Knotty Affairs Page 20

  The changes were minor, but they made sure they were noticeable. It was all a mindgame. The swapped belongings would remind them of each other every now and then.

  Maybe it was too childish to work out, but Aakash was hopeful. Aneri knew it was their last hope.

  Chapter 25

  Powai residence, Ambrosia Apartments

  Late Friday evening, 9.30 pm

  ‘AAKASH,’ SHOUTED ANERI from the dining hall, ‘Dinner is ready! I am hungry. Come!’ Her shout was met with a cold affirmation from the bedroom. She waited for another two minutes, but still no response. Irritated, she stormed into the bedroom. Aakash was sprawled on the bed looking grimly at his phone. He was so engrossed that he did not even notice Aneri walking up to him. She grabbed the phone from his hand and scowled, ‘I have called you umpteen times for the dinner. What is wrong with you?’

  ‘I was just looking at some dental notes,’ Aakash said defensively. ‘Can’t it wait till we finish dinner, Aakash?’ Aneri responded gruffly. ‘I’ve been waiting for you for the past half an hour. These days you come from the clinic and get busy with your phone, completely forgetting that you live with someone in the house. Goddamn it!’

  Aakash had nothing to offer as an explanation and followed Aneri to the dining table, frowning. At the dining table, he ate his meal so rapidly that Aneri looked at him in surprise. Finally, she could not restrain herself any longer and burst into tears. She pushed aside her plate and looked at Aakash miserably.

  She sniffled softly and spoke, ‘Aakash, are you happy living with me? For so many days now, you seem totally detached from me. If I try to make any conversation, you respond irritatedly. Either you are busy talking to your dental colleagues or stuck to your cell phone. Today I made your favourite biryani hoping to make you feel good and break this spell. But, do you even know what is on your plate right now?’ she asked, wiping her tears.

  ‘Aakash, even I feel lonely yaar. This house was so lively just a few days ago and now… Who do I go to if I feel lonely, Aakash?’ She caught hold of his shirt and rested her head on his chest, sobbing disconsolately.

  ‘Aakash, I had thought that both of us would pull through this together. I don’t want to end up alone every day. I can’t bear it any longer,’ Aneri pleaded hoarsely.

  ‘Please talk to me, Aakash. I know something is bothering you. I am heartbroken that you have chosen not to let me in.’ Aakash distanced himself slightly, compelling Aneri to straighten up. He looked totally spent as he pushed his dinner plate aside, put his head on the dining table and sighed deeply. Aneri placed a hand on his shoulder. He quickly turned to face her and wrapped his arms around her waist and hid his face in her stomach. When Aneri gently coaxed him to let go of his problems and share them with her, he began sobbing like a child. Between sobs, he said, ‘I can’t take her more…it’s not my fault…she is torturing me. I have tried everything…but I can’t manage anything anymore.’ Aneri caressed his hair lovingly and said, ‘No one can harm you, Aakash. You are the best, okay,’ and then softly asked, ‘Who is she?’

  In dire need of fresh air, the young couple decided to go towards Powai Lake. The two sat at a spot on the reclamation track from where a flight of steps led to the marshy waters of the lake. Aneri nudged Aakash’s shoulders, urging him to speak.

  Under the dark sky with his arms entwined around his wife, Aakash spoke.

