Sunlight peeped in through the tiny hole in the wall and Anirudh flinched his eyelids. It was morning already. He found it hard to even stand after yesterday's beating. He shuddered when memories flashed in front of his eyes. He remembered how they had pounced on him. If the jailer had not come on time, he would've died. But what could he do? He had been so enraged at that particular moment that he didn't realise what consequences he would have to face.

Anirudh was a prisoner. He was in prison for two years now. He had been a barrister once but today, everyone knew him as a murderer. His hair were disheveled and long, covering his forehead. His clothes were tattered at places. He had turned apparently thin with a beard covering his face. His eyes held agony, they were heavy.

Anirudh glanced at his hands. A thin white cloth was wrapped around his palm. The wound was fresh. He moved it and winced in pain. It was hurting. He with a lot of effort picked up the chalk that was placed on the rough floor and smiled. His hand ached because of the wound and unknown to him, it started bleeding.

Tears rushed down his eyes. With his wounded hand, he wrote on the cold wall of the prison cell," Bondita"

Kya tujhe ab ye dil bataye
Tujhpe kitna mujhe pyar aaye
Aansuon se likhdun main tujhko
Koi mere bin padh hi na paye

The walls of his prison cell were painted with the white color of her name. He had written her name all over. There was no space left so he just wrote on the already engraved words. Writing her name gave peace to his wounded soul. He had been scarred from within.

Physical wounds would heal with time but who would heal his emotional pain? No one.

His eyes were laced with tears and he kept on uttering her name as he marked her on the walls. His palm was bleeding but he remained unaware. He gathered himself up as he moved on to the other wall. He smiled like a lunatic with tears pooling down his eyes. His hands were vigorously moving against the wall as he wrote her name. He was lost.

Suddenly, he heard the door creaking open and he looked towards it. A plate with the so called food was pushed towards his feet. Even animals would not eat such food which he was served.

The jail worker had come. He stood there at the door as he uttered giving a disgusting look to Anirudh, " Fill yourself up and come out. You will be going to a construction site for work today. Moron!"

He closed the door with a bang. Anirudh didn't pay any heed and pushed the plate away. He continued his ministrations on the wall.

Bondita was standing with a plate of food in her hands and she was eyeing Anirudh with an annoyed expression. Anirudh was sitting on his chair in the study. His fingers moved continuously on the typewriter.

Bondita moved forward towards the table and placed the plate on it startling Anirudh. He sighed and looked at her. She was so annoyed, he could make it out from her face. He chuckled and continued his work which irritated her more.

Was he not supposed to eat?

She frowned," Pati Babu!"

"Go away Bondita. Don't disturb me." he smiled internally.

"I won't!"

"Bondita..."

Before he could say anything, Bondita held onto his hands and pulled him up from his chair and he could see that frown on her face which made her look so heavenly. She dragged him towards the couch and then pushed him down, making him sit. He tried getting up but he halted in his tracks when he saw that prominent anger in her eyes. She could kill someone with that intimidating gaze alone.

He saw her bringing the plate and after seating herself on the couch next to him, she took out a morsel of food as she uttered, " What is this, Pati Babu? Work is important but if you don't eat, it won't work out well!"

Just as he opened his mouth to let some words out, she put the morsel in his mouth making him startled. She giggled and he frowned.

When he knew he was defeated and he could do nothing but be dictated the way she wanted, he let out a smile and adored her as she fed him lovingly.

She was his everything, and she will remain forever.

Yoon rahun chup kuch bhi na bolun
Barso lambi neende so lun
Jin ankhon mein tu rehta hain
Saddiyon taq wo aakhein na kholun

Anirudh was still writing her name on the wall when the jail worker appeared again pushing the door open and Anirudh looked at him. When he saw that Anirudh had not eaten anything, he hissed," Brat! I wonder why you're still alive."

Anirudh just averted his and continued to write on the wall which angered the man. He pushed his steps forward and grabbed Anirudh's wrist, dragging him out of the dark cell. The chalk slipped from his hand like sand and he felt as if she had slipped away. A lone tear trickled down and he didn't protest as the man dragged him out harshly.

The sunlight pricked his eyes and his head was throbbing out of exhaustion. He covered his eyes immediately with his wounded hand and a painful gasp escaped his lips.

