The Neighbour’s Wife

On this first Monday of July, the day had started early for Manoj. Excited as he was, Manoj had taken his four-year-old son to his first day in the school. Returning to home on his two-wheeler, Manoj realized that it was going to be hectic today. He glanced at his watch and made a mental calculation how much time he had this morning to get ready, have breakfast and then again go to the ICICI bank where he worked. Without any effort to test his arithmetic, his mind told him that he better be fast. Just yesterday, the bank manager had circulated the terse notice that the photographic attendance would be sent to the ICICI head office at 9.45 am. Manoj realized it was futile to take any chances by being late to the bank. He accelerated. It was around eight when he touched home.

As Manoj completed his chores, Varsha was quick to make breakfast for Manoj. Taking a few bites on the way, Manoj rushed to the lift in the balcony of his third floor flat to go to the basement where his two-wheeler was parked. The Grand Towers was a high-rise apartment block having seven floors. It was only last month that Manoj had shifted to this new address. While going for the lift he passed by several people in the corridor but nobody seemed familiar. As Manoj descended to the basement floor, Manoj realized the vagaries of modern lifestyle. In this labyrinth of hundreds of flats in the same building, everybody was alone. Driven by an unknown sense of urgency every human behaved like a robot. The door of the lift opened and Manoj found his two-wheeler exactly at the same place where he had parked it.

As Manoj paced his bike on the inside road of his apartment’s building his eyes caught sight of somebody he seemed to recognize. Just outside the entrance of the Grand Tower building, there was always a beeline of autorickshaws beckoning prospective passengers coming out from the apartment block during the rush office hour. In the melee of the jostling crowd, Manoj saw Jyoti. Jyoti was the girl who had joined ICICI Bank a few days back. In the last two days, Manoj had seen her sitting in the far corner but had had no opportunity to talk to her. Today while he navigated the crowded passageway of his building, he passed by her but didn’t stop. Manoj glanced at his watch; it was already half passed nine. With a lingering image of Jyoti stored in the hippocampus region of his brain, Manoj took the road towards the ICICI bank, in five minutes he was in the bank.

Jyoti haggled with a couple of autorickshaws before she found a willing driver to take her to ICICI bank in Vikas Nagar area. She flipped her mobile and saw the time realizing that she was already late by a few minutes. While the autorickshaw took the three-kilometer road, Jyoti’s mind tried to decipher the fading memory of a motorcycle driver who had crossed her a few minutes back. She seemed to recognize the face but could not place it correctly. Once settled on the rikshaw her eighty-six billion neurons made another bid to find an answer and within a millisecond she recognized the person on the motorcycle. Although she did not know his name but her memory dictated that he was the Assistant Manager in the same branch of ICICI bank where she worked. It took Jyoti ten minutes to reach the bank. As she entered, she saw the attendance photo session in progress. Someone acknowledged Jyoti’s presence and asked her to join after the first photo had been taken. Jyoti sheepishly stood as the last person in the row. A few places towards the middle stood the Assistant Manager whom she had seen on the motorcycle ten minutes before. Manoj saw Jyoti. His mind recollected the moment when he had passed her while she stood amidst the din searching for a rickshaw this morning.Manoj looked towards Jyoti, in that maroon sari,which signified the uniform of ICICI bank, she looked pretty. A streak of vermillion at the parting hair line on the forehead advertised the marital status.

While Manoj immersed into the work at his desk in the bank, his wife Varsha too felt heavy with work. Today she was expected to bring their son from the school at half past eleven. Varsha kept on watching the clock on the wall lest she lost count of the time. As if to add to her woes, the domestic help too came late. Despite the deluge of work, somehow, Varsha had managed to reach the school just in time. Being the first day of the new session,it was quite a rush. She returned home feeling exhausted at around noon.

While Manoj and Varsha’s morning had started early this Monday, in the adjoining flat, Jyoti had silently made a cup of tea and kept in the microwave, before she had packed a sandwich for herself and had gone to her bank. Atul had woken only for the moment to say ‘bye’ and then had again gone to sleep. It was at around half past ten that his alarm had rang. Atul had taken another hour to get ready and left home at five minutes to noon to his undergarments shop situated in the downtown market. 

Varsha alighted from the rickshaw and with her son in tow and headed straight for the lift. The lift displayed ‘three’. She pushed the button for ascent and waited. The lift opened and a few people got out before Varsha could enter the cubicle. In the heat of the moment and the anxiety to reach home, she didn’t realize that her mobile had slipped from her hand before she had entered the lift. The door closed and the lift started moving up.

