WHEN LIPS MEET AND HEARTS BLEED
'Can I kiss you?' he asked timidly. This brought a flutter of emotions on her face. First seen were her sensuously shaped eyebrows coming together evidently because of surprise and perhaps a bit of confusion. Then, staring at him intently for a moment she smiled. In the beginning it was just a smile, but slowly she broke into a soft laughter. Laughter, born out of amusement and the feeling of hearing something unusual and unexpected. Then finally facing him, she asked with a slight tone of dominance, 'Where ?' Even as she was saying this single word, the amusement in her was still visible in the corners of her eyes. ?I?ll show you,? was his sharp retort. She could sense that his ego was bruised by her action. It was confirmed by the swiftness with which she pulled her towards him & without any warning started a string of strong and emotion-filled kisses all over his face, covering every inch of her face. It seemed to continue for several minutes. Hard pressed as she was, both literally & physically, she forcefully wriggled out of is hold and with an air of superficial arrogance said, 'Hey, give me a break !' This restrained him a bit.
Once more, she took a close look at the visitor. He was not even a man, just a grown-up boy with just traces of hair for a moustache. By his general style and attire, he seemed to be from a fairly affluent family. She couldn?t help noticing that he was sweating profusely. Her one-and-a-half years of experience told her that her new customer was a first-timer & also that he wasn?t well-informed. Remembering his first question, she quietly decided to give him slightly better care than the regulars-after all he seemed too young. But first things first-'Sixty rupees', she said, expecting him to round it off to fifty. But unquestioningly he placed a fifty and then a ten-rupee note with the father of the nation smiling handsomely, on the table, which incidentally was the only other piece of furniture other than the cot.
When he looked back, she was already sitting on the bed. He saw that she had a unique way of patting in place, the tuft of hair that hung over her forehead back into the groove of her ears. Though she did this almost effortlessly, it indeed had a hint of elegance. When she did so, the small dot on her forehead was visible which seemed to give her whole face a completeness, fullness and finality. It came as a bit of surprise to him that she should be wearing the ?desi? half saree. Worn by young unmarried women-it has become a rarity in cities. But still its magic holds on. Even as these thoughts were running in his mind, he was still sweating. He moved towards her. But his naïve look prompted her to have a considerable heart. As if to make him feel easy, she asked if he was working or still a student. The question had its desired effect. He answered with a sheepish smile that he was still a student studying in college. Encouraged by this answer, she prodded on, 'Who gave you the address of this notorious place?' 'My friend', he said, 'it was he who told me about his 'adventures' here and who challenged me to have one.' 'Challenge?', she asked bewildered. 'Yeah, challenge', he replied as a matter of fact.
Maybe, sensing the fact that the questions were coming from only her side, he too started his array of enquiries. But his questions had a tinge of sympathy attached to them , knowingly or unintentionally . Naturally, her story of how she ended up in this horrible place also came into picture. But she was quite taken back by his frank, straightforward and rather blunt question. She would have plainly said, 'none of your business' , but she also remembered that it was a long time , since she had anything even vaguely resembling a conversation with a costumer. Mostly, it was the case of both being in a hurry. Thus, she slowly opened her heart and started speaking out in soft words. First, her words were audible, then gradually becoming incoherent and unclear, finally reaching a stage where she could hardly hold back her tears. From whatever little he could hear, all he could make out was that, she was born in a typical poverty stricken family 'burdened ' with girls. A not so responsible father, keen on disposing off her, whatever be her destination, had sold her to a notorious network. But, one thing struck him, so much so that he couldn?t digest it. Her family had got 'five rupees in net cash' for of the free disposal of their daughter. ' A mere five rupees for an entire life of a young woman?'. That too in a place as horrible as this, devoid of any self respect or even a cursory interest in life' Unable to control his disbelief, he twice asked her if it was five rupees that drove her here. She replied in the affirmative. This produced in him an instant feeling of irrepressible anger both at her family and the racketeer. But slowly, it dawned on him that he too was the part of the process ruining her life. He cringed to the point of becoming speechless.
When he saw her face once more, there was this thin film engulfing her beautiful eyes. She briefly lowered her face with her hands covering it. He tried to say something soothing to comfort her. He ventured to her at least lift her buried face. But he dared not touch her. He was filled with shame and more precisely guilt. He stared at her intently for what it seemed a very long time. It was a period of lull and silence. Then, he got up, swiftly moved towards the table, carefully took back the sixty rupees and in its place kept a new, shiny five rupee coin and then slowly walked away???.
---Kitchu @ 202