Too Late

The sun starts to mellow down; the days are getting shorter,

Your favourite winter is coming, but you are not here.

All around I see the multitudes jostling everywhere,

They laugh, cry and breathe, oblivious that you are not here.

But would things be different if you had decided to stay?

Would I find more time for you or a kind word to say?

I know I would not…I would have been busy night and day.

My love for myself would have kept your thoughts at bay.

Now I look for you in the shadows and in the dark,

That's when my skeptical self mocks and calls me a quirk.

Then I look again carefully where the light is stark.

But all trace of life is gone forever without leaving a mark.

Some said that the soul is immortal and you are happy somewhere,

Some said that’s wrong and beyond death there’s nothing there.

I know only that the living role I knew as you has gotten over.

Your daughter I still am, but my father you are no longer.

In Search of an Answer

Jim was crouching at one corner of the vast field. It was only September yet the nip in the night air was perceptible. He was the guard on duty for the running week but despite his best efforts he could not prevent himself from dozing off every now and then. At yet another violent forward swing of his sleepy head Jim woke up and stared aimlessly ahead. He knew no one would dare to cross the grounds in front of him but still checked from time to time as a routine. Suddenly betraying his confidence a thin strip of purple light started to pour out of the sky right into the middle of the field.

Jim rubbed his eyes and stared hard at the scene unfolding in front of him. He looked up but there was no plane or drone in sight. He shook himself hard attempting to break the impossible dream but the faint light ahead remained consistent. Jim got up and marched ahead fearlessly.

Before Jim managed to reach the spot the stream of light stopped as suddenly as it had started. Startled Jim ran ahead and looked up again. The starry sky looked completely clear. He looked down again only to see a gaping hole at the spot where the light had hit the ground. Before he could make a decision regarding his next step, he saw two men of huge proportions walking out of the hole. The men were similar in size and stature to Jim and they certainly did not intimidate Jim in any way. As they rose to the ground and stood in front of Jim, he took a closer look at them. The men were dressed in garments made of leaves and barks!

A normal man would have been tempted to laugh at their jocular costumes but Jim’s cold and humorless eyes got sterner.

 “Who are you?” he asked in a steely voice as he raised his gun.

The two men looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

The senior one Ou spoke first, “We’ve come from a faraway place.”

“What exactly is going on here? There was no hole in the middle of the field! Tell me right now whose agents you are or you are dying.” Jim’s voice was louder and authoritative.

“We’ve to ensure that they do not see us as threat,” O, the younger one whispered in an inaudible voice.

Boom! Jim fired a shot at O’s knee.

The bullet stopped just before hitting O’s knee and crumpled into fine dust.

Shaken Jim fired several rounds at both O and Ou but all the bullets met the same fate as the very first one.

Without lowering his gun or voice Jim asked again,”Who are you? Tell me right now! Or else I will take you to our leader Mashooq and you would not want to meet the consequences meted out by him.”

“You’re really a bad judge of character,” said O. “We’d actually love to meet Mashooq. Take us to him.”

This time Jim pondered for a while and decided to lower his gun. He was clearly incapable to capture them by force. If they willingly walked up to Mashooq, the leader, then it would be a safer bet for him. After all Mashooq’s security personnel was prepared to counter all sorts of threats.

 Aloud Jim said, “Our leader does not meet anyone and everyone…tell me properly who you are and what you want. Then I can forward your request to him.”

“We are from a different solar system actually. We are human beings but technically you can call us aliens too,” O explained in a lucid voice.

Jim decided that it was pointless to talk to these two men, every word they spoke seemed completely nonsensical and it made him want to kill them badly. So he took them to a small waiting room instead and asked them to wait in the presence of two more armed men while he himself went in to tell Mashooq about the incident.

Mashooq listened to the story with quiet composure and summoned the two men inside.

As O and Ou entered the spacious and fragrant chamber of Mashooq they found him turned backward and bent down, speaking to a small girl.

“But the bird did not harm me,” the child seemed to protest.

“True. But if you don’t kill it first it will harm you and if you let it harm you today then who knows, it might kill you tomorrow,” Mashooq reasoned as he pushed the air gun back into the child’s hands.

The girl nodded and ran out to complete her incomplete mission.

