8 Years on Twitter!

It was this day, way back in 2009 when I had joined Twitter, without having an idea on what I've got myself into. I had no idea back then, that this platform would have such an impact on me.

It started off as mean to communicate and interact with people having similar interests and it still continues to be that, along with a lot of other things.

These 8 years have been instrumental in shaping me; in ways I've could have never imagined. It has shaped my thought process in a certain way that I'm fond of. It has made me question a lot of things and the way we approach things. It has been my go to place whenever I've been wanting to vent out something. It listened to me, always.

Twitter has also been pivotal in two of my jobs, something that I never thought would be possible. The frequency, engagement and the kind of content I shared there help me get those.

It has also helped me realize a lot of things in general. I've become more patient with people. I've learnt that people will have different opinions and you got to respect that. I've realized there's good and bad in everyone and one needs to ignore the bad and appreciate the good. I've realized you should express yourself without the fear of being ridiculed. I've realized people sitting miles away from you can make you feel better.

I've met some people with whom I've shared some beautiful memories. I haven't met quite a lot of them yet I feel there's a connection.

All in all, Twitter has made me who I am today and it would be wrong on my part to not give it its due credit.

Thank you, Twitter.

Visapur Trek- An experience added in the job profile called Life!

Kicked off the trekking season with a hike to the Visapur Fort.

You can click here for a detailed version of the blog too!

Got lost on the ascent, made our way through waterfalls, slippery dirt paths, rocks, boulders, thorny shrubs and a thick tricky portion of woods that tested our limits. Made friends with a group of people who helped us and whom we helped in whatever way we could. 

We finally found our way after circumventing the entire hill and made our way to the top where we were greeted with periodic assaults by torrential rains and heavy winds. Trust us, those rains combined with super strong winds tested us in ways we couldn't imagine. You know, there's an unwritten rule of trekking, always help when you can and everyone seemed to follow it. We helped people, people helped us, people helped people. It was such an amazing feeling. 

Climbing down from the summit was the toughest part, and after some memorable falls, spills, few cuts, and photo shoots, we reached the base with a thankful heart. We've been to treks earlier and each of them has given us a different experience. This was probably the most difficult trek we had been too, but it was an experience none of us could ever forget. We have some bruises and some kick-ass stories that make this journey called life a pleasant one. 

I've always believed in living a life full of experiences and I'll continue doing so in whichever way possible. Life is meant to be lived and experienced. It isn't meant to go by the preconceived notions of people. 

Thank you, Taha Ansari and Zeeshan Hasware for an amazing trip.

I'm already up for our next trip and I'm sure you are too, so let's roll? 

- Written in collaboration with Zeeshan Hasware

To Eman...to humanity!

Life is weird, funny, random and unpredictable to say the least. It was one of those unpredictable days in life. Each day brings out something you didn’t expect at all and something similar happened today. One of my friends was admitted to Saifee hospital and I’ve been wanting to visit him since the last couple of days, but couldn’t due to work commitments (I know I need to work on my priorities).

I finally managed to take a half day and reached Saifee hospital that seemed to be a bit noisy for a hospital or maybe more than a bit. A mention of Eman by some staff members made me realize what the whole commotion was all about. Eman who was treated at Saifee was leaving.

Eman Ahmed (formerly the world’s heaviest woman who used to weigh 500 kg before she got operated in India) was on her way to Mumbai International Airport. She was flying out of the country with her sister Shaima.

Must say, even amidst all the crowd that was pouring in to see Eman, she was protected and safely escorted out of the hospital with heavy security including police personnel.

The team treating her has done a commendable job with not only her treatment, but also her security at every phase despite the heavy sensationalisation that has been happening off late. I was surprised to see such a smooth transfer of Eman despite all the challenges…I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me a proper drill and practice was done for this kind of transfer.

The kind of protection given kind of restored my faith in our systems and doctors; being capable of handling such cases. It was pleasing to see, to say the least. In a public hospital like Saifee, one cannot stop people from coming in, so despite all of that, Eman was safely transferred to the airport.

