The wind from the window was blowing in his face as Raghav, an engineer, was travelling from Santacruz to Borivali in the local train. A young boy, aged 32, was sad and alone. The grown beard and uncut hair were making him look untidy.

He was returning home from a counselling session. Dr. Samantha, a young woman with grey eyes and a mole on the cheek, was amongst the top ten best Psychiatrists in Mumbai and she was an expert in dealing with depression. She herself is a divorcee, but yes, people had considered her the best. As Raghav was looking outside the window, he could smell the sadness of Mumbai city. He was wondering, what the city had done to him.

Five years ago, Raghav had received a letter from the HNSD Company, a leading engineering company in making home security devices. He had come from his native place, Pune. Soon he was called for the interview and then within a week he had the appointment letter in his hand. He joined the company as a junior engineer and by looking at his performance he got promoted as the senior engineer in no time. With his package of 24 Lakhs per year, Two BHK flat and a car, Raghav was very happy and soon started receiving marriage proposals. His mother wanted him to get married soon. So she forced him to get married.

The best wedding hall was booked. His wife, Aashlesha, was as beautiful as a swan and she was well educated too. After the marriage they both came to Mumbai and Raghav was managing his office and the house pretty well. His life was all set. So they decided to have a baby.

The Train made a loud noise, as if emergency brakes were applied. The train came to a halt and Raghav could hear a voice, which every Mumbaikar knew, of the lady giving announcements in the local train, “pudhil station… Borivali, agala station… Borivali, next station… Borivali.”

Raghav’s mother came happily to the hospital to see her first grandchild, a baby girl. Soon she was discharged from the hospital and they got her to their flat. Aashlesha left her job to take care of their daughter

He got down from the train and took an auto. It was dark. ‘Eksar road’, and the driver turned his meter down.

Raghav opened the door of his flat and turned the lights on. He kept his day bag on the couch. He freshened up, turned the TV on, poured some whiskey in the glass and tried to enjoy the idiot box. After some time he dozed off on the couch. He had no work the next day as it was a Sunday.

Next morning, the phone was vibrating. He woke up and saw 13 missed calls and 2 new messages. It was from his psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Shah. “Hey, it’s already 10:00am. The session will start in half and hour. Where are you?” Raghav quickly replied her back. “On the way”, and he rushed to take a shower. Dr. Samantha had arranged a session for her clients in Borivali. Raghav took a quick shower and rushed down to take a rickshaw. He told him the address and the driver made a U-turn and went towards the venue.

Aashlesha got down at Chatrapati Terminus. It was night, and she had come back from her hometown. She and their daughter had gone to stay there for a week. As she came out of the station, she called Raghav.

Raghav gets a call while he was driving. He was on the way to the station. He picks up the call, ‘hey I am on my way. Where are you?’ Aashlesha replied ‘I am already outside the station. Come slowly.’ ‘Oh. You reached so soon?’ ‘Yeah! I told the driver to drive fast because my husband cannot live without me it seems’ ‘Oh! Is it? ’‘Hahaha! You have no Idea about women empowerment’ and they both laugh together. Just then, Aashlesha hears some nuisance behind. She tells her husband to be on the phone.

As she turns back to see what was the matter, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her heart started palpitating very fast. She was petrified. Fear made the wind feel cold. She saw that a man was chased down by some goons and he was all socked in blood. The goons had big swords in their hands. As the man was running towards her, her heart started beating rapidly. Raghav was calling her loudly on phone but she had no clued what to do. ‘Aashlesha, what’s the matter? What happened? What is the noise all about?’ But she was stunned.

The man who was socked in the blood stopped near her. ‘Please save me. These goons are after me and my wife.’ Aashlesha, with a kid, had no idea what to do next. She was speechless and scared. But she tried to ask him ‘where is your wife?’ and the man replied. ‘I am sorry, I want to save them.’ He turned towards the goons which were at a 5 feet distant now. ‘Don’t kill me, and my wife and the kid’. The goons thought that the woman who was with him, was his wife and they run their swords all over them.

Soon the station was filled with pool of blood. A man, a woman and a kid were massacred. Raghav was on the phone listening to his wife’s cry. She kept on saying ‘Raghav! Help me out!’ As he reached the station he saw his wife and his daughter were dead. He sat near them and cried loudly.

‘Oh Saabji, Chalo aagayi aapki building’ and Raghav woke up from the sleep. The night was actually haunting him in every second of his life. He remembered he had told his wife not come home at night. But she was stubborn. He paid the fare and saw Dr. Samantha’s white swift parked outside. He went inside the building. He reads the notice ‘Session on 1st floor’. As he climbed, he saw Dr. Samantha was standing near the entrance, welcoming everyone. As she saw Raghav her face was slightly joyous. She came and shook his hand. Whenever they used to meet out for a coffee, Samantha used to give him a tight hug. But here, she had to keep it professional.

The session started and a lecturer started with his motivational speech. He was speaking about how to gather motivation and move on with life. Tragedies do happen. But that doesn’t mean one should lose his hope. Everyone should know that it could have been worse. And lots of other stories. As Raghav was listening to it, he was feeling good.

After the lecture, Dr. Samantha delivered a vote of thanks, and all departed.

Raghav was sitting idle on his bench. When everyone left, Samantha came and sat besides him. She took his hand and with a soft tone asked, ‘Are you ok, Raghav?’ And Raghav looked at her face. She saw his eyes were watery. Slowly he nodded saying, ‘Yes.’

