Repercussions

The elderly figure dressed in black ambled to his chair, as the whole room rose to honor him. The quiet resumed, and the man at the head of the hall began, “The jury has decided on a sentence for Rick Jordan. For his repeated and relentlessly cruel crimes of harming children and subjecting them to abuse, the court agrees with the jury that the accused is guilty.”

The people broke into hushed whispers, as Rick glared at the Judge, his eyes revealing nothing, just throwing silent daggers, at the man in black, who went on.

“The jury wished to allow the accused another chance at life, provided that he live in solitude, dying a bit everyday in a prison cell. The court does not deem that as punishment fit for a man who has committed such devious crimes, and has performed such inhumane acts. The court has decided to invoke the death penalty.”

The whispers returned, but only in the distance. Rick stood there, motionless, his eyes glassy; the lights of the chamber dimmed, and it was as though he was the only one present in the room. Like he was alone, just like that day; there was no one to comfort him, to wipe his tears, to feel his pain, to make him feel alright, again. Nobody to stop the blood, or to clean the gore, to lift him up, and to say that life would be fine again- nobody.

The gloom of that day returned, but the pain didn’t. He was satisfied, with himself, with life; it was as though he had obtained the revenge he had started out for; as though he was at the top of the world.

The darkness peeled as Rick walked down the lane. Whistling into the dark night, he walked into the drive of the last house. This was where the warden lived, the man who took care of him, and of the whole orphanage, where he had been for as long as he remembered. This was home for him, and the other children and the warden were all he had for family.

Getting to have dinner with the warden meant he was special, and it really did seem special, especially as the warden had called him alone, and that too for the first time in the 8 years he had been here. He would now look down at his friends, and with that thought, he raised his head higher, and his step took a new lift.

He slowly opened the gate, and walked towards the welcoming white door. A delicious aroma wafted from the open window, and he could see the warden walking around the kitchen busily. The haughtiness still in his stride, he knocked on the door, and waited for it to open. Seeing Rick, the warden’s smile widened, and he ushered the small boy inside, into the waiting chair, warm and cozy in the cool weather outside.

“Hello Sir, thank you for inviting me over.”

“It’s my pleasure Rick, which you shall realize as the evening proceeds. Can I tempt you to a cookie as the steak cooks? I’m a late eater, so I cook late, hope you won’t mind that?”

“I would love that Mr. Warden.”

“How do you like your steak, Rick?”

“I haven’t tasted it ever, so I don’t know. Maybe I could tell you after I have it.”

“Well, the trustees of The Home don’t provide that much for me to cook you all steak every day. Well, that’s why I call some of you over for a meal, some special ones.”

“Thank you Mr. Warden.”

“Oh wait, I forgot to get you that cookie. And how would you like some orange juice to go with it?”

“That would be just so awesome Mr. Warden.”

“I’ll just be back with the cookie and your juice, my child. I’ll also check up on the steak.”

As the warden walked back into the kitchen, his eyes twinkling with an emotion Rick did not know yet, a weird smell rose and tickled him in the nose. Following it with his senses, Rick got up from the confines of the soft chair and trudged towards the closed door, his eyes taking in everything between the chair and the door. Hearing the warden come back, he ran back to the chair, and sat down, impatient for him to leave him alone again.

Munching the cookie, Rick looked around and waited for the warden to leave him again, so that he could get back to exploring the closed door. As he bit more into the biscuit, he felt a strange heaviness in his eyelids and a new lightness in his body. He wished to just let go, and fall to the ground; to just close his eyes, and wander into the expanses of his dreams. The last thing he remembered seeing was the warden sneering evilly. When his eyes opened, there was just the excruciating pain, and he hoped that it would be the last sensation he felt in his life, he just wanted it to end. His eyes picked the surroundings, and he realized that he was in the closed room. With the realization, the darkness returned, and he lost consciousness. Again.

The sound of the gavel brought him back to the present, chamber as the uniformed men raced forward from all four corners of the chamber and surrounded him. He stood firm, the lines of his face shining in the light; his eyes, unblinking, taking in everything from the surroundings; his jaw set hard lined to resemble a smirk. As his captors reached him, he allowed them to cuff him, and with a mild smile, he began walking, as cool, and cold, as the South Pole. Marching to the awaiting van, he raised a hand to the throng, which broke away with shrieks and swears, and some of them shivered, and a chill went down their spine. The car drove away, as the people walked off, still discussing the cruelty and barbarity of the sentenced man.