All of this made me feel real bad for our doctors. Despite doing things to ensure our safety and ensuring we have better lives, we treat them so badly. We point fingers at them, we judge them, we name call them, we do whatever we can to bring them down. The recent incident where a doctor was beaten up badly, injuring his eye terrible is a fine example of how badly we treat them. We need to start realizing they’re humans and they do whatever they can within their scope to make us happy.

 And yeah, my friend is doing fine. He will be discharged in a couple of days.

He’s fine. Eman is better. Humanity exists….and my day ends on a good note. 

Save Eman...a lost cause??

For over a month, I have been hearing about the case of the world’s heaviest woman – Eman Ahmed. If you guys don’t know about her yet, here are a few facts about her:

- Eman Ahmed from Egypt was earlier the heaviest woman in the world, weighing 500 kg at age 36

- She was in urgent need of medical aid & her sister Shaimaa Ahmed, had reached out to several doctors across the globe over the last couple of years for medical guidance.

- In October 2016, Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, a surgeon from India took the initiative to reach out and help.

- Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, is a leading laparoscopic surgeon, specializing in bariatric surgery and GI oncology surgery.

- Eman’s case different and complex, she was a high risk patient who had already suffered a stroke resulting in paralysis of her right arm and leg, she can’t speak, has type 2 diabetes, hypertension and a lot of other complexities.

- Eman’s transfer to India was not an easy one as a special flight had to be chartered to bring her here from Alexandria.

- The doctor’s team successfully brought her to Mumbai on Feb 11.

Since then she has been under treatment at Saifee Hospital with a special team of doctors assigned to her care. She underwent a Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy on March 7 and now weighs 176.6 kg and that’s a fabulous thing and a huge achievement in my opinion!

It is a miraculous recovery I would say, from a point of no hope to a much better state. It’s also heartening to see Eman’s current pictures where she’s smiling and looking much better than before.

However off late, it’s really shocking to see the allegations made on the doctor even after his great initiative to save Eman. 

The medical fraternity has come out in support of him and even Health Minister Dr. Deepak Sawant praised Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala’s efforts and also tweeted about it.

You can read his tweets on this link: https://twitter.com/drdeepaksawant 

This case makes us believe in miracles but also because of some great people we call doctors. Let’s hope Eman leads a better life now on and keeps smiling.

Feel free to tell me what you think.

  

Things to learn from Rahul Gandhi's Twitter Account Hack

I am not sure how many of you know this, but Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter got hacked on 30^th November, 2016 around 9 pm. This hack opens a complete can of worms and makes us wonder and question a lot of things.  Some claim this was done by Rahul Gandhi’s team to malign opposition, who are focusing on digital India. Some claim it’s done by the opposition to malign Rahul’s image. We’ll leave that discussion there and focus on what the title suggests.

I’m a complete twitter junkie and watched the account closely. The person/group who hacked the account put out a lot of tweets. Some tweets mocked the political part he supported, some mocked his family and some of them mocked Rahul Gandhi himself. What baffled me the most was the way the situation was handled by agency who handled the account.

The agency figured the account has been compromised and must have probably changed the password immediately, but within few minutes those derogatory tweets were up again. This clearly showed lack of knowledge on the agency’s part. Keeping all these things in mind, I’m sharing few hygiene checks that could help in ensuring your account isn’t compromised similarly.

Setting up the basics: It’s always good to have some things handy before setting up an account. The following check list will definitely help you in securing the account and reducing the chances of it being misused.

•           Have a very strong password: Yes, you guessed it right, this is the most critical thing one should keep in mind. It should consists of small letters, capital letters, numbers and special characters. It shouldn’t be associated with your account, name, spouse’s name, etc. This will make it difficult for people to have access to your account.

•         Security checks: Ensure the email id you’ve put in doesn’t have the same password. Put in your number. These will ensure more security.

•        Credentials: Ensure you don’t give away the credentials to anyone. Don’t write it down and leave the paper randomly. If you have to note it down, make sure you keep it secure.

•          Third Party Apps: Do not log in to third party applications using your account until and unless you are 100% sure about its authenticity. Even if it’s trusted, do check their data the app can access. Never allow apps that can see/use/change your password.

Crisis Management:   Let’s assume your account gets misused despite all these precautions. If such a situation arises, here are the things that’ll ensure the situation is handled properly.

•         First things first, ensure you have the notification on for the account you manage. It’ll ensure you’re notified as soon as your account is compromised.

•      As soon as you feel your account is compromised, change the password, security measures like email id and telephone number. This will ensure the hacker doesn’t get a chance to hack the account again.

•      Once that is done, ensure you revoke access to all devices, apps etc. You can check for this in settings. The reason for this is sometimes the account stay logged in devices for some time, despite change in password. 

•  Contact Twitter as soon as possible, giving a detailed explanation to the situation.

•         Check your email id for any mails received for account login etc.

•          Write to cyber-crime as soon as possible giving out as many details as possible.

While these things won’t guarantee 100% security, they’ll definitely help in some way or the other to ensure the account is safe and your agency doesn’t get fired ;)

Please feel free to give suggestions in the comment section and also let me know if I’ve missed out anything.

P. S. I don’t support or like Rahul Gandhi at all, but I’m really against this. Invading and disrespecting someone’s privacy is as low as it could get.

Exploring Matheran on a budget!

Bored of the routine? Tired of going clubbing every weekend? Want to enjoy nature at it's best without burning a hole in your pocket? The thing you read after this will definitely have yes as an answer to all of these questions.

So, come Friday evening, my friends and I were discussing and cursing how skewed our lives have become and how badly all of us needed a break and that's when the idea of heading for a trip/walk was planted in our heads. With little research, we ended up zeroing Matheran for a single day trip and trust me, it was one of the best trips I've had in the longest of time.

How we reached?

We started quite early and took the 5:48 am train from Kurla to Neral; Kurla being the closest central railway station for all three of us. After about 90 mins of travelling in an almost empty train, we reached Neral from where we took a share cab that took us Dasturi Naka, beyond which no vehicles are allowed.

Cost: 160/person (40 pp return ticket between Kurla and Neral + 70 pp from Neral to Dasturi Naka+50 Entry-taken to maintain the place)

What we did there?

We had barely slept and needed some energy so we just stopped for a light breakfast after a short walk to the market from the the entry point. With some food and tea in our system we were all set to head to our first stop- Alexander point.

Alexander Point: 

Alexander point was a quiet, peaceful place overlooking the beautiful hills all around and that soothes your mind and body like nothing else.

Rambaug Point:

Yet another beautiful place; just reminds you of how nature can bring back the lost calmness in you.

Chowk Point:

Next up was Chowk Point that offered a view that is mesmerizing! I fail to find the right words to describe it's beauty. With some tea to give us company along with this beautiful view, we were surely lost in a beautiful zone.

One Tree Hill:

As the name suggests, this hill just had one tree and trust me, it looks beautiful! We would have missed getting closer to this place had our tour guide(a dog) not taken us there. Yes, a dog! He was with us all along the route and a chat with the tea stall owner confirmed that dogs in the area move around with you from a point to another, helping you explore places like never before and the least we could do is offer him some food. The happiness on getting some food knew no bound and he wagged his tail left, right and center. It brought a smile on our faces too. All this for something as low as 20 bucks.

Charlotte Lake:

Our next halt was Charlotte lake that is a bit commercialized and that wasn't something we were really looking for. None the less, it was a good halt and we refueled our exhausting bodies with some moderately priced food here.

Louisa Point:

After a good rest of over an hour, fueling our body with food and tea, we headed over to Louisa point. The incline from the lake it a bit tiring, but the visual delight you'll have when you reach there will take away all the tiredness. This one is my personal favorite, offering a view like none of the above mentioned places. Not taking away anything from any of the places, but this just calmed each and every nerve of my body. Hadn't been this calm in while. We sat there for over an hour; doing NOTHING! Like literally nothing, but just absorbing the beauty of nature.

