It was Unexpected!
Sreelatha was worried about her dear daughter
Malini, as she exhibits some kind of indifference towards things.
When the time for breakfast was up, she called her, “Malu, Maloo, Malini, Malinee, ….,” Shreelatha, Malini’s mother.” Having no rejoinder from Malini, her hind limbs moved to Malini’s room. “She has a sort of mood swings, of late. Don’t know the reason,” Sreelatha whispered to herself.
It was a Sunday, Malini was lying on the
bed reversing the body to the bed. Amma went near and stroked her back
affectionately, " Mole, have your breakfast. It is already late. Come.”
“………….”
Shreelatha raised the volume of her tone.
Malini neither turned up nor did she retort. Now Shreelatha mixed her voice
with the spice of anger a bit.
Still Malini, “………”
Mother applied a little force and turned her up. Her eyes were closed tightly and didn’t look at her mother.
Malini was the only daughter of Shreelatha and Krishnan, who hailed from lower-middle-class families and so also is their present life. At the time of the couple’s nuptials, Krishnan had landed in a smithy, as a welder. His income was just enough to meet both ends of theirs. One of his village-dwellers in his locale, Raghavan was in a gulf country, where he owned somewhat a profitable business concern. It undertook all sorts of petite jobs like building repair, plumbing correction, welding work, electrical settings and so on and so on. As he wanted a welder, evading all others, Krishnan crept into his mind. So, Krishnan without taking many pains could get into the cloak of a foreign employee. His remuneration, though not of gathering envies from others, filled satisfaction in his purse. Now the couple’s lifestyle took a right turn, much distinct from what they were following earlier.
The yield of the matrimonial life of Krishnan and Shreelatha was Malinee, who was crowned as the duchess of their little residence. She grew up with ample toys, piquant food and suitable dress since there was no other issue to be reared up. She had a playmate of her childhood named Sukesh who whenever possessed a wee free time, launched his presence in Malini’s amity. Both were in the same school with a difference of one class. The same school vehicle escorted them for their onward and backward journeys.
After school and in holidays, the kids got engaged in playing along with some other children from around their residences. Their games took place under the water tap in Malini’s or Sukesh’s compound. The duo was much enthused by their pals in the society of nature. They poured water in the soil and fully soaked soil attained different shapes in their hands. Malu sometimes walked softly like a cat and transferred some kitchen wares to their play venue. In the meantime, Malini’s puppy also joined them. Squirrels on the branches enjoyed the children’s games and sparrows also with their gripping little steps exhibited their ballet to entertain the little ones. Crows cawing loudly flew away at the sight of stones in the little hands. The Sun, concluding his day’s duty when returned to his asylum, winding up the day’s game, the kids used to disperse and ensured their punching home.
As Sukesh was growing up, his figure was growing in Malini’s mind also. By now Malini reached such a stage that she could not think of having a friendship with any other boy, who expressed interest in her company. Her inner conscience had submitted herself to Sukesh. Her teeny mind didn’t go that deep to realize that she was not receiving any reciprocation of that genus from him. But sometimes she became a bit sceptic about Sukesh’s attitude also. Sukesh did not express any teeny attachment to her, preferred he always her company though. Moreover, in his school, the friendship with other girls too excited him a great deal. Malini envied and disliked them and in her innate mind did not include such girls in her friends’ group. The juvenile folks had gone under the impression of a love bond between Malu and Sukesh and hence they had accepted their acceptance to each other.
Quite often Sukesh immersed in deep thought and sometimes, all of a sudden jerked to the present. Some uneasiness or disquiet subjugated him, eating away his quiet. Some confusion took place in his mind, he became upset about silly matters. Slowly he kept himself away from people even Malini. He withdrew his appendages of contacts and contracted himself within, like a snail. The question- whether or not- without answers created a puzzle in his mind. His mother noticed all these moods in her son, but on inquiring, he avoided his mother. Somehow, he could complete his XII grade. And eventually, he decided to expose his mind to his mother, who fell into total trepidation. She was shocked at first and after remaining in thoughts and thoughts, realized the reality.
After the mutual conversation, the parents with their son arrived at a hospital, where the counselling psychiatrist made them aware of Sukesh’s problem. He suggested means and methods for rectifying it, “Your son’s impaired thoughts will disappear. He needs surgery. Please think over it and it is costly also. If you can afford it, let me know. Don’t worry, can be corrected. Then he will be a satisfied individual.”
Things with Malini were getting worse and therefore her grievance had no boundary. She smelt something fishy, despite her perseverance to attain him. She wondered, “Who is that girl to snatch Sukesh from me? Is she prettier than me?” Sukesh’s distance was a dagger piercing her mind and it was beyond her tolerance level. She took very little food; often her cheeks were bathed in the wetness from her eyes. Slumber also approached her only partially. In the meantime, the Raghavans shortened or practically curbed their visits to the Krishnans. But on thorough scrutiny, in her mind, she understood that Sukesh’s family wanted to stay away from all in the village. Hence, they hired a house in a city much far. Still, she couldn’t erase Sukesh’s figure from the canvass of her mind.
A shadow of glumness followed Sukesh’s family. Conversations and discussions continued for a few days, though they made themselves ready to face the plight. He was a boy with gender dysphoria. His sex assigned at birth as a male as per external genitals was not in proper compatibility with his internal sex identification. Hence the parents had to agree with their son, who remained sustained in his decision for the Gender Reassignment Surgery.
Procedures in multiples like mental health evaluation, sexual and asexual body parts' correction, skin smoothening, voice exercise, hormone therapy and so on travelled through his mind as well as body for nearly a year. And crossing the threshold of all the barriers, Sukesh became Sukeshi, and was titled transsexual. He (She) discarding all his(her) male’s garbs, began cuddling females’ costumes. Now he is in the physique of a fully-grown woman.
Malini was passing her days without the company of Sukesh but her agony augmented and concentration in XII grade diminished. She didn’t express it in front of her parents though they understood her dejection. On that Sunday Malini’s attitude and her immature teen advised her to swallow cockroach repellent medicine and finish her life without Sukesh. Fainted she on the bed. Shreelatha’s entry to her room at that time attained yells of fear and anxiety of the highest pitch which attracted the next-door neighbours’ attention. Sudden action and immediate attention from the doctors brought her back to life. Effective counselling slowly and gradually drew her turbulent mind to normalcy. Sukesh’s family’s events hadn’t made their entry into Malini’s domicile as they had chosen the city life. And Krishnan had already migrated to another gulf country on a new job. So, his family was not aware of Sukesh’s transition.
And now a woman from Sukesh’s immediate
neighbourhood when happened to visit Malini’s parents, “He is a cute girl now.”
“He is a cute girl! What!”
She narrated the entire story. It was unexpected for the Krishnans and they felt sorry for the Raghavans and were apprehensive about their dear daughter.
The news was tactfully injected into Malu’s
mind. Now things had become vivid and with
much difficulty, Malini caught her mind from the meadows of Sukesh and on
recovery from her distraught state, tied it to the peg of her academics.
