Aalekh Sharma stood at the cliff. Just at the edge of it.
The wind was unlikely calm. The forest beneath was silent. He was 1200 ft. above sea level. It was late evening and no one was around apart from a couple of birds returning to their nests. Serenity and loneliness had engulfed him completely. All he did was staring, staring into the emptiness of the valley. Never before in his life had he felt so much at peace and turmoil at the same time. He looked up at the sky and then stared at the forest beneath him. Slowly and slowly he inched towards the end of the cliff. With every inch he moved forward, he was reminded of a memory of his life. His first steps, his first school, his first love, his first kiss, his first achievement, his first smile, his first heartbreak, his first tryst with loneliness and every memory made him weak.
He wanted peace now. He was badly in need of it and he knew, there’s nothing more peaceful than death.
Embroiled in his plethora of thoughts, he decided to take the final step and end it all.
Just as he lifted his feet of the ground, a voice called out.
“So, my son turned out to be so much like me. A coward.”
He turned around – only to find nobody. He brushed the thought aside and prepared himself for his final move.
“You dint answer your dad, beta.”
He froze and turned around to find his parents sitting on the rock, together and staring at him. He was completely baffled.
“I love you Aalekh!” Garima’s sweet voice echoed from the left.
His mind was stuck amidst all these. He chose to jump. It was his only way of redemption and get what he finally wanted. To be with the people he had loved, all his life.
***
Two weeks ago:
Hey Aalekh! Was planning to watch Iron Man. You game? Vineet texted Aalekh on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
It was just a matter of few minutes as Aalekh called him up.
“You’re a life saver manh! Mom and Dad are coming to meet me today. I was wondering how to escape their shitty annual lecture.” Aalekh spoke in excitement.
“Well, then you’re treating me.” Vineet replied.
“For sure Bud! See ya at 8” Aalekh spoke as he kept the phone down and started getting ready to meet Garima before his movie time with Vineet.
Aalekh’s parents separated right after his birth and he was brought up by his grandmother in Shimla. Garima was his neighbor. They both were best of friends since childhood and when Aalekh proposed her on his 18th birthday, she couldn’t deny. They were always the talk of the town. The perfect couple every youngster envied. They experienced true love from the very start.
Aalekh got ready and cruised his way towards Mall road to pick her favorite chocolates and flowers. He was already running late. They were to meet at Christ Church. Garima prayed for him there every day and he just fell more in love with her at that very moment. For him, his goddess of divinity prayed to her divine god for her love.
He reached the Church 20 minutes later than the decided time and was thinking of various excuses in his mind while walking through the parking lot.
Just as he looked ahead, he noticed a group of people gathered in front of the Church which was unlikely to happen at this hour. He went ahead and approached one of the localites.
“Kya hua? Itni bheed kyun?”
“A car ran over a girl. The girl has been rushed to the hospital. The police have caught hold of the driver. He seems badly drunk.” The man replied.
Fear crept up in Aalekh’s mind as he approached the police. The first thing that came to his mind was Garima.
“Wh..what were the girl’s particulars?” He asked.
“Tum kaun?” The inspector inquired.
“I am her friend, I suppose. Please tell me so that I can confirm.” He hesitantly asked. The always-optimism part of him still believed she was not the one.
“Nothing has been figured out yet. The only thing we found was this necklace.” The inspector replied showing him a heart shaped necklace with AG engraved on it.
Tears welled up Aalekh’s eyes as he realized that this was the very same necklace he gifted her the day he proposed her. She had worn it every single day after that.
‘Ab se Aalekh ka dil hamesha Garima ke paas rahega’ she used to giggle and repeat that quite often in her super-sweet voice.
“Which hospital have you sent her to? How was her condition?” He cried and spoke to the policemen around.
“She died on the spot Sir. We have sent her body to the City Hospital for post mortem” One of the policemen replied.
He was dumb-stuck. Numb. How easily she was termed as a body.
He started running, running towards the hospital. He had lost complete control over his senses. She was the one who made him whatever he was. She was the reason he had existed for so long. She made him live. She was his breath, his water, his smile, his support. His everything.
While running, memories of him and Garima flashed in front of his eyes. The games they played during childhood, the first time he fought for her with a couple of bullies, the time she became his support for whatever emotional turbulence he faced due to his parents, every day since his birth reminded him of her and every day he had fallen in love with her, a li’l more than yesterday.
Engulfed in his thoughts, a car came in his way and in order to save himself, he fell on the side of the road.
“Get in the car.” Tom uncle shouted
Tom uncle was his driver and stayed with him all through his childhood. He got to know about Garima through the local news.
Aalekh got in the car as they headed towards the hospital.
There was complete silence in the car. All that could be heard was Aalekh silent sobs and Tom uncle’s silent tears.
Abhi abhi pata chala hai k flight no. 4387F jo ki Delhi se Chandigarh aane waali thi, anjaan karano ki wajah se himachal ki pahaadiyo mei crash hogayi hai. Dukh ki baat ye hai k vimaan mei baitha koi bhi vyakti jeevit nahi bacha hai.
The news on the radio caught Tom uncle’s attention.
“Memsahab aur Sahab, kitne baje ki flight se aane waale the?” Tom uncle inquired with Aalekh.
By this time the news had caught Aalekh’s attention too. He heard the information again and his face turned pale. Yellow. He fainted.
Few days later:
Aalekh hadn’t eaten anything since then. His world had come crashing badly. Garima was gone. His parents were gone. He was gone. There was nothing worth living left in his life.
Although he was never attached to his parents much, but he had always loved them, just because he was a part of them. A part of him always wanted to be loved and cared by them. When they died, a part of him died too.
Garima, the love of his life, his everything had died and with her, he had died too. She was pretty much like Aalekh’s soul.
He was silent. Numb. Almost like a walking corpse all through these days.
After completing the funeral ceremonies of all his loved ones, he went upto his room and sat there for two days. Doing nothing but crying.
That’s when he decided he had to die. That would suffice his being and he could finally be free of all this.
He tried slitting his hand at first but he couldn’t do it.
Poison, he couldn’t find.
He finally decided for his favorite cliff. The place where he had dealt with all his sorrows. The place where he and Garima had so many childhood memories. The place where they had their first kiss.
He left for that place. He left, forever.
