THE TWILIGHT ZONE

THE TWILIGHT ZONE Darling Priya, my dearest, was preoccupied with back-to-back meetings, spanning all most all of the south-east Asia. Gosh, it’s been going on for weeks now! I just want to get back home. Virtual conferencing, teleconferences, endless meetings and eating out everyday have taken a strenuous toll on my system. I am enervated physically and mentally. Rahul sent a WhatsApp message to his winsome wife around eleven in the night, as he sank into the luxuriant couch sipping wine. Whenever possible, I hit the gym or swim. It helps release of positive hormones and attempt to remain in shape. This helps to increase my prana levels. This was the second text that followed from the pretentious mobile of a loving and devoted husband to his caring wife. It was midnight by now, as Rahul had finished the bottle of Rozells Ipoh White Coffee and crashed into bed. The couple relished chatting or texting with each other. This was a long conversation spread over an hour. The endorphins you would have released Mr Tharoor, would dissipate in this cesspool of white wine. Priya Sehgal snapped back at the man who shaped her existence. Rahul was her lover, husband and the universe of her life. Priya was possessive about her husband but permitted these indulgences. It was 7:10 p.m., and the weather in Gurugram was scorching and roasting as Priya along with domestic help Gita, was attempting to feed the apples of her eyes, twins Chayya and Suraj. Rahul had done the namKarna and was insistent on the names. “These names unravel luminosity in our lives,” Rahul had said to Priya. “For heaven’s sake stop reading Tharoor. Read Chetan Bhagat for a change. I feel his presence in our flat. I actually need a dictionary while hearing you speak or write,” gushed the lady of the house. Priya looked at the crimson red sun, sinking into the jungle of byzantine towers and the labyrinths of Gurugram in the twilight zone. Unexpectedly her cell rang. It was Rahul. “Love, I will be boarding GH 197 tomorrow from KL and will land at Sahar in the morning. I’ll catch up with you in Delhi in the twilight zone,” Rahul spoke with his beau. “Hello, Hello, Rahul ... do not forget to buy the latest mobile,” were the last words Priya spoke to him. Next evening in the twilight zone she got down from her car, unmindful of the honking cars. She was taking pictures of a plane silhouetted against the sinking sun. It was a brilliant sight to watch. She had a gargantuan collection of pictures of the sun in the twilight zone. Suddenly she shrieked and others were stupefied as there were two fiery orange balls in the sky. The aircraft she was capturing had turned into a ball of fire and was diving at a ferocious speed towards the earth. “Dear God, let this not be Rahul’s plane,” she kept repeating to herself in silent prayer. Traffic came to a standstill. Even the honking ceased as everyone on the flyover was glued to watch the extraordinary but gruesome spectacle. A sobbing Priya snaked her way to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, only to find the place chock-a-bloc with security forces, ambulances, media personnel and fire brigades. There was absolute bedlam at the airport. Her worst fears came true. It was indeed Rahul’s flight from Mumbai that had crashed due to a technical glitch. There were no survivors. Some suspected this to be an act of terror. Priya swooned and collapsed. She was wheeled into an estimable hospital and was in the ICCU as she had suffered a heart attack. ************************ Over the years, Priya had developed a fetish for taking pictures from her extortionate mobile. Among her favourites was clicking the crimson sun, sinking into the bosom of Mother Earth. Years back, as a youngster, she would capture this stunning and sublime moment using her father’s camera. Mr Sehgal, her father was then working as a chemical engineer in the Rourkela Steel Plant. When the Sehgal family relocated to Kolkata, she ambushed the sinking sun in the Hooghly River with a more developed camera. Priya followed this practice at IIM Bangalore, where she was specialising in Finance and Marketing. The country had now moved ahead and mobile phones made their ways into Indian households. Meanwhile, this winsome girl was bewitched by the polymath, Rahul Venkatesan, who was her senior. North met South. Priya fell in love with Rahul, but the sun remained the same as it set in Ulsoor Lake at Bangalore. This image found a spesh place in the alcoves of her mind and in her mobile too. “Come on, shoot me, not the setting sun and the twilight,” Rahul would often say. Twilight Zone was also their favourite hangout. The two along with their buddies chilled-out on the occasional weekend and jived to some groovy music. Soon it was a champagne time during the big fat Panjabi wedding where booze flowed and Tandoori Chicken and Seekh Kebabs replaced Idli, Vada, Dosa and Sambar much to the chagrin of the conservative Iyer family. “But Appa, this is customary among Panjabis,” Rahul attempted to assuage his father. Priya was however welcomed with the traditional Tamil Brahmanical customs in the Iyer household. Rahul and Priya led a blissful married life at Chennai. They were working for pre-eminent multinational companies and led a hectic but luxuriant life. Priya endeared herself to the Venkatesan family and soon Idli, Vada, Dosa, Uttapam, Sambar, and Chutney replaced Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken and Seekh Kebabs. Her platter was now filled with “ghaas phoos” as she jocularly reminded her husband. While Priya would always be attired in western wear to office, she accompanied her mother-in-law to the Kapaleeswara Temple draped in a Kanjeevaram saree every Monday morning for the Rudra Puja. Rahul realised the sacrifices Priya made for him and their bonding strengthened. Thus began their rendezvous to Mahabalipuram, Ooty, Kodaikanal, Bangalore and Coorg on what could only be termed an extended honeymoon. Both Rahul and Priya gorged on Mughalai food which they savoured and washed it down with wine and beer. But they strove hard to cut the extra flab by hitting the gym regularly and footslogged on the treadmill and the elliptic. The couple were hardworking and in a short span of time they were promoted to the Delhi office. Soon the clangour and clamour for a child began from the Sehgal and Iyer families. The couple kept on postponing any additions to the family. But an unabated cacophony continued and finally, the couple caved into parental diktats. There were many vaunted celebrations in the Iyer and Sehgal extended families as the couple was blessed with twins, a boy and a girl. While Priya was on maternity leave, Rahul continued working hard and climbed the corporate ladder. Soon he decided to establish his own software company called RP Solutions bearing a logo of a sunset. “The sun may set, but we will provide all solutions” was the mission statement of RS Solutions. ************************ Meanwhile, Priya was in the ICCU and being resuscitated by a battery of doctors and paramedics. In the chambers of her febrile mind, her life history played out as she was attempting to regain consciousness. It was evening time in Delhi and nature was entering the twilight zone as the Sehgals and Iyers kept a vigil. The mothers were chanting Hanuman Chalisa and Sundara Kand as the fathers paced the floor frenetically. Priya regained consciousness and in a feeble voice and with moist eyes uttered Rahul’s name. The doctors were relieved and informed the two families, that Priya had regained consciousness. The doctors pronounced that only one person was permitted to enter the ICCU. Slowly in tiptoed a dishevelled man. Priya could not believe her eyes as she saw Rahul and looked at the clock. It was around 6:30 p.m., dusk, and in the twilight zone. “Darling, fortuitously I missed the flight and spent the night at the airport and had to catch an early morning flight,” gushed Rahul as he broke down. Both Rahul and Priya were locked in an embrace and wept inconsolably. “Rahul, from today I will not take pictures of the sinking sun,” Priya whispered slowly, in a frail voice. “No more twilight zones for me,” Priya added more emphatically. “Yes darling! Let it be the rising the sun ... udayan,” Rahul agreed tearfully. “And the logo of our company would be the rising sun.” After a few minutes of thought, he added, “Our new mission statement is going to be, ‘Solutions as certainly as the sun rises over the horizon’.”