Varsha's Story.

The dim rays of the sun worked its way past the closed window and the curtains and fell on Varsha. The honking of the vehicles on the main road, and the constant ringing of the alarm woke Varsha up. With sleepy eyes, she looked at her phone. ‘7.30 AM’, it flashed. ‘’Oh no! I’ll be late for the airport.’’ She thought.

She got up with a jerk, quickly took a shower, packed her red American Tourister bag, and rushed out of the hotel room. Her flight was at 9.20 AM, and it was already 7.50 AM. She thanked ‘Ganpati Bappa!’ for getting a cab instantaneously. ‘Last & Final Boarding Call For Mrs. Varsha Dheeraj Iyer.’ – Thankfully, she didn’t miss her flight.

The flight from Mumbai to Kolkata was approximately of 2 and a half hours, and each moment seemed like a year for her. After all, it was a special day. She looked at the Swarovski ring that Dheeraj had gifted her, on the wedding day, and grinned ear to ear. It was their fifth marriage anniversary and she was traveling all the way from Mumbai to Kolkata to give him a surprise.

These five years had been a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs – fights and love. Dheeraj was the CEO of Perfect Pictures, India’s leading Ad Agency, whereas Varsha was the General Manager of Regal Palace – one of the best luxury hotels in India. Being workaholics, both barely found time for each other. But it was their anniversary, and Dheeraj was in Kolkata for a conference. There was no way they’d spend their anniversary apart. So Varsha had decided to surprise him.

‘Welcome to Netaji Subhash Chandra Airport..’ – no sooner did she hear the Captain say this than she started smiling. Finally, she could surprise her Dheeraj. He’d be so thrilled to see her. 

‘Taxi, Park Street?’ she called out. In the cab, she finally fixed herself. She put some blue kohl, and combed her hair. He loved it when she kept her hair open. ‘When you keep your hair open, your look like a princess.’ He’d tell her. It was the same mad, passionate, intense love and longing for each other. That was the only thing that hadn’t changed over these years.

One last time, she checked herself in the mirror of the lift, smiled to herself. She had the spare keys to the apartment Dheeraj was in, and she opened the door, oh so softly. She didn’t want him to wake up. Putting her luggage near the door, she tiptoed to his room, with a bottle of wine and a bouquet of roses. As soon as she opened the door, she looks surprised. There was no one in the room. 'Itni subah kaha gaye?' She dialed his number. 'Hello?' said Dheeraj. 'Hi baby! Kaha ho?' she asked. Dheeraj halted for a moment and then said - 'Um, office mein! Baad mein baat karta hoon!' and hung up. Varsha looked upset.

On the other side, Dheeraj halted an auto and asked 'Bhaiya? Bandra chaloge?' with a bottle of wine and a bouquet of roses.