This piece of fiction is my entry for the contest 'Go further to get closer'
That day, when
Gouri waved me a poignant goodbye and looked at me innocently with those wide
blue-green eyes as if reminding me of an invaluable loss, I found it hard to smile
at her. Finally, I clutched her tightly; I did not want her to go. She pulled
me downwards and murmured something in my ear that made me go pale but I
carefully recorded all that on my mobile. My mind began racing in a very
different direction, devising a plan to checkmate the evil queen, Divya, who
stood in a corner, smiling to herself. I glanced at her and felt a pang, as if
someone had backstabbed me. Her fake concern made a poor veil over her
impatience.
Varun bent down
and tried hard to cheer up the child.
“Papa…I don’t …”
Gouri sobbed.
“You will find
many good friends there” he said patting her ruddy cheek.
Had Bhavna been alive,
they would have made a happy family. I recalled our happy moments and felt
choked. I wanted to make Gouri smile but could not.
The announcement
for the British Airways flight to Edinburgh was over. Varun, with a
heavy contemplating face, proceeded with Gouri and chuckling, Divya as if celebrated
her victory.
After they left,
she walked off, smiling ear to ear, leaving me to smolder in the embers she had
thrown in our lives. I sat on a bench, alone, somberly sipping my coffee and thinking
about this mayhem.
Even though
Divya is my third cousin, I came to know her properly only when she married
Varun, some four years after Bhavna died. She was closer to her and thus stepped
in to save Gouri from some evil stepmother who might make child’s life miserable.
We took a lovely illusion for a solid reality and failed to understand the
farce underlying her charming exterior. A shrewd game changer, she mastered
pulling the right strings at right time and manipulating emotions with utmost
dexterity.
“I have married
Varun only because of this motherless child” Divya said with tearful eyes when
people showered praises on her for celebrating Gouri’s birthday in a grand way,
making Varun feel proud of his decision. However, very soon, harsh winters
arrived after a cheerful spring.
“I want to
fulfill Bhavna didi’s dream. I want Gouri to have the best education we
can give her” the devil incarnate began rambling all the time.
“Edinburgh is
the land of opportunities and I will make sure my child reaps everyone of them”
she said putting her foot down.
“I am answerable
to didi in that life” she said looking at my old grandmother.
“Edinburgh is something
else! Moreover, my brother lives there. He will be the local guardian. I would
not settle for anything less than the best for my daughter” She cried putting a
little stress on last two words.
After a month of
pottering around sulkily and accusing people of doubting her pure intentions,
she had had her way. Varun decided upon a good boarding school in the UK. The
most depressing fact was that how a six year old would feel was no one’s
priority. She had won. I swear, that day, I wanted to shoot that woman at point
blank range.
I opened my moist
eyes and came out of the airport with heavy steps, planning a way out to bring
Gouri back. After all, she was a part of my sister’s soul and in her I saw
Bhavna looking at me with those curious blue-green eyes.
Time slipped
like sand in the fist but God helps in His own interesting ways! Only a few weeks
later, one of my friends spotted Divya with a tall man, in a high end hotel. That
cue was enough for me to jump in action. I played that recording again and geared
myself for some solid action. My next two
months were spent in playing a spy, following Divya like a phantom. I went
wherever she went and made detailed notes of her secret life. She would visit
spas, clubs, malls, restaurants and sometimes theatres with one of the three
men she was regular with. I also found out that while one was her college
dropout ex-boyfriend, the other two were married businessmen, one in real
estate and the other in garments.
One day I saw
her entering a mall …‘Click...click…click…click’, she walked like a ramp model
in her high pencil heels right up the first floor where a tall, clean-shaven
man,(that garment businessman) waited for her quite impatiently. After hugs,
laments and some jewelery shopping, they went off towards a hotel.
I followed them
eagerly, noting down everything, from car number to route description, even the
time. This spying became my routine for next several days. However, even though
I was a bit nervous, I tried doing the task with utmost secrecy. When I had gathered
enough evidence to raise a finger, I approached someone. No, not Varun, but his
younger brother. Playing a bit smart, I decided to involve him in spying in
order to lend credibility to my case. He gladly obliged!
