*coughs* you might be wondering what this is... I don't really know myself... all I know is that I have been pulled into this once more😳... kya khayal hai aap ka??😕😆 In any event... u can all thank or yell at Amnu for this torture, as she made me bang my head on the wall to get this out of my system😕
Part 4?😳
Streaks of various shades stretched out from the circular object… falling precariously over the swaying figurines… bathing them in an array of mysterious light… The chime of glass hitting glass in celebration lingered in an occupied corner… whereas other parts of the compartment were filled with socializing bodies… living their lives… oblivious to what lay beyond the realm of the moment… For some, it was there time to catch up with the sound… the people… While others looked on… numbed to the noise… alone within the crowd…
Sitting in a shadowy corner, a man lifted a half-empty glass of a clear texture to his lips… the liquid within, rippled with insignificant waves of urgency, before it was lost… burning the throat of he who challenged it's coarseness. His deep-set eyes indifferently panned the lively surroundings whilst silently sipping the acidic liquid…
Somewhere amidst the crowd, feet tapped automatically as the endless stream of melodies weaved energetically through the mass of people…
Mahi ve… mohabbatan sachiyaan ne…mangda naseeba kuch aur hai…
An unexpected smile fleetingly touched upon his lips, as though having momentarily relapsed into the past… as the beat inched closer to him…
On another end of the room, a man moved excitedly to the continual rhythm… when his eyes fell unintended, at the man across the way… a half-empty glass playing between his fingers. Shiv aur Gauri… Machan smirked sarcastically as the thought drifted through his mind… ShivGauri… What coincidence it was… they were inseparable then… and perhaps even more so… now. Machan turned his head momentarily back at his dancing partner and flashed a small smile before taking her leave…
"Eh Shiv… yaar tu yahan kya akele khud se gappey maar raha hai. Chal na dost, aaj Shiv Kapoor ka jalwa dikha dete hain sabko… Hojaaye ek…" (Eh Shiv… what are you doing here alone, talking to yourself… Come on bud, let's show everyone a glimpse of Shiv Kapoor today… Bring it on…), Machan looked hopefully at his barely drunk friend… Fate hasn't been kind… he thought, reliving the changes in Shiv's once vivacious persona… But when reality came back, it showed a man dulled by time… a waste of energy… all on what… an unrequited devotion… Sighing lightly, he grabbed the glass from Shiv's mouth and set it firmly on the counter, whilst pulling up his protesting friend…
It seemed as though word had intermingled with the air … as a flicker of excitement could be sensed throughout the quietened area as Machan hauled him along…
He mumbled protests of incoherent syntax, while feeling himself being dragged unwontedly towards the far end of the room… "Machan… dekh tu…" (Machan… listen you…), he threatened firmly… when he felt the ground stop beneath him. Machan turned his head enough so he could see his eyes pierce into his own so determinately… "Uske liye…" (For her…). Immediately, the grip on his wrist loosened, until his arm fell silently to his side… whilst his friend's request echoed in his mind…
An unsettled calm had dispersed amongst the crowd, as a path was etched out afore him… the mike standing before… beckoning him… For a minute, he stood immobile… paralysed at the thought of breaking the silence… Slowly, he lifted his eyes to the countless pairs staring at him intently… When suddenly, his gaze stood still… as her distinct features came into acute focus… Her soft, hazel eyes twinkled with an undying mischief… the sudden blink of her right eye only adding to the secrecy… Slowly, but surely… a smile formed on his lips… a hint of arrogance evident… as she dared him through gestures. Raising an eyebrow, he looked towards the direction of her persuasion… The mike stood as a lone frontier… awaiting his stance… Turning his gaze back to her… his eyes were left in a thirsty search…
The soft thud of his footsteps resonated against the unseen corners of the space as he silently made his way to the forefront… Passing by the anticipating crowd, he faintly caught sight of the hands thrusting the lustrous instrument in his hand… whilst leading him to where the solitary stool sat awaiting him… Now standing next to the seat, his eyes once more grazed the dimmed surroundings… a certain flicker of trust glowing within… Pushing aside the seat, his fingers brushed hesitantly across the surface of the instrument… lingering on each string… relishing the feel… so familiar… yet so distant…
(Flashback)
He sat firmly at the end of the metallic bench… apparently watching the guys rip at each other on the soccer grounds… Sounds of cheer and encouragement ran clear in the crisp air as spectators filled the vacancy next to him and beyond… All eyes were intently fixed on the field… all thoughts fixated on the next move… all but his… The sounds felt far from near… the sight alive, yet unfathomed… the thoughts scattered… A towel hung loosely from between his fingers, as drops of perspiration soaked through his jersey… Each moment weighed heavily in the air as the referee pressed on… Each moment delving him deeper into the guilt hole… he had dug himself into… Her innocent features fell before his face with each passing second… the dimpled smile… the twinkle of mischief in her hazel eyes… His innards churned as the smile faded into a blank sorrow… the void eyes screaming out at him… Desperately, his fingers slithered through his moist hair as he grasped for a thread to sanity… Fumbling to the side, he grasped the bottle of water in his hand… bringing the tip to his lips… allowing the lukewarm liquid sear through his throat… Frustrated, he felt himself loosen the top more, allowing the wave of water fall over his face as he raised it towards the skies… Bringing the bottle down, he shook his head… running his free hand over his face… faintly aware of the sudden presence next to him… "Eh Shiv, kya yaar… saari team field pe sadh rahi hai… Aur tu yahan kya kar raha hai… Tere bina toh unka kuch nayi hone wala…" (Eh Shiv, what's this man… the whole team is dying on the field… And what are you doing here… Without you, they stand no chance…)…
