Half Painted Pink Nails

DESTINY HAD OTHER PLANS

On a breezy winter night, Chinmay was sitting on a couch in the balcony of his thirty sixth stories flat, puffing his cigarette and missing her terribly with his eyes transfixed on a photograph of Vrinda in Tribal attire that he had now got framed. He hadn't been able to talk to her for close to a week now, but that was routine, maybe she was on a field trip somewhere in the interiors. It was close to eight weeks since his visit to Kondagaon and from the last time he saw Vrinda. Everything was on track though; in another two weeks their marriage was to get formally registered in Delhi in the presence of their mothers who had agreed post much drama. Chinmay had quit his job and was in the final phase of wrapping-up before he joins Vrinda in that small tribal village of Kondagaon where they intended to set-up a school together post their marriage and settle down forever. Chinmay was thrilled beyond words and spent most of his time available planning the curriculum of the school. He didn't want it to be the same kind of school he went to, where everyone read the same books and were taught to be equals, not for them. He wanted every child to experience life in his/ her own way, to learn what they wish and what they must in the way that their specific natural inclination demands. Vrinda also wanted to use the facility as afternoon school for the women.

He didn't notice his mobile phone vibrating in silent mode till it moved and tripped the sand timer placed on the side table, breaking it into pieces. But before he could reach out to his mobile, the call disconnected. Chinmay was surprised to see the log showing two missed calls from Vrinda's number; "at this hour?" he asked himself in surprise and immediately called back. The number was busy but the call connected in a few seconds.

Harsh voice of a man from the other side, "Am I speaking to Mr. Chinmay Vashisht?"

"Yes, but who are you? This phone belongs to Vrinda."

"Mr. Vashisht, I am sub-inspector Mohal Lal. How are you related to her?"

Chinmay hesitated a bit because the marriage was yet to be socially solemnized, but replied, "I am her husband. Tell me officer, is there a problem. How come you are calling from her phone, is everything alright?"

He could feel the speaker attempting to subdue the harshness of his voice to say, "Mr. Vashisht, I am calling from Government Hospital in Kondagaon. There has been an accident near Kondagaon. We have received some dead bodies and this mobile phone there. We have identified this number as Ms. Vrinda Bose's number and upon checking the call records, we realized she had called you the most in the past few days, so we called up. I would need you to rush to Jagdalpur as soon as you can and help us with identification. Where are you right now?"

"Have you gone mad? What are you talking about? What do you mean by I need to identify a body? Where is my Vrinda?"

"Mr. Vashisht, try to be calm. I am not sure if we are looking at Ms. Bose. That's why we need you to come here."

Chinmay's brain had already gone numb, the phone had dropped and his knees were giving away. Have you ever received a sudden unpleasant news about a loved one that your heart cringes with pain, that you wish if you could tear your body and howl out aloud but voice goes missing? As if the air around you was crushing you while your head was about to blast out? Tired of shouting and trying to bring back Chinmay again, Mohan Lal had disconnected and redialed several times again and again. Chinmay regained his senses with a jerk, a sudden panic ran through him. He picked up the phone, said "I shall be there by morning. I am coming", disconnected, took his wallet and ran out of the house leaving everything as it is, ajar. The lift's taking time, he ran down a few stairs, took another lift, ran out of the apartment complex till the taxi stand, and took a cab to airport. A shiver of nervousness and fear was running through him, jaws tightened, eyes anxious, mind spiriting between memories and action required. He frantically searches through mobile apps and airline numbers for the fastest flight that can take him to Raipur. It is midnight already and the earliest flight to Raipur is at 6:40, distance by road 1200 kms, minimum 20 hrs. He has no choice but to wait for the flight, books the last ticket available, shouts at the cab driver for driving so slow, frantically searches for other options, i.e. if he could fly to another city and take a flight from there so he could reach sooner, no other way. Tries calling district education officer and tribal officer of Kondagaon, forest officer of Amravati Ranges, to know what has happened, no one is picking. Tries calling back on Vrinda's number but that's switched off now, tries checking the web for news on any accidents in Kondagaon, nothing. Reaches airport, rushes through boarding, security checks; constantly running, no tears in his eyes, ears are red, heavily sweating. He wants to talk to someone, but who, who would tell him about her, about what has happened. Thinks of calling her mom if she would know something but dismisses; she would get tensed, not now, not yet. Thinks of waking up his media correspondent friend, if he can check with any local correspondents and tell him what has happened, but how would they know. Oh God, would someone please tell him, something, anything, is she alright? Lots of questions and thoughts swarming his mind and he keeps pacing. Oh yes, his client, he has a chartered flight program membership. He calls up Mr. Bhutada who doesn't pick up the call first three times and is angry and abusing when he does. Chinmay explains him the situation. Bhutada checks with his people and calls him back; earliest he can get him on a flight for him is by 5:00 am, its 2:00 am now. That still saves him 1hr 40 mins of travel time, yes, yes, yes.

