Daastan [#MissionDesi]

Chapter 14

"He's your husband Sujatha. Marriage is not a game. You loved each other. What happened? One setback in your life and you completely withdraw? What about Arvind? Did you ever think about him?" her mother said.

Early that morning, both her parents were shocked to see her at their doorstep with two packed suitcases.

"But Amma," Sujatha said, addressing her mother, "I just don't see any reason to stay with him when I don't even remember him. He's a total stranger for me now. How am I supposed to carry on knowing that it will only hurt us both in the long run?"

Her mother turned to Sujatha's father, who sat in a rocking chair, just a mere spectator to the argument unfolding in front of him.

He stopped rocking, got up from the chair, looked at Sujatha and said, "Your mother is right. Go back to your husband."

"I can't." She sniffed, wiping away her tears.

Her father sighed and said, "Then you can't stay in this house either. You are free to go where you want to go, free to do as you please."

And with that, he stormed away, her mother following him, leaving her alone in the room. She had never felt so lonely in her entire life.

Not knowing what to do and where to go, she booked a ticket for Bangalore. And soon, she flew away from the nest to an unknown city to begin a new life without me or her parents taking her mother's advice.

She got settled in with her mother's aunt who stayed alone in a one BHK flat. Since she had strayed away from her course in Mumbai, she made up for it by applying in one of the universities in Bangalore, studying at night and working day shifts as a Barista at a local coffee shop. She even made a few friends, whom she would hang out with on weekends.

Life definitely agreed with her new personality. Two years had passed by. Her course completed, she set out to start a new enterprise of her own, Daffodils, a place where poor women who wanted to do something with their lives could put their skills to use. Muthassi had offered to sponsor her new venture with Sujatha insisting on paying her back. She would help out her mother's aunt whom she called Muthassi, on weekdays, cooking for her, keeping her company, even knitting with her.

"Don't you ever wish you could go back to your old life?" Muthassi asked her once.

"I don't know. I would be lying if I said his face doesn't cross my mind. But I just need time, not to be pushed into things. I think I'm doing just fine," she said.

Muthassi patted her hand. "Fine would be an understatement. You are doing fabulous dear!" She winked.

Sujatha smiled and got back to knitting, twirling a thread of wool around her finger, and like a magician, her other hand holding a pin started working swiftly.

************************************

It was cold early December when my plane touched down on the grounds of Bangalore airport. I pulled my jacket tight around me and waded through the crowd looking for her.

There she stood, holding my name board, smiling giddily. She had changed a lot since I saw her two years back. Beauty marked her every feature. She was no more the girl I had known before. Seeing me approach, she threw her hands in the air, waiting for a bear hug, the name board flying in the air.

"Hiya!" I wrapped her in a hug, her arms circling my neck, kissing my cheeks. "Wow you've grown much taller than the last time I saw you."

"Yep, I have a new bicycle without wheels and an I pod with Taylor Swift songs! I don't even have to wear braces anymore you see!" she chirped, showing me a perfect set of white teeth.

We all laughed and Vinayak asked her to hold her horses till we got home.