Vaithys Progress And Hostel- Chapter 5

Dear Sir,

Thank you once again for your feedback.

I am now coming to Krishnas life. Waiting for your comments on the same.

This generation might not like what i write about. But, i think at one point of our life or another we might have heard of similar incidences like these. My Dad did not like the part where Usha went to Delhi. I fully understood hus feelings because he is 89 years old.

Please keep giving me your feedback.

Thanks & Regards
Uma

 

The crazy thing called love – chapter 23

It was on on of these evenings, that a close friend Raju of Krishna told him after work, “My amma has told me to buy some sweets on the way home, why don’t you come with me, and it will take only a few minutes”

Krishna just wanted to go home “No da I am not coming”

Raju who always went with Krishna did not want to go alone so he stood for a while and said “Dey it will take only about 5 minutes, come da please”

Krishna accompanied Raju to the sweet shop. Just next to that was an Irani tea shop. As Raju went to buy the sweet, Krishna went to the tea shop and bought 2 cups of tea. He brought it for Raju who was informing the lady in the shop what he wanted. The man sat and collected cash while the lady packed and delivered the goods. It was a bakery which sold sweets. Raju wanted one particular sweet which was not in the counter, so she called out to someone inside the shop and said “Arre please bring that dhoodh peda, it will be on the top shelf, bring one box”

Krishna was totally disinterested in this purchase and was turning his back to the shop and drinking his tea. Like a soft breeze touching his cheeks, he heard a voice “Ma here take it” The voice made Krishna's heart stop for a moment. He slowly turned around and saw a girl standing with a book in one hand and the sweet box in another. He could not take his eyes off her. He stood like a statue and kept looking at her. She went inside, but still Krishna stood and looked like he was stuck. Raju made his purchase and told Krishna “Dey come on let us go” But there was no response from Krishna, he still stood dazed. Raju hit him on the back and said “Dey I am calling you for so long, are you looking at the old lady”

Krishna said “No No I was thinking of something and got carried away, come on let’s go”

That night Krishna dreamt of that girl in the shop. Though he had a glimpse of her only for a few minutes, he could not forget her. He dreamt of singing and dancing with her. Suddenly his mother kicked him and he got up and realized he was in his bed and it was a dream.

When he got up he was irritable and still kept thinking of this girl. He could not think of anything else. At work too he could not concentrate on anything. In the evening when he met Raju, Raju asked him “What da did you get hit by a ghost, you are looking so dull”

Krishna did not want to say anything to his friend and said “No da, I am just tired, let us go”

When you are in love you want to do things that you would never do otherwise. It could be really crazy.

Krishna was no exception; he wanted to meet this girl desperately.

He got up early the next morning and took extra care to dress. He wore goggles which he had never worn before. He ironed his best shirt, and wore neat pants. He searched for his old school shoes and polished them and wore them. His mother asked him “Are you going to work or for some function”

Krishna looked at her and smiled and asked “OK how am I looking”

His mother said proudly “You are looking great, my son after all how will he look”

Krishna was very happy and did a fox trot with his mom and went out. His mother came running after him “Have breakfast” but Krishna had already reached the road corner on his cycle.

Krishna reached the corner of the bakery and stood for a while. He kept looking at the time. After about 15 minutes of waiting he went to the Irani Tea shop and had tea. Just as he was finishing the tea, this girl came out. Krishna was awestruck, she was beautiful. She was in a half saree and carried a bag full of books. She did not look at Krishna or anywhere else. She put her head down and kept walking. At the end of the street she was joined by a group of her friends and they kept chatting and laughing. Now Krishna knew the time of her bus, so he could see her every day.

Krishna could not do more than this, on seeing her face his day was done. He realized he was a little late for work, but why bother.

For the next 10 – 15 days he went at the same time and waited at the street corner to see her. Once or twice her friends commented saying this guy kept looking at her, but she ignored them. He came to know from their talk that her name was Suchitra, such a sweet name he thought.

