IMPORTANT NOTE: This is NOT a happy story. It is extremely tragic. Please do not read further if you dislike sad stories.
*
"Siddharth?" she whispered softly.
"Hmm", he replied incoherently without opening his eyes.
"Siddharth! Look at the time. You are going to be late for your meeting!", she said a little louder and tried to shake him awake. He pulled her hand towards him and turned to the other side and went back to sleep.
"Siddharth!", she said with pushing him in frustration.
"Okay..Okay! I'm getting up but I want my kiss first."
"No!", she said trying to escape. Sid pulled her closer and captured her lips in a sweet kiss.
"Hmm..now that's the way to begin my day", he murmured making her blush.
"Okay, enough now. Go and get ready!", she said sternly.
Sid got up reluctantly and stretched yawning loudly. He tried to pull her into a hug but she pushed him into the washroom.
He got ready and Roshni helped him out with his tie. "There you go!", she said smiling at her handiwork.
"Perfect", he said looking admiringly at his wife.
He started walking towards the door and the familiar feeling of dread began to creep into him. All feelings of happiness began to disappear. Colors began to fade getting replaced by darkness. He turned back to see Roshni who was standing and waving him goodbye with a huge smile. He smiled reluctantly and opened the door.
The door to the real world. The world of silence. The world where Siddharth Khurana transformed into a man with no emotions. In this world, Siddharth had stopped smiling three years ago. In this world, he had stopped living three years ago. The house was eerily quiet and he could hear his own footsteps. He reached the dining room and took his place at the table. He knew that his family was watching him but he didn't look up. He started eating from the plate that was already served just like every morning. Everybody wished him a good morning but he didn't acknowledge them in any way just like every morning.
He finished his breakfast and got up to leave.
"Sid!", his mother called him. He stopped walking but didn't turn towards her.
"You remember what today is right?", she asked apprehensively just like she asked every year from the past three years.
Siddharth started walking again and left without answering just like always.
Simran's eyes filled with tears and she asked God for the millionth time why He was making her son suffer. Everybody had moved on from the tragedy and were leading their lives normally. Sam had gotten married and she had a kid now. Her daughter Kritika was pregnant with her second child. But her son was stranded at the same place as three years ago.
She felt someone's hand on her shoulder and she turned to see DD watch her sadly.
"I always wish to God that Siddharth should move on and find someone, Simran", DD said.
Simran shook her head and said with despair, "We were wrong DDji. That day we didn't just lose Roshni, we lost Siddharth too."
The two mothers hugged each other and cried bitterly for the two children that they had lost forever.
The hours that Siddharth spent in the real world were pure agony. The darkness of this world scared him and the quietness haunted him. Every second and every minute was a torture that he could barely bear.
He carried out the motions of the day mechanically and only when he stood outside the door of his world did he smile again. He was back where he belonged. He opened the door and his world was colorful again. Every moment of the torture was worth this time that he spent in his world.
He entered the room and slumped on the bed.
"Roshni! You have no idea how stressful this day was. Too many meetings!", he said tiredly.
"Siddharth! How many times have I told you not to sit on the bed with your shoes?!", Roshni yelled angrily.
He smiled and turned towards her. Could he ever get used to her beauty? No, never he answered his own question.
"I just cleaned the room Siddharth!", she said pushing him off the bed.
A knock sounded on the door and Sid whipped his head towards the door. No! he screamed in his head in panic. He turned towards Roshni but she was not there. The room was empty.
No! No! No! He broke out in a cold sweat and dread started creeping up his spine. He stumbled to the door and pulled it open.
A new maid stood hesitantly at the door. "Sir, I've come to clean the room."
"Who told you to come here!", he bellowed loudly making the maid shake in fear.
"Get the hell out of here!", he screamed at the top of his voice. The maid trembled looking at the deranged man in front of her. Simran came running after hearing Sid scream. She saw the maid and understood what had happened.
"I'll tell her Sid, she's new so she doesn't know. I'm sorry. It'll never happen again.", she said pulling the maid away. Sid slammed the door shut on their faces.
"What's wrong with him ma'am?", the maid asked still shaking in fear.
"Never, ever come here again. If you do, it will be your last day here.", Simran warned her and left.
Sid turned to the empty room and looked for her everywhere. He started to cry and whispered, "Roshni"
Suddenly he felt her hands on his eyes. He touched them and smiled.
"Don't scare me like that again", he begged her vulnerably.
"Never!",she replied smiling at him.
He pulled her towards him and hugged her close. His world was sane again.
He was not afraid of telling everybody about his world. He did not care if people mocked him or called him unstable. He feared that they would not understand. He feared that they would take away this little piece of life that was left with him.
The next morning came and Sid woke up to see his wife sleeping peacefully beside him. He smiled and leaned towards her. He kissed her forehead and she woke up slowly. "Good morning", she said softly.
His mornings began with her and his nights ended with her and that is why his world was perfect.
Every day, he detested the moment when he had to bid Roshni goodbye and step out into the real world.
He stepped out of the door as another day of silence began. Another day of silent sympathy, another day of silent worry, another day of hushed whispers, another day of sly mockery, another day of burning in hell, another day of watching the garland on his wife's photo, another day of living like the dead.
*
I got this idea from episode 132 in which the six months leap happens and Sid enters the room and talks to Roshni's picture. I don't like sad stories at all but I couldn't get this one out of my head so i decided to pen it down.
Cricket
