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.