There is one particular line that has made a permanent impression in my mind. It goes this way, “Truth and Fact are always stranger than Fiction.” It’s true. Not only they are stranger but also they are bitter. There are some things that reborn, regenerate and rekindle the bitter experiences of past. Some may be able to hide it, some may be able to show it off but the fact remains that such things are virtually impossible to be ignored or forgotten forever. How often do you think does this happen that some incidents leave a bad taste in you and then you move on and then you realise that you never really moved on? How often do you suffer from the aftershocks of any life changing incident? How often do you feel stressed or traumatic about things that happened years back but returns only to haunt you in a much more bigger and a brutal way? How often do you set your pillow wet with tears while sleeping? How often while bathing do you fail to distinguish between the water running from the shower and the tears running off your eyes? How often do you sense the pain unleashing its fatal and (God forbid) final blow? How often do you feel that its time to get rid of all such bad experiences but alas its too late? Sadly, that’s one of the conspiracies of Universe or maybe one of the unchanged, read/write protected laws of nature. The fact is nobody has the answer to these questions and even if anybody had that fact remains that nobody cares a damn to explain this phenomenon.
Life is one particular teacher that first takes tests and then teaches lessons. Some pass out with flying colours and some fail worse than anybody getting F grade. So where exactly do we stand in life? And what sounds better, failing in life’s exam or failing in an ordinary exam? There are too many questions in life that sound a taboo if asked. There are too many steps in life that are prohibited if taken. There are too many rules in life that are banned if broken. Such are the laws of nature. Such are the conspiracies of the universe. But who made such rules? Is it the nature itself or is it the community with views of anarchy who make such rules? The laws of nature confuse the hell out of me. How does it happen that when we bump into people who hurt us, we actually hurt ourselves more than them as a revenge? How is it that we abuse our bodies more to get rid of the invisible wounds unleashed by the source of the pain? Probably it is because physical wounds heal faster than the psychological ones. There are scenarios where such cases remain unsolved for one simple reason, they don’t have any solutions. They remain unsolved right from the mortal world to the graveyard. Luckily, I had all my answers ready when I had completed Complications Simplified.
I can still recollect how Complications Simplified happened. It all started with a short story submitted to the authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul. That story was known as Simply Complicated. The story started with Roy telling his story about his complicated relationship with Melissa, the best friend of his ex-girlfriend Simone. The story ended with Mel getting married and Roy still under the wrong impression. I don’t know the feedback of Simply Complicated but my support system in the form of friends urged me to write further in the form of Simply Complicated part two. And that’s how Complications Do occur came into life. It started where Simply Complicated ended. Roy introduced another facet of his life in the form of his other friends Rohan and Jenny. He talked about his flashbacks, misunderstandings, separation with his friend and gathering blood and sweat to save his friend’s life. The story ended by Roy leaving Ron without meeting him again. I thought that the story was finally complete but there were a few unanswered questions left in the second part. So that’s how the grand finale Complications Simplified was born. It didnt amuse me to present this story as a trilogy so the basic idea was to merge all the stories and characters in the trilogy with new subplots and a few unknown mysteries. Lucky for me that the subplots got interconnected like magic. And so here I am, the writer of the unpublished novel Complications Simplified which remains dearer to me than life itself. The story had to end somewhere. How could such a story have such an ending? So it was deliberate on my part to bump off one of the main characters. Many of my support system are still against the climax of the story.
Stories are said or written but not to be heard or read. They are written or said to teach out the smaller things that can be useful in different facets of life. These smaller things, if not taken care of, can create a big hurdle in living life at the fullest. I don’t know what did it teach the readers but I know about the things that it taught me. It taught me the value of friendship, the value of love and the value of relationships. It taught me how a spec of dust on any relationships can never be taken for granted. It taught me the value of sacrifices offered by different characters at different stages of life. It taught me how things work out in life. And it taught me how life can turn and declare you a winner even after being defeated.
If the readers feel that I am being biased about this book since it is my book then I disagree. Or maybe I agree. I am biased because this book made me what I am at present. So here it is.. My blessing and my curse.. The Journey towards Complications Simplified.