BROKEN FLOWERS EPILOGUE PAGE 23 - Page 5

She took the sweet box from his hand and ate it slowly like enjoying each bite of it. Maan was watching her from the corner of his eye completely oblivious to the surrounding like lost in the different world and he felt happy deep inside his heart like he gave a candy to a crying baby. The smile he had on her face was mesmerizing, they continued to talk for an hour and he couldn't believe that he talked too much with her, it wasn't normal with him as he was a quite person who always kept it to himself, he didn't like to talk a lot with people, he was not at all people person. He only talked when needed in his personal life as well as professional life. He also felt some inexplicable sole connection with her, which he never felt before with anyone else on this earth, even not with his wife even though he loved his life so much. It was like there was some uncanny call sprinkled in their heart which connected them for many reincarnations. Like they knew each other for many reincarnations and they felt that instant connection which led them to believe that there was no world beyond that. Suddenly his tranquility was broken by sudden noise.

Listen to this music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ck_X5Vz_TY while reading the following.

Bus was at unknown place, there was nothing visible through a simple view, it was kind of a barren place, where you couldn't find much, but suddenly a crowd was standing in front of a bus with swords, guns and bamboo sticks in their hand which was illuminated with fire, their face was filled with rage and bitterness like they could kill anyone, their eyes were looking for their prey, and they were asking only one thing, "STOP THE BUS, I WON'T SPARE ANY MUSLIM TODAY", the crowd looked uncontrollable, their gestures, their eyes, their weapons, all things were showing clear outrage that they would kill any Muslim in front of them, apparently bus was filled mainly with Hindus but there were only two Muslim girls in the bus, one was Naaz and other one was Zooni, by hearing those words, there was an horror on all the faces, the horror which could take anyone's breath away, all became lifeless and numb like they were going to die and it was the last breath they were begging to God.

The crowd had stopped the bus by standing on the way of the bus and they ordered to open the door, everyone in the bus was so scared that they didn't know what to do, even though if they chose not to open the door, they would break the door and get inside, everybody was worried about their life like they were counting their last moment, they were praying to God inside their heart like God would run some magic and they would be saved, Maan was also in shock, but he got more worried by looking at Naaz's face, she was in horror and plus she was pregnant, her eyes were filled with instant tears, her rosy cheeks turned pale white, and her heart literally stopped breathing, the fear that she would die and she wouldn't be able to meet her husband, the fear that she wouldn't be able to see the face of her kid, the fear that her all dreams would shatter in a second, killed her, Maan had to think something instantly to save Naaz, he couldn't tolerate the death of Naaz in front of him like he had to fulfill some debt from last birth and the idea ran into his mind that he bought Mangalsutra and sindoor (Hindu wedding signs for women which conveys that she is married) for her wife, as his wife always liked to wear those auspicious necessities and luckily he bought this time for her, and his wife had asked him to buy this for her, he instantly took off it from his backpack and put it in the hands of Naaz, but she was totally lost, she didn't know what to do with it, Maan didn't have much time to explain her hence he tied Mangalsutra around her neck and he put sindoor along the parting of her hair and he told her "your name is GEET, ok, if anybody asks, say your name is GEET and you are my WIFE, Did you get it? You are Geet Maan Khurana." He yelled in her ears two to three times to make sure that she heard it right and she remembered it right. This happened so fast but time was slowed down for this moment to happen. Naaz remembered what he said and she crammed it like a school kid tried to remember some formula for exam without actually thinking what did that mean, and why was that needed. She knew Hindu tradition but in that quick moment she didn't have time to realize the implications of it.

Those goons were all set to kill people, they broke the entrance door of a bus and entered in the bus and roared on top of their tongue, "Who is Muslim here? I won't spare you today, you have killed many Hindus, but not today, today I won't let you go." They started moving around, checking each person, everyone was showing their signs of being Hindu through whatever  they were wearing in their hands, or around neck or on the forehead, which could prove that they were Hindu, they were harshly touching their hands, neck and face to check each sign carefully, their hazardous hands reached to Maan also, Maan instantly showed the Taviz (kind of a necklace for guys which proves Hinduism) he was wearing around his neck which one priest had given him once which was only worn by Hindu people, one of Goons, pushed Maan's shoulder to check it properly, then a goon looked at Naaz curiously, and he held her face through his one hand and tilted it up and he moved her dupatta little through another hand to check Mangalsutra and he found it, Maan was getting really hyper by this rude behavior, and he said angrily, "Please stop it, don't touch my wife, my GEET, she is pregnant, please be nice to her." Those goons really got angry by Maan's statement and he slapped him on his face, Maan was burned from inside, his face became redden, but he decided to stop himself for Geet's sake and for his own life's sake. Those goons moved ahead after noticing silence from Maan and still checking each person carefully, the other Muslim girl was scared to the death, one goon reached to her and they couldn't find any sign of Hinduism, so they asked her angrily, "Are you Muslim? Speak up, damn it, or do you want to get killed?" while grabbing her through her shoulders, out of fear, she couldn't utter a word, her breathing became uneven, she was panting heavily, horror was marked on her face, she was screaming for help, all people asked goons to let go off her, they screamed, ran to help her, but there were many goons with weapons in their hand so it wasn't wise to fight them back, everybody was scared enough to utter a word or to move, they set back, and those goons took the girl away with them, she was screaming and crying for help, but nobody could, the fear was in the air, people couldn't move but their tears were rolling down, everyone was sympathetic for that Muslim girl, Zooni,  for these people it didn't matter that she was Muslim, they just knew that she was also in the same bus so she belonged to their group.

How could religion empower humanity? How does it matter which religion you are born with? It is not in human power to get birth in particular religion. God never differentiated anyone based on religion while sending them on earth, then how could humans go against God and generate differences among God generated children?

Sejal