“If anyone in the family is guilty, he or she will be charged for murder,” Sonia assured. “But tell me about you. Were you and Vidya still…?”
He sighed. “I wish I could say yes. But I can’t. Vidya and I were in love. We were in college and still going steady while I was doing my job as an Accountant and she was doing her Chartered Accountancy. Then her Dad fell ill and refused to allow our match. Being an obedient daughter, she married the guy her Father chose. And that’s when all her troubles began. At first I stayed away from her. I was disillusioned and angry, but I wanted her to be happy. But gradually I realised that she was miserable. I had to meet with her and tell her that she couldn’t stay on in a marriage that was harming her. But she refused to heed my advice. She wouldn’t have anything to do with me. She told me on the phone that I should forget all about her and leave her to her fate. Of course I couldn’t. I followed her whenever she left her house. I was there, wherever she went, whomever she met. She never knew. And then out of the blue she agreed to meet with me. I was thrilled. I was sure that finally she was beginning to see sense. We met in Sambhaji Park yesterday, in the morning. She had changed so much. She had lost a lot of weight. Unlike the beautiful girl I had loved. And her eyes! I had never seen so much pain in those eyes before. I told her that I still loved her. Just as much as ever. And I would never allow her to return to that hellhole. But she did not budge. Do you know what she told me? She said that I was to move on with my life. Regardless of what happened to her, I was not to look behind. I asked her if she sensed any danger. And what she answered scared me to death. She said, ‘There’s more to life than living.’ She said, ‘Don’t worry, I have my life totally in control!’ I felt relieved by her confidence. But it didn’t help, did it? Someone did manage to take her life out of her control!” Kartik’s voice choked, as the tears flowed freely down his bearded face.
A wave of sympathy swamped Sonia. She recognised genuine, raw pain and emotion when she saw it. And she felt helpless. Helpless to comfort, to reverse actions and situations, or to advise.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I… feel so angry… ” The young man stammered.
“I understand,” Sonia cut in softly.
“I thought that Vidya wanted to patch up things with me, that’s why she’d agreed to meet with me. But it wasn’t like that at all. When we met, I knew in my heart that her feelings for me hadn’t changed. She still cared for me. She was bound by honour to her husband, but a part of her heart would always be with me. I saw it in her eyes. And the way she stared at me, as if trying to etch my face into her memory. And the way she returned our college photograph to me. As if she sensed that something was indeed going to happen to her. And when she requested me to stop following her around. It surprised me that she was aware that I was following her!
“I hate to admit it, but I hung around every night outside her house and spied on her. As long as I could see and hear something, I had to do it. To ensure that everything was fine with her. I knew that she had arguments with her in-laws and that she rarely complained to her husband. But last night was different. Last night, I know that she and her Mother-in-law had a roaring argument. Mrs Sahay was yelling at her, and for the first time Vidya yelled back. Last night, I saw the change in Vidya. The fighting spirit was back. Maybe if she had lived, she would have walked out on her husband in the morning!” Agony was written all over Kartik’s face. “Oh God, if I’d only known that it was her last night, that someone was going to murder her, I would’ve stopped it!”
“Kartik… You had no idea that someone was planning to kill Vidya. You had absolutely no idea.” Sonia interjected harshly. But she understood. Hadn’t she experienced a similar guilt pang earlier? Only, Kartik’s burden was greater than hers. But if there stood even a slight chance of easing his burden, she would take it. For his sake and hers…
After a quick lunch of Misal Pav, Sonia returned to the diary, reading the last entries once again. Something about them puzzled her. Something elusive. Was it Vidya’s words? Her emotions and observations? Or was it something else?
Well, she would discover what it was eventually. Right now, her hands itched to hold the horoscopes, especially Vidya’s horoscope. Now was the time to begin the process of travelling the depths into Vidya’s psyche! Vidya was no more, but her horoscope would reveal the girl to Sonia as if she were still alive. She drew the booklet out of her handbag and opened it. It was traditional charting of the horoscope and Sonia quickly ran her expert eye over it.
Minutes ticked by. Silent minutes which turned into musical beats as Jatin slipped into the inner office and, unnoticed by his Boss, turned on the music system. He knew that his Boss particularly liked non-filmy Hindi ghazals, romantic Hindi film songs, hard rock, and jazz. She’d repeated to him, time and again, the importance of her “I formula” - “Nothing like music and dance to inspire insight into intuition and instigate investigation!” The priority merely went to the volume, which had to be loud and heart-thumping! He quickly left the room, mercifully shutting out the
