THE MOMENTS OF LOVE...(2ND POST)

The rain had stopped partially if not fully; the night was dark and the street was silent. Some stray dogs wailed in a distance…however   the street leading to that posh and quiet society near kalyan   was undisturbed, except of the  sobs which were not so frequent as they were a few hours ago….

She was sitting on the corner of the street, alone, silent…sobbing  quietly….her  tears almost dried and frozen on her  weathered yet beautiful face.

She sat with her back resting against a street light pole;whose lights were off, she sat with her legs clutched towards her chest, her hands around her legs and face buried in it.

She was wet and cold as it had rained the whole day, it was dark as there was  no  lights and moon was covered with black clouds,the clouds drifted apart for a few moments to let the moonlight fall on the street ,it was then that  the girl who was about 20 years old,looked above into the moon,her face was bathed by the moonlight,she had stopped crying for a while, her green eyes clear as emerald gazed emptily into the wide universe above her…

The night got more chillier as a windy breeze rustled through the street and the trees, the girl hugged herself more tightly for warmth….  

It was then that she heard a disturbance coming from the other end of the street, maybe someone approaching , it was unusual at this hour of night, it was way past midnight 1.00 to be precise.

Surely soon enough she saw a silhouette of a man approaching towards her end, she was too tired to care anyway, but her instincts nudged her to get up, to try, to survive…

The man was walking heaftily towards his building,his hands  in the pockets of his jacket,walking absent mindedly lost in his own thoughts…

She calls out to him from other side of the street; he was a little taken aback as he didn’t expect anyone out this late.

 "Sir, can you help me?
It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?"

He walks on, doesn't look back
He pretends he can't hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there.

He can see she's been crying
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet
She can't walk but she's trying....

She  called and she called, her voice weary ,pleading, begging and finally fainting as the young lad approached  at the foot of his building…

Whew that was unexpected the boy thought, the watchman of his building was now opening the gate for him.

Haven’t I had enough already today he thought. 

“What the hell is taking you so long to open this darn gate?”he yelled at the watchman.”Cant you see its cold out here”

He stormed inside glaring at the watchman as he saluted him…

Bloody watchmans…he thought…all people are shit, he grumbled as he took the stairs towards his apartment(the lift was broken) ;

Stupid watchman,stupid secretary of the building who didn’t fix the goddam lift…….fucking auto rickshaw driver, fucking boss…fucking bank manager ,that bastard broker…and now idiotic tramps begging at this hour of night…all  crazy motherfuckers on my head only…

ohh lord what wrong have I done….

The boy was obviously frustrated, it wasn’t that he was a cold hearted brute; on the other hand he was gentle and  kind than most of the people of his age and era…but clearly he was living through one of the worst day of his life….the 27 year old bachelor who came to know that most of his savings were lost in stocks the following morning…the promotion for which he had worked for so hard and which was guaranteed to him was given to an office slut…and accidently he also he came to know that his ex-girlfriend, his college sweetheart left him for his best friend in college…well so much was enough for any sane human being to be frustrated out of his mind    and don’t give any fuck to humanity…momentarily…

 The boy entered his apartment, which was same as he had left it, he sighed and took of his shoes which were filled with water.

He lived alone and had no one but grandparents who lived far away in a village in uttarpradesh.  He earned quite handsomely and was doing well, living in a 2bhk near kalyan, Mumbai.

He was very tired due to his local trains journey, he changed into his pajamas and made his way towards the fridge….

“Fuck…”he sweared on seeing that his food had gone stale.

His stomach roared as he hadn’t eaten anything since last night but he was too tired to cook..so he gave it up and headed towards his bedroom, grumbling all the same…

He lied down on his bed and tried to fall asleep but sleep was far away from his eyes…his eyes became a little moist as he remembered about his ex and his best friend, he cursed himself for still remembering her…than his emotions turned to anger and rage and he cursed everyone he knew u, even remotely, his boss, the office slut ,everyone including fate, god, destiny and himself(mainly for investing stupidly).

He felt alone,in this world, his grandparents were too far and too old to share his worries and his consents….he had no one, no one…except her…and she too was gone now…his head was burning now…and the cushion was almost wet with his tears…it was the first time he was crying after her accident, after her death he had become a complete workaholic he slugged in office day in and  out,even brought some work home to slug,he had stopped going to movies,restaurants,parties and socially meeting other people after his sister had  died in the floods of 26^th july.

