Pune:
Recently there was turmoil in Dipesh and Dipika's life. Hence, Dipesh couldn’t concentrate on his work and his performance started degrading. His manager had allowed him a sufficient time period to recover from all his personal drama. Even Dipesh's colleague Jyoti who had a soft corner for Dipesh, helped him a lot and completed a few of his assignments. Dipesh couldn't find words to thank her. The help she provided him was priceless.
However, after that, Dipesh's manager started giving Dipesh warnings to concentrate on work and avoid mistakes because now the limit was crossed. How long Jyoti could help? After all, she also had her own work to do.
One day Dipesh left his laptop unattended without locking the windows. This was a serious security offence. It was possible that someone could easily sneak into his laptop and steal confidential project related information or play with Dipesh's personal data. Coincidentally, the manager got there and locked Depesh's laptop.
After this incident, the HR of the company sent Dipesh to many psychology sessions arranged by the company appointed Doctor to learn how to balance work and life in such situations.
Dipesh sincerely worked on those steps suggested by the Doctor and was able to balance out the work and life to some extent.
There was still a blame game in their families going on regarding whose fault it is so that such a mentally retarded child was born. Is it hereditary in Dipika's family or Dipesh's family?
While Dipesh tried to explain to everyone that, in cases of Acquired Cerebral Palsy, the child acquires the brain damage before the brain fully developed.
Acquired Cerebral Palsy is not inherited. Up to 10% of all cases of diagnosed Cerebral Palsy are acquired. But no one was really in the mood to listen to this.
A well-wisher suggested that the couple should take the chance to give birth to one more child and prove all the accusations wrong. This would also have helped both to recover from the trauma of the existing child's disease.
Both mulled over it but didn't find it practical, fearing the possibility of the next child will also be born with the same or another disease.
Besides this, Dipika lost her sense of womanhood during all this. Due to negligence of health and worries and tensions, her monthly periods or menstrual cycles started becoming irregular. She didn't look after herself and didn't make any efforts to even apply the minimum makeup which every woman likes to do.
She lost her all-womanly charm. She would forget to comb her hair and would leave it loose, sometimes hair was found lying on her face carelessly blocking her vision. Many a time, she even would forget her bath. She stopped looking into the mirror. Even if she looked in the mirror by chance, there would always come a pathetic smile on her face for herself and for her life.
For many days, they had not turned on the TV, listened to any song or watched any cricket match. All they thought about was Mittu and her future.
In addition to this, a few sadist relatives installed fear in their minds that no one would marry Mittu because she is mentally retarded. There were no chances of recovery from such diseases, no matter what fancy name you give to the disease or the methods of cure. They went further telling the couple that having a mentally disturbed girl child unmarried for a lifetime in the house would be the worst thing for any parent and what would happen to her when both would die? Who will take care of her after them?
Few suggested sending her to mental asylum, but the couple was confident that this disease would be cured by the ongoing treatments. All these thoughts started disturbing them and both suffered many sleepless nights.
Dipesh's company was providing insurance for him and his family but for such a disease there was no provision to pay him the complete expenses because there was no time limit for the treatment. He then started looking for some other insurance companies that can provide him with more money for his daughter's treatment for a longer time. He found few but the premium amount was beyond his capacity.
All he needed now was more money so that he could overcome the ongoing difficult situation in his life and can cure his daughter and everyone's life to return back to normalcy.
As they say, everyone joins us in our happiness but leaves us alone in our sorrows. Dipesh and Dipika were now realizing this slowly. To some extent, family members can support us emotionally and financially but, in the end, they cannot support us endlessly.
It was only Dipika and Dipesh who would have to face the harsh realities of their life.
A friend of Dipika once had come to meet them at home. She suggested that Dipika should hand over Mittu to Dipika's mother for a day and both should find some time together somewhere outside, be it watching some movie or sitting in the garden or doing things that may make them happy because staying strong with a presence of mind was very much necessary for both of them to handle the future situation in their life.