Chinmay reaches Raipur by 7am, takes lift from a Truck and reaches Kondagaon by 11am, his eyes are red, hairs dishevelled. He rushes to the Government Hospital. The corpses have already been moved to the larger hospital at Jagdalpur for Autopsy, nobody has any specific answers to his queries on Vrinda. He rushes to the Police station, identifies himself as Chinmay Vashisht; sub-inspector Mohanlal has gone to Jagdalpur and has left a message for Chinmay to be sent there, the moment he arrives. Chinmay takes another hour to reach the hospital in Jagdalpur and meets Mohanlal.

"What happened? Where is my Vrinda? What happened to her?" shouted Chinmay the moment he set his eyes on the man called Mohan lal.

"Mr. Vashisht, sit down, let me explain you the situation first. Six women, including Ms. Bose had gone missing from one of the tribal villages in Kodagaon district six days back. I have been posted here just ten days back and from what I hear, it is not uncommon for women and children to go missing from these areas. While we are trying our best, we haven't been able to nail what's happening. We got to know about this particular incident only the day before yesterday during my induction visits to a village. After much search, we arrived at a suspect hideout but before we could get closer, we were fired at. We had to retrieve and before we could attack back again with some preparation and reinforcements, the place had already been set on fire and the culprits had escaped. We recovered four bodies but they have been mutilated and charred beyond recognition; about the other two we still don't know. I need you to accompany me to the morgue and help us identify if one of those is Ms. Bose. We found the mobile in the area where we found the bodies."

Chinmay lost whatever little composure he had till now upon hearing this as tears flowed down his cheeks and his body limped to the floor. And he started shouting like a mad man in pain, "No, this couldn't have happened to her, no, no, no, why, how, what did she do to get this" and he wailed and cried like a baby as his howls of "Vrinda, Vrinda, Vrinda..." reverberated in the Hospital corridors. Mohanlal tried to comfort him and supported his limp body, with the help of a constable, to take him to the morgue. The moment, he saw the dark blue door with the sign on it, he started pulling himself away from them, trying to get free, wrestling, howling, "No, please let me go, please I can't see her like that" until he was dragged inside where the bodies lay on the floor covered under white bedsheets.

The sheets were removed for Chinmay to see them one by one. The bodies had been burnt beyond recognition, hairs were all seared, skin was peeling off, there were no clothes on them, Mohanlal was saying something about rape and acid. His tears stopped and he felt a cruel hand of evil tear his soul from his body as he dragged himself from one corpse to another and finally stopped at the one who appeared to have been a bit fairer than the rest. His brain pointed out to what his heart didn't want to agree. He heard Mohanlal ask for body marks. He turned the corpse around to check a mole on the back, nothing recognizable anymore, and then he saw those half painted pink nails on the long burnt fingers.

Nobody knows whathappened next, atleast I don't. Maybe someone or something died. Maybe, he justgot up and ran away as far as he could, never to be found again or maybe it wasjust his spirit that left that door.