The prisoners were to be taken to a construction site. Anirudh was one of them. The British Government wanted to build huge buildings and offices but paying the labourers were not their cup of tea. Making prisoners work and do hard, bone- crushing labour and not paying them enough after their sentence were all that it was interested in.

Anirudh was being dragged and soon he realised that he had been thrown into a van full of prisoners like him. He gasped when he was thrown hard against the floor of the van. He pulled himself up for further torture. He was used to it. He thought he deserved it anyway after what he did. He was a sinner after all.

Sinners get punished, don't they?

His eyes held agony and pain. His face was numb and his fellow jail mates were used to his quietness. Some of them knew that he was the great Barrister Babu Anirudh Roy Chowdhury but in jail, they were all the same. Some would often mock his misery or even torture him mercilessly.

He'd endure it all with a smile on his face whilst continuously muttering, " Bondita."

Mere ander khudko bhar de
Mujhko mujhse khali karde

Anirudh stared at the surroundings. when they finally reached the construction site. He moved forward with his face devoid of all worldly expressions. The jailer had given him the job of breaking the crooked bricks which were to be used somewhere in making the floor of the huge building.

He seated himself down on the ground and with the hammer, he started hitting the bricks. It was cutting his already wounded hand. He hissed in pain when he felt his hand trembling everytime the hammer hit the brick. Blood kept on gushing out of the wound and it ached. A fellow prisoner, Ravi saw this and he was concerned about Anirudh.

He quickly brought the jailer to Anirudh's side as he said," Look at his hand, Sahab. He is bleeding. I remember a sharp glass had pierced right through his palm the other day. If not healed, it might get worse. Give him something else to do."

Anirudh heard everything that they were saying.

The jailer chuckled giving a disgusting look to Anirudh. He said," Let it be. Who cares about this hopeless man who keeps on writing on the walls? It's better if he's dead. Useless."

Anirudh listened to each word but he didn't flinch. Instead, he hit the hammer with more intensity and blood oozed out as the cloth that wrapped his palm loosened up and fell down on the ground. Ravi closed his eyes and he could feel his pain. He had himself been into this labour session and he knew how hard it was. Moreover, he knew that Anirudh had been raised in all sorts of comforts and riches. It was sure a painful sight to see him like that.

Defeated, Ravi moved back to his work.

No wonder how much it ached, Anirudh kept on hammering the bricks hard and tears kept streaming down his face.

Anirudh locked Bondita's arm behind her back as she collided with his hard chest. She gasped at the proximity and he smirked. He pulled her closer, his one arm on the small of her back and she sighed. She struggled to get out of his grasp but his hands were firm around her.

But suddenly, he left her, his hands in air and smirked. She eyed him and stepped back. As she turned back to leave, she felt a firm grip on her wrist and before she knew, her body had collided with his hard chest as he pulled her back.

He locked his arms around her waist, her soft bosoms pressed against his hard chest. Their bodies were pressed hard against each other with absolutely no room for even air to pass.She was feeling all sorts of butterflies in her stomach. Her cheeks garnered that prominent pink and she looked away, suppressing a smile. Her hands were gripping his broad shoulders.

He pulled her even closer and she stood on his feet, their noses touching with his warm breath fanning her cold lips. She shuddered at the intensity his eyes held and blushed profusely averting her gaze. He leaned in as his cheek brushed against hers, making her feel wonders. She gripped his shoulders tightly.

He hushed, romantically in her ears," I love you, Bondita."

He kissed her earlobe, sucking it gently and she shivered, her grip becoming firm on his shoulders. His voice was enough to send tremors down her body.

He looked expectantly at her face, grazing his thumb on her cheek and she blushed yet again.

She wound her arms around his neck, going on her tiptoes and whispered in his ears," I love you too, Pati Babu."

She immediately hid her face in his chest and he smiled.

He moved his hand at the back of her head to open her tresses tied in a bun. As he tried to open her long hair, her hair pin pricked his finger and he winced in pain. Bondita immediately pulled back and she saw a blood droplet on his finger. She gasped and held his finger, tears rolled down her cheeks. She put his finger in her mouth and he adored her as she tried to soothe his pain away.

A little scratch on his body bothered her.