Suchitra was from the same community but from another sub sect. They had bakeries all over the south for many generations. Her Great Grandfather would sell the sweets he made in a cart near schools and other residential areas. Her grandfather had inherited this shop from him and later bought a shop of his own, which Suchitra's father inherited from his father.

The family was making good money in this business. They had no debts and were content. Suchitras mother was married to this man when she was 16 years of age. She supported the business and kept accurate accounts. Her father on the other hand was the most abusive person on earth. He would beat her mother if there was any problem. He would drink every evening before going to bed. Her mother never complained and carried on like everything was normal. Once or twice when Suchitra asked her why she suffered thus, her mother said “It is normal for a husband to beat his wife, in some houses even the mother in law and father in law beat their daughter in law, I am glad I don’t have them with me”. Suchitra did not like the reply and she in her heart always thought, if her husband beat her she would strike back. She had a mindset that she would never be dominated by a man even if he was her husband.

Suchitra’s mother, though educated only till SSLC, was very careful in everything she did. She wanted the best for her daughter. Her mom did not want Suchitra to get married in a hurry. She wanted her to study and learn a trade, where she could earn on her own without depending on her husband. She was depositing money in various gold chits, without her husband’s knowledge so that she could give more gold to her daughter. This would increase her value in the marriage market.

It was after 10 days of Krishna's relentless chasing, that she started to glance to see if he was waiting there, on one of these days she gave a sly smile at him. This made Krishna’s heart beat faster and he pedaled with super speed to his work all happy and elated.

To be continued.......

 

Dear Sir,

Thanks a lot

Best Regards
Uma

 

The blossoming of love…. Chapter 24

Slowly the smiles became an everyday affair. Krishna waited eagerly for her everyday and for the smile. To impress her he borrowed shirts from his friends. His mother was alarmed and wanted to know what was happening. But he did not say anything.

Krishna’s boss was getting irritated at him coming late every day. He warned him and said that was the last time he was going to be late. Krishna had to come to reality. He had to devise new ways to meet Suchitra.

“How do I meet Suchitra”, he wondered. Mornings were the best time, so he devised another plan. The next day he went after work to the sweet shop. He bought one puff, and stood and ate it. While paying the cash he asked loudly for the amount, so that Suchitra sitting inside could hear him. She peeped to see him standing there and he waved his hand at her. She was too scared to react. What if her father or mother noticed? She quickly ran inside.

Suchitra felt elated and happy. Just like Krishna, she was taking extra care to dress. She never applied kajal in her eyes, but of late she was doing so. She always asked her mother for jasmines to wear on her hair. She walked with a spring to her feet and kept singing to herself.

As days passed she eagerly started waiting for Krishna to come to the shop. She would be sitting and reading just behind the door and peep and smile when she saw him.

From seeing each other like this, Krishna decided it was time he needed to talk to her in person. So he went early the next day and met her at the street corner and gave her a letter asking her to meet him. She never responded the first few times, but replied back saying she was too scared of her father.

But when you are in love, you break all barriers to meet the guy you love. So one day she decided to meet him and they met at a bazaar in a small hotel. Both were dressed in their best of clothes. As she walked into the hotel, Krishna was waiting on the steps. He gave her a beautiful red rose. She started blushing as she walked in with him and felt all eyes were on her. Krishna pulled the chair back for her and she sat down, he gave her all the attention that a lady deserves.

Then he asked her, “What will you eat”

She was still blushing and said “I don’t want anything”

Krishna “OH so we came all the way and sat in this hotel to not eat anything, if we do not order the hotel will send us out, what about an ice cream”.

He went and ordered the best ice cream for her. He ordered a coffee for himself. Suchitra asked him “Why are you not having an ice cream”


Krishna made a face and said “ I don’t like ice cream” . How could he tell her on his first meeting that he did not have so much cash to spend.

Then he told Suchitra that he loves her very much. He fell in love the minute he saw her behind the shop. Suchitra blushed all the more and was very quiet. He kept talking and finally asked her “Why are you not talking at all, please tell me you love me too”

Suchitra replied “I don’t know what to say, I like you too, but I am very much afraid of my parents, if they come to know I am going out with you, they would kill both of us”

Krishna said “Don’t get scared, we will cross that barrier when we come to it, if you love me too, we will meet frequently at places that they cannot see us in”

Suchitra agreed.

