This story was written for TOI's Write India competition based on Chetan Bhagat's passage. Press G+1 button if you like it!
She sat in the Starbucks cafe, sipping her coffee and staring out of the window. The blood stained knife lay next to her handbag, covered with her blue silk scarf......
Riya, 21, a final year arts student, was a simple and kind-hearted girl who lived in the city of dreams, Mumbai. She had a bunch of good friends and a supportive family. In the midst of all this, she used to miss someone who was very special to her. He was none other than her childhood friend Gaurav, who used to be her neighbour and a senior in school. He had completed his engineering studies one year back and was still looking for a job. Frustration was taking over him.
When Gaurav shifted to a new house in a far off locality 6 years back, Riyas heart used to ache for him. That was when she realised how much she loved him. She was 15 then and he was 17. He was affectionate towards her, cared for her. She thought he too was in love with her. When Riya started with her college, they used to keep meeting over coffee at Starbucks which was very near to her college.
One fine evening, when Riya was waiting for him in Starbucks cafe, she saw him approaching her with the widest smile on his face which was missing from past one year. Riya asked him Gaurav! What has happened? He told her that he got a job in a start-up software firm with a very high package and lucrative incentives every month if he would be able to get them high profit deals. This made Riyas day and her joy knew no bounds.
Three weeks later, when they met, she saw Gaurav getting down from the driver seat of a brand new silver Honda City car. Gaurav told her that it was a surprise for her! She was getting suspicious but Gaurav told her that he made a very good profit to the company and as promised, they gave him a big amount.
Two more months passed. The frequency of their meetings started reducing as Gaurav used to keep busy with his work. Whenever they met, Riya observed some absurd changes in his behaviour. He used to keep staring at other girls. She saw greed in his eyes. She thought that he had started losing interest in her. She wanted to bridge this gap.
It was 16th August, Gauravs birthday, when Riya decided to pay him a surprise visit early in the morning. Gauravs parents used to take him to temple early in the morning on his birthday every year. But this time they were out of station. So Riya decided that she would accompany him to temple. She also planned to get him cake and lots of gifts.
It was 6:30 am that Riya reached Gauravs apartment. She was about to ring the doorbell when she realised that the door was not locked. She peeped inside and could not believe what she saw. There were two strangers lying on the floor along with Gaurav. The room was messy. Empty alcohol bottles were the proof that they had been drinking all night. Gauravs laptop was on and was playing a clip of a nude girl. A few photographs were kept near the laptop. She picked them up carefully not to wake anyone of them. Those were the photographs of some girls with different addresses and dates written on backside. Out of five, four photos had past date and one had future date. The date was 18th August. That was a picture of a teenager in school uniform with a high school address written at the backside. A map was lying there with a place marked with red dot on Mumbai-Panvel highway. The route to reach that place was a trail off the road.
Fear took over her when one of the two strangers started murmuring something. He said Gaurav, this time we have got a jackpot. Just inspect that place tomorrow before we kidnap that girl from her school. Be there at 11 am. Boss will give you a call to give further information.
Before anyone could wake up, she ran out of the house. She ran till that house was out of her sight. She almost collapsed. She sat on the footpath, running out of breath. She could not believe what she had just seen. Gaurav was involved in human trafficking! The one who was love of her life had done this. He had been betraying her that he was working in a start-up software firm. Now she got to know what those high profit deals were, what those incentives meant, how he had got that car after just three weeks of joining his job!
All her dreams got shattered. The life which looked like a smooth ride was now a trail leading to dark. She was heartbroken. She cried all the way back to her home.
That sight had changed something in her. It was not just about her life. It was the question of all the lives and dreams that were sold by those inhuman beings for the sake to their luxuries. She knew that if these people were not punished, many more innocent lives would be in danger. She was determined to do something. She wanted to save that child and at the same time save her love. This was not the time for her to sit back and cry, but the time when she had to be courageous.
