It was such a lovely morning, birds chirping, cows mooing and people yelling?
"Wake up!"
Huh!What? Was I dreaming again?
Disha looked really pissed, she was about to pull my blanket and kick me out of bed.
"Stop dreaming and get up quickly. Aunty Roop and her family will be here any minute".
Oh my! I had forgotten about Aunty Roop, her husband and their two daughters were coming to visit us after almost a year. Thinking about Aunty Roop, made me do things quicker, she was like my idol. Me and Aunty Roop had so much in common, we always viewed life on the edge and I remember she always used to attend to me first before her own daughters. I always thought she was the only lucky one born in our family that got to move out of this village and live far away in the city.
I quickly ran downstairs and found everyone busy preparing food,cleaning the house and the garden. It felt like the President was coming. I guess everyone wanted to make Aunty Roop feel at home and most importantly make her husband believe that we were very clean and generous people. After all, my two cousins were visiting us after a very long time.
It was about 12 mid-day when all the children in the valley near our house starting screaming and cheering. This is usually a sign that someone wealthy , with a nice car has entered the village. Hearing the noise in the neighborhood, all the ladies in the house began to line up in front of the gate to welcome Aunty Roop.
As the car stopped in front of the gate, two girls wearing tight jeans,stepped out the car and to my surprise I decided to look at Dahdi, to see her reaction. The confused look on her face made me laugh but looking at the situation I tried to hold it back in. Dahdi was in no condition to say a single word, she looked like she was about to drop straight to the ground. My cousins that had just stepped out the car,were dressed a little modern, but in the eyes of the villagers, it was extreme.
Aunty Roop and Uncle Raj got out the car, and came quickly towards Dahdi and touched her feet for blessings. My two cousins were hidden behind the back and it seemed like they weren't enjoying the dusty climate. Aunty Roop then carried on hugging her brothers and sister in laws.Before she came towards us she looked behind to see if her daughterswere following her.
"Sharon and Diya, go take blessing from your Dahdi, don't just stand there"
It was really the most awkward scene I have witnessed in our house by far. The two girls slowly walked towards Dahdi, who was slowly leaning backwards, not being able to believe what she was seeing.
Veer unable to control his laughter, kept staring at me and kept whispering "I think they went through a bad robbery, no wonder half of their clothes are missing". I gave him a nudge on his arm and told him to keep it down.
Sharon was the oldest, and so she bowed down to Dahdi's feet first. Dahdi made her stop half way and gave her a hug. Diya just skipped the bowing down and gave Dahdi a huge hug with a big smile.
"Finally Dahdi we meet again", Diya squealed.
Dahdi was trying to escape Diya's hug and replied '"Yes, yes, It's been a while, you girls have changed so much".
Suddenly Aunty Roop came towards Dahdi, "I'm sorry Maa, but these girls wouldn't listen to a single word I say".
Dahdi who looked angry now spoke with a sarcastic tone "Well no one can blame you".
We all welcomed the guest inside and me and Disha went quickly to the kitchen to prepare tea.
"Did you see what they were wearing?", I was trying to distract Disha but failed to get a reply.
When we entered the living room with trays of tea, Aunty Roop looked at both of us and smiled.
"Our two little angels have grown up so big", She brushed our cheeks with her hands and grabbed her cup of tea.
Dahdi who was busy talking to my Uncle, got distracted as soon as she heard Aunty Roop speak. "Yes! It's about time they got married as well"
"Oh no Maa, they are still very young, they have to complete their studies before they get married"
Dahdi looked angry and was about to respond, when Dahda Ji entered the room.
"Great!You all are here. How have you been?"
Uncle Raj quickly got up and took Dahda Ji's blessing. Then Aunty Roop quickly hugged Dahda Ji and replied "We are fine father, how is your health? I missed you so much"
"My health is better now, just busy with the farmers. Harvesting period is coming soon and you're father needs rest".
"Father,how is the harvesting going, do you expect good money this season?",Uncle Raj paid interest when it came to business. Soon Dadha Ji and Uncle got busy talking business which made no sense, so I walked towards the ladies who were busy gossiping about their daily lives,which made no sense either. So I went towards all my lovely siblings and there was just pin drop silence.
"What happened guys, did someone die?"
Veer was almost about to fall asleep but hearing someone speak up, he quickly started talking non-stop about his new bike. I turned to look at Sharon and Diya. Diya was busy checking out her nails to make sure the colour wasn't fading and Sharon took out her compatible make-upset and fixed her make-up. They seemed independent and a bit to girly. I thought to start up a conversation with them but as they saw me approach towards them they quickly stood up.
"We are a bit tired from the long ride, could you please show us our rooms", Sharon looked at me like I was a doorman. I looked at Disha and signaled her to come with me. Sharon and Diya followed us to our rooms.
"So we will be sharing rooms for the night, since you guys are from the city, you might be more comfortable on the bed", Disha pointed towards the bed.
Disha was being very kind, which I couldn't stand. I couldn't even bare looking at these so called rude cousins of mine. When someone is so nice, why show attitude towards them?
As we walked out the room, Sharon gave us a disgusted look which we simply ignored.
"Arrggg those girls are so mean, what's with them, if they didn't want to come then they should have just stayed in the city! They have been doing that for the past 10 years"
"Don't be mad Simi. They are just not used to this. Imagine you going to the city, would you be feeling at home?", Disha was trying to calm me down, but I kept getting more and more irritated.
"At least I wouldn't be rude and mean to people, I'll show some respect",and with those final words I walked downstairs to eavesdrop on the adults talking.
Aunty Roop's voice was the first and most loudest I could hear.
"Father,don't you think it's time that Disha and Simiran completed their education and found a good job?"
Dahda Ji was almost about to spit his tea out when he heard those words from Aunty.
"So you think I should let my grand-daughters go to the city to study so they could hold a degree made out of a piece of paper? Over my dead body!"
"But father, men nowadays look for educated women not someone who only finished high school and is at home learning to cook and clean. They need to see the world father"
I could see in Aunty Roop's eyes how much she was trying to convince Dahda Ji to send us to the city. But it's Dahda Ji she's trying to convince, he wouldn't let a single rock even change it's decision.
"Look Roop, what's the point of getting education, when after marriage,they'll be forced to stay home? Women are not meant to get education,their kitchen is their workplace"
"Father times have changed, no household would want their daughter-in-law to stay at home and suffer the pain from doing all the housework. If you want a good, wealthy and educated husband for your grand-daughter then you need to make them of that standard"
Dahda Ji all of a sudden stood up and looking at him Dahdi stood up as well to hold him when he would fall from a sudden heart-attack.
"I have kept this household intact with our traditions and culture, I have taught my children and grandchildren how to respect others and today you expect me to just give them up? Families search for a nice traditional girl, they wouldn't choose a girl that is over-educated than their son".
"Father you're changing my words, I am not saying that Disha and Simi have to be over-educated, they just have to gain enough to get a job and be independent. That's all I ask. I want them to leave their home feeling happy and proud, not feeling scared. The time where men only chose women who only knew housework has passed. It's not like that anymore. Believe me, I have seen the outside world. I know what people out there are looking for. You wouldn't want you're grand-daughters to suffer", Aunty Roop pleaded.
Dahda Ji suddenly began to take this request as a challenge. Dahdi looked confused and the rest all just sat quite. I was in the state of shock as well. What has the city done to Aunty Roop. Even though I really wanted Dahda Ji to accept the request, I still knew that was impossible. I did like the idea of going to the city to study further, but would Dahda Ji accept? Would he let me and Disha make our own destiny and build our own future?