Our society is humongous as compared to us individually. Its rules are tough to bend, let alone break, and it takes immense courage for a person to stand against it for their own happiness. But one son went above and beyond for his mother and fought with society for her sake.
23-year-old Yuvaraj Shele lost his father to a road accident when he was just 18 years old. To lose a parent was shocking for him but it was his mother, Ratna, who suffered from tremendous loneliness and social isolation.
“It was a major shock for me to lose my father when I was just 18 years old. But the death took a real toll on my mother, who had to battle loneliness and felt socially isolated,” NDTV quoted Yuvaraj saying.
Yuvaraj and his mother Ratna hail from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, a conservative city steeped in traditional values. As Yuvaraj became the sole breadwinner of the family, his mother suffered psychologically after having been left all alone. It was then that Yuvaraj realised how much she is in need of companionship and decided to get her remarried.
“My mother was married to my father for nearly 25 years. If a man loses his wife, the society thinks it is natural for him to remarry. I wondered why the same belief was not applicable to a woman, and I decided to convince her to remarry,” he said.
While it wasn’t easy to convince his relatives and neighbours, he was able to do so and soon started searching for a suitable companion for his mother. And then he came across a man named Maruti Ghanwat.
“I had been living a lonely life for some years. After meeting Ratna and talking to her, I felt I can live with this family and they are genuine people,” said Maruti.
But for Ratna, it wasn’t easy to get remarried as she felt like in doing so, she will be forgetting her husband. But after a lot of conversation, she was convinced.
“I had initially opposed the whole idea. I was absolutely not ready to forget my husband. But after talking about the issue, I got convinced. I also asked myself whether I really want to live alone for the rest of my life,” Ratna said.
Ratna and Maruti finally tied the knot and are now husband and wife.
“It is still a special day for me, as I was able to find my mother the right partner,” said Yuvaraj.
Kudos to him for doing the right thing and being such a supportive son!