Bhoomika felt terrible. It was a common emotion post their never-so-pleasant sessions in bed. For one, no matter how hard she tried, she could never respond in the way he wanted.
Anand was always rough. And he expected her to be as wild. Being sore and hurt in places after an episode of ‘making love’ wasn’t something that was new to her. At times, she felt that he wanted to prove something. She just couldn’t figure out what.
As of today, Anand was being a sourpuss like always. Their session didn’t last long. He did what he wanted and slipped out of bed without a word. Wearing the worst scowl humanly possible, he cleaned himself up, put on a shirt and stormed out of the house without a spot of breakfast. He didn’t really like her food anyway.
It stung her every single time. Did I do something wrong, she always wondered? Yes, she concluded. They’ve been together for seven long years, and it’s entire
As Dev’s train pulled into the crossroad that evening, the beautiful mouth-watering aroma of a delicious curry floated in through the bars, one that immediately reminded him of home and of his mother’s cooking. His taste buds tingled as it strongly brought to mind that divine, crispy, goldenbhatureand tangy chole masala he had two weeks ago when he had visited his mom. There were many households in that area and it was hard to pinpoint where exactly it was coming from, that is, until, the train stopped right across Bhoomika’s house.The white lights from her kitchen’s veranda shone like crystal specks in his eyes as he caught sight of her in the garden, picking on fresh curry leaves and cherry red tomatoes.He wondered what she could be cooking as he lingered on how the setting sun cast its orange hue on her hair, making it look like smooth, polished sheets of burnt copper.He noticed that s
That evening, dinner was exceptionally silent for Anand and Bhoomika. Not that they shared any conversation otherwise. They hardly spoke to each other. And even when they did, it was barely a handful of words, only because it was absolutely essential. When in close quarters, there was always an air of unrest, of uncertainty.Anand was unpredictable. One could never figure out when he’d snap and for what. As of now, it was so quiet that one could even hear their fingers touching their dinner plates.Anand tore out a piece of the roti, dipped it in the sabzi and stuffed it into his mouth. Visibly, it looked appealing to anyone, but he never appreciated it. “The curry is good,” he said out of the blue, surprising Bhoomika enough to make her steal a glance at him before returning her gaze to her plate.He studied her fiddling with her food, rolling it several times in the curry before putting it back on the plate
When Dev’s usual train pulled up at the crossing the following day, Bhoomika was in the backyard spreading wet laundry on the line. She peeked out from behind one of the sarees fluttering before her and eyed the door of the train, but he wasn’t there. Heart racing a little, she craned her neck further and scanned the windows, but he wasn’t there either. She stood there, waiting, hoping to get a glimpse of him and alleviate the fears that had been building inside her since last evening. But alas, despite the express train whipping past, and this train slowly chugging out, he was nowhere to be seen.With a sinking feeling, she retreated from view. There was a storm brewing in her mind. How come he never turned up today, could he be ill? Or, is he avoiding me on purpose?She was dead sure that he’d seen her getting hit by Anand last evening. Anand was one who never wasted an opportunity at that. He always made sure he put up an act before oth
Another Monday dawned.Streets teemedwith men and womenracingahead of time, kidsshuttlingbetween tuitions and school, and bone-worn seniorssoakingup the post-winter sun.At a suburban railway station,DevangChaudhary,early thirties, grunted, groaned, and squeezed through the door of a crowded local train along with ten others.He was the kind of white-collar executive you’d bump into at a busy station every day – neat formals, unbuttoned collar, and a laptop strapped over the shoulder.“Dude! Watch it!” he snapped when his laptopcrusheddangerously amidst sweaty bodies.He plopped in through the train’s door and grabbed the first thing he could to break his fall: hand straps.The train inched for
The day started with Dev taking charge asthe company’sIT Project Lead.Heintroduced himself to his team and spent a while getting to know them in return. He laid out plans on how to get things moving. *** Past noon,Devexited the conference roomafter a long sessionwith his team. Heordered lunchon his way to his cabinandwas about to enterwhenhis phone rang. “Hello beautiful,” he answered as he walked through the door. “Busy?”A sweet voiceresponded from the other end. “I was, just got free. And now, I’m waiting for my lunch. You?”He plopped onto his chair, making it creak. “I’m done long back, you know me.” “Of course, we’ve been on countless breakfast, lunch, and dinner dates together.&nbs
