Chapter-6

My mother-in-law also approached me in the wee hours of one morning to take care of me within a few days after my pregnancy confirmation. Her arrival was not only unexpected, but not ceremonial as well. She did not understand it was necessary to put us into the picture of her approaching, and she showed up with all the bags and pieces of baggage.

And before long, I came to know about another shocking news that she would have been staying there with me during the entire pregnancy. Genuinely speaking, her arrival did not give me joy of any sort. Then I had to know the piece of news that she was going to stay with me all the time, which took the colour off my face. It got tricky for me to maintain a smile, even the fake one on my face, after that bloody news.

That was the other thing that she was extremely excited about with the information that she would become a grandmother soon. And in excitement, she could not stop herself from coming over there, and she did not understand it was necessary to inform us about her arrival so that we could prepare ourselves mentally for her. I was shocked to see her eyes were twinkling with happiness, her face was radiant, and she was beaming with a smile. There was no trace of exertion on her face from the exhaustive overnight journey by bus. As if she was accustomed to traveling consistently.

At first, I assumed it was Ravi's mind behind her arrival all of a sudden. I thought it might be that he would have called her from the village to keep an eye on me 24 by 7 and would have told her about all my misadventures over the phone, but down the road, I could read Ravi's face; he was equally not happy with her arrival. And so, her appearance was not only unexpected but also unwelcome for both of us.

Undoubtedly, Ravi was showing on his face that he was overjoyed, but that day I came to know from his body language that he did not love his mother either. He left for his office at once, making a preteens that he could not come back home that night because he had some urgent work to accomplish. But it was not hidden from me what sort of critical work he had to complete. Anyway, I felt terrible for my mother-in-law for the first time.

I took my mother-in-law straight to her room. So that she could get some rest, but she did not like how I was doing her hospitality too much. She went to the kitchen directly, prepared two cups of tea for herself, and served me too. The tea was indeed good, but I didn't particularly appreciate how I had to follow her all the time. A little later, I got it; it was not easy to keep standing and pursuing her.

So, I made some excuses and sat inside my room. More than an hour had passed, but she had not sat in the chair so far. Later on, I discovered she had cooked all the lunch meals independently, without letting the cooks come into the kitchen. My cook was afraid that he would be fired from the job soon if she stayed there longer.

After that, she got after me. According to her, I wore a tight dress that did not allow the baby's moment to be free. I literally made my face when she accosted me about my dress. She instructed me to wear some soft cotton and loose clothes. I knew she was instructing me right, but I took her instructions as her extra interference in my life. Then she removed all the high-heeled footwear from the shelf; she replaced them with flat footwear, which seemed annoying, but I could not do anything but sulk from inside.

It was not enough. My mother-in-law did not let me spend a single minute alone and suggested that I keep smiling at a healthy baby all the time. I did not understand at all how I escaped from her clutches. How I made her understand I could not be happy when she was around me at all. The changes were happening at home one after another without my consent. As soon as she instructed the staff to make some changes in the room, it caused my blood pressure to shoot high and high. And I found myself helpless to prevent her.

It was getting impossible for me to stay with her all the time. But I had no choice but to bear her nuisance all the time. Besides, she did not have any friends there either. Therefore, I was left with no option except to accompany her all the time. Her arrival had created a ruffle among the staff as well. They used to find it challenging to keep pace with her. And that just increased my problems many folds.

I knew she would give me a hard time. And the worst thing was, she was so stubborn that she did not get ready to listen to the points of others before her. She had brought a total change to my all-day-long schedule, and she did not understand why it was necessary to discuss it with me too. And so, I was left with no option except to sulking from inside to listen to her and follow her.

Then she made me read the canto of Ramayana in the morning and after retiring to bed at night, which I just hated to do. And her bloody explanation that reading canto would have a good effect on the unborn child just cheesed me off.

I was only obliged to follow her silently; getting up early in the morning before sunrise and retiring to bed at 9.30 literally made me cry, and I felt like strangulating her. Since then, I had totally stopped wearing the clothes of my choice. She made me shift to the downstairs along with her in the same room and the same bed, and I could do nothing except sulking from inside. It used to annoy me thoroughly when she interrupted me in everything, and I could not give her a slight sense of what she was saying.

"Mind your business".

My entire life had devolved into a nightmare since she had arrived there. And I was supposed to sit quietly and calmly and pay heed to all her instructions. My previous encounter with her was still fresh in my mind because of how she had ticked me off. I didn't want to make the same mistake and be exposed again. She had shown me that I did not take her lightly. Therefore, I tried my best to act normal. However, somewhere in my mind, I felt she had come to know about her son Ravi a lot. Being a mother before being a woman, it was hard for him to accept that her son was following the path of his father.

I'm not exactly sure why, but she only had a brief conversation with him then and avoided having an elaborate conversation with him, so did he. I had the strong impression she was more particularly concerned about me. She preferred to spend excessive amounts of time entertaining and caring for me. Ravi also had to continue to endure a callous period following her arrival, which made me literally laugh several times. He despised the manner in which she commuted to her workplace without any prior intimation.

