The Devastating Prediction
Shreya and Sujit were animatedly discussing how they would spend the Puja holidays. They had opted to stay in Kolkata to enjoy the Puja spirit. Shreya felt that ‘Pandal-hopping’ would be great fun. As for Sujit , he always agreed to anything which made his wife happy. He watched her intently as she combed her long silken tresses which came down to her waist and dangled in chaotic revelry. The flecks of silvery sunlight fell on her rippling waves and they glistened and shone. Sujit could not take his eyes off her. How he doted on this girl who had been a perfect stranger two years back but had now she become his world! It had been an arranged marriage but people said it seemed that they were “made for each other”. Sujit was leaning against the balustrade on the balcony. Shreya seemed mesmerised as she looked at Sujit’s sinewy body silhouetted against the distant sky. She admired everything about him-his jovial charismatic personality, the way he spoke, and even his boyish smile.
The couple decided to spend every minute of their (not too frequent) holiday together in the best possible way. They decided to first visit the temple to give thanks to the Almighty for all His favours throughout the past year. When Shreya entered the sacred precincts she saw devotees immersed in profound devotion chanting some unintelligible Sanskrit slokas after the priest or “purohit.”The lower part of his body was draped in a saffron dhoti whilst the upper part of his body was absolutely bare exposing a broad muscular chest covered with curly coarse hair. After he had finished with the ritual he was performing, he rose and mingled with the devotees, distributing holy water in the cup of their palms. All the recipients accepted it with due reverence and sipped the liquid. As he moved around, he in his enlightened elevated mental state foretold the future for his followers. When he came to Sujit and Shreya, he looked passed them into the distance and predicted “ For you I can see son, in the very near future ,there will be a woman taking you away from your wife, and she is going to mean the world to you and this bond will last all your life”. Immediately Shreya reacted as if he were a leper. She moved away from him with a condemning look as if he had already committed the grossest act to defile their relationship. On coming out of the temple Sujit tried his best to win her over but to no avail. She remained stiff and aggressive even without any provocation.
It was then that a very difficult and trying phase in their relationship began. She would always be suspicious of all his actions. If he were late coming home from office, she would think he was spending his time with the other woman. There would be a terrible row because of the unintentional delay. Gone were the days when he looked forward to coming home, when she would welcome him with a smile and affectionately put her arms round him. She would taunt him about the other woman whenever he tried to explain. As a result, conversation between them became caustic and unpleasant. In the past he looked forward to the tea-time snacks which she so lovingly prepared for him. But now even a cup of tea he had to make for himself. He often found his drawers rummaged; perhaps she did it with the objective of finding some incriminating evidence! At times his pockets were searched surreptitiously or he sadly discovered that she had been eaves-dropping on his phone calls. The situation became so tense between them that mutual trust and friendship became meaningless and their relationship began to wither. It was then that Sujit approached Shreya and suggested divorce. He said that her temper tantrums, throwing things in anger and smashing them, her leaving the house for protracted period of time to express rebellion ,and her blatant rejection of him, were too much of a strain on him mentally and impossible for him to endure. Shreya imputed this suggestion of a divorce also to his effort to be free from her for the other woman. Reluctantly she gave her consent though she felt her heart would break as she cared too much for him,
Sujit also knew that such a step would be a staggering blow on him as he could never exist without Shreya. But a colossal mountain of misunderstanding stood between them which could not be scaled so they had to accept the inevitable.
In addition to their domestic problems, there was a phone call from his mother living in a remote village who was critically sick. She had had a stroke .As she had become partially paralysed and was constantly calling out his name, he was required to go there at once and be with her till the crisis was over. Sujit hurriedly left with a perfunctory good-bye to Shreya.
It was at this momentous hour, all of a sudden, unexpectedly, the illuminating significance of the prediction struck Shreya. It was like a cold refreshing shower on a parched heated summer‘s field. She could now decode the fatal prediction which almost broke up her marriage. The other woman in question must have been no other than Sujit’s mother. She was the one to claim Sujit’s exclusive attention .As for the life-long -bond, her son would love her all his life. Shreya bought her tickets and rushed to be with Sujit before it was too late. She could never afford to lose him-When she saw him in his mother’s house, in one emotional outburst, she threw herself on him and melted into his arms. She clung on to him as if she was scared of losing him again. Then between spasms of sobbing she started to plead ‘don’t ever leave me, don’t let me go’.Sujit wrapped her close within his arms and whispered ‘No Darling, never.’
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