RECAP Aditya sits down to a lonely dinner and Ishaani to a special candle-lit one with Shayan. Diya’s crying is still bothering Ishaani and she is a little relieved to know, after Abanti’s call, that this daughter has accepted the situation better. In the meanwhile, Shayan is fondly remembering the college days when he used to admire Ishaani from afar.  CHAPTER 6 When Ishaani had begun her life as Aditya’s wife, she had actually been happy. Aditya was handsome, charming and rich and he knew how to woo a woman. She was glad to be wooed with lavish displays of affection, over restaurant dinners, weekend getaways and it had seemed to her that life was almost perfect. She had almost been glad when pregnancy gave her an excuse to give up the pursuit of graduation and become a fulltime homemaker. She loved doing things for her new home; gradually growing a wonderful garden in front of their house; redoing the interiors; learning to cook things that he loved to eat. She remembered the wonderful world that they had inhabited – seemingly just the two of them – during the time she was pregnant with Diya. She went around those days as if in a dream, believing that she had found a perfect love and had a perfect life. She was a young woman, in love with love, and radiating that love. She named their first child Diya because she was like a lamp that would glow forever, like their love, a logic that had seemed fallacious to everyone except Ishaani. But Diya was a nice enough name and Aditya was indulgent to his young wife. Diya grew up, every tiny achievement of hers a major event in the lives of the proud parents. She burped so well today. Look, she’s smiling at me! Isn’t she looking a bit plump? Doesn’t she have the most wonderful smile in the world? She called me Ma today! She was a mother, and it felt so wonderful to just be that all day, and to recapitulate the events of the day for Aditya when he came home from office in the evening. The happy days passed by, and even though an occasional frown intruded, or an angry word, nothing could really take away from the happiness. And then, three years after Diya, she became pregnant again. They had often discussed that there would have to be another child to complete their home, and it was happening now. However the second pregnancy turned out to be a difficult one and she reluctantly moved into her maternal home with Diya, having been advised a lot of rest. Aditya used to drop in whenever he could, on his way back from work, but she still missed him terribly. Little Diya would mostly be busy fooling around with her Dadu while the Dida was busying herself keeping Ishaani comfortable. Ishaani spent a lot of time in bed, trying to survive the discomfort of the long summer afternoons without electricity by shutting out all the sunlight. When the baby inside her began kicking, she felt so worried that that life would not survive to fruition. But the patience was rewarded as she managed to survive the anxieties of the second trimester and step into the relative tranquility of the third. She still avoided doing anything strenuous but the doctor had now told her she needn’t be confined to her bed. Aditya and her parents thought it best that she just waited out the rest of her pregnancy at her parents’ since things were going fine now. She agreed, though a little reluctantly. The day was the 14th of July and she had felt miserable when Aditya had called to say that he’d not be able to meet her that evening since he was working till late. His business was expanding and these days he often worked till late, but she had hoped that he would manage to come on their anniversary. This was the first time that they would be apart and Ishaani wore a long face all day till her father finally told her that spending a night with Aditya was perhaps the best remedy. He conspiratorially agreed to drive Ishaani over and drop her outside the Salt Lake home, and then she could sneak in and wait for Aditya to come back home. Ishaani’s mother thoughtfully packed a tiffin carrier with her son-in-law’s favourite dishes. As she let herself in with her key, Ishaani suddenly felt like an intruder, and she didn’t know why. It was as if she felt a sinister presence in the house and she wished she had asked her father to walk her up to the house. Keeping the tiffin carrier in the kitchen, she quietly walked up to her bedroom. The uneasy feeling grew and as she opened the door, she suddenly knew it was not just a feeling, but another human being. She tried to close the door but a voice spoke from inside. A woman’s voice. Is that you baby? I didn’t hear the car... Ishaani didn’t wait to find out who the voice belonged to, she didn’t remember to walk carefully, she simply ran out of the house, onto Salt Lake’s dimly lit streets, frantically seeking a taxi. She thought of a dozen possible explanations for the woman’s presence but all along she knew that she was trying to reassure herself that things were fine even though they were not. Wondering about how little she really knew about Aditya, about his past, she didn’t see the Jadavpur - Salt Lake minibus hurtling down the road. The driver was too busy trying to overtake the bus in front to notice unworthy creatures like pedestrians. The impact was so powerful that Ishaani flew up into the air before landing on ground. The bus fled away and Ishaani lay by the roadside, bleeding, unconscious.                                              To be continued...