THIS happily-ever-after real-life drama could be a script
writer's dream.
It has all the ingredients for a good TV series - romance,
marriage, child, drugs, prison, divorce and finally the happy
reunion, which ended in the couple's remarriage last
Saturday.
All in a decade beginning in 1996 when they first married.
And the dramatis personae: Valaitham Ravi, 35, and Maragatham
Murugiah, 32.
LOVE BLOSSOMS
The story begins in the early '90s when they were working at the
Ministry of Manpower - Mr Valaitham was a cleaner and Ms Maragatham
an office assistant.
Eyes met, sparks flew.
'I loved her simplicity,' recalled Mr Valaitham.
They dated for more than two years before marrying in 1996.
TROUBLED WATERS
But the bliss didn't last. Within months, they began to drift
apart.
Ms Maragatham said: 'He was always out late with friends. He would
drink, take drugs and he wouldn't come home. I got more angry and
hurt each day.'
She knew about his habit before marriage, but she said he had
promised to kick it.
A few months later, he was caught for drug abuse.
His urine tested positive for drugs, but he was let off with a
stern warning.
But his drug habit continued.
In 2000, he was caught for intravenous heroin abuse and jailed for
a year.
THE SPLIT
At the time of his arrest, the couple had a 5-month-old
daughter.
Ms Maragatham decided that enough was enough.
She said: 'I filed for divorce the day I found out he was arrested.
I had given him so many chances and he said that he would change
but he didn't.
'For our daughter, I did what I thought was best.'
Ms Maragatham, who joined City Gas as a clerk in 1997, and her
daughter moved into her mother's flat in Upper Serangoon. The
divorce was finalised in 2004.
She said she did not visit him in prison nor did she see or speak
to him since 2000.
On his imprisonment, Mr Valaitham said: 'It was a chance God had
given me to change. I often thought about Mara and my daughter. I
realised that taking drugs was all for nothing.'
After he was released from jail in 2001, he said he only saw his
daughter once. He visited her at his mother-in-law's place when Ms
Maragatham was out. But he said that the visit was 'too painful',
so he did not see her again.
He said he spent six months in The Ashram, a drug rehabilitation
centre in Sembawang.
He began spending less time with friends, stopped taking drugs and
refrained from drinking.
CHANCE MEETING
Six years went by. During this time, he did odd jobs to survive and
stayed with friends and relatives.
Then in January this year, they bumped into each other in
church.
Mr Valaitham and Ms Maragatham spoke for the first time in
years.
She said: 'The first time I saw him, I was still angry, but I could
tell he had changed.'
'I was so happy when a friend in church told me that Ravi had said
that he wouldn't marry another woman and that he only loves
me.'
They began meeting regularly.
Ms Maragatham said: 'I've seen a change in Ravi. I've forgiven him
and I'm ready for a new start.'
HAPPY ENDING
Last Saturday, the couple remarried.
It was at the wedding that Mr Valaitham saw his daughter for the
second time since his imprisonment.
'It's going to be difficult,' said Mr Valaitham, 'because she
doesn't know me. But hopefully time will heal the hurt.'