Romance Some short stories

[Bella]

Res

 

[Bella]

Res

 

[Bella]

Somewhere Beyond The Horizon

He stands there at the edge of the cliff. Reminiscing the moments he had with his wife. Going through all the memories that still seem so vivid to him as if it all happened yesterday. It’s been four years since he married Yashika. The love of his life. And this is where he proposed to her on Valentine’s Day. In front of the summer hill. There is this place in Shimla at the Kufri-Chail road from where one can see the exquisite view of summer hill. It’s a popular tourist spot where people on their way to Kufri, often stop by to take photographs.

February 14, 2011

It was a beautiful day and after spending the night in Shimla, the two were leaving for Kufri, hoping to see some snowfall there. It was Valentine’s Day and Ritwik had planned a candle light dinner at their hotel in Shimla. So, they were going to return before it gets dark. After passing a few kilometers, Ritwik brought the car to a halt. (It was the same place where he is standing right now.) Yashika looked surprised. She had no idea what’s going on. The two stood there face to face. She didn’t say anything but there were questions on her face. And then all of a sudden, he was on his knees with a diamond ring in his hands, asking her to marry him in front of everyone. Yashika was completely shaken. This was the most wonderful thing anyone had ever done for her. She couldn’t figure out what to do or say. Tears rolled out of her eyes. “Say yes. Say yes,” came the voices from behind. And wiping off the tears, she finally said, “Yes, I will.” And the two kissed in front of everyone almost like we see in the movies.

Present day

That’s why this place has been so special to him. But this time he’s alone. It’s a full moon night in the month of August. 11:35 pm and it’s all desolate. But wait, there’s something wrong. He doesn’t seem okay. He looks thin as a sheet, probably lost at least 10 pounds. His eyes are bloodshot red like he hadn’t slept for several nights. He’s holding a half filled bottle of scotch in his left hand and his iPhone in the right one. Scrolling down the pictures of him and Yashika, his eyes get stuck on a picture of them together which was from his cousin’s wedding. It was where they first met. And all of a sudden, he goes back to the time reliving all those moments again.

November 9, 2010

Ritwik was a chief software architect in a leading IT firm and Yashika was a successful fashion designer. As a matter of fact, Yashika used to be his cousin, Tanisha’s friend and the two met at Tanisha’s wedding eve.

Tanisha’s father and Ritwik’s uncle was a wealthy business man. He owned two 6 bhk apartments in Saket, a 15 acres farm house in Jaipur and a huge mansion in Greater Kailash where the family lived. For him, money was never important when it was about his children’s happiness. Tanisha was his only daughter and she was marrying a middle class guy who earned about 1/4th of her father’s weekly income. Yet he was happy that his daughter is marrying a man of her choice. The wedding arrangements were lavish. Tanisha’s father had paid all the expenses which were around 25 crores. The Umrao in South Delhi was booked. And it was one hell of a wedding. There were about 10,000 stalls of food alone, desserts and beverages excluded. South Indian, North Indian, Continental, Chinese, Thai, Italian, Mexican. Literally everything. And if that’s not what you’re looking for, there were Russian dancers and American violinists to refresh your mood. The whole banquet was decorated like the sets of a big-budget movie. The Baraat had already arrived and everyone was waiting for the bride to come.

“There’s still time Tani,” Ritwik says.

“What did you see in this punk anyways, I mean really?” He smirks.

(Ritwik was sitting at the backseat with Tanisha in Audi Q7 which was taking them to the banquet)

“Shut the f*ck up Ritwik,” Tanisha says. “One more word against him and I’ll break your nose.”

“Really, then who would escort you to the stage where your prince charming is waiting?”

“Don’t worry about that boy. My friends are on their way and I’ve other cousins too,” she says. “And who the hell are you anyway? I don’t need your favor,” she smirks.

“Oh come on, don’t be so furious with me. Can’t I even play with my sister one last time?” he says.

“What do you mean, one last time?”

“Yeah, you’re getting married today. And who knows when we’ll be seeing each other now. Plus, your prince charming won’t let me make fun of you right?”

“Are you insane? It’s not like I’m making him my bodyguard. I’m making him my husband and believe me it ain’t gonna change anything.”

“Hmmm. That’s what you think but let’s see behna. Let’s see.”

