TiMe Machine 5

'I must leave this place write now', Rohan thought to himself. 'The body will start stinking soon and future mom dad may wake up any time. But where can I find George Thompson. I must go to Virginia University.' He took the electronic machine in hand and started exploring it. There were two modes, teleportation and time travel. He entered on the teleportation option. The window popped up and asked for the location coordinates. 'What are the location coordinates?', he searched it on the internet and found them. May be I should take the laptop with me so that it will be helpful there. He started shivering, whether it was because of the excitement or the fear of doing it, he was quite unsure of. He went to the kitchen and drank the glass of water and came back to the drawing room where the body of the Professor was lying. He took the time machine in one hand and the laptop in other hand and pressed the OK button. He thought he was prepared for the upcoming pain but it was all fresh experience without any pain just slight dizziness. When his legs hit the earth, he was standing on the grass lawn in the middle of the university campus. It was the day time. Suddenly he felt the pain in the back of his head exploding out and he went unconscious. When he opened his eyes he was lying on the ground and it was night time. The time machine was still in his right hand. He felt like puking, so he sat on the grass for nearly 10 minutes. Slowly, he got control on himself. The first thing he noticed was that his laptop was not there. 'Maybe electronic components can not pass through space-time', he thought to himself. He saw on the screen of the time machine, to his surprise it was in the time travel mode. 'How did this happen? I remember setting the teleportation mode. Suddenly a flash of memory came to his mind, he had been standing on the grass in the morning time. Confused with the whole incidence, he stood up and started noticing the surrounding. He was standing in the middle of two ancient buildings. It was the Virginia University College campus. There were no lights on the streets or ground but the corridors of the building were lit. On the other end of the corridor, a guard was smoking a cigarette. Suddenly Rohan noticed the cold atmosphere. He was wearing the T-shirt and the three-fourth. 'How am I supposed to find George Thompson in such a cold.', Rohan started shivering violently. He ran towards the building and entered the corridor. The guard noticed him and approached him quickly. "Hey there, what are you doing here at this time?", guard asked him angrily. "I am the student of Prof. George Thompson. I was working in his lab for my project." "Oh really?", the guard asked sarcastically. Rohan had a strong feeling that guard has not brought any of that. "Show me some Id", demanded the guard. "Oh..I forgot it in the lab", Rohan started fumbling. As the suspicious guard started approaching towards him, he started running back towards the grounds. The guard cried out loud for the other guards and started chasing Rohan. Rohan ran fastly across the grounds running into the other building. Thankfully, there was no guard in this building. He remembered being chased by the dog once and then taking 5 injections. 'I must not fail this time, think something', suddenly he got an idea. He took out the time machine from the pocket and started the teleportation mode. In the drop down menu, he found the last coordinates being entered, he stopped running and changed the location coordinate by fraction. "Freeze or I will shoot you", screamed the guard from the back. Rohan turned around and saw the guard pointing a gun towards him. 'Hey calm down man, I am just a kid. No need of gun.', Rohan spoke negotiatively. But from inside, he was terrified to the hell. "We got him", Rohan heard another guard from his back. 'Oh shit, I am trapped.', thought Roahn. Both the guards started cornering him. Without any warning, he pressed the button on the time machine and the whole world started whirling around him. When he hit the earth, he lost his balance and found himself on the middle of the highway. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the truck approaching rapidly from the front. He rolled himself all across the road and came near to the divider. He nearly missed the Truck. "Watch out you jackass", yelled the driver. Somehow, he climbed the road-divider and came to the other side of the road. In front of him, he saw the huge entrance of the Virginia University. 'Thank god for giving me the idea.', overwhelmed by the idea of narrowly missing death, Rohan started thinking fastly. 'How could the guards in the university be so hostile that they pointed gun at me? Which time is this?', he thought to himself. After being time traveled with Prof. Ford, he had lost the track of the date. He thought may be the time machine can help him. He went into the menu and started exploring each option carefully. It was just like the normal mobile phone, handy and simple. Then he found the option. CURRENT DATE AND TIME. He clicked. It was 20 Aug, just the next day when he first met Prof. Ford. 'Oh...may be the security was tight because of the murder in Prof. Ford's lab yesterday. I must go and check where can I find this Thompson.' He walked helplessly towards the entrance gate. The cold air was making his toes and hands numb, from the far distance, he could see the security personnel on the Gates. 'I can not go in like that.' He took the time machine once again and found one interesting option, CALIBRATION. He entered into it and put it into fine tune mode. He could see the lawn from the Gates, it was nearly 800mtrs, he approximately calculated the displacement achieved by varying the single digit in the location coordinates and set the new coordinates accordingly. 'Please let this work.', he prayed and pressed the button. When he opened back his eyes, he was standing beside the same wall as previous but the only difference was this time he was inside the campus. He walked slowly through the dark and reached the same building. There he found the chair and table where he first saw the guard sitting. He walked slowly towards the table and found the paper lying on the table. On the first page, he saw the same picture which he saw on internet from his home. The body which was lying with one hand cut. He read through the article searching for the name of George Thompson, when he found the lines, 'Prof George Thompson, who was the close friend of the murdered scientist is taken into the unknown secure location by the police authorities. Taking into consideration the hand of terrorist forces, FBI has intervened into the matter' 'Oh great, now I can not reach Thompson', Rohan felt hopeless. Suddenly he saw the same old guard coming back to his security-post. Rohan silently went back into the grounds and stood in the darkness. 'Great, the murderer is given the protection and I became fugutive. This is my bad time.' And something stroked his mind. 'Yes, this is bad time. Because once the FBI fails to solve the case, they will leave him and he will come back to the University. I must go in future!' He opened the time travel mode in the time machine and pressed the exact time with 3 years farther. 'My quest ends in the future.', he convinced himself and pressed the button.

