Sunday Shorts By Twinkle Johar

My Hero

My boy was different. My hero! He used to make bed tea for me! We were going to get engaged in a month after 3 years long live-in relationship when something happened and my world collapsed. He didn’t show up one night. I got back from my office and he didn’t return at his usual time to our “sweet home”, yes, the apartment we had bought together. I got worried when he did not pick up my call. I tried to contact his office mates and came to know that he didn’t show up at the office too which meant that nobody knew where he was for the last 10 hours.
Various bad thoughts started coming to my mind. I started feeling nauseous and sick. I called some of our mutual friends and told them everything. They reached our home in no time and tried to comfort me. But I just couldn’t comprehend how he could go missing. He was so responsible. Since we moved in together, he has never once been late. I and my friends decided to lodge a police report when he did not return for 12 hours. The moment we were leaving for the police station, I got a phone call. I heard “Hello” and recognized Kunal’s voice. I got a sigh of relief. I asked him where he was and he said, in a drunk voice, at Vani’s place. Come get me, please. Vani, one of his cousins and my college batchmate. I couldn’t figure out what had happened, but at least he was okay.
I asked my friends to return as Vani’s place was near to our building, so I could have managed alone. They insisted on coming with me, but since it was already too late and the following day was a working day, I asked all of them to not worry and go home. I took my purse, locked the main door and left for Vani’s home. Even though it was only a 10-minute walk, I decided to take a cab because it was too late for a girl to walk alone. Cab arrived.

“Madam, OTP?”
Bhaiya 7768.
“Ok madam”
I kept thinking of Kunal and wanted to hug him for an hour straight. A few hours away from him felt like a whole life already. Vani would have had another fight with his toxic boyfriend, and his dear brother would have gone to cheer her up, and both of them would have had a great time drinking. Well that’s all I expected would have happened.

Bhaiya aage se right…..
“Ji madam… “
Bhaiya right…
“Ji madam….”
Arey bhaiya pichli wali colony me jana tha…aage aa gye aap….
“Sorry madam, ab toh kafi aage aa gye….”
He didn’t stop. Neither did my racing heartbeats. I just wished I do not get raped. I started calling Kunal when the driver snatched my phone. I began yelling, but the windows were closed and my voice didn’t reach out; even if it had, the empty streets couldn’t save a girl from being raped, could they? He stopped for a while, opened the door and two men (probably his partners) came inside. He kept driving as fast as he could. They kept doing their thing as brutally as they could. I kept pleading as loudly as I could. But all my screams and cries went in vain.

After one long hour of using each part of me, they dropped me right at Vani’s place, threw me out of the car and said, “chup rehna”.
I gathered the courage to go upstairs and ring the bell.
Kunal opened the door and I hugged him. He asked me what happened and I told him everything. He said, “Priya, we can’t marry”

I woke up!
“Priya, uth jao, chai thandi ho jayegi…..”
Kunal! I hugged him as tightly as I could. I started sobbing. And I asked him, Kunal, will you accept me if someday I get raped?
“What?”
“Priya, did you just have a nightmare?”
Kunal, tell me if you’ll accept me?
“Stop crying Priya.”
Kunal, answer my question please. Only then can I stop crying.

“I can’t survive without you. Priya, I can’t function without you. Of course I will accept you! I will still marry you. Bas mom dad k saamne ‘chup rehna’ ”
“But tell me, why do you think you would get raped? Just because of a nightmare?”
What?
“Yes”
Kunal, what I just dreamt about isn’t something that cannot happen. It’s a common occurrence in our country. I wasn’t safe in a cab late night.

“That’s what I’m asking, Priya: would you take a cab late at night when you know it’s dangerous? Why would you do something that could get you raped?”
What if I would have decided to walk alone and not take a cab? That was dangerous too, right?
“Exactly Priya! You shouldn’t have gone out at night, either in a cab or without a cab.”
“You should have stayed home.”

Kunal, what I just dreamt about forced me to get out of home. I didn’t care about what time of night it was. The situation demanded me to go out. I did not get myself into an unsafe situation on my own.
“Priya, when I am saying that I would even accept a rape victim, why are you still arguing? In fact, why are we having a discussion like this. We never had one such. C’mon get up, have tea.”
We should have had this conversation, Kunal.
He wasn’t my hero anymore.