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Kaleidoscope Contest Winners – Twist Your Tales

By Tata Literature Live!

26th October 2016

1st Prize – “LORD OF THE RINGS AN UNTOLD STORY” (parody)

By Aditya Mewati and Isha Mahajan

The irony of life is that everyone is going to die but unexpected things tend to occur at the most bizarre times like it happened with Jeanine Mathews. She thought she was going to change the system, make a difference but it only ended up in the worst case as she lay bleeding on the floor. The moment she opened her eyes and blinked, images came back into focus. That was when she saw the ugliest face in her life staring back at her with his big golf like eyes. “Hello sweet heart , welcome to the middle earth” , he grimes at her evilly and then she screamed.

2

Charlie Kelmeckis flushed he toilet and was about to zip up his pants when a from the adjacent cubicle startled him. He whipped his head toward his left and saw an old man with a long white beard an equally long white hair wearing something resembling a white petticoat. Charlie was sure that he hadn’t seen the old man in. He zipped his pant wondering if it was Halloween today. Usually he was a shy person but this man piqued his curiosity. “Excuse me sir, are you the new professor?”. The man turned to him and stared with his twinkling eyes. “Do I look like a professor?” He raised his eyebrows. No, he thought – you look like a lady with a morbid fascination with extra-long beard , but the words he uttered were “No”. The man nodded , “ I am Gandalf the white and I’ve come here to take you on a journey”.

3

“Who are you?” Jeanine questioned the odd looking creature. “I am an elf serving the dark lord “, he spoke in a guttered voice. “Who the hel is the dark lord?” Jeanine asked .searing pain shot through her head and amidst it all she heard a voice:” I am the dark lord “ “Where are you?” she questions looking around the old chamber. “You can’t see me but my eyes are always watching “. “Wait, has someone injected me with some hallucination semen?” “No, my slave has saved your life and bought you to middle earth to fulfil;; a task for me”

4

“What journey?” Charlie asked the weird man. The man just placed his hand on Charlie”s shoulder and suddenly everything went blur. Immediately he found himself standing on a hill overlooking a small village “How did you do that? Are you a wizard?” Charlie asked with wide eyes. He couldn’t believe that he was seeing. A staff materialized in the man’s hand “Yes I am a wizards and I have brought you here to help me “ “I don’t think I could be of much help. What do you want from me anyway?”Charlie asked “Read his book it’ll tell you about the background story “, The man gives him the book. Charlie takes the book in his hands and reads the cover page –‘LORD OF THE RING’S (TRIOLOGY) by J.RR Tolkien . He started reading the book . After a week he scratched his beard and said “what do you want me to do ?” Crandalf gave a big grin and said “I want you to finds the master ring.”

5

“what is the master ring?” Jeanine asked the dark lord ,feeling stupid to speak with an empty room . “I created a ring to control all the other rings but it was unknown of a ring more powerful then mine, The hobbits called it a master ring , many of them don’t even know its true potential , with your intellect and my help , I want you to find the master ring and bring it to me”

“Ill give you what your heart desires”

“I want you to provide me with an army so I could go back to my world and finish what I started “

“with pleasures “ his creepy voice echoes in the room

6

Charlie clamber up the path that wound around the mountain which disappeared into the clouds. He had a sword which Crandolf gave him before the journey and a map, although he had no idea why he needed the map when

he was asked to just climb up that stupid mountain.

“On man, I’m exhausted” he said but continued the trek. An hour later he came across a cave and was about to step in when a booming voice echoed through the cave: “Who is it?”

“It’s me Charlie Kelmeeckis. From ‘perks of being a wallflower?”

“I want an access through this cave “

“For that you’ll have to defeat the beast “

He swallowed hard as the creature lumber out of the shadows.

“Fight with the beast “The creature spoke.

Charlie looked around and found no other beast than the owner of the cave who spoke with him. A voice reached up to him and he looked down, finding a small facing him with narrowed eyes-it was a hobbit.

“And you’re the beast?”

He asked the hobbit with a raised eyebrow, and the hobbit nodded.

