Sunday Story: And This Is What Happened!

(This is a continuation from Last Sunday's Story. You can read it here.)

Meetha tells her story...

Meetha and her dad Shailesh had gone to a spiritual renewal program. Her dad thought it would help his daughter heal from the trauma she had been in for the past two years. 

Just thinking of what his daughter had gone through made him shudder. "Doesn't she know how much I love her? Couldn't she have just returned home?" he thought as the memory of her begging on the crowded street flashed in his mind. "But that's the past, and now she's home, and that's all that matters." he thought as he shook his head as if to free himself from the painful memories. 

"The convention will end today, and we have a flight to catch tonight." he thought as the corners of his lips lifted in a smile. " Meetha seems to have come to terms with what happened to her. The best thing we can do is forget the past and walk into a bright new future–"

"–and now we have Meetha, who would like to share her experience with us." The announcement over the sound system brought Shailesh back to the present. He looked to his side, but Meetha wasn't there. His heart began to race. Where did she go-" That's when he heard a familiar voice. His eyes darted to the podium, where his little girl stood. Meetha was a petite young woman, but she looked confident, "my little girl has grown up." Shailesh thought as Meetha began to speak. 

After the initial greeting and expression of joy for having made it to the convention, Meetha got to the point. She said her daddy always protected her, But instead of recognising the love behind his words and action, she hated having to obey his every rule. 

"Two years ago–" she said as she chuckled, "along it feels longer. I turned 18 and wanted to party hard with my friends. But my dad told me I had to be back home by 6 pm, which irritated the daylights out of me." She went on to explain how she had pleaded with him for some extra time out and how he had denied her that. Meetha spoke of how angry she was when she walked to college that day and how she had wept when she met the love of her life and narrated her misery.

"Yes, the love of my life," she snorted as she continued, "or so I believed because I was a fool!" She introduced Shashi to the crowd saying, "Shashi was a couple of years senior to me in college. And I believed he loved me and wanted the best for me." 

She spoke of how she always confided in him, how he kept brainwashing her into believing in herself, how dominating her dad was and how much she deserved to be independent. He often would call her home a jail, her dad a jail warden and her a prisoner. As days went by, Meetha spoke of how she hated her dad and couldn't even bear to look at his face. 

Gradually Shashi started urging her to leave her home by saying things like, "I don't know how you take all that. If I were you, I would have left home long back, and you know I have." 

He would often boast, saying, "that's when my parents stopped interfering with my life and let me be." He would also say, "the next time they call, I will record their call. You should see how they beg me to come back." The next day, he had even let her hear a recording of his dad pleading with him to return home. 

On that day, Meetha had told him, "they would have changed. Why don't you go and visit them." But he laughed and said, "because I am not stupid, I recognise a snare when I see one." He continued to say, "I earn enough, and I don't need them at all." He had promised to help her freelance and earn more than her dad and encouraged her to. 'show him."

Meetha explained how they would meet every evening after college and come home and how her dad had lost patience and told her that he wouldn't open the door for her if she came after 6 pm.

That day she had packed her bag as she left for college and had decided never to come back home, and she never did until her dad found her. She believed life would be good with the 'love of her life.' 

Shashi welcomed her to his one-room home, and soon he violated her, allowed his friends to do the same, and earned money from it. That was what he called freelancing. Meetha was in misery, but she had no way to go back home after what she had gone through and one day, she fell sick. 

The medical test revealed that she had a contagious and incurable illness. When Sashi realised he could no longer earn through her, Shashi threw her out of the house, and that's how Meetha landed on the streets. She contemplated returning home but thought they could fall sick and stayed on the road. She was on the streets for almost two months when her dad found her.

She said, "we believe in our friends and need them. Not all are like Shashi, but no one can love you like your parents. And if your parents are with you, no one can touch you, but if you are on your own, you get tossed around like a plaything and tossed in the trash when of no use. Whatever your parents may be, protect yourself by staying with them."

My Thoughts

When Meetha finished speaking, there was no single dry-eyed person in the crowd. It is easy to conclude that Meetha disobeyed her parents and paid the price. But that is not the whole truth. Overprotectiveness and unreasonable discipline can sometimes push children on the wrong path!