W is for Winemaker

Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things in the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection.

~ Ernest Hemingway

I seriously feel that people insult this drink when they talk about it as alcohol. Calling it a woman drink is acceptable. No doubt there are women who have mastered this art.

Karishma Grover             

The love for wines was but natural for this girl as she was born into the family which makes wine under one of most prestigious banner – ‘Grover Vineyards’. Her childhood has seen the vineyards all around her. One of the best qualities about her is that being the Grover daughter, she could have easily entered into family business without any struggle. But Karishma choose to learn the skills and prove that she is worth it. Thus after completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Viticulture and Enology from UCDavis,she with Bangalore winery as an Assistant Winemaker and then joined her father.

It was during her leadership when the proud moment for India came in as Grover Zampa Vineyards won the first international Trophy for the Art collection Sauvigon Blanc 2014 at the 3^rd Decanter Asia Wine Awards.

She is truly a source of inspiration for all women dreaming to make it big in wine industry.

Sonal Holland

Having MBA from the University of Mumbai plus and Advanced Certificate in Management from the leading management institute XLRI, Jamshedpur, Sonal Holland began her career in the hospitality industry after completing her Diploma in Hotel Management from the Institute of Hotel Management, Dadar, Mumbai. Her passion towards the most civilized drink made her complete wine courses in the UK from the renowned Wine & Spirit Education Trust. Sonal holds the WSET Diploma in Wines & Spirits from London, and is also the first Indian woman to be enrolled into the Masters of Wine (MW) education program, the highest academic achievement in wines.

Sonal represents India for the Antique Wine Company which is one of the world’s foremost wine merchants in the business of buying and selling of exceptionally fine wines of the finest vintages including antique vintages.

In 2009, she also founded Sonal Holland Wine Academy an approved program provider of WSET wine courses in India.

There are some more women in the royal industry. Check out about their achievements at -  http://www.indianwineacademy.com/item_5_572.aspx

Image and information sources:

http://wonderwoman.intoday.in/story/karishma-grover-makes-india-proud-at-the-decanter-asia-wine-awards/1/119730.html

http://timescity.com/blog/women-sommeliers-in-india/

http://www.sonalholland.com/profile.html

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

V is for Villain

Believe it or not, women gone bad have their own spice and are one of the top forbidden fruits as they are expected to be demure , kind hearted and pure. This might be the reason when it comes to negative roles in Bollywood, the handful of females playing their roles well are remembered for lifetime.  Below are three names that came on my mind without any effort when I have to select my favorite female villains from our Hindi cinema.

Source: Still taken from a youtube video

 Kajol – Gupt: The Hidden Truth

Kajol is one actress who is more admired than fancied for her innocent and simple beauty on screen. She is among few actresses who have proved that acting plays more important role than beauty. The actress has mostly played sweet and shy roles. She surprised everyone when she played a villain - the role of an obsessed lover for the movie – Gupt: The Hidden Truth in 1997. She even received the film fare “Best Villain” for this role.

Shabana Azmi – Makdee

Image Source

Image Source

Shabana Azmi  known for her versatile acting completely proved to be children’s worst nightmare with her chudail get-up. Drinking so called blood with long dirty nails, curly wigs and of-course the evil robe, she looked the true witch.

Image Source

Priyanka Chopra – Aitraaz

Aitraaz was one of great movies with different story line. A woman seducing men is not new in movies. What’s different was the public court case which the male lead fights against harassing, powerful, sultry and manipulative boss. The movie truly displayed another side of women which people fail to accept openly. Priankya’s performance was very powerful and she did complete justice to the role.

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

U is for Umpire

Any sport in world is not complete without its Umpires or Referees. They are the people whose decisions can completely turn the game around. Below are some women who are making their mark in this most important field of sports.

Maria Piedade Rebello

Football is most loved game across the world. Try and notice the amount of craze among masses during FIFA world cup.

Maria is the first FIFA-listed women's referee from India (Check out the listing at FIFA). She has also been the former captain of India women’s football team. Altough she took early retirement from the game, but she could not put herself away from the pitch.

