Chapter 3- Some Shocks And A Miracle.
"Life takes us to unexpected places sometimes. The future is never set in stone, remember that."
Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus
"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Of late, he had a few moments that came unexpectedly in his life.
He has been on the receiving ends of a few surprises these past few days- months to be more precise. It would not be wrong of him to say the past few months have been nothing less of a rollercoaster ride for him. He moved back to his home Delhi, after a two-year stay in Mumbai, had new neighbors and got married to one of them all in the short span of six months.
The biggest surprise of it all was her coming to his life.
With her in the picture - his resolve, his decisions, even his resistances seem to be fading.
Ever since she came to live next door, his life began changing and he was too far-gone before he even realized it.
Their marriage was a deal, a contract of sorts for both of them - he would get the custody of his daughter and she would be a married woman with a child in the process.
Begrudgingly he had consented to the match for the sake of his Ruhi. He wanted his daughter' custody at any cost and if the cost was to be lifelong torment at the hands of a woman he could barely stand - he figured for his daughter it was still nothing. Ruhi is the reason he lives, for her he could even live with the woman he could not stand for a moment.
It had not occurred to him that the marriage with it would bring in with it a inexhaustible host of surprises. Yep life has been a never-ending surprise store for him since then.
It is the gift that keeps on giving to him.
She has become a constant source of his amusement and awe ever since as much as his annoyance. Though the amusement and awe far outweigh his annoyance these days.
His wife Ishita never ceases to amaze him.
However, with her arrival, some ugly facts came to light not just in front of him but his family as well but more importantly about his family.
A monster was unearthed as were some skeletons and some harsh truths in the process.
One rocked his world, while the other ended up disgusting him, but the most difficult of all was learning he wasn't the only one who suffered all this time, learning the failure of his marriage might have hit him worst, but it didn't spare those he loved as well.
He learned his wife was being harassed and was almost molested within the confines of their home by his own brother-in-law at that. He regrets even now, things had to come to this that his wife had to face something so horrifying as much as he finds himself guilty and ashamed of being unable to protect her when needed. It was once the shock had sunk in and he had faced himself in the mirror after she left with her mother that he realized he was unable to face himself for letting her down.
He was guilty of not proving her innocent.
The guilt gnawed away at his soul, and he chose to leave aside all societal pressures and the shackle of his family for the sake of the truth, for what was right.
In between these, he learned his ex had almost committed suicide due to her alleged depression. Though he knew her enough by now to know even before she revealed to him it was all a charade. One she intended to use to threaten him, only she underestimated how trivial she is to him now.
He felt he deserved a breather at least now - only life did not agree with him. He had barely gotten over the shocking discovering that his brother had tried to cheat in his exams, had his brother-in-law framed for the same when he witnessed his mother-in-law lying on a road in a pool of her own blood after she was hit by a car.
It had not occurred to him this incident would bring forth with it long dead memories of a humiliating past, one which affected two people close to him.
The worst part though was learning the ugly truth.
His brother Romi was the culprit who had sunk so low - out of revenge, out of jealousy. Romi believed Raman favored Mihir more than him, loved him more than him. How could he make him understand that never was, could be the case. His two brothers - he has never been partial, how can you choose who you love more when you cannot live without either of them.
He was harsher with Romi only because he wanted so much for his brother, expected things of him. He cannot understand where he went wrong and how.
He had been furious with Ishita when she had stopped him from slapping some sense into his brother but now with a calmer mindset he can see the sense in his wife' opinion. What he needed was time and patience with Romi, Ishita had it right, and he cannot solve this issue with anger and punishments.
He never realized how overlooked his brother felt - his parents were so caught up in his broken marriage and his kids they neglected his siblings. When Simi brought Parmeet home one day as her boyfriend, they too fell under his spell, and assumed she chose well for herself, their failings with him made them apprehensive about their own decisions. His sister now is paying the price of that mistake, and Romi and Rinki who deserved love and pampering were lost in the wreck that was his life and family after his divorce.
His parents were so lost in their guilt in choosing the wrong girl for him they never realized their guilt made them err even more.
Unknowingly he too added insult to the injury Romi suffered by making it seem he favors Mihir more.
His brother looks up to him, hero-worships him and he never understood how it might affect him - his apparent indifference. He never realized what he was doing until the MMS scandal came out - until he talked with Romi and later when he narrated the truth to his wife - it was she, who had cut to the heart of the matter, once he shared with her what Romi said to him. This woman who has barely spent six months in his family' proximity - less than four months married to him understood what he couldn't in all this time, she got into the twisted psyche that made his brother become a criminal.
As much as he had raged on about sending Romi to jail for the scandal, his family, especially his mother, cornered him. It made matters worse when the Iyers came to know of the fiasco, especially Mihika; it traumatized her all over again. His father in law requested him to not file a case; Mihika finally had moved on and got a job in a good place. A court case would mean hell for her, coupled with Amma' recent accident they were in no position to handle these things.
He found it mindboggling to even deal with things, though he understood her parents were worried for Ishita to want to shut things down. He had assured her nothing would happen to her, he won't let anyone dare raise a finger against his wife, his family will have to deal with him if anyone so much as raises their voice against Ishita but gave up his attempts once they pleaded with him. Somewhere he felt they were bothered by him paying Amma' hospital dues too.
What could he do in the face of things then, he found himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Sometimes there is no easy way out, any simple solution to a problem. Things are easier said than done after all.
The only good thing that came of the truth was it strengthened Mihir and Mihika' relationship even more, it assured everyone Mihir was never the one who had stooped so low.
He is still trying to figure out how to make Romi realize he will always be important and loved - how all he wants for his baby brother is the very best. As he also wants his brother to realize the damage, his actions could have caused. He still does not know how to do that but he does know one thing; with Ishita by his side, he will not make any more mistakes.
She showed him a way of punishing Romi without their families becoming news again, Romi was to have all his allowances stopped. All the things that Raman got for him - from his bike to his expensive phones, all confiscated. Romi has to learn being responsible - he has to earn for himself, maintain his own expenditures without any help from anyone. He can neither work for his brother nor make use of his name or contacts - he has to become independent on his own.
Though he knows all this amounts to nothing, he hopes this will work in some way. Romi needs to grow up.
Somewhere even though he knows, he is not to blame, for any of this he feels responsible for the state of affairs his family is in now. Had it not been for his rotten ex-wife and their failed marriage his family, his parents would not have suffered so much today.
He cannot curse his stars enough for the misfortune he dealt out to his family by his failed marriage, as he cannot thank them enough for sending them Ishita.
The thought brings a smile to his face. She really is phenomenal. He can admit it now his daughter, young as she is in following her heart found the best possible woman in this world - not just for herself but her family too.
He had been annoyed, pissed and sulked when he finally relented and agreed to marry her. He could not understand then of all the women in the world how could his daughter have loved that woman, the one who always fought with him, always lectured him.
He could not have been more miffed with her choice then especially once his father convinced everyone regarding Ishita, now he sees the wisdom that prevailed in his father and the love that his daughter' innocence understood.
There could have been no woman perfect for his family - Ishita, his wife, really is the one who was the missing piece of the puzzle, she truly is the miracle they desperately needed.
Cricket
1.2k