An Untitled Real Story

Hey buddy; it has really been a long time. Well, if you wonder where I was all these days; it was exams that kept me away.
Before you begin reading, I must tell you, completing this article took away all the patience I have, all my skills; and made me realized how novice I am when it comes to writing.  Writing what you feel, and writing something that has happened for real makes the difference between the good and bad write ups.
I bring forth you a real story with a hope that you would read till the end of it; hoping I have done justice; at least a bit to the essence of it.

That gloomy day

After caressing her beautiful curls; taking her hand in his, he kissed her fingers softly; noticing the little hairs on it, he smiled. Embracing her in his arms; he whispered I love you. 

Untouched by the love showered upon her, she stood terrorized at the middle of the platform. Afraid that he might have offended her, he stepped back. 
Her innocent face was overshadowed with fear; her eyes filled with tears. Mustering all her courage, like a new recruit of strife, she asked him, if this is what people call expressing love.

Baffled he did not understand how to react. A few moments of silence lingered. 
It is love only when you want it to happen this way, he said after a deep thought.

And what if I don't, she asked.
Then it is perhaps molestation.

She felt paralyzed that moment, remembering the past all of a sudden. Without uttering a word, without wishing him a goodbye she boarded the train.

The bitter realization

It was not the first time she was touched; but she never knew before what a wrong touch was. All of a sudden she felt the pangs of being a victim. It was too late to realize and perhaps too late to tell. Locking herself in the lavatory, she shrieked. The continuous rumbling of the train, the furious winds; enshrouded her cries.  She felt a sharp pain engulfing her heart; the pain that would now stay forever.

She remembers it all now. She feels him digging his head in her belly, again. She feels his strong hands holding her. She feels his hands on her cheeks. Now, he starts running his hands on her back when suddenly the door bell rings.

I was saved perhaps from a more unfortunate pain, she thought. Should I be happy for that, or lament that he was my uncle, she shouted to herself. She fell on the dirty wet floor of the water closet and cried for hours.

She was thirteen then, she is eighteen now. People would ridicule her for realizing it so late. But how would she have known it before, when it was never told? She was kept away from all the harsh realities of life; only to let the truth dawn on her catastrophically someday, ruining her from inside.

Every night since then she has felt that touch. It not only ruined her relationship with others but the relation she had with herself. Every time she looked into the mirror, she pitied herself; just because she was a girl…

Yet Again

It has been a year since that gloomy day. It had made her afraid of the dark, silent and not so crowded areas. She had abruptly stopped talking to men. She is again travelling with her cousin by railways to join her college at time after a minor surgery at home. There are less people travelling that day yet she is unafraid as her brother is beside her.
After four hours of the journey, six men board the same train. 

Oblivious to them, she keeps looking out of the window enjoying the scenic view. Interrupting her thoughts one of the men asks her name. Unaware of his cruel intentions, she just answers him back and turns towards the window again. 

Her thoughts are intervened by some sultry song being played. She looks around and find six men, all of her father age enjoying the sordid lyrics and singing along. She then turns towards her cousin and finds his face colorless; engulfed with a fear. A cold shiver ran down her spine. They are not the age of my father, but of my uncle she said to herself.

I cannot let this happen to myself again, she pledges. Deciding she would sleep somewhere else in the coach, she gets up. Seeing her go, one of the men obstructs her way.  I own a restaurant and I am rich; he began opening his wallet. She turns around when another asks her to see it once and she might change her decision.
Now her brother has unlocked the chain of their luggage for her protection. They are allowed to leave but only to find the whole coach almost empty which meant she would be spared nowhere.


She sits in a nearby compartment, from where they could keep an eye upon them.
The night is not enjoyable yet, she hears someone among them speak.

The element is near and I need to get her, another replies.

After you are done send that element to me, another says.

Her cousin somehow convinces her to sleep. She sleeps in a compartment occupied by two people, one of them being a lady; the only people except them in the coach. After two stations, he gets back to their original seat where the men are and ask them to stop talking about her, as she got down at the previous station.

The next morning she is thankful to God for letting her reach safe. She checks herself in the mirror at her room. Seeing and admiring herself was one of her favorite pastimes; but it has been different since a year. Each time now when she looks at herself, she hates her pretty face which got her all the troubles and insult.

This Time Again

It is that time of the year again, when everyone is excited to go home. She is travelling with a classmate as her companion. While she is lost in a novel, she feels someone is impeccably staring at her. Along with her friend she gets up to get some food. While she is walking, she is suddenly touched at her chest.

Her friend asks the person to behave, while she stands in sheer disbelief. It is wow, replies the person; instead of being sorry.

They leave.
‘Why did you not say anything’ asks her friend.
Did you notice his bag with the certification logo on it?

Oh yes, it means the guy is from our batch; her friend screams.
Exactly, and he is enough educated to know how he should behave.

This was the third time, excluding the misbehavior of daily stalkers when she felt it was a wrong touch. She has now given hope of women being respected in the society after encountering such men; even from her own university. She has understood it is not just the pretty face but it is all about being a woman in a patriarchal society.

She reaches her home the next morning; picks up the newspaper to find a tale of a saint harassing women. She turns the pages to find one or two gang rape articles. She looks at herself again in the mirror, and weeps. She thanks lord for saving her twice. She feels an immense pain in her heart. Afraid that someone might hear her shrieks, she locks herself in a room, puts a towel in her mouth and cries. When this is the pain in her heart, how would one ever understand what a real victim goes through? 

Next morning, when she wakes up, she dress up like a princess, apply kohl round her eyes, puts on her favorite lip gloss and smiles like she has never known what pain is. After all, she believes the only way to let the monsters not win is to tell them women are not afraid anymore!!