There was a plethora of emotions about the current scene happening right now -nervousness, apprehensive ,curiosity ,shock ,happy ,sad.At different moments ,different emotions took control of her. Generally, whenever she wears this green kurti ,it puts a smile on her heart shaped lips – similar to a little boy getting filled with joy when the first drops of rain fall on him after a long dry summer. Today ,the contentment seemed lost. There was an unusualness ,that she could not explain. Since two years ,her parents were adamant on getting her married. Lots of drama and she finally gave in.1 lakh per month,4 years experienced and she still could not take the most important decision of her life at her time of choice .A small bindi ,moderate make up ,a traditional kurti with a light green dupatta resting on the shoulders and finishing at the thighs augmented her fair skin ,sitting atop a fit body .The kurti hid her perfectly shaped breasts. Sharp brown eyes ,arched eyebrows ,an oval shaped face ,temple a bit bigger than usual ,the shine on the face ,the confidence embedded in her footsteps hinted at a pretty confident lady ;Beauty with brains. Her height echoed the average height of north Indian girls. Any boy should fall for that. The hall was filled with two sofas ,right in front of each other. A center table sat in between them ,adorned with flowers in vases ,surrounded by snacks and sweets. There were paintings on the walls on either side of the sofas. She and her father had carefully chosen the paintings a long time ago. On the left ,there was a tiger cub standing at the top of the hill, watching the jungle as if announcing his future candidature. They got it when they went to Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan. Moving right to it, in the next painting ,the same cub is being pulled down from the top by her mother. As she made her way into the hall, she felt the same. It was a matter of time that all the dreams of the throne would just vanish away. 3 pairs of curious eyes scanned her top to bottom. The boy seemed content .He was sitting on the rightmost side ,clad in a blue jeans and a denim casual shirt. 8 out of 10 for his handsomeness. At Least on the looks side, the girl could not say it was a failure. He passed with flying colors on that front. The girl’s mother introduced the girl to the boy’s family ,”This is Prabha. She is employed in BYJU’s in Bangalore. For the past 4 years ,she is in Bangalore itself.” She touched the boy’s parents’ feet. All continued for formal talks for some time and then, agreed to give both of them some alone time. They headed towards Prabha’s bedroom .The boy’s father loved to crack jokes. He could not resist, ”Children! don’t take more time.” He ended the statement with a wink. ”You guys are still not married. ”Everyone started laughing. Prabha and the boy could not stop their laughter. Prabha’s mother shot a look at her for showing her teeth in front of the boy’s family. Prabha zipped her lips and guided the boy to her room.
The conversation started with a bit awkward “hi” from the girl. They both talked for a while ,asking about each other college. The expressions on her face could tell that she was not disappointed to be very least .The first impact with him and it never felt like he is some cunning or a bad fellow. Government job at HAL ;a handsome face; fair skin ;a big chunk of land inherited by him in property ,that is all what his parents could ask for. For them ,he was gold. But are these attributes that she look for? May be she is confused .It is very normal to be confused at this age .One should be cautious. Any decisions taken at this moment will entertain her for lifetime .He came at a price of around 25-30 lakhs .Dahej,a common practice followed in Bihar.
“How much money got spent in your studies in college? “ She asked her.
“Around 6 lakhs.” The boy seemed quite excited on meeting her. Her beauty,the excitement of marriage, the lust, the recent special attention from family he got; all these feelings made his face their home .He reflected back the feelings that one would get after digging a gold mine for lifetime.
“For me, it took 11 lakhs. ”She looked him in the eyes, for a short moment .”SRM university.”
The boy was sitting on a chair right in front of her. She put her hands on the bed,tilted her head to a bit left and right and slipped the question right in between ,“How much do u make?”
“Around 9 lakhs.”One could read the proud thumping feeling with which he said this;the trumpets were beating,the sound of a loud cheer from the audience;all were waiting eagerly for their king to announce the wealth. This is the time when girls fall flat and swear their everything to the king.
“I make around 1 lakh per month.”She replied with a straight face.The inflated chest suddenly went a couple of blocks down.
“You want to take Dahej?”She asked sweetly as if someone was letting the lamb eat everything before cutting it in two halves.
“I don’t care.”A diplomatic answer came down his mouth.He did not blame parents and also did not try to show any interest in the money.”This is up to my father and mother.”
“Don’t u think that it is a little unfair?More money was spent on my education than yours.” Her tone was a bit inclined towards soft anger,but not enough to make the other person feel bad and become angry.She made it sound like how much she was upset with the patriarchal society.She had become a master in this art.Dealing with clients regularly,she could calmly say things that were unfair to the scenario and still clients would be okay about it rather than them getting angry.”We make almost the same money.Then,why dowry?Right.”She laughed at the last to give a relaxing tone to the environment.
The boy joined in as well.
She is a self-made girl.She would not take a boy who can’t even stand for her in front of his parents.
She went to her father,”I don’t like the boy.”
