Just Like a Woman Should
Rosina S Khan
Just Like a Woman Should
Rosina S Khan
Neela was newly married to Akber. Akber worked in the fields to harvest crops. It was routine work for Neela to make breakfast for Akber at dawn and spend the rest of the day cooking meals and helping her husband to serve and eat.
Apart from the routine, Neela found the fun in life gathering with the village girls to talk, walk and play games in a childish way. For two whole years, Neela has been staying in her in-laws‟ home, trying to forget her original family including her parents and siblings.
Then came a day when Neela heard that war was breaking out in the country and her brother and wife were coming to the village to take refuge.
Finally that day arrived when the guests reached the village.
In spite of the war time, the brother and wife brought gifts and presented to the brother‟s family.
A crowd had formed to find out who was getting what. It was a pleasant surprise for all the family members because they all got gifts that they never imagined they would ever deserve.
Now Day 1 was almost gone for the guests. They would soon sleep. The wife brought some of her best sarees and dug the earth inside the tin shed near about where she would sleep on the ground.
By morning, the wife was in despair that two of her sarees were already stolen. Now she had only other sarees in her big bag which she had carried along for everyday use.
The brother created chaos immediately, shouting to everyone if anyone stole his wife‟s sarees but no one came up front. The brother became quiet and consoled her saying she would buy her more gorgeous sarees when they reached home back in the city.
The brother‟s mother made breakfast of fried eggs, paratas and tea for everyone including the brother and wife.
As days went by, the brother got fed up with the village life and wanted to return to his home sweet home in the city. So did his wife. After a month had passed, the brother rather aggressively told his wife, “You stay in the village for your safety. I will go to the city to find out if our home complex is still in one whole piece.”
So the brother left and after quite a bit of journeying, he finally reached his beloved home and found everything in their places and rightfully erect.
Meanwhile the wife in the village was worried sick. She got no news of her husband although he had actually reached home safely.
What was happening? The wife thought painfully. She telegrammed him finally and his response was, “Wait for a month or two. Everything is still not safe here. I will get back to you.”
The wife was relieved at length. But then the in-laws started bothering and pestering her. So in order to make them happy, she also started to cook for them. And that was how everything was in balance.
The wife checked on the calendar. And she gladly crossed off one month. Whew! she thought. Another month and I am gone.
While waiting for another month to go by, the woman got an invitation of wedding. Her sister-in-law, Neela brought in the invitation and the woman thought that it would be fun accepting the invitation.
The wedding day arrived. The woman along with her in-laws spent a lot of time getting dressed up for the occasion. Finally they were ready and calling rickshaws.
Then Neela came to her sister-in-law and took her to a soiled area and said it would be best to take a rickshaw from there.
The moment the woman stepped on the soiled region, Neela gave her a push on the back and she fell down, getting hurt. The woman helped herself to get back on her feet, feeling extremely enraged. Then Neela bullied her, saying she couldn‟t speak of the incident to anyone else otherwise she would have to undergo more torture.
The woman tried very hard not to cry. While Neela fixed a rickshaw, the woman wiped of her tears. Both got in the rickshaw and the puller started to go ahead.
Finally they reached the place they were destined to go – the relatives‟ wedding. It was an ordinary brick home and there were a variety of dishes. The woman helped herself to a few and found them to be of strange tastes but one or two she really liked.
After about an hour, watching the bride and bridegroom leave, the woman saw her mother-in-law who was calling her to ride on her rickshaw. The woman happily rode back on the rickshaw with her mother-in-law.
Later when she asked the woman where Neela was, the woman truthfully answered that she had not seen her for some time. Then finally Neela appeared near about their home, smiling. But the woman was all gloomy and did not communicate. That was the end of their relationship.
For another month, the woman went to the fields with village girls to see how the men worked hard to reap their harvest crops. They went sightseeing and even traveled on boats in nearby lakes.
When the second month was also ending and there was no news from her husband, the woman started to worry again. Eventually she made a plan.
She knew a young guy going to the city from the village and asked him to reach the letter that she wrote to her husband which the guy did sincerely. Then the husband wrote back, “Stay there for a few more months. I will catch up with you.”
When the woman got this reply, she was furious. And she sent him another letter, saying that she would start journeying, if he didn‟t come soon, with one of his relatives in the village. And then when the evening approached, the woman sighed in relief to see her husband, all bright and fresh and smiling.
The woman‟s plan worked. She gathered up her belongings in the small suitcase she had brought along and also packed a big bag with essentials and necessities. And then she caught her husband‟s arm and happily started traveling back home with him who had refreshed by now and it really didn‟t matter to her now how many flaws he had!!
Yes, woman you are wondrous. You know how to retain your beloved hubby and you also know how to get rid of toxic relationships for instance, with Neela. I congratulate you on reaching your home sweet home again. May you grow green again and enjoy your life, doing the things you love. There is a great life canvas for you to still paint the story of your gorgeous life – the past, present and future.