By Sparkian Meenakshi Raina
Contributing Author for Spark Igniting Minds
I have no idea how and where to start this exceptional story of a mother, who had allegedly abandoned her child in his early years of childhood.
It was when Alia, once again returned to her house for the third time, after a gap of two years. The last time was when she had left her home with her little boy, Vaibhav, because of domestic violence by her drunkard, abusive and intimidating husband, Abhi. His intolerant behavior compelled her to file a police complaint against him, which continued for a long year without any fruitful results.
The journey of Alia was not that easy, because when Alia and Abhi were living separately for two years, many times she encountered little Vaibhav’s innocent questions like, ‘Why Papa does not live with us? Why can’t we live with Papa?’ and cries of ‘I want to go to Papa.’ There were hundreds of similar questions which left Alia speechless.
She got more shocked when Vaibhav’s school teacher and his tuition teacher revealed that he always spoke about his father. Being in a traumatic condition, she had lost her thinking capacity and started cursing herself for not spending much time with her little baby. She felt that it was because of her long working hours that he was not being given the motherly touch and so he was missing his Papa. But she was compelled to work, to feed him and to give him the best.
Seeing her condition, Vaibhav’s school teacher suggested that Alia should get Vaibhav’s horoscope checked by an astrologer. The very next day, she went to an astrologer, who suggested some ‘Homa’ be done for his well-being, in the presence of both the parents. Leaving behind all the grudges against her husband, and for the sake of her son, she called Abhi and requested him to be present in the Homa, which was suggested by the astrologer. She also assured him that she would take care of all the expenses of that Homa. Driven by his ego, Abhi overlooked her concern. Rather he started to criticize the astrologer.
Alia was from another culture, so she was always condemned and dominated by Abhi. Further, Abhi in his egoistic voice asked her to hand over Vaibhav to him and announced that they (he and his parents) would manage everything after all Vaibhav was their descendant, so they know how to perform ‘Homas’ for their child. It was becoming unbearable, so she immediately dropped the call.
Keeping things aside, she contemplated taking into consideration her son’s emotional and physical well-being and came to a conclusion. Her priority was his health and happiness, so she decided to accept Abhi’s proposal. She had to let go of her motherly feelings. After thinking for a long time, she finally called and informed Abhi that she was ready to surrender her world, her little prince Vaibhav to him. But in her heart, she expected Abhi to ask her to come back to him. Sadly it was just a silly hope that nested in her heart.
The next day, she prepared her son that he was going to live with his father now onwards and packed his luggage. Vaibhav was filled with joy and that was enough for his mother to go ahead with the decision though it broke her heart. Finally, the painful moment arrived. Abhi came to tear Alia’s heart away from her. The little boy ran happily towards his father, without even looking back at his mother. Abhi too did not bother looking at his wife. He took his son and started his bike. Both, the father and son seemed happy, leaving the helpless Alia behind. Vaibhav was overwhelmed with happiness because he was finally with his Papa.
Poor Alia gazed for a long time as they vanished from her sight. Unable to control her emotions any longer, she burst into tears and cried her heart out. Suddenly, she felt very lonely. Later in the evening, she took up the broken pieces of her heart and wiped her tears off. She offered prayers to God and asked Him to look after her child. She was sure that this was another trial from God and she would soon be rewarded with whatever is her Divine right. With this faith, she continued her life.
After a couple of days, Abhi and his family went on pilgrimage to different temples for Vaibhav’s welfare. Soon after they returned, she got to know that Abhi had sent his son to his native village along with his grandparents, where they would be taking care of him. This really shocked her. She kept cursing herself, wondering why she had surrendered her son to the man, who couldn’t take care of his own son. Abhi had not only cheated her but also played with the innocent emotions of his own son, who desperately wanted to live with his papa. She felt lost and realized that her sacrifice was in vain. But she didn’t stop worshiping God and had absolute faith in Him and His timing.
After almost three months, her mobile rang and to her surprise, it was a call from Abhi. He asked her to come back. Listening to his words, she couldn’t resist expressing her gratitude to the Divine and asked Abhi to come to her parent’s place to take her back with dignity and respect. After a few days, Abhi and his parents came along with little Vaibhav. Little was Alia aware of the shocking heartbreak awaiting her. Seeing her innocent boy, she ran in joy to hug him. But Vaibhav didn’t let his mother touch him. She was shocked beyond belief to see him like that. It took her a few minutes to understand the intentions of her in-laws who had manipulated his innocent emotions. She clearly understood that they were taking her back but perhaps not for good reasons. Still, she accompanied them and moved back to that house.
Although, Abhi was working in Delhi, so he was there with the family just for a week’s time. On the very first night, after Alia had returned, she faced another setback, when Abhi took his bedding aside and slept all alone. She and her son were given the bed on the other side of the same room. It hurt her deeply and she felt dejected by Abhi’s unusual behavior.
