“Hi Anu, congratulations!” grinned Sanjana, raising her voice to ensure that Anu heard her from two floors above.

Anu wondered what the building society’s secretary was congratulating her about. She walked down the couple of floors to meet Sanjana eye-to-eye. “Err… thank you Sanjana. But I’m not sure…”

A confused frown marred Sanjana’s face as she looked at Anu. While Sanjana lived with her husband Suman and two children on the twelfth floor of the high-rise, Anu stayed on the fourteenth with her husband Lalit and four-year-old son Ansh. Sanjana wondered whether she had mentioned something that was meant to be confidential. She checked Anu’s face to realise that the other woman was genuinely baffled.

“Well, Lalit came to meet Suman about the registration of the studio apartment next to your flat. I thought … I’m sorry, maybe…”

Anu’s face glowed with happiness as she gave Sanjana a wide grin. “Oh my God! I don’t believe this. You mean Lalit has purchased the studio apartment next door? But this is fantastic!”

Sanjana looked on in puzzlement. Then why hadn’t Lalit told his wife about it?

Anu continued, “You know Sanjana, it’s my birthday next month. I’m sure Lalit means it to be a surprise.” Her grin widened as her delight grew.

Sanjana appeared sheepish. “I’m so sorry, Anu. I shouldn’t have mentioned it to you. Tch! Lalit will surely be terribly upset.”

“Don’t you bother, Sanjana. I’ll never let on that you mentioned it to me. In fact, I’m not going to mention it until he breaks the news to me himself. Do excuse me! I’m off to get dinner ready. Ansh should be back from the playground soon.”

At the time this dialogue was happening Lalit was at a Residential Nursing Home visiting his 65-year-old father who suffered from Alzheimer’s. Ramachandran had been widowed when he had been just thirty, left to care for 5-year-old Lalit all by himself. While his wife’s family was keen to takeover bringing up the child, Ramachandran refused to let go of his son. He refused the many offers of remarriage and insisted on bringing up his only child single-handedly. Father and son were very close.

Lalit had got married eight years ago and Anu came to live in the four-bedroom flat along with her new husband and father-in-law. In the beginning, things had been going fine for the family. Ansh was born a few years later and Ramachandran showered all his love on his little grandson. Anu had opted to remain a housewife despite Lalit encouraging her to take up her own career.

“Ansh, where are you? I told you that we’ll go to the park. Come here,” Anu called out to the three-year-old.

Ansh came running out of his grandfather’s room. “Mamma, Grandpa is taking me down to the garden.” The innocent face was glowing with happiness. Ramachandran followed his grandson out of his room, all set for an evening romp in the garden with the little boy. He caught his daughter-in-law’s heavy scowl.

“Ansh, you must listen to Mamma. I’m taking you to the park and that’s it,” Anu barked the order at the confused child whose face crumpled. Ansh loved to go to the garden with Grandpa who played with him and sometimes with the other children too. Many times Grandpa told them all stories and Ansh felt so popular amongst his peers because of this. Going out with Mamma was not as interesting. She allowed him to play by himself and sat around talking to her friends.

But in the end Anu had her way. A loudly protesting Ansh was forcibly taken to the park much to the disappointment of both Grandpa and grandson.

This was but one incident. At every point, Ramachandran felt that Ansh became a bone of contention between father-in-law and daughter-in-law. The old man shrunk within himself and kept quiet about it. To begin with, he didn’t want to create discontent within the family by saying anything to Lalit. Then again, Anu was quite young and immature. Ramachandran felt that maybe she was insecure and decided to forgive her.

Things steadily got from bad to worse and Ansh wasn’t allowed anywhere near Ramachandran. So much so that Lalit noticed it. Whenever he spoke to Anu about it, it created a temper tantrum. Finally, the old man decided to tell Lalit to keep quiet about the matter. Lalit was very keen that his son spent a lot of time with his father as Ramachandran was a wise man and also a lonely one at that. But the men of the family kept their silence opting for peace.

