PAST AND FUTURE

It was pouring heavily. A typical Mumbai rain shower. Nitin hurriedly  packed his briefcase and rushed down to the bandra station to catch the fast local to borivali. He did not have much time so instead of waiting for the bus which was his usual routine, he opted for an auto rickshaw. He reached the station 5 minutes before his usual time of arrival and lit a cigarette with relief and had a cutting chai. The train was also running late by 7 minutes ( which is a lot according to Mumbai standard time). The rush on the platform was increasing manifolds as each second passed.

When the train arrived, the otherwise calmly moving people suddenly became beasts and started to push and pull each other in a frantic effort to get inside the train. The civilisation seized to exist for the next 7-8 seconds. Nitin also somehow managed to get hold of the door of the train and was allowed to keep one foot on the floor. The other was hanging out of the door and was enjoying the heavy rain drops which grew heavier as the train’s speed increased. At the next station, he managed to get inside the train and smelt the stench of at least four armpits surrounding his face as he held one of the rings fixed to the top of the train and his briefcase with the other. His cell phone was ringing continuously which he could not do anything about.

After about 30 minutes , the train reached Borivali and Nitin also along with the huge wave of people was thrown out . When he came out of the station, the rain was reduced to a drizzle and the weather got real pleasant. He lit a cigarette and called aditi

“ Hi sweetheart, how are you”

“Don’t sweetheart me, where were you, i was trying your cell since so long”

“ Are baba i was in the train, just reached Borivali”

“ Ok Ok , come fast”

“ No dear, can’t come today , preeti is supposed to come home early today”

“ oh i see, ok  you carry on, we will meet on Saturday then”

“For sure Aditi, you take care”

As Nitin entered his house, he saw preeti coming out of the shower and slipping into her night gown, an arousing moment for Nitin 2 years back. But today was a different day, a different time , Nitin was thinking of the things he would do to Aditi on Saturday while sipping on his whiskey and Preeti was busy serving dinner and watching a trashy saas bahu serial on television. After dinner both of them went to sleep without much chit chat.

Saturday is a fun day for most of the working executives, they get to unwind , have a beer with friends or watch a movie with girlfriend or wife. Nitin also had a reason to be thrilled , he was meeting Aditi in the evening. As the watch showed 6 , he hurriedly packed his bags, put a nice musky deodorant all over and headed to Andheri on a cab. Today was a no local day. Upon reaching Andheri , he called up Aditi and after getting a green signal headed towards her house. Aditi opened the door with a beer can in her hands and asked Nitin to help himself as she went to take a shower. Nitin opened the fridge and saw a sea of booze just lying lazily on the shelves. There was vodka, beer, wine you name it. He opted for a can of Corona and slipped a thin slice of lime in the bottle. The gentle fizz of the beer with a hint of lime tickled his taste buds as he sat on the couch sipping his poison.

Nitin and Aditi made passionate love on the couch, twice. He then looked at the watch and it was half past eight. He kissed Aditi good-bye and rushed towards Andheri station. It was twenty past nine when he reached home. Preeti was furious:

“ Where have you been”

“ uhh- I was with some friends “

“ then you must be drinking definitely”

“ ya I had a couple of beers, so what”

“ so nothing ,you have all the time for your friends but none for me”

“ oh come on don’t be so melodramatic, you are busy watching those stupid serials all the time, you don’t have time for me”

And they argued and argued and the fun Saturday came to an end. Nitin was happy that atleast he was able to get some action with Aditi and went to sleep thinking about all the moves he had pulled off while making love to her.

Nitin had many such relationships for the past three years. He used to befriend girls, housewives and pretty much anyone from the opposite sex via social sites, friend of a friend, office parties etc. He was not a Casanova but had a certain charm which drew females to him. His best quality was that after he was bored of a female, he was able to quietly convince the female that this was a bad thing and that he feels guilty of what he has done and how sorry he was for doing that to her. Poor girl had no option but to “ forgive” him. He used this ability of his to perfection. Aditi was one of the so many girls he had slept with. Nitin gradually stopped realising that he is a married man and had a wife who waits for him all day, cooks for him and takes care of him.

He woke up late in the morning as it was a Sunday and was lazing around in the house when preeti summoned him to buy groceries and vegetables for the week, a typical Mumbai Sunday for most of the households. He was fiddling with his mobile when he got the message from Aditi

“ am all alone in the house, missing you”

His heart started pumping, he wanted to meet her immediately. He said to preeti

“ I am going to bring the groceries but I will be late, I have to get my car fixed also, it might take some time so don’t wait for lunch”

“ ok”

Nitin got dressed and rushed towards Andheri . he parked his car in a mall and went to Aditi’s house where he made love to her like a raging bull. Aditi liked that kind of love making, her husband was a docile man and didn’t know how to make love, the only thing he ever tried apart from the missionary style was the woman on top and that too because he was too tired. Aditi longed for more and that is when Nitin came into picture who fulfilled her every fantasy. After having hours of passionate love when Nitin looked at the watch it was already evening.

He panicked “ Preeti will eat me alive today” and rushed towards the mall and after buying the things from the list hurried back to his car. Paying a hefty sum as parking fees he came out of the mall and revved his car as if he was a formula one race car driver and not more than one block away had to stop in a traffic signal. The traffic signal was not turning green and Nitin was already red, he then decided to jump the traffic and the moment he drove ahead a truck rammed his car from the driver’s seat. Nitin could not even feel the pain and fainted then and there.

