Antarāya-timir'opaśāntaye (To Resolve the Darkness of Obstacles)

Chapter Two

As they moved from person to person, from table to table, serving food together for their thanksgiving dinner at Pooswami Old Age Home, Raghav watched Pallavi with admiration. This was the woman who had outfoxed him. This was his Pallavi, with her pallu modestly tucked around her belly where his Arjun was growing. A glimpse of that belly gave Raghav a proud feeling of accomplishment, even though Pallavi had just told him - that very morning - that he was about to be arrested and his business empire, his life's work, would quickly crumble into an abyss of debt. Pallavi had broken his heart - and her own heart - for her principles, and this might be their last happy memory together.

Raghav's phone buzzed. He checked the message. "We'll meet again tonight. This is message no.1." He didn't recognize the number. Probably one of the girls who followed his social media. It was no secret that he was taken, but they couldn't resist flirting with him; he was Raghav Rao, after all. They'll probably learn to use snail mail just to write to me in prison, he thought cynically.

Pallavi was wearing a black candrakaḷā saree, shimmering with leaf-shaped golden spots. It had been Āī's gift to her when they celebrated her third month of pregnancy. Āī had selected it after watching an old Marathi movie (Punavecī Rāta, 1955) in which the heroine had worn a similar saree while dancing to a lovesong written by G. D. Madgulkar.

Ḍhagāvara dhaḍakalā ḍhaga, sakhyā re, ṭhiṇagī tyātūna uḍe

Tujhī an mājhī prīta vijecī, ujeḍa bhūtaḷī paḍe

Sakhyā re, ujeḍa bhūtaḷī paḍe!

A cloud collided with a cloud, my friend, from which a spark leaped

Your and my love is lightning, it lights up the ground below

My friend, it lights up the ground below!

Raghav certainly lit up my world when he collided with me, thought Pallavi, as she served the elderly people deftly and accepted their blessings with a smile. Is our love lightning then? Will we remember its beauty while we wait in the dark for it to reappear?

Raghav's phone buzzed again. "I have a send-off gift for you. This is message no.2." Predictable. This girl would send him a selfie next, and expect thanks for her gift - but why call it a send-off gift? Had the media somehow found out about the racketeering investigation into Jayati Jewels and reported his imminent arrest?

Pallavi was looking at Raghav with concern in her eyes. Her Ghamaṇḍī Rāva was surely hurting after their conversation that morning. Not only had she kept an existential crisis totally secret from him for months, she had pursued revenge while falling in love with him, and she wanted Raghav Rao to be someone that he had never been - yet - as a role model for Arjun. Could her Raghav get back on his feet after this triple blow to his ego? Whose text messages was he reading? Farhad's, perhaps, trying to build a team of defense lawyers?

There was the expected buzz. Raghav pulled out his phone, hoping to delete the anticipated selfie before Pallavi could see it. This was one of the uxorious habits that had developed in Raghav as he fell in love with Pallavi - he would conceal anything that might excite her jealousy. Of course, Pallavi, who was sending him to prison, where he might face any number of aggressive men demanding his companionship, wouldn't fuss about a mere selfie anymore.

There was no selfie. "I know where you are. This is message no.3." Raghav felt uneasy now. Could the mystery person really know what he never acknowledged in public, that Raghav Rao was the philanthropist Ramaswami? He had been found out before, when Anjali took her revenge on him. How many people had Anjali told? Raghav began to look at each of the staff standing around the room. There were a few unfamiliar faces, but that was not surprising, as Savitri jī was the one who hired staff for Pooswami Old Age Home. Maria conscientiously followed Raghav's instructions so that whenever he signed their paychecks, he saw their photographs, but it took time to memorize names and faces because Raghav rarely spoke to the staff, preferring to converse with the elderly residents. As Raghav's gaze travelled around the room, all of the staff were busy with their tasks, and no one was looking at him.