The tall and broad shouldered frame of Mashooq turned 180 degrees to reveal a face that would have been handsome if he had shaved the beard, had tended to his bushy hair, had lost some weight and had some warmth in his eyes. His current face was closer to the benchmark of ugliness due to non maintenance. But it did not matter to Mashooq; he aimed to be fearful not pretty.

“Ok you two will cut the crap and tell me clearly which group you represent. You have exactly 60 seconds’ time,’ Mashooq ordered and sat himself down on a comfortable couch.

“We truly have come from another planet and we have a purpose. We had hoped for some cooperation but earth seems to house some pretty hostile people!” O said in an indignant voice.

“Ok fine…you want to belong to another star…let me help you to reach there,” Mashooq took out his gun in a flash and fired straight at their hearts.

The bullets crumbled as before.

Mashooq stood up shaken and commanded his men with silent eye gestures.

A tight circle was formed around O and Ou and all the exits were blocked immediately.

Ou lightly hit O on the head and said, “How could you pick a terrorist cell as our gateway to earth?”

“Ou…it was your idea to locate the most powerful man on earth…I had no idea about the nature of his…well…his work!”

“Mashooq first things first…you seem to know very less. Stars are uninhabitable for any life form so we do not live in another star, we live in the fourth planet of the Tau Ceti star system,” Ou said.

“I know…it was a slip of tongue.” Mashooq was annoyed at being corrected. “What’s your deal? Tell me what you want…else I’ll have to destroy you two.”

“You did try to do that once!” chuckled O.

“It will not take me long to unleash nuclear weapons on you and you will be wiped before you can think of the next smart remark.”

“So you are threatening to nuke someone who is standing within your earshot? Empty threats will only bring down your credibility!” O scoffed. Ou put his arms on O’s shoulders and calmed him. He started to speak instead.

“Years ago after the creation of the human race our forefathers were installed in a few chosen planets of this universe. Your earth and our home are two such planets.”

Mashooq looked at O and Ou in disbelief but decided to listen to the story. It would distract the two men and give him time to work out a viable plan to take them in captivity.

 “How do you know this?” Mashooq asked.

“Everyone knows it! How do you not know this?” O said.

Mashooq kept quiet.

“We knew about you guys from a long time ago and have been watching you too. But unfortunately it took us really long to find out a way to travel such a huge distance. We are 11.9 light years apart in space actually.”

Mashooq sighed and signaled something to his men. Two huge recliners were brought and the new guests were offered food and drinks within a few minutes.

“I figured that you must be hungry if you have really come from that far away. In our planet we are very particular about taking care of our guests.”

“Then why is the food laced with sleep inducing drugs?” said O.

Mashooq gritted his teeth.

“We have sensors encoded into our genes which inform us about basic things like food safety. This wouldn’t work if you continuously plan to outsmart us and try to take us prisoners instead of listening to us.”

Mashooq lowered his head for the first time and thought a bit.

“Tell me about your planet. How much more developed are you guys than us?” he asked in a flat tone.

“Well for starters we have done away with competition and comparisons so cannot tell you qualitatively or quantitatively how much better or worse we are. We came here to exchange ideas. There are many areas where we believe we can help you and in return we too would want a big favour from you guys.”

Mashooq was silent but his posture indicated that he was in attention.

O and Ou went on to describe their planet where life was perfect and there was no hunger, pain or diseases.

“We also can modify our behavior. Through superior genetic filtration we can successfully get rid of the negative feelings and enhance the good ones. If you let us, we can instantly turn you into a benevolent saint.” O offered.

Mashooq grimaced at the idea and looked away.

 “Anyway we have brought a gift for you. Here is a set of clothes to fit you.” O extended a packet towards Mashooq.

“What it is it? Another tree?” Mashooq mocked.

 “Our clothes are actually programmed plants so they are self cleansing and they fit us perfectly. We really thought you would appreciate that. It is very good for the health and looks good too,” Ou elaborated.

Everyone in the room broke into laughter now.

“Thank you…I mean it but I don’t want to walk around looking like a cartoon.” Mashooq said as returned the gift. Deep down he suspected a bomb or a spying device to be hidden in the packet.

“And why is being a cartoon bad? In our planet we lovingly call each other cartoons…because cartoons make us laugh!” O was surprised.

“I don’t want to inspire humour! And how come cartoons are called “cartoons” there as well?” Mashooq was suspicious.

“We preloaded your languages to make communication easier…our way of communication is much different actually,” O said.

