Chapter 23: chapter 23

My mother-in-law received several calls from her relatives.  Her three daughters tried to comfort her during that stressful hour conveying their ineptitude to be with us in this crucial hour. Her only brother residing in Canada offered his heartiest condolences. He considered him his Godfather as my mother-in-law lost her father soon after her marriage.Our house didn't look like a mourning house with all the shrill cries of human voices as it usually happens when a member of a family dies, rather it fetched the look of an abandoned house. Nobody dared to peep inside to check on our affairs. The aged shopkeeper, my father-in-law's fast friend enquired from inside his shop when my mother-in-law appeared on the balcony to hang her wet clothes, "How is my friend? Is everything alright? I heard he had been shifted to another hospital, and some people have reported him dead. Is it true?"My mother-in-law revealed the sad news of her husband's death to him. He dutifully lent his condolences. Some of the listeners who had hopped in to listen to the conversation clicked their tongues showing discomfort at the sudden demise of a kindred soul. They remained shocked at the hearings.After doing her bit of spreading the word, she entered our room despite regular instructions from her son not to come in contact with me and my elder son. She appeared worried when she shook the legs of my son asking him to get up from the bed and take his bath. I understood her mind was not stable. The boy was suffering from a high fever, and taking a bath was next to impossible at that time. Then she plodded to me in a hurried tone, "Get up, tidy up the room, there will be a huge gathering in our house, ask your boy also to leave the bed. Why are you sleeping all the time?" I talked in my mind, "It's a pandemic no one is going to support us. Everyone's life is precious to them, Jaan hai toh, jahaan hai ' as the covid mantra foretells. There will not be any expected gathering when the people are afraid even to get close to our building as if it had been inflicted with a plague. God save humanity."The sudden loss of her husband and the loneliness that followed had made her mentally unfit to comprehend what she was saying. They had enjoyed fifty-two years of conjugal bliss. They had their own set of disagreements but they shared a great attachment. It was only two years ago that they celebrated their Golden Jubilee Anniversary with great pomp and show with all the festive gatherings. Several onlookers had commented, "They don't appear to look like completed fifty years. Couples reaching this grand feat either walk with the help of staff or some support. They seem to be fit, healthy and erect."Someone announced," Very few people get a chance to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary together. "It was evident she forgot about the virus, she didn't know how to react or control her emotions or maybe she was not willing to accept the reality. She discarded all the medicines kept in a rack which belonged to my father-in-law. Whatever there was a relief when her sister arrived with her husband covering a distance of half a km. She cried loudly to unveil all her pent-up emotions. My mother-in-law cried even louder catching sight of her. I could overhear them crying from my room. She might have been there with her sister for just half an hour. She didn't consume a sip of water, she didn't dare to peep inside my room, and she simply exited after participating in her sister's grief.