Clever Act

"Akhil, where are you?" she screamed into her cell phone, ""I have been waiting here for twenty minutes."

"Rashmi, there's a problem here at work." The voice at the other end sounded apologetic. "I need to stick around here. Sorry, can't join you today."

"Sorry?" Rashmi burst out. "You want me to sit through a ninety minute play all by myself? You know how much I like theatre, don't you?"

That last line was laced with sarcasm. Rashmi did have an interest in theatre and the arts, but it all paled in comparison to Akhil's passion for the stage.

"Just this time, sweetheart." He tried to pacify her. "I'll definitely make up for this next weekend. But you don't miss out on this play. I've heard it's a nice one. Enjoy yourself. Bye."

Rashmi disconnected without saying goodbye. What's with this man, she thought, pushing back the fringe of hair that fell on her left cheek. It seemed as if he had no priorities in his life. Hardworking he was, and would work for long hours unrelentingly. But his heart was really into acting. Rashmi remembered how he would never miss out on acting in any college play. And boy, didn't he send girls swooning with his confident swagger every time he walked on the stage.

Now, the same free-spirited Akhil, who still confessed theatre was his passion, was probably fiddling with a mobile network in downtown Mumbai, to get it running so that the restless city could go on with its don't-stop-for-a-minute pace. He had all the comforts now: a cushy job, with great perks, and of course excellent scope for professional growth, now that the telecom sector was booming.

But was he really happy, Rashmi wondered.

She knew the answer even before the question had popped in her mind.

Since they had both finished with college, she had always been prodding Akhil to get back to acting, at least in an amateur way.

"There are so many acting workshops going on in the city, Akhil. Why don't you join one?" she had asked Akhil four months ago.

"Rashmi, you know what an irregular schedule I have. My shifts at work keep changing every week. How will I manage taking up a workshop?" Akhil had countered defensively.

"Maybe you will be able to juggle around your schedule once you get going. You might have to strain yourself a bit, but it's worth taking a risk, isn't it?"

"Yea maybe. Let's see what happens. I'll look out in the newspapers, though I really don't think this will work out." Akhil replied cynically.

That was four months ago. Rashmi had done all the prodding she could, and it was now up to him what he decided. Akhil didn't speak about it either, and Rashmi presumed he might have forgotten about it completely.

Yes, he definitely had forgotten all of it. How else could he be so busy that he couldn’t even make it to an evening play?

It was 6.45 pm when Rashmi was shaken out of her thoughts by a piercing bell, indicating to the audience to get to their seats. As she made her way along the aisle, her phone beeped. It was Akhil's message: Hope you like the surprise.

Surprise? Now, what was he referring to? Just as she eased into her seat, the curtains parted. Rashmi dropped her phone into her bag, and soon became absorbed in the show.

The play began with a hilarious scene between the two famed comedians Gaurav and Karunesh. The duo combined superbly and had the audience in splits with their excellent timing. Rashmi was beginning to miss Akhil now; she remembered how he would laugh aloud during a play, and later when they would talk about the performance, he would imitate the actors giving a few tips of his own.

"He should have been a bit more expressive." he would tell Rashmi. Or just "His energy level was too much for the scene, should have kept it down." He would comment haughtily, while Rashmi would listen meekly, like a student gathering wisdom from her teacher.

Now, she looked at the vacant seat beside her, and missed him even more.

"Here I am," came a loud voice from the stage. Broken out of her diversion, Rashmi peered unblinkingly at the actor who had just appeared on the scene. He was a newcomer for sure, Rashmi concluded, yet in the glare of the lights, she could sense a familiarity to the stocky figure. He walked towards Karunesh, then turned to look at the audience. For a fleetingly brief moment, Rashmi thought he was looking right at her. He winked at the audience, then turned towards Karunesh and said, “I didn't leave it till too late, did I?"

A tear dropped onto Rashmi's wrist. She looked at the empty seat beside her and smiled. She no longer missed Akhil; he was strutting around confidently on the stage, 5 years after he had last performed in a play.