Destiny

14. Destiny's Play - I

Anupama's emotional condition worsened as the days passed, and she was utterly despondent. She was afraid to inform Anand about her condition, and worried about the consequences if she did not get cured. She followed the doctor's instructions very carefully, but it was of no use. The doctor had tried to reassure her, and told her to be patient. Anupama wondered. . .even if she had endless patience would it solve her problems? What about the people around her?

Every time she had to visit the doctor, she had to weave a big lie so that nobody would guess where she was going. . Anupama now felt as though there was a sharp sword hanging over her head. She was haunted by the fear that someone would find out her secret; and the harder she tried to conceal her problem, the larger the web of deceit grew. And so did the patch.

She started wearing her sari much lower than before in order to hide the patch, and as a result at times even walking became difficult. Was she suffering now because of her karma, because of something she had done in her previous birth? Was her affliction the result of someone's curse? She was no longer keen to call up Anand or write letters to him. Her wretchedness made her oblivious to everything else. She felt as though she was walking through a dark tunnel that had no end in sight.

One evening, a few days later, Anupama conjured up a suitable lie and left to meet the doctor. Aadya was away and Sunaina had gone to visit one of her friends, but when she reached her house she discovered that her friend was out of town. Sunaina decided to get some saffron from the bazaar on her way home, to add to the milk she drank before going to bed.

While she was waiting in the car for the driver to fetch the saffron, Sunaina's eyes accidentally fell on the board outside Dr. Rao's clinic. She was under the impression that those who visited dermatologists had venereal diseases. The very thought of those patients was distasteful to her.

She was about to look away when she saw Anupama come out of the clinic.
Sunaina was shocked. She could not believe that her daughter-in-law was visiting such a place, and that too, without her knowledge! She had always thought of her daughter-in-law as a simple and submissive girl.

Anupama had never crossed her in any way, by word or deed, making this breach of confidence unbelievable. When the driver returned from his errand, she asked him to take her home immediately. She furiously pondered over what she should do next as she made her way back. She had an uncompromising nature and it did not take her long to arrive at a hard decision.
Anupama reached home sometime later, completely unaware of what awaited her there. She walked up straight to her room and found a letter from Anand.

He had written about British theatre-the constant innovations and the new plays that were being staged in different parts of the country, Globe Theatre in London and Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon.

"Anupama, I am really busy coping with the workload at the hospital, but whenever I see anything beautiful, hear a sweet song, or smell a lovely flower, my mind flies back to you. I am counting the days to your arrival."

'Anupama!' Sunaina called out from downstairs.

Anupama was so immersed in reading Anand's letter that she did not hear her.

"Anu, life is so beautiful and interesting. I am sure you will enjoy every minute of it. By the way, how is avva? She may be harsh at times, but please don't misunderstand her. For my sake, you should overlook all that. . ."

'Anupama!' Sunaina's voice was sharper this time, and Anupama startled as it cut into her thoughts. She suddenly realized that something was wrong.

'Yes, I'm coming,' she called out as she reached the stairs.
Sunaina was standing at the foot of the stairs. 'Is your friend's house in the market?'

Anupama fumbled for an answer.

'Come down!' commanded Sunaina.
Anupama only remembered putting her foot down on the step below. Her foot either got entangled in the folds of her sari, or sheer fear blinded her-she lost her balance and screamed as she rolled down the stairs. Her scream brought the driver, the cook, Narayana and Aadya rushing to her.

Anupama was unconscious, and blood trickled from the cut on her forehead. Her sari was in disarray, and what she had been struggling to hide so desperately was now revealed to everyone.

All of them stood staring at the white patch on her foot. Sunaina did not say anything. She looked as if a calamity had befallen them, and Aadya felt a kind of vicious satisfaction. She thought to herself, You wanted to expose me, but now "you are exposed."

Narayana said, 'Oh, this is a bad omen!'
Nobody bothered about Anupama. Only the cook brought some water and sprinkled it on her face. She was not badly hurt and recovered soon. Covering up the patch with the end of her sari, she leant against the wall and tried to sit up as Sunaina started questioning her again.

'Anupama, I saw you in the bazaar today.'

'Yes. I had gone to see the doctor,' she replied in a low voice.

'Then why did you lie to me? I thought you had gone to visit your friend.'
Anupama did not reply.

'Since when have you had this white patch?'

'From just a few days back.'
'Oh! Are you sure it wasn't there before the marriage? Don't lie to me. Anand is far too naïve and you took advantage of him. You deceived him into marrying you for his money. '

Anupama protested, 'No, that is not true. I did not have this before marriage.'
Sunaina now directed her anger towards Narayana. 'Narayana, tell me. Did
the horoscopes really match well?'
'Certainly, avva. The horoscope that was given matched well. . .'

Sunaina murmured, 'Who knows, it might have been someone else's!'
Anupama did not even try to defend herself. Sunaina's verbal onslaught had left her shaken to the core.

Anupama was too sensitive to brush aside what had happened. She was unable to eat that night, and nobody called her for dinner anyway.

Narayana kept telling Sunaina, 'This is a bad disease. She cannot perform any puja now. It must be the result of a sin from her previous life.'

Anupama spent the night agonizing over her future. The next morning, Anupama went to the garden as usual and gathered flowers in the silver basket.

Soon after the wedding, at Narayana's suggestion, Sunaina had decided to offer one lakh flowers to the goddess Lakshmi. And Anupama had been assigned the job of collecting the "Parijata" flowers every day.

When she went to the puja room with the flowers Narayana said, 'Don't come in here and pollute everything.' He took the flowers she had collected, threw them outside, and poured some water on the basket to purify it.

Anupama was dumbstruck. She had anticipated some problems because of her affliction, but she had not expected to be ostracized in this manner. Till that day, Narayana had always been humble and subservient, and had spoken to her
respectfully because he knew she would inherit Sunaina's mantle one day.

Nobody bothered even to talk to her anymore. Earlier she had taken her meals with her mother-in-law and Aadyaa. But now, food was sent to her room, implying that she was not welcome downstairs.

In the afternoon, one of Sunaina's friend arrived and Anupama could hear her talking to Sunaina. Normally, she would have gone down to meet her, but she knew that she would not be welcome now.

'Sunaina, I heard the bad news through your cook. It is simply appalling! I felt so miserable I had to come and see you even though it is late afternoon. I feel terrible knowing that you have been deceived.' her friend spoke as though she had come to offer condolences to someone who had been bereaved.
'I do not know what to do. How will I tell Anand? Poor boy! He was deceived by her beauty.' 'Radha, be careful. Do you know whether it is leukoderma or leprosy? It might be contagious,' added her friend.

Anupama was stunned. Dr Rao had explained to her that although the clinical symptoms of leukoderma and leprosy might be similar, they were very different in nature. He had mentioned that, with the medicines currently available, even leprosy was curable. But who could argue with the likes of such people?