Story of a Night

Chapter 3

 "Fine. I will teach you. Only for tonight. But it is not possible to learn anything in a few hours. And do you have a guitar with you?" She smiles,"I don't have any guitar. But you have, I know."
"I don't have it with me. My guitars are at my place."
 "We can go to your house then."
"I live alone. Are you sure you want to come to my place?", I ask.
 "I trust you.", she says.

I stare at her. Who is she? She can go to any stranger's house to learn guitar. How crazy can she be?

I don't return home at night. Home? No, it is not my home, it is just a house. 

I open the door and getting inside I switch on the lights. "Come in. Sit here."
She comes inside and starts looking around. "You have such a huge house then why do you stay on the streets all night. I have seen you many times sitting on the streets like the homeless. Why?", she asks. 
"You don't get to ask me questions. Get that straight. Learn guitar and go."
 I say and go inside to get two guitars. 

When I come out, I see her standing in front of her photograph. 
"She is beautiful. Who is she?"
I don't reply to her and sit on the sofa.

Without looking at her, I say, "Come here and take this guitar." 

She comes and takes the guitar from my hand and sits in front of me holding it closely. I start teaching her the basics of it. After a few minutes I start playing a tune slowly, explaining each stroke. She follows me and soon she plays that tune quite well for a beginner. 
I ask her,"You are good. Are you sure you haven't learned it before?"
 
"No. I haven't got an opportunity to learn", she says.
 "I was sick all my life. I was diagnosed with cancer when I was 12. After 4 years of radiation and chemotherapy, I was declared cured and in remission. But a year later the cancer was back and it was far more serious this time. For three years I was in and out of hospital. I had lost my hair. But I was far from getting better. I decided to stop the treatment. It was really too much for me. My parents looked for alternative treatments. Doctors found I am responding to it. However after a few months I became severely sick and all treatments had to be stopped. So no, I really had no time to learn guitar."

I feel so bad for her.
"I am really sorry."
 "For what? You didn't give me cancer.", was her response.
 "Why did you say that you have a night to learn? Fill your bucket list.", I ask.

 "Tomorrow I have to get myself admitted to the hospital. I have surgery the day after tomorrow. I am not sure if I will survive this. I made a bucket list a few months ago. I have tried to tick all of them. Seeing the ocean, learning to cook, bungee jumping, skating, singing on stage and going to a nightclub. All done."

She smiles,"I had been to a club when I saw you for the first time. Your music, your poems touched my heart. I kept coming to these clubs only to hear you sing and play. I had recorded your song that I listen to all the time. Your music has a healing touch. I decided to learn guitar that day and added it to my list. But I couldn't find you then. I wanted to try my luck and came out here today. And see I found you. So I am left with a few hours to learn."

I am speechless. With so much pain, she is smiling. What is her secret I wanted to ask. But I was at a loss for words.

She asks, "Can you tell me your story? You seem rich then why do you sing there? Why do you roam around at night? Why did you spend your nights away from your home?"

I could no longer say no to her.
 "I am Rishab Raijada, VP of AR Technologies. My father, Avinash Raijada, is the chairman of AR Groups. So yes I am rich."
 I stop. 

Her mouth opens wide,"Holy crap! You are rich, like super rich. Sorry for the language but I am in shock."

 I haven't talked about this to anyone till now but I couldn't stop tonight. 
"I was in love with her, (pointing at the photograph) Siya Malhotra. We were together from college. We were engaged to get married. Just a few days ahead of our wedding, my friends had arranged for a bachelor's night. They took me to a club and we got wasted. I don't know how many drinks I had. When I woke up the next morning, I had no memories of the night. I found myself in bed with a girl whom I had never seen before. Maybe she was from the club, I don't remember. She told me that we didn't do anything as I fell asleep once we were here.
Siya found out about this. I tried to explain to her everything but she didn't listen to me and stopped talking to me for two days."

" I managed to convince her to come down to the restaurant to talk. She became upset even before I could tell her anything. She just left in a hurry. And..She met an..accident. "
I was fighting my tears now, "I killed her..I killed her.. I couldn't sleep at night anymore. I started drinking but never returned home at night. I play in clubs but just because I love music. I sometimes pay them to allow me to perform. Only music has kept me going these two years."

I felt like a burden lifting away from my shoulders. I never talked about her to anyone until tonight. It is easier to talk to a stranger than an acquaintance as they never judge you. I could see that she was not judging me too. I wipe off the tears from my eyes.

 Khushi comes closer to me and sits beside me,"You didn't kill her. She died from the accident. But yes, you were wrong. You hurt her by being with someone else. You shouldn't have drunk so much. You were not in your senses because of too much alcohol. And you are still drinking. Your alcohol killed her and you are continuing to commit the crime of drinking." 

I stare at her. I see her for the first time clearly. She is beautiful, big almond shaped brown eyes, a cute tiny nose and soft pink lips. Her skin is pale like porcelain. She might be sick but eyes still shine. They were kind and full of love and empathy.

"Life is never smooth, never a bed of roses. It comes with thorns. But that doesn't mean you have to let it prick you all the time. You have a family, a career, a life and most importantly music. Your music can touch lives, trust me it does. Don't waste your life scratching your old wounds. Make it useful by finding an aim in it. Try to find ways to bring smiles on other people's faces. Trust me you will be healed. Your pain will be gone."