The Fourth Seat

Prologue: Such calls didn't matter to him. He had grown accustomed to them. This one however was eerie. It wasn't a cranky zealot on the other line, it seemed like a man who was sure with his intentions. He stuck his ground and challenged the caller before hanging up. It had started to drizzle. The clock of Rajabhai Tower struck 7PM. He had to get going. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It was a quite evening. Monsoons should have ended by now but the dark clouds were not ready to go yet. There would be an occasional shower presumably an attempt of the clouds to make their presence felt. As if the darkness they brought to the usual bright sky of Bombay wasn't enough. He waited patiently for her. He knew she would come, she had said so. He was standing by the parapet, staring at the waves that licked the plastic laden shore of Marine Drive. He had an urge to walk down the rocks and into the murky waters of the Arabian

Zhop nahi kahi yenaar mala Zhoploch tar ti swapnaat yenaar Mazhyakade bagun ti hasnaar Me kahi karaychya aadi Sakaal honaar. Tuzhyashi me kadhi bolnaar Tuzhya javal kadhi me yenaar Ashich sakaal hoth rahnaar Me uthloch nahi tar Yeshil ka ga tu? Zhop kahi yet nahi Bhuk kahi laagat nahi Tu kahi bolat nahis Ti kaahi nahi bolnaar Kaaran sakaal honaar Ashich saakal ekda honaar Aani mi jaaga nahi honaar Sagle kaaljit padnaar Mhannaar aata kaay ha uthnaar nahi Aani tevha pan ti yenaar nahi

Today was a day of bad moods. Everyone I came across was in a bad mood. Guess that rubbed off on me too, so I packed my bag and headed out on the street. Unsure, hungry and angry for no apparent reason, I started walking towards VT. Passing the numerous booksellers, performance enhancer pill doctors who now stock dildos in all sizes and of course pirated software and porn vendors, I turned towards Pratap Lunch Home on DN Road. My on-the-way-developed mission was to find a certain Hotel Deluxe, famed to serve good malabari food. Since I was not in a hurry to find it I didn't bother asking anyone. I simply moved past Pratap Lunch Home and many other small eateries including one bar. I reached another lane where I turned left and saw a famous fish joint, now a posh place- Mahesh Lunch Home. Walking towards it, I spotted a small lane just before Mahesh, I decided to enter and as luck would have it, Hotel Delux stood right at the end of it, welcoming me. Hurrying up, I entered to f