Ou made another attempt to forge a friendship.

“Listen we can help you to improve lives. You can be happy and can give up killing people. Don’t you feel bad that there are people who would love to have you dead?”

“No.  That’s the basic principle of a fight. Mutual hatred. Why would you want to take that away?” said Mashooq. 

“I have one offer for you instead. If you join my cause and help me to exterminate my rivals, me and my people will give you full support.”

O and Ou looked at each other.

“May be we’ll visit another earthling and see what deal we can strike there…you are not likely to get our point.” O and Ou looked ready to leave.

“No no no no…don’t leave…” Mashooq stood up and almost dived at them. He was feeling very special in a hidden corner of his heart to have been chosen by the aliens. All the years of obsession with the aliens could not win the Americans this special status. What a huge win it was for himself and his ideology! And he could not let it slip away.

“Stay here…stay with me. Tell me more about you. May be we can be allies in each other’s worlds. You mentioned that you needed a help. What is it? I would try to help you out.”

O and Ou were almost pushed back into their seats.

“Well…while researching about your planet we found only one thing that intrigued us a lot. All of you seem to have a deep sense of self love. Your planet is full of horrible people yet almost everyone is in love with themselves.

We noted an exaggerated sense of self importance. On our planet we have everything and we have made our lives significantly better too but we still do not love ourselves. In fact apart from a handful of younger people we all hate ourselves.”

“How is that even possible? It’s a basic instinct for survival…we value ourselves…all of us,” Mashooq explained.

“That’s exactly why we are here. We are emotionally tired and we don’t love being who we are. We want to learn from you how to be able to love ourselves and how to be proud of ourselves even when there is nothing that great about ourselves.”

“So you want to stay here and learn our way of living?” asked Mashooq.

“No we’d rather take one of you to our planet.”

“And who will go with you?” Mashooq said.

“We were hoping that you’d nominate someone.”

“Myself.” Mashooq said in a hurry before anyone else could come ahead.

“Fine. Let us know when you’ll be ready. We need to leave as soon as possible. It is a journey of 238 years.”

“Are you kidding me? There’s no way I’ll live for that long! How did you guys get here?” Mashooq said in a disappointed tone.

“Well for half the journey we came in a super fast spaceship. And then in the mid way we hit upon a new technology where we converted everything to light and travelled at the speed of light for the rest of the path. Then on landing we reconverted ourselves back to who we were. It’s a bit dangerous and we need proper containment else the high energy can cause devastation.

Now our equipment for the conversion to light got damaged and we’d have to travel back by our spaceship.”

“What is the lifespan in your planet? 1000 years? Here we cannot hope to last beyond 90-100 years in a functional state.” Mashooq informed O and Ou in a rueful voice.

 “Lifespan? We will always live. We have edited out death a long time back. In the prehistoric ages our ancestors used to die but we don’t.”

“So you guys are immortals?” Mashooq was amazed.

“You’re not?” O and Ou were equally amazed.

“No!!! None of us are,” Mashooq clarified.

“In fact I don’t think it’d be cool to be an immortal. People tend to think that all hardcore villains want immortality but I, a supposed villain on earth don’t aspire for it. How can you commit to one life forever? I’d be bored for sure. I’ll be ready to give up this life when my time for death comes.”

And in one single moment of epiphany O and Ou had found the answer to their question.

Human beings across the universe tended to place much greater value on temporary things.

O and Ou stepped ahead and gave Mashooq a spontaneous hug. Then they spread out two powerful light streams across the room. One erased the memory of the interaction with the Tau Cetians and the other replaced the hatred in their hearts with love. And then O and Ou started their way back to their base.

They had a lot of work to do. Undoing immortality was certainly going to be the most difficult project of their lives.

Granted

As the young couple entered their new home excitedly Doyel watched them wistfully from a distance. Her partner however kept busy with the makeshift shelter he was building for Doyel and himself. Unlike Doyel he did not believe in holding on to the emotions they once had about that land where a brand new one storey house was now standing. Doyel had planned on hating the occupants but on seeing the happy smiles of the couple she could not bring herself to even faintly dislike them.

Inside the same house Preeti and her husband Jay were busy settling down. Preeti was in the advanced stage of pregnancy and they needed to convert the place into a comfortable home as soon as possible. The humble house had only one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom and a small living area. But it was a lot for the couple.

