Yesterday, at the store, when we were talking about our life’s best and worst moments, Yashwant had asked, “So tell me Vinay, what is the best moment that you’ve experienced since you were a boy?” I was quiet then, trying to remember one of those good moments spent with family, friends and… Inara. I let out a deep breath. “I’m not sure about the best, but, I definitely remember the worst one and I reckon you do too, don’t you?” I responded softly.
He sighed. He had expected me to forget everything, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t accept the fact that she had disappeared without a trace, vanished into thin air.
If he had asked the same question today, I would have been more than happy to tell him that, the best moment was when she returned to me almost two years later, this morning. I was still, stupefied by the mirage. That was the most unexpected thing that could ever happen. We looked at each other. In her eyes, I saw, a broken little girl. She flung her arms around my neck.
“Vinay!” Her body heaved with sobs.
“Hush,” I pressed a kiss to her brow. “I’m here, we’re here. Everything will be well.”
The worst part was that, she was hurt, in and out. Two years of separation and her eyes had lost all the shine, her lips were dry and blood was oozing out of the corner of her mouth. I took her in and we sat there, for until what seemed to be the end of time, crying, looking in each other’s eyes before I cleaned her. It was then that I noticed the scars all over her body. Blood percolating through many bruises. When I asked her about all those months, she remained quiet.
I was worried about the scars that had pinned in her soul; the scars that would haunt her forever; more than the ones on the surface. She had these brief periods of silence before breaking down, throughout the day. She kept the curtains closed as if the sun reminded her of the suffering from the previous years, but I guess it is the light that she loathed.
After all these months, nothing was better than being with her. In the evening, when the sun had descended into the vast ocean, she sat by the window. I came out of the kitchen and poised myself in front of her, the crimson red of the sky reflected in her eyes and the smile had the hope of a new beginning. It beheld the complexity of life and death. Looking at her was like staring into a still sea and experiencing the chaos underneath.
I turned on the Saregama Caravan and tuned into one of our favorite Rishi Kapoor’s song, ‘Tu, tu hai vahi’. This was one of her favorite songs. We would dance through the day and into the night on her selection of nineties songs. I mimicked Rishi Kapoor’s moves and expressions as her smile grew wider. She joined in and we danced on the beats. As the song proceeded, she had started enjoying and her smile had changed to a hearty laughter as I whistled to the tune. By the end of the song, our heartbeats were elevated and we were experiencing one of the best moments of our life! I smiled as I remembered Yashwant’s question and pulled her into a hug as the song ended.
“Thank you Vinay, for being here with me, after all this time,” she said. I held her tighter and we stayed for a while. Many replies are better felt than heard.
She felt better by the night and I didn’t want to disrupt her joy of being back home, by talking about the past so I let it be. She was free from whatever had held her all these years. We had a lot of time; all the time to talk, to heal, to recover; all the time to start over.
This would’ve been the quietest I have ever been if not my eyes had spoken a million words to her. We lay there, in each other’s arms. After all the cold nights, for the first time, she might have felt the warmth of a bed as she sighed before closing her eyes.
I might have stared at her for a life time before going to sleep.
Something woke me up in the dead of night. I looked at her, the moon glittered her in silver. The clock struck two as I drank from the glass of water from the side table. Just as I was about to get back to my slumber, keys jingled from the hall. I waited for another sound before moving a single muscle. Another soft rubbing of cloth and I was sure, someone had broken in. It wasn’t normal for a person to break-in at a place like Kharghar, but you never know the odds. I walked towards the hall, peeking through the corridor only to find it deserted. A wind blew and the curtains ruffled. I checked the door, which was locked. I went towards the window and shut it and before I could turn, a hand wound around my throat, choking me and another cloth on my mouth, refraining me from breathing. I struggled to free myself but the scent on the cloth had clogged my vision. I was losing control on my senses. The grip around my throat got harder and everything around me went from blur to dark within seconds.
It took me all my strength to open my eyes. I was lying in the hall. I turned on my back and lay there to see the door partially open. Inara. I stood up, mustering all the energy I could.
“Inara!” My hands were shivering; my legs couldn’t bear the weight of my head. I walked dizzily towards the bedroom and she was gone. The room was in a mess and no sign of her. I looked at the watch. It was twenty past five. I’ve been knocked out for about two hours! They might’ve taken her out of Navi-Mumbai by now! I still wanted to give it a try so I ran towards the station. I hope she fights back and heads to her parents. I hope she’s alright. Hope, a silly little thing that as much gives the courage to fight for, as it does to frighten you with the premonition of something worse down the road.
Gasping, I combed the station, but she was nowhere. I had to reach the police before it is too late. I climb up on the skywalk and there she is. Running towards me, with a bare body, bleeding profusely from every inch of her skin. She looked at me. How terrified she might have been for the last two and half hours! She cried as she walked back few steps and just as I ran towards her, she jumped.
The world collapsed around me. My legs betrayed my command and slowed down before I fell on my knees. A shiver ran down my spine; ears hot and fingers numb.
A day of happiness and next, everything was in dust and smoke. I lost her. Again. Forever.
Read the next chapter: Inception
Next Chapter on 25th May 2019.
What has happened in the past two years? Whom are the cops suspecting? Who is Inara?
Many more questions to be answered with unexpected revelations.
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Poster credits:
In-frame: Abhishek Patil.
Photography and edits: Dheeraj Deore
Font edited by: Akash Bagal
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