Forever Is True

by Novoneel Chakraborty

  They met at a cafe as planned. Prisha was stiff when he hugged her. Was that too a pretence? she wondered. They ordered coffee and kept quiet. It was one of the most awkward dates Prisha had ever been to. After finishing their coffee, they went to his house.

  ‘If you want, you can go to my bedroom and study,’ Saveer said. ‘I’ll make myself comfortable here for the night.’ He was ensconced on the couch.

  ‘I know asking questions weren’t part of the deal but I have to ask you something,’ Prisha said.

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘Did you feel jealous when you saw the boy at my flat the other day?’

  ‘Jealous? Of course, not. Why would a teenager make me jealous?’ Saveer said. The way he vehemently denied the possibility made Prisha smile faintly. She knew he had been jealous.

  ‘I think you were,’ Prisha said, amused.

  ‘Then probably I was,’ Saveer said, without looking at her. The indirect confession made him look undeniably cute. At that moment, Prisha wanted to pull his cheeks, ruffle his hair and kiss him hard.

  ‘Do you mind if I stay here? I need to study but I don’t have to be alone in any room to do that.’

  ‘Sure.’ They stayed in the living room throughout the night. The dinner was intentionally packed from outside and Saveer dozed off soon after eating his food. Prisha continued to study. But with Saveer lying on the couch, she was getting distracted. So she got herself a stool and sat on it with her back to him. Not that he was looking. Few hours later, when she felt she couldn’t last any longer, Prisha closed her books. She stood up and found Saveer softly snoring with his mouth open. Prisha tiptoed towards him and knelt down on the floor. Her mouth was close to his now.

  I’m young but no fool, she thought looking at his face. I know you could have chosen not to take the pain of seeking me and perhaps lived your life the way you used to, being Mean Monster, after Ishanvi’s death. But the fact that you are hell-bent on doing so, even going to the extent of facing embarrassment and reaching out to me, tells me that you too have the same thing on your mind, Saveer. We shall be together once this person is caught. And I shall wait till then. Whether it takes a day or an eternity, I will wait for you, Saveer. Prisha kissed him lightly on his chin and gently closed his mouth. Saveer stirred in his sleep but didn’t wake up. Prisha went to the other couch and lay down there. Soon sleep took over.

  When Saveer didn’t get any call or message from Shetty, he understood that nothing had happened. He went to office while Prisha went back home. This routine continued for over a week. Prisha was happy to comply without any complaints. She was getting used to the silence between them. Deep inside, she knew that the silence was only an attempt to bring back the words. She too wanted to nab the woman who was the reason for their break-up. She didn’t tell Gauri that she was staying over at Saveer’s place. Gauri too didn’t try to find out as it gave her an opportunity to be with Karthik.

  On the eleventh night, Saveer said, ‘This is the last night. If the woman doesn’t visit tonight, I’ve decided to call the police off. I can’t keep asking you to come here every night. It will hamper your studies and . . .’

  ‘And?’ Prisha prayed desperately for the woman to turn up.

  ‘And this is not how things can run.’

  ‘Then how should things run?’

  ‘The way they were. Before you came into my life,’ Saveer said. Prisha didn’t say anything after that. The following morning, she went back to her flat. The woman had not turned up. Saveer went to office and called up Shetty.

  ‘Good morning, officer. I think I’m done with this. Please feel free to call off your men.’

  ‘Are you sure, Mr Rathod?’

  ‘I am. I don’t have the right to waste everyone’s time on the basis of a hunch. I’ll pull out the cameras as well.’

  ‘As you say. But let me know if you ever need any help.’