Jay’s father worked as a security guard at a bank in the city and he had hastily built the house when he heard that he was about to become a grandfather. The small house was located in the outskirts of the small town where Jay was an employee of a private mill. In terms of money they were quite a poor family and Jay’s father did not think twice when he displaced Doyel and her partner from the plot of land before building the house. To be fair the land belonged legally to Jay’s father and the ageing man was only trying to secure the future of his bloodline when he asserted the same.

Preeti understood her father-in-law’s point and was forever grateful for the home but she still felt a surge of sympathy when she caught Doyel staring at them through the window. Her partner still refused to look in their direction. Preeti set out some rice and fruits in a plate and rushed to offer them to Doyel and her partner who clearly looked famished. It was time for damage control.

But Doyel and her partner were in no mood to make friends with Preeti. They quickly receded into the woods adjacent to the house before Preeti could reach them. Disappointed Preeti stood at the door looking in the direction in which the couple had disappeared. After pondering for a while she placed the tray on the hanging ledge by the main door and retreated into the kitchen.

After some time Doyel and her partner felt the moan of hunger twitching in their tummies. The more they tried to ignore it, the wilder it started to become. Finally they gave up and went to devour the plate of food offered by Preeti. By the time they had finished they had forgotten to even note the taste of the food. But their anger towards Preeti had melted away.

Preeti had gotten busy with the daily chores of her home. It was late afternoon when she felt tired and worn out after setting the house in order. She went out to fetch the plate to wash it and was very pleased to see it polished clean. She looked up and caught a sight of Doyel and her partner. Her partner was shy or perhaps he was still ignoring them. Doyel however looked straight at her and gave her a smile. It was a great feeling for Preeti.

From that point onward, things began to grow better between the two families. Though Doyel liked Preeti she did not make any attempt to reciprocate Preeti’s call to sit with her for a quick chat. After observing them carefully Preeti realized that they spoke in a very different way. They seemed to be forest dwellers speaking a dialect that Preeti was completely unfamiliar with. She sighed; she would have to settle for the silent bond for the time being.

Soon Doyel found out that she too was going to be a mother. The news should have shocked a couple who could barely manage to find two square meals a day. But Doyel and her partner were happy. In their simple life the addition of children would open up new dimensions.

That day as Jay was returning from work he carried in his hands a bag full of ripe fruits. Doyel could clearly see a delicious looking papaya peeping from the bag. She salivated spontaneously. She could eat fruits only when she found them from the woods and did not have the money to buy from the market. And she had not seen a nice and ripe papaya in the woods for a long time. Perhaps other members of her tribe had taken them away quicker but no one had ever offered her a bite of her favorite fruits.

Inside the house Preeti greeted Jay with a big smile and took the bag of groceries and fruits from him. They exchanged pleasant small talk as Jay washed his face and hands and Preeti proceeded to make a pot of tea.

Feeling much fresh Jay sat down on the floor folding his legs. His wife handed him a cup of hot tea along with a bowl of puffed rice spruced up with mustard oil and onion rings. As Jay took a sip along with a mouthful of the delicious snack, his exhaustion seemed to fade away.

 “Eat the fruits…I selected them especially for you.”

“We will share them,” Preeti said as she sorted the stuff.

“No. You eat now. It’s for our baby. We can share later,” Jay insisted.

“You are getting thinner,” Preeti put her hands on the forehead of her husband. “I know you are worried about money. After the baby is born I will work too.”

“What? No. Who will care for the baby then? Besides what work will you do?”

“Don’t worry…I will take the baby with myself. I have seen a few rich homes close by; they might hire me as a domestic help.”

 “Your husband can manage to provide for both his wife and child,” Jay smiled.

He pulled Preeti closer and started kissing her.

Doyel watched in sheer amazement from outside as they started to get intimate. In her culture a pregnant woman would not even think of having sex. She looked at her partner who was preparing to retire for the day. She longed for him suddenly but in the end she chose to suppress her urges.

Preeti was unaware about this little invasion of her privacy and continued to enjoy the loving touches of Jay.

What Doyel did not know was the fact that Preeti too had once seen Doyel in her private moments with her partner. Preeti had gone to close her windows when she unintentionally saw them in the act.

The concept of privacy or the breach of it did not seem to bother these two females. There was no salacious intention in their minds and it was plain curiosity which prompted them to witness the passionate moments.

