A box of Chocolates

A circle and A Square - Part 4

Things began to improve between them after Kriti wrote that letter. At least Dishan's constant interfering and nit-picking went down a bit. He didn't question her every move like who was she chatting with or why she was online after 12 in the night or couldn't she do something different than reading another book. As a result Kriti had more time to do the things she liked to do without having to explain each and everything.

By mid-November, the pandemic situation in the country was still bad. The number of new cases began are soaring again as temperatures started to plunge, but people and governments both were slacking on the restrictions. It had been more than 6 months people were cooped up inside the four walls of their homes. How long could one keep doing that? On one hand, you keep saving yourself from the worst, and on the other, your everyday life rots a little more with each passing day, till one day when they meet half way. From there on, the scales tip and the pain of living overpowers the fear of death.

Kriti was grateful she could finally visit her parents and in-laws for Diwali. The moment she stepped out of the their Gurgaon flat, her mood began to brighten up, like clouds lifting off an overcast sky to make way for sunlight to flood in. This was their first Diwali after marriage. In the pre COVID world, this would have been a big deal. But thanks to COVID, no-one was bothered about the rituals anymore. In fact no-one even raised a brow when Dishan broke the news - he'd have to stay back in Gurgaon to finish an important client delivery. It had seemed strange to Kriti though. When everyone was working remotely anyway, how was it going to matter whether he was working from Gurgaon or Jamshedpur. However, She knew better than to ask. In fact, secretly she was glad. He had arranged for a driver to drive her to Jamshedpur, and bring her back after a week.

Kriti rolled down the windows of their Honda City, and let the polluted air gush in and mess up her freshly washed hair.

*******

It all felt a little odd to her. No, no one had said anything to her, but in the same way that you can feel someone gazing at you without even looking at them, Kriti could sense an elephant in the room, and everyone except her, probably knew what it was. She had come down to stay at her parent's place after spending the initial three days with her in laws. Both their fathers, a few years shy from retiring, had progressed to senior positions. Both had been upgraded to Grade 1 Bungalows by their company. Much like before, their new bungalows were less a few hundred feet apart.

In the three days that she had been there, her mother in law had been extra loving and attentive towards her. She was a sweet woman, caring and affectionate, for as long as Kriti had known her, which is pretty much her whole life, and had it not been for the exact opposite at her parents place, her mother in law's extra generosity this time would have been lost on her. On the hindsight, her mom in law had been handling her with kid gloves, checking on her every few minutes as if she was unwell or something.

In contrast, her own parents had seemed irritated the whole time, especially her father. Now he was normally a dry man, not the kind that a daughter could wrap around her fingers, but the way he was walking around the house with a sullen face, the fact that he hadn't smiled once since arrival didn't quite sit right with Kriti.

After a couple of days, when it really began to bother her, she decided to approach her father directly. She chose a time when her mother was out with the neighbourhood ladies and went straight to her father's study on the first floor..

"Baba are you busy?"

He was casually browsing through the newspaper, but the moment he saw Kriti, he turned towards the monitor on his desk, pretending to be working.

"Are you upset with me about something?" She persisted, despite her father clearly wanting to avoid any possible conversation with her. "I have been feeling something for the past couple of days, so please tell me if I have in way hurt you or mom."

Finally her father looked up from the monitor, and took down his glasses. His face was contorted and stiff, like a volcano about to erupt, and erupt it did, "What is it that you are so proud of? What have you achieved in life – working as a software engineer, just like millions of others, what gives you this superiority complex and makes you demean others? "

What was her father talking about? Superiority complex....pride.. None of it was making any sense to her.

"Just because you can write a few lines, and hum a few songs, you think you are above everyone else? Creativity my foot.... Circles and Squares? Nonsense. Dishan is better than you in every possible manner. He went to a good university, he holds a respectable position in a reputable company, he gives you all comforts of life and you call him a Circle that doesn't fit all your edges, like you are some god damn genius. What is your husband supposed to do, dance like a monkey to your tunes? If your mother had done something like this I would asked her to pack her bags and leave. You are lucky your husband is still tolerating you. You shameless girl, you have brought so much shame to us and then you come and ask – Are you upset with me about something? I am upset that you are my daughter."

All blood drained from Kriti's face. She stood there like an immovable piece of furniture, like her spirit had been sucked out of her limbs and her feet had been glued to the ground.

She couldn't make herself believe, even though it was as clear as water that he had shared the very personal letter, which should have never crossed over to a third person, with HER FATHER! She couldn't imagine one could stoop so low so as to expose an exclusively intimate moment to others. How different was it from inviting people to watch you have sex with your partner.