MiNeil OS
A Walk To Remember
Neil Oberoi was crossing the new bridge of his city. The bridge has been the pride of the city ever since it was made five years ago. Couples spending quality time in secluded corners, children and families walking on foot path were a common sight till 10pm but after that the bridge was mostly empty as their city was not a big city of dreams which never sleeps, it was small...had all the facilities but still a small town with simple people. The shining lights, the arcs made the bridge look really beautiful specially at night when its lights reflection could be seen on the river. No one could really cross it without praising its beauty or marvelling at the architecture.
But for Neil Oberoi, the bridge held no special meaning, it was just serving its purpose by connecting two parts of the city, one part being the outer side of industrial area while the other part being the resident area. People around him say that Neil is cynical person but he always refused to accept it. He infact find it difficult to understand how people romanticize simplest of things in life without any reason.
Neil Oberoi is a mechanical engineer who works in one private company which like any other capitalist entity exploits him to his full ability and make sure every penny they pay as salary should get realized. Like lakhs of middle class working men, Neil, having no other option or not knowing what does he actually wants from his life or may be because he is simply an average working middle class man with no unrealistic dreams, goes to work for that company without fail.
He doesnt take much leaves because he doesnt have anyone in his life worth spending his leave with. During college he dreamt of having his very own cute sweet love story and ended up marrying his classmate/girl friend Isha. Everything was fine in the starting few years but as the time passed he soon understood that the luxury of love is not meant for him. Just as sun sets everyday, his marriage also ended with the passage of time. The relationship became dull falling prey to the monotonous daily life and before they knew, they drifted apart and got divorced. Isha got settled again after few months and Neil’s mother kept pestering him to settle down again too but he was kind of pissed off with life. He was kind of became habitual to loneliness, like his job of mechanical engineer, he too became like a machine which works from 9-5 and most of the time for extra hours to just kill time, turns off, then start again on the next day. He didn’t particularly knew the reason of this behaviour but didn’t want to break the pattern either. He was fine in his own world, he was not expecting anyone in his life.
But, as they say, life is full of unexpected twists. Like every other night, Neil had worked for late hours, he was returning to his house now where he would get drunk and sleep till the morning alarm wake him up. This was just another lonely night of his life. He was crossing the bridge, like everyday it was now empty but what caught his attention was a luxurious car parked near the foot path. As he came nearer, he saw a girl sitting in the driver seat and sobbing. After few seconds the girl came out and shut the door of the car with a bang. She stomped towards the railing and took a deep breath then totally shocking Neil, she jumped on the railing and contemplated jumping into the river.
Neil was stunned for few seconds and hence couldn’t react then his brain started logical questions.“What are you looking at? This girl seems mad, run away from here. She is about to commit suicide, you can get into a problem.”
Neil nodded to himself and started walking in fast pace. But then the sound of that girl’s sobs reached his ear and he stopped.
“Why do you care if she is crying? She is not your relative. Dont get into unnecessary trouble.” His brain tried to keep him away from this mess.
“But she seems very upset. What could have happen in her life to provoke her to take such drastic step?” Heart raised the curiosity.
And before brain could have warned him further, girl’s sobs reached his ears again and he decided to probe the matter going against his very nature of minding his own business.
“What...what are you trying to do? Who are you? Has anything happened with you?” Neil voice his doubts.
The girl gasped as she noticed him. She checked the whole bridge and wondered how and when did this man came from. She had made sure she was alone here to commit suicide.
“Its none of your business. Just leave me alone.” She replied rudely.
“Yes, normally I wouldn’t have been bothered. You know, many people commit suicide daily...but still something tells me that you dont really want to jump. You are just sad and if you can talk to someone, you will be fine.” Neil replied honestly.
“What do you mean, I really dont want to jump? Are you implying I am a coward and doing this just for attention?” The girl asked getting offended.
“I didn’t mean that but...you know...you are not that types...I mean come on...you came here in Audi. Your clothes and jewellery speaks of upper class riches. Why would someone like you try to end your life? At the worst what bad could have happen to you...an argument with parents or boy friend may be?” Neil shrugged.
“So you think that only financial problems are real problem and every rich person lives the life of pure bliss?” The girl shook her head in dejectedly.
“Well, yes, mostly I think like that only. If its not true then you tell me, what has made you take this drastic step? What is that your money cant fix?” Neil continued the conversation hoping that he is successful in engaging that girl in it.
And his idea worked, the girl stepped down from the railing and marched towards him angrily. Thats when he noticed the girl properly. She was not only rich, she was beautiful...like exquisitely beautiful. Long hair, oval face, brown eyes, pink lips, average height but above average personality.
“What do you know about me? Do you even know my name? Stop guessing about my life’s problem and passing judgements about it.” Girl said pointing accusatory finger towards him.
“If you dont like me asking questions to you without knowing your name then lets start from here only, whats your name lady?” Neil asked.
“Huh! “The girl was confused why this guy didn’t feel the insult she meant to convey?
“Your name...name?” Neil repeated the question.
“Minni.” Girl replied getting annoyed now.
