Hello Readers!
It's been a while since i last wrote something. As far as I remember, it was for TOI's writing competition.
Topic: Love Jihad.
Hope you guys like it. Read Along
(My day was same boring shit, study;ear;chat. repeat.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It’s late in the night, maybe
approaching the threshold of dawn. With his mournful eyes, he’s still trying to
grasp the situation. “He Allah! Why?”
The deserted road was filled with his howls .As nightlife muted out, all what
was left a limp, lifeless body”
Just a few moments ago, he was an ordinary
well civilized citizen of his nation with a steady job and a rocky yet
happening relationship. But now he is a man who is clearly eligible for being
roped in under the charges of ... Murder?
Syed Khan, a man in his late 20s with
a well built athletic body, was a renowned lawyer with a lot of dreams yet to
be achieved.
His to do list consisted of bringing
justice to those who deserve, to never unfollow his principals of Equality, to
never give in to the evils of corruption, to never give up the battle against
the forbidden temptations.
But these lists are just a
constitution which are meant to be followed but are they always followed? Can’t
the constitution be ever amended?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I am guilty of this ma’am; that is the reason
why I’m here” I said after a brief pause, “Please help me out of this, I never
wanted to be a victim of my anger and desperation...Please”.
That’s when Vrindha placed her hand
on my shoulders and said boldly “Dude, I will help you but you better stop
calling me ma’am, I’m your friend and it’s not your judgement day. Got it?” and passed me a glass of water.
Vrindha, a 27 year old Amazon with a
discerning view to life, was Syed’s fellow LLB graduate and they worked in the
same court. She could’ve graduated being Syed’s feminine counterpart, only if
she was as serious about life as him.
Finally I regained my composure and
managed an “hmm...” out of these busted pair of lungs.
“So, now tell me Mr. Khan...” she
said in an assuring tone, maybe just to get me on a lighter vein, “who all were
there? I mean were you alone when you did that?”
I just stared through here, thinking
of what to reply. What a coward I was. But sensing my state she offered,
“Whenever you like” and started reached for her brew.
“No, I was alone the moment.”
Smirking she concluded “so you are
not guilty, Tada!” she continued after watching my confused reaction, “Idiot,
if no one saw you that day, how have you actually murdered her? No one saw you...right?”
“So this is how you define justice?
Miss, I’m guilty of what I did”
“But no one saw you”
“THAT DOESN’T MEAN I AIN’T A
MURDERER”, I roared as I lost my cool there
“Okay, then tell me; did you loved
her?”
“More than myself”, which was
unfortunately true.
“Then listen here Syed, Murder
exactly isn’t a deliberate task for you. You were under the spell of
desperation and anger. You just couldn’t turn down your dark side and that’s it.
One just doesn’t kill their loved ones out of nothing. It’s not your fault
Syed... blame it on thy dogmatic religious society who pushed you into this”
Maybe she was right, I thought as I
sat down, sinking my head in my knees. I just wanted to be lost, to be
forgotten in the sands of time.
He
remembered his first meet with her in ACBistro, their common coffee spot.
She
was sitting there, Light and lithe as a fawn, adorning her blue salwar with a
matching bindi. Gosh! She looked like an incarnation of Aphrodite.
“Miss could you please vacate this seat as
it’s my spot and you know... I’m a regular here.” The
idiot me pleaded.
“You
can have other spots mister, they are vacated too!” She
replied
“Mm...
I thought I said I’m a regular.”
“You
know...I just figured out that I can’t see a board that says regulars or oldies
are the kings”
“Fine”
I muttered as I pulled a chair and sat
facing her, which surprisingly, she didn’t object.
After
a few pleasantries and introductions I made a new friend Gayatri Ramaswami, in
her late twenties,26 maybe, she was a senior software developer at PythonInc.
Beautiful and elegant by her looks, intelligent by her words and Hindu by
nature, Born in Kerala (an intriguing fact to me which clearly didn’t justified
her looks) she was raised in a Brahmin family.
He reached for the door as he heard snores.
Vrindha had already retired to bed... Gosh!! Spine chilling wind and a 20
minutes ride back to his place, he already started missing Vrindha’s cozy apartment
but decided to leave.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Burrr....” Syed shivered as he
stormed in the room quickly closing the door behind him.
“Damn that was some ride” Syed
murmured as he threw his coat on the sofa and headed towards his winter’s
besti, His small Bajaj electrical heater, a cup of hot cappuccino and a comfy
chair to sink in. But something wasn’t settling to him, his loss of guilt which
maybe Vrindha talked out of him.
