Marriage of deceit.
Dr Pushpa Ramchandani
Copyright 2013 by Dr Pushpa Ramchandani
Smash words Edition
Preface
If you want to save a broken marriage you must do it to consider whether or not the relationship is worth fixing in the first place. Are your bad feelings temporary or permanent? Have you been hurt so badly that you will never forgive him. It is better to live a lonely life than to live a married lonely life
Scars of infidelity can never be erased.
(unknown Quotes)
She was born in an aristocratic family. She was the apple of her parent’s eyes .She was beautiful and had a superlative grace. She had a special bond with her mother. There was perfect understanding between the two. They could read each other’s mind from gestures. She was an intelligent student and had a postgraduate degree in business management.
Her parents chose a suitable match for her, though not matching in any way to their status but known to them .She also consented being taken in by his charm and looks. Her married life took off well but alas! It did not last long. After the birth of their first baby, Rohit demanded money to start a new business, which was provided by her rich parents. Soon he started cheating on her .His behavior changed and he mercilessly beat her resulting in miscarriage of their second unborn issue. She had no choice but to leave him and brought her son along.
She braved the storms of life and educated her son. She had heard that marriage is a gamble but destiny played such a role that she could not fore see the deceit in her marriage.
After years of struggle she found a companion who stood by her. Rohit was completely shattered by blows of destiny as if he was reaping what he had sown.
“There are winds of destiny that blow when we least expect them. Sometimes they gust with the fury of a hurricane; sometimes they barely fan one’s cheek. But the winds cannot be denied, bringing as they often do a future that is impossible to ignore.” ― Nicholas Sparks.
This book is dedicated to my parents, who in spite of their limited resources educated me. In that era it was taboo to send girls for higher education. I was inspired by my father, who created an ambitious nature to achieve higher goals in life. Being a doctor I come across different characters and their real life stories, based on these incidences I have tried to depict pros and cons of arranged and love marriages.
Acknowledgements,
I sincerely thank my spouse for helping me at every step of building this book.
MARRIAGE OF DECEIT
Chapter 1
Finally the day of our first meeting was fixed. The venue was our home. I know this was a deliberate step to show off with our huge mansion and impress the boy and his family with our riches. It was mid-day when they reached. The doorbell rang and with it vibrated all the nerves of my body. Our servant went running to the door and opened it. Mum and dad were right at the entrance to greet them. Mum and Reena aunty encircled their arms around each other and hugged hard. After all old pals were meeting after ages. The men greeted one another with a formal hello, came into the living room and made themselves comfortable.
Mum called out, “Asha, look who is here;”
When I entered the room, Rohit was the first person I set my eyes on. My heart missed a beat. He really was tall dark and handsome. He looked entirely different from the picture which had been shown to me.
He was the only son of a doctor. He was tall dark and classily handsome with a pleasing personality. His blade sharp nose, high cheek bones and an assortment of even features so appealing that I gave him a long stealing glance to appreciate the glamorous looks. Had a very good height of 6feet, he carried himself erect and with a smart gait. Broad shoulders, with a tapered chiseled cut. An ostrich longish neck and raven black hair. The balanced symmetry he bore was so flawless. He wore golden framed glasses through which the sparkling eyes spoke of intelligence. His slanting smile was just the smile which can attract the attention of every woman. On the whole he was the man of my dreams.
“Is this love at first sight?” I asked myself.
His younger sister was a year or two younger than him. His father, a doctor, had his own medical practice and kept fairly busy. His mother, Reena, was from a very rich family. She was a very religious lady with an extremely sweet nature. My mother and Reena were childhood friends. They grew up together, as next door neighbors, studied together from kinder garden to senior Cambridge in the same school. They maintained their friendship up to Reena’s marriage. My mother studied further to complete her masters in economics and lost touch with each other. Now they were keen on changing their friendship into a relationship.
When the marriage proposal had come from a distant city of Lucknow, I showed my hesitancy .We were in Mumbai. I was born and brought up there, and adjustment in a small city might be not only difficult, but impossible.
“Sweet heart,” my mum had said, it’s always better to go for a known family than an unknown one.” Then keeping her hand on my shoulder she continued, “The boy’s mother, Reena has been a good friend of mine, right from childhood. You meet the boy and his family. Its only when you agree, then we will proceed further.”
Dad who was a mute listener all the time added, “Asha dear, you cannot reject a proposal just because of the distance. The world is becoming smaller now. It is the capital of U.P. and a matter of only 2 hours to reach by air. All that matters is an affluent loving family and a good boy, to provide all the comforts that you are used to.”
Since I had not fallen in love with anyone even up to this age, arranged marriage was the only option left. So I said, “Mum if I don’t like the boy please don’t force me to say yes.”
