A MESSAGE from 777

I was amused by the message tone of my mobile; rather annoyed by it. I had taken leave from office for the day. My mental stature was nowhere near peace. In the last two days I got enough scolding from my manager, for I had never been so pathetic at work; my concentration and focus were nowhere seen. There was a reason. My roommate; Rocky, demised a week before, in mysterious circumstances. He was attacked on the road that connected the foot-over bridge to our PG Hostel; by some unidentified hooligans. Initially it was believed as an act of robbery; as a Punjabi restaurant near to the spot was also attacked at that night. But further investigation found nothing was stolen. I went to his home and stayed there till the cremation procedures were done. Even after a week; I couldn’t get over his loss. We were like brothers. The PG owner brought a new occupant to his space, and I hated that person like hell. To have a little time to myself; trying to regain the composure I had lost; I took off for the day; turned on airplane mode in phone and stayed at the room with bolted doors. I was at complete peace before this message tone surfaced. I stood up to take the phone.

The screen showed a number; an unknown number; in fact a 3-digit number ….  7 7 7.

I almost knew it could be those online prank messages which would offer you a 3BHK house for free on clicking a link. Within the notification bar I just clicked on the message pop-up; that allowed us to glim through the initial lines of the message. It was written ‘Hi Ajmal Its me…..’ It was from somebody who knew me. I unlocked the phone; still having the thought undergoing in my mind how the message got delivered to the phone! I started reading the message. On Reading the first line; I was shell-shocked!! I thought of not going further; but when I read two more lines, they were so original that I felt the person was talking in person to me. It was a message from Rocky!!!!!!

“

        Hi Ajmal,

                        It’s me, Rocky. How are you man? It’s been a week right? Yeah, a week. How’s it at our room? All good? I’m fine here. Here means; at Michael’s Inn. After my death at the hospital I was brought to this place. You know that place; which we used to hear in fairy tales; the divine haven for the good souls. Same kind of place. A lot of good people are here. Like millions of them. And this Michael’s inn is an endless street with a countless number of castles. I was also given one of them. I met few people around here. And you know; here, all of us can surpass our thoughts to each other; without doing the talking. For the same reason; I don’t know which language the people here belong to. I interacted with a few of them by this time and one thing I found common in them was that they all died while doing something for others' well-being. So I think I’m among the right people here. The care-taker of Michael’s inn is a person called George. He is a very nice person; and it’s with his help I could send you this message. Initially, he disagreed. But when I told him what the message was, he agreed. I had permission to send this message only to one person. I chose you because I know you’re worth it….

You remember the night I died? I had called you by 11 right? I had a busy schedule on that day. My manager had given me hell amount of work that day that hung me up till 2am at the office. I was half sleeping while returning to our P.G. And you know our service road; there are no street lights to aid us; only the faint moonlight. I hesitated to put on my mobile flashlight; as it might attract those unseen robbers who might pounce on me from nowhere. So I tiptoed through the asphalt being as much sober as possible.

When I reached near that large sheet metal barricade, which enclosed the site for construction; I heard some unusual sound; a very low sound. I stopped walking at once and kept my ears attentive. The sound remained mild and constant. I thought it would be some dog crying at some distance and continued by silent steps. I felt my guess was right; when I saw a dog right in front of my eyes; which was searching food from a plastic bag lying on the ground. And when I moved a little closer, I could see a motorcycle which was left to support by the barricade and a scooty Pep lying on the ground; as if somebody parked them in some hurry. For a moment I got that eerie feeling of premonition from my heart and my innards asked me to move fast and reach the room ASAP. I looked around; there were no signs of a human being. The sound again resurfaced; and this time it occurred to me like a muted sobs of a woman, with somebody holding out her mouth from going loud. I moved closer to the barricade and kept ears on the metal. Now the sound became louder and more audible. It was a woman’s muted cry for help. Without panicking I stealthily stepped across the barricade to find a gap or a breach to enter to the site. The gate made of sheet metal that used to remain closed; had its lock broken. I peeked through the gap; but nothing was visible in the darkness. Opening the gate of metal would be nothing but giving an open warning to whoever people there inside it. I took my mobile, switched on the flashlight and in a trice pushed the barricade with all the strength I had. Probably startled by the sound I could hear the mail voices coming into action. Pointing the flashlight to the direction in which the sounds came; I finally found them; the culprits and the victim. A woman was lying down, with her clothes stripped off; and two men beside her; one holding her hand in a twisted position; and other squatting astride over her. It was a freezing moment. All of us in the scene was too startled to fathom what was going on. Even the woman forgot to seek help; for she might have lost the hope for the same. But in the next second she shouted “Help!” but her sound was not loud enough, probably because her throat had gone soar from the frequent muted screeching.

