#it also has a line where Lalita says that

[thatscarletflycatcher]

People say -with reason- that Bride & Prejudice's Darcy is very undarcy-like, and it's one of the reasons why I think it is a shame that the song Arrogance, Pride, and Vanity didn't make it into the movie, because it's like

*Lalita vents a grievance or prejudice she has against Darcy*

*Darcy repeats in different ways that the "screw the light bulb, pet the dog" line was A JOKE and that several days later he's still hung up on how she missed the point*

And that's so very "my good opinion once lost is lost forever" of him.

[thewritenerd]

This Life and the Other

(I’ll be posting what I write for nanowrimo here every day (minus any big spoilers)

‘And you’re really suggesting we go there?’ I asked Lalita. She shrugged. ‘It wouldn’t be my first choice I’ll admit. But as it seems to be our only choice.’ ‘We’ll have to take the chance.’ Ronnie finished. Aiden looked uncertain but he still nodded. ‘I hate to say you’re right but you’re right,’ he sighed. ‘We’ll have to be very careful. Maybe case the joint first.’ ‘Isn’t that what criminals do?’ Cam asked. ‘Technically we’re planning on breaking and entering so.’ Iesha said grinning at them. Aiden came over to the sofas and sat down next to Ronnie. ‘Who would be best for keeping watch?’ he asked. We all looked around at each other. ‘Well Lalita would be good,’ Ronnie suggested. ‘She could alter people’s memories if they start to notice whoever we send.’ ‘He could you mean.’ Lalita corrected him. 

‘Oh Sorry Lala.’ ‘Any way back to our planning I think we should send Saren.’ Iesha said pointing to me. ‘His mind reading could really come in handy.’ ‘I have been practicing.’ I admitted. ‘On my friends in the sanctuary.’ I added seeing Cam’s horrified expression. Aiden nodded. ‘That’s good. And I suppose we’d better send one more person.’ He looked round before his eyes settled on Cam. ‘We should send Cam. They probably have the best memory of all of us, plus they can run back here with updates using their speed.’ Ronnie raised an eyebrow. ‘Cam, Lalita and Saren working together. Now that I’d like to see.’ I exchanged glances with Cam. In the past few weeks are relationship had been stagnant. It wasn’t that we hated each other. Or at least I didn’t hate them. But they didn’t exactly trust me and that little detail tended to get on my nerves. Still if it’s for the greater good I supposed working with them wouldn’t be too bad. Plus if Lalita would be there to keep them in check. ‘So it’s decided then,’ Aiden announced. ‘For the next week Cam, Lalita and Saren will keep an eye on the entrance to the Pound.’ ‘And do you know where the Pound is?’ I asked. ‘Yes it’s not far from here,’ Lalita said. ‘Probably why this hideout was empty.’ ‘Well that’s convenient.’ I grumbled. He smiled at me. ‘I suppose it is,’ he admitted. ‘We’ll no point complaining about convenience.’ Iesha said. ‘The sooner you start the better so you better start today.’ Aiden nodded. ‘Iesha’s right you to should head over there right now.’