Many times, she used to bring him back from the office along with her in the evening. Ravi had totally stopped drinking, and it was her mother who used to open the door for him when he reached back home late at night.

Gradually, I began to feel love in every action. That was what happened. It was true that she did not let me go out frequently, but to keep me delighted, she herself managed the mobile numbers of all of my friends and called them at home often, so I did not get bored. She prepared the food of my choice rather than Ravi's choice. I was overwhelmed by the way, she pampered me after some time. She loved and enjoyed cooking food for us on her own. And no doubt, she used to cook finger-licking food.

At first, I thought she was taking care of me for a baby boy's desire, but she proved me wrong. She was the opposite of the other women. She just wanted a healthy grandbaby; it did not make any difference to her whether it was a boy or girl. And that thing impressed me profoundly and grew respect for her in my heart. I did not come to know when we became such good friends, and with the passing days, our friendship grew a little more solid and robust.

It was fun for us to watch all the recent movies together, sitting on the couch and nibbling on popcorn and lemonade. It used to be, no doubt, very entertaining. Many times, my friends join us. Then, we loved to do online shopping for the baby. And a few things she stitched and knitted for the baby. Designs I used to pick. And to my surprise, she was fabulous and used to do fantastic stitching. She was indeed a sensitive woman. She herself had led a tough life, but she could not imagine the same for her daughter and daughter-in-law.

She took no time to gauge the enormous gulf between Ravi and me. Perhaps she had discovered the infidelities of Ravi as well. After all, she was also a woman and matured too. She had also sensed that I was not interested in him at all. Coupled with that, she had sensed the danger that our marriage would not work for long. Therefore, on the first and second day, she broached the topic before me.

"I am very well aware of the fact that you have never kept fasting for him. Do not worry, I am not over here to dictate to you to do this when you are totally unwilling. I also know you do not bother about him, as he does not do anything. This marriage has been imposed on you. At the same time, it is not hidden from me that you are tolerating him just for the roof over your head. I am equally aware of the fact that he does not pay due respect to you. He treats you as nothing more than an object. I must say he is far better than many husbands are. So, try to fix things and finish all the gaps between you and him as soon as possible. "

After the birth of my first daughter, we got too close to each other. Then no more. We hesitated to speak our minds to each other. She was more concerned about my health and me. I learned from her to take proper care of the infant as well. Her company did not irritate me anymore, and I felt very comfortable while talking with her.

It was not only me, but my friends who also felt comfortable while having words with her. And in no time, she became very popular among them. Many times, we could not come to know how the time flew while talking with one another. She also called my friends at home, often for lunch. After the first few days of Ana’s birth, she pushed me to go out and have some enjoyable time with my friends, and a number of times, she accompanied us. And we all had a great blast there.

A Miracle happens, and on that birthday, it happened in my life; someone threw a surprise birthday party for me, and it was none other than my mother-in-law. She had prepared all the food on her own, especially keeping my likes and dislikes in her mind. Besides, she had made the house decorations with balloons; she went to the temple to pray for my well-being. Without doubt, it was more than enough for me.

But she did not stop there after that. She assembled all my friends without my knowledge. And she had not forgotten to invite my family. But they made some excuses and showed their helplessness in attending my birthday party. Ravi also showed some false problems and did not turn up. I came to know she had not been going well down the line, and even after that, she managed everything for me. The whole thing was too touchy for me.

I was overwhelmed, and it was not so easy for me to keep control of my emotions. I began to keep sobbing. I just ran to her and hugged her tightly, just like a small child. But I could not utter a single word to her. My tears wet her sari. I did not feel like leaving her. I coughed. She made me sit on the chair and gave me water to drink. Everyone's eyes were wet there. That day, I thanked God for blessing me with a mother whose heart was filled with love for me, which I had missed all those years, so I desperately wanted to tell her everything.

Her departure day also approached quickly. I went to drop her at the station with a heavy heart. Ravi was out of the station that day doing some work. Her departure seemed painful to me, but she had a smile on her face.

And at that time, I was desperately wishing she would come here frequently or permanently settle down here. I convinced her that she would extend her stay for some time with me. I was more worried about how I would handle the tiny baby without her. I had gotten used to her in those days; then, the same house would begin to bite me after she left. We had gotten so close to each other in a span of ten months that her departure was troubling me deeply. Before boarding the train at the railway station, she told me something, which made me realize she was really a great mentalist. She spoke softly,

"Accept your daughter at heart. Because she has made from your blood. And make your relationship so strong with her that my son cannot take you out of the house. Your life will be complicated if your daughter loves him more than you. And I do not desire it. Because I cannot accept my daughter-in-law or anyone else except for you, but you know, I am as helpless as you are.

You are equally aware that my son loves me for his namesake. I am very well aware of the fact that he does not want me to come over here. And instil into your mind one thing: he has never been loyal to me. .Therefore, don’t expect him much. "

I was standing there until the train moved. I was waving at her until the train did not move along ahead and disappeared from my sight.