All Of A Sudden: English Short Story; Author: Deepak Budki; Translator: Jawahar Lal Bhat.

All Of A Sudden; English Short Story

 Author: Deepak Budki

 Translator: Jawahar Lal Bhat.

“What's the matter? There’s an air of mysterious gloom throughout the campus?”, She enquired from her friend as soon as she stepped off the bus.

“Don’t you know anything?”

The whole atmosphere radiated a state of sorrow and deep distress.

“No, I don’t!”

“Yesterday, Tasneem was drowned in the Ahrabal waterfall while on an excursion.”

“Oh, my God? I can’t believe it. ”

In no time both the girls were a personification of grief. They continued walking towards the most beautiful central bloc of the university campus looking around hopefully with the belief that they may find her hidden somewhere. It was hard to believe that Tasneem, their dear friend, had departed forever.

Tasneem was engaged in research on 'Feminism in Urdu Literature' after she had passed her Master’s degree with distinction. She had set her goals in life not knowing that Death had something else in store for her.

“Ah! Why did God call her back so soon?  She was such a pretty, virtuous, devout and hardworking girl. Sometimes I doubt the justice of Almighty!” The first girl continued her conversation with tearful eyes.

“Yeah dear, it is one of the riddles that man has not been able to solve. I feel there is more injustice than justice in the house of God.”

“Poor girl, how many colourful dreams had she harboured in her life?..... Shall do this....shall do that! Shall work for the betterment of society. Shall ensure women’s empowerment from present abject helplessness and servility. Shall dedicate my whole life to the uplift of women. Shall struggle for the improvement of human values!..... It seemed like Prophet Khizr had appropriated for her everlasting life, never to end! Now see, she is no more!! These are the ways of God!” 

Today this huge campus, situated on the banks of the famous Dal Lake, spanning hundreds of acres of land and dotted everywhere with numerous apple trees, was presenting a depressing and cheerless sight. On the other hand, during the months of April and May, these trees are full of colourful blossoms of apple and the whole atmosphere is filled with wonderful romantic ambience, gloss and colour. Beautifully decked-up young girls move about on the campus further enhancing its natural beauty. At times one could also see an amorous air force pilot in his helicopter hovering over clusters of belles at a convenient height watching these fairies descend from heaven. With his right hand, he would wave at some of them and then fly away with a dash leaving the girls laughing and giggling. But today the campus presented a totally devastated look.

“Oh God, How Rizwan would be going through?  He loved her so passionately,” the first girl spoke again.

“What would he feel? He was very much there with her. The coward simply watched her drowning despite the fact that he had got an award in swimming last year. Tasneem cried for help and waved her hands vigorously all through while she was struggling to save herself amid the fast-flowing water. That stupid fellow could not muster enough courage to jump into the water to save her.” 

“He didn’t do anything! That’s truly strange of him!” she continued, “I was not feeling well yesterday so didn’t go for the picnic. You must have watched everything till the end.”

“Yes, I was there. I saw it happen all with my own unfortunate eyes.” The other girl had her voice choked with emotion.

“Maybe that was destined to happen and the will of God!” the first girl expressed her sympathies. She was looking at her friend as if asking her to relate the events in full that led to the tragedy.

The other girl could read out her intention and after gathering some courage started her oration.

“We boarded buses provided by the university at eight in the morning near the Exchange Crossing and soon the caravan of buses headed towards the destination. All the way students enjoyed their fill laughing, cracking jokes and singing Bollywood film songs. The buses were running in speed, competing with one another and nothing was audible in the noise within.

Tasneem opened her bag and as usual, took out an English novel to read.  Suddenly, Rizwan swept over with something unusual came and sat beside her. The book in her hand made him restless because he wanted to talk to her but strangely Tasneem didn’t want to oblige him. So he came over to tease her, “Excuse me Tasneem, "you put me off every time I see you holding a book in your hand. Come on, is this an occasion to read books? Please close it and put it back in your bag.”

Smiling softly, she closed her book and put it back into her bag.

“Yes, come on, what do you want to say?”

“Why didn’t you come to the prize distribution function last Sunday?”

“I didn’t expect any prize! What was the fun of my attending? Moreover, I’m least interested in athletics. Anyway, was there something special?” She deliberately wanted to be incognizant of the event.

