The lights grew dim,the night sky was buzzing with the sound of gunshots .The air around was burdened with the baggage of smoke and fume.Patrolling cars and rampant marching of the police made the night busy.
Everything around looked dismantled,there were houses toppled,men running around and casualties being taken to the hospital.The night was indeed scary and it appeared to be longer than usual.Everywhere there was blood and one could see the perplexed faces of men running around in dismay.
Asha peeped out of her window to see if the riots have seized by then.She could see men running around and the sudden noise of bombing and gunshots intruded the tranquility of the night. She was praying for her brothers and waited eagerly for them to come back.The temple behind her house converted into a battleground with religions waging the war to attain power.
Asha's mother was worried for her sons who had fire in their eyes and hatred in their hearts.Asha could feel her little world perturbed by the uncertainties of the night.She saw the locket gifted to her by Kabir.She felt at once an irresistible desire to know about his whereabouts.She knew she couldn't even take his name now.She wondered what might have happened to him,if he was safe,if he had been injured.
Asha could not understand why people bask in hatred and become blood thirsty in the name of religion.She could not find anything Missing in Kabir,he had every possible adjective a girl search for in her prospective better half,but religion separated them.She has seen Kabir loving her no less because she was a Hindu,nor did he ever force her for conversion,maybe that's why they had managed to get along with one another for the last 6 years without being able to officially announce their relationship.
Asha had in several occasions made up her mind to confess to her mother but the incident of the death of her father in a communal encounter by a Muslim Army officer gave her a reality check.Often they had thought of eloping but couldn't muster the courage to hurt their near ones.Asha had always known the synonym of Love to be Kabir.She still remembers how back in school days,Kabir tried all his efforts to woo her and finally made her his.
Since then both of them knew that they had something special,but Love wasn't easy for them.The previous night a local village fair around the temple area saw the hatred of men towards each other to the extent that the village had been converted to a graveyard in less than 12 hours.Asha could not understand why people hate each other when all were the children of God and every religion talk of Love,then why there was so much hatred and pain.
Just then there was a loud thumbing on the door, Asha's mother wiped her tears and Asha rushed to open the door to find some people carrying in one of her injured brother who seemed to be crying profusely and some men came in with the lifeless body of her younger brother.Before Asha could compose herself and understand anything,Mahesh Chacha,the priest of the temple came towards her and consoled her by saying-"Your brother's death has been avenged by the boys of our Community,we have killed the son of the scoundrel who touched your brother, they are carrying Kabir for burial...."
Asha stood still seeing the night sky making way for the dawn.