Over the next few days, the same routineplayedonlike a broken record.The door turned out to beDev’s favorite spot in the day.Though the vile, disgustingstenchhungaround for a couple of minutes, the rest of the journeywasenjoyable.As for the balding man, he’d becomeless coldthan their first meeting. He bore his large, white, horse-like teethandchattedto glory withDev.Hisdarkskin, dazzling white teeth, andwarm,kindeyes were intriguing. To top it off, he had a funny voice, like he had a mouth full of hot potatoes.“Kamal is the name,” the balding guy stated proudly, “what’s yours?”“Dev.”Like always, the train pulled up at the crossing. Dev peeked out of the railings, searching for t
The first day of a new week started on a low note with Dev being late and missing his usual train to work. He’d reached his rented place quite late the previous evening, and after attending to a couple of chores and dinner, it was way beyond his normal schedule. This morning, he felt zapped out. He was groggy and yawned every now and then. How he wished he could have slept some more! The meeting with the Saxenas was a pleasant one, especially seeing Ruhi after so long. She had transformed from a cheesy, irritating girl to a gorgeous, smart, intelligent and decent, independent woman. With all her class and elegance, she kind of made him nervous. “Whoa!!!” A voice shot into his ears. Dev tore his eyes open. He’d dozed off and almost fallen off the train when a fellow passenger caught him just in time and broke his fall.“Brother, you had fallen asleep, you nearly fell off t
From across the track, she glared at him, a thousand questions in her eyes. He swallowed hard, struggling to hold her gaze. She fiddled with a wet shirt, unable to do anything other than attempting to discourage him with a hard, deadly stare. To say that she was petrified would be an understatement. The phone in his hand freaked her out. Clearly, he was shooting her; just like the many perverts she had seen and heard of. Eyes deadlocked on him; she wrapped her pallu around her bare waist. Gingerly, he turned off the cam and lowered his phone, feeling sheepish.The battle of the stares was cut short when the local train slapped past from the opposite direction with a loud bellow of its horn. He fought to see through the blur, but he could see nothing. When the train passed, she was gone, and they were moving. &n
When Dev’s usual train pulled up at the crossing the following day, Bhoomika was in the backyard spreading wet laundry on the line. She peeked out from behind one of the sarees fluttering before her and eyed the door of the train, but he wasn’t there. Heart racing a little, she craned her neck further and scanned the windows, but he wasn’t there either. She stood there, waiting, hoping to get a glimpse of him and alleviate the fears that had been building inside her since last evening. But alas, despite the express train whipping past, and this train slowly chugging out, he was nowhere to be seen.With a sinking feeling, she retreated from view. There was a storm brewing in her mind. How come he never turned up today, could he be ill? Or, is he avoiding me on purpose?She was dead sure that he’d seen her getting hit by Anand last evening. Anand was one who never wasted an opportunity at that. He always made sure he put up an act before oth
That evening, dinner was exceptionally silent for Anand and Bhoomika. Not that they shared any conversation otherwise. They hardly spoke to each other. And even when they did, it was barely a handful of words, only because it was absolutely essential. When in close quarters, there was always an air of unrest, of uncertainty.Anand was unpredictable. One could never figure out when he’d snap and for what. As of now, it was so quiet that one could even hear their fingers touching their dinner plates.Anand tore out a piece of the roti, dipped it in the sabzi and stuffed it into his mouth. Visibly, it looked appealing to anyone, but he never appreciated it. “The curry is good,” he said out of the blue, surprising Bhoomika enough to make her steal a glance at him before returning her gaze to her plate.He studied her fiddling with her food, rolling it several times in the curry before putting it back on the plate
As Dev’s train pulled into the crossroad that evening, the beautiful mouth-watering aroma of a delicious curry floated in through the bars, one that immediately reminded him of home and of his mother’s cooking. His taste buds tingled as it strongly brought to mind that divine, crispy, goldenbhatureand tangy chole masala he had two weeks ago when he had visited his mom. There were many households in that area and it was hard to pinpoint where exactly it was coming from, that is, until, the train stopped right across Bhoomika’s house.The white lights from her kitchen’s veranda shone like crystal specks in his eyes as he caught sight of her in the garden, picking on fresh curry leaves and cherry red tomatoes.He wondered what she could be cooking as he lingered on how the setting sun cast its orange hue on her hair, making it look like smooth, polished sheets of burnt copper.He noticed that s
