THE TERROR SATURDAY

It was just another Saturday for me. But adding to my anxiety was the regret that I couldn't meet him in church the last Sunday. My mind was inconsolable and all I could do was question God and his verdict. I thought only if I could have and this thought encompassed my mind and perhaps I could not think beyond this unresting feeling.
Roger was heading for his MBA coaching classes which were commencing at around 11 am. I never knew about the exact timings but I thought he might initially catch up with his friends and then attend his classes. He returned home at around 8 pm in the evening.That was his usual timing.My mind was in total unrest and perhaps every emotion that came in me wanted to burst out of me like a hyper emotion. I could hear my heart thumping aloud inside me. The anxiety paved the way for more emotional turmoil but once my mind is in a state of discord it doesn't really listen to any logic.The only means to channelise my hyper emotions was to sit back with my poetry book and finish the poem I had been working on. I could go back in time perhaps picking up the tatters of the remains that had been left behind.I did not want to question God anymore. I somewhat reached the ending of the poem but I felt this strong urge in me to write more.But even then the blame game did not seem to come to an end. I was distraught and kept blamimg God for not letting me see him.I thought of going and watching the television for a while. Perhaps it could bring some solace to my tattered heart. Roger gave a startling surprise that day by returning home at 5 pm in the evening.
My ear was giving me a lot of discomfort and I could feel the twinge inside. Ma prepared noodles for both of us and we were seated in front of the idiot box watching a football match.Roger told me that the football match was the primary reason of his early arrival today.
At around 6.15 pm Ma instructed Roger to go the market as she needed some essential items to cook the dinner.At around 6.10 pm I was surfing through the channels when I saw on one of the news channels that a blast had happened in Gaffar market. But they stated a cylinder outburst as the basis of the explosion.Roger came home in the next 15 minutes and he received a call from one of his friends.I was startled when he said that there was a major explosion in Connought place. We hurriedly switched the channels and saw that an explosion had indeed happened in C.P.The second one had taken place near Barakhamba Road,metres away from the place Roger's classes were held. I was perturbed to hear that the second blast in C.P had taken place at exactly the same route which Roger took to return home after his classes.A feeling of disquieted uneasiness caught hold of me as if I was in the midst of a whirlwind. I didn't want to imagine Roger there. But for a while my mind was distraught.What if Roger didn't return home early that evening? I was in tears.I frantically messaged every friend of mine to enquire about their whereabouts. I also wanted to know whether he and his family were fine. They had come on a vacation and maybe they might be shopping somewhere.But by the grace of the Almighty all my loved ones and friends were safe and sound.The mercies of God rested on them on that fateful day.But for the many who lost their lives never to come back again.
Who is to blamed for those innocent lives? The government and its outdated policies on terrorism or the terrorists who are spreading terror like a wild fire?Why is religion turning into a self centred entity?What is the purpose behind the widespread destruction that happens after a blast?Why can't the world be a safer and happier place to live in?
-RINZU SUSAN RAJAN