  ‘I am being harassed by a patient, Aneri. Her name is Poonam Arshiwala and she came to me about five days ago with a complaint of pain in her lower back teeth. The x-ray showed a failed root-canal performed on one of her teeth by her previous dentist. After some persuasion, she agreed to redo the treatment. She was put on proper antibiotic coverage and painkillers before starting the treatment. Shortly afterwards, I started the procedure and since then things have gone from bad to worse. She has had a bad experience earlier and is hell-bent on making me pay for it. Fifteen minutes into her first sitting, she developed a sudden and excruciating pain inspite of being on anaesthesia. Before that, she had whined about every little tool and technique I was using, complaining that this or that was pressurizing or pinching her.’He looked at Aneri and paused for breath. Aakash was not sure how much of what he was saying was making any sense to his wife. He looked at Aneri and then at the lake, shaking his head. ‘This woman has kept me on tenterhooks for every minute of these past few days. You complained about how aloof I have become. You know why? Because she is holding me and my staff to ransom. She comes to the clinic five times a day, complaining rudely and accusing me for her continuing pain. I feel sorry for her, I do, but I know it isn’t my fault. I have tried everything I could. Cleaned her tooth with utmost precision, taking care of all possible parameters. I have changed her painkillers thrice uptil now. I even discussed her case with my seniors and professors and followed their advice. A senior colleague is ready to come to the clinic and have a look at her. But Mrs Arshiwala is beyond reason. Yesterday, she yelled at my staff so loudly that the adjoining shopkeepers came by to check if everything was all right. She calls and badmouths me endlessly on the phone. Today, she accused me of botching up her teeth and threatened to take the matter to court.’ Aaaksh looked at Aneri and helplessly shrugged his shoulders, ‘I just don’t know what to do. I can’t afford such cases in the initial years of my practice. I know it’s not possible to make every patient happy in our daily practice, but something like this could ruin my entire practice in a minute. Today, the neighbouring shopkeepers know. Tomorrow, the whole neighbourhood will know.’ Aneri hit him playfully on the head, ‘Oye, Mr Den-twist, nothing of the sort is going to happen, trust me. This Arshiwala, doesn’t she have any other job besides bugging you? You have told me many times that it’s not possible for a dentist to produce perfect results all the time. Maybe she is just over-exaggerating her symptoms. Tell her honestly that you have tried your best and now a senior doctor’s help will be required. Refer her to the best root-canal specialist you know.’ ‘Aneri, it’s not working yaar. I have tried everything.’ ‘Okay. But, hey, guess what?’ said Aneri with a smile, ‘I know a thing or a two about law, too, and medico-legal cases are not built on such trivial matters. Just shove all these thoughts aside for the time being. We have left our food-plates half-filled. Care to go back to them?’ She laughed with her hands on her tummy.

  Aakash, for the first time in many days, smiled. Aneri fished out her mobile from her pockets and dialed her dad. She hurriedly informed him that she wouldn’t be reporting to office the next day and asked him to delegate her work to one of the staff members.

  She giggled, ‘Dad thinks we are off on a perfect weekend getaway. By the way, congratulations, Dr Aakash, you have a new assistant to help at your clinic just for tomorrow.’ She raised her collar, adding, ‘She is well educated, soft-spoken and quite pretty. I dare you not to fall for her!’ Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she spoke and Aakash felt a surge of confidence and happiness flow though his veins.

  ‘I don’t want that new assistant anywhere near me,’ Mrs Arshiwala declared haughtily. Aakash and Aneri stole meaningful glances at each other.

  ‘All you guys are the same. A pretty girl barely steps into your clinic for a job and, the next day, she is assigned as an assistant. She is new and inexperienced. So keep her away from me.’ For a moment, Aneri was tempted to blurt out that she was Aakash’s wife and not an inexperienced assistant who had landed her job just because she was pretty. But, she refrained from opening her mouth. She simply smiled at Arshiwala and instead commented on her unique hairstyle. To the pleasant surprise of Aakash, Arshiwala responded to her excitedly. As the women gossiped, Aakash got busy with his procedure preparation. Before the procedure commenced, Aneri did disclose that she was Aakash’s wife and had made a casual visit to the clinic. Aakash felt relieved that Arshiwala finally smiled at his clinic.

  Although the rest of her conduct was more or less the same – the occasional whining about the materials used and frequent grumbling on pressure and pin
ch, everyone in the clinic later agreed that she had mellowed down after her conversation with Aneri. Aakash was also helped by the fact that Arshiwala’s pain had substantially reduced over the past twelve hours. Yet, he proceeded with extra precision. Occasionally, he took extra radiographs and pushed his file ahead in the canal with caution and hesitation. Aneri smartly filled in the breaks that Aakash gave Arshiwala during the procedure with her vibrant conversations. Inside his mask, Aakash heaved a big sigh of relief when he completed his work. Arshiwala got up from the chair and eyed Aakash suspiciously:

  ‘How did you land up with such an amazing girl for yourself?’

  Aakash knew that Arshiwala was pulling his leg, but it did not matter as long as it kept her in a good mood. He looked at Aneri and gave a relaxed smile with gratitude.

