Excerpt #7 form the Chapter 17 - Detention

An Other Tale of Two Cities - A Novel by Ravi Krish

An Excerpt # 6 form the

Chapter 17

Detention

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She woke up at the hospital, from under heavy sedation. Her head was aching as if it was hit by stone. It took a while to make sense of where she was and why. She had faced incredible questions accusing her very character. China has been so dear to her. She would never trade her country for anything. This is the price one could pay for something as simple as friendship. This is China, her own country, very dear to her heart. She had no complaints. These sorts of conspiracies happened in China all day, yesterday; they are happening somewhere today. They would happen for sure, tomorrow. They just happen everyday. She has heard of several such stories. But when it happens to you, it is as incomprehensible as it is terrible.

Next she reflected on her meeting with Dan and Deng. What was the purpose of this conspiracy all about? So was she and her friends asked to carry the cross and reduce Deng’s agony? And even for Meiling’s poor show? Oh my God. What’s happening? Is this Dan’s response to the challenge from the Indian duo? Then God save TT in China! Was the all powerful Deng arm twisting Dan to act against Li’ll’y, to have his sweet revenge on the talented Indians? Would Deng also unleash strong retribution against the Indian duo, because he could not reconcile to his defeat? She hoped not. Let Deng’s bitterness cool off by harassing her. Deng was the most respected player in Chinese TT team having held the Number 1 ranking for almost four years, undisputed. Now at a slightly older age, he was fighting hard to keep his Number 2 position. He would have probably accepted his defeat gracefully, if he had lost to someone within world rank ten, but to lose an unseeded, ‘lowly’ Indian had hurt his pride badly and he was retaliating, trying not only to find scapegoats, but to destroy them in full public glare.

She thought about the selfie that Dan had showed her. Some one with a vulgar mind had stolen her selfie of a simple, friendly and jestful incident; no, not even an incident, it was gesture, and concocted a very crass story. It has to be an equally vulgar mind that had chosen to use the picture against her. She did not want to guess who it was. It was so obvious to her. Did the Chinese TT team have to stoop so low to keep their dominance in TT. Even if it was the only way to, should they actually do what they did? Or was it all due the personal ego of one person that precipitated all the trouble. It didn’t make any sense. She was not only made the scapegoat, but also made a juicy, suckling, roasted, scape’goat’ for the Chinese team to fine dine on. Why she? She did not consciously offend any one. She had endeavoured to be the friendliest creature on earth and the most pleasant. She believed that she had no enemies, ever in her life; that is till two days back. This conspiracy shocked her most. She believed that her fate was sealed for life. Nothing but a miracle can save her now.

Next she remembered Kool and Joy. Had they been incarcerated too? She shuddered to think of this possibility. But with vengeance written all over on Deng’s actions, nothing was impossible. He had a photograph that sealed their fate, the fate of all three of them. What would Kool and Joy say when or if they see the photograph? Would they not feel that I had helped assassinate their character and life as well? Would they believe her when she explained to them some day that it was a prank that went horribly wrong? Oh my, I had done the most damage to my dearest friends, acting out of jest. Would not they say that I was part of the conspiracy too? She shuddered every time she thought of the picture and cried, ‘I want to die’.....
.....
.....

..... Indian sport has always struggled to gain a few medals in international sports, while China has zoomed to Number 1 position in just a few decades. Table Tennis; Chinese domination of the game has been complete and TT has been identified with the Chinese nation than any other sport. To be challenged in this domain by the Indians who have never had a single player in the top 50 ranks and to beat world number 2 at the prestigious Games to cap on other successes, was an affront to the Chinese nation.

How could they achieve this? They sought for answers that satisfied them rather than look for real answers. They sought answers in anger, not in reason and hence they found answers like; Black magic, sleeping with the enemy etc. that was consistent with their current dark, clouded moods.....
.....
.....

