Jab Kuhu Met Jug

The First Session

Jug observed Kuhu secretly as he poured two glasses of water for them both. She was sat on the sofa looking around at all of the tidbits strewn all over his room. He smiled as his second 'trick' seemed to be working on her - the first being the doorbell 'move'. Both were designed to make his patients feel more at ease and comfortable to get them to open up during therapy while giving him a chance to get a 'read' on them.

Just looking at her, he could see that she was a beautiful lady in her 20s - no, a child, he amended as she scrunched up her face in confusion at the gavel sitting on the stool next to her. Her fingers fidgeted, seemingly wanting to pick up the gavel, before she held them together tightly in her lap. He smiled again. Yes, definitely a child. Her hair was long with unruly curls which appeared to have a mind of its own. She was dressed in a beautiful navy blue trouser suit and he raised his eyebrows at her heavy jewellery. A naive girl trying to make it in a cold adult world maybe, he mused to himself.

Kuhu took the glass of water handed over to her and took a sip. She looked up and met Jug's eyes.

"Honestly.... I don't know why I'm here," she confessed.

'Okaaaay," Jug pondered. "Firstly, the fact that you're here means that you need to be here, even if it's just to talk or vent. As for the 'why', we'll get there. Just start from the beginning for me."

Kuhu was silent.

"How about you tell me what's been going on in your life then?" Jug encouraged her.

Kuhu took a deep breath and launched into a rant which almost made Jug's eyebrows shoot up and disappear into his hair.

"Basically, I'm married. To Kunal. Happily married so that's not the problem. Well, there was a time when we weren't so happily married. What happened was that he married me as part of his mother's plan and then he told me on our wedding night that he doesn't love me and wanted to give me a divorce. Obviously I was pissed off! I mean, who does that?! But then I decided to put myself first because screw him right? He lied to me and threw us down the drain. So I built my business. An event management company. From scratch. And I put all my energy and time into that. My family - meaning Kunal's family - they were so supportive! And during that time, Kunal and I decided to wait out three months and then get a divorce. But as you can see, that didn't happen. We fell in love and the rest is history. The main problem is Mishti. My sister. Well she's not my actual sister, she's - ah, never mind! She got married to Abir, my bro. Meaning Kunal's brother but he's my bro. Basically they were dating before but then they broke up and Mishti went to London to Nannu. Nannu is my brother - well, cousin brother. Then they came back and after a while, they got engaged - Nannu and Mishti. And then on their wedding day, Mishti decided she still loved Abir and broke off the wedding. I was so angry. She always seems to mess everything up. First my life and then Nannu's. I think I hate her. I don't think I have ever hated anyone as much as I hate her. Not even Kunal when he screwed me over. But this hate - it's taking over. It's making me do things. Unforgivable things. I made Mishti give me her mandap. I even drugged her - it was by accident by the way - but ended up drugging Bro instead. I pick fights. And honestly.... I'm exhausted."

By the end of her tirade, Kuhu's demeanour was slumped and her eyes watery. She leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. Jug was shocked. It was quite a lot of information to take in in one go. It was blatant that this girl needed his help.

He pushed her glass of water towards her. She peeked from between her fingers at it and took it, emptying the whole glass into her mouth. Her throat was parched. Looks like she did have a lot on her mind. She looked up hesitantly at Jug. He was sitting in his chair opposite her with the table in between them with his clipboard resting on his knees. She looked at his eyes, searching for something. Judgement and irritation - that she sees in everyone's eyes, even her own husband's, when she talks about her feelings about Mishti. But she didn't find it. All she saw was concern. And for the first time in ages, she felt relaxed.