You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

Two Strangers… One Lockdown!

{9}

‘I hope you like the coffee,’ said Ekaparnika with a smile.

‘It is perfect,’ I replied with a formal smile.

Atharva had gone to buy groceries from the retail shop just outside the apartment complex.

‘How is your daughter doing?’ I asked just to know more about her family.

‘She is absolutely fine and very excited to have me around her for the past couple of days. Otherwise, 

I don’t get to spend so much time with her.’

‘Yeah… so who takes care of her in your absence?’

‘Well, I stay with my mother and she is more than happy to keep her engaged throughout the day. In fact, my daughter does not miss me when her grandmother is around,’ she replied.

She was indeed easy to talk to once I made up my mind to spend time with her. My day had begun with hectic workload and by the time it was evening, I was completely saturated. When I heard Ekaparnika’s voice in the living-room, I could no longer continue working. My curiosity spread its wings and flew towards the living-room. Atharva was ready to leave the house with a cloth bag. He wore a mask and went out, leaving us alone in the house. Maybe, he wanted us to talk in private. Yesterday, he had not divulged much about her personal life and had insisted that I speak to her in person. And this was probably his way of giving me the opportunity to know her better. She offered to make coffee for both of us and I could not refuse. The aroma of the coffee filled the space between us.

‘Ekaparnika…’

‘Sharini, you can call me Eka. I know my name is long,’ she said with a smile which brought out the dimple on her cheek. It was the same cheek where she had the long scar.

‘Eka, I saw your portrait yesterday. Atharva has indeed painted beautifully and I was really curious to know more about you but he said that I should hear it from you instead.’

I could not gauge what was running on her mind. The warm expression on her face remained unchanged. I was not sure if I was indeed intruding into her personal space.

‘Well, I am an open book, Sharini. Which chapter would you want to read first?

‘Are you married?’

‘I was. I got divorce only four months ago.’

‘Oh okay.’

What?! She is divorced! And that too only four months ago! But she behaves with my husband – sorry, ex-husband as if she has been single forever. I have been divorced for over two years but I am still unable to get along with another man so easily. How can she do it? Unless, she is trying to trap Atharva. Well, it would be very convenient for her, what with both of them living in the same building…

‘If you don’t mind, may I know what led to your divorce?’ I asked unable to restrain myself. But I was not sure if she would answer it.

‘Domestic violence or that is what the court finally accepted.’

Oh, hers was no different than mine. Although, I had not pressed charges for domestic violence. I did not want a tedious divorce proceeding. So I agreed for divorce with mutual consent.

‘I don’t wish to be nosy, Eka. But what happened that made you walk out of your marriage? Even I walked out on Atharva because…’

‘Because he slapped you. I know everything about your divorce. So it only makes it fair that you should also know about mine.’

She took the final sip of her coffee and let out a deep breath before beginning her story.

‘I was 22 years old when my parents decided to get me married. I had just graduated in BSc. Physics and was working as a research assistant under my professor. The groom’s name was Bharat and he was working as an analyst in a small software company. He belonged to an upper middle class educated family. Although, I was not ready for marriage, I had no strong reason to oppose it. His family’s only condition was that I should not work after marriage and my parents readily agreed to it. They felt that their daughter would lead a very comfortable life with her husband. And I believed it too. Initially, Bharat was a nice guy and charming. The few months between our engagement and marriage were very exciting. After marriage, we both moved to Bengaluru from Mysuru. For the first five months, we were a happy couple. Although he did keep taunting me sometimes for not bringing a hefty dowry. Mind you, this was the same guy who told before marriage that he did not believe in such practices. According to him, what he was asking after marriage was not dowry but his rightful share in my father’s property. I did not reveal this ordeal to my parents and I believed that things would get better after some months. Bharat was not always a bad man, so we did share some moments of happiness and love. And it was these moments which made me forgive him on his bad days. One day, he was speaking to someone over the phone and then came to eat dinner. He had eaten only one morsel of food, when he spat it out and pushed the plate aside. When I asked him what happened, he said that there was too much salt. Immediately, I tasted the food but even before I could say anything, he slapped me. He yelled at me for not believing when he said the food was salty. But actually, the salt in the food was just right.’

She paused and swallowed hard. I could not believe that he had slapped her for such a trivial reason.

‘What did you do then?’ I asked with bated breath.

‘I cleaned the mess and went to bed on an empty stomach,’ she said plainly.

‘What?! You let him go after slapping you! How could you do that?’

‘What else could I do, Sharini? I was a simple girl and I had grown up seeing my father beat my mother on many days. After all, this was only a slap. I could not leave my husband just because he slapped me. My parents would be embarrassed if their daughter left her husband soon after marriage. A woman should learn to adjust with her husband. Isn’t this what we are all told by our parents?’

‘My parents never told me to live with a husband who had the audacity to slap me. Their daughter is way too precious for them,’ I said with pride. I was always proud of the way my parents had supported me. And my father never ever hit my mother. They had their arguments and fights but it was never about hurting each other physically.

‘Not all daughters are as lucky as you. Most of the girls experience violence for the first time, when we see our father beat our mother. And we are made to believe that it is okay. Maybe that day father was tired or he was angry or he did not like the food or he had too much work. Mothers always had creative excuses to show fathers as good men. They were good men with bad mood swings. That’s all. It is not a crime if a father beats your mother. This is what I also believed until it was me who was beaten by my husband. That day I realised how big a liar my mother was. A good father doesn’t beat your mother. And a good husband doesn’t beat his wife!’

I could feel my stomach cringe at her words. My vision was filled with the image of the little girl with a dimple on her cheek, watching her father beat her mother. My heart went out to her and I simply wanted to hug that child and say that the world is not so bad. But then, that little girl did not even realise that it was something bad. For her, it was quite normal until one day her cheek stung with pain.

‘Then when did you decide to get out of your marriage?’ I asked her softly.

‘It was after a long time, Sharini. After the first slap, he slapped me few more times in the following months. Then one day, he beat me up with his belt when I did not agree to demand money from my parents for him to buy a car. Although, I had bruises on my body, they did not hurt me the next day. And he regretted his deed the very next day and apologized. It made my heart melt and I was happy that he had realized his mistake. I believed that he would not repeat it again. But he repeated it again two more times. Every time, I used to tell myself that this is it, I have to walk out of his house the next day. Yet when he apologized, my mind would change the very next moment. After all, he was not as bad as my father. I had never seen or heard my father apologize to my mother. Like this, I had already spent two years of my married life. I let him physically abuse me, until one day…’

She stopped and drank water from the bottle near her. I could see the trauma in her eyes. Even though she was free from her husband now, the experience had left its lasting impression on her mind. For a moment, I considered asking her to not share anymore. But I was curious to know how she had escaped from his clutches. Something inside me told that the worst was yet to come.

‘What happened that day, Eka?’

Ekaparnika lifted her eyes and locked them with mine. Her intense gaze was boring into my soul.

‘He caned me. And then, he raped me.’

I felt as if somebody had stabbed me right through my gut.

She was raped by her husband!

To be continued...