Revenge of Brothers Grimm
This story/series is most definitely not original. The basic storyline is from Cinderella and as I proceed, the concept and storyline will be heavily influenced by other fairly tales. I find the whole concept of Disney-ed fairytale very fascinating because it's extremely biased (have you ever read about a heroine who is not drop dead gorgeous or not perfect?) and always have happy endings.
There is no philosophical aspect to this series and I promise that I won't be err' preachy. Not much, at least. This is my attempt at college drama and since this is my first time in writing drama with a tint of humor, I am a little nervous. Please, be patient with me.
Now, off to those things that matter...
I have made a list of songs (both English and Hindi. Hindi one is still WIP...so...) which is kind of companion to reading this series. Enjoy!
Music Companion to this series...
Characters:
Heroes and heroines (The Good People)
Riddhima:
She is an ordinary girl living with her widowed step-mother and two step sisters.
Her life's ambition: finish college, get a job, go to England, marry Robert Pattinson and die. (A year or so ago, she would have said Daniel Radcliffe, but then Twilight happened.) She didn't mind executing this plan in its reverse order sans dying that is. She also hoped she would add a few words to Oxford dictionary. When she is not brooding, her favorite pastimes would be reading, listening to music, annoying people with complex vocabulary and generally irritating her step sisters. She is sarcastic, cynic, unapproachable and number one misfit in her college. She is pretty decent as a person and thinks that deep down everyone is good. Of course, with few people one would need an electron microscope to find that goodness or just theorize with the probability that "goodness" might exist; if you ask her to name a few she would spat the names out in an instant. She likes old books, ink pens, overly large t-shirts, her birth mother's glass bangles collection and her father's comfy chair. She is best friends with Muskaan and Atul. She thinks Muskaan is a human anomaly; the quantity of peppiness that Muskaan carries if bottled, can be a major energy source for a small country. Though she gets annoyed when Muskaan tires to get her into normal social circle, she would do anything to keep that smile on Muskaan's face. Her obsession with Robert Pattinson annoys Atul immensely and she makes it a point to rub it in face everyday. Atul, her other best friend, is a kindred soul who was very sweet. She thought he was too nave for his age and he never really understood the meaning of "subtle". She always held back her verbal punches when she was with her best friends. But with him, she was downright acidic.
We will come to him, later.
Muskaan:
She has been an amazing friend to Riddhima. The bubbly wild haired girl is all about rainbows, fluffy bunnies, pink frilly stuff, cuddly toys, unicorns and everything romantic. Her dream was to fall in love in the most clichd way. She believed in the concept of true love (Riddhima rolls her eyes at this) and soul mates (more eye rolls). She comes from a good family with loving parents and adorable siblings which Riddhima is mildly jealous of.
Atul
He is the guy whom you can wrap in a gift box and take home to your mom. He is every mother's dream son-in-law material ' sweet, caring, kind and loveable. Riddhima loved him to pieces but at times she felt even her toned down retorts could hurt him irrevocably. The three of them were inseparable.
Another set of Heroes and heroines (The Bad People)
Armaan:
In his college, he is known to be God's gift to womankind. While most of the ladies agree, Riddhima is often heard muttering, "God sure does have a great sense of humor". He was livid when he heard it for the first time. After that the two had had a huge argument in the hallway which had ended in them getting punished. He is a very handsome guy and quite well off and it showed in his attitude. A few people called him "a sweet young man" and Riddhima called those people "delirious". He comes from a dysfunctional family and he has found that when he broods, women seem to like him more. His friends are Abhi and Nikki and find them good enough to hang out on a regular basis. Of course, his tasks for the day includes - annoy Riddhima, make fun of Riddhima and argue with Riddhima; if any time was left, he got some reading done. It was pathologically pathetic to see him ranting and raving with a smug looking Riddhima that Anti-Armaan brigade (AAB, for short, mostly consisting of disgruntled girls rejected by him and disgruntled guys whose girlfriends ditched them to be with Armaan.) cheered on. Their arguments were dutifully chronicled by Rahul as he found that their vocabulary was much better than what his text book offered and perhaps better entertainment too. Armaan had once told Riddhima that Rahul seemed to have a crush on her as he is seen whenever they were arguing. At that Riddhima had raised an eyebrow and retorted ' "Are you sure it's me he has crush on?" He had wisely shut up then. Riddhima left her tongue wander freely, her words acerbic, sarcastic and caught up with her natural wit. He thought that she secretly enjoyed their verbal spar and one day he had even mentioned it on her face. She had slammed the door so suddenly that he had spent two days nursing his bruised nose. He didn't know what he wanted from his life. He had no plans, no designs so technically, everything seemed perfect. In really, nothing really existed for him.
Nikki:
The girl who has everything. Except for a conscience. She is your regular bad girl in the college; the personification of meanness.
Abhi:
Male version of Nikki.
People needed to move the story or complete the pairings (The Buffers)
Rahul:
The nobody; at least that's how he starts off as.
Anjali:
Not so obnoxious step sister. Riddhima seems to have a soft spot for her. She helps Riddhima whenever her sister is not around. She is scared of sister (who isn't?). She has a huge crush on the college's sweetest kid, Atul.
Shashank:
The dead father who is very much missed by his family.
Padma:
The step mom. Loves her daughters unequally.
Vikram:
Random bad guy. Who cares about him anyway?
The series (The back story; one that goes - Once upon a time...)
Many believe that the animosity between Armaan and Riddhima is because of Riddhima herself. Or rather, it was her attitude that started of this great verbal battle. In the beginning days of college, Riddhima was said to be approached by Armaan. This is how the chronicler (doesn't this word sounds like the name of a villain from badly written comic books?) Rahul seem to remember.
Riddhima was walking along the hallway with her friends Muskaan and Atul. She lacked the nervousness that was generally seen in freshmen. It was a classic case of boy meeting the girl. They collided in the hallway and in a matter of moments, books and paper were all around them. He shot a charming dimpled smile at her and stuck his hand out.
"Hi, I am Armaan" She stared at him and his hand and slowly shook his hand with hers.
"Hi, I am not interested." She quipped.
The rest as they say is history.
~Sookie
(To Be Continued. Obviously)
INDEX LIST
Introduction: Characters and an anecdote - Page 1
Chapter I: Close encounters of the awkward kind - The Doosri Mulakaat - Page 4
Chapter II: Hitchhiking from one broken heart to next - Opening the third eye - Page 6
Chapter III: Jumbled signals from far and beyond - Riding on fourth gear - Page 8
Chapter IV: Tracing the tangent of Cupid's arrow - Confusion in five senses - Page 10
Chapter V: Conspiracy theories born from dangerous minds - In lookout for sixth sense - Page 14
Chapter VI: Planning for perfection - Seven reasons for a perfect future - Page 18
Chapter VII: Chapter without a fancy name - Riddhima's response - Page 22
Chapter VIII: Confusions of a corrupt mind - Encountering ennead emotions - Page 26
Chapter X: Page 33
Chapter XI: Page 37
Chapter XII: Page 42
Chapter XIII: Page 49
Info Update: Page 55
Info Update II: Page 58
Chapter XIV: Somethings are apparently worse than death; like equating "melancholy" to "sadness" -- Page 61