She was shot in the neck on
the right side just below the chin. Thick red blood poured out like a fountain
marking her critical condition. They rushed her to the hospital where her
life was saved but the bullet had damaged her spinal cord, which resulted
in the paralyses of all her body below the collarbone. She could hardly
start speaking when she came back to her senses after remaining unconscious
for almost two week but her body did not move at all.
Her parents were informed but they
did not give any heed to the heart rendering news. What they replied was
in accordance to their tribal traditions that they had departed her forever
at the time of her marriage. If they would ever accept her back, that would
be in the form of dead body. Whatever had happened with her happened
by the will of God and they would be none but damned ones if they are not
contented in his will.
Miseries never come alone and when they
come, they make their victim alone so that he cannot be shielded against
their deadly strike. It happened with her as she was left alone by all.
The man who shot her was no one other than her own husband with whom she
got married just two months ago. He left the home just after the incident
and did not come into sight ever since. Nobody knew where he had gone.
Her parents had turned heartless and refused to see her alive. She herself
was unable to move even for a single step. All her world had been restricted
to her bed, where she was lying and all her universe, to her hospital room.
There was an immense darkness beyond the walls of the room, into which,
even her thought could not travel.
Doctors viewed the matter in detail and after a long series of different
tests and reports concluded that she had very little chances of recovery
from present condition rather that her remaining alive for long is almost
impossible. Only a miracle can bring her back to life.
In this dismal state of affairs, when all had lost hopes of her life, there
was one who had refused to leave her alone at the mercy of cruel
circumstances. He was the younger brother of her husband,
a boy of
thirteen who, in his overwhelming sincerity and innocence
was not ready even to think for a while of her death. He was the
only person who remained with her through all thick and thin. When she
came back to her senses, he was
standing, in tears, besides her bed. Her hardly uttered
and half-broken
words ensured him of her survival. Later stages of
her treatment nourish a
hope of her life in his heart. A small ray of light
is sufficient to show
the path when it is complete darkness all around.
Soon he got, as much certain of her life as he was of his own.
This certainty made him devote completely all the
energies he possessed to
attend her. He remained extremely concerned and watchful
to the quality of
her treatment by staying all the time in the hospital
and taking great pains
to improve her condition. In short, he did everything
of which he was
capable to get her better. He used to talk to her
on her favorite topics,
used to bring smile on her face with his innocent
jokes and funny actions,
and also used to wipe away her tears, of and on, whenever
she had wept and
he had to do it quite often.
All the
activities of his life were revolving around her and she too, had accepted
him as her only object of attention. He had a burden on his heart for the
crime his brother committed and the more he attended her the lesser this
burden oppressed his heart. Though complete deliverance was not possible
yet his services to her were a source of relief from his acquired guilty
consciousness. Man often has to do a number of such acts as a compensation
of those actions, which he has not at all committed. The reason is
sometimes the satisfaction of one's heart and sometimes the inevitability
of such an act due to the circumstances. It is also said that whatever
crime is committed on this earth is repaid and counter-weighted by human
beings though not necessarily by the person. Earth never keeps the blots
of blood on its surface. Someone has to wash them up.
So did he serve her and it had become all his life. She too, had
developed a kind of dependence on him resulting in a strong emotional
affiliation. He was the first person in her life who
has given her hopes and
dreams, full of life and colors, even in her catastrophic
life. He entered
in her world like an angel occupying the most sacred
and pre-empted place
in her heart. A dying man loves desperately as love
blossoms more in fleeting
things. She was dying and she made the pains of her
death endurable with
the pleasures of his innocent love. She shared her
emotions with him, her
thoughts and feelings, all about life and death, her
distrust and hatred
to the world, her past life and present agony, just
everything. He used to
listen to her keenly and his great interest in all
her narrations was the
kind of reward she was looking for. Though he was
too young to understand
all her feelings and thoughts, yet his sincerity and
intensity of involvement in her made her satisfied and contented. Communication
does not always take place at the level of language or ideas. It often
occurs implicitly as it happened with them. They had become the soul mates
to each other.
In the meanwhile, her condition kept on deteriorating and she was left
only an alive statue with a little movement in her lips. She had developed
bedsores, which usually end only in dust. She faced her approaching death
very bravely and when she felt that the final debacle is not far away,
she asked him to make a commitment of not to weep on her death.
His already aggrieved heart burst out through tears and he moaned,
" No, I'll not promise for something which I am sure I cannot keep. It's
not in my control so please don't ask that."
A faded smile spread on her face and forgetting all her pains of
death, she uttered affectionately,
" My dear, don't be fool. If you want to be with me, then don't weep at
all and if you don't love me anymore and want to get rid of me then I'll
not stop you from weeping. True love is always as silent as deep seas so
my dear, please remain silent on my death to prove your truth of love.
I assure you that true lovers never stay apart and we are true lovers".
He nodded his head and made a promise while wiping his tears,
never to weep again. She died that night an
easeful death without much ado and difficulty. Her dead body was taken
to her village where she was handed
over to mother earth. He remained silent during all
these ceremonies and his
silence was surprising for all, particularly for his
family. They somehow,
welcomed it as a pleasant change. On third day of
her death, he came back
to his home. No body heard him speak as he did not
talk anything to anybody
and went straight to his room. Soon the resonance
of snoring became audible
outside as he was much tired and was sleeping soundly.
The next morning, he did not wake up. Doctor told them that he
suffered brain hemorrhage during his sleep. Their
regret knew no bounds
when he clarified them that such cases usually take
place due to some unwept
emotional distress. She had rightly asked him not
to weep at all in order
to be with her.