On a sleepy
Thursday, we followed Divya, whose car stopped at a five star hotel.
“There…there
goes that heroine” we muttered grudgingly, hiding our faces behind the
magazines as she took the lift up with that real estate lover of hers.
“Recorded” I
replied.
“Is it the time
we tell bhai?” he asked.
“Yes” I said and
we went home to arrange the evidence chronologically and then straight to
Varun’s office, situated in a prime commercial business centre.
While waiting a
few minutes outside his cabin, I tell you, I was seriously nervous. I wiped the
little drops of sweat on my neck and forehead but it seemed his brother was seething
inside, like a volcano about to erupt. He sat patiently; hands folded on his
chest staring at the floor, with strange expressions of resentment.
“You may go in,
sir is free” said Varun’s secretary, coming out from his black glass cabin,
with files and laptop.
We stepped
inside and as usual, saw him totally immersed in work. A half filled cup of
coffee lay ignored in a corner while he was busy sending an urgent mailer to a
client.
“Sit” he muttered
making a gesture.
“Three coffees
please” he told someone on intercom.
“Yes, tell me,
what is so urgent?” Varun asked, finally paying attention to both of us.
“Here” we replied
without beating around the bush and spread all the pictures, phone records and
video recordings etc on the table.
“What? What is
all this?” he asked perplexed
“The truth. Did
you ever wonder why Gouri was sent off abroad for schooling?” I asked, looking
into his eyes.
“Because she had
come to know of Divya’s affair. Gouri had spotted her with a man in your
bedroom. Listen.” I said as I played the same recording in which Gouri had
confessed the same to me before leaving for hostel.
“So, she wanted
to kick the child, the entire trouble, out of her life and spend her time here
and there…We hope you are getting the thing. She has married you for money and
not for Gouri.” We said
Varun looked as aghast
and shocked as someone slapped tightly in full public view.
“Bhai,
when you are here, working hard, she spends her days in spas and nights in hotel
rooms. Now, she has none to take care of. Being too far, Gouri would hardly
visit even in holidays. And now, Divya has become a free bird, can’t you see?” said
his brother.
“And we have the
evidence. I wanted to be sure of the child’s accusations before pointing a
finger at your wife and that’s why all this” I said showing him the photocopies
of receipts we managed by bribing the receptionists of the spas she frequented
and also told him how we did all that.
A mixed hue of
frustration and anger filled Varun and he stood up in anger, taking his reading
glasses off. We wondered how he would handle the biggest shock of his life.
“Here it is. We
do not have words to tell you the details” we said
“Now what?”
We showed him a
photocopied report of Dr. Mehta’s maternity clinic where Divya had got an
abortion done, some two weeks before marriage. This was enough to break the
thread. He put his phone on the loudspeaker and called her. She claimed to be
at her friend’s place whose son was sick. We then went straight to that hotel
room where she was having a fun time with one of her boyfriends and pressed the
doorbell hard. Although, mentally prepared for the tempest that would ensue, I
had never seen this face of Varun; he looked mad with rage and fury. He was not
only heartbroken but the manner in which Divya had backstabbed him was too much
for an emotional soul to bear. Divya, whom he had started liking.
On the grounds
of infidelity, he was granted a quick divorce. While Divya and her parents
still blame me for the ruckus created in their lives, I am alright with it as
long as I can save Gouri from Divya’s devious plans, which had begun taking
shape. A young, motherless child just needs love and attention.
Today, I find it
hard to suppress the cheer! I look at the joyful faces and feel proud! If you
have an undying will to change the wrong, no one can stop the good times from
smiling at you! Months back, on this very same airport, I was trying hard to
control my tears. I wonder how fickle fate can be! It’s never in one mood for
long.
All of us, along
with my old granny, are here; eagerly awaiting our British Airways flight,
to bring our little fairy, the apple of our eyes back! Look! Somewhere
in the bright horizon, Bhavna is smiling at me!
This piece of fiction is my entry for the contest 'Go further to get closer'
