Serendipity

40

When Anupama came home from school, GK sensed a difference.

She looked just the way she had when she left home that morning. She greeted everyone like she always did. She even changed into her normal home clothes and promptly made her way into the kitchen. Nothing she did was out of the ordinary, but still...

She'd laid the table out for the three of them to eat when a call from Anuj indicated he'd be late.

"Will you be eating at work?" Anupama inquired. She nodded to whatever he said and added: "Okay, try and come home as soon as you can." She then disconnected the call and invited GK to eat dinner. GK and Anupama had a quiet dinner, just like they always did when Anuj didn't join them.

Everything was normal, but still....

It was just after 10 pm and Anuj was still not home. GK had begun to yawn. Bidding Anupama good night, he made his way to his room. Anupama wished him sweet dreams and followed him to place a jug of water and a glass by his bedside. She wasn't acting differently, but still....

*****

It was close to midnight by the time Anuj was back home. The faint yellow light that outlined the frame of her closed bedroom door was a dead giveaway that she was still awake. Anuj walked up to her door and slowly opened it, careful to not make a sound. Anupama was sitting on his mother's favourite rocking chair, a cup of tea on the side table, staring out at the night sky.

Unwilling to disturb her peace, he turned to go, when her voice startled him.

"You haven't eaten anything, have you?"

And as he shook his head sideways, she turned to look at him, with all the love and adoration in his eyes. His eyes turned a stormy grey. And she smiled.

Getting up and collecting her teacup, she motioned him to change into his nightclothes and meet her at the dining table, while she heated up his dinner on a plate and served him.

Today's dinner was all of his favourite things - Aloo Paratha, boondi ka raita and spicy mango pickle. 

"Why didn't you tell me you made all of my favourite things?"

She smiled and poured him a glass of water as he rolled his sleeves up and began to eat. He tore a piece of the paratha and dipped it into the savoury yoghurt and placed it in his mouth, closing his eyes to enjoy the flavours that titillated his tastebuds.

Anupama sat in front of him, smiling, enjoying his expressions, proud that she had a huge part to play in it. Somehow, despite being married for 26 years, her interactions with Vanraj had always been fraught with stress, a nagging feeling that told her no matter what she did, things would get complicated. There was no trust, no peace. Because eventually Vanraj and Baa always managed to say or do something to hurt her feelings. And whether she retaliated or not, she always felt demeaned. Hurt by their insensitivity and prejudice. 

But with Anuj, she felt a sense of security that she'd never felt in all of her adult life. She felt comfortable in her own skin. She felt safe. She felt loved, cherished, and appreciated. She looked at his childlike excitement at being fed his favourite food and smiled, although sleep was fast filling her eyes. 

After a busy day at school and extensive dance practice, Anupama was tired. Crossing her arms on the table, she placed her head on it and promptly dozed off.

Anuj looked at her and smiled. Despite the challenges she'd faced, society hadn't managed to turn her cynical. She was still filled with childish innocence and wonderment. And after what happened today at the school gym, he knew for certain where he stood in her life. He sure wasn't letting her go anywhere.

Smiling, he finished his dinner and cleared up the table, and then proceeded to pick up Anupama to place her on her bed.

*****

He'd laid her on her bed, tucked her in, and kissed her forehead good night. As he tried to move away, he realized that her chain was entangled in the button of his kurta. He tried to detangle it without waking her up. Sadly, after a few minutes, his neck began to hurt, forcing him to lay down next to her to complete the activity. Once successful, he was about to get up when Anupama, in her sleep, caught his hand and pulled him closer to her, turning away from him.

"You know something," she said, and Anuj soon realized that she was talking in her sleep. Curiosity getting the better of him, he inched closer to hear what she was dreaming about. "What happened today, I wish it had happened 26 years ago. 

"All the time I was married to Vanraj, I often thought of what my life would've been like if I'd married someone else. And since there was no one else in my life, I often thought of you - the man I'd crushed on in college. 

"I wish this had happened 26 years ago. It would've spared me the pain and insult of being held captive in a loveless marriage for such a long time."

Anuj stayed rooted to his spot on the bed, not daring to breathe. Anupama remembered him from college? She'd had a crush on him?

She'd been living with him and GK for more than two months and she'd not said a word. His conscience prodded. He hadn't said anything either. He remembered her too. He justified, he didn't say anything because she hadn't. His conscience prodded again. She could have similar reasons too.

He got up from her bed, careful to not disturb her and made his way to his room. Once there, he opened a sliding door on his bookshelf, that he'd told everyone was jammed and pulled out a dusty old diary. The diary was mostly empty, only twenty pages of it written in. Turning to the last written page, he read his entry. He never dated his entries and yet he remembered it as if it all had happened yesterday.

Today I met Anupama at the temple. She was there with her mother-in-law, who kept taunting her at every opportunity. And yet Anupama didn't seem to mind.

She was smiling, patiently putting up with the woman, and often caressing her stomach. I asked her if she was pregnant and she nodded, her eyes sparkling with excitement. I asked her if it was her first. She said no, her second child. To feel such happiness at the birth of the second child must truly be a blessing.

Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I just met her mother-in-law on a bad day. Maybe her husband loves her and treats her like a princess. If that's the case, then I should go away. Unrequited love has the power to destroy. And I don't want to be responsible for any destruction in her life.

Anupama deserves all the happiness and I wish for her to only have more and more of it.

How wrong he had been. He turned to the first page where he'd written her name Anupama and had painstakingly created an acronym out of her name: A - Adorable, N - Nice, U - Understanding, P - Postive, A - Angelic, M - Mine, A - Anupama Anuj Kapadia.

The wish he'd never dared to believe in was coming true after 26 long years. Just not the way he'd ever have imagined, even in the wildest of his dreams. 

Anupama loved him. Anupama had always loved him. Looking up he said: "Thank you Kanhaji. Thank you for keeping her safe all these years."