Color Of Love...

‘Maa, happy Holi’, saying this Aadish applied a little color on his mother’s cheek.

‘Aadi, you are becoming so naughty. You are supposed to go out and celebrate it with your friends. You should not trouble your mother in this way.’

‘No, Maa. This time I will stay back and enjoy the festival with you. Well when are these aunties going to visit our home?  It will be fun watching all women in holi makeup instead of their regular one.’

‘What has happened to you this time? Instead of enjoying with your friends, you want to sit back and see we old ladies playing? Have you fought with Himanshu or any of your friends?’

‘Maa, nothing has happened. I just feel like seeing you enjoying with your friends. Himanshu is not well. So we all have decided not to play Holi this time. And on top of that who will serve these Jamun to all aunties? Every time you have taken care of my friends and now it’s my time. ’ Aadish tried to put his best effort to explain the situation. ‘I wish, Sachi should come with all those ladies. Because the color of festival cannot be a beautiful one without her colors.’ Aadish spoke in his mind.

‘Okay as you say. But I still insist you should go out and enjoy.’ Saying this she left the place. And there Aadish left restless waiting for Sanchita. He had spent more than an hour standing near the window and staring the wall clock. After an hour’s time around 11.15am, he heard a knock at his door and became pale with excitement. In no time he opened the door but a sudden gush of ladies pushed him to a corner. Aadish had almost lost his balance and bumped with the wall.

‘What was that? Huh…aunties’ army was so powerful. ’ he asked after regaining his composure. ‘But where is she?’ Aadish took a quick look on all the ladies out there. But she was not among them which left him disappointed. ‘Oh no. My Holi is still colorless as I have not got a glimpse of her.’ Saying this when he turned his face towards the door, he found her standing there with plate full of colors. Aadish had been very eager to wish her but didn’t know how. Suddenly he tiptoed to where she was standing so as not to attract any attention. He took some Gulal from her plate and brushed his fingers on her cheek, ‘Happy Holi Sachi’.

She got shocked and bit her lower lip. She could not even utter a single word. Aadish, was standing still with a smile on his face and absorbing each single expression of her face. He observed her eyes the way they restlessly sifted between him and the surrounding. She wrinkled her nose with a sudden disappointment when she noticed two aunties eyeing them speculatively. She hoped they were not seen him while applying colors to her. Aadish understood the situation and soon he head out screaming, ‘Maa, I am going to Himanshu’s place to celebrate holi.’

‘Tie your hair back in a tight plait; it is always falling all over your face.’ Sanchita’a aunty told her at her back. She nodded her head and forced to throw a smile. ‘Aunty, I am going home. I have enough of Holi.’ Saying this Sanchita rushed towards her home.

She locked herself in the bathroom. Except for the sound of her heavy breathe; the neighborhood around her was silent. A mirror hung above the sink and she caught sight of her reflection next to Aadish with those colors over her face. But it was her own imagination playing trick with her. She knew it was an illusion and her family values did not allow her for these kinds of desires. But seeing Aadish’s face next to hers in the mirror made her distinctly intimate. Till date no one had made her feel in this way. ‘Why am I drawn to Aadish? Does this call love? Am I in Love?’ Turning on the shower, she removed her clothes. She stood naked in front of the mirror. Those colors were spreading throughout her silky body with the gush of water. And there she felt her heart beating, speeding up. ‘Yes, this is the real color of Love.’ A part of her screamed inside. But Sanchita turned her head left and right, saying nothing more with a little blush on her face.

Life is always beautiful when you are with your family and friends but it looks colorful when you are with someone whom you love...

I am compelled to start 2013…

“I said ‘Somebody should do something about that. Then I realized I am Somebody.”  -by Lily Tomlin

And today that Somebody inside me is numb when I happened upon the headline of a newspaper; which said “Meri bachi ko mere paas rehne do, usey mujhse dur maat karo”. It was a very unfamiliar voice that racked with deep anguish against Sexual Violence. Yes The Mother blurted out at the moment when her daughter’s dead body was taken for funeral and lost her sense.

Today she is dead. But she existed with all her life before this brutal incident. So now closing off India, shutting down the subway roads, protest spilling onto the street asking for death penalty; can just put the whole nation on boil for a period. But does capital punishment and fixing the system can ever put an end to RAPE? Does this nationwide anger can shed the animal inside an individual? And  The feminine inside me is afraid to answer as often these kinds of heat turns up and eventually simmer down with the course of time. Perhaps these all can just mushroom the sympathy with in us and tap the chord of discontent. But the bottom line is “SHE” was not just a Rape Victim but a HUMAN BEING. Even the protocol says; Prostitutes are BROKEN WOMEN though our society has tagged them as Sex Object.

When we talk about India and Indian Culture, often it’s a fusion of Religion, Beliefs, Customs, Traditions, Values and the way a common man leads his life. We believe in Vedas / Quran / Bible, we believe on that Supernatural Power, we take a dip in the holy river Ganga to wash down our Paap (Sin), we believe in those rituals, don’t we? So now it bleeds my eyes when I pen down that the same India has maximum number of Rape, Sexual assault, Molestation.

The word Intercourse belongs to Science, Sex belongs to General outlook, Making Love belongs to Literature and Fuck belongs to Slang. Now where should we keep the word Rape and those Rapist? They never belong to anything. But they exist. So today, every single female’s deepest fear is not Death but Sexual Violence – RAPE.

The biggest democratic country where we are on fire for losing a Twenty three year girl; there my conscience asks, ‘is an Infant of Three year or a senior citizen of Sixty three year safe? How many more Centuries we Female are going to live in the shadow of Fear? Does our longing for a better Civilization will ever become true? Keeping these Questions in my mind I am compelled to start 2013…

Few lives last short, while the memories they hold last FOREVER…