give me some sunshine....

“give me some sunshine…”
it was a cloudy black day…I still remember,more than a week has passed and the sun was not visible because of brown-black clouds in the sky. I like monsoon but this was not resistable..can you imagine? No sunlight,only rain, rain and rain everytime…. I came near the window,pulled off the curtains and looked out. The water level was rising… I was scared. If the level will rise five feets more,water surely will enter my house too. Then? What will I do? Where will I go? I felt a bit tensed. Being a single girl,living alone always scares me. And now this new situation… its not that I have always lived alone. Some months ago,I too had a family..my mom,dad and my younger brother-sameer. I used to call him”sam”,we were a happy family. I loved sam more than my life and when his life was taken brutely by the terrorists,I was not even present at my house. Unknown by what was going at my house, I was taking training classes provided by my new employer at banglore.
I can still remember that terrible day. It was a beautiful sunny day of February,but I didn’t knew why I was feeling a bit disturbed from inside. Nothing could make my mood better. I wanted to call at my house but using cell-phones was not allowed at our training centre and also the trainees were not allowed to go out during the training period of 15 days. That day was my 13th day. I wished the other two days could pass like a blink but no! each and every moment was passing like a year and I didn’t understood why this happened?
Next morning when I opened the news paper I found the worst news of my life on the front page. Terrorist attack in patna,that too at our coloney and when I read the names of the deceased people,I was shocked. Nalin sharma,my daddy, kusum sharma,my mom and sameer sharma my young brother,all three were killed in that terrorist attack. I was stunned for sometime and then I went to the coordinator. I just cant believe on that news.
“sir” I said in a low voice.
“yes”,he kept his coffee mug on the table and looked at me.
“I want to make a call at my home..”
“no calls allowed miss..”he interrupted.
“look at this news..” I literally threw the newspaper infront of him on the table,”its urgent for me to call at my home..”, now I cried.
He just took a glance on the news and handed me the phone. My hands were trembling when I dialed the numbers.he took the phone from me.
“tell me the number” he said politely.
“943-------“
“no one is receiving the call.do you have any other number?”he asked.
“yes,993-------“
“its ringing,yes hello..talk to miss geet sharma..who are you? Sub inspector ravishankar singh,hello sir…what happened? Oh my god! Geet is their daughter……from Bangalore…ok,that’s terrible…she will be back in three days..yes I will inform her…”he hanged the telephone.
“geet…I am sorry to say..the news is correct….geet…geet”he shouted behind me as I ran toward my room.
I cried a lot,packed my things and went to see the coordinator.
“sir,I want to quit the training here only,please let me go back to my home” my eyes filled with tears as I said these words.
“look geet. Its not that I don’t understand your feelings.this is the worst thing which can ever happen to a person. But whatever has happened,now it cannot be altered. You cant get your family back. Now you are alone and there is a long life to live. If you quit this training,the company will not give you employment and then it will be a hard time for you to survive in this world. So this is my request to you that do not leave the training,in a day it will be over and you will get your posting order.company will give you fifteen to twenty days time for joining.then you can go back home……”
“ok. Alright” after thinking for some moments I nodded.
Their bodies was kept in morgue. I nearly fainted when I saw their faces.there was no one to console me. No relative from paternal side and same at maternal side too. I was very thankful to my neighbours who helped me in performing all the rituals of the funeral. And after nineteen days I joined my job at rainbow manufacturers in patna itself,my home town…where I had a home…where my parents use to live and where sam and me had spend our childhood…right from our birth..but now those happy days were gone..and now that house haunted me every time. I was difficult for me to stay there for a second also. And so as soon as I got my first salary,I rented a small house near my office. And I started my new lonely life.
I rented the house on a contract of ten months. The rent was less,so I didn’t knew that in rainy season this place will be hell. One of my collegues,who was accountant in the office advised me not to live at that place but I didn’t gave an ear to whatever he said.
“look miss sharma…”he once again tried to convince me to go back and live at my house.
