“Put down those wet clothes and come out of the bathroom first”, he screamed loud.
Startled, she came immediately out of the restroom and went to her dressing room. As she started wiping her hair with the towel, the water droplets
that fell off her head, merged with her tears.
* * * * *
She was the only daughter of her parents. Despite being a pampered
kid, topper in school and also good-looking, she was never egoistic and was soft spoken by nature. She grew up in a family environment where it would
be presumed as fighting, if someone even spoke loudly.
At university, her good character attracted a wide range of friends,
one of them was Ram. He wasn't very good looking per se, but was
always attractive due to the wide smile he carried for ever on his
face. He was a very jovial person, which enchanted the introvert in
her. No wonder did they become close friends (or may be a little more
than just friends?!??!)
Not a day went without them chatting with each other. Their
conversations continued on mobile phones post college hours. She
still could not understand the magic spell in him that made her talk
so much to him, despite her being an introvert and very silent all
her life, with all others.
* * * * *
She thought of the first day she ever met her husband.
As her college days were over, her parents started looking for an
alliance for their daughter, post her confirming that she intended to
go with the groom who they chose for her, in their cultural arranged
marriage* set up.
A few days after Ram left to take up his job, Vijay's parents visited
with a proposal to have her married to their son. Vijay's family looked very kind. Vijay was very well groomed and also seemed to have
soft nature, which attracted her family much. He lived in the same
town, which made her family additionally happy, as they were
concerned about marrying her to a guy living in a far off place.
After a few words with their family, she came back to her bedroom and
tried having a clearer look at him without him noticing her. Fair skin,
neatly ironed clothes and well groomed – it was evident that he was
used to being neat always and it wasn't an one day affair. From eating the dishes without spilling, to
refusing to talk to her in private without her consent, his behavior
delighted her. She agreed to the alliance. They got married soon,
and post honeymoon, got back to regular life in around a month. She woke up to the
realities of married life slowly, after the misty dream days that follow marriage were all over.
Meanwhile, Ram got job at a company in a city that was around 500 miles away. She never even had remembered about him as she was completely absorbed into her marital life.
* * * * *
“It is almost more than 30 minutes since you went inside to change
and are still not dry. Your fever would worsen if you keep doing
this", he said loudly seeing her standing inside the dressing
room with partly closed door.
“If he sees tears, he may scold further. So, let me cry after he
leaves for office”, she thought and came out swiftly out of the
room after wiping her hair a couple more times with the towel.
As she came out, he quickly rubbed her hair with his hand and
grabbed the towel to wipe it well further, “You still have a lot of
water left on your head, and you would easily catch a cold if you
don't wipe it well dry”, he commented. Then he pointed the bowl of
hot soup at her, which he had just prepared and asked her to have it.
He was very good at cooking, and satisfying him with her cooking
skills was next to impossible for her. He could spot a mistake easily
in every other dish she cooks. To her, it was a day of blessing if he
did not point to a mistake in her preparation that day. - As she was
immersed in her thoughts, his voice brought her back to life,-"Stop
dreaming and come back to life. Drink the soup. It is getting
colder”. He proceeded to leave for office, but only after
roaring “You go back to sleep. I won't spare you if you try entering
the kitchen now”. She felt terribly down.
* * * * *
Her thoughts flew down her memory lane. She got reminded of the
moments she spent in Ram's presence. He used to pamper her much and
take very good care of her. Her eyes became wet again, as she got reminded of
him walking for a mile during college tour to get her the cup of tea
that she wanted to have at the hill station. She wondered why they
never stayed in touch post college time despite being so close during college days. Neither she, nor him tried much to stay in touch
as well.
