Posted:
I'm starting this on Sree's request. Sree, I thought I'd expand this before posting, but not going to have time. I don't know where the story's going, but will try to update whenever I have time, okay?
Under the Hindu Marriage Act and most matrimonial laws, if one spouse leaves, the other can file for Restitution of Conjugal Rights and, if granted, the spouse 'at fault' must cohabitate with the plaintiff. It's an archaic, unfair provision, but it is taken advantage of in Indian courts.
So, for Sree's story, Yuvraj has filed for restitution, and Suhani has had to return to BH, though she is very annoyed at this.
When Suhani returned to Birla House, Pratima refused to let her stay in her room. The guest room was out of bounds too, as Pratima said it needed plastering and painting, which would be starting any day. So Suhani was forced into returning to Yuvraj's room. She also made it clear that she was in no mood to be a good bahu or even act like she belonged in the house. The night of her return she set out her bedding on the floor.
"What are you doing?" asked Yuvraj. "You can't sleep there."
"Why not? It didn't bother you before. I want you as far from me as possible, and I'm sure that's mutual, so I don't understand why you've forced me into coming back here."
"Because you are living with misconceptions. We were doing fine until Rohan interfered and took you away."
Rohan didn't 'take' me away. You and dadi drove me away. I don't want to talk. Goodnight."
He came to where she'd laid down and sat beside her. "Okay, I'll sleep here too. And if you go on the bed or anywhere else, I'll follow. So will you please just stop this and come to sleep?"
She couldn't understand his motive--why was he doing this? Did he want to punish her for leaving? Did he want to quieten his conscience? Had his mother asked him to do this? He was actually fetching his pillow and coming over. She got up and said, "Fine, I'll sleep on the bed." She flung her pillow on the bed in anger, then picked up the cushions and placed them in the middle. They lay down and Yuvraj switched off his lamp, sighing at the thought that it was going to be very hard to get Suhani in a better frame of mind.
When she woke up the next morning, she found the cushions she'd placed between them had been chucked across the room. She went to pick them up, wondering what Yuvraj was trying to prove. This became a silent tussle between them, her placing the cushions between them each night and finding them usually elsewhere when she got up. Sometimes Yuvraj fell asleep before she did or didn't wake up at night, but usually he managed to get rid of them before she woke up. On a few occasions SHE got up at night, found the missing cushions, and put them back.
Strangely, this contentious issue took on the aspect of a game for both of them. She found herself suppressing a smile when she saw the cushions gone or put them back before he woke up. What worried her was that with the cushions gone, they sometimes ended up next to each other on the bed or with one's arm on the other, at which time it was very hard to pretend nothing unusual had happened. She had seen Yuvraj smirking as she removed her hand from across his chest or his from across her waist, but she refused to say a word.
Suhani was nice to Ramesh and Pratima, but icy with Rags and Menka, mostly ignoring them. As for dadi, luckily she was away for now. She dreaded her return and the resumption of the taunting and insults, and wasn't sure how polite she could remain after everything she had done.
Under the Hindu Marriage Act and most matrimonial laws, if one spouse leaves, the other can file for Restitution of Conjugal Rights and, if granted, the spouse 'at fault' must cohabitate with the plaintiff. It's an archaic, unfair provision, but it is taken advantage of in Indian courts.
So, for Sree's story, Yuvraj has filed for restitution, and Suhani has had to return to BH, though she is very annoyed at this.
When Suhani returned to Birla House, Pratima refused to let her stay in her room. The guest room was out of bounds too, as Pratima said it needed plastering and painting, which would be starting any day. So Suhani was forced into returning to Yuvraj's room. She also made it clear that she was in no mood to be a good bahu or even act like she belonged in the house. The night of her return she set out her bedding on the floor.
"What are you doing?" asked Yuvraj. "You can't sleep there."
"Why not? It didn't bother you before. I want you as far from me as possible, and I'm sure that's mutual, so I don't understand why you've forced me into coming back here."
"Because you are living with misconceptions. We were doing fine until Rohan interfered and took you away."
Rohan didn't 'take' me away. You and dadi drove me away. I don't want to talk. Goodnight."
He came to where she'd laid down and sat beside her. "Okay, I'll sleep here too. And if you go on the bed or anywhere else, I'll follow. So will you please just stop this and come to sleep?"
She couldn't understand his motive--why was he doing this? Did he want to punish her for leaving? Did he want to quieten his conscience? Had his mother asked him to do this? He was actually fetching his pillow and coming over. She got up and said, "Fine, I'll sleep on the bed." She flung her pillow on the bed in anger, then picked up the cushions and placed them in the middle. They lay down and Yuvraj switched off his lamp, sighing at the thought that it was going to be very hard to get Suhani in a better frame of mind.
When she woke up the next morning, she found the cushions she'd placed between them had been chucked across the room. She went to pick them up, wondering what Yuvraj was trying to prove. This became a silent tussle between them, her placing the cushions between them each night and finding them usually elsewhere when she got up. Sometimes Yuvraj fell asleep before she did or didn't wake up at night, but usually he managed to get rid of them before she woke up. On a few occasions SHE got up at night, found the missing cushions, and put them back.
Strangely, this contentious issue took on the aspect of a game for both of them. She found herself suppressing a smile when she saw the cushions gone or put them back before he woke up. What worried her was that with the cushions gone, they sometimes ended up next to each other on the bed or with one's arm on the other, at which time it was very hard to pretend nothing unusual had happened. She had seen Yuvraj smirking as she removed her hand from across his chest or his from across her waist, but she refused to say a word.
Suhani was nice to Ramesh and Pratima, but icy with Rags and Menka, mostly ignoring them. As for dadi, luckily she was away for now. She dreaded her return and the resumption of the taunting and insults, and wasn't sure how polite she could remain after everything she had done.
