Achi news desk-
2 minutes ago
- link copy
That night, I suddenly saw a familiar face strolling in the New Market.
“Julie”
For a moment I thought, this could be an illusion for me too! As soon as she went into a clothes shop, in an effort to see her up close, I also went to the same clothes shop. The feeling of age was clearly visible on the face. The single Julie wore a colorful shirt over blue jeans. Although the heeled sandals did not make her look young, yet the agility of her walk showed that she still did not want to underestimate herself.
“Julie” I called her harshly and she looked up at me.
“Summy? “I’m not saying anything wrong.” A voice came from the front.
“Not at all” and then we both moved forward and took each other in our arms. She bought a beautiful scarf and a palazzo and then after a few formalities took me to a nearby restaurant. I also wanted to renew old memories.
“How did you get here?” asked Juhi while sitting at the table.
“Nandi, settle here. It is a placement agency. The daughter-in-law also works with him. These days I’m in the family way, that’s why I had to come” I replied and then the waiter came with coffee.
“What are you doing here alone?” I was also curious.
“I do interior design. My office is on Asif Ali Road.”
“Where are your son and daughter-in-law?”
His face fell at my question. I couldn’t understand his feelings.
“Will you ask all these questions?”
After drinking coffee, we both came out cheerfully. Some day if you get a chance, call me and come to my house. Only then will we speak openly.”
She ordered a taxi for me and after telling the location to the taxi driver turned the car towards the parking lot. All the way, one thing kept flashing in my mind, what will Juhi say openly? What secret is buried in her chest, will she reveal? Why did she become silent on her son’s question? She would have told me immediately. Are you studying or working?
However, even at the age of sixty, she seemed to me very healthy and happy. I accepted Juhi’s statement and made a plan to visit her house next week. I had to talk to him about a lot of things. My connection with Julie was amazing. The reason for this was Juhi’s transparent nature. Whatever she had to say, he would ease her mind by saying it clearly without any deception. She was good at studies from the beginning. That is why, after graduation, he was accepted into the College of Architecture in the very first attempt. The look on the face was a little subdued. This was the only weakness he never regretted. She always said the same thing, “With my dedication and hard work, I will definitely make an important place among the people.”
And he had made space too. She was always at the top of her field. So friendly that she could make anyone her friend within minutes. Many of his classmates, who were his friends from school, would often visit his house. It never seemed to me that she was interested in any particular boy. Instead, after they all left I would tease him, “Which one of these do you like best?”
She would stare at me with her beautiful eyes and then laugh, “No need to spy. I don’t like any of these as much as you think.”
It was later revealed that she was having an affair with fellow member Shubhendu. I had realized this a long time ago. Because I too had passed through this period of age. Earlier, she would never check her phone while doing her work; now, whenever he had some free time, he would continue to transport to the phone. Instead, she kept her mobile phone with her. If there was no age restriction, her family would hardly have been ready for this marriage. Where is Shubhendu’s job with guaranteed income and where is Juhi’s huge package!
I was brought back to the present when I suddenly heard the taxi screech to a halt. Looking for the address written on the card, I arrived at the right place. He had a flat in a posh area of Delhi. Looking at the interior of the house, it seemed that his interior business was doing very well. The piles of files kept on the table and the phone ringing again and again were proof of his busyness.
Juhi opened the door. As soon as she saw me, she hugged me. Then she said, “You stay here now for four to five days. I also take time off from work. It will be a great time when you meet these crazy people.”
“Son, daughter-in-law has given permission for today only” I said smiling.
“Now you have to live with their permission? There is no relief even at this age,” Julie joked.
“You know that a woman’s condition is like a tongue between her teeth. In the mother’s house he is father and brother, in the in-law’s house he is husband and son. Our existence is only safe under their protective shield. “
“Wrong, absolutely wrong,” Julie’s voice became louder, “Honestly, we girls can’t muster up the courage to break this protective shield?”
“What do you get by breaking it?”
Julie remained silent. I continued my point again and said. “Something can only be gained by losing something.”
Hearing this, Julie’s eyebrows rose.
“I don’t understand why a woman should limit herself to just a few things? It is this conservative mindset that men take advantage of. He himself rules like a dictator and continues to show favors to women by limiting them to only a few.”
Juhi was not saying anything wrong. Mother spent her whole life in the service of the father and us children but she never had freedom as a father? She was educated. Forget about financial decisions, if I ever tried to talk about topics like the stock market or banking, my dad would get angry. Never revealed the secret of his earnings even by mistake. Mother had to take father’s permission even for the smallest decisions. She remained trapped in the shackles of a cursed life of being a woman from which she could not free herself throughout her life. In return, when he had enough, the father had a house built in the mother’s name. Mother was happy that father respected her. She didn’t even think about what she would do with this house in her old age. Maximum accommodation? If the children show indifference tomorrow, will she be able to fulfill her needs by selling the house? Will it be easier to just sell a house? After her father’s death, she was dependent on her children for the rest of her life.
