The first shot hit his mother, before he could react and come down the
stairs, the second shot fired. This one took his sister from a point blank
range. He couldn’t decide whom he should tend to first. He came running towards
them and that was when the third shot fired. The bullet grazed past through his
neck and took a mound of flesh with it. It was a shot which would haunt him for
the rest of his life. It was a shot he wished, had hit its target.
He wasn’t trained to handle this situation, he was blank. It was then
that one of his friends who came to celebrate his 20th birthday shouted to call
an ambulance. He took his mother on his lap, she was conscious and was trying
to tell him something, but she just couldnt. One half of his wanted to rush to his
father, snatch his gun and shoot him, but he had to rescue his mother and
sister first. How he wished the shot hadn't missed.
They were declared dead on arrival. He was immediately rushed to the
operation theater to check on his wounds. He thought about his father, he knew
he never meant it. He could feel his eyes getting heavy with the anesthesia
kicking in, as he went into the slumber a last thought kicked in - he wished
the shot hadn't missed.
***
"Is this a dream? What is this gun doing in my hand? Where did
the blood come from? Where is my glass of scotch? "
With blood smeared all over his clothes, he sat on the bed. His
thoughts were running haywire, he couldn't hold on to one single thought and
then, the most prominent of the thoughts hits him- Did he just kill his wife
and daughter?
He realized it wasn’t a dream; it's the end of it. As the effect of
alcohol started wearing away, his conscience got to him. He realized that
there’s nothing he can do now to redeem himself. He can attain salvation only
one way.
He rested the gun at his temple, closed his eyes. The whole of evening
rushed past him. He hoped his son was fine and...Before he could finish his
thought, his conscience ridden index finger had pulled the trigger like a
hangman waiting to get done with his guilt. As the piercing pain hit him, one
last thought occurred to him -
How
he wished he had never shot!
***
It
was a faint noise, very serene. Though my knowledge of musical instruments is
restricted, I could easily guess that it was a piano. The tune seemed somewhat
familiar. A faint female voice, not very mature started crooning; there was
melancholy in her voice.
~~There's a possibility~~
~~There's a possibility~~
~~All that I had was all I'm gon' get~~
It was a voice, whose eyes have seen a lot of distressing scenes. It
was a voice, whose mind was in search of answers to her questions. It was a
voice, whose heart saw a glimmer of hope at the end of the road. It was a
little louder now, though still I couldn’t make out where it was coming from.
~~ There's
a possibility~~
~~There's a
possibility~~
~~All I gon'
get is gon' be yours then~~
~~All I
gon' get is gon' be yours still ~~
And then suddenly my eyes opened.
At first, the bright light pierced through my eyes blinding me as if
someone just flashed in a bright torchlight right into my face. It took a while
for me to get used to. I was sitting on a lone bench besides a blooming cherry
blossom tree with their pristine white with a pink hue flowers in full bloom.
In front of me was infinite stretch of grassland. The sun was shining bright; a
pleasant breeze was ruffling the blossoming flowers infusing life into them
there by finishing their resurgence from the torrid autumn. It was a total
picture of serenity; I was about to close my eyes to soak in the glory of the
nature and the song was getting lucid with every moment.
~~So tell
me when you hear my heart stop ~~
~~You're
the only one that knows ~~
~~Tell me
when you hear my silence ~~
~~There's a
possibility I wouldn't know~~
I heard a voice.
“Beautiful…Isn’t it? I love spring, everything’s so fresh!” She said,
almost talking to herself while running the white hair band through her curly
hair which accentuated her forehead. She had a poignant voice with little
sadness in it, but had an amazing child like exuberant quality.
“I
used to love going to the school in the spring, everything’s so fresh. The sun
shining bright, the birds chirping, the blooming flowers…”
Her
recollection of school brought memories into my head as well. I used to hate
getting up early for the school in the winters myself. It made me grumpy and
the early morning maths class didn’t help the cause at all.
“It is beautiful indeed. Even, I love the spring.” I added in an
indifferent tone to mask the enthusiasm the spring has brought in me, in front
of a stranger.
“But do you know what the best part of the spring is?”
Before I could think of
something pleasant, she started answering her own question.
