Nightmare!






Shyam Bazar is among the bustling streets of Kolkata, gives me chills of those memories that haunt me till today.
Shyam Bazar is one of the noisiest streets, a hub of most Marwari families who have established their businesses there. A market, where you will find arguments, hassles of crowd, clatters at every corner and sounds of traffic is constant. This street doesn’t sleep.

In the same street of Shyam Bazar, I used to stay in a small room on rent. People in the nearby houses, vendors in the street and shopkeepers around, knew me well by now. I have always found love among these people of Shyam Bazar.

Being an artist, I used to work late nights and these street noises usually kept me awake. A year back, one Friday night I dozed off early. Next morning, I woke up to complete silence… The suspense was terrible.

I could not hear a single whisper around. I felt some heaviness in my body as if some part of me has been cut. I somehow gathered strength and took a step ahead towards the mirror. I was shaken to see my body is transformed into a SheMan. I heard people from my window. Everyone shouting in chorus, that they hate me, I’m a shame to the society, and that I shall be shunned from here.

Suddenly I heard knocking on my door. I hurriedly opened and saw that it was the maid on the door. I realized that I was watching a nightmare. I sat on my bed recalling the nightmare, just then the maid said, “Bhaiya ji, why are you wearing this Saree?”


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