Hello everyone...!
For one final time...! Sudheeksh has ended the novel Disguised, with a happy note. Good job Sudhee, You have kept the novel lively and interesting. Thank You for writing this.
Episode16:
Sandesh and Sukruthi were
standing outside Sandesh’s home, waiting for the door to open. Even though it
was Sunday, Sandesh had left the home early in the morning, so that he could
free Sukruthi as soon as he could. And when he did, he couldn’t think of any
other place that would keep her safe and occupied. So, he had brought her home.
They waited after ringing the bell couple times. When Sandesh rang it for the
third time, a distant voice of Savita, his mother, responded in an irritated tone,
“Coming...coming”
“Take your time”,
Sandesh said almost to himself. But, it somehow reached his mother.
“Sandesh!? Is that you?”
She rushed to the door.
“Where have you been..?”
She stopped abruptly
when she saw a stranger lady with her son. A million questions emerged in her
mind. She suppressed them all, letting in the couple with a warm, fixed smile.
The bag in Sandesh’s hand didn’t fail to get her notice. But, things were still
unclear to her. Noticing his wife’s silence for such a long time, Shankar came
out of his room. He too noticed a new face in the house. His walking pace had
almost dropped to zero. But, soon he managed to pick it up and joined them.
They all gathered at the living room. Sandesh directed Sukruthi to the sofa,
settling her bag on the floor. Soon, all of them found themselves some seating.
Sandesh spoke out slowly,
“Dad, mom... This is
Sukruthi...”
After hearing a familiar
name her son always quoted in recent days, Savita cheered up.
“Oh! You’re that girl?
Sandesh always speaks of you, about how you helped him get out of depression.
We are very much thankful to you”
Some people definitely
don’t know when to speak and what to speak. Of course, Sandesh had said her
name many times and had praised her work in getting him back to his family.
But, he hadn’t disclosed her true identity and her work life. It wasn’t just
about her. I mean, which son dares to tell his parents that he visited a dance
bar? And how many parents are aware of the places their children roam?
Sandesh had decided to explain everything
to his parents today. It was the only way if he wanted to spend rest of his
life with Sukruthi. Besides, he didn’t want to hide things from them. He
resumed,
“Yes. She’s the one I
was talking about. And, she’ll stay with us from now on”
Puzzled looks stared at
Sandesh for straight answers. Sandesh explained them everything from the
beginning, right till his decision of taking her as his life partner. When he
was done, Savita got up and walked to her room silently. Shankar realised that
his wife wants to speak in private. He got up, smiled politely saying, “Excuse
us, dear” and followed his wife swiftly. Once he was sure that they were away
from audible limits of his son and the lady he accompanied, he glared at his
wife.
“Why did you walk away
like that? Do you know what directions that would give to them?”
“What does he think he’s
doing?”
“I’m doing the right
thing, mother”
Shankar and Savita
turned to see Sandesh at the door; gladly, alone.
“Marriage is not a child’s
play, Sandesh. You can’t simply bring a girl home and say you will marry her”
continued Savita, “We hardly know her”
“I know her pretty well.
And I brought her to you so that you guys get a chance to get along. She has
nowhere else to go. Let her stay with us for a while. You guys can know about
each other”
“Why are you not getting
my point? She is not what you think she is. She is...not noble”
“Mother, I’ve cleared
you the facts. I know her, I trust her. She worked there because she had no
other choice. She is one pure soul. If you don’t trust her, then fine. Just
trust ME. Give her a chance”
Savita didn’t know how
to put sense in her son’s thick head. She turned to Shankar.
“Why are you being
silent? Say something”
“I trust my son. I know
he thinks well before deciding anything”, he said, proudly.
“Nobody understands me!”
Savita yelled.
“Mother, please. Give
her one last chance. She’s badly in need of it. Think of her as the person who
gave you your son”
Savita thought for a
while and spoke softly,
“She better be worth it”
“I won’t let you down”
The trio turned and saw
Sukruthi near the door, standing hesitatingly, her eyes filled with tears.
