Choices are what makes us! [Game of Blogs - Part 15]

Story Weavers 

Read the starting chapter of the story here and the previous part of the story here.

Cyrus was trying to capture more of the videos. He was happy that the first upload was successful. He was not aware of the furore it had caused in the outside world.

He had started blogging just because it was the trend now a days. But, being an introvert and having low self-esteem, he had not really told anyone of his blogging proclivity. He had started writing all that he could not really express to people who knew him intimately. And, he had found a dedicated reader soon enough with whom he interacted on a very personal level.

The first upload had not gone really smooth. It was quite an adventure. In fact, this was the first real adventure in Cyrus's life. He was not dimwitted in real life but yes definitely short of common sense and looked dumb in his big specs which covered his entire face.  He had somehow managed to think of his mobile and what he could do with it! He despised mobiles. It made him feel so unwanted. He had no one to whatsapp him, no friends to like his pictures on facebook, hardly talked to his parents once a week and that too the bare felicitations.

Fortunately, for today's meeting, he had to carry the gadget. And, he was gonna make sure that it is used properly. But, first, he needed to take it out of his secret pocket which was not possible with these masked hovering around him. He gathered all the courage and spoke to the masked man standing just a few steps away from him, "Sir, can I please use the washroom. I have a chronic prostrate issue because of which I need to visit the bathroom frequently". He knew simple request to use the washroom was not gonna work so he had to make this excuse. And, as expected, the masked men who heard him laughed and used derogatory words but allowed him to use the loo. One of them escorted him to the loo door.

Since he could not risk not using the loo, he thought he might as well do it and take out his mobile in the same process. The main concern would be how to keep the mobile away from their eyes and record at the same time. So, he pretended to use the washroom for a longer time and said to the man waiting outside, "Sir, I need to use the washroom for some more time". The reply was a rude explicit but the man acquiesced. Cyrus changed his phone to silent no vibration, switched on the recording mode and arranged his shirt to let his shirt tails hang and fixed the mobile in his jeans keeping the lens peeping out in the gap of shirt tails so that the camera could record everything. He splashed around some water, flushed the toilet and came out and was dragged back to join the other hostages. The only hope he had was that mobile stayed fixed and camera recorded what was available.

In the meanwhile, another masked man came strolling with his huge old samsung tablet and started punching something. Suddenly, Cyrus got up and was immediately nabbed. He tried to struggle for a while and then sat down. The man continued talking on the phone as he moved. Cyrus could hear a little and then the words trailed away. After sitting for thirty minutes, he again asked permission to go to the washroom using the same excuse to gain time and was granted the wish. Once in the loo, he just hoped there was network and immediately uploaded the video. He waited with bated breath for the successful completion, embedded in his post and arranged the mobile again on recording mode to record more. This time he tried to gain some other angle of the hotel. He knew more trips to the loo would be difficult but he wanted to try once more till he was caught.

-x-

Roohi remembered the story of danger associated with the bad wolf in the Little Riding Hood Story and knew her mother would understand the term at once so she just barged into the me-lee and shouted “Mummy. MUMMY!!!Red riding hood! RED RIDING HOOD!”.

Tara heard Roohi shouting. Jeniffer, on the other hand, was confused and she did not know what to do. Ibrahim Rehman might have given her purpose but these people had given her life. It was a time of choice for her and she decided to do the right thing whether she lived or died.

She went to inspector Arjun whom she had already spotted. And, took him aside and, "Arjun, I have been inside the hotel. I can tell you the positions of the terrorists. At least as close to what they were a while back.". Arjun aka Shekhar was suspicious of her but decided to play along.

Tara went back to Roohi and hugged her. "Roohi, are you crazy? How could you be stupid to come here? I told you that you should stay at nana's place till I come back, right? Now, go back and stay there. Dad, please take her home and do not start on another 'save Tara' mission", Tara said to her approaching father. After bidding goodbye to her father and daughter, Tara went to join Jeniffer. 

When Shekhar notices Tara coming towards them, he realizes she is coming to join Jeniffer and will not abandon the rescue mission so easily. He hurriedly asks his next-in-command to take over and goes away from there in some pretext.

