FLY AWAY

Malathi Jivan

Leela had heard of the blasts.In love with a perfect guy Suraj Garewal, she felt sheltered from all the evil in the world. Exams were around the corner and the 2 of them studied together, being in the same class. That day they said goodbye as usual after a long session of history that had ended as a date.It hurt to see him go .It always did but today,the pain of separation  was excruciating.It was as if she had foreseen what was about to happen.She headed home and studied through the evening.On the dining table the discussion turned to the blasts yet again ."Another blast  rocked the city",her brother said solemnly."It was around the campsite area around 1.00 p.m______ placed in a bus________"he droned on.

She heard only one word - campsite That was where he had been going at about the same time.Her head reeled.A thousand thoughts flashed across her mind in the instance of a second.What if he____No it just couldn't be! Life was too wonderful to be so short.

"This is not happening!Its just a nightmare"'she consoled herself.

She decided to call him up and desperately hoped that he was home-safe and sound.The phone kept ringing persistently and no one at the other end bothered to pick it up.Her worst fears were

beginning to take root in her mind.

Three days flew by and she knew that the exams would soon start.

She blotted everything out of her mind and studied hard .Concentration,hough difficult,was not an impossibility as she'd experienced a lot of pressure before during her exams but had always managed to come out with flying colours. The exams were over after a brief stint.Still,no news.She decided to

personally visit him and his parents. On the way,a hearse van passed her. A bundle covered in a white cloth  was lying on a stretcher.As she watched, the van slowed to round a bend. The stench emnating from the interior of the van nearly made her puke. Ten minutes later,as she reached the gate of his bungalow,she saw the hearse van drive away. The priest hurriedly said a few prayers as with every passing minute, the stench was becoming unbearable.

Then she saw what confirmed her worst suspicions.The demons that had haunted her  were coming to lifefor there was his father performing the last rites of his only son--Suraj.His mom screamed and collapsed  and her relatives were having a tough time  restraining her from touching or seeing the corpse which was now more than a fortnight old.

Leela was dazed.One of his cousins (who knew about them) spotted her- only to confirm what was now evident.They had been able to identify him only by the gold ring and his college I.D. card.The face had been totally unidentifiable .The girl held Leela as she fainted. It took Leela days to understand that he would never come back

Days amalgamated themselves into monthswhich soon  transformed themselves into years.

She was now a famous figure -building her reputation through years of back-breaking work and recently,she'd met a fantastic young man,Ravi, who was associated with the cause of helping the disabled-those who has been rendered so by the blasts. Her parents were delighted to see the glow return to her face. The twinkle in her eye told them all.and they were glad that she had finally put the

past behind her and not a day too early.A few more years would surely have turned the youthful face into one of those  pale listless ones unworthy of anyone's admiring gaze.

In the past few years,a new upcoming star with stunning good looks had surfaced in the world of glitz and glamour.His voice had an intensity in it  and whenever he spoke-be it a humorous situation or a sad one on screen,it touched the hearts of millions.Admirers soon flocked about him-but he kept aloof from everyone,attending very few functions.Needless to say ,in a  few years,he became one of the most sought after bachelors .Aakash Gupta lived a simple and chaste life-unusual for a man with his looks.

It was nine in the evening when the phone rang.This being one of the rare occasions that Leela was at home,she picked it up.There was an audible click at the other end and she replaced the receiver assuming that it was probably a wrong number. Ravi knew all about Leela's past.She did not hide it from him.He had himself seen his close friends and relatives die in the blasts so he held no grudge against Suraj who was no longer in this world.

Three days later Ravi's partner Naresh walked into the room seeming perturbed."What's up ,Naresh?" "Ravi here's something you received in today's mail",Naresh said ,handing him an envelope. In blood were written the words "Call off the marriage and skip town else the next letter Leela gets will be a

message saying that you are dead." The envelope was expensive and the paper quality was exceptional.

Ravi wondered who this enemy of his was -it seemed that this person was an ardent admirer of one of them ,the odds in favour of Leela.She was stunning to look at no doubt.but stunning enough for someone to threaten their future together?He hoped not. Leela was worried though he assured her that everything would  be fine. She had finally found  a dream guy in Ravi and did not want to lose him and he understood her perfectly.He wanted to prepone the wedding and the date was set for the fifttenth of the next month.

Later that evening,they attended a rare party thrown by Anand Gupta .It was the first time that the couple got to meet someone so famous. He was handsome,Leela admitted and watched as all the women flitted around him.He definitely had no dearth of the admiring eye. Her gaze shifted and settled on Ravi who was in deep conversation trying to strike a new business deal. "Getting bored madam?"The deep rich voice sounded vaguely familiar. Turning ,she realised it was Aanand Gupta in person! "Noits just that."

