Marriages made in heaven
I am actually a
paediatrician, but when the children (patients) grow up and have to attend
adult medical clinics, they are not too happy. Most of them migrate back to me,
with medical problems spouses in tow. This means that when patients who come into my consulting room may be ill, pregnant or want to have children. When I
start asking the “history” before I can proceed too far, they say in an embarrassed fashion “we had a love
marriage.” The make it sound like a fault.
Marriage is an union between
two individuals, whether their parents arranged the love or they discovered it themselves. Both can lead to a lifetime of
happiness or be doomed to failure from the word go.
A mother in law (an elderly
lady) missed her appointment.
“Why? “ I asked . “You have
diabetes and high blood pressure. Both are uncontrolled. Missing appointments
is really not such a good idea!”
“Doctor,” she replied, “ my
son is in a state of depression. He has not gone to work for a month.”
“Why?” I asked. I was
beginning to sound like a parrot.
“When my son reached 10th grade
he flunked. I sent him to work in a mechanics shop. He has been working ever
since. Even though he is very experienced, people tend to go to mechanics who
have qualified from colleges, even though they lack his experience. He is not
doing well. So I decided to get him married. “
I did not see the logic of
this.
“Why marriage? How will that
help his carrier?”
“He needed some money to
start a mechanic shed of his own. I found a girl who was not too well educated.
She had only studied up to 5th grade. Her brother is a primary
school teacher though, teaches in the government school. They were willing to
pay dowry.”
I am constantly amazed by the
way parents educate their sons. Girls are not encouraged to study and there is
a feeling that they do not need an education to make chappatis. This was a
classic case. The son a school teacher and the daughter 5th std!!!
“I wanted a daughter-in –law
to help me with the house work. Educated girls won’t work. They think it is
beneath them.”
Personally I think that they
are more likely to efficiently utilize their time, understand the importance of
hygiene and educate their children.
Anyway, the girl apparently
produced two children in rapid succession. After that she lost interest in
housework, mother in law and even her children. She did not seem to think their
homework needed supervision. Maybe the syllabus was beyond her comprehension!
Soon after her husband left
for work she took to going to the neighbour’s house, to the market and the bus
stop. She always had some excuse. “I wanted to buy vegetables. I went with
Malini next door to help her.”
The mother –in law said “ you
know doctor, I was better off when my son was not married. At least then I had
to cook only for the two of us. Now I have to bather the children, get them
ready wash the clothes and cook the
food.”
Apparently she tried to
complain to her son. After a couple of days of constant nagging by his mother
he took to beating his wife. That was probably the only way he knew to react
and solve the problem. He thrashed her badly one evening.
His wife wept and disappeared
the next morning as usual. This time she did not appear in the evening.
The mother-in law said, “I
thought she went to her brother’s house”. She said as much to her son. After
three days even the neighbours started to whisper about the mysterious
disappearance of the girl. The son decided to take action. He went to his
brother in law’s house.
“She is not here. What do you
mean my sister has been missing for a week. What have you done to her?”
“We, “ said the son, “done to
her? Your sister is a lazy negligent good for nothing woman!”
“If that is the case,”
said the brother ,” you seem to have had
no problem producing two children!”
Accusations and counter
accusations followed. It all ended in the police station where the brother
claimed “dowry harassment.”
The female police
inspector concurred.
Since elections were just
around the corner, the police took the complaint very seriously. It took them
all of three weeks to crack the case. That is because the body of a young woman
was found hanging from the fan in an inexpensive hotel in a town around fifty
kilometers away. She had been murdered and then hung to make it appear like a suicide.
The brother accused the son
and he and his mother were taken to the police station.
The local MLA intervened and
it was established that they could not have taken her away from the village.
Transporting a dead body was not possible. They could not have done it from the
village . They had not hired an auto rickshaw. If it was a bus other passengers
would have noticed a dead body!
They were released.
A couple of months later they
found that she had actually become romantically involved with an autorickshaw
driver. He seduced her and promised her martial paradise. She ran away
with him. He took her to the lodge and
invited two of his friends as well. They raped her repeatedly and kept her tied
up when they went out. Finally when she was no longer useful they killed her.
They were caught because they
scouted for a second victim. She rebuffed their advances. They tried to pull
her into the autorickshaw . Her vigorous self defense and loud shouts attracted
the attention of passers by and they
were caught trashed and handed over to the police.
Dr. Gita Mathai
The
writer is a paediatrician with a family practice at Vellore.
If you
have any questions on health issues please write to
No comments:
Post a Comment