Wow!!!, “Old is Gold”. As has been righteously said, “It takes years to make and a moment to break”. Yes folks, it took years of my parents’ (especially my mom’s), training, sacrifices, coaxing, scolding and bickering to ensure I not only get the excellent grades in school, but also get the best lessons of my life. It took 13 yrs of my academic struggle to ensure that I not only get admitted to one of the top notch engineering colleges, but also get the best stream available (Computer Sc. & Engineering). Thereafter it took four years of continuous struggle and the agonies and ecstasies of hostel life, new friends, new hardships, new survival strategies to make myself capable of facing the world, accept unforeseen challenges and finally it was the first day of my final year when the result of a 4 hr interview was my first appointment letter in an MNC with a “decent” salary. Then it took me 19 months before I could move to Bangalore, the dream city of any software engineer, and being the only son of my parents, I had nurtured a small wish all these years to own a house of my own, where my parents can stay and retire in peace. A handsome salary (credible enough to get me the required housing loan) and our savings ensured we will be getting a home of our own. Six months hence witnessed tireless efforts by my mom, assisted by me to see that small dream of mine materializing. Yes it took all these years of dedication, patience and efforts to reach this stage. And then came the final task for my parents, getting their only son married. An alliance came and things started to fall in place and in a year more I was a married family man. How the transition from a boy to man took place was hard to notice but easy to realize, with the rising pressure of new responsibilities. Life had been really good until three months after marriage till she refused to return back and laid conditions on return. Still we thought we could bring her back until that moment came when my wife walked into our house with her parents accompanied by the local police team threatening to file a false complaint of dowry harassment against me and my aged parents. And suddenly it became so difficult to live. All this because I did not heed to her demand of deserting my aged and dependent parents, all this because I could not take leaves from office to join my in-laws on a preplanned trip, of which I was informed only 2 days before the trip and all this because my wife did not want to accept the responsibility of my parents and wanted a luxurious life full of pomp and honor and all this because instead of my wife taking care of my aged parents, made them take her care and all this because all these years her parents had pampered her like anything. And yes of course, all this because we are living in a country having biased non-bailable, non compoundable, cognizable offense provision in its Penal Code, wherein the woman (read married woman) can simply walk into a police station, submit a writ complaint of harassment for dowry (either true or false) and hold the boy’s family at ransom. And yes it was the end of the happy days for us, at least in the near future, for all that started as a relationship for life one year was dead now and the burden of the corpse was too heavy to be dreaded along but that’s what life is, has to be accepted and lived with strength. And so after all this I am here fighting a legal battle to safeguard me and my parents. Having being tagged a criminal for just getting married and not demanding dowry. Indeed it took a moment to break all that was built over these years.
