8:13 am

Qutub Minar Metro Station. Office Hours. The station was bursting at the seams, with people about to start yet another working day.

Ravi checked his watch as he got on to the escalator. 8:11 am. He had to hurry up if he hoped to catch the 8:13 shuttle from Gurgaon... At the precise and exact moment. He was planning to jump in front of it. He was about to take his life...

8:13 am. Suddenly the incongruity of it all, hit him. 8:13 am his exact birth time, soon going to be the exact time when he would breathe his last.. Raj Yog ! Indeed, only the pandit seemed to have benefited from the whole mess. May be, Raj Yog meant death with thousand eyes watching him.

A child passed by. Ravi immediately thought of Yash, his darling son, his only child. Ratna, the love of his life, would be running around, trying to get Yash, ready for school. Yash, quite the handful, would cuddle up to him, refusing to go to school. Ratna would plead with Yash, and both would double up laughing...

Lost in his reverie, Ravi never noticed the 8:13 shuttle cruise past him.

Damn, he thought, when he snapped back to the present. Well, there would be another one. Just then, the loud speakers came to life crackling, “Due to a technical snag, we are suspending operations. The next shuttle would resume after 20 minutes..”

Ravi was dumbfounded. Tired, he collapsed onto a bench. Was the train, he was hoping to catch, delayed by a life time? Muttering expletives, he checked his watch again..

8:17 am. Ratna, would be rushing around, getting ready to leave for school with Yash. With that little strand of hair, kissing her forehead. Irritated, she would always try to tuck the strand behind. Ravi would always play with her hair, annoying her. She would get hassled, as she would be getting delayed. Just on cue, Yash would come running and smother them both with kisses.

Ravi, now, suddenly had this inexplicable and uncontrollable urge to tuck Ratna's hair, to plant a peck on her perky nose and give a bone crushing hug to Yash. Ravi always wondered, why on earth, did Ratna ever agree to marry him. She was such a doe eyed beauty and to the Manor born.

His sweet little Ratna. What would be her first thoughts, upon hearing about his death? Would she be distraught with pain, anger and disillusionment? How would she handle their financial meltdown? Would her small world collapse? Would she end up hating him for all the debts he would be leaving her? Would she remarry?

Ravi could not bear the thought of someone else caressing her gentle curves, tucking her hair or pecking her nose. He laughed at the irony. Even after death, he wanted to own her. Yash! His darling Yash. He wouldn't be there to teach his son the finer nuances of galli cricket, kite flying or simply share the first drink, or see him graduate. Who would fill in for him?

Ravi broke his chain of thoughts, when the sharp voice on the speakers crackled,” We are resuming our metro services. The next shuttle would be arriving, in a minute”. Ravi got up and stretched. He could see the metro shuttle charging in. Ravi strode purposefully ahead, towards the shuttle. The station was bursting at the seams. Ravi and the shuttle were just couple of feet away, from each other. In a split second, they would face each other. Ravi kept walking and turned towards the exit gate, taking in lungs full of fresh air..

Ratna and Yash! He had sworn to protect them and would do so till the very end.. Life is a precious gift and it was time to rebuild it brick by brick!