She noticed a thin ray of sunshine on the floor. She looked closer at it and traced it back to the ajar door. Yes, the door wasn’t shut. Her husband had been so upset that his eggs hand’t been prepared as per his liking that he had slapped her hard across the face, & then left  in a hurry. A smile crept up softly on her swollen face as she realised that she had not been locked in for the first time in so many years. She started thinking of the endless possibilities –  a day of being out on her own, meeting her friends, buying a little trinket for herself, a toy for her daughter. She quickly finished the dusting and and then got changed. She woke up her daughter and got her ready as well. With a sense of purpose, she cooked dinner and neatly packed it in casseroles and left it in the dining table. Then she picked up her one and only handbag and counted the money she had – in all she had some 500 rupees in various denominations and coins. Enough to get her to Janpath. She walked out of the house with her daughter. For the first time ever since she had been married, she stepped out of the house without her husband. The streets outside her own home suddenly seemed so much larger and sunnier - despite the jostling crowds, the rickshaws, the cycles, the cars, the cows and the pedestrians. She kept a strict eye out to make sure no one spotted her and called her husband.  She held tight on to her daughter’s hand and took an auto to the metro station, and then the metro to Rajiv Chowk and then walked across to Janpath . Oh, how many times had she come here with her friends when they were in college. She had lost touch with all of them after she got married. She stopped at Depauls and had a coffee,  bought some earrings for herself and a dress for her little daughter. They had burgers at Macdonalds across the road. She heard some girlish laughter and turned around to see two young girls enjoying their burgers and bitching about their boyfriends. “That could have been me 5 years back” she thought and requested them to let her use their cellphone as she had lost hers. She sat her daughter down with a softy cone and started dialling as old long-forgotten numbers came back to her. Thrice, the answer was negative. As a last attempt, on the 4th call, she nervously asked for Virat, a voice told her to hang on while he got Virat to the line.

“Hello”

“Virat?”

“Yes, who is this”

“Nitya”

A moment of silence.

“Nitya???? Oh my god is that really you? Where are you? How are you? I haven’t heard from you in years since you got married.”

“Virat, I am at  MacD with Aru, my daughter.”

“Daughter? Oh my god you had a baby and I didn’t even know?”

“Virat, I am at MacD. By a stroke of luck today, my husband left the door unlocked and I escaped. Please help me. I cannot go back to him.”

“What about your parents Nitya?”

“I had gone to them for help soon after we were married but they sent me back to my husband and told me to make a go of it. They said society would laugh on them if their married daughter lived with them. I can’t go to them and I can’t go home. My husband locks me up whenever he steps out of the house because he fears that I will run to my parents againa nd make him a laughing stock in society.”

“Stay where you are Nitya, I’l come get you in about an hour and then we’l figure out something.”

“Thanks Virat.”

She ordered another round of burgers and played with her daughter for another hour while watching the door and waiting for Virat to come. As promised, he came an hour later and had also brought some chocolate for Aru. Virat looked at her and asked her if she had no bags. She replied that she didn’t want to carry a bag as she was scared some neighbour would see them and call her husband. He took her home and explained that his parents had passed away and he now shared his house with two colleagues from work who paid him rent.  His eyes had seen the bruises on her arms which she thought she had covered, the swollen face, the darts of fear in her eyes when she thought she saw someone she knew and resolved to help her in whichever way he could.

This is a true story though I have changed the names . Nitya was lucky because she found a friend who offered her unconditional support.  This friend of mine wasn’t that lucky. It took a lot of courage for her to seize the moment and walk out when she saw her chance. She is not in touch with her parents anymore. She has enrolled her daughter in a creche and is finally putting her degree to use and joined a law firm. She works long crazy hours and prays that her daughter will get through a good school next year. She has also initiated divorce proceedings. She has only asked for support from us and has refused all offers of monetary help.  She walked out her house with just 500 bucks and is today slowly and steadily moving on. I am very proud of my friend for having done so.

Tagged: Blogging Challenge ]]> http://titleintentionallyleftblank.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/the-door-not-shut-vawam-blogaholicsutd/feed/ 7 supmm IMG_9681 - 2011-09-21 at 13-18-51_HDR http://titleintentionallyleftblank.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/blogoholics-utd-i-am-back/ http://titleintentionallyleftblank.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/blogoholics-utd-i-am-back/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:35:57 +0000 SupMM http://titleintentionallyleftblank.wordpress.com/?p=838 ]]> Yeloooo!!!!

Pardon me for not having posted the past week, health just didn’t permit and of course I was in Cal as well, so if I was on the laptop for too long I was getting the danda from the Mommy to take  a break from work and layoff the laptop.

The past week was awesome! Despite the fact that we were all unwell and didn’t really feel like eating much, just the fact that we were all together was good fun. I met up with a cousin and her husband for the first time. I am the oldest in my paternal side of the family. We cousins have interacted as kids and at various stages of growing up but the age gap was always there, but now that most of us are various stages of our twenties, its good fun. I got to see a different side to them this time. Family does surprise us!!!! And accept us as we are – that’s the best part.

