From Cauvery to Ganga

Chapter 34: The One Who Stayed Behind

The small, cramped room felt even smaller after Nithya’s phone call.

Mahendran Gounder, my father, had suffered a massive heart attack. He was in the ICU at a private hospital in Coimbatore. The family was in panic. Doctors said his condition was critical. They needed their son. Immediately.

Even though I was never really close to him… even though our conversations were mostly about business, marks, or “be responsible”… he was still my father.

I felt a sharp, painful tug in my chest.

I wanted to go. As Satyaraj. I wanted to sit beside his bed, hold his hand, tell him I was there. I wanted to be the son again.

But when I looked down at myself, reality laughed in my face.

I was still Sunita Devi.

The faded green saree clung to my body from the day’s sweat. The tight blouse dug deep under my arms and pushed my heavy breasts up. The mangalsutra rested heavily between them. The permanent silver anklets and toe rings felt like cold shackles on my feet. My long oiled hair was tied in a bun. Thick sindoor marked my parting. My hands ,rough now from weeks of labour, trembled as I clutched the edge of my pallu.

I looked exactly like a poor Bihari housewife.

Nithya looked at me with pained understanding.

“Raj… I know you want to go. Everyone here understands. But look at you. It will take at least 4–5 days to safely remove the prosthetics, dissolve the adhesives, reverse the voice chip effects, and get your body back to normal. We can’t rush it. Your skin will get damaged.”

The real Sunita, the one who had returned, stood silently in the corner, still in male clothes, watching everything with wide eyes.

Nithya turned to her.

Robby had arrived just minutes ago, carrying her transformation kit.

“We don’t have time,” Nithya said urgently. “The family is asking for Satyaraj right now. You… you look closer to the old Satyaraj than he does right now.”

The real Sunita blinked.

“Me?”

“Yes,” Nithya said. “You’re bright. You learn fast. You’ve already lived as a man for months. We’ll make a few quick adjustments, hair, clothes, slight makeup, voice modulation. You go as Satyaraj. Just for a few days until we can bring the real one back.”

The real Sunita looked at me, at the woman wearing her old life, and then at Pihu, who was sleeping peacefully.

She took a deep breath.

“…Okay. I’ll do it. For the child’s sake… and because I owe this body.”

The preparation was fast but thorough.

Robby worked on the real Sunita with surprising efficiency. She cut and styled the short hair into a more polished, slightly long look that matched Satyaraj’s old style. She added subtle padding to broaden the shoulders, used makeup to sharpen the jawline and add faint stubble shadow. She gave her Satyaraj’s old clothes that Nithya had brought, a white shirt, jeans, and a gold chain.

Within two hours, the real Sunita looked shockingly like the old Satyaraj. More confident, more natural in the male body than I felt in this one now.

I watched from the corner, still fully dressed as Sunita, feeling a strange emptiness.

*That should be me.*

Nithya hugged the new “Satyaraj” and whispered instructions.

“Act natural. Say you were on a spiritual retreat or something. Don’t over-explain. We’ll handle the rest later.”

Before leaving, the new Satyaraj looked at me one last time.

“Thank you… for everything you did for my daughter.”

I could only nod, my eyes filling with tears.

Nithya and the new Satyaraj left in the car.

The room felt emptier than ever.

I sat alone on the floor after Ramesh took Pihu outside for a while.

The tight blouse itched terribly under my arms. The sweat from the day had made the fabric stick to my skin. The mangalsutra felt heavier than usual. The permanent anklets jingled softly whenever I moved my feet. My breasts felt sore and heavy. The realistic vagina between my thighs still carried the faint memory of last night’s reluctant intimacy.

I touched the mangalsutra with trembling fingers.

“Fuck this bra…” I whispered, voice soft and feminine. The itching under my arms was driving me crazy, but I couldn’t take it off. Not here. Not now.

I was stuck.

Even when I didn’t want to be.

Even when the month was supposed to be over.

Even when the real Sunita had returned.

I was still Sunita Devi.

And for now… there was no way out.

I hugged my knees to my chest, pallu slipping off my shoulder, and cried quietly in the empty house.

The journey that started as a silly bet had taken me somewhere I could no longer escape so easily.