Nina grumbled again looking at her best friend’s vacation photographs on Facebook. She had been to an exotic location with her husband to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Nina sighed, “How lucky is my friend! She travels to exotic locations every year for her anniversary. Their photographs are so romantic. Why couldn’t I get a husband like hers? Mine is so unromantic!”
Somewhere in a small office Nina’s husband was doing an overtime. He knew he wasn’t a very successful man and Nina resented him for this. Everyday she would compare him to her friends’ well-established and moneyed husbands. He tried hard but somewhere fate had also not been kind to him. He wanted to take Nina for a good vacation this year, yes not in any foreign location, but anywhere in India in a 5-star property. He worked overtime everyday to accumulate the money for the vacation.
Of late, Nina had started becoming suspicious of her husband’s late nights. Though he would say he had office work Nina wasn’t sure if he was being truthful. He always said he had dinner in the office. She in her mind believed that he was having an affair. She had read about a lot of such posts on her FB mom groups. One day she decided that she would investigate the truth.
One rainy night she hired a cab and went to her husband’s office to spy on him. From the corner of her eyes, she saw her husband coming out of his office and going somewhere. She followed him. Due to the rains, she couldn’t see clearly. She got out of the cab and went nearer to where her husband was standing. What she saw brought tears in her eyes. Her husband was having a vada-pav half drenched in the rain. She went and tapped his shoulder. He was startled to see her.
“Why do you have to do all this? Why do you have to remain hungry and slog? What’s the need for the overtime?” she asked. Her husband said calmly, “You know, I wanted to surprise you but it seems I have to tell you now. I have been planning a 5-star hotel vacation for us this year. I can’t see you sad looking at your friends enjoying. I am just short of some money now. Darling Nina, I promise this year you too will be able to post our vacation photos on FB.
With tears in her eyes Nina knew that she had the most romantic husband in the world.
Life and its different shades 