Calm Down, Mrs. Goyal

“Listen, meal is ready?”

“Yes.”

“Have you kept hot water in bathroom?”

“Yes.”

“Stitched the button to my shirt?”

“Yes.”

“Now, iron that.”

“Will do in a moment.”

“Pack my lunch quickly, it is getting late.”

“All right.”

“You drop Ramesh at school. I am in a hurry.”

“I will drop him.”

“Take Ranju to a doctor. I might be late in coming back in evening.”

“I will do that.”

“Is my briefcase ready?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Why is this shelf so dirty? What do you do whole day? You can’t do anything.”

She did not answer.

“Next Sunday I am throwing a small party. I am inviting a few friends. Will you be able to do everything?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Think twice before promising.”

“Everything will be ready.”

“I will make a menu.”

“All right.”

“If you need help, I can call the peon from my office.”

“I don’t need anyone. I will do everything.”

“O.K. then, now, I shall make a move.”
……………………………………………………

“Mr. Goyal’s party was great. I enjoyed myself a lot.”

“Thank you.”

“Who arranged everything?”

“The two of us.”

“Your party was wonderful. I drank a little too much. When should we expect the next party?”

“Whenever you say.”

“Where is Mrs. Goyal. I must thank and congratulate your wife, Mr. Goyal.”

“She must be somewhere around.”

“Thank her from our side. She can do so much and we can’t. All right, now, we must take your leave.”

“Thanks for coming.”
………………………………..

“What are you doing?”

“Reading.”

“Why?”

“It is necessary. You always say that less educated wives are bores. Prestige does not rise with them. Wife should be like Mrs. Chopra who stayed in Nainital alone, without her husband, or she should be like Mrs. Kundan who dances with every man at parties.”

“Oh… will you be able to be like them?”

“I am trying.”

“With the help of these books?”

“Not only with the help of books. It is difficult but not impossible.”

“I want to sleep and if you want to room, please go into other room.”

……………………………………….

“Oh…you are dancing! How did you learn?”

“I learned somehow.”

“For me?”

“Why for you? I learned for myself. Everyone dances for one’s own delight but others think that he or she is dancing for them.”

“Where did you learn this language from?”

“From life.”

“You have been looking for a job?”

“Yes.”

“You can’t get a job. You will be chased out of the office.”

“I shall try somewhere else.”

“Keep on trying.”
……………………………………………………………

“Why have you started wearing theses new fashionable clothes?”

“Don’t you like them? You often say that Mrs. Kamal is always attired in beautiful dresses!”

“But Mr. Kamal is a rich man. You can’t afford all this. Mrs. Kamal is something different. I wish you could be like her…”

“Would you like me to be like her?”

“It is not in my destiny. Whenever I call you, your hands smell of spices from the kitchen.”

“I have arranged a servant for household works.”

“Why?”

“You like soft hands, don’t you?”

“But…” he could not complete his sentence.
……………………………………

“I will also come to Mr. Chopara’s party with you.”

“Why? You never go to any parties with me?”

“Now I can go. I can dance, my hands are soft, I like music, and I like meeting people.”

“Do you want to show all this to people?”

“No, I want to know myself and at the same time I want to know you. You should be happy because I learned everything for you. You wanted all this, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did…but…”

“You used to say…”

“All right, get ready.”

…………………………………………………….

“Wow! Mrs. Goyal! What a strange but pleasant change?

You have completely changed. It can’t be Mr. Goyal’s magic. What is the secret?”

“There is no secret. I have begun to learn to live.”

“Live! We will teach you how to live, Mrs. Goyal!”

“My name is Madhavi.”

“Oh…yes…Madhavi, please come with me. Mr. Goyal, may we invite your beautiful wife to come with us?”

“Yes, but…for me?”

“We shall make arrangements.”
………………………………………………….

“How beautifully you dance!”

“Thank you.”

