The Day That Was Not To Be

THEN ONE DAY

Then one day there is a grand Contribution Party at the office (the expenses of which would be shared by the participants) at which Anjana and Shrikar participate. While the party goes on, someone spikes Anjana"s food. The party concludes as usual and everybody goes home.

Next day, Anjana is woken up by a call from Shrikar. Anjana, who is surprised to see herself alone in the bedroom, picks up the phone.

Anjana(in morning blues): Hello dear. Where are you?

Shrikar: Hey I am at our office. When I was leaving, you were sleeping like a bat in hibernation. So I let you sleep. Don"t worry. I have applied for your leave. Take rest. I think yesterday"s party took a toll on you.

Anjana (innocently): Well, I don"t know. By the way, why did you call?

Shrikar: Just to check about your health; and Yeah, to tell you that in the morning hurry, I forgot my Rolex in the bathroom. Please take it from there before moisture spoils it.

Anjana: Ok, dear. Love you...

Shrikar: Love you too...

Anjana gets up from her bed blabbering to herself things like

Oh, what happened to me yesterday?

I didn"t even drink a drop; and still I have a hangover. How, my dear God?

All right. Now I have got to look for Shri"s Rolex first.

On opening the bathroom door, she shudders to find Ayaan fighting for life with his throat slit apart. Blood gushing out wetting the whole environment in red. She shakes away her morning blues. An uncontrollable energy shoots up from the bottom of her spinal cord to the top of her cranium, forcing her to run away from the situation.

She runs out madly, screaming out for help:

Help, please help... There has been a murder in my house. Please help...

The peaceful neighbourhood is woken up by her screams. People rush up to Anjana, who is crying uncontrollably out of fright. Some of them comfort her, circling around her. Many others frantically but unsuccessfully search for the scene of crime.

Some neighbours call the police as well as inform Shrikar about these developments. When the police arrive, one neighbour (who has been thoroughly briefed about the mental instability of Anjana by Shrikar himself) volunteers to speak to them.

But still, bound of duty the police conduct a methodical search, but they were not able to draw any trace of murder, not even a drop of blood. When Anjana comes to know of this, she throws a tantrum and demands that a dog squad be pressed into action. The police force, forced by the situation assigns a dog squad to assess the crime scene, but to Anjana"s dismay the dog squad too fail to sniff out anything suspicious.

Meanwhile Shrikar arrives with Dr.Vipul in tow to help Anjana out of the situation. With Vipul"s help, Shrikar persuades the police not to press for a case of fraud against Anjana, in view of her mental condition. However, the police leave the premises only after getting a formal submission from Shrikar that he would urgently arrange for effective medical measures so that Anjana would put an end to repeating such acts of insanity.

In the neighbourhood, the huge waves created by this incident quietens down into small grumblings. Amidst these, Shrikar tries to comfort Anjana by helping her to take the pressure off her disturbed mind.

Shrikar (massaging Anjana"s neck): It"s ok, Anju. Let the bygones be bygones. What we need to do right now is visit Vipul"s clinic again for a fresh analysis.

AT VIPUL"S CLINIC

Anjana (frustrated): I don"t know what"s wrong with me, Vipul. What"s your opinion?

Vipul (stammering): I am groping for words now. I think we should increase the dosage of medicines. I can give an opinion only after a week. I have to observe.

Shrikar: So, when should we come to your clinic, next? After a week?

Vipul (professionally): Yeah, I think probably by then I can come to a conclusion on the medicines and the dosage.

Anjana (tiredly): Ok, will see you then.

Vipul (warningly): But be cautious, Anjana. Don’t repeat this behaviour. You have already got the police involved. Next time they can charge Shrikar for having flouted their instructions and impose a fine on him or even arrest him. And, as for you, they can send you to a Mental Hospital which would be equivalent to a lunatic asylum. So, beware...

Shrikar (assuring): Ok, Vipul. Thank you for your timely warning. We will seriously bear it in our minds.

He looks towards Anjana who shakes her head in giving her consent, as well.

Vipul (with a shoulder gesture): Well then, take care. Good Night.

