Chapter 21: 20. The Proposal


    Sivaprakasam''s PoV


    Though we are not as rich as my daughter''s inws, we are not poor either. I have abel production


    unit on a small scale. Almost all thebels that go on a cloth made in Tirupur is manufactured from my


    unit. We had only one daughter, a very beautiful girl. She grew up just as we liked and was a very


    obedient and respectful daughter. My wife taught her everything from cooking to taking care of a


    household. In her leave days, she woulde to our unit and will supervise everything. She even


    helped me in tallying ie and expenses every month. She never spoke or did anything against us.


    When she finished college, we started our groom hunt for her. Many alliances came and we filtered two


    out of the heap. Both were from higher status than us and both the grooms were handsome. One from


    Tirupur and one from Chennai. But then, the Tirupur alliance demanded her to stay at home and the


    Chennai alliance never demanded anything. So we opt for the Chennai alliance. Though they are in


    Chennai, they have roots in Tirupur and Coimbatore. They were well respected and loved by everyone


    in ourmunity. We even loved their simplicity despite having huge money.


    The wedding was a grand one and we were so happy and proud and felt like the very reason of our


    existence as parents was this happiness or that is what we felt like that day. But now, I feel like I didn''t


    read my daughter well. Now when I think about what had happened, I remember Anamika has be


    extremely quiet after her engagement with Arjun. Arjun was a man of little words. He was very


    respectful with us at the handful of times we have met. There was no big gap between their


    engagement and wedding. It was just two and a half months and we were always busy in shopping and


    invitation distribution. I don''t remember them talking on the phone for hours like engaged people do


    now.


    Anamika''s silence went unnoticed with all the wedding preparations. She was not sad and when we


    asked her consent, she said she is fine with whatever we give her. But now that I think about it, I should


    have asked her what was in her mind. We didn''t have any grounds to doubt her. She was her happy


    and polite self all through the wedding process. She went through all the customs with a happy smile.


    The one year she was with her husband and inws, we never got anyints on her. Her mother-


    inw has always praised our brought-up. We were more than proud of ourselves and our daughter.


    On a fine morning, Arjun came with Anamika to our house unannounced. He has always been a little


    awkward at talking. They looked like usual. Anamika went straight to her mother and we were left for


    that weing and health inquiries, he sat back with his phone. After their wedding customs, Arjun has


    never stayed in our home for the night. He will bring Anamika and will leave and will alwayse to


    pick her up.


    "Ok, uncle, I have to leave." he said to me after a hefty lunch.


    "Call me when you are ready. Have a good time with your mom and dad." he told Anamika with a little


    smile and a nod.


    Everything was great and very usual until the next morning when we found her bed empty. My wife


    wakes up at 5AM everyday and when she went to Anamika''s room at 6 with her coffee, she was not


    there. We searched for her in every nook and corner of the house and called her phone. But her phone


    was near the bed. We called up Arjun and his parents,te in that afternoon, to let them know she was


    missing. They were devastated just like we were and came home the very evening. I saw a lone tear


    escape Arjun''s eyes when we officially dered that she was gone. I knew it then that it was not


    because of him, my daughter went missing.


    We then made it an official policeint and Arjun used his influence to search for her. Everyone


    med Arjun and his family for her disappearance. Some even bad-mouthed my daughter that she


    eloped with her secret boyfriend. It was a terrible year for us. But it all subsided eventually and we were


    left alone.Text content ? N?velDrama.Org.


    "Sammandhi (a word that is used, by and to address, the parents of the husband and wife) I know it is


    not nice of me to ask for this with you. But I have no other choice." After a year and half of my daughter


    missing, Arjun''s father Hariharan called me.


    "I know you, Sammandhi. Just tell me." I told him.


    "I know your pain of losing your daughter. I am losing my son too. He is not himself. We lost hope that


    Anu woulde back to him. We cannot let his life rot like this." he said. I know where he is getting to.