Porcupine (Sunset) Point:

After spending over an hour at Louisa point and having a small chat with one of the tea stall owners on the way, we headed to Sunset point. The name pretty much explains everything and me being obsessed with sunsets, I just couldn't miss this! However, luck ran out and it was too cloudy to witness that. This place was beautiful too with hills all around.

We were there till 7 pm, which wasn't the best of things to do as it started becoming dark on the way back. While we were almost right on our path, couple of people had lost their way back and helping them out occupied quite a lot of our time, and we ended up reaching the market area around 8, completely exhausted! We were super hungry so decided to have some food before heading back. The railway tracks were pitch black so carry a torch/phone with flash light. 

We paid about 400/person for the food and snacks during the entire trip.

Our ride back to Neral was slightly expensive as compared to the morning ride. Share cabs compile only if there are 5 people or if you're willing to pay for 5 people i.e. 350 INR.

Total Damage*: 650/person.

All in all, Matheran is a great place to visit when you're low on budget and want to explore nature's offerings. 

Note: 

1. The train prices may vary as per the individual's location. 
2. Share cab subject to availability.
3. Entry charges as of 20th August, 2016.
4. Food charges subject to the restaurants chosen and can be avoided if you prefer homemade food. 
5. The entire trip was about 27KMs and it's not advisable to follow this route if you're not comfortable walking this long. Another alternate to this is taking a horse but the budget will rise up by another 1000 bucks and you won't be able to spend as much time as we did at each place. 
6. Be careful of monkeys! They are really aggressive in that region.
7. Don't let the craziest selfie of your life be your last selfie.Be smart, alert and careful! 
8. The content/images are my intellectual property and cannot be used without my consent.

Feel free to drop in your experiences, feedback, stories, suggestions, etc. 

Have a happy Trip!!

An obsession worth keeping?

'Bhai,  paise nahi kya shave karane ke?' 
'Girlfriend ne chhod di?'
'Himalaya mein jaake baba ban ne ka irada hai kya?'

and other questions I'm just tired of hearing because of this obsession of keeping a beard. I mean why can't a person keep a beard in general? Why does everyone have to be so judgemental when it comes to beards? The other day some relative told me,  'Convert karne ka soch raha hai kya? Dusri jaat wali koi dhoond liya?' I mean why the fuck would you even associate it with a religion or belief. Has the whole thing called personal choice disappeared from the face of this earth? I guess it has for people like them,  who'll constantly tell you what you should do and what you shouldn't. Is everyone's thinking still stuck in 19th century?

Anyway, I'll still keep a beard and I'll tell you why. I don't know how you guys would take it,  but keeping a proper beard has somehow helped me become more patient. I was one short tempered guy who would get furious for any and everything. And for some weird reason,  it has reduced a lot since I've started keeping a beard. I'm not giving the entire credit to it,  but the fact doesn't go away that keeping a beard requires some insane amount of patience. I'm sure the above para very much gives you the reasons for the same. And no,  I'm not talking about those 10-15 days stubble. I'm talking about anything that has been there on your face for at least 40 days.

Also,  it helps me when I'm bored and out of ideas. Just stroke the beard for some time and wisdom just flows through it. No,  no,  it's a fact! Haven't you seen girls play with their hair too? I wonder which hair do guys with no facial hair play with.

However, there are a bunch of dumb fucks who associate this with manliness. I mean it is,  in a way,  but there are other things that define manliness too. I mean you can have all the beard in the world,  but if you don't know how to treat women respectfully,  then I'm sorry to break your bubble,  but you're not a man! Growing a beard comes with some responsibilities:
- Treating women respectfully is on the top of that list.
- You need to be patient and should avoid losing your composure.
- Your preferred language of conversation shouldn't be stupid.
- You should let gossiping be enjoyed by those who don't have a beard. Don't be a part of it.
- You're not allowed to break anyone's trust.

There's more to it, but I guess I should stop for now. Adios!

-A beard obsessed human.

To new beginnings...

To burying past and welcoming new beginnings with open arms; a recap of what happened last year...

