Astha was lost in her thoughts. It was almost two years since she lived separately from Arvind, her husband, and Akshat, her son who was barely 8-year-old then. Tears were flowing down her eyes and she didn’t try to wipe them. This has become constant suffering and she was trying to overcome it. And had been praying to God to unite her with her family. Her past was not letting her to move on, it was constantly flashing in front of her eyes every moment.
She was twenty-four years old when got married. A typical arranged marriage set up it was but her excitement to get into a relationship was real. She had a bagful of dreams and expectations from her married life. But once she got married, she realised that reality is far-fetched. Expected her husband to be romantic while he was just the opposite. Their nature and interests never matched. The relationship was devoid of love, passion and emotional bonding. But with time and added responsibilities, both of them became busy with their lives. As per societal norms, they were a happy couple without any complaints!
After two years of marriage, Astha gave birth to a lovely boy, Akshat. Motherhood duties made her busier. Astha wasn’t satisfied with her mundane and boring life. A kind of vacuum had entered her life despite she knew she had everything one would ask for. With no expectations as to such, she carried on with her monotonous life. Soon, Akshat began going to school. He was four-year-old then. Arvind was a busy man and Astha had to manage a lot of things independently. Even special occasions like school’s annual function would have to be attended by her, all alone. And then once it so happened, while returning from the annual day, she coincidently met her school friend Samrat. They felt delighted, meeting almost after a gap of thirteen years. Soon, they came to know that their children were good friends, which was a pleasant surprise for them. They exchanged numbers and bid goodbye to each other.
A few days later, Astha received a message from Samrat. There was a sudden spark in her otherwise monotonous life. Exchanging messages had turned out to be a regular thing. They would casually chat about their school life, kids and all things under the sun. Even they would call each other at times, and talk their heart out. Slowly Astha realised that she had developed a liking towards Samrat. He was friendly, open-minded and quite humorous. Since the time Samrat came into her life, Astha found herself in a new avatar. She was happier and cheerful than ever. She was blooming like a young girl who would even enjoy dressing up and flaunting. Her life suddenly took a new turn and she wasn’t willing to let it go.
One day, Samrat confessed that he had a crush on her during school days but he didn’t dare to tell her. He also confessed that his marriage was loveless and he wasn’t happy. Till that time Astha had realised that she had fallen in love with Samrat and she too confessed her feelings for him. Though she knew that she had crossed the boundary by cheating on her husband but her momentarily happiness took over everything. She never wanted to divorce her husband and marry Samrat. She just wanted to enjoy this phase of her life, the attention and care that she was showered with. Four long years it had been. They came closer. Rekindling their life like new lovebirds. Frequent meetings began brewing up. Despite being committed to their own families, their love had reached a new height. There was no boundary that hadn’t been crossed. And the feeling was mutual. This extramarital affair had charged up Astha like never before, and she started living her idea of romance for real. She now had a parallel world. Beyond her commitment to married life and families. Beyond the societal boundaries. And she didn’t want to change a bit about it.
She never thought her husband would come to know about this, since she had been utmost careful. But as it’s being said, the truth cannot be hidden for long. One fateful day, Arvind caught her red handed chatting with Samrat. He grabbed her phone, read the whole chat and understood what was going on behind his back for the last four years. He was completely shocked and broken. He didn’t say a word to Astha and had asked her to shift to her parent’s place leaving their son here. Astha kept on pleading for forgiveness but he didn’t pay heed. And sadly, When he confronted Samrat, he put the whole blame on Astha. She was devastated!
The very next day, he sent her a divorce notice. Her world had collapsed. She never thought about the consequences of her action. She regretted that she could not set her priority straight in life. She could not imagine living without her son. Her child was the biggest sufferer in all these without any fault of his. She was filled with guilt and regret. Her feelings for Samrat vanished at once. She realised that those feelings were fake or momentary, otherwise they wouldn’t have disappeared so easily. Some love stories are a total disaster. She concluded to herself.
Love doesn’t mean always praising your partner or showing your love and care. There are many silent ways of expressing love as her husband did. He would always work hard to secure his family’s future. He was loyal. He cared for her a lot though he didn’t show. Now she was missing all those moments she had spent with her husband and child. She kept cursing herself. It took her a long time to come to terms with reality.
God had given her a lovely family which she destroyed with her own hands. Slowly she realised the goodness of her husband in everything he did. She missed him a lot. She had finally fallen in love with him and promised herself that she would love him all her life, no matter what. She kept sending messages to her husband that she was truly guilty and wanted to start afresh. Though her husband didn’t respond, she didn’t give up. One morning, as she was sitting alone in her parents’ balcony, staring at the lonely sky, the doorbell rang. She came out of her thoughts. She wiped her tears and went to open the door. And was amazed to see there was a bouquet of red roses for her and a note that read “Come back soon. I am missing you. (Arvind)”. Finally, her husband had forgiven her and was willing to start afresh. A new love story began on that day. A story of trust, commitment and respect. A story of acceptance and mutual admiration. A story of two people who are meant to be together, till eternity.
By Mamta Goenka Agarwal
Mamta Goenka Agarwal is a C.A. by degree but actually a homemaker and a believer in spirituality. Passionate about writing, yoga, fashion and music, she daydreams a lot and believes in creating a better future for everyone.
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