It was her birthday. She was pretty excited about it. She knew it wasn't going to be much different from the other days. She did want to go outside with him for a dinner to celebrate this evening. But she didn't get her hopes very high. She knew he was going through some rough times. But certainly a good warm wish was on the table.
She wasn't going to invite some friends over to her place. Nevertheless she wanted to make this birthday a bit special. After all one celebrates his or her birthday just once a year. And it would be also a nice change in her dull routine. The dull routine brought to her the old memories when she used to work at an MNC. Back then she used to complain she didn't have any leisure time to enjoy and engage in her hobbies. Oh ! She loved painting. She used to spend hours painting portraits of actors and her relatives. It seemed to her she had not painted for a lifetime. So she decided today she would paint his portrait. First they would cut a home made cake and then they would have a dinner at home itself ( she was a good cook) followed by portrait drawing of him. He could do that for her today. It was her birthday after all. It would be great. It would be romantic evening after a long time.
And the doorbell finally rang. Her wait was over. She was eagerly waiting for this moment. For the last few weeks his routine had been a bit erratic. He seemed to be more grumpy these days. She went for the door. As soon as she pulled the door, he immediately started shouting. “ Where were you? Why did it take you so long to open the damn door?” How could he ? How could he yell at her on her very birthday? As he entered, he noticed some changes. He found some of the things out of the place like the couch which used to be at the front of the TV, was now at one side of the room immediately below their wedding photo. The dinner table was too a bit displaced . He could not tolerate this. Why ? Why she had to change the arrangements? Even if she wanted she should have consulted him first. He could not help and ended up yelling at her yet again. He clearly was drunk. She did not say a word because she didn't want to ruin her birthday but deep down she knew her birthday was already ruined. And tears immediately followed.
After dinner he went to bed. Neither did he ask her for dinner nor he wished her for her birthday. It seemed he had no clue that it was her birthday. He fell into sleep immediately. But she couldn't sleep. How could she? She was processing the events of the evening. What exactly went wrong? What did she do wrong?
But the answer, she knew, wasn't simple. He wasn't this person. At least this wasn't the person she married to. The person she married was caring and sensitive. Something was definitely wrong. He had be acting indifferent from a couple of months. Had he lost a good amount of money in gambling or betting? Or he had a one-night-stand and he was feeling guilty about it or more convincingly that girl was blackmailing him? Or he was having an affair? If she could ask directly she didn't have to speculate. She crossed the first two options immediately. But the last one!
“It is perfectly okay to love two or even more than two persons at same time. It is not like you have been given a certain amount of love and you can only share this amount of love with others. Yes, it is morally wrong to go out with two persons. It is against the societal norms. But it is natural to be in love with two persons at the same time.” She knew she just making this up to make her feel better. Even if she could accept that it was okay, but she could not live like this and he would have to choose one.
One thing she knew for a fact that he loved her. He had been very supportive to her. He was there for her all the time when she was going through breast cancer and chemotherapy. Her chemotherapy regime was the epitome of his love for her. She was miserable at that time. She had lost all hope. But it was him who brought her back every time she was on edges. He gave him a reason to live. Now it was her time to return the favour. But she wasn't going to just sit around and wait for the changes to happen by itself. She wanted to step in and embrace all his worries and bring the passionate lover in him back.
First things first she decided to zero down to the actual problem. Talking to him wasn't the option 'cause she had already tried this many a time. She talked to those relatives in the family whom he generally turned to like his elder brother and his close friends. They didn't have a clue. She then tried one of his colleagues whom he was friend with. She was shocked to know that he had lost his old job. His friend told her that the company wasn't making much profit and hence they decided to fire him almost three months ago. His friend had helped him find another job. But it paid him just half of the amount the previous job paid and even required him to work over time sometimes. She didn't believe this. Why didn't he tell her? He should not have told her all. After all she was his wife and they were supposed to be partners in the marriage. Both joy and problems were to shared between the two. It was difficult for her to absorb all these. She went to tap for spattering some cold water on her face and there was no water. She called the landlord to complain for this. She was told that the water supply had been cut 'cause they had not paid the rent from the last two months. Instantly she knew everything. She felt a bit relaxed for she was now certain he wasn't cheating on her.
Once she had narrowed down to the real problem, she knew what she had to do to get things back to normal. She got some money from her mother so that they could pay off the rent. But the most difficult part was to persuade him to let her work again without letting him know that she was aware of everything. She tried to bring this proposal of her working again in the evening after he had returned from the work. He immediately refused to let her work on the grounds that she had just gotten well and thus should not work. A hint to smile spread on her face radiant with love and affection for him. He was under enormous pressure , but he didn't want her to work 'cause just she just got well. She convinced him that she was fully recovered and she kind of got bored in the home alone. She told him that where ever she would work, the workload would not be much. And she got a job easily 'cause she had a good relation with her previous boss and her boss was more than willing to write her a recommendation.
The next week when he was driving her to her workplace, he called the landlord to tell that he had his rent ready with him and came to know that his rent was already paid off by his wife. He smiled. After a long time! She put her hand on his hand assuringly and he leaned to kiss her. And things were back to normal now.
