FF An ugly truth part 35 pg 97 1.7.11 (new) - Page 11

Jai was driving down to his office. Only seven in the morning, still to early to attend the office, but he had to get out of that house. He couldn't bare to see that woman in his house, in his room. Every sight of her agitated him, every sight of her made him want to walk up to Pia and her parents and tell them how much he suffered, what he lost and how he was going to make them suffer but in the end he didn't not. He would let her do that, in her own way when she would cry tears of blood in front of her parents and her elder sister. That would be a fitting punishment for them. More then he could ever ask for.
Right now he had to get out of that house before he would burst in his anger. He wanted to make her cry, see her cry every day of the week, every hour of the day and every minute of every hour. He had all the means, to exactly do that, planned out. The only thing he did not anticipate was his family. They adored her. They loved her ever since they saw her in her parents' house. He could clearly see the affection for her in their eyes and it made him feel sick in the pit of his stomach and he wanted to get away before he would have to witness one more display of the 'lovely daughter-in-law'. He hated her even more for that and he wanted to avoid her again like he had done for the past fourteen days.

Jai drove past the beach. It was too early and too cold to visit his favourite place which was always secluded from the usual mob of visitors, by rocks. He loved to watch the sun come up or set from that spot. He loved to watch people from there, people who couldn't see him because of the rocks. It was there that he saw Pia the last time, almost two weeks ago, the night Bani and he were supposed to have dinner at the Dixit residence. Pia was walking up and down the beach, flanked by two other girls and two guys holding the hands of the teenage girls. Dressed in her fitted, black jeans and a red shimmering top, Pia, chatting animatedly, received admiring glances from the guys as well as the girls. She carried herself confidently and it looked like she never harmed a soul in her life.

Jai decided that instance that he wanted to see her sweat and grovel in front of him. He stood up from the cold rock underneath him. He had rolled up his trousers till his knees when he came to the beach and just took his shoes in his hand. His black shades on the bridge of his nose hid the turmoil in his eyes and heart and he walked towards her in a lazy gate. He enjoyed the moment Pia recognized him. He saw her stare towards him for a while and the next instance she frantically looked around her and then got some money out of her purse, gave it to the girls and whispered something in their ears. The girls giggled and walked away, pulling their partners behind them.

Jai grinned inwardly. 'Getting rid of the spectators he thought silently.

Pia looked around again, probably for a way to escape, but escaping Jai wasn't in her fate anymore. Good afternoon ms. Dixit. Jai smiled, emphasising Ms. In his sentence.enjoying a walk on the beach I see. He commented. Shouldn't you be home to welcome your sister and brother-in-law?'

'Jai you cant do this, it's not right.'

Have a house of his own and die without any debts. Orphaned at a very young age, Uday Walia had built everything he had from nothing. It wasn't much what he had achieved, but it was everything he had. It was his and he was proud of it. Uday Walia had managed to pay off each and every treatment for his ailing wife, educated and married off his nineteen-year- old daughter Jigyasa to the man she loved, Aditya, supported the education of his eldest son and was educating his teenage son, Nachiket.

Before Uday Walia died he was debt free. His sons could do whatever they wanted with the small amount he had left them and he knew that his son Jai would be a responsible man, even at the age of 20, and take care of his mother and the rest of the family.

Since his graduation in school, where he had won numerous interschool awards, he was approached by the owner of a gallery with a job. Jai decided to take up the job. His passion and his responsibilities towards his brother and the rest of his family would be fulfilled. The owner of the gallery trained Jai in whatever he knew. Taking care of paintings, a little bit of restoration and made Jai take up courses in painting. With this job he managed to educate Nachiket and run his house. Jai had vowed that he would make Nachiket a graduate in whatever he wanted to study. The subject didn't matter to Jai, but Nachiket would be a graduate and with Nachiket's interest in studies and the amount of hard work he put in his school, Jai was sure that this dream would come true.

Five years after Uday's death, Jai was still working in the gallery and had become quite an authority on the western impressionist and romantic movement. Van Gogh's work was his speciality and the Indian painters in the late 19^th and early 20^th century held his interest in evening courses.

