You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

CHASTE GANGES 

{11}

‘What is your name?’ she asked the man.

‘Raju, madam. Let me take your luggage,’ he said politely. She let him push the luggage trolley and lead the way. Once again she read Ronav’s note.

I am out of station for a week. An emergency meeting at the headquarters in Pune. I will be back next Thursday. Sorry for not informing you earlier. Love you.

She was mad at him not for his absence at the airport, rather because he was not in town for a week. Moreover he had not informed this to her earlier which further added fuel to her anger. She let out a long drawn breath which barely calmed her down. Following Raju, she reached the parking lot. He asked her to wait and strode away to fetch the car. Nithyayuvani restrained herself from calling Ronav, although she was aching to see him.

‘Nithya!’

Like a bolt from the blue, the familiar voice rang loud in her ears. For a moment she was paralysed with excitement and disappointment. When she turned around, he was there. About 25 yards away from her, Ronav stood with a smile on his face. The next moment her limbs moved by their own accord and she ran straight into him. Flinging her arms around his neck, she embraced him. He hugged her back crushing her to his chest. The fire of separation was put out in the rain of love. After a few long minutes he released her from his embrace and held up her face. To his surprise, her face was strewn with tears.

‘Hey darling, why are you crying?’ he asked startled.

‘Am I?’ she asked disbelievingly and touched her cheeks. Nithyayuvani was so overwhelmed, she had not even realized that the tears had escaped her eyes. She smiled at him shaking her head. He gently wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead.

‘Why do you always play such pranks on me?’

She gently pulled his ears.

‘Had I not done that you would not have reacted this way on seeing me!’ he quipped. She laughed at his words.

‘Maybe!’

‘Welcome to Mumbai, my princess,’ he said picking up a bunch of roses from the bench next to him and handed it to her. Even before she could say anything, he kissed her.

‘Shhh… we are still at the airport,’ she hissed.

‘I know. So what?’

He shrugged and pulled her into another deep kiss. She kissed him back and broke the kiss with a smile.

‘I love you, Ron.’

‘I love you too and I missed you so much,’ he said intensely.

‘Me too.’

They stared into each other’s eyes with longing and a sense of quiet satisfaction. They had suffered days of painful separation which had now come to an end after crossing so many hurdles. Hand in hand they walked towards the life which they had always dreamt of.

***

Krishna leaned back on the chair and stretched his arms. He was waiting in the boardroom for the other members of the HR team to assemble. It was the routine monthly meeting to discuss the company progress in the previous month and chart out the target plan for the present month. Malavika walked into the room with Shruthi and Suresh. Malavika did not even glance at him while the other two greeted him. They sat down and Krishna was about to begin the meeting, when Madhan walked in. He was the General Manager for the company’s India operation. Krishna was shocked because he was unaware about the GM joining them for the meeting while the others were not surprised. They greeted the GM and waited for him to begin the meeting. He was a no nonsense man and came straight to the point.

‘Mr Krishna, I have to discuss a matter of utmost importance with you. I am disappointed with your performance.’

Krishna shifted uneasily on his chair and glanced at Malavika. She had her gaze fixed on the GM.

‘Why did you recruit the candidate Shivani for the post of an accountant?’

Krishna heaved a sigh of relief.

So this is not about my behaviour towards Malavika.

‘Well, she is a double graduate in commerce with distinction. She performed well in the aptitude test and the interview. I have no doubt that she will be an asset to our company,’ he replied confidently.

‘An asset? Really? In what way can a transgender be an asset to our company? This is ridiculous!’

Silence prevailed in the entire room. Krishna looked around and found that the others were nodding their heads in agreement. They had been informed about this issue well in advance and they were going to agree with the boss as usual.

‘Are we going to reject a promising candidate just because that person belongs to the third gender?’

His voice was heavy with disappointment.

‘Of course! She is only going to corrupt the environment of this office. Where will a transgender fit in? Certainly the balance will be disturbed. Moreover I cannot get a restroom built exclusively for a transgender in this office,’ he sniggered.

The others giggled at his comment. Krishna felt so sick at their behaviour that he wanted to puke.

‘Then what was the need to even let Shivani attend the recruitment drive? You could have directly rejected her application!’ he said trying hard to keep his voice low.

Madhan smirked at his words.

‘Don’t ask silly questions, Krishna. You should know that we cannot reject an application on the ground of gender. It is against the law. Letting the candidate attend the recruitment drive was just an eyewash to reject her legally.’

Krishna swallowed hard unable to digest the cruel truth of reality. The day he had interviewed Shivani, there was a sense of pride and satisfaction in his heart. He was very much looking forward to help Shivani in every way possible to make progress in life. She was to set an example to the transgender community.

‘You will send her a mail telling that her offer letter stands cancelled. According to the company policy, we can cancel an offer without giving any reason whatsoever. Next time, I hope you will be more sensible in your work.’

‘I apologize,’ said Krishna bluntly.

The meeting was over and so was Shivani’s career even before it began. Krishna remained unmoved from his seat for a long time.

This is unfair! Don’t you have the right to a normal life just because you are a transgender? I am sorry Shivani…

***

‘There, now it looks better,’ said Nithyayuvani triumphantly. Ronav put his laptop aside and walked to the study table. He peered into her laptop screen and scrolled through the entire PowerPoint presentation. A slow smile entered is face seeing her work.

‘This is way beyond what I expected. There is magic in your hands.’

He wrapped his arms from behind and cuddled her.

‘But my efforts will make an impact only if you present it well in your office. Prepare well sweetheart,’ she said rubbing his arm.

‘Hmmm… why don’t you help me prepare? You have excellent presentation skills, so you can train me.’

‘You know, it is really hard to refuse you when you hold me so close. Let me go,’ she said playfully and freed herself from his arms.

Ronav sat down on the chair while she leaned against the table.

‘It is already 7.45. I have to leave now, otherwise I will be late to reach home. My PG owner will not be very happy about it,’ she said crossing her arms.

‘Then don’t go. Stay with me tonight,’ he said shrugging. She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.

‘Don’t even dream about it, Ron. I got to go.’

She was about to walk away when he held her hand. He made her sit on his lap and looked into her eyes.

‘Nithya, please stay with me. After a long time we have been able to spend time with each other and I just don’t want to let you go. Moreover you know how important this presentation is for me. I need you,’ he said softly.

Nithyayuvani’s heart melted at his words. It was indeed true that she could never refuse him especially when he used that tone with her.

‘Alright. But this will be the last time that I am having a night out with you. I can’t pull off this stunt again with the PG owner. She will throw me out if I repeat it,’ she said raising her eyebrows.

‘Thank you, darling. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to do it again.’

She hoped that he would keep up his word.

‘Let us get started then. You take some time and once again read through the slides. Later you will present it to me and I will give you suggestions on how to improve it.’

She got up from his lap and walked into the kitchen to make some coffee for both of them. It was one of his father’s 1BHK flats which was bought years ago. The keys were given to Ronav and he used it once every week just to enjoy the freedom of staying alone. When she returned with two mugs of coffee, he was not at the study table as expected. He was gazing out of the window, deep in thought.

‘Hey, what are you doing there? Did you finish going through the slides?’ she asked narrowing her eyes.

‘No. I was thinking about something more important. Can I ask you something?’ he asked hesitantly.

‘Sure, darling. What is the matter?’

‘Will you move in with me?’ he asked his voice almost dropping to a whisper.

Nithyayuvani froze holding the hot mugs of coffee in her hands.

                          To be continued...