![\"page-fiction-nusrat-ego-02\"](\"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/PAGE-FICTION-NUSRAT-EGO-02.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nAfter a long pause, Sushma sighed, \u201cLove,\u201d she dissembled satisfaction.<\/p>\n
Lisa held Sushma\u2019s hand and said desolately, \u201cMom, I\u2019m from a broken family.\u00a0 I\u2019ve experienced the excruciating pain the children of such families go through of all their lives. I married Ranveer because I heard that Indian parents sacrifice their wishes, desires, dreams, and even their lives for the\u00a0 secure and peaceful lives of their children. I cannot think to let my children suffer the same way as I\u2019ve suffered. But your plans to get divorced proves I\u2019m wrong about Indian parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand, that\u2019s why we didn\u2019t opt for divorce twenty-seven years back when we finally decided for separation. I always have a little hope may be one day he\u2019d come and ask to give our lives a second chance. That moment never came.\u201d Sushma said remorsefully, \u201cWhen I asked him to finalize our divorce yesterday, he didn\u2019t show a speck of concern, not a bit of remorse, no regrets. He\u2019s a stubborn guy, egoist, I know him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lisa chuckled, \u201cMom, did you ever show your intention to Papa to give your lives a second chance?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sushma Mom struggled to find an answer but she couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, I saw the same pain in Ranveer\u2019s eyes that I\u2019m very familiar with, pain of being abandoned, pain of being incomplete. Your daughters may be suffering the same pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re grown up now. Independent, they don\u2019t need us anymore.\u201d Sushma said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could you assume that when children grow up, they don\u2019t need their parents?\u201d Lisa asked bluntly. Sushma looked at her in surprise.<\/p>\n
Sushma was contemplating then took the photos from under the pillow. Sushma moved her fingers across the picture to wipe the tears fallen on it.<\/p>\n
When Lisa came into her bedroom, Ranveer was waiting for her, \u201cWhere were you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith your Papa,\u201d replied Lisa casually.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were you doing there at this hour of night?\u201d asked Ranveer.<\/p>\n
Lisa turned and smiled at Ranveer, \u201cNothing, only telling him that not only Indian husbands have ego, their wives have ego too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ranveer didn\u2019t understand but Lisa was not in a mood to say more.<\/p>\n
Sushma was packing her clothes in a suitcase when she saw Manoj standing in the door. They both looked at each other for a few moments.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre the papers ready?\u201d Sushma asked finally.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Manoj answered. Sushma heard the unexpected answer and stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSushma, I think our excuses aren’t worth our divorce. Can we give life a second chance?\u201d Manoj struggled with words.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou took twenty-seven years to realize it. Twenty-seven years of loneliness, suffering and torment, now you want to give life a second chance,\u201d Sushma said resentfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I do, and do you?\u201d Manoj asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve lived our lives,\u201d Sushma said bitterly, \u201cIt\u2019s finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may still have another twenty-seven or more years to live\u2026Sushma, for the love that we once had,\u201d Manoj pleaded.<\/p>\n
\u201cLove, once we had? You don\u2019t love me now,\u201d Sushma snarled back.<\/p>\n
Manoj smiled, \u201cI love you then, now and ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sushma sputtered, \u201cSeven words and twenty-seven years to say, what desisted you from saying seven simple words?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEgo,\u201d Manoj said sheepishly.<\/p>\n
Ranveer and Lisa were standing in the door looking at Manoj and Sushma, embraced in each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are they doing?\u201d asked astonished Ranveer.<\/p>\n
\u201cRomancing,\u201d Lisa laughed and pulled Ranveer away to their room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lisa, in her bridal dress, was enjoying the lavish wedding reception given in her honor at her in-laws\u2019 residence in Mumbai. She had arrived Mumbai from New York last night with her Indian husband, Ranveer. Professor Sushma and businessman Manoj had greeted their American daughter-in-law passionately, showering her with extravagant gifts. A fiction story by…<\/p>\n