Love Is Blind - A HeartBreaking Story

The streets of Meerut were bustling with a crowd. Indistinct chattering nullified the crooning effects of birds. The colorful explosion was in full swing owing to the Holi festival. Sakshi, a blind girl, let her ears tune into the celebration happening on the streets. She lost her mother in her early childhood. His father Ramesh married another woman, Rukmini, who gave birth to a child named Sonali. They gave Sonali much preference over Sakshi in every aspect of life. Sonali had the privilege to study, so she ended up becoming a software engineer. Being cornered never deterred Sakshi from loving her family. She always wore a smile on her face despite pain controlling her heart. She always wanted her family to be peaceful and contented, even at the expense of her own joy.

"I am enjoying the Holi celebration taking place in the streets," Sakshi said.

"How can you enjoy Sakshi? You are a blind girl who can't enjoy the real world," Sonali said. "Maybe you have created your own imaginary world."

"I can feel the emotions running on the streets."

"Are you feeling from your eyes?" Rukmini broke into laughter. Her daughter joined her.

People peppered over the streets were hurling color at each other. A guy sneaked from behind and smashed an egg on the bald head of his grandfather, who donned a puzzled look as the yellow liquid flew into his mouth. Rukmini gestured Sonali with something, and the latter went in and came back with an egg. She smashed the egg on Sakshi's head and the latter screamed, taken aback by the incident.

"Get out, you idiot! How dare you toy with Sakshi's head?" Rukmini stifled her laughter.

"A guy from the streets sneaked all the way here to smash an egg on your head," Sonali said. "Sorry, we didn't notice that."

Sakshi's black hairs consumed the yellow liquid of the egg. Her innocence was being misused. "It's okay," she said.

A grand villa allured pedestrians as they walked by it. Wagging its tail, a german shepherd dog came out of the villa along with its owner Rahul. The dog looked ecstatic as it bounced around its owner, enjoying its time. Rahul planted a kiss on its forehead, proving his love for the dog. Perhaps the dog's energy doubled after receiving the kiss as it moaned, licking its owner's hand. Clouds had taken leave today because the sky looked perfectly blue, glorifying its blueness in the world. His father, Raj, a businessperson, joined their company. 

"How is your day, my boy?" he asked.

"I am enjoying my weekend with my best friend."

"How long would you be alone, my dear son?" he asked. "I want to find a bride who can match our status."

"I don't want to marry someone just because they can match our status," Rahul said. "If I deeply fall in love with someone, I don't see their status."

"I can't marry you to someone walking on the streets," Raj said, looking at the blue sky. "Even you know how important prestige is for me."

Rahul had enough of the prestige topic that always meddled with their conversation, taking it in a different direction altogether. He repressed his urge to speak and kept quiet. Raj stroked his hair and walked down the driveway into the car, and drove away to meet his business partner. The dog was scrutinizing the emotions changing on its owner's face. It recognized him to be dull, so it brushed its body against him to revive his cheerful mood.

Rukmini wanted to marry her only daughter to a rich man. She discussed the same with her husband.

"We shall marry Sakshi first," Ramesh said.

"Are you kidding me? Who will marry a blind girl? Have you gone out of your mind?" she grumbled.

"But she is the elder one."

"Giving her a chance to stay here is our biggest achievement." She said. "Had there been someone else in our place, Sakshi would be in an orphanage by now."

"But…"

"Stop! I don't want to hear anything from you. My dear daughter, Sonali, will get married and Sakshi will spend all her life as a slave caring for us," she said unabashedly.

Ramesh walked out without uttering a single word as Rukmini stared at his back until he disappeared out of his sight. He stole a glance at Sakshi, who lunged forward at her desk, closing her eyes, absorbing the divinity of the devotional song that was played in the background. He was just a puppet in his wife's hands. Sonali glimpsed at Sakshi who looked calm and composed listening to the song. Her cruel mind chalked out a plan to curb her peace. Her mother had sowed the seeds of venom in her mind, so tormenting others gave her extreme pleasure. She picked up a bucket full of water and hurled it across Sakshi's face and the latter jerked back and fell from the chair, unable to control the sudden impact on her. Sonali quietly enjoyed her sister struggling to get on her feet. Her disgusting mind exploded with ecstasy. Her eyes recorded the incident as if it would play it innumerable times in her head.

Raj took an hour to pick a photo of the collection of hundreds that lay ahead of him. He collected information about the girl in the photo. 

"I think you make an impressive pair with this girl," he stuck out his hand, showing the girl's photo.

Rahul reluctantly glimpsed at the photo. "What do you expect me to do?"

"We can go to the girl's house and discuss your marriage."

"Let me remind you, Dad. If I don't like her mindset, there is no way I will marry her."

"We shall see once the discussion takes place."

