The day is 14 August, 2012. The contract marriage between Arnav Singh Raizada and Khushi Kumari Gupta stands no more and it is now time to end things once and for all.
And yet, as the two of them move apart, their hearts still beat for each other. T...
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She left her house early the following morning before her family woke up.
The sun had not yet come out and the street was immersed into a darkness that was steadily getting brighter as she walked down it, her hands in the pocket of her coat.
She took her time as she passed the houses, shops, and spots that she had known for only a year and a half, but which had quickly become as familiar as the lanes in Lucknow. The silence in the street was unusual since she was used to the hustle and bustle that ensued with the first crack of dawn, but she welcomed it all the same. It helped her concentrate. As she closed her eyes and breathed in the morning air tinged with mildew, she tried to reinstate herself in her surroundings and to regain the feeling of belonging that she had lost.
She reached the park just as the sun casted its first appearance across the horizon and sat on the bench she had always avoided unless she was playing hide and seek with the neighborhood children, for it was so far behind and nestled amidst the two biggest trees that it was always hidden from sight of the crowd ahead.
She watched the progress above her. A brilliant orb of golden light rose slowly against a gradient of soft orange and deep, ocean blue. The rays that fell across the world were blinding and Khushi closed her eyes, basking in its warmth. She did not know for how long she was there. The sound of the rest of the world waking and going by their daily lives was distant and unimportant. It was only when she heard the ringing of her phone that she emerged back. Her mother's voice sounded as soon as she pressed the device to her ears, hyper and piqued.
"What do you think you're doing? Where are you? Why-"
"I left early," responded her monotonous voice. Khushi vaguely mused whether she had always sounded like that or was it the effect of having kept such a stern silence since last night. "Amma, I already told you that last night. I'll be back before noon, don't worry."
She did not tell her what she left her house to do and Garima did not need her to. In the silence that followed, Khushi could feel her mother pursing her lips and looking disapproving and disappointed. The expressions took a verbal stance as Garima said, "so you're going through with it? You, you are getting the divorce?"
A pause preceded Khushi's answer, for she had to take moment to let out the resigned sigh that had built in her.
"Yes," she said. "We've been over this. Arnav-" she paused again to dislodge the lump that grew disobediently in her throat, "Arnav-ji and I have already decided. It's final."
"Well then," came her mother's voice, trembling and croaking. "Looks like you know what you're doing. Hope you'll be happy."
The phone died before Khushi could say anything else and she was left to gaze at the screen with a slight crease on her forehead. Her eyes fell onto the time and with a blink, she realized that there was still a couple of hours left before she had to go the court. She wondered what to do in the meantime. Her aimless meandering thoughts took her on a journey across the various places she could visit. The confection shops she liked and those that she never had the chance to try, and that wishing fountain in that park she went to only once--and before she knew it, the alarm in her phone buzzed and she jerked out of her reverie, perplexed when the phone showed 9.00 a.m. Still mildly confused, she stood up and walked to the main road where she could get a rickshaw.
