Chapter 19

When I turned around to face him, he had picked up a sauce pan and smashed my face with it. I fell unconscious and woke up later in the hospital. I saw my son was there with his wife, my daughter and Radhika.

When I asked the nurse I was told I luckily did not have any major injuries to my left skull, only multiple stitches. Radhika came running to me first seeing me awake followed by my son and his wife and my daughter.

I asked my son “where is your dad”? He said “he is sitting outside, should I call him”? I said “no way, please call the cops first”. He was shocked to hear, then I repeated myself looking at Radhika.

Soon the cops came and I lodged a formal complaint against my Ex and he was immediately taken away. I sent everyone out and asked Radhika about Pramod.

She said both Pramod and Adarsh were here all the while and had left to work a short while ago. I told Radhika I was done with this relationship and to prepare the mutual divorce papers immediately.

She asked “what do you have in mind Sarita”? I said “I am fed up with this guy and cannot tolerate him anymore. I want to divorce him right away and move in with Pramod”.

She asked “have you thought this thru? How are you going to explain this to your children”? I said “leave it to me, I will handle it my way. I will also tell you what to tell them if they come to you”.

She said “ok, let me call Pramod and Adarsh right away and tell them to fast forward the plan we had discussed”. I asked her to call my children inside now.

I sat my children down and said “I cannot live with this animal anymore. I only stayed with him till now to ensure you both are settled in life or I would have left long ago. I have decided to divorce him, hope you both understand”.

They both tried reasoning with me saying he was drunk and to give him another chance, I said “what if I would not have survived his assault? Would you have still said the same thing”? They both saw reason and eventually agreed.

I said “I have devoted the best years of my life taking care of you all. Now if all I am asking is to get a chance to live my lost life again, is that too much to ask? Don’t worry no matter where I am, I will still remain your mother”.

My parents and his came over after a few days because they got to know what had happened. After many discussions, I finally took back my complaint. I was still content that my Ex had to spend 3 nights inside locked up.

So another 3 weeks later I was discharged, I made sure my Ex was sleeping on the couch in the living room permanently. Despite both side parents pressure I did not buckle or budge from my decision.

The cops were also regularly in touch with me to see if I wanted to press charges and proceed or drop it entirely, I told them to keep it on hold. I made my intentions for divorce clear to everyone in both families.

I said “that was the only ground for me to take back my complaint. So either everyone agrees or I tell the cops to take him away for a good few years”. My divorce announcement struck like a thunderstorm thru the family because it had never happened before in either of the families.

My dad asked “are you mad Sarita? What are you going to do after divorce at this age? Who will take care of you”? I said “dad, I have enough savings of my own, I will manage. And if I get lucky by god’s grace, I will get married to the ‘correct’ person and settle down again”.

My mother said “Sarita you have surely lost your bearings. Who will marry an old woman like you now”? I said “don’t worry mom, I will find my Mr. Right surely soon”.

Similar conversation repeated with his parents, his dad said “a divorce will bring bad reputation to our family. Please reconsider your decision”.

I said “with your son in jail for assaulting his wife, you already have enough bad reputation to deal with. Remember I am not responsible for this, your son is. So go deal with that animal who you have raised”.

When they saw I was firm in my decision they too gave up and left. I called my children and Ex to my room since I was still bed ridden. Looking at my Ex I said “this house belongs to me, so till my son is living here you can also stay”.

My Ex interrupted saying “but...”, I said “I am not done talking yet. The day my son leaves this house for whatever reason consider yourself out of this house too. Am I making myself clear”?

He said “Sarita you are bringing a lot of bad name to our family by your actions, please think again”. I shouted “shut up you bastard, does physically assaulting your wife bring you a good name”???

I called Radhika and said “please bring the papers now Radhika”. Ex asked “what papers”? I said “divorce papers, what else”. He said “I am not ready for it yet Sarita. I need time to think about this”.

I said “I am giving you an option of mutual divorce without any questions or alimony, either you accept this or I will go to court and get a divorce on grounds of physical abuse which will also entail heavy compensation which you will need to pay me. So decide right now”.

I looked at my children and said “all this is not your fault so don’t worry, I will always be there when you need me. After our divorce, I have chosen to live my life on my terms and I will not bring you any bad name, I promise”.

Radhika arrived soon, I said “Thanks for coming at such short notice Radhika, give him the papers to sign”. My Ex stared at the papers flipping thru the pages and quietly signed them eventually.

She said “Sarita I will speak to the lawyer and give her these papers, I will let you know what to do next based on what she says”. I said “fine, thank you”, she hugged me and left.