Indian Society Husband Relationships Marriage daughter-in-law patriarchy orthodoxy

Slowly, She Tried To Become Her Husband’s Slave

( words)
*For representational purpose only.

Once upon a time there lived a girl who was sweet, innocent, dreamy and shy. She was a nice person but didn’t talk much because she was shy.

People used to hurt her a lot but she always stayed away from such people. Her heart ached when they did such things but she still managed to bear the pain. She never thought of hurting them back.

She hoped that something beautiful would happen to her in future. She never thought of hurting or bullying anyone and never did anything bad. She had a few true friends and she also believed a lot in God. She was a dreamer.

No, she was not very ambitious. She had very simple dreams. She always dreamt of leading a beautiful life filled with happiness and bliss. She dreamt of marrying a perfect boy too.

Her definition of a perfect person was someone who was wonderful. This person would love her the most because she was the most important person to him. She would be his priority. In fact, she wanted to be his life line. She knew that he would care for her feelings and wishes.

She imagined that he would be a caring and loving person, a true friend, a guide and her life partner. He would understand the desires of her heart, appreciate the decisions of her mind, and accept her suggestions and perspectives on life. He would appreciate her thoughts and her dreams. He would protect her like a flower, guard her like a soldier and be her best friend. The most important thing was that he would respect her.

She yearned for her husband to be her best friend so that she could share every little thought that came to her mind and every little feeling that she felt in her heart. She wanted to share all her feelings and emotions with him – the good and the bad – everything. She wanted to be married to a person with whom she could just share everything – every bit of her life.

One day, she met a boy and talked to him. She felt good. She got engaged to that boy. She felt that he was the person that she had always dreamt about. It was all arranged. She was going in for an arranged marriage but she still believed that he would be her dream partner.

She was very happy. The boy was also very nice. He loved her and cared for her. He gave her a special surprise by coming for her birthday. He had flown in from a different country so that he could celebrate it with her. She thought she was very special to him so she was really very happy. She thought her life would be perfect.

She was totally unaware that her life would now be full of twists and turns. She got married to that boy. All was fine for a month. Then the real picture unfolded and this shocked her mind totally.

The boy, who was now her husband, behaved in a completely different manner. She wondered how this could happen because he was a totally different person now. He shouted at her all the time. He spoke ill about her family members too.

They had been married only for a month now and already he had asked her to go back to her parents’ house. Slowly, this became a routine affair. He shouted at her all the time, used bad language, fought with her etc.

It was so easy for him to ask her to get out of his house. He never realized that she had left everything for him. The girl was shattered and was very sad.

Whenever he fought with her, she would cry throughout the night. But he would sleep happily in the AC room. He was unaffected even though she cried through the entire night. She couldn’t share her immense pain with anyone.

She knew her parents would be shattered by the reality so she never told them anything about it.

His parents were also very cruel and very greedy. They always wanted his money so they did not want him to become close to his wife. His mother asked him to behave cruelly with the girl, who was now his wife. In fact, she taught her son to frighten his wife every now and then, by telling her to get out of the house. She didn’t know why she was still living with such a heartless man.

But one day, something unexpected happened. The boy fought with her very badly and told his parents about it. They came up with a plan and called the girl and her family members.

They gave her a warning and told her that she had to behave properly and obey their orders otherwise the outcome would not be good for them. All her dreams were horribly shattered that day. Her trust, her faith and everything else was broken into smithereens.

So now, slowly, she tried to become his slave. She did all the work the way he wanted it done. She also took up a job when he asked her to do so. Though she was dead tired, she never spoke a word and completed all the tasks quietly. She did everything according to his wishes. She never questioned his thoughts or wondered about whether it was right or wrong.

Often she felt something was wrong or believed in different things or simply did not want to do such things. But she did whatever he said, even if her heart, mind, body and soul said, “NO.” She thought this would change him.

She thought that if she fulfilled all his wishes, maybe some love for her would blossom in his heart But he actually wanted a wife who would work like a maid and fulfil his physical desires. She was a broken person and she knew she would never be able to regain her original self. She just wanted to get out of this hell.

Share This Story