“So Minni, what happened? Why are you sad?” Neil questioned.
And like Minni got an idea that this man is not going to mind his own business till he gets to know everything. And anyways she is going to die. So what would happen if she talks to a stranger for a while.
“This...this happened.”Minni pointed towards her lower lip where still dried blood could be seen.
Neil tried to look properly and gasped as he not only noticed the dried blood near her lip but also some bruises on her face.
“Who did this to you?”Neil asked immediately.
“My husband, Mickey Singh. This has not happened for the first time. For some time now, this has become his habit. He gets angry, he beats me, he suffers loss in business, he beats me, he comes home drunk, he beats me. I am tired....tired of this miserable life. To the world, he is a perfect husband, nobody knows about his ugly truth and how he behaves with me behind the closed doors of our house.” Minni started sobbing again.
“Why dont you go to your parents? Leave that man.” Neil suggested the obvious.
“They dont support me.They dont even consider me as their daughter now. Mickey doesnt belong to our caste and my parents are orthodox. They didn’t approve of this marriage. I married without their consent and they were so angry with me that they broke all the ties with me. Mickey was my classmate in college. We fell in love and when my parents opposed, we eloped and got married.” Minni explained.
“What! Love marriage?And still he treats you like this?” Neil questioned again.
“It was young innocent college love...you know...carefree, too naive to think about future. Us time par uski possessiveness sexy lagti thi, uska gussa pyara lagta tha, uske sare nakhre uthana, wo jaisa kahe waise hi rehna...ye sab lagta tha pyar jatane ka hi tareeka hai. I ignored all the red flags in the relationship and now bearing the consequences.” Minni elaborated.
“Whatever you have told me, its all seems his fault or your parents fault. So what if you married against their wishes, how can they leave their daughter with such monster? And you? You seem pretty educated to me...independent sort of....why you are bearing with this shit? Walk out of the house.” Neil said like it was right to say it.
“I am myself a businesswoman and that too better than that filth of a husband of mine. May be thats one of the reason he is always so pissed off at me. He is jealous of my success and wants to control me.” Minni shrugged her shoulders.
“See, thats what I was saying. Walk out. You dont need that pig in your life.” Neil suggested.
“Where will I go? Parents wont take me back, I dont have anyone else in my life. I know I dont need to depend on anyone but...I cant be alone...I never lived like that...its not easy to just walk out of marriage of 5 years...specially for a girl.” Minni was confused.
“Bullshit! You cant keep blaming circumstances for your state. Take the charge of your life in your hands. You can break free from this toxic relationship with your husband.” Neil motivated her.
“Have you broke up from any toxic relationship? Have you never put blame on circumstances?” Minni was getting motivated but she wanted to listen from his mouth, has he done it successfully?
“I have...uh...I...ya...I mean...” Neil started but then stopped suddenly as realization struck him. He ended his marriage with Isha but then what? He has literally stopped living, passing days like machine, blaming circumstances for it. Shit! He is in toxic relationship now with his miseries. He has not come out of it. What lecture he is giving this girl when he is still cocooned in his shell, fearing to face the world alone.
Minni laughed at his state, “So what happened? Dont have answer. Sometimes we dont know why we cant break free from our miseries. May be its not easy, may be we become habitual, may be we give up hope....but the truth is we are stuck in conundrums.”
“Neil kept thinking for sometime then replied confidently, “Whatever, but committing suicide is certainly not a way to end it all. If you can find courage to jump into that river then definitely you can find it in you to break free and find right direction.” This girl today has surely given him wake up call. He certainly didn't want to end up like her, on the verge of suicide. He will give another chance to life, to himself.
Minni gave a thought about what he said. He made sense. She looked at the river then her surroundings and Neil. And it was like she woke up from some dream. “What I was doing? Suicide....no..God! this is not me. I cant give up like that." She knew its going to be difficult but she was now willing to put up a fight. Its not like she didn't think of standing up for herself previously but nobody was there to support her. Now that this stranger has given her hope, she found somewhere her lost confidence. There was something special about this stranger for sure. His words didn't sounded like a standard motivation speech. It held deep meaning, like he was speaking from his own experience. Like her, he too seemed to take up the resolution to walk out of whatever miseries/past mistakes were holding him back.
“Thanks for you advice Mr....” Minni realized she didn’t know the stranger’s name. Right now he seemed like a God sent angel who shook her awake from a nightmare.
“Neil...Neil Oberoi.” Neil extended his hand towards her and she shook hands with him.
“So...Neil...what do you do?” Minni asked as she started walking towards him.
“I am a mechanical engineer.” Neil replied.
“So...I was thinking...I dont wanna go back to the home to that pig so I was thinking I will spend night in hotel room.” Minni shared her thoughts.
“Nice idea, you will get a break. I know a good hotel in the city. Its not far away. You can go in your car.” Neil suggested.
“Uh...if its not much to ask for...I dont want to drive that car. Its his actually. Weather is good. Can we walk upto there?” Minni said as she noticed the pleasant weather. It seemed as if dark clouds of depression were scattered now making way for pleasant wind.
