THE STRINGS OF HOLY MATRIMONY

Chapter 7

   Maya was so angry and desperate to diffuse the situation that she directed her insults at Madhu."It's all because of this unfortunate wench. She brought all her disgrace along with her to this family that it starred affecting my daughter as well".

  Madhu was at a loss for words. She did not even in the slightest bit expect this. Tears started forming in her eyes and she started looking around with the teary eyes and blurry image.

  Aadhi was angry and was about to give back to Maya but Aadhi's mom signaled him not to speak and showed Maya's state. Maya looked exhausted from all the crying and her lack of food. Moreover her eyes moved here and there looking panicked that everyone present there understood that she was only trying to get away from her husband's anger.

   So noone argued against her eventhough they were dissatisfied with the comment against their daughter in law. But Madhu didn't see their faces through her teary eyes and she was even more convinced that nobody wants her here.

   She silently suffered while noone understood her predicament. Aadhi also didn't want to make his aunt suffer more so he didn't open his mouth. But he wanted to warn his aunt not to speak like this anymore in private.

   Aadhi "Let's see what we can do further instead of looming in the past itself. Uncle I have informed the commissioner about this. Lets go and see him personally". Everyone agreed and made Maya and Kumar to eat the breakfast prepared by Madhu before restarting the search.

  Aadhi and Kumar started towards the commissioner office . Madhu locked herself in their room and drowned in tears and self pity. Everyone was worried and consoling Maya that they did not see Madhu.

   Aadhi also wanted to solve the biggest problem at hand and did not want to create rift among family members in such a difficult situation.

    The commissioner gave an unexpected twist that it was not a kidnap. When he checked the cctv camera Sindhu was seen leaving with a guy from bus stand. When he showed the camera footage both Aadhi and Kumar couldn't believe their eyes.

   Aadhi told," No sir . Sindhu is not that kind of girl. She never speaks to strangers. You have to investigate thoroughly". Kumar was beyond himself in anger and was having difficulty in controlling it.

  Commissioner " I can understand but girls are not what they seem in home. These days they watch lot of media and are imagining themselves in love. But we will further investigate where he is taking her".

   Aadhi and Kumar left the room silently. Both were lost in thoughts. Aadhi was worried for the little girl. Kumar was seething in anger and lost all hopes for the future of their daughter. Will she return safely? Who is going to marry her now?

   On entering their home, Kumar slapped Maya and shouted uncontrollably. "Is this the way you care for our daughter? She has runaway with a roadside guy. What are you going to do now? What is more important than caring for her? How come you didn't notice any of this?

  She might have unknown phone calls. She might have prepared to elope with a bag and everything...how can you miss all of this? It is my fault for leaving her with you. You useless idiot".

  Siddhartha intervened not able to see his sister getting scolded. "Brother in law,please calm down. We were all here. Noone noticed anything amiss. Our girl is not like that. Lets first search for her".

  Kumar " Don't ask me to calm down. It's my daughter's future that is at stake. You have safely married your son. None of this would've happened if you have taken my daughter as your daughter in law. I have trusted you to take care of my daughter but what did you do?"

  Subha" Don't talk like that. I have treated Sindhu as my own daughter. Don't you think we are all worried?". Kumar " You are correct ma. You always cared for my daughter as your own. It is Maya's fault only. She only cares to gossip about other's family. She has no time for me or my daughter".

   Maya " Are you saying that I didn't see to my daughter. She is my only daughter. Everything I do is for her own good. All I wanted is for my daughter is to marry into my brother's family. Is that wrong?"
 
  "Everything happened because of this wench that you call daughter in law. First you didn't have the decency to wait until you marry the young girls of the house before marrying the son. Then she keeps prancing here and there in the house. Doing uncultured acts outside the bedroom, staying late at night, showcasing their romantic moments. That's why my daughter got badly influenced".

   Kumar" Why did you not inform me of this? You know this had been going on..Then why did you keep on staying here? Why didn't you go to our house?"

  Maya " I thought my brother will feel bad if we suddenly leave his house after Aadhi's marriage. I have only one brother. Where will I go if I not him?"

  Aadhi was grinding his teeth about the accusations. They had no right to speak like this. Madhu herself is a shy girl. In addition he doesn't even talk to her casually outside their bedroom to not provoke his aunts. Even then to receive such insults from them is demeaning. But they are in a difficult situation right now. He did not want to aggravate it.

   They wanted to calm down their son in law and support the couple during their harsh times. Maya was naturally an aggressive and lazy girl. So everyone had huge respect for their son in law for tolerating her. They were ready to do everything to please him for that.

   Madhu was broken from inside. How can they even talk about her like that? Noone objected that. So everyone here thinks like that. If they did not want to do marriage for  their son then it's their decision. She did not ask for any of this.

  They were the ones who voluntarily asked for her hand and deterred her foreign trip. They were speaking as if she was the one who wanted to marry early. Noone supported her in this house.

   She felt alienated from her own home. She wanted to runaway from all of this and not look back. But Aadhi...Her love is so pure but it was getting adulterated with hate. How can a husband not even speak for her if her character is questioned?

  How can he do this if he felt tiny amount of love for me? No ,he only wanted a trophy wife.. nothing more. But I can't withstand this humiliation. I will lose myself if I continue to live in this hellhole.

   The commissioner called that Sindhu was located somewhere in Mumbai. So Aadhi, Kumar and Siddharth started to Mumbai along with the commissioner to bring her back. Meanwhile Madhu silently left the house along with her belongings. Little did she know she was never going to come back.