He studied her as if she was a work of art. No words to explain her beauty. There was complete pin drop silence for a moment.
“Do you have any girlfriend?” she asked him suddenly but his mind seems to be pre-occupied in his own thoughts.
"Raj" she hushed a bit loudly second time. This brought him back to the reality."Huh?" he reacted, as he regained his composure.
She just smiled at him and said, "You must be thinking of something."
“No…Nothing, what you ask?” Raj said looking into her eyes again. He just loved to do that.
“Do you have any girlfriend?” she repeated her question.
“No…no girlfriend,” he answered with a smile. He hadn’t smile so much in single day ever before.
“Your…boyfriend?” this time Raj put the ball in her court, albeit with some nervousness. In a way, he was too enjoying every bit of tension. “What you think?” she teased him.
“How I know?” Raj blushed visibly.
She did not answer at once. Her dark hair spilled out on the sides of her face. She paused for a moment and sighed. Fiddling with her little finger ring, she looked at the ceiling and tugged the hair into a tiny ponytail. And then the response came.
“Well…I don’t believe in this ‘boyfriend-girlfriend’ thing, so I don’t require one,” she explained her reason with the answer.
“Hmmm…common excuse,” he shrugged his shoulders with a leg-pulling smirk on face.
She laughed loudly throwing her head back to the pillows. She pulled the quilt closer to her body. In between, light drizzling began. Within few moments, raindrops got heavier. Both could hear the music of raindrops falling outside. “I just love rain, feeling like dancing right here, right now,” she giggled with a note of happiness he could hear in her voice, “I can sense the music of rain, drops falling on leaves, beautiful clouds in sky,” she continued spreading her arms with closed eyes.
“Do you like rain?” she asked again, probably reminding herself that there is another person too was sitting in the room.
“Yes...Me too,” he replied.
“Let’s play a game,” the next moment she came down from the bed and sat on his mat. For Raj, it was totally unexpected move from her. “You’re joking, right?” he blinked his long lashes.
“Of course not,” she was enjoying his stunned face ex-pressions.
“Not this time,” he ineffectively negated the idea.
“Playing a game in the mid of night in a cold January night, isn’t it cool?” she resisted.“What game?” he asked.
“Let’s focus into each-other’s eyes and see who blinks first?” she said enthusiastically.
“Okay,” he readily agreed. How could he loose the chance of looking in those beautiful emerald eyes! They were full of innocence and depth. His heart missed a beat when she came closer.
Both sat face-to-face first time. Raj didn’t know exactly what ex-pression he should have on his face: joy, surprise, innocence, love….????????
Eyes met…with butterflies in stomach…. he just tried to hide his feeling.
Her eyes were so deep, like a blue ocean. Dreams were coming true one by one.
Raj couldn’t have asked for more. There is only a limit to which one can resist the ultimate pleasure.
She was smiling sweetly and amazingly focused at the same time. Her smile had the power to make him fall in love, not only with her, but with life too. He wanted this to go on forever. If possible, he’d love to gather all the moments in his hands forever.
Moments then passed away in silent contemplations. Raj couldn’t sustain the focus and blinked his eyes.
“I won…I won…I won,” she stood up and began celebrating her small insignificant win making funny faces towards him. It was her turn to blink now. The deep sound was weaving its spell around him.
Raj saw the real happiness first time, the strong effect of pure bliss in simple and small things.
“Switch off the light, its too late,” she said with sudden seriousness on her face and moved back to her bed. He follwoed her words.
Lights were switched off and darkness was singing its own sound of silence.
Raj buried his head in the pillow and tried to make some meaning out of this song of silence.
As the golden rays of sun kissed the first part of the earth in the morning, the street was abuzz with ambulance and police sirens. Policemen in their neat khaki dresses thronged the first floor balcony of the house no. 21/A1, Kamla Park, Pune, while a larger crowd stood down braving the drop in temperature. The crowd’s whispers were no different: “When did it happen?” “Who did it?” “Who was the guy?” “What he used to do?” “Jamana bhut kharab hai!”
The mutilated body (or, say parts) of the guy was lay in the ambulance by the hospital ward-boys on a stretcher covered under a pure white cloth.
With deep wounds on the back and ribs, face had been battered beyond recognition. It seemed that the eyes had been gouged out after he died of nonstop brutal attacks on his body.
“Ye pichle ek maheene me saatnwa dil hila dene wala murder hai, or Police poori tarah se apradhi ko pakadne me nakamyab rahi hai...laash itni buri tarah se bigad di agyee hai ki post-mortem ki bhi jaroorat nahi padne wali, Police aakhir kab tak soti rahegi…kab tak masoom logon ki jaane ek bimar dimag wale serial killer ke hatthon jati rahengi…Police department ko iska jawab dena hi padega,”
(It is the seventh shocking brutal murder in past one month, and police is totally failed in bringing the culprits to book, murders are happening with such brutality that it even doesn’t require any postmortem anymore, how long police would continue to be ineffective, how many more innocent lives would be lost because of a sick-minded serial killer on prowl, Police department have to answer this!)
Mrinal Kapoor, Daily News, Aaj Tak,Pune
Two beautiful (?) prying eyes, standing alone in a street corner behind the crowd were watching the entire thing. The eyes were shining with fingers clinched into each-others snugly. Eyes were smiling more than the lips.
…………..
Today night…
The clock struck 11:30 pm. A guy is standing near the JM Road, waiting for the bus. Suddenly he hears a sugary voice.
“Excuse me…Helloooo...can we...,” she called him with a juicy smile on her lips.
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