Now Shrikar and Anjana are apparently in the company of each other; but actually they are in their own psychological hemispheres. Shrikar entreats Anjana to take rest by sleeping away the day and attends to some of his official tasks on hand.

Shrikar decides to work from home for a week in order to take care of Anjana till their next visit to the psychiatrist, which has been scheduled for the next week.

Then unexpectedly, Shrikar is required to go out of town on an unavoidable, official trip. He arranges for a maid servant to attend Anjana and alerts his neighbourhood about his absence and secures their attention and support. Additionally, he requests Vipul to keep an extra eye on Anjana. And he leaves.

In the evening, Anjana takes an early dinner, retires to the bedroom and falls asleep. However, in the dead of night she awakens hearing strange sounds. But she decides to wait and see, before making a hue and cry. She notices that there are no signs of the sounds abating. So she switches on the TV in order to nullify the effects of the meaningless noises. Viewing the TV she snoozes off.

The next morning, Vipul comes to check on her. He is shocked to see Anjana, in her night gown, screaming her heart out, at the sight of him:

"He is going to kill me. Please help me."

She heads towards him, like a freshly shot arrow, trying to smash him to the ground. He ducks himself out of the way and somehow retains his balance.

In her night gown she runs to the street screaming and pleading to save her. Like a crazy beggar, she runs straight into the police station to narrate her ordeal. There everyone is shocked to see such a scene and the Inspector in charge immediately attends to her. He seats her on a chair. Anjana is out of her breath, so the Inspector asks her to calm down first.

Inspector (assuring): Calm down Madam. No one can harm you here. Please have some water first.

Anjana (drinking the water and spilling it, stammers): Please save me, Sir. He is going to kill me.

Inspector (calmly): Who is going to kill you? Explain calmly after you regain your composure.

Anjana (catching her breath): I was going to take bath as usual, when I heard my husband Shrikar screaming from the adjacent room.

She again quenches her thirst.

Inspector (urging): And then what happened?

Anjana (perplexed): I ran up to that room which was closed from inside. Hence I looked through the keyhole and to my shock saw Shrikar holding a knife and threatening Deepa. A frustrated Shrikar was screaming like this:

CUT TO SHRIKAR

I am fed up of this f*****g life... I am going to kill you and this f*****g Ayaan... Then I will slit the throat of that stupid Anjana who has become a pain in the ass... And then I will kill myself... Enough of all of you...

He then literally slashed the throats of both Deepa and Ayaan. Then he was advancing towards the door to kill me. But I somehow managed to run and came here.

Now, please save me Sir, please... He is going to kill me.

Inspector: Cool down. I will ensure your security. You please wait here. I will go with my team to investigate the matter.

Constable (comes near to the inspector and whispers): Sir, this is the same lady who made a scene here the other day saying there was a dead body in her bathroom.

Inspector (nodding his head): Is it?

Constable: Yes. And later, her husband as well as her psychiatrist confirmed that she is mentally unstable.

Inspector (normal): Anyway, we are duty-bound to conduct an enquiry. Come, let us go.

They thoroughly comb the whole house but fail to spot even a dead louse, let alone a human dead-body. Hence they bring Anjana back home to show her that nothing was wrong. Then they take her into police custody. Further, they telephonically talk to Shrikar about these developments. He is already at the Bangalore Airport to catch his flight to return home. Meanwhile, the Police formally registers a case against Anjana for becoming a public nuisance, and against Shrikar for failing to provide result-oriented treatment, in spite of specific police instructions.

It is at this point that Shrikar reaches the Police Station along with Vipul to release Anjana. But it"s too late as the case has already been filed and now they will have to fight it out in the court.

Shrikar fights the case with all his capabilities but fails to win it. For some reason, the witnesses from the neighbourhood blow up the nuisance factor of Anjana’s abnormal behaviour. Even Vipul’s assurances of reining in Anjana by skilful administration of sedatives, etc. also fall on deaf ears. Finally, the court orders that Anjana be shifted to a Mental Hospital till the doctors at the hospital certify that she has been cured. And Anjana ends up in a mental asylum.