She says that, “…initially players may have thought that I don't know the rules of the game, but I'm strict, I've proven myself and now I'm more respected.”.

Image and information sources:

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/they-thought-i-didnt-know-the-rules-of-the-game-indias-top-female-ref-maria-rebello-996809.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Rebello

http://static.goal.com/298100/298141_heroa.jpg

Vrushali Upadhye

A science graduate from Maharashtra Education Society’s (MES) Abasaheb Garware College, Vrushali took to umpiring badminton to pursue her passion for the same. Vrushali is India’s first Female World Badminton Federation (WBF) accredited umpire.

Vrushali first took to badminton umpiring in the eighties and became a grade II umpire in 1986 before becoming a grade I umpire in 1993.

Image and information source;

http://www.sportskeeda.com/badminton/exclusive-interview-indias-first-wbf-woman-accredited-umpire-vrushali-upadhye

Snehal Bendke

Ever seen a girl whistling around a gang of tall and handsome guys and all of them following her sincerely? Snehal Bendke is one young girl who runs among the rude men and women and controls them with her whistle. Snehal took up to referring at the young age of 22 on the persuasion of her coach to give the referee exam.

Snehal along with Chinese referee Ling Peng be became one of two first women referees to officiate at Men's FIBA Asia Championship in 2012. Here is her profile - FIBA

Image and information source:

http://contents.spin.ph/image/Phl-Kor-2.jpg

http://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/whistle-podu-interview-with-indias-first-woman-fiba-referee-snehal-bendke

Shubhda Bhosle

Finally, for India, cricket is the god of games. I am sure once cannot find a single child who did not played gali-cricket or bat-ball as his/her first games. While there are many young boys and girls making their mark in the game as players, Shubhda after playing for under-16, went on to become the youngest woman umpire in India. She grabbed the honor by successfully clearing the level-1 BCCI umpiring examination in June 2013.

Like any cricket lover, she is the big fan of Sachin Tendulkar. She umpires for both women and men’s matches with equal ease.  According to her, “I don’t think there is anything different thing  I do when I officiate in men’s matches. I don’t entertain any non-sense from any of the player let it be man or woman.  Such situation will take place in this game. My job is to remain imperturbable and to tell players to focus only on their game”

I wish her all the best and wish that she soon joins Kathy Cross - who became the first women umpire to be in ICC elite panel of umpires. 

Image and Information Source:

http://sportspapa.com/interview-shubhda-bhosle-youngest-women-umpire-india-rtp/

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Lv9Tw9P_FOE/mqdefault.jpg

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

T is for Teacher

“Your Aim In Life”, “Career You Want to Pursue” etc. are some topics on which every student has written an essay at-least once in his/her life time. For me, this topic was repeated almost every year from standard fifth to standard 10^th. Every year, I wrote that I want to become a teacher.

Yes, as a child, I wanted to become a teacher, may be because my mother was a teacher once. I even used to play teacher-teacher game all alone with my toys and imaginary students on a wall. I have even got some scolding for ruining the walls turning them into blackboard.

As I grew up, I have no idea why I did not want to become a teacher then. But today, I so want to change my profile and get into soft-skills or corporate trainings. So ideally, I am back to my first choice – a form of teaching only.

Before I move ahead with his post, I want to sincerely thank all my teachers throughout my life. It’s all because of them that I am currently writing this. A major part of myself must also have been a reflection of learning I have had all my life.

Once again if we dig into history and look for renowned teachers, A long list of males come up – Chanakya, Siddhartha Gautama, Lord Krishna top the list. Among all male brigade, one woman very clearly stands out. Although, I have already dedicated the post with Mothers to her, I cannot resist myself from writing again about her.

Savitribai Jyotirao Phule

Born in 1831 to a family of farmers, Savitribai was married at the age of 9 to a 13 year old boy Jyotirao Phule. The lady along with her husband went on to become the social reformers and strongly supported education for women – which was not considered ideal during those times. She is one of the noble personalities who struggled against the caste system and other social evils against women prevailing in the early India.