  True enough, certain solutions are best left to their better halves to be looked after!

  Aakash and Aneri cuddled up with each other on their living room couch, a shawl wrapped around them, watching a Tamil flick, O Kadhal Kanmani. Both of them were fans of Mani Ratnam’s style of moviemaking, and though the movie was completely in Tamil, they had ordered the one with English subtitles from Netflix. As the saga of the characters onscreen unfolded, Aakash found some resonance of it in his own life. He paused the movie and said to Aneri, ‘Sometimes, movies show a fairly true portrayal of the lives of modern youngsters. Look at me, I have harboured this dream of studying clinical management in London for years but have never been able to act on it. When I was practicing with a senior two years ago, he had enrolled for a yearlong PG certificate course in Dental Practice Management from the University of Chester in London. He had praised the curriculum wholeheartedly and said it had really helped him in learning to manage his day-to-day practice. He had even emailed the details of the same course to me. Had I done the course, I would have been able to manage patients like Arshiwala in a much better way. It was just a matter of one year, but would have been a major boost to my career. Sometimes I wonder why I can’t boldly go ahead with these distant courses, like most of our generation does!’ He played with the remote in his hands and said, ‘In fact, I had given my GRE-TOEFL exams this year and fared quite well in them.’ Aneri, who was silently listening, said with surprise, ‘You have also given your GRE-TOEFL? What were your scores?’ ‘They were 1370 on 92 percentile. Enough for the management course. What did you mean “also”?’ Aneri smiled. ‘Because, I, too, gave these exams this year. Dad is on good terms with a well-known legal firm in London – Woodson & Associates. They had offered me a year’s internship in their firm just two months back. There are many similarities between Indian Law and British Law curriculum. Simultaneously, I was also planning on completing a yearlong fellowship from the University on Law, Birhimgham. Dad was really backing me on this, as it would’ve given me and, through me, the firm a better understanding of modern-day law and order.’Aakash interrupted, ‘And then?’‘And then I met you, and the rest is history,’ Aneri sighed with a laugh. She looked at Aakash and said, ‘In fact, I received a mail from Woodson & Associates last week, reminding me of their offer. I am yet to reply. I thought I would discuss it with you first before giving them an appropriate reply.’ Both of them grinned at each other and Aakash spoke, ‘Imagine, both of us would have been in London right now had we not met each other.’ Aneri gave a crooked smile, ‘Maybe, we would have bumped into each other there and fallen in love.’ Aakash marvelled at the workings of destiny. He looked at the screen where he had paused the movie at its climax. He pointed to it and said, ‘Their live-in relationship has met with success. And look at us, we are unable to revive ours with our parents.’ He looked expectantly at Aneri, ‘What does your dad say? Whenever I broach the topic with Papa or Mummy, they just brush it aside. Papa said that they are still thinking about it.’ Aneri looked pleased with herself, ‘You know, I was just talking to Dad before we started the movie. They are up to something, I think. Dad and Papa met up two days ago to run errands together. Last Wednesday, all four of them came here, to our campus, to celebrate their friend, Jawdekar’s birthday.’ She continued, ‘Dad asked me if we were in town as they are planning to visit us tomorrow evening. I feel they have a surprise announcement to make.’ Aakash shrugged his shoulders, ‘Neither Dad nor Mom or even Kinju has told me anything.’

  ‘Maybe, because you have been preoccupied with work. I am getting positive vibes about the entire affair,’ she said. ‘By the way, Dad was wondering how some of his things turned up in your dad’s cartons!’ Aakash crossed his fingers and let out a guffaw.

  On Sunday evening, the Ambrosia residence of the Doshis and Mehtas vibrated with laughter and fun as the two families celebrated their reunion. It seemed like old times. Bharat and Ashwin cracked jokes and pulled each other’s legs. Kinnari and Chhaya were busy cooking up a feast in the kitchen, its aroma wafting tantalizingly. Kinjal was on the phone in one of the bedrooms. The whole atmosphere was again charged with vibrancy and liveliness.