The sharp steps reverberated through the corridor, and the light of the torch pierced a beam through the darkness. Bars clanged, and within moments, the shadows returned to haunt the long room, but the silence did not.

“The night is dark, and full of terrors; we do mistakes, but we make errors,” he murmured to himself, again and again, pronouncing every syllable with increasing energy.

Shouts rose from the neighboring cells, overflowing with anger and abuses, as he let the quiet refurbish the place. There was no way out from here; there was nowhere to go, no place to hide; there was no quiet, no peace; only disturbances, of life, of nature. He was stuck.

Reminiscence

Standing at the window,

I gaze, I look around,

Lots of activity going on,

Combination of movement and sound.

Children playing,

And women chattering,

All that together,

It resembles a good fun gathering.

There return those days,

The ones I had gone through,

The moments I’d spent on the field,

As the years passed and I grew.

Cricket through the year,

Football only in the monsoons,

The days were pretty boring,

Spent watching Shinchan and other cartoons.

Playing was easy,

But winning wasn’t,

Seeing children play today,

Even slightly changed that hasn’t.

Height problems talked about,

Also trial ball said on getting out,

Not so sincere with the rules,

Players get into a severe bout.

Cheating on run outs,

Is not an uncommon event,

The batsman never walks off,

Unless with some words he’s sent.

Sledging on the field,

It’s a prominent occurrence,

You can’t walk away from that,

It holds certain importance.

Football is another matter,

Which needs other judging,

It’s a pretty tiring game, Which

Can’t be played without strong nudging.

A push in the back,

Or a tug on the shirt,

A kick to the shin is occasional,

To make the opponent kiss the dirt.

That’s what I see,

Standing at the open window,

Rather it’s the time I had,

When I was a little kiddo.

Those wooden bats,

And those rubber balls,

Girls may not have done this,

‘Cause they enjoy playing with dolls.

Breaking windows,

And denting cars alike,

It’s not our fault,

We didn’t make the number of cars hike.

There’s no space today,

Not for us to play,

Cars and concrete all around,

And “Kids don’t play” they say.

Is it our fault,

Is it our mistake,

We wish to play openly,

And space is all it takes.

Don’t talk about grounds,

They’re too far,

Why not have place in the building,

And make another place for the car.

I don’t know where I’ve ended,

But it’s not a plea,

You can also call it a rant,

And by now it’s my time to flee.

Here rings my phone,

And I’m off to enjoy the day,

Keep all the cars in the middle,

But we’ll still manage to play.

Unconditional Love

The moon shone white in the blanket of utter darkness as Saket smoked on the open terrace. Blowing smoke into the chilly night, he held the railing and looked down at the black ground below him, and then at the starry sky. Sighing heavily, he turned and put his weight on the railing. Taking a drag in, he ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

“This can’t be happening,” he thought. “She has to go, but not this soon! Not like this! This just isn’t fair.”

As he waited for her, Seema, to come up to meet him, he stood still, stationary in position as well as thought, just wondering about what was going to take place the next day. The knock on the terrace door came and wrenched him out of his engrossed thoughts, and her cheery voice greeted him.

“Hey bhai, you called me up? And what are you doing here in the cold, get inside or you will freeze.”

“I just wanted to talk to you sissy. Wanted to be with you for a bit before you go…”

With this, Saket turned and rubbed his face clean of moisture.

“We could have done this inside as well, couldn’t we? And have you been smoking again?”

“Just a single one to beat the cold, and inside this couldn’t happen. The bride has been the busiest and most wanted person in the house for quite some time now, so someone would steal her away before I could say a word to her.”

“Brrr…it’s so cold Saket, tell what you have to fast, then I have to sleep. I don’t wanna look weary on the day of my wedding!”

“Go Seema, its fine. We’ll talk later.”

Saying this, Saket started walking away to the other end of the open stretch of roof. Sitting on the parapet, he took out another cigarette from the packet and lit it. Relishing the smoke, he looked down, and beat his leg to an imaginary beat. From behind, Seema walked up and sat beside him.

“What happened bhai? You don’t seem to be yourself right now,” she said to her little brother, who was a couple of years younger than her.

“It’s nothing Seema, i’ll be fine. You go and sleep or you won’t look good tomorrow.”

“And what about you? If you don’t sleep then you’ll be lousy the whole day, fighting and shouting on anyone and everyone.”

“i’ll not let that happen, at least tomorrow.”

