She woke up with a
start. The sonorous sound waves of the thunder were still resonating in her
ears. Right from her child hood, she always felt an unsettling queasy feeling
in her stomach whenever nature blew its loud trumpet. Getting up slowly from
her bed, she made her way unsteadily towards the water cooler in her lacy pink
night gown. The usual barking of the dogs in the neighbourhood was completely
supplanted by the continuous rhythmic beat of the rain. It was raining cats and
dogs with the only exception that there were no dogs in the nearby vicinity. As soon as she gracefully removed the tumbler
from the left holder on the water cooler, nature wanted to have its own moment
of fun with her. Instant flashes were clicked from the sky as if she were a huge
celebrity, waiting to walk the red carpet at the Oscars. Through the window
atop the cooler, she could see that her entire street was flooded with water
when the lightning struck. Sipping the chilled hydrogen oxide, the delicately carved mirror hung on
her right reflected a 5 feet 4 inch tall, fairly fair, straightened hair
damsel. Riya was cognizance of the fact that she was beautiful in her own
respect yet the most striking aspect which she found in herself was her
expressive eyes. She knew that her eyes could speak volumes where even a single
word would be sufficed. Inhaling deeply, Riya’s lungs were completely inebriated
with the fresh perfume of Mother Earth emanated from the leaves, trees, land
and her. She was being taken into a drunken state of unconsciousness by the
creator of the universe when another clap of thunder disrupted this blessed
blissful state of calm serenity into a chaotic mess of destructive confusion.
She remembered the
adage “A single blink during the ‘Inception’ movie can make you to lose the
plot utterly”. Likewise, her train of thought led her into the situation where
she happily went to her boyfriend, Kunal’s residence when she witnessed that
tragic moment. Even though a month had dragged slowly yet swiftly since the
event, the scene still remained frozen in her mind like a giant lump of
majestic ice berg. Every time, Kunal used to pick her up from her PG. On that
particular day, Riya wanted to give him a big surprise by seeing him in his
residence. Kunal had told her that his doors would always be open. True to his
word, she merely pushed the door and it was unlocked. Seeing his impeccable consistency
and honesty, Riya smiled to herself that she had found herself the true soul
mate of her life. Just like the Titanic went into a nosedive into the endless
abyss of the ocean, her heart plummeted from a cheerful disposition into a
despair position. Kunal was passionately cleaning her best friend, Sonal’s
cheery red lips with his baby pink lips – thoroughly and competently on his
leather couch. They were so immersed in the process that they took no heed of
Riya’s arrival. Riya was livid with anger. Her heavy breathing created more
sound than the outside traffic. Disturbed by the sudden change in velocity of
energy in the room, Kunal looked straight into the fiery jet black eyes of
Riya. Her eyes conveyed the monstrosity of the intense wrath which she felt for
them at that moment. For a fleeting second, Sonal and Kunal cowered and cringed
at the sight of this tigress. Without saying another word, Riya sobbingly
exited to her den. No amounts of phone calls from either of them could appease
her. She felt betrayed that her best friend who knew that Riya was in a
relationship with Kunal could actually end up with her boy friend. Her heart
was broken beyond repair.
Being a NCC cadet at
school and college, she knew that the first and foremost priceless thing that a
person should have in an uneventful event of adversity is not to lose their
confidence and belief in them, however trying the situation may be. Overcoming
the turbulent turmoil in her heart, Riya started to collect her life bit by bit.
She was not bothered even when she heard the news that Sonal and Kunal were going
marry in 20 days time. Riya dug her heels firmly into her work – Painting. She
put her heart, soul, mind and body into creating master pieces. As the day to
Kunal’s marriage was around the corner, she heard from her trusted source that
the marriage was called off. Kunal caught Sonal red-handed when she was kissing
his best friend, Sahil. Why she kissed him, what made Sonal to do it - Riya did
not care. Justice and equality was there in this world and so was God. Kunal
wanted Riya in his life once again. He made desperate attempts to reach her.
She found herself saying a strong”No” to him. Riya was astonished at this
revelation. She had considered herself to be a mediocre, weak person. But,
here, in this scenario, her mind wanted her to be with Kunal despite his
treacherous betrayal whereas her heart wanted otherwise. For once, Riya
listened to her inner voice. She became aware that her brittle heart was now
capable of facing any challenge in this world.
The rain had stopped.
It was already 5 am in the morning. Riya slowly climbed back into her bed,
fully conscious of the fact that she couldn’t catch another wink at that hour
of day. She realized that everything in this world happens for a reason and it
is up to the individual to find and decode the reason or to not to. As the
first rays of the sun slanted inside her museum of a bedroom, her mind became
very light. Her heart was dancing with the sun’s rays to the beats of the
fluidic singing of the birds. Riya comprehended that this entire episode was a
blessing in disguise to discover the latent potential power that was within her
for so long. Hope and optimism pervaded completely in each and every blood cell
in her body. She was ready.
