It was a usual Sunday morning. I woke up late. My husband made the morning tea for us as usual. I made hot masala puris for breakfast. My son loved them so much that he gobbled up a major share of the puris.

We spent the rest of the day picking up on our weekend chores. We usually divide the chores amongst ourselves. As soon as we finished all the chores, we all took a long afternoon nap. I was tired so I slept with my son till 6.30 p.m. that day. My husband then took us out for a short drive after which we ate some paani puris. We packed some to carry home for my in-laws as well. He then dropped us home.

Little did I know that a perfectly ordinary day would end in such a terrible manner.

All couples argue and fight with each other. We also know that we should always sort out our issues immediately. But this night will haunt me forever.

My little son made the mistake of leaving a tap open in the bathroom. My mother-in-law did not know about this. So the water from the bathroom flowed into the bedroom.

My father-in-law flew into a rage and started blaming me for being so irresponsible with my kid. I tried to make him understand things but he kept abusing me as usual.

My husband could not accept the fact that I was speaking to his father in this manner. But he did not have a problem with the fact that his father abused me like this every now and then.

My husband was drunk and in a fit of rage he asked me to leave his house. He said, “I am divorcing you.” He then asked me to get out of the house. It was 12:00 in the night.  He had lost all control by this time and started giving several reasons for divorcing me. My in-laws too continued with their abuses.  

The entire scene looked like one of those dramatic TV serials. I wanted to retaliate to this humiliation. But I decided to keep my cool when I saw my son looking at me. I knew I should not allow one such incident to ruin my marriage because in the long run, it would have an adverse impact on my son.

My husband and his parents then called their relatives. They pacified my husband and did their best to calm him down with their caring words. He was behaving in an absolutely weird manner. My in-laws too were doing the same thing.

I just stood there with a brave smile on my face. I knew I had to put on a strong front before all these people. But I hid all the deep pain and hurt behind my smiling face. They helped me fix the tap and helped me finish all the chores that I was yet to complete.

None of them spoke a word to me or consoled me. No one realized what I was going through or had gone through in the past couple of hours. The only person who continued to hug me tightly was my son. He kept talking to me. He just did not leave me. Even after the entire issue was sorted out, he held on to me tightly until he finally went to sleep.

I could not sleep that night because I knew that I could brush off this incident lightly.

I started thinking very seriously about my life. I asked myself a lot of questions.

Did I really deserve all that I was going through? Why did I put up with this kind of attitude and behaviour? My husband had asked me to get out of the house at 12:00 in the night. Could I ever feel safe and secure in my own home after this?

I was a strong independent woman. Yet, I had to face these kinds of things in my family life. So I could only imagine the predicament of a woman who led a dependent life.

It would not have taken me more than a second to step out of their house that night. I knew I was not scared of stepping out of their house either. I was a self-reliant woman.

But I had hesitated to do so only because I valued the bond called ‘marriage’. I was a wife but I was a mother too. I realized that I had decided to stay put and hold on for the larger good of the family.

I did not sleep the entire night though. I woke up in the morning and completed all my usual morning chores. I reached my office and acted as if I had spent a superb Sunday.

But I did decide to bring about one change in my life after this. I decided that I would not expose my son to this kind of an atmosphere at home. From that day onwards, I decided to leave him at a daycare centre until I returned home from work.

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