Adultery The Old Toothbrush by Trambak

[Ramesh_Rocky]

"And what are your joint opinions about the story in its full avatar?" I asked sarcastically.

Pat came her reply, "Sordid saga of treachery, deceit, lust, and betrayal. Also goes on to prove how sweet talk can confuse and confound a decent man to swallow his pride and succumb to emotional blackmail."

I patiently explained, "She is a woman who has made a terrible mistake. Not everything in life can be measured in black and white, Keya."

Karan tried to say something but Keya was quicker, "Nonsense. In the eyes of law, gender has very little consideration. Also, societal norms must be preserved. She is guilty unless proven otherwise."

Strong mindset. Karan was in trouble, I thought. Guilty unless proven otherwise!

I tried to reason, "Look Keya, you cannot compare literature with law books. Even in law, there is a window for correction. Your views are rather draconian."

"We have to be harsh if the social order has to survive, for the greater good. You can't allow taking the spouse for a ride and then coming up with illogical 'cry baby' stuff" Keya said with great ferocity in her eyes.

Concentration camp! I thought.

"Suppose, you are at fault sometimes and repent. You want a second chance, then?" I pleaded.

Keya said sternly, "Weak creatures do that. Look at Avni. She is one of them. If I had my way, I would revoke the pardon that she offered to Sumit."

Karan forced himself in, "But Sumit's has had a harrowing time. He is a changed man and Avni agrees."

Keya was unmerciful. She spoke in a cold voice, "Mr. Karan, I don't understand where you get these irrelevant notions. Please don't interfere."

Something was wrong here. Keya was behaving differently. Yes, I did conceive her to be a strong woman ready to deal with situations but never to be unresponsive to reason and rationale.

I stood up and walked towards her. All eyes were on me. Keya continued her stubborn body language and kept sitting. I reached her and gently made her stand. She looked the other way, a bit distraught. Something was definitely awry here.

I asked her in a soothing voice, "Keya, tell me, what's it?"

She continued to look elsewhere avoiding eye contact. I kept holding her and the time ticked by. At last her resolve to retain silence broke. In a pathetic voice, she said, "You know, your story has destroyed my faith in relationships. You come back home and you find that person is gone for whom you have returned? And all this while, you never came to know of it. You were in the dark always. You continually thought that you had your life well sorted out. You loved someone and that person felt similarly. But that is not true. Why did you do this to me?"

Keya was silent. Avni spoke, "Trambak, Keya feels vulnerable. She feels that there are cheats everywhere who are silently waiting to strike. Deep suspicion has flooded her mind and now she believes no one."

I did not have any immediate response to that but I had to answer it because each one here wanted my reply. I looked at all. Avni came and stood by me, giving me some support that I badly needed. Finally, I said, "Keya, it's just a story. It is fiction, it is not true! It does not happen such in real life. Suhasini made a terrible error and has suffered. She deserved this suffering. Unfortunately, her family was caught in the quake and suffered severe collateral damage. It would have been easy for me to selectively weed out the main perpetrator and pronounce judgment but I would only have continued the chastisement on the family. So, I felt that a 'one-time' reprieve was necessary to allow the family to mend its ways though seriously damaged due to the folly of one person."

I stopped to see Keya's reaction. She looked at me; it was a silent stare and not a glare that was in order, in her state. I felt really sad for her. Inadvertently, I had hurt this very straightforward woman for whom 'grey shades' were not in the dictionary.

I replied, "Keya. I do not believe that what I have written is routine. It is a simple reminder to all of us that how misadventures, whatever that may be; fun, experiment, boredom; whatever, comes with a heavy price tag. You can mend a torn shirt but you cannot repair a hurt mind. And earlier, I had thought precisely this when I dealt with Avni and Sumit. But I can assure you that we are fortunately in the company of people who are much less frivolous than most others. Much more mature, truthful and also able to control instincts."