A Change Of Heart

A short story about love and a change of heart. Read on.

Ravali went to a tailor shop near her home, to get the lahengas and sarees for her sister Padmapriya’s wedding. She also visited the beauty salon to get a facial, manicure and pedicure. She was all set to glow as the bride’s sister during the wedding. Padmapriya was getting married to a software professional settled in US. She was a B.Tech graduate and aimed to pursue MS after marriage. Her younger sister Ravali was studying M.Sc in Chemistry and was keen on doing research in organic chemistry.

Both the sisters were very beautiful and traditional. They were popular for sporting long hair in their respective colleges. Their father Shivkumar was a businessman. He was successfully running his transportation business.

Sidharth was working in a small firm. He could not even complete his graduation. He had to start working early because of the poor economic condition of the family.

Sidharth fell in love with Ravali at first sight. He was attracted by her charm. Krishna’s family was also part of the marriage rituals for two days. Padmapriya left for US with her husband after marriage. After the wedding their lives went back to routine.

But, Sidharth could not stop thinking about Ravali. He was always dreaming about her. He never missed an opportunity to go to their home on pretext of helping them. He wanted to propose to her but, deep inside he knew that he was unfit for her. So, he stopped himself.

Few days passed. Sidharth still could not get over Ravali and decided to propose to her finally. One fine day, he met her in the college and proposed to her. But, Ravali never had any feelings towards him and so she rejected him. Sidharth got disheartened and moved to a different city in search of work.

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Meanwhile, Ravali’s father’s cargo container truck met with an accident. He incurred heavy losses in business and went bankrupt. The entire family was sad and disappointed. He still had the responsibility of his younger daughter. Ravali in the meantime, completed her M.Sc and started looking for jobs.

One day Shivkumar met his good old friend Krishna. He proposed his son’s alliance with his daughter. Without any hesitation or further thinking, Shivkumar readily accepted his proposal. He went ahead and informed his daughter about her impending marriage with Sidharth.

Ravali was dejected. She had never liked Sidharth. She was not able to say ‘no’ because her father had suffered a minor heart attack after the financial loss. She met her friends and shared her misery. Her friends suggested that she should go ahead with the wedding and seek for divorce later if she is unable to adjust with Sidharth. They consoled her that there is always hope and something to be thankful for.

Ravali was happy with her friends’ suggestions and agreed to marry Sidharth. On hearing this, Sidharth was extremely happy and excited. He called up Ravali to talk to her but, she didn’t respond to him properly. He was not aware of the fact that it was a forced marriage for Ravali.

Wedding was performed in a very simple manner. After marriage Sidharth realized that Ravali did not like him. Sidharth was heartbroken but he was always good with her and tried to win her. But Ravali’s heart didn’t melt. She always had plans to divorce her husband.

Both went to a different city to live. Sidharth tried to convince her that he like her a lot, but Ravali never responded to his actions. Sidharth finally realized that Ravali was not happy with him. He decided to give her divorce so that she could marry someone of her choice and be happy. Sidharth started the legal proceedings for divorce and assured her that he will find a suitable match for her. Ravali happily agreed to his decision.

In a turn of events, Ravali got high fever and the high temperature did not reduce for 3 days. She was diagnosed with dengue and got hospitalized for a week. Her parents could not attend to her. Sidharth took complete care of her in the hospital. This made her think if she was making a wrong decision by leaving Sidharth.

After a few days she started liking him owing to his decent behavior and good nature. However, Sidharth went ahead with the legal proceedings without realizing as to what was going on in Ravali’s mind. Ravali informed Sidharth that she didn’t want to divorce him and is willing to stay with him forever. Sidharth had mixed feelings of pain and pleasure. He was angry because of her behavior. But, he forgave her and accepted her because he loved her deeply.  And so, they lived happily ever after.

Image Source: Pexels

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