The unusual and mostly quiet friendship of Preeti and Doyel continued. Since both of them were pregnant they felt the need to look out for each other even more. Sometimes Doyel found herself longing for the peace and security of Preeti and Jay’s life but she was never jealous about their apparent prosperity.

Preeti often offered flavored biscuits and nutritious fruits to Doyel. A grateful Doyel sang out sweet songs of motherhood that she had learned from her tribe. The two mothers-to-be took care of each other as they looked forward to the arrival of their little ones.

Preeti’s health started to weaken as her due date approached. Then one day she told Jay that she was feeling a bit too uncomfortable since early morning. A tense Jay decided to take Preeti to the hospital in the afternoon without waiting further.

Doyel watched with a worried face as Jay helped a fatigued Preeti into the ambulance. She looked up at the sky which looked dark and angry. A storm was about to come any moment. Doyel prayed for the safety of Preeti and her unborn baby.

The storm finally came in the evening. The wobbly shelter where Doyel and her partner lived looked like it would give away any moment as the powerful winds threatened to blow it apart. Terrified they ran under the shade of Preeti’s house and stood clutching each other. On any other day, Preeti would have asked them inside but both Preeti and Jay were gone that day and the house was locked.

Doyel felt scared about the life growing within her and leaned on her partner. Suddenly without any warning a loud shard of lightning lashed down and hit the tree in front of them. In single second a wave of current travelled through the wire Doyel and her partner were inadvertently touching under the shade and snuffed out their lives.

The last sight that Doyel saw was that of their shelter burning down in front of her eyes. Her last thought was of being homeless again as she left the world that had consistently failed to give her much.

After a few days Preeti came home from the hospital with a little boy in her arms. Both the mother and the child were healthy and everyone agreed that it was Jay’s prudent decision to admit her early that day which had saved a lot of unnecessary trouble.

The moment she entered the bedroom, Preeti saw the skeletal remnant of the once large and shady tree standing somberly outside. She ran towards the window as a rush of worries grasped her tight.

“Where is Doyel? Her home is gone!” she asked Jay in a panic stricken voice.

“The birds died in the night you gave birth. It seemed like they got electrocuted. I’m sorry Preeti.” Jay put his hands on Preeti’s shoulders as streams of tears rolled down from her eyes.

Sensing the commotion, the sleeping baby woke up. He looked out of the window and saw with wide eyes the beautiful morning light. A burnt tree caught his eyes and a faint strain of recollection stirred up in his mind. He looked at his mother’s face and felt a deep sense of happiness.

He so wanted to comfort the lovely woman in front of him. He had much to tell her. That Preeti did not have to worry about Doyel anymore. That the dying wish of Doyel had been granted. And that Doyel had been upgraded to human life as her own child.

The baby opened his lips attempting to speak up but only a funny sound and a half smile came out as Preeti looked down in wonder. It was enough to make Preeti forget every bit of grief and return the blissful smile.

The Price of Ego

Vishal looked at the all the pictures intently for one last time on his laptop. Then he deleted the entire folder of memories in one swift motion. An empty feeling washed over him as he leaned back with his eyes closed while his dog Floppy licked his loosely hanging fingers trying to reassure him. But soon an unknown sense of panic engulfed him as he sat up quickly. He opened the recycle bin and restored the deleted folder immediately. Floppy sensed the change and promptly got up on Vishal’s lap and gave him what seemed like a warm hug.

Vishal has been trying to delete Kriya’s memories from his life for the last two months. But every time it was the same routine; a brave deletion followed by a meek restore. Kriya was Vishal’s now estranged wife and at the moment Kriya and Vishal lived separately in the same city. They had too many common friends to be able to avoid each other completely. And they both still had a shred of hope in an unknown corner of the heart which prevented both from relocating to another city.

After making himself a cup of coffee, Vishal came back to his desk and decided to stalk Kriya’s online profile for a while as Floppy obediently curled up beside him. His wife’s public statuses were still visible to him but they never reflected the loneliness or cry for help that Vishal was looking for.

Pretty pictures and witty quotes were splashed all over Kriya’s profile. She was clearly feeling happier to be single. The same spark that had attracted him to Kriya three years ago was back. 

Vishal leaned on Floppy and let a few tears drop from his eyes. Then he resolutely decided to fix an appointment with Kunal on the next day.

