His name was Asem (true story)

Hello friends... 

I wanted to share this story with you, and it's not just a story, but a page from the book of my life. An incident I wished to have never happened the way it did, but all I am left with now, are the fond memories cherished...

I do not hold grudges against anybody, but I hope from the bottom of my heart, that such incidents never happen again...

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~His name was Asem~

He was a very nice guy; the apple of his parent's eyes, their only son after a daughter. He was one of those people whom anyone can take an instant liking of. I met him first when I went for an outing to CST with Ashfaq, my best friend. It was first semester of college, so we used to go out exploring Mumbai every now and then. He was Ashfaq's cousin, and he worked as a Chef in the prestigious Taj Hotel, but he did not seem to have the arrogance expected from a Chef in Taj. He was a very down-to earth fellow, happy-go-lucky in nature. His eyes sparkled whenever he smiled, and his smile was contagious, for you could not resist smiling back at him. Ashfaq was very fond of him, and so was he of Ashfaq.

After the completion of our fourth semester, the four of us (Ashfaq, Rahul, Priya and me) went for a one month internship in a company in Rajasthan. During our stay there, he came home for a short trip, Ashfaq was staying at his place at that time. So he invited us for lunch. He was a Chef, so he cooked for us and the food was awesome. We enjoyed a lot that day with him; we saw his and Ashfaq's childhood pictures and laughed at them. He never let us feel that he was not our but Ashfaq's brother.

That time we went for a picnic at a fort nearby. The plan was made such that we would meet him and his family there, and would spend the day together. He was fun to be with, always the most energetic and enthusiastic one to go ahead and check whether a corner was worth seeing or not. And if it was worth, then he would say, "arrey kitna dheere chalte ho tumlog, jaldi aao, dekho kitnba sundar hai." We clicked a lot of photographs that day, with different poses at different corners of the fort. At the echo point, all of us shouted "hello", he said "pick-up" (that's what they shout when an order is ready), and we laughed at him. It was a very memorable day for us, and we collected as much memoirs we could.

After we came back to Mumbai, a relation had already been developed between us and him. He was now "bhaiya" for all of us. Many a times we used to talk about him. Whenever we went to CST, Ashfaq would call him and say, "Kahan hai? Main CST mein hoon, aaja". Ashfaq always insisted that we go there on Thursdays, because Thursday used to be a holiday for him. We would all look forward to meet him; it had become a regular act for us.

Recently, he was planning to sit for GMAT, he wanted to go abroad. His sister was about to get married within a month, and plans were on for the occasion. We planned to go to Taj on Ashfaq's birthday this year; we planned to have at least a cup of coffee there.

26^th November, 2008, I got up in the morning, and the first thought that came to my mind that "2^nd December (Ashfaq's birthday) is heading near, what should I buy for him?" I took a bath and was getting ready for college, when my room-mate said "aaj bahar mat jaana, Taj has been attacked, the terrorists have kept a lot of people as hostages, many people have been killed." I called up Ashfaq immediately and asked him, "have you talked to bhaiya?" He said he was fine; he had a talk last night. I heaved a sigh of relief. But it was not for long, 'cause I got the bad news when I reached Rahul's flat. The news had come minutes after I had called Ashfaq. I felt the earth shatter beneath my feet. We rushed to his place; I had never ever even imagined that I would see him cry someday. It was only last week that he had gone to his place, and spent two days together. It was a Thursday, when he was enjoying with his brother; they had eaten in the same plate, slept on the same bed. And it was a Thursday also, just a week later, when he got the news of his beloved brother's death. Bhaiya was taken hostage at 10:30, just four hours before the release of his shift. He talked to Ashfaq at 12:30, and said "main thik hoon, tujhse subah baat karta hoon." The subah never came. He was killed at 2:30, while trying to protect his guests and colleagues. He managed to get them to safety, but he could not save himself. He was shot from behind, one bullet on his leg, one went through his skull; his spleen-bag had burst when he was taken to the hospital by one of his friends. He was brave till his last breath, but he could not win the battle with fate. His name was Asem, and he stayed true to his name. 

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It was just something I wanted to share.... 

I don't have anything else to say...

Thank you for reading

~jiya~

i really dnt hav words to say......i knw how does it feels.....not only asem bt alot of ppl hav lost deir loved ones cz of sum insane n heartless ppl who kill other ppl mercilessly nt knwing n nt caring abt da fact dat dey also hav a family who loved dem n who lean upon dem.......i feel soo sad for asem........may GOD bless him n may his soul rest in peace...AMEEN

GOd knows when those people will realize ..there is no use taking lifes of inocents....its difficult to eevn kill a lizard bothering u thn how thy do it human.....khud hi samjhy un koEdited by drfizaahmed - 13 years ago

i really dont knw wht to say..............even how to say!!!!

Edited by Ishita16 - 13 years ago

May his soul rest in peace!

Its sad to know that heartless people still exist in this world. I wonder if they don't have a family? Don't they realize that with their one crime there are so many people who are shattered? So many people who are attached to one -- a life for many.....
Edited by shininggal2008 - 13 years ago

This is the proof in itself that just because some ppl call themselves muslims...they are not....ur friend proved that he is a true muslim....I hope his oul rests in peace and  I will pray for ur friend so it may be easier to get over the lose...I know its impossible to get over something like that.....but ur right.....its better to cherish it and live with it instead of mkaing it a reason for ur depression...good luck to the both of you :)

Thank you for sharing this with us....

Thanks a ton for sharing this piece with us.