It was 15th Aug 2008. Anand got his release from the Central Jail. It was an independence day for him too. 10 yrs have passed by. Now he was free. He expected some familiar faces outside jail. But no one turned up.
Slowly walking by the road that leads to his house Anand was comparing the present with the past. The time he had last seen this place.The place has changed a lot but its people are the same. As he walked passed by many shops everybody was staring at him. He heard someone whispering " Isnt the man Anand who was in jail for 10 years in account of murder?" Anand saw an old man at a tea stall and went towards him."How are u uncle? And how is everyone at your home? How is Kishore? Is he doing his studies well?" The man was astonished. He looked sideways and found people staring at him in curiosity. He slowly replied "Oh it is you Anand. So you finally got released from the jail?" Anand replied " Yes uncle I got my release today." The old man said" Good. I hope this time you have changed & your family will not be ashamed of you again." Anand was shocked. He was not a murderer. He was framed. He did not want to kill the man who put a fire at their shop . He just wanted to frighten him. He was young and foolish and did exactly what came to his mind. He did not pull the trigger. It was an accident. An accident from a young boy of 25 years. His family could not afford a lawyer. So his case went unheard and he was sentenced to jail. His father died in shock. His mother was left with his younger brother and 2 younger sisters.
Anand smiled and said "Yes uncle this time I will be careful." And he moved on. He went near his house and found a big pandal. There was some kind of celebrations going on. He went inside and found it was a marriage ceremony. It was the marriage of his younger sister Sheetal. The people were busy . Nobody noticed him coming. As he progressed towards the main door a young lady asked him "Who are you? What do you want?" Anand was surprised " I am sorry I could not recognize you. Well. this is my home and ..." The lady replied "Your home? Are you nuts? " She called for her husband. To Anand's utter surprise her husband was none other than his younger brother Vinod. Vinod was surprised too. He could not recognize his own brother. He slowly said " Hello Bhaiya. How r u ?" Anand was so happy that he went to embrace his brither but Vinod denied. Anand said " I am fine. You have grown up bhai.. You have married also. How is everyone? How is Ma? And about Pooja and sheetal? Vinod said " Ma left us 2 yrs back. Pooja has been married for 3 years and lives in Delhi . She has a son of 5 months old. Sheetal is getting married today to an engineer. I am a doctor at the Govt Hospital. Meet Neha. She is my wife and a child specialist."
Anad was very happy. Tears ran from his eyes. "Oh wonderful bhai. You people have grown up. But y didnt u tell me about Ma? Y didnt u come to meet me bhai?" Vinod said " How could I come bhaiya? We were left with nothing when you got jailed. Instead of supporting your family you killed a man. You left us with no hope. Do you have any idea what we went through? How we have survived let alone our studies? We had problems even now? Pooja was not getting married because of your scandal. Thank God we finally got a good fellow. "
Anand said slowly "Where is Sheetal ? I want to see her." And was about to advance towards the main door. To this Vinod forbade "Please bhaiya I am requesting you . Do not disturb our happiness anymore. Not on this day. I do not want Sheetal's marriage to break just because of you. "He folded his hands in front of him.
Anand was too shocked to say anything, He then said slowly " Ok bhai . Dont worry . I will not ruin your happiness." And by saying so he wept. Vinod left with his wife showing him the door. Anand slowly walked out of the door weeping.
He was cursing himself saying "I am no longer their .They do not want me .Only Ma could have believed me .She is now dead and I am too. What would I do now? How would I make them believe? Please God bless my family,bless my little sister. Let her be happy. I will go away from their life."
As he was walking he noticed a young married woman crossing the road with her husband . He recognized her to be his ex-love Lata. He thought "Lata is married too. Good for her." Lata was waiting in front of a chemist while her husband went to get some medicines. She saw Anand and moved towards him ."How r u Anand ? When did u get out?" Anand was happy. At least Lata will not think him to be a criminal. He said "I am fine Lata. How r u ? " Lata replied"I am fine and happily married to an advocated for 3 years. I am very happy so much so that I would never have been had I married a murderer."
Anand was shocked. Finally Lata too thought him to be a criminal. He remebered Lata saying in jail "Dont worry Anand I know u are innocent. I am there for u . Will be there always with you." Time change everything.
Lata's husband came out of the chemist and she left with him. Anand stood there rooted to the ground unable to move. The society had closed all its doors to him. Nobody believed him. Anand Sharma had ceased to exist.
He went to a park and sat on a bench for a long time. In the late evening he checked in a hotel. WHen the receptionist asked him "Whats your name?" He replied " I am Prisoner # 57257 "
