I stood at the the side of a thoroughfare, like a drifter with nothing but the noise of the honking vehicles filling my empty head. The leaves of a low swinging branch of a beech were hitting me across the face. I could not twist and turn. I simply went on standing there motionless with nature playing its role every now and then in her own insidious yet triumphant way! Days and nights came and went. And I stood there with my sole intention of illuminating the darkened passage n letting light be with the people.

                     One day, when I was in my slumber, I heard noises. I woke up with a start and saw a huge crowd gathered midway. I was apprehensive about what could have happened. All of a sudden the deepest fear that remained buried inside the very core of my heart came alive in me! I wanted to rush but I could do nothing more than to become a mere spectator of the drama held in front of my eyes. I heard from a distance the siren of a vehicle. It came and stopped near me. From them came out the guards of the custodians of justice in our society; in their khaki uniforms, service caps, and service guns. I could not think of anything that could have occurred. I prayed to God to have spared the unforeseen. A few of the guards made the crowd to disperse and their chieftain strode forward. I could now have a blurred glimpse of the site. My elevated altitude proved advantageous for me and helped in getting a good apperception of the event. But what I saw left me all aghast! I was too shocked even to think of anything. I could not believe my eyes. My entire length went numb. A catastrophe had fallen on me. Two of my dearest most beloved friends were laying there- blood spattered, bereft of life, but hand in hand! I wanted to cry but I couldn’t, owing to my very existence. I was devoid of all emotions. I kept on staring at their mortal remains till they were taken in a white-colored vehicle by the so-called guards of society. It had happened a few hours after the sun had gone to take its nap. I was as silent as the cadaver of my friend and remained so for many days to come.

                     One morning after passing thirty sleepless nights I gained some warmth by the first rays of the Sun. I saw two people walking towards me. The girl looked furious and the boy was smiling. I immediately remembered my deceased friends. A smile also ran across my lips. Both of them came near me and stood at my back unable to guess my eavesdropping! Two of them got engaged in their lovey-dovey talks and for the time-being forgot the world. They resembled my friends a lot. They were discussing their life and future just like the way my beloveds used to. The girl was pleading before the boy to allow her to go and the boy was as usual in a constant-denial state. The girl was apprehensive about their secret meetings and was fearful that they might get caught. She didn’t want to lose her love or on top of it get killed! The couple wanted to live and fulfill their dreams of unison. The boy soothed the girl and hugged her to calm her down. He knew their chances were minimal in a heartless society based on caste and religious rigidity. But pure and innocent love had triumphed over them. I was lost in their confessions. Suddenly I remembered the gory site when I had lost my dearest’s forever. A chill ran through me. I remembered the beautiful moments they had shared before me in the darkest times and away from the preying eyes. I remembered their confab the last time they had met, three days before they were most cruelly slaughtered. It was dark in the evening they had held hands and cried.

“My father has threatened to kill us both if we don’t forget each other and break up. I don’t care for myself but I can’t lose you. You mean the world to me, my dear!” cried the girl. She clung to the boy and sobbed insistently yet silently.

“Don’t worry honey, we will definitely find a way out. Trust me and I promise you I’ll convince your family and mine too. One day we shall be united forever.” said the boy in order to consol her. They hugged each other once again and went to their homes.

                      They dint have any idea about the relationship that they had developed with me. A relationship that was beyond this society and beyond this world. I was the sole eye-witness of their loving and passionate moments together. I would often smile at their innocent and pure emotions. I used to get worried about their lack of worldly understanding, about the brutal insensitive society to which they belonged. Days and months passed by and I brooded over and over again about the aspects of love in this society. Human emotions and acts are still miles beyond me. I try to reach an ethically fitting answer which could provide relief to both the lovers and the self-proclaimed moral-policing fighters but I fail drastically each time. Is Love a malfeasance, a crime? Loving someone not of your religion a felony? Are those lovers nefarious? Can this world ever change??? I still ponder without an answer….