Her Revenge

By M K Devidasan

This is the story of 26 years old college lecturer Devi, the lone daughter of a retired brigadier. Without considering father's compulsions to marry a doctor, she decided to live with her collegemate, Chandran, working in Delhi and got eloped with him. In New Delhi, their auto met with an accident and he died and she was admitted to a hospital where Doctor Prakash, took a special interest in her, knowing the tragic beginning of her life and gave shelter in his house, where he lived alone with his mother. Her morning sickness generated doubts and on confirmation from a lady doctor that she was pregnant, she was thrown out from there by mother, suspecting her son to be the cause of that. She took shelter in a small house of Shankaran, a peon in a travel agency, and her hunt for job commenced. She got employed in a TV manufacturing factory of Vishnudas, under the pretext of which he was running a five-star brothel. She escaped from there. Thereafter, she came to know of different shady and crafty activities of Vishnudas and revealed one by one through newspaper reports with the help of a known journalist. Then what happened? What was the outcome? A big question remains to be answered.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M K Devidasan
• Release date: Sep 23, 2020

M K Devidasan

M K Devidasan is a graduate engineer in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering  with Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management. He had served the Indian Air Force for 32 years as a technical officer and retired as a Wing Commander.

Book preview

Her Revenge

Novel by

M K Devidasan

Copyright © 2018 M K Devidasan

All rights reserved.

Dedication

To my late parents.

Preface

During my Air Force life, I came across a person whose mother was shot dead by his younger brother during their childhood. Early in the morning, his father went for hunting in the nearby forest with the loaded double-barrel gun and on coming back, left the gun on the table on the front verandah, and ran to the bathroom to answer the call of nature. His four-year-old younger brother saw the gun lying unattended and played with that aiming at different targets. When he saw his mother coming back after her daily morning walk, the boy playfully pointed the gun towards her asking to raise hands. When she advanced with a smile without raising hands, with mock seriousness, the boy pulled the trigger and the gun fired. The gun was not offloaded by his father before running to the toilet, which was not known to the boy. She succumbed to that shot and from realization of his own mistake, the boy went mental from which the recovery was gradual.

Many children grow up without enjoying the love and affection of one of their parents either due to divorce or the demise of any one of them. Due to the pressure of the work of the other parent, the child grows with a deficiency of parental love and affection. They often go in search of an oasis to make up that gap without realizing the pros and cons and fall in various difficult situations which turn out to be sometimes unbearable. The calf love germinated under immaturity would lead them to take hard decisions without thinking of the parental mental agonies. When they confront unexpected difficult situations, on realizing their folly, their ego dissuades them to go back to the parent seeking an apology.

In this novel, the depiction is based on such a situation. The mother of a girl was killed in accidental gunfire by the neighbor’s four years old son and the girl was brought up by father without thinking of a second marriage to avoid his daughter getting an unhappy childhood with step-motherly treatment. She was looked after well by the servants at the father’s place of work but missed the divine love of the mother. That deficiency was one of the main reasons for her falling in love with a college mate which led her to a series of miseries.

Prologue

Devi was the only daughter of Brigadier Madhavan. She had a very unhappy childhood without the love and affection of her mother from the early days. Mother was killed by a four-year-old boy of the neighbor while she approached her residence one morning to see his father, who was a doctor, to get medicine for Devi who complained of stomach ache. Madhavan, though had to face compulsion from various quarters, refrained from thinking of a second marriage as he was very particular that his child should not get the step-motherly treatment which might be harsh to the normal growth of his daughter. On completion of her school education outside Kerala, she was moved to a college in Kerala for her graduation and post-graduation. She fell in love with a college mate, Chandran hailing from a poor family, which grew to a level to make her think of him as her future life partner. After their college education, she was employed as a college lecturer in Kerala and he landed up in New Delhi with a private job in a small company.