“Let’s settle this with a rock-paper- scissor” Charlie said “ Brilliant Idea !”

The Hobbit Exclaimed, Knowing he couldn’t fight with the large man

Charlie won against the hobbit and passed through the cave making his way

7

Jeanine laughs as the Hobbit Bobbled in front of her with a sword

” I’ve seen you somewhere” Jeanine said

“Where?” The Hobbit asked

“That cloud looks just like you” She said distracting the hobbit as he looked up in surprised. The she kicked him and he toppled down the path “ see you later little man !” Saying that she proceeded ahead

8

Charlie was just meandering exhaustedly along the ash when a large shadow fell upon him. To his extreme surprise he saw a dragon staring at him, steam blowing off its mouth as it opened its jaws. Charlie quickly bandishe the sword.

A bright purple flame rushed out of the dragon’s throat and enveloped the throat.

When the flames extinguished, the sword was gone.

“What the hell?!How did that happen?” Charlie asked in shock.

“You fool! You think you’ll defeat me with a plastic sword?” the dragon snorted.

Now Charlie understood why Gandalf was laughing when he handed him the sword . That was so cruel of him! He started running but the dragon swooped before him and blocked his path.

“What do you want? let me go please !” Charlie pleaded with the dragon

“What can be more valuable to me than your life “? The dragon seemed smug.

“Maybe this map?!” Charlie said timidly, pulling out the map.

“OH! That’s the ‘map of everything’! With its help I can go back to my mother ‘Danerys , the mother of dragons , and breaker of chains ‘”.

“Ill give you this map if you take me to my destination” The dragon clamped his claws, lifting Charlie up and soared towards the top of the mountain.

9

Charlie was just a few yards away from the ring. When he saw a woman huffing and puffing towards him.

“Who are you?” Charlie asked her in suspicion. She just raised her hand and tried to gather her bearings. She pulled out a few books from her bag and handed it to him. The books ‘covers read ‘divergent series by Veronica Roth. Charlie remembered reading the series and looked up in shock.

“Are you the infamous Jeanine Mathews?!” He asked. She just gave him an aloof shrug and then smiled smugly.

“What are you doing here?!” He asked again.

“I am here for the ring,” She said her, eyes narrowing on him.

“I am here for the master ring as well. That makes us enemies.”

“I guess” she frowned.

“But don’t worry, we won’t fight. I will allow you to take the ring but on a condition that is you will have to marry me. I ‘ve been in love with you since a long time.”

Ignoring him, she ran to the podium, and lifted the box. A note said: ‘the future is planed ‘. She opened the box and found two rings with a ‘wedding rings’ tag.

She looked up at the sky and screamed in frustration, Charlie had won after all

Epilogue

Gandalf the white and the reformed Dark lord sat on a bench enjoying the view.

“Its good to have you back my friend in shape and form.” Gandalf said to the Dark lord .

“ Lets connect the magical world of Harry Potter with Cercei Lannister from Game of Thrones”

 

2nd Prize – How I Met Your Father

By Naomishika Dasgupta and Girish Rasam

In the year 2016, the city of New York was going through a lot of changes; both young and

the old were contributing to the already bustling night life scene of this great city.

With already a number of clubs, pubs, strip clubs and an increasing number of coffee shops

doing good business, there were two comparatively new entrants to the entertainment

culture. The ‘Eye for an eye’ rivalry between these two entrants was almost cringe worthy.

On one hand, the aroma of coffee being brewed, lingered on the nostrils of the patrons who

visited this 90’s themed Coffee shop that provided a rustic feel, complimented by soft

mellow music and a welcoming ambience.

On the other hand, was a new modern pub, with an essence of gin and tonic diffusing in the

air, with a pinch of carelessness, heavily frequented by happy go lucky individuals?

The coffee shop ‘Central Perk’ was run by a quite gentlemen, with glistening long grey hair,

who was a quintessential good guide person. His name was Gurther Dumbledore. Central

Perk’s tag line was “How you brewing?” That aptly reflected their staff/ service ethics. The

staff comprised of Ross, Rachel, Chandeler, Monica, Phoebe and of course Joey.

