Time Is Running Out

Our lives are but specks of dust falling through the fingers of time. Like sands of the hourglass, so are the days of our life.

-Socrates 

Maya looked out of the window of the palatial bungalow into the garden below. The mango tree, the jasmine creeper, and the rose shrubs all seemed to bid her farewell. She would be gone tomorrow.

Family and friends were shocked to hear Maya's decision of selling the ancestral home and moving into a small house. Maya's husband passed away six months ago. Both their children lived abroad. They wanted Maya to come and stay with them but she had flatly refused. When she expressed the desire to sell the house, they were shocked. Maya had entered the house 35 years ago as a young bride and had spent all her years nurturing the family and making it a home. Maya had promised to give them their share and they had agreed reluctantly. Living in a smaller house would be easier for her to maintain they thought.

Unaware of them Maya had other plans. Maya had finally gained her much-cherished financial independence and she intended to put it into good use.

Born in a poor family, when Maya received the alliance from Kumar's parents it seemed god sent. Maya entered the marriage with stars in her eyes only to be disillusioned very soon. Patriarchy ruled supreme in the new family. Women were meant only to be seen not to be heard. Kumar spoke the bare minimum to her mostly to order. She was someone to fulfil his physical needs, nothing more than that. Maya's heart ached for some love and companionship. Though she wasn't abused physically, she felt used and abused. Whenever she tried to voice her opinion, she was put down and demeaned. The lines were clearly drawn, she could never cross them. Lack of respect, constant demeaning and ridiculing were a big blow to her self-esteem. Things were no better even after her children were born.

To the world, her life seemed perfect, but she was a bird trapped in a golden cage desperately unhappy with no means of escape. How she wished in those times that only if she was financially independent or had any skills to get a job, she would have gladly walked out of the stifling marriage. She hated the dependency which kept her chained.

With the passage of time, the grudges she nursed only grew deeper. Kumar's death had finally freed her. She had decided to sell the house and move into a small place. She had got in touch with a NGO and with their help she wanted to set up a training centre for vocational skills. Her aim was to train women from the lower strata of society and make them capable of earning.

Never again would a woman have to stay in a loveless marriage for financial compulsions.

The sands of time were fast slipping through her fingers and Maya wanted to leave a mark on them before her time ends.