Periods, Pyaar And Patriarchy

Chapter Twenty-five

Shweta was so angry at Shruti that she refused to have any conversation with her sister after that. Their mother was blissfully unaware of the happenings between the sisters, perhaps not as blissfully because she had a lot of things on her own mind as well.

Shruti's sapphire engagement ring kept flashing in her head at the most unexpected times- but seemed less frightening. Her daughter dreamt of getting married someday; was that really unexpected? That someday her daughters would grow up and have families, husbands, and children of their own? Seema was now beginning to feel a bit embarrassed about her own reaction as well.

She hadn't been supportive of her daughter's decision mostly because she felt that Shruti had so, so much potential. Something that Seema had had at twenty-five as well. And while she'd been so consumed by love, she hoped that Shruti wasn't too consumed by it. Seema had enough trust in her eldest to know that she wouldn't be impulsive enough to get engaged; Shruti must have most likely accepted the ring only because someday she'd want to get engaged to the boy.

And wasn't it Seema's duty now to research on the said boy; her prospective son-in-law? The word itself feels so funny that Seema can't help but smile; she was so used to having daughters. What would having a son feel like? And moreover, her daughter was leaving for Belgium; there was no way that the boy would've followed through with Shruti to a completely different continent. At least, not yet. Shruti had enough foresight to know that her daughter wouldn't have allowed it even if the boy had insisted the same.

Seema sighed. Had she been a bit too mellow? A bit too liberal? Should she have thrown a hissy fit and scolded Shruti the way she would've years ago? Her anxiety with regard to her daughters growing up had gotten much better, but there was only so much she could do. Protectiveness was her first instinct when it came to her daughters.

But Seema didn't want to throw a hissy fit and be all overdramatic. Mostly because; this was love. And love marriage; well that was something Seema would be the last person to oppose. Seema remembered how she had been before marrying her ex-husband. She'd been confident that she'd made the right decision, that he was the person that she wanted to spend her life with, come what may.

And while life had turned out to be very different from what she had expected it to be; Seema wouldn't undo the decision. She remembered the conversation she'd had with her mother- it seemed like such a long time ago when her mother had asked her if she'd undo her life. And the answer had been a no- mostly because she'd had her daughters.

Daughters that she wouldn't have had if it had not been for Sanjay. But now, when the question comes back to her; she has a better answer for it. She wouldn't undo her life because she was glad that all of the heartbreak, the anxiety, and the crippling fear of abandonment that followed had been because of someone she had chosen. A decision that she had made. It hadn't been because of a passive match that her parents had fixed for her.

And wasn't this all a 'part of life' as she hoped her daughters would someday understand? And if so, why should she stand in the way of her daughters' decision? While Seema would ensure that the boy who'd given her daughter the ring wasn't a random Romeo from the streets; she also decided not to be completely closed to the idea.

Of course, she'd feel much more secure if Shruti would agree to marry a nice doctor and live close by or even not marry at all and live close by. But that seemed to be an ungrateful, selfish wish because her daughter wouldn't be happy.

And these were the thoughts that had been flitting back and forth in her head alongside wondering what she would have to do with the patient who had a uterine problem and rather weak lungs. Surgery didn't seem viable considering that the patient would have to undergo anesthesia but not performing surgery only meant quickening death. Seema had just been on the call with the patient's doctor who had referred her to Seema.