The Sky is Blue at This Side of the World

Ash had a sense of trauma when it comes to dysfunctional families: his parents, although initially lovestruck, were terrible towards the end. His father's affair with another woman had torn his mother's sanity and with that the family itself. The night of the accident, they were driving back from a party. Mother had called him and was crying over the phone about how people mistook father's mistress as his real wife, that they thought mother and father were divorced, and worst of all, that the other woman was with child. Mother could not fathom the fact that father was sexually active at the age of 60, whereas she, who was ten years younger, had shrivelled up completely, living a good half of it only for the man who cheated and her and the son she had with him. The angry father reached out to snatch the phone from his hand and that was when the accident took place. Ash, on the other side of the call, heard every last noise his parents made. It didn't take long. The world shut its eyes upon him.

Behind the closed door, Ash panted heavily. The noises from the other house did not permeate through the walls. Ash struggled to push out the face of that little girl. Avni. That's the name. Was she seeing all this through the tiny hole in her room? Was she hearing it? Ash dearly hoped not. He opened his medicine chest and popped a sleeping pill. In a few minutes, he fell to the bed and slipped into sleep.

Ash woke up early and started preparing for office. He ordered a light breakfast and worked until it arrived. There was a shared cab which took employees to the office. It would arrive at 8:30, so he got ready and waited downstairs near the entrance.

"Avni, stay. Take your books, baba!" Avni's mother ran after her. A mini bus arrived at that moment and a man came to pick up little Avni. Ash looked at the mother's face for signs of yesterday's abuse. She caught his eyes.

"Hey! Waiting for the cab?"

"Hey. Yes. Office cab."

"Alright. Good day", she said cheerfully.

"Hey."

"Yes?"

"Nothing."

"Are you alright?"

"Umm. I forgot to ask you your name."

"Ah. Ha ha. I got nervous for a moment. It's Vinita. And yours?"

"Ashish."

"Nice to meet you, Ashish."

"Nice to meet you too, but call me Ash next time around. Well, that's my cab. Bye."

Ash walked swiftly to his transportation.

What was it that he was feeling?

Why was he so flustered?

Inside the cab, Max and another colleague, Naren, were waiting.

"Hey Ash. Meet Naren. Naren, Ash. You'll be in the same department."

"Great. Let's get along well, then, Naren."

"Sure, pal." The guy grinned.

At the office, a mini party was in order. Ash was joining as the acting deputy manager and the head of the product design department in this office. That makes his three steps away from the head of the office. He had been working very hard and it had paid off. Max was in the tech team. He was a brilliant coder. After the brief introduction and cake cutting, the manager in charge showed him his office. It was a square cubicle, relatively small compared to the room a deputy manager would get in his last office. Of course, this was a newer branch and the other one was among the top five major ones. The difference was obvious. Ash jumped headfirst into work and dealt with a quarter of the piled files by the end of the day. Once the shift got over, he headed to have tea outside the office with Max, while waiting for the cab.

"Where's Naren?"

"He's got a date with his girlfriend."

"Ah."

"Hey, is anything the matter? You don't seem well."

"It's.. It's nothing." As an after thought, he added, "What are the domestic violence rules here? I want to report something."

"Dude, you don't meddle with other people's lives here. It could get really ugly."

"This woman, my neighbour, has a little kid, too. I can't imagine what they're going through. I heard the husband accusing her of adultery and abusing her physically. From what I heard, the kid's unwell."

"All the more reason to not meddle. She might not be financially capable to look after the child, you know. If the husband is reported and not found guilty, it might become even more difficult for the mother and child. You just heard it yesterday. Don't jump to conclusions. Talk to your neighbour if it's that agonising. But don't overdo it, okay? This place.. It's a different ball game altogether. "

Ash quietly nodded. Max was right.