Wouldn’t it be nice?

Wouldn’t it be nice if I woke up to see you gazing at me?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you called just to say you loved me?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you hugged me when I had a difficult day?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you secretly smelled my hair when I looked away?


Wouldn’t it be nice if you complimented me out of the blue?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you pretended to be strangers and tried to woo?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you surprised me with a sudden plan to wine and dine?
Wouldn’t it be nice if you looked into my eyes and said “Please always be mine?”

The Diamond in the Rough

She looked out of the window at the twinkling stars in d night sky. It was like they were shining just for her. On her big day. As the sleek limo glided through the streets of Mumbai, she looked outside the window at nothing or no one in particular and smiled to herself. Today, finally, the day had arrived, her day. The day when the world would celebrate her. Today, after all the hard work and sacrifices, she was going to get the prestigious national award. Although given her acting talents in her last movie, the award wasn’t a surprise. But she did feel vindicated. It felt good to shut her detractors finally.


As the car jerked to a stop at a signal, she was roused from her reverie. Only then she realized he was also there in the car, sitting next to her, looking dapper in his crisp black tux. They had begun dating only a few months ago, though they had known each other for many years as acquaintances. He was the best thing that had happened to her. He wasn’t a part of tinsel town, and that suited her just fine. He was loyal, devoted, hard working, well settled... even their families liked each other. Everything was perfect.


She smiled back at him, and lovingly squeezed his hand, knowing that they seldom need to say out loud what they feel. Then she noticed the venue was near, so she quickly reached into her diamond encrusted clutch, and started to touch up on her makeup. Her old makeup man had spent hours dressing her up in a beautiful peacock blue gown, with matching subtle makeup, glittering diamond jewellery and elaborate coiffed up hair. She had worked hard in the past few months on her hair, skin and figure, and it all worked out just in time… she was ready to flaunt herself. As she finished touching up her lipstick and tucking a stray strand of hair, the car glided to a stop outside the function hall. With a last cursory glance in the mirror, she clamped shut her purse, smoothed her gown, put on her camera face, and stepped out on the red carpet, hand-in-hand with her beau.


There was a huge roar from the crowd behind security and a million cameras flashed, looking for the perfect angle to catch her beauty. As she proceeded towards the entrance, she bumped hard into a plain looking girl, possibly a passerby loitering around to see what was going on, like so many others she saw from her window as she reached the venue. She was shaken by the hit and by the time she steadied herself on her high glass heels, she heard a man growl at her “hey! Get out of the way! What are you doing? You are obstructing me view. I want to see her… if you don’t want to then move out and let others watch…” and suddenly her world came crashing down. The car, the dress, the guy, the crowds, the cameras…. All vanished into thin air. And she remembered who she really was… a plain looking girl, who saw a sleek limo pull up nearby and a beautiful woman get out, with a handsome man in tow, and had fallen into a stupor. “One day, even I’ll be there, one day”, she murmured to herself as she walked away into the night.

U - turn (a small fiction story based on my dream)

It was raining that day. And she was caught unawares, without an umbrella or a raincoat. But she could not miss the appointment, the most important appointment of her life. 

She hurried out of the autorickshaw after paying and ran into the premises of the family court. Under a tin roof, she took shelter and checked the time. 10:45 am. She was half an hour early. Better late than never, she told herself and walked towards the main entrance of the building. She checked for her appointment: yes it is in order, yes we will call you around 11:30, please be around, please provide your mobile no. After ensuring she will be contacted, she drifted away, looking for something to do to kill time. 

She looked outside the foggy window and noticed the signboard for the court canteen. Not a bad idea, she thought, and made a dash for the building in front of her. She was quite shocked to see the canteen: it was much larger than expected and even that early in the morning it was chockablock with people. It took her some time before she could find a dry seat and clean table for herself. She ordered a cold drink and sat there, sipping on the drink, looking absentmindedly outside the window. 

Suddenly she was roused back into reality by a young woman who was apparently talking to her. Excuse me, if you are alone, do you mind if I sit on this chair? She nodded in agreement and went back to her day dreaming. The woman however, persisted. Are you alone? What work do you have? Ive come to collect my Marriage certificate, the woman said, my husband is running late, am just waiting for him... She gave the woman a half smile and told her she had come here to collect her final divorce papers. The smile across the woman's face vanished, as she blushed and said sorry. Sorry. The woman felt sorry for her. Did she feel sorry for herself? Before she could contemplate anymore, she got a call from the office. Her turn had come. She smiled and excused herself from the table and headed with determination towards the building. 

"Its ok, its over, no big deal, you can do it, you have come this far, this is the last step", she told herself. As she walked into the room, the officer looked at her from up to down, then confirmed her details, and asked her to sign the acknowledgement copy. 

She stood there transfixed for a few seconds. This was really happening. Her marriage of 6 years was coming to an end. The officer requested her to hurry up, there were others waiting. She quickly drew out a pen, and with shivering hands, signed the register. She was quickly handed over her folder and the officer called out "Next!" 

She walked out of the room, the building slowly. Reality was finally sinking. She could barely make it to the gate. Every step was heavy as she took it. Its like what she had suggested, what she had wanted, what she had fought for, what she had spent sleepless nights thinking about, was with her. 

Butt she did not want it anymore. She wanted to go back. Back six years. when all was happy and fun. She looked at the folder starting to get wet with the raindrops, so she ran towards the main road and hailed an autorickshaw. As she sat in there, she looked at the papers again. She did not want to open and read them. She knew what they said. She knew it was over. She knew she could never go back? Or could she? Maybe she could. Maybe she could tell him that she has changed her mind and she would like to give them another chance. After all that she put him through to get here, she wasnt sure he would believe her. But there was no harm in trying! What if he did agree? What if they could rekindle their relationship? What if they could be happy again? 

Suddenly the day changed from a gloomy dreary rainy day to a bright sunny day. It stopped raining, the sun peeked out of the clouds. She smiled and told the auto driver "change of plans, please take me to Andheri instead of Juhu." I need to go back to him, tell him I still love him, ask him if he will marry me again. I have to go back and change my life. 

And as the auto took the u-turn, she tore the papers and threw them outside near a dumpster, where in the mud and water they melted into oblivion.