“please mr.kumar, do not interfere in my personal matters…” I said rudely.i didn’t like this man. Yes he was goodlooking,young,intelligent and very helpful,caring and supportive but whenever he asks me to live at my house,he reminds me of my family and my mood gets upset. I understand this was not his fault. He didn’t knew about what had happened in my life and from where he got to know I had a house here,I don’t know this also. He wanted to be close to me but I was not in a mood to share my tragedy with him and gain his sympathy. So at times I had to be rude.
But he was right. This place was hell in monsoon. The road outside was few feet below the ground level and so whenever it rained heavily,the road just floods with dirty yellow muddy water. Even the ceiling of that house leaked every time it rained. My life was going to be miserable if I lived here. And now I had other tension,if water on the road gets inside the house,then what would I do? Where will I go? Now I understood that why my land lord was so generous renting his house to me at such cheap rate. Should I go back to my house or shouldn’t I ? this question was rotating in my mind. But I cant face an empty house alone. I remembered, my mom and sam always used to tease me-“abhi jitna aish karna hai kar lo,baad mein toh tumhe iss ghar se jaana hi hai..” but it was not me who went,it was them who went from that house and from my life…..never to return back.
I was not in a mood to go back to my house. I instead prayed god to just stop this rain and give some sunshine. But my prayers were of no use. There was no sign of sun in the black clouded sky. This house was surely going to get flooded soon….and then?? I got goosebumps. The thought of water inside house was scaring me like hell. Suddenly my cell phone rang. It was kumar that side. I was not in a mood to receive his call but I knew he was calling me to show his concern for me. I had to receive his call.
“hello” I said trying to be polite.
“miss sharma are you ok?”
“yes I am alright….what will happen to me?” suddenly I forgot my politeness.
“the rain is not going to stop,I saw the weather forecast…why don’t you just go to your….”
“please mr.kumar…” I interrupted in between.
“please geet..” he interrupted too,”try to understand the situation…living alone in that area that too in this rain is not safe…”
I remained quite.
“are you listening to me? Tell me one thing,is the water in your house?”
“not yet!”
“thanks god! Geet please, if you don’t want to go to your house,shift to some girl’s hostel,but don’t live there alone…”
“ok, I will think….”
“you don’t have much time left with you..”
“you are scaring me…”
“no I am not, I know the problem one has to face at that place…”
“how do you know that?” I asked.
“because,I have lived in that coloney for fifteen years from birth….at that house itself where you are now..”
“you used to live here?” I was shocked.
“your landlord mr.suraj kumar is my dad.”
I was silent for a moment.
“please geet,don’t live there in monsoon atleast, for three months go to some other place..”
“ok” finally I agreed.
“do you want me to see a place for you now?”
“no no,I will manage,you do not bother”
“are you sure?”
“ yes mr.kumar thanks for your concern… tomorrow morning first thing I will do is to search a hostel for me.”
“call me if you need any help”
“ya sure I will…thanks a lot”
“anytime,geet”.
So I will have to leave this place! Never thought of doing so,and that too on kumar’s advice. And from when I became “geet” for him instead of “miss sharma”? I was wondering..he was not that bad what I used to think of him.. thinking about him I slept.
My eyes opened at about 1:00 am that night by a sprinkle of water on my face. I got up on the bed. It was raining heavily outside and because of wind rain water was coming from the window. I switched on my light but there was no electricity. I pressed torch button of my cellphone and as soon as I got off my bed, I found water upto my knee,everywhere! I got scared. Somehow I managed to take a few steps to get a candle from the drawer,but suddenly I slipped and fell in the water with my cell phone. I felt so helpless that for some times I sat there and cried a lot. I was feeling so lonely. In that scarey darkness I tried to search my cellphone from the water. And I got success too,but of no use. Due to water it has gone out of service. Now I was so helpless that I couldn’t make a call to kumar…. I again started crying. Some how I got up and tried to locate the table in which candle was kept. When I reached the table,I lit up the candle and in that dim light I found that water is continuously coming in the house through the main door and through the sewage. I started packing my necessary items in an air bag inspite of the fact that in the middle of the night I had no place to go. After packing my things, I once again tried with my cellphone but now it was merely a toy,of no use at all. I was so depressed.