She did not have any children of her own but that did not stop her from being a mother. As the part of their fight for widows, Savtibai’s husband Jyotirao pregnant lady (widows specially pregnant used to either commit suicide r kill their new born babies for the fear of cruel practices running in society) from committing suicide, promising her to give her child his name after it was born. The lady gave birth to a boy known as Yashwant who went on to become a doctor in future.

With the strong support of her husband, the noble lady opened first ever all-girls’ school Bhide Wada in Pune in 1848. Savitribai thus became the first female teacher of the first women's school in India. The opening of school attracted many criticisms and outrage from society and the lady with heart of gold was badly abused for her courage. She was even pelted with stones, rotten eggs, tomatoes and cow dung while on her way to school. None of this could stop her from her mission and she continued her struggle. By the end of an year, there were five more schools for girls opened across Pune.

Personally, Savitribai was a poet and is also as the founder of modern poetry. Books of her poems were published posthumously, Kavya Phule (1934) and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (1982). Below is the extract one of her poems:

Go, Get Education

Be self-reliant, be industrious

Work, gather wisdom and riches,

All gets lost without knowledge

We become animal without wisdom,

Sit idle no more, go, get education

End misery of the oppressed and forsaken,

You’ve got a golden chance to learn

So learn and break the chains of caste.

Throw away the Brahman’s scriptures fast.

Read some more at - http://drambedkarbooks.com/2015/01/03/few-poems-by-savitribai-phule/

One of the best tributes to her:

In 2014, the University of Pune was renamed as Savitribai Phule Pune University in her honour.

Last but not the least; the lady is of the few who got got a stamp released in their honour –

Savitribai actually lived to serve and died on 10 March 1987 by the worldwide Third Pandemic of the bubonic plagu – She conracted the disease while personally serving the patients along with her son.

Below is one of the videos in Hindi I could find about the respectable lady:

Image and information sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitribai_Phule

http://drambedkarbooks.com/2011/09/03/first-lady-teacher-of-india-savitribai-phule/

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

S is for Scientist

The answer to question - 'Famous scientists from India" has many renowned names. But the fact that almost all of them are male i also true. It's time we open our eyes and give the due credit to women as-well.

Janaki Ammal Edavaleth Kakkat (4 Nov 1897 to Feb 1984)

Janaki was a well-known botanist with her field of research in cytogenetic and phytogeography. In a big family of six brothers and five sisters where girls were mostly expected to study arts, Janaki choose a different path and pursued her honors degree in botany from Presidency College in 1921.

Moving ahead in her carrer, she was  working as a cytologist at the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley from 1945 to 1951 when she returned to India on the special invitation of Jawaharlal Nehru. 
Her awards include:

• Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1935
• Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1957
• Honorary LL.D. by University of Michigan in 1956
• Padmashri by Government of India in 1957

There are also awards in her name;

“National Award of Taxonomy” instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Government of India in 2000

“E.K. Janaki Ammal Award” instituted in 1999

Image and information Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janaki_Ammal

Kamala Sohonie

The first Indian woman to get a Ph.D in a scientific discipline, Kamaka was a biochemist.

Initially, she was denied admission to Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore (renowned scientific laboratory) as a result of gender bias. With her determination and self-confidence, she finally managed to get the admission (with some shocking conditions being a woman) and there has been no looking for her back after that. It was her dedication and hard work which made Prof. C.V. Raman (the first Asian Nobel laureate in Physics) to change his mind on female students and open the gates of his prestigious institute for women the very next year.

The lady with zeal of steel was invited by Dr Satyavati (first woman DG of ICMR and Chairperson of IndianCouncil of Medical Research) at the age of 84 for the facilitation of her significant work. Unfortunately, Kamala collapsed and passed away at the venue.

Image and information source:

http://www.academia.edu/9261356/A_Tribute_to_Kamala_Sohonie

While there are many other notable women scientists in history, the present era also has women making the list longer.

Tessy Thomas (1964 to present)

Better known as the “Missile Woman”, Tessy is the Project Director for Agni-IV missile in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) . Her childhood was spent near a rocket launching station which served as her fascination towards missiles and rockets. The lady has also been quoted by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as – “w oman making her mark in a traditionally male bastion and decisively breaking the glass ceiling”.