.....Surely, Deng, of all, should have realized that he lost to very competent, superior and worthy rival. Was he covering his loss of face at Li’ll’y’s expense? What are the costs to Li’ll’y? ‘Oh My! My TT career has come to an abrupt and humiliating end’! She saw a bleak future for herself. There was little she could do against the tide that was gathering momentum against her and she will be swept into a sea of misery, without any help; not even a good word from her friends and family. Any one who loved her would grieve for her in silence; else they could also meet similar fates. But there could be more punishments on top of this. She trembled at the possibility of being jailed forever as a traitor. She would want to die rather than carry such a tag. But they wouldn’t let her die. She would not think about it now. She will be very careful and explain herself. She had not done any mistake and believed that her conscience and integrity will redeem her at some point in time... 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Reading :-) Merry interactions :-) 

Ravi Krish

Author

Excerpt #6 form the Chapter 14 - The Date with Deng

An Other Tale of Two Cities - A Novel by Ravi Krish

An Excerpt # 6 form the

Chapter 14

The Date with Deng

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kula had booked a berth for a Quarter final show down against Deng. He had been rattled by the Meiling - Joy episodes very much though he didn’t display his anger to his young lady friends. He had understood from some indirect observations of Li’ll’y that Deng could have been behind the problems for Joy and him, right from the beginning, including the ‘hand-gun-shot’ scare that Joy was subjected to. He believed that Deng had instigated some of his team mates loyal to him, the Deng’s Gang, to rattle the Indian talent and snuff them out, outside the court. Deng was also determined to break their run on court, using any means and used Dan too in his ploys. Hence Kula was looking forward to this match to settle scores. Kula, normally a cool self, never had been as bitter as on that day. It was not just rivalry any more, but chivalry as Deng had offended Jay not just once, but twice. He wanted to beat Deng in the Quarter Finals with vengeance and beat him badly too. This was the first time that Kula had ever got into a match angry with the opponent and with a mind full of vengeance. It showed in his game.

Kula was trailing and trailing badly in the first game 2-8. Nothing was working for him. He was hitting his shots all over, missing the table. He was over reacting to each shot and making unforced errors. The anger and the vengeance in his mind were working adversely on him.  Kula had somehow forgetten that raw anger doesn’t help you overwhelm a challenge, while he should have been channelizing his anger and raising up to the challenge that Deng was. Deng was no ordinary challenge and even Kula at his best would have had to struggle big against him. But in his anger, Kula had exposed a fair amount of the chinks in his armour and was paying the penalty. By the time Kula realized that his anger was actually counter productive, the first game was over 11-5 in Deng’s favour and that he was trailing the second game at 1-6. That he was almost half way on the path to defeat.

Kula needed time to compose himself and reorient his energies. He can’t afford to let Deng take any further lead. It would be disastrous. Kula knew that he had to act quickly and tactically, or else this game and the match would slip off his hands. He focused hard on the ball. That was always his strongest points. He knew that during the last two games that he trailed Deng, his concentration had gone awry. He hadn’t been sighting the ball as much.

Anger is such an enemy; worse than the actual enemy; the object of the anger itself. He needed to first flush out his anger. Unfortunately, he was forbidden by the Games Appeals Jury from using yoga and meditation during the game. Meditation was his preferred mode of cooling his mind. He had to do something and quick.....

.....
.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Reading :-) Merry interactions :-)

Ravi Krish

      Author 

The Excerpt #5 for Discussion: from 'The 'Slow' Command'

"I decided to reach out to all friends, readers and guests and seed some thoughts on 'An Other Tale of Two Cities'. this is the excerpt #5 from the book" 

from 

Chapter 11: The 'Slow' Command

.........

The friendlies not only exposed the weaknesses of the Chinese B team but also brought to light the ascendancy of the challengers from India. That Meiling barely scraped past the Indian in a wholly unconvincing manner aided only by a dubious complaint and an equally or more dubious refereeing decision, added neither to the Chinese prestige nor its confidence. Unfortunately every one who was relevant to the match's result, seemed to have been overwhelmed by the weight of expectations on the Chinese team and had chosen to play along with Meiling and had supported her claim.

