Anagha, the 25 year old practically thinking girl was escorted to her husband’s room. It was her wedding night and her friends were the only support she had during this wedding phase. Anagha wasn’t ready for this marriage, but she had no one else to blame, but herself. As she sat on the bed, she could hear her friends trying to cheer her up, but her mind wandered. She didn’t even realize when they left while she sat there all alone. Whenever she heard footsteps outside the door, her heart would skip a beat. After a few minutes, the hustle and bustle died down. She could sense there was pin drop silence in the room. She wanted to cry, but controlled her tears. The more she thought about the situation she was in, the more it reminded her of him.
The him – Sandeep Ahuja aka Sandy, her ex-boyfriend was always a mystery for her. Anagha had been to Bangalore with her office colleagues when she bumped into Sandy who had come there for an official business visit. He then met her in Anagha's hometown and that is where their relationship began to blossom. Sandy had made it very clear that he loved travelling and that’s why he loved his job which allowed him to meet new clients across cities. At times, they would not see each other for weeks and being the practical girl she was, she always questioned herself whether she had taken the right decision of being in this “distant” relationship. Sandy, on the other hand, kept telling her that he would settle down when he had fulfilled his goal. That goal was something he never spoke about even though Anagha would bring that topic every time they’d meet. If you think this was enough, there was another twist to their tale. Sandy was 15 years older than Anagha. He was 40 while Anagha was 25. Her parents rejected their relationship right away because of the age difference between them. Anagha knew this was bound to happen, but for her, the only way was the way forward now.
While Anagha was seated on the bed, the haunted past began to cloud her mind again. She felt like running away from everything, from her loved ones and everyone she knew. The tears that she was holding on for so long, finally rolled down her cheeks. That very moment, there was complete darkness in the room. Someone knocked on the door and shouted, “Bhabhi there’s a power cut; bhaiyya will be here soon. Shall I send someone to be with you if you are feeling scared?” The woman knocking on the door got tensed when she couldn’t hear any response. She knocked again. Anagha somehow managed to say, “No…I….I….I am fine”. The woman went away and Anagha’s mind drifted in the past again. She now recollected the day when it was her 25th birthday, which had passed 3 months ago. Just a day before her birthday, she had met Sandy after 3 weeks. She coaxed him to be with her for one more day and he promised he would be there. Like most girls, she expected him to remember her birthday. She wasn’t expecting any gifts, but wanted him to be the first person to wish her when the clock struck 12. She waited and waited, but the moment never arrived. There was no phone call, no message. Her phone kept beeping until 12:30 and every time it beeped, she would excitedly pick it up with the hope that there would be a message from him, but she was wrong. She did get a message from him in the morning which was about his departure that night for another trip and he wanted to meet her. A smile ran across her face as she got out of the bed in a good mood. “Hope he at least remembers that it’s my birthday today”, she kept thinking all day long. They met at a restaurant that evening, but still there was no sign of him being aware that it was her birthday. From there he took her to a beach and her hopes ran high because they’d never been to a beach together before. “May be he wanted to get me to a romantic place and soon he would wish me”, her mind wandered at that moment. But the very next moment, all hell broke loose when Sandy told her point blank that he wanted to end this relationship. “I don’t think you'd be happy marrying me. Your parents and your friends are right about me. I think you will find a much better guy. I don’t think I would like to bind myself in marriage. Plus, you are still young and I don’t wish to marry until I have achieved my goal. I don’t know how long it will take”. Anagha was shocked, or rather ‘shocked’ is a small word for the pain she felt when his words pierced her soul. She tried to coax him, but nothing worked. When she cried, he just walked away like a stone-hearted man.
She never saw him again and finally after a lot of coaxing from her friends and family, she decided to give the nod for her marriage. It had been roughly 3 months since her break-up and tonight during her wedding reception, she got the second shock of her life when she saw Sandy walking up the stage. Her husband (Mohit) nudged her saying, “He’s Sandy, my business Guru. We have not been on good terms since the last 3 years though”. Mohit gave him a fake smile and Sandy responded with a smile too. As he walked towards the other end of the stage, he looked behind and gave Anagha a cold stare. Just then, she came out of the trance when she heard footsteps approaching the door. Her heart sank, her feet curled inwards as the door opened.
PS:- I like plays that are coupled with some bit of emotional quotient. This means, I want my partner to be very expressive at that juncture. If you believe in playing something that’s full of pure lust, please spare me.