"Who are you?" — Nilim asked in a very simple tone, covering all the feelings of his mind, as if asking a stranger.
"Eh what are you saying these ......... I made a mistake, please forgive me" — Shruti said in an emotional voice this time.
"Oh , it's okay" — said Nilim and attempted to ignore her. However, she grabbed his hands and said —– : "I'm really sorry Nilim." —– Meanwhile, in front of strangers standing on the ground floor of the large building full of people – Nilim didn't want to make a noise. So he said —–
"I said okay. Now I'm in a rush, please leave me" — he unknowingly pushed Shruti and walked towards the insurance office on the first floor. Shruti was hurt by his behavior, just as Nilim was hurt one day.
”That's Nilim and Shruti, a definition of a perfect couple.” Yes, that's how their relationship was once used to be. However, the relationship had consequences that no one ever expected.
Nilim had a very good academic career since childhood, yet he was not the son of an officer or professor, he was the son of an ordinary farmer. His father spent sharecropping other people's land because his own land was small. Nilim's house was at the other end of the village. It's a very ordinary house; yet, he completed his M.Tech from that house with an outstanding performance. However, his mother's medical treatment and his education left their family in debt at one time, and even after completing his M.Tech with distinction, he did not get a job suited for his qualification. Meanwhile, the lenders were also demanding the debt, so he decided to join whatever he got."Look, no one gets on a sinking boat, you know."— Shruti had told Nilim, who was already in debt and unemployed. Nilim was surprised, and much more was hurt in his mind. He felt as if she had rubbed salt into his raw wound.
"Did you hear it?" — She grabbed him again and shook him.
"I'm thinking of doing whatever job I get this time." —– He had told her of his decision. She repeated sarcastically —–
"I mean, I mean, you would do it even if you get a job as a clerk. Wow, world famous M. Tech Clerk."
"Yes, you have to do it, there is nothing small or big about the work. There is no peace in being in debt!"
"These are easier said than done; anyway, I can't keep waiting anymore. Even if you get a perfect job anyway, you are in total debt! Half of your salary will be spent paying your debts. Moreover, you have borrowed for your mother's treatment too, yet she left this world." Huh ......... —– This time he was completely bewildered by her choice of words, is this really the Shruti he knew, who can talk about his dead mother like this today!
"Then good bye , and next time don't come looking for me." — She didn't listen to him anymore, she left the way she came, and a seven-year relationship ended so tragically.
"Excuse me sir" —– Sitting in the waiting room of the insurance office, he was startled by the voice of an unknown lady employee while he was wandering in the past.
"Anything wrong sir?" —– The lady asked again, seeing him in such a state.
"No! no no, I'm fine" — he looked at the unknown lady with a rictus smile, and he went into the company manager's room.
"Ananya, you know, a big thing happened today." —— said Nilim when he got home, looking at his wife.
"I know what your big job could be" — she said gently that day as always. She said again —
"How much more should I have to tell you, don't talk about money all day" — this is Ananya, the girl from Nilim's village, now his wife, who loves him more than money or his job.
"My relationship is so uncertain that I may get divorced any day, there will be no one as stupid as me if I leave Nilim again." Shruti started thinking about things silently. She felt like she was going to grab him and bring him to her. Of course, she knows that he got married; though she understood what actually a marriage is! Marriage is just a certified sexual relationship, so it also provides a way for divorce, so that you both can get separated if you don't like it. However, she had never thought – or known – about marriage this way before, so she married Mriganka with great desire. Besides, Mriganka was worthy of her in every way. Mrigank had everything - a good million dollar job, good looks, cast matching —- everything. But the real thing that was missing from the 'everything' for Shruti was that neither Shruti nor any of Shruti's family members understood, which is the result of her condition today.
"You don't have to make the house too big, it's enough for me to have a small but beautiful house" —– Ananya said to Nilim gently as he was planning to build a house.
Nilim smiled at his wife and thought, this is what is called similarity. His own and his wife Ananya’s tastes are so similar, he also likes small house – small family and so she is.
: "What happened, why are you smiling like that" — he opened his eyes at his wife's voice, and saw that his woman with the baby bump looked even more beautiful."You're looking so hot" — he said this time, she looked at him and said—–
"You did not get any other reason to smile, I'm like a football, and you are saying hot."
"No I'm telling you the truth, this is the time when females have such a strange beauty that nothing gets compared to it. Actually, I should have said 'cute', not hot." — She laughed gently at Nilim's words this time.
"Uncle, look, we are already divorced, and I will give everything as Shruti asked, I have signed it here, so next time we will not see each other." — Mriganka showed Shruti's father the court paper. Then he walked forward without stopping.
"Come on, beti (Shruti), come on, you can live on your own from today." — Father Dr. Binod saikia said, looking at his daughter. But, she kept it a secret from everyone that Nilim Baruah had already settled back in her mind again.
"You??? Why did you come here?" — Nilim's got angry looking at Shruti, he called straight his secretary.
"What is this? what were you doing? Who let her come here?" —– Nilim looked at his assistant angrily.
"I'm sorry sir." — the secretary said.
