Sarita and Sunil seemed a great couple. Five years of marriage and they still seemed as if they are just married. Everyone in the locality envied them. Chatting about this couple was their favorite pursuit. I sneaked out to catch a glimpse of the elite couple that my neighbors were talking about. My eyes somehow could not take off the scene, as I saw the couple walk blissfully hand in hand. I did feel nice to be a dweller of this locale, a place I wish I dwelt for long. What was it that made me feel so? Is it the nature around, or is it the friendly neighborhood? Whatever the reasons were, they all made me feel fantastic.
I have a habit of spending my evenings at the park, amidst the nature. I perched on the grassland, gazing at the sky, the sun setting, I could see the birds fly to their nest as if something anxiously waited abode, I could sense the sweet fragrance of the flowers in the breeze, the placid lake as if it had something to reveal. As I was wrapped up in the scenic beauty, someone swiftly rushed by my side, for a moment, I was shocked as if I had seen something awful, and it was Sarita. But? But?? Where is her husband? They neither stepped nor left their house without the either of them. What was wrong today? He was not a workaholic though? Was he ill then? My mind seems to brood over all the odds. I walked my way through the quixotic lane thinking about the sweet couple that was simply present in any t?te-?-t?te, but now the opinions seemed to change, the same people who have had praises for this couple, seemed to curl their lips.
What led to this dramatic makeover? It was almost a year that I was seeing them together. It depressed me to see the sad end of an adoring relation; a relation I envisaged would last perpetual. However, why? Why did they take such an extreme step? Besides, they had a baby just two years old. Sarita was from a well-heeled social class. She was very pretty, ostentatious and this only added a few more friends to her already bulging circle.
Sunil never liked her mixing up with her friends especially when they were the opposite sex. It distressed him to see the baby left at the mercy of the maid and how his wife spent time throwing around parties. He was apprehensive about his child?s future. At some point of time, Sunil did express his displeasure at her wife?s attitude. Sarita would never seem to understand him. She would only feel that men can do whatever they feel like and when it comes to their wives, they seem to be intolerable. Divorce seemed the only option left. Is not that strange? Promises spoken at the time of wedding are full of hopes and meaning. What happens to those after marriage? Are they meant to be broken? Are they just a ritual? We have a hard time seeing while we are on the go.
Before marriage, one seems to do anything and everything for his/her partner; you do not seem to find any faults with him/her, then what happens after marriage? Is that the visibility was faded with love or is that after marriage we tend to see things through a microscope? The affection, the emotion simply dwindles. Love, forgiveness, commitment, understanding remain merely virtues. Are we then masters of our own destiny? Egocentricity seems so deep in us humans that everything else is less important. Have they ever contemplated about the future of the baby? How would they explain their child the true meaning of Parents? Things go wrong ?sometimes terribly wrong. Even with the best of intentions, we may find ourselves in a house full of resentment, hostility, unrest, and misery. There is no heartache quite like the heartache of an unhappy marriage. Instead of focusing only on what is wrong with our partner, can we not open our heart to accept the failures and shortcomings and help him/her come out of it?
I very much believe that love can transform a person. Annulment is a very rigid process, and exceptionally a lengthy process, at least when I speak of a Church in India. Nevertheless, you may obtain a legal consent confirming the divorce from the court; the church does not term it as Null or void, unless you appeal for it, it takes almost years only for the case study. Unlike the other religion where you have to only devotedly bout, those words and you are liberated of the burden. It is so disheartening to see how easy it is to break a relation in a matter of few seconds, while it takes ages to build one.
It is inevitable for this topic to stir debate, but what I am concerned? is DIVORCE the only option, is it the right step?
Author: Jyothi Dsilva- UAE
