UNFAITHFUL

I woke up early today. May be, it will be more right to say I got out of my bed and got ready. Its only 5:30 in the morning and I was already in my office wear. I just wrapped my tie over shoulder and was sipping a cup of tea. I didn’t sleep yesterday or I couldn’t. I’m still terrified and petrified. I’m waiting for the newspaper. As soon as the news paper came I jumped out and took out the Mumbai Mirror. I was very sure what I was looking for. It was easy to locate the news. The news I was searching was the headline today. “Corporate woman Robbed, Raped and Ripped Apart.” I went through every details of the news. The news was reported as below.

The woman was raped and was pushed out from a moving train in Mumbai. She has succumbed to her injuries and died yesterday. The incident raises serious apprehensions on the safety of women in trains. The rape of the 33 year old woman who was travelling from Churchgate (place of work ) to her home in Andheri in a vacant First Class compartment can be mildly termed shocking. The accused was found to be Ganeshswamy a disabled man from Tamil Nadu, who was later nabbed by police for the heinous crime. Ganeshswamy allegedly tried to rob Shalini in the train and when she tried to resist, he flung her out of the moving train. She suffered fatal injuries as a result, especially on her head after hitting her head in the railway tracks. She was later raped by the same person in the tracks and left in the sorry state for hours before the police found her.

You might be surprised, why I’m so interested in this news. I knew Shalini for last 3 years. Last time we were together was yesterday in that same train where she was thrown out. All the newspaper and police will have the same story to say, but the truth is only known to 3 people, Ganeshswamy, Shalini herself and to me. Our story started in coffee shop in Pune. I was with one of my friend having coffee when Shalini entered the shop. She had something in special; she was dazzling in her blue top. She had that charisma that I unknowingly started checking her out. Next 20 minutes I was observing all her gestures. She was very elegant in her looks and carried herself well. I still don’t know why we were exchanging smiles each other.

That could have been the end of our story but we met again in different places in Pune. We started talking and knowing each other. She always restricted my advances. She told me that I’m a student and keep away from her as she was a married woman. I don’t know what was wrong with me, I just liked her company. When moved to Mumbai for Job, I never knew what was in store for me. They call it coincidence, I call it bad luck. When I was coming back from Delhi after completing as official assignment, I met Suraj. He was the only non-Gujarati speaking man in Mumbai-Rajadhani. We talked about Indian economy, quality and safety standards of Indian Banks. I was so impressed with this man. He was working for an MNC bank. I always made it a point to be in touch with him. There is nothing like a good contact in corporate world. That was shock of my life when I met him again at Pheonix Mall. He introduced his wife to me; yeah you guessed it right, Shalini.

Our relationship grew to that extend that I became a frequent visitor to Suraj’s House. Now I’m a changed man, I tried to keep away from shalini as far as possible. I wanted to keep contact with Suraj for a Job Switch. Shalini was getting more and more close to me as I was trying to get as far as I can. Even though Mumbai is the second most populous city in the world with a population of 14 million, I couldn’t help myself from bumping into Shalini where ever I go. I started avoiding her as I don’t want to be an unfaithful friend. I always knew our relationship will hamper my career growth.

Yesterday when she invited me for dinner, I had no idea I would be reading this news today. I just couldn’t make up any reason to say no to her. It was a boring dinner. I was only physically present there but my mind was filled with something else. I was so uncomfortable with her. She might have sensed that and she was also not talking much. She came all way from Andheri to Churchgate in train so that her driver will have no idea where she was. I had no complements for the black sari she was wearing or for her low cut blouse which exposed the gap between her assets. I was more concerned about my future than her cleavage.

It was drizzling but we still walked to Churchgate station after our dinner, we hardly talked during our walk. When we sat inside the first class compartment of the local train, I started talking to her. Was I talking so loudly to overcome the noisy rain outside or am I shouting at Shalini? I just told her what I had in mind. I cannot fool around with her anymore. Life is tough and we have to move on. The entire compartment was empty and I stood up and moved to the door. Rain was sprinkling water all over me, but I couldn’t feel it as I was in a different world altogether. She also came near me and started convincing me. I told her to keep away from me or I’ll do anything to secure my future, even if it takes me to kill her. She was so stubborn and asked me to go ahead. She would have never imagined I could do something like that, neither did I. I have no idea why I did that, but I did that. I held her close and kissed her passionately; I could taste the rain drops of her lips. I suddenly became a Vampire and forced my lips away from her and pushed her out of the moving train. I got down at the next station and took a taxi to home.

My hands are shivering; I just kept the newspaper on my bed and decided to move out of my flat as I needed some fresh air. Now the newspaper has full page advertisement of Piggy Chop’s “7 Khoon Maaf.” Will I be excused from my crime? May be the police will never come after me, as they already has got their culprit. It was still raining cats and dogs. Yesterday’s rain has not stopped yet or is it God’s way of expressing grief? I just walked into the rain without any aim; I walked, walked and walked.

The entire story is not a work of fiction. If you find any resemblance to some facts in this story, it is not coincidence, but intentional. Author reserves all right to say which facts are not fictional.