Kabir

So, you drank coffee and smiled at her across a room. That didn’t make her yours. It didn’t change anything.’

Aman smiled. ‘She was already mine. And nothing they did could change that. They can beat you. They can separate you. But who can stop you from loving?’

He made me really mad. ‘I would have run away with her. I would not have let those men beat me. I would have picked up my gun.’

Aman shook his head. ‘There is only one freedom. The freedom of choice. You can choose your response to anything. You can respond with anger, revenge and violence. Or you can respond with understanding and compassion. That is the only choice there is.’

‘But you couldn’t be together.’

‘My love is not so shallow that it cannot wait. I’m willing to wait for her. She is waiting for me. We will be together one day.’

‘Then why are you here in Kashmir? Where is she?’ I asked. I had to know.

Aman turned away from me. The shadows came back into his eyes.

‘A week after the night of the bike ride, she vanished.’