***

We hid behind a low wall across the street from the entrance to the Pound. The Pound itself was a large building that looked like a mix between a factory and a prison. The prison part I could understand, it was a place for keeping people locked up after all, but the factory part confused me. I pointed this out to Lalita and Cam. ‘It does seem an odd design choice,’ Lalita admitted. ‘But never mind that, we’re here to keep an eye on the place not critique their architecture choices.’   ‘You say that like we can’t do both.’ Cam joked. When Cam jokes they don’t really smile or use a jokey tone. It’s more somewhere between snarky and matter of fact, and they frown a little less. I swear that kids going to have permanent frown lines by the time he’s 18 at this rate. Shifting a little to get more comfortable I began to wonder how much longer it would take to see someone or something that made this all worthwhile. The spot we had chosen kept us well hidden and we had a good view, but it wasn’t comfortable. It had rained at some point last night, or maybe it was early this morning, and the ground was still damp. There was also the matter of how to sit so you could see over the wall and still be able to duck behind it if necessary. Although we were the smallest three of our little group, a factor that had been pure coincidence, we still had trouble hiding. The best option seemed to be kneeling but that tended to hurt after a while. Sitting was another option but we either had to sit facing the wall, which made ducking quickly difficult. Or we could sit with our backs to the wall, which made ducking easier as we could just lean forward but in order to see the Pound we had to twist our upper torso which was painful. We all found ourselves shifting position on a regular basis which could get distracting. Occasionally I’d give a quick sweep of people’s minds to make sure no one was getting suspicious. Not that there were many people around and most of them had more important things to worry about than three teenagers hiding behind a wall and staring at a building. ‘Saren are you seeing this?’ Lalita asked interrupting my latest mind sweep. I looked where he was pointing and saw a large black vehicle with the words Mutant Control Unit printed on the side in yellow. The vehicle looked like a truck but had small square windows along the side. It stopped outside the gates and one of the security guards walked over to the driver’s side. The driver leaned out and said something to the guard who nodded and walked round to the back of the truck. Pulling himself up using handles on the side of the truck he stood on a metal strip that stuck out from the back of the truck and peered through the windows in the back; before hopping back off and walking back to the driver’s side. He said a few more words to the driver before turning to face a small booth where another guard sat waiting and giving him a nod. The man in the booth did something I couldn’t quite make out and the gates swung open allowing the truck to drive through.   ‘They must have caught some more mutants,’ Lalita whispered his voice shaking. ‘Well there’s nothing we can do about that now.’ Cam replied in what I guessed was an attempt to reassure him. They turned back to look at the gate a thoughtful expression on their face. ‘But at least we’ve learnt one thing, those gates are so slow I could probably run in there before they open and back out before they close.’ ‘They’ll spot you if you just run in and out.’ I pointed out. ‘No they won’t I run faster than the human eye can see.’ ‘The camera will still see you you glogger brain.’ ‘Who are you calling a globber brain?’ ‘No one, I called you a glogger brain.’ ‘What the fuck even is that.’ ‘It’s a type of animal from my home planet. It sort of looks like one of your slugs but less slimy. It’s the size of a cat and has greyish pink skin. And they’re not very bright. Hence why I called you a glogger brain.’ ‘Can you two stop?’ Lalita sighed standing up. ‘Hey where are you going?’ Cam asked. ‘I’m going to get something to eat. We’ve been here long enough it’s probably lunch time and I need to stretch my legs. Please don’t murder each other while I’m gone.’ With that she started walking off leaving the two of us alone. ‘Wouldn’t it be quicker if you’d gone?’ I asked Cam. ‘It would. But there’s always a chance I’d get something he can’t eat.’ I wasn’t sure what they meant by that. ‘Does he have allergies or…’ Cam shook their head. ‘No nothing like that. It’s more of a sensory thing caused by them being autistic.’ ‘Yeah I heard him mention that. It has something to do with his brain right?’ ‘Yes. But you’re better of asking him the questions not me. He understands it more after all.’ I guess that made sense. Everything had returned to it’s previous slow and boring ways as we continued to keep watch. ‘Maybe we should play a game,’ I joked. ‘Like what?’ Cam asked shifting into a new position. ‘I don’t know? What’s that game where people try to guess what you’re looking at? I see was it?’ ‘I spy? There’s no way I’m playing that with a psychic, you could cheat.’ ‘I wouldn’t.’ ‘Or so you say.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘Gee paranoid much. Why don’t you trust me? Especially over something so small.’ ‘Because I’m paranoid.’ I stared at them waiting for an explanation. They sighed and tilted their head so their chin pointed towards me. ‘I’m paranoid. As in I have paranoia. And mood swings and I see things that aren’t even there. And don’t ask me what’s wrong with me ‘cause all I’ve got is a list of symptoms and no diagnosis.’ I looked at them thinking. What they said explained quite a bit. Their struggle to trust me, the fact they could be fine one moment and snapping at everyone the next, and it explained why their eyes kept looking over your shoulder or to the side as if they’d seen something move. ‘So you don’t trust me enough to play I spy with you but you’re happy to share that bit of personal information?’ ‘My brain has invented its own logic.’ They shrugged. I was about to make a comment when I spotted Lalita heading towards us. ‘Finally I’m starving.’ I said as he sat down and started passing out the food he had brought back. As we ate not much happened across the road. Occasionally a truck would drive in or out, other times it would be a normal looking car. Probably Hunters going to and from work I thought. Thinking about hunters having a life outside of work. They had homes and family’s. What did their husbands and wives say when they came home? “Welcome home honey did you have a good day throwing kids into vans and taking them to a prison factory where they’ll be locked up?” ‘Oh Sorry Lala.’ ‘Any way back to our planning I think we should send Saren.’ Iesha said pointing to me. ‘His mind reading could really come in handy.’ ‘I have been practicing.’ I admitted. ‘On my friends in the sanctuary.’ I added seeing Cam’s horrified expression. Aiden nodded. ‘That’s good. And I suppose we’d better send one more person.’ He looked round before his eyes settled on Cam. ‘We should send Cam. They probably have the best memory of all of us, plus they can run back here with updates using their speed.’ Ronnie raised an eyebrow. ‘Cam, Lalita and Saren working together. Now that I’d like to see.’ I exchanged glances with Cam. In the past few weeks are relationship had been stagnant. It wasn’t that we hated each other. Or at least I didn’t hate them. But they didn’t exactly trust me and that little detail tended to get on my nerves. Still if it’s for the greater good I supposed working with them wouldn’t be too bad. Plus if Lalita would be there to keep them in check. ‘So it’s decided then,’ Aiden announced. ‘For the next week Cam, Lalita and Saren will keep an eye on the entrance to the Pound.’ ‘And do you know where the Pound is?’ I asked. ‘Yes it’s not far from here,’ Lalita said. ‘Probably why this hideout was empty.’ ‘Well that’s convenient.’ I grumbled. He smiled at me. ‘I suppose it is,’ he admitted. ‘We’ll no point complaining about convenience.’ Iesha said. ‘The sooner you start the better so you better start today.’ Aiden nodded. ‘Iesha’s right you to should head over there right now.’