Kunal was a therapist Vishal had begun to consult after Kriya left him in shambles. Kunal was a middle aged man, friendly and confident. His experienced counsel and Floppy’s unconditional affection were the only things that stopped Vishal from sinking into clinical depression.

Kunal was able to see him for a session on the very next day.

“So how are you feeling today?” Kunal asked as Vishal clumsily dropped himself onto the leather couch.

“It’s getting worse,” Vishal’s voice was low.

“Talk to me Vishal…don’t keep it within,” Kunal urged.

“You know what…I’ve decided to change the plan. I know I told you I wanted to forget her….but I don’t. I want Kriya back.”

“Hmmm…any reason for the change?”

“Do you know what I saw recently? I saw Kriya talking with Sumit. Sumit and I were really close friends. And then Kriya picked me over him…that’s when Sumit and I had drifted apart. I had thought that Sumit would have the courtesy to stand by me now.”

Vishal was talking too fast and tiny droplets of sweat were appearing on his forehead even in the air conditioned room.

Kunal said nothing but looked straight into Vishal’s eyes. His right hand gently tapped a pencil stub on the desk making a soft and regular rhythm.

“And I had hoped that Kriya would ignore him out of respect for our love…our…our marriage…” 

Vishal’s voice trembled now.

“Look Vishal. You clearly are not over her. And you don’t really want to be over her. There’s only one way to sort this out. ” Kunal paused his pencil and started to talk.

Vishal looked up with hope.

“You two have to talk! You are being too adamant about this. There is nothing to lose by being the one to initiate things.”

Vishal looked away, crushed.

The session went on for an hour. It was a futile hour that failed to offer any peace to Vishal.

He went home feeling disoriented and sad. At night he once more browsed through the old pictures of himself and Kriya as he forced a tasteless meal down his throat.

He lay down on the big bed as Floppy joined him and snuggled closer. Feeling sleepy Vishal decided to look at Kriya’s profile again. Apparently she was listening to “Aaoge jab tum” on Saavn. Vishal smiled spontaneously after a long time. It was the song that he had sung for her on their first date. The sign he was looking for was there…shared publicly for Vishal to stumble upon. He fell asleep without much difficulty that night.

The next few days were not so kind. His sessions with Kunal were not leading anywhere as he kept harping on the same point. And the flicker of hope that he had gotten that night did not really mature into anything real. He decided to meet Kunal again but he promised himself that it would be the very last session.

“Hi Kunal, how are you?” Vishal started as he entered the colourful chamber.

“I’m fine…you seem to be doing better too,” Kunal said.

“Well, not really. I just came over to tell you that I can’t continue with the sessions any more. I want this to be the last session,” Vishal felt a tad guilty. “Please don’t take it personally. I hope we can part on a good note.”

“Of course! Why would I be offended?” Kunal’s smile seemed to be genuine and there was no shock on his face.

“Since it’s our last session, can I ask you a few questions about yourself?” Vishal asked in a hesitant voice. Kunal nodded in assent.

“Are you married, Kunal?”

“Yes,” Kunal seemed amused by the first question.

“Happily married?”

“Yes, happily married.”

“Love marriage? You still love your wife? She loves you?”

“Yes, yes and yes,” Kunal was smiling now. “We got married when we were in our twenties. And it has been a wonderful journey so far.”

“Oh come on…there are no perfect marriages.”

“That’s a myth! I am in a perfectly happy marriage.” Kunal’s eyes shone with a rare kind of contentment. Vishal was wondering for a while if it was real or fake.

“Please tell me your secret then. You can do this much for me…we’re almost friends now.” Vishal sounded childish and desperate suddenly.

“I’d have told you even without you asking me if you were capable of applying my formula. You are not. There has to be another formula for you. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it for you.”

“Just tell me yours. I’ll copy it.” Vishal was insistent.

“Ok…but I’m pretty sure that you won’t be able to use it. In fact you know the formula on some levels already.”

“Oh please…I don’t know...educate me.”

“Hmmm. You have a pet dog…right?”

“Yes, Floppy. He’s my only family now.”

“You love him a lot…take good care of him. Would you say that you would do anything for him? Anything to see Floppy happy?”

“Yes of course. And I know that Floppy would do the same for me. His love for me is so unconditional and pure.” Vishal got defensive and a bit annoyed.

“And yet you never figured out the secret formula! Tsk…tsk…” Kunal looked down and shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Vishal was confused.