In a way, she understood that she did not miss him much
either post her college days. Her heart compared her husband with
Ram, “On one side is Ram, who walked a mile just to get me a small
cup of tea, just to make me happy.. On the other side, is my husband, who
scolds me despite my being sick. He shouts at me not to cook,
doesn't he realise I have a tummy to fill?? What does he
imply by saying 'Don't cook, Just take rest'. Does he want me to stay
hungry all day with fever? “
She continued her thoughts - “Ah, if I cook myself, he would still scold me for
that. Its better to stay hungry than being bashed by him for cooking myself. “, she stared through the window.
It was almost noon, and
she could see the moon on the sky – not as bright as at night as
its illumination was reduced much due to the brighter sunlight. But,
it was much more powerful than night moon to have been visible at daytime, despite
all that luminescence of sun. It looked to her like the moon was
asking, “Do you think I am absent as it is daytime? No. I shall
never leave you !!” She stared further with a blank face at the
moon. The sound of the alarm distracted her thoughts.
* * * * *
Her face brightened as she saw her mother standing outside the door,
as she opened it. “Welcome mother !!” she greeted
cheerfully as her joy overtook her illness. “What a surprise that
you are here”, she exclaimed. Indeed, the biggest happiness for a married woman would be to meet her mother.
Her mother calmly replied,”So how is your health now? Your husband
had called me early in the morning to cook lunch for you as you
aren't feeling very well. He just dropped me near the house and moved
for his office as he is getting late. I have got your lunch along. Well ,
Its time now for you to take rest. So, go sleep.”. She moved to bed as her mother
advised. Multiple thoughts haunted her mind from all directions.
* * * * *
“Was I the one who mistook his concern as domination?”, the
thought sparkled in her mind for the first time after marriage. She
was upset. “Was it wrong to have compared the carefree college
friend with a responsible husband? “. She thought further about her
husband, “Yes, he did find faults in her cooking. But, was as
helpful as well. The day they had many guests, he let her sleep after
the party and cleaned the entire kitchen and did all the dishes
himself. Further, he allowed her to rest during her difficult days
and did all household chores himself”. She realised that these good
acts had not rooted strongly in her mind as much as his angry words
had did. “Hey wait.. was that anger at first point? “, she wondered, as
she realised, he had scolded her more often for doing work, than for
not doing. “Why do you strain yourself?”, “Go take rest, its
been long time since you have rested” have been some of his
frequent 'scoldings'. “Was he just trying to let me know the
nuances of cooking, being a great cook himself? Was I just mistaking
every word of his as scolding/finding faults at me?”, her rage on
him disappeared quickly as melting ice on a hot day. Her impression on him grew steadfastly higher in a short while.
* * * * *
“Adolescent friendship is like a phase of moon at night. It is easy
to feel and neither is there any disturbance. But, a spouse's
affection is like the moon seen on a midday. It is often very easy to
ignore it and not realise its existence despite it being so bright”
her thoughts mounted as she slowly whispered “Sorry dear”with a
blushing smile.
At around the same moment, the door alarm rang and she could see her
husband and mother in law standing in front of the door, as her
mother opened it. Her amazement grew bounds as she never expected her husband at this time.
* * * * *
As she stood spellbound, he walked swiftly past her into the
kitchen and carried a jar full of sweets which he offered to
his mother and declared to both mothers loudly, “Dear mothers, This
is to inform you that your daughter, my wife, is carrying your
grandchild now. I just got the confirmation from the doctor
yesterday, and wanted to give this sweet as a surprise to her after
informing the same in your presence. “, and proceeded to feed her a
sweet. He slowly winked and added to her slowly, “Ah.. how tensed I
was that you would spoil the surprise I planned for you by entering
the kitchen to cook”. She hugged him tight with tears in her closed eyes,
but this time they were tears of happiness. She realised she was very lucky to have a husband like him and she silently thanked God for the blessing.
As she opened her eyes slowly, she could see the midday noon smiling
at her, through the window.
* * * * *
* Arranged marriage – This is a culture where
parents/relatives/friends choose the life partner of the bride/groom,
usually with their consent, instead of them deciding solely by
themselves. This is very common in India till date.
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