Part I
Breathing is a beautiful rhythm that sings the tune of life and that is all she could hear at this hour of the night. It was half-past two and her thought clung to the breathing sound of a lifeless life lying beside her; knowing not what to do next. Neither the growing darkness nor the ticking time gave her a reason good enough to sleep. Her endless toss and turns finally settled to a continuous stare to the ceiling and soon her thought shifted from the breathing sound to the clicking of the clock, which within no time took her back to the days when this lifeless life next had brought turmoil in her life. And her roof was no less than a 70mm screen, screening her biopic before her.
The very thought of their first meet made her blush even today. The way he fought against all odds just to get a glance of her every morning and his unique way of a proposal made him the most romantic person in the world. The answer was “YES”, for sure, as she had made up her mind that “this is the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with”. And today after a year he was there showing just the basic sign of life. Her thoughts again rolled back to their Wedding Day. He was standing there looking ravishingly handsome and she in her pink Bridal Lehenga was looking resplendent like never before. She looked at their names on the stage “Raj Weds Preeti” with content eyes she looked at him again she found his eyes were on her, both could not take their eyes off each other. Everything in the background, The Band, The Baja and The Barati seemed invisible. A little jerk from her sister standing near brought her back amongst the crowd. After hours of vows and mantras finally, the wedding happened. She was now Mrs. Preeti Raj Khanna. Life was no less than a dream for her; he like a true man had lived up to all the vows he had made on their wedding till today. A best friend and a perfect husband he was, for whom she was his only priority.
These memories brought tears rolling down the corner of her eyes …Suddenly, something heavy placed on her chest brought her back to the darkest night of her life and all she could hear was the same tick-tock of the clock. She then turned around to find that it was the ‘Dhai Kilo ka ‘(2 and kilos hand) of her husband rested on her.
Hurled his hand back, wiping off the anger rolling down her cheeks sat there staring at him. Suddenly she realized that the Tune of life now was no longer heard, it was replaced by the sound of snores and roars. Along with the Wheezes he emitted a fetid smell of the uncountable glass of drinks he had gulped down a few hours back. This whiff reminded her of the most wonderfully awful day of her life; their first wedding anniversary. Her mind not ready to let her yesterday go, went back to it again.
Trying to come up with something uniquely romantic for him on the Big Day, her mind was constantly on work since almost a week, but not a single one had materialized even on the eve of the day. As she was living in almost isolation since past three months with no friends around, so the idea of hosting a grand celebration was jilted off as soon it popped up. Ever since they had moved to a new city with his new job, only human species she got to interact besides her husband were the milkman every morning, The vegetable vendor who came in the society premises in every two to three days and the grocery workers once a month. Making a friend was not at all easy in the city with everyone busy struggling for survival. In these three months, all she managed achieve was an exchange of social smile with her neighbor next door. Couldn’t blame her husband for this reclusion either, he too was new to that place and still trying to cope up in this never-ending Endeavor. So, after drafting and rejecting of plans, and aware of the fact that her husband too was not much familiar to the places here, she finally settled down with a simple dinner date in her mind……
Read the rest in the next part https://www.trickylane.com/the-last-first-night-oh-what-a-day-it-was/