He came out of the bar as the door closed shut behind him. It was so like any other day! He fought with a couple for thinking the girl as somebody else, broke the nose of the bartender before coming out as he said “the bar is closed and no more drinks”! “How it can be closed when I need a drink so badly”! “Going anywhere?”, a cab driver asked lowering the window as he passed by. “Take me to hell; will you!”, said he as he got in. “That aint a stop”, said the cab driver. “Then take me somewhere I can get a drink”, he screamed. The driver said at this hour there can be only two places where you can get drink in the city, at your home if you have stock or at the sincity. “Then take me there”, he said. Without any further conversation the cab rolled.

“We’re here”, the driver said after 15 minutes. He waved a 500 rupee note and said keep the change. Returning the exact change the driver said, “I am not taking 500 for a 50 rs ride, be cautious this is not a safe place to be!” and rolled out. And there he stood at the junction of the clean street and the darkest part of the city. “Sincity” was the place where good people would never visit; a place where lusty souls used to come to satisfy their hunger for flesh. Though he had heard of it several times, he had never come here because he could not imagine sleeping with another woman after his break up, that too for the tradeoff of money!

Pimps surrounded him as he entered the street. He got a royal treatment as he passed on the bundle of notes to one of them as it was a lot more than what they would have asked anyway. They took him to a room with a mild lighting. “Can I get a drink!”, said he as she closed the door. “Of course, and you can have me too”, said she as she poured the drink for him. He was in no mood to talk as he had got what he needed; after finishing the glass he grabbed the bottle. “What are you doing! This can kill you, you know that?”, said she. But he didn’t care, why should he, who is she to question him?

After spending three long hours with the drinks, he turned to her and said “what’s your name?”. “How does it matter anyway!”, said she. He never felt like asking again. He took a good look at her, she looked like she is from a decent family, what’s she doing here anyway!, he thought. He asked her for the story and she didn’t mind, “nobody comes here to listen to my story”, she mumbled. She was from a village outside the city, with a lot of dreams in her heart. She wanted to study, but couldn’t as her father had abandoned her family. Being the elder child she had no choice but to support her family. Her brother was studying engineering, who will fund it, if not she! She wanted to have her own beauty parlour and live peacefully, but that too needed money. So she had decided to sell her soul, and here she was today. She felt like a fallen angel to him, in his drunken eyes. “Everything looks pretty when I am drunk”, he thought.

Suddenly he felt the urge to kiss her and he reached out for her.  He showered a bunch of kisses to her and reached for her lips, but found her hand sealing and demanding for privacy there. He wondered why and she said, “You can have me as you want but not my lips! That’s for someone I love!”.  “Who’s that!”, he demanded and she replied “Someone unborn yet!, who has the courage to give me a place in the society!,  someday he’ll come, so I keep it reserved for him!” A deep sheer of agony filled him instantly! In the middle of dust and lost souls someone is fighting everyday to keep something exclusive for the one she love, for someone who may not even exist. He felt he was the sinner in the sincity tonight and she seemed to be a fallen angel. Quickly pulling out a bunch of notes he told her, “This is for your brother’s education”. She said with a worried tone, “Did I make a mistake?”. “No”, he said, “You’ve shown me the right path and I am thankful to you. I had lost hope, lost it so bad that brought me here, but now I know if hope can exist in the darkest of life, I would like to be the enlighten! Good luck to you for your love. I now know where to find mine”. He said “Goodbye” and went out. Nobody had ever seen him in the sincity again because he lives a happy life filled with love now and still he thanks the unnamed lady in the sincity sometimes. 

Author: Nilendu Maiti

Image Courtesy: Preethi Prabhu