I remembered,kumar always wanted me to leave this house and to go back to my own,but I never listened to him before. And today when I agreed, it was too late. The rememberance of kumar made me feel like crying. I took my bag and opened the main door of the house. It was water everywhere…. The road was nearly flooded with water. My heart was pounding like anything.. I even couldn’t go out. It was a difficult situation for me. I returned back to my bedroom and got on the bed. As I was crying,thinking that there was no place to go…. Suddenly a torch light flashed on my face. I looked up,
“geet are you alright?” I heard a male voice and all tension vanished away from my mind. It was kumar.
“I told you not to live at this place but you never gave an ear to my words. I was calling you since a long time, why did you switched off your phone? I was so worried that I had to come here…. Geet, answer me,where is your cellphone?”
“ in water!” I said slowly.
“what? Ok lets not waste time and get out of here. The water level is rising and the rain is not going to stop… come on,pack your important things….” He said in a hurried voice.
“ I am already packed “
“ then come with me” he said and I took my bag.
“give this to me and bring a lock for the main door” he took the bag from me.
I locked the door and slowly moved through the water with kumar. It was really raining heavily.
“ my mobike is on the main road,I couldn’t bring it here because of water” he said.
We both were completely wet and I was shivering. It took ten minutes to reach near kumar’s motorcycle.
“so in which coloney is your home?”
“boring road”
“ok I will drop you there” he kicked his bike.
“no” I nearly shouted.
“what?” he looked at me.
“I don’t want to go there” I said.
“why? Ok sorry I wont interfere in your personal matter. Then where should I drop you?”
“ I don’t know”
“do you have any relative of friend staying here?”
“no”
“so,what do you want me to do now?” he asked. I had no answer.
“ would you mind coming with me to my home?” he asked.
“no”
“but let me tell you one thing. I am alone,my parents are out of town” he said.
“no problem”
“then come..”he started his bike and I sat behind him. He rode slowly due to heavy rainfall. After nearly half an hour, he stopped his bike.
“come” and I got in his home.
I followed him and he stopped outside a room.
“you can stay here.this is my sister’s room”
“where is she? Is she also out of town?” I asked. He remained quite for a few seconds,
“she does not live with us” he said in a low voice. The sadness in his voice touched my heart and I stood still looking at him for a while. But I didn’t asked any further question.
“ go and change,else you will get cold. I will get something hot to drink. Will you prefer tea?”
“I don’t like tea.”
“ coffee?”
“no”
“learn to say ‘yes’ sometimes. Ok get changed, then we will discuss about the drink.” He smiled. I smiled too.
After changing my clothes,I came out of the room in search of kumar.
“mr. kumar… where are you?” I said.
“ I am in kitchen,come here geet.” I stepped towards his voice. He has changed into a gray t-shirt and a black lower with white stripes on both sides. His get up reminded me of sam. He too used to wear similar clothes at home. My mind became a bit upset and I felt something inside my nose…. A sign that I can cry any moment. But I controlled my feelings.
“now tell me what would you drink?”
“I need something to eat” I said. He smiled.
“well geet! As my mom is not here from two days I am myself surviving on cornflakes and milk…so…may I cook something for you…let me search in my fridge…may be I can fix a sandwich for you..” he opened the door of fridge.
“I like cornflakes, that will do”
he kept a bowl of hot milk infront of me and the packet of cornflakes. I poured cornflakes in the milk and took a spoon.
“wont you have it?” I asked.
“no. I am not hungry and also I am bored with this cornflakes.”
“you don’t know cooking at all?”
“my mom and my sister never permitted me to get inside the kitchen. All I can do is,make tea,coffee,boil egg,milk,toast bread and cook maggi” he said.
“ ok tomorrow I will cook tastey food for you and you can learn a bit of cooking from me” I said and I was surprised by my words. Because kumar was the person I never liked before. How my thoughts towards him changed suddenly, I couldn’t understand. May be his care for me changed my view for him and I had developed a soft corner for him in my heart.
“geet?”
“ya”
“why are you not eating?”
“oh! Actually I was thinking about something else,mr.kumar.”
I started eating slowly.
“ geet do you know my full name?” he asked and I looked at him .
