The
Unspoken Connection
Bright
sun, scotching heat, pollution, noise of umpteen vehicles on road and amidst
all was Divya, waiting to board her bus to office. Everything in the vicinity
was same as any regular day. The rising temperature of the day, the chaos
caused due to heavy traffic, people rushing and pushing each other to board the
bus, nothing could affect her today. She stood quietly in a corner lost in her
own thoughts.
Her
face was heated up and appeared red every time she thought about the pain she
was undergoing. And then was a rush of uncontrolled emotions which came out in
form of tears which she wiped off cleverly so that no one could see.
Her
bus came and she boarded it without looking anywhere else.
In
the bus, she realized that she had forgotten to give food to baba. He must have
been there at the bus stand, like every morning, waiting for her, but she
didn't notice him today.
Baba,
an old man in his late 60's, cobbler by profession and presumably abandoned by
his family, he had a small shop near to bus stand from where she boarded her
bus. Her bond with baba developed three years back when she had come to Mumbai
in search of job.
Mumbai,
a new city, a new life altogether. She knew no one there. Her zeal to prove
herself brought her to this territory which was completed unexplored for her.
It wasn’t easy for her initially because she hailed from Panchgani, which is a
municipal council, situated in Satara district in Maharashtra, situated at
a distance of about 240 kilometers from Mumbai and Mumbai on the contrary
appeared a very robust city with a completely different approach and lifestyle
to her. But she had to take a chance in life, after all she had put in a lot of
hard work during in her studies and finally scored a good percentage in her
graduation. And now was the time to put in all her learning's so far, into a
real life scenario. Life in a new city made her struggle a lot in the early
days. Multiple rejections at job place and yet she tried to keep the vigor on.
She had no one to discuss her issues with. She could not even share with her
family back home because if she did so, they would call her back. Almost six
months passed after which she finally got a job as a consultant in
multinational firm.
During
this course of time, one fine day she met Baba. She was waiting for her bus
when she noticed that the strap of her footwear was broken. She saw a cobbler
sitting nearby and went to his shop, got her shoes mended and gave him little
more money than he asked for, thinking that he was old and might be needy. He
nodded his head and said something to her. She hardly understood anything as he
spoke in a pure Marathi accent and she on the contrary did not know Marathi, till
a passerby translated to her. He said that if she wants to give something extra,
she can give him food. Since that day, every morning without fail she handed
him breakfast, which he took without any hesitation.
This
became a daily affair. While going to office she handed him breakfast. They
could not communicate as language was a barrier but that one smile every
morning from an old man, motivated Divya to keep her hunt for job on. If he, in
this old age, can work for his survival, she should certainly make a way out
for her was her new outlook to her issues.
But
today, she had missed her daily custom of giving breakfast to him due to her
personal tension and so decided to handover food to him this evening if his
shop was still open when she returned back home. While returning back from
office, she packed food and when she was back, to her surprise, his shop was
still open. He was sitting there, like every morning although it was quiet
late.
She
gave him food. He kept it aside and was looking straight into her eyes as if he
knew that something was wrong. He held her hand. And then there was runoff of sentiments.
An uncontrollable Divya narrated the tale of how she was being cheated by Mihir
for past few months.
Mihir,
the guy she liked and considered to marry in future. They were into a relation
for a year and a half. She had met him at her workplace. They hardly interacted
initially as both of them belonged to different departments until one day when
he had to shift to the workstation near to her as his system was having
technical issues. His nature was totally opposite to hers. A very cheerful,
happy go lucky guy who lived his life to the fullest. Everyone in the office
seemed to like him for his friendly nature.
