Monday 24 October 2016

My Wanderings - 44 Short Story No. 26. Penance unrealised

Kalpana was feeling depressed  as her Daughter in law had left her home alongwith her belongings after having a fight with her husband. It was not for the first time that she had left her  home, but several other times also  she had indulged in the same gimmicks since Kalpana had arrived to live with her only son after her retirement from the service .  Earlier two times  kalpana had  send her son  to bring her  daughter in law back home  from  her parents house. But this time her daughter in law had given her ultimatum that she will not return back and Kalpana was not also in a  humour of sending her son to bring her back.
While still in gloom , Kalpana's attention was attracted towards a Hindi film song being played on her  audio device , which was still on without  her knowledge.
"Mai jab bee akeli hoti hnoo, beete din yaad ajate hai'
Whenever I am alone, I feel  nostalgiac.
In the reverie of melodious film song she could reminisce the days of her youth, when she was a student of law at university of Kashmir. Those were really her golden days. She was actually  a spectacle of grace and beauty blended together with a freshness of youth. She was intelligent and bold. She used to take active part in games, dramas  and debates whenever held in the university  campus. Moreover, she was offered important  roles  in  dramas and telefilms  being played by  Radio and TV stations of Srinagar respectively. But she was not able to accept all the roles due to the constraint of time. Many male students of university were intrested in her. But she began to take Intrest in one of her class fellows's who was equally intelligent and charming like her . Actually they came much closer while participating in extra curricular activities at university. But they got married only after completing their studies and getting good jobs and that too with the mutual consent of their parents. Her husband Ashok was really a gem of a person who loved Kalpana to the hilt and never let her feel the separation from  her  parents. But Kalpana never got swayed away  by the wind of love and affection shown by her husband. She was aware of all her family traditions and values. Therefore, she proved most humble and obedient daughter in-law and a wife. After few years of her marriage she gave birth to a lovely and charming male baby. She felt very proud of being a mother and left no stone unturned to nurture him nicely.
The life was going on like a fairy tale with  Cinderella
and her Prince charming living in a dream house with their little cutie pie, when tregedy struck their dream house like a thunderstorm. Ashok husband of Kalpana died in a road accident. It was just like a bolt from the blue for the entire family. She could not bear the separation of her husband. She lost all Intrest in life. But she was advised by her well-wishers that she has to live for her son and move ahead in her life. In the mean time she was transferred to Pune after migration of our community from Srinagar. In a mad rush of forming nuclear families after migration , Kalpana did not lost touch with her in law's. Her in laws visited her mostly and remained with her for months together. She remained in touch with her brother's in law and sister's in law and their families constantly. Her main  aim in life was to look after her  son, which she did brilliantly. It was the result of  her perseverance and a complete penance that her son became a thorough gentleman and a person of  high character with traditional  values . After completing his studies he got a very good job at Mumbai. Later on he was married to an educated girl who was also the only child of her parents.  
After retirement, Kalpana left her place of posting and joined her Son and daughter in law  at Bombay to live with them for the rest of her life. She also offered them her life's savings and superannuation benefits so that they can purchase a flat in their name. The flat was purchased in the name of her son and daughter in law
after availing bank loan and utilising almost all the savings of Kalpana as margin money.
It was only few months after entering the new house , daughter in law of Kalpana began to  show signs of dissidence and de satisfaction  with her in-laws and started living with her parents.
Kalpana spent her whole life  craving for a relation, but her daughter in law was abandoning a relation for the sake of her  ego.

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