The Bride

10.Runagate

[khushi]

ok! when you add 2 to 5 that is equal to one ,two three, four , five , six , seven. hm so answer is seven .uh! so much homework . how can teachers expect us to complete all of these in one day, than i have to make dinner too or maybe just help making dinner but it is still tough.

i rub my hand to fade away the stinging of ruler that has hit my palm today. it is still hurts , i brush away the tears making its way out on remembrance of that painful memory. ok i agree i didn't complete my homework but i had to do so many other work at home and than that homework was so boring . mr. sharma is plain cruel , i am sure he hit student for the pleasure of it. i close my maths notebook and open my english notebook with a big sigh of frustration .

i can hear my husband's voice in the far corner of the house . he is not usually so loud except when he is angry, but why is he angry? lately he have been really content and happy.  he dutifully  worked in fields , helped her do her homework and never turned rude for past month. he is probably having fun seeing me day and night drown in homework , i wont be suprised if it is his revenge for some stupidity of mine.maybe he bribed all the teachers to give me more homework hmm. i put my pen on my chin and my eyes looking at the open sky from the window. The matter requires a deep thinking and investigation but he had hardly come to my school so when did he do that hmm.

'stop daydreaming and do your homework!'

i flinched at his scolding tone and hurriedly put veil over my face . i stopped  myself from laughing at his frustrated reaction at that. i don't know why i am still covering my face in front of him which is absolutely not necessary , maybe because it irritate him that's why or maybe i just have got used to it. or was i still scarred  from that night when my mother in law locked me in a dark room. i was scared that day, i had felt like i am going to die,  i felt as if monsters will kill me. i had screamed , shouted even begged but no one came to my rescue not even my god - husband. what's the use of him being the god if can't even help me.

‘Homework!’

I completely drowned myself in my homework before he scolded me again. Three times a strike. I have not liked him in the beginning . it is because of him that i can't stay with my family and cannot play with other kids. He has been rude to me and so are the others . but now everything is changing , it is good again. He is happy and i am happy. I even like studying now but only a little bit . now no one is that bad to me, no one forces me to do household work unless i myself want to do. I know he has made this all done for me or for himself too. He is not suffocating anymore , he is free . we are friends now.

I look at him from beneath my veil . he is shuffling things here and there angrily. What is wrong?

‘Ma!’

I turn to look towards the door to see to whom this unknown female voice  belongs to. I feel his back stiff at the voice. Who is she ? why is he so angry? Clearly he doesn't like the person.

I hear my mother in law calling me  to serve freshments to the guest so i run to her .i go to the kitchen to bring some refreshment for the guest.

As i come outside i see  a women sitting on the chair beside my mother in law , three small boys playing around her . i greet her with a namaste  and pass  her a cup of tea. She looks at me and smile.

‘Khushi  she is anjali , arnav’s elder sister’

As that information registered my smile turns more wide and i crush her in hug. She stiffs at first but later embrace me too. It was at that time that i notice her  huge stomach.

How can someone eat so much that their stomach gets so huge. I come out of the embrace only to look at her stiff smile.

‘Have you no manners .don't you know how to greet someone elder than you’

Her words hit me like thunder so cold and distant with no hint of compassion in them. I have found a good friend in pooja bhabhi and i thought she being my husband’s sister would certainly become my friend but it starting to feel like a distant dream. My eyes go wide in shock and embarrassment. What have done wrong? She is not that old , she is probably pooja bhabhi age not more so how  else i  am suppose to greet her.

‘Have your mother not  taught you anything.touch my feet’

Her yet cold demeanor and rude attitude took me by surprise.i try to control my sob and bent down to touch her feet while she kept on looking at me with her venomous look. No matter what but no one has said bad things about my parents or behaved so rudely as hers . what have  i done to deserve this.

Not able to stand in the same room as her i turn back to go to let my tears flow freely but she stopped me in time.

‘Khushi bhabhi instead of  wasting your time  spreading   black ink on  the white papers why don't you make lunch for me and my boys. Must do something useful shouldn’t you?’

Not able to take any more i ran away from there not before hearing her last words.

‘I will make everything alright mother, the way it is supposed to be. Dont worry!’

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‘Arnav stop being an idiot and listen to me’ anjali’s voice shattered through the walls . i hugged the blanket close to my  heart in fear. I  remember how arnav has seen me  crying in the kitchen and  when asked not being able to control myself , i blurted out everything .

It has been a week  and  anjali has already  turned my life upside down. I have missed school one day and reached one day late only to be punished .i barely have time to do my homework. In all this i am glad mother in law has been on my side taking care of me whenever she can but the authority that anjali holds seldom break. Today was also one day of her extreme cruelty that has broken me completely .she was so smart that all her attacks were behind everyone’s eyes especially my husband’s.

‘No you listen di. Stop getting all your anger on khushi she is a kid. Spare her from your mind games’

‘Arnav you believe her over me.’

‘Yes because she has never lied or hided truth from me’

After a small pause i hear painful voice of anjali reach me, as if something has shifted there.

‘Arnav please! Don’t’

‘What my wife do or not do is primarily my decision and i don't like anyone interfering between us and our decisions.so don’t even try to hurt her anyhow. I won't take it lightly’

‘What i said is for your own good. No woman has ever gone to school in our family. Do you even know what people are talking about , making ridiculous stories  about you , about her. All she need to do is house chores , listen to elders and give birth to this family heir.’

‘Come to the point di’

Again a long pause

‘Rohit is not liking all this. You know what my in laws have to bear because of your decision . sending house’s daughter in law outside running freely with no leash over her actions’

‘She is not a horse! To have a leash.just because you have become one doesn't mean everybody has to have the same fate you’

‘ARNAV!’

‘You made your choice and i am doing mine’

‘Do you really think i had a choice?’

Her words come with such desperation as  if old wounds have cut open.

‘We always have a choice di’

I cuddle deep in the bed as i feel my husband lie beside me . i can feel heat still emitting from him , anger still on the roof.i didnt slept that night neither he.

Is it the beginning of the storm.

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A very happy  new year  everyone. Hope this year brings a lot of love and happiness.