दिलजले

एक लड़का था, सीधा साधा भोला भाला. नाम था उसका आशीष. बचपन से ही पढाईमें अव्वल था. उसके रहनसहनमें एक सादगी थी. हमेशा दोस्तोंकी वो मदद करता था. दोस्तोका वो सबसे चहिता था, और माँ-बाप का लाडला. समय की रफ़्तार कभी ना थमी, अच्छे कॉलेज में आशीष की एडमिशन जमी. नये दोस्त नयी जगह, आशीष ने कायम राखी अपनी छवी. अचानक एक दिन उसकी जिंदगी में आया सैलाब, उसने जाना की उसका दिल उसके पास नहीं है, डर के मारे वो हर जगह ढूंडने लगा. तभी उसने एक लड़की को देखा, वो उसका दिल लेके जा रही थी. भागते-दौड़ते वो उस लड़की के पास आया, लेकिन उससे कुछ कह नहीं पाया. कुछ कहने के लिए चाहिए था उसे जिगर, जो उस लड़की ने पहले से ही चुरा लिया था. हताश हो कर वो पलट गया. जब उसने अपने दिल (खोने) की बात दोस्तोंको बताई, तब एक दोस्त रोहित खुशीसे चिल्लाया, " ऐ मेरे मासूम दोस्त, तू इश्क के समंदर में गया है डूब, अब ले मजे तैरने के खूब" दोस्तोंका हँसिमजाक उसने बहोत सहा, लेकिन उस लड़की का खयाल हमेशा उसके जहन में रहा. कॉलेज में हमेशा उसकी नजरे उसे ढुंडती थी, लेकिन जब कभी वो सामने होती थी तो ये खुद अपनी नजरे पलट देता था. डरता था की कही उसकी आँखे तो उसके सारे अरमान ना बयां कर दे. एक दिन अचानक वह लड़की आशीष के पास आयी, उसके धडकनोंकी रफ़्तार तेज़ हुई. "आशीष, क्या तुम मुजे अपनी कॉपी दे सकते हो?", उसने मुस्कुराते हुए पूछा. "हां.", एक लब्ज के सिवा आशीष कुछ ना कह सका. तभी उसने देखा की उसके दोस्तोंकी टोली सड़क के उस पार खड़ी होकर सब देख रही है. उसने सोचा, 'मर गए आज तो बहोत खिचाई होने वाली है. अच्छा है की ये सब कमीने सड़क के उस पार है.' तभी रोहित अचानक वहा आया. "अरे नालायक, मैं तुझे कबसे कॉपी मांग रहा था तब मुझे नहीं दी, और आज रोशनी ने मागी तो बिना कुछ कहे दे रहा है.", आशीष सोचता ही रहा की इस कमीनेने मुझसे कब कॉपी मांगी, उस पुरी नौटंकीसे अनजान रोशनी सहम गयी और कॉपी वापस करने लगी. तभी आशीष ने कहा, "अरे नहीं नहीं, तुम्हारा काम हो जाने के बाद वापस करना, ये तो मजाक कर रहा है." इस रोहित के बच्चे को तो मैं बहोत पिटूँगा, आशीष मन ही मन में सोच रहा था. "थैंक्स, बाय!!", मुस्कुराते और शरमाते हुए वो लड़की वहा से निकल गयी.
