Night Jasmine

Untitled Part 50

Wish You a Very Happy New Year, may 2016 bring you health, happiness, and the strength to achieve what the heart desires!

"Father, will Aunty Rosa be our new mother when Ma dies?" The unexpected query from his fourteen year old daughter jolted Nobin, making him wonder what could have happened to make Renuka ask him such a question so matter of factly. He would be living in a fool's paradise if he thought his indiscretion would never affect his family life, but the lack of emotion on his daughter's face as she spoke made him wonder if he had made a mistake in bringing up his children so pragmatically. He was tempted to tell his daughter that Rosaline was not a part of his life any more nor was any other woman, that he had let her go because she had chosen to marry an ex-flame who had prospered after settling in Australia. Rosa knew she had no future with Nobin and their parting was amicable as he had given her a generous severance before she left him forever. 

Nobin had no regrets, he had not invested any emotions in the relationship, he had simply been compensating her materially in return for her company. After she left he had simply plunged himself into his work, never looking back. He had just returned from a rather fruitful business tour of South East Asia and was glad he was back a day before the children returned to boarding school after their winter break. His wife was nowhere in sight and upon enquiring he was told that Madhabi had been very unwell and had insisted on moving to her maternal home because she did not want the children affected by her condition. His father had tried hard to contact him during his tour to give him the news but Nobin had been too occupied with closing deals to bother with family matters.

Nobin was disturbed by what he heard, he immediately called up his father-in-law who told him in a rather indifferent tone that Madhabi was not responding to treatment and they had been advised to hospitalise her as soon as possible. Nobin could hardly wait to see his children off to school and rush to his wife's side, her well-being had never been uppermost on his mind and that was enough to send him on a guilt trip. He drove over to his in-laws where he encountered his livid brother-in-law who told him in no uncertain terms that if Madhabi recovered from her illness he would ensure she got a divorce on the grounds of adultery and gross negligence by her spouse. 

Nobin pleaded with the family to let him meet Madhabi and when he did he was shocked to see her state. The woman on the bed was a pale shadow of his wife's real self, having become gaunt and shrivelled. He made a couple of phone calls for arrangements to move her to a hospital and in an hour she was lying in, being examined by his cousin Deboshree, a reputed gynaecologist and obstetrician who ran the hospital with her cardiac surgeon husband. If Deboshree was taken aback seeing her boudi's condition she did not show it, she was a professional even if Nobin was related to her.

In a couple of days the diagnostics reports came back with the patient's complete profile. Deboshree told Nobin that his wife had been suffering from pernicious anaemia resulting from a neglected diet and her condition had been aggravated due to severe depression and fatigue, both acute symptoms. The case file revealed that she was lactose intolerant and had switched to a vegan diet as a personal choice a couple of years ago leading to severe nutritional deficiency, especially that of Vitamin B12. Treatment was begun immediately and in a few days she had recovered enough to be discharged.

 What Deboshree advised him during the discharge changed Nobin's life, she become the first person to  show him a mirror making him realise the enormity of his apathy toward his wife. In her medical practice Deboshree had never come across such a case for so young a patient, the problem was more prevalent in people in their sixties and those who came from a severely depleted background, it would be unlikely to afflict the wife of one of the richest men in the city. She told him that he would have come back for her funeral had he returned a week later, that Madhabi had lost the will to live and had deliberately avoided treatment because of her death wish. His neglect and disloyalty could have rankled any spouse, but his wife had chosen to hurt herself sub-consciously due to her poor self-esteem. 

Madhabi felt she had fallen short of his expectations and considered herself unworthy of her sophisticated husband, she thought he could easily replace her with a partner of his choice after she was dead, as she did not want to endure the trauma of a divorce or abandonment. Her condition was reversible but along with treatment and proper diet she needed extensive psychological counselling. Most importantly she needed tender loving care from her husband who would need to make the effort to make her realise her true worth. It was time, Deboshree told him, to live up to his marriage vows or risk losing his wife and the mother of his children again.

For Nobin it was baptism by fire, he knew he had failed as a husband, even his children had been ready to write off their mother from their lives as though she was something incidental, it was a reflection of his own attitude toward his wife. He made a promise to undo all the damage he had caused, he would turn her around and give them a new start in life that should have begun eighteen years ago when he had actually married her. His penance would be as severe as the suffering he had brought upon her and he would not rest until she absolved him of his guilt.

Madhabi had come home to a reborn husband, she was baffled by the change in him, he had taken leave from work to look after her personally and even fed her and bathed her himself. This was a side she had longed to see but had never had the opportunity to, her body and soul recuperated like the parched earth renews itself after a few days of rain, filling her with hope and awakening a sleeping desire in her heart. He made sure she attended her counselling regularly and that her injections and oral supplements were administered on schedule.

In a few weeks she was fit enough to travel. They took a flight to Bagdogra and drove to Kurseong where they checked into a cottage nestled in a quiet corner away from town. As she warmed her fragile body by the fireplace Nobin noticed her closely, her hair was flecked with grey but the colour was returning to her cheeks. The brightness of the sindoor she wore was a contrast to her pale complexion and the excitement of coming on a holiday for the first time with her husband was evident in her twinkling eyes. She had changed physically but in a small way she was the same child woman he had once married. Overcome by affection for her he swept her in his arms and carried her to bed, and for the very first time in eighteen years of married life Nobin made sweet, gentle love to the woman who was to become the centre of his universe.