One day they decided to act upon the advice of Dipika's friend, and both went to watch an English movie together. Dipika's mother reluctantly agreed to this.
They booked a cab directly to the multiplex where many movies were showing. They had chosen a romantic movie with an adult theme that featured a famous hero and two actresses and there was a love triangle. But it was not a traditional love triangle. Till the interval, the story looked like the usual traditional love triangle between the three. The second half was shocking. There was a twist that caught every audience completely unaware. One more angle of love was introduced into the existing traditional triangle. That's why the movie name is aptly kept as "Tangled Rectangle".
Both Dipesh and Dipika recalled their past memories before marriage when they had gone to see a then superhit Bollywood romantic movie together named "Sabse Badi Aashiqui" without the knowledge of their family. After all, it is human nature to find more thrills in enjoying sexual pleasures in hiding and before marriage rather than enjoying it after receiving a marital stamp.
During a song in the movie, the hero removes the heroine's T-shirt exposing her bare back as she wasn't wearing any bra inside and she further sits on a wooden chair. Hero further moves his both hands towards her breasts and squeezes them gently.
Dipika had given a suggestive look to Dipesh seeing this. Dipesh then put his right hand around her waist and when he found that she didn't resist this touch at all, he slowly moved it up to her breasts. This was the first instance when he had touched her breasts and that too from her clothes...
Dipesh came back to the present where now another movie was running in front of them.
This time, both decided to relive that memory again. For a while, both had forgotten about their personal worries and were enjoying the movie. Dipesh put his hand around her waist and Dipika also reciprocated in the same manner and put his hand on her right breast...
Finally, both became damn sure that they will have sex at night on that day. After coming out of the theatre both smiled and laughed at each other as if they were meeting for the first time.
After the movie, both spent some time in a park full of greenery and flowers.
The aroma of flowers tickled their senses. Later they had a meal together. All in all, it was a good time together. After a long gap.
When they came home, a pleasant surprise was waiting for them. Dipika's mom was looking happy, and Mittu was also playing and smiling with two unidentified teenage boys.
Dipika asked, "Mom, who are they?"
Mom said, "Dipa, remember in childhood you used to bring a child from our neighborhood and play with him?"
"Yes, of course. His name is Bhanugopal?"
"Yes, so this is the same Bhanugopal. He has grown up now and is taking education in Pune."
"And who is the other one?"
Mom took a pause and then said, "Dipa beta, call it a coincidence or not, but the other one is..."
Suddenly Dipesh spoke, "Hey, are you Kirankumar?"
"Yes, Uncle. you still recognize me?"
"Arey, how can I forget you, boy? You used to help me pluck tamarinds and guavas from trees though you were much younger than me. You when kid, used to stay with me at my home and play with me."
"Yes, both of the boys are staying together, studying in the same institution. Both later learned on Facebook that both of you are married and live in Pune. So, they somehow got the address and came over!"
Dipesh and Dipika sat down and looked at each other.
Mittu was behaving in a very friendly manner with Bhanugopal and Kirankumar. Dipika's mother had already told both about Mittu's disease.
Both said in unison, "Uncle and aunty. Don't worry. Good things happen with good people. Everything will be fine. We both have decided to come over to your place whenever we get time after hearing about Mittu. We will also help in doing the exercise for Mittu!"
And then there were lots of discussions and chatter.
Dipesh and Dipika were looking at each other as if God has sent some angels for them.
And why not? Even the smallest ray of light also creates hope for a person who is sitting in complete darkness for a longer time.
Though these two angels were not magicians who could cure Mittu's disease, at least some positive development was taking place and that made both happy.
At least they met those who are talking positively. Both belonged to the new generation who had an unbiased way of looking at such mental diseases.
However, this ray of hope also caused them some inconvenience because Dipika's mother had told both Bhanugopal and Kirankumar to stay at their home overnight and there was no chance tonight that Dipika and Dipesh could have sex tonight due to space constraints.
