ag s]bvXp a®pIpfnÀ¯t¸mÄ km_p Hcp Xq¼bpambn ]d¼nte¡nd§n. B ]d¼v Hcp amXrImIrjnt¯m«sam¶paà AXymhiy¯n\v tX§ In«pw. ]ns¶ Ipd¨p PmXn, amhv, ¹mhv, tX¡v d_À. CsXms¡bmsW¦nepw ]¨¡dnIÄ Imcyambn ]co£n¨n«nÃ.
Ip«nIsfbpw Iq«n Hcp ]¨¡dnt¯m«w \nÀ½n¡Ww F¶p Ipd¨p\mfmbn hnNmcn¡p¶p. ASp¡ftbmSp tNÀ¶pInS¡p¶ `mK¯v shbnepw shfn¨hpw \¶mbnIn«pw. AhnsS ]¨¡dnt¯m«w Bbmtem? _m_p Ip«nIsf hnfn¨v A`n{]mbamcmªp. ap¯aI³ s\_phn\mbncp¶p Gsd kt´mjw. Ah\v IrjntbmSv Xmev]cyapsWvS¶p tXm¶p¶p. s\_p HmSns¨¶v A\pP·msc hnfn¨psImWvSph¶p. FÃmhÀ¡pw Ct¸mÄ ]gbXnepw HcpWÀÆmbn«pWvSv. kwKoX]cn]mSnbpw Cw¥ojv ]T\hpw Ip«nIfpsS DjmÀ hÀ²n¸¨ncn¡p¶p. C\n Aev]w Irjn¸WnIfmImw. B NpW¡p«·mÀ AhcpsS Nm¨t\msSm¸w a®n A²zm\n¡pIbmbn.
hnhn[ C\w ]¨¡dn hn¯pIÄ km_p FhnsS \nt¶m hm§n tÌm¡psNbvXncp¶p. shWvS, ]bÀ, Noc, ]mh XpS§nbhbv¡mbnkm_p shtÆsd XS§sfSp¯p. Ip«nIÄ Hmtcmcp¯scbpw hn¯pIÄ \Sm\mbn Gev]n¨p. a®n Ipªp Ipªp IpgnIsfSp¯v hn¯pIÄ AhÀ AXnen«p aqSn "C\n \ap¡v ]¨¡dnIÄ N´bn \n¶p hmt§WvSn hccpXv' km_p ]dªp. Ip«nIfpw DÕmlt¯msS ]WnsbSp¯p. GXmWv sshIpt¶ct¯msS H¶m´csamcp ]¨¡dn t¯m«¯n\v A¸\pw a¡fpw IqSn cq]w sImSp¯p. " ]Wn¡mÀ¡mbn ssj\n sNWvS¡¸bpw I´mcnapfIp N½´nbpw X¿mdm¡n. Ip«nIÄ km_p sh«ns¡mSp¯ sNdnb Hmtcm hmgbnebpambn hcm´bn N{aw ]Snªncp¶p `£Ww Ign¡pt¼mÄ km_p Hcp tNmZyw tNmZn¨p: " Gähpw \à Idn GXmsW¶v ]dbmtam? Ip«nIÄ H¶n¨p adp]Sn ]dªp: "hni¸v! A²zm\n¨p hnbÀ¯n«v `£Ww Ign¡pt¼mÄ AXnsâ cpNnsbm¶p thsdXs¶! FÃmhcpw k½Xn¨p.
"\ap¡p Ipd¨p tImgnIsfIqSnhm§Ww' ssj\n CXp ]dªt¸mÄ Gsd kt´mjn¨Xv Cfb Ip«nIfmb jm_phpw jo_phpamWv. AhÀ Ipd¨p\mfmbn C¡mcyw A½tbmSp ]dbp¶p. ]ntä Znhkw Xs¶ km_p N´bn \n¶p \mep \mS³ tImgnIsf hm§ns¡mWvSp h¶p \mep ]nSIÄ! s\_p At¸mÄ Hcp Xami s]m«n¨p: A§s\ ]p¯³ ]d¼n B¬ho«n \mep s]¬Ip«nIÄ IqSnbmbn' B\µe_v[nbv¡n\nsb´pthWw?