To maintain the trust of her terrorist friends just in case someone was watching the scene outside from the hotel, Jeniffer called up Kareem, "Kareem, I am going to join the army people to see what they are planning next. This plan can not get foiled like the railway station attempt and we have already lost abba. We can not take more chances". "Ok, Ahana, do as you think is right but please be careful. We can not lose you. Btw, Aryan called up. His mission is going as planned.". "Who is Aryan, Kareem?". "Oh, didn't abba tell you about him? Ok, it is not important. You focus on what you have to do.". "Ohk, I will talk again and do tell me about him. I will get back to you in sometime.".

Jeniffer could not convey this information about some Aryan to any of the army men. She could not risk telling everything about herself so she decided to find out more about Aryan before she revealed this bit of information and, in meanwhile, she would also find out a way to explain how she came across this information. 

Armed with information provided by Jeniffer, the army marched on to regain the hotel and save the hostages though Shekhar was also aware this could be a trap.

Read the next part of the story here.

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

Related Post:

Civilians vs Villians [Weekend Post]

Civilians vs Villians [Weekend Post]

Story Weavers

Read the previous part of the story here.

Roohi wanted the latest Reader's Digest. "Can I get a book from the book stall? Please!". "Sure, Roohi. But, will you be able to find it alone?". "Yes, mam, I can. I saw it while we were coming from the entrance. It is just beside the stairs.". "Ok, then, run along and come as soon as you are done.". And, she goes jumping towards the book shop, her pony tails and the lace of her frock swaying with perfect rhythm. An extremely clever and smart girl of 9 had better reading choices than most adults. She had already graduated to Kafka and Dostoyevsky even though understanding them was a lot difficult for her. Well, the product of an under-cover agent and one of the renowned journalist of the country could be anything but!

When she was asked for payment for the Reader's Digest she bought, her hand accidentally came across the toy phone lying in her pink backpack. She paid up, collected the book, restored the balance and the package to her backpack and got lost in the reverie. Roohi and her father were pretty close and they shared their secrets with each other. Since mommy had no time for the baby, daddy had to make up for the lack of it. It was not that Tara was not fond of Roohi, her priorities were just different.

When Roohi had told about the Delhi excursion to her parents, "Daddy, mommy, our teacher is taking 5 stuents from our class for an excursion to Delhi, please I want to go", both had reacted with enthusiasm. While packing her suitcase, her daddy had given this toy phone to her. Shekhar had explained Roohi a lot of things over the years, cracking ciphers, teaching her to be logical during problem solving, how to go over issues methodically and prioritize things with its urgency, not to lose brain while in critical situations and even gave her self-defence classes. While giving the toy phone, he had told her about the satellite phones and how they were different from the regular mobile phones. He told her that he would call her on this number when in any emergency or that she could also call him up whenever necessary. 

Till now that necessity had not arisen and she was glad that the trip was coming to an end. She loved going to different places but being apart from her darling daddy for these many days had made her anxious! Her reverie was broken by a little commotion some place distant on the platform. Instinct made her hide behind people and she saw a couple of men with huge rifles, like they show in movies, moving about threatening to fire them on anyone who made a movement. Fear had rooted everyone to their positions and the whole platform, for once, was at a standstill and noiseless. 

Roohi was suddenly assailed fear for her teacher and friends. She tried to silently move towards her group who were on the other end of the platform. While she was moving, she suddenly trip on the small bag placed on the floor. There was a little thud and one of the guy with the gun started coming towards her. In her fright, she made a dash to the exit door which she could see in the front and the guy with the gun coming towards her opened fire. 

-x-

Ibrahim Rehman, the chief of ISISI, was not ready to listen to Shekhar. "No, we do not want anything. We are fighting for Jihad.". "How is it possible? Everyone wants something.". "You will know the things at their own time. Nothing before and nothing after.". Shekhar lost his temper and his concern for Roohi was mounting. He was hoping that she would remember to call him using the Sat phone he had given her. He wanted to call her but was afraid if it would land her in danger! 

He recalls how excited Roohi was when she announced her Delhi excursion, "daddy, I really want to go. They have chosen only 5 among all the class. please, please", and Shekhar could not say no to her even though he already had heard reports of impending terror strikes in India. Just to take all precautions, he handed the satellite phone to her and taught her how to use it. Roohi was just 9 but way more mature than children of her age. Shekhar thought that probably he and Tara were responsible for this and he regretted not being able to give her the life which she deserved.

