Kabir set out for his morning jog to the beach at about 6.30 am. The previous night he had a huge fight with his girl friend, and was visibly upset. He looked groggy. Sleeping late at night, emotionally and mentally exhausted, he continued his daily routine of running for an hour. He was very fond of it. After reaching the start point on the beach, he started his run. Slow at first, and then picking up speed after certain points which he had fixed in his mind. After reaching the coconut stall, first point at which he picked up his speed, he stopped. He did not feel up to it today. All he had in his mind was Kiran, his girlfriend, now his ex-girlfriend. He thought how stupid it was for them to fight, how things could have been better and resolved had it not been for Kiran and him to argue on something which did not even make a difference to their lives. One thing led to another and the argument reached a point of no return. He just broke up with her. Did it have to be this way?
At the beach, with his thoughts, he just sat on the wet sand and gazed at the horizon. He observed things around him. A man walking sternly as if he wasn’t at the beach, but in a military parade, another couple of joggers which he sees every day, a teenage couple walking around hand in hand with their college bags, a little girl playing with her dog, the sound of waves hitting the shore and sliding across the sand into the vast water body, the sun, ever so seemingly, rising from within the palm trees and the rays making different corridors of light on the sand, separated by the shadows of the trees and many such beautiful chores. At least today they all appeared beautiful to him. He had a smile on his face.
But it did not last too long as thoughts of Kiran went racing through his brains. His relationships had ups and downs but nothing so brutal, if I may use such a word. The person he cared the most for, had let him down, by her callous words. For the first time, his bubble had been burst. For the first time he realized, that Kiran never believed in him. Although, it wasn’t entirely Kiran’s fault. His insecurities had pushed Kiran to a corner. She had to fight back. And, she did, indeed. Kiran went on to say things which made Kabir see a Kiran, he had not known for the last 2 years of their relationship. Did she do it in a fit of rage? Did she really mean all what she said? Was it really over? Lots of questions were running through his mind. Clearly, he loved her, still.
He got up and made his way back home. It was about 9 and he kept looking at the cell phone. He kept checking whether it was on and in proper network. It was suppose to ring. The morning call from Kiran, as she left for work. He did not want to call her. He waited for the call for almost 1 hour, fiddling around with phone, to make sure the phone was alright. After having his breakfast, which did not taste too good today, for some obvious reasons he left for work. All he thought of was Kiran and how much he loved her. He wanted to call her and tell her, “Forget what happened last night. Let’s just sort this out. I love you.” He did not make that call.
He sat in the first class compartment of the western railway and going through his script, and making some notes on it. The compartment was packed as usual. Today he wasn’t distracted by the trains passing by, but only by last night’s incident. He couldn’t resist calling Kiran, anymore. He picked up his phone and dialed her number. Kiran’s phone rang. She did not pick up the phone. He called her again. The phone rang. “Hello”, said Kiran. A blast ripped through the compartment. Kiran froze. Many people became victims of this bomb blast. Kabir was one of them.
