Mangalyam thantuna nena..-7

"hello swapna" Vishali called out to her friend
"hey you are back??? how was the trip" Swapna asked excitedly hugging vishali
"it was awesome..." vishali gushed " 3 weeks of pure fun and u know how much i love to travel..i have to develope the photos once i do that i will show you all..kerala is an awesome place yaar"
"well all i always told u that" swapna replied . she was from kerala."when did u get back"
"yesterday night" vishali replied"have you seen shankar.."
"No come to think of it i have not seen him for almost a month" swapna replied "hey this is semester break who is gonna be foolish enough come here during holidays.." and then what she said hit her and she started laughing " other than me..well i had to still complete the assignment ..got an extension" she replied defensively.
"oh ok..anyways i came to check if the semester results have been posted" vishali replied
"not yet DPS told me it will be up day after tommorow" swapna added
"oh ok...since we are here anyways why dont we just get some tea from canteen" vishali said
"ok" swapna replied"let me go and submit this assignment first"

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Vishali called shankar once she got home and his mother picked up the phone
"hello mami(aunty)..vishali here..eppadi irrukel( how are you??"
"etho irrukondi ...(somehow surviving)"his mom replied and her voice sounded as if she was crying
"mami...are u ok??" vishali asked her
At that his mom started crying and vishali felt a sense of unease settle in her stomach
"mami enna acchu (what happened?) een azarel ( why are u crying?)"
when his mom started crying even more "iam comming over there mami" vishali said and kept the phone down
Vishali's mom taking in the tone of her daughter asked her " what's wrong??"
"i dont know i called shankar's place and his mom sounded very distraught..she was crying mom" vishali felt very upset at that and her mom decided to come with her too
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Vishali knocked on shankar's house door looked at her mom .she felt very apprehensive she had never seen shankar's mom cry in all the time she has known her. she was one of those people who always looked at positive side of things no matter what happened and fact that she was crying did not bode well.
Shankar's dad opened the door. He looked very gaunt and his eyes looked red rimmed
"hello mama..enna achhu??( what happened??)" vishali asked as her mom hurriedly went in to the house to talk to shankar's mom who was standing in the living room. on seeing vishali and her mom she started crying and vishali's mom hugged her started guiding her to kitchen.

"mama enna achu..( uncle what happened??) is everything ok.." vishali asked her tension showing in her voice.
"kanna periya thappu panniten naan ( dear i have made a very big mistake) ..never should have sent sudha to US or gotten her married to that scoundrel..." Shankar's dad suppressed a sob
" is sudha ok mama???" vishali nearly shrieked the question...but she was not paying any attention to it..right now things started looking very surreal to her
"ennoda kuzhandaioda vazkaiyai naane pazungathula thalliten( i have spoiled my own kid's life)" her dad wailed and at that point shankar walked in to the room supporting sudha.
when Vishali saw sudha she gasped she looked like she was dead...
"sudha..enna achu( what happened) how are you" vishali asked as she rushed to her side
But sudha did not say anything she was just staring at some thing in distance..
"she has been like this since yesterday...i wish she will cry" shankar said despair plain in his eyes
"will someone tell me what happened" vishali asked firmly
"i told u vishali..we will never get what we want..it is all about compromise for us" sudha replied in a quiet voice and that actually vishali a lot
"sudha .." vishali started but sudha kept talking
"divakar never wanted to marry me but was scared to say that to his parents. he liked another girl there and since she was of not the same caste he knew his parents will not agree so under parental pressure he agreed to marry me. once we got married he realised that i was not right for him and that he could not live without that other girl. so a week after we reached US he just left our house and never came back for about a week and after that this girl shravanti came and told me that my husband loves her and wants to live with her only..so he had moved in to her place..he did not even have courage to come and tell me that in person. i stayed alone in that house for another week before i could think. i then contacted one of friends relative there and with their help came back home" sudha said in a low monotous voice .
Vishali felt her world reel under her feet.."if i am feeling like this..how sudha must have felt in a new place without friends or family" vishali thought and tears started pouring down her eyes as she hugged sudha
"when did she come here" Vishali whispered
"two days back" shankar replied "her friends relative called us a week back with the news and we were trying since then to get her back here"
By then Vishali's mom walked in to the room with a tray of hot coffee with shankar's patti( grand mother) in tow bearing some biscuits.
For the first time vishali saw patti without a smile on her face . Vishali looked from shankar's patti to shankar's mom, dad ..she saw a family that looked so lost...it made vishali cry even more
"have you talked to his family" vishali asked
"yeah" shankar replied bitterly" we are very sorry..we never thought our son will do this..we will talk to our son..dont worry..as if my sister will go back to him after all this happened"
"i think i will lie down for a bit" sudha replied in her emotionless voice and started walking towards her room and vishali followed her to make sure that she was ok
once sudha was settled in her bed and vishali felt confident that she is ok she walked back in to the living room and walked to her mom.
" they have not eaten anything for 2 days..iam gonna cook something for them to eat and i have called your dad he will be here..."her mom said..
"do u want help amma( mom)" vishali asked
"its ok..u stay here and keep them company.." her mom replied and then impulsively she hugged her daughter and then wiping her eyes she walked in to the kitchen

Vishali then walked to shankar's mom and putting a hand around her shoulders she sat down and then she looked around at everyone around her and she saw that they all looked like they were all lost in their own thoughts..
The entire house was quite except for the sound of her mother cooking in kitchen ...