Vicky was still lying on the bed. He squinted at his watch. It was difficult to see the timing in the dim light. Since he had the radium in his watch he could see the timing. It was 3:40 AM. He again closed his eyes and tried to sleep but after tossing and turning for a while he couldn’t drift into sleep. A few unanswered questions were still squirming in his mind which was not letting him relax. His eyes were looking heavy almost half closed. He came down from the bed and perched on the chair which was kept beside the bed. Someone called his name from the dark.
Voice: Vicky….Vicky…
Vicky: Who…who is there in the dark?
Vicky’s entire body became stiff. His heart started thumping at double speed. A chill sensation ran down his spine. His jaw dropped unconsciously and his mind became numb when he saw a man who came out from the dark Vicky himself.
Vicky: Who are you?
Man: You don’t know me? I am your conscience.
Vicky: Am I dreaming?
Conscience: No you are looking at your conscience…
Vicky: But how it’s possible?
Conscience: Leave it…first tell me why are you looking so disturbed.
Vicky: Don’t know…
Conscience: You can hide your anxiousness from the entire world but not from me…
Vicky: I think…you caught me right
Conscience: Tell me …why are you so disturbed?
Vicky: I think…What I did yesterday….I should not have done…
Conscience: What should you not have done?
Vicky: I had tried to kill you…
Conscience: Don’t hide anything from me…Tell me why you wanted to kill me.
Vicky: You know that we have shifted in this locality recently…It seems we are strangers here. Hardly anyone knows us…Almost every day while returning back from my office I saw a few people in the corner of the road sitting on the pakka and engaged in playing cards or might be engrossed in gossiping. I had never interacted with any of them but whenever my eyes got contact with any of them I just gave back an artificial smile…And in return, they also smiled back…In this way, an undefined relationship was established between us. I didn’t know why but unconsciously my eyes looked for those people while coming back to the office…
Conscience: So what is troublesome here?
Vicky: One day while returning from the office I could see a hot discussion was going on between the two of them. The matter didn’t stop there and they became physical.
Conscience: So you didn’t try to come between them?
Vicky: No sooner was I about to reach them than one person thwacked the lathi on another’s head and the blood was rolling down from his head. But it was disheartening to see that nobody came up at the front for help.
Conscience: Why didn’t you help him?
Vicky: I came down from my bike and rushed towards them. I quickly took out my handkerchief and pressed it on his head from where it was bleeding.
Conscience: Nobody came for the help?
Vicky: Yes…a few people came to help but not to that injured person rather to help me. They kept aside my bike near the road and gave my helmet to the nearby sweetshop.
Conscience: Then…what you did?
Vicky: Fortunately there was a private nursing home just opposite to that place. I took him to that nursing home and got him admitted.
Conscience: Nobody asked you about this incident?
Vicky: Everyone asked….starting from the ward boy to the doctors…everyone appreciated me after knowing the fact that I took the pain of bringing him to the hospital.
Conscience: You didn’t ask that man the reason for such a scuffle which ended in him being injured so badly?
Vicky: Yes…I had asked him about the reason for such a fight but was surprised to know that the other person was his friend…
Conscience: That person was his friend…then why did he beat him so mercilessly?
Vicky: I had also asked the same question from him but his reply made me shook from within…
Conscience: What did he say?
Vicky: He said that the other person was a Muslim…He further said that all Muslims are the same…Traitor….treachery is in their blood…No one can trust them…
Conscience: Why didn’t you say that All Muslims were not alike…You are also a Muslim.
Vicky: How did I say…I could see the hate for Muslims in his eyes…The intensity of his hate for Muslims was so high that I couldn’t muster my courage…
Conscience: This is not correct…
Vicky: What is not correct? Can’t you see what kind of perception is floating around…everywhere the entire Muslim community is being maligned? Just look at the social media…People are spitting venom on Muslims…People are abusing Muslims without even knowing them…Most people have already believed that Muslims are not trustworthy…Nowadays being a Muslim is a crime…
Conscience: I can understand your problem…but
Vicky: But…but what…sometimes I get really disturbed when my office colleagues say that you don’t look like a Muslim. I don’t understand whether I should be happy for not looking like a Muslim or lament over the condition of a Muslim.
Conscience: Look….There are good and bad people in every religion….you know that there is a black sheep in every community…You should not hide your identity from some fanatic extremist…Why didn’t you disclose your identity? Why didn’t you say that you were also a Muslim? Who knows that after knowing your identity his perception may get changed about Muslims.
Vicky: Maybe you are right…
Conscience: Don’t feel guilty for being a Muslim…
Vicky: You are saying right…I will meet with him tomorrow and disclose everything about myself…May be after sharing everything my dilemma gets over.
Conscience fades out…
यह कहानी कुछ सामान्य बात है लेकिन अंतरात्मा से बात करना एक अलग अनुभव है।
यह एक संपूर्ण कहानी लगती है लेकिन नहीं भी।