Award:

 Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for her outstanding contribution for making India self-reliant in the field of missile technology.

Image and information source:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-17781281

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

R is for Racer

Cars, Bikes and Boys – I often find the three words synonym to each other. Till date I have not bet a boy who does not have a fancy about one of these. I think, more than machine, they have a much deeper fantasy for speed. I am et to find a guy who has never played need for speed or F1 Racing or other car/bike race video games. Even my 3 year old kid does not miss a chance to play a racing game on my mobile. Ask him what gift he wants, and the prompt answer is “Race Car” that too in all shapes, sizes and colors.

The dream machines are often advertised with stunning looking female models along their sides. There can be nothing sexier than a female on the driving seat of these machines. One cannot deny the fact that our eyes take another look at normal roads also if we notice a female driving some SUV or luxury car. The general tendency of male population is very clear – Female and driving does not match. There are even thousands of jokes on female driving.

Among all those jokes, there are some girls whose name is enough to turn all that laughter into admiration and may be lust (believe me, boys fall more for good female drivers than good cooks!)..

Image Source

Alisha Abdullah

At the age of 9, when most girls play with dolls and dream houses, Alisha used to go-karting. She even started winning them at the tender age of eleven. In 2004, the kid won the MRF National Go-Karting Championship and the Best Novice Award in the National level Formula Car Racing in the open class .Alisha then moved on to formula car racing and came fifth in the JK Tyre National Championship, 2004. On the advise of her father, She made the switch from four wheels to bikes in the same year. She thus became India's first female national racing champion.

There has been no looking back since them for the girl. I so want to get the snapshot of look on her first bike race competitors. Here are some of her best shots:

1. Stood second in the 2006 National Road Racing Championship UCAL

2. Finished eighth in the 2012 Volkswagen National Polo Cup (India)

3. Received the Rotary Young Achiever Award in 2008

4. Third place in the 2009 JK Tyre National Super-bike Racing Championship, among 15 men.

Image Source

Sarika Sehrawat

 MBA by studies, Sarika is India’s first ever woman car racer, and one of the few professional women rallyists in the country.  She has won the Desert Storm ladies category twice. The Raid-de-Himalaya-X-treme which is considered as the toughest rally in India, had Sarika as first ever woman participant. Sarika could make a mark due to some technical problem in her Gypsy is the different story. She would rather be racing with the boys than running behind them! 

Image Source

Seema Sharma Dora

This tough lady from Delhi is the first Indian woman to have attempted a saddle sore and bun burner (endurance motor cycling) and completed 2,700 km in mere 36 hours.  Advocate by profession, Seema sure adds a big deal of grace and fun to the superbikes.

Nawaz Sandhu

She is another ace lady rallyist. The lady has stood second behind Denmark’s Maiken Rasmussen and Malaysia’s Natasha Seatter who came third at the Polo R Cup women’s race. As per Sandhu, “…Women can easily change the race pattern and emerge victorious.  After all they have two legs, two hands and a mind that can think as well, so there is no question of any minus points for them…”

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

Q is for Quality - My domain

Q…. It’s the difficult one. I had very limited choices – Queen, Different professions starting with quality, quick sketch maker, quilt etc.

I tried for Queens, but did ctrl + A and delete. I searched for various Quality professions but failed.

Finally, I decided to write a bit about myself – I am into quality control J

My current official title is Software Quality Lead. To go in more detail, I am responsible of handling lead activities of software quality testing projects which are developed and maintained under the Application Engineering team of my organization. I know its going bit technical.

In short I am one of the worst nightmares of software developers. Developers put all their efforts in coding and convert the requirements of clients on computer screen. Then, they give it to me for testing and I generally send it back to them with a long list of bugs and suggestions. Believe me, the worst days for me are when I test something and do not find any defect in the same. Those are days I feel scared that I have not done my job and the clients are not going to like the application. On the same hand, there are times, when I bombard the team with issues. I get a feel of fulfilment on those days.

God! In case any developer is reading it, I am finished...: P On a serious note, I work along with the development team to make good quality software’s which are in line with the requirements and make their job easy.

 PS: I know the quality of this post titled quality itself is not up to the mark. But then, it’s my blog and I may decide to take a detour. I am sure all bloggers would agree.

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

P is for Pilot

Girls going gaga over handsome dudes dressed in white and blue with stylish cap on their heads at the airport is a common site. At the same time, both girls and boys turn their flirty eyes into admiration when a woman in same attire passes by with equal confidence.

Yes, being a pilot is one profession many people land into as a result of their dream. The ability to fly has always been fancied by humans and controlling the cockpit is the path to sky.

India has approximately 600 women pilots employed in the Indian aviation sector. Below are two ladies who made it all possible in their own way.

Sarla Thakral

Sarla Thakral was the first Indian woman to get an aviation pilot license and fly an aircraft. She was born in 1914 in Delhi and married at the age of 16. At the age of 21, when today’s generation does not has a clue of their future, the girl was already a mother of 4 year old daughter and got her aviation pilot license in 1936. She was one of those lucky women who got complete support from her family. Sarla’s husband P D Sharma had 9 pilots in the family! She went on to complete one thousand hours of flying in the aircraft owned by the Lahore Flying Club. 

She abandoned her plans to become a commercial pilot after the death of her husband in her young age in 1939. This however did not stop her from excelling in other fields.

She became a successful watercolor painter.  Later she returned to Delhi and took up costume jewellery making, saree designing, painting and designing for the National School of Drama.

Information and Image Sources:

http://www.thebetterindia.com/18871/11-interesting-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-indias-first-woman-pilot/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarla_Thakral

Saarah Hameed Ahmed

Saarah is the current generation girl from Bengaluru. What makes her special is the fact that she is the only known woman from her community – Muslim, to be employed in the Indian aviation sector. She sound just like another bubbly girl when she says that she people’s reaction to her being a pilot makes her laugh. Like any general girl in her community, she too had to face the oppositions from her family on choosing a profession which would keep her away from home at wee hours without any male family member. But luck favored her when her father got right advice from right person.

Image and information soure:

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/dont-let-them-kill-your-dreams-says-india-only-woman-muslim-pilot/article1-1323961.aspx

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

O is for Officers

The very first profesison which came to my mind related to officers is an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer. Then, there are some more which have almost equal respect and authority – IPS and armed forced.  In the present era, we have many women on different chairs of these prestigious positions. So, I again went back in time and tried to look for ladies who cut the ribbon.

 Isha Basant Joshi, was the first woman to be accepted as an officer in the Indian Administrative Service. Apart fron it, she was also the first "Indian" to be accepted into the "Bastion of the British"^[1] school of La Martiniere Girls High School in Luck now, India. She has also authored three books namely - The Jewel in the Case – collection of short stories, Sanctuary- poems and Spindrift – poems.

Image and information sources:

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20041114/women.htm#1

Anna Rajam Malhotra, the first woman from independent India, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer joined the services in 1951. As expected she was initially discouraged to join the A-list. She worked with C. Rajgopalachari who was sure that the lady was not capable of handling law and order situation. Her hard work and determination made the CM change his mind and got good confidential report while also mentioning her as an example of progressive women!

Image and information sources:

http://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/article2981603.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/grit-meets-grace/article3000578.ece

Kiran Bedi, joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972, becoming its first woman officer. During her tenure of over three decades (1972 to 2007), Bedi took the world on her stride and proved that law and order if implemented aesthetically and without being partial to rich and famous can work wonders for any nation. She was known for removing the VIP culture from Delhi. One of her most famous incidents include her full support to sub-inspector Nirmal Singh on towing away of an Ambassador car (DHI 1817) belonging to Prime Minister Office as it was wrongly parked outside the Yusufzai Market at Connaught Place on 5^th August 1982.

Bedi resigned from the police service on grounds of personal reasons in 2007. Since then, the powerful lady has been actively involved in various social and anti-corruption activities.

