Crossing the Mirage:Passing Through Youth

"What's the way out?‟ he racked his brain. "Why not tell mom and seek her support?‟

But on second thoughts, he became doubtful about the wisdom of it all. "She would sympathize with me only to plead that I fall in line,‟ he figured it out. "What's worse, she may even extract a promise from me never to desert her. Moreover, what if she blurts out, it would only make matters worse.‟

Puzzled by the predicament, his mind played snakes-and-ladders with his resolve--- even as his enthusiasm for freedom surged him to the threshold of action, the fear of the fallout pulled him back to square one. Unable to take the plunge and yet detesting the status quo, he decided to approach his sister for a solution.

"Being in the same boat,‟ he sought to pump himself up, "won‟t she appreciate my lot? Besides, she won‟t let me down even if she doesn't help.‟

When Chandra revealed, Vasavi was raveled.

"It's okay for women to feel helpless in this man's world,‟ she contemplated, "and advantaged that they are, it ought to be different for men, isn't it? But, it doesn't seem to be so with my poor brother. Oh, how miserable he looks! Is he afraid of the devil when there is none? Still, if pushed to the wall, wouldn't he be further embittered? Isn't one hapless soul in the house enough to hurt the family health?‟

She couldn't help but smile wryly.

"What about poor mother?‟ her thoughts continued in the same vein. "As it is, she's worried to death on my account. If something goes wrong with him as well, her cup of misery would be overflowing indeed. Why, she wouldn't be able to take it at all.‟

Unable to bear her silence, Chandra clutched at her hand nervously.

“Help me,” he pleaded. “I'm sure you can.”

“Let me think it over,” she sounded hopeful. “You better go now.”

As he left, she began thinking about the plight of their lives aggravated by his predicament.

"At least he has me to turn to for help,‟ she felt melancholically. "What about me? I can cry over mother's shoulder and she is sure to wipe out all my tears. Likewise, she would lend her shoulder to him as well. But can she address our worries? How she can, isn't the poor thing half-dead on my account. Well, should he desert us now, she would be shattered and may even become insane. All the same, she would never let him go if she ever gets wind of his mind. That's the problem. But what's the solution?‟