Relationships and more……..

Revati tried hard to find the key hole but the number of drinks she had that evening were impairing her vision. After some struggle she managed to open the door of her 5000 sq. feet duplex apartment at Malabar hill. The motion sensors detected she was around and lights flashed as she looked around the lavish living room, all things in order and at the right place. The 16 seater pure leather imported sofa and the huge crystal chandelier were as lifeless as the Guido Daniele painting of the woman posed on a bench overlooking Slizza river in Italy. She flung her Louis Vuitton bag on the sofa and balanced her way leaving her stilettos on the way towards the bed room.

Revati was a socialite wife of Raghu, V. N. Raghupati CEO of Assureinvest a venture capitalist firm. A simple but sharp soul, Raghu was complete opposite of his spouse. Punctual and a man of few words he had strong family values. Their marriage happiness of 8 years was inversely proportional to Raghu’s bank balance. This was the very reason Raghu preferred to spend more time at work than return to an empty house.

Raghu at work was a no non-sense person and appreciated intelligence over hard work. His new hire Deepshikha was just the dependable resource Raghu was looking for. She had to be told little and she understood her work well. Assureinvest was Deepshi’s third job in a career of 6 years. She understood the pulse of the job market well and knew when to switch to get paid better. Her sole motive was a higher figure on the salary slip and with her diligence she knew how to get that. Deepshi and Gaurav met at business school and lost their hearts to each other. Gaurav loved Deepshi’s sharpness and Deepshi purely fell for Gaurav’s looks and his Salsa moves. Both tied the knot against parent’s wishes and moved to a 3 bedroom flat at Goregoan. An Emi of 70,000 and a car loan made Deepshi change her job often and Gaurav take up salsa classes after work. Gaurav’s clientele were crème de la crème of Mumbai most of them socialites including Revati. Gaurav and Deepshi’s 6 years of marriage became a transactional relationship of money transfers to bank accounts and sticky notes on the refrigerator the only way of communication between them.  Sometimes the messages were communicated by Seema their maid who kept a set of house key to complete the house hold chores without disturbing Gaurav who would return home past midnight.

Seema was with Deepshi since her marriage, she was trustworthy but in a painful relation with Govind. Govind was Seema’s husband’s friend and moved with her as a support after her husband died leaving two children behind. Govind turned alcoholic and would rob Seema of all the money she earned.  He had just landed an office boy’s job when Deepshi referred him to Raghu in order to reduce Seema burden.

It was the evening of 16^th March 2012 when Deepshi was preparing for the quarterly audit with Govind moving busily out of Raghu’s cabin taking signatures on relevant papers. It was around mid-night when Deepshi entered Raghu’s cabin, he was sitting on the wide parapet of the office his back facing an open window, his legs rested on an Osim massager chair with a glass of Glenlivet in his hand. Deepshi reluctant turned to leave when Raghu asked her to sit. She noticed the generally dressed in a suit Raghu today in a shirt crumpled around the waist as if it was pulled hard. His eyes were red, this was the first time she noticed the handsome man that Raghu was. His ruffled hair, slight grey side locks, his strong arms showed under his sleeves rolled till the elbow. Feeling uncomfortable with the silence she rose once again to leave when the wheels of the chair which Raghu rested his feet on moved and he lost his balance. Deepshi ran towards him and pulled his hand to stop him from falling off the window. He fell on her triggering the dearth of physical touch he had faced in the past years. He hugged her tight; Deepshi did not resist and gave in to his dominance.

Seema rushed to the hospital as her son had fallen off stairs and needed to be admitted. Not knowing where to go she reached Deepshi’s apartment to ask for money. She opened the flat with the set of keys she had and rushed in. Her pace slowed as she saw the stilettoes lying on the floor, as she moved further she saw a Burberry evening gown flung on the ground, she understood that wasn’t Deepshi’s.  She could hear giggles and whispers from the bed room. Not knowing what to do, she decided to leave when she glanced on the open bag on the dinning. She could see a bundle of notes, she tip toed and grabbed the money and moved out to save her son.

Flash forward….October 2013, Deepshi changed the music to classical as Raghu started his Audi Q5. He grabbed Deepshi’s hand and kissed it before buckling his seat belt. They reached the apartment; she waited in the car as Raghu went to Revati’s 16^th floor apartment to deliver the signed divorce papers. He was about to ring the bell when he heard Gaurav and Revati arguing over something. He chose to leave the papers at the door. On the way back they dropped in at Seema’s to deliver the Diwali bonus. Now the 5000 sq. feet house name plate reads Deepshi and Raghu’s. May be now it’s not just a house, its home!

Will leave you with one of my favorite songs…

रिश्ते तोह नहीं रिश्तों की पर्छैयाँ मिले 

यह कैसी भीड़ है बस यहाँ तन्हाईयाँ मिले।

इक छत के तले अजनबी हो जाते हैं रिश्ते 

बिस्तर पे चादरों से चुप हो जातें है रिश्ते।

ढूंढे से भी इनमें नहीं गर्मियाँ मिले।

यह कैसी भीड़ है बस यहाँ तन्हाईयाँ मिले।

जिसको भी देखिये वो अधूरासा है यहाँ 

जैसे कहीं हो और वो आधा रखा हुआ।

हो जब जहाँ जुड़े वही जुदाइयाँ मिले 

यह कैसी भीड़ है बस यहाँ तन्हाईयाँ मिले।