Jagan descended the steps of the family court with a spring in his stride. His divorce proceedings had reached the last stage. The court would pronounce the final verdict on Monday, and he would be rid of Radha. What a relief that would be, he thought to himself. The constant bickering and petty fights would end. He would marry a woman who would be willing to accede to her man’s wishes at least a little bit.
Jagan and Radha had gotten married when they were very young. They had met in college. Jagan had been the quintessential heart throb of every girl in the college. He was six foot tall and was extremely handsome. He was also a top grader in academics. In addition, he was the secretary of the college debating society.
Radha was no less. She was the prettiest girl in the college. Like him, she was also exceptionally good at academics, and they had similar characters. Both loved trekking and debates and were the outdoor types. Jagan at once felt attracted to this vivacious and smart girl. Similarly, Radha too was in awe of Jagan.
As soon as they had graduated from college, they had married. The first days were full of marital bliss. They exulted in the warmth of each other’s bodies as much as they exulted in the warmth of each other’s company. They hiked together. They trekked together. They did everything together. They were the ideal married couple.
A couple of years went by in sublime bliss. But soon the cracks began to appear. Their first bone of contention was about when to have a baby. Jagan felt he wanted to have a child as early as possible, but Radha told him she wanted to wait for at least another two years before she would be ready for a baby. At that moment she wanted to concentrate on her career.
Jagan had always thought of himself as a progressive man who would give his wife her space but the eagerness to see his first-born was too much for him. He began getting into severe arguments with Radha and his behaviour towards her changed. He slowly started blaming her for everything that went wrong in their lives.
Radha for her part was very tolerant initially. But Jagan began nitpicking about everything. There was nothing she could do right according to him. Since both were working, they used to take turns cooking but soon Jagan wanted her to cook every day. The breaking point came when he told her to give up her job. The worst part was Jagan could simply not see the error of his ways. From his heart, he believed that Radha was being adamant and was responsible for all their problems.
Then one day Jagan slapped her, and Radha slapped him right back. That was the point of no return. Radha walked out of the house that very minute. The next day she served him a divorce notice. It was six months since then and the court would pronounce the divorce decree on Monday. Jagan was happy. Now he was free to marry a woman who would be willing to give him a child when he wanted.
It was a pity it was a weekend, thought Jagan as he walked to his car. He had to wait for another two days till Monday. He got in and began driving back to the apartment he had shared with Radha for the past two and a half years. As he drove past the agricultural fields on the way to his house, he saw a crowd of people standing around something that lay on the ground and chatting loudly. Just out of a whim and because he was subconsciously shrugging away the empty house that greeted him at journey’s end, he stopped his car by the side of the road.
He sat watching the place and soon his curiosity got the better of him. He got out of his car and approached the crowd. He was almost upon them when he saw what was causing the commotion. Right in the middle of the crowd there lay a huge bird. The bird was milky white in colour, and it had a sharp beak. Its throat was a bright pink. It appeared to be very dead.
Jagan was not the kind who took any interest in birds. But nevertheless, his curiosity was piqued. He asked someone who seemed to be in charge, ‘Hi, I am Jagan. Can you tell me how this happened?’
The man who appeared to be a farmer replied, ‘Sahib, it is a crounch. What you sahibs call the Sarus Crane. It has starved itself to death because its mate died a few days back. They mate for life sahib. If one crounch dies the other one mourns for days and gives up its life. It no longer wants to live. To us villagers it denotes divinity in love and marriage. This is a male Sarus. He has been mourning for days and now he is dead.’
‘Why can’t he find another mate?’ Jagan asked.
‘Sahib, that is impossible. To this old chap his mate was the only real heroine. And to her he was the only real hero. Both cannot live without each other. So, they have to die together.’
Suddenly some powerful inner emotion stirred in Jagan’s mind, and he felt deeply moved. He turned around and walked to his car with a heavy tread. If two birds can love each with such devotion, how could he, a mature, educated man be so dense, he reflected. His foolishness and selfish behaviour towards Radha became clear to him. It was as if someone had held a mirror in front of him and he could see himself clearly with all his defects. He had been returning to an empty house ever since Radha had left him. Now he wanted her company and loathed the idea of going back to an empty house.
Would he really be as happy as he thought without Radha in his life? Would life without Radha be as much of a relief as he believed?
He had offered Radha a generous alimony, but she had refused it in court. Radha had always been a proud woman who believed women should stand on their own feet. All she had asked for was some time before she could have a baby. And he had acted selfish in every way he could think of. He reached his house and had his dinner late in the night. He tried to sleep but the image of the sarus crane lying dead kept flashing in his mind. It was midnight by the time he arrived at a decision.
The next day morning Jagan did not even wait to have his breakfast. He got into his car promptly at six and reached Radha’s place by seven. He rang the front doorbell and as soon as she opened the door, he took her into his arms and smothered her face with kisses and whispered with tears in his eyes, ‘Don’t ever leave me Radha. I need you. I have behaved so foolishly. Will you take me back?’
Radha looked at him with startled surprise, but she had a smile on her face. She said, ‘Now come in and eat some breakfast. And tell me why you are all over me suddenly. You have always been my hero.’
‘No, the real hero is someone else.’ Jagan said. And they began talking things over freshly.
