The Other Woman

Taniya sighed. Suddenly she felt very light-headed and giddy. It must be the nervousness combined with the excitement. With slightly shaking hands, she folded and placed the offer letter from the Nursery School on the table. She had to take out the suitcase now, she had to flee before her husband returned from office, she had another 3 hours to pick-and-choose the necessary items and pack. The phone rang abruptly. She glanced at the caller-id and smiled tenderly, fighting against her desire to pick up the receiver. It was Neelesh, the love of her life. There would be time later on… it would be better… she let the phone ring on, resisting her urge…
Neelesh, the man who had turned everything upside-down in her life. He was 6 yrs younger than Taniya, but that had not done anything to limit the magnetic attraction she felt towards him, and the love-affair that had followed. She was a seemingly happily-married housewife with an uneventful marriage life of 11 years. He was a happy-go-lucky salesman with dark, intelligent eyes, a quick manner and a glib tongue. To the world, it might seem a very unlikely relationship, but to Taniya, it had seemed the most natural course, as if this was destined to be. Try as she might, she could not think of this affair as illicit, her love for Neelesh was instinctive, natural, and she did not feel guilty once.
After all, she had been lonely, she did not know how much lonely till she met Neelesh. She realized that she had never loved her husband, and the compromise and acceptance of a dutiful Indian housewife had slowly but surely marred her soul. She had nothing to complain in particular. Tamal was a well-paid government official and he had got them a good flat in Lake town, a posh area in Kolkata. Taniya had a servant who scrubbed the floors, and did all the heavy washing and cleaning, her regular duty consisted of cooking and buying groceries when needed. She spent her idle hours in her passionate hobbies - singing and reading paperback fictions. Tamal detested these hobbies as worthless time-pass. But he had been a dutiful husband, providing for her requirements and looking after household needs. They had absolutely nothing in common. Tamal was a conservative guy who never questioned laid-down rules and principles, was a thorough unromantic and disciplinary, and his only interest seemed to be in the game of cricket. Taniya had been an adventurous, rebellious child and the streak still remained even after years of conditioning in convent school; and, she was a thorough romantic. Though she was a good-natured girl who went out of her way to be kind to others, she did not think much about breaking rules when it needed be, or sometimes just for a little innocent fun. But there was no chance of any fun with Tamal, he was wary of fun as triviality, his life consisted of only grim duty.
In short, Tamal and Taniya were poles apart as individuals, and their life was thoroughly dull and colourless after 11 years of marriage. A child might have brought some happiness into Taniya’s life, but the doctor had ruled that out…she had this tumour which prevented her from becoming a mother ever… Taniya had gone into depression for sometime after receiving the doctor’s verdict, but her adventurous nature had made her suggest to her husband that they go for an adoption. To Tamal, this suggestion was a sacrilege never to be accepted, it went way beyond the social norms. Taniya had rebelled furiously but in the end she had had to give up, after all, she was just a housewife, and Tamal had repressed her from the beginning so that she would remain in her “position”. It had always been a fight. In fact, Taniya had rebelled after just 2 days of her marriage, she wanted to break free immediately after she understood her predicament, but she was not supported by her parents, and even emotionally blackmailed. Being of a kindly nature, she persisted. Over the years, her lively spirit was crushed, and she had come to accept her uneventful, boring life as normal. Till Neelesh came. Like a burst of monsoon rain after a parched summer.
For Neelesh, it had been just a casual fun-affair in the beginning. But with time, he found himself liking Taniya more and more. Neelesh was a city guy who believed in having fun and letting go. His boyish, handsome look and intelligent nature attracted women easily, and he had had several affairs before with “no strings attached”. But he found himself caring about Taniya earnestly and could not break up with her even after his marriage was fixed. They stuck up a deal to maintain their “friendship” for as long as possible and both were very earnest in maintaining their end of the deal. They maintained the secrecy with utmost care, and the relationship had continued for 5 long years.
to be continued...