Penance

Penance



By Marrie Sharma







In a dark, damp room, the dampness, perhaps, having resulted from the desuetude, beside a folder a man of about 22 years old was kneeling on his knees facing the wall and murmuring to himself just repeating the word, “Ma…ma…”.



His appearance revealed that he had been wearing the shirt and the pair of trousers for several years, for they were almost worn to tatters. The guards entered the room and shifted him to the next room because the leakage of the ceiling had filled the room with water as it was raining heavily.



On a sunny day, early in the morning Smarika, a girl about 16 years old, entered the room with a cup of tea for her mother. The old lady was trying to thread the needle but because of her weak optics she couldn’t.



Smarika came to her and said,-“Ma why do you always do such things, we are grownups so it’s time for you to take rest.”



She took the needle and thread from Rama’s hand and slowly and threaded the needle with her delicate hands and started sewing the last button of the shirt. Rama, Smarika’s, mother was a widow as her husband had died in a plane crash. After that their economic condition started declining and they became empty-handed. The property which they had was the only house. The only way to run the household expenses was the money that Rama earned by washing the dishes of others and looking after their children.



Rama had a son and two beautiful daughters. The elder daughter was Suhani who had been married to a bus driver and the young daughter was Smarika.



Mayank came rushing into the room, “Ma where is my shirt? I am getting late. Please give me my shirt fast otherwise I will miss my first class.”



He hurriedly took the shirt, wore it and rushed out.



As he was the only darling son of Rama, she had given him all the luxury she could afford. He was the star of her eyes. Mayank was very much influenced by his rich friends. They were very much spoiled and lost in the world of lust and moonshine. Mayank knew that he could never be like them so to show off he would use the money which his mother would give him for his stationery goods. Rama would work whole day so she could save money for Mayank’s studies, unknown to her son’s decreasing interest in studies.



It was the last day of the college and after the farewell programme, Mayank came home. It was late at night; he entered Rama’s room. He sat beside Rama and stroked her hands. He talked with Rama and had a discussion with Rama and after a few minutes Smarika could hear the cries from inside. She had been listening to their talk.



She busted into the room and shouted, “Brother, how could you ever think of this? Do you have any idea that living abroad and staying all means a load of expenses and you know we don’t have much put by? You have completed your studies so you should work here not there!”



Smarika knew very well about Mayank and how he was wasting money with his corrupted friends. She stared at Mayank as if she were about to slap him.



Rama interrupted and said, “Smarika please stop it. Mayank is right. He wants to earn money, stand on his own then what’s wrong in it? I have got some jewelry which your grand ma had given me before I married your papa.”



Smarika, with tears in her eyes, left the room. Mayank though a spoiled and a deceptive boy loved his mother a lot but the problem was that he never knew the value of money and studies and time. All he wanted was to go abroad and enjoy life and waste money. After a few months, Rama sold her ornaments and even mortgaged her house. The day came for Mayank’s departure. Mayank went to London. Rama had many hopes and dreams in her eyes. As time passed Rama didn’t get any letter from Mayank. Without any tidings from him, she kept on sending letters but wouldn’t get response.



Mayank got company of some of the friends who often spent their time in the bars and pubs. Mayank had not any money left and the need of drugs had subdued him. At this time he was ready to do anything. One day Mayank met one of his old friends and told him about his poverty. According to his friend’s suggestion, he met a man who could provide him money but in return he had to do a work for him.



Next day he was supposed to meet the man at a bar. Mayank was fully ready. He went to the bar and found a man of about 35, sitting near a table with a brief case. He had covered his face with a scarf.



The man said to Mayank, “Hello, so you are Mayank?”



Mayank said with suspicion,  “Yes sir, I am Mayank”.



The man said to Mayank, “I don’t have much time so let’s come to the point”.



Mayank said, “Yes, of course but before that would you like to drink something?”



The man, “Oh thank you, but I am getting late. Day after tomorrow you have to go to the international airport of Bombay. Go to the hotel where you will get a man. He will give you a brief case to you and all you have to do is just leave this brief case near the entrance. You will get a blank cheque; you can fill it up yourself.”



The man’s accent didn’t at all suggest that he was an American. Mayank was delighted and he took the brief case and a ticket from London to Bombay.



With no idea about the content of the briefcase, Mayank left for Bombay next day. He reached the airport and as the man had told him he went to the hotel, found a man over there and took the briefcase and then left the brief case near the entrance gate.



As he exited the gate and he had just taken a few steps, he could hear the loud bang and blast and hundreds of people dying and crying for help. He could not believe his eyes. The need of his drugs made him take the lives of hundreds of people. The people were being carried and taken away to the hospital. Many parents came to search for the bodies of their children.



People were rushing to search their near and dear ones. Some of them were crying, seeing their dead ones. This sight made Mayank blank and he was out of mind. He sat there like a mad man. He couldn’t even think of escaping. Mean while police came and started to do the investigations. They started viewing the videos captured by CCTV and started watching each and every suspected people and lastly they saw a boy of about 22 years with a brown briefcase. The police were sure that this was the guy who had been planting the bomb. He called the police force for searching this man. Mayank was still in the same condition. The police found him and caught him. He was surrounded by media, press. This news was being broadcasted on various TV channels and among the viewers Rama was the one. Rama could not believe her eyes. She got a heart attack and collapsed in her room. Mayank remembering her mother was totally in the state of madness. Only thing he knew was that he loved his mother a lot and he was innocent. Today was the day for which the high court had sentenced him to death. Mayank was in his room counting the seconds left in his life and calling his ma...