It all started with bringing in the new year with few friends, from one of the best views Singapore had to offer  and trust me, it was something that'll always be a part of me. Exploring the country by the day and chilling with friends by night, living each moment exploring something different about the place.That wasn't just that, the beginning of 2015 had more to offer and landing an internship with Radio Mirchi. That two month journey was a mad one indeed;meeting celebrities, attending award functions, being a part of radio shows, meeting some crazy people(RJ Jeeturaaj, Sapna, Shashi, Sangeeta,  Abhay,  Aniket, Jay and Abhijeet to name a few) and not the forget, the famous selfie with Sunny Leone. 

Summer decided to play nice with me as well.A mad trip with some trippy people at one of the trippiest place in Gujarat; a wildlife sanctuary. If sitting right in the middle of a sanctuary at night, staring at the love made by moonlight and the lake is something that doesn't excite you, nothing will. It was soon followed by Blue Arena,  where hundreds of fellow blues from different part of country joined us as we had the biggest screening ever. It was something none of the attendees would forget. Also, Chelsea FC winning the league a couple of weeks later was the icing on the cake.  

Monsoon had a similar story to tell, starting off with a wonderful trip with my entourage. The trip has some crazy stories attached to it, but it's better if I keep them off Social Media. The overall scene post that trip was very much sorted too-chilling with my favourite people every day, coffees and conversations, sheesha, random drives, mad stayovers and much more.

Come winter, come chaos. I somehow love winters, but it doesn't love me back. It always has some bad news in store for me. Earlier it was the much dreaded exams and now was the much dreaded life exam. I didn't really fare the way I should have and ended up losing  some people. To be honest, it was just like one of those exams where I worked hard, but ended up failing anyway. You lose some, you win some and some people became a part of this journey called life. It doesn't fill the void created by them going, but it brought some hope that bad things happen, but good things happen too. 

Anyway, that's pretty much how my year went by, not one of the best years, but better than the worst. This year definitely made me look at things differently. It made me  realize that life doesn't end when people go away. It might hit a minor bump, but it'll move past that and that it how it should be. Stopping at every bump is something that'll just bring you down. Also, we should accept the fact that everyday can't be the same,  you can't and shouldn't expect good things each and every day. The day you start expecting such things is the day you'll stop living. Own up your things and stop blaming things and people around you for everything wrong going on with yourself. I guess I'll just stop blabbering right there and get back to what I do the best, tweet!

So, here's wishing you all a very happy new year! Have a great one and learn something new in 2016! Cheers!!

Love and all that Jazz

He sat comfortably on his sofa, settling in on a channel after aimlessly surfing channels for almost 15 mins.  He removed a cigarette and started roasting it, to mix it with some top quality hashish someone had got him from Malana. He started rolling it meticulously, licking it to make a perfectly rolled joint.

He drifted towards an altered state of mind just after inhaling few drags of the sweet smelling stuff. Couple of drags more and he started floating away from reality; slowly entering a world that seemed so beautiful to him.

There he was, on a pending long drive, away from that chaotic city that they lived in. Both of them wanted to run away from the madness that surrounded them and live in their own little sane world.

"I've been wanting to go on such a trip since some time. It couldn't have come on a better day", Samara said.

"I know. I wanted to spend as much time I could with you. I wanted to make your birthday as special as I could"

"You being with me is more than enough for me, Zahir. You've always stuck around when I needed someone. You've always made me feel so special"

"Samara, please don't go all formal on me. We're way past that phase. You should know you mean the world to me and I'd do anything to bring a smile on that pretty face."

"Okay, okay. You know the feeling is very mutual, baby. And stop looking at me like that. Concentrate on the road!!"

Playing songs after songs, talking about random stuff and exchanging glances every now&then, they arrived their destination.

"Close your eyes"

"Why?"

"Just do it. Trust me, you won't regret it"

He lead her to this amazing setup up on a private beach. Something that you usually see in movies.

