.MR SHARMA.

It was a serpentine queue, people in all colour faded clothes were standing in the sweltering sun, waiting for the water like the drought struck farmers waiting for the rain.Mr Sharma was first in the water line as he had arrived very early, in the morning. He had to fill the 2 buckets for his home, his wife ailed from a stroke and was bed ridden from a decade. He was a punctual man and was getting late for his work, thanks to the municipal corporation. All his life, he had toiled as an ordinary clerk in a garment firm with paltry wages. He was over 65 now, he had to daily, look after the basic needs of his wife right from feeding to cleaning her.

Age was taking a toll on him.

The tap hissed and spluttered to life after a long delay, however the flow was very slow to fill his buckets. He was reminded of his bladder condition, he used to sit and strain for long hours in the bathroom where each drop released brought relief from the pain in his over sized prostate gland. He was advised surgery but could not gather enough money for it. Somehow, the buckets filled up and he started ascending the flight of stairs, home. The slippery stairs claimed one more victim that day, Mr Sharma fell down and all his buckets' water trickled down the stairs like some water fall cleaning them. His hours' effort had all gone to waste.His arched back was hurt again, He had to take a decision that day.

His wife was bed ridden since last decade and in a semi comatose state. She was totally dependent on her husband for every breath of her sensory deprived life. Her eyes begged for mercy, Mr Sharma had ignored them so far, Today, he sadly, eventually decided to oblige her.

He calmly suffocated her with a soft pillow, she succumbed without a semblance of a struggle which was any way, never expected from her nor desired by her. He went to a doctor to get a death certificate for cremating his dear wife.

At the funeral pyre, The only companion was a lonely resident dog, who howled at every passing corpse as if he was grieving their loss.

Mr Sharma came home, a much relieved man.

He had eased his wife's suffering at last. His urine flow improved and he could no longer feel the pain like before.

Next day morning, Mr Sharma was seen, first in the queue at the municipal water line.

The tap was heavily over flowing, like never before. So were, Mr Sharma's eyes!