Hardships ruin childhood like nothing else. A time when a kid must play and enjoy is turned into a nightmare because of hardships. Shrikanth’s story is a heartbreaking tale of such hardships. His childhood was spent on domestic violence and abuse. Sitting in his house in his hometown Visakhapatnam, Shrikanth often wondered why his father was thrashing him. What was his fault? What was the reason for all the violence and abuse? Usually, people would blame it on fate. Shrikanth realized the truth after spending a childhood of hardships that it was all due to his father’s frustration.

The Root Cause Of Shrikanth’s Hardships

Superstition is inseparable from Indian society. It is this superstition that has become the cause of hardships in Shrikanth’s life. His paternal aunts convinced his father that marrying Shrikanth’s mother was a bad omen. They even said that Shrikanth’s birth brought terrible luck to the family. These things made a significant impact on Shrikanth’s father. Influenced by this superstition, he constantly subjected Shrikanth and his mother to physical abuse.

Shrikanth recalls his childhood as the darkest period in life. He remembers desperately wanting to grow up to step out of the house of hardships along with his mother. Shrikanth’s father had grown extremely abusive after he couldn’t stabilize himself in the Indian Navy and two other government jobs.

He was part of INS Vikranth. Despite the best opportunities, he couldn’t make the best of his career. Until 5th grade, his routine was to come back from school, receive abuse from his father and watch his mother hit. After a while, his father lost his job. There was no earning for two years. His mother would sell food and run the family in the small income that she made.

Endless Chain Of Hardships

The lack of money took Shrikanth from a convent to a government school. Hardships didn’t seem to leave his side. Even when things were going from bad to worse, he excelled in academics. While being a good student, he took up the financial responsibilities of his house. He studied while working part-time to bring home some money. He fought hardships by doing odd jobs as a newspaper boy or salesman.

The part-time job didn’t distract him from his studies. Shrikanth worked hard and stood first in the entire district in his 10th standard. Soon, the talented boy was flooded with calls from prestigious intermediate colleges. However, like always, he didn’t receive any support, appreciation, or encouragement from his father. Shrikanth was already making his plans to enter into a defense like his father.

It is the only place that provides an opportunity for early employment with the lowest educational qualification, i.e., Intermediate. He acquired an NCC certificate. With sheer hard work, he was selected for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. He chose to be a Navy officer because of his love for the white uniform. He also desired to stay in his hometown. As the Eastern Naval Command in Vizag, he would spend at least ten years of service with his family. Things went according to Shrikanth’s hopes. In 2003 he joined the Indian Navy.

One Hardship After Another

After a brief stint in a different place, Shrikanth served the Indian Navy from his hometown. He was earning Rs—10,000 per month. The financial constraints had left Shrikanth and his family. He planned to give his mother a better life and take her away from all the abuse.

Just when he thought all the hardships came to an end, terrible news knocked on Shrikanth’s door again. His mother fell severely ill after surgery. Although the surgery went well, there was no one to give the much-needed care during recovery. His father physically abused her mother even in that state.

Unable to tolerate this, Shrikanth’s mother passed away in 2008. He met his mother sometime before this. She was sick but seemed stable. He didn’t imagine that he’d be seeing his mother for the last time. He was serving his first posting in Goa when he got the news. He was shattered.

As if this wasn’t sad enough, fate had more hardships in store. He could only reach his hometown one day after his mother’s death. There was no proper conveyance that could take him home on time. From Karwar, Shrikanth traveled on a bike for 110 kilometers, and then he took a truck, a train, and finally a car. This way, he traveled for 38 hours and reached home only to find that his mother was already cremated.

Note: The image used is in this story is solely for representation. Shrikanth suggested not to share his picture due to privacy issues.

What was the hurry, you may ask? It was done to hide the reason behind her death from Shrikanth. It was tragic that he couldn’t perform the last rights either.

