Serendipity

33

Anupama had ordered and GK had agreed that Anuj was to take the next week off to focus on his health. While his recovery seemed to be on track, there was still a lot of fatigue. Given the fact that he'd barely managed to wiggle his way back into their good books, and that he was still dependent on them, he didn't dare argue. He didn't believe in pushing his luck.

It was one such afternoon. After having served Anuj his lunch in his room, and having ensured that he was sleeping, Anupama was relaxing on the living room couch. She was reading a book she'd borrowed from his bookshelf, Agnigarbha - a collection of short stories by Mahasweta Devi. While the original was in Bengali, Anupama held a Gujarati translation.

The story she was reading was titled Draupadi. It revolved around a tribal rebel named Dopdi who is accused of being a Naxal, picked up by the police, gang-raped to extract information, and then asked to cover up. Dopdi, however, rips off her clothes and walks towards the officer, her nakedness a symbol of defiance, daring the authorities to peek into their own souls.

"ANUPAMA!" She hastily looked at the wall clock in the room. It was 7 pm. Vanraj's dinner time. She'd been quietly laying down in her room, unwell, running a temperature. She hadn't told anyone in the house about her health. Leela would only find a creative way to blame her parents and her upbringing for her mild temperature. She needed to rest, and she didn't have the energy to listen to taunts that she was certain would get flung her way.

Her neighbour had been kind and had handed her some medicines through the bedroom window. The medication had made her drowsy and unknowingly she'd taken a nap.

On hearing Vanraj's voice, she'd tried to quickly get up. But her head had spun, forcing her to sit down on the bed once again.

Before she could make her way out of the room, Vanraj had come looking for her.

"It's 7 pm and maharani here is taking a nap," he'd commented sarcastically, on seeing Anupama sitting on the bed.

"I'll lay the table."

"No need. I already had dinner outside."

She looked at him stumped. If he'd already had dinner, why was he looking for her?

He looked at her and looked away. Admiring himself in the mirror, he said: "There are others in the house who are waiting to eat dinner. If you'd only care..."

She shook her head and made her way to the living room, only to be told by her mother-in-law that she'd become lazy and that the dinner tasted terrible.

Nobody asked her how she felt. Nobody asked her what was wrong. Nobody cared. Nobody treated her as a family member. To the Shah family, she was a living, breathing robot.

*****

She'd just finished reading the story when the doorbell rang. It was Sheela who opened the door and hesitantly let in the AK Group's General Manager, Vijay Mathur.

"Yes Mr Mathur?" Anupama asked, placing her finger inside the book before closing it, and crossing her hands in front of her.

Vijay seemed unsure. Ever since Anuj had fallen ill, every phone call, and message to the landline and Anuj's cellphone had been thwarted by Anupama. His core staff was wary of her, something both Anupama and GK had found secretly amusing. Like other members of his team, Vijay, when he'd decided to make a trip to Anuj's house, had counted on not bumping into Anupama.

"Ma'am," Vijay cleared his throat, shuffling his feet, showing her was nervous about this unexpected meet. "I need to urgently meet Mr. Kapadia. I have some important documents that I need him to sign."