Madhu lied on her bed having spent a wonderful evening with RK and started reflecting on the events of the day. He told her all about his family and his cousin's sudden engagement. Rishabh was an only son and a pampered darling of his parents, especially his mother, but he was never a spoilt kid. On the other hand, he was a geeky innocent sweet kid whose mother worried he would die alone. To Madhu they sounded completely unreal as she listened to RK speak of them more as friends than parents. He had a big lot of cousins that lived close by and RK had lived a joyous, loved childhood surrounded by his family. In contrast her own childhood, she recalled, was spent mostly being scared and trying hard to please her parents...
She forced her thoughts back from the history to the present. Life with Rishabh so far had been magical. With him, she realized, she felt complete. As if the part of her that had been missing all these years had been found. RK had filled the void in her life so effortlessly and so quickly that it scared her. She knew she loved him, but the realization of just how much he mattered to her was stunning even to herself. She wondered how someone could be so good, so genuine and so lovable as her Rishabh. She tried, but could no longer imagine a life without RK. They had only being dating for a short time, but she was addicted to him already. Every moment with him was like living in a dream. Every kiss he stole left Madhu thirsty for more. She knew very well by now how her body reacted in his presence. They had never gone beyond a few kisses, and nothing as passionate as the day they confessed, but her body longed for RK in a way that embarrassed her. She didn't know what the future held for them, but she decided that even if their togetherness was meant to be ephemeral in the books of fate, Madhubala was going to be Rishabh's and only Rishabh's. His love had made her a different person, a better person, and nothing else in life was worth this. She knew she couldn't tell all this to RK, at least not right now, but heart of heart she knew that she was now gone so deep that her fate was sealed. Her life was either with RK, or nowhere else. And all her defences be damned, with RK, she was going to hit the manual over-ride, go all in and make herself completely vulnerable to the man she loved.
Smiling at her realization and the strength that it gave her, she shot RK a quick text.
"Rishabh Kundra I am mad at you."
"Why?" came RK's reply almost instantaneously.
"Why didn't you come in my life before now? Do you know how many years of my life I wasted not living, because you weren't there?"
"You're crazy, Madhubala Malik :)"
"Crazy for you. Crazy for you." Madhu replied and laughed to herself, before sending another text:
"P.S. I love you."
Completely vulnerable, she repeated, and went to sleep.
*************************************************************
Life went on over the next couple of months as usual, on its new-found rhythm. RK and Madhu spoke almost everyday and met on most weekends, sometimes alone and some times with other friends. They hung out with Rohan and Ria, Rohan and Maya, Trishna, and even Maya and Paras - who seemed to have become friends of sorts. All of them agreed that Paras was weird and had indirectly hinted the same to Maya, but she insisted he was a good guy and ignored the fact that he quite clearly drooled over Maya. RK in particular was quite pissed, and told Madhu he didn't like Maya hanging out with Paras. When Madhu asked why, he explained to her in brief Maya's history with Hemant and how she was emotionally vulnerable. RK didn't trust Paras's intentions, moreover everyone agreed he was somewhat self-centred and insensitive, and RK didn't want Maya to get into the same mess again. Madhu agreed, and asked RK to speak to Maya one-on-one and calmly explain his point of view instead of getting angry and appearing to insult someone she regarded as a friend. She was sure Maya would trust him and understand. RK did as Madhu advised over the next week or so, and Maya finally came around. Everyone was happy, but none as much as RK, partly because the entire incident made him see and respect Madhu in a new light. He was proud of her, proud that his Madhu was someone so caring, so understanding and glad that she had accepted his friends just like hers.
*********************************************************************
A few days later, Madhu jumped from her bed at seeing RK's name flash on her mobile. It had been over three months of them dating, but her heart still fluttered like the first day every time he met her or called her. She hurried to pick the phone - RK had been working late in office all week and they hadn't been able to speak a lot of late. Clearly he was working late today as well, given it was past 10PM already.
"Hey" RK said as Madhu picked the call.
"Rishu, what's wrong?" Madhu immediately asked. There was just the faintest hint of stress in RK's voice but that was enough for Madhu to know that something was bothering Rishabh.