Krishna came to know that after completion of her higher secondary, Suchitra had learnt gem cutting during holidays. She attending tailoring classes. She was the only daughter and all her family members were in some business or the other.

Krishna told her his background and told her about his father and how sick he was. He said no matter what he would always take care of his mother till her dying day and his wife should support this.

Their love blossomed and the meetings started getting more and more frequent. It was the hotels first where they would sit and talk for hours, with the waiters giving them irritated looks. Then the movies where they cuddled to each other and thus 2 years progressed.

Then Krishna convinced her to go out with him to lodges and they got cosier. They would go in the morning and come back by the end of day.

Suchitras parents found a lot of change in her, and were suspicious. They kept warning her to be good otherwise she would face dire consequences.

On the other side, Krishnas mother too suspected something and one day asked him “Whom are you going out with, you don’t seem to be normal”

Krishna said “I am in love with someone and intend to marry her”

Swarna asked “And who is this girl, what is her gotram”

Krishna said “Her name is Suchitra”

Swarna “Enna da what a name chi chi”

Krishna “What is there in a name she is such a darling, you have to see her and you will like her immediately”

Swarna was annoyed and said “You don’t have to tell me that, do her parents know”

Krishna looked straight at her and said “not yet”

Swarna was alarmed and said “Ayoo, first go and tell them, it is bad to loaf with a girl before marriage, think if you had a sister would you appreciate her going out with someone”

Krishna laughed and said “All of you have this sister sentiment. First she is from another subsect. , if they come to know that she is in love with me, they would kill her”

Swarna was very angry and agitated “Did you not find someone in our subsect, would their culture mix with ours, how will she adjust to our way of life, how will I explain this to everyone”

Krishna was agitated and angry “Whom do you want to talk to about this, you need not tell anyone, Suchitra is a very nice girl and she will adjust very well”

Saying this Krishna left for work.


To be continued......

 

The hurried wedding & a funeral– chapter 25

Swarna updated Nagaraju on this issue. Whether he understood or not, she would still keep talking to him. By this time Nagarajus condition had become worse. He was being fed by a tube. He could not get up and walk to the bathroom and would always dirty his bed. He needed more attention than before.

Thus 3 more months passed. One afternoon Krishna was busy in his shop, when he got a call. It was Suchitra’s father asking him to come immediately to their house. He did not know what had happened and was nervous. He called his friend Raju and told him that he had received such a call. Both of them took permission and cycled to her house. Suchitra was weeping and so was her mother. Her father was red with anger. When Krishna walked in he jumped up and caught his shirt collar.

Her mother looked at him and said “Are Cheee, he looks like a villain. How did you fall in love with such a face.”

Suchitra wept all the more and Raju had separated her father from Krishna and he was sitting, and he asked “What do you do”

Krishna told him about his job and her mother screamed some more and slapped Suchitra and said “Cheee, see no decent job too, what all dreams I had for you, you have spoilt everything, what did you find in this ugly man”

Suchitra cried out in pain putting both her hands on her cheeks, Krishna’s heart bled to see her suffer thus and he looked at her and asked “Suchi my sweet heart what happened”

Her father got up from the chair in great anger, toppling the chair and the table and charged towards Krishna screaming “Sweet heart it seems, who is your sweetheart da, that too in front of elders, how dare you call her that”

Raju now pooled in and said “both of them are in love with each other…………”. Immediately Suchitra’s mother started wailing and said “If they were just in love, it would not matter, I would have taken her to some other place and got her married to someone. Once married she would have forgotten him and had a better life, things would have been settled for her, but………” as Krishna and Raju were wondering what happened, her father said “I am ashamed to say it, but she is pregnant” he collapsed on the chair and put his face in his hands and sobbed.

