I love writing and sharing my stories and experiences here. This is my fourth feature with AkkarBakkar.

In my earlier articles, I used to write about my life but today, I want to write about a friend of mine, Suma.

Suma and I both work at the same company. She was already there when I joined and she is the only one whom I got close to. We are both on the same wavelength when it comes to our ethics, morals, and work.

Suma was dating a boy, Subodh and they were living together. She didn’t tell me then, but I noticed small things about her that were a giveaway.

They both were very close and shared a special bond. Subodh is short-tempered, but always says the right things and even motivated her to fight for women’s rights and respect in our office.

Ours is a medium sized company and we used to work till 8 pm if the job asked for it. Suma was the only girl in the office who said no and that she would stay until 6 pm and if anything, urgent came up, she would complete it from home. It wasn’t safe for us to leave once it got dark, but our manager never bothered about this.

One day, I left work at 9 pm and my family was furious. They couldn’t believe that the company hadn’t even bothered to ensure that we got home safely.

From the very next day, I started following Suma, and after me, many girls followed suit. We would pack up by 6 pm and willingly work from home if any project was urgent. No one objected to this.

And I realized that if we don’t have the courage to speak up, people will take advantage of us.

Then, Suma told me her parents are against her decision to marry Subodh. Because he’s not from the same state or religion as theirs.

But she was strong and didn’t falter. She left their house and began living with him, but she told her family that she was going to stay in a hostel.

Subodh’s family are okay with this decision and are waiting for Suma’s parents to come around and let her marry their son. But her parents are equally stubborn and what’s worse, Suma’s sister has begun brainwashing them.

They haven’t tried to convince Suma to shift back with them; despite being in the same city and whenever the topic of Subodh comes up, they begin fighting in the worst possible ways.

Finally, one day, she decided to go to their house and tell them that she was marrying Subodh, with or without their blessings.

Somehow, they agreed to meet Subodh and his family. While the conversation at their house went off well, within a few days, her parents told them that they wouldn’t attend the wedding.

They gave Suma some jewellery but said they couldn’t support this wedding as it would then make it tough for them to find a boy for her younger sister.

For them, it was more important that society accepted them, instead of choosing their daughter’s happiness.

Suma cried like she never had before, but Subodh told her not to worry, he was there to take care of her and handle all the preparations. And he did.

Even when his family demanded dowry from her, Subodh helped her take out loans and even gave her some of the money to show them that she had something.

It was inspiring, to watch them both fight for their love.

But what came after their wedding was something no one would have expected.

The wedding was beautiful. A friend and I went together and we had such a great time. It was sad to see that no one from her family could make it for this wedding, especially during the kanyadaan. But Subodh was there for Suma, holding her hand throughout the entire time; it was beautiful.

Once they came back from their honeymoon, I noticed some changes in Suma. Her once bold nature had now been reduced to her sitting quietly at her desk. When I tried talking to her, she didn’t talk about much and it was only after she changed her number and her phone three times that I convinced her to talk to me.

What she said, shook the ground beneath my feet.

Subodh had changed. Completely. From being a supportive boyfriend, he had turned into an over-possessive husband. He didn’t want her talking to anyone, from a colleague to her friends. Suma was due for a promotion and so work was getting out of control; despite the fact that she would leave work at 6 pm, she would continue to work. Subodh wasn’t okay with this; Suma couldn’t finish her errands at home and cope up with work at the same time.

One day, Subodh found her texting a colleague. He read messages like, “how are you?”, “what’s up?”… and so on and in frustration, broke her phone- this happened three times.

I was shocked. I didn’t know what to say as she told me all of this.

She told me to see the good side of him; that he was urging her to quit her job only because she was working more than him, but earning much, much less.

On top of all of this, she had pressure from the loans that she had taken during their marriage. She was tired, exhausted from all the fighting. But she loved him, and that’s what mattered.

Today, her family won’t speak to her and she has no one but me to talk to when it comes to Subodh’s temper. She told me that they’re going to sit and talk about their issues together. I hope this is true, because not so long ago, their love story was one of inspiration.

Share This Story