“Tell what happened, and you can take your time. I’m not going anywhere till you tell me, and the more time you take, the more tired i’ll look tomorrow.”

“Blackmailer. Can’t you ever do something better?”

“That always works on you chotu, so start off.”

“I was feeling lonely and left out.”

“Where’s Sonal? You both had a fight,” asked Seema. She was talking about Saket’s girlfriend, who Saket had been dating for 3 years.

“No, she’s fine, and it’s not her. It’s you. I can’t bear that you’re going away from me and from mom dad as well. Never had thought I’d say it, but yes, I miss you Seema di.”

Putting her hands around her brother, Seema hugged Saket and said, “I’m just a kilometer away stupid, come anytime there dear. And you have known Aniket since childhood, so it’s perfectly fine.”

“That’s different, why don’t you understand? It’s not the same for me! The way we sat the nights, talking about no topic and mom had to make us sleep, you remember that? Now who will give me company when I’m in my pensive moods? Who will entice me away with the stuff you used to do? Who will care for me like you did when I was little? The way you used to hug me and hold me tight when I woke up from a bad dream? The gentle touches you gave on my skin and dabbed me to sleep when I was in fear and when mom couldn’t achieve the feat of making me sleep? Will you come and do it- no! I couldn’t allow you even if you wanted to!”

“Selfish brother of min, that’s only why you’ll miss me?”

“There’s a reason i’ll not miss you for as well. Without you, I can raid the fridge in the nights and now I won’t have to share as well. But yes, that won’t be fun. It was the hushed up talks of our mission plan and the silent tread from the room to the kitchen which was the best, and the covering up in the mornings. But the flipside is that I’ll be the known culprit from now on.

“The fights we had when we were little, and I cut your hair once while you were sleeping. Ohh, I still remember how I and dad had laughed while you and mom looked on in fury. I had stayed awake the next 2 nights, in the fear that you would do the same to my hair, but thankfully, you never did.

“The walks we had in the park, and how you taught me the bicycle, running behind for miles. Then those chocolates we devoured from your pocket money- and you always gave me the bigger piece. Now will anyone else ever be able to give me those special moments and memories?”

The pair sniffled together, and Saket went on, “I always used to tease you that come let’s find a guy for you and get you married. Then I’ll have peace and serenity in life. But now, I have realized that peace lay in being with you. And as you go, I can’t thank you enough.”

“You have grown big, a bit too much Saket. I hadn’t imagined you like this. For me, you were always the kid in the shorts, grumbling and whining and playing and enjoying. The baby I loved, and always will. But now, the baby has evolved into a big man…a really big man…mom would be so happy if she heard you say all this,” Seema said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Can I get a hug di? I’m going to miss you so much…”

“Me too bhai…”

“Can’t you stay some more? Wish I had some more time to thank you for all you’ve done.”

“I’ll push down from here if you say that, get it?”

“That would be worth, at least you’d have to stay here till I became all right again. Wish I’d understood all of this sometime back; then maybe we would have had a better time.”

“You really are selfish planning to destroy your sister’s wedding that to a night before it. I hate you bro,” she said with a laugh.

“Now go and sleep dear. We don’t want your face weary tomorrow. You now will become the best wife in the universe, and as you already are the best sister, that won’t be tough.”

“You are so sweet Saket. Now I’m going. You sleep as well.”

“Good night sissy, now give me my last night hug and go cheater!”

“Ha-ha, you never will forget that, eh? Good night bhai, sleep fast, sleep well. Love you bhai.”

Saying this, Seema got down from the parapet and headed to the door.

“I love you didi, good night, sleep well.”

“Good night bacha,” was all Seema replied as she wiped the tears going down her cheeks and walked down the stairs to her room.

Walking towards his own room and stationing himself in his arm chair, Saket picked up a book to read with his blurred eyes, moist and wet, till he dozed off with the book in his hand, and the lights still turned on.

Half an hour later, Seema walked in, shut off the lights, and covered Saket with the blanket. She whispered in his ear with a watery voice, “You didn’t know about this to tell me tonight, and this is my little secret which I’ll preserve.”

Opening his eyes slowly, Saket replied, “I always knew about it, and I have been awake most of the times when you check on me. I never told you ‘cause it just felt so good. Now go and sleep, I can as well, now…”

Seema hugged her brother, as a stream went down both their cheeks. They just smiled.

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Friends may go away,

And so may your life partner,

But she never budges from your side,

Does your soul sister.