- 39 -
As Rani had guessed , it started drizzling at night and continued till she got ready to leave for the court. When Alok offered to accompany her to the court, she asked him to stay back at the flat. She drove her car to the court.
The entire process in the court was completed smoothly. For once the Judge told Ramesh and Rani that it was their last chance, they could still withdraw their application. But when they said that they had applied only after careful consideration, the Judge accepted their divorce application.
Addressing Ramesh, Mr. Khanna said, “Ramesh Ji, usually we congratulate our client when a case is decided in our favour but I wonder what to say here.”
Ramesh said, “Khanna Sahib, please congratulate me, because today, I’ve got a relief from the day to day mental torture. I’m ready to face whatever the fate has in store for me.”
“Ramesh Ji, I’ll send the copy of the decision when I get it.”
After getting free from the lawyer, Ramesh asked Rani, “What’s your programme now?”
“I’m going to the flat, and you…?”
“I mean, when do you intend to go to Patiala?”
Rani did not tell him that Alok was waiting for her in the flat. She just said, “I’ll see how does it work out and inform you accordingly.”
Just as they had come separately in the morning, so, they went after leaving the court, Ramesh to his office and Rani to the flat.
……
Rani reached the flat around one o’clock. She was feeling badly dejected and exhausted. Glow had disappeared from her face. She was neither happy nor sad when she came out of the court but on the way back, her mind was surrounded by self-reproach and depression. Her mind once again held her guilty. She became agitated with self-pity, and resultantly, all her energy seemed to have left her body. When she reached the flat, signs of physical and mental fatigue were writ large on her face.
Pointing to this condition, Alok asked, “Everything went well in the court, right?”
“Yes, all went well.”
“Then why do you look so sad and tired? The glow on your face is also missing.”
In a choked voice, Rani said, “Alok Ji, please do not ask any questions. I’m not in a proper state of mind to say or hear anything right now. I want to rest. Please leave me alone. If I fall asleep, don’t wake me.”
“Take some food.”
“I don't feel like eating. You’ve your lunch and take rest.”
Getting up, Alok said, “You take rest. I’ll read some book in the other room.”
Rani felt as if someone had squeezed out all the energy, all the power from her body, as if there was no life left in her body! She had never hoped that Ramesh could change his decision, but today, the court, too, by accepting their application, had put a seal on the closure of a long chapter of their life, ending the possibility, if any, of its opening again. Her mind was motionless yet it felt as if an emptiness was spreading inside her. Perhaps because of this state of her mind, she fell asleep very soon.
One, two, three hours, the clock kept ticking and Rani kept sleeping. In between, Alok came in stealthily a few times to see her and found her asleep deeply. All the signs of worry and depression, which were there on her face, were replaced by tenderness. God's gift - sleep is such a state, when it comes, the person becomes free from all kinds of the worldly worries. Finding Rani in deep sleep, Alok again got engrossed himself in reading.
When Rani woke up, it was about five o’clock. She went into the washroom and freshened up. Coming to the other room, she saw Alok lost in reading. She took the book from his hands, kept it aside and said, “The way you’re engrossed in reading, I doubt if you would’ve even left the chair or eaten anything during my three hours of sleep!”
Alok was relieved to find her at ease. Without responding to her, he asked, “Should we go to Patiala now or in the morning?”
“Let’s take tea first, and then we’ll leave. It’s not possible for me to stay in this flat any longer. Only I know how I spent so much time confined within these walls.”
Alok avoided dragging the seriousness and said, “If you want to take tea, make it quickly otherwise we may leave.”
She made tea. After having tea, Alok asked, “What about the keys of the flat? How would you manage to hand over those to Ramesh Ji?”
“We’ll send those by courier from Patiala.”
Rani packed the eatables lying in the fridge and said, “Let’s go.”
On reaching Patiala, Rani said, “You bring food from ‘Tandoor’, I’ll prepare Halwa.”
“No, you bring the food and let me prepare Halwa. Till now you had been coming here as a guest, today you’ve come as the mistress of this house, so, it’s my duty to do this much to welcome you.”
“Alok Ji, it would be better if the topic of duty and right doesn’t crop up between us. Let’s give enough space to each other to have his / her say. I wish that while being partners in each other's happiness and sorrow, there should not be any secret between us. We must respect each other’s likes, dislikes and feelings. If this happens, rather I’m sure that it would be like this only, our life would be full of happiness and joy.”
“I appreciate your views. I’ll try to follow your views and feelings. God willing, it would turn out to be like this only.”
……
Ramesh called Rani 3-4 days later. There was no emotion in his voice, just a formal and flat tone, “Congratulations for starting a new inning of life. I’ve received the keys of the flat. You’ve left behind almost all the stuff as such. All this stuff was meant for you.”
Rani, too, replied in a formal tone, “Thank you for your wishes. If you ever come to Patiala, do meet me. As for the stuff, I’ve taken the things that I needed.”
“But the rest of the stuff is useless even for me.”
“In that case, consider giving it to someone needy or send it to an orphanage.”
When Rani disconnected the call, Alok said, “Rani, you did a great job by suggesting Ramesh Ji to give the rest of the stuff to some needy person or the orphanage.”
“Alok Ji, have you taken the advice of a lawyer as discussed?”
“I’ve already done that. The lawyer told me that when there’s a possibility of an appeal by either party, then it’s better to wait for the appeal period of sixty days to be over. Generally there’re more chances of appeal by the female, her signature on the mutual divorce petition might be fake, or she might have been pressurised to sign. No such case is here. Therefore, we can get married whenever we like. Now we’ve to see whether to register the marriage in the court or to solemnise it in a temple. In my view, it would be better to register the marriage in the court, because many a times, in the event of a foreign trip, the marriage certificate is required which is simple to get if the marriage is registered.”
“How should we proceed for that ?”
“We need to apply in a prescribed format attaching therewith five passport size photos of both of us, a copy each of DL, Voter Card or Passport for residential proof, Birth Certificate, certified copy of the court’s order, Rashmi's death certificate, signatures of two witnesses and our affidavits… You must be having Aadhar card, voter card, PAN etc.?”
“Yes, I’ve all these documents. A certified copy of the court order is needed. I’ve Advocate Khanna’s number. I’ll request him to send the certified copy at the earliest.”
“After getting that, we’ll submit our application in the ADM’s office. If everything goes well, we may get the marriage certificate after thirty days.”
Rani called Advocate Khanna and inquired about the certified copy of the order. He asked her to meet him in the court. The next day, Rani and Alok met him. Khanna got an application signed by Rani and submitted the same in the court. He assured her that she would get the certified copy within 3-4 days.
****
