Les Flammes Jumelles

2. SHIVA KA SOMNATH

Jeevan ka, ye pahiyaa
Ghoome sada
Dohraaye na apni,
Phir daastan
Beeta kal, daaman mein
Leke chala
Vo taaron, ki duniya
Vo silsilaa...

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A plethora of emotions, a thousand unsaid words, feelings that never received the blessing to be expressed, seemed to be embedded in his heart like shards of glass. The heavy downpour drenched him completely, harshly. The clouds dark with the moisture they contained, thundered loudly once again. However, the deafening sounds as well as the deluge didn't appear to affect him in the slightest way possible. Shiva just stood there like a rock, devoid of almost any signs of life about himself. Unbothered by his surroundings, motionless.

He never could have her to himself. And yet he had lost her completely today. She wasn't his to begin with, but she had taken all that was his away from him with herself - every ounce of life. And if given a chance, any chance, he would trade his life - whatever was left of it - to bring her back to him. Anywhere near him. If given a chance, he would trade his world to bring his world back, to undo everything that had happened within a few days, or hours.

He remembered the last time he had seen her - emotionless, still, like a mannequin, she sat. Her long hair was let loose on her shoulders, partly covered with the white pallu resting on her head. Her hearty lips remained sealed the entire time. Her long eyelashes almost brushed her cheeks as her lids remained glued to the ground before her, all the while.

For the brief moment that his eyes had caught hers, he had spotted bleakness there. Emptiness. Unfought desolation, and a tinge of guilt in her tired eyes. There was no remnant of the light he had once seen originating from and glued to her eyes in those dull orbs. And there seemed to be nothing left in her of the Raavi he once knew.

Reflexively, Shiva shut his eyes at the memory. It was all his fault. He was not sure how, but he was sure it was. It must be. She had trusted him to save her no matter what, and he couldn't. Maybe he could have had he tried, but he didn't. He didn't even know she needed him. It was his fault. He could have done something, anything, had he known. And he was supposed to, for it was Raavi - his Raavi - and he was Shiva - her Shiva. But he didn't, and that was it. It was all. His. Fault.

If only life could be reversed, if only fates could be changed, and if only time could be stopped then and there that first time he saw her after years...

August 21, 2015
10:00 p.m.
Somnath, Gujarat

The raindrops pattered against the cemented ground, being the only sound that could be heard in the silent night. Apart from the light vrooming of an engine that waited on the streets of Somnath, the passenger inside it rummaging his pockets to find the extra coins he needed. Ones that the many unknown routes he took to the place had added to his journey.

"Jaldi karo na, Saheb. Kahi mausam bigad na jaye." The impatient driver pleaded to his fare.

"Isliye to keh raha hoon. Aap bache hue paise rakh lo. Saat rupaye ki hi to baat hai."

"Apni mehnat se main ek rupya zyada bhi nahi rakh sakta." The driver replied honestly. "Aap bas thoda jaldi karo."

The passenger, though impressed by the man's words in today's world, sighed once. He had no choice left now, but to reach for his wallet that he had safely packed in one of his suitcases at the railway station.

Unzipping the blue bag, he took out the black object kept there on top. Luckily, he could see the argent coins shining at the bottom of the billfold. Paying the driver the required amount and stuffing the wallet in his pocket, he stepped out with his bags on the road while the taxi sped up in the opposite direction.