When the penny drops!

The main door read Nidhi’s & Rishi’s on a bronze plate. The door opened into a hall
spread with the fragrance of jasmine flowers, incense and silk.
Yes…. A house-warming ceremony was in progress as guests poured in. Vedic hymns and mantras filled up the air.

Nidhi was called by the priest to light the holy lamp. She was decked up in a red golden silk saree with flowers on her hair and minimum yet elegant jewellery.

She lit the lamp when suddenly her two year old son Siddharth started pulling her from behind.
She turned to hug him but didn’t realize that the swaying end of her sari had accidentally brushed against the lamp and caught fire.
Panic!
A few guests took hold of Siddharth. A few others doused the fire and tried to calm down a shaken Nidhi.
Everyone was dumbfounded.

After a while, an elderly lady remarked,
“What an omen on an auspicious occasion!” Rishi said,” it was just a small accident, Aunty. Luckily no one is hurt.”

As the shock slowly abated, the mantras resumed and the rituals were completed. Nidhi was too dazed to react and just went with the flow.
After the ceremony, when the guests left, Rishi took her in his arms and offered
words of comfort. He cajoled her to use her creative juices to complete the furnishing in the house. After all, her friends who couldn’t make it to the house warming were visiting them during the weekend! That lifted her spirits.
A year long house hunt had finally led the young couple to buy a flat nestled besides
the Chembur golf course in Mumbai.
A trip to IKEA took away half their next day. When they came home, they were too famished. Nidhi decided to cook Maggi noodles.
While the noodles were getting ready in the kitchen, she sensed a foul smell.
She thought maybe a garbage
dumpster was left open nearby as her own dustbin was squeaky clean.

After the meal, Rishi went to office. She and Siddharth took a nap. A good one hour may have passed when she was woken up by the loud bang of the bedroom door. It was shut.
She thought the June monsoon winds were responsible for the loud bang. She
closed her eyes again and lied down. Later she noticed that the door had a stopper
and yet it shut as if it didn’t work!
The next day was sunny. Nidhi had lots of work to finish before she could welcome
her friends. She was busy with the curtains when Siddharth went into the washroom in the master bedroom and closed the door. Nidhi ran towards the washroom saying, “ Sid, open the door. Why did you shut it ?“

She always accompanied him to the
washroom. Now the door did not open. She knew the lock was way up and Sid’s
hands wouldn’t reach there. She put all her might to open but it didn’t. It was
jammed.
After trying for five minutes , she decided to call Rishi when Sid opened the
door and came out. Nidhi hugged him. He started speaking in broken words,
probably convincing her that it was not his fault. She smiled at him but still wondered about the door.
She went to the kitchen to prepare tea. As she was readying some snacks, the foul
smell came back.
What a nuisance! She decided to meet the building Secretary to inform about the smell and the doors. These issues had to be fixed!
When she met the Secretary, he informed that the previous flat occupant had also
he didn’t find any working disorders. Nidhi was surprised. She requested him to send
an efficient worker.
When the maintenance worker arrived, he checked the kitchen.
Nidhi asked him if
there were any dumpsters lying open in the compound. He replied that the society
dumpsters were emptied twice in a day and were always sanitized. There were no
complaints from other residents about this. He just stopped short of entering the
master bedroom. He looked at the door from outside and said,” Madam, the issues
are not with the kitchen and the doors. The issue is with this house!”
Nidhi asked,” What does that mean?”
“Two years ago, a couple stayed here. The husband was always on business tours.
The wife was always left alone. She had no friends and was depressed. She was six
months pregnant when she hung herself from the fan and died,” he said as he
pointed to the fan inside the bedroom.
Suddenly the penny dropped!
The worker left the house. Nidhi followed with Siddharth in one hand and her mobile on the other.