Always Soulmates (On-hold)

3 - His Story

Pic credit : AK (IG)

Recap - Marriage talks for Sk
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In a household in Coimbatore, it was a tension filled scene. A middle-aged couple were sitting, waiting for someone. This couple are Namrata and Lakshman.

They had gone to meet a girl for their son Avinashkumar (Ak) along with him and their son-in-law Sreenivas. As soon as they returned, Avinash said he didn't like the girl and locked himself in his room. Problem was, this wasn't the first or tenth girl he was rejecting. They couldn't understand why he was rejecting every proposal, and he wasn't explaining either. Sreenivas felt bad seeing their sad faces and went to have a strict talk with Avinash.

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7 years ago, Namrata and Lakshman were the proudest parents when Avinash became an MBA graduate along with campus placement in a big company. But the same day their happiness was gone, when he expressed his dream to try acting. After days of arguments and tears between the parents and son, Namrata convinced her husband to give Avinash a chance to follow his dream.
Though he got work in serials, ads and short films, he didn't get lucky with movies. He struggled to get a break in movies, becoming depressed. Not only his parents, even his sister and brother-in-law were facing humiliation from their own relatives for supporting his crazy dream. All this broke his mother's heart.

Was it a crime to stop him from following his dreams ? The same dreams that were pulling him into depression, ruining the family's happiness. As a mother, she supported Avinash. But she was also a wife who cannot see her husband getting insulted. So she had to make a tough decision.
2 years ago, when even his popular short film failed to bring him any recognition, Namrata decided that enough is enough. For the first time, she asked him to do something for her - to give up acting and settle down with a stable job. And he couldn't say no to her, when he saw her crying. He could bear anything, except his mother's tears.

But he chose to rebel in silence.

The family saw a new version of Avinash. He was more withdrawn than before, barely talking to the family, his smile long lost. When he managed to get a job in spite of 5 years break in the field, he opted for Bangalore as location. He wanted to get away from the land that will keep reminding him of his failures. But not too far from his family.

Loneliness was not something new to Avinash. While his classsmates played football and cricket in school grounds, he was gifted a PlayStation to stay indoors. It became his best friend till date, who never left him. He felt lucky to own a PS at that time, but didn't realize what it did to him until he was on his own, trying to succeed in acting career. He felt so isolated, unable to emotionally connect with people he met. It didn't help that he was backstabbed by the few ones he tried to trust.

The only person who stayed with him through lows and highs, was his school mate Ganesh. He was the only person Ak knew, when he went to Chennai to try his luck. Ganesh was literally God's blessing to him, supporting him unconditionally. When Ak started a new life in Bangalore, Ganesh was already settled there on a new job, now a family man. His family considered Avinash as one of their own.

[ A glimpse of Ak in the story ☝️]

To forget his frustrations, he got too involved in his work ignoring any friendly approach, thus earning the name 'Mr.Robot' among his colleagues. Music became his only solace. His visits to home were limited to festival occasions, and birthdays of his niece. His niece and Ganesh were the only people with whom he was almost the same old Avinash.