That Night...

She still remembers that day, vivdly. Maybe she never forgets it throughout her life. What happened? Why it happened like that? Why she was unable to understand the other person sitting in her car beside her? Is she like this throughout her life? Or based on the person she has been interacting, her attitude changes? Can’t she love anyone with whole heart? Does love has any place in her life?

It was night 12 pm. She started her car, which has been waiting for her in the movie complex basement for the past 3 hours. It was a local language movie. Her US brought-up taught her so many things except a few important ones that are Indian. Like her car, so many cars started and moving around the place at the same time in a crowded fashion. Somehow, with her superb driving skills, she maneuvered her car toward the passage. While doing it, internally, she has been facing enormous pressure. Why? She did not know. But, something is bad about this place and environment. The other person sitting beside her inn the passenger seat is unaware of her feelings and thinking. For him, the crowd, the movie, the rush are common things. His focus is somewhere else.

Unable to understand the local crowd psychology at night 12 pm and incapable of shutting down her own inner fear demons which she had developed since her childhood, at the moment, she is like a boiling pot of emotions. Whenever someone comes in front of her car, she started petrifying. Is it right to honk? What if the pedestrian offends? What happens after that? Her mind is trying to imagine the horror plot which is not there? Her passenger who is unaware of her ongoing thoughts is enjoying the crowd and the way the car has been moving slowly through the crowd.

Suddenly, she pressed the brake. The car came to halt with a sudden jerk. This act brought her passenger to his senses; he started wondering ‘what happened?’ He looked at her but she was staring at a bunch of youngsters who were busily discussing about the movie standing at the center of the road. ‘So…’ her passenger said with a question mark face. Still he was unable to gather and understand what was going on her mind. She looked at her passenger. He smiled and told her ‘honk’. But she did not. Unable to understand why she was not honking the passenger started getting puzzled, internally. 

Slowly, a big chain of cars started lining up behind the stopped car. The youngsters are in their own world. They don’t even know that the traffic has come to a stop because of them. The passenger, who started observing all the events since the sudden brake, is confused. He again told her to honk. Exactly, at the moment, she blurted ‘honk for what?’ The passenger was taken aback. What is happening? Why on earth she is not honking at a simple bunch of youngsters who are obstructing the traffic? Is there any real danger in doing so? What is that? Looking at her sitting like a stone without any expression on her face when the traffic behind her car slowly started honking is something the passenger is unable to digest.  His inner pressure doubled-up when he realized that she was ignoring his instruction in a ‘inflammable’ situation like this which she had not faced in her entire life as she was from US. 

Maybe in US, the drivers sit like this waiting for the crowd [who were obstructing the traffic flow] to disperse on their own without honking but in India things won’t happen like that. The air between him and her started warming up. His smooth looks turned into rough and the baby-like face turned in to a stone without any expression. At that junction, the only point that is running on his mind was why she won’t honk? And on her mind was ‘against whom should I honk?’ as if there was no ‘standing situation’ where she has to honk to disperse the crowd who were busily exchanging notes about their just watched movie.

Now, the air in the car started heating up. The passenger increased his decibel level and sternly told her ‘honk otherwise I have to do that’. She looked at him with a puzzled expression as if she just heard someone told her to drink poison. He saw that expression on her face but did not want to read deep into that. He immediately made a decision to take the situation into his hands and pressed the horn on his own while giving a harsh look at the obstructing crowd. After the car blurted two brutal honks on that silent night at night 12 pm, slowly one among the crowd realized what they were doing and alerted the remaining members. One-by-one, they started moving away while leaving road to the car drivers. The traffic moved on. But, the harsh act done by him [honking by himself overriding her driving principles or fear psychology] got stuck in her mind afresh even today.

Even after 15 years of spending life with him [her passenger of that 'cruel' night], she is unable to forget the movie night episode. It is because she still questions herself why on earth he could not understand her motive, thoughts, and fears on that night? Why he took the situation in to his hands in a rough manner while treating her as an incompetent pitiful soul? 

She still stuck ‘there’ thinking about her hurt ego while remembering his serious contemptful  behavior on that particular night...