Image and Information Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiran_Bedi

http://www.boydom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/KiranBedi.jpg

This post is written as a part of April 2015 A to Z Challenge. My theme for this year is Women In A to Z Professions. Click at the link to check other professions women have excelled in and their respective links.

Friendship, Love and Trust

It was one of those beautiful nights in which the sky was filled with umpteen diamonds, all shining brightly. Ragini gazed up from her roof and tried to find the brightest star. “People turn into stars after they die and are brightest when they see us happy”, her grandmother told Ragini when her parents left her. She believed firmly in those words when she was a child. As she grew up, her mind started giving her logical reason to contradict her grandmother fairy tales If it were true, almost every star will be the same. Although, she always felt a strange comfort when she smiled at the brightest star in sky. Lost in thoughts and dim memories of her parents, she felt asleep, smiling.

After ten continuous missed calls, she finally picked up the phone, lying below the pillow. “Where the hell have you been Ragini? I have been calling you since hour. “I am so sorry Vishal. I felt asleep. Give me 10 minutes, I will be at your doorstep in no time.", She rushed to pick the keys and sped away. Her feet pushed the break peddle only when she reached Vishal's home. She was about to honk when she saw him already standing on the road side. “Finally, you are here. I have been waiting for so long!”, grumbled Vishal, adjusting himself on the back seat. As they were on the way to airport, Ragini teased Vishal for his continuous fear of her rash driving. Surprisingly, Vishal didn’t’t respond and was sitting silently.

"You look upset. What’s the matter?”, she asked him.

Vishal took some time and finally spoke, “Raggu, you were right. She was cheating on me.” Ragini applied sudden breaks, almost bumping her head into the dashboard. She shouted, "I told you she's a vixen. I have seen her with that douche bag several times."

"Yeah. I cannot believe that she did not show slightest of shame in her eyes when I caught her red handed.” Vishal sighed.

He was truly in love for the first time in his life. Love makes people do strange things and Vishal was no exception. Now, when he was about to leave to Bangalore for his dream job, he was devastated and heartbroken. After all, he agreed to do it for his love and to make up for everything he could not afford with his current job in Delhi. The prime reason to relocate vanished into thin air, leaving behind sadness. Vishal was lost in his thoughts waiting at the red-light, when he heard the screeching sound of a SUV coming from opposite side. It was right in front of them.

***

Ragini opened her eyes and found her-self cozy at her bed. Her favorite bunny was there by her side and the book she was reading also rested on the side table.  She shivered at the thought of nightmare she just saw and was relieved at the same time. As she tried to get up and drink water, Vishal ran towards her and handed her the glass. "You? How come you are here? Please do not tell me that you again climbed by balcony. The neighbours could mistake you for a thief and call police someday. Let's rush or you would miss your flight. I have some interesting thing I saw in the dream about that dumb girl you are running behind", she was speaking non-stop. It was when she tried to stretch her body that she realized that she could not feel her right leg. She was terrified. She touched her leg underneath the blanket and was relieved to find it there and without bandages. Irritated, she tried harder and was confused at the total numbness.

A stranger who looked educated enough entered her room along with Vishal and sat on the chair besides her bed. Vishal held her hand and finally spoke, “It was not a dream Raggu. We had an accident and you have been unconscious for a week".

Ragini could not believe her ears and checked her phone for the date. Now, she could not believe her eyes. She suddenly went furious, "Why can't I move my leg. Please tell me everything is ok. Please Vishal".

The stranger finally introduced himself as the doctor and offered to examine her. He checked her and said that some more tests need to be done before he could say anything. Ragini was terrified. Labeled as handicap was the last thing on earth she could ever think of herself.

Vishal tried hard to convince his parents why he missed the flight. Rather than the lost job and his future, Vishal’s parents were worried for their son and his love for an orphan. It was not accepted in their community. After some retrospect, Vishal was able to assure his parents that she is just a good friend. May be more than a friend, but they were not into any serious relationship.

