The Necklace

 

It was a beautiful necklace.

More beautiful, since it was a gift from her husband. 

But, Nalini had not put it on even once. 

She desired certain changes. 

Though everyone who saw the necklace, found it to be exquisite, she was not satisfied. 

The necklace consisted of shiny black pearls, the central piece was oval in shape and bigger than the rest. The smaller pearls were octagonal and linked to each other with golden rods.

Initially, she got the golden links changed with silver ones.

But even that did not look good enough. 

Next, she got the central black pearl replaced with a white one but that also did not fit aptly.

Finally, she got it back to its original design. 

But she pondered continuously on how to get it into an ideal shape.

The necklace was presented to her ten years back. 

Nalini Mahadevan was a housewife. 

And Rupesh was a successful businessman.

He had seen her at a family marriage function and it was love at first sight.

But the delicacies of this love withered soon after marriage. 

The husband got too busy with work to give adequate time to his wife. 

She ate alone, shopped alone and lived alone. 

She hoped the situation would improve after she gave birth to an adorable son.

But as it happened, she raised him alone. 

Rupesh was frequently out on business trips, sometimes out of India.

Somesh hardly saw his parents together.

When he went to school, his father was asleep.

And when Rupesh returned from the office late at night, the kid was already in bed.

He spent most of his time with his mother.

Though she loved him, she came across as a forgotten and stoic woman. 

Years of separation had turned her into an Island. 

She let the world be and in turn, craved for solitude.

Today was their tenth wedding anniversary. 

Rupesh was out of town as usual. 

It was eleven O’ clock at night.

Somesh had already gone to bed. 

She sat in her armchair reading a magazine. 

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

 “Who could it be at this time?”

She was apprehensive. 

She switched on the corridor light and looked through the eye hole. 

It was Rupesh.

 He looked dead tired.

 She went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water.

 When she came back, he hugged her from behind and     covered her eyes with his hands . 

    

 ‘Don’t open your eyes’.

 ‘But why?’

 Slowly, he led her to the dining table and removed his hands. 

 A beautiful anniversary cake was placed on the dining table.

 A bouquet of red and white roses made the air fragrant. 

 He lit a candle and stuck it in the middle of the cake. 

Then he took out the camera, adjusted the self timer and positioned it on the opposite shelf.

‘Come.’ 

He held her hand and together, they cut the cake. 

The multiple flashes lighted up their faces. 

 “Happy anniversary”, he said softly and put a small piece of cake in her mouth.

‘ I’ll get you something to eat.’

 She went to the kitchen again.

 Rupesh relaxed on the sofa.

 She looked at his face through the kitchen door. 

His handsome features were hidden behind a French cut beard. 

Off late, he has been wearing spectacles also.

 ‘Who would believe that he was a state level cricketer once?’

There was a tenderness on his face which moderated his features. 

She remembered how he had climbed the boundary wall of her parental home on her 22nd birthday to present her with a rose. 

After marriage, the man changed.

 ‘I am doing it for you, Somesh and our family,’ he would always say. 

‘But what’s the use if we can’t be together.’

‘That adjustment everyone has to make.’ 

And that adjustment cost her; her entire youth and it was not clear how it benefited all of them.

She arranged a few dishes on the tray and moved to the dining table. 

Rupesh had probably gone to sleep while waiting for her.

She noticed an envelope on the side table beside the sofa. 

She picked it up.

There was a letter inside. 

"My dear Nalini, 

It’s strange writing a letter to you on a subject of this nature.

But I felt it would be a better option than talking about it. 

In the last ten years, I have given you nothing. 

I deemed that a big house, a car and a credit card were sufficient to fulfill my obligations. 

I have been continuously running around to earn what I could never find time to enjoy and in the process, I neglected two most important people in my life – you and Somesh. 

 What for?

 And why?

 I don’t know.

 Now, at this juncture in my life, I feel totally exhausted.

I am staring in vacuum. 

I have given up everything and come back to you. 

I don’t know whether it will be so simple for you to forget such a long period of neglect, loneliness and silent suffering. 

Will you forgive me?

Please do.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to live. 

  Yours only, 

  Rupesh" 

It was one O’ clock at night. 

She came out and stood in the balcony.

A few vehicles still moved on the road, their headlights forming strange patterns on the wall behind her as also on her face.

She still held the letter in her hand. 

It fluttered continuously in the wind. 

Everything moved like a flash back on the screen of her mind. 

How painful were those moments of endless waiting which never materialized into anything. How Somesh used to miss his father.

How their home always bore a desolate look.

How she ultimately lost contact with the world around her and turned into a hermit.

She looked up. 

Dawn had broken in.

A cool gentle breeze began to blow from the East.

Soon, it started raining. 

As the raindrops fell on the piece of paper, the ink slowly began to melt away. 

As she let it go; it glided down into a stream of water and slowly faded away. 

She felt his touch on her shoulders.

She turned around.

A heavy shower poured now but none of them moved. 

The rain drops mixed with their tears. 

She embraced him as if never to let him go again. 

He buried his face into her shoulders and cried like a baby. 

After a while, they moved inside.

As she went into the washroom, she looked into the mirror.

She was surprised to find a smiling face. 

After a long time, she felt like dressing up well.

She opened her almirah and took out the necklace. 

It was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen - flawless and complete in all respects. 

She put it on.

She looked gorgeous.