सड़क के उस पार सारे दोस्तोने आशीष को घेर लिया और ताने मारने लगे. "उसके भी दिल में तेरे लिए है प्रीत जागी, लागी लागी लागी प्रेमरोग लागी", रोहित चिल्ला चिल्ला के गाने लगा. "बकवास बंद कर बेशरम.", आशीष गुस्साया. तभी उसने देखा की सड़क के उस पार रोशनी की सहेलियोने भी उसे परेशान कर रखा है...वो दिल ही दिल में मंद मंद मुस्कुराया. अब हर दिन कॉलेज में उसके सारे दोस्त उसे चिढाते थे, वो भी झूट-मुट का गुस्सा दिखाता था लेकिन उसके दिल में भी लड्डू फूटते थे. इसी तरह दो साल बीत गए, और कॉलेज ख़तम हो गया...लेकिन आशीषने कभी अपने दिल की बात बयाँ ना की. उसके सारे दोस्त उसे कहते रहे लेकिन वो चुप रहा, इंतजार में...उसके एक इशारे के इन्तेजार में. वो इशारा जो उसे कभी नसीब ना हुआ. वो अपने दोस्तों को कोसता रहा, क्योंकि वो सोचता था की उनकी वजहसे वो प्यार की ग़लतफहमीमें रहा. कॉलेज के बाद नौकरी के चक्कर में वो सारी पुरानी बातें भूल गया. अचानक, एक दिन रोहित का कॉल आया, "मैं शहर में आया हु...मिलने आ जा." पुराने दोस्त से मिलने की ख़ुशी में वो रेस्तोरां पहुचा तो उसने देखा रोहित के साथ एक लड़की थी. पास जाने के बाद उसने पहचाना की वो उनकी क्लासमेट संगीता थी. थोड़ी देर इधर उधर की बातें करने के बाद रोहित ने पूछा, "रोशनी के कोई बात हुए?" आशीष ने सिर्फ सर हिलाते हुए ना कहा. तभी संगीता बोल पड़ी, "आशीष, हम सब जानते थे की तुम उसे पसंद करते थे...और अभी कुछ दिनों पहले मैं उससे मिली तो उसने बताया की वो भी ये बात जानती थी. हालाँकि तुमने खुद ये बात उसे कभी नहीं बताई, इसीलिए उसने भी तुमसे एक बात छुपाई." "कोनसी बात?", आशीष ने अचंभा से उसे पूछा. "की वो भी तुम्हे पसंद करती थी." "सच!", आशीष की ख़ुशी फुले ना समां रही थी. उसे वो इशारा मिल गया था. मैं कल ही जाकर उसे अपने दिल की बातें बता दूंगा, आशीष ने सोचा. "आशीष, तुने देर कर दी यार.", रोहित बोल पड़ा. "मतलब?", आशीष ने पूछा. "संगीता रोशनीको उसकी शादी में मिली.", कॉफ़ी पीकर जब सब लोग बहार निकले, आशीष अकेला रस्ते पे चल रहा था, अपने आस-पास की दुनियासे उसे कोई लेनादेना ना रहा. सड़क के किनारे एक चाय की दूकान में पुराने रेडियो में गाना बज रहा था, "दिल जलता है तो जलने दे, आंसू ना बहा, फ़रियाद ना कर......"

