A horrified and frightened Savitri ran for her life  She kept knocking ..none opened but one door In she ran and took shelter In one dark supposedly safe corner She has to stay still, till this nightmare is over A hushed noise ..’oh no someone else is here’ Right then a palm on her mouth stifled her scream “Sshhh...” a husky male voice whispered Savitri struggled to free herself up Her eyes widened wide, for a gasp of air she fought You are safe with me. Just like you I too am in danger So let’s stick together till this ordeal is over  Consoled Savitri wiped her tears and began talking “Everything was quiet up until the evening  Seems now it was the lull before the rioting They stormed in and wreaked havoc I dropped my diya thali and began running They didn’t even spare this widow on the pious Deepavali Frowned a sobbing Savitri “I too was attacked when I was praying Eyes closed head down I was vulnerable when they barged in I fought my way out of the house set on flames Crossing the pools of blood in the alleyways and lanes This cursed night will come to an end soon Sun will rise up and dry up these bloody pools” Sighed the man Trust and hope held them together Humanity that had died out in the light In this dark corner it grew a notch stronger  Twilight brought along a new ray of hope The chaos outside slowly drowned out Savitri folded her hands together to thank the lord “Ya Allah !” said the man and paused “the last words of my wife” he murmured  Savitri’s heart sank, she felt trapped One too many possible gory ends revolved in her head She turned towards the voice, hand still folded Fear written all over face, teary eyed she pleaded The dark room was slowly brightening She spotted a black robed figure in front of her standing Turning around slowly facing her, a man in a burqa! A mark of sandalwood on his forehead Her mouth fell open, she stood there stumped In front of her was the former temple head Few years back he fell in love and since then was outcasted He continued to speak of the fateful evening “My prayers Interrupted when a shot was fired Stepping out of my room something upon I stumbled  Clutching on to her burqa she lay down dead Set in flames the house was burning away Instinct hit me, to save my life I fled away” He spoke as he took a layer of cloth off Revealing underneath his white dhoti kurta,  Camouflaged that was in the dark by the black burqa Love can transcend boundaries of religions, she believed it was pure magic Little did she know religion can create the most monstrous fanatics?” “Ram or Rahim whoever it was that saved my life Never can I forgive him for snatching away my wife This last piece of cloth is all that I have of her The rest burned to ashes is gone forever Hold on to this and have a safe way back home.” ____________________________ For more of such content follow us on Social Media: