4
PM. 28th July, 2008. I was in a mood to finish my work very rapidly.
My colleagues, Arathi, Ritika, Subha, Amit, Aaraj, all were puzzled what
happened to me that day….wondered who had pushed on my SMART BUTTON.
At
4:30 PM, I rushed to New Friends’ colony flower market, straight from the
office. I was at max speed at shops. Could not accelerate more than this, no
space to waste even 5 mins. Quickly bought a cake… pineapple cake, his
favourite.
Picked
up a few colourful papers and chocolates from nearby stationary shop. I already
had bought a Titan Watch last week from South Ex.
My
unconscious mind was continuously ringing a bell that I would have to reach
home by 6:30 PM at least, as he might come home anytime after 7 PM.
But,
oh…suddenly, it started lightening, and I could sense as if there would be a
heavy thunderstorm… Gradually, the sky became murky, dark, and the wind
eventually taking its speed to be stormy…
Luckily,
I reached home exactly at 6:28 PM. Took all the stuff carefully from my car and
kept all of them at my secret corners.
In
few minutes, it started pouring cats and dogs. For few minutes, there was a
hailstorm too. I dialed his number. He was still in office, could not talk to
me; Disconnected the phone after conveying the message that he was busy in a
meeting and would be little late.
Finally,
most important task remained, was to copy the long poem on a colourful paper, which
I had written for the special occasion. I penned it down quickly, put it in a
lovely envelop and kept under the mattress. I kept the Titan watch, wrapped in
a glittered box, under the bed. The cake, I put inside the wardrobe very
carefully, along with a beautiful candle
and a match box. Two red roses in a flower vase, I kept behind the dressing
table.
It
was 8 PM. The kitchen time for the belly service for the special dinner! I
bought Cheetol Maas while coming back from New Friends’ colony community
centre. And, food was ready by 9 PM.
All
set as per plan. Everything, I was doing sooo fast….Thank God, it was Friday!
It
was still raining heavily. I switched on the TV. NDTV, Zee News, Aaj Tak, all
were showing that there were heavy traffic jam everywhere in Delhi because of
the rain.
9:30
PM. I called him up. He told me that he had just started from Connaught Place.
11
PM. The calling bell rang. I opened the door. He took almost two hours to travel
just a 10 km distance.
“It
was heavy traffic jam! Hey….I am extremely tired and hungry…..Is dinner ready?”
“Yep….everything….
I mean, all set…”
Quickly,
I set up the dining table. He freshened up and started grabbing the dinner as
if he was hungry for many days…..
“How
is the Cheetol maas?” I had to ask as it was his favourite fish.
“Oh…was
it Cheetol maas? Sorry, I didn’t realise..” Aaah!!!...My effort went in vain…But, I
wondered being a Bong and a pro in recognizing fishes, what happened to him. I
tasted the fish once again, it was fine and tasty.
He
quickly finished his food and in no time reached the bed. It’s really an unusual
scenario, as he always helped me in settling the kitchen after dinner.
I
finished my kitchen chores and went to the bed room, where I could see him
snoring…..
I
consoled myself ….”No worry, Madhu…. you got good amount of time to arrange
everything. He might had a bad and busy day, and the heavy traffic made him
extremely tired….. Madhu, Empathy! Empathy! Sympathy!”
I put one
bright table-cloth on a movable table.
Suddenly,
the calling bell rang. I looked at the wall clock – It was 12 Mid-night!
Another
bell!!!
I maintained
silence…
Another
bell…
He got up
from the bed, an expression of wrath was clearly visible in his face…
Went to
the living room, opened the door without peeping through the door hole.
“Are you
Mr. Das?”
“Yes,
tell me..”
“This
bouquet is for you”
“No, no,
I didn’t order any bouquet… Sorry! Wrong address.”
Mr. Das
was almost to close the door…
“No Sir,
this is for you… from your wife, Happy Anniversary, Sir!”
“OK…” He
took the bunch of 100 roses from the guy, closed the door, kept it on the
dining table and came back to the bed room with empty hands…
“Happy
Anniversaryyyyyyy!!!!!” I wished him with my 32 teeth smile… with full excitement.
I was ready with the Cake and had lit the candle too. I thought to give the
gifts one after another after cutting the cake….
I could
see his red eyes…undoubtedly, even in the candle light…
He
somehow managed to stand for a while, he hold the knife and was in hurry to cut
the cake. I hold his hand, we hastily cut the cake, and I put one piece into
his mouth. He took the bite and fell on the bed immediately….restarted his
snoring within half a minute.
I ate one
piece by myself….kept the cake in the refrigerator. Didn’t find anything to do
other than sleeping.
Next
morning.
He woke
me up. I saw him sitting next to me with a euphoric smile, holding a tray with
two cups of tea, two pieces of cake and the bouquet of 100 roses which he had received
from me last night.
My eyes
fell down on those 2 roses I kept on the table while cutting the cake previous
night, as if they were giving a sarcastic smile on me…..
Now, it
was my turn- THE DRAMA QUEEN, closed my eyes again to show as if I still felt
sleepy, actually tried to figure out…… what should be my next reactions and
actions…..
To be
continued in my next wedding anniversary…… ;)
