PART - 1 THE SLAP
It has been three yrs now since she left the place that had been her home for the better yrs of her life. It wasnt easy to live without the people she loved and respected but time and life stops for no one. Not even her.
Anupama leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes letting two round teardrops roll down her face and sat reminiscing everything that happened on that fateful day where she lost everything she had ever valued and cherished but gained something much more precious.
Flashback starts
It was a normal morning like every other. Atleast as normal as a morning can be in the shah house. Everyone sat around the breakfast table waiting for the breakfast to be served. She came out of the kitchen holding a casserole filled with hot theplas and a tray with all types of chutney you can possibly imagine. She went towards her baa bapuji to serve them only to find out that leela has refused to let her serve her and instead asked kavya to do it. It hurt. The cold attitude hurt but she plastered a smile on her face and went to serve the others. The same thing happened with paritosh. He refused to be served by her too. Her "masale daani" hands were too much for him to bear it seemed.
This time she couldn't reign in her hurt and anger.
"serve yourself if you have a problem with me serving you food" she spoke with a quite conviction while setting plates for samar and kinjal.
"kinjal serve me breakfast" he barked the order at his wife who was helping his mother in serving the breakfast while shooting daggers with his eyes at his mother.
Anupama stopped dead in her tracks. No. This couldn't be happening. Was history repeating itself? Hey kanhaji i knew paritosh took a lot after his father but could my nurturing not have quashed his nature and his father's blood in him?
She decided enough was enough. She felt a slight pang in her chest thinking how things could have been soo different had her own mother-in-law stopped her son from treating her this way as soon as it began. She won't make the same mistakes.
She gently laid an arm on kinjal's forearm just as she was picking up the casserole to serve him, effectively stopping her. She ignored her daughter-in-law's questioning gaze on her and looked straight ahead at the object of her ire, her eldest son.
She could feel the entire family's eyes boring upon her and baa preparing to give her another telling off but she paid them no heed. 'their lectures can wait but disciplining toshu cannot'.
"i said serve yourself toshu. Kinjal here is not your servant. Treat her with respect" she snarled at him while directing her intense glare at him.
"she is my wife i can speak to her however way i wish" he glared back at her with a fury unparalleled in his eyes.
"the one who would quack in her shoes at my anger and would cry at everything while saying "sori" is now suddenly the messiah for women empowerment?" vanraj smirked in her direction while casually dipping his thepla in chutney.
She whirled around to face him only to find kavya smirking at her tauntingly, vanraj pretending she doesnt exist and baa looking at her with fury written all over her face.
"i was suppressed for all these years in my life from the moment i stepped into this house. I will not let the same happen to my daughter in law" she told him firmly with an unrestrained ferocity that would have made a lesser man flinch though her eyes softened the moment she looked at her daughter-in-law who she has always thought of as a daughter, standing alone in a corner trying to make sense of the situation.
"so what if my grandson asked kinjal to serve him breakfast? Has this kinju baby become soo high and mighty that she wont even serve him breakfast? If i let you have your way with things you will starve my grandson to death. You have started enjoying creating a tamasha in the home every day. Atleast let us have breakfast in peace." baa spoke in her usual poisonous tone.
She closed her eyes in pain without facing her baa and gulped back the painful memories that she could feel slowly filling her mind up.
She finally gathered enough strength to confront her baa and turned around.
"baa none of us would have been in this situation if you had told mr. Shah to treat me with respect the first time he misbehaved with me and ordered me around. You kept encouraging his misbehavior and he started thinking he can treat me whichever way he wants. I bore all your taunts for the past 26 yrs to keep peace at home. I didnt answer him back to not trouble you and baapuji. I didnt talk in a loud voice to my children's father. But what did i get in return baa? Betrayal? Pain? Agony? How can i let the same thing happen to my own kids? I know you- " but before she could complete her sentence she felt a hand collide with her cheek with a loud "whoosh".
She reeled back a bit from the blow and could feel her eyes watering and her vision blurring as tears rolled down her face. She quietly caressed her stinging cheek with her hand to look up while being numb. Her baa had just slapped her.
She could feel samar and nandini and kinjal surrounding her but she couldn't understand what they were saying. Were they even saying something? She didnt know. She just felt her entire body go numb.
Flashback ends
She was brought out of her reverie by the sound of the doorbell of her home. She quickly wiped the tears that made their way down her face and watched the time. '9:00 pm. Hey kanhaji i am late'. She rushed to the door to open it and welcome her strength, her husband, the painful memories and the stinging of the cheek from baa's slap all forgotten.
The slap that had changed her life forever. For the better.
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