In 1970's two people falling in love was not a common sight that one could see in Madras. Although, it being one of the 4 main metros of India, Madras and now Chennai was and till now has been the most conservative city in India. At least it was definitely and truly was conservative in the 70s. Love those days were talking through the eyes and eyes only, even something like holding hands was considered to be taboo, as a result of which you could receive some sharp glances from the passers by.
Kumar (Name changed) and Divya (Name changed) were working in the same office and somehow due to the magic or madness of love they became lovers. Kumar was the envy of the office which was a government organization, mainly due to the fact that Divya was astoundingly beautiful and he wasn’t all that attractive to woe a girl of Divya’s beauty, he was simple with the boy next door looks and was he naive? Probably that’s what attracted Divya to Kumar. Kumar friend’s define him as the person who doesn’t even knows how a sharpen a pencil with a blade; such was the innocence that Kumar had had. Divya who had key chain that had a small penknife for sharpening pencils used to tease Kumar with it, you could see a twitch in Kumar’s eyes whenever Divya flashed out her penknife key chain. Seeing two people fall in love may have been a rarity in those times in Chennai but the parents of both the parties opposing to the love without any valid reasons wasn’t a rarity.
It was one such day when the love between them went to the ears of their parents who without any fuss opposed it, threatening to kill themselves if they went ahead with it, a sentimental ploy which normally works and still works in many cases across India. Disturbed over the proceedings and after a long thinking and mutual understanding both the lovers decided to commit suicide, a drastic method to prove their love and also to prove their parents wrong. In those times the state buses were named as Pallavan Transport Corporation or PTC buses, it was one such bus that the lovers boarded on the fateful day, already armed with a poison bottle that Kumar had got from the local medical store. They decided to kill themselves inside the bus, a place where they spent most of their time when they were lovers. The bus was unusually empty on that day and Kumar eyes caught the last row seats in the bus with the few people in the bus sitting around the front portion of the bus. As the bus was moving Kumar opened the bottle and took half of the poison that was inside the bottle, with sweat on his forehead dripping on his shirt he gulped down half the bottle and passed the bottle on to Divya for her to drink the rest. She was staring at him and was trembling before Kumar had to grab her hands and put the bottle on her palm, she was still staring at him, Kumar said drink it, for which Divya responded saying that she cant drink it.
Kumar with a perplexing look saw Divya and he was almost choking, he said please drink it, Divya who was firm now said that she cant drink it, Kumar was anguished with what he heard when he saw the penknife which Divya was holding in her other hand, he asked again to drink for which she again refused, infuriated Kumar grabbed the pen knife from Divya and stabbed her 4 times before she died. Kumar too fell in the bus as the poison was getting to him, fortunately or unfortunately, he was taken to the hospital in time and was saved, the court gave him 12 years for murder. He got released a few years ago and he is living his life alone. He hasn’t married and has told that he couldn’t marry anyone else.
Based on a True Story
Anything ......... for a friend
Thilak Rajah
