Sacrifice

Sacrifice

‘Oye’ A message appeared in my Yahoo Messenger. It was my friend Anuj.
‘Ahh van..k vo?’ I replied.
‘Aja college lagcha?’ he questioned. Since it was 27th of Chaitra 2063, and the agitation was simply called for three days, we were not sure if the college would open.
‘I don’t know, but my dad was saying it won’t, they have expanded the agitation now!’
‘Really? Are you sure college will remain shut down today?’
‘I am not coordinator’s son in law man!’ I said.
‘Okay, they are not even receiving the phone, I will go anyway!’
‘Hya, even if it opens, there is going to be less number of students today, and I am not going! You don’t go as well!’ I replied.
‘No yaar, attendance sucks! They send internal marks from there! And I was already absent for such a long time earlier!’ he replied.
‘You may be shot dead!’ I said jokingly.
‘Who cares? If I die, at least I won’t have to give exams…’ he replied.
                        ***
After getting dressed up, he then moved towards school.
‘Hey, is the school open?’ An aged man asked to Anuj on the way.
‘I don’t know, maybe it is, and our school sucks! They open schools even during such strikes!’
Giving him a smile, Anuj moved towards school. On the way, he could hear various voices shouting ‘Hail Republic’, and various statements against king. He was certainly looking stupid in school uniform and bag at the back, but he didn’t care. He was enjoying the silent and unpolluted road after all. This made him walk for pretty long. The distance between his home and his school was around twenty minutes of walk.
So, he finally reached the school, simply to know that the school is shut down. Like him, there were other students who came walking, and were now returning back. Some with the confusion, regarding what to do entire day; and most with excitement thinking it a holiday. Anuj was equally excited knowing that it was holiday, but what to do was no way some specific answer. ‘Go directly to home, there is curfew beginning from next hour’, the gatekeeper said to all. Did Anuj hear that?
He therefore made up a plan to go home making a longer way, seeing what has been happening all around. He probably wished if I was there to company him, but my parents did not allow me to move out on that day. I had some bad feelings on them though. Making a longer way, he was walking when his eyes started trembling; he never had such experience before. As if someone was rubbing garlic in his eyes, he seriously was feeling uneasy.
By the time he opened his eyes, he could see peoples running all around. Anuj was excited seeing all these. Within next five minutes, his eyes felt some relaxation and he sat on the wall nearby to see what exactly was happening. There were police on one side with all their precautions, there helmet on their head, protecting thing on their hand and all in dress staying in a row. A gap of around twenty meters was there, and then another huge mass of agitated peoples with no precautions, but just with stone in their hand were there shouting:
‘Hail Republic!’
‘No king! No monarchy!’ and various other quotes.
Sooner, the agitated peoples marched their movement towards those police. Anuj was really excited seeing this. After all, he was sitting in the wall that was located back of those agitated peoples. He stood up to see the things happening time and again. Media persons were dancing here and there with their jackets on.
As the crowd marched their movement, one police lifted up his long gun and shot it in the air. Soon, the bullet got drop in street and huge gas started appearing out of it. People started running again, and his eyes could feel some uneasiness again. Later…Anuj understood that it was all because of that bullet. He then heard people shouting ‘tear gas’, and then he came to know that it was tear gas. He closed his eyes for some time, allowed the tears go away, and then opened his eyes.
Agitated peoples were now throwing stones to the police, and police were protecting themselves. A mike was warning them not to be violent, or they will not tolerate and reminded that they had authority to shot gun as well. Who would hear them? The stones were flying in the air continuously, as if the battle in Mahabharat was going on where the two sides were fighting.
Then, there was next tear gas thrown out. Anuj felt scared, so decided to return back home. As soon as he dropped down from the wall, the mass of people began running, and the police were following them. Anuj seriously had no idea regarding what to do, he was not the agitator to be beaten by police, but if he didn’t run maybe police would beat him. How would they know who were agitators and who were not? In the mean time, he got something hard in his back. Someone beat him with a huge stick, he fell down.
Still the mass was running, and Anuj woke up to run in similar way. With just few steps, he heard the sound of firing gun, and at the same time he felt like someone injecting him some injection. No it was not any injection, it was bullet in his back. He fell down there itself, no one was there to care for him. He asked for help from all around, but all the peoples were inside their home, some in their terrace watching the things happening. He heard few more round of fires, but still no one was there to help him. He probably remembered what I said in the chat then.
Within next five minutes, everything was silent, but no one ever cared for the boy in uniform falling on the street. An ambulance came running, but it was too late. He was declared dead on the vehicle itself.
                    ***
By next fifteen days, everything was in peace. Those deaths on agitation were declared ‘Martyr’. I could see my friend’s name among all of them. I went to school alone….it was late…but I could hear Principal speaking on the assembly…
‘……Anuj made his sacrifice for the country, we miss him…on this sad time where your friend, our student has been missing, and will never be present, the school administration has decided to remain shut down for next two days…and sorry to say, we cannot run class today as well..’
I returned back home, after all it was a holiday. Again logged into my Yahoo Messenger account….Anuj Sharma…I could see in sad face with grey color…I knew that would never turn out smiling yellow now…

