Ratneshwari

Chapter 24

Three weeks had passed after that incident. Ratneshwari was trying to gather the broken pieces of herself while Shivan was trying to end his misery.

It was afternoon. Shivan was sitting in a restaurant and drinking tea. A man who was about the same age as Shivan came and sat near Shivan. He said,"Hello ACP Sir!" Shivan said,"Hi Prakash."

Prakash was Shivan's bosom friend. He was a psychiatrist. They had studied in the same school. If there was someone who knew everything about Shivan, it was his friend Prakash.

Shivan and Prakash started to talk.

"So, why is your face so gloomy, Sir?"

"My wife loves me a lot."

"Ofcourse she'll love you. Man! You had lots of girls running after you in college and she is your wife. Why won't she love you? And now, after losing her parents and her brother, you are the only family she has."

"I know that. That's the problem. I know that she loves me. Prakash, she is a nice girl. I can't see her crying like this. She deserves someone better. Someone who can love her. She deserves someone who can treat her like a queen, not a person like me who loves someone else."

"It has been one year. Now, you can legally file for divorce. So, are you planning to divorce her and marry Sheetal?"

"I cannot do that, Prakash. She has recently lost her loved ones. It has shaken her deeply. Her condition is not good. Doctor has asked me, not to allow her to take stress or else we might lose her forever. How can I ask her for divorce now?"

"My friend, I know that it is difficult."

"It is much more difficult than you can imagine."

"Anyways, what about Sheetal?

"She's fine."

"No, I mean... is she okay with all these? My friend, don't take my words for words of hatred and please don't think that I am your enemy who is hiding in a sage's clothing. Sheetal has no problem in being your second wife. It means that she wants to be with you. If she loves you so much, why didn't she try to stop your marriage?"

"Amma's condition....."

"I know that. But still, you could have done something. You could have devised a plan and skillfully called off this wedding without hurting your mother. I know your mother. When my sister wanted to marry a boy of her choice instead of the one choosen by our grandmother, it was your mother who convinced my parents. Do you think she would not have understood your feelings?"

"I was confused. At that time, even you were not here. You had gone to Delhi to study."

"I would have never allowed this to happen. It is you who are to blame. I agree that I was in Delhi. But you could have called me using your telephone or you could have written a letter. You could have done anything to inform me about all these. Tell me brother, was it so difficult to communicate with me? Tell me, was it even more difficult than divorcing your wife who has no one in this world except you? Was communicating with me even more difficult than marrying someone other than Sheetal and destroying two more lives along with your own life? Tell me!"

"I know brother, it's all my fault. I have played with the feelings of my wife and her family and I am  paying for my sins. I have no peace."

"It's true that you are paying for your sins but there is someone else who is paying for your sins. That person is your wife. Do you know the story of the great sage Valmiki who was once a bandit named Ratnakar? He had asked his wife whether she was ready to share the burden of the sins that he had committed to feed her and take care of her needs. His wife said that, she has nothing to do with the sins that he had committed. But look at your wife! She is suffering because of the sins that you have committed. Her pain is even greater than yours. You have the love of your family. You have the love of Sheetal and you have the love of your wife. But look at you wife. Whose love does she has? The only person whom she can call her family has no love for her."

"What can I do? I was scared of losing my mother. Sheetal gave me this idea. I don't know what had happened to me. I couldn't think of anything else. I felt that this was the right thing to do."

"See, I cannot and I will not force you to accept your wife's love. I don't have the right to do so. You call me 'brother' but it is a bitter truth that I am just a 'friend'. It is your life and you have to take the decision. I just want to say that, don't spoil her. Ratneshwari is a good girl. If you want to divorce her, do it at the earliest. So, that she can remarry and live happily."

"You are right."

"One more thing. I am a psychiatrist. So, I guess you can take an advice or two from Dr Prakash if you don't want to listen to your friend Prakash. Ratneshwari might look completely fine but her condition is vulnerable. Don't think of divorce for a year. Let her recover. You don't love her. But atleast you can do this for her. You can forget about divorce for a year so that she doesn't lose her sanity."

"I will do as you say."

"Don't let Sheetal's words change this decision of yours. You have already given a lot of pain to Ratneshwari. Now, you cannot let her die."

"Okay.."

"Well, I think I should go. I have appointments with some of my patients."

"Wait a minute."

"I'm waiting."

"It's a bitter truth that you are just a 'friend'. But you will always have a special place in my heart, a place which perhaps I  would have never given to my brother."

Prakash smiled at Shivan and left.

Shivan lifted the cup to drink the remaining tea but the tea had cooled down. He did not want to drink the cold tea. So, he paid the bill and left.