The dining room was a mess; the shreds of broken glasses were scattered all over the floor. It seemed as if some Tsunami had just come over. But the Mehta household was getting used to it. Mrs. Mehta tried to keep calm, though it was difficult.
“Maya, come. Bring the bin and pick these broken pieces. Be careful and don’t injure yourself”, quipped Mrs. Mehta. She picked rest of the things and resumed working.
‘koo, koo’, the cuckoo shouted ; it was 6 pm. Sheetal’s room door was still closed. It had been four hours since the afternoon episode; yet she had not come out. Mrs. Mehta; her mother in law recalled the chain of incidents of last few months.
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Today was third marriage anniversary of Sheetal and Nikhil. The fun and frolic atmosphere of the housed was turned into a tense one after a huge show down by Sheetal. No one could interpret and decipher the erratic and abnormal behavior shown by otherwise quiet Sheetal. As expected, it was followed by a huge fight between husband and wife. Mrs. Mehta was a supportive and loving lady who always treated her daughter in law as her daughter. She had decided to forgo the incident.
But as if, Sheetal was unrelenting; she had started initiating fights with her mother in law. Of late, she had decided behaving abnormally. She would leave the house open and go out for hours or she would not attend her toddler son for hours. Every family member could notice some disturbing element in her.
Slowly and gradually, Nikhil discovered a hidden fact about his wife that simply shocked him. Sheetal had been on anti psychotic drugs for a while. On further coaxing, he realized that she was on those pills much before marriage! Now that was enough to blow his patience away.
Same evening Nikhil had a word with his mother.
“Maa, they cheated us. They kept us in dark regarding her condition. Had we known earlier, I wouldn’t have married her. Her family destroyed our lives”.
Mrs. Mehta took a while to absorb the truth, but a patient and calm lady she was, she answered, “I understand your agony Nikhil. Let’s see what we can do; don’t forget that you now have Kush to take care of’.
“Maa, you still are so optimistic and positive, this is not done”, Nikhil retorted.
“Sometimes there is no happy choice, Nikhil, only one less grievous than the others. What if she would have been diagnosed now? Let’s see what we can do”.
Post sessions with psychiatrist, who was optimistic about Sheetal’s recovery if medicine taken regularly, Mrs Mehta had persuaded her son to be supportive and patient with his wife. She had already forgiven her and her family and had decided to take care of Sheetal herself.
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“Mummy, I am sorry. I couldn’t control my bout”.
Mrs. Mehta got up from her chair and hugged Sheetal tightly; together they will sail through.
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The above story is an entry into #TheChoice a Five00 entry.
Check out event guidelines here: https://writers.artoonsinn.com/five00-6/
Check out Pooja’s space here: https://writers.artoonsinn.com/author/pooja-gupta/
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Photo by M. T ElGassier
