Till Death do us Apart

                It was Saturday evening. Tanmay was looking forward to this small get-together planned by his friends. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just his close friends were meeting for drinks and dinner. They had planned to meet at their regular hangout. This had been their way of life before marriage. They would drink and dine and then spend the night at one of their houses. Slowly everyone had started settling, changing jobs and getting married, which left little time for a boys night.
                He was at his second drink. On the other side of the room, women were already getting the plates ready for dinner. He looked at his friends who were resigned on the bean bag or watching TV. They appeared to be having fun but Tanmay still felt guilty for spoiling their plans.



                He had not expected Meera to throw such a fit when he told her about his weekend plans.
                "Great! I wait all week for the two days I can spend with you in peace and you plan a boys nightout!" she had made him feel miserable.
                "Meera, I did not plan this but I want to go. We stay together right? What will happen if I m not around for a day?"
                " Why don't you just say that this marriage is suffocating you now? You are tired of me. That is why you try to avoid me." She was getting hysterical. She went to the bedroom and started crying.
                 He took pity on his wife. She was lonely and he felt responsible for her sadness. They had been married for 5 months now. For the first two months they lived in perfect bliss. It was everything that they both had wished for. Their's was a love marriage. Meera's parents never whole heartedly agreed to the match and it was taking a toll on her relation with her parents. Meera had to leave her city and settle with Tanmay in a new place. She was struggling to come to terms with the changes and she was peerless here. HE felt selfish now about thinking of a night over. He went to Meera to pacify her.
                He cancelled on his friends. Vignesh, his best friend, figured out the reason of Tanmay backing out. He was the one who suggested they all bring their spouses along. Venue had to be changed. It was now Vignesh's house. His wife Sumitra was welcoming about the sudden plan.
               Tanmay was relieved and could guess that Vignesh was behind this plan. Meera was happy and Tanmay thought it would be great if she bonded with Sumitra. She seemed to like Sumitra and they hit it off well.
           


               "Who are you chatting with?" she peeked over his phone.
               "Uh..oh . It is Sumitra. She is inviting us for dinner next weekend."
               "Tell her we have plans." She gave a flat response
               "What plans?" he asked, perplexed.
               "Give me the phone, I want to see the chat." she snatched his phone and herself typed the reply.
               "I thought you both got along well." he mumbled.
                Meera had stormed out of the room by then.



              " I want to join a gym." She said out of the blue. They were watching a movie at home. IT caught him off guard. Yes, she was putting on weight in the last few months but never made any effort to get into shape.
              " Well, have you thought of any gym?" He had learnt to not refuse her outright. It enraged her. She wanted him to listen to what she had to say first and then comment.
              " Yes, I want to join StayTrim."
              " That's far away. Why don't you join nearby?" he asked.
              " I don't want to." Again a flat response.
              "Wait, doesn't Sumitra go there?" It suddenly clicked him that Vignesh lived in vicinity of that gym.
              "Oh, so you know where she goes to gym!" she smirked.
              "What is that supposed to mean?"
              "Tanmay, don't think I m a fool. I saw the way she looks at you. She told me you were friends before she got married to Vignesh."
              "Ofcourse! Vignesh introduced her to all of us. We knew her before their marriage. They too had a love marriage if you don't know!" he was getting irritated with her.
              "You loved her. Didn't you?" her eyes flamed with anger.
              " What is wrong with you? I loved you and married you. Where does Sumitra come into picture?"
              "She was in your life before me. She was close to you. Vignesh married her and so you looked for someone else. You keep comparing me with her. You wanted her but you have to make do with a substitute." she kept crying.
              "Meera, everything you are saying is nonsense. You know it too that I love you. Sumitra is nowhere close to you. Stop getting harassed over it. You are the only one in my life."
               This seemed to calm her. She never joined the gym.



