Destined (A Virushka Romance)

10. Past and Present

Flashback

One year back...

If one would look at the sky, they would see that there was still enough time left for dusk. Yet, for some reason today, the sky over the city of Delhi was getting darker with every passing minute.

As it was the end of May, summer was at its peak. After breaking the record of the previous year, yet again, the maximum temperature in the city was at an all-time high. To escape the hottest part of the day, in the afternoons, people preferred to stay confined to the shelter of their offices and homes. The air was dry but, that day, the scenario was very different. That day, late in the afternoon, the sun that was usually blazing in the western sky, was untraceable. Dense dark clouds that had flown in from the east had blocked the sunlight. It never got this dark so early in the day in the capital. But that day, Mother Nature too had chosen to wear black before time—perhaps as an act of solidarity; perhaps as a mark of protest.

In no time, the sky appeared visibly angry. Sudden intermittent bright flashes of lightning tore out from behind the dark clouds. A wild sky roared in anger—loud and clear. It seemed as if God was trying to show his wrath.

A heavy downpour of rain was on the verge of breaking free from the amongst the dark clouds. Even though, a spell of rain in the hot summer isn’t uncommon in Delhi, yet the manner in which the rain was preparing itself to fall over the city of Delhi that day, was not a common
occurrence. It was rather scary.

The angry black clouds that were atleast 1000 feet above the sky seemed to reflect the mood of all those angry souls who had come out on the streets of Delhi. Agitated young men and women-college students and office goers, all of them were waiting there. There was a mad rage in their eyes, their young faces and their body language. They were a mass of anger and protest. It didn’t really matter for them if they knew the person standing next to them or walking with them. They had all gathered for a cause that was common to each one of them—justice!

That was one word anyone could read on those several hundred banners and posters that the crowd unanimously brandished. It had all become a phenomenon, which was unseen in Delhi till that evening. Every road that led to India Gate and Jantar Mantar, every train that arrived at Rajiv Chowk metro station, every bus that drove into central Delhi, was packed with youngsters. Delhi was witnessing a first of its kind mass protest. The young India that on weekends would have chosen to chill out in glamorous multiplexes to watch a movie or would have opted to sweat it out on the cricket grounds, had chosen to spend the weekend on the baked roads of Delhi.

On the other side of this young India was an old system that wasn’t yet ready to change itself. It was a system that on one hand had severely failed to maintain law and order in the state, but on the other hand was trying to control the chaotic situation it was faced with. Every single policeman in the city was on alert. Clad in their khaki uniforms and protected by their helmets, the troop brandished their canes from behind the barricades.

Anushka was at the forefront. She was the one who had gatherered the huge crowd for a common cause. She was there to seek justice for her best friend, the one who was fighting for her life in Safdarjung hospital now.

Delhi has been rightly called as the 'rape capital of India' by many. The incident that happened with Anushka's friend just added another name to the list of the heinous crimes that was committed in and around the city.

"We want justice! We want justice!" Anushka shouted alongwith the rest of the crowd. She could see that it would rain any moment from now. Yet, she didn't care about it. Nothing could stop her today. Not even the family members of those criminals who had been threatening her to back-down.