Destined to be Together

Chapter 31

In order to calm Pushpaji, Haseena came over to her and side hugged her while rubbing her back.

While wiping her tears, Pushpaji persisted, "After shifting with them, they started showing their true colors. You must be aware of how widows are treated in India.I have been the victim of domestic abuse for more than 2 years. Verbal abuse turned into physical abuse, and things were getting out of hand every day. Kabhi kabhi aisa lagta tha k sab khatam kardo par fir aapne bache ka chehra samne aata tha k us ne phele hi aapne baba khoye hai aur un shaitaano k saath mai use kaise chod sakti hu. Bat se batar halat kar denge vo uski isliye fir uth ke aapna sangarash shuru karti thi. Koshish karti te unke hisab se hi sab karu par jab samne walne decide kiya hota hai na k jan bhuj kar aapko taklif dene hai toh aap kuch nahi kar sakte.

A sudden flash of agony filled Haseena's eyes as something clicked in her mind making her uncomfortable. She quickly closed her eyes, trying to push away all the memories of her dark and horrifying past which she has buried deep within her heart and tears streamed down her cheeks. As she wiped away her tears, she began to listen to Pushpaji again carefully.

Pushpaji took a deep breath and continued, "Watching your mother being ill-treated and verbally abused every day affects the child's mental health as it fills them with anxiety. Krishu was a cheerful child, but suddenly she was all quiet.Intially, I thought was that she must be missing her baba, she was close to him, and suddenly he wasn't around that’s why she was being low and distracted. The harassing environment around her was making her uncomfortable, so instead of expressing her feelings, she began to fill up inside. As a result, she had a difficult time regulating her emotions, which is the main reason for both her inability to express her emotions and her uncontrollable anger.I remember one day my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were misbehaving with me. My sister in law twisted my hand and my mother in law stood and was verbally abusing me. Suddenly, Krishu screamed and ran to us. She pushed those ladies with all her strength and stood in between me and those ladies, warning them not to touch her mother. I was taken aback as this was the first time I saw anger in her eyes and bitterness in her words. She was 7 at that time. She began responding aggressively to every action without thinking twice about its consequences. Children who grow up in a toxic environment become aggressive and develop trust issues.

Without interrupting, Haseena listened to Pushpaji with brimmed eyes, knowing that it would make her feel better.

After that incident, they decided to stop her studies kehne lage ki ladki haath se bahar ja rahi hai. She was a liability on them and once she reached an appropriate age they would marry her off. The importance of education has always been clear to me, and both Virenji and I dreamed of educating her and enabling her to achieve her dreams. I could not accept it, and tried my best to make them understand but they had made up their mind, and I felt helpless. My patience had finally run out so I decided to stand against them. At the end of the day, there was nothing more important to me than Krishu. Therefore, I asked for our share in the property, so we can leave and have a normal life away from them.”

“Ghar mai toh bohot bada bawander mach gaya. My brother-in-law raised his hand on me and along with his wife started beating me black and blue. Pushpaji choked and started breathing unevenly after recalling the incident.Haseena panicked and rushed to get water; she made Pushpaji drink water while saying, “Aap thik hai na Pushpee”.

A weak smile stretched over Pushpaji's face as she nodded and made Haseena sit next to her saying, "I am fine Haseena, don't worry, sometimes we need to revisit the past as it proves just how far we have come and how much we have accomplished even though there were so many obstacles."

As Haseena gave an understanding nod, Pushpaji stated, "When Karishma saw that her anger had erupted and she rushed to my rescue, she picked up a vase from the side table, and hit that on his hand hard to break it into pieces, he cried in pain, and his blood spilled all over the floor, while his wife got angry and pushed Karishma really hard, hitting her head to bleed. He was again about to hit her with the stick but I stopped him and grabbed a stick from him and stopped everyone who dare to comes near my daughter”. Haseena placing her hand on Pushpaji’s “Ek aurat biwi bahu sab kuch sah sakti hai par agar baat uske bache par aaye tho vo bardast nahi karti aur us din maine aur Krishu ne vo ghar hamesha k liye shod diya aur dobara kabhi mud k nahi dekha piche.