It was a dark night illuminated by only some streetlights. I was helping my friend move into a new apartment in Noida sector 62 whole evening and now it was around midnight. He asked me to stay for the night but it was my office time as I usually follow the nocturnal schedule. Usually the autos to 12-22 chauraha can be easily found in daytime but very few of them do the night duty.
After half an hour of wait I frantically started asking for lift from practically anything moving on the road. A chota hathi came to my rescue. I sat next to the driver. He was very much about my age, color and height. He had a little less fat accumulation than me and was smoking a bidi. His face was heavily scarred as if he had failed miserably every time he went on to shave. I was busy analyzing his anatomy when he said, "Its not safe to ask for lift at such ungodly hour". "I am not a girl to be worried about", I was quick to reply. He was unreadable from his expressions as there weren't any. In a swift manoeuvre by his left hand he took out a gun and punched it on my chest. "Now ask your heart what are you?" My mind couldn't assess the situation but my ass went numb. My heart was racing faster than Lewis hamilton. I couldn't frame any sentence. He was all calm and cool but the gun was still there. I tried to put my guns-are-so-common-for-me facade. "Why do you keep a gun ?" I stammered. "When someone shoots you , you have to shoot them back". Suddenly I felt someone had turned on AC in Tata Ace. I was struggling hard to maintain still with gun still there. " This is the rule of streets sirji. Survival of the fittest." I wanted to ask whether he had read Darwin's theory or he just implied,but I kept quiet. "We make a lot of enemies and anybody can prove to be fatal." He went on to explain how he came from Bihar to find a job and got involved in a brawl which made him the man he is today. He had lost an eye in that incident and in turn earned many friends and foes. The gun was still there, all black and shining. At such a close range even the perfect matrix move couldn't have saved me. It would take just some nanoseconds for the bullet to pierce through my skin and crush any of my vena cavas. And just then I saw the most beautiful place on the planet, The 12-22 chauraha some 100 meters ahead. I asked him to stop there and thankfully he obliged. He removed the gun and it felt as if the mammoth on my chest went for a stroll. After bidding farewell when I started walking he called me and first time I saw his glittering stone eye, all black and lifeless. Pointing the gun to his dummy eye he said "Goli nahi maarege saale ko, keh ke lenge uski!"
Story of Sajal Sarkar written by Martin.
Story of Sajal Sarkar written by Martin.
Me : Not a girl I am!
ReplyDelete[Gun]
X : Ask your heart what you are!
[Heart : dhakdhak dhakdhak dhakdhak]
M@rtin,
ReplyDeleteYou wrote excellent, really amazing!
I became fan of your pen man!
Thank u :)
ReplyDeleteIt was for u. I m glad u liked it.
Cool.... u got some writalent..... ;p
ReplyDelete