Chapter 1
Mrs. Ranjhana Kumar, a 36 years extremely gorgeous woman was returning back from her work at 10 PM in the night. The bus was not so crowded yet she was very disturbed, restless, and frantically searching for some fresh air to breathe in. As the bus started to cross Marine Drive of the great city of Mumbai the cool breeze of the Arabian Sea assured her of some comfort for which she stood up and asked the conductor to let her get down here. And before the bus could stop for her to get down she jumped out of it like a freed bird from a trapped cage. She was in her business suit but she doesn’t care about it. She just walked towards the cemented embankments. Marine drive is always very crowded but there are some no-crowd zones also which usually nobody prefers but Ranjhana somehow wanted that lonesome moment to reflect on her life and get some inspiration from the vast sea. She climbed it up and sat down looking at the sea as she breathed in fresh breeze letting her lungs satisfied.
Her eyes fell on the rocks just ahead of the cemented embankments where the waves of the sea hit uninterruptedly. And she felt her life is like one of those rocks; dry, hard, lifeless, and hit by the waves of struggles always. She wanted to be a homemaker, a loving wife, a wonderful mother who would be kept at home like a rose with care, love, and comfort though she was well educated. Yet she was never ambitious. But her husband wanted her to be matched up with other women of society, progress in life, and do something in life. Was being a good wife, a good mother considered worthless, and doing nothing? She finally started working and while doing so she forgot who she is… She has been at this firm working as a Company Secretary for the last 10 years, earned so much money, progressed much ahead than other women of the society but lost the time for herself, for her children and husband as well. Though her husband rarely finds time to be at home as he is such a busy man and always very focussed in his work and disinterested in family life, in her. She was being treated like a ravishing queen in her school and college days. How many flowers and proposals she had got from both boys and girls she doesn’t remember yet she is absolutely lonely and extremely lifeless today. She goes out to work daily at 8 AM in the morning and returns back at 9:30 PM in the night. Sometimes she feels as if she comes home to just sleep only.
And today when she was coming back from office her husband informed her that he is going out for a month’s trip to Sri Lanka and she should be taking care of the house in her absence. “What the f%^$*…” She thought as soon as she hung up his call while she was on the bus. And she landed here thinking endlessly about herself and her life.
Suddenly, her eyes fell on a man standing on the embankments, a bit ahead of her. She felt something is wrong with that man and she sensed he is about to walk down to the Arabian sea forever… Her heart started to beat faster, pounding harder inside her chest. She thought of calling out… “Hey, what the hell are you trying to do…?”
That man looked at her and tried to hurry what he was doing without giving any attention to her. He climbed down from the embankments and started to stutter on the rocks, hopping one after the other quickly…