"You can open your eyes now"

"OH MY GOD!! This is so beautiful, Zahir. You remember each and everything I told you about my dream date. The orchids, the music, those purple and white curtains around the set up, my favorite wine, the food that I love, those white balloons. Everything is in place! Everything is sooo perfect! Everything is so beautiful! Oh God! I LOVE YOU, MR. ZAHIR!!"

"It's not as beautiful as you are."

They settled in finally. Having some of that delicious food, a couple of glasses of wine already in their system.

"Baby, let's dance"

"You know na Samara how bad I am at dancing"

"Just come with me!"

Both of them swaying to the mellow tune. Their eyes engrossed in each other, completely clueless and indifferent to what was happening around them. He just looked at her, wondering how lucky he was to have such a pretty lady by his side. She just thanked her stars for finding someone as caring as him. They stopped, getting closer slowly, their lips teasing each other, until they finally became one, passionately.

Suddenly, a voice brought him back to reality.

"DADA, ye kavla maal ka kitna"

Trying to get back from his hazy eyes and mind, he said, "KYA?"

"Arre Dada, wo kavli maal ka daam pooch leraha hoon. Ekdum dhaasu maal utha ke laaye ho dada"

"Acha woh. Uska 2 peti hai. Aisa kavla sealed maal 2 peti mein kahi nahi milega."

From being the sweetest person anyone could ever come across to owning the biggest brothel in the country and being the leader in flesh trade. From someone who treated women with respect to someone who used their bodies to earn money. From someone who never touched a female without her consent to someone who would destroy them if they ever said no. All of that because Samara had left him for someone who earned more. Someone who owned a bigger house. Someone who impressed her with his flashy cars and huge bank balance. It's funny how things change so easily.

Love....and all that jazz it brings along.

Ban-Chhod

A lot of buzz has been going on regarding the 4 day meat ban in Mumbai. People from different faiths and beliefs are discussing/debating and giving their views on the same. For those who don't know, the idea of banning the sale of meat on 4 days of Paryushan was approved by BMC on Monday. This ban implied no meat is to be sold on 10th, 13th, 17th and 18th of September. However, restaurants may continue to serve meat.

Why was this ban allegedly imposed? 

Apparently, this ban was imposed in light of  Paryushan, a festival that is considered really important by Jains. A festival where Jains visit their respective temples twice a day and fast for 8 days; having only boiled water during that period. However, that's for those who can fast. Those who can't, they follow certain really strict rules: they aren't supposed to eat roots, green vegetables, dairy products, have dinner before sunset and so on. 

What does this ban mean to a Jain like me?

Being a Jain, I'm totally against this ban. This ban has done more harm to our community than good. Jains are made the center of all the jokes and trolls for this stupid ban imposed upon Mumbaikars. Well, to be honest, those trolls aren't to be blamed because they're forced to follow something that they don't need to. 

Political angle??

Why do something that shakes the entire fundamental of the so-called-largest democracy? At one end you claim to be largest democracy and tell the world that everyone in this country is free to follow their faith, and at the other end you impose something that's followed by a very small percentage of the population. Don't call it a democracy if you force things upon people.

This is nothing but a political gimmick done by authorities to earn some brownie points and sadly, it has backfired. What else would a true believer of Jainism call it when the most basic principle of Jainism is: 'LIVE AND LET LIVE'? 

Dear authorities, if you really wish to be on the good side of the Jain community or any community as a matter of fact, please impose the following bans:

• Ban Visarjan of Ganesh idols in seas. Instead make provisions like artificial ponds, etc. and ban the use of chemicals and toxic materials for Ganesh idols.
• Ban the use of firecrackers and promote Diwali as a festival of lights. Encourage people to buy lanterns, diyas and other things made by physically challenged people; creating some source of income for them.
• Ban the use of harmful chemicals during Holi and reduce water wastage overall.

(P.S. I'm not telling anyone to ban these festivals or anything. All I'm trying to say is that modify them according to the need of the hour.)

I would prefer any of these above mentioned things over that mean ban any given day!!!

And for my fellow Jains who feel this ban is necessary, just a simple question: How would you react if you would have been forced to have meat on Bakra Eid? The thought scares you, right? 

