Mukundo gave her generous amounts of pocket money. “What will I do with it?” she would often protest.

“Save it, if you can’t spend it. But if you need something, you shouldn’t have to wait for me.”

Alka took her to shopping malls and theaters. They often went to book stores. It was in one of the trips to bookstores that she stumbled upon one of the Mills & Boons stories. After that she went to the bookstore on her own too and bought dozens of them with her pocket money. While Alka was introducing her to English literature and she was thoroughly enjoying the process, she also felt a thrill in using her newly learned language skills to read those steamy romances. Each of them was her own story. She had a knight in shining armor in Mukundo. He had rescued the damsel in distress. And she loved him with her heart and soul, even if he did not understand it. The only thing missing in her story was that… there was none of that irresistible sexual attraction. Not on his part anyway. The kind that brought those Mills & Boons heroes back to the heroines, despite all the misunderstandings and outward hatred. ‘That is unrealistic,’ she would remind herself time and again. She would think of Alka. So beautiful, intelligent, educated, classy, mature. His equal. She stood no chance.

And yet sometimes, she dreamt…

—

Mukundo was surprised. He had come back at his usual time, but Piyali was not in the hall. Usually she waited for him there with tea and snacks. He asked Sonelal about her. She was in the TV room. He went there. The door was open. Piyali was sitting on the sofa with her legs perched up. Her hands were around her knees, while her chin rested between them. She was deeply engrossed in whatever was being telecast on TV.  Curious, his eyes darted towards the television screen. There was a romantic Hindi song in the background and an intimate scene between a young couple was on. He looked back at Piyali. She was as good as hypnotized. He smiled patronizingly and shook his head. She WAS a kid! Trying to grow up.

He went to freshen up and came back to the hall for tea. She had also reached there by then.

“I didn’t realize when you came in,” she said with some embarrassment.

“You were engrossed in TV.”

She flushed, “I watch that show. I had missed last night. So, I was watching the repeat telecast.”

“Hmm…” He didn’t say anything. But he knew that she had gone to watch TV last night at her usual time. She hadn’t missed the episode. She was watching it again!

—

That night he thought about her for a long time. How glued she was to the TV that evening. It was obvious why she was watching the repeat telecast. The scene on the show had caught her fancy. A perfectly natural thing to happen at her age. There was only one glitch. Her life had been anything but natural. Her studies were keeping her occupied, but sooner or later she would be done with it. She should live a normal life after that. That would mean a job, a home, and… marriage. But she was legally wedded to him. So, she’d have to be legally divorced. But when should he do it? It wasn’t needed right now. Plus if he dissolved the marriage right now, her staying in his house would unnecessarily become scandalous. In good time, he thought. No sexual relationship and “incompatibility” should be good enough reasons to get a divorce quickly by mutual consent. But he made a mental note to check with a lawyer and have the papers ready well in advance.

—

In three years, she completed her 10^th and 12^th exams from National Open School. Her progress was incredibly fast.

She blushed hard when he congratulated her for that. “What do I have to do the entire day except study? It is hardly an achievement.”

“It is a big feat, Piyali. You should be proud of yourself.”

She would have liked to ask if he was proud of her. But she couldn’t.

“You have scored good marks. If you want, you could join a regular college for under-graduation.”

“Can I?”

“Why not?”

“I would be older than everyone there.”

“Not so much. And how does it matter? There is no age for getting educated. School admission would have been difficult. So, open school was better. And you made the best use of it. By finishing everything so quickly. There is no reason you should miss out on college experience.”

She smiled gratefully and nodded.

“What do you want to study?”

“English literature. And psychology,” she said with slight hesitation.

“Good,” he said. He didn’t notice that she had chosen his and Alka’s subjects. At least he didn’t comment on it.

The next day he got the divorce papers prepared. At right time, he would discuss it with her. It would be awkward. But everything about their relationship was awkward. That they continued to live their life comfortably together was the surprising part.

—

Mukundo gasped as he looked up. He was waiting for Piyali at the breakfast table. After that they were to go to buy books for her first year college syllabus. And she walked in! Piyali stopped in her tracks for a while as she saw him staring. He recovered and averted his eyes. He must have unsettled her. But he was himself so unsettled. What was it today that made her look so different? And hot, he had to admit for want of a less suggestive word. Then he looked up again, with a more normal expression in his eyes. In the meantime, she had reached the table.

“Alka didi gifted it to me,” she explained her dress. It was nothing extra-ordinary. A simple pink, cotton salwaar kameez. But he had always seen her in sarees and it stood out. “She said nobody wears sarees in colleges these days.”

“She is right,” Mukundo had found his bearings back, “And it suits you. You look unnecessarily old in sarees.”

“Do you like it?”

Mukundo hesitated for a moment. Was she asking for his permission? Probably just approval. He should stop over-analyzing her behavior all the time. “Yes,” he said and she was satisfied.

“You will need more of these if you have to wear them to college,” he said as they ate the breakfast. They used cutlery at the table now. Alka had taught her how to use them.

“I have four. Should be enough.”

“Let’s buy some more after we have finished with book purchases. Today I am not going to the university anyway,” he said.

It was a decision, not a suggestion. He didn’t do that very often. So, she didn’t even try to object.

—

He toyed with the divorce papers as he sat sprawled on his bed that night. He had decided to talk about it to her that day. But he couldn’t. What went wrong? Was what he had felt at the breakfast table the reason? What had he felt anyway? Nothing. He was over-thinking it. It was just awkward talking about divorce. It was natural to be unwilling to go through it. But he wasn’t running out of time. He’d do it. Sometime soon.

—

To be continued