Part 1: Musings of the Past
Geet
had planned every single step in her life after the sudden demise of her
beloved mother, Anagha Handa, due to heart failure. Geet's thoughts went
reeling back to her mother's death was a severe blow to the easy going and
happy-go-lucky life of Geet and the set of events that followed. Her happiness
and joy came to a standstill on the day her friend, philosopher, and guide left
her alone to tend for herself in this wicked world. After her mother's death
the already sour relationship with her father became non-existent and she never
considered her over powering brother as even part her family. Her paternal
grandmother had no say against her domineering father thus she was left with no
other option other than tending for herself.
Anagha
Handa was a woman of few words because of her status as a woman in the Handa
household where women were mere machines that took care of the house chores and
gave birth. Yet she had fed her daughter Geet Handa careful morals and ethics
to stand against the male dominant society. She had strongly supported her
daughters dream and goal to become a doctor against the wishes of her husband
and son, who hated education for women. According to them, what was the need
for women to educate themselves when they were not going to be allowed to even
step out of the kitchen? But her mother had managed to educate her beloved
daughter until 12th grade but faced quite a lot of opposition when
she voiced that Geet would continue to medical school. Veer Handa, Geet's father,
let Geet study until high school as he saw no harm in it but he could not
digest her going to medical school for that would neither suit the Handa
parivaar nor his reputation as the village head. But somehow Anagha managed to
get Geet into Medical School.
Geet
knew the importance of education as she saw her mother and grandmother being
treated like shoes, used when needed and thrown when not needed. And education
would give her the freedom from this kind of treatment but she was of a very
happy-go-lucky type and took the day as it came. She knew her mother would
always be there to protect her from the evil eyes of her father and brother.
But all the security came crashing when she got to know her mother was
suffering from Ischaemic Heart Disease and needed immediate medical attention.
Her mother had continuously taken care of every single person in the household
and thus had severely damaged her health in the process. The chances of
survival were good only if properly taken care of, since she had failed to do
so, the doctors had wanted to thin her blood supply to increase the blood flow
rate to the heart. None except Geet had taken all the pains to admit her into
the hospital but she had informed her father and brother to take a look at her
mother before the operation.
Geet
was pacing around the hospital room entrance expecting her father to show at
least minimum courtesy to show up in the hospital, when the doctor came to
remind her about the need for immediate operation.
"Doctor
please wait a few minutes bauji will be here," she pleaded with tears in her
eyes when she heard her mother calling her.
"Nahi
beta voh nahi ayenge kyunki ek pal ke liye bhi unhone mujhe apni patni samjha
aur unhe auraton unke pairon pe kadein hotein toh aur bhi nafrat kartein hai.
Magar is samajh mein apni pairon mein kadi hona bahut zaroori hai isi liye
maine tumhare bauji se ladkar tumhe doctor banne ke liye koshish kar rahi hoon.
Dhyaan se meri baat suno, mujhe pata nahi ki mein is operation se phir se vapas
aaun ya nahi magar mujhse vaada karo ki tum zaroor ek acchi doctor banoge?"
Anagha said extending her hand asking for her promise.
Geet
completely broke down hearing her mother speak and ran to clutch her arms
tightly, fearing the worse. "Maa please aise mat kehna. Tum mujhe chodke nahi
jaogi please," she said sobbing hard.
"Nahi
please mujhse vaada karo Geet," Anagha urged taking a deep breath with a lot of
difficulty.
Geet
fearing she would lose her mother, she quickly promised she would indeed become
a doctor. With her promise her mother was rushed into the operation theater and
that was the last time Geet saw her mother alive.
Geet
struggled to cope with the fact that her mother was no more to protect her but
had kept her alive by keeping her word. She totally changed her lifestyle,
became serious, and strived to achieve her mother's goal. However luck was not
with her. With her mother gone, there was nobody to stop her father from
marrying her off as early as possible.
During
her final semester, her father had declared she would discontinue her studies
and she would get married to the man whom he had selected for her and that was
final. He had declared that the groom was the richest in their clan and even
the most educated as he headed the construction business. While her father went
on giving further details about the groom Geet was lost in her own thoughts
trying to figure out a way to not marry. She slightly tried voicing her opinion
but her father would not hear of it and warned her that he wouldn't hesitate to
kill her if she did something against his wishes. She pleaded, cried, shouted
and warned that she wouldn't marry, she even tried escaping but it was no use
fighting a losing battle, she was shut in her room to prevent her from running
away.
