A Stone's Throw Away From..

Shouts..angry shouts..shouts that made your blood boil even more with rage or could make your skin crawl with fear depending on which side you stood.

Till a week back,Azhar could never have imagined being one of 'them',"the disgruntled unemployed misguided youth" as they were portrayed by most.

The face that lit up on seeing anyone,was today covered in a mask;the hands that healed,were today willing to hurt;the dream of seeing peace prevail one day,replaced by a simple lust for revenge,and then Dr.Azhar Siddiqui thought,"Shit happens!".

And yet he couldn't escape thinking,"How did it all come to this?"

Another crowd,another cacophony of angry shouts;Iftikar Chacha had died in an accident with a police vehicle.

All we wanted was an inquiry into the incident.

Amin,Anam's little brother,all of 7,and just like a kid his age would do,nagged his Ammi into letting him join us in the procession moving towards the police station.Somebody stopped us as we neared the place,all we could hear at the back were snippets of an argument.Tempers flared,somebody throws a stone,a couple of gunshots and it's commotion all around.

"Amin!Stay with me!",I yelled without looking,as I felt his grip on my hand changing,and when I looked at him,those words had no meaning anymore.

He lay on the ground,his small hands unable to cover the large blood spatters on his kurta.


I stand infront of Anam,my head down.We buried Amin an hour ago.

"Azhar,look me in the eye."

I slowly lift my gaze to meet hers.

"I know what they are planning to do,you are not going to be a part of it;it isn't right!"

I flare up,all the guilt,anger,frustration comes out,"Wrong and right can only be decided by might."

She shakes her head and simply says,"When will this end,Azhar?When?"


And here I am,with a stone and a choice on my hand,a legacy and a so-called enemy infront of me.

And why are they an enemy?Would I have done something different in their place,surrounded by an angry crowd which could have turned violent anytime?Maybe.But how can I condemn someone's action if I am not sure what would my reaction be?

My anger,my hurt is justified;violence?I guess not.Though it is the easiest and probably the most satisfying way to react to hurt,but is it the best?Probably not.

Yes I might be able to hurt one or two of them,I might create a stir in their ranks but is it going to bring a change to the human instinct for survival when cornered?Definitely not.

So how is what I am doing,going to stop what happened from happening again?

And then I thought of Anam,the hopelessness on her beautiful face.Anam,I know,I know,how this is going to end!Atleast for once,somebody has to learn to forgive.

The arm which was ready to hurl,relaxes;the tightly held stone,falls out of Azhar's hand.

He only wishes that he could have realized it when his heart was shattered by grief and not by a bullet,but what he regrets most is not being able to share his epiphany with Anam.He hopes that God judges him well for these final moments.He removes the mask and smiles his last smile.


Today as Azhar's funeral procession moves away from his house,Anam looks at it from her doorstep,covers her face,picks up a stone lying on the ground and starts walking the other way.



Wrote it a couple of months back(before Lamhaa released!),have tried my best to be non-judgemental coz anybody who is not in that situation,doesn't have a right to judge those who are.