The pub right across the street, was the fledging McClaren’s pub, whose owner was Mr.

Ranjit Voldemort.

Voldermort’s seemingly calm composture seemed to mask an unknown ‘Dark Side’ that was

in stark contrast with the lively atmostphere of Mcclaren’s pub.

Marshall – a hefty bouncer, Barney – the womanizing bartender, Ted – the ever sweet

cashier and the duo of Lily and Robin – the two waitresses, ensured that Mcclaren’s

Philosophy of business .

‘Avada Brodavara ‘held up to its meaning. The seeds of their rivalry were sowed in their

college years when Gunther Dumbledore , a college senior had a tiff with Ranjit Voldemord,

a high school sophomore : but more on that later. Now it so happened that the Big Apple

was hosting the annual ‘Best Hangout Place-NYC’ awards. This extravagant award show was

the brain child of an old billionaire Willy Wonka, a business tycoon of the chocolate industry,

whose wealth was the highlight of the Millennium

The winners of this prestigious award was not only crowned as officially the best hangout

place but was also registered in the Nightlife Hall of Fame as one of the most Legend – wait

for it – array places to visit in the city.

Since each avenue could send only one deserving candidate for the awards, the concept of

‘Golden Ticket ‘was introduced.

A battle ensued between Central Perk and McClaren’s pub such that one could call it a

‘Battle of The Millennials’.

This battle was bigger than the college tiff between Dumbledore and Voldemort, but more

on that later.

The winner of the golden ticket was to be selected on certain criteria’s such as volume of

people visiting the venue , volume of sales per day, patron engagement , customer loyalty ,

hygiene and staff etiquettes .

If, Central Perk had opened mic nights on Tuesdays, McClaren’s would then host Karaoke

nights on the same day. If Central perk introduced a 30% discount on their burgers then

McClaren’s offered free one on one Beers. While Central Perk graciously offered a free

second serving of Coffee for all the women in the house, then McClaren’s immediately came

up with ‘Two plus one ‘ cocktails for every Wednesday Ladies Night.

Even the fight between Harry the boy who lived Potter and ‘he who must not be named ‘felt

insignificant in comparison to their ongoing rat race . Rumors were such that Dumbledore

and Voldermort would not even see each other when their paths crossed, owing to the

circumstances ‘at that time.’ Those were the days when pot was not yet legalised , Trump

has zero chances of being the President and same sex relationships were still a taboo ; but

more on that later.

When the dawn finally arrived and the first chirping of the birds were heard. There was an

anxiousness in the heart of Ganther Dumbledore and in what closely resembled a heart of

Ranjit Voldermort .

The day had finally arrived .

The grandiose ‘ Battle of the Millennials ‘ had reached its final chapter , it would be finaly

decided if people loved the 90’s themed Coffee shop over the new modern happening pub

or the other way round. It was almost as if two fandoms had come face to face.

But, the punch line is never what it seems, on the day of the event, under mysterious

circumstances, it so happened that Dumbledore and Voldermort got locked in the same

room. With the impending declaration of results and chaotic environment, it did not seem

much of a surprise that something like this went unnoticed.

Here comes the ‘ more on the late part’ What should have been a heated argument

between two ordinary business competitors , turned out to be something unimaginable

which touched upon a particular taboo subject.

After 5 hours of bottled-up, repressed feelings finally finding catharsis, the two ‘ opposites’

came out holding hands together.

The scene outside the room was just as confusing as it was inside.

It turned out that a small, low – profile Indian restaurant “ The Desi Pitchers” owned by two

brothers ‘Yogi and Mandal’ had actually ended up winning the golden ticket and being

chosen as the official entry for the ‘Best Hangout Place – NYC ‘ Awards

All doubts were put to rest when Dumbledore finally spoke of the short romantic

relationship that he and Ranjit shared in those days; their relationship was impossible to

maintain back then due to the existing State Law and Central Perk and McClaren’s were the

result of their break-up . Their bitterness was finally sweetened when they confronted each

other in the locked room, and also since the States were now pro-homosexuality, their

future was safe and secure.