Then he got up angrily and removed his belt and said “I think you deserve to be killed for bringing dishonor to this house and my family” Suchitra covered in fright and Krishna and Raju got up and held the man so that he would not beat her.

Krishna then said “I am not a coward, when I say I love your daughter, I mean it heart and soul, I intend to marry her”.

The mother said “We cannot agree for this, it is against our custom, it is better we poison and kill her than getting her married to you”

Raju looked at Krishna and said “If we leave her here they would kill her or send her somewhere, it is better we take a decision now, it is not safe for her to stay here”

Krishna told Suchitra “Please come with me, you are mine and I will take you to my house” Her mom and dad got up swiftly and tried to lock her up, but Raju and Krishna overpowered them and brought Suchitra out.

Raju told Suchitra “See it is not good for you to go to Krishna’s house immediately, you come to my house and in a few days we will arrange for the wedding after which you can go” Raju took Suchitra to his house, but no pregnancy was mentioned.

Swarna was angry and scolded Krishna and asked him how he could do such a thing. Krishna told her he had decided to marry her from day one and now there was no option. If she did not attend the wedding and allow her in this home, he would have to rent another house to stay with her.

As usual whether Nagaraju understood or not Swarna kept telling him that her son had done wrong, and his girlfriend was pregnant. There was no option and they were getting married.

All the friends of Krishna pooled in money and invitations were sent to everyone. They said for the safety of them both, the entire locality and all of Suchitra’s friends and community should know about the wedding. In all grandeur Suchitra wed Krishna.

From the previous night of the wedding, Nagaraju seemed to be a little uneasy, but he could not express it.

After the wedding Swarna rushed home to get preparations to welcome the newly wed. After drinking water she went to look at Nagaraju, he seemed to be sleeping. When she touched his hand, he would usually respond. But today the hands were cold and there was no response. She got scared and quickly called out a number of times, but there was no response. She knew he had died and started wailing and crying. There was no welcome for the newly wed. Suchitra walked home to a funeral.


To be continued..........

 

New home……chapter 26

Suchitra was very disappointed on arriving at her new home. The house was small and dingy. It was very dirty and had things strewn all around. She could not really understand how her stylish Krishna lived here. The house had a dirty smell of phenyl and urine. She felt cheated. She was choking with sorrow at what had happened. Then she got determined that she would change everything.

Nagarajus funeral was done the next day. Some of his brothers came and his uncle who was in the same city came immediately.

The next few days were busy and no one had the time to talk about Suchitra. In her heart Suchitra was happy her father in law had died. Otherwise she would have to live in this stench.

Once all the guests left Swarna confronted Suchitra and said “You have enticed my son, you are so cheap a women, who slept with him before getting married”

Suchitra with tears welling in her eyes said “What about your son, he is not cheap is it? He enticed me and slept with me, why are you blaming me”

Swarna was taken aback. She did not expect her to talk back like this, immediately she said “Oh you have the guts to talk back to me, who are you to talk about my son. He is a man, he can do anything and get away, but women cannot be like that”

Suchitra said “It is the same story, why do you think women are so inferior, we are made inferior by women like you, who think men are great and we ladies have to be submissive”

Krishna who was standing outside the door heard this and told both of them “I don’t want you to fight or argue with my mom and you Amma will look at my wife with respect, no cribbing to her and bad mouthing her” That stopped the argument for that day.

There was a lot of work for Suchitra to do in this house. Things were scattered all round. There was a string in the hall on which all the clothes were piled. The buckets and the mug in the bathroom were filthy like they had never been washed. The bathroom needed to be washed, and it looked like no one thought of it. She realized that though Swarna knew all this, the way life turned out for her had depressed her that she did not want to do anything except cook for her son. She realized she doted on Krishna.

Krishna was the pet boy of the house and did not know much about anything. He had time only to go to work, come home and sleep. In between he had made time to chase Suchitra. Suchitra was teary eyed. But what could she do, she loved Krishna.

She decided to make a change and take charge of things. Every time Suchitra tried to do something Swarna would immediately undo it. Suchitra would fold the clothes lying on the clothes line in the hall and keep it in its place, but immediately Swarna would bring in the wet clothes and put it on that line. Sometimes even while cooking she would give Suchitra a hard time.

