February 3, 2011

Luck - by Design?

The bike sped, she almost gasped for breath.

He was in no mood to listen, kept on dodging cars and bikes along the way.

‘Please slow down I am feeling scared’ she said.

‘Nothing can stop us darling, we are going all the way’ he said.

Lara Khan & Chris D’ Souza eloped that night.



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They’d met by sheer accident.

Torrential rain & a deserted bungalow were the perfect catalysts.

‘You shouldn’t be alone at this hour’ Karthik Iyer whispered.

‘It’s not by design’ Ujala Jaisingh murmured.

There was instant combustion; lips devoured the different contours hungrily.

7 years & 2 miscarriages later, the water bag burst one more time…



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‘The helmet strap is hurting’ Chris shouted.

‘Let me take it out for you’ Lara offered.

‘Hang in there honey, hospital is around the corner’ Karthik shouted nervously.

‘I will’ Ujala said calmly.

Karthik turned to look ahead –shocked.

Chris looked at her, one last time – wearing the helmet.

He knew the brakes had failed.

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    Gyanban Thoughts – we often ask why is life sometimes so cruel ? Unfortunately we rarely or never get the answers. This 55 fiction is about 4 characters, in different backgrounds meeting by chance, by accident…

    Notice the first letters of each character is by design , forming the word LUCK. Hence the title Luck by design, which in itself is an oxymoron…much like life isn’t it?

    Other subtleties in religious beliefs and personality traits are by design to heighten the disparity of the plot, yet the end is the ironical similarity.

    And in case you missed, the cherry on the cake –

    Chris’ speeding the bike was not by design, he realized the brakes had failed and was trying to dodge his way to a halt, yet being night time it was difficult.

    Ujala knew her baby had gone with the burst of the water bag, but remained calm, because she could not bear to break the news to the nervous Karthik, she thought the doctor would be a better bet – and this was by design.

    The bike incident inspired by some TV advert on the net I saw many years ago. This story was created at about 30,000ft. above sea level on my flight out of Bangalore. The sky outside the window highlighted yet another oxymoron – flying by design and grounded only by luck !







    KING This post is published as an entry for the KING AND QUEEN OF 55F CONTEST – The first ever unique, challenge for the coveted title in micro fiction category. To catch the crowning moments and also be part of future editions and other contests, visit and register at Cafe GingerChai




    image courtesy :desktopnexus.com





    21 comments:

    1. Dude! That was woahh! :-)
      Nicely designed.

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    2. Left be gasping throughout.
      Very poignant tale indeed!

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    3. loved the second one more...
      third one is bit expecting...
      and the first one will haunt me .... :) :) :)

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    4. I loved the last one the most.The previous 2 are also well written. Nice GB.

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    5. Who is Sundar? Did you mean Karthik?

      For me, all 3 of them were superb and were well-connected :-) If I have to look at them individually, the first one was the best :-)

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    6. claps claps claps... that was really nice buddy.. all the best!

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    7. @Tavish - Thanks a ton ! Good to see you back here after a long time.

      @debosmita - The name in draft was KS Iyer - so i used Sunda in my thoughts section. But now I ve changed it.Am glad you liked it.

      @sudeshna - thanks for appreciating.

      @mahesh - welcome back and thank you.

      @Rumya - thanks a lot for appreciating.

      @Usha - Whoa thank you !!

      @devilsangel - thank you mate.!

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    8. That was an extremely racy and engrossing read, considering it was just 55-words!!
      Only, the number of characters confused me a bit. But then, I am a bit Duh :twisted:

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    9. @wrtierblock - thanks for appreciating the work. Let me know what confused you - am happy to clarify.

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    10. Like I said GB, I am a bit Duh, so I tend to get confused when I read many names. Very often in the midst of a novel, I turn back pages, to find out which character I am reading about!!!

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    11. @writerzblock - fair enough !

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    12. felt the pangs. very sensitive one indeed.
      I remember opposite, one place where the husband while driving car, divorce matter put up timely by wife. husband speeds up to the ultimate thinking only of his safety by the airbags,.

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    13. Very profound. A little difficult to understand without the footnote, though.

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    14. Your 55-ers always have this suspense-thriller angle. They always keep us guessing. These 3 are no different.
      ATB for the contest!

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    15. @Prateek - thanks and welcome.

      @Likemymusings - thanks.Yes,your story has all the trappings of a great suspense thriller.

      @D2 - Appreciate it. Do I take it that profound is difficult to understand ?

      @Samadrita - Much appreciated.Thanks.

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    16. open to thoughts. 'Plans', 'designs'- may be it is there- yet not... profound concept.

      loved the narration...

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    17. @Vidya - Thanks and welcome.

      @Matangi - Welcome and agree.

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    18. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      ReplyDelete

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