"Leela."Ravi interrupted "Hello Mr err"Aanand said."Ravi and this is my fiancee Leela. They shook hands and Aanand winced "Is anything wrong?"Leela asked. "No,just a small cut on the thumb pains only when I shake hands with anyone"Aanand said dismissively. At this time they were interrupted by the arrival of a few other guests who immediately mobbed Aanand as Leela and Ravi slipped away.That night,as Leela reached home,her parents told her that she had an important message.As she listened to the messages,she suddenly froze because the last ten calls  were composed of a single line in an electronically distorted voice

"Hi,how's Suraj"

She wondered who could  play such a prank. After Suraj's death the family had sold their house and rumour had it that the plot of land where the house had stood was coveted by many a builder but was finally purchased by an unknown buyer.She made a mental note to visit the site where his house had stood. When she told Ravi he told her that he had already sent the letter for forensic analysis.Leela on the other hand discovered after a lot of digging and cajoling that the plot on which Suraj's house stood had been purchased by none other than Aanand Gupta. She gathered that it must be a coincidence.

That evening Leela went alone to a friend's wedding reception.Ravi was unable to  accompany Leela as he had an important business meeting to attend.Suddenly the chaos in the hall heightened  and there,looking as handsome as ever  was Aanand .The centre of attention soon turned away from the bride and groom and Aanand became the pivot of all the activity in the hall.He briefly wished the couple amidst the confusion of hundreds of admirers thronging about him. Leela,disgusted by the chaos,decided to leave. The car's engine sputtered and died.She got out and started the futile hunt for a cab on the dimly lit street.Suddenly,the Mercedes appeared out of nowhere and stopped besides her.The window as it rolled down  revealed bit by bit the handsome face over whom the country swooned.

"Hi,Leela can I drop you somewhere?"asked Aanand.She smiled and started to reply but he didn't give her a chance.Soon she was seated comfortably in the plush interior of his A.C. car.

"How's Ravi?"he asked her in a voice that was to sound casual yet one could make out the strain in it.The question surprised her.How could such a famous person remember such an obscure detail as the fiance of a girl whom he had met just once?She and Ravi were popular no doubt but nothing compared to Aanand.

"He's fine.Stuck up with a business conference today"

"He shouldn't be leaving  a gorgeous woman alone on such a  glorious evening."

It was a statement which was meant to be a compliment but it rang a bell in her head.

She was reminded of something that had occured in the distant past. Suraj would say" I shouldn't be leaving  a gorgeous woman alone on such a  glorious evening."at which she would counter" a gorgeous woman ?"at which he would correct himself "no, this gorgeous woman" "I have heard that you purchased that coveted piece of land?"she asked him "Yeah,I want to build a hospital with a rehabilitation centre for accident victims."

"That's wonderful,"she said as she alighted from the car.

That night Aanand looked at his reflection on his polished glass table.The reflection he saw had been attained after countless plastic surgeries and an enormous amount of frustration which had finally led him to the verge of oblivion -from the world and his people-his parents had never seen his transformed face befor they died.The blast had devastated him physically but he had carried on for her.He lived in his dreams.These dreams,the dreams that they had once shared now haunted himsoon she would marry Ravi and all that he would be left with would be a speck.of all that constituted his dreams,his fantasies ,his hopes,his aspirations and his futurea speck that would be so minute that it would be impossible to discern it only too soon.Yes,he was Suraj.

The bomb blast had not killed him. It  was someone else that they had buried.the someone who had managed to steal his gold ring!His family moved away in their grief as he fought for his life in and out of operation theatres.He'd always been in a government hospital in the beginnning and when he had  first seen the way he looked,he'd wanted to kill himself-his appearance had been so grosteque!Only one ray of rope kept him alive-Leela.Now this ray of hope was fading away and soon ,it would be so distant that it would appear to originate in another galaxy.Aanandas she now knew him was handsome and unreachable.the wall was Ravi,beyond which she cold neither see nor sense anything.He spent the next three weeks planning plotting phoning her,threatening Ravi,but of no avail.

There were just 2 days left to the wedding and he knew that he had to tell her but wouldn't she be hurt by the fact that he had tried to destroy RAVI?

The chasm between them was widening and soon it would be too wide and deep for any bridge to span it.O,the kind cruelty of fate!He wanted to destroy herkill her..and make her realise that she had wronged him. How could she live in peace when here he was living in a state of gloom ?

The day of the wedding dawned and he cancelled all his prior appointments to attend it.He spent the day in a state of shock. She looked stunning .enough to leave him gaping for a year..this was how he'd always dreamed he would see herwith a diiference he was her groom in all his fantasies.

At each and every move of hers he wanted to run forward and say "I'm alive!Don't marry him ."

Then it dawned on him Ravi was a wonderful person and most importantly he had been there when she most needed the tatters of her life to be patched.Ravi had given her a new life and she was basking in the warmth of his love.Was it right to take away the sunshine from her life just to brighten up his own life?

The wedding was soon over and as the bride left her parent's home he could bear it no longer.

The next day as Leela opened the newspaper on the plane to Venice,the headlines screamed at her."Aanand Gupta commits suicide"There was the story of his life ,Suraj's life.."I killed him Ravi"she said as she began to sob softly. Ravi comforted her."I suspected it all along,dear,the way he looked at you,the interation,the phone calls.I don't have anything against him even today.He's an ideal lover.He sacrificed his life for your sake.He colud easily have revealed his true identity and broken our marriage but he didn't do it.He's taught the world something very important-the toughest part of loving someone is to let them go .and he's done it by letting you fly away"