  ‘I sure will. Thank you so much, officer.’ Saveer cut the call. He felt frustrated, not so much because the woman had not come back again but because he couldn’t accept that Prisha and he couldn’t live a life together. He left work on time, went home instead of the gym, had an early dinner and slept off, like he used to when he was drugged. Next morning, he woke up with a headache. Saveer still couldn’t guess that his food was freshly spiked. He realized that he had forgotten to pull out the secret cameras. He switched on his phone to de-link it when he jumped from his seat. He saw the woman again in the feed. She had visited him last night. The time showed 2 a.m. She left at 4.35 a.m. Saveer wanted to throw the phone away in anger. But he somehow managed to maintain his cool and went for a shower. In office, Saveer couldn’t wrap his head around the coincidence. Why did she visit him the same day that he called off the supervision? The only other possibility was that she knew what Saveer was up to. But how? He kept an eye on his phone’s live feed while working. Some time in the afternoon, he noticed that the woman came back again. He was at Ishanvi’s, having lunch alone. At night, the woman had simply been sitting beside the bed, on the rocking chair, but right now she was going through his wardrobe.

  ‘What’s she doing?’ Saveer mumbled. The moment he uttered the words, he saw the woman pressing her right hand against her ears. Saveer frowned.

  ‘Hi, how are you?’ Saveer said to nobody in particular. He wanted to check the woman’s reaction. The woman kept pressing her hand against her ear.

  ‘I forgot to pull out the cameras,’ Saveer said with his eyes on the screen. The woman stood still for some time and then rushed out of the house.

  Damn! She can hear me, Saveer thought. That explains the coincidence. But how can she?

  Saveer rushed back to his office. He went to the washroom attached to his cabin. He kept his phone on the wash basin and frisked himself. He found nothing.

  There has to be something, he kept telling himself. He took off his shirt and started checking it fastidiously. Till he got to the cufflink. He inspected it closely. And then, he smirked.

  Caught you, bitch!

  24

  Saveer wore back his shirt. He still couldn’t come to terms with the fact that someone had planted a microphone in his cufflink. What could have motivated the woman to go to this extent to keep tabs on his daily activities? And that too for twenty-five years? Ok, maybe not twenty-five years of putting microphones on my cufflinks, he thought, but if this woman was really involved in all the killings, what was the trigger? Saveer told Krishna he was leaving for a meeting. He was extra careful in choosing his words. When you know you have been bugged, you tend to become overtly cautious.

  Saveer drove to the nearest mall, mindful of being followed. He parked the car and went inside. Spotting a men’s apparel store, he walked in and selected a few T-shirts. He changed into one of them in the trial room and left with the rest and his old shirt in a shopping bag. As he drove out of the parking lot, he thought of calling up Shetty but immediately rejected the idea. What if his phone was also tapped? Saveer drove straight to the police station.

  He waited for some time for the sub-inspector to arrive.

  ‘Sir is out of station for two days for some official work,’ the sub-inspector informed him. ‘Anything you wish to be conveyed?’

  My phone might be tapped, but certainly not his, Saveer thought and said, ‘If you could please connect me to him over the phone, it would be great.’

  ‘Certainly,’ the sub-inspector said and dialled the officer’s number on his mobile phone.

  ‘Hello, sir, there is one Mr Rathod with me who wants to talk to you . . . Certainly, sir.’ He handed over the phone to Saveer.

  ‘Hello, officer. It’s me, Saveer Rathod.’

  ‘Mr Rathod, have you lost my number?’ Shetty asked.

  ‘No, I have it. Just that I have stumbled upon something,’ Saveer said and then went on to tell him how he had discovered that he had been bugged all this while. That was how the woman had managed to evade them.

  ‘In that case, I don’t think it would be
that difficult to catch her, unless she decides not to visit at all. I shall order a search around your place as well. I’m coming back after a few days. Let’s meet once I’m back.’

  ‘Sure, officer. I’ll wait for you.’

  ‘Till then could you do me a favour, Mr Rathod?’

  ‘Anything, officer.’

  ‘I shall ask the forensic expert to get in touch with you. This is the same person who wrote the forensic report on Digambar Sethia. He had called me some time ago to inform that whether a rape had happened or not could not be conclusively said. Digambar’s anal muscles were indeed ruptured but there were no marks, no semen or anything which could suggest that it was a definite sexual attack.’

  Saveer listened intently.

  ‘What does the forensic person have to do with me?’ he asked.

  ‘He will take your blood sample for a test. That’s all,’ Shetty said matter-of-factly.