              They had invited Tanmay's cousin, Shreyas, for dinner. He was a playful, humorous person. Having him over meant nonstop PJs, riddles and continuous blabbering. He kept praising Meera for her cooking and she seemed to be in good spirits. She was receiving his jokes sportingly.
              "You know there was this lady who was extremely suspicious about her husband. She checked his clothes everyday for a strand of hair or a lipstick mark. One day she found nothing and went up to her husband and said, You have become so shameless that you are now having affairs with a bald woman."
               He thought he cracked a good one but both Tanmay and Meera were quite.
              "Ok guys, you didn't like it." HE said. He had a call and went to receive it.
              Meera glared at Tanmay. When Shreyas returned he could hear only clanking of spoons and chewing sounds. It was uneasy. Something was amiss. Tanmay had been reserved but never this silent. Meera seemed to have extreme mood swings. By the time he left things had become normal.



              "So you have now been ranting about me. He tried to humiliate me with that joke."
              "Meera there is a limit to everything. When do you think I went up to talk to him?" he asked. She had been watching him like a hawk all the time.
              "Don't you understand that everyone here hates me. They want to break our marriage. Sumitra lures you. Your friends instigate you against me. You cousins humiliate me. What have I done? Why are they stealing you away from me?" She shouted.
              "Meera no one is taking you away from me. I promise I won't go. Be calm. Your blood pressure is shooting up." He held her as she was fainting.
               He set her on the sofa and brought her a glass of water. She had fallen asleep by then.




              "Sir, there is Mr Shreyas wanting to meet you."
              "Let him in."
               "You look like a ghost!" Shreyas said as soon as he entered.
               "Please Shreyas, I m not in a mood to kid around." he cut him
               " I came back yesterday because I left my bag on your shelf. I heard everything." he said grimly.
               " Oh.. That was nothing. Meera is a good wife. She was just low yesterday." He dismissed the topic.
               "Tanmay, does she do all this normally or only when she is very angry?" he asked.
              " What has that got to do with anything?" he asked. He hated talking about his personal life.
              "Once in a while, it is okay if someone speaks like that in mad rage. We all tend to say things we don't actually mean. But when someone really means what they say without seeing any reason to do so, it spells trouble. If she feels  like this all the time, she is not well."
               "She is fine ok. I don't need your expert advice about my wife." He retaliated.
               "You need my expert help. I suspect she is suffering from morbid jealousy."
               "You shrinks just think every scuffle is sign of some mental illness."
               "What you are doing is going to affect you both. She is losing control and you are becoming a victim. She is isolating you from every one, she is guarding your every move, she is accusing you of imaginary affairs, she is constantly living in fear that you will leave her for someone else, she is jealous of people who even talk to you! You think this is normal? You feel giving up everything is going to satisfy her?"
              "That girl gave up everything to be with me. I will do whatever it takes to make her happy."
              "You are not responsible for this. No one is! If you get hurt, you treat it. You don't go around hurting others to cure yourself. Get my logic? If she doesn't get therapy, she will affect you."
              "You want me to ditch her in an asylum?"
              "Which century are you living in? You can take her to therapy and get her home everyday!" he reasoned.
             "And you really think she will just happily hop along? She will be broken if she gets to know that I m taking her to a shrink. She will feel I m trying to prove her mad so that I can marry someone else."
             Tanmay broke down. Shreyas was convinced that Tanmay knew about the situation well before him but was only not ready  to face it. He would have to first counsel Tanmay and then Meera.



            "Man and wife found dead in Nira apartment"
            The headline shocked everyone who knew Tanmay and Meera. It was said that the couple died due to rat poison. It was suspected that it was mixed in their porridge. Shreyas had given statement that Meera was melancholic and her depression coupled with her aggravated mental condition could have let to this extreme step. Besides, she was the one who cooked for them. Rat poison was bought long before their marriage and it looked like an impulsive decision. No foul play was suspected.
           
            No one would know that it was Tanmay and not Meera who had added the poison. He seeked freedom but he also could not leave her. It was their way out..