CHEWING GUM…
I cursed myself whenever I had tough times in my professional career. I always thought there had been so many people who spent their lives so gracefully without working in corporate. I always envied the luxurious lifestyle and personal orientation of some successful businessmen whom I came across in my career during professional meets, but I was not ungrateful to my profession. Whatever I had achieved in my life was because of this profession only. However, I could not keep my patience under control when I felt that after working for 12 years in the corporate world, I was still not settled.
One day, my Boss’s remarks on me fanned the flames of insecurity in me. I became very disturbed. I wanted to share my disappointments with someone who was very close to me. I called my wife, but she did not take my call. Perhaps she was in her teaching class and normally she did not accept any calls if it was not so important. There was clear communication between the two of us that one must pick up the call if we got two sequential calls. I decided against using this special privilege for sharing my story of failure. Nevertheless, I wanted some outlet to vent out my frustrations and at this time, who could be better than my childhood friend, Shahbaaz. I called him, but he did not pick up either. Sometimes I became so desperate that I forgot all considerations and ethics. He was so close to me that I never hesitated to call him again, and so I called again. This time the phone rang continuously and he received my call just before my patience ran out.
“Hello,” I whispered, assuming he might be in a meeting or busy in some urgent work. But strangely, he did not respond. It got me worried because that was not normal. If he was in between some work, he would always tell the reason, excuse himself for the time being, and call me back once he was free. I could not hold myself back and said again, “Hello?” This time my voice was louder, but still, he did not say anything. Although I hung up the phone and tried to persuade myself that there must be some network problem, my mind was not ready to accept that. So many unusual thoughts started squirming in my head. I again dialed his number. This time his wife received the call and said, “Just see Sanjay Bhai, your friend is not talking to anyone. I don’t know what has happened to him. He is behaving strangely since morning.”
I could not comprehend what was wrong with him.
We were family friends and I was well acquainted with his wife too. In fact, I called her sister and I knew her since college days. I asked her to pass on the phone to Shahbaaz. She did, but he did not respond and hung up the phone after a few seconds. After observing such behavior, it would have been a crime not to visit his house. I wanted to go to his house immediately to understand the matter properly, but my current job profile did not allow me to leave from the office in office hours.
It was hard to wait an entire day. Somehow, I spent the office hours and in the evening, took the metro rail near my office. Usually, I did not prefer to visit someone’s house without prior intimation, but this time, neither did I care nor I seemed to have a choice. Shahbaaz was just not talking to me or to anyone, as his wife told.
Throughout the way, I strained my brain to figure out the reason for his unusual behavior. And then I thought, it must have been a quarrel between him and his wife and maybe they were not on speaking terms. I was sure that I could bridge the gap between them.
Upon reaching their place, I pressed the doorbell. Shahbaaz opened the door. Without saying anything, he signaled me to sit on the sofa and went into his room. His little daughter rushed out excitedly from her room and chanted, “Chacha Sanjay, Chacha Sanjay!” I immediately filled her in my arms and kissed on her forehead. She went back to her room and brought her bag, which was stuffed with toys. She overturned her bag in front of me and demanded that I play with her. Though I was playing with her, my mind was engrossed thinking about her parents. This was the first time I was left unattended at their house for such a long time. After waiting for some time, I called out loudly to Shahbaaz. His wife, Zaara came out from her room and said, “See Sanjay Bhai, since last night he has been behaving inexplicably. Neither is he talking to us nor willing to go outside to catch some fresh air. He just sits on the sofa and does not respond at all. If you push him hard for something, he reacts like anything. Yesterday he threw a glass on the wall so forcefully that it splintered into uncountable shreds. God knows what has happened to him. I am just fed up.”
I silently walked into his room. It was a fine bedroom set with beautiful lights. There was a bed placed in the corner. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him. His gaze was down as if he was examining the design of the bedsheet. He genuinely seemed upset. I broke the silence and asked, “Shahbaaz, what happened?” He did not respond and his gaze simply remained down.
Zaara entered the room and placed prasad in front of us. She had got it from a neighbor. Thereafter, she turned towards me and said, “Just ask him, why he doesn’t speak clearly, what is his problem? Since last night he has become DEVDAS,” she chuckled.
Shahbaaz’s anger was up-surged again. He lifted the plate and threw it against the wall. He stood up and darted out of the room. Some portion of the prasad splashed over Zaara’s face. I could observe horror sweep over her face. This was the first time when she had to bear such humiliation in front of me. She just absorbed her emotions and asked her maid to clean the room. I understood that it was not an ordinary quarrel between a husband and a wife. I needed to understand everything, in fact, I had to go into the depths of the matter.
I asked Zaara, “What happened sister? Please tell me everything, why such friction? I know him since childhood, he is not an ill-tempered guy. In fact, this is the first time I am seeing him behaving like this.”
She stalled for a second and then forwarded her mobile, asking me to read a message. I went through the SMS and perceived that the message was sent by Shahbaaz to some lady colleague. The message clearly indicated a feeling of intimacy in the relationship, which was more than friendship.
She looked at me and asked, “Now you tell me, Sanjay Bhai, what do I make out of this?”
Reading the message left me stumped, what could I say to console her?
“You were asking me Nah, why he is behaving strangely? This is the reason. After coming back from his office, he remains engaged with his phone continuously. There are constant beeps of the message alert tone until I drift off to sleep. Forget about me, Sanjay Bhai, he has stopped giving time to his own daughter. Just for formality, he comes back from office, but mentally, he is somewhere else. For the last one year, we have been staying together but don’t have any husband-wife relationship. We speak only when it is required. This is his regular practice.” She broke down and tears started rolling down her cheeks.
Before I could find some appropriate words to say to her, she continued, “I could not take it anymore, so one day, I decided to have a peek at his phone to see what was going on. He would never tell what he did on his phone. He would just mention some office work. That is when I read the message. After finding this message on his phone, I had to confront him as I wanted to know up to what level he is serious – Whether he has committed anything to his girlfriend or not. If he is really serious, then I need to think of my future too. I cannot stay with him like this, Sanjay Bhai. But since then, he is just not replying to anything.”
I tried to console her, “Don’t worry sister, nothing has happened. I am sure there must be some misunderstanding. There must be some explanation for this.”
She wiped her tears and said, “If he doesn’t have anything to hide, then why does he not explain this? Why is he running away from us?”
I could also sense that there was something fishy, but without knowing the entire thing it would not be fair enough to be prejudiced against him.
Until now, I had got to know only one side of the coin and it was imperative to know the other side of the same, too. I had gone there with the purpose to bridge the gap between them. I did want to hear Shahbaaz’s version too, but his flat was not a suitable place for it. So, we went down to the streets. We moved into a local restaurant and ordered tea.
This was the first time I hesitated to ask about the matter, but I asked anyway, “What happened, Shahbaaz, why are you so upset? I have never seen you in such a mood.”
He was looking really disturbed as he sweated profusely. Today, he seemed to be a different man. He kept splashing water on his face. I could not assimilate what was the purpose behind it whether he wanted to hide his tears or ease his temper.
I again asked, “Shahbaaz, please tell me.”
He remained silent for a couple of seconds more and then blurted out,