Don't force your beliefs on anyone. LIVE AND LET LIVE.

-A Logical Jain.

I Love You, Maa

Zohan was an average kid who always maintained a balanced life. He was an above average kid when it came to studies. Also,  he was very good with extra curriculum activities. He played most sports as well; be it cricket, football,  basketball,  tennis or badminton. His teachers never really had any complaints about him apart from the thing that he didn't interact with all the kids and usually kept aloof. His marks always made his teachers speak highly of him that made a lot of students hate him.

His high percentage in SSC boards wasn't a shocker to anyone. He got an enviable 90+ that helped him get admission in a very reputed college quite easily. He changed a bit and managed to make few friends effortlessly. His undergraduate days weren't any different from his school days.  He attended a good number of lectures and bunked when he had to. He was selected in the college football team.  His social life was quite enviable too.  He went for movies every week.  Trips to nearby hill stations became a routine.  Partying scenes never ceased. He did all of that without letting his academic performance dip.

The entrance exam for engineering wasn't a cakewalk, but he managed to clear it with a decent score that helped get admission in one of the top five colleges of his city. The number of trips increased when he got into engineering. His visits to bars and pubs also increased,  but that didn't really affect his marks because he knew where he had to stop. The time he devoted to sports reduced drastically though. The consistent first class that he had been getting over the semesters helped him get admission in a very good MNC, with an above average pay package. He had no intentions of studying any further and this job offer was a major catalyst in that decision. Having a job before completing engineering is something that almost all engineers want and having exactly that kinda changed things slightly. He started drinking more frequently, got into smoking up and occasionally did drugs as well. His final year results weren't something that he could brag about,  but that didn't change the fact that he had a secured job.

His joining date was three months after he got his results so he ended up partying all that while. His corporate life wasn't exactly the way he had thought it would be and he found it a bit difficult to adjust to it. Those hectic working hours,  those long nights,  corporate politics, group-ism, getting bashed for no apparent reason,  not getting the credit he deserved,  etc was something that wasn't quite easy for him to digest. He eventually got a hang of it. He made few friends at the office. Started chilling out with them. His life was back to normal over a period of time. A well balance work and social life.

His life was something that a lot people dreamt of,  but he wasn't completely satisfied with it. There was something that ate him up from within every single night. Seeing his colleague going out with their partners made him realize his loneliness even more. He never had a girlfriend and that thing started affecting him terribly. He started making alcohol his company and turned up to alcohol whenever he felt lonely. He almost became an alcoholic.

He was on the verge of destroying himself,  but he managed to have someone in his life who stopped him from doing that.  She cared for him a lot and did almost everything that was within her reach to make sure he was happy. She used to call him during the day just to make sure he realized that he had someone who cared about him. Someone whom he could turn to when he wanted to talk.

All of that meant nothing because,  one fine day,  in an inebriated state,  he came home and started forcing himself on her. She was very reluctant and tried really hard to get away from him,  but he was physically too strong for her. He stripped her body, but it felt as if he stripped her soul. He preyed on her,  like a lion preys on it's hunt; physically and emotionally hurting her. All she could was weep within those four walls after he was done scarring her.

This started becoming frequent. He used to come home drunk,  forced himself on her and poisoned her soul with his filthy body and soul. She was helpless because she had no one to turn to. This torture had consumed her completely. She had lost her appetite,  became pale with this horrible thing that she had to go through. All that was left of her was a soulless body. She couldn't file a FIR because she loved him way too much to do that. She just couldn't imagine herself being the reason for his imprisonment.

Just another night, being intoxicated beyond limit,  he opened the door to see something that brought him back to his senses.  There she was,  lying on a bed of blood, motionless and lifeless; with a huge cut on her wrist. He had killed a beautiful human just to satisfy his physical needs. He had ruined such a beautiful relationship all thanks to his drinking habits.He couldn't believe what he had done. That loneliness and desperation had turned him into a monster. It brought out a dark side in him that he never knew existed within him.

After hours of silence, wondering what a grave mistake he had done, all he could say was, "But Maa, I loved you"