Friday 5 August 2016

A New Ray Of Hope

"Anisha.. Anisha.. Wake up doll. C'mon, wake up Anisha, you have to leave for the school " he mumbled while patting the pillow on the other side of the bed, with his eyes closed, "Anisha, you're getting late. Wake up now!", he repeated, still without opening the eyes.
Anisha, on the other hand, was smiling while brushing her hair, standing in front of the mirror and watching her sleepy father's innocent act. She was habitual to this. Her father, Abhishek, who worked as a Radio jockey, used to come late at night and it was difficult for him to wake himself and her in the morning. So, Anisha herself learned to get ready for the school. At the small age of eight, she was far more mature than all the kids of her age.
After being done with her hairdressing and getting tired of her father's waking up calls, she picked up the jug of water with both her little hands and made small steps towards the bed. Once reaching near it, she poured the water on earlier-sleeping-now-awake Abhishek.
"What the.....!" he shouted but stopped mid sentence when he saw his little daughter's serious face. He was now sitting on the bed with his hair and face drenched with water.
Anisha, trying hard to suppress her laughter, kept a straight face and said,"Wake up, it is already 7:30 am, I'm getting late for school."
Abhishek, with his mouth open, was still watching his well-dressed daughter with wide eyes.
"Dad, you're wasting time in staring at me. GET OFF THE BED NOW! " Anisha ordered.
Abhishek smiled on her daughter's bossy act and pulled her close to him. Anisha couldn't keep the serious face anymore.
"Okay Mommy, I'm getting up, but let me tickle my doll's tummy first", said Abhishek and began tickling her , while Anisha trying to speak amidst the bursting laughter shouted, "YOU... ARE MESSING... UP... WITH MY...  MY UNIFORM.."
"Oops! Sorry! I forgot my doll is ready for the school", he said leaving her and then watching her re-do her hair and uniform.
"You always forget everything. C'mon now, get up, I'm hungry", Anisha shouted holding her stomach.
Abhishek, getting back to his conscience, jumped out of his bed, picked Anisha up on his back and ran towards the kitchen.
"What will my princess have for breakfast today?"he asked making her sit on the kitchen slab.
"Pasta in white sauce, with some garlic bread and chocolate chip muffins, " she said batting her eyelashes and giving a fake smile.
Abhishek, with his mouth agape, asked, "All this? Right now?" Anisha shook her head in yes, "but how will I prepare all this in" he saw the wall "in 15 minutes?" he continued.
"Then why did you ask me" Anisha replied with the fake smile still pasted on her lips, "when all you have to serve me is bread and butter" she complained.
"Sorry," Abhishek said with his head bowed down.
"Aww Daddy!" Anisha hugged his father and said, "you cook the tastiest bread-butter in the whole world."
Abhishek grinned on her daughter's flattering and hugged her back tightly.
"We have just 10 minutes left" Anisha slowly whispered in his left ear. Abhishek laughed on this and started preparing the breakfast. He knew he is by no chance, any good at cooking, but his daughter's love kept him motivated.
He quickly prepared and served the breakfast to his girl. He watched her eating while she repeatedly told him how good the simple milk and toast were. The school bus honked its horn from outside and Abhishek quickly made Anisha have her breakfast, he then picked her up with the school bag and water bottle and ran out of the house. Anisha jumped inside the school bus and blew a kiss towards her daddy, accompanied with an "I love you my super daddy", Abhishek laughed and shouted back "I love you more my little baby".
He kept standing on the pavement till the bus was out of his sight. He stretched himself to get rid of any laziness left in him and walked towards the house. It was Saturday and he had taken off from work for two days. He went to the bathroom and took a quick bath. He has to make the best out of this day. After brewing a cup of coffee for himself, he sat with a pen and a paper and began preparing a list of grocery items. At the age of 24, he has a burden of responsibilities on his head, but he never lets anyone know about his problems. He was busy thinking and noting down the essentials when a phone call broke his concentration. He looked for his mobile and found it under the table, the screen flashed 'Adv. Sunil Sharma Calling'. He quickly swiped the phone screen to receive the call. Advocate Sunil kept updating Abhishek regarding his sister's case and this time again, the call was for the same cause. Abhishek's father and Sunil were high school buddies so this made him loyal towards Abhishek. He was taking care of the case pretty well. He disconnected the phone call and got back to his work, but he couldn't write a single word now. Memories of his sister began flashing in front of him. He and his twin sister, Nikita, were 16 back then. It was their first year of college and they were as excited as every other student of the freshman year. Nikita being very pretty and intelligent had soon gained a lot of fan following in her college. Abhishek was never a protective brother for her sister, they were more like best friends and shared all their secrets with each other. After their parents' death, they were each other's support system. Belonging from a rich background, they did not face any financial crisis.