“Alright, now will you please shut up? You’re making me spoil my make-up stupid. It’s my wedding,” she says.

“OMG! Your make up,” he laughs. “You must have spent a fortune on this thing to cover your pimples. Didn’t you?”

“I don’t have pimples you moron,” she blows an elbow in his belly.

They reach the banquet where they are accompanied by other cousins, friends and family members. Being a Punjabi household, the family members greeted each other as if they are seeing each other in decades.

They were almost ready to head to the stage when a beautiful girl in her twenties suddenly appears. And before anyone else could even notice her coming, Ritwik’s eyes caught her sight and there comes a prompt change in his face expressions. And all of a sudden everything else looks blurred.

The girl looked stunning in a black chifon saree that she wore and a beautiful pearl necklace completed the look.

As the girl approached, Tanisha breaks the spell and Ritwik recovers from that moment of shock.

“OMG! Yashika, is that you?” she exclaims.” I can’t believe you’re here.”

“Come on, Tanisha. My best friend’s getting married and I won’t come? How can you even think about that silly,” she says.

“Awww. You know how much I love you right,” Tanisha says. “And it’s so good to see you.”

“Yeah, same here Tani,” she says. God, you look amazing.

“Thank you,” Tanisha says. “Anyways, I’d like you to meet everyone. Masi, mausa ji, bua, mom, my sister Kiran and my techie brother Ritwik.”

And the moment she introduced her to Ritwik, the two had a small eye contact of sorts.

Ritwik couldn’t figure out what to say or do for a while. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Straight silky hair toying little down to her shoulders, bewitching dark brown eyes, abundantly fair complexion, a little mole on the left side of the chin, the one that made her look like Rachel McAdams. Although, it won’t be fair to compare her with anyone else. She was beautiful just the way she was.

“Hello everyone!” says the girl.

Tanisha surges toward the stage along with all the brothers, sisters, cousins and friends in full traditions. The boys on all four corners holding twines jutting out from a small sheet of flowers and petals that went atop Tanisha and everyone else escorting her to the stage where the groom was already waiting for her. The romantic instrumental music playing in background made it even more surreal. Two drone cameras were hovering right in front of her. The ones we usually see in music concerts and cricket matches. The light arrangements were even more astounding. All the lights were dimmed except for the ones that lightened up the path followed by Tanisha. The whole path was smothered with rose petals. The fragrance of those roses scented up the entire banquet. It was marvelous. You don’t even see this kind of weddings in Bollywood movies.

But the past few minutes were uncanny for Ritwik. There was a sudden change in his dynamics. His gaze unconditionally followed the sight of that girl. He kept looking at her over and over again, trying his best not to do that. But it seemed inevitable. He also tried his best not to get noticed while staring at her. But just when Tanisha was about to step on to the stage, Yashika turned around a bit and bam! She found out. She caught him staring at her but she just ignored. But it happened again. And again. And all of a sudden, Ritwik felt so embarrassed. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this. But she seemed so harder to ignore. He couldn’t figure out why all this was happening. It wasn’t like he hadn’t dated any beautiful girl before. He had. But this girl, there was something in this girl.

Something that was driving him crazy. Maybe it was love. Maybe it was just the infatuation. But whatever it was, he knew one thing for sure that he’s never gonna get her face off his head.

But abashed by his own actions, he decides not to see her again. He decides not even to go near her and ignore her in the best way possible.

But for all one knows, some things are meant to happen and there’s nothing you can do to avert them.

Phere were about to begin and the gaze of everyone on girl’s side was stuck at the shoes of the groom. No, they weren’t dirty. Actually, as per the traditions, younger relatives of the bride try to steal the groom’s shoes and they ask for a desired amount of money or gifts in return. Only then the shoes are given back. But the boy’s side have to prevent that from happening at any costs. It’s sort of a very interesting game and most of the times, the girl’s side wins. Phere is probably the best time to steal the shoes as this is the only occasion throughout the ceremony where both the groom and the bride have to go barefoot. Just as the Phere began and the groom went barefoot, Tanisha’s sisters and friends gathered around the groom’s realm with their eyes fixed on the shoes that were under strict surveillance of groom’s friends and relatives.

Oblivious of such happenings, Ritwik was having a drink with some distant cousin. After a minute or two, the cousin leaves and he stands there alone for a while. And all of a sudden, a voice comes from behind.

