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| She was a Dream come True - Part 2 |
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In the second instalment from his forthcoming book “An Unsuitable Boy”, Jas Kalsi continues the story from the last Episode…
“What’s wrong with her?” Ravinder asked Doctor Sehti, as he sat with a grim expression across the table in a small room off the acute treatment ward at the hospital in New Delhi. It was 4.30am but seemed like a lifetime since Ravinder’s beautiful new wife was enjoying dinner with him and his friends and family at Ashands Restaurant, one of the most sought after places in town, just days after their wedding in London. |
Everyone was so happy for them and even he believed that this Arranged Marriage malarkey could actually work out. Of course it could, but not for him as he was to discover…
One moment she was enthusiastically showing off her new jewellery as Ravinder looked proudly on at her, that delicate nose ever so slightly turned up, those incredible almond eyes and long eyelashes, high cheekbones and cute dimples as she smiled so charmingly. He just couldn’t take his eyes of her. Yes, this was really, really good and he had married an Angel. He felt that she was a dream come true. He thought he was actually falling in love because he just had ‘that’ feeling inside, with butterflies when she was near. As she secretly held his hand under the table, it felt electric, her soft hands holding his so tightly. The more he looked at her, the stronger those feelings became and he started to remember how lovely she is to be with, the way she spoke and that happy and outgoing personality that he was drawn to. It seemed that all his concerns about going through with the arranged marriage were unfounded and that it would be exciting and wonderful finding out about this new person, building a life together and having children. However, as her gorgeous Chanel aroma wafted amongst the scent of Chicken JalFrezi, everything changed. She stopped talking, turned to Ravinder with a pained expression, pulled her hand away from his and jumped onto the table, lifting her dress sharply and skipped across the table. Plates, food, wine and glasses came flying off and smashed onto the ground. It was pandemonium and he was frozen on the spot for what seemed like minutes but was in reality just a few seconds, absolutely gob smacked and unable to react. Then just for a moment he saw the expression of shock on everyone’s face and sudden halt of all conversation and laughter.
She was screaming “sap andeh peh! sap andeh peh!”, which is Punjabi for “the snakes are coming!” and several of the guests screamed in unison, believing that there really were snakes, but they looked around and unfortunately, there weren’t any. Ravinder’s cousin Binda, his friend and himself leapt to their feet and grabbed her, trying to pull her down, but it was like trying to capture a cat; she was scratching and biting us and it really hurt them. Eventually it took five of them to wrestle her to the ground and at that moment, Rajinder knew this was seriously bad when he noticed her frothing at the mouth and shaking uncontrollably. It seemed finally that her energy was running out and her heart was beating at an incredible rate; she was sweating and started to convulse violently. He remembered tears streaming from his eyes as he sat in the back of the ambulance with her 15 minutes later, as she lay there, sedated, the paramedic putting the last of the protective bandages where the drip was going into her arm. Ravinder looked at her face, her eyes closed, an oxygen mask covering her mouth and her hair tied back. He was holding her hand, her long slender fingers entwined with his as he noticed her broken nails. What had just happened? he thought to himself, as he looked at her again and reminisced about the day they first met. She was the sixth in a line of women he was introduced to, in accordance with family tradition, meeting each in their homes with their families present as they scrutinised him. Subsequently, his intended would walk into the living room carrying a tray of tea and Indian sweets, dressed up to the nines and made up to impress. He had already decided that this was the last time he was doing these visits and it was this or nothing, but the moment she walked into the room that fateful day, he knew she was the One.
He was stunned by her beauty and that she was so different to any of the others, having a nice personality and so self-assured and confident. After tea, they sat and talked and Ravinder remembered how she spoke about how strictly religious her parents were and that she was not allowed out much, only going to the temple every week and to Indian functions accompanied by them. They subsequently met a few times, always at her house, always with her parents close by. She talked about how she had to endure 5am cold showers as a form of penance since as long as she can remember, but that strangely, she could not recall anything before the age of 10. Something didn’t feel right the last couple of times they had met, but the wedding day was close and they weren’t allowed to see each other any more before the wedding, so he let it go. He wished now he hadn’t. The voice of the paramedic in the ambulance brought Ravinder back from his reminiscing as they arrived at the hospital and she was rushed into the emergency room at 12.15am. It was now 4.35am and Dr Sehti was still leafing through his papers and had not responded to Ravinder’s question about what was wrong with his wife. “She has a brain disorder called Schizophrenia, Mr Rathor. We found Neuroleptic medication on her but she had not taken it”. It would be weeks later that he would discover her secret life of sex, drugs and a family conspiracy worthy of “The Godfather” movies.
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