Time Machine 4

The gloomy atmosphere in the room was making Rohan uncomfortable. Even though he was in the same house, he felt strongly out of place. He had no sense of time except for the fact that it was night time. What is today's date?, he thought to himself. What if future Mom dad and me are sleeping upstairs? What should I do now? He could feel the sweat on his temples. I was never good in handling such situations, how could anybody be good at this?, he questioned himself. 'Should I take Professor to the hospital?' Professor was lying on the ground but he was alive rather breathing heavily. I must give him some break, Rohan thought. So lets summarize the things till now, Professor's friend became his enemy and tried to murder him. Somehow professor escaped from the scene and came to me for the help. But why would he come to me?, he kept talking to himself. Lately strange things started happening with him. One sunday evening, he was watching movie with Mom and Dad while eating food, he realized someone was watching them from the window, they searched the whole neighbourhood for the intruder but could not find him. He still remembered the intruder's eyes when he first noticed him. There was something he knew about those eyes, they felt strangely related. And now here I am at some unknown time with someone I barely know, he thought. He saw Professor waking up and helped him to sit back once again. "Professor, what happened with your friend George? Is the body found in your lab is George Thompson?", Rohan asked reluctantly. "No, George succeeded in his mission. He took the time machine from me.", Professor said heavily. "That means you have more than one time machine?" "No I built a single time machine" "Then please enlighten me how both of you have time machines?", Rohan was irritated obviously. "Because this time machine does not belong to me. Someone came from the future and gave this to me. And he was the one who told me to find you.", Prof explained. "What?", Rohan was shell shocked. "So where is he now? Can't he help us?", Rohan asked eagerly. "No, he told me specifically to reach to you. He said that you are the only ray of hope." "But if he came from the future, may be we can track him down. How does he look?", asked Rohan. "I can't tell you anything about him. It may change your course of action and the whole future may get affected." "Ok, that means he is somehow related to me, isn't he?" "May be may not be. But I must warn you about the evil intentions of George. As I told you he wanted to work on parallel reality.", Professor started speaking again. "Parallel reality is very complex phenomenon. If we can drastically relate any course of action from past to the future, we can create parallel reality. George believed in it. He wanted to travel in the future and know all the things which went wrong with him so that he can make everything right by coming back in the present." "I did not understand, how can I be helpful in any way?", Rohan said. But Professor continued as if he did not here it. "You can say by creating the parallel reality, he made his soul more unstable, psychologically, George has divided his soul in 2 parts. According to my theories, we are right now in the parallel reality. I am dying with each passing second, you have to find him and kill him." "What?", Rohan practically screamed. This person is mad, he wants me to kill other man, how can he think of me as the cold blooded assassin? "You may be wondering, why I am asking you to kill George?", Professor asked patiently. "Well surely" "Because the moment you kill him, we will go back to the real timeline. And then you have to convince him or rather prohibit him once again not to create parallel reality." "So where can we find him? Let us go and hospitalize you first.", Rohan heard himself and thought how casually he said that. But he felt like he must take Professor to hospital, the story telling and future planning can wait. But then he saw and stood aghast, the wound had opened quite large and the floor was soaked with blood. "Rohan, you must understand one thing, my part of the journey ends here. I am of no more use to you. You must find your own path. The darkness has befallen on us and you are the only ray of hope" "But how can I find him, he is in USA, I am in India, how am supposed to go there alone?", Rohan turned his back towards him to hide the tears coming out of his eyes. "Use the time machine as the teleporter. It is just like the mobile handset, you will surely understand it. Remember I have faith in you and so did the one who came from future...." and suddenly the room was filled with the silence. Rohan turned towards Professor and found him staring blankly at him. He felt himself shaking with fear. "Professor?", he asked slowly. But he knew that no one will answer his questions anymore. The feeling of numbness conquered his soul. The tiny electronic machine was waiting for his master but the master was the slave of unanswerable senselessness.

