The next day was the day that shook me up. Amma had asked me to go over to Shajipapi's (my uncle living few steps away) and give some of the stuff that she'd bought them. At the door, when I had given the bag containing the stuff to Shylammama (his wife), I noticed she was not her usual self. Shajipapi called out to me from inside and asked me to get my mother. He too seemed disturbed. I rushed back and brought Amma along. Shylammama broke the news to us - Neethu (their daughter) had run away with this guy she met couple of months back. This happened the day after my birthday get-together at my place. It had been three days when we were informed. They tried to inform earlier but couldn't get us. She broke down crying heavily and both Amma and I was shocked with disbelief. This was a major upset and had deep consequences and affected many things and persons on multiple levels. I hadn't seen Shajipapi in this state ever before, so lost. We then came to understand many things about this that my other relatives knew of earlier. The relationship had come to light quite early in its progress. What disappointed us all was that the guy was of another faith. Attempts were made by several persons and on different levels to put sense into the girl's head. Early June it seemed that the efforts were paying off, and she agreed to bring an end to the relationship. But that was just so that she could get everyone to stop forcing her to end the relationship. The guy worked in a small shop and he was my age.
Efforts were then made to stop them from registering their union. Those days were real intense with lots of emotions and thinking of ways to stop them and consequences of various actions. Nobody had seen her since the day she took off. Her parents were deeply worried. Those days I heard stories of girls who'd run away in similar cases return back after a couple of days because things didn't turn out the way they'd hoped. So that helped slightly. We just hoped and prayed that Neethu would also return back that way. She was just too dear to us all, a girl with immense energy and potential. Because of this, it became clear that her education will be affected and that there's a possibility that she wouldn't complete her B.Com. That was sad, as she was academically alright and the degree would have been significant.
There was then an episode that occurred in a police station where persons from both sides were present. Amma had accompanied Shylammama to the station. That was when they had seen Neethu after the run-away. She made it clear that she didn't want to return. Their union was legalised. Nothing could be done. She made her decision clear and she was legally of age. We had to return back. The family had to deal with many things because of the incident, the toughest being the humiliation that this brought on. It certainly was tough. Their only child, their daughter, had removed herself from her family, from her home, and gone to some guy she met couple of months back.
I've thought about the whole incident for quite some time since then. It's certain she was thinking - it's just that the thinking was directed along a path that seemed to her to be more positive and promising than the life she had lived uptill then. She could have been influenced to think about the better life she could have with him, which her family (she must have believed) was incapable of offering. I'm also certain that I wouldn't know what was going on in her from the very beginning till after the run-away; only she'd know. Several elements work in varying degrees to cause a person to behave in a certain manner. These can include even events and incidents in a person's life that occurred earlier, that we wouldn't suspect had a role in causing this. I'm just saying that laying the entire blame on her for her actions will not prevent similar incidents from occurring.
This incident is their story now. They're dealing with it now. Few months after the run-away if someone asked her if she thought it all alright, my guess is she'd actually feel sorry for betraying her parents and wished if there was some way to reverse the events. She got into a mess that getting out of would result in a greater mess. A helpless situation. Irreversible. This may be a reason why the story goes on. May also be why it is preferred to go on this way.
On other stuff : Amma was leaving second week of July back to Dubai. Time flew away like crazy. Most of the time we were concerned about the run-away. I feared the dreaded-void that could be created when someone you love (in this case, Amma) leaves. Experiences from the past have taught that this void is a terrible period for me. There is a great deal of loneliness because of the absence of the loved-person. This is an unproductive period. The void to me is also a costly affair. Idling occurs and I hate to have spent time with nothing substantial done. I even feel guilty because of it. Why I feared it is because ten days after the leaving of my mother starts my sixth-semester exams. And if a void sets in before these exams (like the previous time in January 2008), then that would reflect terribly on the results. That is certainly undesirable.
I set myself up to prevent the possibility of the dreaded. While I was at it, I was informed about the retreat for committee members of all organizations of my parish, and that my participation was required. I agreed because it allowed me to take my mind off other things for a while. It was an interesting outing for me. Every organization had to present an item. So the Youth League decided to pull off a skit. It was totally lame. But what made it interesting was the decision to cast me as the priest in the skit. That was even lamer. Kindly note that I have nil experience in acting (on stage). That my abilities in conversing in Malayalam leaves a lot to be desired was apparently ignored made things more interesting. I screwed up quite well and had people come up to me to congratulate me on my unconventional and weird performance. We had a major laugh on that one. The association with the Youth League was going to be a strong one, that will have a lasting effect on me. This outing marked the beginning of fun times with the Youth League.
I then got down to the serious business of exam preps. I had it going for me because the previous semester had it tough and bad on me and my GPA suffered. So I had to produce much better results. So there was genuine preparations. I thank God for all the blessings he's given for causing my preparations to progress without any hitches. The first paper got postponed to the following month. But the remaining occurred as scheduled. That was good. I thought the performance was certainly better than my previous exams. So there was a good feeling.
I can't seem to remember any other happenings from July 2008. If anything springs up, I'll add it.