As Atul stepped out of the lift, he noticed a pretty lady waiting just in front. Although she was followed by a small boy in school uniform, her countenance betrayed her marital status. Her pretty innocence was attractive. Without any obvious intent, Atul’s eyes continued to follow the lady inside the lift until the door closed. It was while he turned towards the gate that Atul realized something had touched his feet. He looked down and found a phone on the floor. Bewildered he picked the phone, his mind wandering options what he should do. It was at this moment that the phone started ringing. Gingerly Atul hit the green dot. A startled feminine voice on the other side seemed relieved. The lady politely mentioned that she had lost her phone and would like to retrieve it. After a brief conversation, five minutes later, Atul found himself in front a flat which was just adjacent to his own flat. The door opened and he came face-to-face once again with the pretty lady who had just a few minutes ago made an impression on his mind. During the conversation, Atul came to know that her name was Varsha and that her husband worked in the ICICI bank. As if her physical attributes were not sufficiently encouraging, Atul found that Varsha was also good in conversation. He could sense her glee when he told her that he had a shop in the main market selling women undergarments.

Within a few days Manoj got several opportunities to interact with Jyoti in the bank. When Manoj mentioned that he lived in the Grand Apartments, Jyoti interjected and told him that she knew this after having seen him in the Apartment’s entrance several times.Manoj found Jyoti both affable and interesting. He started looking forward to the lunch break which provided him an opportunity to sit next to Jyoti and chat for a few moments.

It was a Friday morning, the last week of July, when it started to rain incessantly in the morning. Manoj didn’t fancy riding the two-wheeler in that weather but he could not afford to take leave. Varsha advised him to take a rikshaw to the bank. In the adjacent flat, Jyoti was getting ready to go to the bank. She too was worried about the heavy downpour but had no option. An obscure thought made her think about Manoj, he also must be getting ready.

It was hard to keep the umbrella steady in that heavy downpour with high winds, Jyoti held the umbrella handle tight while using her other hand to keep her sari in place. It was during this commotion between heavy downpour, blowing wind, ground water puddles and milling rikshaws that Jyoti felt the presence of someone beside her which was beyond the limit of normal approach. To her surprise, she found Manoj standing beside her holding an old black umbrella. Her countenance suddenly changed from being apprehensive to inviting, she smiled. Manoj beckoned a rikshaw and showing no hesitation, as if ordained, Jyoti sat beside him. The rain came from all sides, the ill covered rickshaw provided very little protection to the two passengers. To shield herself from water seeping from the sides, Jyoti moved closer to middle. Manoj felt the warmth of Jyoti’s body. A strange emotion overwhelmed Manoj, he looked towards Jyoti. It was at that very moment when Jyoti glanced towards Manoj, she saw a strange look in his eyes. Jyoti blushed, the rickshaw hit a pothole and jumped. Involuntarily Jyoti clutched Manoj’s hands for support.

By the time Atul had woken up and dressed the rain had lost already its fury. A light drizzle made the weather brighter than what it was in the morning. Today being a Tuesday, Atul wanted to pay obeisance to Lord Hanuman and decided to visit the temple which was situated near the second street from Grand Towers. As Atul stood with folded hands in front of the deity, a passing shadow made him realize that someone known had just entered the temple. It is beyond human control to keep the mind shut even when engrossed in prayer. While Atul prayed reciting shlokas which he had learnt during childhood, his mind decoded the identity of the person who had followed him in the temple. Even before he had completed his prayer, Atul’s mind told him that the silhouette which crossed him was Varsha, his next-door neighbour. Human brain is a wicked organ. Today, after having come to understand that Varsha was also praying and that she may still be in the temple for some more minutes, Atul deliberately decided to prolong his stay. While Atul’s gesture would have been perceived by others as an extended show of reverence, Atul himself knew that he was indeed waiting for Varsha to complete her routine.

As Atul and Varsha walked back to Grand Towers from the temple, communication drifted from pleasantries to mundane. There were still quite a few puddles of water on the street after the morning downpour and it required an effort to navigate the walk. Suddenly Varsha tripped. Atul held her hand and gave her support. In that emergent situation, Varsha for a moment didn’t realize that Atul’s hand had firmly held her waist. Although the moment had lasted a few seconds, but somehow, both felt the lingering feeling of that benign touch. For a couple of minutes nobody spoke. The couple of minutes silence at this point of time was more eloquent than a two-hour romantic interlude. While Atul felt a heavenly joy recollecting the moment, Varsha felt a bit weird to realize that deep down in her instincts she had felt nice when Atul had touched her.

While Manoj sorted out files, he could see Jyoti at the far corner of the hall dealing with customers. Manoj joyfully allowed his mind to playback the events of this morning. He felt he could still sense the heat of Jyoti’s body while she sat enticingly close fully drenched in that rickshaw. Jyoti felt reluctant to acknowledge that she too felt an amorous charm while she sat close to Manoj. During lunch, Jyoti offered Manoj half of the sandwich which she had brought. Manoj gleefully pushed a paratha from his tiffin into Jyoti’s tiffin.

