A Promise Kept

 He sat there, munching into his burger. He was at Barista, a well known ‘hang out’ spot in the city. But his eyes looked somewhere else. He was glancing outside looking through the glass at a human being. That man looked to be in oblivion. He sat there at one corner of the road, having spread a torn, ragged piece of cloth on the pavement. He looked decent enough. A white kurta and white pyjamas. At first glance, you wouldn’t have considered him a beggar. But there was soon a heap of coins piled up in front of him. He seemed to be able to strike a chord with the softer side of people as there were many who sympathized with him.

 

“Oh, he is so poor and lonely. How tough a life, isn’t it?”

“He is so young. If he would want, I could give him a job. But only if he wants…”

 

But it seemed, he wasn’t bothered. He didn’t hear them, he didn’t care. In short, he was a lifeless person.

 

The guy at the Barista quickly paid and walked out. He went to that guy and dropped a one rupee coin. Then, he went on his way, wondering about his presentation at the office the next day.

 

The beggar’s eyes seemed focused on the cloth he was sitting on. He kept staring at it and folded and unfolded the creases.

 

“Promise me Karan, you will take care of Ishaan. I beg you, you are the only he has. He needs you.”

He held her hand tightly, caressing her face.

“I will Isha, I will. He is not just your brother, he is mine too.”

 

He kissed her forehead and walked out of the room. Couldn’t accept the fact that the girl who meant everything to him was about to leave him, forever.

He stood there, with little Ishaan softly crying.

 

“Didi will come back, won’t she?”

Karan had no answer. The flames raging in front of him seemed to burn his soul from within.

“I will take care of Ishaan, I promise.”

 

A tear dropped from his eye as he came back to his present. His present… He wished he had no present. There was no present without her.

 

Sometimes, he would wonder at the scornful faces of people who passed him by.

 

“What do they know about love?”

What do they understand about a promise made to your lover?”

“All they know is that I am some oxymoron, with no place to go. An uneducated, lazy, poor guy.”

 

“He never picked up even one coin from that pile. He had once been the son of Rajveer Singh, the owner of the multi-national company, Symbiotic. He still had enough money to buy anything. But you can’t buy love, can you?”

 

As he looked at Table No. 14 right in front of him, he smiled. He used to watch Isha from here, everyday. Would love to just stare at her.  Her beauty, her aura, everything. But all that, everything was lost now. Nothing remained. Except memories.

 

He got up as he saw Ishaan coming towards him.

 

“Bhaiyya, I won the race today. I won. Yayy!”

He kissed his tender cheeks, held his hand firmly, and walked away.

 He would see her innocence in him. Isha! He would miss her so much. He had no wish to live…

But he had to, for a promise. A promise he had to keep. A promise he meant to keep, forever.