Torn Apart

A sudden dash of a chair was hurled at Ritu, a heavy bang on the wall; it felt as if a heavy object had fallen across. The small room was filled with commotion. One could hear the small baby crying inconsolably. Upon opening the door, Saroj found that the room was totally in a mess.

To her utter amazement, she saw the entire cupboard open with neatly folded clothes dangling out, the bedsheet was left suspended mid-air, photographs broken, lying on the floor, the dressing table looked utterly filthy, mobile chargers and the laptop all scattered here and there. Saroj pushed the door and entered the room. She was nonplussed. She saw Ritu crying quietly in one corner of the room and her darling son Amit sitting and panting in a state of anger.

Saroj picked up the baby and asked, "What is happening? May I know, Amit?" Amit chose to be mum and averted his eyes from his mother's commanding voice. Ritu, without saying anything, went out of the room and made a call to her father, sobbingly saying, "Papa, come to pick me up right now. I cannot stay here anymore." Mr. Shah became extremely worried to have received the call from his only daughter and moved out of his home in a jiffy.

By the time Mr. Shah had reached, Ritu was already waiting at the threshold with her baby and all her belongings. Mr. Shah was startled to see her daughter and granddaughter standing outside with their luggage. He went inside and tried to talk to Saroj and know what had actually happened. Saroj replied, "I am myself confused about what has happened, still trying to figure out the problem." She further added, "Mr. Shah, it's too late to discuss anything right now. I think you must take Ritu and the baby home. We can talk over the phone. What will the neighbors think if we discuss at the entrance?" With this, Mr. Shah chose to move out, he greeted her and left without saying anything further.

The next morning, Ritu's father thought of discussing last night. Ritu said, "Since he has returned all my belongings, what is the point of going back and living with him again? I shall stay here for some time, then I will look for a job nearby. I need to support my daughter." Mr. Shah agreed and said, "This is your home, beta. Live here happily as long as you want." Immediately, Mrs. Shah interrupted their conversation and said, "Why and how will she stay here? What will the people around say about a married daughter leaving her home and staying with her parents?" she added. Ritu was filled with mental agony. She said, "It's okay then, I will look for a new room. If you don't want me to stay here, I will live with my friends or maybe look for a PG accommodation. But till then, my little daughter shall remain with you. I don't want her to roam around. I want her to be safe." Mrs. Shah was annoyed with her instant reply. She left the room clenching the corner of her silk saree and replied, "Do whatever you want. I don't care." Just like her saree, her heart also now had creases.

Mr. Shah kept on looking. He felt as if he was torn apart between these two women. He chose to be quiet.

Days passed by, there was no communication between Ritu and Amit. They became estranged. Amidst all this, Ritu's distant cousin Hitesh came to visit Mr. and Mrs. Shah. They were very happy to have him at their place. He too was happy to see his sister and her little baby at home. He said, "This is a pleasant surprise for me. I couldn't attend your wedding and now, see, I am lucky enough to meet you and your little angel." Ritu smiled and said, "Oh yes, it will be good to be here. At least we have someone to talk to." Hitesh was at his uncle's home for 2-3 days, as he had mentioned, but it had been fifteen days and he didn't feel like going back to his workplace. Mrs. Shah told her husband, "Why don't you ask Hitesh how long he is going to stay here with us?" To which Mr. Shah replied angrily, "Why are you bothered? He is my sister's son. He can live as long as he wants. Let him live. Please stop interrupting. He is a grown-up man." She could not say anything further, but her worries kept on growing. The reason for her worrisome countenance was the secret conversation between Hitesh and Ritu, which she had heard many times. She knew that Hitesh could frame her daughter, so she would find little excuses to keep Ritu away from him. Ritu didn't realize that she was loving the company that Hitesh provided her.

Once, Ritu went out with her friends and secretly phoned Hitesh. She asked him to come along. Mrs. Shah became anxious, seeing this sudden change in his behavior. A man who wouldn't move out of his room all day long, and now when he got a call, he quickly got ready. She had been noticing all these changes in the gestures that Hitesh had been displaying.