While marriage proposals were initiated by Madhavan through brokers, she put across her desire to be partnered with Chandran, but the army officer was stubborn to maintain the status of his family and insisted her to accept a boy of his choice, from a high-class family. She had no other option than to elope with him to Delhi. The bad luck started striking on her path and Chandran died in a road accident on their way from the railway station to his room. Then on, her struggle started. Various crucial situations kept coming into her life, one after the other. She had taken up a job and landed up in a brothel but was saved by her earlier employer who had tried to molest her once. Later she came to know of the true color of the rich man who was running that brothel and a hospital where organs were removed for sale without the knowledge of the admitted patients there. She reveals everything later and that rich man got killed by an affected party at a function organized by Devi.

Will she come out of the series of difficulties being faced during her stay in New Delhi? Who was the mentor who had been extending a helpful hand to her? Will she ever have the courage to face her father with apologies? Many important questions remain. A must-read novel to understand the undercurrent of uneasiness one suffered after taking the wrong decision.

-1-

It was a Wednesday evening. New Delhi roads were busy witnessing heavy traffic with different modes of transports. The school children in auto-rickshaws and horse carts and office goers in their private vehicles made the already busy road further congested. The prevailing noise level by vehicle engines and horns was annoying and the pedestrians found difficulty in wading through the bumper to bumper traffic, especially to cross the roads. The unclean roads raised enough dust to nauseate the pedestrians and few were observed coughing intermittently. Everywhere urgency and commotion were seen. Most of the faces bore the signs of the inconveniences they were subjected to, expressing anxiety to reach their destination at the earliest.

Wading through the man-made unruliness on the road, the auto-rickshaw carrying a lone passenger, hurriedly went and stopped in front of New Delhi railway station. A well-built person of thirty, Chandran, in pants and T-shirt, got down with a suitcase hurried to the ticket counter, and took a ticket to Trichur, the cultural capital of Kerala, a tiny state in South India.

On entry to the platform, the sight was disheartening. The train, Grand Trunk Express, scheduled to start at five-thirty, was already brought to the platform and was lying like a python motionless after eating huge prey. The platform was unusually crowded with heavy movements, running from one to the other compartment, to find accommodation for the anxious passengers. The undisciplined crowd moved in haste without caring for the disturbances caused by them to others, looking for their personal needs.

Chandran had no reservation, as his journey was suddenly planned, and knew travel would not be with comfort and moved from the front to the last and found all unreserved compartments left with no space even for standing. He had to reach Trichur as early as possible and he could not find a way and stood on the platform wondering what the solution was.

In front of the reserved compartments, he saw a huge crowd of prospective passengers holding tickets, waiting for the arrival of the conductor. As the conductor came, people staggered behind him requesting for a berth, but he could not satisfy anyone and escaped with big ‘NO’ to everyone. Chandran decided not to be part of that bee-line to get negatives and realized there was no point in standing with dismay and finding the train moving out slowly, inch by inch, he decided to take the shelter of the reserved compartment itself and entered one and waited near the toilet. As he found the conductor entering, he slowly moved forward and ran his eyes for vacant seats, and finding few, occupied one heaving a long sigh of relief, thinking the passenger allotted with that was absent.

The conductor sat opposite to Chandran and started checking the tickets of passengers, one by one, and he was the last one to show his ticket. The conductor was quick to show his red eyes asking why he had entered a reserved compartment causing discomfort to the bonafide passengers. Chandran explained the circumstances under which he was forced to enter that and sought help for a further comfortable journey. Unusual of any conductor, that person was kind enough to hear him patiently and promised to allot one, if found unoccupied.

The uncertainty did not last long and he was allotted with one berth. The arduous summer journey he decided to spend by sleeping on the upper berth, without causing disturbance to any co-passengers.

XXX

While Chandran opened the narrow bamboo wicked gate and entered the courtyard of the house, his father who was lying and relaxing, after morning rice porridge, in the easy chair sensed that and beamed his gaze towards that direction. He could not believe his eyes, which were fading due to age and he adjusted the spectacle up and down for clear view, bending to that direction, to confirm the veracity or credibility of the aged eyes. Realizing the correctness of what he felt, he got up and moved towards him spitting the betel nut pan he was chewing; his habit after every meal. Expressing utmost happiness, he went near and held hand and shouted for his wife and announced aloud their son’s arrival.

