The Everlasting Smile

Valentine’s day was very different for the Kumars. In fact, all the days were very different for them. It has been so for the last seven years. The couple maintained their distance, and they minded their own business. In the few times they saw eye to eye, they fought, and they fought hard. After the death of their only son, instead of consoling each other, they just blamed each other. It grew more by the day. Dev immersed himself into his work, the very problem Sonali had with him. In her reply, she immersed herself in a pool of sorrow, where she was bordering being psychotic. Dev had a temper which did not help the case. Thus, they preferred to be like two strangers living under the same roof.

On that Valentine’s day, the tempers were flaring. What started it no one knew, and neither did it matter. The fight intensified by the minute. And this time nobody was ready to recede an inch from their point, not that they knew what their point was, not that it mattered. What mattered was they had to fight and come out a winner. Invariably after each fight there came a point where nobody could go on for another minute, which the opponent took as his or her moral victory. They basked in that glory for a couple of days, in silence, just like strangers, only to start again.

That Valentine’s day was a Sunday. Generally, what interrupted the fights was a call from work for Dev. But that Sunday there were no calls from the office. So, they went on and on, the mercury rising with each passing moment. From bedroom to hall, to kitchen, it just went on. Finally Dev could take no more. Unwittingly he took up the knife and slashed Sonali’s throat. It took him some time to realize what happened. Then he did not know what to do. He tried what he saw in movies. He took her body and the knife, drove about 30 Kms towards north, when he came to a very reclusive place. He somehow toiled and buried her body there. He came back home and packed a few stuff and boarded a car for a nearby hotel.

On that fateful Valentine’s day, he vowed never to return to his home.

What aroused the suspicion of the neighbors, is not known. But the police came and found out. The only suspect was Mr. Dev Kumar.

Next day morning, he left the hotel and went to the bus stop. He had no idea where to go. He sat beside a Buddhist monk, who was reciting his beads. The monk smiled at Dev. And that irritated Dev. He hated any form of social behavior, social life. But the monk kept smiling and then he pointed towards Dev’s glasses. Dev couldn’t see very well without his glasses, but he saw blood stains on the glass. He was no pro, he did not know how to clean up with perfection. The bus suddenly stopped. He saw a couple of cops with dogs checking the cars and busses ahead of his. He panicked. The monk closed his eyes and got back to his prayers. Sensing an opportunity, Dev slid his glasses in the monk’s bag. He took his backpack and got down from the bus and started walking through the thickets. He literally crawled to avoid being noticed. Dev was never heard of or seen again.

When the cops approached the bus, the dogs went crazy. It took the cops no time to recover the blood stained glasses from the monk’s bag. The monk who was on maunvrat, ‘vow of silence’, had nothing to say in his defense. He just smiled and said his prayers. There was no stronger evidence to convict anybody, and although Dev was primary suspect, there was no witness of the crime. The monk was put behind the bars. He smiled and said his prayers. There was a time when all forgot the story of the monk.

But this story gave one person sleepless nights. For ten years Dev has not forgotten a bit of it. Every night he cried to sleep only to be woken up by his fears, his nightmares. It was driving him crazy.

Dev finally mastered the courage and traveled more than 1000 Kms to get back to his hometown after ten years. He surrendered himself to the police and told his story. The body and the murder weapon were recovered. In a swift sentence, Dev was given a life sentence and the monk was released.

Dev was in his handcuffs when the jail keeper walked up to the cell of the old monk. In a moment, that fateful Valentine’s day flashed before Dev’s eyes. The monk was sitting in a corner. He was smiling and deep immersed in his prayers. Dev saw that monk looked exactly the same like he did 10 years ago on that bus. The jail keeper shouted “Old man, your time here is up. Looks like we finally found the criminal”. The monk was still smiling. The jail keeper shouted again. And then again, a bit louder. He finally walked in the cell and tapped on the monk’s shoulder. His lifeless body fell over. He was smiling the everlasting smile.