“Ya, sure.” Neil answered and started walking with her.
“So, you pretty much know everything about me now. Tell me something about you.” Minni asked to continue the conversation. She liked talking with this guy. She wanted it to continue. There is something in him which gives her assurance, motivation, he has this....this good vibes in him.
“You know my name and my job now...I am a divorced lonely, boring man who occasionally saves girls from committing suicide.” Neil replied and Minni laughed at his words. Neil also laughed with her. The joke was not that great but both of them kept laughing for the longest time they could have remembered. For some strange reason they couldn’t seems to stop themselves as if their hearts were venting out the suppressed feelings, the joys, the happiness they denied themselves.
They kept talking and kept laughing at silly jokes while sharing their life story with each other.They didn’t know when they reached the hotel. Minni booked a room for herself and Neil came to see her off at her room’s door.
“So...thank you very much.” Minni expressed her gratitude.
“For what?” Neil asked.
“For reminding me that I am worthy of all the happiness in the world and one wrong decision will not determine the whole course of my life.” Minni explained.
“Then thank you too.”Now it was Neil’s turn to express his gratitude.
“For doing the same for me. Until an hour and a half ago I wouldn’t have given a damn about that tomorrow is Sunday, I would have found some excuse or work not even related to me to spent my holiday in office. Now suddenly I am wondering how would I spend my day, and would you like to give me company.” Neil replied and also asked her out for tomorrow.
Minni blushed but couldn’t stop the beautiful smile from gracing her lips. Her smile told her answer but still she obliged him by saying it in words. “Yes, I would like to spend my sunday with you."
"Good night." Minni wished and Neil smiled in reply.
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"Stop it! Are you crazy Neil...we will fall into the river." Minni shouted as Neil pulled her up on the railing of the bridge with him.
"Why....are you afraid now? Six months ago you were all willing to jump." Neil teased.
"Yes, because that time I had no wish to live but now I am afraid for my life because I want to live a long happy fulfilling life with you." Minni replied as she hugged him.
"Hmmm...Six months ago that night changed our lives. And look at us now. Celebrating independence day here in the middle of the night like crazy drunk people." Neil laughed.
"Independence day?" Minni asked in confusion.
"Of course, today you got freedom from that pig, legally. Tumhara to independence day hi hai na." Neil explained.
Minni was lost in memories. How she filed for divorce, how Mickey created lots of problems in her life and not willing to let her go. How she had to go through long legal battle to win domestic violence case against him and get divorce from him. How her parents accused her of ruining their image in society and she had to face all sorts of questions from everyone. Only Neil was there with her through the tough phase. After that lonely night, they had met again next day and then again and again...started dating officially and fell in love...with each other, with life, with themselves again. They moved in together and were in a live in relationship, waiting for Minni's divorce to get finalised. But their relationship had also come under scanner because of on going divorce amd societal defamation. It was new to them how their love was put to test everytime by the world but nobody raised a question on that abusive man Mickey. But they fought, with all their might, against all odds because they wanted to live for each other.
"You had really been my support system. Thanks for pulling me out of darkness." Minni said as she kissed him on the lips.
"Thanks to you too for doing same for me." Neil said before taking short break between the kiss. He continued to suck her lips, holding her from waist with one hand while with his other hand he brought out a small box from his jeans pocket.
"Be mine." Neil said after breaking the kiss as he brought diamond ring in front of her.
There were tears in Minni's eyes. True that she was here celebrating her freedom from toxic relationship and he was again asking her to be bound by another relationship but she wanted nothing more than to be tied to this man's life forever. Minni hugged him in reply as she again let her eyes shed some tears but this time the tears were of happiness. She recalled those small moments when she realized how this man has showed her what true love is actually about. What she used to feel for Mickey was nothing but college crush and no wonder it didnt last long.
And as if Neil was understanding her emotions right now because he too was going through the same. He always dreamt of having this bollywood kind of love story, he had it too but then everything is not that simple. Bollywood never shows what hero heroine goes through after marriage. The movie always end at, "They live happily ever after." But the real life starts after that. His so called epic college romance fell flat when came across the harsh realities of life. It just didnt stand strong once the starting golden phase of relationship wore off and he learned it the hard way that true love is different from hot shot college romance. True love needs maturity, stability and patience. The process of understanding each other continues for whole life and now he wanted to do this journey with Minni because only she had taught him what it feels like to be alive again, she shook him, pulled him out of pessimism. Told him that its ok if life didnt go as per your plan, you can still enjoy it.
An hour later both were lying on their bed, in each others' arms, legs entangled, hands all over each other, mouths just inches away as they lovingly looked into each others' eyes.
"Yes." Minni finally gave her answer. "I'll be yours...forever and ever...and ever..." Minni kept whispering while Neil had already rolled her and pinned her down, marking her with his love.
As they felt satiated after what felt like eternity of being buried in each other, they broke apart and rolled on their sides to take some rest.
"That walk was really something." Minni told him as she remembered their walk to the hotel.
"Hmm...a walk to remember." Neil agreed as he relived the memory too.
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The End.
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