Destiny : Part 1
Story By Thiyam Ningol, Africa

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"Where and when did we go wrong"- James asked his wife Martha.

James and Martha were happily married couple. Friends and neighbours envied them.

James worked as an accounts clerk and Martha, as a primary school teacher.

Three years after their marriage they got their first born child, a son whom they named Charles. The first two years of their married life, they thought they would not be having any children. So when Charles arrived, their joy had no boundary. They adored him, loved him, pampered him and spoiled him. He was under constant surveillance. He hardly walked. He was always carried. While playing with friends, if he cried little, Martha would scold the friends, sometimes even punish them physically.

After another three years, they got a baby girl, Mary. The girl did not get much attention from her parents as Charles did. Luckily she was a healthy baby right from the beginning and a happy go lucky child. When she was only 2 years old, she started overpowering Charles physically. She developed the habit of snatching things from Charles. And Charles in turn would cry and seek his mother's help to get back his things.

As the children grew up, there was very little of common interest in both the children.

Charles joined the school where Martha was teaching, for his primary education. In the school also, he being the child of one of the teachers, escaped the punishments for not taking active part in the school activities. All the children had to take part in cleaning the school compound, planting and watering flowers. While others were cleaning, Charles spent the time with his mother. He never had any close friends.

Mary was naughty from the beginning. She could never sit quite. All the time she would do something destructive and disturbing. One time she even got a mild electric shock after pushing a nail in the electric socket. She had seen her father doing something like that several times. She loved copying her father in action.

The table and couch handles had several dents from her hammering.

James loved her very much. He once told Martha that God had made a little mistake in timing- "Mary is a boy born as a girl".

When she started schooling, in the same school where her brother was also studying, she was totally different from him. She was always the first one to run out of the classroom when the school bell rang. She had strength and interest. She was always at the forefront in school activities.

All the girls including some boys in her class were afraid of her. Martha received many complains from parents. But the teachers liked her. She could control the whole class when the teachers were sometimes busy. She was very intelligent in studies too.

When Charles was a teenage boy, his father noticed that he did not have much interest in things where boys of his age would love. He never wanted to go to a disco; during public holidays he spent time at home. All his friends were only boys of macho type and his son was a timid boy. He tried to encourage him and engage him in manly house hold work at home, like to prune trees and make fence. But he was not interested. He was afraid of climbing trees.

Very soon he would be finishing secondary school. James and Martha wanted to know what his plans for further studies were.

He had no plans. He would like to go to university but no specific choice.

Mary was determined from the very beginning to become an engineer, a civil engineer. She would love to build big houses and bridges.

She never liked fancy cloths. She wore skirts only because it was a compulsory school uniform. Other times she preferred a T-shirt and jean trouser.

One look at her would make anyone agree with James's remark that really God made a little mistake. Despite the tomboyish appearance she had her own charm. She could please people easily with her sweet tongue and jolly nature.

Charles joined University, degree course in computer science.

Soon after joining the university, Charles started showing drastic behaviour changes. He kept his hair long. When it was long enough, he started plaiting the hair, woman fashion. He pierced his ears and wore earrings.

One day his father confronted him and demanded an explanation about his outfits and behaviour. Charles simply kept quite.

James started suspecting something phony about his son. From the news media, he had heard a lot about same sex marriage scandals. But he did not like to think the possibility of the same thing with his own son. He tried to ignore the thoughts but it haunted him every time he looked at his son. He was convinced more and more as the days went by. He could not keep quite any more.

One night, he discussed about his fear with Martha. Later he regretted-he made a mistake by talking to her. Instead of discussing, they ended up fighting. Martha even accused James of thinking inhuman, that too about his own son. May be if it involved somebody else, she would have given James a benefit of doubts. But she was adamant; her son was not among such people.

James was helpless. He was not even heard fully by his wife. With whom he could discuss about it again!

To be continued....