Chapters (45)
Sanju’s mother laughed heartily. ‘She lost her husband very early. She has been living with us for almost thirty years and helped me raise Sanju. When she was working, she was not this controlling but once she retired ten years back was when she began to fuss a lot.’
‘Weren’t you uncomfortable that she was so possessive of Sanju and uncle?’
The older woman shrugged. ‘Not really. Love is abundant. You should give and receive it freely.’ Okay, Anu’s mother-in-law read a lot of spiritual books and she spoke like that sometimes. But it sounded quite nice and not tacky coming from her. ‘But Anu, don’t worry about all this. Padma aunty, as you said, is over possessive of Sanju and he adores her. She has nothing against you.’
Except that she makes sure to tell me how I am just not enough for Sanju—thought Anu but did not voice it.
Just as she was leaving, Padma aunty arrived. Anu smiled as brightly as she could and got a small nod in reply. But Vicky got ample bosomy hugs and wet kisses.
‘Look Suma, I got Sanju’s baby videos converted to DVDs. We should play now so that Vicky can see his father.’ She was so excited she squeaked her words.
Anu knew there was no escaping the video. For the first fifteen minutes, it was very endearing. Little Sanju looking dapper in suits, Krishna costumes and girl outfits. Then it began to feel highly boring. Anu looked at her mother-in-law helplessly who came to the rescue. ‘Anu, you can watch it another time, or I will give it to you after we watch it. Now you carry on since you said you have plans.’
Anu wanted to kiss her mother-in-law. Padzilla looked visibly upset. ‘It is fun to watch it with Vicky. I also got my Europe trip video. We will watch when Sanju comes home.’
When Anu walked out of the house, Anu suddenly felt guilty. Sanju is so loved here and he gets nothing but angst from me lately. She remembered Sanju standing by that very gate most mornings and evenings when she went to college and came back. Later, he had confessed that he stood there only to see her. The first time he invited her home she had spilt a large cup of Bournvita on the sofa and he had only smiled and asked her not to worry and the cleaned up the mess. And the time he had invited her home when he was alone … As the memories came crowding, she wanted to run home to Sanju and make everything perfect between them.
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