THE UNWANTED

CHAPTER 15

After around four days Badri was all set to go to his village and reached his destination unannounced. His family was too happy to see him after a year. While eating his dinner Badri narrated about Ramu's extramarital affair to his wife and mother sitting beside him. Elaborating, exaggerating, laughing, commenting and cursing they all enjoyed it.

This is a common human trait that everyone loves to slander everyone and indulge in it willingly at anytime and anywhere.

"Describe the shape of her face. Round, square?" asked Badri's wife inquiringly.

"Oval, I suppose with a cleft chin" replied Badri.

"We aren't at the chin yet."

"Well, pardon me," Badri retorted, stunned by his wife's snippy tone. His wife tilted her head and drew a deep breath picking up the empty utensils and walking away to the kitchen to wash them.

Next day morning Badri's mother wandered off to Ramu's place of residence. Ramu's mother greeted her with open arms as she had met her after a long time. While sipping tea she narrated her what Badri had told her about her son. Tara was in the next room tending to her child but her sharp ears were listening to what Badri's mother had to say. She couldn't hold herself and started sobbing. The sobs turned into crying with the thoughts wandering into her mind 'atleast he has me to turn for help', she felt melancholically. 'What about me? I can cry over his mother's shoulders and she's sure to wipe out all my tears. Likewise she would lend her shoulder to him as well. But can she address her worries? How can she, isn't the poor thing half dead on my account. Well, should her desert us now, she would be shattered and may even become insane. All the same, she will never let him go if she ever gets wind of his mind. But what's the solution?'

'Much of his love affairs maybe imaginary.' She again began thinking after a pause.

'But its effect appears real. He's really psyched out. Or so it appears. Maybe it's better that he goes away with the other woman. Being he away for a while may relax my nerves and help me clear my mental blocks. There's no other way out there. My mother too is bound to be upset about it all. She may even lose her bearings and disown Ramu forever and may even persuade me to do so.'

The thoughts floating in her confused head made her start wailing loudly. Ramu's mother on hearing her wailing hurriedly rushed to the room where Tara was and started comforting her. The worst kind had happened when her soul wept and no matter what Ramu's mother did, there was no way to comfort it. Tara kept crying, so hard that her throat started hurting. It was out of frustration on knowing that no matter what she can do or attempt to do will never be able to change the situation. She cried and cried in a hope that she will get it out, relieve some of the pressure inside...........that was the true pain. But no matter how hard she tried or how bad she wanted to....that pain stayed in its place. And inside she knew that someone she loved madly has been taken away by someone else. Eventually the crying turned to weeping and she started trembling as if her whole body was weeping and that there were no bones left to hold her up. She lay down on the floor sobbing silently, "I want to weep," she thought. "I want to be comforted. I'm so tired of being strong. I want to be foolish and frightened for once."

In a little while she started mumbling to herself, "I'm not crying because of you, Ramu, you are not worth it. I'm crying because my delusion of who you were was shattered by the truth of who you are."

"Don't worry Tara, I will b soon going to Delhi to meet my good for nothing son and bring him along with me to ask your forgiveness. How can he do this to my loving daughter like this? Everything will be alright. You just get up and have some warm milk. That will soothe your nerves," Ramu's mother comforted her by running her fingers in her hair lovingly. She made her sit up and hugged her, constantly whispering in her ears, "Rest assured, everything will be alright. God is always there. Just trust HIM. Listen to God with a broken heart; He's not only the doctor who mends it, but also the Father who wipes away the tears."

Tara could feel the soothing power of a human touch on the aching flesh. For Tara, it was as if hope had appeared out of nowhere to settle beside her and it wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't going to desert her now. She got up on her feet, went to the kitchen to get herself some milk, came back and sat down with her mother-in-law.

"Tomorrow I'm going to Delhi. I'll be there for a week. So, you better look after yourself and the child with utmost care and stop grieving," Ramu's mother said patting her cheeks in affection.

Next day early morning Ramu's mother was all set to go to Delhi to meet her son. She reached the bus terminal well in time to catch the first bus to her destination and took her chosen seat next to the am window. It was 7am then and the express bus was to reach Delhi by 6pm. The bus started moving at the scheduled time and Ramu's mother was overwhelmed watching the golden leaves of the trees flying past from the window. After a few minutes suddenly the thoughts started creeping in her confused head as she closed her eyes to relax. A sudden burst of realization crept in.

"I can't help it, and I can't stop it. I'm alone as I have always been and sometimes it hurts. I get so goddamn lonely and sad and filled with regress on somedays. How will I handle the grief of my daughter-in-law and how will I tackle my son?" mumbled she to herself and then opened her eyes. The electric wires on the sides of the road, sagging between poles went up and down with the same rhythm as her heartbeat.