It was a pleasant morning. Birds chirping and the dew on the
grass seemed so beautiful. Meera came out of her empty bedroom, with terror on
her face. The decision’s been made. And she will abide by that. With short
steps, she proceeded to the kitchen and grabbed the sharpest knife. For one
long moment, she stared at the knife in her hand and then thought “Oh! Just be
done with it”.
She cut her palm with one severe sharp blow of the knife and
in a matter of seconds, blood started oozing out. The pain was excruciating and
her eyes welled up with tears. She threw the knife and then started screaming
for help, immediately regretting the decision. She called her minion Chotu, who
is just 11 years old, the son of the car driver. Chotu’s family worked at Meera’s
guest house and is trustworthy to her family too. And when Meera came to the
guest house with her Anant to rekindle their relationship, Chotu
became her ally in all those little plans that were made and executed to get
the couple together. Their work hand-in-hand made them friends. But today, it
was altogether a different case. She didn't bother sharing her plan with him
and made the deadly move.
Chotu came running towards her to know what’s wrong with his
Didi at that hour of morning. Seeing the blood dripping hand of his beloved
Didi, he immediately understood that Anant should be summoned for the first-aid
who is busy repairing his SUV and donning the hat of a mechanic for once.
On hearing the news, Anant took to his feet. Meanwhile the
delusional Meera saw images that flashed from her past. She and Anant promised
themselves of devoting time to each other, the good times during their stay at
the guest house and the night before when they quarreled which is the sole
reason she cut herself. After the fight, the quick phone calls made by Anant
scared her, making her think that he’s leaving her the next day. Fearful
that she might lose him again, Meera trusted the knife to save the
relationship.
Anant was frantically running into the kitchen where
everything was a clutter. At the corner, he saw her seated on the floor, with
eyes closed in pain and hand held tightly with her dress which made little
effort in stopping the never-ending blood flow. Berserk with anger and all
those unnerving emotions, he shouted at her for not being careful and questioned her intentions. He quickly grabbed the first-aid kit from the
drawing room and started dressing her hand. Meanwhile, Meera enjoyed the sight
and was satisfied with the proof her drastic situation yielded. Proof that
Anant loved her, more or less the same way she loved him. Though the wound was
painful, she endured the pain with ease and watching his anguish, she regretted
her quick decision once again, only this time, attributing to the pain of her
beloved.
But there was a strange peacefulness in her eyes which were
half-closed, and lips with a semi-curve to the north. Her peaceful countenance angered
Anant even more. Controlling the strong urge to slap her tight, he asks her, "Why the hell Meera? Why would you do this?"
He knew Meera for too long and also understood that it wasn't a mere accident, for she is not among those who fumble with cutlery. She
wouldn't resort to self-punishment unless something has shaken her up; but what
puzzled him was the reason. The words that came out of her mouth perplexed him.
“ Because I Love You!"
Anant was taken aback with her reason. His incredulous expression yielded more explanation from his lady.
"You were planning to go away again. I had to do something
to stop you. I couldn't think of more plausible thing than this”.
Six months back,
Anant left Meera one morning without notice. She woke up to an empty bedroom
and silenced house. They fought for petty things and he was more of a
workaholic who needed private space and did things all by himself. And when it
came to Meera, she always wanted a family and got used to be looked after. Anant, vexed up with the petty issues from Meera, leaves her one morning. When
they were at the verge of breaking up, their friends convinced them into resuming
their relationship and hence the idea of spending some ‘quality time together’
in the guest house.
Meera continued her explanation to the short tempered Anant.
“You weren't talking to me, and the past few days have been awkward between us.
It was like we were strangers and I could see the past repeat itself. On top of
that, I heard you talking with someone about ‘road journey’ and ‘leaving as
early as possible’.
“Whoa Whoa! Slow down!! Easy dear.”, assured Anant.
“ I wasn't going anywhere. I wasn't mad at you, and I sure
as hell not planning to revive the past. That phone call was nothing. It was
just to give directions to someone about something important and I didn't know
my phone call would bring up such a travesty!”
Now Meera was giving all-business-and-no-crap look to him
and started interrogating him about the mystery of ‘giving directions to
someone’. Meanwhile the doorbell rang and Chotu went to receive the visitor.
Anant stared hard into her face without answering, and the air between them
became tensed.
“Didi! Courier!!”,
called Chotu.
Not blinking her eyes and still staring, she asked who sent it.
Chotu's interrogative face broke into a smile and called out " Its from Anant Jiju".
Anant embraced her and said those were the tickets to Norway, the place she always wanted to visit, and he was confirming with the travel agent about the itinerary last night. He held her tightly and whispered into her ears “Happy Anniversary My Dear Rebellious Lovely Wife!"
Meera, the melodramatic queen, suddenly felt ecstatic about how
the situation changed. She was relieved that Anant was planning a surprise for
her and she mistook it for something else. Suddenly something occurred to her. The Pain.
“Oh no! So this was all a fiasco! I really shouldn't have
cut my palm” she exclaimed.
Anant retorted to her “I planned to make this anniversary
memorable. And here you are, destroying every chance of that happening. Lets
get you to the hospital”.
She didn't budge.Anant playfully and with full authority lifted her up in his hands, cradling her while she rested her head on his warm chest and closed her eyes, forgetting herself in his arms as the couple slowly proceeded towards the SUV for the hospital.
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| Image Courtesy: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/ |