  ‘What am I missing, officer?’

  ‘It’s a policeman’s hunch. A policeman who has spent nineteen years dealing with crime and criminals.’

  ‘I never doubted your credentials, officer.’

  ‘I didn’t say you did, Mr Rathod. All that I am saying is that I have a hunch.’

  ‘What is your hunch?’ Saveer asked.

  ‘That the woman is related to you.’

  Saveer took some time before replying, ‘All right. I shall wait for the forensic person.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Rathod. I cannot be sure but that’s how we crack cases. We rely on our suspicions, hunches and sort out possibilities from multiple theories, one at a time, till we arrive at a conclusion. And one single killer.’

  ‘I understand.’

  Saveer disconnected the call and left the police station. Shetty’s words kept ringing in his ears throughout his drive back home. The woman could be related to you. But all his family members were dead. Saveer continued driving with a clogged mind.

  * * *

  Prisha was finishing one of her assignments at home. Since Diggy’s death, Gauri had shifted to his room. They were looking for a third flatmate to make the rent affordable but had had no luck so far. The other reason for Gauri to shift into Diggy’s room was Karthik. She had become serious with him though she hadn’t told Prisha anything about it. Not that Prisha had asked.

  Prisha heard the main door unlock. Half a minute later, Gauri peeped inside her room.

  ‘Got a minute?’

  ‘Hey, sure. What’s up?’ Prisha closed her laptop and sat up on her bed.

  ‘Nothing much. Just that we haven’t caught up lately.’

  ‘Yeah, I know.’ Prisha knew it could be an awkward discussion.

  ‘I wanted to thank you, Prisha.’

  ‘Thank me?’

  ‘For telling me those things you did when Karthik was approaching me and I, like a dumbo, was neglecting him. I thought about what you said and realized I couldn’t possibly let go of someone who is meant for me, for someone who never was.’

  Prisha smiled.

  ‘I’m happy that it is going smoothly with Karthik.’

  ‘He is a little slow at grasping things but otherwise he is a gem of a person.’

  ‘That’s what matters, right? I think we girls get it wrong most of the time. It’s not about how our partner treats us but how the partner makes us believe what we deserve each and every day. Sanjeev made you believe that you deserved to be the other woman in his life with his clever manipulation of words. Utkarsh made me believe that I deserved nobody. Whereas Saveer made me realize that I deserved a healthy relationship sans betrayal,’ Prisha said. She thought she said a little too much.

  ‘I totally get it,’ Gauri said. ‘Have Saveer and you really broken off?’ There was guilt in her voice for pushing Prisha and Saveer into calling it quits.

  ‘Yes. We have. But will you call me a fool if I tell you we are still not done yet?’

  Gauri hugged her. ‘I’ll pray that you guys aren’t done yet,’ she whispered into her ears.

  Prisha’s phone rang. Gauri broke the hug and went to her room. It was Prisha’s mother. She took the call. While listening to her updates of the day, Prisha kept thinking if Saveer and she would ever get back together. And then she suddenly interrupted her mother with a question.

  ‘Were you ever in love with someone before you married Papa?’

  ‘What?’ Her mother thought that she had heard her daughter wrong. Prisha repeated her question.

  ‘What kind of a question is this?’

  ‘Mumma, it is a simple question. I’m not Ayushee. I’m a grown up girl. You can tell me.’

  ‘Are you out of your mind?’

  ‘I don’t understand parents. First, they want their kids to be honest with them and when they ask them questions, hoping that they would give them frank answers, they pretend it’s not a worthy enough question.’

  ‘But . . .’

  ‘Mumma, please. It’s important.’

  The urgency in Prisha’s voice made her mother realize that her daughter had indeed grown up. She could talk to her like a friend. Truth be told, Mrs Srivastav had been waiting for the day her little girl would grow up to be her friend. Someone, who wouldn’t judge her but rather learn from her experiences. Someone, to whom she could open those windows of her long ago feelings.

  ‘There was this guy in my locality. But I was never in a relationship with him.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And? Nothing more. I got married early. He was still studying. And your father was settled, had a job.’

