Rhythm Of Love Read online

  “Sorry, but no. I don’t think I can go out with you.”

  However, Lucky begged and pleaded with her, saying, “We’ll be back in an hour. I’m super bored and so miserable sitting around the house. Please.”

  Esha finally agreed and went to Lucky’s house. Together they went to a small restaurant nearby.

  Ordering their food, they sat down to wait for it. They talked about their plans for the future. Half an hour later when the waiter began serving their food, Esha looked up and saw her mother approaching. She was angry.

  Esha stood up as her mother came close to them.

  “Is this what you do after I leave for work?” her mother said accusingly.

  Esha’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t know how to answer her mother. To her relief, she heard Lucky answer her mother’s question.

  “Aunty! We only came here to have lunch. We’ve been here for a short time.”

  Esha’s mother didn’t look satisfied with Lucky’s answer, and she told Esha to go home immediately. Later that day, her mother asked her to cut off her friendship with Lucky and only think about her studies.

  Esha couldn’t understand why her mom restricted her like this. ‘What’s wrong with going out with friends?’ She thought to herself. But she was left with no choice but to obey her mother’s orders.

  The next day when she went to college, she didn’t sit in her usual place next to Lucky. She sat two rows away from her.

  At lunchtime Lucky came and sat down in front of her.

  “Did your mom tell you to stay away from me?” she asked.

  Esha nodded her head without looking up. Her eyes began to fill up, but she didn’t want Lucky to see her tears.

  Lucky took Esha’s hands and held them gently.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Don’t cry. This only happened because of me. Just remember if you need anything, let me know. Our friendship doesn’t end with this. I will always be there for you.”

  She looked up at her friend with teary eyes and said with a smile, “Thank you.”

  It was quite painful for her to avoid the only friend she had in life, but she could not betray her mother’s trust.

  ***

  A month later, the college graduation results came out. Her fellow students were planning to do further studies or looking for positions where they could apply to do internships. Esha’s mother suggested that she should start searching for jobs in the local newspapers.

  “Mom, I think I need to study more to get a good job and a decent salary,” said Esha looking at the jobs posted and the salaries that were being offered.

  “Esha, I feel the same way as you do, but life is clearly not on our side. It would be better if you found a job and did part-time studies,” her mother said stroking her hand.

  Esha found the touch of her mother’s hand to be gentle, but they were always cold. It seemed as if all the warmth in her hands had been taken away from working at the ice factory. Esha understood her mother’s distress and did as she suggested. She would have to look for a job instead of continuing her studies, but there weren’t any well-paid jobs in their town. She mentioned to her mother that there was a good chance of finding a job in Mumbai. Her mother immediately responded that she didn’t want her to go and work in Mumbai.

  Esha found a very ordinary job and after a month received her first salary. Her mother thought about the hard work Esha was doing in her job and the small salary she received. Later that evening, when Esha came back after doing her shift, her mother brought her a cup of tea and sat down next to her.

  “I called Uncle Mohit today,” her mother said.

  “Who?” asked Esha. Her mother explained that they had a relative whose name was Mohit.

  “Do you know what he said when I told him you needed a place to stay in Mumbai while you look for a job?” she asked. Esha looked at her mother curiously and shook her head.

  “How can she stay anywhere else?” he said. “Esha will stay with me. Don’t worry. I will take care of everything. If I had been married, I would have had a daughter of her age. Be rest assured that I will arrange everything that she needs while she is here.”

  “But…” said Esha.

  “Your father’s relatives say that he is a good man and that he stays close to the main region of the city. So it will be convenient for you,” said her mother.

  Esha smiled, happy to see that her mother was finally agreeing for her to work in Mumbai, but she could still see some concern in her mother’s eyes.

  Esha pressed her mother’s hand gently and said, “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be ok.”

  “But you have never been outside our little town!” she exclaimed. “If only I could get a holiday, I could go with you to Mumbai …”

  She rested her head on her mother’s shoulders, giving her a hug and said, “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be fine.”

  A few days later, Esha had packed a small suitcase and was ready to leave. She felt reluctant to leave her mother and to step outside of her own safe world. They both stood facing each other wanting to say so much to each other, but neither of them could find the right words to comfort each other.

  As the rickshaw began to leave, Esha could see the sadness in her mother's eyes. She heard her say, “Be careful. Take care of yourself.”

  She turned and shouted back, “You too, Mom. Take care.”

  As soon as the rickshaw was some distance from her home, Esha called Lucky to tell her that she was moving to Mumbai to search for a job. Her happiness knew no bounds when Lucky told her that she had moved to Mumbai a week ago and had already found a job.

  An hour later, she reached Panvel and was met by a 50-year-old man who was her Uncle Mohit. He welcomed her and took her to his home.

  At first Esha felt a little awkward staying alone with her Uncle but after a few days she began to feel relaxed. She found her Uncle to be a generous man. He seemed to take care of her just as a father would take care of his own daughter. He often would inquire about how her day had been while she was job hunting. He would ask her if she had eaten and at times, he would get her a hot snack and spoil her with ice creams and cold drinks.

