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Wednesday, July 18, 2018

A New Begining


The agonizing moments were slowly ticking away. She looked at the watch it was half-past three at night. There was pitch darkness all around except a distant bulb that had a dim light underneath. Her breathing was heavy as her heart was still pounding and she could almost feel that it will rip open her chest. The hair was still dishevelled, and her eyes had a swell of tears which had dried on her cheeks. She rested her back against the dark wall on the street that was deserted. She was trying hard to regain the composure, as her mind drifted to and fro from the tumultuous events of the last one hour.  Nitin had returned home late like all other evenings and seemed to be unsteady on his feet. She could smell of liquor the moment he opened his mouth to hurl abuses.
'Why have you not warmed the dinner' he shouted
' I was awaiting your return, will go to the kitchen and heat it'she replied trying to maintain her cool.
Not satisfied, he picked up the curtain rod that had been left on the sofa, earlier by Nisha when arranging the curtains. He charged towards her in a fit of rage.
They had been married for two years and except for a brief period of four months the situation had continued to deteriorate. Nitin had worked as a sales executive in a private firm and earned a good salary. However, he was constantly pestered by his parents as they felt enough dowry was not paid at the time of the marriage. This had worked as a slow poison in Nitin's mind who was initially, a loving husband. Since, his marriage to Nisha, he wanted to buy a flat of their own but did not have enough finances to get one. He started pestering Nisha to ask money from her parents. She informed her parents who were in a quandary as they had still not repaid the loan they had raised for the marriage.
Realizing that it would not be easy to get money, Nitin became more short-tempered and abusive. Nisha then joined a school to keep her occupied during the day, but every evening was nightmarish. Though Nisha tried her best to conceal the upheaval in her life, her parents were aware of the situation as she talked little, when asked about her domestic life.
Nisha and Nitin lived in a multistorey flat on the 12th floor and her immediate neighbours Mrs and Mr Singh were an elderly couple, would often hear raised voices as tempers flew in the adjoining house.
So far, Nitin had never physically assaulted her, but today he appeared to be in a vicious mood. He swung the rod which narrowly missed her but landed on the television that was playing. There was a cracking noise as the glass broke when the TV fell with sparks flying. Nitin, lost his balance and fell face first on the broken glass and passed out. Nisha was terrified as she looked at the mess of Nitin lying on the ground unconscious.

She ran out of the house in fear of what may happen next! She got down from the lift and ran towards the deserted park and then followed the road for next half of a kilometre. She sweated profusely but was determined not to go back to the house of evil. There were no possessions except a wristwatch and a mobile phone. She had a little money in her purse, that she had picked up while fleeing the home.
She walked in the direction of the railway station that was two kilometres away. She kept walking towards it, with a resolve to make a fresh start not knowing how she got the courage to move away. Her leaden feet suddenly felt stronger, as she saw the breaking of dawn. She silently prayed that she could make a fresh beginning with her strength to meet the challenges as she was strong.

PS-  Image kind courtesy Google

2 comments:

  1. Hope many more girls take good/bold decisions in life when the need arises. Well narrated story, Rahul. This is the first story of yours I am reading...keep writing.

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  2. Thanks for reading ! I do write once in a while!

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