“How did you learn all this? We could never even imagine that there was a treasure of beauty hiding under your simplicity.”

“No one knows what lies beneath the surface!”

“Wow! What a philosophical thought! Have you studied philosophy?”

“Yes.”

“You really dance very well. Everyone is looking at us.”

“It is your personal idea.”

“Don’t you think the same?”

“No, I feel that you are falling on me. Control your feet!”

“Is it your style or cruelty?”

“Truth!”

“Truth is not always necessary, Mrs….sorry…Madhavi.”

“Truth is necessary, Mr. Sinha. I don’t know why we keep on lying all the time.”

“Do you follow your principle of truth in your life?”

“Yes.”

“Then she is gone.”

“Who?”

“Your life,” said Mr. Sinha.
…………………………………

“You are not you only after two drinks, Madhavi.”

“Yes, this is the first time I have ever taken a drink.”

“Many things have happened for the first time in your life today.”

“Yes, you are right.”

“Do you like this change?”

“Yes, I feel like a bird that has left its cage for the first time. Vast sky is there to fly, and flying is pleasant, isn’t it?”

“But you will come back to your cage very soon.”

“Shall I say something?”

“Yes.”

“You people think that the bird will come back but when vast sky is in front of her, why would she come back?”

“It won’t last long.”

“It can be only for a few moments but those moments are worth living in liberty.”

“We also come back to our cages every evening and you make us your slave for entire night.”

“No, you don’t come back to your cage; you rest on a bough to get ready for your next flight. There is no cage for you.

Your life flows everyday but ours is like stagnant water. Mr.  Sinha, the beauty of life lies in falling like a brook shattering on the rocks below!”

“My God! Do you talk like this with Mr. Goyal?”

“No, I talk with myself.”
………………………………………..

“Did you see Mr. Goyal?”

“No.”

“He is dancing with a beautiful bird!”

“So?”

“Nothing.”

“I am dancing with you. Everyone has a right to lead his life. What do you think? Are these parties, these songs, music, and all other stuff for enjoyment in life? Actually, Mr. Sinha, life is lost somewhere and we are looking of it. Man is searching for a perfect woman and woman is looking for a perfect man. These are to different directions but there is an attraction. Their attempt to be like other is throwing them away from each other!”

“You are drunk, Madhavi!”

“No, Mr. Sinha, I was never so sober before. Many illusions, many dreams and many beliefs have been shattered.

Today I am able to see what I am!”

“If you are tired, you should go back home.”

“Yes, Mr. Sinha. Good Night.”

“Good night.”
……………………………………………

“Aren’t you ashamed of all this?”

“Why should I be? What are parties for? They are the exhibition of shamelessness. What else do they do here?”

“You are not like them!”

“You compare me. Sometimes you are annoyed because I am not like them, and now while I am trying to be like them, you are angry.Why?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Woman has her boundaries!”

“Why only woman?”

“You know how our children will react to your behaviour!”

“You know very well? Did you ever think about this before?

Every man lives in his world, Mr. Goyal. Husband, wife, and children! We pretend to meet but we never meet. Our worlds clash everyday. It is not possible!”

“You are acting like an arrogant. You and your newly acquired philosophy! If you keep your talking like this, I shall break your legs and make you stay inside the house!”
shouted Mr. Goyal.

“Try and See?”

“All right then!”

“I am going!”

“Where?”

“I have found a place for me.”

“Oh! Have you found a man too?”

“No, that is not necessary. One experience is enough.”

“See, don’t talk much!”

“I am really going. I am leaving everything!”

“All right! But never dare you to come back!”

“I would like to tell you one thing, Mr. Goyal. Woman can never come back home alive. In our society, home is not a place for breathing with relief; it is a museum full of troubles, difficulties, worries, perplexities, and agonies. It is a kind of fetters liberation from which makes woman free forever and she never wants to come back home! Only defeated women take shelter in such places called home because they have nowhere else to go!”