Jis sham tu naa mile
Wo sham dhalti nahi
Aadat si tu ban gayi hai
Aadat badalti nahi
Kya tujhe ab ye dil bataye
Tere bina kyun saans na aaye

Anirudh's hand was bleeding feverishly and he was done with his work, he sat down on the ground. His heart had a void and no one could fill that. He glanced down at the soil and his blood was mixing with it, making it wet. He looked at his palm and smiled like a maniac. He deserved it anyway, he thought.

He traced his bloody finger on the ground, making out circles.

A sudden pain shot through his heart and he muttered," Bondita."

His eyes were heavy with tears and his throat ached. There was an emptiness that engulfed his soul and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't overcome that. His face was laced with tears yet again and he muttered," Bondita."

He rolled out his bloody finger on the floor and wrote her name with his red blood on the soil. It soothed his scarred and wounded soul. She was his peace.

The prisoners were looking at him strangely.

They were muttering things among themselves which were audible to Anirudh as he continued to write her name on the soil.

"What is this madman writing?" one of them asked the other.

"Probably a name, maybe his wife's name."

Anirudh's muscles stiffened as he heard them uttering her name but he continued writing her name.

"But why would he? Was she beautiful?"

Anirudh was fuming from inside.

"I bet she was. She got him all excited after all. What a witch! That vile woman made him a lunatic after all!" he scoffed.

Anirudh's patience broke. He stood up, his teary eyes were red with anger. His veins were protruding out. The prisoners looked shocked and the one who uttered those words gulped.

Anirudh marched forward and the next thing the he did was pushing the man down and punching his face mercilessly as he screamed through his tears," How dare you utter such nonsense about my wife, about my Bondita!? I will make sure I kill you!"

The man's nose bled and he was finding it hard to breathe. Anirudh kept on punching that man, his own palm hurt but he had gone completely insane at that moment. He didn't know what he was doing. The other prisoners tried to pull him off but he didn't even move.

Anirudh kept on hitting that man. The man had fainted but he kept on hitting him.

He could not tolerate any wrong word about his Bondita.

Anirudh rocked her back and forth in his arms. She was not moving. His shirt was painted with her blood and her head bled. The bullet had pierced her head. Anirudh cradled her in his arms, patting her cheeks, trying to bring her back to life.

But his Bondita was murdered.

He brought his face closer to her lips and pecked her lips which were painted in blood.

"Bondita, I know you are sleeping. Get up, please. " he hushed, rocking her dead body in his arms but she didn't respond.

He screamed as tears poured down his eyes, " Get up! Bondita!"

His tears were falling down on her face laced with blood, mixing with it. He put his forehead against hers and whispered, " Wake up, Bondita."

She didn't respond.

He pulled her head closer to his heart and brushed her tresses, murmuring sweet nothings in her ears. Her arms hung around his torso and it pricked his heart. She was not hugging him back.

He wiped the blood off her face, kissing her lips again, trying to bring her back to life but she didn't respond. His tears were falling down continuously.

His world had died down. It was as if the sky had broken and came crumbling down on his head, its weight killing him. His heart was heavy as he pulled her dead body into his embrace.

He heard someone scoff," Barrister Babu, your wife is dead! Now it's your turn."

Anirudh's teary yet angry eyes looked up at the man who was uttering those words. With a swift movement of his hand, Anirudh picked the gun placed on his side and without thinking even for a single second, he fired two bullets at the man who had killed his wife.

He didn't know what he did.

The man dropped down on the ground, dead.

Anirudh dropped the gun on the ground as he rocked Bondita's dead body back and forth in his arms, trying to bring her back to life.

Haathon se girne lagi
Har aarzoo har dua
Sajde se main utth gaya
Jis pal tu mera huaa

Anirudh's was lying on his back, his upper body completely bare, on the cold floor. The officer whipped his back for Anirudh had nearly killed a prisoner today. The officer was mercilessly whipping his back and one could see all the red lashes that covered his back. It was not the first time that he was being tortured like this.

Anirudh smiled through his tears and kept on murmuring her name," Bondita."

He knew he'd meet her in heaven.

Kya tujhe ab ye dil bataye
Kyun teri bahon mein hi chain aaye
Aansuon se likhdun main tujhko
Koi mere bin padh hi na paaye

<><><><><><>

Hey hey!

What do you feel about this one shot?

There's a question.

Which is your favorite one shot from this collection.

Lemme know your views through your precious comments.

And I don't know what I wrote, thank you for tolerating me. lol.