Fearless love

Fearless love
He turns around, searching a tight sleep. Maybe this was his tenth turn, but he could not yet sleep. He completed his bottle of water that he kept aside, and it has already been more than an hour he has been trying to sleep, but he could not sleep. He looks at the clock, that displays the time 12.15. Tomorrow is not Saturday, he knew he had to wake up on time to go for his regular office, and his regular task, but he could not sleep at all!
Only, the words from Sharmila’s sister kept moving from her. It had been hours that she told him. He probably had wet eyes too…   
                        ***
Three months back,
As soon as Prabeen shifted to his new room at Sinamangal, he saw young lady from his window of his new room. This young lady was thin, beautiful and ever smiling. She used to be at her roof top and keep talking, sometimes singing and sometimes even did not mind to dance assuming no one has seen her. Prabeen used to enjoy seeing her and that had now been his daily routine.
After being back from office, he used to sit on the chair that was faced towards the next house, and used to look after her entire activities. One day, when Praveen was at his rooftop, she noticed him. Praveen could realize it, and he said nothing but smiled. She smiled in return. This smiling relation continued almost for a week till Praveen gathered the courage to ask her name…
‘Sharmila’ she said.
‘And yours?’ she asked again.
‘Prabeen!’ he replied.
There could not be any long term talk that day, and gradually every evening they used to sit on their own terrace and used to had a chit chat. It had been more than months, and that had been their routine. On the rainy evening, they used to talk with umbrellas on their head…and that was moving gradually.
Prabeen could sense that he has been falling for her, and maybe even she was falling for her. Or not, that could simply be Prabeen’s assumption which necessarily need not to be correct of course. Five minutes delay from Sharmila’s side would make him such uneasy as if he was having kind of altitude sickness. But, no matter how late it was, she used to come.
People around began noticing their regular activities. Prabeen’s landlord once even said that she was not his type of girl, and it would rather be better if he stopped talking to her, but how could he? He could not stop talking to her. Their talks kept on continuing.
One week back
Prabeen’s friend was in his room for some chit chats. Prabeen’s friend saw the girl, and immediately asked in surprise who she was. Prabeen had no word to define the relation though’, and he said she is my friend.
‘But…she…’ he could not speak firmly,
‘What?’ Prabeen asked.
‘She is a prostitute!’
‘What?? You must be wrong!’ Prabeen said is surprised!
‘Oh come on! I had sex with her, I remember her because she was the only one whom I saw not allowing without condom! I said I would pay her thousand bucks extra, but still she did not allow! She is the same girl! I swear!’
‘If that was the thing, she should have told me earlier!’ Prabeen thought, and made a determination to ask her, if it was true…’ But asking her if she was a prostitute was not an easy tasks.
‘What do you do?’ Prabeen asked.
She tried to escape from the topic making various excuses, she used to make fun of her question explaining ‘I cook, I eat….I sleep and finally I shit!’
It was getting tough for Prabeen, and yesterday evening he saw a girl similar face of that of Sharmila with her. He could clearly say that it was Sharmila’s younger sister. Sharmila introduced him to his sister later from the roof top itself, and with just ‘Hi’ she ran away.
Today morning,
It happened that Prabeen was getting out in his bike, when Sharmila’s sister was out of her gate as well.
‘Where are you going?’ Prabeen asked.
‘College!’ she said.
‘Where?’
‘Bagbazar!’
‘Come on! I will drop you, I am going to Putalisadak!’
Although she felt uneasy, she accepted a while later. On the way he then asked her,
‘What does your sister do?’
She immediately changed her face, he could depict it from the mirror of his bike, and said,
‘Why do you need? Don’t care about that!’
‘Please, can not you say it?’
‘No! Why do you need it?’
‘I love her!’
‘Shut up! Don’t even think of that! And stop the bike, I want to get out of here!’
‘But, why? Cant I love her?’
‘No! You can’t! And yes, don’t ever say that to my sister! My sister is God for me, and I cant tolerate some one playing with her emotions!’
‘But why cant I love her?’
‘I said na, you cant love her!!’
Few minutes of silence took the place, and then she started…
‘After our parents were killed by Maoists, my sister brought me to Kathmandu. She got involved in dance bars, and later she got into prostitution just for my sake, she has not studied a single class, but she earns and spends her entire amount for my education. Thinking I will have negative image if I stay with her, she sent me to hostel.. I can never pay her debt in my life…she began with tears!’
Prabeen could not say a word. At the time of departing they exchanged each other’s number and then she went to her college.
Sometimes truths are better hidden. But after knowing the truth, what could he do? That evening he could not talk properly with Sharmila. His cigarettes nearly burnt his finger.
                    ***
 Only, the words from Sharmila’s sister kept moving from her. It had been hours that she told him. He probably had wet eyes too…He had no idea what to do.
Should I marry a prostitute? What will the world call me?
Are all prostitutes bad?
Should I avoid her just because I came to know her truths?
These sort of questions kept revolving around, and his mind was entirely occupied by things similar to this, it was already 1 am, and his eyes could not even think of being closed...and in the end he pulled his cell phone from his nearby pillow, and typed:

Love does not have any boundary, after knowing her entire truths, I came to this decision. I love her more than yesterday and I will love her forever.

He sent it to her Sharmila’s sister, and finally managed to sleep. He watched the screen of his cell phone till it was delivered and then finally closed his eyes. There was a beep after sometime indicating SMS in his cell phone, but he was already asleep!
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