        Dan thought about Meiling’s claim all evening and yet could not concur with her that Kula and Jay were practicing sorcery and he scorned at the idea that they controlled her mind, through something like black magic. He could proudly stand being profiled as xenophobic as he had been all his life and career. But supporting Meiling’s claim would brand him as 'irrational' chauvinist, something he could not take. He was not comfortable with this bizarre allegation that did not bring repute either to the Chinese Team, Games or the Chinese hosts. He had grilled Meilling sufficiently to conclude that she had no basis for the ‘sorcery’ allegation, except that she had been distracted by the red dot on Jay’s forehead; that she had been disturbed by Jay’s meditation, closing her eyes between points and a deep cross legged meditation before a few of the games of the match, chanting ‘mantras’. Dan noted that while these acts could distract and irritate an opponent player slightly, they may not be illegal. It would be difficult even to prove that they disturbed the mind of the opponent and would be even more far fetched to claim that one player tried to gain control of the mind of the opponent by these acts.
.....
.....

Next, he went about intently studying the strength and weaknesses of the Indian team from the videos of the friendlies to devise appropriate strategies and tactics. As the China-India friendly was a planned event, Dan had ordered recording the friendly from every angle and every perspective. He could capture not only the speed, trajectory and angle of the ball against the position of each player, but also the spin, its axis, the speed of the swirl and the wobble, using powerful HD cameras.

Dan had studied the video of the match carefully for weaknesses and strengths and was planning his tactics and strategies, including assigning players who would play against Kula and Jay during the Games from among his team. He was confident that he had found answers for every move of the Indians and had clearly laid out an excellent strategy. But one particular exchange between Meiling and Joy bothered him. He viewed this exchange from every perspective and he still could not comprehend what happened.

That pertained to the frenzied exchange of the ball back and forth between Meiling and Jay, for the point that Jay scored just before she had made that sorcery allegation. Meiling at one moment acrobatically digs out from close to the ground, a well placed return from Jay and expertly sends it crashing towards Jay’s side ‘like a bullet’. Dan let a gasp of relief and appreciation for her and noticed that the crowd had gasped and been relieved too. The ball sped exactly like a bullet, till it flies near the net, still on Meiling’s side of the table. Then the unbelievable happened. Kula jumps up from his seat and shouts a command, as if to the ball ‘SLOW’, with a wave of his arm and the ball seemed to actually slow to his command. Dan immediately thought of Meiling’s sorcery allegation and then immediately followed up thinking it was irrational and plain stupid of him. His ‘Party’ trained mind could not reconcile to this bizarre claim. He still could not get himself reverse his own stand on Meiling’s weird claim.

It did look like Kula had commanded the ball to slow and it did. It was true that Jay, who did not anticipate the beautiful return from Meiling, was a shade late in responding to the speeding ball. But as the ball slowed and as she had a coincidental alert from Kula, she had not only the benefit of the slower ball but also had an alert just in time for her to adjust her footwork and smash it on Meiling’s side to win the point. 

But was this evidence in support of Meiling and her claim that looked absurd at first? Two events happened almost at the same instant. ....

.....

.....

Nothing in his long coaching career had he watched anything that baffled him as much. In a way, it did look like Kula had commanded the ball to slow and it did. But in another way, it looked like Kula’s waving and shouting was just coincidental. He was definitely looking at the ball, but could have been shouting to alert Jay, Dan felt. 

Meiling, who loses the point in desperation, seeks the referee’s intervention against the ‘dot’, Jay’s bindi, and invokes a sorcery claim. So Jay looked as if she had the benefit of the slower ball and knew about it in time to position herself well and the subsequent winning smash. Dan knew that he had enough evidence to build a case against the Indian team, in support of Meiling’s sorcery claim....

.....

.....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Reading :-) Merry interactions :-)

Ravi Krish

      Author

The Excerpt #4 for Discussion: from Chapter 4: 'The Fragrance called Li Ling'

"I decided to reach out to all friends, readers and guests and seed some thoughts on 'An Other Tale of Two Cities'. This is the excerpt #4 from the book" 

from

Chapter 4 : The Fragrance called Li Ling

       .....