* * * *
It had been almost a month
since Sukruthi came to live with Sandesh’s family. Things were normal. Savita
kept herself reserved. She spoke very less (or nothing) to Sukruthi. And,
Sukruthi was trying desperately to fit in and impress Sandesh’s family. Shankar
wasn’t a problem to her. He had braced her with delight. The real challenge was
Savita. She was hard to understand. She never gave out an opportunity to read
her thoughts.
One day, Sandesh came up
with a plan to impress his mother. He took his parents out for shopping,
leaving Sukruthi at home. And, he had instructed her to take over the kitchen
that day and cook her best dishes. Savita didn’t know about this plan. If she
had, she would neither leave the house, nor let Sukruthi inside the kitchen.
Sukruthi selected her menu carefully and stuffed the table from starters till
desserts. Sandesh and Shankar feasted that day. But, Savita had kept her
emotions checked. All she said was,
“It’s not up to our
limits. But, it’s good”
Of course, it’s one hell
of a complement. She certainly was impressed the day her son first spit out her
name. She had thought that of Sandesh liked the girl she would happily get them
both married. The impression had grown shinier when she saw Sukruthi’s face,
the day when Sandesh brought her home. But, when she heard her story, the shine
suddenly faded and became dull. It was hard for her to digest Sukruthi’s past
life with open heart. She didn’t want to lie her feelings either. She wanted to
get impressed by her future daughter-in-law. But, some things wouldn’t let her.
Days passed, one day giving hope and the other day snatching it away without
mercy.
Sandesh was in his office
when he received a call from his father at around mid-day. The news he broke
was of such intensity that Sandesh couldn’t stay at his desk any longer. He
rushed to the hospital his father asked him to come. He ran on the streets like
a mad man till he realised he can’t make it on foot. He got in to an
auto-rickshaw. Shankar couldn’t explain everything on call. He was terrified
himself. All he said was that Sukruthi had popped some sleeping pills and was
now admitted in Malya hospital. Sandesh reached the destination in next forty
minutes. He rushed to the O.T. and saw his parents waiting outside. He rushed
to them, throwing series of questions,
“What happened? How is
she? Where is she now?”
Shankar calmed him.
“Relax. She swallowed
few extra pills. The doctors are taking it out”
“Where the hell did she
get sleeping pills?”
“I don’t know. I thought
it was prescribed to her. She might have got it from the drug store”
“Who’s that lunatic who
gives such pills without any prescription?”
“If you slide little
money, you can even get rented parents. What big deal is a sleeping pill?”
“But...”
“Let’s worry about Sukruthi now”
Everyone fell silent.
Then a thought came to Sandesh’s mind, to which his tongue gave shape,
“Why did she do it? What
made her do it?”
Shankar remained silent.
Sandesh’s gaze lifted to his mother, who had kept her head low in guilt.
“Mother, tell me what
happened”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t
know this would be the consequences...”
“What did you do?!”
“I lost my temper and
scolded her a bit. I swear nothing much happened...”
“A bit?! What do you
mean a bit?”
Shankar interrupted the
conversation,
“Easy now! We are in the
hospital. Let’s talk when we get back home”
Even though Sandesh
remained silent, his eyes oozed out tremendous anger. A doctor came out and
reported to them.
“We have taken out the
tablets. She is tired now. She will be shifting to the ward in ten minutes.
Keep her stomach empty for another thirty minutes. She might have vomiting
sensation for a while, nothing to worry. Don’t give any solid food till night”
Sandesh nodded in
acknowledgment. Shankar cared to do it with words.
“Sure, doctor. Thank you
very much”
“And, make sure this
carelessness doesn’t repeat again”
“Sure. Sorry”
Sukruthi was shifted to
a ward for observation. Everyone was silent. Sukruthi didn’t dare to look at
Sandesh. She was discharged in the evening, around 05:30P.M. All of them headed
straight to the home. As soon as they entered, Sandesh let out his
frustrations.
“What were you thinking,
Sukruthi? Don’t you at least care about any of us? Don’t you know what we are
all going through?”
Silence!
“I need to know why!
Speak up”
Still silence. Sandesh
couldn’t handle this any longer.
“For god’s sake,
somebody speak up”
He then turned to his
mother,
“What did you say to her
mother?”
“I... I just...”
“You just what?”
Shankar interrupted
again.
“Son, I know you are
very angry right now. You have every right to be so. But, it will harm the
relationships. Be calm. Come, sit”
Sandesh sat on a chair.
Shankar patted his shoulder, trying to calm him down. He then gathered all the
strength left in him and revealed the truth.
“Your mother is having
hard time accepting Sukruthi. A part of her wants to embrace her like her own
daughter. But, few things are making it hard for her to accept it”
“Things like what?”
“Well, ah... things
like...”
“Sukruhti’s past life?
Her profession?”
“Yeah”
Sandesh turned to his
mother.
“Why is it so hard for
you to accept? I said she is pure. She was forced to do it. Why can’t you
understand it?”
She remained silent.
Shankar spoke on her behalf.
“Few things take time to
get adopted in life, son. We can’t force it be adopted the very second”
“What did you scold her,
mother?”
Silence.
“I want to know. Say it”
Shankar tried to control
his son,
“Sandesh...”
“Say it, mother...”
“I called her a bitch. I
called her a woman who makes men blind with her body...”
Tears rolled down as she
said it. Sandesh was calm.
“If she was what you
said she is, would she try committing suicide? Wouldn’t it be normal for her to
hear that brand name? If you call her a bitch, what would you call a person who
dreams of other women when he has an obedient wife? What do you call a wife who
doesn’t treat her husband well? She tried to kill herself, because you killed
her self-respect. If she was a low life, she wouldn’t have known what respect
means, would she?”
Savita silently sobbed.
“And, you...” he then
turned to Sukruthi, “Committing suicide takes very much strength and bravery.
If you show even a percent of that strength in living, wouldn’t it change your
life? Once you die, not just your life dies with you. The persons whose lives
associated with you die along with you too. Dying is easy. Learn to face the
world and make it better for your living”
Sukruthi too joined
Savita in her silent sobbing session now. Savita walked slowly to Sukruthi,
held her hand, with her eyes soaked in tears she said,
“I’m sorry, child. You
never stopped loving us. But, I hated you. I was too blind to see your love and
care. I’m sorry. Please, forgive me”
Sukruthi broke out. They
both hugged each other tightly, crying out loud. Nobody stopped them. The two
men watched them silently; relaxed. When things started to settle, Shankar
spoke out his thoughts almost to Sandesh,
“I think, you two should
move out of here for a while and explore the world. Change in environment might
calm everyone’s heart. Take your time, know one another, and be with the
nature; away from these thoughts. Just for a sometime till we all learn to
adapt to the same environment”
Sandesh replied
thoughtfully,
“I was thinking of the
same thing. And, I know just where to go...”
Other three people
looked at Sandesh; puzzled. Sandesh smiled at Sukruthi. She understood where he
will be taking her.
* * * *
“I’m nervous, Sandesh. Will
they welcome me? Will they accept me?”
Sukruthi and Sandesh
were inside Sandesh’s room, packing their bags for their journey to Gollahalli,
Sukruthi’s hometown. She was returning to her family after eleven long years.
She was afraid about her family’s reaction when they see her after so many years.
Sandesh sat by her side and gently patted her back.
“No family will forget
or throw away a part of them, darling. They will love you even more. Stop
worrying about it”
“Hmmm”
They looked at each
other and smiled. Sandesh gave a peck on her forehead and got back to packing
his bag.
“Sandesh?”
“Hmmm?’
“You resigned from your job?”
“You resigned from your job?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“What will we do for our
daily bread now?”
“Sweetheart, I’m
talented in a way you still don’t know. I still have some savings. My father’s
still earning. So, no need to worry about them. And, we together can find a way
to fill our tummies. Besides, I can get back to corporate when we get back”
“You can do that?”
“Yes. I can”
“What will you do till
then?”
“Don’t know. Maybe, I’ll
start writing stories”
****THE END****
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