“You were never out of my life Amaay but you need to understand at least now that you have to live many lives in one life and for this you need to take decisions within time frame” She said in a very calm tone and continued “We are all like the ethereal azure sky. It has no existence but it exists. Sometimes it is shadowed by the clouds and sometimes it is shiny blue. Few years back we had no existence and few years hence, we will have no existence, but we exist. Memories do exist and with memories we, our emotions and our relationships exist. The memories are sometimes shadowed by the clouds and sometimes they are clear and we continue to exist in stories which are sometimes told and sometimes remembered in perfect solitude”. I kept on listening to her completely mesmerised.
The gravest problem with curiosity does not lie in the information that one gathers but it actually lies in processing that information with an opinionated perception. All these years I had my opinion about Nisha as an immature and impulsive woman. All my perception shattered within flash of a second.
“Your husband and your baby didn’t come with you?” I asked just to change the topic as I had started feeling somewhat guilty.
“Hmm” she sensed my feeling and allowed me the space I needed badly at that moment.
“How are they?”
“They can’t be any better!”
The entire gang knew about our relationship and so they had left us alone.
“I have heard that you had an accident sometime back?”
“Yes. It was a car accident.”
“Hope you didn’t get hurt much.”
“How is your job doing?” She changed the topic.
“That is going great and I got three promotions in two years.”
“Nisha, why don’t you come over to my place with your husband and baby on some weekend? We will have a great time together.”
I learnt another lesson which is going to be with me for my entire lifetime and that is, not to form any opinion about anybody or anything.
I was dragging my body inside the aircraft. I don’t remember how and when I completed the formalities of boarding. I was awake but I was not. I was in some trance which I was not able to understand. The aircraft was taxiing now but I was still in the bar, standing numb and my ears resonating constantly -
“Your husband and your baby didn’t come with you?” I asked just to change the topic as I had started feeling somewhat guilty.
“Hmm” she sensed my feeling and allowed me the space I needed badly at that moment.
“How are they?”
“They can’t be any better!”
The entire gang knew about our relationship and so they had left us alone.
“I have heard that you had an accident sometime back?”
“Yes. It was a car accident.”
“Hope you didn’t get hurt much.”
“How is your job doing?” She changed the topic.
“That is going great and I got three promotions in two years.”
“Nisha, why don’t you come over to my place with your husband and baby on some weekend? We will have a great time together.”
I learnt another lesson which is going to be with me for my entire lifetime and that is, not to form any opinion about anybody or anything.
I was dragging my body inside the aircraft. I don’t remember how and when I completed the formalities of boarding. I was awake but I was not. I was in some trance which I was not able to understand. The aircraft was taxiing now but I was still in the bar, standing numb and my ears resonating constantly -
“That accident!” after a deep pause she continued “My husband and my baby” and with a sight she concluded “I lit their pyre…….”
I had my earphone plugged in and I could listen to the song, as if it were coming from some far away….
People, all around
You stand alone….. !
Feeling, life around
You stand alone…. !
Un hun … hmm .. hun un
Sha ka la ka
Come along live us together
Till we breathe, till we are live
Come on
Egos! on the shelf
“I” ness shredded around
Come on! Live! Till we are live
Humans! we are
Let us realize ………. !
Un hun … hmm .. hun un
Utpal Kant Mishra
Mumbai
P.S. This write is linked to Half Marathon 2016 by Blog Chatter. This write is a work of Fiction and this part is the ending part of this short story. Day 14 #DailyChatter
