Chapter 31: chapter 31

Sometimes he made me laugh, and sometimes he made me cry. It became difficult to handle him at night. Suddenly, he lost his temper and instantly he changed his mind asking for mercy. He said something to hurt me and cooled down immediately. He went to the extent of opening his long hair and splashing water onto his face when he came to be contentious with his condition. He was not able to infer what was awry with him, or why he was acting wizard. Like a child, he grumbled about all sorts of disorders. I served helpless at his changed behaviour. I chanted prayers to restore his health. Somehow, I managed to read articles on depression, anxiety and mental illness. I talked to one of my writer friends who had suffered severe depression during the time of her therapies. I could relate to whatever she said with the activities of my husband. She advised me to keep him engaged with something or the other but that was not possible as he got irritated very soon. His squawking behaviour became a matter of concern. He repeated the words of my mother-in-law and others.He turned extra concerned about the health of his mother. One night, he checked her blood pressure with the apparatus we had at home. It showed extremely increased pressure. I knew nothing was wrong with her pressure only the machine was defective and the compounder who used to check my father-in-law's blood pressure regularly had suggested not to depend on it as these devices tend to project variable numbers. He seated my younger son on his scooter and rushed towards the clinic. It was eleven at night. He ordered me to take care of his mother till he returned. The doctor gave me some medicines. He guided me to be careful and assist her while she walked up and down. He proclaimed out of anxiety, "She is having such an enormous rise in pressure. She may fall and faint anytime. Take proper care of her. Clasp her hands whenever she stepped out of her room. Mark my words, don't take it lightly. "One day, he brought a respirometer at the humble suggestion of his friend. He complained of breathing problems, whooping cough, headache and all imaginary ailments related to the coronavirus. He deliberately vomited at times. He persisted in drinking lukewarm water all the time as if he was still positive. The virus had taken a complete toll on his mental health. He refused to consume any healthy drink for the fear of constipation. His arguments and speculations were turning me mad.My mother-in-law mentioned him of supernatural spirit of her ancestors. He laid on the bed and enacted as if he had been possssed by the spirit of her ancestors. She started interrogating with him lightening a lamp and incense sticks. He tried to provide her all made up answers to satiate her hunger of talking to her ancestors. It's ridiculous but it happened that way. All these weird occurrences made me realise that he was suffering from mental illness nothing else. The memories of his father were haunting him, I guessed. My mother-in-law believed that he will be fine after the successful completion of the prayer meeting. She relied on her so-called exorcist brother who convinced her that way. According to her, on the last day of the feast, everything would be alright as her husband's spirit was going to leave us and rest in peace high above in the heavens on that day itself. She was particularly naive to trust blindly the money-minded man.