Serendipity

58

The headlines of the following day's paper read: Warrior Woman shows society what equality is all about

Beneath the headlines was a picture of Anupama, in her grey cotton sari, her hair neatly tied in a braid waving her finger at something.

The caption underneath the picture read: Anuj Kapadia's fiancé Anupama Joshi files a defamation suit against his ex-employee Kavya Shah.

The article then went on to describe in detail the harassment charges and the incidents that led up to them. The press had been wary and inquisitive.

One of the reporters had asked her how confident she was that Anuj was innocent. And she'd responded saying as confident as she knew she was. The follow-up question had been about faith and foolishness.

Anupama had smiled. And then had proceeded to reveal to the media the highlights of her 26-year long marriage with Vanraj Shah. She told them about how she'd been treated by all, including her children, about how suffered abuse at the hands of her ex-husband and his family, about how she'd walked out of her marriage with no formal education and hope when he'd divorced her and married Kavya.

Why had she stayed silent so long?

The past wasn't worth digging into. Life had taught her a few harsh lessons but she was willing to drop the baggage and move on.

Why was she doing this now?

Because her past was beginning to affect her future, it was beginning to affect the man she loved, the man who'd taught her the true meaning of love, the man who'd helped her discover herself.

It was only after she met Anuj that she realized she was a human being, her wishes mattered, her opinions mattered, that she had a fierce soul, and that she had the right to decide for herself.

"Abusers and manipulators hide in the shadows and pull you along with them. Anuj Kapadia made me stand centerstage and focused the spotlight on me.

"My ex-husband Vanraj Shah cheated on me for 9 years. I knew something was wrong. And yet I chose to ignore my gut instinct and believe the lies he fed me. I was foolish then.

"If I were to punish Anuj for my then foolishness and doubt his loyalty towards me, I would be repeating my mistake.

"I have been foolish once, and I've promised myself never to be foolish again."

The press had walked away with the story of the decade. Fairy tales were being rewritten. Cinderella had rescued Prince Charming.

Anupama smiled as she read the news article. And then sighed. She'd righted one thing and messed up another of her things in the process. She was back in the limelight, this time more prominently than before.

From this point forward, an already complicated adoption case was going to get even trickier.

She looked at the idol of Kanhaji in her temple and prayed for Kinjal. Even though she couldn't see it yet, there had to be a solution.

"Dhyaan raakh jo," she pleaded.

*****

Leela Shah missed her routine morning temple visit. The door to the Shah house, which usually remained open during the daytime for all visitors to come by, was closed.

She turned to look at the idol of Krishna in her temple but even that couldn't quell the feeling of unease that had been running through her for the last two days.

Two days back, Kavya's debacle had been the gossip of their neighbourhood. Her neighbours had talked in front of her in hushed tones, some pitying her for having a daughter in law who didn't care about the family's reputation and others feeling justice had been served appropriately for the way the family had behaved with Anupama.