Circular Love
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| Courtesy - Google Images |
"So you can add this to the list of things only you and I know" said Satish and Anu looked up from his shoulder with her wide beautiful eyes. Those were like restless blacktip reef sharks; scanning his eyes in horizontal motion. Without saying a word She slid down a little, kissed his bare chest, rested her head on it. He knew what it meant; it meant - "I love you", that "I am closer to you than anyone else in this world", that "she will shed a lone tear of joy" wetting his barren chest and then kiss it again to make it wetter. Yet he tilted his head to direct his gaze on her saffron tinted hair partition and asked with a puzzled tone, "What?" He knew this will make her happier and it made him feel like the creator of happiness. Had he just reflected his understanding of her emotion then it would mean he had deciphered her, She is a simple being whose emotions are deciphered easily and then her mysterious nature is lost. The relationship from then on becomes stale and no more interesting. So Satish played along and asked her again, this time more a cajole than a puzzled bewilderment, "What?" She shook her head which made the single tear she had concealed and controlled till now to fall off her eyelids like the single dew drop in the morning grass that bends the blade of the grass with its weight and perseverance to be dropped off into the earth, its rightful place. He did not press any further but just smiled and kissed her head again, squeezed her closer to him. He knew, that is all that she wanted and acted like he had preserved the mystery about her lone tear while the fact is he knew it.
Their game was flagged off, without any balloons, crackers, flashy dancers or gymnasts, a simple beginning to a complex life together. Satish and Anu had a simple wedding so that they can save money for this luxury called home. Satish had refused the home that Anu's father offered and instead bought this humble home in the suburbs. It was normal days over the week for Satish who was a professional photographer. His work load was jagged and he defines his work as he usually freelances a lot. Photography also helped him in his Personal life as he seldom spoke and Anu loved him for that. She knew he understood everything and still didnot have to use words to describe it in real life as in his profession.
However Anu felt something weird about the house. She could not call it a home yet as something was disturbing her. She felt like she is being constantly watched over and she even searched the entire house for any hidden cameras. Not that she did not trust Satish but she was wary of his practical jokes of clicking what she considered to be ugly photos of her. One day she felt like a pair of gleaming eyes were fixated on her, from a far off land someone was watching her. Aliens are an alien concept to her, "but anything is possible these days" she thought to herself. Satish dismissed this by joking about how she is now missing her family and that girls are never satisfied with her husband alone. Anu would smack him with a roti stick or a spatula whichever is nearer and Satish again had to act like he is hurt. But this insecure feeling was growing despite the best efforts by Satish to rubbish it. It was too much to bear when she refused to open the windows, shades or worst of it all she wanted to keep the light going in nights. To Satish this was ridiculous and he tried reasoning it with her. Anu was thinking Satish has grown insensitive to her feelings and Satish was getting too frustrated to play the loving and caring husband.
Anu could no longer take this growing feeling of insecurity and called her dad. Within no time her dad had collected all the particulars about the building and the neighbors, the construction contractor, the land ownership the previous owners etc. To his horror he found that the house has been constructed after demolishing a ladies hostel. The hostel was notorious for the suspicious deaths more than two decades ago. Unclaimed and unregistered skeletons were found in the compound when the construction had began. When the facts came out it was horrible and unbelievable. One of the reasons why the land and home came cheap was the negative publicity that it had garnered over a decade ago. However, like many things in India, this too was then forgotten and gone with the wind. Anu's dad was furious, more with him than with Satish, for letting them take this house. He was offering them a duplex in a very posh area in the city and thought he should have tried more to convince Satish. After all, his only daughter is now bearing the brunt for the mistake he and Satish had committed. It killed him to see his daughter this way - haggard and worn out. He ordered Satish to vacate this house and move into the one he has got for them.
For Satish though, this is a matter of self-respect than it is of ego and he places his self respect beyond anyone living in this world. Had it been ego it would have been easier to forego ,than self-respect, for the love of his life. No one could understand this simply because they were not Satish. They had different ideals, different way of life, different view of the world. Anu was torn between the two most important people of her life. It was not so much black and white as it is for her father or Satish. It was all grey, she thinks with her heart and it would beat once for Satish while the other time for her dad. Anu's dad realised that this fight is only deteriorating Anu, apparently for whose welfare he was fighting it for. So he proposed a compromise, he would bring in a priest to do some ceremony to get rid of the bad spirits that is following his daughter. Though the rational part of Satish was hurt, he was ready to let go of his rationality for Anu. This was a fair and far better deal than leaving this house which would have destroyed his self-respect.
An auspicious date was fixed and the priest arrived with his cronies to perform the ceremony which costed them more than their wedding. But he did not mind as long as he was not bothered to recite any mantras. It was a business, this spiritual ceremony, and anything can be arranged as per customer's specifications. Satish was indeed not involved in this irrational activity. He had to take the day off though, which was no big deal for him. In fact it gave him the chance to witness this funny custom and make fun of it later, when everything was over. He was in his bedroom reading snow leopard by Peter Matthiessen, for the tenth time, when something caught his eye. A small glint, a shine of reflection of the sun, a twinkle. It was there just for a second and then it disappeared. Without any sudden movement he casually flipped his book to the side flung himself out of bed and went to the other room. He asked Anu to go to the bedroom to get his book and he watched from the window of the other room. He caught it again and this time he was sure from where it came. The reflection of the sun from a telephoto lens, for a trained photographer's eyes, was not difficult to catch in broad daylight. He should have taken a day off earlier, he now felt. Anu returned with the book. He made an excuse of the smoke inside the house and that he is going out for fresh air.
When he returned, he had a broken lens and a camera in his hands; a drop of tear and blood on his knuckles. The puja had done its work! No more stalking eyes, no more worry about Anu's fear. The priest was indeed powerful! That night Satish was happy and Anu was relaxed. Anu was resting her face on his shoulder and listening to Satish who narrated the entire episode and then he said "So you can add this to the list of things only you and I know"