.....

..... 

.....Li came back to take them out for Dinner, in the evening. Kool was suddenly uncomfortable. Should he ask her now or not yet? He ventured at last, ‘What did you say is your name, come again. I must apologize, I am poor with names’, Kool asked. ‘Especially with girl’s names’! interrupted Joy merrily, remembering that he had taken nearly a week to be able to recall her name without being prompted. ‘Li Ling’, answered Li, extending her hand as if by habit, as she introduced herself the second time. Kool accepted her hand and her second introduction. ‘Li Ling is the fragrance of jasmine, expressed in words’, she volunteered in explanation. When he asked her coarsely and casually with a heavy accent, ‘Oh, Li’ll’y means, ‘fragrance of jasmine’? she looked shocked at Kool as though he had outraged her name! She repeated rather sternly like a school teacher, ‘No; much more than just a meaning. Li Ling is the feel of jasmine. When you hear ‘Li Ling’, you would be able to smell jasmine’. Kool understood the importance of uttering ‘Li Ling’, as he closed his eyes in meditation and said hoarsely, ‘Li’ll’y’ and simultaneously taking a deep breathe and imagined fragrance of jasmine. ‘It is tough, but anything for you’, he conceded with a grin at which Joy giggled and Li frowned, ‘Its Li Ling, not Li’ll’y’. Li mimicked his heavily accented ‘Li’ll’y’ with a huge stress on the ‘ll’. She was amused, though claimed in protest, ‘Li’ll’y sounds like a strong odour when you broke and splashed out a bottle of jasmine perfume. It’s too strong’. ‘Li Ling’ she repeated as softly and as gently as a feather that floats down in the air. Kool, who wasn’t paying attention to the demonstration of her name, continued to hold her hands as he said, ‘Li’ll’y like my Li’ll’y teacher at school’, remembering his teacher, Ms. Lalitha, better known in his school as Li’ll’y teacher.....

.....

.....

.....

.....

..... 

.....Joy saw that they were holding their hands for too long, quite comfortable with each other. Fuming within her, she hastily stuck her hands at Li’ll’y. ‘Jay, you Si’ll’y Li’ll’y’, she shrieked, forcibly grabbing her hands from Kool’s and shaking them impatiently. Contented that she had broken their 'hand-holding ceremony’ she laughed heartily at her own concocted rhyme and repeated ‘Si’ll’y Li’ll’y’. Kool read some thing else from Joy’s ‘grab Li’lly’s hand’ urgency. He, who had not been sure of Joy’s feelings for him, now didn’t have any more doubts. He had heard of ‘love at first sight’, but he was experiencing first hand, ‘Joy’s Love at first sign of rivalry’.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Reading :-) Merry interactions :-)

Ravi Krish

      Author

The Excerpt #3 for Discussion: from 'The Fragrance called Li Ling'

"I decided to reach out to all friends, readers and guests and seed some thoughts on 'An Other Tale of Two Cities'. This is the excerpt #3 from the book" 

from

Chapter 4 : The Fragrance called Li Ling

The next day, was not their lucky day. They bumped into a selfish crowd of players from other nations, who took over the entire practice tables at the Games Village. Kool and Joy were completely spaced out and had nowhere to practice. A few hours of practice for the competitors is like an Oasis for a desert traveler. Any amount of practice would not be enough. But what Kool and Joy got on that day, was just got to see a mirage of tables, they couldn’t play on and they had to move from table to table watching others possess and practice. Kool and Joy wanted practice badly and they moved to the stadium, where they had met Li the previous day. 