***

We hid behind a low wall across the street from the entrance to the Pound. The Pound itself was a large building that looked like a mix between a factory and a prison. The prison part I could understand, it was a place for keeping people locked up after all, but the factory part confused me. I pointed this out to Lalita and Cam. ‘It does seem an odd design choice,’ Lalita admitted. ‘But never mind that, we’re here to keep an eye on the place not critique their architecture choices.’   ‘You say that like we can’t do both.’ Cam joked. When Cam jokes they don’t really smile or use a jokey tone. It’s more somewhere between snarky and matter of fact, and they frown a little less. I swear that kids going to have permanent frown lines by the time he’s 18 at this rate. Shifting a little to get more comfortable I began to wonder how much longer it would take to see someone or something that made this all worthwhile. The spot we had chosen kept us well hidden and we had a good view, but it wasn’t comfortable. It had rained at some point last night, or maybe it was early this morning, and the ground was still damp. There was also the matter of how to sit so you could see over the wall and still be able to duck behind it if necessary. Although we were the smallest three of our little group, a factor that had been pure coincidence, we still had trouble hiding. The best option seemed to be kneeling but that tended to hurt after a while. Sitting was another option but we either had to sit facing the wall, which made ducking quickly difficult. Or we could sit with our backs to the wall, which made ducking easier as we could just lean forward but in order to see the Pound we had to twist our upper torso which was painful. We all found ourselves shifting position on a regular basis which could get distracting. Occasionally I’d give a quick sweep of people’s minds to make sure no one was getting suspicious. Not that there were many people around and most of them had more important things to worry about than three teenagers hiding behind a wall and staring at a building. ‘Saren are you seeing this?’ Lalita asked interrupting my latest mind sweep. I looked where he was pointing and saw a large black vehicle with the words Mutant Control Unit printed on the side in yellow. The vehicle looked like a truck but had small square windows along the side. It stopped outside the gates and one of the security guards walked over to the driver’s side. The driver leaned out and said something to the guard who nodded and walked round to the back of the truck. Pulling himself up using handles on the side of the truck he stood on a metal strip that stuck out from the back of the truck and peered through the windows in the back; before hopping back off and walking back to the driver’s side. He said a few more words to the driver before turning to face a small booth where another guard sat waiting and giving him a nod. The man in the booth did something I couldn’t quite make out and the gates swung open allowing the truck to drive through. ‘They must have caught some more mutants,’ Lalita whispered his voice shaking. ‘Well there’s nothing we can do about that now.’ Cam replied in what I guessed was an attempt to reassure him. They turned back to look at the gate a thoughtful expression on their face. ‘But at least we’ve learnt one thing, those gates are so slow I could probably run in there before they open and back out before they close.’ ‘They’ll spot you if you just run in and out.’ I pointed out. ‘No they won’t I run faster than the human eye can see.’ ‘The camera will still see you you glogger brain.’ ‘Who are you calling a globber brain?’ ‘No one, I called you a glogger brain.’ ‘What the fuck even is that.’ ‘It’s a type of animal from my home planet. It sort of looks like one of your slugs but less slimy. It’s the size of a cat and has greyish pink skin. And they’re not very bright. Hence why I called you a glogger brain.’ ‘Can you two stop?’ Lalita sighed standing up. ‘Hey where are you going?’ Cam asked. ‘I’m going to get something to eat. We’ve been here long enough it’s probably lunch time and I need to stretch my legs. Please don’t murder each other while I’m gone.’ With that she started walking off leaving the two of us alone. ‘Wouldn’t it be quicker if you’d gone?’ I asked Cam. ‘It would. But there’s always a chance I’d get something he can’t eat.’ I wasn’t sure what they meant by that. ‘Does he have allergies or…’ Cam shook their head. ‘No nothing like that. It’s more of a sensory thing caused by them being autistic.’ ‘Yeah I heard him mention that. It has something to do with his brain right?’ ‘Yes. But you’re better of asking him the questions not me. He understands it more after all.’ I guess that made sense. Everything had returned to it’s previous slow and boring ways as we continued to keep watch. ‘Maybe we should play a game,’ I joked. ‘Like what?’ Cam asked shifting into a new position. ‘I don’t know? What’s that game where people try to guess what you’re looking at? I see was it?’ ‘I spy? There’s no way I’m playing that with a psychic, you could cheat.’ ‘I wouldn’t.’ ‘Or so you say.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘Gee paranoid much. Why don’t you trust me? Especially over something so small.’ ‘Because I’m paranoid.’ I stared at them waiting for an explanation. They sighed and tilted their head so their chin pointed towards me. ‘I’m paranoid. As in I have paranoia. And mood swings and I see things that aren’t even there. And don’t ask me what’s wrong with me ‘cause all I’ve got is a list of symptoms and no diagnosis.’ I looked at them thinking. What they said explained quite a bit. Their struggle to trust me, the fact they could be fine one moment and snapping at everyone the next, and it explained why their eyes kept looking over your shoulder or to the side as if they’d seen something move. ‘So you don’t trust me enough to play I spy with you but you’re happy to share that bit of personal information?’ ‘My brain has invented its own logic.’ They shrugged. I was about to make a comment when I spotted Lalita heading towards us. ‘Finally I’m starving.’ I said as he sat down and started passing out the food he had brought back. As we ate not much happened across the road. Occasionally a truck would drive in or out, other times it would be a normal looking car. Probably Hunters going to and from work I thought. Thinking about hunters having a life outside of work. They had homes and families. What did their husbands and wives say when they came home? “Welcome home honey did you have a good day throwing kids into vans and taking them to a prison factory where they’ll be locked up?”

[aruneshgoyal]

11. (Forbidden Entry)

 Entry was forbidden to the royal gardens in the township of Nabha, just 16 miles from Patiala district in Punjab. The Gardens were under the direct control of Lalita Devi and nobody could enter them except by her express permission. Lalita Devi, on her part, left no stone unturned in the maintenance and upkeep of the Gardens and kept a strict watch on them day and night. She was a war widow and got her pension from the Indian Air Force.  

Her husband, Mohan Singh, was a valiant warrior and had given up his life for the cause of the nation in operation “Safed Sagar” of the Air Force during the Kargil war of 1999. He had been posthumously honoured with the Param Vir Chakra, the highest national gallantry award. Lalita Devi still remembered the day when the news of the demise of her husband was broken to her. How much she had suffered! And, then came the 52nd Republic Day in 2001 when she received the award on behalf of her late husband from our erstwhile President – Shri K.R. Narayanan. It had been a really proud moment for her but ever since she came back to her native place, viz. Nabha, she developed the rather uncanny knack of getting irritated over the smallest of matters.  

