THAT NIGHT SOMEONE DIED, I DON’T KNOW WHO….
Photo credit: lorettaflame from morguefile.com
I Peeped out of the window trying to avoid His unnecessary attention. Moon was shining with full pride in that clear night. There was no star with that one piece of silver glowing splendidly ,as if claiming its sole right on sky. Exactly the way SHE had a claim on my heart . How similar! i smiled at the analogy. Ever since she entered my life, I have seen the world in a greater harmony then ever before. Yes.. as if everything is there for me , for her … for us..
The sun shines brighter than before now, the moon is soothing than it has ever been, breeze is cooler than before and air is filled with a light fragrance all the time . LOVE.. they say it changes u . A smile floated across my lips once again and once again i peeped out of the window to avoid that stranger’s gaze whose smile had now started bothering me. Not that it was a belligerent or sarcastic but a content smile with excitement in eyes, which was overshadowing mine. Quite similar to one i was having, just more intense and clear. He was looking at his mobile time and again . Everytime a light flashes in his mobile ,that smile was sure to follow ..
The dim red light in the bus and his mobile phone were the only lights in that bus. he was sitting near the driver’s seat and my seat was the front one making us sit face to face.. He probably was without ticket as it is common to pay the fare and travel for comparatively short distance in a long route bus. Bus driver switched on the cabin light to change the channel on radio which gave me a better sight of the owner of that auspicious smile.
This time i observed ”HIM” carefully. A medium height of around 5’7 , wheat colour, bright black eyes, short curly hair… In his dark blue shirt and black trousers, he looked quite like any common guy in the town. i noticed his mobile flashing quite often. he was probably getting texts on silent mode. after every flash he would type a message and weight eagerly. It was that duration that he looked towards me and smiled every time knowing that i was the only one awake in that late hour of night.
Ruchi’s memories were not letting me sleep . I was still in dilemma whether i should call her or not. I loved her a lot but her question had rendered me speechless. How bluntly she had asked me if i am actually going to marry her. Ofcourse i would. i am not the kind of a guy who wud pass time and then let go off. i loved her and had imagined my future with her . its just that i had not told her. i would never do that anyways. i dont believe in that PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION.
Look at this guy now. He must me having a good time chit chatting with a girl. The two will get close ( or they might already have), start thinking about each other all the time, giving updates of every second . and then one day, one of them will start avoiding the other owing to some fight or some other stupid reason . the two will soon part ways as if they never knew each other. huh! love affairs these days are just a display. I Loved ruchi and she should know it . why do i have to tell her?
I put last effort to sleep in that uncomfortable bus but like all other efforts , it failed. I had started feeling bored now. Once again i saw outside. there was nothing . just darkness , that too running hurriedly.. yet IT was beautiful.. ”HUME JAB SE MOHABBAT HO GAYI HAI .. YE DUNIYA KHOOBSURAT HO GAYI HAI” the volume of radio was low but loud enough to be heard at the front seat. i smiled again .
what a harmony of my thought and everything around. He got up from his seat and came towards me. I anticipated a familiar friendly chat but i didnot want anyone to bring me out of my solitary bliss . As he reached, I marked in my mind that i dont have to get into talking to him .i’ll sound dry if he tries to be friendly.
”hello , do u have nokia charger?”, he said . I looked for it but mine was not the one that could fit into his phone. he looked a little disappointed but the smile was still there.
He then asked the driver and fortunately got one. I could hear the driver asking him where he had to get down. ”Merrut” .Thats all he said. Looked like he was too absorbed in his own world to get into any chat either. Looked like he didnot need anyone else to talk to. He was probably in love . I could now relate myself to him for being in love, its just that i wasn’t as clear about it as he looked. I looked around in that red dim light of bus. Everyone else was sleeping.. My wrist watch showed 1 a.m. ..journey continued .
After an hour or so, the bus reached merrut. Near a closed pharmaceutical shop, he asked the driver to stop. HE pulled his backpack ,tied his one shoe lace, got up from his seat and tried getting down hurriedly. His gaze was still fixed on his mobile as he was typing a message and alternatively looking at the street. The driver had just got slow when ”HE” hastily jumped off the bus as many guys do in this age . His one shoelace had stuck near the footstep of the door which he could not see since he was looking at his mobile screen.
I saw it and as i opened my mouth to tell him, His stuck shoelace had him fall on the road . The driver saw that and immediately pulled the break which gave everyone a jerk, hard enough to wake up. the bus stopped few steps ahead of where the boy was trying to pick him up. Thank god it was not a fatal blow. he was leaning on the road but i could see that he was probably limping. he probably had injured his limbs. I at once got up to see him from the window when i saw an over speeding truck coming from the back. Before the boy could have picked him up, the truck ran over him .
It all happened within a few seconds. I stood there numb. there was blood all over the road and soon I could hear people screaming , getting off the bus. Men started gathering near the body bathed in blood . after half an hour, police reached and picked the body . blood was still there on the road.
His face was clear in front of my eyes. His smile was still bothering me. now that it wasn’t there, it was bothering me even more. something had hit me in heart. i didnot know him. neither his name . but i felt as if i had known him since ages. One hour had passed and people had got engaged in their conversations. The topic now was ” accidents”. How they escaped one, how they witnessed some other, that god is almighty , that fate had it written already. I kept looking at the road . I was still in shock. Something else was there to disturb me even more.
I could sense a light coming from the side of that street where only blood was left now. I looked towards that end . Dry leaves and garbage . There was no light . I thought i was still under shock that my eyes are having this illusion of light. I looked at the blood again. there was a boy with an enticing smile an hour back and now , its just a red liquid. finally i decided to get into the bus where people were still talking about ill-fate and their experiences. Wait! i am sure this time that there is a light at that end. i went there to look.
Nothing. just darkness and garbage. i should probably go back and take some rest . My mind had gone through too much tonight. As i turned , there was a light again in the garbage. i removed the leaves with my foot . His mobile flashed. There were 11 unread messages from ”Neha ”.Waiting to be read, to be replied. my heart skipped a beat.My legs trembled. SHE didnot know. She was still waiting. I didnot have the courage to pick it up. i looked at it for sometime and finally ran towards the bus without looking back.
I knew what i had to do. i thanked god for i was alive. i was crying and my heart was filled with grief and gratitude at the same time. with trembling hands I picked up my phone .
”hello, ruchi.. i love you and i will spend my life with you. sorry i could not say it earlier but this time , i promise i will marry you..” I Could not say anything else . my voice choked.
”Manu, Are you ok? what happened? Why are you sobbing?” .
”Some one died Ruchi”.
” Who?” she asked .
”I don’t know who” I said before i hung up.
__END__
by: rupali mahajan
