We met at 5’o clock in the evening at Jal Mahal. It’s quite an appealing place to the tourists. It has a castle built in the middle of a lake and there are boats which take the tourists to the castle. I don’t know if it’s the same now as well. We sat on a bench and she asked me if the hotel I was staying in was comfortable enough to help me have a sound sleep. I actually found the hotel decent enough with all the amenities that a man of my age then would have required.

I still had a lot of questions in my mind and I started by reading a newspaper, I had in my hand, aloud. There was a news of how so many people get killed on the road every day. There was another one about women trafficking and how these women are treated as commodities and raped by everyone who catches hold of them. I felt I should stay mum for a while but I thought a little aloud by asking “how does a woman feel when she is raped.” “It feels like you will never be free again,” she replied. I looked at her to read her expressions and she repeated what she had earlier said. I asked, “do you know anyone who has ever been raped?” and she said, “I know someone who has been raped twice.”

“Who is it?”

“I don’t look like a rape victim, do I?” she asked.

“You don’t, why would you?”

“Because I have been raped twice,” she replied.”

“Holy cow” is all I could say.

As she continued, she told me, “When I was married, I was working with a consultancy that would hire people on behalf of other companies. Like the every other day, I went to my boss to discuss a profile I had shortlisted and I was the last one in the office to leave. The boss was going through some other reports and he hardly noticed me initially. After sometime he asked me to take a seat and wait until he had finished going through the reports. I saw him looking at me from the corner of his eyes. I thought I will leave and come later so I got up to leave. He called me and asked me to sit on the couch he was sitting at. Without hesitating much I sat next to him to show him the profile I had shortlisted. It was all a matter of 10 minutes. They were the longest 10 minutes I had faced. I couldn’t shout, but I punched him hard everywhere I could and it was all so futile. I was done”

“Did you complain to anyone. Did you tell it to your husband?”

“I didn’t have the courage to.”

“You said it happened twice.”

“Yes, next time it was my best friend who did it. We were taking a walk on a beach in Goa. I was divorced, was in Goa with my friends and I hardly had anyone to complain to. He knew all this well and then it took place right on the beach where there was no one but I and him. But, I surrendered after struggling a bit. I knew I couldn’t have stopped him as I couldn’t stop my boss.”

“Did you have anyone after Kunal or was it the end of trusting men.”

“Sumit, that was just the beginning and my desperation made me meet many who were nothing better than the men I had met. I went to Pune for a training assignment and after 3 months I was asked to be a permanent employee than working as a freelancer. The package was good and so was my senior. He was very supportive and I always felt safe when he was around. In fact, this time I fell in love with him. He never approached me and he wouldn’t have even tried doing it as he was married, but we spent some quality time together. One day there were some office files to be delivered to me and his driver was on leave, so he drove to my place to hand over the files himself. He came in and looked around but there was nothing to look at.  My bed was a small mattress that was there on the floor. I didn’t have a bed to sleep on, a sofa was a far-off dream.

The next day when I reached the office, he handed me a cheque of 1.5 lacs to get my house furnished. He said I can return it the day I have it and I looked at him like a meek helpless woman. I wept sitting in my cubicle and thanked God for having him around. I bought furniture, spent the remaining amount in the best possible way and saving a little bit for myself. I called him to show him the furniture and the bedroom which now had a giant king-sized bed. I hugged him in thankfulness and pulled him as close as I could. I tell you, these king-sized beds are really strong to bear everything a couple can do. I invited him to dinner every day when his wife wasn’t at home for a few days. We had a gala time before and after the dinner. We would leave for the office together in the morning and then I would have him back in the evening for the dinner. This went on like it would never end.

“Did he intend to leave his wife and marry you?”

“Sumit, he never disclosed his plan to leave his wife and even I didn’t question him about it. The worst thing was that I didn’t know where he stayed. I was always at his mercy that if he would come, I would have him to spend some time with, or else it was all alone.”

“How long did it last?”

“I thought it was forever but all of a sudden he stopped coming. He wasn’t there in the office and I was told he has got a better paying job in Dubai and he has left.”

To be continued…