The Untimely Fiasco

The Basu’s belonged to a conservative Bengali Family where the marriage was settled according to the traditional norms. The eldest eligible candidate was to be given in marriage first. Here ‘ given ‘ would mean actually so. The girl was handed over to the boy’s family and belonged to that family after marriage. Though Chadni was the firstborn, her younger sisters had been married off before her. The father had decided that it was not wise to hold up the waiting queue of his four other daughters. After all they were his responsibility and he was advancing in years. Chadni, though reticent about her feelings, shed tears when she was alone.

                     She would often look at herself for self-appraisal. She admitted her complexion was too dark, her eyes were too large, her chin could have been more rounded, and her lips seemed to be pouting. She had developed an inferiority complex which made socializing difficult. She felt that people must be thinking that something must be diametrically wrong with her otherwise she would not have been left on the shelf. It was not that she did not have all the qualities to make marriage a success. She was generous, loving and trying always to make everyone happy. But unfortunately, the first consideration for selecting a bride for eligible bachelors was that she had to be pretty. In her innermost thoughts she blamed God for being very partial and unjust. Suffused in self -pity big tears would roll down her cheeks. She had a Post graduate Degree in English but her father advised her against taking up a job because many suitors did not opt for a working girl. She had crossed the age -of thirty, when women start becoming convinced that they will never have the good fortune of raising a family.

                        It was a very happy day for Chadni when eventually a young eligible bachelor selected her as his bride to be. Actually she did not know that he did not have a very good character. He had had multiple affairs. For him women were like flowers to be enjoyed, then crushed and thrown away. So for him, it was of no consequence if she were not attractive. Besides he had a vile temper. In his paroxysm of rage, he would smash and destroy everything in front of him. In addition, he had also earned a bad name in his business circle for not being too ethical in his dealings.

                         Chadni looked forward to the day she would tie the knot. She was very much relieved that after her Engagement no one would be able to point a finger at her for being left on the shelf and the stigma would be finally wiped off. She made the necessary preparations for the wedding with a racing heart. She just couldn’t believe that it was all happening to her. She was getting married and her happiness knew no bounds. With great care she selected the ring that she would give Raj, with much thought she chose the' Punjabi' set he would wear for the wedding. She visualized what he would say to her when they were alone on the first wedding night. It was all so thrilling and somehow or the other she liked the sensation. She daydreamed all the time and even thought of the names she would give her firstborn if it were a girl and or else if it were a boy. The time flew. She wondered if she were to ask her father to arrange for a live band, would he oblige. She loved music and knew that an orchestra would give the occasion the befitting mood.

                     The red letter day arrived. She knew she had to look her best and made appointments with the hair dresser and the beautician to do the needful. After a prolonged sitting of three hours she came out from the hairdressing salon with her hair looking soft as silk and with a delicate sheen noticeable from a distance. She looked glamorous ---no more the ‘plain Jane’.

             Now it was her appointment with the beautician. She looked at the mirror and saw in front of her an image that was satisfying and desirable. The girls in the salon hovered around her with all the contraptions of beauty-enhancing gadgets. First they applied some bleach to make her fairer. She had to keep it on her face for ten minutes. After the ten minutes elapsed and they washed off the bleach, Chadni just stared and stared at herself in the mirror without a word coming out of her mouth. She was struck dumb, and who would not be! Her skin had peeled off, just as one would have taken off the outer skin of a potato, showing the white raw surface underneath. She felt she would collapse and get a stroke. At that point in time Chadni could only think of taking her own life—she could not show her face to anyone, literally as well as idiomatically. Two large eyes stared out in an owl-like fashion from behind an expression-less white mask. As soon as she reached home she burst out into a deluge of tears but even all the water in the oceans would not be enough to wash away her pain.                                                                

Word was sent to Raj that Chadni had taken ill and a request was made to defer the marriage. But he would not hear of it. In response, he made a very uncouth and uncharitable remark. He would not wait a day longer and got married to a woman who likes him had earned herself a bad reputation. Just within the span of a week he had tied the knot and was off on his honeymoon with not a second thought for Chadni. 

                Day after day Chadni would sit like a stone statue. She did not utter a word. Her father became extremely worried when Chadni stopped eating. He did his best to assuage her pain by comforting words. But all his efforts seemed futile. Then he suggested that she should consult a skin specialist but she was adamant about not showing her face even to the Doctor. Then her father took recourse to the last stratagem---blackmail. He told her if she did not go to the Dermatologist, he would stop taking his pressure pills. Chadni knew if he did not have his medicine, he would surely get a stroke. As she loved him immensely, these tactics worked. The next day very reluctantly *+she accompanied her father to the skin specialist. Her father apprised the doctor of what had happened and also told him how she wanted to take her own life. The doctor heard her case very patiently and assured her that she would get back her pigment within three months. This assurance was just to give her the much-needed morale boost. He knew that it would not be possible but sometimes even an untruth was necessary to treat a patient.

                       When Doctor Rohit was examining his patient some dormant emotions threatened to well up again. The fire had been kindled years back in college but not understanding his own feelings he had just ignored them, or even suppressed them. Every time he saw the doe-eyed girl, gracefully strutting across like a stork, something happened to him. He felt as if he was being pulled towards her like a magnet attracts a powerless piece of iron. He did not know why he had this indomitable fascination.

                              Now as he looked at those eyes, the nostalgic memories came rushing back---how he used to keep on following her under the cover of his big file of notes---how he watched her every movement and spent sleepless nights thinking of her. He was amazed at himself that now after ten or twelve years he should feel like a schoolboy. Now that he had been told about her recent tragic end of her engagement, his heart went out to her. He felt like taking her in his arms and comforting her when he came to know that she wanted to end her life. It was as if somebody had wounded a fragile helpless deer and it had run into him for safety. He muttered under his breath,’ o my Chadni, you are mine and mine alone forevermore, I will not let any harm come to you.’ Chadni too immersed in herself had no inkling of who he was. She felt self-conscious and belligerent of having been brought to the skin clinic. She was in a trance and nothing was registering in her mind. The Doctor was undoubtedly a very pleasant person and that was all she knew about him. After the first appointment, she felt lighter with renewed hope and a willingness to live.

           Slowly, very slowly the days passed. She would look at her face and invariably start sobbing. But every time she met the Doctor, she felt better. There was something in him that gave her the strength to bear up her sorrow and shame. Rohit did not divulge his identity or let her know about the emotions churning inside him. He maintained the strict doctor-patient relationship and perhaps that was why Chadni was at ease with him. The treatment went on for a year, then two years. Her behavior mellowed towards him. She would even confide in him and express her anguish and inner torment. Sometimes she lost her self-control during the sessions and would break down, dissolving into paroxysm of tears.

                         The inevitable conclusion of my story would be that gradually the couple became closer in their relationship and Rohit was able to win her hand and make her his wife. But it was not so. Her skin condition did not improve. She kept herself aloof from society. Gradually she stopped coming for treatment. He proposed to her but her answer was a firm ‘No’. She had borrowed deep into a world of darkness in which she preferred to be encapsulated all her life. In this way, her life ended on a tragic note.