  Walking long distances and going from one office to another used to exhaust her a lot. In the evenings, when she returned to her Uncle’s house feeling quite tired, he would hand her a cup of warm tea. Talking about the day, they would then cook together, discussing what jobs she had found.

  She felt nice and comfortable in his company and even felt blessed to be with him during this time.

  One day when she returned, she found her uncle had already prepared the dinner and was watching TV. He asked her to change and set the table.

  While having dinner, he asked her, “What are your plans for marriage?”

  She laughed and said, “Marriage? No ways. I need to find myself a good job first.”

  He shook his head and said, “At your age, it is best to stay at home, marry and start a family.”

  She wasn’t convinced that this was what she should be doing right now with her life.

  “I have the responsibility of helping my mom and I don’t want to settle down right now,” she said.

  He didn’t say anything more, just nodded his head. After dinner, Esha put on the TV again and started to watch the news channel. Her uncle also joined her.

  “This is the problem with you young girls. You take on unnecessary stress by constantly needing to be updated with the latest news and wasting so much of time. You all want to become independent, so quickly. Esha, you should watch some good romantic movies instead of the news channels and enjoy life while you are young,” he said, smiling at her.

  Moving closer to her, he took the remote from her hand, brushing her hands gently with his and switched the channel to a movie.

  He looked happy and delighted when a musical came on. “Wow, what a song!” he exclaimed excitedly.

  He started to sing loudly and she enjoyed seeing him in such a happy mood. Suddenly, he stood up
and started to dance. Putting out his hand towards her, he invited her to dance with him. She felt shy being approached like that and said reluctantly, “No thanks, Uncle. I don’t know how to dance.” She started to feel a little weird as he kept pestering her to dance. When she didn’t join him, he grabbed hold of her hands and pulled her up off the couch.

  His smile turned wicked as he tried to stroke her hair and slid his hand down her back. Caught in the sudden change of her uncle’s behaviour, Esha’s stomach twisted and she tried to step back. He kept a strong hold on her. He was holding her so close that she could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath.

  Her eyes had begun to fill with tears as she tried to pull away from him. In seconds, the man she thought was a blessing had become a monster.

  She pleaded with him, “Uncle... please let go of me. You are hurting me.” But he paid no attention to her pleas.

  She started feeling scared and recalled her mother’s words –“Man is more dangerous than any vultures or hyenas.” She realised this to be true. Her Uncle was behaving like an animal.

  As her thoughts began comparing the similarities between a hyena and her Uncle, she heard her phone ringing from the other room. Realizing that this could be her only chance to escape, she pushed with all her strength and broke free from her Uncle’s grip.

  “Uncle, my phone is ringing. It might be my mom,” she shouted at him.

  Mentioning her mother must have scared him because he didn’t follow to her room, she closed the door and reached for her phone. It was her friend, Lucky.

  As soon as she heard Lucky ask her how she was, she told her everything about staying in her Uncle’s house and what had happened just a few minutes ago.

  Esha sank down onto the floor with the phone in her hand and said to Lucky, “How do I tell my mom about this? How can I stay here till my mom comes? Lucky, please help me.”

  “Leave that place at once. Do it when he goes to sleep. Don’t bother to pack everything, just take whatever is necessary. Don’t wait for your mother to come,” Lucky said. “Sometimes in life, you have to be your own saviour. I will message you my address. Take a taxi and I will be waiting for you there.”

  It was just good luck for Esha that Lucky had called to say hello.

  She packed a few things as Lucky had suggested and escaped when her uncle fell asleep. When she finally reached the rented house where Lucky was living, she broke into sobs and hugged her friend tightly. Lucky comforted her and said she must not worry about anything. She would speak to the owner of the house and ask for permission for Esha to stay with her.

  The next day Lucky said to Esha, “You need not worry about paying any rent here. The owner is a relative of mine and doesn’t have a problem with you staying here.” Esha felt so relieved.

  She still had to find a way to tell her mother that she was not staying with Uncle Mohit anymore. She thought about what to say all day. Eventually, she called her mother and told her that she had taken a room in a ladies’ hostel. She said it was closer to where she could get work and that she wouldn’t have to travel so far every day. She couldn’t tell her mother what had happened at Uncle Mohit’s house for fear of how she would react and how upset she would get after knowing the truth. The other reason for her to tell a lie was that she was scared her mother would say it was unsafe for her to remain in Mumbai and that she should return home and then all her dreams would die a sudden death.

  Chapter 2

  A couple of days later, Esha felt better and thought about resuming her job search.

  She took the newspaper and started noting down the contact addresses and other details.

  Lucky asked her, “Did you find anything?”

  Esha shook her head. “There are no good jobs for beginners or students and all the jobs with good salaries need someone with experience. The packages offered here are almost the same as those back home.”

  Lucky agreed with her and then started packing her bag for work.