I was completely blank on what was to be done. Adding insult to the injury, the man who was holding her and turned towards me. I realized that trouble has arrived. Involuntarily I took a step back; but found it hard as I was standing over a heap of crushed aggregate stones. I pointed the flashlight and took three round stones. Within no time I threw one right at the face of the person who squatted over the woman. My aim was with me; the man fell to the ground with a painful mourn. But the other person went running back to the woman who was struggling to stand on her foot. I aimed the other stone on to his head with the help of my flashlight; but to my surprise the woman stamped right at his stomach pushed him to the ground. She took her clothes lying on the ground and came to me. She was probably injured in her resistance that she couldn’t move in faster steps.

        “Come fast!!!!!!”

I helped her to walk over the stones. We rushed to the ajar gate. I let her go first and put on her clothes and meanwhile, with the help of flashlight I found an iron rod from the ground, so as to lock the gate from outside. I could hear the sounds of those men coming towards us. I almost got out from the barricade, when something sharp pierced onto my back. It almost touched my spine that I felt I got a stroke on my head. I fell to the ground; failing to lock the door. I could see the wooden handle of knife standing erect on my back. The woman was looking at me, sobbing at the sight. And the one who back-stabbed was standing victoriously behind me. I heard the footsteps of the other one approaching towards us. I shouted to her at the maximum alto possible;

        “Just Run!!!!!”

She ran towards the nearest streetlight visible from the spot. The men ran towards her. It was sure that she would be caught before she reached her bike. I mustered all possible energy; stood up on my legs and staggered towards her.

No….. No….. It was never possible for me to reach her. And even if I reach; I had only a meager resistance left to fight. A stone, a knife adhered to my back, and a mobile phone; that was all I had. To call someone was out of option at this point of time. I tried to take out the knife; but it pained like hell on a slight jerk. I looked at the stone in my hands. I looked around. I couldn’t see any houses or buildings. I pushed myself to the other end of the road. And I saw it…… The kitchen of that Punjabi restaurant. And moreover I could see the glass exhaust window in the faint moon-light. Again investing on my aim, I threw the stone right on the window. I heard the sound of breaking glass while falling down the ground. I felt too tired that I wanted to sleep right there; on the road. I turned back to see if the woman was safe. And I saw the two bastards escaping away on their motorcycle’ probably the restaurant people would have switched on their lights. And I also saw the woman rushing in her bike…. Yes….. She was safe.

The restaurant people came running to me with their torch-lights. The last vignette I remember is one of them whispering in my ears while lifting me;

        “Everything is fine”

I don’t want you to tell this to the police; I don’t want you to tell my parents, and I never want you to make me a hashtag joker in the online media. These won’t help in catching those skunks; rather it would sympathize that woman in the name of support. She will go to the police, if she wants to. I just want you to know that I’m happy now. And your friend didn’t die because some rookie maneuvered his knife across my spine. I protected a woman. And I did that because it is the duty of men to ensure the women are safe; especially from the men themselves. At least that woman would pray for my soul in her daily prayers; that is more than enough for me.

And one more thing. Ajmal; if you encounter such a situation in your life ever; never refrain yourself from taking a step in the name of fear. You should fight. Even if it costs your life. For the eternal life after; is most beautiful. And if you don’t act; the remorseful life awaiting you would be nothing better than hell.

In the hope of everybody on earth living a life similar to ours; I’m concluding. Godspeed Brother…..

                                                                                                   “

I read the message… twice … thrice… and many more times. His words reverberated in my ears and each time I repeated reading the message; his face seemed smiling at me. I stood up and walked towards the road where he took his final breath. I saw the lock of the gate; it was repaired. The workers of electricity board was lodging street lights across the road. And some private firm was busy setting up poles for CCTV cameras. I smiled… My friend would be watching this; the least which could be done as homage to his sacrifice. Returning back to the room; I took the oath… 

     I WILL FIGHT TILL MY LAST BREATH TO PROTECT ANY WOMAN FROM DANGER. I PROMISE.

                                                                          /LAMA SIGNING OFF/