“A woman’s happiness lies in the happiness of her husband and her son” My cultured mind brought me again to the original topic.
“I don’t believe that. If there is perfect understanding between husband and wife, then a woman can live her life happily, otherwise, for a woman, home is not a home but a prison. No matter how much she earns, decorates the house, works, maintains relationships, but in the eyes of men, women’s status is nothing more than that of a slave. How many men are proud of their wives’ abilities?
Juhi’s attitude was stern. I could not understand why he had so much bitterness in his mind about married life? I looked around. Neither her husband nor her children’s voice was heard. With a view to changing the context of the conversation, I asked,
“Shubendu is not visible….”
“I knew you would definitely ask this question.”
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No way. And even if it is said, what is new in it? For centuries it has always been the woman’s fault. “We have become accustomed to following this tradition,” he said with a shrug. But I have correct this mistake. people should change their cheap thinking, they should keep rational mind not to believe myths”
Julie’s statement was like an incomprehensible puzzle. I was confused
“I know you will also say that it is the woman who has to perform, sometimes for the sake of the family and sometimes for the sake of the society. Every woman tries. I tried too.”
Just then his maid arrived.
“What are you having for dinner? Veg or non-veg”
“I’ve given up not being a vegetable.”
he laughed out loud at what I said
“It won’t make any difference. Do not think that if you become virtuous in old age, God will make a place for you to live in heaven. Heaven and hell are all here. In any case, God has not created a heaven for women.”
“All my life I continued to be a chess piece. While trying to bind the whole house, he didn’t realize that the string he was trying to bind everyone with was crude. The more he tried to tie, the more the string would break and become knots.
When Julie used the word “was”, I understood some of the issue.
“Shubhendu was the architect and I was the interior decorator. We didn’t even realize when we started to get closer to each other while working together. My love was not just the sentimental love of a young mind. It’s not just physical attraction either. Shubhendu had accepted my talent and personality and I was attracted to the maturity and decency of his nature. It seemed to get me out of even the most difficult situations.
But it is not known how Shubhendu changed after marriage. I would work from morning to night but far from appreciating me, every effort was made to humiliate me. Sometimes I was compared to his sisters and sometimes to his mother. Shocked and troubled, my eyes tried to find Shubhendu’s support, but he seemed to have lost everything to give me. dignity of relationship. Mother is mother, sister is sister, everyone’s rights are different, borders are shared, then why conflict? With these comparisons he had made the atmosphere of his home hellish. He would criticize me in front of my mother, and hug me in a closed room between four walls and praise me.”
“Maybe he’s doing this out of shyness.”
“Why is there shame between husband and wife? It didn’t matter to me whether he earned more or less than me. What was important was the transparency we had sworn during the seven days.”
There was truth in Julie’s words. He further said,
“Within a few days of the wedding, people started calling. We had to complete the assignments we had signed before marriage. The only way to escape the troubles and stress that was spreading around us was that both of us, husband and wife, should keep ourselves busy while building our careers. But Shubhendu did not want to work. If she tried to explain to him, he would lose his temper;
Gradually my work began to increase. Even when the birds returned home, they would rest for a moment, but all of them would pounce on me like a flock of pigeons pouncing after being fed. I didn’t feel bad giving money, but I didn’t feel bad giving all my salary and offering it to Shubhendu. It was too much when he started raising his hand on me.
“One must be jealous of your success.”
“When a wife can be proud of her husband’s success then why can’t the husband? If the husband thinks that the wife is his anyway, that’s why he has the right over everything, then I stumble on this thought. To him, I was not just a money-making doll but a lifelong partner to stand by his shoulder. When there is no room for feelings between husband and wife, then what is the purpose of maintaining this one-sided relationship!”
“Where is your son?”
“He has it. I used to say, if you don’t give me a son, I’ll make your life difficult.”
“He must have been married by now?”
“I do not know.” He simply said, “I don’t believe in looking back. I’m proud of my cool lifestyle. There is a friendly circle of women like me here. There are picnics and feasts every day.”
Julie’s faith was worth seeing.
“She never felt the need for a male companion.”
She laughed and laughed, “A man’s company is like a lukewarm morning. Here the first day remained as hot as the afternoon of the first day. I didn’t have the courage yet.”
I saluted Julie’s spirit heartily, and then said good-bye to her and went home with heavy steps.
-Pushpa Bhatia
