“No God to Pray”: My entry for the Get Published contest.

She was wise, cheerful and nice. She was wild, Destiny’s very own nature loving child. She was poetic, quite innately artistic. Poised and mute, she was pretty cute. A dream of every guy, she was Oindrita M Gogoi and went by the nickname, Princess.
Life was all about implementing the Logic, as she wrote code to earn her living as a software professional. Love took a backseat, as all her free time was spent in artistic pursuits.

He was a romantic, who loved his music. Gelled his hair in spikes, he simply loved motorbikes. Medium height and fair, he was a debonair. A dream of every girl all night and day, he was Sushil P Deshpande and went by the nickname, Ryder.
Life was all about maintaining the Logic, as he debugged and re-wrote code to earn his living as a software professional. Love took a backseat, as all the free time was spent his on-road pursuits.

And then there was Gatsu or as his parents had named him, Gatsukh P Chawla. Ironically, he lacked the very guts. He was mysterious, face-less and socially-awkward. A self obsessed Anil Kapoor fan, he loved to brag about the abundant hair growth on his torso. A wannabe poet, his writings spoke about evergreen eternal love for a mystery woman, but his demeanor stated just otherwise.
He followed Princess, in person and on her blog and even considered her as his best friend.

What makes the story ‘Real’:
It’s a story that tells you about life not always presenting a pretty picture.
There are times when the mind acts weird with all creative juices getting blocked. In times such as these, it’s depression galore for Princess.
There are also times when after that lost drop of fuel, life seems to head nowhere. In times such as these, it’s depression galore for Ryder.
It also tells that no situation is permanent, as the protagonists get around to discover the one thing that finally seems to be common among them – Love.

Extract:
And in the summer of 2008, Destiny decides to play its part.
Of all places, at a Corporate Personality Development class they get to meet. The trainer asked the participants to talk on three positive things about themselves. Amidst all the similar and boring answers, stood out one confident reply – “Good Looks, Good Looks and Good Looks” – and of every head that had turned towards the beaming Ryder, one head continued to look at him a tad longer with her little blue eyes, all so mesmerized!

‘Is this Love?’ she asked, no one in particular. In her moment of confusion, “Oh Dear God!” she voiced aloud in her mind, only to feel guilty immediately for she knew no God, to pray or plead! In happiness or pain, she was never taught to seek out to HIM.

Meanwhile in another part of the world, Gatsu was in his own dilemma on whether ‘to poke, or not poke Princess’ on her FaceBook profile.

This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal and HarperCollins India.