Infatuation - the mystic beast.

“It was all YOUR fault!” Raghu shouted at Nithya.
“Now what do I do?” He asked in a desperate tone. How was he to meet this uncomfortable situation? He felt as if his mind was bursting out of tension and grief.
Nithya stood near the window, watching the buzzing activities outside.
“It wasn’t mine. Don’t blame me alone!” She squealed back in frustration.
The argument finally ended up in an exasperated note.
“Ok, Ok, lets not blame each other and waste time. Lets try to think of what we should do next!” Nithya said. They decided to let things as it be for a while.
Was it really her fault? Nithya thought. Was she wrong in telling her daughter Latha about her past, about how she loved Raghu and married him? Has this influenced Latha to make this decision? Nithya fell in love with Raghu when she was a teenager and got married as soon as she finished her graduation. She had been going out with him on those days.
Now Nithya’s thoughts raced back to about one month before when her helper was discussing her family matters with her.
Her maid said one day,“Amma, my son lost his job. You know how difficult it is for me to make ends meet.” She was almost crying.
Nithya felt sorry for her.
“Raghu, we need a driver for our car. Why can’t we assign this job to her son Mani?” She asked.
Raghu did not mind fixing him up as his driver. He needed one badly.
Mani joined duty the next day and was waiting outside near the car. Mani seemed to be a quiet person. He looked nice in his casual dress and he had a charming face, which made one notice him a second time.
“Shall I get dropped to school today?” His daughter Latha asked.
She was having her exams and was eager to be on time to school. She already felt tense and was not in a mood to go by bike to school. What she wants, she gets. That was her attitude as a teenager.
“You can get dropped everyday!” Her father said. Latha felt happy.
Mani picked her up from school as well and it became a daily routine. Mani was to drop and pick her up from school, then take her to her special classes and be back.
One fine day, it was raining heavily and there was no sign of Latha.
Nithya was getting worried about Latha because it was an age of curiosity and confusion. She called up Latha’s friends only to learn that Latha has not attended the special class that day. Then where could she have gone? Mani did not turn up that day and Latha had taken her bike to go and attend the classes.
It was becoming dark and almost dinnertime. Nithya became desperate and could not control her tears when she saw Raghu coming in. She broke down as soon as she saw Raghu .“Latha has not come yet!” She had already called him and told him over phone so many times.
It was a sleepless night and finally there was a call from Latha..Latha had shocking news for them both.
“Ma, I am with Mani now. I have married him..”
“What???” Nithya almost fainted with shock while Raghu remained calm, composed, as he heard the news and he talked to Latha. He knew that he had no control over the situation now. He had set a high standard for himself and now it was all in shatters.
That was the end of it, he felt. He was angry and felt that he should not have trusted Latha too much. But what was the use? It was late now.
Latha wasn’t their daughter anymore.” I am disowning her!” He said. That is how she had made them feel. But he did not realize that this is easier said than done. She has spoilt his reputation, he felt. But with this present scenario, when she has decided to live her own life, he decided to leave her in her own way. But he made it clear to her that she can’t expect anything from him in future. He also told her that they can never have a happy relationship with her and told her to be on her own and not to contact them anymore.
All Nithya could do was cry her heart out for her young and immature daughter who has taken a wrong decision which would mar her life forever.
All Raghu could do was to shout at Nithya. ”It’s your entire fault! You did not take care of her properly! If you had paid attention to her needs and cared more about her, she wouldn’t have left us!”
Nithya could not accept what he said. How can he say that she alone was at fault? It was he who asked the driver to drop Latha.
Raghu , in turn, asked how would anyone know that a driver would behave in this irrational manner?
They were blaming each other and at the same time upset that their daughter had left them for good with a total stranger.
A few weeks passed, and there was a knock at the door.
Nithya opened the door. It was Latha standing outside, eagerly looking at her mother’s face to know if she would accept her and call her inside.
“Who asked you to come?” Nithya asked in a low and husky voice as Latha entered inside.
Latha hugged her mother and sobbed and then with a distinct catch in her breath she said, “He left me in the lurch…I didn’t know he was already married…” Nithya did not reply.
As a mother, she accepted her back. She knows that it may be a wound now but this shall pass and Latha will be left with the scar to remind her of this infatuation.
It was for Nithya and Raghu to get her back to the right track…