Preamble: During Blogchatter's A2Z challenge during the month of April 2024, I am writing mini stories on various subjects and characters on each day of the month except on Sundays. The name of the protagonist shall begin with the alphabet assigned for the day.
" Why do you want to go to Kodaikanal for a school reunion after 15 years?" asked Inbanathan to his wife Latha.
"We never had such a reunion in so many years. This would be the first one ever! There would be so many things to catch up with friends!" said Latha who was speaking about the reunion of the 2005 batch of the St Peters Matriculation school, where she had studied till her 12th class.
Inbanathan, a software engineer basically from Coimbatore lived in Bangalore with his wife and two girls aged 5 and 3 years. As his wife was very keen to go, he decided to go to his native place with the girls during the weekend so that his parents would have the opportunity to meet their grandchildren. They would also be able to pitch in for tending to the kids in Lata's absence. It was agreed that Latha would take a bus to Kodaikanal and come to Coimbatore after the event so that they could all return together to Bangalore.
The grandparents were very happy to see the girls. They made the weekend memorable for them taking them to Black Thunder, the biggest water theme park in Asia and also to the VOC park & zoo. The girls had exciting things to relate to their mother when she joined them on the night of Sunday. The plan was to relax during the day time on Monday in Coimbatore and return in the night to Bangalore.
After the family was back in Bangalore, Inba began to notice some distance in the behaviour of his wife. Contrary to expectations, she was not speaking much about the reunion. When asked , she merely kept mumbling that "it went well" When the' mood off' continued for over a week, Inba was concerned. He found Latha to be absent minded and not paying attention to what the children were saying. Sometimes, she ran to the balcony along with her mobile phone and seemed to be in a conversation.
One day, three months later when Inba returned from office, he found the house empty. Looking around, he finally found a chit on the dressing table saying " I am leaving. I met Senthil at the reunion. Our love for each other was rekindled and we cannot live without each other. I am taking the girls. Don't worry. They will be safe and well looked after .. Senthil has promised me that."
Inba was shocked and did not know how to respond. He did not have an address to which he could go and at least bring back his girls. The next few days were panic ridden. He frantically called everyone whom he thought would be able to guide him. Some advised against filing a police complaint in view of the stigma attached, while others opined that it was the only sensible thing to do. Finally, a police complaint was filed without much fan fare. Not much progress was reported by the department even after months.
In the meanwhile, Inba came to know that Latha and Senthil had moved to some remote area in the city limits of Hyderabad. By then he was totally exhausted. He had no energy to take action in the matter. After the initial show of solidarity the family and friends had returned to their routine life. As it is , Inba was slipping in achieving the monthly targets at work. They were condoning it for the moment out of sheer kindness. This cannot be expected to continue as a business is about profits and not charity.
He also received information that there was a storm on the side of Senthil 's family as well. His wife filed for divorce and took their only child to live with her parents. According to the 'source', everything is not well with the run away couple either. After the initial excitement of rekindling an old flame, the practical difficulties of day to day living was beginning to hit them. They had given up steady sound jobs to grab those below their worth and competence. Senthil who had been initially treating the girls like princesses was now getting irritated with them frequently. He was also missing his son.
Then it happened. Inba received a feeler from a distant relative saying Latha was willing to return if she could be forgiven for the lapse that occurred due to the 'force of circumstances'. Two days later he received a call. It was his elder girl Divya. "Daddy we want to see you!" she wept. Inba did not know what to do. His parents had already been putting pressure on him for a second marriage. He had stalled it saying it was not possible as first formal divorce had to be obtained.
In India, a decision is not just about two people making it. Whole of society have and want a say in it. Loneliness, deteriorating health and performance at work was killing Inba as well. He had to take a decision sooner than later.
NB: This post is a part of challenge #BlogchatterA2Z
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