Her behavior smacked of arrogance to being blatantly rude.  In particular, she didn’t like children indulging in revelry and merrymaking etc. She would have gone insane but for the vacancy for the post of Royal Gardens’ manager to which she instantly applied and got selected too in view of her credentials from the armed forces of the country. The job came as a welcome relief for her since she had nothing else of significance to do, in particular. And, she really took to managing the Royal Gardens as fish to water. It was her idea to have a temple and a war memorial erected on its sprawling lawns as also Mogra flowers, Jamun and Mango trees were planted in line with her instructions.  

A gardener was kept for the plants and the trees while she took personal care of the temple (of Lord Vishnu – Lakshmi-Narayan) and the war memorial. Be it Mohan Singh’s birth or death anniversary, she never forgot to offer Mogra flowers at the war memorial.  

She personally cleansed the images of Lakshmi-Narayan, washed their dresses and took personal care of their makeup and Shringaar. And, she kept the gardener too on his toes always making sure that the plants and the trees were properly watered, trimmed, and put with good manure. She gave special attention to Mogra flowers since she required them right in time for the birth and death anniversaries of her late husband – Mohan Singh.  

When the Jamuns and mangoes were ripe, she would pass strict instructions to the gardener as well as strut about the Gardens herself with a heavy iron rod to keep the mischief mongers – the naughty boys of the township, at bay. These delicious Jamuns and mangoes would then be offered at the feet of the temple deities with only a part of the prasadam being kept for the inmates of the Royal Gardens and the rest of it being sold in the fruit market so as to earn a good revenue for the Gardens, which would help in their future upkeep and maintenance.  

One fine evening, two girls – Meenakshi & Tabassum, apparently good friends with each other came to visit the Royal Gardens. The watchman immediately told them to go back as they would never be able to fulfil their mission of offering Mogra flowers to the deities of the Lakshmi-Narayan temple at the Gardens. But, the girls were persistent. The watchman was feeling increasingly pestered.  Hearing all the hullabaloo, Lalita Devi came out of her small dormitory and inquired of the watchman what it was all about. Before, he could say anything, the two girls, in their mid-twenties, intervened and humbly requested her to allow them a patient hearing at least, before her.  

Lalita Devi was quite impressed by the girls’ humility, sense of purpose and asked the watchman to allow them in to the visitors’ cabin on the first floor. Meenakshi & Tabassum sat down on the sole small couch in the cabin. But, contrary to their expectations, Lalita Devi didn’t come over to meet them for a long, long time. May be, she was testing their patience. The two girls, especially Meenakshi, were getting increasingly impatient but Tabassum gradually regained her control, composure and rhythm, motioning her friend to calm down, keep her wits about her, and not to lose patience.

Finally, their persistence and dedication to their cause paid off as they watched Lalita Devi slowly coming towards them. She offered her apologies for keeping them waiting for so long and then casually asked them if they would like to have some tea/coffee etc. Tabassum was feeling extremely thirsty by now and could do with a glass of water. And, here, tea/coffee was being offered to her on a platter! She was about to say – ‘yes,’ to the offer, when Meenakshi suddenly intervened in between and said softly to Lalita Devi – “Madam! We have not come here for any coffee/tea etc. Our sole and only purpose is to offer Mogra flowers grown here to the temple deities at the Gardens!!”  

“But, why on earth should you want to do that over here? There are hundreds of temples outside where you can easily achieve your mission!” – retorted Lalita Devi. This time around, it was Tabassum, who spoke thus - “Madam! We have heard a lot about this place. That it has a war memorial and a temple together at the same place highlights the fact that it combines prayer with valor. We are of the firm opinion and belief that if we can offer Mogra flowers at the Lakshmi-Narayan temple just beside the war memorial, we shall be blessed with good, truthful, righteous, large hearted, brave and valiant husbands, which in turn, shall fulfil the purpose of our lives!” Listening to this quip from Tabassum, Lalita Devi was touched beyond words and was lost in her own world for a while.  

Then, recovering herself quickly, she remarked – “Oh! I see! The two of you have been bred well and must be hailing from decent families, I know this for sure. This time around, I may or may not be able to offer Mogra flowers at the war memorial, but I will make sure that you achieve the mission you set out for in coming here!” – saying thus, she ventured to do what she had just said. The inmates of the Royal Gardens, meanwhile, had gathered around them and gaped in silence at the entire spectacle of “Forbidden Entry” turning into “Good & Patient Entry!”