Since Ritu was already out, and it was around 2:15 am, Mrs. Shah realized Ritu hadn't come home. She quickly went to check Hitesh's room and saw that he too wasn't at home. She mumbled, "Tomorrow I am going to throw this boy out of my house. I can't tolerate his closeness with my daughter."

Immediately after this, she went to her room and fell asleep along with the baby. She was again woken up by the sudden screeching sound of a taxi. She quickly went to the balcony and saw Ritu and Hitesh coming out of the same taxi. For her, it was a terrible sight to behold. She shouted at Mr. Shah, "Get up, get up right now! Look at this scoundrel, what is he up to? Send him out right now." These words fell on deaf ears as Mr. Shah remained indifferent. All through the night, she couldn't sleep a wink, and suddenly she was woken up by the baby's cry at 6 am. She went to the kitchen to fetch the baby's bottle. On the way, her suspicious mind instructed her to check both the rooms. She was taken aback when she saw Ritu's room was vacant. She pushed the door of another room and there she saw both of them sleeping on the bed, hugging each other tightly.

That morning, she mustered the courage to talk about her inhibitions to her husband, so he finally decided to send him out of the house without asking anything. Ritu was also warned about her behavior. She was told, "You have already left your husband's home and are living with us. Don't you dare bring shame to us with your nasty acts." She said, "I am going out of this city to look for a prospective job." They quickly agreed to it, thinking that she would forget whatever had happened.

She went to Faridabad and started earning a petty amount. She tried to maintain a good rapport with her mother too by telling her about her whereabouts. She spoke to her for a long duration, telling her about the job profile. To some extent, Mrs. Shah was convinced that Ritu was living her life and had forgotten about her ruined past.

Once, there was an emergency, so Ritu's father had to visit Faridabad. He asked Ritu about the flat's address. At first, she was hesitant, but later she sent her address to her father, albeit worried.

After three days, Mr. Shah arrived at the station. He had reached the flat ahead of time. The doorbell rang, and Mr. Shah was surprised to see Hitesh opening the door. There was an exchange of serious eye contact but not a word. From the kitchen, Ritu came running and shouting, "Hitesh darling, who is at the door?" Hearing the word 'darling', her father was almost driven to insanity. He became extremely angry when he saw the red vermillion mark in the neatly parted hair of his daughter. He went inside to know the full story. Hitesh was trying to avert his eyes, but he couldn't. While Ritu went to fetch a glass of water, Mr. Shah's eyes fell upon the photographs hung on the wall. He was shattered to see the photos. In one picture, they were performing the rituals of a bride and groom during a wedding ceremony. His eyes went further to see their honeymoon pictures. The serenity of the landscape in the photograph filled him with turmoil. He was devastated to know that they had been living as a legally wedded couple.

He couldn't contain his feelings and was in tears. He said, "It's my fault. Your mother had been noticing everything and told me to throw this foster serpent out, but I always considered your mother wrong." Ritu was quiet, standing and looking at her father sobbing. She bent down at his knees to calm him down, but he jerked off her hands. "Don't you even dare touch me, you impious creature!" he spat at her. Hitesh held her up and supported her to stand.

Mr. Shah left immediately after this. He narrated this entire story to his wife, who said, "Now she is not my daughter anymore. I consider her dead. I have only one hope to live with, the baby. I have to cater to her needs. I am her mother from now on."

Instantly, the baby cried, and she said, "See how the baby has also realized that her mother is dead. Didn't I tell you children are God?" Mr. Shah sighed at her logic and kept quiet.

Months passed by, and no one communicated with each other. It came to knowledge that Mr. Shah's rude behavior caused depression in Hitesh. He stopped going to work and started consuming alcohol to calm himself down. He became so habitual that he couldn't live without alcohol. He completely became dependent on Ritu, even for the smallest of his needs.