“I’ve got the shoes,” someone exclaims.

It was some girl. The voice was soft but it didn’t sound familiar to him. He turns around and notices a girl running toward him. Some guys were chasing her. It took him some seconds to figure out that some girl from the bride’s side has got the shoes and she’s getting away with them. But it’s clear that the groom’s friends found out about this and that’s why they’re trying to get the shoes back before it’s too late. But he was a little too late when he realized that he’s standing in the way. And constantly looking behind, the girl doesn’t see him standing there either. And what seemed obvious, she bumps into him.

It is then that he finds out it was her. Yashika, Tanisha’s friend. The girl he’s been looking at all the time since he first saw her. The two looked into each other’s eyes for a little too long. This was the time when Yashika too, felt something. Something strange, something unusual. As if it was a dream or something. Who is this guy? Why he keeps looking at me this way? Why am I thinking about this guy ever since I saw him just 3 hours ago? And now this? What’s happening around? All these questions were spinning inside her head.

On the spur of the moment, there were voices from behind supposedly of the ones from the groom’s side who were chasing the girl running away with the shoes.

“Forget it babes,” some girl said. They’re gone. You should’ve been more alert, I told ya.

“Ahh, just take a hike!” the other one replied. Come on let’s get back there anyways.

The voices receded and vanished eventually leaving the two with ephemeral silence.

Ritwik and Yashika couldn’t take their eyes off each other until some girl appears out of the blues and breaks the spell.

“There you are,” she says, pointing toward Yashika. “Uh-Oh,” she says to them both. I’m afraid you two really need to get dried up, unless you’ve got some other dress to wear.

It is then that they realize, they’re both wet, for the drink that Ritwik was holding got spilled over their attires.

“Holy S##t,” Yashika exclaims. What am I gonna do now?

“Ah, don’t worry,” the other girl says. It’s gonna be fine. Just head to the washroom over there, wash it out a bit and it’ll dry out in no time.

“Thank God it was just the champagne,” she smiles, looking at them both. “I’m Swati by the way,” extending her hand toward Ritwik. Tanisha’s college friend.

“Pleased to meet you,” Ritwik says, shaking hands with the girl. “And I’m really sorry for this,” he says to Yashika. I didn’t saw you coming this way.

“No No, it was all my fault actually,” she says almost instantly, sounding lenient. I should’ve been more careful.

“Wow, I see you already met my friend Yashika eh,” she smirks. You two get along pretty well I see, she laughs.

“Buzz off Swati,” says Yashika. I can take care of myself.

“Alright. Alright,” she says while leaving. I’ll leave you two love birds alone.

“Shut the hell up!” Yashika screams. Imma get you later.

“I’m sorry about her,” she says to Ritwik. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.

“Hmmm…that figures,” he laughs.

After cleaning out the stains caused by the spilled champagne, Ritwik and Yashika meet again at the gigantic dinner table that served 40 people at a time. It was just after Phere when a huge dinner table was set in a colossal pavilion for all the close relatives including the bride and the groom. It was astounding! It looked like a royal dinner that was being served in a palace. It all looked fairly traditional. The dishes were served by over a dozen Butlers who wore a golden colored turban and a Royal attire. The dishes were served in gold plated thalis. There were more than 10,000 different dishes from different countries.

But the Royal dinner for special guests was exclusively sponsored by

Pind Balluchi and it was in typical Punjabi style except for one thing that somehow seemed odd but still pretty. Some Foreign musicians were playing soothing romantic songs. There were three female violinists, a bald and bearded keyboard player, a long haired hippie bassist, two more guitarists and a man and a woman on lead vocals. But all this hardly aroused Yashika and Ritwik who finally sat together at the dinner table. Who finally get to talking and talked endlessly for all the time they spent together. Ritwik told her about his job and how he ended up being an engineer when he actually wanted to be a writer. He told her that he wants to take a long break from work and travel around the world someday.

Yashika told him about the college days. She told him how Tanisha and Ashish (The groom) were met. She told him how Tanisha humiliated him in front of everyone when she first met him, only to fall in love with him later. She told him about a psychotic lover of hers who had proposed to her at least a dozen times until she finally sat with him one fine morning and made him realized that they weren’t meant for each other, after which he never bothered her again.

