It was another hectic day of a working week. Riya managed to drag herself out of bed as the bell droned on for the second time. Her maid Radha, with her ‘thousand excuses a minute’ stepped in. Without pausing for breath, she continued ‘Kal woh tabiyaat theek nahi thi Didi’ (I was not not well yesterday Didi). Riya made a wry face, ‘Phir se?’(Again?) ‘Arrey, meri nahi didi, mere bhanje ki!’ (Not me didi, my nephew was unwell!). Riya thought it better not to delve in deeper but stick to ‘Que sera sera’….what will be will be.
She stepped inside her bedroom and drew the curtains aside. The sleepy winter sun peeped in, cautiously but warmly. Riya woke her husband up, ‘Get up Rajib, I’m setting the tea on boil’. Rajib grunted a non-distinguishable reply and drew the blanket around him tighter.
By 8.20 am, things had settled into their normal pace. Riya was sipping her ‘kadak’ morning tea contentedly and thinking of ways to surprise Rajib, it was their first anniversary after all! Her eyes rested fondly on Rajib, who was busy digging into the morning news on NDTV India. ‘My weekend is going to be eventful, another test season begins’. Riya was busy with her own thoughts, ‘Should I get him an engraved watch? Yes, that would be just the thing!’ She had recently watched ‘Sex and the City part 2’ with her pals and had concurred that a watch engraved with ‘Happy Anniversary, Me and You, Just us Two’ was dizzyingly romantic! And of course, I have to pick up his favourite chocolate truffle cake on my way back from work’! Rajib broke in to her reverie with ‘Little Miss lost, it’s time to go for work, or do you plan to live in your castle today?’ Riya made a face and fetched her sturdy brown handbag.
She climbed up the steps to her office and flashed the receptionist a radiant smile. She should too partake of my happiness; a year of married bliss is no mean achievement! She felt like a little girl all over again on the verge of her birthday; the excitement churning in her tummy, the pestering her ‘deuta’ for the blue shoes with the red bow. ‘What will Rajib surprise me with?’ Riya thought. ‘But then, he is not the sentimental sorts. He was measured and precise in his opinions and did not believe in making a hue and cry about birthdays and anniversaries. But I am sure he must have planned ‘something’! Well, I have. That should be good enough for the two of us!’ She concluded. Before her thoughts could run away with her, Riya noticed the fat, hard-bound book on her desk, one that urgently required a blurb. She got lost in the white sheets in no time. Words had always fascinated her. The way they could leap around and form new worlds; worlds she could lose herself in.
Riya reached home armed with an extra-chocolatey truffle cake and Rajib’s gift wrapped with a transparent white ribbon. She liked her frills! She put up a few decorations with Radha’s help who was secretly wondering who’s ‘janamdin’ it was! Rajib walked in, pleasantly surprised at all the pretty decorations and Riya in his favourite blue ‘Mekhela-Sador’. ‘Happy Anniversary Rajib’ Riya chirped. Rajib smiled back and said ‘This is a surprise, same to you dear!’ Riya’s special evening had finally started.
She playfully tugged at Rajib’s tie and coyly asked, ‘So where are we going for dinner tonight?’.He casually replied, ‘I wish I could take you out, but I have a meeting tomorrow I need to prepare for. Let us just order some pizza tonight’ Tears welled up in Riya’s dark brown eyes but she mananged a ‘No probs Rajib’. She took off her silver blue bangles and put them on the dressing-table. A vacant look in her eyes, Riya sat looking at herself for a long time. This was not what she had bargained for. After all, love marriages are supposed to be different, special.
Riya walked out into the small balcony of their two-bedroom flat. The dim winter moon was already up. The pavement in front of the street was occupied by construction workers, their small blue plastic tent sheets offering scant protection against the Delhi winter. A fire made of twigs warmed the residents. A small grubby girl of about three years was nestled in her father’s lap who was warming her tiny feet. They looked content, protected against the winter chill in a cocoon of love.
Rajib’s voice came floating to her, ‘Baby, whats this in the fridge? I did not know you had brought a cake too. Lets eat it, im ravenous!’ Riya cut him a piece but could not bear to look at it any longer. Rajib noticed she was quiet and asked her, ‘Are you ok?’ Riya said, ‘Of course, how’s the presentation going’? . That was it then. Just another day…just another night.
Riya’s slumber was broken by Radha’s insistent ringing. Irritated, Riya let her in. Radha paused on her way to the kitchen and took out something from her dupatta knot; a small mehendi cone. ‘Aaapko achi lagti hain na didi, meri bua ki ladki layi thi’, (You like mehendi na Didi, my aunt’s daughter had brought it) Radha blurted out in her usual abrupt fashion. ‘Haan’ smiled Riya. It was not just another day!