“yes,why?”
“call me by my name, mr.kumar sounds so formal”
“you are my senior so how can I call you by your name…?”
“cant you consider me as your friend?” he asked in a polite manner. I remained quite.
“ok,if you have any problem then its ok.no problem. Enjoy your cornflakes.” He said again.
“I don’t have any problem” I said,” I want something else to eat akshat,I am very hungry” he smiled.
“maggi?”
“ya that will do.”
I ate a bowl of maggi after finishing my cornflakes.
“still hungry?” akshat asked,smiling.
“no…actually I didn’t ate anything after breakfast today, I mean yesterday morning” I said as I looked at the clock which showed that it was 3:30am.
“why?”
“didn’t feel like cooking. And I was in tension…the rain was not stopping and I was scared and alone….” a memory of my family flashed in my eyes and now I couldn’t control myself. I started weeping.
“ geet! What happened? Please don’t cry…you are safe here… trust me!”
“ I trust you akshat and that’s why I am here. I cant go back to my house..”
“why? Please tell me geet, why you avoid talking about your family…about your house?”
“ because there is no one living there”
“your parents? Where are they?”
“there!” I pointed my finger towards the sky.
“what?”
“ in the terrorist attack…my family was killed. My parents and my brother sam…. And I was at my training….. It was last day of my training and….. I am so alone, there is no one for me…. That house haunts me like anything… I can never live there…” I was continuously weeping.
“you are not alone geet. I am with you” I looked at him in disbelief as he said this,not understanding what he meant.
“you know why I always cared for you geet? Because I like you a lot… you remind me of arunima, my sweet little sister.” His eyes filled with tears.
“where is she?” I asked, forgetting my own pain.
“I told you na, she don’t live with us…… she lives with god, there” he pointed up,”with your parents and your brother….”
“ I am so sorry akshat, how this happened? When?”
“ the same day… the same place in that same terrorist attack…. That day she went to visit her friend and……… that was the last day I saw her.” He wiped off his tears,” but when I met you, some of your activities reminded me of aru… I started caring you as my sister,inspite of the fact that you never liked me..”
“ I am so sorry for that akshat…”
“ its ok geet. Now I understand that what was the thing which attracted me towards you. That attack was the link between us… the same pain which we were suffering from months but we didn’t knew that this was the common thing between us. You can live here as long as you want and I promise I will care for for you,forever, just like I would have cared for my sister,my own sister.” His eyes filled with tears again. I hugged him and wept. He patted my back and suddenly I was relieved from all my tensions…..
“ go and have a sound sleep… I am also feeling sleepy.” He said and I returned to arunima’s bedroom.
When I got up it was already 11:15am. It was darkness everywhere. I opened the window and removed the curtain……and the room filled with yellow light. I looked out. The rain has stopped, the black clouds were gone, the sun was shining brightly and suddenly a smile bloomed on my face……I was happy and contended from my heart.

The end.

that sweety,sweet-nothings and me....