On the night of their fresher's party, Abhishek caught a cold and was not in the situation of attending the function. Nikita, who was preparing for the party since days, also dropped the idea of attending it. She was not ready to go alone, without her brother.
But Abhishek insisted her to go and enjoy, so he could get all the updates of the party. She agreed and left the house promising to get back within an hour or two. Abhishek knew his sister is not going to stay alone there and will really return back early. He took his medicines and slept while watching the television. After around seven hours, he suddenly woke up. He checked the clock, it was 4 am. He thought Nikita would have come back and seeing him asleep, didn't wake him up, so he pulled off his blanket and thought of waking her up from her sleep to know how the party went. He went to her room but didn't find her inside. He called her name while looking for her all around the house but she was nowhere in sight. He ran back to his room and fetch his mobile phone to dial her number but the call did not connect. He called repeatedly but the call wasn't getting connected. Worried and angry, he took his bike keys and rushed towards the entrance of the house when Nikita stepped in. "Where were you?" Abhishek questioned on seeing his sister, "You were to get back till 11 and you are coming back at 4. And where is your phone? I have been calling you. I was about to leave for the party venue. You should have at least.... Are you listening?" he noticed Nikita was just standing there and not reacting to any of his questions. He went close to her. "Is anything wrong?" he asked. No answer. He held her by the shoulders and shook her. Nikita returned back to her consciousness. "Is anything wrong?", he repeated. Nikita looked at his brother's worried face for a while. Abhishek shouted, "Niki speak something."
"No.. No.. Nothing is wrong... Everything is fine" , Nikita finally spoke with a smile. "The party was fun, so I got stuck into it. Sorry. I should probably change now. I'm tired. I need to sleep. Good night." She continued, and quickly walked into her room, shutting the door close. Abhishek was surprised by his sister's strange behavior. He stood at the same place for a few minutes and then headed towards his sister's room. He knocked the door shouting her name. No reply. He knocked again. Still no response. He warned he will break the door. Suddenly the door opened and Nikita came out. She slapped him on his face and asked him to stay away. Abhishek was stunned by this sudden outburst of his sister. Before he could speak anything, she closed the door again.
He went to his room and thought about talking to her in the morning. It was almost sunrise and Abhishek had lost his sleep. He called some of his friends to know about the party, basically to know the reason behind Nikita's behavior. Three of his friends did not attend the phone call, "they might be sleeping" he thought. He still tried calling more friends, one of them received the call.
Abhishek apologized for calling this late and asked him how the party went. He told Abhishek that the party went good and it ended up at 1 am. Abhishek disconnected the call. He was completely blank and had no idea what has happened. He sat on his bed and kept waiting for Nikita to come out of the room. The clock kept running. It was 11 am, finally, Nikita came out of her room and walked towards the kitchen. Abhishek also went towards his sister.
"Good morning ", Nikita wished her brother with her brightest smile.
"Morning" Abhishek wished back, still in shock. He was going to talk about their last encounter when Nikita asked him if he'd like to have some coffee. He shook his had in No. "How was the party? ", Abhishek finally asked.
He watched Nikita getting tensed by the question and then calming down. "It was great", she replied happily "I enjoyed a lot. But couldn't win the Miss Fresher's tag", she continued. Abhishek kept looking at her. "And sorry about that slap, I was really tired and you kept irritating me by banging the door. So, you know, it just happened. Sorry," she tried explaining. Abhishek took the reason as a genuine one and decided to drop the topic there itself. "It's okay," he said and asked her if she'd be going to college.
"No, I have to work on a project, so I'll not attend the college this week ", she reasoned. Abhishek didn't question her further.
