And he left for his official tour.
Her heart sank. She cried her heart out and began to realize the relevance of the messages Ravi’s cousin had sent her on the day of her mehendi. She did not want to talk to Ravi or see his face any more. Deepti remembered her 3 a.m. friend and called him for advice.
Deepti told her 3 a.m. friend the whole story of her second marriage and the difficulties she was facing. Her friend listened to everything and said:
Living an independent life is not a crime, as long as he isn’t putting any restrictions on you. He is letting you live the way you want. Both of you are from different backgrounds. That girl left him, and everyone, including his own relatives, judged him during his bad time. If I were in his place, I would have been devastated. I think he is a very courageous man. I don’t think he would trust any other woman so easily. I have met him at your wedding; he is a nice, reasonable guy. Give him some time. All your fights are ego clashes. Your ego is ruining your relationship. Keep your ego aside. Nowadays, women are self-sufficient. They are able to take care of themselves. Isn’t it true? I mean, if he restricts you from doing something, will you listen to him? No. Why would you? You take responsibility for your own actions. Look at your mom and dad—your dad cares so much for your mom. He does this because he knows that she can’t do anything without his help. Does this apply in your case? Let him care for you first. Love will follow. You are both having a hard time with each other. Do not even think about a child right now.
Deepti listened to him carefully and began to understand her husband’s point of view. She pondered her friend’s words the entire afternoon. ‘Yes, I was economically dependent on my first husband for some years of our marriage. That’s why things went smoothly,’ she thought.
She wanted to do whatever it took to make this marriage work. At night, Ravi gave her a call. He spoke as if nothing had happened in the morning. She responded normally as well.
As the days passed, Deepti would deliberately make small mistakes in her tasks, due to which Ravi started to believe that Deepti might need his assistance in some of her important tasks. A sense of care started getting established between them. To take it to the next level, Deepti started to take his opinion in her important decisions. Talking to him about what had happened in her office was her routine. Ravi also started sharing with her events of his day at work and his fitness routine. Day by day the communication between them grew. They started liking each other’s company like friends. They did not realize when they started to pour their hearts out to each other.
Four months after their wedding . . .
Sitting alone in the balcony and sipping the hot chocolate, Deepti realized that a small compromise on her ego changed the situation around her dramatically. She knew this was just the beginning and that there were miles to go before winning his love and trust. Old ladies say, ‘A child can bring your partner closer.’ So she thought, ‘If I am pregnant, this will be another step towards Ravi’s heart.’
She believed that love was coming soon . . . She was sure of it.
* Kolam is an auspicious design drawn on the floor with rice flour, which also acts as food for ants and birds.
* The dance steps in a performance.
* Black coffee.
† The temple where a performance takes place.
* A garment worn around the waist.
* A percussion-like instrument played in the southern parts of India.
Contributors
Dayal Punjabi is a self-published writer and poet. His debut collection under his pen name Amaranthine Poetry, Notes from the Heart, became a bestseller on Kindle India. He currently serves as the content head at Storiyaan.com
Sucharita Date is an undergraduate student in Chennai. Her love for reading inspired her to take up writing at the age of sixteen. She has since written a number of short stories, mainly for children, as well as poetry, and has been working on a novel for the past few months. She aspires to publish a book one day. When she is not reading or writing, Sucharita likes to spend her time cycling, trekking and listening to Billy Joel.
Sai Nithin can usually be found reading a fantasy novel in the last bench of his class. He enjoys gazing at the stars and riding his bicycle with his earphones plugged in. One of his dreams is to see his name printed on the cover of a novel. He lives in Hyderabad and is pursuing his college degree. He can be contacted at [email protected]
Ruby Gupta is the bestselling author of eight books, including the murder mystery No Illusions in Xanadu published by Bloomsbury, the suspenseful A Degree in Death (long-listed for the Crossword Book Award) and the mystical Maya: A Novel. Her books on technical communication, published by Cambridge, are part of the syllabi of various universities. An awardee of the Group Study Exchange programme for the US by Rotary International, she is also the recipient of the Pratibha Samman Award. She is professor and HoD, Humanities, at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.
Anuj Dutt is a writer of short stories, articles and poems. He has been writing since he was twelve years old. He stays in Bengaluru with his two daughters, wife, a dachshund and a pug. He is passionate about animal welfare, amateur radio and Sherlock Holmes. He is currently ‘curating’ a detective in the pages of his notebook, which he believes could overshadow Karamchand and Sherlock Holmes one day.
Rachita Ramya is an author, a practising public health researcher, and a dentist by training. She has worked on projects on mental health and health disparities. Rachita’s debut book, Radical Politics of Indian Love, has also won an award in a writers’ group in California, the US. She lives with her sister in New York City, who is a scientist at the New York Stem Cell Foundation.
Rupali Tiwari graduated as a homoeopath in 2015, but couldn’t digest the mundane lifestyle of having a full-time job or running her own clinic. Books have been her solace since childhood. She pursued her passion to write after she completed her studies. Over the years, her stories have been a source of entertainment, inspiration and awe among her friends and family, and she often comes out of her shell to share it with the world.
Pooja Dubey is an author, psychologist, strategist, researcher and trainer with more than thirteen years of experience in writing. She left no stone unturned to develop her skill in writing and has an indefatigable capacity to produce different forms of writing, which include fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and content in the academic, technical, creative, business, marketing, philosophical and spiritual domains.
Aarthika Mathialagan is a twenty-two-year-old literature student who loves to read and watch fiction. She loves to review novels and even won the first prize in a book-review competition.
Mohammad Afroz is an engineer by profession and a storyteller by heart. When his Hogwarts letter didn’t arrive when he was eleven, Dumbledore himself introduced him to a different kind of magic— books. And one day he hopes to lend the same magic to people in need through the stories he writes.
Praneetha Gutta is a software engineer by profession and a writer by passion. If she is not in front of her laptop doing her office work, she is either sitting with a book or in front of the television. Her other works include You Are Mine: So Are Your Dreams Too and a short story named ‘It’s Time to Regret’. Currently, she is active on Wattpad and StoryMirror, where you can read her stories and poems. She also loves watching cricket, especially when M.S. Dhoni is at the crease. You can reach her at