The musicians played numerous classic western hit numbers like Every Breath You Take, My Heart Will Go On, Don’t Let You Go, I’m Alive, We Found Love, Crazy In Love, Hero and Endless Love. But then all of a sudden, the man on the vocals started singing a hit Bollywood number in a weird accent. It was Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai from a 2001 super hit movie of the same name. It spouted a jovial tide among everyone and transformed many serious faces into elated ones. Some smiled with joy while some laughed at the weird accent of the singer. This is when Ritwik’s real sister Bhoomi who sat just across from them took their photograph. Their first photograph together. It was this photograph that he treasured for the rest of his life. He remembered how he brawled up with Bhoomi to get that photograph after coming back from the wedding who teased him saying how smitten he was.

Present Day

It is the same photograph that he is looking at with those bloodshot eyes. His face is wet with the tears and sweat. He places the empty bottle aside and takes a step further and looks down the moat for a while.

He was about to take a plunge. The holocaust was about to take place but a firm masculine voice interrupts him which drives his attention.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing man,” says the man.

A man apparently in his thirties appears out of the blues.

“Have you gone mad?” He says. God knows what would’ve happened if I hadn’t arrived.

The man continues to blare at him for some time while Ritwik doesn’t say a word. The man notices how drunk he is to speak, so he pulls him back and helps him sit at the gravel area.

“It’s alright man!” he says. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m a friend. You can trust me.

“The name is Viraj by the way,” he extends his hand toward Ritwik which he doesn’t even see.

“What’s wrong man?” he asks again.” What you were doing was wrong mate. We all have problems but this is not the solution. Did you even think about your family? Your Mother, your father? Did you even think about your kids? Your wife? Your wife. Just think about her for a while. How would she be able to live without you? Did you even think about that?”

“My wife….,” Ritwik exhales. My wife….

“Yes, your wife what?” the man asks. Is she alright mate?

“My wife…,” Ritwik gasps again. My wife’s dead!

###

To be continued….

 

[Bella]

(Part 2)


There is a complete silence for a little too long. Neither of them speaks until Viraj finally breaks the silence.

“I’m really sorry mate,” he says.” I shouldn’t have brought this up.”

Ritwik says nothing. Viraj heads to Ritwik’s car and returns with a bottle of mineral water.

“Here, have some water pal,” Viraj offers the water bottle.

“What do you want from me man,” Ritwik says. I ain’t got no money. You can take the car if you want, that’s all I have to give you.

Viraj looks at the empty bottles of scotch and whisky lying on the gravel footpath. And the stench of booze was enough to know that Ritwik was dead drunk.

“You know mate what you’re problem is,” he says. You’re a coward. That’s what you are man. You don’t have courage to face to odds, courage to stand strong, courage to fight. And you’re giving up at a time when your family needs you the most.

“I don’t have a fuckin’ FAMILY,” Ritwik shouts. And who the hell you think you are, telling me all this shit.

“Whatever you say buddy, but I ain’t gonna let you do what you were trying to do here,” says Viraj.

Ritwik didn’t say anything. Instead, he faced toward his right.

“This…this is where I proposed to her four years ago,” Ritwik laughs in pain. “She was standing right there and I bent down on my knees. How happy we were back then and now, now, nothing is left for me to stay here.”

Ritwik broke down again. Tears emerged from his eyes and smothered his face. Once again, there was a complete silence and once again, Viraj broke the ice.

“Listen Bro, I know it must have been very hard for you,” Viraj says. “But this is not the way. You must keep fighting. You have your whole life ahead of you. This certainly isn’t the end.”

“To hell with your sermons and leave me alone,” Ritwik warns in a gentle voice.” What do you know about love anyway? Do you even know how it feels when you lose someone you love? Forget it. You’ll never understand.”

“You’re right,” says Viraj, being more lenient. I’ll never understand. How could I? I’ve never lost someone I love after all. Or wait, there was someone. You wanna know who that was?

Viraj pulled out his wallet, opened the flap and showed it to him.

“Look at this photograph,” he says. Look at him. He is my son. And I loved him more than life. I still love him and I always will. Radhika and I,…we lost him five years ago. But call us mean, selfish or whatever, but we can’t stop living. Because if we do, then two families will fall apart.

The words fell heavy on Ritwik and sedated him for a while. He didn’t say a word and listened to him patiently while Viraj narrated his story.

