Author: Read the story till end.
Amit was sitting on a well furnished chair which looked to be imperial. Beside him sat a young lady whom he was to marry that day. The wedding ceremony was enjoyable to those who were there as a guest, but for Amit it was rather a serious day. Despite being an ACP, he was highly nervous that moment. The sole relief to his seriousness came when a newlywed couple paced over the stage holding a nicely wrapped gift.They were Sanjana and Shekhar. Sanjana asked Amit,"So, finally we are going to have a half divorce."
"Oh... yes. And that too without any official paperwork. "
"So what? If the Half marriage was without any paperwork so why should its divorce need paperwork"?
"Ohkay... So from now on you are free to become a complete wife of Shekhar. Isn't it?", said Amit jokingly.
"Many many happy returns of the day", congratulated Sanjana.
"So, I am going to tell her the dramatic incidences of our half marriage. Can I?", whispered Sanjana in a wavering voice.
"Yes...', said Amit in a relaxing fashion. 'Why not.. Of course tell her."
Sanjana sat by the side of the bride and started,"Hello. I am Sanjana, the half wife of Amit."
"Relax...', Sanjana said in a pacifying manner after seeing a panic over the expression of the bride. 'Nothing of that sense."
"Then?", asked the panic stricken bride.
"Let me start from the first time we met.', continued Sanjana. 'Amit along with his parents has come to see me at my home for the purpose of marriage. When the usual talks were moving on, Amit took permission from my parents to talk to be separated. My father asked to take Amit to the terrace. We went up and stood near the railing of the boundary. You would wonder what the first question he asked. It was,"'do you love somebody else? Do you have someone in your life whom you would be delighted to marry?"' I rejected the fact instantly. I didn't remember what stupid replies did I give to him. But being a police officer it was not a rocket science for him to catch my lie. He went on,"'Look Sanjana. You own the right to be happy and so has I. One decision can ruin two lives on the go. Okay, let me tell you a little secret. I have a girlfriend and I want to marry her. And so I will. But the question is that our condition is same then why don't we simply help each other? Now tell me if you are having someone in your life?"'
I refused initially, but soon after some more pressing words of him, I replied affirmatively.
"'Yemm... yes, I have a boy whom I would like to marry. But this is not a case of the usual love for I haven't told him about it"', said I hesitantly.
"'So how can you say that he will marry you?"'
"'Yes, I can. I know, he won't refuse, for I know he love me as well. But he suffers the same situation as that of mine.. The hesitation!"'
"'Well, if this is the case, then I'll help you in this matter as far as possible. But there will be one clause. You will have to be my Half wife till I don't get married."'
I didn't get him. And I was so terrified after hearing his demand of being a Half wife that I can't ever express it.
"'What... What does it mean?'", I asked in a serious and a bold tone.
"'Oh... Nothing of that sort... you took it wrong, girl!', replied he in a rather normal manner. 'Half wife means you will have to be in touch with me so that I can make arrangements for your wedding. Won't it be okay?"'
"'Oh.. Perfectly okay!', replied I in a relaxed tone. 'This is my contact number. We will be in touch, but how are you going to help me, sir?"'
"'Let it to me. After all, I am a police officer. I can manage it easily."'
"'But what about this marriage, sir? How can I refuse?"'
"'Why would you refuse. What am I here for?', said Amit. 'I would reject you, but not because you have a boyfriend or there's a more or less odd to you, but rather because I have some important work to finish first then I'll think of marriage."'
He did the same. He denied to marry and his family left. My mother constantly kept asking me as what had happened and I answered each time as I don't know. Later on two or three days, my cell phone rang. Amit was on the other side. He asked me to mail all the details about the boy that I knew. I did the same. And he carried out some investigat......"
Amit interrupted in between. "Let me tell her what I did.", said Amit excitedly.
"Yes. He will himself tell you what he did and how he tortured my love!", said Sanjana joking over Amit.
"I didn't torture him. Did I?", asked Amit to Sekhar.
"No.. No.. Of course not.", laughed Sekhar.
