A Night at The Taj...An Appointment with a Gun man...

Well, you said it was a big night
So I dressed up in my best.
Took out that string of pearls,
That for years had been in rest.
Then the red chiffon saree which you liked so much on me
And in the tresses a blushing rose to match,
Garnished with my infectious and perpetual smile
That anyone could catch.

Yes, you were taking me to The Taj,
Your promotion deserved extravagance.
Oh to mingle with the elite!
Wouldn’t it be like a sojourn in the heavens?

The mighty edifice of The Taj took my breath away
You held me by the hand, as my faltering footsteps gently swayed.
We sat in a posh corner, flooded with the arch lights
The prices on the menu almost gave me a fright.
But then the sparkle in your eyes reassured...
‘Don’t worry dear, this is just the beginning,
There’s nothing in life that soon we won’t afford...’

And then a different light blinded my vision
The soft scores of the band man’s symphony,
Was altered by a jarring cacophony.
And then all madness broke lose...
Gun men opened bullets in a fanatic rage,
The picturesque ambience soon turned into a maze.
Bodies falling around us,
Like card houses blown off in the wind.
Screams and cries raising the swell...
My heaven suddenly transpired into a hell.

You held my hand again, to pull me out of my stupor,
As I had just turned numb, nothing seemed to register.
We should run....yes...it instantly dawned,
But where? ... The firing went on and on...

We rushed towards the staircase,
Soon to be halted in our pace.
A dead beauty lay there with mouth gaping,
Blood stained on her diamonds still sparkling.
And while we were watching this, another fell before me,
It was you my dear falling into eternity,
Who had been a living breathing specimen of humanity.
Oh let this be a nightmare!
Please pinch me back to sanity.

It had been just a few seconds,
But we had moved milestones ahead
Towards the dead.
For soon a bullet pierced my thoughtless flood
The red of my saree,
Merging with the red of my blood.

Now arms of death were engulfing me,
The terror and panic were going past.
What was supposed to be the beginning,
Became our very last!

But why today? Why us?
What did we do to you my ‘dear’ gunman?
We were so common,
In a crowd we would be lost.
We had so many aspirations,
And a life that was dearly bought.

And what about my two children,
Whom we left home alone first time?
Will they now be left alone forever?
Where would their lives sublime?

How did you get so much hate in you my gunman,
To slain me without knowing what I stood for?
Didn’t you think of your own children?
Or of your mother who sheltered you in her womb?
Just for some vague drilled ideas,
You got ready to walk to your tomb?

Now hate you have scattered in the air.
Who is to judge, who is right and what is fair?
You fought to avenge your wrongs
But what about the wrongs you added to our list,
That clouds all reasoning in a never ending mist?

Hate would beget hate
What world are you striving for?
You say you’ve been through hell
But hell is what you are extending more.
Now I am dead,
Is your mission complete?
Let me put a final word that ain’t so tough,
How many more to go,
Before you say,
Enough is enough!