And he took his bag, got up from the bench and was about to leave. But Samantha intervenes ‘you are coming tomorrow for the session to clinic, no?’But Raghav did not respond to her. She got up from her bench and grabbed his hand. ‘Are you even listening? I know you used to love your wife. But she is long gone. Look around you. There are several other people who still love you. Take for example your mother. She is dying to talk to you but you are not even bothered to receive her call.’ Raghav’s face turned red. He knew something which he had told Samantha several times. But she had refused to believe it. Raghav’s depression was more because of that one assumption and that is why he had left talking to his mother. Raghav believed that his mother was involved in killing of his wife. He politely replied. ‘I have told you several times that she is the one who killed my wife. And you want me to talk to her now?’ ‘She is not. She didn’t kill you wife. Trust me.’ ‘She wanted a boy. I know when my wife was pregnant she kept on saying this. And when we got a girl, she was furious.’ ‘No! You are just assuming this. You mother were much happier than you,’ Samantha tried to convince him But he was just not ready to listen to her. ‘The person who used to love me the most is gone.’ She tried a bit more ‘I am there.’ But he left the place. Samantha took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

It was night and Raghav was sitting on his couch with a glass of whiskey in his hand and watching TV.

Indravadhan Sarabhai was making fun of Roshesh and his mom Maya was supporting her son. It had all started because Maya tried to make fun of her daughter-in-law, Monisha. Sahil was sitting on the couch. One of the best daily soap Sarabhai vs Sarabhai was available on the Youtube.

As he was watching, he was feeling a bit relaxed. Once upon a time, the whole nation used to enjoy this show.

‘Son, I am going to buy some clothes for my grandson’ ‘Mom c’mon we don’t even know who it’s going be.’ ‘You don’t know anything about pregnancy. I can see that it’s going to be a baby boy.’

Raghav opened his eyes. He saw that the TV was on. He remembered the scene when his mom was insisting that they will have a baby boy. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. He got puzzled thinking who might be at this hour. He opened the door and he was a bit shocked. It was Dr. Samantha, in her hot black mini black skirt and a deep cowl neck top.

She did not ask whether she can come in. She just pushed Raghav and entered his house. Raghav couldn’t remove the eyes from her though he was trying to. But Samantha did not ask for any permission and straight away kissed him. Even Raghav couldn’t believe what was happening. After the short love session, Samantha said, ‘I had to do this. Since there was a gap to your physical needs, you were depressed. I am sorry I had to do without your permission but if I had asked you, you would have denied.’ Raghav gave her a smile. He said thank you.

After several months passed, Raghav was doing pretty well in his work. He was well shaved and groomed.

One fine morning, he was travelling to his work. Just then he gets a call from police station. The police tells him and he just couldn’t believe his ears. He had never thought that he would receive such great news. He was happy yet sad. He was confused. He called Samantha and said. “Hey! I just got a call from police station and they said… ’ After hearing the news, even Samantha couldn’t believe it. ‘Wow! What a wonderful day.’ The police had called to inform that they have captured the goons who were responsible for the death of his wife and child. After giving her the news he quickly disconnects the call and went to the police station. There were three people who were arrested. Police told him that these are the guys. Raghav asked the inspector ‘Did they confess why they killed my wife?’ and inspector replied ‘Yes, they did’ and police shared the information. ‘They said that one women had come to them, gave the money and told them to kill…’ and police went on telling about it. After they were done, Raghav felt a shock throughout his body. He couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of the inspector. He felt a terror in his body. His heart started palpitating. Police still were searching who the woman was, but as per the description given by the police, Raghav knew who the culprit was. He stood in silent and said noting. He asked the permission to leave. Police assured him that they will catch the women, but Raghav knew who she was. He left the station and went to a shop to buy a sharp knife. He takes a rickshaw and tells him to go to Dr. Samantha’s place. As he reached he goes to her office. She was sitting alone. As she saw him she smiles hugs him tightly. ‘So! Did they tell you who the culprit is?’ Raghav replies ‘Yes! They said a woman is responsible and they also gave me a depiction. They don’t know who she is but I know.’ Raghav shows her the knife. Looking at it she gets very scared. ‘Look Raghav. I know what you are thinking. You think the culprit is women and I know you must have concluded that it is your mother. But that is wrong. You cannot think like that. And secondly you cannot take your revenge by killing your mother. Tell the police about this and let them handle it. Let them see. You don’t take law in your hand.’ Raghav still had a red face. ‘No! You are wrong. The description I got from the police is far different.’ With confusion on face, Samantha asks ‘What description?’ and Raghav without wasting anytime, takes the sharp knife and stabs it in her stomach. The blood was all over. He takes it out and again stabs her. Samantha was on the ground, dead. He sits beside her and remembers her story about her husband which she had shared long ago.

Samantha: ‘I left my husband because he was a cheat. He had a wife and a kid, and he did this behind my back.’

Raghav remembers the description given by Police: ‘A woman had approached them. She had told them that her husband has a wife and a kid. She wants them to get killed. They will be coming on the CST station. She is young, has grey eyes and a mole on the right cheek. She had come in white swift but these people don’t know the car number.

Raghav knew who the culprit was and now he had taken the perfect revenge.

The End