There was some kind of war going on. I am not sure if it can be called a war.... maybe riots. But there was agitation and unrest all around.
I was stranded in a dark building with a wooden door and many windows. The door and all the windows were tightly shut. All the people had crowded into the hall on the ground floor as if they were getting courage from each other’s presence. There was no furniture and the people were either lying down or sitting or peeping anxiously through cracks in the door frame. Someone was trying to squint through a crack in a window to see what was happening outside.
There was a staircase to the left of the front door. I wonder what lying was at the top of the staircase. No! I did not want to find out. Not that I was feeling scared, but there was more comfort here.
A few hundred metres down the road Lata didi was stranded in another building. Who was she? Was she someone I knew? Why did I feel that I knew her very well? How did I know her name? She also had some familiar faces with her. Though I was not with my her, I could almost see what was happening there as if I was inside. I wonder how? ESP? Maybe….
In fact, that place was not as dark, but it was untidy. There were a lot of cubicles with beds. All the beds had mattresses with bedsheets on them.... all of them crumpled as if they had been slept in recently. The people were eating something from huge bowls, probably hot khichadi or soup. And they were having 3-4 such meals in a day, while we had nothing to eat!
Then I realized that we did not have a kitchen! I decided to go across the street and get some food from their kitchen. As I was getting ready to step out of the building, I could sense the tension and fear in the air. The road was deserted. Something was wrong... gravely wrong.
Just as I stepped out, someone pulled me back in!
“Don’t go. Its not safe.” he said.
“We need food. I will get it from Lata didi. She has plenty.” I replied.
Suddenly, a car went down the road at full speed. Rowdy people were shouting and hooting in the car... Insane driving! Fast and rash.
After some time, a few people went by on horseback carrying swords and shouting in the same way. It looked dangerous. And yet, I was not scared.
Finally, little Astha could bear it no longer. She went out, crossed the road and started running towards the other building. Just then another car zipped by on the road. One of the men in the car slashed Astha with his sword, injuring her arm badly. She returned bleeding profusely.
Just then, a procession of cars started going past. They were the same loud, rash, cruel people....merrily shouting and enjoying themselves. Some of them were walking. This time their leader was also with them. I thought it was a good opportunity to go to the other building unnoticed in the crowd. I started walking quietly, trying to be invisible. But the leader saw me. He got down from the car and came to talk with me.
Surprisingly, again, I was not scared. Even more surprising was that he did not try to harm me. He was in fact very polite and …….. even good looking, like an actor. Then I noticed that all those people were good looking!
What was going on? I did not know.... Did not understand.
There I was, among a sea of people, yet alone.
Among familiar surroundings, and yet lost.
In a hostile situation, yet unafraid.
Surrounded by danger and yet safe.
"How are you?", he asked with a gentle smile.
"I am fine." I replied, wondering whether I should have told him that we had nothing to eat. But no….. ‘I am fine’ is what I said and walked away.
I went back inside and started climbing the staircase near the door. It was a long narrow one with two landings.
Oh! There was a terrace on top. It was as if I had entered another world in a different time zone.
The twilight was beautiful ....mesmerizing!
There were kites flying in the clear sky. Dainty little ladies in sarees were drying clothes on the line tied across the terrace. The breeze... Oh, so gentle.
I felt light, almost as if I was floating.
I spent a long time looking at the sky. When I turned around, I saw the same man standing behind me.... Still smiling.... As if he found me amusing.
"You like it here, don't you?" He asked me. I stared at him, totally fascinated by the gentle features and soft eyes.
How could this person be leading a riot or war?
Was it really a war that was happening on the streets? Or was it just my perception?
I wanted to think more and find the answers but I sank deeper and deeper into unconsciousness....into blissful sleep that erases all questions.
As I woke up in the morning, I still found myself walking precariously on the thin line between the two worlds of dream and reality.
I am not sure which of them is actually a dream.
"I dream when I am awake and live in my dreams.
I don't know anyone stranger than me."
Nice short story.
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