Days passed by and Nikita was acting normal to him. Abhishek also forgot about the incident. Two weeks passed, but Nikita didn't attend the college. When Abhishek asked, she said she has got her leaves extended as her project work is taking a lot of time. One night, when Abhishek was reading a book in his room, he heard the sound of weeping. At first, he ignored it but sound kept increasing . He sensed that the sound was coming from Nikita's room. He ran to her room and found the door open, he walked inside and saw Nikita lying on the floor and crying. Abhishek sat near his sister and asked her what was wrong. Nikita spoke nothing just kept crying. "Niki you are scaring me, please tell me what is wrong. For God's sake. Please." Nikita gave her brother the pregnancy detector strip she was holding. He took it and checked it out. Abhishek had no idea what did it mean. He asked her what it is.
"I am pregnant ", she cried and hugged her brother. Abhishek did not know how to react to this news he gained. He held his sister tightly and the duo didn't speak anything for a long time. Hours passed, Nikita had stopped crying.
"I am sorry" she spoke, "I should have told you that night itself".
Abhishek knew which night she was talking about. It had something to do with the fresher's party. But he kept quiet.  Nikita, still in her brother's arms, took it as a sign to explain further.
"I was feeling bored in the party without you, so I decided to leave just after an hour. I bid my friends goodbye and headed towards my car when someone shut my mouth from behind and held my hands", her tears started flowing again. Abhishek hugged her more tightly. She continued "I tried to shout, I even tried to kick him with my legs, but all in vain. He was well built and his grip was very strong. He dragged me to an abandoned toilet and he... he... raped.. me there." she burst into tears again. Abhishek could not stop his tears. He could feel his sister's pain. After a while, she said "He left me there alone, I shouted for help but my voice was very low. A few hours later, I myself managed to walk out of that place. The pain was unbearable. But I somehow drove back home." the tears kept flowing from their eyes.
"Do you know him?", Abhishek finally asked.
"Economics teacher" Nikita answered. The pain in Abhishek's eyes had now turned into anger. But his brain was still not working. He had to think before taking any step further. He told his sister not to worry and he will find some way out. He made her sleep and went to his room. That night was the most horrible night of his life. He spent the whole night crying and wished his parents were alive. He blamed himself for Nikita's situation. He waited for the sun to rise, so he could plan something for his sister. But the morning didn't bring any new hope in his life. He went to Nikita's room and found her body hanging from the fan. Abhishek couldn't tolerate the scene and fainted. When he gained his conscience back, he found himself on a hospital bed. All the memories from last night and the morning came back to his mind. "Niki.." he shouted and Sunil came running towards him.
He asked him to relax and told him how the maid called the police and him when she saw Abhishek lying on the floor, unconscious and Nikita dead.
"Where is Niki?", Abhishek asked.
"They have taken her for the post mortem" Sunil answered.
He did not cry or speak anything to him. He just left his bed and walked out of the hospital room. Sunil walked behind him, trying to stop him. But he did not respond. He just kept walking till he collided with a wall and fell. Sunil ran to hold him. Abhishek gained his senses and he cried. He cried his sister's name. He cried cursing God. He cried for his parents. He cried till he fainted again.
Many questions were asked to him by the police when he regained his consciousness. He told them everything. About the party, his sister's behavior and her last night confession. He asked the police to file a complaint against the Economics teacher. Sunil, who was the only close friend and relative to him, ensured that he will take care of everything. Abhishek's world was completely destroyed. At the age of 16, he had witnessed the death of three of his closest people. He thought of ending his life too but couldn't . "I have to fight for my sister," he thought.
One after the other, the days passed by after Nikita's cremation. Abhishek had stopped living in his house, the memories of his sister haunted him there. He passed most of his day in the hospital doing the paperwork related to his sister's case and in Sunil's office. He slept on the bench of his colony park. One morning when he woke up, he saw something covered in a dirty cloth lying near the bench he slept on. He went near it and found it was a baby. Its eyes were shut and it wasn't breathing properly. Abhishek picked it up and rushed to the hospital. The doctors told him she was a girl and is just 2 days old, someone might have thrown her in the park to get rid of her. 

