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What if you find a letter addressed to you, folded within the pages of a treasured novel? From one of the protagonists, too! How would that make you feel?
What if you were to find a letter addressed to you, folded within the pages of a treasured novel? From one of the protagonists, no less! How would that make you feel?
I ran my hand gently over the cover of Hardy’s The Return of the Native. Memories beckoned me, imploring me to travel with them down their lanes. I flipped through the pages. A piece of paper fell down. It had turned a tad yellow, but held a mesmerising allure. As I picked it up, my eyes were drawn towards the cursive handwriting. It was as if a ballet dancer had gracefully glided over it. ‘Who could have written it?’ I wondered. I decided to read it. It was inside my book after all, so it belonged to me. Armed with that reasoning, I curled up on the sofa.
“Dearest Narayani,” it began, making me sit up.
“Do you know how stifling it is in Egdon Heath? I apologise profusely if I startled you. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Eustacia Vye. I am sure it will ring a bell now! Since my childhood, I have roamed around this cursed place, yearning for company, for love, and yet, I felt intense hatred towards the Heath. Am I wrong? Is it unacceptable, especially for a woman, to not have an affinity towards the place she spent her years? I have a feeling the answer is in the affirmative. I haven’t seen Wildeve and Clym being questioned about their choices!
I had high hopes on my husband, and when I saw them turning into vapour, I despaired. Why was I being terrorised for this? Do you recollect that notorious incident with my mother-in-law, where my silence led to a chain of incidents, culminating in her death by snakebite? For days, I was consumed by guilt.
Guilt. How effortlessly women take refuge in this prison! Innumerable women have read this book, but I really do not see any betterment in their lives. Didn’t the meat turn out to be delectable? Did she come home late after a gruelling day at work? Did she catch a wink of sleep in broad daylight, while her child cried, for a tiny second? I regret to tell you, Narayani, that the answer to all these questions is a resounding YES.
I have the audacity to smirk. Please forgive me. It’s just that it is tinged with relief. I realise that eras later, there has been no change in your lives. I see you are allowed to wear pants, but irrespective of the attire, the all-pervasive guilt has only spread its tentacles deeper. I never thought I would say this, but I am glad I was not born in the allegedly modern age.
Nothing has changed. Absolutely nothing.
With that, I end my monologue. Egdon Heath and its pagan surroundings beckon me.
I seek your permission and bid you a goodbye.
Yours sincerely,Eustacia Vye
My hands trembled as I finished reading the letter. Was I dreaming? Unbeknownst to me, tears trickled down my cheeks.
Author’s notes: Eustacia Vye is the lead female character in The Return of the Native by Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy. The novel takes place in a fictional place called Egdon Heath. Eustacia is in love with Wildeve, but marries the foreign-returned Clym. A series of tragic incidents unfold, and she falls to her death, along with Wildeve, leaving Clym alone.
Photo by Joy Deb from Pexels
I am an IT professional, lost in the monotonous world of Excel. So, I seek refuge in Word, pun intended. I write for various literary platforms and have quite a few anthologies to my credit. read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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