Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve: MARRIAGE DIVORCE REMARRIAGE and A GAME OF BADMINTON

MARRIAGE DIVORCE REMARRIAGE and A GAME OF BADMINTON

A Short Story

VIKRAM KARVE

I feel that children are innocent victims when their parents divorce.

The first thing that happens is that the custody of the child is given to one parent.

It is most likely that the mother gets custody of the children.

This deprives the child of one parent.

I think this does have a detrimental effect on the child and his overall development.

And then, if the parents decide to remarry, it is double whammy for the poor child and the child’s predicament becomes even worse.

The poor child may feel abandoned and that he belongs nowhere.

Here is a fiction short story I wrote 3 years ago, in May 2011, depicting such a situation.

The story is narrated by the hapless child.

BADMINTON

A Small Boy Narrates his Life Story

Short Fiction

VIKRAM KARVE

Disclaimer:

1. This story is a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in this story are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

BADMINTON – Short Fiction Story By Vikram Karve

Badminton is a game where you volley a shuttlecock back and forth over a net

Part 1

DIVORCE

My life is like a game of badminton.

I am the shuttlecock and my mother and my father are the two opposing players.

Let me explain.

My parents are getting divorced.

Now both are highly qualified MBAs and have very meticulously divided their assets and very painstakingly shared their liabilities.

Except me.

They don’t know how to divide me, so they are fighting it out in court, battling it out for my custody.

And till they finally decide this way or the other, I am being tossed from one parent to the other like a shuttlecock.

From Monday to Thursday, after school is over, I take the Aundh Bus to stay at my mother’s place.

On Friday, I take the Kondhwa Bus to spend the weekend with my father.

On Sunday evening my father has to drop me off at my mother’s place before 6 o’clock.

And if we are late even by one minute, my mother raises a hue and cry against my father and complains to the family court.

Part 2

After Two Years

REMARRIAGE

My life is still like a game of badminton.

But there is a slight difference.

Now, instead of badminton singles, it is a game of mixed doubles.

Let me explain.

On one side of the badminton court are my real father and step-mother.

And, across the net, on the other side are my real mother and step-father.

And I am still the shuttlecock being tossed from one side to the other, back and forth.

However, there is also a big difference.

Earlier, when they used to play badminton singles, the rallies were short and sweet, the volleys were gentle, and each player wanted the shuttlecock to fall on their own side of the court.

Now, in mixed doubles, the rallies and long and painful, the smashes are hard, and the players, especially the new players, want the shuttlecock to fall on the other side of the court, across the net.

Want me to explain?

I don’t think I need to.

Dear Reader: You got the drift of what I am trying to say, didn’t you?

Now you tell me one thing:

Am I an asset to be divided or a liability to be shared?

But I am afraid of one thing.

Soon the shuttlecock may get worn out.

Then, will they toss the shuttlecock out of the court?

Oh my God!

An even more terrible thought comes to my mind.

Once they have their own children, what will happen to me?

I will become like an old shuttlecock, to be discarded and replaced by a new shuttlecock.

Yes, once they get rid of the old shuttlecock, maybe the mixed doubles partners will stop playing mixed doubles with the old shuttlecock.

Now they may start playing badminton singles with each other with their own new shuttlecocks.

Each couple, my real mother and step-father, and, my real father and step-mother, will have their very own children.

And then they may abandon me forever.

Yes, I am really scared that I will be abandoned forever.

EPILOGUE

Is the child right?

First, when the parents got divorced he was considered an asset as both his parents wanted his custody and then they “divided” the child between themselves

(In a method I like to call “Time Division Multiplexing”)

Then when his divorced parents got remarried, and child got stepparents, the poor boy feels that he has become a liability.

And more so, he shudders to think what will happen to him when the two new married couples (his real mother and her new husband, and his real father and his new wife) have children of their own?

What will be his status with his real mother when his real mother and her new husband have children of their own?

What will be his status with his real father when his real father and his new wife have children of their own too?

Will he be left high and dry?

Will he be tossed away like an unwanted old shuttle-cock once the players have got their own “new” shuttle-cocks?

Just like they sometimes “write-off” a liability to get rid of it on the balance sheet.

Dear Reader, please comment and do let me know your views.

Please answer the small boy’s question, solve his predicament.

Once parents get divorced and then they remarry someone else:

Are children of their first marriages ASSETS to be divided?

Or are they LIABILITIES to be shared?

Or are children of first marriages like bad debts to be written-off from the balance sheet of each parent’s life?

VIKRAM KARVE

Disclaimer:

1. All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the story are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

Did you like this story?

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About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and an anthology of short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional and academic research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

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This story was written by me in the year 2011 and first posted in this blog on 30 May 2011 at url: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2011/05/badminton.html

Posted by Vikram Karve at 5/30/2011 03:45:00 PM at url: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2011/05/badminton.html

Academic and Creative Writing Journal Vikram Karve

Saturday, April 26, 2014

MARRIAGE DIVORCE REMARRIAGE and A GAME OF BADMINTON

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