On being asked about their legacy that one of them could have achieved on winning the

golden ticket, Voldermort replied that nothing was actually lost. He could now tell his

children and grandchildren of the legacy of, “How I Met Your Father”

 

3rd Prize – WARDROBE MALFUNCTION

By Foram Shah and Rudra Singh

It has been 15 years since the battle with the Wiche x Snow Queen

had come to an end. The countless losses faced by the kingdom

weren’t in vain as Narnia thrived under the rule of the most

proficient kings and queens; Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy

Fifteen years had been long enough for the kids to realise that it was

time to get back to the real world. It was a hard farewell but it was

imperative for them to lead normal lives.

Aslan, presumed to be dead, had been secretly keeping an eye on his

young protégés. With an unseen presence, he had been guiding and

supporting them all along to maintain peace and order in the

kingdom

After bidding farewell to their loyal and worthy subjects, the four of

them headed towards somewhere they hadn’t been to in a long

time, the wardrobe.

Stealthily walking behind them was Alan, with the intent of following

them back to where they came from

Like any rational mind, Aslan assumed that walking behind through

the wardrobe would lead him to the same place as the kids. What he

didn’t know was that the wardrobe was a portal to MULTIPLE

dimensions. Every DNA finger print had a designed dimension

Alan entered the wardrobe with an uncertain nervousness about it.

As he walked out of the other end, an unpleasant sight faced him.

Mutilated remains of what looked to be a former city, made him

want to walk back. He wondered what evil entity had the power to

unleash its wrath on a beautiful city

Suddenly, from nowhere, 7 black hooded figures came into his line of

vision. Their skin as pale as paper. As they walked onto a ray of

sunlight, their skin shone as bright as a diamond.

Before Aslan knew it, ice cold hands caught hold of his feet and he

felt overpowered and unable to fight back to this force and sleep

overcame him

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a chilly room, pitch

dark .His usually sharp animal instincts were clouded by this

darkness.

Post-apocalyptic Chicago had been divided into two major areas.

One where the humans lived, abiding by the everlasting faction

system , and the other where the most dangerous creed of vampires

had settled the voltuire , in complete invisibility in order to gain

control on the various dimensions by manipulating the portal (the

wardrobe)

The Volturie’s control over the portal was limited and restricted and

they couldn’t figure out the reason behind this. The Volturie had

sensed something about Aslan, some distinguished abilities and the

way he carried himself.

It was almost as if he wasn’t just an animal. They knew they had to

get it out of him.Tthey had to understand how the portal functioned

. But the problem was that Aslan had no idea himself.

Aslan overheard a conversation between two Voulture leaders as to

how he was suspected to hold the answers to the control of the

portal. He sensed that his only way out would be to manipulate the

voultre into thinking that he actually did possess the required

knowledge. He had also notices each vampire wearing a necklace. It

did not take him time to figure out that the necklace was a pass to

unrestricted inter-dimensional travel.

After a few day of detailed observation, Aslan was well versed with

the minor nuances of the guards and figured out which guards were

relatively careless. Following which he developed an intricate escape

plan.

On the seventh day of this capture, Aslan decided to execute his

plan. At precisely 3:00 pm, when the guard force was lesser, he

broke down the bas of the cage with his renewed strength and killed

the guards by the entrance and took their necklaces which would

allow him to continue his plan of inter-dimensional travel

Wearing the necklace, he pounded into the trunk of the tree keeping

in mind the dimension he wanted to travel to.

FIVE YEARS LATER

Aslan still keeps a watch on the kids the same way as he used to

before. Hiding in the shadows and staying out of sight

But then,

On an average looking day, Aslan wakes up to an unnatural air about

hi, he senses something missing. He approaches the vicinity where

the kids hued and saw Susan and Edmund looking for their siblings.

Something clicks and he runs back to the place where he hid the

necklaces he had stolen from the Voltre ,

A wave of terror dawned upon him …

The necklaces were missing.