A Marriage Of Endless Hardships

When it was time for Shrikanth to get married, his relatives brought him a match and got him married. He is a man of values. After seeing his parents’ life, he decided he’d never brought home dowry along with the bride. However, his ideals could not give him a happy marriage. He moved out of his father’s house and lived in his own house with his wife. A year after marriage, the couple had a baby girl. Shrikanth’s job took him to Hyderabad, where his son was born. Things seemed to be going well.

Shrikanth and his family kept going from one city to another. He encountered another hardship when he went to Kerala. On their way to Kerala, he and his wife fought over looking after the kids. Their incompatibility was becoming evident with each passing day. On reaching Kerala, he met a guy who could help them settle down in the new place. It seemed fishy when the man kept visiting the family too many times.

The breaking point came when, one day, he returned from work and learned from his neighbors about a strange thing. They told him that a particular man frequents their house in his absence. Shrikanth started doubting his wife of having an extramarital affair with that man. When he confronted his wife and the man separately, they denied it. An argument broke between the couple, and Shrikanth attempted suicide. He tried to kill himself by consuming a floor cleaning liquid disinfectant. Luckily his neighbors found out and rushed him to the nearest hospital.

The Ultimate Breaking Point

The disinfectant had damaged parts of Shrikanth’s intestines. After lying unconscious for a few days in the ICU, he opened his eyes. As soon as he regained consciousness, his first thoughts were about his wife. Shrikanth wondered if he overreacted to the situation based on the neighbor’s opinion. He could never be sure if his wife had an extramarital affair. This incident made the man think harder.

His wisdom made him realize the responsibility of his children. He convinced himself that suicide is not the solution to hardships. He was shifted from the ICU to the Psychiatric ward of the Navy hospital. There were always two people watching over him. Strangely, his wife was not by his side all this time. She came back with her family a week later. They settled the matter and went back to living like a happy couple.

What happened next is unimaginable. While in the hospital, Shrikanth met his childhood friend, who also joined the Indian Navy like him. From that time on, he and his family mingled well with his friend and his wife. Unfortunately, his wife and his friend connected and had an affair. The pain is unimaginable when his childhood friend betrays a person. Hardships kept increasing in intensity in Shrikanth’s life. With this, he realized that what happens once can happen again. He tried a lot to deny the signs of an extramarital affair by calling himself delusional. The truth, however, has to come out. You can’t hide it forever.

Shrikanth discovered everything about the betrayal, but before he could do anything, his wife put a dowry and domestic violence case on him. While this was going on, he was transferred to a forest area in Orissa. He spent all his money in attending to courts and settling the case. His reputation was at stake. In these five years, he missed seeing the childhood of his kids. Shrikanth’s wife and his family tried their best to defame him and put him through mental torture. They tried reconciling, but it was only for namesake.

Deteriorating Health

All the stress gave Shrikanth a Sciatica problem. Even in this health condition, he had to go for court visits. Hardships stuck to Shrikanth like a leech. This time, he was accused of molesting his mother-in-law. The case continued, and Shrikanth started taking treatment for depression. Meanwhile, he went to the U.S. on work and returned to find that the case was still going on. Things that were happening in his life are no less than a dramatic novel.

It turns out that the rarest of things happen with Shrikanth alone. He was one of the five people who lost vision because of a tablet. In 2017, Shrikanth gradually lost vision. He wished to see his children before he could lose sight entirely, but his in-laws didn’t allow that. The treatment for depression caused drastic side effects. He lost vision in his eyes. Medical experts took him to L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital, where he regained vision after eight surgeries. The treatment went on for two years before he could see again.

Finally, A Peaceful Ending

Shrikanth served for 17 years in the Indian Navy. Today, Shrikanth is a happily retired man who draws a good pension. He got rid of the legal fight forever, recently bought a house and a car, and living a comfortable life. Shrikanth’s story talks about how not to give up. No matter what life throws at you, you can give it back with determination. No hardship can ever break you down if you don’t allow it to.

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