  So, they all got a shock when Aakash and Aneri entered the residence in a highly stressed state. Ashwin was stunned to see his son in so dejected a state. Everyone stopped what they were doing and asked the couple what was troubling them. Ultimately, Aneri explained. ‘Aakash’s patient, Mrs Arshiwala, has decided to file a case of medical negligence against Aakash. She has slapped a legal notice and her lawyer will be sending the terms of this notice soon. After her sitting with Aakash yesterday, she sought a second opinion of a senior doctor in her acquaintance. The doctor has found a broken root-canal instrument inside one of the canals. Aakash must have accidentally broken a file while treating her. She is not ready for any kind of negotiation and has demanded compensation.’ Her words stunned everyone in the room. She produced a neatly folded photocopy of the mailed notice that Mr Kothawade, the lawyer representing Arshiwala, had sent them.

  Aakash went to his mother and laid his head wearily on her shoulders.

  Chapter 26

  ‘THIS SEEMS LIKE the building mentioned in the message.’ Craning her head out of the rolled window of the car, Aneri pointed to a ten-storeyed corporate building on the left side of the road. She slowly swerved the car to the left and confirmed the address from the building’s watchman. Being a Sunday, the security guard allowed them to park their car in the isolated building premise. For the umpteenth time, Aakash went through the data and records of Arshiwala. He checked whether he had brought all the records of her case papers, entries made, every x-ray clicked of her oral cavity, pre-treatment photographs, etc. He flipped the case papers back to the front and stared at Arshiwala’s signature on the consent note.

  Bharat Doshi, who was sitting in the back seat, patted his son-in law and cautioned, ‘Let me handle this. You both stay quiet and don’t get drawn into any argument. They are bound to trap you with all sorts of accusations and arguments. Aakash, please stay quiet. Kothawade, who is representing your patient, is an old acquaintance. He is generally a calm person, but if irked, can bury you in arguments. With great effort, I have convinced him to open his office on a holiday. We need to make it quick as he needs to go for a social gathering on time.’

  Bharat Doshi had thirty years of experience in law and he knew how to ward off cases from reaching the court. When Aakash had showed him Kothawade’s emailed legal notice, he had immediately called up the lawyer and convinced him for an unofficial meeting with both the aggrieved parties at his office.

  Aakash silently nodded his head. He wished he wasn’t so nervous and sweaty. Aneri parked the car and her father got out. Bharat was already on the phone with Kothawade. As the car lapsed into silence, Aneri gently smoothed Aakash’s hair and said softly, ‘I have seen you working on this case with the best of intentions. But, right now, your eyes are showing fear. If I can see it, everyone can. And when Arshiwala sees it, she will know that you have erred. Now, I understand how infinitely disheartening all this has turned out for you. I know you are shattered but, Aakash, I believe in you. I am sure it is a mistake
, which can be rectified. So, trust me, when I say that you will walk out of that office with a solution in your hands,’ she held Aakash tightly, and whispered,

  ‘Aakash, please do this for me. I am closing my eyes and when I open them, I want to see a doctor who is not devastated, but assured of what he does. Could you do this for me?’

  For a moment, Aakash saw nothing else but Aneri’s pretty face. Her lips quivered and her face shared the same tension that he felt. He pushed aside the strand of hair that fell right across her face. He caught hold of her palm and kissed it. A small teardrop escaped her eyes as she slowly opened them. Aakash silently nodded his head.

  Suddenly, a voice screamed in his head…bring it on Arshiwala. You may sleep with that tooth today, but I won’t be able to sleep with tears in my wife’s eyes.

  Advocate Ramesh Kothawade, examined, with a thick magnifying glass, the contents of all the documents Aakash had handed over to him, and were now spread out on the table. While the advocate pored over the documents, Aakash examined the various x-rays that he had taken during the treatment. He then looked at the photocopy of the digital x-ray that was taken at the other dentist’s clinic. Ms Arshiwala had assumed a stony face and was silent for most of the proceedings. Aakash tried looking at her a few times, but she turned her face away. Kothawade was a man in his late forties. That day he was dressed in formal grey trousers and a white shirt with checks. He looked at Aakash and circled a spot on the photocopy that he had brought with him and said, ‘Beta, could you tell me, what is that obstacle at the end of the root of the tooth?’ he asked.