“Why?”He had his eyebrows raised.Her mother began shouting,”Why don’t you like him?He is so smart,handsome.He is in government service.He is well-mannered.”He repeated the same set of statements twice.It almost burned Prabha’s ears.She was a bit ready for the onslaught by her mother.However,father was the key.He never generally refuses her.She gave her best sweet daughter tone,”Papa,he is a mama’s boy.I don’t like him.He has no opinions of his own.He is not the right person for me.”She was pretty sure that her father would understand.The calm father,” I don’t know what do you want.Have you already embarrassed us?Do you have someone in bangalore?I myself feel ashamed to raise you like that.Do whatever you want to do.”
The earth beneath her seemed to crack up,she could see herself falling in a dark never ending pit.
Her mother too was shocked.Though she was happy that her daughter finally got a scolding she deserved.She could not let this moment slip,”I warned you not to send her outside of Bihar for college.She got spoilt there.”Prabha could not say a thing.She had tears inside but something prevented her from bringing them outside.She agreed to the marriage.
They were engaged soon.The half of the dowry amount,15 lakhs was already transferred.The attendee family members said,”The pair looks like Ram-Sita.They are made for each other.”Both of them standing together formed a cute couple.
Prabha could take at least take one sigh of relief.He was handsome and he carried himself nicely.Soon,they started talking more on phone.They had got the license for that.Kundan was a government servant.His day generally ended at 6 o’clock without much hassle.Prabha was in sales in a startup and her day generally ended when she slept.She could find free time in between,but generally after 9 o’clock only.A right partner would wait for her and would listen to many of the random and non-random stuff that she went through the day.Women love this set of behaviour.Prabha was no other.Kundan used to call at random times.He used to get upset when she was unavailable but still used to call back.When she got some time ,she used to tell about her day.Hardly 2 or 3 minutes would have passed and Kundan would start getting irritated,”You are always crying.Talk something else na.”Prabha knew what other talks he always wanted to hear,phone sex or body related things,Prabha saying I love u or something.Getting these three words from a girl’s mouth,either you do an arranged marriage or you earn it by caring for her,looking out for her,not by forcing words down her mouth.It became a trend over the days.Prabha used to cry sometime but father’s words used to echo her mind whenever she thought of breaking this.Kundan’s area of dominance started expanding,”The dresses that you wear and load on Instagram;aren’t they very short?Don’t mind but can u please not do it again?”.Prabha ‘s parents had no issues with the skirt but he had issues.Prabha accepted it as fate and continued with the new set of demands.Kundan’s teeth were in regular search for new territories.She told him once that she is going out with her best friend for dinner.She posted photos with him on Instagram,clad in jeans rather than skirt.It is a general thing for a girl in bangalore to have a best friend.But Kundan’s vision could not see past this,”I know what girls in bangalore do.Stop going out with him or otherwise there would be dire consequences.”Trust is the most basic pillar of a relationship.A home can never be built without pillars.She did not like the sentence uttered by him in that tone,”What do bangalore girls do?What dire consequences you are talking about?”
”You would be engaged in some kind of affair with him.You are partying with him,despite u being engaged to me.You want to keep a side thing along with the main.I know well about Bangalore girls.Do not take me as a stupid person.”
“Okay.”Her whole face turned red with anger.She tried to compose herself,”What dire consequences you are talking about?”
“You are not a good girl. You drink .You smoke .You have affair with boys .You are a very bad girl.” He kept blabbering.
“What dire consequences you are talking about?”
“Okay, now,you are putting the blame on me. Others had warned me about you .I am only mad that I started liking you.”er on her phone had given her enough material to take to her parents. She was calm and asked more about what he felt bad about her. Kundan ,unable to sniff the trap got lured straight into it.He spoke everything that Prabha needed. She forwarded the clip to her parents.Her father understood and he agreed to break the marriage this time. The two families fought with each other and finally ,Prabha got saved from falling into a never ending darkness.s.
“I was tired yesterday. So,I did not talk much .And you never want to listen to me.”
“You never talk with me nicely. You always throw tantrums as if I am your servant.You go to boys’ room at night.You talk so much less with me.”
“What dire consequences you are talking about?”
“Okay, now,you are putting the blame on me. Others had warned me about you.I am only mad that I started liking you.”er on her phone had given her enough material to take to her parents. She was calm and asked more about what he felt bad about her. Kundan,unable to sniff the trap got lured straight into it.He spoke everything that Prabha needed. She forwarded the clip to her parents.Her father understood and he agreed to break the marriage this time. The two families fought with each other and finally ,Prabha got saved from falling into a never ending darkness.
He was threatening on the basis that he is a boy and he holds the power. She would have cried but the voice recorder on her phone had given her enough material to take to her parents.She was calm and asked more about what he felt bad about her. Kundan,unable to sniff the trap got lured straight into it.He spoke everything that Prabha needed. She forwarded the clip to her parents.Her father understood and he agreed to break the marriage this time. The two families fought with each other and finally ,Prabha got saved from falling into a never ending darkness.
Prabha is synonymous for light. A single ray of light is enough to tear into the darkness.