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As the frame and glass shattered, a phone beeped loudly. Her phone. It beeped again. He picked it up and checked it, there were a couple messages from Raj.
With the party in full swing, Rahul’s eyes found his wife who was enjoying wine with her friends. And he was confused, she never smoked and he definitely smelled cigarette on her last night. If she had tried one, why didn’t she tell him, he wondered. Neither had she met anyone, she’d been home all day long and she told him everything!
“Want a refill?” Raj’s question interrupted his train of thoughts. He smelled the same cigarette on him.
“Did you by any chance bump into Sarika yesterday?” Rahul asked. Hesitating just a little, Raj denied it. Then, with a twinkle in his eyes, told Rahul about his latest ‘conquest.‘ Another addition to his list.
Rahul was used to his friend boasting but it often annoyed him when Raj tried his luck on friends too. Not that Rahul had a clean chit, so he asked him if she was someone they knew. Raj merely winked and said, “Wait and watch!”
Disgusted, Rahul turned around, saying, “A leopard never changes his spots.” Laughing, Raj called out after him, “You are a fine one to say that, Rahul!”
The party continued and everyone was clapping to the beat of some Bollywood song. Bored, Rahul started looking around for his wife when the hostess pointed to a corner where Sarika stood speaking to Raj. She said, they’d be stuck together for a while. On their way back, Rahul asked about their conversation. Sarika shrugged her shoulders and said she couldn’t remember.
The next evening, Rahul had a meeting with his business partner, Ashish. As they talked, Ashish asked Rahul if he’d had a good lunch with Sarika bhabhi and Raj at the mall. Surprised, Rahul said that he ate in the office. Ashish apologised for having assumed that Rahul was there with them.
Later, at home, Rahul casually asked Sarika about her day. As she recounted her day, there was no mention of Raj at all. All this was quite unlike her, he thought.
As the night wore on, suspicion kept gnawing at his being and sleep eluded him. Finally, when he could take it no longer, he woke Sarika up.
“Why didn’t you tell me you met Raj for lunch?” he asked her.
“Huh?” She looked at him, eyes clouded with sleep.
“What’s going on, Sarika? Are you having an affair?” He yelled at her.
She was wide awake now and stared at him in disbelief, “How dare you talk to me like that?” she screamed.
“How dare you cheat on me?” he countered.
Turning her back to him, she said she could do whatever she wanted to. Enraged, he pulled her towards him and slapped her hard. And she fell on the floor, reeling in shock. “What were you doing with him?” he yelled again.
“Why should I tell you?” she asked, shocked and angry.
Furious, he pulled her up and slapped her again.
She stood up and wiped away the angry tears in her eyes. “We are done. I am leaving you. And by the way, happy anniversary!” with that, she left the house, slamming the door hard behind her. He picked up their framed wedding photo and flung it across the room.
As the frame and glass shattered, a phone beeped loudly. Her phone. And it beeped again. He picked it up and checked it, there were a couple messages from Raj, “Hey! Happy Anniversary! So? Did he like the gift? I am assuming you gave it to him by now, it is past midnight. He must have been so surprised, not expecting you to get him the watch he liked so much on me. You can thank me later for getting you a good deal, for now, just enjoy your day! He doesn’t deserve you, that lucky bugger!”
Picture credits: YouTube
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Rajshri Deshpande, who played the fiery protagonist in Trial by Fire along with Abhay Deol speaks of her journey and her social work.
Rajshri Deshpande as the protagonist in ‘Trial by Fire’, the recent Netflix show has received raving reviews along with the show itself for its sensitive portrayal of the Uphaar Cinema Hall fire tragedy, 1997 and its aftermath.
The limited series is based on the book by the same name written by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost both their children in the tragedy. We got an opportunity to interview Rajshri Deshpande who played Neelam Krishnamoorthy, the woman who has been relentlessly crusading in the court for holding the owners responsible for the sheer negligence.
Rajshri Deshpande is more than an actor. She is also a social warrior, the rare celebrity from the film industry who has also gone back to her roots to give to poverty struck farming villages in her native Marathwada, with her NGO Nabhangan Foundation. Of course a chance to speak with her one on one was a must!
“What is a woman’s job, Ramesh? Taking care of parents-in-law, husband, children, home and things at work—all at the same time? She isn’t God or a superhuman."
The arrays of workstations were occupied by people peering into their computer screens. The clicks of keyboard keys were punctuated by the occasional footsteps moving around to brainstorm or collaborate with colleagues in their cubicles. Most employees went about their tasks without looking at the person seated on either side of their workstation. Meenakshi was one of them.
The thirty-one-year-old marketing manager in a leading eCommerce company in India sat straight in her seat, her eyes on the screen, her fingers punching furiously into the keys. She was in a flow and wanted to finish the report while the thoughts and words were coming effortlessly into her mind.
Natu-Natu. The mellifluous ringtone interrupted her thoughts. She frowned at her mobile phone with half a mind to keep it ringing until she noticed the caller’s name on the screen, making her pick up the phone immediately.
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