Since Vishal was not working during that time, he took care of Ragini. He also found enough time for himself and resurfaced his lost passion - writing. While browsing one day, he came across the web site, writeupcafe.com, and registered himself. His poems and stories were loved by many and he received huge responses, which in-turn made him write more. One of his series included occasional writings of ''Dear Diary' where he penned down his broken heart. He got several replies on this section. But there was one reader who replied promptly on each one of  without fail.

***

Tests finally concluded that Ragini was paralysed and that there was little doctors could do except physiotherapy training. Another week passed and Ragini was slowly getting used to walk with support. Vishal decided to move in with her since her grandmother was too old to be called upon for help. One afternoon while Vishal was out for an interview, Ragini opened his laptop to kill time over Internet. She opened the browser and noticed some frequently visited sites and clicked on the first one.

'Writeupcafe- make your words count', she read and smiled to herself. Vishal had the habit of saving his passwords on his laptop and so opening the site auto logged in. Ragini read his latest dear diaries and was touched deeply. She always knew Vishal cared for her like no one else, but the public display of affection always make you more worthwhile. She could not help but be amused by one faithful reader on his posts. Something mischievous came up her mind and she sent a personal message from Vishal's id to her asking about her real name and other general things. The reply was prompt.

"Hi Vishal,

Nice to see you email. I am Tanya from Noida. I am a painter by profession and live to read. I really like your simple and direct-from-heart writing style. Just a personal question - 'How is your friend who met with an accident? Hope she is doing well.'

-Tanya"

Ragini was excited like a child. She was enjoying her naughty act. She sent some more emails and was laughing her wits out.  She was surprised and  thrilled to set up a blind date for her best friend in the evening. All she had to do was get him to venue.

It was not difficult. She simply called him and asked for a dinner outside. She convinced him that she would reach the restaurant by a taxi and Vishal need not come back home to pick her up. Luckily, Tanya worked in Gurgaon, where Vishal had gone for the interview. It all worked well for her.

She waited patiently in the evening when her phone rang. She did not even looked at the caller name and flirtingly said, “Hellooo Mr.! ””What is this Ragini? How can you trap me like this?", Vishal shouted from the other end.

Ragini giggled, "Enjoy buddy! You need to get over that vixen.”

"Oh! So now, you would do the favour of cheering me up and that too with these stupid blind dates. Who are you to do this dear? Is this what  you think all day with your paralysed leg at home?".

Before Vishal could swallow his words, he knew the damage was done. There was complete silence over the call. 'Think before you speak', this was all he could say to himself in anger at the moment. He immediately disconnected the call and rushed home after making some excuse to Tanya.

As he drove back home, his car looked like a mad dog running dig-zag on busy Delhi roads. He reached the door and found a letter titled 'SORRY'. His worst fear just turned into reality. With eyes full of tears and hands shivering, he opened the letter.

I am sorry Vishal.

I know I should have acted sensibly, but I was really worried about you. I just wanted you to smile.

The smile which went missing ever since the day we met with the accident. You are trying your best to keep the things normal, but I can see the pain in your eyes.

But your sudden outburst today made me realise that I am a actually the burden on you. Yes buddy, that's what I think all day sitting at home with my paralysed leg.

Now, before you go mad, let me remind you that I haven't left the house. I am just going - somewhere. Believe me, I have no idea where and for how long. But, I would be back.

I am sorry again. Trust me, I totally understand your situation.

-Raggu

***

Two days had passed but no news of Ragini. Vishal got another call for an interview. When he heard the company name, he rejoiced at once, but went again into depression thinking of Ragini. He thought of not attending it, but it has been long since he was unemployed. He had to attend this one - the call was from Deloitte.

First round was always a breeze for Vishal. He was waiting anxiously for the next round in the closed room and was only thinking of Ragini. It was at this moment, his life was about to change. The interviewer, flipping a bunch of loose sheets, entered the room and sat next to Vishal without even looking at him. Vishal tried to make eye contact and greet but as he looked up, he could not utter a word. He thought he should just leave, immediately. Awestruck and shaken, he just froze in his chair. Silence for ten seconds. To Vishal those  ten seconds seem like ten years. She finally looked up. “Good Morni..!!”, was all she could say. They looked at each other for a minute, comprehending the situation. Tanya wanted to say, “You are Hired.”, but she held herself and tried to complete the job for which she came. It was the coincidence that happens on rare eclipses. They completed the formality of professionalism, and Vishal was asked to join Deloitte within a week.  After the interview and other formalities, Vishal and Tanya went for a coffee and he told what happened on their blind date. This time, they talked for two hours. A lot can happen over a coffee, but mostly they were thinking of how to find Ragini.

