In the middle of the crowd of bustling crowd, she sat with her face hidden under her pallu. It was a different world. A lot had changed all of a sudden for her.
She was this young damsel in her village, walking to the market with her fellow young ladies of the village. She had a very simple routine life, get up early, clean the house, milk the cows, cook and then sit in the veranda with her mother and do the other essentials for the house.
At noon she took lunch for her father and came back walking with her head crouched to count the pebbles that were going to prick her moments later.
On one of the days when the sun was really harsh, she saw a few men passing her by. She walked in a haste and had passed them in no time. Later, she mustered the courage to look back and see who were they, she couldn’t really make out in the blistering sun, but they were walking towards her father’s field. She turned and continued to walk.
In the evening, when she was fresh from an afternoon nap and was preparing dinner, her father came and spoke to her mother in secret and later in the evening, she was given a new dress to wear and her mother called their neighbor to help her dress up. She did not understand a thing. Why was all this happening all of a sudden? And then she sat in the middle with men staring at her powdered face, with piercing eyes and all she could do was resist her urge to run inside.
Next day, her mother informed her that she was to be married to a young man and that she is very lucky. She was given even more new dresses and was treated like a little girl for next whole week. Her mother, did not allow her to do any work in the house hold, he father came home for lunch and the women from the neighborhood, teased her and gave her mischievous smiles.
Next she knew, she was in the mandap wearing her bridal attire and taking unknown vows with a man twice her size. She was afraid. She had no idea who this man was, what his business was, she had over heard someone saying that she was going to the city, she did not know what to do.
That night she was to leave to the city with her husband and she did not know anything. Her single suitcase was packed by her mother and was given to her. She came to her in her room moments before her departure, told her that it was her responsibility to keep her man happy and do as he said. He mother finally broke down and hugged her, this gave the much needed courage to her drought affected eyes and the floodgates were opened. She cried and then her mother consoled her. Her mother told her, she had been a wonderful and obedient daughter and now she must prove herself as a good wife. The weeping continued till there was a knock on the door and it was time to leave.
She sat in the bus all alone with a host of other relatives, blessing her and telling her things, which did not really understand, her comprehension had never been so weak but today it seems she had been sedated and all she could here is noise and was hoping that the understanding would come soon.
The bus started to move and she panicked, the seat next to her was empty, she had never traveled alone, she wanted to shout out where is the man who was suppose to be with me, where is my husband whom I am supposed to obey? But she was choked; her tongue had betrayed her and then as the bus was just about starts gathering some speed, the large man which she hoped was her husband entered the bus and sat on the empty seat next to her. The bus drove into the night and she did not know when she fell asleep, she woke up with a start as someone called out her name and she realized it was the large man sitting next to her. He told her to drink the cup of tea had brought for her and a large helping of snacks rapped in a paper, she had never had tea before this, her mother always told her that she was not old enough. She silently drank the tea and ate a small piece of the snack when she was asked to do so once again.
They got off the bus and she then entered a small plastered house with no real ventilation and really low sealing. On her way here, she was astonished by the size of the buildings. She saw men and women wear clothes she had only imagined film stars to wear, the one that she saw in the old cinema house in her village.
The house was untidy with things all over the place. Her large man put her suitcase in one corner and she went towards the same and sat in silence. He then removed his shirt and went for a bath. She had never seen someone like this, and did not know what just happened. He then came out of the shower in base minimum clothing and dressed up right in front of her. She continued to sit in her designated corner. He then told her that she can cook on the stove and asked her if she knew how to operate one, she just motioned her head in affirmative and then got up to cook.
He told her ot to worry about the food today, as he would get something from outside. In the evening, he announced, he would take her to the market so that she can buy the essential for the week. He then instructed her about taking the bath in the next room and went out. She somehow got ready and came out to find a man, a lady and her large man in the room. The large man motioned her to come towards them and the lady got up and spoke to her. She told her she stayed next door and had come here 3 months back. She told her that she can come and ask for help whenever she wanted and that she was very happy because she finally had company.
The men went away and she sat in the corner silently. He came back with food and instructed her to eat. In the evening he took her to a large grocery store and her mind began to spin there, she tried to buy whatever she could remember in small quantities and then came home to cook the first meal in the new house. The lady then came to her and spoke to her. She told her some things which she did not understand at all. She gave her a smile and wished her luck and went away.
The large man came home and she served him food, he insisted her to eat with him, but her mother had instructed her t always eat after all the men in the house have eaten and she said a polite no. She ate the leftovers after he had finished and then washed the utensils.
She came inside the house to see a single bed laid and was scared to think that the lady was actually speaking the truth and that it all will actually happen. She stood in one corner, her body petrified. The large man came in, locked the door and went on lie on the bed. He motioned her to come and lie to next to him, she obeyed. He then came close to her and started to remove her clothes, she wanted to stop him, but was scared of her. He then started moving around her body and then remover her clothes, the next few minutes very like centuries to her and then she felt a burning pain, she wanted to yell, but she suppressed the same, she was too scared to do anything and then slowly it all subsided, she did not dare open her eyes, but wanted it to continue. It all then ended and she felt a release, the arms that were holding her also loosened and she was sweating. She lay there is silence, scared to move a bit, she did not know what exactly happened, but it all seemed to be like her new neighbor had spoken. She did not realize when drifted into the arms of sleep and woke up early next morning with a start, she could feel nothing on her body and wanted to clean her selves completely, she rushed to room, took a bath and was ready. She than made tea and lunch for the large man and then waited for him to get up. He got up and unlike her father, demanded tea, even before taking a bath. He then told her to pack the food for both of them and asked her to get ready to leave.
She did as she was instructed and went along with him. They reached a small garden and saw various small temporary shops, he got into one of them, opened the large package he was carrying, they contained all the various clothing’s, that women in her village make and started arranging them. It looked like one of the shops she had seen in the ‘mela’ last year, only it was much bigger. She was asked to sit in one corner, and she obeyed to do the same, while her large man, her owner, her husband went on with his business.
In the middle of the crowd of bustling crowd, she sat with her face hidden under her pallu. It was a different world. A lot had changed all of a sudden for her.