it was a sunny day of february when i first saw her.she was wearing a white salwar suit with combination of red dupatta.little droplets of sweat were on her forehead.after two months of spine chilling cold,summer was slowly entering our lives and most probably she was too hot...ooops,i mean she was feeling too hot.she was waiting for an autorickshaw outside her college.she was student of women's college.and i...did i introduced myself?? no na? okay,let me first tell you all something about me.i am akshat..akshat jha.sounding like-"bond james bond".my dad owns a sweet shop in boring road and i am a bit nikamma type so after completing my m.b.a,i didnt joined any company.i told my father that being his one and only child,how can i leave mom and him alone in patna for doing work in someone else's company?i should reside at patna and look after our sweet's shop-"sweet nothings".my mom when heard this became emotional and said to daddy-"main na kahti thi ki humara beta humein chhod kar kahin nahin jayega,akhir nau mahine maine isse apni kokh mein rakha hai,ye mere bina nahin rah sakta hai.." and she wiped off tears with her aanchal. so after resting some days at home,i started sitting at sweet nothings in two shifts a day.my first shift was from 8amto1pm and next shift was from 3pm to 7pm.in this way i get a lot of time for sleeping,net surfing and searching a good sanskari bahu for my parents.and this area when i was browsing near women's college ,i saw her and my heart said-"she is the one akki,she is the only one made for you." i was thinking and suddenly an auto came,she got in and the auto took her away from me..... i was on my mobike and i didnt wanted to lose her so i started following her auto.i was so pleased when her auto turned to boring road crossing and stopped at the police check post,just infront of sweet nothings.she took left turn and walked in the colony named shri krishna puri.i was delighted.my residence was also a colony nearby named patelnagar.but my shop was located at a better place than my house.my dad now surely needed full time rest at home.afterall he had a young,qualified son who can look after sweet nothings full day. i didnt knew her name.but she was fair,beautiful with dark brown hairs and black eyes,i named her "sweety". for one complete week i gave my daddy full rest,sat in sweet nothings and looked at nearly 1368 girls but didnt saw her once also. i was disappointed.may be she lived at some other place or maybe she came here that day to meet any relative or friend...or may be she got married?????? " no akki,stupid what the hell are you thinking?she is made for you and she is still studying,she cant get married in this early age.she is yours,think positive silly boy." my heart scolded me."bhaiya,ek pastry ka 13 rupiya kaat ker baaki madam ko de dijiye" my staff raju passed a twenty rupee note to me.i was drowned in my own thoughts.i kept that note in drawer and took out a five rupee and a two rupee coin and kept them on counter."thanks" as my ears heard a sweet voice,my eyes automaticaly looked up to see the owner of that voice and unexpectedly i gave a broad smile,yes! she was sweety!!"you are moossst welcome!" i said and she was gone in a moment.she will be mine one day and i must think positive. a couple of days after this she came with two small girls,most probably her sisters to sweet nothings.the girls were so ravenous,they ordered for samosas,pastries,patties,pizza,sweets,coldrinks and chocolates."you both are going above my budget" she whispered to the girl with spects."naina di,today's your birthday and this day doesnt come daily"she smiled.so her name was naina and today,22nd march is her birthday..."you are so cute,whats your name?" i asked the girl with spects."my name is tiny,this is my sister rini and my didi naina"thank god she didnt came with her entire family."do you go to school?""ya,i study in st.carol's in ukg and rini is in the same school in prep and naina di....she is in college..""shut up tiny.."sweety scolded her."i dont know she is in which class...naina di..tell bhaiya you are in which class?""tiny keep quiet,he is asking about you not about your full family.dont talk much you silly girl.i will tell didi....""okay,sorry!" they were gone in ten minutes and courtsey tiny i got a lot of information about my sweety.i prayed god to send tiny everyday to sweet nothings.that night i dreamed of sweety and sweety only."akki,beta utho,nau baj gaye,dukaan per nahin jaana hai kya?"my mom pulled away my blanket.9o'clock!! i was getting late.i freshed up,brushed my teeth,took bird bath and got ready in 15minutes."daddy's gone to shop today,you come with me for shopping at vishal mega mart,if you are free"mom served an aloo parantha after me and said."shopping? mom! please! go with daddy,i will go to shop,daddy and you should spend time together""hat,badmash! mom se majak karta hai. i need time to spend with my sweet son""and i want to see my sweety mom"i thought but said nothing.i sacrificed my day for my mom's shopping at vishal mega mart."ok mom,shop fast,i have got a lots of work to do today",i said."excuse me aunty"someone said and mom and me turned back.my eyed widened up with surprise."is this watch yours?"sweety was holding mom's