Missed Call

“Neha ,where is my blue tie  ?”shouted Rishi . I heard it from kitchen busy preparing the breakfast for us .’ It should be where you have kept it ? I responded. ‘That’s where I am searching it , on the sofa !! where the hell you kept it ? .That’s so logical & obvious, of all place in the world ,sofa is where you keep all your stuff ,I wondered . I rushed back from kitchen towards the bedroom ,opened the cupboard and Oh!! how foolish I was, blue tie in question, of all place was hanging neatly over there. I handed over the tie to Rishi .Who collected it with the smirk, as if it was my fault to place it where it actually belongs. “You are not living in bachelors pad anymore “I said .He perhaps realized his blunder and he gave me sheepish smile.

It’s been three months since we were married . A arrange marriage fixed by our folks. He was the fourth guy I met since my parents started searching an ideal match for me. I had never had boyfriends. It was obvious; some of friends told me that guys find me beautiful but were intimidated to approach me .I being into school and college badminton team. I didn’t have typical girly image and perhaps guys thought I was tomboyish .  I on other hand had childhood crush on Rahul Dravid  and I didn’t find any guy ever to close to my crush ever .So I remained single and was on the market of arrange marriage till I met Rishi.

Rishi on other hand educated and well mannered .He was courteous and never had air about himself. He didn’t talk endlessly about himself like third guy I met. Nor he had attitude of over smartness like the first guy .Bottom line was he ticked all the boxes in arrange marriage scene .The scene where you need a reason to say no ,rather than yes ,especially for the girl .The compatibility or inner gut feeling was alien to any parents .Only question was what’s wrong with him . I didn’t have answer to that .and although He was did not come close to my crush & my hero Rahul Dravid. He was not that bad either . I didn’t know whether I will love him or not .Life may not give you a love story and it always gives you reason to love. There we were married and happy. We got into it fully aware and in arrange marriage love happens over the time.

Lots of time I think , Rishi was boon. He took care of me .He calls me 5 times a day . He picks me up from office whenever I get late. But at the same time I feel he is bit secretive. He often goes missing over and give random answer about where he was , sometimes on weekend or public holiday .I guessed he goes on with his bachelor binge and wants to avoid the confrontation . But I guess its fine with me we were just married .I know it was as difficult for him as it was for me to adjust to newly married set up and new responsibilities.

But Life is not what seems. Every nick, you get surprised and sometimes those surprises are life altering. Once while Rishi was in bath I heard his phone ringing. It was ringing for fourth time when I decided to pick it up sensing something was urgent. By the time I reached ,it had stopped ringing. I picked up the phone . A missed call sign flashed on the screen . I clicked it to see from whom it was . “Swati  Love Home  ‘ flashed on the screen . At the same time Rishi came out of bathroom, surprised to see his phone in my hand. “It was ringing continuously”, I said in my defense. He flicked it from my hand and saw the name . I was expecting an explanation. Rishi on other hand didn’t provide any . He simply put phone in his drawer and proceed to change . It was weekend but he still left early .and when he returned quite late in the night i was bit skeptical.

Now I had begun to doubt the three months of togetherness .I had become worried, annoyed and curious at the same time .I trusted Rishi and never ever even thought there would be another person in his life . I never questioned his past when I met him .Though he said he had crush on girl in college but it didn’t materialize due to his shy nature. I believed him. He was never the romantic kind .Although he would bring me flowers very often and would bring most cutest gifts for me . He was never off-track .I always wondered how he knew the taste for girls .Was this because of guilt of ongoing affair  or his taste in gift was result of constant practice .

It was crises in my life I was constantly thinking .What if my doubt are true .What if there is another women in his life? Was my life totally in dumps? I tried to ask Rishi about the regular disappearances but to no success. He was evasive .He said it was nothing that I needed to know. I would not share my anxious ness with my friends or parents . I would be termed as paranoid.

I tried to be  detective of my own. I noted the number from Rishis Mobile. I needed to know exactly what he is up to. I finally called the number. And then I was shocked by my discovery .

Rishi had spending part of his life oblivion to me. He was doing things behind my back. He was sharing his love with someone else . That’s someone was not just one .They were many .Love Home was name of an Old  age home .Swati was Rishi’s school teacher who was running that home .I never knew this side of Rishi . Rishi always come across as chilled and outgoing types .I never knew his compassion towards the society .More so he was doing this not for show off. He kept this secret from me too. I was floored by Rishi gratitude towards old . We all feel compassion towards our parents. But imagine spending time of your busy life with people who are discarded by their own . How much smile such gesture would bring to their sad faces .

When I told Rishi about my discovery, he said he didn’t wanted to show off .Nor he was sure how would you react to his spending time for something like this . I said I was proud of him and I will join him every weekend on this passion to help the people in old age home.

All my life I had regarded Rahul Dravid as my Hero ,but now a missed call and changed all that .I had found new love in my life .My Discovery about the missed call had made Rishi my new Hero .

It was a start of new Love Life .I after all Found Love in Marriage 

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.