“I better get something interesting
here or else I’m seriously gonna burst” Syed said to himself
Looking for a book to devour he laid
his hands on what he thought was a biography of a leader, instead he got an
autobiography of her loved one.
“If you value your sanity, don’t dare to open it”, by
Gayatri
Realising what he was holding on to,
he almost threw it away. Almost handed over his last link to his better side to
trash, but his conscience insisted on opening it, facing the truth and learn to
live with the loss.
Gayatri was a disciplined diary
writer since she was in high school. To her, it was her best friend, a friend
which proved to be a good listener of every tale she had to tell, every laments
she wanted to release, every joy she wanted to share, it was all in there. She
gifted it to Syed on his recent birthday which easily managed to outrank
several other regal gifts with ease.
First few pages were all about her
childhood fantasies, her transition from a daddy’s little girl to a sincere and
mature lady. She was raised in a lower sect of middle class families despite
being Brahmans. She completed her high school in a government school and
cracked JEE in her first attempt and chose IIT Delhi to follow her computer
passion.
Syed smiled idiotically to himself as
he passed through her memory lane and halted at
12
January’ 14
Yahoo!!!
Guess
what sis! I finally did it! I achieved my dream!
Okay,
lemme give you a hint, It’s my dream company, my dream job <3!
Yeah baby!
I landed one at PythonInc! Your sis a junior developer at PythonInc!
Awwwwyeahhhh!
But
you know what, one thing is a bit tweaky in it, it’s in Delhi.
Yeah,
yeah I know what you must be thinking. North India is holistic to Hindus. Maa
and Abba are already worried. But c’mon man! Muslim vs. Hindu, in this era? No
I don’t think so, after all its 21st century we are living in...No?
Relax
sis, I’ll be fine.
Till
then goodnight, sweet dreams, muah :*
Bye
Yours
ever
Gayatri
This made Syed remember his first
case which he undertook after years of toiling and hard work. The land
distribution case, yeah, he remembered it as it was a matter of a few moments
ago. He couldn’t forget the strange nervousness, the macabre of the court room
and the hawk eyes of that veteran judge. Neither could he erase the moment he
relished his victory after which there was no looking back.
Dragging himself back to the reality,
he continued to be unremarkably impressed as he witnessed her path to the success
ladder in her career as he sailed through the rough pages of the diary when
something caught his eye.
27
May’ 14
Hi
sis!
Don’t
ask about my day full of stress, deadlines, squashed up stress balls, angry
boss .Sounds like another day’s good work...No?
NO, to
add salt to this wound, I met an irritating guy. Okay, he was cute, so what?
His name is Syed.
Don’t
get started on “he-is-a-Muslim” thing!
He is
a straight guy, and a human with the guts to speak up to me, I think he
qualifies as a friend, doesn’t he?
When a
guy could fight with a tomboy like me over ‘A simple chair’, I think it’s a
point to ponder on who’s gonna take it to the next step!
Gotta
go now,
Bye
love you ;)
Yours
ever
Gayatri
P.S:
It hope it’s him who takes it to the next level ;)
Syed couldn’t help blushing as he
continued reading about how handsome he looks ,what a mature person he his, and
on and on... Then as he treaded along in the dreamland, their came the
confession,
19
August’ 14
Hi
sis!
Okay...
before you say you don’t wanna hear the whole “Syed is awesome” thing, I had a
confession. I love him.
It’s
almost 4 months now, we’ve been dating and I can, with no regrets, conclude
that these were the best 4 months of my life. Be it the movie theatre screening
some old drama or a casual dinner/coffee date, everything is fun with him. The
way his hands send electricity right to my spine, the way he wins me over
whenever I’m mad at him, the way he treats me like a proper lady, who could not
fall for that sweet sexy gentleman?
But he
says we could never make it together...
He says
Hindu and Muslim, in a relationship? These two phrases no longer make sense to
a sane society fellow. He fears that we may fall under the crosshairs of this
communal cold war.
Is it
that bad to express love while being fastened by these ropes of infringement?
I
mean, just look at Maa and abbu. Maa is a Christian, abbu is Hindu. They are
living a happy life without giving a damn about society. Why can’t we. WHY??
I better get going now, might be boring you.
Goodnight
Yours
ever
Gayatri
Syed stared
through the coarse pages as he recalled what the whole issue was. Obviously,
it’s THE society and its mentality, he thought first.
But was it
him?
His friends,
his relatives, his parents or anyone who happened to cross paths with him
happened to bless him with a stunning; as in beauty, sansakari; as in values, spiritual; as
in faith and a stark follower of their Allah.
Blame it on the destiny or blame it
on the luck, Gayatri was up to the mark for all the S’s but the most important
one. She was a Hindu.
