Is it a Dead-End or a New Beginning?

It was a big day for Leela, and she was all decked up, the fragrance of freshly fried snacks, and her family waited in anticipation for her Aunt Sarika had brought a marriage proposal for her, and the boy was coming to see her that day, and Leela was nervous. 

Girijabai entered the room and looked at her daughter her eyes filled with tears as she hugged her daughter and reassured her, "Leela, everything will be alright," she said. 

Leela was an 18-year-old uneducated girl from a small village, and Sarika, her Aunt, had brought the alliance for her and assured her parents, Girijabai and Surendra, that the boy Lakhan was from a good home and earned well from a shop in Mumbai. 

 Surendra expressed his concerns saying, “that is too far and Leela will have to go and stay in Mumbai with him—” But Sarika, his sister, assured him, “Oh! My brother you need not worry about that, Leela will be happy in a city like Mumbai for she will be more comfortable there.” “In fact,” she said, “I would be happy if I got a proposal from a boy from there. It will be a joy to live in the city.” Sarika continued to convince her brother, and finally, Surendra told her, “Alright let them come." 

Surendra knew his daughter well —she was innocent, her home was her world, and she trusted everyone and depended heavily on him to decide for her. 

It scared him to send her so far away, for he planned to marry her off to a boy from the vicinity, but his sister was insistent, and he agreed for the boy to come to their home to see the apple of his eye.

Before long, the boy came to their home with his parents, and they liked her and readily agreed to accept Leela into their home and fixed the date for the wedding, and the preparations began in full swing.

The days before the wedding flew past, soon it was the wedding day, and Lakhan and Leela got married before leaving for Mumbai.  

Taken up by her simplicity, Lakhan soon fell in love with Leela, and she was also happy with the simple natured Lakhan, and she too began to fall in love with him, and life was beautiful.  

The years flew past, Lakhan ran a grocery store, and Leela helped him with it, they had a small room they called home, and all was well.

Their marriage was five years old, but they had no children, and Leela panicked every time her husband suggested that they go home for a vacation, for she dreaded the question they would ask her.

She was sad that she did not conceive a baby, and she blamed herself for it, but Lakhan was a good man and never blamed his wife but reassured her that they would soon have a baby. 

Indra stayed close to their home and was related to Lakhan, and Leela was her friend, and she loved them both and knew that they were distressed. Indra was an educated woman, and she spoke to Lakhan one day. “ Let us go and check it up,” she said. “There is this gynecologist whom I went to when I was pregnant and she is good.” She reassured me. 

Lakhan saw that Leena was in pain and was more than willing to accept her advice, and soon he took Leela to the suggested gynecologist.

To cut the story short, Leela did have a problem, and she needed surgery, but Lakhan stood by her and even worked hard to arrange for the funds for the surgery, and soon Leela had the surgery, and their joy knew no bounds when they got to know, in a year that Leela was pregnant. 

Image Source

She carried to term and delivered a beautiful baby girl they named Lata. 

Lata was two years old when Leela realized she was pregnant again, and this time she had a son, and they named him Lalam. Leela and Lakhan were ecstatic, and they believed they had everything they wanted. 

They watched their children grow, and they never lacked anything, but the bliss was short-lived!

 One day Lakhan came home and rushed to Leela, “Leela, Leela!” He called out to her, and Leela was at once by his side. 

She saw that he was excited about something and knew Lakhan had something to tell her, and even before she could ask him, he started talking, “Leela!” he said animatedly, “I have a plan and it is only to make you and the children more comfortable.” 

He paused as he looked at her, and Leela looked at him, and her expectations were high.

“I met my childhood friend Ramesh today,” he said, and Leela’s smile froze on her lips, for she had met Ramesh a couple of times and had a dislike for him, for he ran a liquor shop. 

Lakhan continued saying, “He was telling me how profitable this liquor business is!” And much to Leela’s shock, he told her, “I have decided to close our grocery store and open a liquor store.” he finished. 

Leela stared at him in shock— she was so shocked that she could not even say a word!

“Leela?” She heard her husband call her and she looked up at him, he asked her, “what happened, are you not happy with my decision?” Leela never opposed her husband, but now for the first time, she hesitatingly said, “ Are you sure this is a good idea Ji!” Lakhan looked surprised, “Yes of course.” he replied.

Leela continued in her attempts to convince her husband, “But we will encourage people to drink and then they will go home and beat their wives, waste their hard-earned money— it cannot be a blessing for us—” she broke away. 

She tried her best, but she could not convince Lakhan.  

Soon Lakhan started his business, but he never drank liquor all his life, and he promised Leela he would not start now, but it was a promise he could not keep.  

Soon he started drinking, and it got out of control, and before he knew it, he was a drunkard, so addicted that he could not stop. 

Gradually he lost everything he had— even the shop, and he fell sick. 

Meanwhile, Leela struggled to keep her home fires burning, educate her children, and care for her ailing husband. 

Image Source

Leela was an excellent cook, and she started making snacks at home to sell. 

Soon people got to know about her business and started ordering from her, and her business grew, and her husband watched his hard-working wife fight to lift the family out from the pit he created. 

One day when Leela served him lunch, Lakhan grabbed her hand, and looked at her with tears in her eyes, and said, “Leela, I am sorry, it is all my fault that you have to work so hard.” And he wept bitterly. 

Leela also was filled with emotion, but she did not let her tears roll down from her eyes— instead, she embraced the man she loves so much and said, “ We all make mistakes, we do right?"

"If I had done something that had shaken the foundations of our household, you would have done all in your power to steady it right?” she asked, and Lakhan smiled through his tears, but Leela continued speaking, “ You always call me your better half, let me do my part.” He hugged her hard as she wiped away his tears. 

When they broke away from the embrace, Leela took a few steps away from her husband and then stopped to turn back and say, “In the past, you provided for me, now it is my turn.” She smiled at him and said, “but I need some of your help in marketing the snacks I make," and she ended the conversation by asking, “will you not help me?” 

Lakhan stopped drinking from that day onwards, and he soon got well enough to work and joined his wife in her business.  

The joy returned, and so did the good things!

Marriage can be beautiful with love, forgiveness, and understanding.

Liked this story? Read another one- 'Moms Have a Life Too!'.