When they had come to see her, her mother decked her up in the best of her saree and jewellery. Her beautiful long hair braided and adorned with strands of Mogras(jasmine), just enough to spread their mesmerizing fragrance as she entered the living room where all eyes turned to her as she walked slowly with a tray of teacups.
It was her first ever experience, like facing an interview. Her hands shook while she handed over the cups of tea. All eyes on her, some looking pleasantly, some studying her. She hardly met eyes with anyone, never saw who she was being checked out for.
Her would-be mother in law asked her a few rapid-fire questions, like of course, Have you learnt the household duties? Do you cook well? Have you learnt Stitching? Dancing? Singing? (as if she was being auditioned for a movie role). No one dared to ask if the would-be groom knew any of these.After few rounds of showcasing her talents, she was sent in.
And, once all the matters of give-n-take were discussed it was finalized that the wedding would take place in 15 days before the groom had to fly back to his workplace in Dubai. The girl’s side would bear all the wedding expenses and preparations to be done such that no one dares point a finger later. Everything agreed and settled. No time to waste.
Preparations for the wedding, printing cards, inviting guests(not a single relative to be left out from the list of invitees, not even the distant distant ones), arranging caterers and the best of the wedding halls, buying sarees for the close relatives, buying wedding dress and ornaments for the bride and groom, the list went on and on.
As promised, all the arrangements were accurately done and within no time the wedding day arrived, pompous and luminous. Tears flowed down her mother’s eyes as Indu bid her last goodbyes, heading to her beloved new husband’s house with a heavily pounding heart.
She got greeted into her new house with a lit lamp which her mother in law handed her as she stood at the doorstep. She was happy at heart as she held the lamp and walked straight to the Pooja room. Her eyes shone-bright with the light from the lamp and the light in her heart as she prayed to her beloved Krishna Idol in the Pooja room.
Life had just begun, but fate had some other plans for her. The very next day to their wedding, Anand had to fly back to Dubai. Indu was devastated. She had just left her home that she knew for 18 years, stepping into a new world with new people and new surroundings. She cried all day when the lone companion in the new world left not to return for a year.
She was still a girl in her teens, who had not explored the world that spread around her but she was happy in her little abode. She was never lonely before. She had an entire family attending her, fulfilling even the smallest request she made. Now she was lonely in a big house. There were people around but no one cared about this new girl. She was knowingly or unknowingly neglected.
No sooner that Anand left, Indu slowly became the helper to the maid in the house. Washing, cleaning, cooking with her. She secretly enjoyed being busy even when her little body would give up as she hit the bed nearing midnight. She would have to often eat alone sitting in the kitchen itself.
Her in-laws liked Chapati’s(flatbread) hot from the Pan. Even if it was rice and curry she would have to serve everyone until they had cleaned their plates and pushed off from the table.
She would often talk to the hens that picked on the grains she threw in the coop early morning, to the sparrows that chirped sitting on the branches across her kitchen window; to the extent that she spoke to even the little shrubs and plants in the backyard. She wanted someone to talk to, to listen to, she felt lonely during the nights that she sat alone to eat and cried her heart out. No one would know.
She still continued living there like everything was normal. Although, Indu was unable to contain her disbelief on the episodes that unfolded next.
One fine morning her mother in law summoned her. Indu wiped her wet hand on the loose end of her saree and immediately ran out of the kitchen to where her mom in law sat cross-legged, waiting patiently for her to speak. Finally, her mother in law opened her Betel stained mouth and yelled, “Go at once to your father and get the rest of the dowry he promised or better not come back”. Indu’s mouth fell open at those words. Had her father made such promises? She wondered.
She was at once sent to her parent’s house. Indu’s parents were not so poor not to be able to attend their request hence they immediately sent with their daughter many gifts, cash and ornaments so that their daughter live happily in her in-law’s place. All the gifts and ornaments although served only for a few months of Indu’s in-law’s greed.
They tortured her again, now resolving to beat her up every time she refused to obey. Slowly but steadily Indu was moving into an unseen shell. Being quieter and quieter, drawing deep into her shell. She no more spoke to her beloved plants and birds. She no more chirped herself. She no more knew the rhythm of her foot around the house. She no more knew what it was to live.
Her husband was still abroad. She yearned for him to come back and see her. She wanted to hug him and cry for the last time. Her wishes were unheard, went with the wind and dissolved in the clouds above, never reached the Gods she believed resided above the clouds.
He in-laws wanted a reason to get rid of her. They declared that she had gone mad, that she has lost it. They even did not stop to think before saying that she was always a maniac and was tied to their son’s neck. One such morning when Indu was quietly busy doing her chores in the kitchen they held her by her braids and pushed her to the verandah. ‘Go away, you filthy creature. Do not dare to come back’.
Indu did not know what to do, whether to go back to her parents or not. Only her eyes poured out, while she walked past the acres of land that her in-laws owned. She did not reach her parent’s house. Some people saw her trying to jump into the nearby pond and saved her. Later, some people saw her on the junction nearby begging for food so to keep living. And when she got some food, she would ask the passerby, “Kazhiccho?” (Did you have food?).
After almost a fortnight, she was spotted by a relative and brought back to her parents. She was filled in the dirt and no one could hardly near her, the stench that surrounded her. Indu’s mom wept when she bathed her only daughter and washed away all the filth that stuck to her. She couldn’t, however, wash away the filth that blocked her loving daughter’s brains. Indu had lost her senses in just a fortnight. She had come to believe what her in-laws fed into her brain, that she was insane.
A year passed, and Indu’s husband flew back expectantly to see his bride who he had left a day after but he was faced with strange stories from his parents. Anand was frustrated but couldn’t resist himself from visiting her once, knowing what exactly had happened. When he finally reached her, she refused to recognize him. Indu’s parents finally told him that he should forget her and settle for another marriage.
Anand waited for a few more years. He expected Indu to come back to life as he had left her once. But none of that happened. Finally, Indu heard the news that Anand got married again. Although, this time he took his wife away with him.
Her little heart lost a beat. She knew him. She recognized him that day and had never forgotten him ever. But she knew deep within that she was not the same, she was another person now. A lunatic.
Tears rolled down my cheeks when I listened to her story secretly. I jumped onto my feet crying, ‘Mumma please, I don’t want to get married. I will live with you forever’. My parents glanced at each other with the pain pasted on their faces, so obvious that it almost broke my heart. At last, they spoke in unison, “No Baccha, don’t you worry. We will always be there for you”. I am a married woman now. Living happily with my husband and kid and my parents have still kept their promise. They are there when I need them the most.
ThoughtsIJot 