The doorbell rang and his chain of memories was broken. He wiped off his tears and opened the door. Anisha jumped into his daddy's arms. Abhishek's smile returned back on seeing his little princess in front of his eyes. He hugged her back tightly.
Anisha was the little girl he found in the park eight years back. When the doctors told him she was abandoned, he thought about the consequences because of which his mother would have left her there, maybe she had a similar story like that of his sister's and at that moment, he decided to adopt her. The paperwork was difficult but Abhishek was adamant to have this ray of hope in his life. He knew she will bring back his happiness. And finally, at the age of 16, he became  a father.

Monday 30 November 2015

A WALK IN THE WINTER NIGHT

"The place where I live, winter could be seen only through the hearts of the people that are cold enough to not feel anything", she said, when he asked her if she likes winter.
"Haven't you ever seen the true colors of winters", he asked, trying his best to give her a true smile.
"Colors of winter? All I have seen are the colors of humans that change like these unnoticed seasons. " she replied and he could feel the pain she had gone through and all he wanted was to make her pain go away.
"Forget everything, every wrong thing, hold my hand and I shall make you believe no season should ever be left unnoticed. Each season has its own ways to make you fall in love with it. And winter... Winter itself is the season of love. So smile and walk with me" he brought forward his hand and she held it without any delay. She wanted to smile but couldn't, for she didn't know how a smile looks like. But he was happy that now he has a small chance to give back all her lost happiness.
"I feel cold", she said looking up in his eyes, her cheeks flushed a perfect shade of pink. He felt she is blushing but it was yet another color of the season.
"Here. Take my jacket. This is the beginning of our winter journey, I don't want you to catch cold just at the beginning of it" he said with a smile and made her wear his jacket. "You know these silent long winter nights have a lot to speak, they just need good listeners like you and I." he looked into her eyes, there was something new he witnessed in them. The sadness they were carrying seemed to be decreasing and her lips curved up to form a smile. He immediately captured that smile in his camera. "See, this is an all new color of winter this year", he said when he made her watch her own picture in the screen.
"I am smiling", she spoke to herself. She had never came across this feeling before. She turned her face towards him and she felt a sudden warmth by the way he looked back at her. She had now begun to enjoy this adventure. She liked how the air felt with each step they took forward. The cool breeze and the music being played at a distance made the environment more serene. This season was now making her fall in love with it and her partner.
"Hey! Thinking something?" he asked, shaking her hand a bit.
"No" she smiled and shook her head. "You know, earlier I used to think it is just fog that winter brings with it and this fog hides everything. I too wished to hide behind the fog, alone, forever. Where no one could find me out and I could stay there, deeply immersed in my own thoughts" She spoke after a long silence.
He knew what her words meant, he didn't speak anything just tightened his grip in her hand, as if trying to say "You don't have to be sad anymore, my love will bring you all the happiness of the world".
They kept walking, watching the beauty of nature in the form of snow collected over the branches of trees. "Hot Chocolate?" he asked in excitement.
She grinned and shook her head in yes.
"Another amazing color of this season is it's food and nothing can beat the taste of delicious simmering food" he said handling her the cup of hot chocolate he bought and they both laughed. He felt he had now achieved what he wanted. Her eyes had a new aura, the sadness had now completely vanished and happiness was making its place. She looked at him and smiled. It was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.
"You are beautiful" he told her and her cheeks flushed red. This time it wasn't the season's color, he knew. And in that moment he wished he could cuddle with her under a warm cozy blanket and make her feel the warmth of love.
She came close and to his surprise, embraced him like this is what she had always wanted. 

Tuesday 24 November 2015

LET US STAND TOGETHER

No, I won't let you kill my people for your amusement anymore. 
No, I won't let you rule my world and make
it dirty like your own. 
You say, you do this for your religion, 
But tell me, which religion teaches you the
lesson of destruction. 
No, you are not the follower of God,
You follow the demons of your brain,
That make you destroy my peaceful world, every passing day. 
Lost a family, have you ever? 
Felt the pain, watching the bloodied rivers? 
Doesn't your heart cries, listening to the screams of a mother, who lost her little child?
Don't you feel ashamed of the deeds you do? 
Stop it! Stop it now! Be the human you were supposed to be. 
Change them! Change your thoughts, And let us live in our happy family peacefully. 
We have tolerated a lot, but now we won't. 
You will see how strong is our unity, that will make your evil desires fall. 
Raise your guns, shoot us, I will count your gunshots,
And in return we will give you the pain, you would have never thought of. 
You are just few and so are your bullets,
But we are in millions and our anger won't let you stand tall. 
We are not weak. We are not coward. 
We are humans and you will now see our power. 

Tuesday 29 September 2015

STORY OF THE MOON


Let me tell you a story today,

The story of our best friend who lives far away. 
One who has been watching over us since childhood,
Whose one glimpse has made our nights good. 
Yes yes, the moon he is. 
The happy looking bright  ball, our moon he is.
He seems to be happy, but in real he is not. 
He could also have a sad story, have you given it a thought? 
Long time back, he fell in love,
With a star, who was not like anyone of us.
She was the brightest star, in the big sky. 
Who stayed close to him, and who used to make the moon smile. 
She was his friend, she was his partner. 
She was the reason, for each one of his laughter. 
They wished to stay together till eternity, 
But their love story was also full of tragedy. 
There came a day, when a devil cursed their love, 
Soon there happened a blast in the Universe.
Some planets changed their locations, some stars got burst 
But what our moon faced, was the worst. 
His love got lost in all the chaos, 
He tried to find her in his world and across.
He was broken, he was sad. 
The universe, his home, now seemed to him like hell. 
But he had to be strong, he had to act wise. 
He was the night's glory, again, he had to rise.
Nights passed by, moon kept doing duty, 
But something was missing, it was his smile's beauty. 
And one day something impossible happened, 
Moon got to see his love in the dark blue yonder. 
She looked changed, different from what she used to be. 
She was no more a star, but she was now the earth, holding millions of lives, in it's affinity.

