Chapter 27 Either decide or follow

‘How can Ashmi go with Akhil to a foreign land, when she is pregnant,’ screamed senior Mrs Mishra to her husband. ‘You have to take a stand and tell this to Akhil’s mother. Look at my poor baby, she hasn’t been able to keep a morsel of food down, since yesterday,’ she said as she patted back of bent over Ashmi on the wash basin.

‘But it’s just the second month, there are seven more months left in delivery and you need the baby to be at least two months old, before she goes. It will be almost a year separation for the couple,’ he tried to reason with his wife, as he could read the sentiments in the eyes of his daughter. She was too pained at the thought of such a long separation and was too timid to voice this to her mother; He knew her quite well. She was his own flesh and blood.

‘You talk strange things at times. Is one year such a long time frame? Don’t you remember we have lived separately for most of our married life?’ she spoke not willing to give up on argument.

‘May be that’s the reason, why you are so bitter,’ thought senior Mr Mishra and Ashmi at the same time. None of them spoke, as they were too scared of her.

‘My words are the rule, whether it’s a year or more, or less, I don’t care, Ashmi is not going to the firang land, until the baby is delivered,’ she spoke and left in a huff with an expression, that said that she knew all.

Ashmi bent over on the wash basin once again to empty the foods that were in her intestines. Senior Mr Mishra offered her help and took her to the bed. She sucked on the orangey taste of Parle lozenges, and tried to negotiate with sleep. It would have offered her some respite. She was too tired to decide where to go and how? The home that she had built in three years got packed in cardboard boxes and was in the office go-down. There was no place that she could have called her own and she wasn’t liking the idea.

Before the overseas travel, Akhil and Ashmi came to Ranchi. They both were desperate to meet their parents. Like previous times, their paths would diverge to their respective maaikas. He had gone to a wedding of a cousin, at Patna with his mother and she preferred to stay with her parents.  Lying on the bed, she regretted her decision. Their visas were done, house was packed and Akhil had convinced her so much to re-think her decision on pregnancy. If only, she could have told him that she agreed to what he had said, and gone with him, free like a bird to enjoy the life.

Senior Mr Mishra was visibly upset with his wife. He needed someone to talk to and his feet moved towards Kokila Sengupta’s house.

‘Look, who has come to our house?’ Kokila squealed in delight. Her professor husband didn’t sound interested enough and she ran on the steps to welcome, senior Mr Mishra. More dope was always welcome for her.

‘What would you like to have?’ she spoke as she instructed servant with a frown to put the pot of water on the gas stove. The boy scurried in.

‘Nothing, Kokila, I had lunch,’ he said. ‘And senior Mrs Mishra’s jibes as the dessert,’ she thought as she had heard everything. They shared a common boundary wall and if you put your ear close enough and the speaker was loud enough, you wouldn’t miss a juicy bit. And Kokila never let such an opportunity go by unutilized.

‘I need your advice,’ senior Mr Mishra said without a preamble.

Kokila was all ears. ‘Tell me, I would feel grateful, if I could be of any help,’ she spoke in a voice that reeked of saccharine.

‘Shouldn’t I send Ashmi with Akhil? The poor girl wants to go. I have seen her eyes. They implore me. She would not say a word, but I know that she would be happy with her?’ he poured his heart out.

‘You just make up things on your own. If she would like to go, she would have spoken to us. No one is Hitler around here. I think. Senior Mrs Mishra is right. It’s her first delivery and she needs our support,’ she spoke with the same finality that senior Mrs Mishra had.

Senior Mr Mishra came back, albeit a bit convinced. The difficult part was convincing Akhil’s mother and Ashmi’s mother took care of it. Akhil was terribly upset. He was quite angry with Ashmi.

‘Why are you staying here?’ Akhil implored with her the night before he had to fly for Delhi. From there he would board a connecting flight to Chicago. The office would send a cab to Chicago airport from where he would be driven to Oshkosh.

‘Listen to me, baby, it wouldn’t be any hassle. I have your visa and ticket too, I still haven’t got it cancelled, let’s elope tonight. No one would know, about it,’ he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

‘This way I too would fulfil my dream of eloping with you,’ he drawled for an effect.

‘You wanted to elope with me?’ she asked all intrigued, forgetting the pain of impending separation.

‘Then we were made to marry, right away. We didn’t even have any fun before marriage,’ he teased her now.

‘And I am carrying baby now without any fun, she nagged. Oh! that’s legitimate, you get fun out of illegitimate things and right now, just the thought of eloping with you gives me a high,’ he said.

‘Forget everything,’ Ashmi, he asked.

‘What’s the plan?’ she was keen to know.

‘You come to drop me tomorrow to airport and walk with me,’.he said. We are married for heaven’s sake!

‘I can’t do that,’ she said.

‘Then stay here,’ he was furious at her diffidence.

Next day he left without her. She left after a year with Rajul in her arms.