Mihir woke up with a start. His sweat laden body was shivering. His petrified eyes looked for some support, but all he could see was black emptiness. Restless, he grabbed the water bottle lying next to him and drank the content in one go. He quenched his thirst but there was nothing in that room to help him feel protected and secured. He longed for his mother’s elusive hug. He wanted to run back into his ever so caring mother’s arms. By that time, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness around him.. He tried to calm himself by thinking of happy thought of the times he spent at his Delhi home. Slowly, his mind relaxed at the thought of his mother and he drifted in to a slumber.
The mild sound of his bells woke Mihir up. It took him 10 minutes to compose himself after the rough night that he had been through. He tried to recall the chain of events. His soul wanted to return back to a place, his home, where he could at least sleep peacefully, in his mother’s arms.
Growing up, in that big house, Mihir’s childhood bore witness to fights and screams. The screams were so shrill that they pierced through the adolescent heart and soul of Mihir. As if a ritual, he would hear his mother scream in agony and pain. He would hear his father’s belt hitting the bare skin of his mother. Many a times, his narcissist father would leave his mother wounded and bloodied. Mihir, would rush to her aid and would help her in all sorts of ways. The blood oozing out of his mother’s body would make him angry but he knew he could not do anything. Nothing at all.
Mihir, by then was attending a private school. At such a young age, no other student bothered or rather understood the problems he was going through. This worked to the advantage of Mihir. His pre schooling days were probably the best days of his life. He loved to stay in school and forget the horrific scenes at home.
Time heals most of the bodily wounds but there is no cure for the wounds and marks that have formed in the minds and the souls. His mother tired to show the world that all was ok in the family, but there are some marks that lies and make up cannot hide.
As, Mihir, grew up, so did the other students and by now they had started to tease him . The only place that Mihir found peace was now snatched away by a few insensitive kids.
Constant knocks at the door, broke Mihir’s chain of thoughts. He quickly got up and opened the door to find the warden standing there with his customary cane in his hand. Before Mihir could explain, 2 swift yet firm blows had already been hurled at him along with some profanities. The warden, a hard task master, was in no mood to listen to Mihir and ordered him to stand in the middle of the field till noon.
Mihir, quietly followed the orders and reached the ground which overlooked an overcast sky. The gray clouds immediately transported him that very fateful day.…..
Monsoons had hit Delhi that day. The unremitting rain had been on show for hours. Mihir was sitting with his mother and talking to her. There was a sense of calmness even as the rain kept on falling. The calmness was because his dad had just left for Jaipur for some work. The peace and tranquility at the Sharma residence, and that too during the night, was something to be cherished by both the mother and son. Through the class window, the duo were watching the rain and as if hoping it to wash away their pain and miseries.
The serenity was disturbed by a phone call. Mihir’s mother reluctantly got up to pick up the phone. A hurried voice gave her some information. The phone, almost instantly, slipped out of her hands. She looked at young MIhir with stillness in her eyes. The thunder and lightening were as if on cue. Coupled up with the sounds and his mother’s expression, Mihir knew something was gravely wrong. His mother looked at him unswervingly and in an expressionless tenor, blurting out that his dad had met with an accident and the chances of his survival were less.
At the tender age of 13, Mihir’s mind and soul didn’t know how to react to the news. His mind went into frenzy. Thoughts, good and bad kept on accumulating in his small mind. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t even realize when his mother had dragged him to the waiting car. In a split second, the car darted towards the accident site, which was just a few kilometers away. But these kilometers seemed to take eternity to cover. Also it gave time to Mihir’s mother to calm her son down. His mother’s tight embrace helped him clear away all the thoughts. Mihir, surprisingly, felt much lighter.
The carnage at the accident site gave the duo a fair idea of the immensity of the crash. Parts of the car were lying on the road as if some kid had spilled his toy’s basket. The tarmac had a slight tinge of red which was constantly getting washed away by the rain. In the bushes near by, they could hear their tormenter groaning and withering in pain. They both, braced themselves for the ultimate truth of life. As they inched nearer, their hearts started a symphony of their own.
The duo stood and looked on as they saw, his father and her husband, leaking blood and crying for help. Luckily the by standers had called the Police and the Ambulance. The shrill sound of the Ambulance gave them both a reminder that he has to be taken to the hospital. As, his mother stood and watched in silence, Mihir helped the paramedics load his father in to the waiting Ambulance. As instructed by the Police, both the mother and son duo were told to climb up the Ambulance.
The engine churned and they started for the hospital. Mihir, looked at his mother, who was still expressionless . Her eyes were as still as they can be. She didn’t show even a speck of gloom. Mihir, then turned to look at his father, the man whom he never looked eye to eye. The man who mercilessly tortured his mother. The man who had no emotions or attachment for them. The man he feared was now lying unconscious. Suddenly, the sensation of supremacy started creeping in him. He, finally, started to feel powerful, in front of his father. He felt as If he controlled his father and the due course of action. He then again, looked at his mother. Her eyes met his and in a split second the duo had decided what to do next.
As if on cue, Mihir’s mother fainted. The paramedics rushed to her help. This gave enough time for what the duo had planned. Quietly, Mihir, stretched his hand near the oxygen cylinder that was supplying oxygen to the dying man, and turned it off ever so gently. Within a few seconds, his father’s body jolted once or twice and then lay motionless. The very thought that he controlled his father’s life, gave him a all new high. It was as if he was playing God for a few seconds.
Mihir had been standing in the field for the last 2 hours. His clothes, his skin and his soul were all drenched in rain. Yet he felt the blaze inside him igniting one tissue at a time. He looked around him and all he could see was confinement. He again longed for his mother, but she was no where to be seen. He wanted her warmth,where he could hide himself but alas… !
Mihir yet again drifted back to the thought of what happened after he KILLED his father.
It took the paramedics just a few minutes to realize what had happened. As soon as they reached the hospital, the incident was reported to the Police, who arrested both of them of deliberately killing him. What followed was as expected. Mihir’s mother was sentenced to Life imprisonment where as Mihir was sent to this Juvenile home.
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Mihir is now 17 years old yet he longs for his mother’s love. His nightmares have stopped, so has that inferno inside. But when ever he thinks of those few seconds of authority and supremacy, his eyes light up.
Awesome!!!!
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