“I understand you were not to receive a prize yet you could have come to cheer for other award winners. I hope you know this year too I got three prizes, two in swimming and one in the long jump.”

“I believe I should know. Must have been the bronze ones! You can purchase them dirt cheap from an antique shop.” She said in order to poke fun at him.

" Why do you think gold medals have become a rarity? Do you believe I am not able to qualify for the gold?”

“Oh no, you seem to get angry. I was just kidding! How do I know you’ve been awarded a gold medal?”

“Tasneem, to tell you the truth I missed one thing awfully and that was the paucity of close admirers, there were almost none.”

“You’ve erred by not taking the help of your politician friend. He would’ve arranged a couple of truckloads of paid cheering spectators.” 

“There was no such need. If Rizwan had called us we’d have come without payment,” intervened Shalka with a hearty laugh; she was sitting nearby.

Roshni, sitting in an adjacent seat also joined the conversation and said, “Shalka, do not heed him. Had he his way Rizwan would have made us not only clap but also pay for it.” Everyone had a big laugh over the comment. Roshni also loved Rizwan from the core of her heart but he never responded. In her heart of hearts, she felt slighted and sometimes even spoke ill of him. 

As the buses crossed Pampore the singing session commenced. Many boys and girls demonstrated their singing skills. Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Manna Dey -- everyone was represented. Students enjoyed and clapped and in that noise and merrymaking the buses sped up to their destination.

Suddenly Somnath, a student with a quiet demeanour rose from his seat and announced at the peak of his voice, “May you all stop for a moment, please. I will tell you a joke”. Peals of laughter welcomed him. He looked like a joker by his very countenance – short-statured with a relatively large diameter. His eyes were deep in his eye sockets on which he was wearing Gandhian-style round-rimmed spectacles. His hair was parted in the middle with a tuft at the back which gave him an appearance of a medieval pundit.

Somnath handed out his first joke and the bus was again swept over by peals of laughter. Then he rolled out another which provoked further laughter. He went on telling jokes one after another inciting tons of laughter till he finished and took his seat. In a few moments, this self-effacing boy drew the attention of all the passengers with his smart prattle.

It looks like some people sincerely believe that they should share joy with people and make them happy, joyous and cheerful. They want the world to be free of sorrow. They would go to any length to fulfil their mission in life.

At about noon all the buses reached Aharabal Falls. Boys and girls formed small groups and sat on the green carpet provided by nature, chit-chatting among themselves. On the other hand, the waterfall in the background presented a sight of grandeur, magnificence and beauty while on the other side reminded me of fury and uncontrollable nature. A white silvery sheet of water falling from the heavens above brought forth unlimited foam below dazzling in the rays of the sun. The scenery was landscaped with deep blue sky and purple mountain ranges.

Meanwhile, the students opened their lunch baskets and boxes and spread their lunch. The sweet fragrance of several Kashmiri dishes, vegetarian and non-vegetarian, filled the air -- Goshtabas, Ristas, Kababs, Murg Musalam and Yakhni on one side, and, Rogan Josh, Keema, Kaliya, Dum Aaloo, Nadru Yakhni on the other. They shared their delicacies with each other and ate to their heart’s content. Having witnessed the scene nobody would believe that man is divided into different castes and faiths.

After taking a rest for a while all the students combined into a single group formed a large circle facing each other and commenced a singing session in which many students participated. Roshni sang a few Ghazals of Mehdi Hassan followed by Tasneem who sang Ghulam Ali and Jagjeet Singh's ghazals. Then Aabida sang a few poignant ghazals of Begum Akhtar. The atmosphere was mesmerizing but unfortunately aroused melancholic feelings that touched the chords of everyone’s heart. Some old film songs of Mukesh, Talat and Lata also joined the melee. The songs created a setting of old memorials revived afresh. Never do modern songs make an impression that these everlasting melodies used to create.

My heart was suddenly overcome by a strange feeling of grief. I couldn't understand why all of them preferred to sing songs begetting sorrow rather than joy. However, I realized very soon that both joy and sorrow are in fact the ultimate reality of life. Putting forward sorrow has the capacity to purge the inner grief that is seated deep inside our hearts. The gloomy experience that is found in these sad notes gives us the finest inner joy which the joyous songs do not. Still, my inner conscience knocked on my reasoning that such occasions should not have been used for arousing sorrow.

