T H E w o r d s t h a t w o u l d S T A Y.
Ilaa sat on the banks of the mighty Godavari river, having abandoned work at the cotton field for more than an hour, mumbling to herself. Her pale face had an expression that almost looked strained and broken, and helpless.
'I am sick of this!' she grunted loudly. The previous day's events and those of the days that was to come, terrified her. She badly wanted time to still; she was not ready for any of this, not at all.
She was someone who held onto her values and beliefs, even when others started to think she was a ridiculous person. She had an idea, a thought, and a solution, to every plausible problem. That was also the reason she was loved by the better half of the village's population and disliked by the other.
Life in the village had heated up like the desert at this point. But why?
Because Ilaa happened to have fallen in love.
She was the talk of the town, the topic of discussion under every tree, under every roof.
She did know falling in love for woman was forbidden, unless she was that dirty. But she also knew love was divine. Her grandmother, who was every bit similar to Ilaa, had told her a love story which was very very old, which happened centuries back, when women were still allowed to fall in love. The man had stunned the woman, into complete speechlessness, with his charming face, and charming heart. They were a happily ever after couple.
Ilaa did know her love story wouldn't be a fairy tale, blame the century it chose to take place! She always wished she had born in a richer family, where people could have understood her. Then she remembered what her grandmother had told her, society was always the same.
They only gave you two choices - one, to listen and obey to what they say, two, to rebel and go against them. She went with the second choice, because she wanted to live the life, she knew she deserved. That was also the reason why she held her head high, with no shame when the villagers caught her (without a face covering) with Dushyant dead at night, on a river bank.
Dushyant was a man of dignity, from another middle class family of their village. With a sun tanned face, and well built body, he was the dream guy of every girl. But he was Ilaa's reality. They didn't feel love at first sight, nor even at the hundredth sight. They only always quietly observed and admired each other, not ever wanting the other to notice.
They considered each other masterpieces among God's splendid creations. Destiny was smart though, and circumstances provoked them to confess that they were falling for each other. It was a short conversation, as if it was written and scripted eons ago.
"Why do you keep staring at me?" She had asked, removing the piece of cloth that covered her face.
"As if you don't look at me. Why do you do that?" He questioned with a smirk on his face, suddenly snapping her out of her dream world.
"Because you are handsome and charming. Because, I like you."
He had sighed, as if he knew this was coming. "Same here."
It was that quick, and perfect. They met secretly, silently at midnight. Talked in hushed whispers, shared happiness and sorrows, and went back home before the rise of the sun. Yet they fell in love madly and deeply in a matter of hours.
They knew the future would be terrifying. That, there would be no one who would tell them it was alright. Nevertheless, they held on strongly. That's what love did to him and her, gave them the courage to face the inevitable.
"The court would decide what be done to these two, tomorrow after end of work." Someone had shouted out from the crowd, when many were already getting ready to throw stones at Ilaa and Dushyant for what they addressed as an extremely dirty behavior.
Her mother had cried, her father had fumed. Her grandmother had only smiled. None talked to her that night. She sat beside the window, staring at the path through which he would come, or she expected he would. He would be scared, she knew. She was scared too.
He came when the sun was just rising, and silently whispered through the window, not waiting for her to come out. "They are going to kill us both, Ilaa. I am glad even death won't tear us apart." He disappeared back into the night, panting, as quickly as he had come. She was left wondering if it was just an imagination or had he really been there.
****
Her panorama of thoughts were broken down, when someone behind her muttered, "Why are you not at the fields?"
Ilaa turned around suddenly, and covered her face quickly with the tail of her sari. The elderly woman had caught a glimpse of her. "Oh it's you." She spit disgustingly and muttered another curse under her breath. It was funny, how no one cast her a second glance anymore. She rushed back into the fields, ambling quickly while wiping the tears that never seemed to end.
****
Ilaa was tensed and scared, and time flew. In the blink of an eye, dusk had come. The two lovebirds stood facing the elderly 'decision taker' of the village. There were no hi byes, no questions, no arguments and no alibis, the final verdict was crystal clear. "The man will be hung to death tomorrow at this time, at this place. And the woman, who as we believe seduced him, will face the more painful punishment. She would be thrown into the fire, while his body is cremated."
The villagers, who had assembled around only gasped. They didn't say a word, and the meeting was dispersed.
Ilaa and Dushyant only cast each other a grimace before being dragged about to their respective homes.
Her mom had cried all night, it pained Ilaa badly. She spent her night sleepless inside the locked room, wondering what Dushyant would be thinking. It made her cry, the feeling that she won't be able to save him. She knew he would be feeling guilty for the same. She didn't cry, because she knew it was useless. Her destiny was already written.
The next evening she knew was her end. She was pained and scarred, yet she had never felt so much whole. When the knot, which would feel Dushyant's last breath was made, and when he was asked to stand beneath it, she only felt more complete, more sure about what she was going to do.
Her strides were wide when she walked towards him. She stood on the podium and beamed at the crowd. Many stared curiously, wondering what she was going to do.
"It is very funny." Ilaa said, with the smile erupting into a fit of loud laughter. "All I did was love, and you look up at me like I have killed someone. I am not afraid to say this at all, as the worst has already been subjected to me, that this society is ridiculous. You don't understand any feelings or emotions, all of you are scared and helpless. You are suppressing the real you, inside the abyss of your heart. I feel pity on you, and more and more pity, because there is no one to tell you what is right or wrong.
She stopped to take a deep breath and continued to speak, "I know I am no one. Yet, these being the last few moments of my life I would like to say - love after marriage or before marriage is divine and beautiful. You called me a seductress yesterday, but I am only being a mere normal human being, who is unafraid to announce to the world that she has found the man, with whom she wants to spend the rest of her life with.
She beamed wider at the gasping, infuriated, bewildered crowd, " Don't be afraid to love, because there is nothing as good as it. I am ready to die today because you don't give us any other choice. Yet, with confidence I could say, a day would come, when women would no longer be called seductresses or burnt to death for falling in love. I know that the day is not far."
She moved slowly to the left, searching for Dushyant's hand. After getting hold onto it, she whispered into his ear, "Come. Trust me."
And they ran off into the night, when the crowd stared like it's a dream they would be awaken from. Ilaa and Dushyant sprinted like mad people, down the road feeling the wind on their face and tightly holding onto each other's cold, frozen hands.
They stopped at the rivers of mighty Godavari, and realized every villager was running behind them, with curiosity, some already sensing what was going to happen, and some shouting words out into the sky, in excitement. None came anywhere near to them though; all of them halting a few steps away to conveniently watch what was to unfold.
Smiling like they had conquered the world, Ilaa and Dushyant stood on the river bank taking in the beautiful scent of freshness. The last scent they would ever smell.
"Goodbye World," Ilaa shouted into the night sky, closely followed by Dushyant. They took off into the icy river, feeling weightless for only a moment before the tide carried them far and afar, both of them still holding onto each other.
They knew there was no place for them in this ugly world. Among those who listened to Ilaa, some forgot it the next day while some kept it in their heart till their last breaths, gathering the courage from her to never be afraid to love.
Because love was divine.
And beautiful.
A/N
This story was initially written for a competition outside Wattpad, using a prompt they had provided. Now, I decided to post this, having eliminated the prompt and adding my own words.
The story has been placed in historical India, which was actually a place of quite a lot of superstitions and injustices. The story is about a strong woman who was born at that time.
This book, which initially had one story has now been extended to a short story collection. Hope you'd still give this story as much as you gave to the previous one.
Thank you for all the wonderful comments. Really love you all! <3
Lina! :)