In the days, weeks and months that followed, getting up early and going to bank became a pleasant routine for Manoj. Almost everyday at around half past nine he would receive a message from Jeevan saying that ‘I am ready’. Manoj understood this was the message from Jyoti. Within a couple of minutes of the message Manoj would take out his motorcycle from the basement, take the road and wait once outside the frame of sight from Grand Towers. A few seconds later Jyoti would join him and within eight minutes they would reach ICICI bank.

In the last few months, Atul had become an ardent Hanuman devotee. He would be ready soon after Jyoti left home and wait for a cryptic message on his phone. Invariably between eleven thirty and noon he would receive a message from someone named Varun saying that ‘I am on my way’. Within minutes Atul would join Varsha on way to the temple.

Varsha noticed the pleasant change in Manoj’s behaviour. Earlier Manoj would complain of fatigue after coming from the bank but now he was not complaining about workload and late hours. Even after returning, Varsha realized that Manoj spent large amount of time in talking on phone with friends, especially his new friend Jeevan. Just twenty yards from Varsha’s flat, Jyoti also felt a change for the good in Atul’s behaviour. She realized that of late Atul had become very religious. Even on days when she had the bank holiday, Atul would make it a point to visit the Hanuman temple and pay obeisance.

A hectic day was in progress in the ICICI bank. Manoj was deluged with work, suddenly he received a call from his Branch Manager. Calls from superior officers invariably spelt more work. As Manoj entered the Branch Manager’s cabin, for a change he observed that the Manager was in a happy mood. The Manager told him that Manoj had been selected by the Head Office to go to Mumbai for the annual conference for a week. The conference was starting in ten days time. Returning to his desk, a slew of thoughts crossed his mind. Although spending ten days in Mumbai on bank’s expense was exciting but then it also meant he would be away from home and especially Jyoti. While he chewed on the Mumbai visit, a thought struck. Could he try to take Jyoti along?

That evening, Manoj told Varsha about how he had been informed by the Manager to attend the conference at Mumbai. Later when Varsha was preparing dinner, she could overhear, Manoj was having a long conversation with his friend Jeewan. From the kitchen Varsha could understand that Manoj was coaxing Jeewan to accompany him to Mumbai. Varsha made a silent wish that Manoj may go with his friend Jeevan. Two men are likely to behave responsibly.

The next day when Manoj met Jyoti he discussed with her a plan. Jyoti would tell Atul that she was being sent to Mumbai by ICICI bank for a conference for ten days. If Atul agreed, she would take leave from the bank and accompany Manoj. The more they both thought about the plan the more feasible it seemed. That evening Jyoti told Atul the prepared script of her being selected for the bank conference. While Jyoti was telling Atul about the prospective dates of her Mumbai visit, Atul’s mind was thinking of another plan.

The next day when Atul met Varsha during their temple visit, he told Varsha about Jyoti’s Mumbai conference. Varsha nodded in agreement telling Atul that Manoj was also going to the same conference. Atul then floated the idea to Varsha of their own out of town journey during the time Jyoti would be away to Mumbai. That evening when Manoj came home, he told Varsha that his Mumbai trip was almost finalized and that he would be going on December 20th for ten days. The same evening Jyoti told Atul that she has received the final letter from the bank and she would be going to Mumbai on December 20thto attend the conference. That night Atul texted Varsha that Jyoti is finally going on December 20th and their plan would stand.

It was already December 18th, only two days were left. Manoj was making preparations, new clothes, shoes and bank papers. A few yards beyond the wall in the next flat another set of preparations were underway, this preparation also looked real except that Jyoti knew it was a sham. Jyoti’s emphasis was more on clothes. In the last few days she had silently took out several new skimpy undergarments from the boxes which were kept to be sent to the shop.

On December 20th, Manoj called Uber for going to the airport for the Mumbai flight. Around the same time, an Ola received a message from Grand Tower to ferry a passenger to the airport. Atul escorted Jyoti to the waiting car. He held her hand and caressed it. As the Ola left the building, Atul waved a long goodbye.

After returning to his flat, Atul searched for Varun in his contacts and called. Today there was no need to be discreet. He had all the time to talk to Varsha. Atul told Varsha that Jyoti was expected to return by December 30th, and that they should make such a programme that their return should be a day before December 30th. Atul also proposed that Goa would be the best place to visit in December. As a mischievous afterthought, Atul told Varsha that he had selected several very sexy undergarments including a few bikinis for her Goa beach visit.

Varsha, albeit a bit scared, started to believe in Atul’s proposed programme. Since the schools were going to be closed for the winter vacations, she decided to send her son to her parents’ place. Prateek always enjoyed his stay when in the company of his maternal grandparents.