  Prisha could sense an unsaid pain in her mother’s voice.

  ‘Do you miss him, Mumma?’

  ‘I love your father. I love you and Ayushee.’

  ‘That’s not the answer to my question.’

  ‘I have never been with him. So I was always used to his absence. You miss someone if you have had him by your side,’ her mother said.

  The two women took a pause, and then changed the topic. They had now understood each other’s past and present. Mrs Srivastav understood that her daughter must have gone through a genuine heartbreak. But she also knew that she would engulf the pain like an ocean engulfs a whole mass of land without letting anyone see any trace of it. She had, after all, her blood. Prisha, on the other hand, knew she had gained a friend in her mother that day. She was right. And she was lucky not to have enjoyed the guy’s presence. Else it would have been difficult for her. Like it was difficult for Prisha because she had known Saveer’s presence. It would be a lifelong difficulty. Unsurmountable. Every relationship leaves behind either an ocean or a desert. But Saveer had left her with an emotional mountain. She would never be able to scale it and see what lay on the other side. It would either be this or nothing else. No one else.

  Saveer reached home. He had a weight on his heart. Maybe a hot shower would help, he thought. It didn’t. Shetty’s words that the woman could be related to him, kept playing on his mind on a loop. He brought out all his shirts from the wardrobe and dumped them on the ground. He would ask someone to first remove and then throw all the cufflinks and take the shirts away. He had started wearing shirts because Ishanvi loved him in tees. She would tell him that he exuded a boyish charm when he wore T-shirts. After she was gone, he couldn’t see himself in a T-shirt any more. As he took out the last shirt from the wardrobe, he noticed the small bag where he kept all his important documents. It had been some time since he had opened that bag.

  Saveer took out the bag and sat in the rocking chair. He pulled out the documents—original mark sheets of Class X and XII, pass certificates, graduation and post-graduation certificates, some pay slips, his first offer letter and . . . he stopped at his birth certificate. He pulled out the certificate and casually looked it over. His name was mentioned: Saveer Rathod. The name of the nursing home where he was born was mentioned: Jamuna Das Nursing Home, Udaipur. The date was 9 November 1982. And the time was 09.10.01. Saveer kept staring at the time. There was something about it which disturbed hi
m. He took a picture of the birth certificate on his phone and stuffed it back in the bag. There were a few other documents. He went through each one of them—bank papers, company deed and . . . an old paper. It was his computer-generated kundali. An instant smile came his lips. His mother had got it from an astrologer. All the memories of his mother came rushing back to him. He was almost revelling in them with a nostalgic smile when he noticed the time of his birth mentioned in the kundali as 09.11.38. On top of the kundali, was his name. Saveer frowned. He took out his birth certificate once again. He matched the times. They were different. And the difference was exactly of one minute and thirty-seven seconds.

  But then which mother would goof up her child’s birth time like that? Saveer wondered.

  The woman who had visited him had tampered the clocks with exactly this time difference—one minute and thirty-seven seconds.

  25

  Saveer couldn’t sleep that night. His thoughts led him to a dead end. And everything about the entire episode was absolutely absurd.

  The woman is related to you.

  For that, she’ll have to be a ghost, because none of my family members are alive, Saveer thought as he showered in the morning. The only person who could be alive was his uncle. But he had serious doubts about that. The forensic expert rang the doorbell as he was ordering his breakfast from Ishanvi’s. He took his blood sample.

  ‘What exactly are you going to do with this?’ Saveer asked as he was preparing to leave.

  ‘I’d got some blood sample on Digambar’s nails. It wasn’t his. There was definitely a scuffle. His anal sphincters were damaged. And there were some other bruises. But his nails had the blood sample of another person. Shetty sir asked me to collect your blood sample as well.’

  ‘What will we arrive at then?’

  ‘If the person whom Digambar had a scuffle with is related to you. If you two have the same bloodline.’

  ‘Hmm, thanks.’

  The man was about to leave when Saveer stopped him again.

  ‘How exactly did Digambar die?’

  ‘Lack of oxygen to his brain. My guess is he was smothered to death.’