- 28 -
For two-three days, Ramesh kept brooding over the divorce by mutual consent. ‘Rani has assured me that whatever I might ask her to do; she would comply with without any objection or complaint. Although I am sure that once the legal process was over, she would live with Alok, still it would be better to ask her what she intends to do later. And I’ll have to decide whether to live together till the filing of the application for divorce by mutual consent and / or till the legal proceedings are over; or a separate arrangement should be made for Rani.’ He decided that whatever the case, it would not be possible for him to live anymore with her. With these thoughts in mind, a few days later, after the dinner, he asked Rani to sit with him. Then he said, “Now that you’ve decided not to give up your friendship with Alok and also made up your mind to separate by mutual consent, tell me whether you would live with Alok after the divorce?”
“Ramesh Ji, first of all, the decision to separate is yours and not mine. It’s certain that if you wanted to separate me, I won’t put any obstacle. It’s also clear that I’m not going to give up my friendship with Alok. But what will I do after the divorce, I’ve not thought of yet.”
“If I say that due to the circumstances we’re going through, it’s not possible for us to live under the same roof, what would you do?”
“I’ve not thought of that yet. I’ve resigned myself to God’s mercy. Only He takes care of everyone and will take care of me, too.”
“Upon God’s mercy or Alok’s?” Ramesh taunted.
Unperturbed by his taunt, Rani said, “You’re free to think as you feel but I’ve not yet talked to Alok about it.”
After Ramesh’s taunt, Rani began to think whether it would be prudent to know Alok’s stand in clear terms when he has already hinted many a times that he would stand by me in any eventuality. She felt that due to the intensity with which he loves her, he might feel insulted if directly asked. Therefore, she decided not to bring this topic before him.
Ramesh continued, “There’s no iota of doubt that despite living under the same roof, our relationship has broken down. As per Khanna’s advice, we can continue to live together even after submitting the application for mutual divorce till its disposal, but I’m not ready to live in this situation. Your presence will only enhance my stress, so, I’ve thought of renting a flat for you in some residential society. How much money would you need for your living?”
“I’ve already told you and reiterate it that whatsoever you do, I’ll accept without any ifs and buts. I don’t have any demands on my own.”
“Even if you don’t have any demand and without bothering about how you’re behaving lately, I’ll have to take care of your needs legally till the divorce process is over. So, I’ve decided that I’ll give you thirty thousand rupees a month in addition to paying the rent of the flat, as long as you live alone. The car is in your name and it’ll remain yours. Whatever balance is there in your bank account and the jewellery in the locker, will also be yours. You’ll be free to take away with you any item of daily use from here.”
“Forgive me; I can't have any ill-will against you except that you didn’t like my friendship with Alok. Whatever decision you’ve taken for my convenience, I’m grateful for that.”
“One thing more, shouldn’t we inform our daughters about our decision before going to the court?”
“Definitely we should.”
“Okay. It’s quite late. We should sleep now.”
After this, Rani said ‘good night’ and went to her room. After this conversation, they were feeling quite relieved as the whole issue had been resolved without any discord. So, they enjoyed a sound sleep after a long time.
******