The
day she dreaded finally arrived, the Handa Mansion was decorated beautifully
and Geet was sitting in her room adorned with the most expensive jewelry and
decked with various other ornaments that enhanced her already beautiful
appearance. All the girls helping her were continuously teasing her while she
quietly sat cursing her impending future with a man whom she did even bother to
know the name of. All she could think was how she had miserably failed to
fulfill her mother's last wish. Throughout the ceremony she was shoved around
like a doll and with no choice she just moved around as directed.
Geet
mechanically took the pheras with a man from what she could make out was little
under 6 feet and seemed well built, while the pandit chanted away the mantras.
She didn't bother to look at the man who seemed to be secretly glancing towards
her in spite of the heavy sehra that adorned his face. At the end of the
ceremony she was pushed around various relatives to take their blessings when
she got a glimpse of the man whom the pandit had declared as her husband. From
the corner of her eyes she saw his perfectly etched jaw-line with a hint of neatly
trimmed stubble. His creamy white skin contrasted the dark black stubble on his
face. While she was yet again bending down to take the blessings from another
relative that she didn't even know existed until today, she noticed his long
slender fingers seeking the blessings of the elder.
Next
she was pushed to take the blessings of an elderly lady clad in silvery white
saree. She had an aura of dominance and elegance yet her beautiful smile
reflected her friendly nature. Both husband and wife took the blessings and
looked up to see her smile lovingly at them.
"Maan
bete hum bahut khush hai ki aap finally shaadi kar li, ab aap jaldi se hum ek
aur choti si khushi de deejiye I shall die happy," she said caressing Maan's
cheeks.
"Daadima
aap bhi na please don't talk about dying," he said holding the hand that was
held on his cheeks. That was the first time Geet heard him speak. He had a deep
and husky voice that could easily command even the most unruly room. Geet
silently heard the man beside her slightly scold his Daadima while she felt old
and wrinkly hands caress her cheeks wishing her the best married life. Geet
just nodded awkwardly not knowing how else to respond to such a loving wish.
After
the long round of blessings, it was finally time to leave. Geet really upset
that she was leaving the place that was filled with the memories of her beloved
mother. People thought she was shy being a new bride and was upset that she
would leave her family. But in reality she was really happy she would not be in
her father's clutches anymore but was extremely upset she would leave the place
that constantly reminded of her ever loving mother. She had carefully planned
that once she would get lone time with this man beside her she would clearly
let him know she was not interested in him and she would like a divorce so that
she could continue her studies. While she was incessantly crying a assuring
hand came to embrace her. She realized it belonged to the person whom the world
addressed as her husband. She instantly flinched at his touch that slightly
sent a shiver through her spine. She looked at the hand and then at the owner
of the hand who had a calm and assuring smile on his face. She gazed at those
beautiful dark brown eyes that gave her a sense of new security. She seemed
lost in those deep brown eyes when people around her cleared their throats
causing her to free herself from his grip. People around her teased him with
ahs and oohs and giggling at his shameless display of public affection. He
simply seemed to shrug away their teasing and smiled a cheeky smile.
The
couple walked towards the car that was decorated with various kinds of roses
indicating it belonged to a just married couple. Geet's father came around with
tears in his eyes and kissed his daughter good-bye before taking a promise from
his son-in-law to keep his daughter happy. Maan had nodded in the affirmative
and guided Geet towards the car that was waiting to take them to his mansion.
Geet sat in the car as silent tears rolled
down her cheeks. Maan came to sit beside her in the backseat and asked the
driver to proceed to his house. He looked at the now pale Geet crying her eyes
out. The car seemed well out of the radius of Handa Mansion and Geet was still
ceaselessly crying. Maan was concerned for her but didn't know how she would
take his consoling. He hesitantly came closer to her to wipe away the tears
that were endlessly piercing his heart like a thousand needles. But before he
could even bring his fingers near her, she wiped hard of her salty tears before
loudly declaring, "Stop the car!"
here is the next part... sry guys i was originally intending to write it as one shot only, chronicling only one day's events but i have a very bad habit of going into too much details while trying to get one single point through... thus my one shot has become an SS that may extend upto 10 or so parts😕 i hope u guys dont mind... please let me know how it was... HAPPY READING...
Edited by Maaneet_09 - 12 years ago