"Umm..what's wrong? Why are you asking that?" RK asked
"Because something is bothering you. I can sense it in your voice. What happened Rishu? Are you ok?"
RK was once again stunned at how perceptive Madhu was. He was indeed stressed with work in his office, but there was no way Madhu could guess that. Was his voice really that transparent, or did Madhu really know him so well.
"I am ok. It is just...I am a bit stressed due to work. This project and my idiotic boss is driving me crazy."
"Hmm. Tell me about it. Maybe I can help."
"Well, nobody can help. My boss is a selfish bas***d. Three months back he delayed my promotion. He told me it was because my performance fell short. But later I learnt that he took all the credit for the work we did in front of the management and made us look bad, that is why our promotions were delayed and bonuses cut. And now again, he is making life hard just to serve his interest. Last week, he went and changed the time line of our project. Now we have two weeks instead of two months to finish this project. Two weeks! And instead of helping us, he keeps creating problems for us. And today...one of my teammates said something that the CEO over-heard. It was all true, but when the manager got to know, he not only proved this guy wrong, he fired him. Fired!"
"Oh God. And the CEO?"
"He believes the manager, of course. I feel like quitting myself. I don't want to work for these people."
"Hmm. Maybe you should. There's no point working some place where you are not happy."
"Yeah. But I can't leave immediately. I am the project leader, and I can't leave the team in the middle. I have to somehow get this done, and with one less person! With all the complex accounting problems on this project, I don't know how we will manage..."
"Hmm. Okay, Mr Leader. Listen to me. Stop feeling miserable. Let us find a way out of this."
"Hmm..."
"Listen to me baba. You can't give up. If your morale is low, what will happen to your team. You have to keep everyone energized and get through this. As for your manager, he is an asshole, so let's not waste energy on him. Now Mr Cutie Pie, be a good boy, close your eyes and take a deep breath."
RK did as Madhu said, and she talked him through a few minutes of relaxation.
Surprisingly, RK felt a lot better than he did before calling Madhu. Somehow, her voice soothed his nerves. She was right - there was no point complaining about the situation. He just had to fight it through and survive.
"Thanks Madhu. I feel better already."
"Good. Now tell me about the complex accounting stuff. Don't forget I have done a masters in Economics and Accounts, and do very well at my own job myself."
"Oh yeah. I forgot you're the whiz. So listen..."
Madhu and RK spoke for several hours as RK explained to her the context and the issues and Madhu worked with him to find solutions.
When they finally hung up, it was well past midnight. Trishna walked to Madhu with her re-heated dinner.
"Madam, if your romance is over, would you mind eating some dinner? Do you plan to fall ill or what"
"No...thanks Trish. I was just helping RK for some work."
"Hmmm...love partner, work partner, now only life partner is left. Oh wait, how about in the bed partner. How's that coming up?"
"Shut up Trish. Your mind is seriously in the gutter."
"He he."
"RK's stressed with work. I was just trying to help him."
"Ok madam. I see the worry lines on your face. I get it. But not eating will not help."
"Hmm"
"By the way what did he say when you told him about your new deal?" Madhu and Trishna worked in the same firm, and Trishna was referring to the fact that Madhu had won a big new deal in her company, and was made in charge on coordinating the execution for the same as well. It was a big achievement and a big responsibility. Madhu realized she had completely forgotten mentioning it because she was so engrossed in RK's problems.
"Oh that...I forgot." she responded and smiled. "That's no big deal, I will tell him tomorrow."
*****************************************************************************
Two weeks later
RK felt more relieved than happy. A lot had happened today. First, he had walked straight to the CEO's office this morning and gave a kick-ass presentation about their work himself, instead of letting his manager take the presentation from him and take all the credit. For the first time, the CEO saw what RK and his team were really worth. Then, he told his CEO all about his manager's history, in front of the manager and the CEO listened. Then, he gave his resignation, which the CEO refused to accept. He asked RK to present to the client in the afternoon. RK agreed and gave a spectacular performance, and it all went extremely well. Everyone in RK's team was delighted and the CEO praised all of them in front of the entire office. He then asked RK to withdraw his resignation and even offered to promote him, but RK refused. Madhu was right. This organisation was too good for him. They did not value merit, there was a lot of politics in the culture and the CEO was too pre-occupied to notice. He could never be happy building a career here. So he had politely refused, and now walked out.Yet, he knew instinctively he had taken the right call.
