Kanpur-Gandhinagar-Bangalore-Calcutta

He was lying on the road, blood oozing out of his punctured body. His mother had told him that people turn into stars after death and shine in our lives forever. He turned around in great pain to see the night sky, trying to figure out a place for him.

It was a lonely road when a speeding vehicle had hit him and ran away. He knew nobody would be coming to save him. He was thankful to God for these uninterrupted last few minutes in this world, as even if somebody comes to save him, that person would be just interrupting his precious time in a futile attempt to save him.

He was smiling. Smiling after a long long time. He tried to think of the last time when he was all alone. A tear dripped from his eye. For the first time in his life, he could admire how beautiful the stars were, how cool the air was and how good it felt to lie down in mud. On his deathbed, he felt like a child- no concerns about the world or future or ego. Images flashed in his mind. What had he achieved in his life? A regular job, an unhappy wife, disappointed parents and a huge bank balance. That's it? This is what he had lived for? He had made the banks and boss happy and his family unhappy. If he had a second chance, he would try to reverse the things. But this was what he thought whole life. He thought he'll do this in future and today, future ceased to exist.

He remembered his mom waking him up for his breakfast, dad running around to make an earning out of his mediocre shop- just to educate him. In return, when he grew up, he ignored their needs. He remembered his wife, who supported him in the lowest periods of his life. When whole world laughed at him, she was there to ease his pains. He missed her. He wished if she could be there to ease that pain too, albeit for the last time. And when he tasted success, he didn't make an effort to bring that beautiful smile on her face. He got too caught up with keeping his impression in minds of others, his company, his boss, his colleagues at office, his friends from college. He was so busy in wearing a mask, a different mask for different person, that he never got time to be his true self and to give happiness to people who were his life.

He thought of dinner today when his wife had told him that she was pregnant with a child. She was so excited, dreaming of having dinner with their daughter, sending her to school and so on. He had dismissed it as saying what was the big deal. That caused his wife to cry and he left her for a night walk figuring out how to finalize the marketing strategy of their new product. It was a big deal! He so wished to buy that blue frock he saw in the hypermarket today, he so wished to bring her a bridal doll, he so wished to see her daughter sleep in his lap or cut a chocolate cake for her birthday. Wishes, he realized were useless.

His breath became heavy. The stars started getting blurred. He wished he could say a Thank You to his parents. He wished he could say I love you once more to his wife, this time truly from heart.

He limbered to scribble the words on mud-

"Name her Princess"