UNFRIEND -Sometime it's inescapable

Sania Malhotra was jogging at a faster pace than usual. The music was ringing in loud through the headphones. Last night’s images were emerging before her eyes. It was a night that she wouldn’t forget. It was a night when she had to make a choice.

- Bhavna Gajbe

The sky was playing hide and seek with different hues of oranges. Sania Malhotra was jogging at a faster pace than usual. The music was ringing in loud through the headphones. Last night’s images were emerging before her eyes. It was a night that she wouldn’t forget. It was a night when she had to make a choice. The choice was very obvious, but not an easy one.

She jogged till her breathing became heavy. Her panting became louder. She ran and ran and then halted abruptly at the dead-end of the road.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhh...No... No...NO!” Sania was shouting with tears rolling out of her eyes. She was alone.

She had always excelled in studies. An engineer in electronics and communication, Sania successfully cleared the SSB exam and was commissioned as an officer in the Army. After one year of rigorous training at OTA Chennai, she was commissioned in Corps of Intelligence. She was now posted as a Major in one of the intelligence units of the Indian Army at New Delhi. She had befriended a lot of fellow women officers. Yet her heart yearned for Naziya, her childhood friend who was left behind in this journey. Naziya completed her BSc degree in their hometown Amritsar. They would catch up whenever Sania would visit Amritsar. But slowly the time gaps increased and phone calls decreased.

“Ma, have you got any news of Naziya?” Sania inquired.

“No, beta, I just heard from her buaji that her family is planning to move to the Gulf.”

Her calls were answered by the operator’s crisp Voice, “The number you are calling does not exist.”