Mein apne biwi ko maar raha hu..to??

Two days back, mom and I had a beautiful Shirdi Sai baba’s darshan. The mandir looked awesome early morning with devotees from all over gathered at one place-chilly breeze blew by while the sun eagerly waited to pop its head out and wish us a bright and cheerful morning.

It amazed me to see that I was not the only one in the queue to bribe Sai baba early in the morning. After completing the entire puja formalities in 45 minutes we decided to satiate our hunger first before catching a bus back home.

We entered a decent restaurant and as I was busy involved in removing the kadipatta from my kanda poha, we heard a commotion arising from the table behind us. Curiosity made my head turn fast towards the place of action and it took me some time to digest what I saw next. A man slapped his wife in front of about 20 people and including his own children. He was yelling at the top of his voice in a South Indian dialect and his wife stood shaken at one corner, tears didn't stop and she kept on sobbing. As if this was not enough, he had the courage to lift his hand again on her. This time people around and also us were like...”Aare aare kya kar rahee ho..." and bang came the reply...” Mein apne biwi ko maar raha hu to??" Her children were too young to comprehend things and continued to nibble on the sada dosa in front of them, but occasionally stared at their mom's crying face even.

As the beast saw the security nearing him, he pulled the sada dosa plate from his children and asked the waiter to pack it fast. He hauled his wife by her arm and within few moments disappeared from the place. All the waiters had got their full dose of entertainment of the month and in that excitement forgot to attend the guest for a while. However the manager came and dispersed the gossip-mongers quickly. We both sat silently for some time and then finished our breakfast and left the place.

Can anyone please tell me why did this pathetic creature come to Shirdi in the first place? To ask God to give him the courage and strength to assault his wife? Or to seek forgiveness from the almighty for his routine dastardly act?

It was quite scary to even imagine that a man whose hand never shook before hitting his wife in front of so many people, what he might be doing within the four walls of his own house.