Art of Giving

“My God, Michael, what are you doing”, screamed his mother, Renuka. The little boy Michael was almost 5 years old and a child who was still trying to come to terms with having a new step- father after his mother’s divorce from his biological father.

“Yes Mom”, said Michael, coming out from under the table where he was hiding.

“What are you doing sitting under the table”? asked the mother.

Michael was quiet for a moment and then said, “since you get angry every time you see me, I thought it best to keep away from everyone and I was quietly playing with my toys. I wasn’t disturbing anyone at all, mommy”.

Hearing this, Renuka’s eyes filled with tears and she hugged Michael “I am so sorry, beta, I will not scream you at all.”

Renuka had been recently divorced from her husband of 7 years and had married her office colleague, Mahesh. Mahesh had a son Ronald who was 8 years and a bully. Renuka knew that Michael was scared of him. Ronald did not miss an opportunity to pass some snide comment when he  thought no one was listening or take away Michael’s  toys and leave the younger boy teary eyed.

Michael was too young to understand why he had been taken away from his dad’s home and his grandmother and brought to stay in this new house where no one liked him.  Michael had always adored his father and wanted to be a pilot like him. But his dad’s job involved a lot of travel and thus Michael missed his dad when he was away but used to look forward to having him come back and bring him loads of presents and new toys.

However, now that he was in a new house, he was required to call Ronald’s father as dad and that hurt him. However, he did not want to upset his mother, so he called him dad and quietly and deep within missed both his grandma and his father. Michael had no way of understanding that his mother had started working to make use of her free time, given the husband’s extensive travel and had slowly fallen in love with her divorced colleague Mahesh. She then took the extreme step of seeking a divorce and moving in with Mahesh.

Renuka did realize that Ronald, her step son was a big bully and not a well brought up child. However, whenever she tried to speak with Mahesh, he cut her short and said that she should try to not compare his extrovert son with her shy and introvert son. This hurt Renuka but she kept her peace and thought time will heal the hurt and she will try and get Ronald to behave better not only towards Michael but also her.

“Mommy, what are you thinking”, Michael’s little sob brought Renuka out of her reverie and she hugged him close.

“Nothing beta”, she lied,” I was just thinking that you and I should go and play in the park and you should make some new friends.  Maybe Ronald can also teach you to swim in the pool downstairs. Would you like that, Michael?  Would that make you happy?”

Michael looked at his mom and said “meeting grandma and dad would make me very happy, mommy, can we do that, please”?

Seeing the little boy’s soulful eyes almost brimming with tears, Renuka got teary eyed herself and hugged him close. “I do miss them a lot, mommy, can we go back to them?”  Renuka did not know what to say to her son and she hugged him close and cried silently.

Being young has its own advantages thought Renuka as she saw her little son share his ball with another child in the park downstairs and play with him. Watching him play and hearing him shriek with joy, helped Renuka calm down as she wondered whether hurting her mom like mother in law and a caring husband Philip had been the right decision. When she had spoken about divorce to Philip, he had been caught completely off the guard and had begged her to reconsider. He said he would never be able to live without her and Michael. Their happy faces were what helped him maintain his sanity when he was away from home. With them gone, he would be lost.

However, Renuka had been insistent on leaving and getting a divorce.  After days of trying to convince Renuka, Philip finally let her go and agreed for a divorce by mutual consent. He put a sizeable amount of money in a fixed deposit for Michael and made Renuka the guardian.  Her mom in law almost sent her away as her own daughter laden with jewellery and sarees.  Renuka’s heart broke to see the old lady see this day in her old age and she knew how attached she was to Michael.

“Mommy, mommy”, Michael’s fear filled shriek for  help, suddenly brought Renuka back from her day dreaming and she froze when she saw Ronald sitting on top of her little son and beating him blue.  Renuka jumped from her seat on the bench and rushed to separate the two children.  Michael got up sobbing and put his arms around his mother and kept crying out of sheer fear.

“Why were you beating Michael, Ronald”, asked Renuka.

“ He hit me first and so I wanted to kill him”, said Ronald.

The harsh words made Michael cling even more to his mother.

“ Mommy, that is not true”, said Michael. “I didn’t hit him. I was playing with the ball and he came and took it away and then started hitting me.  I didn’t do anything mommy, I didn’t”.

“Michael, haven’t I tried to explain to you that Ronald is your elder brother, how dare you hit him”, screamed Renuka.

Hearing his mother scream, Michael moved away from his mother and looked at her with large innocent eyes. “ I didn’t hit him, mommy, I didn’t. Ask the other kids who were playing with my ball, I didn’t hit him. Please believe me mommy”, pleaded Michael.

But Renuka just slapped Michael and dragged the two boys away and took them back home.

Michael kept quiet and barely ate dinner that evening and then slinked away to his room.  He did not even wait to be bathed by his mother and managed to change into his night clothes and quietly went to bed. He began to think of his grand mom and how she would tell him a bedtime story and then slowly sing him a lullaby and put him to bed. Michael missed his grandma all the more and cried himself to sleep.

Slowly the days went by and Ronald’s bullying ways just got worse.  Maybe Renuka’s not taking him to task and only berating Michael made him get away with things and he started to beat Michael more often. One day Michael missed his own dad a lot and asked his new step dad to read him a story and Mahesh just got irritated and told him to not act like a baby and let him watch the cricket game that he was enjoying.

“Ok, I am sorry dad”, Michael said in a low voice and walked away

Not to miss an opportunity to belittle Michael, Ronald just hit Michael and said that “don’t you dare call my father as dad. Your dad must have been a bad man,that is the reason your mother left him and got you, a miserable creature along to my house. I hate you,” screamed Ronald.

