Rajan, I had a strange dream early this morning. Desperate and strange. Even after falling asleep, I was still shaking. I was sweating so much that my night dress was as if I had dipped it in a bucket of water…' Barish was about to re-telecast the entire dream, but Arjan stopped her. Arjan was driving his car through the scenic, hilly, winding road of Mount Abu. His wife Barish was sitting on the next seat. Barish loved to have such romance with her husband. Her only complaint was, 'Arjan, you don't have any time for me. Since we went on honeymoon for the first and last time after marriage, you have had no other purpose in life except to earn money. When looking at business, meetings, factory, office and staff questions; Money, money and money! What do you want to do with so much money? After earning hundreds of crores of rupees, when you take time to have fun, I will be eighty years old and you will be…' Arjan used to laugh in reply, 'I will still be twenty-five years old. Women's age increases, not men's. Jokes aside, Barish's complaint was largely true. Arjan used to be immersed in her business to the extent that it was as if he was married to her! Rain had a peculiarity. He had many dreams. Every night she dreams and then during the day when she gets a chance she narrates those dreams to Arjan. Arjan enjoyed listening to all this and sometimes got bored. Sitting at the breakfast table in the morning enjoying hot Upma and tea and business thoughts running through his mind, Barish would start replaying his early morning dreams, 'Arjan, do you know what I dreamed about today? I was going to the forest. was alone It was pitch black. There I saw two glowing, ember-like eyes from the opposite direction, coming towards me. I understood that it must be a tiger. To save my life, I turned back and started running with clenched fists. Even the tiger was running after me. He came very close, he took a long swipe, his paw was about to fall on my neck, I fell asleep. The dream was broken. I survived. After that I was shivering for half an hour. Jo, my body is shaking even now while describing it.' Arjan jokingly said, 'Two or three questions arise in my mind. Why do you have to go to the dark forest in the dead of night? That too alone? A tiger is not even seen in the Jim Corbett Sanctuary these days, where did it break out to run after you? And these dreams are also true my beta! Why does it end when it should continue? You woke up really early, what would you have done if you had slept a minute longer?' 'Le, why are you talking like this? If I had not woken up, the tiger would have killed me. Would you have liked me to have died?' The rain became like crying. Arjan hugged her, 'You are so crazy! Who wants to lose their life-support? Please stop having such crazy dreams. If you don't want to stop it, then stop telling me about it. I have many other and better things to do than listen to you.' The dreams also continued to come and the reruns of Barish also continued. Arjan almost stopped paying attention to it now. He listens for the sake of appearance but in reality his attention is elsewhere. Barisha was satisfied that her husband was interested in listening to her. The same was repeated while driving up the hilly, winding road of Mount Abu to a scenic spot. Arjan did his own research and found a high, mountainous place from where Nirsag could be seen. The funny thing was that this place was a 'virgin spot', meaning there was no tourist traffic yet. Arjan was deep in thought, Barish sitting in the seat next to him started saying, 'Arjan, I had a strange dream early this morning. Desperate and strange.' Arjan laughed, 'Which dream of yours is not scary or strange? Sometimes a tiger rushes to kill you, sometimes a cobra falls behind you, sometimes you are stretched in the flood of a river, sometimes…' 'Hey, if you listen to me completely! Not a tiger, panther or snake to kill me in today's dreams but you yourself…' Barish was speaking so easily and calmly that this time there was no tremor in her voice or body. 'I? Why should I kill you?' This time Arjan shivered. 'Even I know that you will never hit me.' Barish was lost in her fun and said: 'There are many things that come in dreams which have no relation to reality. I myself also laughed after opening my eyes. How did I see in my dreams? The highest point of Mount Abu, complete solitude, me standing on the edge of the mountain to take a photo, thousands of feet deep valley immediately behind me, you come up to me with the camera and push me hard and I scream…' Barish started laughing. 'It was so absurd, you know!' Arjan was listening outwardly sober, but inwardly he was completely agitated. He mumbled in his mind: 'Barish must have had such a dream that he must have known the truth. For the past eight months I have been with Birwani… oh no, who told Barish this very secret? In order to get Birwa, I have to remove the thorn called Barish, only then Birwa agrees to continue the relationship. She wants to be my wife, not a jerk. So today I went to the top of a deserted hill and pushed the rain…! No, this cannot be a dream. Barish has got the information from somewhere. That is why she is saying this. 'Barish, don't you feel afraid?' he asked. 'If you are together, then why fear? I trust you more than myself.' The naive wife was smiling and talking. The car came to a stop at a certain 'point' and A and Barish Bahra got out. Barish ran and stood on the edge of the mountain peak by herself, 'Take my pix, please!' Seeing her husband watching her tickle, she kept asking: 'What happened? My pose is not right? So you come and arrange me in a beautiful pose. What have you been seeing?' Arjan started 'clicking' photos silently. What was visible through the lens was not the rain, but the living female form of 'burdened trust'. Arjan was typing a message on his mobile phone when the rain was lost in nature's beauty after taking heaps of 'pics': 'I'm sorry, Birwa. I will not commit this sin even if I get one lakh beauties like you. Even the breath of the rain I can't take away and I can't break the faith. Forget me.'} (Title line: Manoj Khanderia)
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
