Bridge

taken at Champa, Chhattisgarh, India from Samsung Galaxy Note

DO YOU LOVE HER?

“DO YOU LOVE HER?”

 24 hours from now :

I was sitting alone in the dark night-- my eyes set on the misty lake. A cool breeze blew and whispered in my ear: "Do you love her?"

22 hours from now:

I was sweating. When you are going to propose a girl, perspiration is inevitable. I reached the corridor. I saw her, turned back and treaded my way back to my room.

10 hours from now:

I wrote a 15 page article, with footnotes, for her. I called it “Love Letter”. Actually, it was not. It was the most organised ‘so-called love letter’ ever written. It had the garnishing of ‘boredom and technicality’ which I have inherited from law school being a law student. For instance - the lines  ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’ : had the footnote  see, John Keats, Endymion (1818).  I went to the library and waited for her.

5 hours from now:

‘Lloyd’ in my hands. I sat in the library reading ‘Austin’ who stated the most obvious definition of law any one could ever think of: “Law is the command of the sovereign...” it read.

Then, I heard a sweet voice.

4 hours 30 Minutes from now:

She was in tears. No, my 15 paged ‘so-called-love letter’ was not the reason. Fortunately, I tore it off without her knowing about it. The reason for her tears was Raj: the “son-of-a-rich” father, born with a silver spoon, trying to act on ‘silver screen’ with an overdose of steroids and who owned the most expressionless face a homo sapiens ever could; he was acting in one of the most irritating love story of the year which certainly would win the award for best film. Yes, you guessed it right. We went out for a movie together.

1 hour 30 Minutes form now:

We sat together, our fingers entwined; eyes set on a misty lake.

She held my hand tightly and whispered in my ear: “Do you love her?”

“Who?” I looked at her.

“The girl in your eyes.” she asked with tears in her eyes.

My tongue sealed itself. For a second I stood still; you could have knocked me down with a feather. The time stood. The world paused.

1 hour 29 minutes from now:

She was in my arms. I couldn’t believe it. The girl I longed so much, the girl for whom I wrote a 15 page memorandum of love, was actually in love with me.

1 hour from now:

After having expressed all my emotions finally, it was time for us to leave. She had to go to her aunt’s place for some work.

“Can’t you go there some other time?” I asked, holding her soft hands tightly.

“No, I can’t. It’s urgent.”

“May I drop you there?”

“No, it’s ok.”

30 Minutes form now:

I was in cold sweat. My cell phone slid down my hand and broke into many pieces. I could not believe it.

“She is dead. There was an accident. She was hit by a car.” Said Tanu.

Tears ran down my eyes as I stood there rooted to the spot.

15 minutes from now:

The darkness drank me. I felt a stinging pain. But after a while, I felt free. Finally I will meet her: was my last thought. Tears rolled down my eyes but my lips managed a curl to from a feeble smile. The pain was unbearable but the thought of meeting her made it easy.

10 minutes from now:

It was silent. As if I was in a vacuum. I felt nothing, I could see nothing.

NOW:

I sat beside her, her hands holding mine. Our eyes set on the misty lake. A cool breeze blew and whispered in my ear : "Do you love her?" I ignored it.

If it’s a dream, I don’t want to wake up.

If its heaven, let me be dead.

Without you dear, it’s difficult to walk

There are thorns around, every path I tread.

© Shreyansh Chouradia

DEMISE

There lies my demise

Yet I long to be there

WARNING : Smoking is injurious to health.

That abyss calls me with its open arms

And I long to be there

In her arms

In arms of my demise

She calls me with those cold eyes

I know I will never be able to get up again

I will never be able to see this world again

Yet I long to be there

In her arms

In arms of my demise

This world, as they call it;

With smiles and pains,

With cries and laughter,

Smiles and disdains;

I want to leave this world

To be in her arms

In arms of my demise.

It’s a sham; the happiness

It’s a sham; your smile

It isn’t real, it never was

It has always been a sugary bile

Atleast she promised me one thing

And she will keep her promise

Her promise to destroy me;

To burn me.

Atleast she is true;

Bitter but true.

And I know

There lies my demise

Yet I long to be there

In her arms

In arms of my demise.

© Shreyansh Chouradia