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 ".