Unkindled Love

Chapter 30

The last chapter of this story. . .

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The click of the door told Abhyudaya that Gautami had gone. But he just could not believe that such a thing had happened.

The Gautami he saw that day was so different from the Gautami he thought he knew.

What she was and what he had thought about her was entirely contradictory. He had thought that she did not have the strength to withstand social stigma and lacked great will power. 

Abhyudaya was caught in a whirlpool of thoughts. Why did Gautami do this?

As far as he remembered her from their childhood days, she was shy but different from most women. She was bright and, most important, she was obedient. And that could be the reason that he had ignored her, because she was not aggressive and demanding.

While other men in the office would say that they had to go home early and they could not work on Sundays, he used to make fun of them,'Oh, you do not know how to tell your wife. Look at me. My wife will never question me.'

He remembered that once Harish told him, 'Abhyudaya, neither you or your wife are normal. You are a lucky man. You do not have any family problem.'

But now, he could understand what it had meant.When his chairman called him personally to congratulate him after his promotion, he was very proud of his success. He thought all his success was due to his own efforts. Now he thought of Gautami.

What was her share in his achievement?

She always wished him progress, silently and constantly suffered her loneliness. Actually she had deserved a lion's share in his achievements. But he never acknowledged it. Today, she had broken his pride by rejecting his position, his achievements and leaving him. 

Abhyudaya was amazed to see the papers that Gautami had left for him.

Why did Gautami leave him?

She had said she wanted clean air. Was this atmosphere suffocating her? In any business party, looking at profit and loss is a corporate culture. It is not philanthropy or history.

Why did Gautami take it personally?

Was Gautami scaring him?

Had she gone for a few days? Though his heart wanted it to be that way, his mind said that it was not true.

He thought once again. No one in this male-dominated society would appreciate her step but Gautami had left him without even bothering about what people would think. She had acted on what she felt was right.

Many more thoughts were constantly breaking like waves in his mind. Was it his mother who used to deliberately insult her and his sister who would taunt her that had made Gautami bitter?

It might have been one of the reasons for her decision. He felt guilty about it for the first time.

He compared Gautami's difficulties with Suhana's, forgetting their level of sensitivity. Suhana was so insensitive that she could quarrel with anybody and still go to that person's house for dinner. How had he never thought about it?

His memory went back to the story of Bhamati, the woman who had dedicated her entire life to her husband and he felt Gautami was a shade better than Bhamati, who had never seen the outside world and did not know her capacity. 

Gautami had served her husband with single-minded devotion knowing her capabilities and being aware of the outside world.

Her husband recognized his wife's sacrifice and named the book after her. That is what appeals to me more.