The Stadium was overcrowded as well with the local host teams. They approached a group of a particularly merry crowd of Chinese players, mostly boys and a few girls, who were poking fun at each other, playing and practicing. Encouraged by the friendly reception they got from Li the previous day, Kool, expected similar warmth and showed his teeth, beaming as he held out his hand to introduce himself, ‘Kool’, he said to the nearest player. The Chinese player responded with an ugly frown and stuck his middle finger towards Kool and shook his hips in a vulgar gesture. Kool was shocked and stepped back, instinctively, to shield Joy from the view. Thankfully, Joy was too innocent to understand the gesture, though she knew it to be a rude one and was offended nevertheless. As Kool tugged Joy by her arm and tried to walk away from the table, seething in anger and from humiliation, Joy obediently trotted behind him, unable to comprehend, if Kool made any mistake of etiquette, while trying to introduce himself. The whole company jeered at them in a very disgusting manner.

One of them, menacingly stepped in her way, stretching his palms towards her and folding his fingers, with his thumb struck up as though it was a gun. He coolly placed his ‘gun’ point blank on Joy’s ‘bindi’ decorated forehead as if her ‘bindi’, the dot, was the target, and crackled a thunderous blast, from the depth of his gut, louder and sharper than a gunshot. Then there was absolute silence… and the entire crowd exploded in laughter with him. This was the most terrible laughter Joy had ever heard. Joy believed for a moment that she had been shot, felt stoned unable to move her leaden feet, was grateful that Kool was dragging her away by her arm, while she was still trembling. The Chinese pulled his fingers from her forehead and blew the imaginary smoke from his pointed fingers; cowboy style and shouted obscenities along with a warning, ‘No more dots on your forehead, lady. My gun is itching to find its target. Next time it wouldn’t be bare fingers’. 

.....
.....
.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Reading :-) Merry interactions :-)

Ravi Krish

      Author

The Second Excerpt for Discussion: from 'The Rainbow in his Dreams'

I decided to reach out to all friends, readers and guests and seed some thoughts on

'An Other Tale of Two Cities' This is the second excerpt from the book. 

                                                  Happy Reading :-) Merry interactions :-)

                                                

                                                                           from 

                                                 Chapter 4: The Rainbow in his Dreams

That evening was very special for Kula. His parents adored him. His mother was very proud and was beaming from cheek to cheek. He became the hero of his entire neighbourhood. Neighbours came in and praised him lavishly. They asked him to help their sons to play also. ‘They are all loafing around like vagabonds. ‘See this; is still strolling cycle tyres on the road’, one of them said pointing to one of the kids. The boys and girls from the neighbourhood came. Most of them wanted to touch and feel the TT bat and the ball. Though the bat was worn out, it excited the children no small amount. Kula was so proud.

Then the unbelievable happened. Krishnan sir, who lives two streets away, walked in, stooping watchfully at the low door frame. ‘Sir’, gasped Kula out of huge respect, ‘I wanted to come take your blessings, Sir’. Krishnan, still at the doorstep, smiled and said, ‘You have made us all proud’. Kula’s mother, ‘excited by Krishnan’s sudden unexpected visit, ‘Ayya, please come to our humble home. We should be fortunate that you should visit us. Actually, we wanted to come and thank you when his father comes back home today later in the evening. Bless my son, Sir; he will do us all proud’.

He smiled as he stepped in and looked behind him. Mrs. Krishnan stepped in. ‘Amma’, Kula exclaimed in great joy, ‘Welcome, welcome’. She said something about how happy she was, but Kula was not listening. He was watching the charming Jayanthi, who stepped in behind her mother. ‘Hey Jay, what a surprise! Thanks for coaching me’. She just said smiling, ‘Same to you’, warmly, returning the complement. Not often do you get a chance to return a nice compliment. She handed over a small bouquet of roses to him and held her hands towards him shyly, ‘Congratulations and thank you’. He looked around and grabbed a ‘Dairy Milk’ that one of the earlier visitors had gifted him a few minutes back, lying on a wooden chair nearby.  ‘Congratulations and thank you too’, he said, accepting her hand as they exchanged the gifts. A tingle ran up his spine as he touched her hand. He felt guilty and looked at her face, if she knew. She was smiling innocently and as their eyes met, the second tingle ran up and this time he saw fireworks lighting up his otherwise dark sky, bringing the stars closer to them both. For a moment he was lost in the bright fireworks. He shook his head as if to reprimand himself, ‘No, Kula. This is not right’. But his senses weren’t in any mood to listen and betrayed him gleefully. They just teased him and brought up flowerworks this time, flowers showering on both of them, from a large shady tree and he felt as though no one, nothing else existed.

