Love & Shadows

uma and Shakti

“Shakti, wake up now. How long are you going to sleep? Don’t you have to go to duty? That’s why I always say—sleep early so you can wake up early.”

Just then a voice replies, “Hey, I’m awake! How much will you talk, Uma? I’m up, okay.”

“Now get ready. I’ll prepare breakfast.”

“Okay.”

This is the story of Uma and Shakti. They are husband and wife. They love each other very much. After their marriage, they live in Hyderabad. Every morning, Uma wakes Shakti up for his office, and Shakti gets irritated hearing her voice.

Shakti is a police officer, and Uma is a housewife. Shakti says, “Uma, I’m ready, but I think your breakfast isn’t ready yet.”

Uma replies, “Yes, it’s almost done. Come, get ready and have breakfast.”

Saying this, they both sit at the table for breakfast. While eating, Shakti says,

“Uma, I’ll be late today. There have been thefts in the city, and the Commissioner is coming today, so there’s a meeting. Don’t know how long it’ll take.”

“So I might get late. You eat and sleep.”

Hearing this, Uma replies, “Okay, don’t worry. I’ll manage.”

Then Shakti moves toward the door to leave for duty. Just then Uma calls from behind,

“Listen…”

Shakti turns back. “Yes? What happened?”

Uma hesitates and says, “I was saying…”

“What were you saying? Say it.”

Gathering courage, Uma says, “You have Sunday off, right? So… can we go to Delhi on Sunday?”

As soon as she says this, Shakti gets angry.

“How many times have I told you not to talk about Delhi in front of me? We are not going to Delhi. The sooner you understand this, the better it will be for you.”

Hearing this, Uma becomes sad and says,

“Why can’t we go? I don’t feel good here. I feel scared staying alone. What’s the problem? Why can’t we go to Delhi?”

Shakti angrily replies,

“You know very well why we can’t go. So it’s better you remove this thought of going to Delhi from your mind.”

Uma becomes quiet and sad. Seeing her like that, Shakti softens and says,

“Don’t be sad. You know why we can’t go. I can’t see you sad like this, but I also can’t see what will happen to you if we go to Delhi. Don’t you understand? I care about you a lot.”

Uma nods slowly.

Then Shakti says, “Okay, then on Sunday we’ll go somewhere else. Your mood will get better. Now I should go, I’m getting late. Bye.”

Shakti leaves on his bike for the police station, and Uma goes back inside the house. After he leaves, Uma starts doing household work so she doesn’t think about the argument they just had.

While working, she suddenly feels someone walking behind her. She turns around, but no one is there. She resumes her work. Again, she feels someone coming from behind. As she turns around, she screams in fear.

Then someone laughs and says,

“See, bhabhi! I scared you, didn’t I? You always say you’re not scared of anything.”

The one who scared her was a boy named Arnav. He was Shakti’s uncle’s son and lived nearby. Since Shakti is often at the police station, Arnav sometimes comes to keep Uma company.

Arnav is younger than Shakti, so Uma calls him by his name.

Uma says, “Are you crazy? Who scares someone like that? I could’ve gotten a heart attack. I’d have become late Uma instead of Uma!”

Arnav laughs and says, “How could that happen? As long as I’m here, nothing will happen to you.”

“Yeah, right,” Uma says sarcastically.

Then Arnav says, “So bhabhi, you were saying you’d ask bhaiya about going to Delhi. Did you ask him or not?”

Sadly, Uma replies, “Yes, I asked… but…”

“But what?” Arnav asks.

She says, “He clearly refused. He said there’s no need to go anywhere. He said we’ll go somewhere else, but not Delhi.”

Saying this, she takes a deep breath.

Arnav says, “Bhabhi, can I say something? Don’t feel bad.”

“Yes, say it,” Uma replies.

Arnav continues, “Whatever bhaiya said is right. You should also understand his feelings. He doesn’t want to see you upset. And it’s not like he never tried. Many times, he himself took you to Delhi. But what happened afterward… he couldn’t bear that again. You should understand his feelings too.”

Uma nods and says, “You’re right. He has tried so many times. But what can I do? My mind always goes back to the same thing.”

She takes a deep breath and says, “Leave it. Tell me, what did you want to say?”

Arnav smiles, “That’s why I came.”

Uma smiles slightly and says, “Okay, sit down. I’ll bring something.”

Meanwhile, at the police station, there is a lot of tension because the Commissioner is coming for a meeting. Shakti is sitting quietly in his cabin, lost in thought.

Suddenly, a voice says, “What happened, sir? You look worried. Did you have a fight with bhabhi?”

It was Sub-Inspector Ravi, Shakti’s close friend.

Shakti comes out of his thoughts and says, “No, why do you think that?”

Ravi replies, “Your face looked tense, that’s why.”

Shakti says, “No, yaar. I’m just a little stressed. Uma keeps talking about going to Delhi. I don’t know how to explain things to her.”

Ravi says, “Don’t worry. She’ll understand soon.”

Just then, a voice comes from behind,

“How are you, Mr. Shakti?”

Shakti turns and sees the Commissioner standing there.

He quickly stands up and says, “Good morning, sir. I’m fine. How are you, sir?”

Why is Uma so eager to go to Delhi?

What is the secret behind Delhi?