She wasn't going to invite some friends over to her place. Nevertheless she wanted to make this birthday a bit special. After all one celebrates his or her birthday just once a year. And it would be also a nice change in her dull routine. The dull routine brought to her the old memories when she used to work at an MNC. Back then she used to complain she didn't have any leisure time to enjoy and engage in her hobbies. Oh ! She loved painting. She used to spend hours painting portraits of actors and her relatives. It seemed to her she had not painted for a lifetime. So she decided today she would paint his portrait. First they would cut a home made cake and then they would have a dinner at home itself ( she was a good cook) followed by portrait drawing of him. He could do that for her today. It was her birthday after all. It would be great. It would be romantic evening after a long time.
And the doorbell finally rang. Her wait was over. She was eagerly waiting for this moment. For the last few weeks his routine had been a bit erratic. He seemed to be more grumpy these days. She went for the door. As soon as she pulled the door, he immediately started shouting. “ Where were you? Why did it take you so long to open the damn door?” How could he ? How could he yell at her on her very birthday? As he entered, he noticed some changes. He found some of the things out of the place like the couch which used to be at the front of the TV, was now at one side of the room immediately below their wedding photo. The dinner table was too a bit displaced . He could not tolerate this. Why ? Why she had to change the arrangements? Even if she wanted she should have consulted him first. He could not help and ended up yelling at her yet again. He clearly was drunk. She did not say a word because she didn't want to ruin her birthday but deep down she knew her birthday was already ruined. And tears immediately followed.
After dinner he went to bed. Neither did he ask her for dinner nor he wished her for her birthday. It seemed he had no clue that it was her birthday. He fell into sleep immediately. But she couldn't sleep. How could she? She was processing the events of the evening. What exactly went wrong? What did she do wrong?
But the answer, she knew, wasn't simple. He wasn't this person. At least this wasn't the person she married to. The person she married was caring and sensitive. Something was definitely wrong. He had be acting indifferent from a couple of months. Had he lost a good amount of money in gambling or betting? Or he had a one-night-stand and he was feeling guilty about it or more convincingly that girl was blackmailing him? Or he was having an affair? If she could ask directly she didn't have to speculate. She crossed the first two options immediately. But the last one!
“It is perfectly okay to love two or even more than two persons at same time. It is not like you have been given a certain amount of love and you can only share this amount of love with others. Yes, it is morally wrong to go out with two persons. It is against the societal norms. But it is natural to be in love with two persons at the same time.” She knew she just making this up to make her feel better. Even if she could accept that it was okay, but she could not live like this and he would have to choose one.
One thing she knew for a fact that he loved her. He had been very supportive to her. He was there for her all the time when she was going through breast cancer and chemotherapy. Her chemotherapy regime was the epitome of his love for her. She was miserable at that time. She had lost all hope. But it was him who brought her back every time she was on edges. He gave him a reason to live. Now it was her time to return the favour. But she wasn't going to just sit around and wait for the changes to happen by itself. She wanted to step in and embrace all his worries and bring the passionate lover in him back.
First things first she decided to zero down to the actual problem. Talking to him wasn't the option 'cause she had already tried this many a time. She talked to those relatives in the family whom he generally turned to like his elder brother and his close friends. They didn't have a clue. She then tried one of his colleagues whom he was friend with. She was shocked to know that he had lost his old job. His friend told her that the company wasn't making much profit and hence they decided to fire him almost three months ago. His friend had helped him find another job. But it paid him just half of the amount the previous job paid and even required him to work over time sometimes. She didn't believe this. Why didn't he tell her? He should not have told her all. After all she was his wife and they were supposed to be partners in the marriage. Both joy and problems were to shared between the two. It was difficult for her to absorb all these. She went to tap for spattering some cold water on her face and there was no water. She called the landlord to complain for this. She was told that the water supply had been cut 'cause they had not paid the rent from the last two months. Instantly she knew everything. She felt a bit relaxed for she was now certain he wasn't cheating on her.
Once she had narrowed down to the real problem, she knew what she had to do to get things back to normal. She got some money from her mother so that they could pay off the rent. But the most difficult part was to persuade him to let her work again without letting him know that she was aware of everything. She tried to bring this proposal of her working again in the evening after he had returned from the work. He immediately refused to let her work on the grounds that she had just gotten well and thus should not work. A hint to smile spread on her face radiant with love and affection for him. He was under enormous pressure , but he didn't want her to work 'cause just she just got well. She convinced him that she was fully recovered and she kind of got bored in the home alone. She told him that where ever she would work, the workload would not be much. And she got a job easily 'cause she had a good relation with her previous boss and her boss was more than willing to write her a recommendation.
The next week when he was driving her to her workplace, he called the landlord to tell that he had his rent ready with him and came to know that his rent was already paid off by his wife. He smiled. After a long time! She put her hand on his hand assuringly and he leaned to kiss her. And things were back to normal now.
No comments:
Post a Comment