And
one fine day, he asked Divya out for coffee. Divya was hesitant because she
hardly knew him and moreover she was a very reserved person and hardly
interacted with anyone in office, but just for the sake of being polite she
said yes. And then started their journey, umpteen coffee followed by light
conversations. She started to discover lovely hangouts in Mumbai along with
Mihir, which was an unexplored land for her till now. Suddenly she had
developed a liking for this place. Street food, beachside, local markets
everything added a new spark to her not so pleasing daily routine. These things
were there before but maybe it was Mihir’s company that she enjoyed. She
started to view life from a different angle altogether. This time it was more
positive and more fun. She discovered that even she was a fun person from
inside and like everyone around even she liked to live life to fullest, just
the fact that her childhood years were so tangled in the social stigmas that
she barely knew anything else apart from being responsible and becoming an
ideal child.
It
was almost six months of knowing each other when Mihir proposed to her. She
obviously had a liking towards him. After all he was the guy who helped her
discover a new Divya who was within her. By now she knew that he was the guy
who could keep her happy all through life and she said yes to him. Next
followed a series of family meetings of their parents. Initially Divya’s
parents were a little unwilling to approve their relation as Mihir was born and
brought up in Mumbai and his family was also very open minded, unlike them who
were conservative but after a few gatherings, Divya’s father was convinced that
Mihir was the right guy for her and even though their families were different,
Divya and Mihir gelled up well and ultimately they would be happy together.
Mihir asked for a span of two years to settle his career completely before he
could get into married life and Divya’s father approved of it.
It
was a fairy tale going on for Divya. What better she could have expected from
life. Life could not have been more beautiful for her.
Everything
was perfect until Mihir was chosen to go to Europe for a business trip. All
this time, Divya was so used to being with Mihir that spending a month without
him even sounded very tough for her. But keeping in mind his career aspirations
and his love towards his profession, she was ready to forsake this time for his
betterment. Mihir on the other hand was very excited cause this trip could have
certainly added a new dimension to his professional life as it would not only help
him get a better exposure but also build good contacts for the business he was
planning for life ahead. Rashmi, legal advisor from the same firm, was to
accompany him for the same.
This
one month time seemed very long for Divya. She was always lost in his thoughts.
She missed everything. The way he talked, the way he treated her, the way he
took small efforts to make her smile, each and everything. As he was super busy
in his trip, he called her once every two or three days and all this while she
did nothing but think about him. Days seemed longer than usual. All she prayed
was that he should be successful in getting the business deal for their firm
and come back as soon as possible.
Finally
came the day when he was supposed to return back. She was super excited. She
dressed in the best possible and when to receive him at the airport. Her heart
was beating fast as she saw him coming along with Rashmi. She hugged him and he
hugged her back. But she felt that something was wrong. Maybe he was stressed
out after this trip. All this while he was away from his near and dear ones
plus work pressure was at its maximum so maybe he was tired is all that she
could conclude and thus she ignored the negative vibes she got. She hugged
Rashmi next and asked her about the trip. She informed Divya that they had got
the contact for their firm and this trip was a success. The success of getting
the contract was evident on Rashmi’s face but Mihir was lost somewhere. Divya
anyways did not wanted to discuss anything at that moment as she felt that he
might have been super tired and needed rest and thus left for home.
Almost
a week had passed ever since Mihir had come back. But still he was not back to
normal. Everyone in office praised his skills for making this trip a success
but Mihir looked tensed somehow. He did not look like the same old person who
used to enjoy life besides work. Work was a priority to him always but his
attitude towards life seemed different. Divya could clearly figure out that
there is something which is bothering him. She asked him about the same and he
said that it was work pressure and the expectations from him are even higher
now and he should become a little more responsible and serious in order to
fulfill them. She was not convinced with his replies but has no option but to
believe him.
Nearly
two months had passed. Life had changed. She was not liking the way Mihir was
behaving. Every time she asked him regarding the same he said work pressure and
ignored the conversation that could have led to a dispute. After a while even
she stopped asking the reason for his strange behavior and adjusted with
whatever was going on. They went out to the same places like they did before
but that spark was missing. Everything was so formal. The warmth in their
relationship was fading away.