Raj made a phone call to Rukmini and put forth his proposal. Elated, Rukmini stammered to find words. The thought of her daughter marrying a rich businessperson rendered goosebumps. Without a second thought, she accepted the proposal and invited them to join them to have a fruitful conversation. She broke out the news in the house as soon as the phone got disconnected. Sonali jumped in joy at the prospect of marrying a rich man. She snuggled on a sofa and projected herself as the queen. Rukmini clapped her hands. "All hail! Queen Sonali."

As the news dropped into Sakshi's ears, she felt happy for her sister. Unbidden, her eyes welled up with joy. Rukmini observed tears rolling out of Sakshi's eyes. 

"How dare you cry? I know you are jealous because your sister is getting married," she fumed. "Despite being blind, you are entertaining nasty thoughts. Shame on you," she pushed her to the floor.

"This is blissful tears. I am happy for my sister."

"Stop your drama! You are not born to be queen, unlike me," Sonali smirked.

Mercedes Benz graced the streets of Meerut. Raj and Rahul slipped out of the car. Both looked stunning in blazers, grabbing everyone's eyeballs. Rukmini glanced at them through the window. She admired their dressing sense. Unable to control her excitement, she tugged at the locked door and then realized she was getting carried away. She then unlocked the door and greeted the two gentlemen warmly inside.

"It's my pleasure to have you here."

Sonali's dopamine took a spike the moment she glanced at Rahul. She served tea with her eyes transfixed to Rahul's gaze. 

"I want to speak with you," he said, to which Sonali nodded. 

They both bounded up the stairs to reach the balcony. The gush of wind tried to penetrate through their skin. Rustling leaves had conspired to interfere in their conversation.

"You look handsome," she said.

"What is your plan after marriage?" 

"I want to see multiple movies with you. We must plan to go abroad every month and have a sojourn in five-star restaurants. I love to live a posh lifestyle bathing in money."

"Wow! What if your husband is poor?"

"I don't go for such nut-cases. When they don't have money in their pocket, they are useless. I can't survive in such suffocating environments."

"You are indeed suffocating me," he said.

Sonali's smile ceased. "We can get married soon."

"I am sorry! I don't want to invest my time in you," he walked off. 

As Rahul was climbing down the stairs, he glanced at Sakshi. Unbidden, he felt a joyful surge within him. His intuition took control over asking him to strike up a conversation with her. 

"Who is she?" he asked, waving his hand at her.

"She is a blind girl who works as a maid here.," Rukmini stuttered.

"Can I talk with her?" he requested.

"Why do you want to talk with housemaids?" Raj questioned.

Rahul persistently requested them and eventually won a chance to converse with her. He stuck out his hand at her, but she didn't respond. Later, he realized the girl was blind. He escorted her to the balcony.

"What is your name?"

"Sakshi. May I know why you want to speak with me?" a killer smile blew his heart away.

"What makes you happy?" he questioned.

"Keeping others happy is genuine happiness."

"What if I told you my heart is beating for you?"

"I am a blind girl."

"Love is blind too."

"I lost my mother."

"I lost my mother too."

A puzzled look took over Sakshi. "Darkness has engulfed my life."

"I will be the light to extinguish your darkness."

"Why don't you understand?"

"I can understand."

"Defective girls must not marry."

"Is it written in any ancient script?"

"I can't fight with you."

"We aren't fighting in the first place," he said. "I can sense the love in which we are flowing together."

"But?"

Rahul placed his forefinger over her lips. "We make a magnificent pair."

Stunned, Sakshi was out of words. He took her back to the house.

"I have decided to marry Sakshi," he said assertively.

Anger coupled with dread surged through Sonali's body. Rukmini looked flabbergasted, unable to fathom the reality which just got kicked in. She looked at her worn-out daughter's face. Before she could utter a word, Rahul left the place along with his dad. Sonali was about to slap Sakshi, but her mother stopped her. She gestured her to follow. As soon as they squeezed into the room, the door was shut from behind. Sonali picked a flower pot kept on the wooden table and smashed it hard to the floor breaking it into smithereens. Her anger knew no bounds as her stomach juices writhed around, unable to come to grips with the reality.

"How can Sakshi marry him? He is mine," she said, dazed.

"That blind girl has cast a spell over him. Why did he reject you?" Rukmini asked curiously.

Sonali replayed the conversation she had with Rahul. 

"I don't think he will ever marry you, but I will not allow Sakshi to go to that rich house. She must not enjoy the luxury she doesn't deserve. She deceived us with her evil skills," Rukmini slapped her fist over the wooden table and the impact was so hard a crack emerged on it.

"Please come up with a plan. Even if I can't marry Rahul, that's fine, but I don't want my enemy to marry him. I will commit suicide if it happens."

Rukmini wiped tears off her daughter's face. "I will never let them marry."

