The Last Cup of Tea

Year: 1947

It seemed like any other evening – or maybe it wasn’t.

The disastrous announcement which triggered the bloodiest upheavals in human history was made just a few hours ago and with it started a flood of horror stories of neighbors slaughtering neighbors, best friends becoming sworn enemies in the matter of minutes. One would wonder how years of companionship between the inhabitants could take such a vicious turn – Completely inexplicable. 

Amidst all this bloodshed and mayhem the three friends – a Muslim, a Hindu and a Sikh were having tea together. The table was set, the room was dimly lit, the biscuits were neatly arranged on a plate. The tea was steaming.

For the first time in 15 years, all three of them felt a change in air. The tension was so strong it was bulldozing all other senses while muffling every sane thought in their head. But to one of them, all of this was mesmerising – and a decision had to be made.

Alas! The violent decision had its effect on that one mind and  all those years of friendship and loyalty were replaced with  betrayal and death.  There was continuous firing in the background, people yelling and calling for help, women screaming and children wailing for their mothers who were now left helpless. In the midst of all this, the ‘friends’  continued to sip on their tea, none of them moving his eyes from the other. It was now certain that one of them was going to kill, but who will kill who was the question.

What was once the feeling of brotherhood and solidarity was now replaced with piercing hostility – hatred so strong that it could draw blood.