Listening to his parents conversation, Shikhi got upset. While Jalini and Brahmadutt were talking, Shikhi had entered the house. Standing behind the door, he heard the entire conversation between Jalini and Brahmadutt. His heart shook due to agony. Though Shikhi was young, he was wise for his age. He returned to his room.
‘Is this my mother? Don’t know why she hates me so much? Only my karma is responsible for this. But my mother tortures my father because of me. She behaves so inappropriately and resentfully with a man who is so calm and earnest. My father has great affection not only towards me but also towards my furious and self-centered mother.
My father has been tolerating everything very calmly. He accepts the arrogance and misbehaviour of my mother with a smile on his face. On top of this, I came to this house. I know that it was because of my mother that my father had kept me in a secret place since birth and took care of me without my mother’s knowledge. He managed to give me higher education from the intellectual pandits. Every day, he used to tell my mother that he was going to the king’s court and instead, would come to meet me. He used to adore me, play with me and feed me my favourite food. He had also bought a huge pile of toys for me.
He inculcated the values of modesty and wisdom in me. He taught me the art of living life. When he was planning to bring me to this house, he had disclosed my mother’s nature very well to me. At the same time, he even guided me on the method of soliciting my mother and receiving her affection. I followed the footsteps of my father and behaved the way he wanted me to. I started my morning by seeking mother’s blessings and helping her. While doing any task, I always kept her likes and dislikes in mind. I used to converse with her politely to keep her cheerful. I would try to convey all the teachings that I had received.
She didn’t like it and rebuked saying, “Shut up your nonsense. I know you have been taught by the pandits.” She would get annoyed.
I also knew that when I was in my mother’s womb, she had taken medicines to try to kill me. It was good of Malini who brought wrong medicines so that I would not die. As soon as I was born, Malini took me away and handed me over to my father. She was aware of the fact that my mother would kill me. She has done a huge favour on me. But when my mother came to know about Malini’s trick, she got into a terrible fight with Malini. She started using ill words for Malini and cut off her relationship with her.
Intense hatred is troubling my mother. Her anger on me is completely unreasonable. If I sit to have my meal on time, she puffs up with anger. And if I get late sometimes, she taunts even then.
“Are you some great king that I should prepare food on time for you? I am not your slave, understood? Come to fill your stomach when the food is ready.”
If I am late, then she lifts the entire house on her head. “Where had you gone, to fight? Whenever you feel, you just show up for meals. Is this a restaurant which serves food all day? How long shall I sit in the kitchen waiting for you? Come on time or else you will not get food.”
• She starts quarreling even when any of my friends come home. And even when I go to my friends’ house, she keeps taunting me.
• Whether I talk to my father and enjoy with him or remain silent, she is always ready to fight.
• If any relatives come home, she starts criticising me in front of them.
• When my father comes home, she files a lot of complaints against me.
I do not understand how to keep my mother happy? My father is also upset. My mother is not ready to keep me at home, and my father is not ready to separate me even for a moment. She was quarreling with my father yesterday also.