She kept a loving hand on my shoulder and said, “Asha, I know the boy is a dark complexioned, smart guy and like most of the other boys he is not crazy about fair skin. So I don’t think there should be any question raised about your complexion. Just go with an open mind, you meet them and then take your decision. Then she whispered, “Baby, you remember the previous two proposals didn’t work out just because they were keen for a fair skin girl. So just give it an open thought. We all know you are so good looking graceful with attractive features and elegant. You are so beautiful, well educated, and smart. I do not agree that with all these qualities you should be obsessed by complexion only.”
“Mum, I don’t want any compromise at any stage. To accept me just because I belong to an ultra-rich family. I want the boy to love me as what I am.” This was my fear of mind and expressed it to her.
Rohit had a good robust build. Looked smart in a silver grey suit, with a black striped tie. The sparkling white shirt appeared new. His raven black hair was short trimmed. The golden framed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, gave him a scholar like look. The sparkle of his eyes focused at me as I made my entry in the living room.
He stood up to greet me with a hello, aunty Reena gave me a big hug and then the two friends literally got lost in taking an account of the past 25 years from each other. The two men were discussing business, though there was nothing in common. One was a medical practitioner and the other a diamond dealer. The four of us, I and my brother, Rohit and his sister were talking about the latest movies. Then I and Rohit got busy
in our own discussion. I think mum and dad were shrewd enough to read the positive frame of mind of Rohit and mine too. Mum spurted, “ Rohit , will you two like to go out for a stroll and have a cup of coffee in some restaurant?” Probably she wanted to give us an opportunity to interact with each other and exchange our views.
We went in our chauffer driven car to my favorite restaurant and sat there opposite to each other in silence. It was a very awkward scene, both were lip tied just looking around till our order of cappuccino arrived. Finally I broke the silence. “Rohit, don’t you have any questions to ask? I can tell from your looks that I am not the type of girl you are interested in.”
He just nodded his head in negativity. So I darted a question which was haunting me for quite some time, “what is the importance of fair skin in your life? I mean would you prefer a girl with a fair complexion or a dusky complexion like mine.” This way I conveyed to him that this was precisely the reason I strolled out with him for a cup of coffee.
He was rather startled at my direct attack, but making an effort to maintain his composure, he replied in an embarrassing tone, “I’ve always preferred a good nature to looks and complexion. When you have to live with a person it’s the character, nature and adjustability which really matters.” After that he added in a soft tone, “Well frankly speaking, you look so pretty.” He gave a casual glance travelling all over me and remarked “Complexion is not everything.”
With his skeptical look I could figure out from his expression that I was exactly the kind of partner he was looking for. The look on my face was priceless, blushing, flustered and shy. I raised my brow and whispered. “All this was a bit too personal for our first meeting, but you can understand the apprehension in our minds.’ He replied in monosyllabic, “Yes.”
Then he mustered the nerve to nod his head and accept the proposal. He extended his right hand across the table and it tightened around mine leaving me in a stare. I heard him say “We are made for each other.” I simply enjoyed the attention and company of this attractive charming man. So finally I had found the man who was serious about a relationship and not only attracted to my father’s wealth, I thought and held back my thumping heart from being audible.
Then probably anticipating my other big apprehension he added, “Ours is a smaller city, and of course not so fast like Mumbai, but still being a capital, it’s quite modern and a clean city. I fear that you may have any adjustment problems.” I shook my head and added “I am a very adjusting person by nature. All that matters is happy peaceful married life.” He could read from the tilt of my head and my body language that the decision had practically been made in my mind.
Then after a faint smile he added, “Mine is the city of UmraoJaan who was accomplished at shayari and seduction. It is a city of gastronomic lip-smacking kebab and paranthas. Where the Id festival stocks narrow lanes with twinkling lights, milk and sewiyaan. It’s only here that young fellows in delicate achkans, finally come to a halt. But let’s not relegate the city to myths and fables, fantasy and allure. The city now takes immense pride in its generous sprinkling of malls, similar looking structures offering global indulgences like multiplexes”.
“ There are so many places where you can buy chikkan suits, pair them with dark sunglasses for an elite luncheon or simply don a salwar-kurta to pass a hot intolerable afternoon with no electricity due to load-shedding. Chikkan-kaari - complicated embroidery on see-through fabric, not just above but below the cloth too, showing off its intricacy in shadows; much like Lakhnavi women glimpsing from veils and hijabs, quickening their steps past tea-shops where men lounge.”
Rohit took so much interest in describing his city, that I gave him full liberty to go on and on. “Ganj-ing was the in-thing to do in Lucknow; Ganj-ing as in loitering up and down HazratGanj, once a wide boulevard, with stops like the British Council Library, Burma Bakery and Mayfair Theater. Ganging can be described as window shopping to look at the western clothes hanging along the pavements around the love lane.”