Ratneshwari

Chapter 17

(Next day)

It was afternoon. Ratneshwari was sitting on a chair and was lost in her thoughts. She was feeling very insecure. Her concentration was broken by a phone call. It was her brother who has called. She picked up the phone.

"Hello Anna"

"Open the door! Is the bell not working?"

"Oh! Sorry Anna!"

Ratneshwari hurried towards the door and opened it. Krishna greeted her with a big smile on his face. They hugged each other. Ratneshwari called him inside and made him sit in the drawing room. Krishna looked at Ratneshwari. He grew restless. He did not know the reason. He felt that something was not right.

Krishna noticed that Ratneshwari had lost weight. She was looking pale and her eyelids were swollen as if she had been crying for a long time.

Ratneshwari was sitting beside Krishna. He held her hand and said, "Is everything fine?" Ratneshwari smiled at him and said, "Yes, everything is fine. I am happy." Krishna was not convinced. He felt that his sister was hiding something from him. He said, "Are you hiding something from me?" Ratneshwari looked away. She was holding back her tears with great difficulty. She said, "No Anna. I am not hiding anything from you. Why would I hide anything from you?"

Krishna looked into her tearful eyes. He said, "I am your brother. I know everything about you. Tell me, what's the problem? Is it related to Shivan? Does he hit you or something like that?" Ratneshwari said, "There is nothing like that, Anna."

Krishna took Ratneshwari's hand and placed it on his head. He said, "Tell me everything if you don't wish to see my corpse." Ratneshwari was horrified. She quickly took her hand away. Krishna had tears in his eyes. He patted his sister's head and said, "Tell me".

Ratneshwari looked him and said, "Anna, he doesn't love me. He loves someone else. He wants to divorce me and marry her." Then, she narrated everything to him. Krishna felt as if someone had taken a dagger and stabbed him multiple times. He couldn't believe his ears. He wanted to speak but words did not come out from his mouth. He said, "He....but.....how can he....."

Ratneshwari hugged Krishna tightly and started sobbing. She said, "Anna, I love him. I love him so much. He wants to leave me. I can't live without him, Anna. I will die. I will die, Anna." Krishna hugged his sister. Both of them cried.

The wise man said, "Share your grief with your loved ones. It will lessen the burden of the grief that you are carrying." A man heard his words. He laughed at the wise man and said, "Says the one who most probably did not have any grief. If I share my grief with my loved ones, they drown themselves in the same sea of grief instead of taking a boat and trying to rescue me. The grief just multiplies."

Krishna said to her, "Don't worry. I will inform Amma and Appa about this. You don't have to stay with this heartless man who doesn't care about you." Ratneshwari stopped crying and said to Krishna, "No Anna, please don't say anything to them. They will not be able to bear this. And I don't want to go anywhere. I love Shiv. I can't live without him." She started crying again. Krishna hugged her.

That day, Shivan returned home early. He saw Krishna at the gate, who was about to leave. He greeted him with a smile. He said, "Anna, you're here?" Krishna said quite rudely, "Why? Can't I come to your house to meet my only sister?" Shivan was shocked. He had not expected Krishna to answer him in that way. He said, " I didn't mean anything wrong, Anna. You are always welcome here. She is your sister."

Krishna's eyes turned red in anger. He said, " Twenty three years! I took care of my sister for twenty three years. I used to feed her with my own hands. I used to take her in my arms and play with her. I did not nurture her so that you can torture her. What did you do to her? She has become mute. She does not like to speak. Her skin has turned pale. Why? Why did you do this to her? Is she not worthy of your love? If you cannot love her, then why did you marry her? Why did you take her away from me if you can't take care of her? What is her fault? Do you think everything is so easy? She loves you. But you don't care." After saying this, Krishna walked away.

Shivan did not say anything. He entered the house. The house was unnaturally quiet. He walked towards his bedroom. It was empty. After freshening up, he started to look for Ratneshwari. He did not find her in the kitchen. "Where is she?" , he thought.

He saw that the door of the guestroom was open. He looked inside the room. Ratneshwari was sleeping on the bed. He walked towards her. Shivan looked at her innocent face. He did not fail to notice her tears that has dried up. He touched her head and gently caressed it. He sat on the edge of the bed. He whispered, "I will ask God to give me a chance to love you in the next birth. You don't know anything, Ratna. You don't know anything. My heart is not a stone. It would have given me immense happiness if we could just love each other and live for each other. But is it possible? No! It's not possible. I have made a promise to Sheetal. She is waiting for me. She hopes that I will marry her someday. I cannot break that promise."