Riya decided that she would catch Gaurav red handed. She did not want to involve police in the matter at this point of time. She knew that she would not be able to bear any harm being done to Gaurav. She wanted to talk about it to him and try to convince him to confess everything to the law. She knew it was difficult. Her heart would not let her give up. But her mind would not let her believe this would happen!
Gaurav was planning to kidnap a high school girl. He had not taken any women to his boss in last few weeks. This time his boss wanted an untouched material to be made available to his customer who promised to pay a very high price in return. Gaurav and his friends used to meet up at a place opposite to a high school for having their evening tea. And he had seen this girl leaving from her school and walking alone in a lane. He had been observing her since long. From the time he had got this job, he would try to keep an eye on every girl, thinking which girl could be his next money making machine. His first deal had got him a car. That woman, whom he promised a job as a hotel receptionist, did not know that she was going to get sold.
But how did Gaurav land up in this business???
It was his joblessness, the frustration that kept accumulating from a year. His ego would not let him sleep. He was fed up of his parents. Every time he would ask them for money, he would face their music. One night, when he got drunk to the extent that he lost his mind, he narrated his story to a group of strangers. They took him to their boss. Boss handed him his first salary. And that was it!
Next day, 17th August, Riya reached the place well before 11 am. She chose to drive to the place by her scooter. It was a deserted house in the middle of trees, barely seen from distance. She had to struggle a lot to reach the place as the way to the house was filled with potholes. She hid herself and her vehicle at the backside of house. It was 11 and she heard a vehicle approaching. Her heartbeats had increased. She saw it was Gauravs car. He parked the car, got down and started walking towards the door of house. Thats when Riya showed up. He looked at her with his mouth agape!
Gaurav yelled Riya! How come you are here?
Riya walked to him and without saying anything she slapped him on his face.
Her eyes were red and filled with tears.
She shouted, This was not what I had expected from you. How can you do this?
Gaurav could not understand how she got to know about the place which was known only to his boss and his colleagues. He was trying to pretend as if he did not know what she was talking about.
He was confused what to speak up. He asked, What are you doing here? I have come here to make some arrangements for a party which we are going to have here. We decided to do something different and. he was trying to pretend as if he did not know what she was talking about.
She interrupted him, tears already started rolling down her cheeks, I had come to your home yesterday morning. And I saw what business you are involved in. You sell women! How could you be such a person who would go beyond all the morals just for earning money?
That rang a bell in his mind. He had heard footsteps and the sound of door being closed with a thud. He thought there was no use of behaving innocent now.
He started to defend himself Please listen to me. I am not doing anything wrong. I just take these women to my boss and he gives me money for that. He is the one who sells them, not me. What can I do if these women are destined to be sold!!! It is their fate.
Riya could not believe that these words were coming out from the mouth of a person who was her childhood friend. The desperation for money had turned him to someone who had no guilt for what he was doing. She did not want to give up on him. She said to him, I know you are soft hearted. Lets go to the police and tell them everything. The law will definitely help you if you help to stop this crime. If you tell them who all are involved in this, your punishment would not be severe. Please Gaurav.
It did not take long for greed and anger to take over him.
He angrily warned her, Stay out of all this. Leave this place right now or you will face the consequences.
Riya continued Please dont do this. She is an innocent kid. Why do you want to spoil her life? Please Gaurav. she was begging him.
He cut her off, Its too late..., the words fell out of his mouth uninhibited, thus spelling it for her that he had already gone dark.
He was coming closer and closer to her. His hands were approaching her neck. Riya felt that he turned into a devil. She started to freeze by looking into his eyes. He was going to choke her to death.
This was not the time for her to die. She had to tell about these people involved in the trade of female lives. The next moment she gathered all the strength she had, pulled out the knife from her bag and stabbed him in his chest.
He fell on the ground. She saw every bit of life leaving his body.....
NOBODY would have known what happened to Gaurav had she not decided to confess her crime to the police. She knew it would cost her. But she had seen those two strangers and police would try to find them out if she told them how they looked like. After all, they were the people who knew the boss and boss knew the customers.
Before going to the police station, she wanted to have a coffee at the place where Gaurav and she used to meet. Starbucks near her college!