It was on one of these days that Krishna got a call from his uncle in Pune. He said his wife was not keeping well and if he could send Swarna to Pune to take care of her. It would be a great help, he said. So Swarna decided to go. The next week she left for Pune. Krishna told her a thousand times to find out the station's name and then get down. He also told her co-passenger that his mother had not travelled anywhere and to take care of her.

This was like a god sent gift to Suchitra. She took out all the things from the house bit by bit and threw out all that was not useful. She single handedly painted the house with very little help from Krishna. She washed all the bedsheets and threw out the mattress on which Nagaraju died. The mattress was all filthy and stained and stinking though it had been put out in the sun for many days. She removed the clothes line from the hall. The entire house now looked bright and sunny. Krishna kept wondering what his mother would say on her return.

Suchitra had to set Krishna right. She started with his morning cup of coffee. He was always given bed coffee by his mother. She strictly told him he will not have such privileges from her. He should set an example for his children and he should first brush his teeth, wash his face and pray to God before coffee. Though Krishna threw tantrums, he had to bend as he saw sense in what she said.

She told him to wash his own plate after eating and wash his own clothes after bathing. She said she did not intend to sit at home like this and would be working soon. If she had to bring income then the work had to be shared. Slowly Krishna bent to her and started helping her around. She then learnt that all of Krishna’s income would go in paying off loans taken by his mother on one pretext or the other. The actual income for the house was zero.

She told Krishna, from now on your salary should come to me. I will manage everything. Your mother is not smart when it comes to money. I can see how she has squandered money on useless things. Suchitra was very good at mathematics and a typical business minded person. She was an opportunist.

Suchitra then went to a gem cutter and requested him to give her some work that she could do from home. He provided her with lots of gems to be cut and every week she would go and get the cash for the work done. She continued to go to her tailoring classes, which was about 2 hours a day. She slowly started taking hold of the household expenses with a tight fist.

Swarna returned after about 5 months. She could not adjust to Pune. As was her custom she kept bad mouthing everybody. The minute her sister in law could resume her normal work, they bought her a ticket and sent her back.

Krishna was wondering what a show down it would be when she came back and saw the changes in the house.

She got down from the auto and rushed in. The house was very bright with new paint. The house was looking spic and span. Though she saw the brighter side, she was angry that her Daughter in law had brought about the changes. She went into the room and checked all the shelves and kept raving that too many precious things were lost. Suchitra never heeded her words and went about her cooking.

Swarna got into the kitchen with rage, more to see what her daughter in law was doing. She noticed Suchitra’s pregnancy was showing. Suchitra asked her “Can I give you coffee”

Swarna replied in a huff “No need I will make it myself” So saying she went about making her own coffee. It was just then that she saw the kitchen top had some garlic on it. She asked “In our house we never eat garlic, who bought this “

Suchitra said “I bought it; you know some items need to have little garlic and it is good for health too”

Swarna made a funny sound imitating Suchitra “Kek, kek, kek, k eke, our tradition does not allow garlic, I knew this would happen the minute you entered. Next you will be cooking non veg and say it is good for health. My Krishna also does not eat anything with garlic”

Suchitra smiling to herself behind the stove said “In my mother’s house we do not eat non veg, so no need to worry about that, Krishna loves the food I cook and he eats garlic, a few days back he even brought a bottle of garlic pickle to go with his food”

Suchitra also added “From tomorrow you can start cooking, you can cook what you like”

Swarna asked her in a mocking tone “And what are you going to do Maharani that you want your mother in law to cook and do household chores”

Suchitra told her “I have to work. There are lots of orders as it is festival season, I can make double the usual money now”

Swarna asked her “Are you working???. Did Krishna allow it, no women in my family has worked,you be a good wife and take care of your child and husband, that is enough”

Suchitra “I don’t have to listen to you, we need the money and I have to work, as a matter of fact, I don’t see why you never worked”

Swarna was shocked at her remark and angrily said “I will see to it that you do not go, let Krishna come back from work”

Suchitra said “let him come, are you threatening me, it won’t help. If you think we can pay back all the debts you have incurred and feed me and the baby after it is born, with just Krishnas salary, you are mistaken. His salary will not be enough for even one meal a day after the baby is born”

Swarna raising her voice “Oh Oh you didn't know about this when you enticed my son ?!!!!”

