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All Rohan was interested in was Riya to be there with him at night. If she wouldn't be in the mood, he would force himself on her. Riya started getting scared of him, at the sight of him.
Riya was on cloud nine, and why not? She’s getting married tomorrow to Rohan, the only child to his parents, and a good looking, well-settled businessman. Her parents were more than happy to accept the proposal immediately. So what if Riya would be in another city, just take a 2-hour flight and they could meet her.
The wedding was the talk of the town, slated to be one of the most lavish weddings in recent times, and everyone was in awe. “Such a beautiful couple they make,” was what guests kept saying, Riya was extremely happy listening to those words. She started dreaming about her future life, how beautiful it would be.
Rohan’s father had suffered a paralytic attack recently hence Rohan was handling the business all by himself, and he was a busy man. His father generally was restricted to his room due to lack of mobility, taken care of by a full-time nurse. His mother was extremely social, most of the time busy with her kitty parties and friends. Riya was all by herself in this huge house with no one to keep company.
Riya would call her mom often and talk about how she expected her life to be and what it has turned out to be. All her mom would say is, “Relax, everything will be fine soon, it’s just that you’re getting used to your newly married life.”
She took the advice and tried to keep herself busy with taking up designing jobs online, after all, when will her graphic designing degree come in handy. Her mother-in-law was against it. “Log kya kahenge,” she said.
When Rohan found out about Riya’s venture, he started creating a ruckus about it. She couldn’t say much in her defence against this onslaught, and just broke down. When she called one of her cousins whom she was close to, all she got in return was, “Relax, it’s okay… eventually you’ll get used to it. Rohan must be under work pressure. Things will be fine soon.”
All Rohan was interested in was Riya to be there with him at night. If she wouldn’t be in the mood, he would force himself on her. Riya started getting scared of him, at the sight of him. She didn’t want to be in the same room with him. She spoke to her aunt whom she was close to. “Arre, Relax! Don’t worry, sometimes men are like that, young blood you see, just give him what he wants, he will be happy,” was her aunt’s advice.
It was almost a year to their marriage, Rohan arranged for a beautiful party for their first wedding anniversary. Riya felt after all he isn’t as bad as she thought. She dressed up in the most beautiful black gown thinking Rohan would love it, she looked like a diva, hot and sensuous.
The moment Rohan saw her mingling with his friends and chatting, he was furious. He took her to the bedroom and started abusing her with all kind of horrific words. He ended up hitting her when she tried giving him the reason for wearing the dress. Riya’s nose was bleeding by now due to Rohan’s hard blow on her face. All this while her mother in law never supported Riya or rescued her from her son’s antics. She was too proud and blinded by love for her son, to be there for Riya.
Riya was broken, she couldn’t take it anymore, Rohan had crossed all the limits. She wanted to go back to her parents’ place. She didn’t know what to do. Riya thought her granny would understand her as she too had gone through an abusive marriage.
“Relax Riya, you’re a strong girl, I raised a girl who wouldn’t crib and complain, after all, you’re my granddaughter. Just think of going in for a baby. Everything will be okay once there is a child in your life. Rohan will mellow down,” were her granny’s words.
“Relax Riya this, relax Riya that! All I have to do is relax while bearing up with an abusive, heartless monster! No Riya, enough of relaxing, it’s time to act,” she thought to herself. Thinking about this she packed her bags and decided to go back to her parents’ place. She had had enough, and being an educated woman, she didn’t want to put up with all the nonsense that was thrown her way.
The word ‘Relax’ was like nails on a chalkboard to her. She hated it from the bottom of her heart. She was done relaxing. It was time to act. Time to get her life back.
Dear readers, I hope society starts supporting women like Riya who are going through abusive, loveless marriages instead of asking them to ‘Relax’. It’s time to bring about a change.
Image source: ArmOrozco on Pixabay
Mother to a bubbly teenager and a student of psychology, Heena is also a travel enthusiast. She loves to observe the happenings around her and weave them into beautiful stories. A writer with a passion read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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