A Relationship Worth Cherishing
'Everything about her was a lie. God knows who named her Satya?'
Anagha rushed towards Rudra's room, but her husband Ramesh outwitted her speed. He was the first to see the diary Rudra was reading.
"Rudra, watch something on the television," Anagha patted the ten-year-old boy's cheek. He sprinted to the drawing room.
“Where did he find this?” Anagha tried to close the diary, but Ramesh got engrossed in reading it.
Satya had promised me she would take care of five-year-old Dolly. Trusting her words, I accepted the re-marriage proposal with a widow. Soon after, I left for my official tours, which were very frequent. As a father, I failed to notice that my daughter was getting more and more quieter. Satya always had a concocted reply to my query, expressing my apprehension over the child's behavior. "She has been fine, both at school and home. The teacher praised her for her leadership qualities." Dolly never refuted her words, So I had no reason not to trust Satya. My official tours became very frequent and prolonged. Once, when I was back from a twenty-day tour, Satya told me she was pregnant with our kid. My joys knew no bounds.
"You are going to have a sibling to play with," I told my eight-year-old daughter. Her insipid response didn't strike me as unusual.
Days passed into weeks, months, and years.
I did not know why my teenaged daughter moved to her maternal grandparents' home without even consulting me. Satya told me that Dolly had been extremely rude to her sister during my absence, and was, in general, getting boisterous. Infuriated at her behaviour and decision, I snapped all communications with her.
Nearly ten years later, Dolly’s grandparents fixed her wedding.
"You are giving her in marriage to a widower with a two-year-old son!" I screamed.
"It was her choice," Dolly's grandfather stated.
I planned to confront her. Satya stated that Dolly was trying to emulate her by marrying a man with a child. "She thinks she can be like me. It needs a strong heart to do that."
When I conveyed Satya's message to Dolly, she smiled. "Papa, one doesn't need a strong heart but a kind and generous heart to accept someone's child as your own. Chotti Amma* has taught me this lesson through her attitude towards me."
What a fool I had been. I had turned a blind eye towards all the ill-deeds of Satya, not delving into the truth.
I am writing this diary with pride after I attended my daughter’s wedding today. She looked so happy holding her chubby son, Rudra. He has found a loving mother in my daughter. I knew she would shine in her new role. The mother-son relationship would be worth cherishing.
I blessed her by saying, “Never become like Satya. Don’t give a chance to Ramesh, to say about you that, ‘everything about her was a lie’.”
Closing the diary Ramesh held Anagha’s hands. Tears of gratitude welled up in his eyes.