This was fresh new feeling for Kula. He never felt like this before. He had touched Jay’s hands several times while playing at her home and in the last year and had several times unintentionally brushed against her, without being conscious of the touch, but why this today? Why was it different today? And in the public glare of all those he loved and respected so much. What if any of them watched his face? He felt shabby. But the pleasure of just standing near her overwhelmed him and he yearned to hold her hand again. He shook his head again to dismiss the stray disturbance in his thoughts, scared that others would read his mind and managed to say, though incoherently to Krishnan, ‘Without you, we both couldn’t have done this, Sir’......

.....

.....

.....

.....

.....

.....The family trooped out, as the hushed, whispering neighbours, who were peeping through the door and window to have a glimpse of the ‘important’ visitors, stepped respectfully back to give way. ‘The girl is beautiful’, said someone looking at Jay. Jay, as she walked into the moon light (or was it the just the streetlight that was giving him a crazy spin?), turned back to glance at him, smiled and waved her hand shyly as she walked into the relative darkness behind her parents.  

He was most happy. His achievement, that evaded his mind, had fully sunk into him now, thanks to all hullaballoo around that evening, topped only by the visit of Mr. Krishnan and his family.

That night was crazy. He slept, but didn’t sleep. He had exciting reveries, worthy of the exhilarating day. His reveries started with a number of fiery exchanges of the TT ball he had with Sai, Pari and Niranjan. He replayed the missed shots all over again in his dreams and tried his best to get them right. Whenever he got the shots right, Jay gave him a hi-five, or held out her hands for a handshake, and every time a tingle passed his spine with either fireworks or flowers showering from above. Every time he touched Jay, he made it a point to withdraw his hands hastily off her, saying to himself, ‘he was not doing the right thing’ and promised himself that he would behave. But seconds later, he desperately wanted to hold her hands again.

.....

.....

.....

.....

.....

..... Next, he hears the chant and hoot, ‘What’s her name’? ‘What’s her name’?? ‘What’s her name’??? He feels himself blush. ‘She is just another friend like all of you’, he yells at the crowd. ‘Not any longer, she is special’, protests the crowd. ‘I like it’, hails his inner voice. ‘May be’, he says to the crowd, still confused.

He wakes up to the far away rooster, to the first rays of sunlight of the day and to the fresh fragrance of the moist earth raised by the first drizzle of the season. No wonder, he saw a rainbow in his dreams. 

The first discussion: Huajin and Weimin

from 

Prologue

I decided to reach out to all friends, readers and guests with my thoughts on 'An Other Tale of Two Cities'. I have to start with an excerpt from the book first to make it meaningful. So starting from this week I will be presenting short interesting samples, snippets and quotes from the book, that could give you a pulse of 'An Other Tale of Two Cities'....

Before that let me start with the legal declarations;

Disclaimer: 
'An Other Tale of Two Cities' is an original work of fiction written by me, Ravi Krish. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are purely products of the author’s imagination and have been used in fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. 

Copyright:
The Book 'An Other Tale of Two Cities' is copyrighted. All passages of the book that are presented as Excerpts - Samples, snippets and Quotes in these blogposts are also protected by the copyright.
Copyright©2015 K.Ravichandran.

Now I present you an excerpt from ''An Other Tale of Two Cities'..Happy Reading"
...............................................................................

       Huajin’s son had two fathers. One was ShanJuan, who, though wasn’t the biological father, lent his name to him. Another was Weimin, his step father. May be he had three, if you counted BoJin, the real biological father. Or was he? It could have been any one of the thousand or more eminent personalities of Shanghai that Huajin met regularly at the parties. Only HuaJin could say for sure. But she wasn’t even thinking about that. She didn’t seem to care who it was... 