Bits and pieces of other such coaxing filtered through his preoccupied thoughts… thoughts consumed by her… by the pressing guilt… Abruptly, her name burst the growing invinsicble barrier between him and his surroundings… Turning, he saw his Nihaal jokingly hit Surya on the arm and turn to face him… "Arre haan yaar… wohe kya naam tah us ladki ka… Haan, Gauri!… Kya pataya hai tune usse yaar… Wohe toh doob gayi tere pyar mein, bichaari ko kya patah uska kiske saath palah pada hai…" (Oh yeah man… what was that girl's name… Yeah, Gauri!… You totally got her hooked man… She's drowned in your love, poor thing doesn't even have a clue as to who she's gotten tangled with…). The blood cursing through his viens suddenly seemed to pulsate with more energy as their continual laughter plagued the air he breathed… So much so… that a suffocation enveloped his senses… His fingers instinctively curled into a ball as they continued to make a mockery of her… and him… "Sagar, tu toh gaya… ab sara saal Shiv ke joote saaf karne ke liye tayar hoja tu…" (Sagar, you're done… now get ready to polish Shiv's shoes for the rest of the year…). Sagar shook his head in regret while the others laughed at him. "Waise wohe ladki bhi kya bh…" (By the way what kind of a gir…) Rohit's lips were still parted, but the voice was lost… He looked at his friend deep in the eye, his eyes holding a notion of finalty as he held out a sturdy index finger in Rohit's face… "Bas…" he whispered firmly… Silence lurked in the circle, whilst the world beyond continued raving over the field events… Staring intently into his friend's eyes… he realized the latter's had long left his… Apprehensively, he felt his gaze trail the rest of the gang's…
His heart seemed to have come to a standstill or lost it's pace… he knew not… Nor was anything else viewable from his standpoint… as he watched her outstretched palm close without force… while her arm fell lifelessly to her side… He watched expressionlessly as a leaf of white paper swayed silently in the air as it left its place in her hand… hitting the ground with an inaudible thud… barely sensed by the acutest of hearing, yet whose weight could be judged more than a boulder… His body twitched in rigidity as he peered into the hollow of her eyes… the unresponsive tone made his existence an immediate burden… Watching the clear film line her eyes, he knew that the tears would never leave their reservoir… The blankness on her face relayed a thousand questions at him… the torturous breaking of a heart made his own bleed… as he stared blindly a the empty space she had just deserted… Lifting his gaze, he faintly caught hold of her retreating back…
***
The stands had cleared by now… the game a defeat… an irrevocable loss… of a game… he had apparently won… but undoubtedly lost… He sat immobile… not having lost his place on the metallic bench… Silently, he had watched each body drift away… watched, but not seen… The day had faded into stillness… as night took up the reins… Still, he sat… The icy wind hitting his skin like fire… yet still he sat… cursed by his own hands… A dare he had accepted… a dare to accomplish the impossible… to make the adamant Gauri Chatterjee… his own… His capabilities were alien to none… and he had not failed in his name… but in the one moment of her stoic eyes… the world had come tumbling down… and so to with it… his will… Shiv Kapoor, sat… a defeated winner… As a light peck of moisture fell on his forehead… he realized how deeply he had drowned… into a sea… ishq samundar… and deeper so… into the unrelenting… guilt… The skies shared his anguish… that welled in his core… as it slowly began raging with thin droplets… Slowly, he lifted his heavy limbs… approaching the feather-like paper… Bending to his knees… he held the piece in hand… his fingers dealing it with utmost care… as he unruffled the creases…
Wohe lamha hoon main… bhula na paoge tum…
Wohe bulandi hoon main… gir na sakoge tum…
Wohe faulaad hoon main… rok na sakoge tum…
Wohe sachai hoon main… jhutla n sakoge tum…
Wohe saaz hoon main…
That moment I am… you can never forget…
That height I am… you can never fall…
That avalanche I am… you cannot stall…
That truth I am… you can never deny…
That beat I am…
He stared at the lines blankly… as her melodic voice seared through the stillness… "Shiv… maine kuch likha hai… par pata nahin… ek adhoorapan, ankahee si hai… pata nahin poora kaise karoon…" (Shiv… I wrote something… but I don't know… its kind of incomplete, unsaid… I don't know how to complete it…). The various shades of excitement… disappointment… confusion… evident from the tone of her voice, as she reiterated her dilemma to him through the phone… He had smiled at her childish behaviour then, whilst asking her to bring it to him… Now the smile seemed as though a part of an ancient, glorious past… Bringing the paper to his face, his fingers enveloped it… crushing it against his face… as he masked his expressions with his hands… After uncounted moments he lifted his face up… the thoughts on the sheet having been blotched by the rain… by his misery… In a moment of uncertainty, the paper fell from his hand… Desperately, he fell to his knees… extending his hand to catch the restless leaf… A silent wail parted his lips as he grasped the tarnished white between his trembling fingers once more…
** Guys, the flashback isn't done… But I am… sheesh, I can't think more at the moment… will start typing some more later… that is, if anyone is still interested?? Amnu… for u kiddo… teri shiddat layi… I'm so sorry…
Cheers,
dc
Edited by desi chic - 17 years ago
Cricket
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