It’s too late before I even realized that the man from the side berth had fallen down . The train was going at full steam. I had boarded it at 9 PM at Lucknow. Suddenly, at 11.10 PM, the man in the side berth had fallen down. He was dead. He might have been dead for sometime. I saw a red diary in the dead man’s hand. It had some entries made. I began to read it. ************************************************************************************************************************************************
It was on May 11, 2005 that I had received a call from Sameer.
He had asked me, “Are you ready to fulfill your promise?”
“I will.” I had casually said.
“Sangeeta has completed her post graduation in management. Let us formalize her relationship with Sangram.” Sameer threw a bombshell.
“What? What are you saying?” I was flabbergasted.
“Come on, don’t back out on your promise” Sameer had rebuked me.
“Sameer, I do not remember any such promise I had made to you ever." I was clarifying.
“Take out your diary of 1977. Read the entry on 04 November 1977? Have you forgotten that one rupee note I had given you”, Sameer had thundered.
“Sameer, I have not read what you had written. Wasn’t that one Rupee a joke?” I calmly replied.
“You are a liar. My wife had rightly told me that you had already fixed up your son’s marriage with some IAS officer’s daughter, Anita.” Sameer had accused me.
“I have not fixed Sangram’s marriage as yet. But I know he has a friend called, Anita.” I clarified.
“So, that is it.” Sameer had banged the phone down.
I searched for my diary of vintage 1977. I located it after a great effort. Saw the entry on 04 November 1977. It was the day I had received the telegram from home informing me on the birth of Sangram. It read, “I, Major Rajwinder Singh and my friend, Major Sameer Singh, hereby solemnly affirm on oath that on completion of their education, Sangram and Sangeeta would be tied into a nuptial knot. We would firmly stand by it.” To say the least, although I had signed, yet I had not read it. Sameer had covered it with his hand, when I had signed. Thereafter, I had forgotten about it. Same day, on May 11, 2005, I spoke to Sangram. He told me, “I know Sangeeta as a friend but I can not marry her.” I pleaded with him, “I had made a written promise to her father”. “Kindly, do not emotionally blackmail me? I love Anita”, he gave a shut up call. And three years later, today on August 31, 2008, I hear of this suicide by Sangeeta. She had refused to marry anyone after Sangram had been married to Anita. Finally, she had taken her life. She had left a note behind, “I have been betrayed by -----” Who betrayed her? Had Sangram rejected her? How would I face Sameer when I meet him now--------------? ************************************************************************************************************************************************ The note in the diary had abruptly ended. I now waited for the police to come. WORDS COUNT: 497 This is my second entry for this FLASH FICTION CONTEST. My first entry is "IS HE UNGRATEFUL?" I had a lively debate on that by various participants. But I made the mistake that I did not talk of THE JOURNAL or the diary which was the theme, I suppose. The link is:- http://rajee.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/08/is-he-ungrateful-flash-fiction.htm © rajee kushwaha., all rights reserved. Bookmark this pageEdit this blog
No comments:
Post a Comment