The morning sunlight wiped Rahul's face. He squinted at the sunlight emerging from the window. Sakshi's beautiful face flashed past him, generating a smile on his otherwise solemn face. His dog sensed his happiness and played a trick with him. It clasped his towel with its teeth and pulled it away, leaving him with underwear. Submerged in his own bundle of thoughts, he didn't realize what just happened. When he slowly scrolled his eyeballs below, the reality sank in.

"You crazy man," he ran behind his dog.

Rukmini plopped on a swinging chair with thoughts falling like a ton of bricks on her head. The gripping thought of her daughter missing a great proposal surged anger in her body. She found it difficult to grapple with reality. She felt like killing Sakshi to quell the problem once and for all; her criminal mind wanted to bring about gory. After spending two hours with her own mind, finally she came up with a plan to put an end to the chapter of Sakshi. Being a sadist all her life, she never felt remorse for harming others. She was ready to stoop to any means to ensure her daughter lived a happy life, even at the expense of other's life. She shared the plan with her cruel daughter, who, for the first time, was seen in satisfaction since her conversation with Rahul. They walked together to Sakshi's room to carry out the initial part of their plan.

"Rahul has agreed to marry you. We are so happy," Sonali said.

"I am surprised that someone loves a blind girl like you," Rukmini said.

Sakshi broke her silence. "What happened?"

"What a clever girl? She is acting as if nothing happened?" Sonali whispered with reddened eyes.

"You can date with your would-be husband. We have arranged for that," Rukmini winked at her daughter.

"Why this dating?"

"To end you," Rukmini gritted her teeth.

"What?"

"To end all your sufferings. You must start a fresh life with Rahul."

Rukmini phoned Rahul and asked him to join Sakshi at a farmhouse. She also shared with him the address to ensure he didn't miss the dating invitation. He was certainly unaware of the cloak hidden beneath her invite. For the first time in his life, he was swimming in an ocean of love that energized his soul. He looked forward to spending a great time with a special soul. He also made a lot of research before finalizing a gift. In the evening, the glittering lights festooned the surrounding atmosphere of the farmhouse. The two lovebirds were about to have a pleasant time with each other, completely unaware of the shroud of darkness that was all set to penetrate them to reach every part of their body. Full moon, accompanied by stars, would be witness to the tragedy that would befall in some time. They had been decoyed to the farmhouse by Rukmini and Sonali, who still could not digest the news of Sakshi marrying Rahul. Their criminal minds are all set to consume two precious lives.

"Lights here are not quelling darkness, it is your smile which is snubbing out darkness," Rahul said.

Sakshi's facial muscles had a brief discussion before they allowed her to come up with a controlled smile. Rahul's intuition confirmed that Sakshi had been through a lot of pain in her life. He wanted to be the medicine to wink out her pain.

"What a special moment this is going to be for us?" he said. "I will propose to you."

Sonali's heartbeats were about to explode in envy. She wanted to be in Sakshi's place enjoying the moment. All her plans had been extinguished the moment Rahul rejected her. She crouched behind the barricade that was just inches away from the house in which the two lovebirds were present. 

Sakshi and Rahul sipped the juice placed on the table. The darkness that had been patient for a while was about to unravel its secret. The juice they had sipped was mixed with deadly chemicals. In a matter of minutes, the dangerous chemicals started doing their business. They ruthlessly churned out their misery inside their bodies. They both clutched their neck unable to control the ceaseless pain surging through their body. The deadly chemicals converted themselves into pain and emerged out of their mouth as blood. They both were literally spewing blood off their mouth. Rukmini and Sonali punched their fist in the midair as if they won a world cup. Their cruelty had reached insane limits. Sakshi and Rahul gripped each others hands despite the pain ripping through their body. They lay on the floor, convulsing involuntarily.

"I love you," Rahul screamed with tears flowing like a river mixing up with blood.

"I love you too," Sakshi said.

Two beautiful souls left the body and disappeared into the skies. A beautiful journey that lay ahead of them was extinguished courtesy of the mother-daughter duo's jealousy. They stood in the pool of blood and let their eyes dip in ecstasy. The secret gift decided to remain secret forever.

"We shall live this place once and for all," Sonali said.

They both returned home in joy. 

"Hey, Ramesh! Let's leave Meerut," Rukmini said.

"Why?" Ramesh looked perturbed.

Rukmini shared the dreaded news with her husband. Ramesh never interfered in whatever his wife did, but today she had crossed human limits; she unleashed her cruelty on his daughter, claiming her innocent life. His heart throbbed with guilt, castigating him for being a mute spectator to all her awful work. His brows furrowed, gathering the guts he lacked all his life. He looked at Sonali and Rukmini, who were happily packing the bags. He pulled out a dagger from the kitchen shelf and crept towards them. All anger erupted at once as he stabbed both of them multiple times until his anger subsided. The mother-daughter duo lay on a pool of blood.