Bhoomika felt terrible. It was a common emotion post their never-so-pleasant sessions in bed. For one, no matter how hard she tried, she could never respond in the way he wanted.Anand was always rough. And he expected her to be as wild. Being sore and hurt in places after an episode of ‘making love’ wasn’t something that was new to her. At times, she felt that he wanted to prove something. She just couldn’t figure out what.As of today, Anand was being a sourpuss like always. Their session didn’t last long. He did what he wanted and slipped out of bed without a word. Wearing the worst scowl humanly possible, he cleaned himself up, put on a shirt and stormed out of the house without a spot of breakfast. He didn’t really like her food anyway.It stung her every single time. Did I do something wrong, she always wondered? Yes, she concluded. They’ve been together for seven long years, and it’s entire
“What? What is it?” asked Kamal curiously and followed his gaze to the backyard of the house across.Standing on the kitchen veranda and checking herself out in the mirror was Bhoomika. She looked beyond ravishing in that jet-black salwar she was in. The fabric hugged and defined the curls and curves of her elegant frame. Flowing down her shoulder was a crisp red dupatta with a generously printed border.Flashing his pearly white teeth, Kamal turned back to Dev who looked completely lost.Bhoomika tossed her luscious mane, allowing the sun to comb through her rich, copper strands.How can anyone be this beautiful,crossed a thought in Dev’s head. It took him a moment to realize that her amber orbs were already locked with his chocolate brown ones.Through the noise, there was an air of dead silence as they searched the depths of each other’s soul through their eye
Bhoomika raked her wet hair before the mirror in the kitchen veranda. She’d just finished her morning shower. It was a routine that she stuck to religiously. In a way, it helped her to relax.Despite the mirror being smaller to the one inside, she preferred it over the other, mainly because there was plenty of light outside compared to the dark and dingy room. She also felt more secure. Her creepy husband, Anand, had the bad habit of sneaking up on her almost all the time. She loathed him for that besides a lot of other things. The very thought of him led her eyes to rest on the purplish bruises around her neck, that of fingers. The night before, he had strangulated her to the point of death.***Flashback***Bhoomika struggled hard, fighting to pry open Anand’s iron clutches around her neck, wheezing through the tiny gap that was left in her throat. The pressure built to dangerous levels so much that her
Being the weekend, Dev hit the tracks on a different train. It had more standing space than the usual ones, yet, he chose to stick around the entrance and savor the cool breeze whipping against his face.All night, the rain had drenched the thirsty earth to its heart’s content. It was a cozy morning, the perfect day to be in bed tucked under warm covers, wake up to a late coffee, and have a lazy brunch. But here he was on his daily routine. The fact was he was in no mood to stay under the blankets. On one end, he had his job to look after, and on the other, there was this large chicken that he was looking forward to seeing.He had become so used to seeing her that a single day without it never felt right. There were two real reasons for him to hit work on a weekend. One, he can save himself from his mother’s nagging about marriage and anything and everything to do with marriage. Two, he also wanted to see her. He had no cluewhy
Bhoomika toweled her hair before the mirror. She’d just finished a quick shower. It was her habit to do so before bed.The rain was deafening with occasional flashes of lightning flooding the gloomily lit room. Yet, Bhoomika wasn’t aware of the man’s reflection in the mirror. She was standing with her back to the door. It wasn’t until the stench of cigarettes hits her that she realized she wasn’t alone. When she caught his steely gaze in the mirror, her heart lurched in surprise.She dared not turn around. There was something very intimidating about him that she couldn’t hold his gaze. Was it his piercing stare? Or his overbearing masculinity? Or something much more terrifying?Smirking back at her through the mirror, he quietly slipped closer, making her heart beat harder and her breaths shallower. He wrapped an arm around her soft, cold waist, tipped her chin towards him, and planted a gentle ki
Today, Dev was in exceptionally high spirits. Things at the workplace took a 180-degree turn from awful to awesome. Deals fell in place just like that, all obstacles magically vanished, superiors were pleased with him, and ‘funny’ people became extremely cooperative. Weird, isn’t it? He could only pinpoint his good luck to one factor: the Murgi. Something about her was extremely auspicious. Getting a glimpse of her early in the day seemed to work wonders, at least for him, or was he just being ridiculously superstitious? *** Bhoomika stepped out into the backyard to pluck some vegetables for lunch. Yes, that was Murgi’s real name, something which Dev didn’t know yet. She spotted a neighborhood woman and gave a sweet, inviting smile, but the woman simply scooted back into her house. Her face dropped. She was trying to get used to this… people not returning her smile, not responding to her, avoiding her, but it