One
thing which Divya noticed was that after his Europe trip, his interaction with
Rashmi has increased. She was getting a feeling that might be there is
something between the two them which is bothering Mihir, but she was ignoring
her gut feeling because she loved him and did not want to have any doubts about
him. But she could not ignore her feeling for long and did something which
finally gave answered all her questions. She checked his phone.
He
was involved with Rashmi. They were having an affair for the past three months
that is even a month before they went for the trip. Divya was devastated. The
messages she saw in his phone and all his call logs clearly showed why he was
behaving strangely with her. She didn’t know what to do at that moment. She had
a hint before that this could be the matter but she kept ignoring because she
could not doubt the guy she loved. Everything seemed to have ended for her. She
went to Mihir and handed his phone to him. Mihir looked at her eyes. It was
completely red. He understood that she has come to know about what was going
on. She left without saying anything and today he could not stop her.
Her
trust was broken and as she narrated these details to baba, she kept crying and
repeating that she could still not believe that all this happened yesterday and
all her dreams were shattered.
He
listened to her peacefully. After about an hour she realized that he would have
hardly understood anything as he was a pure Marathi guy and she spoke Hindi but
still all this while he listened to her. She felt that she acted dumb but she
had no choice maybe. So much was going inside her and perhaps this is why she
forgot the fact that the guy she was narrating her story to barely even understood
her. She wiped her tears. He put his hand on her head and said something which
she did not understand. She could have asked someone to explain but today she
had no patience and thus she went home.
Next
morning when she went to bus stand, she noticed that Baba's shop was closed.
She thought that maybe we was up late last night and maybe would open up late.
Same thing continued for next couple of days.
Meanwhile
Mihir had talk to Divya. He confessed that he was having an affair and this was
the reason for his changed behavior. He could not tell this to Divya for
obvious reasons but even he was confused from inside. Next, told her everything
as how he got attracted towards Rashmi and thus when this trip was panned, he
was excited not only about the contract but also about the fact that he would
get time to spend with Rashmi. But after he came back, he could clearly make
out that he was was moving in a wrong direction. It was his mistake and he did
owe it completely. He was even ready to confess the same in front of his and
Divya’s parents and if they permitted only then he would continue his
relationship with her. He left it on her completely as to how she wanted to
take things ahead. All he said to her at last was that he was sorry for what he
did and if possible she should give him another chance.
Yes
he had made a mistake. A very serious one. She was deeply hurt. But the
ultimate fact was that both of them loved each other. And sometimes things do
go wrong in a relationship. But what matters is strength of love between the
duo. Mihir had opened his heart to her. She had an option to go back and let
his and her parents know about it and end everything. But somewhere within
there was some hope left for her.
His
mistake was not something which could be considered. But he was the guy who had
made Divya what she was today. He supported her when she all alone. He helped
her discover the person she was. He made all efforts to convince her family for
their relationship. Maybe he deserved a chance. She was not sure if this would
work but yes she decided to give him a chance.
They
planned a vacation to Kerala. Change is what both of them needed. Time can heal
all wounds and time did help to get things on track for them. This short trip
did sought out the tussle between them and things were better.
She
came back to Mumbai after 15 days. Excited to meet baba and tell him that
things were better, she packed breakfast and went to bus stop. To her surprise
his shop was still closed. Little anxious, she went to a nearby shop and
enquired about him. And what followed next stunned her totally.
He
was no more. The shopkeeper told that he had promised his daughter that he
would go to a nearby pilgrimage to seek blessings for her as she was in distress.
No one in this locality knew about his daughter though. There was a stampede
and he succumbed injuries while returning back. He survived for 10 days and
breathe his last 2 days ago. The shopkeeper took out some holy offerings which
baba handed over to him and told him that his daughter would come and collect
the same.
Divya
could now understand what he was telling her the day she narrated her story to
Baba. He had told her his plans, which she didn’t understand.
Tears
rolled down her face as she replied “I am his daughter ".
