Arshid Malik
A Cold January Day
Mythologies about a mythological kingdom of Cashpeer was replete with mythological instances of cannibal giants who were known to have lived in the lake abounding there who would come out and kill people in adjoining areas and torment them with loot and plunder. This is known to have been the story a long time back and such evil giants inhabited this place and spelled a scourge for mankind around Cashpeer. That is mythology.
Coming back to the modern times, I was drawn again to mythology of Cashpeer and the day to “legends” that abound in this forsaken kingdom when I encountered, not personally of course, a giant of such proportions who was let loose on the kingdom of Cashmere by evil rulers to devour people alive. He was a servant to the great dominion of a dominion which was very evil to the people of Cashpeer for a paltry fault of theirs – that they wanted freedom from this evil dominion. Once the dominion had failed to address the problems of the people, poor, innocent people of Cashpeer, the people of this land had taken up arms against the dominion and justifiably so. Since the dominion was “quite sure” that they had done nothing for the people of Cashpeer they decided to set lose all kinds of tyranny over these people.
And the chosen beast for this tenure of evil, murder and mauling, the dominion had chosen this evil conspirator. All hell had broken loose in the kingdom of Cashpeer and people were subjected to the worst kind of horrors known across the bounds of human history. Then that day happened when the people innocently choose to march-out, protest against the evil doings of the conspirator and the evil dominion. The march commenced, with women, kids, young and old men out on the streets. They were demanding justice. The evil conspirator ordered his maul dogs to attack the protesting people. Soon the dogs were on the people, chewing, mauling and gnawing at their vitals. There was another spate of hot lead which was poured over the unassuming people who were at loss as to what they had done to invite such evil fury but their questions were left unanswered as they fell to the mutilating, murderous attacks of the dominion. Scores of people were killed, and scores maimed. The day went in history as one of the worst atrocities committed against humanity by an evil giant, a conspirator.
I was a kid when all this happened; when scores of my people were brutalized out on the very streets where I lived. I witnessed scenes of gory and somehow I lost my tongue to these times. I was not the only one perhaps and it was not only my tongue that I lost… I had lost my nerve and I was a pile of heap of bones and flesh for a long time to come. I would bang my head against the wall knowing it was to no avail. I cursed the evil conspirator through night and day even though I knew nothing was going to affect him. He was of the dogs and would go to the dogs one day but the wait was a never ending wait. I wait till this day for the deaths of my innocent people to be repaid, repaid in blood and stone.
