Maa, I won’t Bear? #Domesticviolence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Thud Thud…Thud,” and the sobs followed.

It wasn’t a one-day affair. It happened every day.

I was just Seven, so I couldn’t predict what went behind the scene but was sure that whatever went on was not justified…her sobs confirmed.

One day, I mustered the courage to peep through the keyhole to know what occurred behind the doors and how everything seemed smooth after an hour or so.

The scene behind the door was fierce, and I could not lay my eyes on them…He was literally a brute.

He beat her up with his leather belt, whipping hard on her with every stroke, and she lay helpless on the floor.

He removed the sari that draped her fragile body and hit her hard on her delicate parts. I was shivering with fear…He is a beast…he can’t be my father.

I ran to my granny and told her the sequence that I watched. She was cool.

“It happens, Baby. Your mother might have disobeyed your father.”

“Dadi…what are you saying? Go and see how that beast is whipping belt on her skin.” I literally howled at her.

“It’s new for you…not for me. Your mother has leverage that she can make a few decisions…accompany your father on tour. My life was much worst, dear…but to date, no one knows of it. I didn’t even complain to my Mother because her life was not better than mine. I was beaten if I disobeyed your Baba, but my Mother was confined in a room for days without food if she couldn’t manage the things on time. Baby, it’s our fate. We are born to be in captive, and it’s necessary else the girls will go astray and not accommodate with their husbands and in-laws. She needs to be in strict guardianship before and after marriage.” Dadi said nonchalantly.

I was sobbing hard.

“Dadi, how can you be so insensitive? It is not necessary that if you were abused, my Mother should meet the same fate…You and your son both are beasts.” I said.

A steady hand overpowered me and yelled on top of his voice.

“You need worse treatment than your mother…at this age, your pitch is so high. What will you do after marriage? You need severe punishment.” My father said fiercely.

The fragile hands wrapped me in her arms and requested him to overlook my faults, giving me a chance to improve.

“Please forgive her. She is naive and innocent. I will make her understand.” She pleaded sobbingly.

Silently, I walked to my room.

The words of my mother eroded my confidence in her. She too believes like Dadi…she is no better.

I was only seven, but these harrowing experiences at home had made me more matured than my age.

I could see my future bleak.

“Maa…instead of stopping father, you said that I would be checked.I can’t endure these miseries. I saw today how that Man whom you call your husband treats you. Even you shouldn’t bear…leave this house forever.”

“No, Baby…docan’t say like this, now my dead body will leave this house. Though he is cruel and wild at times still I can’t disregard him. Our parents taught us.” Maa said with a blank look.

Years passed, but the situation remained more or less the same.

I was twenty now.

I had vowed that I wouldn’t accept arranged alliance of my parents instead will choose my life partner and talk to him over the points of adjustments before getting hitched.

One day, my senior proposed to me.

I rolled out my points and said that if he agreed, then I will go steady with him and get hitched when he comes into the job.

Two years passed smoothly without any disagreements.

One day, he saw me with my classmate in the market and was

wild over the phone and said so many things which were not required.

I disconnected the line bidding him goodbye forever.

I didn’t want a life like my mother and granny.

I am thirty now and waiting for a suitable alliance. I need a man in my life but not at the cost of my self-esteem.