“It’s the early morning dew drops on the leaves, sliding through the
leaves as though it was a bead of pearl let loose from the string holding it”
That’s pretty intense thought for a young teenager, I thought. Before
she throws another question at me, I wanted to know who she was and what was
she doing here? But, she caught me again before I could act.
“How did you reach here? Are you also a victim?”
~~By blood
and by me, and I'll fall when you leave ~~
~~By blood
and by me, I follow your lead~~
That’s when I asked the question to myself. In a state of memory
paralysis, I just couldn’t remember how I got to this place. I tried hard to
recollect what was I doing and where was I, but I just couldn’t remember
anything.
“I don’t know. I just can’t seem to remember. How did you get here?
Probably, that will help me recollect” I said, trying to get over the fact that
I couldn’t remember how I have reached here.
“Even I can’t recollect. All I remember was darkness. I think it was a
pillow held tight onto my face. I tried hard to scream, but I just couldn’t
open my mouth. I wanted to kick him and escape to the safety of my parent’s
room. I wanted to bite him, but the pillow just didn’t move from my face. I
kept trying, but to no avail. Then suddenly everything went mute; I couldn’t
hear anything except for my rapid heartbeats. I couldn’t hear my own agonizing
cry for help. My eyes began to droop. That’s when she offered me her hand. I
held it tight and then hand in hand we walk up into the pristine bright light.”
~~So tell me
when you hear my heart stop ~~
~~You're the
only one that knows ~~
~~Tell me
when you hear my silence ~~
~~There's a
possibility I wouldn't know~~
I felt a chill run through my spine. Her words
took me back to the time, a range of images occurred to me. The chilling image
of my father with his gun pointing towards my mother and sister, the image of
my mother's eyes when she was breathing her last on my lap, the serene image of
my sister face before I placed the last log on her cremation bed. The image of
three pyres burning and how I wished to run into one of them and just get done
with my life.
How I wished that the bullet had hit its target
that day.
~~ There's a possibility~~
~~There's a possibility~~
***
~~ There's a possibility~~
~~There's a ..........~~
His
phone rang continuously, by the time he could gather his thoughts the ringing
stopped. It must have been his wake up call from his girlfriend. He wondered
where he heard the song before, that's when he realized his girlfriend had
changed his ringtone.
"This is the only way I can get you to listen to it" she
said.
He was about to call her back, when his dog sprung on his bed and
handed him the newspaper, following the usual morning routine. As he was about
to pat the dog, the girl's image on the front page caught his eye. She seemed
so familiar to him, her image was so fresh. He felt a sense of déjà vu. The
long hair, white hair band - Did he know her? Did he dream of her? What were
they talking about? He just can't seem to recollect the details and that was
when his eyes fell on the headlines.....
Girl found murdered in mysterious
conditions at Noida home
TNN | May 17, 2008, 06.11 AM IST
In Noida, a class 9 student of Delhi
Public School was found murdered at her sector 24 house in Noida late on
Friday. The victim, Aarushi was found lying on her bed with multiple stab
wounds on her abdomen and injuries apparently inflicted by a blunt object on
her head and face. The domestic help of the family, who lived with them in the
house, was reportedly missing since the murder came to light. Aarushi's
parents, a doctor couple Rakesh and Niranjan Talwar - were at home when the
incident took place.
The suspect, identified as Hemraj of Nepal, was engaged by the Talwars barely 8 months ago. Police later traced two close relatives of the suspect and detained them for interrogation.
Police refuted reports that she was sexually assaulted after the murder. "There is no comment in the post-mortem report on on this issue," clarified superintendent of police (SP) City Noida Dinesh Misra talking to TOI on phone. Asked if the doors of room....
The suspect, identified as Hemraj of Nepal, was engaged by the Talwars barely 8 months ago. Police later traced two close relatives of the suspect and detained them for interrogation.
Police refuted reports that she was sexually assaulted after the murder. "There is no comment in the post-mortem report on on this issue," clarified superintendent of police (SP) City Noida Dinesh Misra talking to TOI on phone. Asked if the doors of room....
*---*
PS: Aarushi's story was long inside my head but never found
a fitting form to be told. That's when a chance 'out of boredom read' led me to
Kamal Sadanah's story.
Two
tragic stories had so much pathos in common. I believe, it was just waiting to
be connected and then the beautifully sung with apt lyrics"Possibility" by Lykki Li seemed to be apt to bind them.