Lots of plans, lots of good food food, lots of adda with friends – some old and some new. An opportunity for the saris to be worn. The dhaakis and the shaaj all over. Seeing Pyramids in the morning and Hogwarts in the evening.  Cal just wears a totally different look at this time of the year. Though we may all be working in different cities, we all make it a point to come home at this time of the year – to be with friends and family, to just be home and celebrate the joy of being together as family, as friends. And that’s how I look at festivals – a time of joy and enjoyment, a break from the regular bhag-daud and a time to catch up. Sometimes, we do need an excuse to force us all to do that.

You guys have a great Pujo  :D

Yes, for  most of us today, the only significance that 2nd October is that its a holiday. And a dry day. Many of the tv channels would earlier show Gandhi or Lage Raho Munabhai, but now they don’t even do that. For kids these days, Gandhiji is just another freedom fighter. They may read about his life, his rise to fame and power from a lawyer to Bapu, they may write essays about him, his teachings and his non-violence movement. Anna Hazare probably showed the kids of today (including you and me) how Gandhiji’s teachings can bring the government to its knees even today. Its a separate issue that I didn’t agree with the Lokpal Bill and got into lots of arguments with people for that or that the methods adopted by Team Anna were not correct in my opinion, but the fact is that he did bring the government to its knees and I respect him for that. Alot of our politicans wear the gandhi topi and khadi so voters can identify them with Gandhiji, but Anna is the only one who actually used his principles.

What’s your two bits on this?

Wish us luck folks. I am off to cal on Monday evening for Durga Pujo, so next few posts will be definitely about Cal and Pujo

This was fun however, and I’m so glad I got pressured by my peers to do this. It brought me back to blogging regularly and I will try to be more regular in posting. I juts hope you enjoyed this as much as I did

And on that note I leave you with my current favourite song

I am like a little kid when it comes to my birthday. I start the countdown and eating everyone’s head to make sure they don’t forget it. I drop very un-subtle hints about what I want as a gift until the Hujband equally unsubtly (is that even a word?) reminds me that he is not a Tata-Ambani and he really can’t afford to buy me a helicopter for my birthday, much as he would like to, and even if he did, then considering the rising fuel prices, the gift would not include a full tank.  I always get a little introspective around the time that the birthday rolls around (also a little bit greedy ). Well, if our wallets did permit, this would be my wishlist -

• A bookshop of my own/ supply of never-ending books for the rest of my life
• A book deal
• A certified masseuse on call 24/7
• A helicopter with a never-ending fuel tank

Yup that’s all for now…and on that note I leave you with this song

I appeared in court today, albeit very briefly and in no capacity as a counsel, but as the authorised representative for my organisation and sought a passover. It was a brief 30 second thing, but i felt so good to be in court & *appearing* again. I realise that this is one thing I completely miss after having left practise and moved over to the other side. I have had a few offers to get back to firms, but I am happy where I am. Though I don’t get to appear in court myself, I do have a life. I didn’t study law to become a paper-pusher, but for the privilege of wearing the black coat, the band and the gown. After my matter was over, I had to wait for sometime in the court for some documents, so I went to the canteen and had some coffee & samosas.

Lawyers are a much maligned lot, and I have heard all the lawyer jokes possible in the ten years that I have been in this line now (first as a student & then as a lawyer), but you know what? We’r the first ones you guys come running to as well when some shit happens.

Iya has bestowed on me this Lovely Blog Award and I accept this gratefully and I am to list out the last 5 compliments received:

1) The Hujband uploaded some of our wedding snaps on Facebook last night and I woke up to a whole lot of compliments (Does that count as 5?) on what a lovely couple we make *touchwood*

2) I received a compliment from the MD of this other company with whom we’r transacting on efficiency & doing the job well.

3) A compliment from a colleague on my cooperation making his job easier.

4) Ex-boss telling me I still  have the the same enthusiasm for my work as I did when I was a fresher straight from college.

5) My cousin telling me I bake the sexiest brownies & another one telling me I make the awesome biryani

And then Monika awarded the entire group doing the Blogging Challenge with the Versatile Blogger Award

Hmmm and I have to give you some random facts about myself:

• I shampoo my hair everyday (yes even in winters)
• I make it a point to randomly call an old friend (whom I haven’t seen in a loooong time) every weekend
• I have to read for at least 30-40 minutes every night before I can sleep
• On Sundays, I have a bath at some odd hour before/ after lunch or after waking up from my siesta
• I can while away hours in a coffee shop with a good cup of coffee & a book for company
• I had learnt French in school for 3 years and could speak it quite fluently then, but I have forgotten it all now
• I am very particular about eating my meals on time and get a bad headache if I skip a meal.

‘Annie’s Song’ by John Denver – The Hujband had once serenaded me with  it over the phone to me before we got married.

‘How Deep is your love’ by Beegees

‘La Isla Bonita’ – Madonna

‘Tanha Dil’ by Shaan – I heard this song when I was in my last year in school and fell in love with the lyrics – ‘Aankhon mein sapne liye ghar se hum chal to diye, jaane yeh raahein ab le jayengi kahan’

‘Khwaja mere Khwaja’ – From the movie Jodha Akbar

There’s another song titled ‘Seekon na nainon ki bhasha piya‘ by Shubha Mudgal but I couldn’t find a clear video/ audio of the song online. Mad Momma gave me a link. Ignore video, listen to the audio.

This track from Bhopal Express by Ila Arun.