Time Machine 3

'This can't be true, I must be dreaming. All I need to remember what I was doing before this man came. I was watching movie. Before that, I cooked my food, I talked with Mom. I went to play badminton.', Rohan was trying desperately to find the loop hole. 'I can actually remember everything for the last 12 hours. God please help me.' 'Just put your finger here', Prof Ford instructed him. He started the countdown. '1 2...' 'Wait, I need to call mom and tell her that I am going somewhere otherwise when Abhi will come, he will inform her and both of them will worry' '3' A strong current flew from his finger and he could sense some movement in his brains. It was more than just a pain. It was agony. There was no escape. He suddenly fell on the floor unconscious. When he woke up he saw Prof Ford sitting beside him. "Are you Ok?", he asked nervously. "I am fi.." and suddenly he vomited in front of him. "Its Ok, drink this water." 'Something must have happened wrong. This time machine does not work.', thought Rohan. Because they were sitting still in his house. Then he was about to ask Prof Ford but when he saw him nothing came out of his mouth. Prof Ford looked very much exhausted and much older. All the wrinkles on his face were prominent. Still in so much discomfort he managed to give a friendly and reassuring smile. "Why it didn't work professor?" "Why do you think it didn't work, Rohan?", Professor counter-questioned him. "What do you mean? We are still at my house" "Thats why I am asking why do you think it didn't work? I told you to get ready for the Time Travel not the space travel." Then it struck to Rohan. "We are at different time at my home, aren't we?", he asked. "Yes" "What time is it then? Is it past or future?" "No one can travel back to the past." "Why, all time machine movies show that?" "This is not movie my son." "How ridiculous is this? You want me to believe time travel is possible but not to the past." "Yeah. And I can't explain you why." "Why?" "Because there is no time for this." "Ok, so tell me why did you practically kidnapped me and forcefully made me to travel time?", temper was rising in Rohan's voice. "We must be on some kind of mission and I must save someone kind of.." "Yeah you can say so." "Now listen carefully, I will tell you from the start from where it all started.", Prof Ford started speaking. "It was the year of 2000 when I joined Virginia University as a post-doctoral fellow. I was the kind of geeky person in your words. I had done my PhD in Quantam physics and nanobiological applications. The only friend I had at the Virginia University was George Thompson. He was the professor at university and shared the same interest with me. Within my two years there, we were best friends. He was very loud mouthed person, so many people disliked him. But we always agreed on our technical or philosophical viewpoints. Five years ago, we were consulted by US military officials to talk about some new project. We were briefed by the lieutenant General Wattson. First they told us about their ambitious plan of building the time traveler. At first, we took them very lightly. But when they told us the details about the fundings they were providing to the project, it seemed the military was very serious about it. We started our work within two days after meeting. We worked day and night for the five years. During the mid time, we were constantly pressuralized by military officials to meet the deadlines. Their sudden and continuous visits to our homes and offices deeply disturbed our social lifes. I was not a family man but George was very much angry over this particular spying. Then one year ago his marriage broke down and he blamed the whole incident on military. He started drinking heavily and became paranoid. Once in a meeting he came drunk and blamed in front of all high ranked military officers that Wattson wanted to kill him. I somehow managed to calm him down. As we were getting closer and closer to the deadline, we started having disagreements. I still remember the day when we last talked as friends. It was a sunny morning. I was sitting in my lab when George came to me and asked, "What do you think, military will do with the time traveler?" "I don't know..why?" "Is it not possible that they will go into future and change the things" "I don't think so. General Wattson is a clever person. He will use this power cleverly and carefully than anybody." "Even more cleverly than us?" "May be." "Are you mad? We are the creators of this time machine and if anybody knows how to handle it then it is us." "What is your point?" "I want to travel through time first before Wattson knows that we had achieved the goal." "I won't allow you to do that. Lately you have been out of your mind. If you make any changes in the space time continuum, it will create butterfly effect." "No, it won't. Because I have the other idea.", he smiled. "Parallel Reality." "You are drunk. Go to home, we will talk later.", I tried to soothe him but instead he roared on me. "So now you are also on that Wattson's side. Don't you? I will never let him take my life even if I had to fight him." and he left the room." Suddenly blood started coming out of Prof Ford's mouth. Rohan got up quickly and brought the napkin. There were so many things his mind was occupied with that he forgot that prof Ford was injured. When he examined his injury, he was surprised. It had been more severe than when he saw him first, some 1 and half hour ago. "Prof are you ok? Who attacked you by the way? We must go to the hospital." "Stop. Listen to what I am telling you. We have less time." "Last night I completed the last module and I was sure that something terrible will happen. I told you that we can not go to the past, but it is not entirely true." "That means we can go and stop the attacker from stabbing you.", Rohan asked eagerly. "We can go back to the moment from when the time machine was build. I was very nervous, because once the machine is built, I was sure that someone from future will definately try to communicate with me." "Prof wait, we must go to hopsital, your bleeding has increased a lot.", Rohan stopped him but he continued. "I thought may be my future or George's future will come to talk to me. Then suddenly George came from outside the Lab. He had the knife in his hand." "What?", Rohan asked suprisingly. "Do you mean ..?" "Yeah, the person who tried to kill me was George Thompson." and Prof Ford fell on the floor.