Preeti was restless. Her anger had now transformed into worry. It was getting dark. Suddenly her phone rang, it was Nitin’s.

“ hello”

“ hello who is this?”

“ who are you?” Preeti said surprised

“ actually I am calling from the hospital, Mr. Nitin is seriously injured, may I know what is your relationship with him?”

“ what happened, I am his wife” preeti’s voice was shaking

“ please come at lifeline hospital as fast as you can”

Preeti sat on the floor, her whole body was trembling, she could not believe what she had just heard. Regaining her composure, she took an auto and went to the hospital. Upon reaching she was told to wait outside the operation theatre as surgery was in progress. After two hours the doctors finally came out.

“ how is he doctor” preeti asked with a sad voice

“ he is unconscious right now and we can only hope he regains his senses, he has a clot in the brain which is very serious”

“ will he be alright doctor?”

“let’s hope for the best, next 48 hours are crucial for his survival”

Preeti broke down instantly, her whole life was turned upside down. She suddenly felt all alone in this whole wide world and there was nothing she could do to make things better. All she could do was to hope and pray for Nitins life.

Nitin opened his eyes on the second day and saw preeti asleep on the chair besides his bed. He said in a weak voice

“ preeti !!”

Preeti came back to life when she heard those words

“ Nitin!!! Ohh thank God, let me get the doctor for you”

Preeti ran out of the door and ran like she never did before. Upon seeing nitin’s doctor she informed him about his regained consciousness and doctor immediately rushed towards nitin’s room. After checking his pulses and a series of other tests he informed preeti

“ he is alright for now but we will have to keep him under observation for a couple of weeks as the clot in his brain needs to be fixed”

Nitin was lying in his bed thinking about that dreadful day which nearly took his life. He was filled with guilt and shame. Aditi was nowhere to be seen and all he had was preeti besides him. Why did he betray her? What did she not do to make him happy? What was the need for him to go to other women? The more he thought the more he felt like a murderer, murderer of his wife’s feelings, murderer of his wife’s trust. He couldn’t take it anymore. At that moment he took a decision, a decision to tell preeti about his illicit affairs he had behind her back, to ask for her forgiveness, to start a new life with just her at the epicentre. Preeti was not in the room , she had to go to her house to bring some clothes and food for nitin.

When she came back nitin said

“ preeti, I need to tell you something”

“ tell me later, first eat, you must be hungry”

Tears rolled down nitin’s eyes.

“ no preeti, sit down” and nitin told her everything he had to tell her. He told her everything about that day when the accident happened and what he was doing in Andheri.With every sentence he spoke, the pressure on his brain started to mount , the pain became immense, but nitin did not stop, he had to confess and he continued. When the pain became unbearable, he fainted. On the other hand preeti after listening to nitin went into a state of shock. She didn’t notice that nitin had fainted. She just sat there, shocked, and twenty minutes passed. When she regained her senses, her eyes were red with fury and she wanted revenge. She said to nitin

“ I will not forgive you nitin, instead I will do the same what you have been doing for so long and you will see me every day with a new man and you would want to kill me or yourself. One of us will die nitin, one of us will”

She stormed past the room and went straight to her house.

Days passed and preeti kept her words. She used to drink and go to nightclubs and party all night with strangers. Sometimes she used to come back with a man and made love to him exactly where she and nitin used to. She saw nitin seeing him sitting in a wheelchair and weeping, and she enjoyed it. Preeti was taking her revenge, a revenge so fierce that she didn’t even know who she was anymore.

One night when she was having sex with a man she saw nitin trying to get up from the wheelchair but unable to do so. Preeti did not enjoy that moment, suddenly she wanted to help him. Something in her changed that very instant. She excused herself from the man and asked him to leave. The next morning she went to the hospital and asked the same doctor who was treating nitin

“ doctor for how long will he be on the wheelchair?”

“ who”

“ nitin doctor, my husband”

“ who nitin?” the doctor was clueless

“ doctor how could you forget, you are treating him, remember”

The doctor had a curious look on his face. He called the nurse

“ sister have you given her the medication today”

“ ohh I am sorry doctor, she wandered away from her room saying she has to meet the doctor “

“ sister, how many times have I told you to not let patients go from the room. Remember, this is a mental hospital and not some polyclinic.

Doctor then turned her attention towards preeti

“ preeti do not worry nitin will be off the wheelchair very soon”

“ thanks doctor” and preeti went back to her room where she went to an empty wheelchair and said

“ don’t worry nitin , you will soon be walking again, and I have forgiven you also, once you get back on your feet we will begin a new life”

The nurse out of curiosity asked the doctor

“ who is nitin, doctor?”

The doctor pulled up preeti’s case file and handed over to her. In the file it was written

“ patient has severe post traumatic stress, husband died of brain haemorrhage , suffering from hallucinations and has intercourse with pillows and laughs watching an empty wheelchair”.

Preeti meanwhile was now sitting on nitin’s lap and both were kissing each other passionately, the nurse saw her from outside. Preeti was making love to the wheelchair and the pillow was neatly lying on the bed.

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