“In my home, I’m my wife’s Floppy. When my wife comes home I greet her in a jumpy and excited fashion. I tell her all the time how I need her and give her surprise hugs and licks…erm…kisses. Whenever she is in a dilemma, I behave like Floppy would have…I sit by her holding her hand with my mouth shut.”

“What? You have no self respect. So you are not really happy…you are just a hen pecked husband!”

“What self respect? Don’t you treat Floppy as a family member?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you say that you’d do anything to make Floppy happy?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t Floppy the most important person in your life right now?”

“Yes…but…”

“There is no “but” here. My wife loves me dearly and she is the one who takes care of me and our home. In fact she is the one who works harder to make the marriage work. Me…I have it easier. I just have to be like Floppy and enjoy being pampered.”

“What about your wishes…your decisions?”

“When Floppy wishes to go out for a walk…do you take him out or not?”

“I always do.”

“Then?”

Vishal kept quiet for 10 long minutes and then he said in an almost inaudible voice, “But you were right. I’d need another formula. I can’t be Floppy…or you.”

“Look Vishal. You can call me after 1 more week. I’ll try to think of something…but there’s no guarantee. ”

Throughout the week Vishal messaged Kunal asking if he had zeroed down on something but there was no reply. After exactly 7 days Kunal sent a text to Vishal asking him to come over.

The next day they worked on a plan together. It was decided that Vishal would pay the full fee only if the plan fixed his marriage and else he would only pay half for Kunal’s time and effort.

That day, while driving back Vishal felt nervous and excited at the same time. Would it work? Would it not? A thousand idle fantasies were running through his mind when suddenly a cyclist appeared in front of his car. Vishal swerved quickly and managed to avoid the cyclist. But his car went off the road and rammed into a wooden lamp post. Vishal head bumped forward and then his body fell on the side. The car door opened and half of Vishal’s body started to hang outside the car. Through corner of his eyes Vishal saw some people rushing towards him before he closed his eyes.

That day was just a normal and boring day at work for Kriya. She was trying to laugh at her manager’s lame jokes at a team meeting when the news reached her.

“Vishal has met an accident…he is at a private nursing home.”

That was all she got to know.

For a long moment Kriya could not react or speak out any word. She just looked numbly at her manager and co workers.

“We’ll manage without you Kriya…obviously. Rush to your husband. And take someone with you. You don’t seem strong enough,” Kriya’s manager was supportive.

When Kriya reached the small nursing home she found Vishal asleep and heavily medicated. A doctor assured her that there was just a small wound on his head and that he seemed alright on first inspection. However they would need to conduct extensive tests to rule out haemorrhage and other risks.

A young nurse summoned Kriya inside Vishal’s room and gave her a chair to sit on.

Vishal’s broad frame looked weak and his handsome face looked very pale. Kriya found herself wishing badly for everything to go right…for one more chance to live with the man in front of her as she gazed at him.

She waited for hours to see him wake up and when he did, it was a very precious feeling for both.

As they stared at each other, tears rolled down their cheeks.

“I’m so glad you came, Kriya,” Vishal finally said.

“I’m happy that you’re safe…I was so scared,” Kriya cried as Vishal held her hands.

It turned out from the tests that Vishal was completely ok. He was released later in the evening. As they drove back together, both of them felt a deep sense of gratitude.

Kriya helped Vishal to eat his dinner as Floppy watched them wagging his tail. This was the least jealous that Floppy had ever been about Kriya.

“Listen I’ll have to leave now…but please call me whenever you need.” Kriya got up before it was too late.

“Won’t you stay back?” Vishal’s eyes were sad.

Kriya took a deep breath and said, “Let’s give it some more time…I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

And after that night Kriya truly came every day to check on Vishal. Every day they both of them looked forward to the days that were fast turning into dates and every day there was something new that they longed to share with each other.

Vishal’s health was restored quickly and the pallor from his appearance was fast giving way to a ruddy glow.

They were both madly in love again but they were just too scared to admit it.

One evening Kriya and Vishal were enjoying coffee and chicken pakoras at the food court of a fancy mall. The conversation was easy and their moods were light and cheerful. Vishal casually picked out a round piece of lemon from the salad and started to poke out the pulp with a fork.

“Oh Vishal…you’re as messy as ever,” Kriya lovingly admonished him and proceeded to fetch a tissue paper from the counter.

