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Nisha didn’t expect this reaction from her mother. She looked at her father for support. He looked at her mother and said, “Girls shouldn’t be given so much of freedom."
Nisha didn’t expect this reaction from her mother. She looked at her father for support. He looked at her mother and said, “Girls shouldn’t be given so much of freedom.”
Here is the third winner of our June 2017 Muse of the Month contest, Ritwika Roy Mutsuddi.
The cue for this month was from the movie Dirty Picture, in which Vidya Balan tells the male lead that society’s sense of honour is skewed and unbelievable – where they can have sex and watch sex, but not talk about sex!
Maa! What is sex? Nisha very curiously asked her mother. For a moment, Nisha’s mother was shocked. She squirmed in her chair and rebuked her, “Who taught you this dirty word? Don’t utter this word again. If your dad comes to know about it, he will get very angry. Now go and study.”
An 11-year-old Nisha didn’t understand the reason for her mother’s annoyance. Her mother always used to tell her, “I am your friend. You can ask me any doubts that you have.” So, why did she rebuke her today? She had heard her friend Diya and some other girls use this word and giggle. They giggled further when Nisha asked them about it.
Her dad came home in the evening and along with him came Peter uncle, her father’s best friend. She always looked forward to his visits as he brought her a lot of chocolates. “Peter uncle, where are my chocolates?” Peter laughed and gave her many chocolates. Suddenly, he gave her a tight hug and planted a kiss on her cheek. Nisha felt uncomfortable. But her parents laughed and so did Peter.
That night she couldn’t sleep. Something was not right. Peter uncle’s hug made her uncomfortable but why? Should she speak with her mom?
She saw her parents’ room’s door ajar. Her parents hadn’t slept. They might be watching some movie, she thought. She peeped through the door and could see her parents’ back facing her. Her father was giving kisses to his mother now and then. She was curious. She could hear a woman shouting! She wondered what kind of movie her parents were watching! She peeped some more. Her face turned red when she saw her parents watching a naked man and woman doing ‘something.’ She ran to her room, shut the door. She was sweating. What kind of movie was that? Her mother had told her never to be naked in front of any man, then why was the woman in the movie naked and so was the man?
Next morning, she didn’t speak much with her parents. She just waited to leave for her school. Once in school, she again asked Diya. “What is sex Diya?” Diya giggled again and told her, “Silly, when a man and woman do ‘something’ its sex.” Diya was blushing! So, her parents were watching ‘sex’ the other night. Then why didn’t her mother answer her question?
In the evening when Nisha was going to play with her friends, she saw Peter uncle coming. She felt uneasy. He looked at her in a strange manner from top to bottom and said, “You are growing up fast! You are turning out to be so beautiful. Give Peter uncle a kiss.” He caught her by her arm and pulled her towards himself and despite Nisha’s vain attempts gave her a sloppy kiss. He moved his hands over her butt. Nisha felt like puking.
That night after dinner Nisha gathered some courage and told her parents about what Peter did that evening. She felt relieved. “You should be ashamed to talk about your elders like that Nisha. Who drills all sorts of nonsense in your head? Seems you are becoming shameless day by day.”
Nisha didn’t expect this reaction from her mother. She looked at her father for support. He looked at her mother and said, “Girls shouldn’t be given so much of freedom. Now she is growing up and you should make her wear decent clothes and not let her go out alone much.” He didn’t mention about Peter once!
Nisha was stunned! Why were her parents blaming her and not Peter uncle? Her parents watched ‘sex’ the other day. Weren’t they shameless? She had just asked about sex and was labelled as shameless? Peter uncle looked at her in a strange disgusting manner and behaved oddly yet her parents blamed her, why?
So many questions in the young mind searching for answers, wish pillows could answer…
Ritwika Roy Mutsuddi wins a Rs 250 Amazon voucher, as well as a chance to be picked one among the top winners at the end of 2017. Congratulations!
Image source: pexels
I am a travel expert by profession and an avid blogger by passion. Parenting and women's issues are something that are close to my heart and I blog a lot about them. read more...
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