While he was returning home, Vishal kept thinking what actually happened today. He was amused by the professionalism of Tanya, and at the same time by the simplicity and maturity of the lady. As he opened the door, he found the lights on. He rushed to Ragini’s room and found her sleeping. For once he thought let her sleep, but could not control himself and rushed and hugged her tight. As he held her close to his chest, "Sorry" was all he could speak continuously. He had no idea that she meant him so much. We realise the importance of light “only” when we see the darkness. We all know how the saying goes, but in our lives, we realise the importance of some people “only” when we “really” lose them.

Ragini gestured back when he calmed down. It was when he realised that what a amazing day it has been. He finally spoke something other than sorry, "I have a surprise for you."

Ragini asked in amusement - "Surprise! Please I hope you are not proposing me".

"Shut up.", said Vishal, reaching out for his hand bag. He held out the offer letter and said, “Well, this is one part, the real part of surprise will take some time to arrive.” She didn't bother much at that time, because the news of his dearest friend joining Deloitte was more than enough to make her happy. They drank wine that night and passed out late night.

**

As the days past, Ragini kept asking about the real surprise. Vishal tried not to tell her now, as he was also not sure about this. He started to like Tanya and he knew she also liked him. Same office, same team. They almost spent seven to eight hours together every day.

It was just a few days before Raggu’s birthday, but the news was the best in all the recent painful months. Her physiotherapist has finally confirmed Raggu might be able to walk one day, not so soon though. He wanted to go straight to home and celebrate the news with yet another wine session. But he made a plan.

Vishal made sure that the decorations were perfect. Ragini kept asking him about the reason of such grand celebrations. Vishal tried to make excuses but he knew Ragini was not satisfied. Finally, at exact midnight, Vishal bumped into Ragini's room without knock and wished her happy birthday. He asked her to change her pyjamas and come to drawing room for the party. Ragini had no choice. She got ready and was surprised to see her physiotherapist and an unknown woman in the room.

"Meet Tanya", Vishal gestured his hand towards her and the girl turned around. She was smiling and said hello.

Ragini could not believe her eyes. He actually made friends with her. They must be more than friends since he got her home. Vishal sat on his knees and held Ragini'd hand.

"I so want to thank you for your concern Raggu. I know I reacted in the worst possible manner. But after you left, I realised your place in my life. You have been and will be my best friend forever. Frankly speaking, I decided to give your choice a shot and see, here we are. All in love again"

"Love! I heard that love an happen more than once, but so quick!", said Ragini.

Ragini then looked at the doctor and the doctor finally spoke,"Ragini, I have a good news for you. Your last tests justify that you would be able to walk just like before." Ragini almost dropped her support and was smiling in tears. The doctor continued,"it would take some time, but the results are positive and your leg would be fine someday.".

Ragini hugged Vishal as he suddenly realised that Tanya was completely in shock after his indirect proposal. He looked at her and saw her smiling. Before he could say anything, she shook her head in a yes.

The triple celebrations called for glasses of wine.

Tanya and Ragini hugged, laughed and vanished to her bedroom whispering something in ears. They completely forgot that Vishal was also with them. Vishal was happy to see them getting along and sat on sofa deciding not to intervene them.

Ragini was healed gradually as told by doctor. Vishal and Tanya married after an year and decided to move in with Ragini. They had difficulties initially pertaining to orthodox neighbourhood comments, but they decided to ignore them.

Every time they remember their adventurous meet up and stupidity, their eyes were filled with tears. Not because they cried, but because, All three of them laughed their hearts out and hugged each other. People say that a group of three makes best pair for fights. They ruled out all odds and emerged out to be the "Awesome Threesome".

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