She  meant the world to him, he was actually very strong emotionally, whole year had passed and he had acted really brave but today he felt helpless…both brother and sister were orphaned at a tender age and were raised by their grandparents,he had worked real hard to get where he was, finally when he saw light ahead and saw his dreams of giving his sister a better life come true….the cruel  monsoons of Mumbai snatched her away from him, he always felt guilty as he thought it was his job as well as duty to protect her in which he had failed….

He lay awoke….staring at the ceiling, the lightning struck   and the thunder crashed outside somewhere.

It was again monsoon. And he cursed the rain gods as he wiped his eyes. The pitter-patter of the rain had now become a heavy downpour with thunder crashes and the lightning occurring frequently, he could make out the city from his bedside window whenever the lightning stuck…he didn’t know how much time passed…maybe eternity maybe few seconds he had lost sense of time, his attempts to fall asleep were fruitless….he was staring towards the window watching the thunderstorm raging outside, how lucky I am to lie in this cozy bed…safe and dry…he thought…why wasn’t my sister at the right place at the right time….fuck god…fuck you..he wept..his gaze fell on a photograph of her on his bedside dresser….she was so lively…so happy….smiling as if looking at him…

But  What could I have done….what could I do now…to make it right,I cant?

He lay there gazing at her pic for few minutes…when realization hit him full flesh on his face.He looked towards the clock, 3 in the night.Maybe not too late.  He got up determined to play his part…..

It was too dark outside and the downpour was too heavy, he made his way across the street hoping with all his might for her to still be there ,keeping his fingers crossed.

It took him several minutes to find that light pole, and sure enough he saw a humanly figure shivering uncontrollably in the heavy showers thumped in the ground writhing, waiting maybe for death as there wasn’t any hope left in her of any kind of rescue.

He had bought an umbrella and a flashlight, he reached near her and bent beside her…

Come on…he whispered, lets take you somewhere warm and safe.

She didn’t hear him, maybe she had fainted. He tapped her gently on her shoulder, she got up terrified and looked up at her savior.

He bought her in his apartment,it was pitch black outside,and it was still showering.

“Be comfortable you are safe here…” he said gently inviting her to sit in his living room.

Its when he got a good look at her….she is about my sis age,20 years;

She wore a brown kurta and white salwar,she even had an white apron….her clothes were in pitiable condition, mattered, dirty, even torn at places, she was dripping wet and was shivering uncontrollably. She had a beautiful face despite the fact that it was bruised at places and blackened…she had innocent child like face and long jet black hair, he noticed that her lip had a cut and some scratches on her shoulder showed signs of violence.

Most of all her eyes which were so large were green and had a shade of red due to constant crying.

She was too tired and terrified to speak to this stranger, she just stood at a corner hugging herself as she was afraid to wet the living room  of the posh flat.

“Don’t be scared you are safe here” the boy told her.

She just nodded.

“I will get you some dry clothes” he said and went inside to get his t-shirt and pajamas .

He gave her some towels and dry clothes to change, while he made some tea for both of them and cooked some omelets and toasted bread.

He watched her closely as she ate hastily, it was obvious that she hadn’t eaten in days…she was beautiful, and too innocent.

The boy was having difficulty to hold down his own tears. His mouth had went dry….

“what is your name?”he asked. As the silence was bit too awkward for both of them.

The girl looked at him terrified…..

“Salma…” she whispered, barely audible.

The boy was still digesting that what the cruelty of the world can do to a person….

When she whispered…

“If you wanna rape me,its okay,

  I will co-operate 

  but please don’t hurt me”

These lines were almost a spit on the face of the humanity….

Tears were shimmering in her eyes.

He got up, the knot in his throat tightened, he sat beside her and put his hand on her head….

The green eyes locked in black,the girl was trembling and so was he…

Both eyes were brimmed with tears,when he wiped her eyes and  told her in choked voice.

“ NO ONE WILL EVER RAPE YOU OR HURT

   YOU…        

   I PROMISE….

  SEE ME AS YOUR BIG BROTHER…

  SISTER…!!!”