Meanwhile, the Sun was passing slowly onto its western destination and the shadow of Chinars was getting longer and longer. The dwindling light of the day was giving a feeling of cool assuredness as the orange and red rays of the Sun were extended over the mountains and valleys around. The water of the fall had turned darker now yet the students were playing gleefully with bare feet in the stream emanating from the waterfall and hopping over the boulders popping out of turbulent waters. Carefree and perilously unbothered about the dangers of the sport, some boys and girls tried to block and even reverse the flow of waves with bare hands acting like oars and also threw it on each other enjoying the beauty that nature had provided here in abundance.

All of a sudden the girl who was narrating the scene became silent unable to narrate anything further. A stream of tears flowed down her eyes and her voice choked. After some time, when she gained her poise, she resumed her speech.

“Suddenly a heartbreaking scream was heard from somewhere and everyone stood on their toes to watch what had happened --- Save me! Save me! Save me! Tasneem was shouting in water, carried away by a strong current deep into it. She was waving her hands and feet desperately for help but no one had the courage to jump into the deafening and awe-inspiring water current to save her. Everyone was panic-stricken and shivered with fear of taking the risk of jumping into the ferocious stream of water.

Deeply shocked, Roshni looked towards Rizwan expecting some initiative from him to save her lady love but he was equally dumbfounded with fear and hesitant to take the plunge. For a few fleeting moments, everyone was hoping against hope with no help whatsoever coming from anywhere when all of a sudden a deep thud was heard in the flowing water. Somebody had daringly jumped into the water. It was Somnath who had taken the unexpected risk to save Tasneem. He was neither an expert swimmer nor had ever taken such an adventure. Everybody was looking at his heroics to save the drowning Tasneem. He pushed himself with great force to take hold of the hand of Tasneem who had almost resigned and was silently flowing with the current of water. With admirable courage and presence of mind, he made concerted efforts to reach her but the forceful waves would drive him away every time he caught hold of her. At last, Somnath caught hold of her waist drawing her towards himself and away from the water current. Everyone watched the incredible struggle of Somnath with fond hope when all of a sudden both of them were engulfed by a strong current of water in a dangerously revolving whirlpool and in a matter of seconds both of them disappeared.

Meanwhile, the two friends had reached the Arts Block where a huge gathering of teachers and students had already gathered to pay homage to the duo. Everybody had been shell-shocked to hear about the unfortunate accident. One after the other, the speakers paid tributes to the departed souls. Those who had actually watched the heart-rending tragedy were mostly speechless and shed tears endlessly. Voice of most of the speakers choked frequently with emotion and they kept searching for words.

In the meantime, a union leader of the administrative department, Bishamber Nath rose to speak. Though he had not personally witnessed the accident yet he related the sequence of the events in such a manner as if he was himself present there on the spot. He expressed deep shock over the loss of precious lives and specifically praised the efforts of Somnath who had lost his life trying to save Tasneem while all others stood silently watching things happen. His oratory had a deep impact on the listeners filling their hearts with grief and eyes with tears. He was however carried away by uncontrolled emotions that for a moment his demagoguery trait took control of his moral sense and he announced, “The great sacrifice of Somnath is a living example of secularism.”

The words spoken by him echoed all over and produced an unusual stir of discontent among the audience. I felt as if by saying these uncalled-for words he had uttered some expletives against those lost innocent souls. Nobody could imagine that Somnath had been spurred by secularism to sacrifice his life and set an example for others. How could he have been guided by the secular ideal in a moment of infinite turbulence, howsoever great the ideal may be? The fact remains that a decision to risk his life was taken by Somnath in a fleeting moment with a single thought of saving a life?  He mustered the courage to attempt the rescue of an innocent helpless girl engulfed by lethal waves and lost his life in the process. Without much thinking, he jumped into the jaws of death. He was only guided by one strong emotion and that was a concern for a fellow human being, nothing else!

I felt the sentence of the union leader acted like a sharp lancet that pierced deep into two innocent sacred hearts of the departed souls.

 

*****