Chandran’s mother who was busy with the preparation of lunch in the kitchen heard the announcement and came running outside, throwing the towel she was holding on to the chair and strode toward her son. With happiness, she felt her voice was cracking and she shouted with mock anger, why didn’t you inform us before starting from Delhi? She stroked his back and said. I would have made your favorite fish curry and served your stomach full. She was on the verge of shedding tears with uncontrollable happiness.

Chandran could understand the degree of happiness and anxiety in her and he held her tight to his body and walked forward. I had to come to Kerala on urgent official work and did not get time to inform you. He did not spend time there on the courtyard with them and walked to the room, usually occupied by him while on leave, and kept the suitcase on the table.

The younger sister, Leela who heard the mother’s complaining tone could sense the elder brother’s arrival and went running from the backyard and followed him to the room with a broad smile, shooting out many questions for which she could not get any satisfactory replies. Her eyes were locked onto the suitcase and she opened with high hopes, but her face suddenly turned sullen finding nothing inside for her. Making a face, showing unhappiness, she moved out leaving him alone, to change his dress.

Leela was younger than him by sixteen years. Though in-between, the parents had four children, born with an age difference of four years each, all died at different ages due to various unusual diseases, for which the medical science had no solution. Leela being the lone survivor after so many losses, she was pampered by all and they gave special attention in her matters, to keep her always happy. Though pampered, she was the most obedient and studious child in her class and had won various competitions, right from her younger days.

The unfriendly behavior of their son, made both parents think of the cause and sat on the veranda and started brooding over. Mother was more concerned for obvious change in his behavior and said. Otherwise, on arrival, he used to spend maximum time talking to me in the kitchen. I am really worried. What has made my son show such changes in behavior? She looked at her husband and said. Why are you not worried about that? She straightened both legs and adjusted her dress to cover the legs properly. From his face, I could make out that he is unwell.

Father could appreciate her concern. You are right. He looks tired and weary. Probably he had traveled from Delhi to this place without reservation. That could be the only reason. He was fast to conclude. Why don’t you go and inquire? Mother should be more concerned. He tried to palm off that responsibility to her.

She took that in the right spirit. I will. Let him change and come out. She started thinking. In his last letter, he had mentioned that he had a bad dream and was too much worried about…?

Father could understand what she was aiming at. That you were sick?

She smiled and changed her face to dismay and said with contentment. I am sure, he was restless about that and would have come due to that.

He looked at her with a tinge of sarcasm and said mockingly. But, I couldn’t find that anxiety on his face. He felt like adding something more but was scared of annoying her.

She felt insulted and turned her face. She breathed heavy and looked at him with anger to convey her displeasure. Adjusting her hair lock, she pulled the betel leaves case towards her, making a sound, and said. It is time for us to think of his marriage. He is almost thirty-one now. Her words carried her disgruntlement.

He could sense what she meant and what was boiling within her. What is the use of us crying? He had repeatedly told us that unless that girl, Devi, gets married, he will not even think of that. Then what is the use of talking like this and wasting our energy? He was slightly upset by her unreasonable conversation. Let us wait for her to get married. Then, we will think of that seriously. Thinking of that and talking till then, is wastage of time and energy. He sounded authoritative.

She slowly, without uttering a word, prepared the pan smearing little lime over the betel leaf and putting few pieces of areca nuts and folded and put it in her mouth. She bit the areca nut pieces making sound and looked mute as if enjoying the pan. I will blame you for not taking enough initiative for solving their problems. She said casting aspersions. Why don’t you go and meet Brigadier Madhavan and talk to him all about their love? I am sure; he is an educated person who will do what is right. She paused. Unless you discuss with him, how can we find a solution?

He looked at her begging to consider that he was the father of the boy and not to blame unnecessarily. I was audacious enough to meet him. He paused. He has high ambitions in her future. You know, his wife died when Devi was only three years, but he didn’t go for second marriage for her sake. He sat on the easy chair. Moreover, as I am made to understand by someone, her marriage is already fixed.

Is it? A sudden ray of hope flashed over her