“Her husband and her kids- she is happy in her little world,
Ignorant about the catastrophe that would soon be hurled.”
Raina was a happily married homemaker. She has been married for nine years now, with two kids, one 7-year-old son and another four-year-old daughter. Her husband is a Senior Manager in a reputed multinational company. Throughout these nine years, she had only one motto- to dedicate her life to her husband and raise her kids well. She was content with her life.
A few days later, something happened that turned her world upside down completely. Her husband came with his secretary, saying, “ Look Raina, I married you under family pressure, but I never loved you. I always wanted to marry a posh working woman and Madhurima is exactly the life partner I have always wanted. See, I don't want to turn things ugly in Court, you have complete custody of our children, and I will send you alimony every month. Let's end this on a good note.”
Raina was too shocked to react. Nine long years, she had given him, wearing mangalsutra and sindoor of his name, bearing his surname and children, taking care of his smallest needs, ensuring that he never had to worry about his children as she was there at home. She had even served his mother day and night for the first four years before his mother passed away. All her efforts, dedication, and sacrifice went in vain. She was broken into thousands of pieces.
She wanted them to get their Karma. She wanted them to suffer terribly, just like she had. She wanted their world to tear apart just as hers had. Taking revenge would not leave any scope for her to build a better world for herself. Hence, she left it upon God for them to bear the fruits of their Karma.
After their divorce, when her husband had repeatedly tried to send him alimony, she refused saying, “I don't need your money!“
It was 9 years ago she completed her master's. She had no work experience, apart from that of a cook and nanny.
After a lot of hassle, she finally got appointed as a nanny. With a meager salary, she managed to get her children into government schools, provide a roof on top of their heads, arrange for a square meal, and take care of other necessities. Then, she realized that there are many paying guests in the area, where students and working professionals do not get home-cooked food easily. She thought of starting a tiffin service business. She pledged her gold jewelry to get a loan for an initial investment.
Her tiffin service business, within a year, bloomed beautifully. She could hire three staff and earn more than one lakh. She could send her children to better schools and even repaid the loan. She was financially independent, giving her kids the best life possible. Her children knew how much she had to struggle, so they had grown up at an early age, taking care of all the responsibilities at home while their mother struggled in the outside world to get them a better life. Life was in itself a huge struggle, but society made it worse for them. Her relatives blamed her saying, “Couldn’t you tie your husband to yourself?” Now who would tell these illiterate people that a man with no character or moral values would eventually cheat no matter what you did for them? Her children were sometimes bullied in their school but they tried to stand strong in the best way possible since they did not want to increase trouble for their mother.
These things initially bothered Raina a lot. Although she was strong in front of her children, these things shattered her from the inside. She used to cry all alone, there was no one to lend a shoulder, forgot about advancing a helping hand. But she knew very well that she couldn’t sit on it. She had to hustle day and night to survive and give the best life to her children.
Seven years had passed since her husband cheated on her and left her. Her son was 14 years now. He wanted answers from his father. He wanted to know why his father abandoned his mother just like that and since then, never asked about them. Raina was initially sceptical about this, she did not want her son to meet his father. They had already been through a lot, and the wounds had healed to some extent, but going on the same road would again dig those wounds. But then, she thought her son was entitled to get the answers. After, it was his father.
Raina took them to their old house. A woman's painful screams could be heard. The door wasn't locked from the inside. As she went inside with her son, she saw her ex-husband drunk, mercilessly beating Madhurima and hurling unimaginable slurs at her. Seeing Raina, Madhurima rushed to her crying, begging for help.
This was all Raina had ever wanted. She had wanted her to suffer the most brutally, and when her desire came true, she did not rejoice at her suffering. Instead, she picked her up wiped her tears, and even gave her shelter at her place.
They lodged an FIR against her ex-husband and currently, he is behind bars. The legal proceedings will go on as Madhurima has filed for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty and domestic violence. Then, Raina got Madhurima a job through one of her customers.
After this fiasco, Madhurima asked Raina, “Dear, even a thousand lifetimes would be less to thank you for what you've done for me. Have you forgiven me?”
To this, Raina replied, “No. Even a thousand lifetimes will be less to heal from the trauma you've given me or even forgive you. But you know what, it's not easy to say no.”
“The soul, when hurt, desperately craves for justice.
But the same soul melts upon witnessing injustice.”