      When Huajin left Bojin and married ShanJuan, Bojin had committed suicide. Some said he had poisoned himself due to shame at the loss of his position as World Badminton No.1 to his friend ShanJuan. Some said he poisoned himself due to the loss of Huajin, to the same friend. Some said Huajin poisoned him to free herself in favour of the new World Champion. Whatever, ShanYuan had a troubled conscience for a few days. But he convinced himself that all is fair in Love and War. He also told himself that a dead friend, however dear, wasn’t worth a fraction of Huajin, lying in his arms.

       Within days of of moving in with ShanYuan and death of Bojin, Huajin announced that she was five months pregnant. ShanYuan knew it wasn’t his child. But by then he was enslaved to HuaJin’s beauty and poise that he claimed that the son was his to avoid the risk of annoying her. He was ready to lend his name to the child to be born to his wife. 

       Huajin always exercised such control over her paramours. They knelt, crawled and begged before her, so that she wouldn’t leave them, every single night that they got to spend with her. She had the capacity to bring them to life. She had the capacity to drive them to death.

       After her son was born, Huajin got into the social circuit quickly, getting back to physical shape and exercising all her charms on those who could shower wealth and power on her. She had all the fun at the expense and humiliation of ShanYuan. In the next two years, she discovered what she really wanted from life. It wasn’t money. Money didn’t interest her any more. She could get however much she wanted, at her command. But ‘Power’ was what she liked to possess. She toyed with several party members till she found the fastest path to the Corridors of the Power; Weimin.

       Weimin, as his name suggests was a People’s Hero. He was thirty, when she first met him and she was twenty three. Her son was still two year old. Weimin was the fastest growing power center in the Party. He had ample help from his father, who was the right and left hand of the then President of China. The President owed it to him to become the President. The power of the father-son combination was such that, when Weimin showed his interest in Huajin, the thousand and odd eminent personalities of Shanghai deserted the streets that she strode, in favour of Weimin. Those few that crossed either his or her path were turned to nought and they had to desert the city, any way.

       It was no secret that Weimin and Huajin were living as husband and wife, but never married for several years. ShanYuan was broken, first of his heart, then of his game and then of his money and then of his health and then of his mind. By the time Weimin and Huajin decided to wed, ShanYuan had become a mental wreck and behaved unpredictably. He was full time drunk and became a permanent junk. In this condition, ShanJuan protested and would not free HuaJin for her to marry Weimin. He even slapped her once and humiliated Weimin in public. ShanJuan made two mistakes. He had become a nuisance for HuaJin and he crossed the path of Weimin. In the next few days, the news was that ShanYuan died of ‘illness of the heart’. And in the next few days, Weimin married HuaJin and they went out on their honeymoon to the Hawaii.

       When Weimin was forty eight, he was a member of the Poliburo and was considered the most influential among its twenty five members. He was strongly recommended for a position in the Politburo Standing Committee, which was a select subset of the Politburo, with seven members and was more powerful than the Politburo itself. But his father, the Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was already a senior member of the Standing Committee and so Weimin wasn’t considered immediately for the position. His father had offered to step down, without in any way diluting his powers, under a deal, in favour of his son. Weimin was promised to be elevated at the ‘next available opportunity’, by the then President.

       But four years since then, the opportunity never had favoured Weimin. Weimin’s father, had been the king maker and the maker of all Presidents since in the last two decades. He actually ruled China by default, whoever was President. The current President also owed his Presidency to him, but once elected he did not surrender to Weimin’s father’s commands; who was demanding a much bigger price. He wanted the President to be subservient to his son, Weimin. The President did not relent and harboured contrary ideas of being independent, incensing Weimin and his father...."

...............................................................................

Thanks for participating.. I welcome you to share your thoughts on the post or the book excerpt or on the book.. through your valuable comments..  

See you soon with more of insights into the book, The circumstances under which it was written and it's author..