TiMe Machine 2

Pune India

1:30 a.m.

The old man was sitting on the couch with blood all over his body. "Do you have any first aid box in your house?", he asked Rohan. Rohan watched him dumbfounded. "Are you Ok, Rohan?", asked Prof. Ford. "Huh?" "Do you have first aid kit?" "Yeah", Rohan went inside the kitchen and brought the first aid box. "First tell me who are you really?", Rohan asked defensively. "I told you my name is Tom Ford, please hurry", Professor pleaded desperately. "Can you do stitching?" "No way, I am not a doctor" "Ok, just bring some hot water." Rohan went inside and brought hot water. The old man was working on the wound and Rohan was watching him carefully. He was in his 60s. All his hairs were white. But there were no wrinkles on his face. "To start with, just tell me where do you come from?" "I am a professor in the physics department of Virginia University US" "I mean where are you coming right now from?" "I am coming direct from USA, Can you help me to get down on the couch?" Rohan helped him to lie down on couch. "And please don't worry I am not going to hurt you. Just let me rest for some time and I will explain you everything." He closed his eyes but he had something in his pocket which he was checking continuously. Rohan was walking here and there continuously. Within 5 minutes Abhi will come and then we will resolve this whole matter, he thought. He saw his laptop on the table and got the idea. He opened the laptop and googled the name Tom Ford. The first result came for the Virginia University website. He clicked the link and the whole biodata of Tom Ford appeared on the screen. He was the Senior professor in the physics department. He had done the doctorate in Quantam Physics. And he was indulged in different research fields. He felt somehow relaxed. At least the man in his house was not a convict. He again googled,'Latest appearance of Tom Ford', the first link was from BBC news. Rohan opened the page and read the report. ' Tonight in the mysterious explosion at physics department in Virginia University, the police has found the body in the Lab of the famous scientist Tom Ford. It is yet to be confirmed that the body is of the missing scientist. The incident has created the panic in the neighbourhood. The guard on the duty talked with our correspondent and reported to have seen none entering or leaving the building. The possibility of terrorist attack can not be neglected due to the fact that Prof Tom Ford had played a role of vital scientist in developing US military based applications. The body found in the lab has only one hand and postmortem ....' The photo of the body was shown on the site. Rohan's heart started beating fast. There was a strange coincidence in the photo. The body has the same Tshirt of GAP as Rohan has. Rohan got up slowly and took the torch in hand. Where is this fool abhi, so much time has passed, I must interrogate this man? or should I directly call police, Rohan was thinking fast. He decided to call police first and then keep talking with the man. He dialled 100 and was just about to press call button he heard the old man. "Who are you calling to?" "When did you wake up?", bewildered, Rohan pointed the torch towards him. "Do not call police. My life is in danger." "Sit down you bastard", Rohan shouted at him. "Ok, take it easy.I am not going to hurt you, but if you call police that would be the biggest mistake of your life." "You don't want me to call police then explain everything to me. Who are you? Are you a terrorist? What are you doing here? What is that in your pocket? and how do you know my name?", Rohan threatened him with the torch. During this time he pushed the button and left the mobile on the table. He knew if not answered the police will consider this as a distress call and will find the house. "My name is Tom Ford. I am not a terrorist and I have been attacked half an hour earlier. My life is in danger. The device in my pocket is nothing but time machine." "Oh cut the bullshit. Do you think I am stupid enough to buy any of that?" Rohan laughed nervously. "and even if it is true how did you came here so fast?" "This device can also work as a teleporter." "Oh is it?", Rohan asked sarcastically. "Then why did on earth you came from USA to India, to Pune at my house?" Suddenly Rohan's mobile started ringing. But before he could grab that, the old man reached and cut the call. He saw the call log and fear rose on his face. "Why did you call police?", he asked Rohan in panic. "We must leave this place at once." "And why do you think I will come with you?" "Because I intend to.", and he took out the pistol from his other pocket and pointed at Rohan. Rohan shivered with fear. "What are you doing?", tears started rolling down his face. "Boy listen to me now, I am telling you again and again I am not going to hurt you. I did not came at random here crossing half the globe. I have been told to come to you. The person who told me this also told me one thing that you are the only one on Earth who could help me." Rohan saw compassion in the eyes of the man and agreed to follow him. "Where are we going? Police will arrive at any time." The moment he said this, they heard the police siren outside. "What to do now?", Rohan asked. Prof. Ford smiled at him and took out the mysterious equipment from his pocket. It was the shinning electronic equipment. "What is this?", Rohan asked curiously. Prof Ford said, "Get ready for your first time travel."

