Tring Tring...
The phone went through a complete ring without any answer. This was maybe the hundredth time I tried calling Randhir in the last couple of hours. I was initially frustrated, but was getting concerned and nervous by now.
Randhir and I had been engaged for almost 3 months now, and he had never failed to call me a single day (well, until today)...
3 months back (7th and 8th May 2011)
It was my last day in college, farewell day for my batch. After the usual hugs with friends, cries, 'I will miss you', 'Keep in touch' and other such dialogues, it was finally time to leave. I left college at 5pm and reached home around 5:20pm.
I went to my room, freshened up, changed my clothes and went to the kitchen. I casually asked my mom for a cup of tea. My mom stared at me and said "You better start learning how to make your own tea. Being a girl, you will move to your in-laws' house one day and there will be no mom to make tea for you. You need to make tea for everyone in the family".
"Oh, come on mom. I am so tired today after the farewell party. Besides, what's the rush to learn the 'art of making tea' so soon. I still have time", I said with a mischievous smile.
Mom: "Well, you don't have any more time left. Better start to learn cooking as well soon"
Me: "What?"
Mom: "We just got a wonderful proposal for you. The groom's family just left our house few mins before you came"
I was shocked. I hoped that she was just kidding. But, having known my family for years, made me suspect that this might be true. My heart started beating fast.
Me: "Mom, You are just making fun of me right?"
Mom: "No dear. We did get a nice proposal. Of course, nothing has been decided. We will definitely get your opinion before we commit to your in-laws"
'your in-laws' - These words struck my head like a hammer, and I started feeling dizzy. That pretty much meant that everything was finalized.
Me: "This is not fair mom. I just finished college. I still haven't received my final year results. How can you get me married so soon."
Mom: "Girls during my days were married off even before we completed school. Your dad married me when I was just 14 years."
Me: "That was during your generation. Things have changed now. I want to work for few years. Please mom, please.."
Mom: "Enough Sanyukta. Go to your room. We have enough people working in the family. We don't need you to work to support us"
Me: "But, mom..."
Even before I could complete my sentence, mom stared at me with her eyes wide open. She raised her right had, closed 4 of her fingers, and kept the index finger vertically on her closed lips - signalling me to keep quiet.
Drops of tears started flowing from my eyes. I ran out of the kitchen, and went to my room. I fell down on my bed and started crying. How can this happen to me? Please god, please.. let this be a dream. I started praying to god more than how much I had prayed before my 12th class results were out.
But, I knew that things won't change. I knew that no amount of hue and cry will get me out of this situation. I live in a village on the outskirts of Kerala. Though my state was high on literacy, early marriages were still the norms in smaller villages. And, my family was pretty strict when it came to marriage.
I have 3 elder sisters - Two of them were married off during their first year of college while the eldest was married even before college. I was in fact lucky that my family waited till I finished my college. Though it was not a big surprise to me, I still couldn't believe it. The thought of marriage, leaving my parents' home, and staying at with a totally new family scared me. Most importantly, I wanted to work. Only very few girls from my village went to work. That too, they were forced to stop working after marriage. I hoped to work for at least couple of years before getting married and becoming a housewife. I had attended couple of campus interviews in my college and was waiting for the results. I was confident of getting selected. And, I had big dreams of working in top IT companies. But now, my dreams have been shattered.
