Suresh went straight to the bathroom after coming home that evening. Washed his hands, face thoroughly before he came out. Changed his clothes and finally feeling fresh sat on the sofa of his drawing room.
He switched on the television and started surfing through the news channels. This is what he normally does to remain updated with daily news. Today, as he is surfing through, there is just one thing on all the channels. Atmanirbhar Bharat is a new campaign that has been launched. All the channels are showing just that.
Suresh gave a smirk and switched to sports channels. ‘Atmanirbhar it seems, whole business is bust here!’ he thought.
Just then Kavita, his wife came out of the kitchen and put down the hot cup of tea and the plate of biscuits on the table in front of him.
Kavita looked at him, smiled and asked, “Everything okay?” Suresh looked back at her, smiled and nodded. He knew the real meaning of that question is ‘don’t worry.’
He grabbed her hand gently and asked her to sit beside him. Kavita did. “Atmanirbhar Bharat is now being campaigned. It took me years to build up everything from scratch just to lose all of it in a few months.” Suresh said. “I know.” Kavita replied. “Then? What is this Atmanirbhar Bharat now?” He vented his fury.
Kavita gently touched his chin to turn his head towards her. “You built your business up from scratch, you took it to a good level right?” Kavita asked. “Yes! What’s the point here?” Suresh asked, a little irritated. “Now, you’re saying it is difficult for you to become atmanirbhar as you’ve lost everything. Were you really atmanirbhar or business-nirbhar all these years then?” Kavita asked Suresh with a little firm but calm voice.
“And, I still have my job, my salary’s there and we’re still sustaining. So it is okay to become wife-nirbhar for a while.” Kavita pointed out, this time with a gentle smile on her face. She caressed her husband’s cheek a couple of times. Suresh smiled and looked at her. He picked up the cup from the table and took a sip. His face broadened with a bigger smile and a deep sigh of relief.
Om Shanti….?