City Tears

Ankush was not the type of guy who was interested in others' stuff particularly. He believed that being a companion of one's self was simply better than being fake with others. With a small friend circle of nearly ten people, he considered himself very contended. Just like other teenagers of this generation, Ankush was also a victim of the inevitable attraction of fake love, which is purposefully declared as the true love of this impatient and mercurial generation.

He lacked trust in people and people considered him to be the chillest guy that ever existed. We all know that a guy who once cared a lot can become heartless because of constant stagnation and disappointments in his life. He wanted to achieve a lot in his life. The narcissistic feeling of being better than others around you was what kind of made him confident and unsinkable in his biome.

The only thing that can make the life of a teenager like this more hectic is a middle-class Bengali household and guess what, he belongs.

You calm yourself after the wildest shows you encounter in a day and reach home only to realize that your maa is offended because you forgot to take off the clothes from the rooftop before going out.

What a tragedy!

To make this scenario more complicated we are adding an eight-year-old brother, a highly expectant father, and intolerable relatives. The perfect combo to make you a sociopath within a short period.

Even after all of this Ankush was still I would say, strong enough to bear all this and carry out his works through loopholes. You can add smoking, drinking, and tuition bunks to these. A topper of school in 10th grade is not expected to do such things but until you are keeping your image intact, it's all good.

Recently, he went to Nabadwip to his friend's house to watch Rash Yatra. Last year also he was invited but his parents didn't agree because of the board exams. Now he was finally permitted to pay a visit to his friend. Sameer was the kind of guy in school who had a collection of the worst and filthiest poems ever written by any teacher or person. Using slang in the form of a literary perfectionist is something that few people get hold of. Being a godfather of mischief among students and the most innocent among the guardians of other students is something that Sameer and Ankush mastered pretty well.

And as you can expect, what could happen within a night in Nabadwip with two undaunted and high-spirited souls on the streets? The obvious bakchodi.

Sameer made Ankush walk 18 kilometers only to get in front of a liquor counter and had him complaining that the owner of the shop was the father of a girl who reads in the same tuition as him! Ankush took charge of the situation. Even though he was underage, puberty made him look more adult than any other guy on the streets. He bought the beers of Carlsberg from the shop and inquired whether they had a place to drink or not. A disappointing search operation of 2 hours finally left them in front of a playground that was hosting a fair with different stalls of ornaments, toys, and phuchka stalls. With no other option in hand, they opened the bottles and sat in a corner of the playground, hiding from the population. Some were seen throwing disgusted glances at them, others shoving their kids away to the other side of the fair. Rash yatra is the biggest festival of Nabadwip, you will find drunk people dancing in front of loudspeakers or drooping around in the streets. Shortly a middle-aged man noticed them there and gently requested them to find another place. Glad that he mistook them for adults. By then they were done with their drinking and got up to leave the spot. Within a few minutes, alcohol got a better hold of both of them. They called their close friends in that state and kept on speaking trash while roaming through the streets of Nabawdip.

The gloomy and full moon night made them even more cheered up and they started singing old Hindi songs of Kishore Kumar.

The lyrics went from “ phir hona judaa haa yein waadaa rahan” to “mere mehboob kayamat hogii”

Now there came a real trouble.

Ankush and sameer were 15 kilometers away from sameers house. It was already 11:45 pm. There was a strict order from Sameer’s mother that they should reach home by 12. Even if they ran at their top speed it would certainly consume more than half an hour on top of that they were drunk. Running wildly would make the constables on duty offended and they don't want to take that risk. Sameer looked for shortcuts on Google Maps while Ankush was still grieving for his ex. The Aashiq inside him has finally taken charge of the situation. He sang with pain in his voice and zero control over his limbs. None of them was used to drinking and the sudden consumption after a long time made everything fade away. Sameer was in a panic, Ankush in delusion. Nobody knew what would be the outcome of this dreadful venture. The uncontrolled rush through the streets made them crash with some other drunkards. There was an exchange of curses and hard pushes. Ankush out of nowhere lost his mind and started punching them with all his strength. One of those punches got connected to a guy so hard that his nose started bleeding immediately. He is panting and cursing constantly while resting upon the threshold of a closed shop. In response to the bloodshed, a guy suddenly presented a knife in front of Ankush and Sameer.

A stimulus in the adrenaline made them dash through the dark streets. The visibility was nearly zero but their eyes got used to the darkness. They ran for their lives. The fight for survival forces them to go beyond their limits. It was only after a pure sprint of 1 kilometer that they managed to lose them. Ankush collapsed on the road demanding some water but Sameer held him up by his hand and dragged him towards their destination.

It was not clear when both of them reached the bridge on the outskirts of the city. A mistake in the google maps made them go in the opposite direction. Ankush was still not in his senses. He gave a hard blow on sameers chest with his hands and held him responsible for all this mess. Sameer's mobile was constantly ringing. His mother was worried about him. It was around 12:15 am when the duo started fighting on the bridge. Nobody was present there to stop them. They exchanged punches, curses and pushes. In one moment, Sameer, finally fed up with this whole mess, used all his strength to push Ankush backward which made him fall on the constructed steps of the ghat with his head backward. Blood could be seen gushing through the steps of the ghat as Ankush’s eyes kept open like he had encountered a permanent nightmare.

Not knowing what to do, Sameer ran away from the spot trying to find some help for his friend from somewhere but fate made him face the mob of drunkards again from whom they eloped lately. The mob brutally stabbed Sameer from his chest to abdomen turning his white cotton shirt into a scarlet piece of clothing as they left his body on a dump of trash near a wasteland.

The streets of the holy city of Nabadwip encountered the unfortunate fate of two friends who wanted to enjoy their lives during the precious event of Rash Yatra. That spirit of cheerfulness which was once residing over their bodies is now echoing through the walls as the bodies of the two undaunted souls remain untouched in the gloomy desolated night of the full moon.