"Listen, make sure I don't have to see her in my cabin next time" — Nilim said to his assistant and left the room. Shruti went out angrily, thinking to herself, she will take the revenge of this humiliation with her.
"Ananya, let me tell you something" — one night Nilim told Ananya about Shruti's return, so that she wouldn't misunderstand him. But Ananya can never misunderstand him, even when he was in love with Shruti for seven years! She's been his childhood companion.
Ananya is friend of Nilim's sister, Mallika, though four years younger than him, yet she has been in love with him since she became wise. Not to mention, when he was in a relationship with Shruti, she loved him. She thinks she has a desire for Nilim which means a lot to her, and the happiness of the Nilim is her happiness too. But when Shruti left Nilim's life showing the ultimate selfishness, his sister knowingly told about Ananya to Nilim as well as to their parents. Although initially Nilim opposed, he later accepted that Ananya's desire was at least not as exchange-oriented as it used to be with Shruti. They got married a few years later, then they worked together to solve all the problems of the house one by one, and today Nilim is very much happy with Ananya."Hello, is it Ananya Baruah?" —– She got a call from an unknown number. But, here's her name was taken by the caller. So she said enthusiastically —
"Yes, it is."
"I'm going to tell you something about your husband.— A strange female voice said this time."
"But I don't want to listen, and he's done everything I told him to do, so don't call me again, Miss Shruti Saikia." — Ananya was angry, but she restrained herself and said the words so beautifully that it was incomprehensible for her to be angry with Shruti at the other end of the mobile.
Instead, Shruti was surprising to hear her name in Ananya's mouth, realizing once again that, Nilim and Ananya are two sides of the same coin.
Today, love came into the lives of Nilim and Ananya, love that is lovely at first sight. Nilim's father is sitting today hugging his little grandson, his face beautifully marked with the joy of being a grandfather. Now that grandfather and grandson can live together, Nilim was happy again. Meanwhile, Mallika is coming to see her only brother's little one, as well as to see her close friend turned a mother. Indeed, just as human happiness is not permanent, so is sorrow. Until just seven years ago, only sorrow and worry reigned in a house, but today only happiness reigns in that house.
Shruti began to suffer from a fear when she heard that Nilim had a son , as now Nilim and Ananya's relationship was stronger than ever. It was even harder for her to remove Ananya from Nilim's life. She seemed to burn with jealousy after hearing the news, thinking to herself that if she hadn't left him she would have been the mother of this child of Nilim, when in reality nothing like that happened, and thinking about these things she became more stubborn day by day. But when she heard that Nilim's house was holding a party on behalf of his son, she thought to herself that she should go to Nilim's house at this opportunity.
Whether the sun went down or not, colleagues of Nilim began to arrive, all with a gift for the little one. Just like that, Shruti came in with a big package in his hand. Mallika saw her and she went straight to Ananya to tell about it. They were both afraid of what Nilim would do if he saw Shruti. But Shruti seems to have no regrets, she went straight towards Ananya's room. Out of courtesy she took the gift from her and let her sit down on the sofa. Meanwhile, the whole house is crowded with guests, while neither Ananya nor Mallika knows where Nilim is. They wished in their hearts that Shruti would leave before Nilim came , or else Nilim wouldn't be so kind to her in front of so many people!
Seeing the beautiful house of Nilim, Shruti got jealous again, that Ananya is enjoying what she should have had today. She sat in Nilim's bedroom without saying anything. At one point there she met Nilim, who got angry as soon as he saw her. He came to her and just said — "Wait, you watch what I do today."After a while, the police came to Nilim's house, a lady constable dragged Shruti out of Nilim's house. Meanwhile, the people at the party were surprised to see the incident, everyone wondered who this person is for whom the police had to come, and what was wrong with this person!
It was out of the blue for Shruti, she thought at max he would scold her too much, but he straightaway complained to the police, even on false pretexts. She was supposed to be going to harm the baby, was the Nilim's complaint. But she wasn't going to harm the baby, she was going to get Ananya out of the way. But according to Nilim, he had to report to the police for safety reasons, he said. Therefore, she was again tormented by shame and humiliation in a crowded party hall. When her father brought her back from the police station, all her mind stopped working. She went to her room, becoming just a mechanical human being.
Two days after the incident, the police arrived at Nilim's house, as Shruti's father had already filed a case blaming Nilim for his daughter's death. Nilim cooperated with the police without protesting. Because he knows he hasn't done anything wrong, so why should he be afraid? That was the beginning, and from onwards, how much he hasn't had to do since! This lawyer, this court, the police station again — in short, it was as if Shruti would not let him go even if she died. A year passed like this, and what he once thought happened somehow. He was acquitted, as a result of which all charges against him were dismissed, and he was able to breathe freely once again.
After winning this year-long battle, Nilim realizes once again that life is made up of happiness – sorrow, if there were only happiness in life then how would people understand what sorrow is! Similarly, if life were filled with sorrow, then no one would be able to fathom what it feels like to be happy. No one’s life goes by without such obstacles in life, and we must acknowledge these eternal truths. If we cannot accept this, we will be in the same situation as Shruti chose the path of suicide.
✍️ Angshu (splash-of-angs63)
Disclaimer : The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this blog are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
