CHAPTER 14
By now you'd know that I'd come for you
No one but you, yes I'd come for you
And I'd fight for you
Give my life for you
You know I'd always come for you.
No matter what gets in my way
As long as there's still life in me
No matter what, remember you know I'll always come for you
NICKELBACK- I'd come for you
"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."? Henri J.M. Nouwen
I have cried until the tears ran out,my body was on fire and blood started pumping out of my eyes.I cried out of fear and loneliness,I cried because i was naked in this jungle called life and than the voice whispered "i am here now and will be till the end. i asked the voice who are you and the voice replied some call me god,some call me angel but then to you i am just a friend.So take my hand and steady yourself and use my shoulder to lay your weary head.And so i am no longer lonely,i am no longer scared for i have my friends beside me.I am ready to take on the world for now my friends lives are more important to me than my own life,Their pain is felt more than my own pain.I cry no more and although my world is dark my friends are there like stars in the sky,to guide me and lead me to safety if i am ever lost.
"Friendship gives us the strength to turn from lambs into lions."? Stephen Richards
FLASHBACK-COLLEGE DAYS-PART 2
Hearing footsteps dhana turned and saw balaji walking towards him and with a huge grin plastered on his face.Dhana smiled seeing the happiness on balaji's face but deep inside his soul he knew what had happened.It was nearly twelve p.m and yet dhana waited for balaji to give the reason for being late.Balaji,the quiet one seemed to be bursting with joy and then he looked at dhana and shyly said "i know i am late but i have a good reason and once you hear the reason you will not be angry with me.I was supposed to meet lavanya at marina beach and spend some time with her and then drop her home by 7.00 p.m and be here by 7.30 p.m but then things got a bit hot and steamy."dhana looked at balaji patiently and asked him to go on and balaji said " well,i dont know what got into lavanya but she said she wanted to sleep with me and i did not know what to say or do and finally said ok.We got a room in hotel ganpat through our alumni pal rajeevan and were there from 6.00 p.m.I just dropped her off and rushed here."
Dhana smiled at balaji as a parent would at a child after seeing the child commit a silly mistake.He thought how can or how do i tell him that the minute he had dropped lavanya at home and rushed to see him,lavanya had called him and taunted him about the evening she had spent with his best friend.How could he describe or explain the hurtful and hateful barbs she had thrown at him and for a second wondered if his friend would believe any of it.
Dhana gave balaji a big hug but he did it so that his friend would not see his shock and repulsion on hearing lavanya's games and also to take a few seconds to quickly compose himself.Dhana " what next,more romance or wedding bells ? Balaji shrugged and said "marriage yes but not until we are both well employed." Dhana calmly "good,very good.really a wise decision." But inside he was burning with anger and fear of what all was going to happen and what other plans lavanya had cooked up.He decided that he would wait before coming to a decision on whether to tell balaji about what was going on.
Wrong for fate does not wait to work its plans and now their lives would irrevocably change for the worst and forever.
The one time that lavanya had spoken to dhana in the college had not gone unnoticed and the news had reached arjun who decided that if dhana made any move on his sister then he would kill him,regardless of the consequences.But as days and weeks passed by arjun realised that his sister was going around with dhana's best friend balaji and his twisted mind cooked up a notion that balaji might actually be secretly helping his sister and dhana meet and let people think otherwise.so he decided that he would have a open talk with his sister and find out where things stood between her and dhana and then go to war or at least arrange it through some toughies to have dhana killed and if luck would have it,balaji too if he was present.
Balaji knocked on his sisters room and entered to see her huddled in a corner and crying her heart out.He ran to her and kneeling next to her asked her what the matter was and why she was crying.But lavanya refused to say anything and asked to be left alone.But for arjun who thought the world of her would not let go and begged her to tell him what was troubling her.Lavanya slowly looked up and whispered " i am pregnant".Balaji collapsed in shock and in shame and kept staring at her not knowing what to say or do.Composing himself he quietly asked her "who,who is responsible for this?" She did not say anything and so arjun grabbed her and shook her violently.The already upset and vengeful lavanya erupted at her brother and screamed that it was none of his business and asked him to get out of her room.But arjun was beyond reasoning,but calming himself he again pleaded with his sister to tell him who was responsible for her pregnancy.Lavanya laughed and said " the father is balaji but me and the child wish it was dhana".Arjun looked at his sister as if she had gone mad and asked her what the heck was she going on.Lavanya looked at him "you lost to him in the elections by a landslide and the few votes you got were from your chamchas who are there because you buy them booze and food.As for me your kid sister,she lost to him,sorry was rejected and cast aside.I even gave up my virginity and slept with his best friend balaji to take revenge on him and now he looks at me as if i am some kind of prostitute or worse."