I never really got a chance to find love on my own. It isn’t like I never tried. I went out with some girls a long time ago. But none of them found me interesting and it didn’t work out with any of ‘em. For I couldn’t be the kind of guy that girls like to date. I didn’t know how to keep a girl happy, I didn’t know how to be romantic, how to make her feel special. And in the end, I admitted the fact that I can’t be loved. And then I met Radhika and things began to change. Unlike the others, ours was an arranged marriage and I don’t say it wasn’t difficult. Of course it was. And for the first few weeks, we barely talked to each other. But love requires patience. For it takes time for the two souls to unite in way that the bond lasts forever.

And though the things weren’t supposed to happen this way, it was our son who knitted us together in the tough times and gave us strength to fight the odds.

April 9, 2008 (7 Years Back)

We used to live in Mohali with my parents but then Radhika got a job in Chandigarh and mine was there too. So we decided to move in to Chandigarh. Prithvi was 3 years old at that time. We hired a small apartment in sector 4 and lived there happily for the next five years. By then Prithvi was getting young and we admitted him to a big school. But from the first day itself, I noticed he wasn’t happy. However, Radhika assured me that he’s fine. “ It takes time for a boy like him to adjust in a new place ,” she would say. There’s nothing to worry about. He’s going to be okay.

But as the time passed, things only got worse. His performance fell, he started eating very less and sometimes at night he would scream so loud that the voices were hard to ignore. We assumed he was having nightmares but he never told us anything. Seeing this happening again and again, Radhika and I decided to sleep in his room with him for some days. The first night itself, we heard him mumbling weird things in his sleep.

“This is my seat. I don’t want to go there. Please let me sit here. I just wanna be alone. Please,” this was all he kept saying in his sleep. But now it made sense. Maybe it was some class teacher who wasn’t treating him right and we knew it was time for us to pay a visit to his school, for it was the only place where we could get the answers.

We took a day off from work and we visited his school the following morning. The school Principal treated us well and promised to take a strict action against the teacher if what they were telling is true. Prithvi’s class teacher was called to the Principal office. Miss Kavita Sharma was young, fair and taller than most of the female teachers you’d find in the school. She seemed to be in her twenties, must have graduated quite recently. But there was something about her that instinctively told me she couldn’t torture or even tease a kid. When we further questioned her about Prithvi, we got answers that we hadn’t really expected. First off, Miss Sharma swore to God and assured us that she’d never even touched him or chided him for all that matter. She told us that the boy barely ever spoke up in the class. He would just stash himself up in a distant corner and sat there quietly all alone. She also told us that she hadn’t seen him in the class for about a week or so. This revelation was perhaps the most shocking one for both of us. Prithvi had gone to school all this time and if he hadn’t attended the classes, then where the hell did he go. Not only that, we found out that he still wasn’t in the class while I’d have him hopped on to the school bus just hours ago? What on earth was he up to and where is he right now?

The thoughts were driving me insane. On further investigation, we found out that Prithvi didn’t have much friends in the class. But there was one, Ravi his name was. He was the one who sat with Prithvi sometimes, had lunch with him on several occasions and accompanied him to the bus. When we talked to Ravi, everything seemed to fall back into pieces. He told us that Prithvi was being bullied by a bunch of notorious goons in the class. They didn’t let him sit with anyone in the class and that’s why he always had to sit alone in a corner. They ate his lunch and gave him the leftovers to eat which he would usually through away instead of eating. Anyone who ever talked to him would become their next target. So everyone in the class preferred to keep a distance from the boy. As he broke into tears, he told us that they compelled him to stay away from him and tease him just like they did. He told us that they threatened to beat him if he didn’t do so. And so he had to insult him in front of the whole class and he hadn’t talked to Prithvi since.

With every word that he spoke, the rage inside me was shooting up. I was losing my temper surely enough. I knew it won’t be fair to do so, but for one moment, I wanted to slap those boys on the face. No, even worse, I wanted to break their nose and cripple them up. Imagine a boy who had no friends, who had no one to talk to or even share his feelings. Imagine a boy who was being bullied every single day for the last three years. It was then that I realized he wasn’t always like this. I remembered those jovial moments when we lived in Mohali. He used to be larger than life. Prithvi loved to hear stories when I was home. He liked Peter Pan and Vikram-Vetal stories the most. On Sunday’s we used to play cricket and it was something they he could do all day long. He loved cricket, told us that he wanted to be a top batsman like Sehwag. I remembered how he looked at that time and then I remembered how he looked now. That bright smile was gone, it was nowhere to be seen. I realized that my true son was lost somewhere in time. And within minutes, all the rage turned into dejection, heartache and remorse for not being a father that I should have been. I wasn’t there when my son needed me the most and for that, I couldn’t forgive myself.

