Her eyes shone with a million stars tonight, as she drank in the beauty surrounding her. The entire set looked straight out of a movie, and she knew she was worth looking at. The man on her left was going to be her life partner – partner for life. Something tickled in her tummy, and she blushed, withdrawing her gaze away from his face.
In few hours, she would be wedded, leaving her mother and brother. The thought made her search for her mother, who stood in an off-white sari, looking haggard but happy. As if by some instinct, her mother’s eyes and hers met, and she felt a bubble rise up her throat. How will she live without her mother? Who will take care of her Maa? A firm arm encircled her and she saw the warm protective eyes of her brother – as the flashlight of the camera momentarily illuminates them.
Six months had flown by, like the puff of cotton in the light breeze. Her man was what she wanted, always. He would look at her and smile, as if they were into a secret of their own world. She would tell him about her college life, her dreams, about her father’s tragic death, and her brother who was tough but tender like coconut. He would listen to her, and wrap her in his arms, laughing. But sometimes she would notice, quite reluctantly, that the laughter did not reach his eyes. The mirth she felt, would not infect him as he would stare neutrally. In those moments she would shut up.
Soon the neutral gazes turned into hard, judgmental looks, which puzzled her. One day, she decided to confront him.
“Harish? Have I done something wrong?” She asked.
“If you have, you should know, Neha.” He replied rather rudely.
“What do you mean by that?” Hurt by his attitude, she couldn’t help but ask.
“What do you mean by that, Idiot?” He mimicked her.
She could not say a word to anybody about this sudden shift in his behavior. Days after days passed as he became distant, except when he sought gratification in bed. But that night, she couldn’t let him touch her. She tried to push him away, and that is when he slapped her. The contact stung. But what stung more was the sudden realization that this was going to continue.
She had never been more correct.
The next day saw her being strip of all her rights as a wife, as a human being, when he pulled her out of the kitchen and locked her in the bedroom. All of this around her was more shocking, because Neha seemed to have no idea what was happening, and why was she being treated like this. And that’s when she heard the words from outside the room. “Bloody whore. She wouldn’t let me touch her. God knows what she used to do in college. Mother, don’t let her out of the house, bloody bitch.” What? This was the reason he locked her up? She couldn’t hold back her tears. She sobbed and panicked and sobbed again, when a scraping noise caught her attention. A thick chapatti had been pushed in through the door.
Frantically, she thought she must call someone, before she dies here. But she couldn’t find her phone. Shocked and terrified, she pushed the chapati under her bed, and curled on the floor, hoping she would make it alive. But unfortunately, things kept getting worse. The door would open sometimes, when he would come in, take out his frustration on her, chuck some food and leave.
Neha was beyond recognition when one day, the neighbors intervened, noticing that the husband and mother in law were not present. She was curled on the floor, all but a bag of bones, dazed and clutching on to a piece of filthy chapati, calling for her mother. The neighbors rescued her, and called her mother and brother, who took their daughter away and ensured police protection. But her dreams, her dreams died the day Harish had hit her. Till date she is unaware of the reason that made him behave so demonically. But it’s been more than five years, and she managed to get a divorce without great trouble.
However, the term marriage means nothing to her. Talk to her about remarriage, and you will feel the air shift around her. She regained control over her mind, but her soul will take a long time to heal.
Marriages are not made in heaven, but by the man himself.
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About Author
Pradeeta is a Law Graduate from Christ University, Bangalore, and has done her Masters in Law from National Law University, Odisha, Cuttack. She has interacted with people from various walks of life during her life in law school and beyond, through internships at NGOs and Human Rights Commissions. Through Your D.O.S.T, she looks forward to share her life experiences and the belief, that all of us have an inbuilt strength mechanism that makes us extraordinary.
She is a dreamer, writer, and music fan, hoping to heal the world one day at a time.and backgrounds.