Suchitra did not raise her voice and said “I did not; it was your son who came after me. He stood outside my shop for days together waiting to get a glimpse of me”

Swarna had tears in her eyes and said “oye Krishna, did you do all this, I cannot believe it, is she lying”

Suchitra did not stop at that “Yes yes I am lying, ask your son when he comes back”

Swarna looked angrily at Suchitra “Yes let him come back today, I will ask him. I will tell him you said, his salary is too little”

Suchitra looked at her mother in law and said “Whether you say it or not, his salary is too little. I wonder how you ran the family on this salary all along”

Swarna was getting more and more annoyed at her daughter in law talking back like this and felt like slapping her. Suchitra could see the anger and just walked out of the kitchen to have her bath.

That evening Swarna was sitting on the doorstep waiting for Krishna to come back. When Krishna came home, he asked his mother “Why are you sitting here”

Swarna “I am waiting for you, I want to talk to you, if you go in that maharani will lecture us”

Krishna understood that the storm was coming so he told her “Amma not on the doorstep let us go inside and talk”

He removed his foot wear and kept it in the rack outside. Then he walked in. Immediately he took out his lunch box and took it to the sink and rinsed it. Swarna kept walking behind him. Then he washed himself and changed into home clothes.

Swarna noticed the change in him and asked “from when did you start taking lunch”

Krishna had no reply and just sat looking at her, and then she said “Your wife tells me your salary is too little”

Suchitra who was heating the dinner came and sat next to him and looked at Swarna with a smile.

Krishna said “Yes it is too little, I know it too”

Swarna asked him “Did we not manage, with that little salary”

Krishna said “You know when appa was there, we were getting money for his medical expenses, we always had little extra out of it, and you took useless loans”

Swarna was furious, “Are you telling me that I squandered money”

Krishna “What I am saying and what you are inferring is not right, I am just saying all these days we had extra money being sent to us. But from now on that money will not come. So my salary is indeed too small to run this house”

Swarna added with anger “Because of that Suchitra wants to go to work, have you heard of a woman in our household going to work””

Krishna “So what, always thinking a woman is not supposed to work is not going to help, if you had worked on coming to this town, all your gold would still be with you”

Swarna with a tearful eyes “Enna da, are you asking your mother to work”

Krishna “I did not say you should, but said if you had things would have been better”

Swarna banged her chest and started wailing. The neighbors were giving curious looks. Suchitra got up and closed the door. She asked Krishna “Why is she wailing and attracting attention, ask her to close her mouth”

Krishna told his Mom “Amma please calm down, there is nothing that can be done now”

Suchitra started serving food to Krishna and also to Swarna who was morose and dull. She did not utter a word and ate in silence. Suchitra too sat with them and started to eat. Swarna kept mumbling that in her days she never ate along with her husband and would eat only after him. Krishna told her “Enough of this nonsense ma, what is there in eating before or after the husband, she is pregnant and do you realize she is eating for two”

Swarna said “Whatever I say seems wrong now, that you have a wife”

After dinner Suchitra cleaned the kitchen while Krishna started to wash the vessels. Swarna peeped into the kitchen and asked Krishna “can the man of the house wash vessels, it is ladies work”

Krishna immediately said “Then come and wash it, why are you standing there”

Suchitra went into the room and lay down to sleep. Swarna was very irritated that she went to rest before her or Krishna and she was stuck in the kitchen washing vessels before sleeping. She kept grumbling that the Daughter in law had no respect for the mother in law. The mother in law had to do all the work in the house.

She did not realize that with her pregnancy advancing Suchitra was doing so much household work and also working.

To be continued...........