When we asked how and when he disappeared, Ravi told us that the boys who bullied him once threw a paper plane at their new Maths teacher when he was solving an equation on the board. When the teacher turned around and caught the plane, he found a funny sketch of him drawn on that paper with a pencil. When the teacher asked who did this, they blamed it on Prithvi. When the teacher questioned, Prithvi didn’t say anything. He knew that if he said something, they would hurt him later. So he kept quiet and the teacher assumed that it was him who did that. The teacher beat him with a ruler and punished him to stay out of his class for one week. Ravi told us that no one had seen Prithvi in the class since then.

We didn’t know what to say or do. Radhika was already in tears. I was just about to say something to the Principal when a boy came running and said, “He’s back. Prithvi has come. He’s in the class.” The ground seemed to be shifting right beneath our feet. All these things were happening so quickly, we didn’t even get time to reckon what to do. Hearing that, we ran to his classroom without wasting a moment.

As we were approaching, he spotted us from afar. I don’t know what happened but he must have panicked seeing us all running toward him and he just ran away from us like….like he had seen a ghost or something. He was running tirelessly and he kept looking at us over and over again. We were on the second floor and there was a tiny grill right ahead of him. I tried to stop him but before I could do anything, he accidentally ran into that grill and the holocaust took place. On the spur of a moment, everything went dark. Radhika fell down on the floor, finding it hard to accept what she just saw. I ran down the stairs and was accompanied by the staff members. My heart was pounding with every step that I took. Prithvi was badly injured by the time we reached but he was still breathing. In a matter of seconds we carried him to the school van and left for the hospital. The hospital was not that far away and it took us about 15 minutes to get there, another 5-10 minutes gone in taking him to the ICU.

The situation was critical but the doctor had assured that they’ll try their best and the rest is in the hands of God. For the first time, I saw myself so vulnerable before the God. I prayed, I literally begged for the life of my kid. I tried to be as strong as I could, but still couldn’t hide the tears forming beneath my eyes. 5 minutes gone. 10 minutes gone. 20 minutes gone. Every second was worth a life time for me. Finally, the door creaked opened and the doctor emerged from inside, removing his face mask. My hands were trembling, my legs were shaking, for this was the moment that would decide our son’s fate.

The doctor didn’t look me in the eyes. He was silent and he didn’t even look up.

“I’m really sorry Mr. Gupta,” he said. “We tried everything we could.”

The ground shifted beneath my feet. This was the end of it. My kid was gone. I would never see him back again. Minutes passed. The staff members were comforting me. Radhika wasn’t even informed yet. After a while, I sat down on a bench and I realized it wasn’t my son. It wasn’t my son who just died. My son was already dead. He died years ago, he died bit by bit every passing day and I couldn’t do anything. Those boys killed my son and I considered myself equally responsible for that, I still do.

Yes, my son was an introvert. And this was his only crime. A crime for which he paid the price….with his life. You know what the thing is, “after all this time, there’s still no place in this world for an introvert.” No matter how rational we become, how perceptive our thinking is, we just can’t comprehend the one simple fact that some people are different. Some people are hard to understand. But that doesn’t mean you can make them your play things, treat them like a toy. My son was just 9 years old. Yes, he was different. But he was a boy too, he had his dreams too. Like every other boy, he also wanted to be something. But he just ended up being an introvert. But who made him that? Us. The society.

Ritwik was dumbstruck. The words echoed in his ears over and over again. All his bewilderment was gone in a flash. Even after hours of getting drunk, he came back to his senses and the self-detestation was no longer there. In fact, it was now replaced by the sense of solace. He felt terrible for what happened to the boy. And then he realized that he’s not the only one in the world who’s going through this sort of pain. Viraj was right. Despite of all that happens in life, we can’t stop living. Yes, life can be brutal at times, it can crush you with the heaviest force there in this nature, it can break you to your bones but it can’t take the spirit out of you. The spirit to endure, the spirit to fight and survive.