wrist watch with her slender long fingers and i was surprised to see her pink nails that too without nail enamel.i was continously staring her.she was in green and pink suit and unlike other girls she was wearing the dupatta in a decent way.man! she was so simple,so natural and i was in love with her."thanks beta,where did you find it?""i saw it felling down from your wrist aunty"she smiled.automaticaly a smile developed on my face too."thanks beta,this is my favourite watch.akki,my son"mom looked at me,"gave it to me on my last birthday"."he is your son?"now she was looking at me.she smiled,"i have seen him in sweet nothings"."ya that is our shop,it means you live in boring road?""yes aunty""it was nice meeting you.thanks again.my son is very busy today nahin toh aaj tumse thodi der aur baat karti main.its getting late...""no mom .....akki stupid boy! why the hell did you said mom that you have got a lots of work today?"my heart scolded me and for sure i deserved this scolding."bye aunty""bye beta,chalo akki ab chalte hain,else you will be late beta." that night too i dreamt of sweety,but this time my mom was the lady villain in my sweet dream with sweety in sweet nothings. i counted in one week,i saw sweety minimum 4 times.something was better than nothing at all.i wanted to talk to her but she never came to sweet nothings.but one good thing happened,we both had started smiling at each other.it feels great but i wanted more,i mean i wanted to talk to her,to go on a date with her,to.......what? why to tell you about those censored scenes? i loved her for sure.one day i saw her at a golguppa stall.i was free that time so i started counting."..22..23...24....25....26...,my god akki! she is ravenous like her sisters,she can eat complete sweet nothings...and daddy will then surely kill you duffer to fall in love with such a petu ladki"my brain said."dont listen him akki,he is showing you the wrong way.whats in golguppa?you can eat 50...its not a big deal.agar petu hoti to mustandi hoti..."my heart favoured sweety. some months passed."akki beta i have selected a girl for you"mom said."why mom?"my heart pounded with fear,did she wanted to get me married?"for your marriage"yes she did."mom,look at me,i am just 25.i am still a kid""she is just 20,she too is a kid,lets do your baal-vivaah and get a baalika vadhu for us" dad laughed,"i was married at 22,your mom and we didnt even saw each other before marriage""but that was 27 years back...""no arguements son...ye mera antim faisla hai.you will have to marry her"dad went to his room."mom!""i cant do anything in this matter....i too like that girl.she is sweet." i cried whole night.not only my mom,my dad was also the villain in my love story and that stupid girl's parents were the main villain.next day surprisingly sweety came to sweet nothings.she ordered two pineapple and one chocolate pastry.raju packed it for her."thirty nine only" i said."you will take money from ME????" she said in shock."you are customer and you will have to pay for whatever you order" i said in sad voice.no need to smile at her when i was getting married to some stupid girl of my parents choice."CUSTOMER! OK!"she said in a loud voice and kept a fifty rupee note on my counter and turned away."excuse me mam take the change"i shouted."keep the change as your tip"she said angrily and i felt so insulted in front of raju."tu kyo hans raha hai?"i scolded him."kuch nahi bhaiya"he smirked.
"akki beta do you want to see the photograph of your bride?" mom asked generously."no thanks.i am least interested and least bothered" i said angrily. i was not engaged as engament ceremony was not under our family traditions.i directly got married in a grand marriage hall situated near my house.i till that time never saw my bride once also.i neither wanted to go for my suhaag raat as my sweety was not out of my mind and heart by that time."jao bhai ash karo"my cousins forcibly entered me in my bedroom.like bollywood movies suhaagraat scenes,my room was decorated with scented pretty flowers,my bride was sitting on my bed wearing maroon colored lahanga.i could only see her henna tattoed pretty hands,and aalta tattoed feet.she was fair but i was not excited at all.i changed into my night suit,took my pillow and no...my room doesnt had a sofa like hindi serials and films,where hero sleeps on sofa if he is not in love with his wife....so now where will i sleep?i cant go out,not at any cost,my daddy will kill me. what to do now? should i sleep on my bed?should i? or shouldn't i?"what are u thinking? i gave you tip that day,so you are angry?"she said and i jumped with joy.she was....."sweety"i said."kaun sweety?"she put her veil off and asked,yes she is sweety."you,else who?tumhi ho meri sweety,my love...""then why did you asked to pay for those pastries that day?" it seemed she wont forgive me for those fifty rupees."i didnt knew i was getting married to you.....i thought you are an ordinary customer,but i was wrong""why?""you are special customer of sweet nothings""no""kya?""i am the owner of sweet nothings...""no""why? now i am your wife""you are owner of my heart and my soul,not that mithai ki dukaan..."i sat near her...now it was time to convert all my censored dreams to reality...... the end.