The hot sultry afternoon of 1988

Pragati Kumari
Nov 1 · 4 min read

This story is about Laxmi, a confident, young girl who believes that life is a very precious gift and we must add meaning to it by never giving up on our dreams. She lost her mother at 12. It was her three elder brothers and their father who took care of her. Laxmi’s father was looking for a match for her. Her family’s love for her was infinite and they expected the same love from her would-be-husband.

It was a hot sultry afternoon of 1988 when a meetup between Laxmi and Pawan was set up in one of the finest restaurants of Varanasi. Since the guy was a civil engineer, everybody assumed he earned well. Both of them tied the knot after two months. Laxmi belonged to a mediumly rich family. Pawan belonged to a middle-class family.

After marriage, when Laxmi visited Pawan’s house, she was greatly taken aback. It seemed her whole world came to an end. The house did not have a washroom. The roof was half-broken. There was no fan. The whole house turned into a boiler. The financial situation of Pawan’s family was bad. They did not have a private space of their own. Let me tell you it is difficult to find a private space in joint families. Her mother-in-law used to taunt her for every little thing. Pawan returned to the village only on Saturdays as he used to head out for work during the weekdays. He had no idea what Laxmi was going through. After few months, her mother-in-law started pressurizing her to start a family of her own. Laxmi did not want to conceive at that phase of her life because she didn’t want to provide an unhealthy environment to her baby. She felt very suffocated. There was nobody to understand her. Her charming smile disappeared. The twinkling of her eyes faded away.

After 40 long days, the village witnessed the first rain of the season. That day, she watched the downpour for hours. She stood in front of the mirror and searched for the 10-year-old Laxmi. She cried endlessly. She felt weak. She was missing her mother. Her mother always said, “Beta, never ever lose hope. Where there is a will, there is a way. Every problem has a solution. Think about the root cause of the problem. We have only one life. Live it happily. Why cry, when you can try and look for a solution? Get up, kill all your problems. If you don’t control the situation at the correct time, the situation will control you. You’re a strong girl. Stop wasting time in crying and start looking for a solution. Things will definitely change for the good.” These words still resonate in her ears. She wiped her tears and decided to stand up for herself. She wanted to become a teacher. She secretly wrote an exam and got into a teacher training institute in Allahabad. She asked her father-in-law for the admission fees. He thought in her mind, “Once she gets a job, all her money will be ours. Let me give her the money.”

The training period was for two years. The institute was close to Pawan’s workplace in Allahabad. Pawan rented out a bigger room for him and Laxmi. After the wedding, this was probably the first time when they were alone. They used to go for long walks in the evening. Her endless talks and his patience of listening to those talks was mesmerizing. He was an introvert and she was an extrovert. She started smiling again. Things were going well.

When she returned back to the village, the entire family asked her for the money. They insulted her and told her how unfortunate it is to have her in the house. Pawan never had the audacity to speak up in front of his parents. He could not bear this. He left the house with Laxmi. They moved to Allahabad and started their life with a new beginning. After a year, Laxmi returned the admission fees to her father-in-law. She is a great teacher and is loved by all her students. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and named her Snigdha.

Had she lost hope and courage during the initial days of her stay in Pawan’s house, had she not shown the mighty courage to shape her own life, this wouldn’t have had happened.

The thing is if you don’t control the situation at the right time, the situation will control you. Speak for yourself. If you don’t, then who will?

Pragati Kumari
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade