"Aapne jawaab nahi diya. Agar aapki theory sahi hain toh unhone Dad ko kyun nahi apnaya?" Neil's tone was accusatory.
"Tumhare Dad kya waise hi hain abhi bhi jaise woh pehle the?" She counter questioned. Neil shook his head.
"Matlab woh abhi, filhaal abusive nahi hain. Am I correct?" She was being more precise with every passing question.
"Haan. Ab kya?" Neil questioned again.
"Simple. Woh badal gaye hain. He is no more the abuser Dr.Birla knew. Isliye unse woh attach nahi hue." She said plainly. Neil looked shocked.
"Zara socho Neil. Jo Akshara ne kiya aur jo aapke Dad ne kiya, agar donon ko compare karo toh, filhaal kiski galti zyada hain? Keep in mind the current equation. Haan!" She asked.
"Ofcourse Aksharaji ki zyada galti hain. Kyun ki Dad ne 14 saal se koi shikayat ka mauka i nahi diya. He truly repented and almost made up for all the hurt. Jab ki Aksharaji toh bad se battar hoti jaa rahi hain." Neil seethed by the mere mention of her name.
"Now just imagine. Agar Akshara, tumhare Dad ke mukable, agar unki efforts ka 1% bhi daalti.... toh kya tumhare Bhaiyya unhe maaf kardete? Just answer in a yes or no." She asked.
The realization hit Neil at once. He slumped in his chair. None of them needed words for answers. They all agreed that Abhimanyu would have forgiven Akshara even if she showed a hint of remorse while Harsh's relentless efforts still couldn't melt Abhimanyu's heart completely.
According to Neil and even the facts present in front of them, Akshara is still the abuser that she once was but Harsh wasn't even close to being abusive for the past 14 years. If Abhimanyu still chooses to forgive Akshara and not Harsh even after such contrasting graphs, it only leads to cementing her theory.
That points at Abhimanyu suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, or an offset of the behavioural pattern described as Stockholm Syndrome. It is not a diagnosis. It is rather a set of behaviors and coping mechanisms that can develop in response to trauma.
Trauma which Abhimanyu Birla had in abundance.
"Mujhe pata hain yeh sab bahut sudden hain, tum donon keliye and I totally understand. But mujhe isse better aur closer reason nahi mila Dr.Birla ki behaviour ka.
He is too smart and mature to randomly choose to behave like that. Unhe bhi is baat se bahut pareshani ho rahi thi aur woh chah rahe the ki hum is baat ko figure out karein."
Divyanka tried to start the conversation while both the boys looked too taken aback to speak.
"In short, yeh unki choice nahi hain. He is no fool to take such bad decisions. He didn't go wrong anywhere else except for this. That alone is proof enough that he didn't choose to react that way or behave that way. It just happened." Divyanka elaborated.
YOU ARE READING
The Birlas' - BHAVANA
General FictionThis is Part - 3 of a story that takes off from where it ended in The Birlas' - PARINAMA. It traces the life and journey of Dr.Abhimanyu Birla and his family through different situations that life forces on them. It's a story about healing, it's a s...
Chapter - 18: Victim (PART - A)
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