A Married Girl In A City

A Married Girl In A City

6 mins
142


She was a very meek girl who never thought ill against anyone. Her simplicity was a matter of concern for all, in her family and in the village. Some girls wanted to follow her, whereas some ignored her considering her simple lifestyle.

 

Minu did her graduation in art and had been applying for jobs in various banks. She couldn't make it, despite her several rigorous attempts. Meanwhile, her mother launched the search operation for a groom for her. She was not able to say either yes or no to the proceedings. She wanted to oblige her mother in every aspect.


Her father was a teacher in a private school and later her mother joined the school as a teacher as well. Her father got some pieces of land in inheritance from his father. He neither added anything to the property nor deducted anything from it. He simply reaped the crops from the lands and ate them. His other financial needs he fulfilled from his monthly salary from the school. Later when his wife joined the school they both began saving, but individually. That led to a quarrel between the couple. When her father found the situation untenable he left the family and went somewhere far without any revelation about his whereabouts to anyone. The responsibility of the whole family fell on the shoulders of Minus mother. So Minu was brought up by her mother. 


Minu had an elder sister who was married three years ago when her parents were still together. Her mother was a prudent woman who, instead of seeking help from others, began searching for the groom for Minu on her own. She put aside some money from her monthly wages but that would not suffice to cater to the expenditure of a marriage. She thought of borrowing some money from her relatives but that too wouldn't be enough to accommodate the need. Lastly, she decided to mortgage a piece of land that was owned by her husband. With great difficulty for not being the actual owner of the land, she sold the land and credited the money into her bank account. 


With her tireless efforts she found a boy who was working in a software company in Bangalore. The parents of the boy agreed to see the girl but on one condition. On being asked the condition they pledged to fix the amount of dowry beforehand. Both parties agreed on a stipulated sum of money. They came to see Minu and chose her immediately. The date of marriage was fixed. 


Preparations for the marriage began on both sides. Minus mother arranged everything to meet the demands of the groom's parents. Despite mortgaging the land she had to take some money on loan from a debtor in the neighbourhood on a high interest rate. When the marriage was over, her mother cuddled Minu while bidding her goodbye. They both sobbed and tears poured from their eyes like a waterfall. 


This was how Minu found her life partner and moved to the city to a new house and a new life. Ravi had been staying in Bangalore for two years so he had adopted the lifestyle of a city boy. He was accustomed with the modernity of a metropolitan city. Ravi had become quite open and almost immodest. Having grown up in a village Minu was extremely modest. Evidently she would not be as modern as the Bangalore city girls were. Ravi found that Minu was not on par with his expectations. 


Ravi wanted to enjoy his life like others in the city did. He wanted to see Minu as the other girls were — dazzling, impressive and dashing with modern clothes and a hi-fi accent. He wanted to match up to other people who lived under the charm of a metropolitan city. 


Minu was chosen by his parents and his other relatives, whose thinking was on par with the village way. They saw only the inferiority complexion that was there with Minu, which made her easy to control and influence. They never bothered about the charm and cuteness that prevailed among city girls that Ravi wanted. And Minu was white-complexed and that was enough for them to say yes for a bride. 


Feeling deceived Ravi pushed himself into a great sulk. He became dejected, considering his fate. He was unable to reconcile with himself. He saw his colleagues wives who were full of modernity with stylish clothes, and new looks and envied them. On the other he found Minu to be a village girl who had never worn jeans in her life, nor ever did facial or pedicure. Her village accent was embarrasing to him.


Ravi was under great stress. It seemed the land beneath his legs had slipped away. All of sudden he felt he had fallen on the ground from a zenith point in his life. On being convinced by many elders in his family and in his village he married Minu and brought her along with him to Bangalore. He was physically with Minu but mentally somewhere else. At one point of time, he found everything useless- the world and everything that existed in it.


He had many friends at his workplace. Some of them were girls too who were born and brought up in other towns and had studied in different cities. Insatiated, Ravi tried to gain some solace by comparing Minu with the ugliest girl among those girls. It was obvious there would be some dissimilarity. Instead of making things better he obsessed over his bad luck. He concluded he had made a big mistake by agreeing to the marriage.


Minu stayed with him for two or three months as a beloved wife who never disobeyed her husband. Rather than focusing on the positives in Minu, he fretted over the negatives. In his view, the negatives outnumbered the few positives. A time came when he was full of only negatives despite the invaluable positives in Minu. All the time he began contemplating over those negatives as if the positives were worthless. His life began deteriorating. He began losing his sleep and became restless. 


The festival of Raksha Bandhan for affection of love between brother and sister neared. Minu was called back home. On her leaving and finding some solitude, Ravi somehow felt a bit relieved but he was filled with thoughts of Minu's permanent departure from his life. He began to plan for the same. In this connivance, he took the help of some of his like-minded friends. There was no one who felt the pain of Minu and her old mother who had sacrificed everything for her daughter. 


At one point Ravi wavered between right and wrong. His parents too warned him against the move. But he had the support for what he was thinking, not what was actually right. He didn't go to the village to bring Minu back nor did he show any desire to meet her. 


Envisaging the consequences Minus mother found herself in great pain. She tried to convince Ravi over phone but in vain. The time came when Ravi stopped answering her calls altogether to avoid talking to Minu's mother.


At last, her mother decided to visit Bangalore. She booked tickets for Minu and herself. She reached the address with great difficulty only to find that Ravi had run away.


Rate this content
Log in

Similar english story from Drama