The gallery owner, Mr Subhash , gave Jai a new challenge. Mr. Subhas' friend was the principal of a renowned collage in Mumbai. They needed a temporary arts history teacher and Jai was recommended by Mr. Subhas. Jai hesitated for a while. Arts were his passion, but he wasn't a qualified teacher. The principal of that college didn't listen to Jai's arguments and appointed him. There was one other reason Mr. Subhash had recommended Jai for this job. The gallery was about to close down. Mr. Subhash had decided to stop working and live with his son in the US. He didn't want to leave Jai jobless and thus referred him to his friend and to his pleasure Jai got the job.

In no time Jai was one of the favourite teachers in the college. He could connect to his students being of, almost, the same age group and taught the subject with such enthusiasm and vigour which was almost infectious. In the first year of his teaching career Jai found that he enjoyed teaching as much as he liked to paint and with the help of his colleagues and the principal studied to be a qualified and full-time teacher. Even though he still missed working at the gallery, this job made him interact more with other people instead of sitting in a room and painting, studying or analyzing a work.

Jai had a great year with his new job and his family and he was sure that something even more beautiful would come his way and add another dimension to his life. He met Pia the following year.



**

Bani came out of the shower and stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom to get dressed. It was too early for her to get up as she had a class at ten-thirty but she couldn't sleep anymore. She had seen Jai get up and get dressed at 6.30 in the morning. She sat on the edge of the sofa, like she had been doing for so many days now, and asked again. 'Mai aapke liye naachta lau?'

She didn't get any answer, like usual, but got up and made her way down to the kitchen in the dark and silent house. She made some toast and a cup of coffee and tea, as she didn't knew yet what he liked, and walked to her bedroom again, but like always he had ignored her and the tray in her hands and walked out of the room and out of the house. Bani would have to make up yet another excuse to present to the rest of the family during breakfast. What had happened to her life? Did she make a wrong decision? Based on one meeting, Bani had decided to get married to the man her parents wanted to. Not only because it was their wish, but also because in that one meeting, in that one conversation, Bani felt comfortable around him. She felt like she could connect with Jai at some level. With ease she told him about her life and he told her about his. His sincerity towards his work amazed her and Jai listened intently to her future goals and ambitions, pointed out some things to look out for and shared his experiences with her. Bani had thought that talking to this man, in just the first meeting, was easier then she had ever done and that this could be the man she could spend the rest of her life with because he cared about the things that mattered to her. Bani's expectations of a marriage were not limitless. A simple life with a simple man, that is what she wanted. Someone who cared about her, would stand by her and someone she could care for and stand by in his life and ambitions. In that first meeting, and the meeting that followed, Bani was sure that this is also what Jai wanted to have and this would make them a compatible couple, but she was wrong. She never had been more wrong about something. Everything in her life turned out to be wrong. He didn't care about her. She didn't care about their relationship and Bani didn't know why. She had asked though.

On the reception, a week ago, she had asked him. Jai wasn't looking at her, he avoided her like the plague and every time she accidently caught him looking at her, his eyes were filled with some emotion she couldn't figure out. What she did know is that he wasn't happy with her and he didn't want her in his life.

One, such a look later, Bani saw Jai walk away from the party suddenly and she followed him to a room she hadn't entered before. It was a study. Large and thick books filled the room on one side and a desk with a computer on it was placed on the other side of the room. He was standing, looking out of the widow, holding the windowsill, when Bani stood behind him and cleared her throat.

'Are you all right?'

She didnt get an answer. Instead Jai moved away from there, acting like her shadow scorned his skin. He turned around, glared at her and again turned away from her. Bani was tired of the treatment she was receiving for the past seven days. She put her hand on his shoulder and with force made him turn around to face her.
'At least tell me what I did wrong!' She tried to keep her voice in check and not scream at him. She didn't fully succeed but backed a step when she saw the dangerous look in her husband's eyes.

'Aaj mujhe haath lagaaya hai lekin agar tum apni salaamati chaahti ho to bhool kar bhi aisa doobaara mat karna!' An ice-cold voice told her.

Bani ran out of the room after that and no one, not even her parents whom Jai had seen enter the party a few minutes before, noticed that she had been pouring the pain in her heart out through tears.

After that there had been no conversation from Jai's side. It were his actions that hurt her. Ignoring her, rolling his eyes when one of the family members would talk to her, walk away when Bani would try to ask him, or tell him something. In just fourteen days Bani was frustrated and ready to burst in tears about the smallest things. She couldn't concentrate on her projects in University, she couldn't concentrate in classes, she couldn't stay focussed when she would do things around the house. In just two weeks she had changed for the worst.

this is so bad...i feel really bad for bani..i hope it gets better soon..