-x-

Jeniffer reached Delhi and rushed out of the train. The fear and chaos were reigning and she had to reach Tara as soon as possible. She takes the first cab which she could find and with great difficulty, she could convince the driver to take her to the attack site. By now, the terror strike at Hotel Continental was all over the news.

Jeniffer had talked to Anand, her fiance. "Hey, where are you? How is everything?". "Jeniffer, I will boss is gonna land in sometime and then we will go forward with our plan. You take care.". "Yeah, ok, you too take care and give me a call as soon as possible.". She never mentioned a word of her activities to him. They were just too unnecessary and he need not tease himself with something as simple as filming a journalist outside the hotel where the terrorists had attacked. She called up Tara and informed her that she would be there in front of the back gate of the hotel in 20 minutes.

-x-

Tara was supposed to cover the attack news from outside the hotel and stay there among the mass of other journalists till someone went inside and really did something. She did not become one of the top journalists by just standing among the masses. She was itching to break into the hotel and get some inside scoop. May be she could even help the army people get inside the hotel and nab the terrorists. But, there was a hitch. She needed Jeniffer inside with her but she could not put someone else's life at stake. She decides many lives are more precious than one. 

-x

Inside the hotel was a man who had started whimpering and pleading as soon as he saw the people with guns. He had been sure this was the last second of his life and he did not want to die. He started crying loudly and at a sharp rapport from the gun to the wall, he had fainted. There were around 10 men who had taken over the 5-star hotel in the heart of the city and they held everyone at their gun points. They had gathered everyone from the kitchens and the cellars to the penthouse in one room to take control. And, what do they want? 

Read the next part of the story here.

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

mint-o-ultramintz Sugar Free Mints {Product Review}

Well, I have to start with the personalized packaging. It is so amazing! I was impressed with its packaging when I found the small box lying in the luxurious satin! You can always reuse the packaging for your jewelery. And, the smaller box containing the mints is very practical and hygienic since one doesn't have to expose all the mints while taking one and there is no wrapper business or anything else to take care of!

After popping one of these pellets, I liked it! But, the chill pill which they talk about comes only when you take 4-5 at least together. Then, I felt those close up ads would so suit this product but the only difference is when the guys opens his mouth to let the girl feel the freshness of his breath, the girl should probably be covered under layers of snow instead! Yes, 4-5 mints collectively have the power of an arctic tundra. And, if you drink water over it, its like an avalanche in your throat :D (ohk, I know I am exaggerating but hey isn't the idea of ad a little too much?)

Anyways coming back to the product, it says it has premium quality peppermint imported from France. Well, I do have peppermint essential oil and the mint smells exactly the same. In case you are wondering, no. The essential oil I have is not imported as far as I am aware unless kama actually does that! But, you get the gist, right?

Jokes apart, I did like the mints. They give a very fresh feeling for a long time. And, I love flicking the cover of the box. It's very Victorian, the only difference being the English used to carry snuff in the snuff boxes and we carry mints ;-) Aah and each box has around 60 pellets so you are good to go for around a month without bothering to refill! Easily portable as it should be and you can keep multiple with you - one in your car, one in your purse and one beside your bed stand. 

And, I have to add the point that I hate chewing gums to freshen up my breath because they have a lot of sugar and after all sugary juice is over, it leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth! And, then, you have to remove the gum from the mouth and throw it which is like really gross! But, guess what, this mint is sugar-free. Anyways, I am not easily satisfied with such claims so I researched the ingredients (yeah, ok, I checked out the wiki!).

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Ingredients

Sorbitol, Magnesium Stearate and Sucralose

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Sorbitol - is generally used in all sugar-free gums!

Magnesium Stearate - It creates the tablet.

Sucralose - is an artificial sweetener and does not broken down in the body leading to no added calories! 

So, at the end, I would just like to add that excess of these mints is really not good because for one, you should not depend on any product and for second, the ingredients do lead to a bit of complication if there is an overdose of the mints in the body.

What do you say? Have you tried these mints?

PS : I am reviewing mint-o Ultramintz as a part of the Product Reviews Program at BlogAdda.