She sat in a darkened room ,chilled to the bones.She hugged herself and looked around the room ..This was the bedroom,but there was no bed ,nothing.expect the carpet which covered the wooden planks.When she walked into the room the floor creaked and made a noise which startled her.Worried her that she might just fall thru the planks and land below into the neighbours room down below.
She had just arrived to a new city ,a new country.Away from her family and the comforts she had grown up with at the mercy of a man , man who had married her.
Someone she had only spoken to for a few minutes during the ritual girl seeing farace. How can you know if he was the right one with a few minutes.Astrology was a science which had lost its truth in the money making business it was now.
She had put all her burden on God and agreed to the marriage.what more can she do..
After all they had all been drumming into her head ,she was fast reaching her thirties and may not find a bridegroom.Who would want a bride past her thirties they whispered.As each time the grooms sent word they were not interested.
Something held her back...But she said her prayers and told her god. whatever happens is because of you,I leave all in your hands she prayed.Blind faith was all that she had.
He flew back and she was to follow him.And she did after three months.She landed and in the cold of the evening she looked around for him.And there he stood blankly
and then he smiled, a lame one.Come he said ...lets get out of here as he wheeled her bags to the taxi.
The apartments building were two storey structures in the dim light.She could not see much as they walked up to the first floor.
There was no furniture ,nothing. Only the brown carpet that covered the floors.She quietly went in and stood in the tiny hall all alone.scared and frightened.
Time stood still as minutes ticked by she must have stood like that for hours or were it only a few minutes.She looked helplessly around the four walls.and felt a prison in a form of a home.
when she peeped into the bedroom, she heard a slight snore and saw a figure on the floor sleeping all rolled in blanket with the only pillow under his head.
She felt a chill again and she shivered.She softly touched him and asked him for a blanket and he snorted that there was not one.Tired from the long flight,hungry and thirsty,she looked at the man with whom she had to spend her life with.As he slept with not a worrry ,not even a care.Even a beggar on the road could have got some sympathy and comfort,as she stood over him...waiting...
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sat quietly in the corner and cried for the very first time.The cold was chilling her and numbing her body but not her heart which was in pain.It was if it could burst into a thousand pieces never to be whole again.
She looked around for something to cover her.All she could find was her saree..The first thing that her fingers touched.The one she had wore for the seven steps around the agni ..the fire of truth..
She took the cottton wedding saree and looked at it ...yellow with a red border.And she saw herself in it taking those impprtant steps around the fire..she had felt the vow within her...The seven steps ...the seventh step ,When the bride and the groom take the seventh and the last vow, they promise that they would be true and loyal to each other and would remain companions and best of friends for the lifetime
And her whole body racked with sobs that teared her heart apart and her soul was shattered beyond repair.She saw all her dreams and hopes dashed and buried deep within herself..never to come see the light of hope ...
she clasped her hands in prayers and begged god ....for the strenght to go on...