Now that this issue was sorted out, Anu stepped further. Her next plan was to move her father-in-law to a ‘home’. She kept observing the old man keenly, waiting for a reason to pin him down.

With the advent of old age, Ramachandran’s keen brain gave in to slight memory loss. Small issues were blown out of proportion by his daughter-in-law. More than anything, Ramachandran didn’t let on the amount of hurt he suffered from not being able to interact with his little grandson. Not long after, the doctor recommended by Anu’s best friend, diagnosed Ramachandran with Alzheimer’s disease.

A couple of symptoms were prevalent in Ramachandran – he tended to get distracted, he misplaced his things and felt such a low sense of self-esteem that he refused to take any initiative about anything. This didn’t necessarily constitute Alzheimer’s but who could argue against a supposed expert?

Anu gently drew Lalit’s attention to his father’s problems. While her approaches were mild, she firmly drummed it into him that Ramachandran was way more ill than he actually was. She created scenarios that showed up her father-in-law in a poor light. She refused to allow Ansh anywhere near his grandfather, even in Lalit’s presence.

Ramachandran had difficulty hiding his tears in front of his son. He was extremely disturbed by the turn of events and didn’t quite understand how to resolve it.

Finally, a month ago, Anu had her way. Lalit gave in to her nagging and had his father moved to a residential nursing home.

Today, Lalit had left his office early to visit his father. He visited Ramachandran at least four times in a week but definitely didn’t like the arrangement. He held his father’s hand as they sat on a comfortable three-seater in the huge garden of the ‘home’. “Appa, I’m taking you home next week.”

Ramachandran looked at his son lovingly, not able to stop the tears from building in his own eyes. “Avoid, my boy. Why do you want to torture yourself? I’m very comfortable here. In fact, I’ve made a number of friends. We spend a lot of time together. You shouldn’t think that I’m unhappy here.” He didn’t want his son to have a bad relationship with his wife. After all, they had a long life together looming in front of them. He was an old man, with but a few years to live. Why not spend it here and leave them in peace?

“My dear Appa! I’m sure you are happy here. But I’m very unhappy with you living so far away. And so is Ansh. You need not worry that you have to come live in that flat with us. I have bought the studio apartment next door. There’s even a connecting door between the flats that had never been walled out. You can stay there with Ramakant to help you. Ansh and I can meet you to our hearts’ content.” Lalit had come up with the plan within a week of moving his father to the nursing home. He hadn’t mentioned anything to Anu as he felt that it was none of her business.

Ramachandran moved into the apartment a few days before Anu’s birthday. Lalit hadn’t even bothered to mention the move to his wife as he was terribly hurt by the way she had treated his father. And there was no way he could convince her logically.

                                                                                                                   ***

Ansh came running into the flat at dinner time. Anu was under the impression that her son had been with his friend in the flat below them. Ansh was grinning ear-to-ear as he washed his hands before dinner.

Anu served him the puris and sabzi that she had made for dinner. The child lifted the plate and started walking to the door as he said, “I’m having dinner with Grandpa.” He left the flat before Anu could stop him or ask any question. She looked at Lalit who came out of the bedroom after changing out of his suit.

Anu was torn between following her son and serving her husband his dinner. “Lalit, just give me a minute. Let me check what Ansh is up to.”

“Don’t bother with him Anu. He’s safe with his grandfather. You serve me dinner.”

Anu’s jaw dropped as she watched her husband calmly pulling a chair and sitting down at the dining table. “What the hell are you saying?”

Lalit looked at his wife calmly before saying, “I’m sure you heard me. Ansh is with my father.”

“But Lalit, the nursing home is so far away. How can Ansh…?” Her voice rose as she turned to the door, as if she wanted to run after her little son.

“Appa moved into the studio apartment next door this afternoon. That’s where Ansh has gone to meet him.” Ansh began serving himself dinner.

Anu’s jaw dropped with shock as she felt her world crash around her.

Ansh turned and looked at his wife. “He’ll keep to himself and I will thank you for not visiting him.” He lifted his dinner plate and followed his son out of the front door, his message very clear.