Ravi Krish

An Other Tale of Two Cities - Overview

I just completed the first cut of my first 'Work of Fiction'

'An Other Tale of Two Cities'

This is a story of two talented Indian Teenagers, Kula and Jay, who set out on their journey from a small town near Chennai, India to win Gold at the 'Citadel for Table Tennis Champions'; the 'Games' at Shanghai, China; against the toughest competition one could imagine; analogous to 'Taming the Dragon in its Lair'. On their journey they discover true and eternal friendship with a Chinese girl, Li Ling, a member of the Chinese TT team, who joins their magical journey, punctuated by Triangular love, sacrifice, humor and enormous will to win. Li Ling in turn discovers a mother and a family to call her own in far away India, thanks to her friends. In their quest for stardom, the trio face off repeatedly against Deng, who has been variously described as vicious, vindictive and vengeful. When Jay, whose winning ways was interrupted by a scheming Deng and his coterie, she reacts at the podium by laying her Bronze medal as a wreathe at the feet of her nemesis, who had won against her, assisted only by brazenly biased umpiring. Little did she realize that her act of foolishness would lead to a diplomatic conflict between her country and an unapologetic 'China in denial'. The series of events eventually trigger a fratricidal and internecine war between the Chinese Government headed by the President and a faction of the ruling elite, running a parallel Government at the behest of the 'God Father' and his protege. Li Ling, braves incarceration as a traitor and possible death sentence to save Kula from the clutches of the all powerful gang, before she goes missing. Did Li Ling survive? Did any of them eventually conquer the Dragon? Who among them attained stardom and and at what cost? Who sacrificed self in the final gambit?  

The reader would experience;
  *  Strong Will to Win against huge constraints and endless conspiracies
  *  Exciting Bonds of Friendship with a Chinese Girl for the Indian heroes
  *  Story of Love, Friendship and Humor; beautifully told
  *  If there's love; Triangular love; then ultimate sacrifice can't be far behind
  *  Politics and Treachery; in China and in India
  *  Lives and Freedom at stake in an alien country
  *  International Intrigue and Diplomacy at its best
  *  Family life and Culture - The Pride of India
  *  Thrills and aplenty - A roller coaster ride to remember for life..
  *  The Two Cities of Chennai in India and Shanghai in China

This book is my first. Having taken a title 'An Other Tale of Two Cities', I feel I have taken up an onerous responsibility of having to do justice to the original 'A Tale of Two Cities' by the Legendary Charles Dickens. I believe I have done well. However, it is for my readers to approve.

There are several similarities between the the original 'Tale' and 'An Other Tale'. Of course the two 'Tales' are distinctly different. The times the stories have been set are different, the plots are different, the characters are different; the Characterization, their Experiences and the Classes they represent are different. The morals and integrity of the characters are different, while they reflect the times they live in. The story telling styles are different... to spot a few differences. 

I hope and believe that the characters and the story in 'An Other Tale of Two Cities' would endear the hearts of the readers as much as the original 'Tale' would. 

'An Other Tale of Two Cities' should be a tribute to the Legend and Master story teller of all times, Charles Dickens. I started writing this book coincidentally, in the year 2014 that corresponds with the 150th anniversary of the first publication of the period 'A Tale of Two Cities' in the year 1864. I hope and wish to publish my book through a good Publishing house by the end of 2015, while the anniversary celebrations are still on. If it would be made possible, it would be a fitting tribute to the Master. 

I would be discussing the book, 'An Other Tale of Two Cities', using excerpts and quotes from the book in the next weeks. I would be glad if all of you can take an active part in the discussions.

If someone would like to preview 'An Other Tale of Two Cities', I can share with them a soft copy of the book in it's current form. 'An Other Tale of Two Cities' is being continually enhanced, as it should be, before final publication.

I would be glad if some readers who previewed the book, commented on it with their own specific quotes from the book or chapters for the others to follow and benefit.

Wishing all a Happy Reading and Merry Interactions in the weeks ahead..

Ravi Krish