When she got back, Vishal was down on his knees holding up a hollow greenish lemon ring.

“My dear Kriya…will you be my wife again?” Vishal said.

Kriya looked around and her cheeks turned red. And then her face broke into a joyful laughter.

“Yes Vishal..yes…I would.”

It was the happiest that they had been in the past one year. They decided to spend the rest of the night in moving Kriya’s stuff back to their original home. The next day would be the first day of their renewed marriage. That night they joked and laughed and kissed as they happily undertook the arduous task of shifting homes.

In the morning Vishal woke up early and saw Kriya sleeping peacefully on her side of the bed. He wrote a small note for her and placed it on the bed side table in an old fashioned way along with a flower.

He needed to see Kunal as soon as possible and he figured that he could be back within an hour or two.

Kunal was jogging in the park when Vishal called him and he asked him to meet there.

“I came to say thank you,” Vishal was all smiles as he wrote out a hefty amount on a leaf of his cheque book as they sat down on a park bench.

“I’m happy for you two. Make it work this time.” Kunal said.

“I was saving up for a vacation in Maldives with Kriya..but it’s ok to wait for a bit longer,” Vishal said as he handed over the cheque leaf to Kunal

“It seems to be a huge amount but staging a false accident requires a lot of work Vishal. It was an interesting plan to work on but it was neither easy nor cheap!!! ” Kunal gracefully explained as he accepted the money.

“It’s ok Kunal. I can make money again. Without your plan I could have never won back Kriya. She seems very grateful that she got me back alive from the jaws of death.”

“Stay cautious…though you can say that the scar has disappeared fast, you are supposed to feel a bit sore on the forehead area for a few more days,” Kunal winked as he waved him goodbye.

Vishal came back home with a huge bunch of flowers.

The mock accident had made Kriya realize that she still wanted him...and he got the opportunity to tell Kriya how much she still meant to him. There was no guilt on Vishal’s mind.

However as he entered his home he could hear Kriya speaking to someone in a low voice on the phone.

“This is probably the last time that we are speaking…I'll never forget you.”

Vishal got to hear these words as Kriya hung up. She swung around to see Vishal standing stone still.

For a moment she was shocked and a look of guilt came over her face.

“Who was that?” he sternly asked.

“No one…it’s not what you are thinking…” Kriya started.

“I’m not thinking anything...I’m just asking. Who was that?”

Kriya looked away…still silent.

“Look Kriya…let’s not complicate things. Tell me the truth…I have the right to know. Did you date someone while we were separated?”

“Noooo….it’s not like that. Please trust me…please.”

Vishal calmed down a bit.

“Ok…but was that a male or a female?”

“I was talking to a man but I swear I have not been romancing him.”

“Then tell me who he is…this won’t work Kriya if you behave unreasonably. There’s no point in getting back together if you can’t be transparent…were you talking to Sumit?”

“No!!! Alright…I’ll tell you but you can’t judge me. He was my counsellor. ”

Vishal’s face was still blank.

“I felt very alone and unhappy after our break up and needed to see a counsellor to fight depression. I just called him to say that I’ve transferred his fee through net banking.”

Kriya came closer and helped Vishal to sit down on the edge of the bed. She sat on the floor in front of him and looked at his face with pleading eyes.

“That’s not all, Vishal,” said Kriya. “When you did not make any attempt to get back together, I staged a false accident with my counsellor’s help. I knew that you were too sensitive about physical injuries and it would be easy to convince you that you were in mortal danger. It gave me the opening to come and see you. I’m sorry but the accident was not real…you weren’t hurt actually. You probably passed out due to fear.”

Vishal avoided Kriya’s eyes and stared hard at the floor.

“Please forgive me…I love you so much. You can talk to my counsellor when he is back from Maldives. He is leaving today with his wife but he can clarify things if you don’t trust me. He is a nice person…his name is… ”

“Kunal…his name is Kunal,” Vishal picked up from mid sentence. It was Kriya’s turn to be surprised. “And he is enjoying what was supposed to be our vacation. He was my counsellor too.”

They sat face to face; silent for long.

“Well…we still have many more holidays to look forward to,” Vishal finally said as he held out the flowers he had bought earlier. “And many opportunities to prove to my wife that I’d never pass out due to fear!”

Kriya giggled in agreement as she accepted the bunch.