Serendipity

10

Vanraj and Kavya were in particularly high spirits after their meeting with Anuj Kapadia. Vanraj's colleagues had congratulated him on having managed to achieve a rather difficult feat.

"Anuj Kapadia is not accepting meeting requests even from some top businessmen in the City and yet he gave you time. The proposal must have been really amazing for him to do so," one of Vanraj's colleagues had remarked.

"Who was it that managed to cinch the meeting for you, Vanraj? I'm sure you must have used some influence. Otherwise, rumour has it that even Anuj Kapadia's secretary's calendar is booked until 2027," another one joked.

Vanraj was particularly elated with the outcome. Surely Anuj had not promised them anything but Vanraj was confident that it was only a matter of time. Anuj would definitely see value in their proposition. And when Anuj signed with the firm, that's when Vanraj would ask for the firm's partnership. He'd been eyeing for a long time.

He dialled Kavya number. "Be ready we're going out to celebrate tonight."

"Did you hear back from Anuj Kapadia?" Kavya's excitement knew no bounds.

"Not yet, but I will. It's only a matter of time."

Kavya sighed believing Vanraj's words. She had fallen a little for Anuj Kapadia when she'd first met him and she had full faith in her ability to mesmerize men wherever she went. This wasn't her first rodeo. Hadn't this very same Vanraj Shah, despite having been married for seventeen years still fallen for her charms? She'd thought him foolish then, that he'd thrown away his happy and peaceful marriage for something arbitrary but his decision had worked in her favour. Kavya never complained when she was on the winning side.

"Let's have dinner at the Sphere Lounge at Ramada. I'll make the reservations."

As Kavya continued to elaborate and detail her plans for the evening, Vanraj smiled. The partnership offer he'd been eyeing for the last five years was finally within reach. He thought of all his professional struggles to get to this space.

While all his colleagues moved ahead in life, impressing their superiors with business dinners and parties and earning favours, he'd been handicapped. Until Kavya came into his life. Anupama wasn't trophy wife material. And she definitely didn't know how to talk and mingle in business circles.

"You never bothered to teach her," a small voice said. "She could never have carried it off," a louder voice responded.

Kavya was his lucky charm. With her on his arm, he knew he could reach for the stars. She was a natural when it came to corporate socializing. A little pretending, a little flirting, he'd seen her in action for the last nine years. His superiors were already seeing him as a potential candidate for partnership. And this deal with Anuj Kapadia would seal the decision.

He'd been married to Anupama for 26 years and had nothing to show for it. He'd been married to Kavya for just six months, and he was already going to become a partner in this global marketing firm he'd worked for a quarter of a decade.

Anupama, the name evoked a different kind of emotion. What was she doing nowadays? Vanraj cursed that thought. He didn't want the woman's memory to sully this beautiful moment. She had already sullied enough of his life.

Had she? His pretty dormant conscience dared to squeak. He stifled that voice and instead consciously focused on what Kavya had promised to wear for the dinner tonight, and what she'd promised to do to him, in her extremely sultry voice, once they'd gotten home from dinner. His body impulsively reacted to Kavya's suggestions. He couldn't wait for tonight.

*****

"GK, why didn't you ever get married?" Anuj's questions were getting more intrusive.

GK once again tried to evade. "Because I had you to take care of."

Anuj raised his eyebrow questioning GK's logic. "I was 25 when Mom and Dad passed away."

He sighed. "Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't."

Anuj turned strangely silent, picking up his magnets and twirling them in between his fingers.

GK got up and went and sat down next to him. Gently placing his hand on Anuj's he asked: "What is bothering you?"

Anuj shook his head and GK laughed.

"Anuj I've known you since you were born. Something is bothering you and it isn't work. You're never bothered by work."

Anuj closed his eyes, but his fingers continued playing with the magnets.

"The past has a strange way of catching up when you least expect it," Anuj mumbled.

"The past only catches up when it's time to reopen that chapter."

"What do you mean?" 

"What happens when you read a book at 20 and declare it to be your favourite book?"

"Nothing. I don't understand what this has to do with...."

Cutting Anuj's tirade in between, GK questioned again: "And what happens when you read the same book again at 40?"

"I don't know GK, what are you getting at?" Anuj was frustrated.

"We always look at things from the perspective of our experiences. At 20 a book catches our fancy because our experiences are limited. At 40 we might read the same book and come away with completely different learnings. That is the power of perspective. It changes as new experiences and learnings continue to become a part of our lives."

Anuj stopped twirling the magnets and paid attention to what GK was trying to say.

"If you've accidentally rediscovered your favourite book after 26 years, maybe it's time to read it again. Maybe you never understood it the first time, to begin with. Maybe you'll fall in love with it a little bit more, all over again. Remember, books are lifelong friends. If they are protected, nourished and cared for, their wisdom will continue to illuminate your path till eternity."

He got up, winked and left. As Anuj sipped on the hot peppermint tea Mohan had brought him, he thought about what GK had said. Maybe it was time to reacquaint himself with his muse; maybe it was time to get to know Anupama all over again.