5. j

“Yes…” I said firmly.

“No man…..I don’t think he would do something like that….” he said naively.

“My part was to warn you…rest is what you want to do” I was a bit harsh. But I felt it was necessary at the moment. In order to convince him that he was living in threat. Which he also was somehow.

But I had faked this tone of detachment while speaking to him. As detached I seemed from my words, the more involved I was in this tiff. I felt I was at the centre of it, and like a lever, I was making it work. I was the peg on which the future of this conflict rested. I was the pivot which turned it the way it should go. And I had started feeling conceited about it.

“Do you have a cigarette?” Piyush asked me. An unexpressed concern flashed on his face.

I checked the pockets of my jacket. I found the packet I had bought for the party. I entrusted the half filled packet to him. He took out a cigarette and lit it with his rusted lighter.

He took a long drag and turned to look at the road.

“What happened re Piyush?” I asked him casually.

“Nothing” He tried hard to dismiss my question. Yet it kept lingering around him with the streaks of smoke from his cigarette.

“You sure ??” I pushed it further.

He didn’t reply. Neither did he turn back. He kept smoking silently with his back at me.

I got off the motorbike and went and stood behind him. He didn’t seem to notice my presence. I placed my hand on his shoulder and called out his name. He shrank and turned back to me. His eyes were moist. A stray thought of street lights glistening in them teased me for a second. I pushed it aside and asked him in a softer tone.

“What happened??”

He broke down all of a sudden sitting on his haunches.

“What happened Piyush?” I asked holding him by his shoulders.

“Bhenchod!!!…..that bastard is my friend!!!”

***

“And then….?” Asked the old blind king curiously.

“And then the archer prince took a closer look at his enemies….” The televisor said all charged up. He had by now realised where was sitting. And what was occurring was so inspiring for him to tell his master, that his master would stand up and start jumping with happiness, not caring about his inactive eyes and where he was going to land next in their absence.

“And then….?” The old blind king’s eagerness spilled out of his weary wrinkled face.

“And then he said….” The televisor began.

The Archer Prince’ Despodency:

“Damn it brother!…..It’s not working out!....” The Archer prince said.

The flutist turned back to him in surprise. But the archer prince didn’t realise it. He was lost in his own grief. The guilt of betrayal began clouting around him. And he kept on speaking in it’s trance.

“I am nervous…..I am shivering….I can’t even hold the bow and arrow…. Look at them man!....all my people….cousins, uncles, teachers….all those who meet me at family get-togethers….What’s the point in killing them?....I even doubt the fact that they are our enemies…..If I kill them all….what will be of our family get-togethers?.....and what is all the wealth of use if they aren’t gonna be around….who will our wives show off their sarees to?”

Flutist who was acting as a charioteer for the war, turned to look at his face. He had held it high as he stared at the enemy camp. Lost in his own words.

“These are my people dude!” The archer prince continued speaking “My kin….I see no point at all in killing them…these are my brothers….I have played with them as a kid….and I face them like enemies today….balls man!....what so ever is happening!....I would be happier if they come together and kill me…..damn yaar….I give up”

Back to Televisor:

“Saying this he put down his weapons before the flutist…” There was a tone of glee in televisor’s voice. The good news was here. And how could it not please his master. He awaited a smile to form on his master’s face.

“What the F***!!!” The old blind king shouted aloud!.

The televisor was shaken. He quickly moved close to him to avoid any damage to the old man.

“What happened Sir?” He asked filled with concern and surprise.

“He is supposed to fight…even if his enemies are my sons….he should fight and he should win….And look what the idiot is doing…..bloody spineless!!” The old blind king vent out his frustration.

“I don’t think so Sir…” interrupted the televisor.

“Then what do you think?” barked the old blind king on him.

“He just loves them all too much!” The televisor said.


***

(Contd.)