Rahul’s Story

My name is Rahul. I am an investment analyst working in Mumbai. I was
living alone in a two-bedroom apartment. The pace of life was amazing.
Between work, travel and parties I had little time to spend by myself, as
is the case with most people within the city. After about six months of
living this lifestyle. A lack of enthusiasm began to creep into my work
and social life. I finally had enough. With a few friends I decided to
drive down to a nearby hill station called Karjat. I looked at my four
friends. Shruti was a colleague at the office. At five feet five she was a
petite brunette whom half the office had a crush on. She wore a faded jean
and tee shirt and looked amazing in it. Prajakta was the opposite. Close
to six feet she was dark, muscular and athletic. She played basketball and
squash frequently and our scores were just about even. She wore a salwar
kameez, a traditional Indian dress frequently used as both a casual and
semi formal wear. I had not seen her very often in a traditional feminine
wear and we made a few jokes about her looks. They remaining two were the
male counterparts. Ali was dark and muscular whereas Ajay was the office
geek. We started out on Friday afternoon and hoped to reach a farm. The
monsoon had just set in. The countryside was lush green and beautiful. But
a strong thunderstorm ruined our plans.


The roads were filled with slush and we found we could not drive beyond a
point. We were planning to return but the drive was about two hours.

Shruti opened the window and took a deep breath. The air was cool and
fresh. "Why do we have to return? Why don't we just find a place to stay
here and think about what to do tomorrow morning."

We all found the idea appealing but could not see any sign of a hotel
nearby. Ali pointed at a small hill and suggested, "Why don't we climb up
that hill and see if there is any lodge nearby." The place was beautiful
and we decided that the fresh air or the exercise would not do us harm.
From top of the hill we could not see any lodge but spotted what appeared
to be a fort.