He had to live. If only for the ones who loved him. He had to live for his parents, his sister and his love for Yashika. He remembered what Yashika had told him once when he took her to Goa for a long weekend. With their arms intertwined and their wrists holding tight, they were sitting by the end of the shore at Baga Beach. It was 5:40 in the morning and the sun was about to come up. They had spent the whole night partying at the beach and they were in no mood of going back to their hotel room which was just minutes away from the beach. It was all dark by the time but as the minutes passed, the sun began to show its magical gleam. Soon enough, the bright and vibrant rays of sun splintered through the darkness and just as they witnessed the most beautiful sunrise of their lives, Yashika made him promise her something.

“I’ve had the most beautiful time of my life with you Ritwik,” she said.” I will always love you to the moon no matter what. But you know what?”

“What?” said Ritwik.

“No matter how perfect it may seem as of now but I know there will be a lot of dark days ahead. And I just want you to promise me one thing that despite of whatever trouble this life may cause, we will always find our way back to each other. Promise me that you won’t break down when darkness takes over. No matter where you go, no matter what you do and how you do, I want you to know that you’ll always find me there, right by your side. Promise me that just like this sun, you will never let the darkness tyrannize you and that you will never forget this beautiful dawn and how it changed our lives.”

“I promise you my love,” he said. “You have my word.”

 

[Bella]

SHADOW
“Switch off the lights” voices from a dark passage break the uncomfortable silence around the area. It is almost two hours now since the roads were barren of any living presence for the whole time. Even the howling of street dogs cannot be heard anymore after the sound of gunshots a few hours ago. The moonless sky is red from the reflection of fire, probably from next locality. The air was heavy by the smells of burned rubber and may be of human flesh.

“Eye for an eye, life for a life” that was the note since the morning after the news of assassination of their beloved leader spreads across the city. People who were outside already rushed back to the cosy security of their residence. A curfew imposed on the entire city to prevent probable riot. The sun goes down along with the humanity. Concept of revenge spreads like a wildfire to engulf the leftover morality and any goodness that men still poses.

The outnumbered police force evaporated within first hour of the encounter and soon the streets were dark with terror. Only shadows in group roamed across the narrow roads and they took over the night.

“No, it is not the time, it cannot be. It must be something else. Should I give you a tablet for flatulence?” worried Deepak told his wife Sikha who turned pale by the intensity of pain. She gripped her full belly tightly and told “No, it is that pain, I am sure. Please do something; I cannot bear it any more. My baby is coming.”

Deepak pulled his hair with frustration. “How can she be such irresponsible? This is absolutely not the right time to give birth! It is at least two weeks early! What should I do?”

Terrified Deepak quickly ranged his doctor. The phone kept on ringing, but nobody answered from the other side. He called again and again, but with no response.

Deepak is very new to this neighbourhood and he is yet to be familiarized with his neighbours. He quickly ran to his next building and knocked the door.

“Please sir, my wife is in labour pain, and I require your help. She is about to give birth. Please help me sir.” The voice of Deepak was worried enough to melt the hardest of solid rock, but terrified human minds are much harder than that.

“What you are doing? Do not open the door, it is a trick. They will kill you as soon as you stepped outside”. Hushed female voice could be heard from inside.

“No sir, I am no killer. I am your new neighbour Deepak Khanna. Please sir, please help me. My wife is about to give birth.”

“What can we do? We are not doctors. Take her to a hospital” The female voice heard earlier advised Deepak.

“Yeah, you are right. Take her to a hospital. What can we do? Please go away, do not attract attention. We do not want any trouble.” A male voice from the closed door firmly established the logic.

Deepak tried few more doors, but none of them answered. Suddenly, every men and women in the whole city died in terror behind their closed door.

Deepak turned back to his house. Sikha is lying on the bed like a dead fish. She is not even having any power left in her body to cry out louder. She was gasping for air. Deepak quickly turned newspaper pages to look for any telephone number.

“Look sir, I understand your problem, but we have no ambulance driver available right now. If you can bring your wife here, we might do something.”

Deepak tried number after number, only to get the same reply from every hospital, from every ambulance agency. Nobody in this earth is fool enough to sacrifice his life by driving an ambulance in a night like this.