Syed and Gayatri didn't mean to fall in
love. But love happens when you least expect it. It creeps up suddenly. When
someone needs attention, care, conversation, laughter and maybe even intimacy.
Love doesn't look at logic, or at backgrounds and least of all, religion.
Gayatri was from a very conservative South Indian family that went to a temple every Saturday. Syed bought goats for his family every Eid. That said it all. Their paths would never have crossed if it hadn't been for that fateful day. That day when he walked into the coffee shop. Gayatri wondered if destiny chose our loved ones for us. Did we have any role to play at all?
She looked at her watch. Their conversation lasted for hours. Sometimes at the cafe, sometimes in his car, sometimes in places that she could never tell her friends about. They would never understand. And yet Syed made her happy.
Suddenly her phone beeped. He had sent a message. "On my way. Have something important to tell you."
Gayatri stared at it and realised she had knots in her stomach. Thoughts flooded her mind. What did he want to tell her? And At this time?
Gayatri was from a very conservative South Indian family that went to a temple every Saturday. Syed bought goats for his family every Eid. That said it all. Their paths would never have crossed if it hadn't been for that fateful day. That day when he walked into the coffee shop. Gayatri wondered if destiny chose our loved ones for us. Did we have any role to play at all?
She looked at her watch. Their conversation lasted for hours. Sometimes at the cafe, sometimes in his car, sometimes in places that she could never tell her friends about. They would never understand. And yet Syed made her happy.
Suddenly her phone beeped. He had sent a message. "On my way. Have something important to tell you."
Gayatri stared at it and realised she had knots in her stomach. Thoughts flooded her mind. What did he want to tell her? And At this time?
She thought as she glared at the clock
striking 11:30 of a not-so-tranquil Delhi night.
15 minutes on, blazing horns could be
heard from her Veranda in her modest yet spacious flat in Azadpur,
“The cheaper, the
better”
She was wearing a blue dress with
matching heels, Syed’s favourite.
“Hop in, let’s go to our spot. Gotta
have a word with you in private” hurried Syed.
Rather startled by his commanding
demeanour, she rode the shotgun after placing a quick peck on Syed’s lips.
As they reached their secluded spot,
the construction site, which was abandoned a long time ago due to property,
disputes.
Gayatri was suffering with a 50:50
dilemma, of ‘He loves me’, ’He loves me not’; probably the next most
mindboggling mental dispute for a girl after her wardrobe collections. She
waited for a hint.
“Ahhh...so I wanted to say that...”,
started Syed only to stop a gazillions times.
“You know...”
“Yeah I know...” prompted Gayatri.
C’mon dude just say it!! She mentally pleaded.
“Ahhh...yeah...”
With Syed faltering more than India’s
erratic rural power supply, she lost her patience,
“If you are gonna propose me, just
kneel first. I need time to look surprised.” Gayatri concluded with a smile.
“I want to you to abandon your
religion, follow Islam. I promise you Gayatri, I will treat you like my queen.
Your words will be order to me. Just please, please do this for me and I
promise you will be the happiest woman alive.”
Realising that her latter 50 was the
matter, she calmly replied, “No, it ain’t gonna happen.
“You know Mr. Khan. I never expected
you to speak this bullshit, but thanks for showing your real side and throwing
your mask you conversion freak!”
screamed Gayatri.
“But please...”
It was too late, she took her bold
composure and before walking away she uttered the last phrase of her life “A
happy woman is a myth. A reality far from reach for people like you Mr. Khan.”
That’s when Syed gave up the war
against his anger, comprising maturity and let the rage take over. He picked up
a nearby brick and hurled it towards her, which unfortunately connected.
Tears
rolled down his cheeks as he passed through the blank, incomplete pages of her
diary which could have been filled with her memories only if he hadn’t snatched
her opportunity and made her another martyr to Love Jihad.
But
sitting there and lamenting over the loss, it wasn’t the way Syed designed by
the almighty. He thought about his redemption as he stared into the horizon,
the first ray of a promising sunlight touched him, motivating him to take his
stand and adopt the worthy quotes.
“You can’t blame the
fates for your circumstances but you can learn from your circumstances, after
all mistakes are meant to be learnt from .”
3
Year later
BREAKING NEWS: “Glory for Syed Khan as he
completes his 25th successful defence for a potential victim of
prevalent Love jihad.”
“Syed quotes: LOVE SHOULD BE A WEAPON
TO ERADICATE EVIL FROM RELATIONSHIP...NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND”
--------------------------Turn to page 4
for full interview-------------------------
(PS: It didn't reach the top 10.. still, i'm kinda proud of this piece xD)
Signing off..
Uddeshya
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