Soon Vaibhav fell asleep. Quietly she went up to Abhi and asked him why he had done this to her. She questioned him, why he brought her back if he did not have any feelings for her. She wanted to know, why he had played with her emotions and what the drama was for. His answer was that ‘all of this is just for the sake of Vaibhav.’ In his arrogant voice, he retorted, “You should be thankful to your son, because of who you are here today, else you didn’t deserve to be here with us.” He further instructed her, “Just be mindful of your duties towards your son and the household chores. Don’t even dare to question me from this moment onwards.”
Alia’s soul was completely shattered yet she didn’t give up. She tried her best to develop intimacy but he was least bothered. She wanted to cry out but it was midnight and her in-laws were sleeping in the next room. She felt like a caged bird, suffocated, all through the night. The next day when she woke up she behaved as if nothing had happened. While cooking, there was a storm of thoughts in her mind. Later, when Abhi and his father went outside she spoke to her mother-in-law about this episode. With her usual indifference, she said that a woman has to compromise for many things in her life and that she should perform her duties and responsibilities. She further added that she should just obey her husband and make him happy.
After one week, Abhi went back to Delhi and stayed there for almost four months. He hardly called Alia and whenever he used to pick her call he spoke to Vaibhav only. She was also blocked by Abhi on all social networking platforms, even on WhatsApp. Still, she used to call him regularly. Every time he neglected and misbehaved with her. She was going through intense mental trauma because of his ignorance and his irrational behavior but she was ready to shoulder every responsibility and endure every pain for her little boy. She continuously revealed Abhi’s behavior and attitude to her in-laws, but they never paid heed. Rather they were always supportive of their son.
On the parent’s insistence, Abhi relocated and joined his family but his irrationality was beyond Alia’s imagination because being in the same room and on the same bed they shared no intimacy. Gradually, this turned more dramatic when they started occupying different rooms which Vaibhav witnessed.
After relocating from Delhi, Abhi was having a tough time to get a good job. On the other hand, Alia had a decent job. She wanted to help Abhi get a better job. She was able to get him lucrative job offers, but he refused to take them up because of his stubborn ‘male ego.’ Poor Alia was helpless because she noticed the peculiarity of her son who spent more time with his Papa after returning from school. She noticed that her son hardly approached her as he used to do when her husband was in Delhi. She once overheard Abhi telling their son, “Your Papa is going to marry and bring a new mom for you.”
This was something she never expected from her husband, who was misleading their only son. This was a clear indication that Abhi was exploiting their son and using the wrong means just to torture her. He had no idea that being a father, he was damaging Vaibhav’s emotional development. This continued for almost one month. One evening, their discussion turned into a heated argument, and in a few moments, they started shouting at each other in front of their son. Unable to bear the scene in front of his eyes, the boy started to scream in pain by closing his ears.
After that incident, Alia made a decision. She was going to leave Abhi’s home once and for all; again for the sake of her son who was being victimized by his own father. Everything was going wrong between that and it was all because of Abhi’s insecurities and frustrations. The next day she called her parents and narrated the whole thing to them. She also informed Abhi that she didn’t want to stay with him anymore. As expected, he did not even once try to resolve the matter. Before leaving the house, she went to hug her son. She desperately wanted to take him along with her but her shrewd husband had already poisoned Vaibhav’s mind against her and had succeeded in detaching him from his mother emotionally. Little Vaibhav kept clutching his father’s hand as he went inside the room when Alia finally quit trying to win Abhi and Vaibhav back, she left the house that could never become her home and walked away.
She had no idea how she was going to survive without her son, but she did not have the strength to deal with the trauma anymore. She tried to get her son back through the court but she failed because Vaibhav declared in front of the judge that he didn’t want to be with her. Innocent Vaibhav was being influenced by the entire family to make this statement in court.
The suffering that Alia has gone through steadied her on the path of spirituality and now she is a self transformed, positive, self-motivated woman, who strongly believes in the process of Divinity. She always keeps her son in her prayers and sends her positive vibes and unconditional love. Moreover, the philosophy of Karma gave her clarity of mind, which has made it possible for her to accept her excruciating past with dignity and also to forgive her husband and her in-laws.
Alia turned her miseries into compassion and love with the help of spiritual knowledge. She always expresses her gratitude to the Divine for keeping her on the right path, which would not have been possible, if she would have continued with her intolerable husband. The same Abhi still exists as a miserable, hopeless man and has unfortunately passed on his bitterness to the innocent soul, Vaibhav.
Alia is hopeful that Vaibhav will certainly tread on the path of spirituality, at the right time by Divine guidance and intervention.
Through this story, we learned that,
Ego brings in miseries whereas gratitude and compassion give rise to unconditional love. Pain is actually a wake-up call from Divine to awaken one’s consciousness provided one is having that intuitive power. Self-transformation is a choice. To conquer over pain, spirituality is the way. The best way to live a peaceful life is to surrender your will to Divine.
About Meenakshi Raina
Meenakshi is a Financial and Administrative Professional, Passionate Writer, Blogger, Co-Author, Reviewer, and Spiritual Practitioner.
She writes on the different genres to bring a change in society.
For more information, visit Meenakshi Raina on her facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/POSbyMeenakshiRaina/
Featured Image by Марина Вельможко from Pixabay