tear on her cheek, she turned away and drifted off. 
The silent sob was the last sound heard in the room that night.