"So after getting the details, I took my police team and visited his workplace. He worked in a private bank. So I went straight to the branch manager and asked him about the character and personality of the guy. I mean Sekhar.' Amit continued with a nostalgic smile over his expression. 'I pretended it of being an official enquiry. So he showed me his credit records and everything was clean. But the personal habits are different than professional. And to know his personal habits I had to literally arrest his close friends. I took two of his friends to an isolated spot on the outskirts of the town and started my interrogation. I must admit that his friends were indeed very fragile. I had just started asking questions about Shekhar and they collapsed down in tears. Nevertheless, I soon got what I have been looking for. Sekhar was a simple and a very decent guy according to his friends. I released them with a warning of not saying anything what happened to anyone. The following step was the arrest of Sekhar! Do you remember that Sekhar?"
"Yes.. How can I forget that most dreadful day of my life!', replied Sekhar with a laughing tone.
'Amit arrested me when I was parking my bike about a fast food stall where I used to have tea every evening after the office. I was little confused and heavily frightened then. He took me right away to the police station and locked me up in a separate cell. The cell looked special and it seemed that it had been made to shut away the most dangerous criminals. I started sobbing when Amit came in the cell having a hard, shiny black baton in his hand. I thought I was going to be beaten mercilessly. But he started questioning me with a warning to tell the truth, otherwise the baton's end will come breaking on my rear. It was so terrible that I couldn't even think of uttering any lie. He began with some awkward question as if it wasn't my interrogation but rather my Interview! Soon I was left free and the same warning was made to me to not to tell anyone about the incident."
"I told him that he was arrested on a suspicion. So nothing was that serious', said Amit. 'Then I called for Sanjana to meet me in the cafeteria. I told her that nothing was wrong with Sekhar and he was a right guy to marry with. I asked her to tell his parents and if they don't agree then I would handle it. She told me that her parents would never permit her to marry a guy working in a private firm as she herself was a doctor earning far more bucks than a mere clerk of a private bank. But still I asked her to try once. And she did so. But then they didn't agree.
Now this was the time for my call. I visited her residence as an official visit. I knew that in uniform was more efficient to convince someone. I talked to his father and asked him not to be stubborn. There is no any difference between private and government employ. And as far as the salary is concerned, a private employ has much more chance of getting fast promotions and make more than a government employee. A private employee being in that very bank could make as much as 2 lakhs per month, but a government employ can not ever imagine of getting so. After convincing him for half an hour he eventually agreed. Now it was the time to convince Sekhar's parents. It was not that tough as that of Sanjan's parents. They quickly agreed."
"It was a neat surprise to me, for I had never thought that Papa would let me marry Sekhar. And the best moment for me was when Sekhar called upon me and proposed me. My guess was true about him that he loved me as well. I wanted to thank Amit for all what he had done for me, but to my astonishment he vanished. I contacted him a lot, but he didn't pick up my call. I ran up to the police station where he was posted, but I got the news that he had been transferred out of the city. I didn't see him before the day of my marriage. He was clothed in a fabulous black suit and was carrying a beautifully decorated gift for me. How selfish I was that I didn't ever ask him about his girlfriend. But that day I asked him. And his reply left me dumbfounded.
'"I don't have any girlfriend. That day I lied so that I could know about yours. It's a manner of interrogation that we use oftenly to make someone confess."', he replied with a tint of smile on his face.
I was thinking how gentle and generous a personality could be. Tears ran across my cheeks thinking that he didn't even know me but yet he helped me so much. I must admit that I had never ever come across anyone so gentle and caring like him.
'"Would you please do another favour for me?"', I asked in a cracking voice conflicting to control my emotions. He replied in the affirmative.
'"Can we stay in touch with each other and can we be best friends forever?"', I asked. And he nodded positively. And see today came the day of his own marriage. But I must reassure you that you are being wedded to the worlds most big-hearted person I have ever met and soon you will find yourself blessed to get such a partner!"
The conversations ended and the marriage rituals proceeded. But the Amit and Sanjana along with their families would ever be good friends.