TiMe Machine

Virginia University, USA

1 a.m.

In the physics department building, the only window with light coming was from the Lab 220. The guard on the Gates was walking here and there to get rid of the sleep. He wondered why would he have to stay here for no reason. But then he noticed the lightened window and sighed deeply. It was Prof. Tom Ford's lab. The guy was famous for his dedication towards work. He is a jolly guy who always waived at me unlike that arrogent Prof. Thompson, thought the Guard. With no other work to do, the guard finally took out the cigarrete from his pocket and lighted but before he could take a seep out of it he was heard the terrible explosion. He ran towards the building thinking there may have been gas explosion but suddenly he stopped on his way. Because the building was as it was before the sound came. Confused, he waited there for some time. 'This could not be the hallucination, I heard the sound', he thought. Within the moment, he understood there was something missing. It was the Lab 220. The lights were off.

Pune, India

1:15 a.m.

Rohan was watching the Harry Potter and Half blood prince. He was the die hard fan of the series. His parents were out of town for some marriage. He was the only child and had completed engineering. He was on vacations and was enjoying the whole empty house situation. It was raining heavily outside. His home was on the outskirts of the colony. They had a constant dangers from the thieves. He checked all the doors before starting the movie. The rain was falling heavily so he increased the volume of the HomeTheatre to fullest. The movie was at the turning point and suddenly light went off with very loud sound. He cursed the electricity board but suddenly he heard something which was so loud as explosion that he felt that lightening must have struck somewhere near. He went to the window and suddenly somebody started banging his door. His heartbeats started racing fast. He asked, "Who is there?" Nobody replied but the banging never stopped. He called his friend Abhi who used to live two blocks away. "Hello Abhi, this is Rohan" "What happened dude?", Abhi replied casually. "There is someone on my porch and is banging the door. You come here fast." "Are you joking?", Abhi asked sincerely. "Not today man, Come fast. I am scared." "You wait there, I will come within 5 minutes" and Rohan hung up the phone. The banging continued for a long time and then Rohan heard someone moaning with pain. What to do now, Rohan thought to himself, now as I have told Abhi, even if some thieves are there, Abhi is on his way. May be somebody really needed help. After a long self talk, he decide to open the door. He went there and opened the door with torch in other hand. He saw a old foreigner man lying on the porch with blood coming out of his stomach. He was stabbed by knife cruelly. "Who are you and what happened?" , bewildered, Rahul asked him in English. "My name is Tom Ford and I need your help."

Puppets of Public Opinion

Today lets just talk about them. They can be found everywhere around you. There could be a fair chance that you are among them. Its upto you to decide whether you are or not. These kind of people do not have their own opinions. They live on the decisions of others around them. When they go to some restaurant, they are among those who does not object to any menu ordered. When you ask them, they will say, "Take anything you wish, I have no problem." When you go to shopping with them, these people give the worst kind of suggestions, in the sense that they will give thumps up to any thing you ask their opinion of. These people have their own decicions but do not have the courage to stick to that. In general english, you can call them sheepish. Here the word sheepish justifies two meanings, means they are shy but also they are like the sheep who follows the group blindly.
They sacrifice their own desires, urges for the sake of public opinion. They think they are trying to avoid conflicts but what is the use of doing things you don't like. Even if sometimes they share their seperate view, next moment they feel guilty, they compare themselves as rebels. In one way, these people are so unselfish that they live their whole life to fullfill others dreams and desires. The situation worsens when they realise that they are the puppets of public opinion. Automatically their actions demand for their own existence. That time they oppose every public opinion to maintain their individuality, even if they genuinely favoured it once. Melancholically they loose the sense of their decision making ability and helplessly they search for the puppet master with his threads. Thus comes the proverb, "pulling the right threads"