Life is a gamble

‘Men are so hard to understand. I just want to live without stress. I am neutral now. He asked for one more chance and this is the last one. I don’t mind even if the marriage breaks. I am tired now. I have lost faith in him. He had tortured me enough. I am just being nice to a man without a heart...’

I received this text message a week ago from my friend. My heart sank. Many questions popped up in my mind but I thought that they were better left unanswered. There is no use digging up old wounds. I am only a third party. I do not know all the details.

We live in strange times. Trouble comes not in twos and threes but in bundles. When you have solved one issue and thinking of clambering to your feet again, another load is thrown at you. You are weighted down again. You grope in the dark trying to find an answer. You put your best plans into action. It is a gamble but isn’t life a gamble anyway? You throw the dice and wait for it to stop spinning.

Believe me. Years ago this was the last comment I would have expected my friend to make. She is traditional and two years my senior. She is not exceptionally beautiful but her heart is in the right place. There is a motherly quality about her which appealed to us. This made her a favourite in our batch.

Though she had a brother and sister, she was overprotected. Luckily she refused to be tied to her mother’s apron strings and made her own choices. At times she even rebelled against their decisions. This change of attitude took us by surprise but they were for better. She was a ‘good and obedient daughter’ but raised her voice in important matters.

She married through a proposal. It was a marriage of convenience and consent. The choice was hers. She had rejected many others before settling on him. I met them once before they tied the knot. He seemed nice but a little too quiet for my taste. They made a charming couple. I was happy for her.

A few months passed. Her wedding plans were underway. Though we are unable to keep close contact as we did at school, we did inquire about each other’s welfare at least twice or thrice per month. Two of her texts disturbed me. She had called him ‘unromantic’ and ‘cruel’. At one point they nearly parted ways but finally they were married.

Same month, last year now same month, this year the kaleidoscope had turned.

He did not delve long. His occupation and family were migrants. My friend was supposed to join them in America after a few months. ‘

I texted and called as before but her responses were infrequent. I sensed that she was unhappy. She indicated that her family were facing some ‘problems’ but she did not elaborate on them. Months later I met her at one of my friend’s daughter’s birthday parties. She unburdened her sorrow.

Her husband is unable to get over his past. He had had two affairs but they had gone horribly wrong . Instead of starting afresh with a wife who doted on him, he had chosen to lament about the past.

I know this sounds strange but such incidents have ceased to surprise me. Too many strange things are happening around us. We all have skeletons in our closet. But why start a new life if you cannot bury the dead? Why can’t you bury the hatchet in some matters? Is it fair to make another party suffer for bygone mistakes? I don’t think so and deep down, I know that neither do you.