Thursday 30 July 2015

The Love, That Was Always Mine..

We were walking by the society park, when he slowly held my hand in his. I looked at him and smiled. Twenty years of marriage, but we still manage to have our own romantic moments. All our friends, who are either busy with work or fighting with their partners, openly show their jealousy towards us. There are many, who even pity me, but that doesn't weaken me. 
We heard the birds chirping and the children playing in the park. He is fond of such sounds. These sounds makes him feel connected to the world around. He brought me close and stretched his hand on my shoulders. I kept my hand on his back and leaned to the side of his body. We kept walking that way for the next few minutes until my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket, it was our daughter Shubhanshi. I gave the phone to him, he smiled at me and received the call. Our daughter is a complete Daddy's girl. Whenever she calls us, all she has to do is, talk to her Dad about her college, studies and friends. I am remembered only when she needs some help in her cooking on the weekends. 
We walked a little and sat on a bench. He was busy talking and laughing but did not leave my hand even once. 
Whenever he talks to Shubhanshi, there is a different kind of shine on his face, that shows his love for her. The relationship of a father with his daughter is so pure and deep, one can never judge who loves the other one more. I too had such bond of love and friendship with my father. I was also a Daddy's girl. I remember how he used to get me my favorite chocolates everyday while returning back from office. I used to hide behind the entrance door at his time of arrival, so I can scare him when he enters inside. And he never hurt me by not reacting to my "boo". He always acted to be hell scared. And I laughed at his reaction. We had our own games and talks. He knew me better than anyone else. He was the only one who supported me when I decided to marry Shubham. He was worried about my future with him, but was also confident that I'll manage everything very well. When my mother said she won't allow me to marry a blind man, he was the one who convinced her and asked her to believe in their daughter. 
All the other family members called him Stupid and questioned his love for me, but he didn't care about anything. He just cared about me and my happiness. 
For him, Shubham was my true mate and Shubham has proved him right. 
He shook me and called my name, I returned back from my memory lane. He asked me what had happened. I just smiled and gave him a peck on his cheek. He smiled back. We stood and walked back to our home, holding hands.

Tuesday 28 July 2015

The Hidden Love

"Day after the other passed, but he never returned back. He promised me he'll be back within 3 days and take me along with him. Today is the 7th anniversary of that day. Sometimes, I feel good that he didn't return. I've learnt to sleep in the dark and to stay alone without him. I've even started loving the people around me, but not more than how much I loved him. The people here are good or may be they just act good. They call me the Writing Lady. And I just smile when they address me this way. I've got a stack of diaries in my room. They say, I must get them published because they think I write stories in them. But nobody knows that I write my life in them. I write about him in those diaries. I write about the small hope I have of seeing him again, someday. I write about my illness.
Yesterday, my doctor came to check on me and asked me to stay strong. She has been repeating the same sentence everyday for all these years. And I've proved myself on her words. But now, it's the time. Living with Cancer for 7 years was really tough. The Writing Lady writes her final words today. I wish he cares to see me once I die."


I couldn't manage to stop my tears when I read the letter to his grave. He made me promise to not tell his wife where he disappeared. He said she'll not be able to take the shock. She kept thinking he betrayed her but never got to know he died in the accident just after admitting her in the hospital. He wanted her to stay strong and overcome her illness and I kept repeating his words to her. Nobody in the hospital told her about her husband's death, just to save her life. She should have known, he loved her a lot.

Sunday 26 July 2015

Remembrance..

Holding onto the reminiscence of our togetherness, 
I sat on that old bench again. 
The grass wasn't green, the birds weren't singing. 
There was no cold breeze, the bright clouds were not in a mood to provide any relief. 
But there was a serenity of memories all around.
Of the gulmohar tree and the hidden treasure we never found. 
My fingers lingered over the apologies you scribbled every time on arriving late. 
To make me feel, your presence was worth the wait.
Memories they are, memories the will be...