Chapter 9
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The shriek that followed pierced Nitn’s eardrums. His temples throbbed. What did he do? His face was washed in perspiration. Oh god! What happened?
No one looked after Lokesh. Their stares wanted to kill Nitin with guilt. I just bit him. Nothing terrible. And after all, a bite doesn’t hurt that much. Was Lokesh making it up? Nitin knew his acting skills weren’t that diamond-edged.
The silence was daunting. Nitin lowered his head and strode toward the door. They all are looking at me. The door seemed miles away. His legs wouldn’t carry him. But he made it with out falling, and even reached home. He opened the fence gate and found no car in the lawn. He didn’t feel the relief he should have felt.
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Knock! Knock!
Urghm…mmm..
Kmock! Knock! Knock!
Huh…!
Nitin drew up his heavy head from the table. A book lay opened in front of him. What time was it? He jerked his head to decrease the laziness. The clock wall ticked 9: 41.
Vyom stood outside when he opened the door. Nitin saw apology in his eyes. It looked he had recently come from work.
“You fell asleep?” he said. It was almost a whisper.
“Yeah.” I hoped I didn’t have drool on my face.
“I want to say sorry,” Vyom hesitated, he always did when he talked about such things, “but that doesn’t mean you are allowed.”
“No matter. Ten percent are not going.”
They eyed each other. Then Vyom left.
Nitin sprawled over his bed. Maybe life was just like that. Obstacles come and go. They are a part of life. If they weren’t there, then would someone feel the joy of success? Some obstacles are meant to be crossed; they test your strength. Some just to overtake; they are to check your willingness. And some to change the path; they are to check yourself.
Shut up! Nitin told himself. Enough doing philosophy.
Nitin loved philosophies. They left him exhilarated whenever he read them. But sometimes he felt angry at them.
He will get some another chance to visit Srinagar. He had ages before him.
Nitin was just setting the pillow when he remembered the storeroom.
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The junk lay as it was. Nitin calculated how much part he had completed. The orange light flickered for a moment. Niitn was worried what will happen if it died out.
He hadn’t wanted to come here in the first place. But he thought at least he should try. There might be other secrets. Like the one he had discovered yesterday. Coming to the storeroom was easier than last time.
Nitin set to work. This time, he had brought a water bottle, a torch and a black Hit. There were just endless mosquitoes in there. The first wardrobe he inspected was an old-fashioned one. It had a faded mirror and floral carvings. Inside were tools.
Sthere were many trunks in the corner. Nitin glanced at them again and again. But he had to be organized, or he will forget and check the shelf he was checking twice. They were inviting. He felt Vyom might have stored there his books or some documents.
At last, he couldn’t hold himself. He left the bottle over an old set of chest of drawers as a guide point, and approached the nearest trunk.
It wasn’t locked. Thank god. The metal was rusting and the grey coulour peeling off. Inside were boxes, and inside those boxes were Vyom’s test papers, exam papers, assignments, and report cards. Nitin wanted to read each and every word. And if his father in future will again poke him, then he will show him a 47 out of 100.
He sifted through them. The next trunk held a secret.
The photograph was slipped inside the cover jacket of a Romeo and Juliet hardback. The photograph was as old as the book. Perhaps the photograph had been taken at the time he was reading the book.
Nitin held the photograph right before his eyes. It was black and white. The background had a water area enclosed by a line of stone structure. Nitin hadn’t seen such a place. Vyom and Mansa stood beside the water body. Looking at them, his heart stopped. It can’t be possible. They were wearing the same clothes, which they had been wearing in his dream. The picture might have been taken before or after that incidence. Vyom had a genuine smile. Mansa had one too, but it had an underlying secret. She was hiding something.
Nitin gazed at the picture for some more minutes then he turned the picture. Written in blue ink, definitely in Vyom’s hand was a tag:
Verinag, Kashmir
11 December, 1999
He was seeing his mother’s face for the second time. This time, he was getting out more answers from Vyom
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