He thought about the last two weeks and the person who had helped him get here. His Madhu. She had been by his side all through. Even though they had only seen each other briefly in the time and discussed nothing except work, they had spent a lot of time over phone and email and Madhu had really helped him a lot. She had done his research, made complex financial models for him and helped him think through the strategic choices. Even though she was not a part of their team or the company and she did not know any of the client-specific confidential details, RK felt that Madhu was as much a part of their team as anyone else and deserved to celebrate the success. She had worked just as hard, and most importantly been a source of mental and emotional strength for RK. Her words had instilled the sense of self-belief in RK which made him not only complete the project, but also do everything he did today. Without her, he would have thought it audacious to confront his bosses like he did. RK's heart swelled as he thought of the difference Madhu had made.
He realised he had vented so many times on Madhu, in fact a few times he had even yelled on her for no reason under stress, but she had been nothing but supportive. She had absorbed much of his stress effortlessly. She was a true partner to him.
RK looked at the watch. It was 5 pm. Madhu would probably still be at work. He decided to call her and pick her up from office and take her out to celebrate once she was free. He had lots to tell her, but most importantly he had to thank her for all her help, and for being there for him when he needed her.
"Hello"
"Hello RK" To RK's surprise, it was Trishna who answered Madhu's phone.
"Trish?"
"Yeah. How are you?"
"Where's Madhu?"
""Umm..she's home. I am with her."
"Oh. Can you give her the phone?"
"Umm..RK..uhh..she's actually asleep. Can I ask her to call you back?"
"Asleep at 5? Is she ok? What's happening Trishna?"
"Oh well. I am not supposed to tell you but...Madhu is not well. She has very high fever right now, and I just gave her some meds and made her sleep. So I don't want to wake her up."
"Shit. Did you take her to the doctor?"
"She doesn't listen to me. She ate medicines only after I threatened to call you. She was saying you're very stressed and she didn't want to make you tense."
"Oh God. I am coming there right now."
40 minutes later, RK was at Madhu's door. Trishna opened the door, and she could see he was visibly agitated. Madhu was still sleeping. RK went and sat next to her. Her skin was still burning. RK's face mirrored the anguish in his heart.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Well, I woke up this morning to find Madhu sleeping on the living room floor over her laptop. When I went to wake her up I realized she was burning with fever. She has been working like crazy these last two weeks and hasn't even been eating properly. So I called her office and told them she wasn't coming in and took the day off myself as well."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"Well Madhu told me not to. She said you had some big presentation or something and she knew how stressed you were for the past month."
"Stupid girl. She can't take care of herself and keeps lecturing me to do that."
"She's like that only. Puts everyone before herself"
RK looked at his sleeping angel and his heart went out to her. He loved her so so much. She was beautiful, intelligent, a great friend, super caring and super understanding - how did he get so lucky?
"But that doesn't mean she falls sick herself."
"Well actually, she won a big deal at work a few days back, because of which she had lots of extra responsibilities. It's a big project for our firm and Madhu was asked to lead. If she does well, she'd definitely get promoted. Anyway, because of all that, there was a lot of extra work. And she was helping you out as well. So she had been working late at night and sleeping less than four hours for the last few days. At the pace at which she was going, this was inevitable. She does not listen to me at all, this girl! So stubborn! I wonder how you tolerate her?"
Rk didn't reply, instead he sat by Madhu's side and stared at her. Trishna left the room to give him some privacy.
RK felt guilty, but he also felt proud. Guilty that he was responsible for Madhu's condition in some way. Proud that he was in love with someone like Madhu. Guilty that he had been so engrossed in his own issues, he had actually not bothered to ask Madhu what was going on in her life. And proud that he was loved by Madhu - this crazy, selfless, caring girl who loved him so much.
He bent forward and kissed her on the forehead. She was his Madhu, and he was thankful to God for that fact.
Kumkum Bhagya
Anupamaa
