The Normal Family

The Heartbreaking News

Akhila's POV

It was a very busy day, I had a lot of work to do, I was just out of a meeting, and had another one to attend. My phone rang, it was only Shiva. I decided I could talk to him later. In ten minutes time, my phone rang again. It was from Srihari, so I picked it up. I was taken aback when I heard Shiva's voice. "Why did you not pick up my call, You are picking it up when it is from Srihari's number." he said. "Well, ,Do you think I'm jobless right now. I thought Srihari might have gone out somewhere, and that it may be important. What do you get from tricking me like that." I asked and hung up. Why did he have to irritate me like this, as if I already didn't have enough on my hands.

There was some news from Mahesh, one prisoner had died. I just asked them to check who it was and what the reason was. "It is Kalai Pazhani, he had been sick for a very long time, he has been using cigarettes, drugs and what not." somebody reported. "Just start with the formalities." I said.

Narrator's POV

Kalai's death left Pallavi devastated, she and Kayal came to the police station. Pallavi couldn't stop crying. "Why did you all do this to my father?" she cried. "For you, he may just be a prisoner, someone who can be thrown like he is worth nothing, but for me he is everything, he is the only person I can call mine. Why did you all do this to him?" she asked still weeping. Mahesh came forward and reasoned "Technically we didn't do anything, this man did all this to himself."  

Hearing the news of Kalai's death, Pallavi's biological mother's brother Murali had come. He offered to take Pallavi with him to Bangalore. Kayal too agreed to this settlement. Murali started talking to Inspector Prem as they were both from the same village. This was one of the reasons why Prem was quite soft with Kalai's case. Akhila was able to hear the conversation clearly.

 "My sister and I were very close, even though she was ten years older than me. I was only nine when I was told that she has ran away from our home, and I was never going to see her again. They told me I was never to ask about her, and that she was a disgrace to our family. I couldn't understand anything at all, after a few years, I asked one of my uncles what had happened to her. I knew I won't know the truth if I asked my parents. 'Vedavali, had married a man from a lower caste, she didn't think anything about our honor, prestige or respect, that is why she took that decision.' he explained. When I asked why my parents were so angry with her. My aunt explained, 'Vedavali, chose her lover over them, would she have made that decision if she had any love or affection for her parents. She made them bow down before the entire village as they had already fixed her marriage with another man.' This made no sense to Akhila, why should anybody be forced to choose between two people they love. How could any parents disown their child, just because she fell in love with someone they couldn't accept."

"That is how our village was, that was the reason I left the village, the first chance I got. Even my wife who is also my colleague is from a different caste." Prem replied. "I myself am a father now, I will never put my daughter in such a position, I guess things have changed nowadays. There are no caste barriers, youngsters no longer have to sacrifice their love in the name of honor" Murali answered. "I do not completely agree with that, even last month a boy from my neighborhood had to breakup with his long time girlfriend, because their wealthy family will never accept a girl from a lower income group. This made the girl end her life, and the boy couldn't recover from depression. Despite education, laws and modernization some things never change." Prem replied. "See how this affects the future generation, if only my parents had accepted Kalai, Pallavi will not be in the state she is in right now." Murali stated. 

Akhila could not control her tears, after hearing all this. Had she not forced Srihari to choose between Pallavi and herself. 'In the future if Srihari did want to marry Pallavi, will I ever be able to bear it or will I react in an extreme manner, like how Vedavali's parents had.' she thought to herself. She had reacted this way only because it had hurt her pride. 'Was it all worth more than Srihari's happiness? Have I not always said his happiness was the most important thing to me?' she thought to herself. Arjun had told her during his engagement, "You cannot accept anybody, you feel nobody is good enough. Do you realize these feelings only destroy relationships?" she had felt really upset then, and didn't accept that accusation. Thinking about it now she began to feel there was some truth it it.

Pallavi's POV

It took me a long time to recover from my father's death. People around have been extra nice to me, I had decided to go with my uncle to Bangalore, I had never seen him in my entire life he says he is my mother's younger brother. He also told me I look exactly like my mother. I got admitted to a university in Bangalore and was happy to continue my education. Kayal, my stepmother told me she was happy that I have got a good future in Bangalore and also told me she was going to move to Coimbatore for work. She apologized for treating me like this for a long time. "I know you can't forgive me." she said. I didn't hold anything against her. Life had not been easy for her either.

Shweta, a girl from my school who had never even spoken to me, called me for a small get together at her place. I guess she had called me only due to pity or maybe she was feeling guilty for calling me weird with her friend Tanisha. I agreed to go only because she told me Srihari was coming. I did want to meet him at least once before I left for Bangalore. Srihari asked me about my future plans, "We have to keep in touch. I want to have a future with you." he insisted. "Do you honestly think it will be possible?" I asked. "Your mother won't even consider it. I don't want any fake hope or anymore loss in life." "My mother has assured me that she is ok with it, she also hopes that you will study well and have a good life. She told me she was sorry if she had ever hurt you." he replied. I was very happy. We promised to stay in touch.