Break From The Past: Party Time (part 6)

The  venue chosen for  the party was absolutely amazing, with glittering lights, a specially erected stage for the music band, and below the stage we could see some couples dancing. It felt so good to be there, and everybody was coming and congratulating Chandran for relentlessly working so hard for the company's growth.
For me it was an honor to be by his side. Both of us had a really good time. The drinks, the snacks, and the food were great and so was the music, and the band had us dancing to their catchy numbers. We lost ourselves in the scintillating music,  and danced to the music changing  our steps and our tempo to the beat of the music : sometimes jive, then mambo, and then again….I don’t know what,  I didn't even care, there was a spontaneity in our steps, making us forget all our unsolved problems for the time being. There was only one thought dancing through my mind -  “may this night never end.”

One among several things I learnt after moving to America was dancing.  I loved dancing so much that it didn’t take me long to became a certified Dance Instructor.  It had been ages since, Chandran and I danced together. The fights between us had grown to such gigantic proportions that we never felt like dancing with each other ever again. But not today, for today we had left everything behind us . We danced and danced, literally setting the floor on fire. I recalled my dance teacher saying, “while dancing, forget everything, and only look into the eyes of the partner, make love to him through your eyes.”  

She was so passionate about dancing, that it was contagious : whoever learnt dancing from her  became as passionate as she was, about this sensuous art, and wanted to be as perfect as her.  If the partner happened to be your own husband, then, there was nothing to stop you from showering your passion on him through your eyes, your body movements.
 Oh! if there was bliss in this Universe it was here, it was here, on this dance floor. For once in our lives we were truly happy. 
 Soon, Chandran’s new responsibilities took him more and more away from me. But I did not mind it so much, for my dance classes  kept me occupied, and I was happy  doing the thing I really enjoyed doing.  Since Chandran's business tours kept him away for long periods of time, I decided to take some evening classes, for there were lot of people who wanted to take the class in the evenings.

When he was home, sometimes I used to reschedule my classes, thinking we could spend some quality time together.  But that was not to be, as Chandran always had some presentation to work on, or something else to keep him engaged and away from me. This kept on happening till I got fed up for neither was I  able to spend time with him nor was I able to take my evening dance classes . So I decided not to waste any more time, and started taking my classes as usual.
As fate would have it, I got busy when he got free, and then he started noticing my absence. He could have just told me he needed me,  and I would have rescheduled my classes, but no, he said nothing . Slowly the taunts started, then the accusation, then slowly it led to many unpleasant things, and  living with him became impossible. I tried very hard, but soon I realized there was no point in continuing to live with him like that: it was time to move on.

The real breaking point came when he started, spying on me, always asking me questions as to where I had been, who I was talking to over the phone, who came to the house while he was not there, and even controlling what I should be watching on  TV, and what I should not. Those days the daily soap opera Bold and The Beautiful had just started, and everybody was watching it .  I too was hooked into it.  Though on certain days it would be quite boring, still,  I would be watching it. He used to get very irritated whenever I saw that serial, and then he would go on and on cribbing about the serial. He felt that such serials were responsible for giving crazy ideas to people like me to flirt around with men in the name of teaching dancing.  He even accused that people like me had lost all sense of morality and dignity.  I ignored all these signals, thinking this too would pass.

Then, it was the day when he was to turn 60. In India especially in the South where we come from the, 60^th birthday of a man is celebrated with lot of fanfare. Man and Wife renewed their marriage wows in front of their children and grand children : it is a very happy occasion.  Since we were not going to have that kind of a celebration in the US,  I thought I would just do something special for him, and make that day memorable.

 I prepared all his favorite dishes, spent hours in the kitchen forgetting all our animosity and anger. I had even bought a lovely birthday gift for him. I set the table with the finest crockery in the house, lovingly collected by us on our various trips abroad.  The Champagne was in the ice tub getting nicely chilled.  My heart was on fire, I was excited, and was eagerly awaiting his arrival.  Somehow I felt that everything would be fine between us, for I still could not forget that time when we danced the whole night away, and we were so happy. I was expecting the same miracle to happen.  I kept picturing the same old Chandran, who dragged me from the crowded bus years ago: the Chandran with whom I fell in love the minute I set my eyes on him. I felt a flutter in my heart: Chandran had not really disappeared, I had not lost him, for he was there, he was very much there, and very much part of me as I was of him.
But why was it taking him so long, was it the traffic?
I switched on the TV, just in time, to watch the ever boring repeats of "The Bold & The Beautiful" when, Chandran walked in………

To be continued...