Captivity

All day long, she realised as never before that being a captive was never so easy!

On the face of it, the picture was serene! A young girl, pretty, well-educated, intelligent, had an alive and thinking mind but beyond the picture lay the reality! As indecisive as any other girl, as naive as any other, as vulnerable as any...

She had everything that she had dreamed of; a career dreamed about by many good looks, a perfect family, a caring mother, a supportive father, a naughty brother.... But something was still missing for the picture to have a life of its own.

A certain someone that she accidentally bumped into! On one of her frequent travels, he had started conversation with her. One thing led to the other and the conversation was so engrossing that she almost missed her station. Unfortunately, they had not exchanged contact details... And the mystery stranger continued to linger in her thoughts until.... Until one fine day, he walked into her office door as the auditor of the company she worked for. Imagine her surprise when she found herself face to face with him! And so was he amazed. The world is probably much smaller than we think it is. Maybe he was the missing colour of her life, she thought as they interacted daily for professional reasons and otherwise.

Six days of the week would pass by like a dream until Sunday came. She was spending most of her waking time at office which was unusual as she was extra-ordinarily unambitious. Her family would keep wondering why she was never with them mentally even on a Sunday.... It was always about office, audit, long silences, absent-minded answers....

This behavioural changes continued until the stranger, now the auditor of her company and her good friend asked her out to dinner one fine summer night. How could she refuse? How would she refuse? Heart in heart, she had always wanted that to happen. One dinner, a movie, another lunch, a shopping trip, a picnic, another dinner.... And the cycle continued.

She was not her usual self at home now... More cheerful then ever before, prettier than ever before with the peals of her laughter echoing in the entire house. It was very much a welcome change as she had a habit of living a couple of years ahead of her actual age. In a way, she had actually lived her life with Dhun which probably got her off her track, her planning mode, her serious ways, her reading habits... She was in the process of discovering new sides to her, which she never knew existed, a world she never knew existed.

In the meantime, the clock kept ticking away. At this juncture in life, she was expected to choose her partner... Ah, rather, her parents had chosen a few alternatives from which she was to shortlist. Her parents kept showing her photographs by the dozen in the hope she would point towards one. But one name kept chiming in her mind... DHUN!!!!

She never realised that there was a thread that connected her to him. How would she? The thread was invisible. Now, it was probably too late to snap the thread and tie it to another one. Well, she was still trying... For her parents, who did not understand how and why Dhun should be trusted with keeping their only daughter happy.

He had no family, brought up at orphanage and now lived at a hostel. The only credentials anyone could probably provide was probably his employer... He had spent a good many years with the old gentleman. But how would that suffice? It would not, considering Shikha was their only daughter and the only wish her parents had was to always see her smile. It was still a pity that they did not realise that Dhun was the reason for her smile.

Talking to them was as if breaking one's head against a stone wall. Beyond a point of time, she gave up and stopped talking altogether. She came across a line in a book, "The parrot was caged because he looked very happy flying."

It was then she realised as never before that being a captive was never easy! It meant giving up your ability of flying, in her case the very smiling.

This was a conscious decision on her end. Even if she was not happy, her parents were! Dhun... What about Dhun, she thought and shed a silent tear. She had not stopped talking to him out of professional courtesy. However, she did avoid him whenever she caught him from the corner of her eye coming towards her desk to invite her to lunch.

On the other hand, Dhun was flustered. He could not quite figure out why she was behaving so erratically. But sometimes, the lack of something or someone can only teach its importance to the holder. Needless to add, Dhun was sure about her importance in her life.

Talking to her would make sense, he thought and called her from another colleague's extension. Before she could react, she had already agreed to meet him for coffee in the cafeteria. Over the coffee, she recalled all the incidents when they had had each other's company but never realised the value. Now was probably the time... Each of them had lots to say... The bottomline was that her friends would never agree for this alliance probably because she chose him, probably because he did not have a family, probably he did not have money, probably because he did not have a house.... They did not realise he had lots of love for her!

They would decide on a future course of action together but at a later date as it was quite late that day. She happened to mention about the nightmares that occured each day. On their way back home, they bought a dagger that was to be put under her pillow so she could sleep soundly.

On going home, she placed the dagger under her pillow and really got peaceful sleep that night. However, the next day, it was brought to her knowledge that her father had already gotten her betrothed to someone he considered ideal as son-in-law. She cried and tried to talk her father out of it. He would not listen and she knew it.

She told Dhun about her engagement after which he started avoiding her. The date of marriage was also fixed now. She was worried, very worried and without a clue as to how to proceed without Dhun by her side.

On the day of her marriage, dressed in a blazing red bridal dress, impeccably adorned with jewellery and flowers, she looked dazzling. The prospective groom clushed on looking at the bride. After welcoming him with the customary garland, she excused herself to go to her room to pray to the Almighty to give her strength to get through this. Accidentally, she dropped the pillow and saw the dagger.

She knew, Dhun would always be a part of her life, wherever she went. There was no sense in spending the remaining part of her life being a captive with Rohan. The first half was spent in captivity in this very house. The only time she was really allowed to breathe without a care in the world... was with Dhun. She picked up the dagger and slit her wrists very peacefully. She could see the blood ooze out from her wrists faster and faster.... until she remembered no more.

All that was left of the beautiful bride was a stream of blood and a pretty, innocent girl in that pool. This was probably a life nobody required... Or maybe she had been born only to be dictated.... But atleast she had the satisfaction of taking the final decision of her life herself.