""Nm¨³ GXmbmepw FÃmw AdnªpwIWvSpw sN¿p¶pWvStÃm. Ip«nIfpsS `mKyw!'' ssj\nbpsS Iaâv!
tImgnIÄs¡Ãmw Hmtcm t]cphoWp. s]m¶p, tamfn, No¶p, tPmfn. jm_phpw jo_pw B tImgn¸nSIfpsS ]ncnbm¯ Iq«p¡mcmbn. Xoäbpw shÅhpw sImSp¡p¶Xpw AhäIsf Iq«n tIäp¶Xpw Cd¡p¶XpsaÃmw AhcpsS tPmenbmbn. ASp¯pÅ AcnanÃn \n¶pw Ipdª hnebv¡pIn«p¶ shbnÌv Acn km_p hm§ns¡mWvSph¶p A§s\ tImgnIÄ¡p Ipimemb `£Wambn.
s\_phns\ "Irjn a{´nbmbn km_p \nban¨t¸mÄ tkm_p Xsâ Hcm{Klw Nm¨s\ Adnbn¨p. ""\ap¡v Hcp sNdnb ao³Ipfw DWvSm¡nbmtem Nm¨m"" Ip«nIfpsS \à B{Kl§Äs¡m¶pw km_p FXncp \n¡mdnÃ. ASp¯pÅ Hcp aÕyw hfÀ¯Â tI{µ¯nÂ\n¶v km_p Ipd¨p aÕy¡pªp§sf hm§ns¡mWvSp h¶p. ]d¼n Aev]w hnkvXmc¯n Hcp IpgnIpgn¨v AXn Hcp SÀ¸mbv Cd¡n Ipfw \nÀ½n¨Xv. A§s\ tkm_phn\v^njdokv hIp¸nsâ NpaXebmbn.
A{Kn¡Ä¨À, ^njdokv, ]uÄ{So^mw F¶n§s\ aq¶p sNdnb hIp¸pIfpsS NpaXetbätXmsS B \mev NpW¡p«·mÀ¡pw Ah[n¡mew Xnc¡p \ndªXmbn. ]p¯³]d¼n hoSn\v Hcp ]p¯\pWÀÆmbn.
C¡pdn Ah[n¡mew XpS§nbXv ]Xnhpt]mse Nne Bib§ItfmsSbmsW¦nepw Ct¸mÄ Ip«nIÄ¡v CjvSwt]mse tPmenIfmbnþ tlm_nIfpw. Ct¸mÄ IpSpw_PohnXw {]tXyIn¨v. Ah[n¡mewckIcam¡m\pÅ PmehnZyIÄ km_phpw ssj\nbpw hiam¡n¡gnªp. aSnb·mcmb X§fpsS a¡tfmSv AbÂ]¡s¯ A½amÀ C§s\ D]tZin¨p XpS§n: B ]p¯³ ]d¼nse ]ntÅsc IWvSp ]Tn¡v. Hcp \nanjw AhÀ shdpsX IfbnÃ. A²zm\n¡m\pÅ B a\Êpam{Xw aXnbtÃm FÃm {]iv\§fpw ad¶pt]mIm³!.
"v\½Ä IpSpw_PohnX¡mÀ¡v icn¡pw Hcp ]T\ImeamWtà Ah[n¡mew?'' ssj\nXsâ kt´mjw km_phpambn ]¦ph¨p.

"]pXnb Imcy§Ä XpS§nhbv¡m³ ]änbkabamWv Ah[n¡mew. Ip«nIfpsS ]qÀ®klIcWw DWvSmIpsa¶XmWv AXnsâ sa¨w.' km_phnsâ Cu \ocn£Ww XnI¨p. icnbmbncp¶psh¶v ]ntä Znhks¯ kw`hw sXfnbn¨p F´mbncp¶p B kw`hw?