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Akash woke up at around 7 a.m. He left for work between 8 and 8:30 after breakfast and chai. He came back around 6 p.m. He held a decent position at an accounting firm and was compensated very well. He also contributed to help with family expenditures. After he returned from work, he left within half an hour to attend a spiritual discourse or meeting. He came home late and took his dinner alone since everybody else would have retired for the night. He kept to himself, never interacting much with the others. Most of his friends were married, and he didn’t socialize with them, having nothing in common. He kept himself busy reading books. The only expenditures for Akash in addition to paying Sashank every month were his conveyance and the purchase of spiritual books. He had great collection in his room.
It became obvious to Roshni that these brothers were quiet, and there was some sadness in the family. Both brothers earned decent salaries, so there was no dearth for finances. Kaki helped manage the house well with Lakshmi, so housework was taken care of. Kaki was busy with cooking, and Lakshmi came in the morning and was busy with her chores – sweeping the front yard, sweeping and mopping the house, cleaning dishes and washing clothes. Lakshmi helped with chopping vegetables, making the dough for chapathis, and similar work to assist Kaki.
However, both brothers appeared sad and depressed. They never opened up very easily and especially not with Roshni. She was new in the house, and she never expected them to be friendly with her. Each of them did their own routine activities with little or no interaction with others. There were a couple of times when Roshni tried to interact; Sashank at least talked to her, but Akash definitely was not interested in any conversations with her. It was very quiet around the house even with everybody present.
Roshni grew up with her father, and Rahim chacha helped with household chores, but the house was vibrant, always full of energy and happiness. So this was a challenge for Roshni; trying to find out why these two brothers felt dejected and change them to be more accepting of the circumstances and be cheerful.
Roshni gave this a little thought and came up with a plan for her first try.
She participated in activities with both brothers to interact with them. She liked to do yoga, so she convinced Sashank to let her join him for yoga. When possible, she went with him for walks and to the market for grocery shopping. Roshni took over the pooja room activities, and this gave Sashank extra time to spend with her during pooja and morning prayers. Gradually she made Sashank more comfortable so he talked to her, spent time with her, and they discussed various topics.
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ere were several occasions when he snarled at her in anger and asked her not to interfere, but Roshni was persistent. They argued several times. She felt awful and dejected, went to her room, stayed up all night crying, but never gave up. She was demeaned and derogatory remarks were made again and again by Sashank. She was asked to go away to her father’s house a few times, but Roshni tolerated everything to keep her promise.
There were times she felt like running away to her father, questioning him for why he chose Deepak to be her husband, wanting to discuss Sashank and his behavior, but she never did. She never discussed it with Deepak either and suffered internally. The only outlet for her was to cry in her room, and she spent many sleepless nights. All the thoughts and conversations haunted her. She was worried that if she communicated this to Babuji, he could not withstand this, and…what if something happened to him? He was her only succor and guide at this time, and she could not afford to lose him.
Roshni was persistent. She was after Sashank and tried different options to get closer to him, and finally she started to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Sashank was a nice person at heart, but past experiences made him react harshly. Subsequently, he opened up slowly to Roshni and let her participate in more activities around the house; both of them watched TV news or programs together and discussed those shows or news. They argued on certain topics because both had different opinions, but it was all in a friendly mood. Sashank became more tolerant of her and apologized to her for his rude behavior.
Since Deepak had initiated family lunches and dinners, she insisted that Sashank and Akash continue with this. With little hesitation Sashank agreed, but Akash preferred to eat alone after his return from a meeting or temple visit. Over time, with a few conversations with Akash, Roshni swayed him to have an early dinner with the family and then go out. Kaki did not have to stay up late, and Lakshmi was able to leave early.
Kaki, Sashank and Lakshmi interacted more with Roshni. Roshni carried so much positive energy; everybody liked her and felt very elated around her. She made everybody laugh, and the environment was jovial, and they felt relaxed. Sashank started to treat her as his daughter and became very caring and affectionate towards her.
Akash still had a few reservations. He ate with the others, but that was the extent of his participation with the family. Once Roshni won over Sashank, her next challenge was Akash. Akash noticed his older brother change and become more cheerful, especially when Roshni was around him. This triggered a self-introspection for him – was he being very rigid and adamant, could he be flexible and welcome people into his life, would people tolerate him?
