The Reversed Swastik

As Diwali approached, the entire house was in a state of chaos. The kids had recently recovered from the flu and Nisha’s husband Raghu had just returned from a long business trip. The kids started fighting as they wanted to go out shopping to buy gifts for Diwali. Despite the exhaustion, Raghu took them to the mall. Nisha had 2 hours to clean the messy house and she had absolutely no idea how she would do it. Yet she managed to clean the house before the kids returned. After dinner, she put the kids to bed and dozed off herself too.

The next morning was Dhanteras, so Nisha got up early to do puja. As she took the kumkum in her hand and drew the Swastik, Raghu screamed “This is not the right way of making Swastik. You made it in the reverse anti-clockwise direction instead of clockwise. How can you make the same mistake after doing this puja for ten years? Now, something bad will happen.” Nisha apologized. As the day passed, Raghu kept reminding Nisha of her mistake. This went on till Diwali was over. On the day of the new year, Raghu’s business suffered a huge loss. Instead of wishing Nisha a happy new year, Raghu looked at Nisha and said to her “This is all your mistake. This wouldn’t have happened if you had made the Swastik properly.”

At breakfast the next day, the kids handed Raghu an envelope from Nisha. It had a reversed Swastik. Raghu furiously asked the kids if this was some kind of a joke. They said they were just asked to give this to him. Raghu opened the envelope and found divorce papers. There was a letter inside the envelope which read as follows:

Dear Raghu,

After spending ten years taking care of every small need of our family, all you noticed is a reversed Swastik. Do you remember thanking me for staying up all night to take care of the kids when they were sick and you were busy traveling? What about the day your mother fractured her leg and I had to do all housework while making sure she was fine? That day when we had only enough money to but shoes for your business meeting so I had to postpone buying a saree for Diwali, do you remember that day? Did you ever thank me for the food I cook or the dishes I wash every day? Well, you didn’t because you thought that these were things that I am supposed to do. For the last 10 years, I have been doing a job without salary and without appreciation. And all you noticed was the reversed Swastik. I am going on a trip to Bali for a week on a well deserved holiday. All the things that need to be done for the house and kids are mentioned in the list attached to this letter. When I come back, you can decide whether to sign the divorce papers or not. I cannot live with someone who doesn’t respect me and wants to blame me for his own failures.

Yours,

Nisha.

When Nisha returned after a week, she saw Raghu greet her with a bouquet of flowers. He told her “I am sorry for what happened. The last week was the most difficult one for me and I realized your value in my life. I hope you can forgive me. Would you like to spend the rest of your life with me ?” Nisha smiled and said, “Of course, I would.”

Instead of attaching importance to flaws, if we focus on the little things that our loved ones do for us, there would be no need for divorce lawyers.