marriage

                     

She had seen him only once, that was on the day of the marriage. She had never met him, never talked to him, she didn’t even know his first name but this was the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Wait! Stop! That could not be possible, could it? She was just 16. She had not finished school yet. How could she get married to a man double her age? How could her father hand her over to him because of the less dowry he was wanting? Was she no more than a piece of furniture for her father, a mere object for trading? And how could he even agree to marry her?
          The day of the marriage arrived. The pandal was set, the purohit was called and her whole family was there. She was carried in by her brothers and was made to sit next to her would-be husband. She did not dare to look up at him. For three hours she sat there wondering what she had done wrong to suffer such a fate. She saw the dancing flames of the fire in front of her and many a times contemplated suicide but knew she lacked the strength or courage to do so. He smeared her forehead with red vermilion and she now was transferred from her father’s hands to his.
        Then came the dreaded night. She, like many other girls her age had dreamt of that night but she had never wished for it to come so fast. She knew that her dreams would be shattered forever but that was her fate. She saw him standing at the doorway of the room and taking his slippers off he entered the room. She had imagined the night to be a wonderful experience for her, a day when all her dreams of becoming a woman, of transforming from a girl to a woman would come true. But now she felt dirty and cheap under his gaze, just like a piece of meat.
          His touch was like ice on her skin, his kisses felt like the prick of a needle. When he entered her he did not realize she did not know about the pain. It was a kind of pain she had never felt before. During that night he hurt her any times but she could see the enjoyment on his face. Everything he did was to hurt her.
          After satisfying his pleasure he rolled off and went to sleep. She cried the whole night because of the pain. She tried to rub the bloodstains she had left on the sheets but when morning came her new family was happy to see the marks. The promise of her father of her being a virgin was true. He had kept his side of the bargain. For the next two weeks every night she went through the same ordeal.
          This was what was called marriage. This was the sacred bond between a man and his wife. She was taken even if she did not want to be. She was made to do things she did not want to and was cursed when she did not give in.
          For 20 years she suffered the same fate/ now the only difference was that he did not touch her any more. He sought pleasure from other women. He came home drunk and hit her every night. This was her life. All her dreams of becoming someone were shattered when the ‘sacred bond’ was made. All her dreams were shattered, forever.

The end