April 2015 A to Z Blogging Challenge- Chapter 19- Stubborn as a mule/Shed light

I'll Be There Beside You 

Chapter 19

Today’s Idiom – 1. Stubborn as a mule.  2. Shed light

Meaning- 1. Someone who will not listen to other people's advice and won't change their way of doing things is as stubborn as a mule.

2.to reveal something about something; to clarify something

As I waited nervously, I remembered my conversation with my mother yesterday.

“Calm down Sudhir and give me a chance to explain. Yes, I knew everything about Lalitha but I didn’t say anything to you because I wanted you to get to know Lalitha first. I wanted you to meet her, and like her without having a biased view of her. If I had revealed Lalitha’s past, would you have agreed to meet her? And I know for a fact that Lalitha was a victim of circumstances. She killed that man because she had to defend herself. That man tried to force himself on her. Look, why don’t you come down here? I don’t want to explain everything over the phone.”

So I had booked my tickets to Udipi the same night and I spent the entire journey trying to make sense of my mother’s words. Lalitha had killed her own Chikappa because he tried to rape her?

Was this another lie amongst the others that Lalitha and her family had weaved in their web of deceit? Why had Lalitha never mentioned this incident to me? Finally at the crack of dawn I had fallen asleep only to be woken up a few hours later when the bus reached Udipi.

My mother was stubborn as a mule. She refused to discuss about Lalitha and explained that she had invited someone who would shed light and state the facts.

It was only when Asha aunty entered our house I realized what my mother had done.

She spoke to my mother briefly and then walked towards me.

“Sudhir, I know you are upset but I beg you to listen to what I’ve to say because not only your life but Lalitha’s future is also at stake. She has already suffered so much and now she has a chance to lead a normal life like other girls. So please listen and think carefully. Then whatever you decide, we’ll accept it as our fate.”

She continued when I didn’t speak.

“Lalitha’s father’s ancestral house is in Kapu and it was maintained by his younger brother Chandra. My mother-in-law stayed there but since Lalitha’s father was working here, we seldom went to visit. We used to send Lalitha there during her summer holidays so that she could spend time with her Ajji.

That summer even though Lalitha protested, we left her in her Ajji’s house. But a week later we received a call on our landline in the dead of the night. My mother-in-law was shouting on the phone as if she had seen the devil. She said that Chandra had locked her out of the house and tried to rape Lalitha. She had to take the neighbor's help to call us from their phone. She didn’t know what had come over Chandra. One never knows the extent of evil that resides within a man until it unleashes and creates havoc. We never knew that Chandra had harbored such sinister feelings towards my daughter. She was just 12 years old. How can anyone think of raping a child?”

Asha aunty started sobbing and my mother ran towards her to console.

She continued after sometime.

“Lalitha tried to scream and fight with Chandra but he had the advantage of size and strength. Lalitha ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife and before Chandra could react, she plunged the knife in his heart. She kept stabbing him till his blood ran down her hands and washed over her body. Then she fell unconscious. My Lalitha was a cheerful, bubbly girl but after this incident it was as if a part of her had died. As if along with Chandra she had killed a part of her body too.

Lalitha was never guilty because she had killed that filthy man to defend herself. If you still don’t believe me you can look up this case in the local papers. Lalitha’s father tried to hush the matter up but most of our community people knew about it. They spread rumors and said that Lalitha suffered from mental disorders. Some even went to the extent of saying that Lalitha was possessed. We considered moving to another city but Lalitha’s father had his job here. How would we survive in an alien city? Eventually we decided to bravely put up with the malicious gossip. We knew that once people got a new topic to tattle about, Lalitha’s story would be forgotten history.

Sudhir, I have bared the truth in front of you. Now you decide if Lalitha was wrong in killing that evil man. You decide if Lalitha has suffered enough in the past years and if she deserves a happy life with a man she loves. I know you love her too. I have seen how you have brought back the smile on her face and I beg you to think twice before breaking her heart.”

Asha aunty quickly strode out of our house leaving me in a terrible quandary.

Chikappa- father’s younger brother.

Ajji- paternal/maternal grandmother.

You can read the previous chapters here-

Chapter 1                                     Chapter 8                             Chapter 15

Chapter 2                                     Chapter 9                             Chapter 16

Chapter 3                                     Chapter 10                           Chapter 17

Chapter 4                                     Chapter 11                           Chapter 18

Chapter 5                                     Chapter 12

Chapter 6                                     Chapter 13

Chapter 7                                     Chapter 14