    "Let us know what we have to do, Sammandhi." I told him. I know it is not their fault my daughter is not


    with us now. I felt like I should take up the responsibility of putting them through this horrible phase in


    their lives. It is because of my daughter after all.


    "Very sorry, Sammandhi. The police are asking to close the case,ing to a conclusion that she is no


    more. We don''t want to see our son''s life like this anymore. He is yet to start his life. We need legal


    divorce from his first marriage." he said with much more inhibition than needed.


    "Don''t feel bad, Sammandhi. You have given us enough time to get better. No one would have this


    patience with us with what had happened with my daughter. We will do anything you ask for. We would


    like to at least see him lead a happy life." I told him. They have been very considerate with us for all


    this time. I truly think no one would have this patience with us even after so much humiliation.


    "I asked ourwyer. He states that the policeint is more than enough to get divorce. If you just


    sign the divorce papers on behalf of your daughter, Divorce will be granted stating her absence for


    more than a year and the little to no probability of hering back." he said.


    We did what they asked us for. After 6 long months, the court granted them divorce. My wife was


    against this idea.


    "What would you do, if our daughteres back? You are stealing her life away!" she said crying.


    "No Dhanam. You are wrong. Our daughter was the one that stole Arjun''s life. We are responsible. She


    left the home voluntarily. She never contacted us so far. It is not right to hold that poor man''s life for the


    sake of our daughter. It would be a sin." I told her.


    "God knows what was her trouble. Why do you believe him and his family so much? You never let me


    talk about them to the police." sheined.


    "What did you want to tell the police? Did they ever demand anything from us?"


    "No!"


    "Did they ever hurt your daughter?"


    "No!"


    "Did your daughter make any bad remarks on them? Was she treated badly there?"


    "No!"


    "Do you have any doubts on Arjun?"


    "Why shouldn''t he be at fault? He would have had other rtionships. He would have not treated her


    as his wife. He must have been arrogant with her. Who knows?" she said.


    "Absurd! You know nothing you said was true. He is still here and it is our daughter that ran away. Don''t


    say this and add to our sin. He is a gentleman and his family was the best thing that had happened to


    our daughter and our family. It is high time we make clear of their paths, Dhanam!" I consoled her. She


    is a mother after all and doesn''t want to admit that her daughter is at fault here.


    I still wonder why Anamika left the house all of a sudden? She had everything. We went all the way


    back to her school and college to know if she had any love life back then. But nothing turned up and we


    are actually d. She had all liberty with us and her inws family. She could have talked to any of us


    about her problems but she chose not to. But it is toote now!


    Now, when Arjun called me up to ask details about Anandhi''s family, I think there is a way to lessen our


    sin. If I can make Anika and Arjun marry, Anandhi''s family would be benefited. Arjun will take care of


    her family like his own. Their financial crisis will end and the kids will have a great future. And for Arjun,


    Anika would be a perfect girl. A very talkative, bubbly girl grew up in a very traditional way. Unlike


    Anamika who was very silent, Anika would make his life colorful. This marriage would be a mutual


    benefit.


    Once this thought was born out of my mind, I could not stop but propose this to Arjun''s parents. Now


    that there is no problem for Arjun to remarry as we gave him divorce, I wanted to present this


    prospectus to them before they start to look for a bride outside. I called up Hariharan.


    "Hello, Sammandhi. How are you?" I asked him.


    "We are good, Sammandhi. How are you?"


    "We are just alive. I have called to tell you about a good bride for Arjun Maapii."


    "We have not yet started that conversation yet. Arjun is not interested in it." he said with no interest to


    know what I have in my mind. I can sense that he doesn''t want me to get back into their family.


    "I will send you the details of the bride. Consider her too when you start looking for a bride." I told him


    and hung up. It is very natural that they want no more contact with us but we have been very genuine


    and considerate with them and still he wants us to leave. I was deeply hurt but still decided to send him


    the Photo and biodata of Anika to them and leave it alone. I do this to satisfy my conscience, not for


    anything else. Besides, Arjun has never avoided us until now. He deserves to be happy.