"We went for shopping and then a movie..And you know what the movie was dam good...." remarked Seema , my collegue and one of my good friends.
But who knows what destiny had in store for her.
I still remember the date. It was 5th March. As I entered my office sharp at 9:30 am I found her sitting at her cubicle with heads down and hands clutching her long hairs - a sign of stress or exhaustion. I was surprising as she is never that early to office anyday. Then suddenly I recollected that she had told me about her fight with her husband yesterday .
At about 10:30 a.m after finishing some client calls and replying to some emails I thought of asking her to go for a cup of tea. As I approached her cabin she gave me a quite blank look. I could make out from her sleep deprived and tired red eyes that she had cried all night and was not at all fit for office that day. Being cautious on not to indulge in her personal matters too much I casually asked her " Hey Seema what happened yaar,wanna go for a tea?"
At the cafeteria Seema broke down " I cant take it any more Rashmi, I simply cant. I want to die."
After consoling her for almost an hour she finally disclosed that the main reason behind all her problems was her husband being extremely suspicious about her. As for a lady like Seema was it was never a problem to befriend anybody. Her's was a love marriage but somehow her husband was suspicious about her right from the beginning. And this time he was seriously suspecting Seema having an extra marital affair with a guy in her office named Kaushik. Seema and Kaushik were good friends right from their college days but somehow her husband was uncomfortable about this fact.And hence a series of misunderstandings and quarrels followed making her life as hell .
I kept on consoling her knowing very well that this cant actually heal the pain she is suffering from. After another half and hour she calmed down but decided to leave for the day citing some health issues to her supervisor.
The moment she stepped out, a group of team members gathered for a gossip. They were somehow aware of all her personal issues and found that to be a great masala topic to discuss and laugh.Curious to know what was going on I joined the group.
" Arrey her character is highly suspicious. Being a married woman if she goes on having affairs with others how can her husband tolerate that? I have asked him to keep an eye on her. Had it been me I would have straight away divorced such a bitch." said Sandeep.
I protested "But why on this earth did you try to say anything to her husband? First of all its her life. She has the right to do anything . We are nobody to comment. And that to complaining directly to her husband is like......." Sandeep cut me in the middle of the sentence " Arrey choro bbhi Rashmi , I know she is a good friend of yours but truth is truth and it would have been the same had it been you or any other woman.The society is not so liberal to allow any married woman have another relationship outside her marriage"
Extremely irritated I went back to my seat and resumed work thinking how disgusting can people be at some times.
Next day as I was leaving for my office I got a call from Kaushik. He was unable to speak.After gathering a lot of courage he finally said " Rashmi, Seema is no more. She has committed suicide last night. And I am guilty for her death."
Needless to say I was extremely shocked. Without uttering another word I took a taxi straight to her house. There was a huge crowd. I slowly entered their drawing room only to find her dead body wrapped in a red saree and her mother crying too loudly. Her face looked calm as if she had finally attained the peace she was desperately seeking. Her husband Ashish stood at one corner of the house looking still. I couldnt believe that such a confident girl as Seema could end her life like this and how heartless can a man be to let her do that.
As my eyes met with that of Ashish's I questioned him in my mind " How could you let this happen?" But Ashish's eyes returned me a look saying "I never wanted this thing to happen."
They had a serious fight last night after which Seema left the house. She was driving the car which collided with a truck on the highway. She was rushed to the hospital by the local where she was declared brought dead. Somebody called up Ashish after taking number from her cell and informed him about the happenings.
As her final rituals were performed Sandeep stood by her funeral pyre and told to himself "Sorry my dear lady. Had you ever understood how much I love you , today you could have been alive. I am sorry to see you dead but seeing you in somebody else's arm was equally painful for me. I had no option but to provoke your husband. And since I share a very good relationship with you 2 nobody can suspect that it was me who did all the things which could make it evident that you were having an extra marital affair. I just wanted you to leave him and come to me. But it wasnt destined to. Good bye my love. We shall meet again , this time in heaven and this time you will be only mine."
The next day the newspaper read " A woman died in a road accident: Love triangle suspected"
The police arrested Kaushik following a complaint from Ashish but released him soon as there were no proofs.
