The Guests. #1

× The Writer's Story ×

Aditya
4 Years Ago
Dehli

I was on my way home, anxious yet grieved. As I arrived at my cosy home, all I could think of what I was going to tell my father. He was perched on the head chair of our dining table, with a newspaper in his hand. When he knew of my arrival, he looked up looking sternly at me.

"Kitne marks mili thi?"

I stared at the floor, unable to meet the penetrating gaze of my father. My mother came out of the kitchen, making me feel a little ease. My two elder sisters, Sidhi and Sheetal were also present, suddenly increasing my anxiety. I decided to distract them.

"Aree, Sidhi. Sheetal. When did you guys come?"

"We came as soon as you left for college. By the way, did you pass your exams?"

No. No. This was what I wanted to avoid talking about. How was I supposed to tell them. I could feel my father's eyes burning a hole into me.

"Beta."

I exhaled a large sigh.

"I didn't pass."

My father's face fell, while my sisters and mother looked at me with shock.

"Kya?!"

"But the last few years you have passed. And this was your final exam. And then next year your supposed to join business with Prakash uncle."

"That's because I never wanted to be a businessman. I've been focusing on my passion and I'm really good at it. Infact, I've been writing short stories and articles lately and I've sent them to the Dehli Times. Infact, they've published a few of them. Perhaps they're in the same newspaper your reading right now."

My father looked at the newspaper with surprise, as he turned to the column page. There indeed would be my intials, A.S.

"So instead of focusing on your family's needs. You have been writing atrocious columns and calling it good. What is this banter about caste and religious killings? Is it the effect of Sidharth and Zoya's death?"

"Sidharth was your bhai, Papa. Don't you feel angry for what happened to them?"

"It's the consequences of what happens when you marry someone that belongs to another religion."

"No, it's when you have a backward mentality. It still feels we are living in the pre-historic age. The world has progressed, yet human beings haven't."

"I can't believe your wasting your time on these frivolous issues. I do feel resentment over Sidharth's death. But what can we do. Our society is incorrigible, beta."

"That's why we have to fight. And I'm sorry, but Chacha didn't deserve the death he got. You could have hidden them that night in our house. But you sided the system over humanity. And up till now, his killers are roaming free."

"Adi, don't speak to your father like that. He did that to protect our own family. If Zoya's father had found out we had them hidden in our house. We would have been murdered as well. Her father is a big industrialist. He had plenty of connections."

"I understand Ma. But he was also educated and modern. Yet he had his own daughter killed just for the sake of religion. And with his power, he had buried the case, along with their graves. That just shows how serious this issue is in our world."

"And what will you do, Adi? Words aren't enough to change the world. Actions are also important."

"But first our voices need to be heard. Which is why I will continue taking a stand against these atrocities through my passion."