As a consequence, Ritu had to become the breadwinner. Now, she had to provide for an alcoholic husband and her own expenses, including her house rent. She realized that her husband's needs were increasing continuously, and her meager salary wasn't sufficient. She switched her job and started working as a receptionist at a renowned hotel. There, in the hotel, she met a certain group of men who were left unattended in the waiting area. Seeing them helpless, Ritu quickly went nearby and offered her help, saying, "Hello, gentlemen. I hope you are enjoying the company of our executives. Since we are in the process, it may take a while. May I be of any help?" To this, Prateek replied, "Do you even know how stressful our job is? We need to rest. Please get our rooms cleaned ASAP." Ritu said, "Sir, I will go and check personally." In the meantime, the team provided them with juices and snacks. After five minutes, the team assisted them to their rooms. Prateek was more than happy to have the job done easily with Ritu's help. He discussed with his mates and finalized that Ritu would be working with them as a woman associate. His friends weren't okay with his decision but had no other option but to agree. He phoned the reception and demanded to send Ritu to his room. Ritu was afraid if she had done anything wrong with her clients. She entered the room hesitantly and said, "Sir, sorry. The food will reach a little..." She was interrupted by Prateek, who smiled and said, "The food is late. That's okay, but tell me, will you work with us?" She didn't understand anything and said, "No sir, no sorry. I will join you tomorrow," said Prateek. All through the night, she kept on thinking and was in a state of confusion, but with the rising sun, she also rose with determination.

The next day, she came with her resignation letter and submitted it to her manager. She straight away went to Prateek's room. She boldly entered the room and said, "Good morning, Mr. Prateek." He was shocked and surprised to have her join them so soon. They explained her job portfolio, and she was happy as long as she was getting a handsome amount of money. She didn't bother to ask anything further.

She was working with diligence, spoke to her parents about her life, and they were happy. Hitesh was on cloud nine. He thought that now he could have his personal mini-bar at home. Mrs. Shah advised her to invest all the money for her daughter. In fact, many suggestions came to her. Everything had changed for Ritu. Her lifestyle changed completely, her relationships changed, and her responsibilities too changed. Whenever she had to visit home, she would go to her mother's place and meet them. She hardly had time to meet Hitesh. Rather, she would even forget to call him up. Whenever Hitesh would call her, she said, "I am very busy right now. I will call you in the evening. Right now, I am with Mr. Prateek." In the meanwhile, she also got calls from Amit, but she would ignore his calls and later would talk to him when everyone would sleep.

She was herself in a quandary. What to do, what not to do. She had amassed a lot of wealth, but her individuality was somewhere lost. She became the center of attention for many people: Amit, Hitesh, her parents, her baby, and now Mr. Prateek. She thought of getting rid of all her problems one by one. The first thing she did was file a divorce from Amit. Eight months passed by, but he denied separating his ways from her. He was ready to patch up with her. On the way, Hitesh became a hindrance. She couldn't say anything to him as she married him out of her own choice. And here Prateek started taking too much interest in her personal life. He started giving her advice to deal with Amit. At times, she would agree, but later her old memories with Amit wouldn't let her do what she wanted to.

Now the constant tussle was among Amit, Hitesh, and Prateek. One gave her company, one loved her, and the third one gave her an opportunity to live the life she wanted. Nobody knew the emotional turmoil she was in. Out of anger, she would often scream at her baby, and at times, pick up a quarrel with her mother too.

Along with her stressful workload, she wasn't able to enjoy her personal life as she did earlier. With more money, came more tension, which was visible on her face and in her health. She felt as if she was paying the price of becoming a successful woman. She started withdrawing from social life. The quest for finding herself in this ordeal was fruitless. She didn't even talk to her parents, and she didn't answer Amit's call. She completely became detached from all her relationships. For her, everything fell apart. Ritu was trapped in the maze that she created to reach the zenith.

She was lost. Her identity was lost. She existed but stopped living. She was tired. The mental trauma had affected her so much that she laced her favorite cranberry juice glass with sedatives and didn't wake up the next day.

Mr. Shah was informed about the sudden demise of his daughter in a hotel room. He had just one thing to say, "Let the police do the investigation, and we will cooperate."