Nandini fell in love with Sahil, who had come to deliver a lecture on diabetes at her institution where she was teaching Computer Science. He was doing research in the U.K. and had earned a name for himself there. Today, Nandini had decided to tell her grandmother about Sahil, who also loved her madly, so that she could talk to her father. Her father was tradition personified, a typical orthodox Brahmin. Nandini’s only fear was that her father might reject Sahil because he was non-Brahmin.
As she reached home, her father told her that he was going to fix her marriage with Bhuvan, a computer engineer, settled in Mumbai. Gathering all her courage, she told her father about Sahil, and he outrightly rejected the match as he never wanted a non-Brahmin son-in-law who lived in a foreign land. He sternly told her to get married to Bhuvan. Soon, the marriage happened, and Nandini, keeping the sacred vows of marriage, tried to adjust with Bhuvan and life in Mumbai, seeking forgiveness from Sahil. In a get-together, she was shocked to see Bhuvan having drinks, smoking and eating non-vegetarian food.
Time flew, and against the wishes of her parents and Nandini, Bhuvan decided to shift to the U.K. She felt lonely in an alien land as she became a mother of a son. When her mother came to help her, she too felt sorry for Nandini and asked her, “Does Bhuvan love you?” Nandini replied, “He has never beaten me, but never became my emotional anchor.” Bhuvan loved his son, and the two were together till the son, Aryan, went for higher studies. Nandini remained aloof as father and son played their games, never involving Nandini. She had joined as a teacher in a kindergarten, and then one day, as she came back from school, she was shocked to find both father and son drinking and smoking. Nandini was mocked at by her UK-born and brought-up son and Bhuvan for her orthodox ways of life. Nandini was reminded of her father’s words: “He is a Brahmin boy, doesn’t smoke or drink, earns well, conforms to his tradition!”
Wiping her tears, she wrote a letter to her husband, another to her son and still another to her father explaining the trauma she had been going through in her married life, the spoiled brat that his son has been made by her husband and told them that she is leaving U.K. for ever and coming back to India. She further wrote that Sahil has become a renowned scientist in the U.K. and is a bachelor, but she will not tarnish the family tradition by going to her.
She would come back to India, but won’t return to her parents. Though she had forgiven everyone, the hurt still pierced through her heart. Her life was ruined, and it needed healing. She would stand alone, taking care of herself, and let everyone know once she got settled. Time alone will tell if they will reunite!
Dr Ritu Kamra Kumar
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