Serendipity

56

Courage is knowing it might hurt and doing it anyway. Stupidity is the same. That's why life was so hard. At least for Kavya Shah. For she was no longer able to differentiate as to whether her actions were courageous or plain stupid.

She'd learned of a greedy reporter and paid handsomely to get her and Anuj's morphed photo placed on the main page. He had promised her that the picture would appear in tomorrow's paper.

She glanced at the clock. 11.41 pm. She turned towards the window in her room and rubbed her hands in part anxiety, part anticipation.

The last two days had given her plenty of time to think through the repercussions of her foolhardy plan. If her plan didn't execute as per her intentions, she would end up paying very dearly.

Anuj Kapadia was a force to reckon with. He wouldn't let her away easily. Vanraj's ego will not allow him to live with her under the same roof. She would be homeless overnight. A part of her was scared. She'd gone all-in on a blind bet.

Then she remembered Anupama and sobered. Anupama was naive; as naive as they come. She'd been married to Vanraj for 26 years and still, she'd voluntarily divorced the man, sacrificed her financial and social haven, sought no alimony, and walked out of the Shah house with nothing but the clothes on her back.

She'd spent lonely days, struggled, and yet she hadn't called the house, ever, to seek help. She was much too righteous, to the extent that she let go even if it affected her negatively. Anupama had sacrificed her marriage that had spanned more than a quarter of a century over an extra-marital affair. She barely knew Anuj. There was no way she would forgive him knowing he'd cheated on her.

Forgive?? Kavya laughed a hollow, cruel laugh. It would be surprising if she even gave Anuj a chance to explain himself.

Kavya planned to go meet Anupama at her old apartment in Ghatlodiya the following evening. Once Anupama saw the newspaper photo, she wouldn't continue to stay with Anuj Kapadia in his penthouse apartment. She'd die of suffocation if she did. Kavya decided that she would take a condolence basket with her. After all, Anupama had never done anything wrong to Kavya.

"What can I do?" Kavya addressed herself. "None of this is about Anupama. But she always seems to be where I want to be. I have no other option but to displace her."

*****

It was 11.55 pm when the doorbell to the Shah house rang. No one opened it. Then it rang and rang again. Rubbing his eyes filled with sleep, Samar walked up to the front door and opened it.

"Ma?" he screamed elated. The next moment his happiness gave way to concern. "Is everything okay? Has Anuj...??"

Just then Anuj appeared right next to her. And Samar breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't Anuj.

He then looked at Anupama, taking in her quiet but confident form. Something was different. He'd seen his Mom quiet, he'd seen her vulnerable, he'd seen her upset, he'd even seen her depressed and dejected but today...

"Is everyone home?" Anupama asked Samar.

"Everyone except Papa."

Anu raised her eyebrow in question.

"He moved out three weeks ago. Apparently, he's living in some hotel not far away from here."

"Can you call him and ask him to come home now? I want the entire family here."

Anu's rather impassive tone scared Samar.

"Ma, is everything okay? You can talk to me, you know that right?"

"Call your Dad Samar. Anuj, and I will wait in the car until he comes."

Samar looked at Anuj and he merely shrugged. Unable to understand his mother's strange behavior, he mutely nodded, picking up his phone and asking Vanraj to come home immediately. Satisfied he would be there within 15 minutes, Anu and Anuj made their way to the car.

It was 12. 17 am when Anu received a call from Samar saying Vanraj was there. She told him to gather the entire family in the living room. Anuj and she would be there in less than 5 minutes.

*****

The entire Shah household was awake, curiosity having driven sleep away. It had been 10 months since Anupama had divorced Vanraj. And while they were aware of many of her trials and tribulations, she'd never come forth to seek help. Why was she here suddenly? And that too with Anuj?

A stray thought crossed Vanraj's mind. Had she come to invite them to her wedding? As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he rubbished it. Anuj Kapadia's wedding would be the talk of the town. The likelihood that he'd find out about it from the news was greater than Anuj agreeing to invite Anupama's ex-family to the shindig.

Kavya was perplexed too. The news would not be out before tomorrow morning. What were these two doing here tonight? As she perused Anupama from head to toe, she took in her changed avatar. Anupama stood a little more straight, she looked younger, there was a glow to her face. Kavya sighed. With all this wealth at her disposal, there was no beauty treatment she couldn't afford.

Hasmukh looked at Anupama after 10 months and smiled. After being unhappy with Vanraj for 26 years, his daughter had found happiness with Anuj. He raised his hands and blessed them.

Toshu, his wife, Pakhi, Samar, all stared at her with varying degrees of curiosity.

Impatient as always, and unable to digest the fact that her good-for-nothing ex-daughter-in-law suddenly had landed such good luck, Leela spoke to her in a miffed tone: "What do you want from us now?"

Anupama looked at Anuj, took a deep breath, and walked up to Kavya in forceful strides. Before the family had a chance to fathom her intention, she lifted her hand.

SLAP!

The sound reverberated across the walls of the Shah household. And then another.

SLAP!

The family was shocked by this avatar of Anupama. The Anupama they knew couldn't swat a fly and here... Anuj whistled softly, pleased with the outcome. He was proud of his queen.

"How dare you..." Before Kavya could finish her sentence she experienced it again.

SLAP!

"No Kavya, how dare you?" Anupama's eyes were red with fury.

She lifted her hands again but was stopped by Leela. "You can't just walk into this house and assault our daughter-in-law."

Anupama laughed then, pitiful laughter at the stupidity of the entire Shah household.

"You were never good with differentiating between a diamond and a glass piece, Baa. And I can see you haven't changed. But I have. Life has changed me. My new family has changed me. Anuj has changed me. I always respected you because you were older than me. But I was wrong. Anuj and Kaka taught me that age is not worth respecting, character is."

She pulled the newspaper out of her bag and threw it on the floor. The newspaper spread open for the entire family to see the picture on the cover page - Anuj locking lips with Kavya.

"What do you have to say now, Baa? Or are you going to continue to support your new daughter-in-law? Because right now we're seeing it. In less than five hours, all of Ahmedabad will."