  Esha looked at her and asked hopefully, “Does your company have any openings or can you refer me somewhere?”

  Lucky tilted her head sideways and threw a questionable look at her.

  “If I knew of any openings at my company, I would have told you about them,” she said sadly, checking the time on her watch. “Esha, I think you should take any job that you can get right now. If you sit around and wait for the perfect job to be advertised, you might not get one. Grab anything that is offered to you. The package doesn’t matter at this stage. You can try and find a better paying job later on.”

  Esha agreed with what Lucky said. She had noticed that the interviewers asked her a lot of questions about what she had been doing for the last three months when she did not have a job.

  She thought to herself, ‘I shouldn’t focus anymore on getting a higher salary and whether the job is with a company with a good profile.’ Leaving her scorecard aside, she searched for jobs as a normal fresher. She noticed a secretarial job that didn’t require any experience. The interview for the job was on that day itself. She took a quick bath and taking her documents, she rushed out.

  The trains were late and so crowded that she couldn’t get on three of them. As the fourth train arrived, a swarm of ladies stood in front of her, eyeing the door as the train came to a stop. The way they charged ahead to get onto the train shocked Esha and before she knew, it became a fight to get inside with everyone pushing and shoving with all their strength.

  She failed miserably to push her way onto the train. The next train was expected in 10 minutes. Esha looked at her watch. She was already late by an hour for the interview. She moved to the front, standing close to the edge of the platform.

  The women close to her appeared to be experts at getting a place on the train, but she said to herself, “This fight is mine. I have to overcome this.”

  A strange rush of blood and energy flowed inside her as the train arrived. The women who stood in front of her swarmed inside, some hurting themselves, some getting their dresses caught. Although Esha could see the difficulties ahead, she kept her focus on getting on the train.

  While pushing her way onto the train, she heard a few people swearing at her. Her dupatta flowed out and grabbing it with one hand, she moved inside and grabbed hold of a hook to steady herself.

  She looked around and smiled. No one smiled back, but she continued to smile to herself. It was after all her first victory.

  During the train ride, she started to get worried, as she hadn’t taken look at the company website. She thought, ‘What should I say if they ask me what I know about the company?’ She sent up a silent prayer, “God, please don’t let them ask me that question. I don’t know anything about it.”

  Then she remembered her fight to get on the train and she shrugged her shoulders, ‘Whatever will happen, will happen. I can’t change that. Let me first give the interview,’ she thought.

  Getting off the train, she quickly adjusted her dupatta and let it fall over one shoulder. She tied up her long black hair with a small black clip. It took her half an hour to figure out where the office was situated. She had imagined that the office would be located in a posh building, but it was just a two storey house and it did not resemble anything close to an office.

  She looked at it in disbelief for some seconds and then it hit her - it was just as new as she was. She reassured herself, realizing that she needed experience more than she needed the office to look good. And stepped forward and entered the office.

  There were two other women sitting and waiting to be interviewed. She took a seat next to them and while waiting for her turn, glanced through her documents.

  After the others had been interviewed and left, the interviewer called her inside. Esha smiled at him, said “Thank you,” and went inside.

  Handing over her resume, she looked at the interviewer before her. He took a few minutes going over her papers.

  “Esha, your educational qualifications are superb. If I am not wrong, you scor
ed A’s in all your subjects. But are you sure you want to work in a small start-up like ours?” said the interviewer with a smile, while still looking at her CV.

  His words went unheard. Esha was staring at him. His smile and strong masculine face reminded her of someone but she couldn’t quite remember who it was.

  She thought again, ‘Maybe sometimes people do look familiar, when they are not.’ And she started cursing herself for the habit of drawing comparisons between faces.

  “Esha,” he said loudly, narrowing his thick eyebrows and watching her closely to see if she had paid attention to his question.

  She gave a bright smile quickly and added without thinking, “Yes, sir.”

  He frowned again and repeated his question, “Are you sure Miss Esha that you want to work as a secretary for this company?”

  His eyes were bright and shining and filled with determination. ‘This was a man who wanted to make a name for himself,’ she thought. His voice had a touch of sternness, yet it was soft enough to be persuasive.

  She looked at him. She was in awe of his charming looks and boyish smile.

  She thought of saying no but then again, she needed the money badly.

  “Yes, sir, I do want to work here,” she replied.

  “Well then, it is my pleasure to have you here,” he said and extended his hand. Esha gave a wide smile and shook hands with him. “Thank you so much!” she said.

  ‘That’s it. No more questions. I have been hired, just like that!’ she thought happily.

  The feeling of getting the job so quickly didn’t quite sink in. Just to make sure, she asked, “So, who will be my boss?”

  He smiled for a second and then indicated with his hand. “Go straight down the passage, turn to the right and take a seat inside the office there.”

  She stood up, clutching her bag and walked in the direction he mentioned. She mumbled, “I hope the boss is nice.”

  She often imagined that bosses to be rude and unpleasant. She just wished that her boss would be a bit considerate as she was a fresher.