Michael, by now used to being treated badly quietly started crying and walked away to sit by himself in the balcony.  He did not like his mother sad and so didn’t say any of this to his mother.  She will not believe me anyway, Michael said to himself and sat to enjoy watching the kids playing downstairs.

Michael was a studious child and continued to do well at school. His grades were good and his teachers were fond of the quiet little child. He was thoughtful in his acts to other children and always shared his little things with his classmates. His teachers noticed that Michael had lost his boisterous little self and had become quiet and did not speak much anymore.  His little acts of mischief had also stopped.

His teacher spoke with Renuka at the PTA meeting but Renuka said it was just a change in the place and new family that he was taking time to adjust to. Not convinced by what she was told, the teacher took Michael aside in the recess and spoke to Michael.  Michael didn’t say anything at first and then slowly opened up to say that he missed his grand ma and dad. When the teacher asked him how he had got hurt on his back, rather than tell her the truth that his older brother had hit him , he said he had slipped and hurt himself.  The teacher was touched by this little boy’s act of bravery and trying to protect his family. She was left speechless and just promised to continue to watch him closely for any signs of distress or physical abuse.

Time went by and slowly it was almost six months that they had been divorced and Renuka had begun to have serious doubts of whether she could continue to live life in this manner. She was beginning to miss her mum in law and her worldly advice.  She had always treated her like her own daughter and never like a daughter in law. How she missed going to her with problems and always finding comforting advice.  But she had left all that behind and now was alone and lonely.

Renuka reminisced how her friends would berate their mom in laws and call them names and she was thus scared to get married. But as an orphan, when she met Philip, her life seemed filled with hope and love but she had expressed her fears to Philip who had the made her fears go away. But on entering her marital home, her mom in law had behaved as a mother would have and treated her as a fragile little girl and taught her all that a mother would have. She taught her to cook, encouraged her to do her MBA and even work and pick up a job to feel professionally fulfilled.

Renuka never thought of her as a mom in law but always as a mom that she never had. And what had she done, thrown it all away and hurt them beyond all imagination.  When she told her mom in law that she wanted out of the marriage, she received no lashing but her mom in law just asked her to not take any hasty decision and think it over. She explained the difference between infatuation and true love and asked her to take her time in deciding. Finally when Renuka told her she had made up her mind, she just let her go and told her that this was her home and always be her to come back to, if she so wanted. Can a mom in law ever be like this and be more than a mom would ever be?

One day Renuka finally made up her mind that she had to have a chat with Mahesh and talk this over, she couldn’t be getting so ignored by him and Michael seemed to be behaving like a lost little boy, no fatherly talk, no brotherly affection from Ronald and a mom who took out anger on him.  Renuka wrapped up preparations for dinner early and waited for Mahesh to come home from office.  The early evening became late evening and then late in to the night but there was no sign of Mahesh.

Renuka was getting worried and was deep in thought on what to say to Mahesh when the phone rang and the shrill tone of the phone finally got Renuka wake up from her deep thoughts.  Renuka hurried to the  phone and couldn’t believe what she heard. Her husband had been drunk and was driving and was instantly killed in an accident. Ronald who was with him had suffered severe injuries and was in a serious condition. The hospital had called her to convey this and come and identify the body.

The phone just slipped from her hands and she gave a deep cry of grief.  Hearing her cry out, Michael woke up and ran to his mother.  Seeing her shocked, he hugged her and tried to console her, while crying himself seeing his mom cry. She told him that his new father was in hospital and brother was very hurt.

Michael suddenly wiped his tears and said , “Mommy lets get dressed and go and see them in the hospital.  I can even take my teddy bear for Ronald since he always takes it from me”.

Hearing the innocent and large hearted son, Renuka was overtaken with insurmountable grief and how a little boy could be so giving to a father who never cared for him and a brother who treated him like dirt.  She quickly got Michael dressed and left for the hospital. She identified her husband’s body and was told that Ronald urgently needed blood.  But her blood type did not match and the blood banks were closed.

Just when she was giving up hope, Michael spoke up and told the doctor that he could give blood for his brother and so could his father. He gave Philip’s name and number to the doctor while his mother looked on helplessly. The doctors made an exception and took blood from a child as young as Michael and before long, Philip came along with his mother.  He too gave blood and saved Ronald’s life. Seeing Philip and his mother, Renuka just ran into their arms and felt that she was at last safe.  While Ronald recovered, Philip took care of everything at the hospital and made arrangements for the funeral.

Renuka had now to decide on what she would do with her life. These were the people she had hurt and these were the very same people who were now by her side. Michael was overjoyed to see his father and grand mom and there was a spring in his step, his innocent smile was back on his face. But despite everything; Michael came to see his brother every day at the hospital.

Finally after a week, Ronald was discharged from the hospital. Renuka had left Michael in the care of his after and grand mom for a week and now had to make a decision on what to do. While she stood with the discharge papers in her hand and Ronald by her side wondering what to do next, Philip and his mom came to the hospital. Renuka did not know what to do but even before she could say anything, her mom in law stepped forward and said,

“Beti, I have come to take you to your home. You came as a daughter in law and now will come back as a daughter”.

When Renuka hesitated, Philip came forward with Michael at his side and said, the divorce was never final since you had left me but I had never left you. I am here for you and then Michael moved ahead and hugged Ronald and said,

“Bhaiya, lets go home and my papa can also be your papa and you can always call my dad as your dad.”

Renuka couldn’t believe that her five year old had taught her such a humbling lesson in life and shown her the art of giving.

__END__