Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Paying back in same coin

Rani was just twenty when her alcoholic father gave her in marriage to a forty five year old ugly looking pock marked Velayudham for the few thousands he received. She had no mother to look up to. All her cries and the pleas of neighbours fell on deaf ears as he forced her to marry that widower. He took her away to his place and guarded her from all eyes. He never allowed her to go out and ordered her to remain within the house.. He even locked the house when he went out. He was suspicious if she talked to anyone and would want to know what she talked about. Being an older man, he had nagging doubts about his physical ability to please a much younger wife and he got irritated whenever she showed amorous tendencies to him. He avoided her. Lacking in self confidence, he beat her frequently and used abusive epithets.
There was one young man Murugan living not far from Rani’s house. He was living with his mother and they knew the cruel and suspicious nature of Velayudham.They empathized with her as they knew her pitiable condition. His mother used to visit Rani whenever Velayudham was not there and console her. The talks with the old lady were soothing balm to the neglected young girl. It so happened that one day when Murugan could not find his mother at home, he came in search of her to Rani’s house. As he was enquiring her about the whereabouts of his mother, Velayudham came unexpectedly .Seeing his wife talking to the young man, he flew into rage, abused Murugan of having dishonest intentions and pushed her inside the house. He beat her legs with a log of wood telling that he would break them so that she cannot run away. The poor girl was rescued by neighbours but she had to limp thereafter. She hated him from the bottom of the heart but could not escape from him as she had none to look to. She was afraid he will catch her and inflict more injury on her.
It so happened that Velayudham fell sick with high fever and some other related conditions. There was nothing he could do as Rani had to go out to fetch medicines, grocery etc.When she went to get the medicines from the pharmacy, the thoughts of how her life had been rendered a failure and how her dreams of being married to a handsome young man had been crushed by her husband came to her mind. The total incompatibility in the way they thought, and dissatisfaction in meeting her physical needs and above all living like a prisoner within four walls stood stark in her face. Her revulsion for him was at its highest. When she returned home she found the pharmacy had given her wrong medicines intended for somebody else. Bitter with him in her heart, she decided to keep quiet.
She opened the wrong packet given by pharmacy to find many tablets in different sizes and colours.She coolly gave these along with water when he opened his mouth. She didn’t know whether it would affect him or not but was sure they were not the right medicines for curing him. She loathed him so much that she cared little for him.Soon he was drowsy with his eyelids feeling heavy. He could not sit up for his dinner. She gave him the gruel with some more of the wrong medicines. The next day morning he tried to get up from the bed but could not stand as his legs were wobbly and weak. It appeared to him that the muscles had lost their strength. He became disoriented and unable to focus. He was totally bed ridden. She continued with the wrong medicine till he lost his ability to walk but she did not leave him though she could have .
After a week when she brought the doctor and showed his condition without telling about the wrong medication, the doctor prescribed another set of medicines. This time she gave the right ones but while he recovered from all ailments, he could not gain his ability to walk. He was confined to bed and chair It was one evening she came along with Murugan and handed over him her divorce papers. She told him “Your filthy mind will assume all sorts of wrong ideas about my relationship with this young man. He is like my elder brother who has helped me get out of this wretched place. You broke my leg out of your suspicion and inability to keep your wife happy. As a retribution, you will suffer all through your life” As he lay dumbfounded,she limped out happily released from bondage once and for all.
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10 comments:

  1. victory comes to the brave!! fantastic....loved the storyline.
    i am addicted to random thoughts :)

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  2. thats a social calamity of the sorts, a disease like cancer that our is yet to recover from, at least in most parts of the country.

    however not all the girls have last smile, but end you know where..!! sigh

    i am sure education, awareness, more involment of the so called educated class can bring about the much needed relief ...

    i wonder if you have seen an ads which isnt there these days, it s on women abuse ..
    thats a thought-about one.. very indian

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  3. I agree with the fact that he was a cruel man but giving the wrong medicine...may be when youre in pain things just happen. God releases his rope and pulls it back when matters become worst, thats exactly what happened with the man. You cannot possessive someone by caging them, love means to let go and have full faith in the person you love. Jealousy and doubts just lead to misunderstanding leading towards destruction.

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  4. Very interesting story Sir and I am sure will appeal to the younger and modern community.

    However, this story is contrary to Hindu Dharma which prescribes that the husband is to be revered as God even if he is incompetent, inpotent, abusive etc. I know this will start a big debate on whether the Dharma is right and the logic behind this kind of prescription.

    I am more than willing to engage with people who want to understand this concept.However, I request people to do this discussion in a separate forum and not in the comments to this otherwise very interesting story...

    Pardon my controversial remarks.

    cheers

    Vish

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  5. Somehow I didnot like this story...I think there are so many other means by which she cld have taught him a lesson....
    anbudan aruna

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  6. left a thankyou note for you on my blog :)
    i came up wit the idea of acknowledging everyone after reading ur email.

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  7. Well... i understand how pathetic life can be at times that no logic holds right.. and we just do what we feel is right without checking if its logically right or wrong..

    husband and wife should treat eachother with respect.. wife being submissive is what i would opt for.. but if treated like an animal.. one forgets if she is a wife.. but reacts like a humanbeing first.. just caz a man is her husband doesnt mean she should bear all his kicks and abuses.. there is a limit to patience and tolerance.. women are humanbeings tooo!

    the story is more close to reality and spontaneous nature of a suffering woman.. hence i liked it.. we cant always expect the right behaviour from all..

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  8. Hmm, I come from a different background. I won't bring my personal opinion to the comment section, because I respect your blog. But I will state that this is well written. I look forward to reading more of your work.

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  9. I expected some twists and turns like some of your other stories but it was straight and simple till the end.A girl might be able to relate to the protagonist better than a guy like me i guess and for the same reason i felt somehow remote to the story.Keep posting sir.

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