“My water is breaking, it is coming.” Sikha cried out with all her energy left. Dipak felt like he is going to die by tension. He came closer to his wife and holds her hand.

Few footsteps came closer outside. “Switch off the lights” an order was uttered from five lurking shadows that stopped in front of Deepak’s house.

The door opened suddenly, Deepak rushed from inside to get hold of a hand of a shadow among them.

“Please help me.” Deepak could utter only these words before his voice choked in excitement.

The five figures startled in this unprecedented turn of events. One of them calmly said,

“We are not going to kill you. We are not here for you. Please go inside, and switch off the lights. You are creating disturbance in our operation.”

“No Brothers, you don’t understand. My wife is in labour pain and she is about to give birth. No ambulance is coming this way tonight and no car is available either. I need to take her to a hospital right now. Please help me brother, she will die if you do not help her.”

Five of them looked each another. One of them glanced quickly through the open door.

“Viru, what is that sound? It sounds exactly like the sound when we ripped open the wind pipe of that boy, doesn’t it?” One of them whispered to another’s ear.

“Shut up you fool; it is a cry of pain from the labouring mother. She is about to give birth of a baby.”

“Damn…my mother must have also cried like that when I was born!!!!What a shit man!!”

“Quickly Bishu, no time to loose. See if the key is still on its place in that Auto” Viru issued an order to Bishu and turned towards Deepak;

“You please bring Bhavi outside. These two will help you” Viru pointed towards two of them who were just watching the whole event without making any gesture or sound.

“Not you Shyam,” Viru raised his hand towards a thin boy within them and told;

“You are all soaked in blood, you might scare her. Keep yourself out of her sight”

Bishu returned with the auto, he was not driving it; instead he was pushing it from behind. He was having trouble to steer and push at the same time.

“That son of a bitch auto driver must have run away with the keys” Bishu was heavily panting. “We have to push it to the hospital.”

“Bhaisahab, please put Bhavi inside and hold her head. She seems unconscious. We have to push the auto all the way to the hospital at least three kilometres away.”

Viru placed himself in the driver’s seat as he was instructing Deepak.

The city was burning. It looked like a warzone. Pitch dark engulfed the whole city. The auto was running bypassing the burnt skeleton of cars and shops behind it. The only sounds that breaks the silence was the footsteps of four shadows pushing a dead auto towards a hospital to make way for a new life to be born inside the womb of this heartless city.

Time seems to be stopped around Deepak. Suddenly he came out of his trance with a blinding light and sound. Viru stopped the auto and ran towards darkness closely followed by other four shadows behind him. Sikha was awake by the sound of it. She tightly pulled Deepak’s shirt and looked at him.

After few minutes the shadows returns from the same darkness where they vanished. Viru came back at his place and looked towards Deepak;

“It was a mighty powerful bomb. I don’t think Bishu will make it. His guts are all outside.”

“Quickly, put him inside the auto. We must get him to the hospital as soon as possible”. Deepak was restless.

“Don’t you worry Bhaiya, we are born to die like this. We will carry Bishu to the hospital. Besides, it is not far”

The dawn was filling the eastern sky with lights. Deepak stepped outside of the hospital and filled his lungs with the cold fresh air of the new morning.

“Do you have a smoke? How is Bhavi now” Viru came closer to Deepak.

“Oh, she is fine, thanks to you. She gave birth to a healthy son” Deepak seemed very happy and exhausted at the same time. “What happened to Bishu? How is he?”

“As I told you last night, we are born to die like this. He could not make it through. He died as soon as they got him to the operating table.” Viru sounded like a philosopher who is describing life and death in a seminar.

“Oh, I am terribly sorry” Deepak said.

Viru told nothing and kept on smoking.

“We have not even introduced properly, and you have done so much for us. I have no wards to say thank you for the act you did last night for us. Please, if you all could come to our place next week….I am sure Sikha will be very pleased to meet her and her child’s saviours in person”

“Are you out of your mind Bhaiya? You should not acquaint with hooligans like us ever. It is very dangerous to know people like us. We are just shadows in the dark and we vanish along with the morning sun. Remember, we are just shadows, and we do not even exist in a morning like this.”

Slowly Viru walked towards the hospital gate. Before he dissolves in the darkness from where he emerged in the first place, he turned towards Deepak. Viru tried to say something, but he shook his head and walked away.

……………………………………………The End…………………………………….