It was late in the evening when Atul called Varsha and told her that he had booked a hotel in Goa starting from December 24th and by tomorrow he would book the tickets. Later in the evening Manoj sent a whatsapp message to Varsha, laced with a heart emoji, informing that he had reached his hotel in Mumbai. In the neighbouring flat a similar message was received by Atul. In reply, Atul wrote ‘miss U’.

Manoj had booked a different hotel from the one in which most of the other delegates of the conference were staying. Although the conference was starting from the next day, Manoj’s thoughts were focused on the time he would spend with Jyoti. In that sheer gown, Jyoti looked tempting. Manoj ordered dinner in the room but didn’t eat much. His thoughts were rivetted towards Jyoti. That night Jyoti didn’t disappoint Manoj.

Manoj attended the conference in abstract mood, his mind was always thinking about Jyoti. Jyoti realized Manoj was so different from Atul. His energy and stamina were unsatiable. Both Manoj and Jyoti were enjoying this moment.

Varsha had sent her son to her parent’s house with the added information that she would be visiting a friend in the nearby city for a few days. These days Atul needed no alibi to talk to Varsha. Just yesterday he had brought for her from his shop several choicest undergarments which could be classified more as a male delight than a woman’s necessity. The necessary preparation were complete and Atul found the night of December 23rd unnecessary long. He longed for the moment when Varsha would be in his arms.

Atul and Varsha checked into the Hotel Cidade de Goa which was just ten minutes from Panjim downtown. The hotel exuded luxury. The room was elegantly decorated with windows facing the sea beach. As soon as the concierge had departed, Atul closed the door. He hugged Varsha. For the next half an hour it was total bliss. Exhausted, Atul ordered room service.

While Atul and Varsha soaked themselves in steamy endeavors, approximately six hundred kilometers away in Mumbai, the ICICI conference ended on December 26th, two days before its scheduled closure because the delegates wanted to go home for the New Year. Manoj felt cheated by the sudden change in the programme, he had planned to stay upto December 30th. In the night, contemplating options, Manoj came up with a suggestion that they both go to Goa for a couple of days before going back to their city.

The hotel managed their morning flight tickets to Goa and also booked their stay at the Hotel Cidade de Goa in Panjim. It was just after noon that Manoj and Jyoti checked into Cidade de Goa. The morning flight meant that their sleep was a bit curtailed. Whether it was a genuine sleep requirement or pure lust, Manoj found an excuse to hit the bed with Jyoti. It was after two hours that Manoj picked up the intercom to order room service.

Two days had passed but except for a brief evening walk on the beach, Atul and Varsha had confined themselves to the room and the bed. Since the return date was just a couple of days later, Jyoti suggested that they take a one-day tour of Goa’s beaches. Manoj called reception and booked two seats in the tour bus of the hotel for the next day.

A similar decision was also being contemplated in the adjacent room # 209. Varsha wanted to visit the famed Goa beaches and called reception to seek travel assistance. The young lady at the reception advised Varsha that the hotel has a tour bus service which will go to all the tourist destinations and beaches. Varsha booked two seats for the next day.

Atul and Varsha had a quick breakfast and got ready for the bus tour. In the bag they kept towels, a set of slippers, water bottle and a spare dress. Relenting to Atul’s insistence, Varsha agreed to wear the bikini under her rather skimpy gown. It was at dot eight in the morning when Atul and Varsha took their seat in the bus. There were four more couples on the bus. No one was making any effort to be modest.

The bus driver took his seat and inspected his passengers. One row of two seats was still empty. The driver gave a few horns. In room # 208, Manoj and Jyoti had slept late after a rather hectic night. It was already ten minutes past eight when they finally locked their room and rushed towards the bus which was standing at the gate. Inside the bus, taking a cue from the unabashed behaviour of co-passengers, Atul and Varsha were locked in an embrace. Thus, they missed the moment when the new couple entered the bus and took their seat just opposite to their seat.

Jyoti looked around and froze. She saw Atul and Varsha in tight embrace locking lips. The very moment, a sixth sense prompted Atul that something was amiss. He released Varsha and turned towards right, his eyes locked straight into the bewildered face of Jyoti. The bus driver, oblivious to the comedy of lust being played out a few seats behind, started the bus. The other passengers were so preoccupied with their own partners that they failed to notice why the two couples seated on seats 2a,b and 2c and d, had become statues. Neither Atul nor Manoj could utter a word. In a slow motion, Varsha stood up from her seat and on cue Jyoti also stood from her seat. Varsha took a step and sat beside Manoj and Jyoti took the seat vacated by Varsha on the side of Atul. A few co-passengers who witnessed this changeover thought the two couples had agreed to wife swapping.