Chronicles of Life

#chap61 #chroniclesoflife #Sagas_by_Irvika #sweetlovestory

It was midnight when Shruti had all forgotten about it when Atharva held her face and kissed her softly on her lips and wished her, “Happy Anniversary jaanu. I may not remember dates, but what I feel for you is far more deeply embedded than you can even begin to imagine.” Shruti was once again bowled over by him.

They cuddled and slept. The way he snaked his arms around her, pulled her closer in sleep, she felt cherished and content, complete in every sense of the word.

To be continued….

Shruti discussed about the possibility of working from home with Atharva but somehow she herself wasn't convinced. Coz everything takes time to set up and she knew that by the time she is able to find her feet,  it would be time for her to start the family. And with no support from in-laws, particularly her mother in law, it would be impossible. Although she was disheartened, she gardually moulded herself and let go of her dream. When she discussed about it with her mom, she wisely advised, "You can always do something worthwhile once the kids grow. Till then without any support or extra help,  it won't be practically possible Shru.  Atharva can be supportive only till a certain extent. Beyond a certain point, you cannot expect him to go against his family all the time. And even if he does,  you will have to take a sabbatical anyways. "
Shruti had gulped it down and accepted it as her destiny, but at the back of her mind she would always feel incomplete.

The months simply flew by. Before she knew, it was 8th August. Shruti and Atharva had a tiff over something that her mother in law had said.  He had been mentally pre occupied with his work and vented it out on Shruti when she sulked.
She was moved to tears and said grimly, "Atharva I'm not used to being ill treated. I guess it will take time. And if you think I am kiddish, if being sensitive is called immaturity, then yes possibly I am. "
And she left abruptly, fuming at the way things had gone sour. 

She was getting hang of things around the house,  tried her best to cook a variety of things,  and if she may say so,  she was much better off than what she was 6 months back. Instead of acknowledging her efforts, all her mother in law would do was crib about something or the other, which would hurt her.

Usually, Atharva would be quite understanding and would do his best to placate her but on that day, he lost it.  He knew Shruti wasn't at fault but still he couldn't keep on arguing all the time.

He calmed himself down and came in the room after a while to see her lying on the bed. He tried to call her a couple of times but to no avail.

He was about to leave the room when Shruti said in a weepy voice, "Tomorrow is my birthday Atharva. Thank you for such a wonderful gift. Now I understand why they always say...  How much ever a girl tries to belong to a home,  she remains an outsider,  no matter what."

Atharva turned around with a painful look in his eyes, hurt by what she had just said. He simply went and hugged her, cursing himself for venting out on her. He tried to get her out of her gloomy mood but she couldn’t. However, after a while she did make an effort for Atharva’s sake. It was 11.30 p.m. and Shruti was about to go and change when he insisted, “Come and sit with me.” She stood for a minute, trying to resist but then eventually gave in. “Let us not discuss about circumstances over which we have no control and spoil the day. I know what you are feeling but some things are beyond our control.”

She refrained from passing any comments coz it had caused enough grievances and there was no point. It was just that sometimes everything would accumulate and it would go beyond a certain point and she would burst. The clock chimed 11.50 p.m. and Atharva urged her to come out. She hadn’t expected all the family members to be up at that time.
Isha came and said with a lot of excitement, “Chachi! It’s your birthday. Will you let me cut it?”
Preksha immediately chided her but Shruti picked her up and looked at her adoringly, “Yes of course!” Isha screamed as she saw Atharva bring in the cake on a plate. She felt guilty for saying things which he didn’t deserve. They had an eye lock and she apologised, hoping he would understand. He blinked with his eyes to reassure her and insisted her to cut the cake.