Roshni spent more time with Akash. Occasionally she went with him to the temples or discourses. They discussed various topics, and he began to like her company. Of course, similar to Sashank, she faced opposition from Akash, but Roshni was used to dealing with Sashank, and she used the same tactics. If these did not work, she would try new tactics on him.
She swayed Akash to watch the spiritual channels on TV at home; Sashank also participated in these discussions. Gradually, she involved Sashank, Akash and even Kaki into these discussions, and Akash was elated. He was never aware everybody in his family was also interested in spiritualism; they participated and discussed these topics together. Kaki always gave her elderly perspective, and Sashank gave input based on his experiences. It was all a healthy environment.
Akash treated Roshni like his little sister and started opening up to her. He’d made that comment at the time of their wedding and now he began to prove it. When necessary, he volunteered to accompany her to other activities. On a few occasions, he volunteered to drop her off at work, and Roshni introduced him to her colleagues, and he seemed very comfortable around them. This was a big change in his personality.
So gradually in a couple of months’ time, Roshni won over Sashank’s and Akash’s hearts. Sashank and Akash respected her, understood her, and were friendlier with her. They opened up to her more without any inhibitions. The atmosphere was livelier in the house. Sashank and Akash smiled more and were cheerful, and there was more family time either at the dining table or watching TV or movies. Deepak called infrequently, but she tried to avoid him; she knew her limits. Kaki was very happy to notice these changes in the house. She was one witness who saw the good and bad times in this family.
On a few occasions all three went out to dinner or lunch. Both Sashank and Akash saw the other side of a woman’s personality…so caring, so full of love and affection, always in a jubilant mood, very compromising and never demanding. This was just the opposite of what they had experienced with their older sister-in-law. Nirmala always exhibited a selfish motive. Overall there was a great change; it was no longer a house but a home for Sashank and Akash.
However, on several occasions, Roshni felt that both these brothers felt lonely in spite of all that was going on. Hmm, she thought to herself, they need a wife in their lives!
Prashant and other colleagues at work noticed these positive changes in Sashank. He was happier and more joyful; he interacted with others more frequently and always had a smiling face. The same was true with Akash. Things were going well at Sashank’s house. Sashank updated Prashant about Roshni quite often…so often that Prashant did not feel the necessity to visit Roshni.
Roshni on the other hand was depressed and often felt miserable, and she wept quietly in her room. A question constantly bothered her – why couldn’t she have a happy married life like other girls? She was very aware of the drama she played here as Deepak’s wife and a daughter-in-law and was aware of her limits. She reflected on the past, her conversations with Deepak haunted her periodically, and she became very dejected.
She reconciled herself to the fact that whatever happened, there was a reason, and it was in her best interest to accept this.
~ ~ ~
It was the end of February, and things gradually improved with Sashank and Akash. Akash spent more time at home with everybody, and both brothers became more accepting of Roshni and other women around them. They became more patient and tolerant of people around them.
It had been about two months since Roshni’s wedding, so Prashant decided to take Roshni for a couple of days to his house. He came home one Thursday evening and was delighted to see the changes in the family and how Roshni was working hard to fulfill her promise. He was very pleased and asked Sashank if he could take Roshni with him for a couple of days. Sashank agreed but was unhappy…Roshni had had such an impact on the entire family, and they would miss her.
Sashank put his hand around her shoulders and looked at Prashant. “This girl has done magic in this house. Look at us.” He pointed towards Akash and himself. “Have we ever been this happy before? Not in the last few years, at least. She has had such a great influence on us,” Sashank said and smiled.
He hugged Roshni and gently whispered, “Thank you, Roshni bete.”
Prashant was glad to hear this from Sashank and praised Roshni for her sincere attempts to bring this family together. However, he began to suspect that Roshni was not happy. Outwardly she appeared to be cheerful, but internally, there was a struggle. Something was bothering her. He wanted to find out if it had to do with her marriage. He also noticed that Deepak had not called as frequently, and this concerned him. He decided to talk to Roshni, but not in Sashank’s house. He would wait until they got to his house.
They were ready to leave when Roshni said, “Sashank bhaiya and Akash bhaiya, promise me that you will come home early and have dinner together with Kaki and will take care of each other.”
Both brothers smiled at Roshni and promised her that they would behave well. She smiled and was happy to hear this promise from them, but somewhere deep within her heart, she was sorrowful to leave them. She had become very close to these two brothers. She recognized that Sashank and Akash were nice people, caring and affectionate; however, all this love and affection were clouded, and they refused to bring it to the surface and exhibit it. They were very kind and