Hearing these words were like somebody repeatedly plunging a knife into arjuns heart and all the pent up anger against dhana and seeing his sister in this humiliating state was more than he could bear.His heart broke and so too his soul and the devil took hold of him.He grabbed lavanya by her throat and whispered "no,never i would rather die than see you in such a state.i would rather die than see my sister become a wh**e because that bas***d rejected her" and slowly choked the life out of her.By the time he could come to his senses she was dead and that his how his father found him.Arjuns father venkatesh somehow put together what had happened and realised that arjun had killed his sister in a fit of anger because she had been pregnant.He made a few calls and matters were taken care of.The next morning police arrived as they were told and paid to do and took over lavanyas body and the whole case was dealt as a suicide and the file was closed.Only arjun,his family,the investigating cops and the government doctor knew what had happened,but the secret was buried,deep in money and erased.
When balaji heard that lavanya had committed suicide he just collapsed and cried like a child.Dhana held him tenderly not knowing what to make of the matter.He thought that the mad woman she was,lavanya must have killed herself in a fit of rage and yet even he wondered why she would do so when she had sworn revenge on him.Balaji went from bad to worse and took to drinking and drugs and was lost to him and the world.But dhana stood by him and nursed him back to health and then advised him that it would be better if he left chennai for sometime.And as luck would have it,one of his distant relatives was looking for a manager to look after their coffee estates in coorg and when dhana asked balaji if he was interested,he said yes.
The day balaji was supposed to leave to coorg,dhana decided that he would have to tell him about what had taken place and everything about lavanya.Balaji's favourite place in chennai was the marina beach and that too in the evening as the cool breeze brushed against the sea and carried the emotion into the hot and steaming city.Both stared out into the darkening waters and realised that the waters reflected their state of minds.Dhana placed his hand on balaji's shoulder and said " do you trust me." Balaji looked at dhana and said "of course i do and i trust you with my life." Dhana with a heavy heart said " i know and still i am not sure how you will take in the stuff i am going to tell you.I am saying this because i know how pure your love for lavanya was,but she didnt deserve it and was not worthy of your love." If it had been anyone else who had said these words they would have been smashed that instant.but this was dhana and balaji knew him and knew him well.So he calmly said " go on." Dhana told him everything from the first time he and lavanya had met and to the telephone call she had made after they had made love for the first time at hotel ganpat."
Balaji face which had been calm changed to shock,hate,doubt and finally he started laughing.He laughed,laughed and the whole beach could hear the roars of laughter and he laughed more as the tears ran down his face and he fell back on to the sand laughing and crying.Dhana's heart broke to see his friend like this and before he could control it he too started crying.Wiping their tears both looked at each other and realised that they had washed away lavanya with their tears and she would haunt them no more.They knew in their hearts that they were both innocent victims of a vengeful soul and now more than ever they were closer because of this tragedy.
Balaji boarded the train and dhana stood waving to him and slowly turned back and walked to his car and drove back home.
"All families have their secrets, most people would never know them, but they know there are spaces, gaps where the answers should be, where someone should have sat, where someone used to be. A name that is never uttered, or uttered just once and never again. We all have our secrets." Cecelia Ahern, The Book of Tomorrow
Kan Pona Pokkile Kaal Pogalama
Kaal Pona Pokkile Manam Pogalama
Manam Pona Pokkile Manidhan Pogalama
Manidhan Pona Paadhaiyai Maranthu Pogalama
Nee Paartha Paarvaigal Kanavodu Pogum
Nee Sonna Vaarthaigal Kaatrodu Pogum
Oor Paartha Unmaigal Unakkaga Vaazhum
Unaraamal Poovorkku Udhavaamal Pogum
Panam padaithavan-vaali
Death is not the end.Living is not everything.What you do with your life,what you do with the precious time given to you is everything.The basic cell in your is hard at work and not worried about the end.But on whole we,who stand tall as life,as humans who proclaim their superiority think we are immortal.Nay my dear children.Null and void is life if not lived in action.The dead are gone buried and burnt,ashes and dust but their legacy lives on.their memories live on in the dark,plotting,waiting for the time,the right time.
The train rocked balaji as a mother would rock her troubled infant and slowly he slipped into a deep sleep.Lavanya came to him and lay her body next to him.balaji looked at her in love for she was the only woman he had loved,innocent to the vengeance in her soul.She embraced him and opened her lips to kiss and then sunk her fangs deep,deep into his throat and soul.
To be continued
Edited by s.satishkumar - 11 years ago