A CHANGE OF HEART
Basheera
tried to walk faster. Her legs felt like
lead. She wanted to reach the office early today. She adjusted her head scarf
and boarded a rickshaw. Today, she would
complete a year in the multinational IT
Giant company. Last year, on this day,
she had been inducted after a training of 4 months. She had been studious
throughout. She kept to herself but
still managed to make some friends who always called out to her, wished her
every single day. She was surprised at their zest for life! For her life had to
be according to a plan, a plan charted out for her. It was not so simple as
theirs. Or so she thought! She always wondered at their capacity to start a conversation.
They always found an excuse to reach out to her . One would compliment her on
her glowing pink kashmiri complexion, her beautiful eyes, even the embroidery
on her head scarf and some others would enquire about the week end.
The cool air
hit her in full force as she entered the office. Looking back, She had come a
long way from a simple kashmiri girl studying in a local school in Shrinagar.
Her mother’s sister had brought her to Delhi after her elder brother’s death.
He had been missing for a week before his body was found. She and her mother
had joined the hundreds of women protesting on the streets against the security
forces. The officer was trying to pacify
the crowd but no one was in a mood to listen.
“Good
morning”, Bash, & a very happy
Birthday to you”. Ajith called out to
her. “By the way, “Do you believe in Destiny?”. You know, you coming here from
a small village in Kashmir like a fully bloomed rose and brightening up the
whole office in a corner of south India, not to mention warming the cockles of
a handsome guy’s heart too in the process”, wouldn’t you call it destiny”? ”. Once again she broke down in
cold sweat and before she could say something, the others joined. Happy Birthday”!! Neeta, Shyam and Girish
called out to her. They were the ones who would constantly try to put her at
ease and would not take no for an answer. She nodded shyly and sat in front of
her computer. Inspite of the AC room,
she was sweating profusely. Her fingers refused to move over the keyboard. She
looked at the system time. 15 minutes for 11 am, when her collegues who swiped in
early would take a tea break. Today was the D-day, the day she was waiting
for the last 2 years. She had 10 minutes
to do her task. Slowly she opened her draw. She had painstakingly gathered the
material little by little over a period of two months. A few batteries, wires,
the timer everything was kept at
different places in her draw. The minute
hand slowly crawled towards 11am.
‘Shall I get
some tea for you Bash”? Basheera started and looked up. It was Ajith again. She
shook her head and mumbled something about having to finish a programme. He
left shrugging his shoulder. She knew he had a huge crush on her. She quickly
shook her head and bent again. Her fingers slowly started assembling the
device. She had been practicing a lot for the past 3 months that it was a
child’s play for her. She set the timer of the device at 4.15 pm. She knew the
device packed a punch and was enough to blow up the entire room where around 80
of her collegues worked. What a news would it make!! A high security IT Company
with world wide presence brought to its knees by bomb blasts. By the time, she would have
safely boarded the flight to one of the middle east countries and from there to
a neighbouring country which had always been sympathetic to their cause. She
shut the draw and started working on her computer. Maybe this was her “Destiny”
and perhaps theirs too”?
“ Here, some
cake for you” Shyam and Ajith stood towering over her, Now let’s cut it and
sing the birthday song.. Soon Girish and reena too joined. She blushed a
beetroot red and thanked them. Ajith was staring at her beautiful face. When
she was about to put a piece of cake in her mouth, her mobile rang which meant
it was an emergency. It was her mother. “Ha ma….Bomb Blast??? Where??? What????
She started crying. Now Reena took over and started speaking. The lady calling her was a stranger. Her mother and brother on their way to
airport had been injured in a bomb blast. Could she come right away?”.
“Yes Madam, ,
we are all coming”. They literally carried Basheera and put her in a cab and
jumped along. Each one was checking the cash they had and were checking for ATM
‘s on the way.
A little
lull in the afternoon traffic helped them reach the hospital faster. Her mother and brother were among
hundreds of people injured in the bomb blast at the taxi stand. She had
specifically asked them to walk to the nearest taxi stand and take a taxi to
the airport to board the late morning flight.
The scene at
the hospital was devastating, people being brought in stretchers with half
their hands ,legs gone and their clothes covered with blood. Many of them were
screaming in pain . Her mother ‘s clothes were smattered with blood, both her
hands had been severed by the intensity of the blast. And her brother, he was
critical and battling for his life in the ICU. Meanwhile, there were reports of
blasts coming in from various places. The doctors were expecting heavy inflow
of patients.
Her mother cried out to Basheera.Even in her pain, she was crying as
to what was happening!!! Ya Allah! Basheera could not withstand any more and broke down
completely. Her friends held her closely murmuring words of comfort. All of them were cursing the terrorists who
had planted the bombs. Ajith was running around for blood required for her brother’s surgery. Mrs. Singh, their neighbor had heard the news
and reached the hospital and was sitting near her mother. Basheera completed the paper work for her
brother’s immediate surgery and looked at the watch… 3.00 pm. Her hands turned
icy cold when she remembered what she had done at the office. She could not look her friends in the eye.
Her mother was drinking the soup which Mrs. Singh had bought for her.
“Allah!! Is this your WILL”? She cried
silently. “Give me a chance to redeem myself.”
She fell on to her knees and prayed. Each one of her collegues faces
came to her mind. The Smiling Ranjeeta
who came with her child to be left in the office crèche, Ragini, her team leader who always encouraged
her, the HR team who had come to wish her on her birthday…. NO.I cannot do
this…..she cried. She ran like a mad woman outside the hospital. Her friends
followed her bewildered, calling out to her…She jumped on to a taxi and gave
her office address. She still had 40
minutes. She still might manage to reach the office before 4.15pm. The taxi
moved slowly in the traffic. She
repeated the holy names, to give her strength, to forgive her, to help her
reach the office. The taxi stopped now totally and the driver said. “ Madam,
there has been another bomb blast now” and we are stuck”. She cried in anguish
and paid the taxi driver and ran toward her office. With her headscarf falling,
her beautiful face flushed with tears, her hair flowing, she ran through the
traffic.
After what seemed like ages, she reached
her office. She did not dare to look at her watch. She told the security,
“There is a bomb in the building”.
Please make an announcement. The security person already aware of the
serial blasts in the city ran to the public announcement system. She chose this moment to dash into the office
and ran up the stairs to her 3rd floor office. She ran to her draw
and opened it. The timer showed 4.02 pm. The staff running out frantically
gestured and shouted to her. “ Basheera…
quick, out…There is a bomb…lets get out and tried to pull her. She slapped the lady and said “ Get the hell out of
here”. I will come in my own time”. Her hands cold, numb and shivering, she started
the defusing process. When she cut the wires and looked up, it was 4.12 pm and
she fell onto the floor, completely drained,
the wires and battery scattered around her.
A minute
later, a gentle tap on the shoulder awakened her…She opened her eyes. Ajith was
standing behind her. She fell
at his feet crying. ‘ “Hsh… “Its Ok…everything is going to be all right….
