The Lament Of A Golden Ring

The downpour seemed almost unstoppable. She stood in front of the kitchen window watching the rain. A sudden thunder, although a few miles away, scared her for a moment. She looked out of the window over the roof of the adjacent house. Her sleepy eyes were glued at the romantic pair of the pigeons. She always loved to watch birds. The newlywed held the window pane with her hand and secretly continued watching them in their nest. They made her think of her husband for whom she was waiting eagerly.

She was recalling the last three months of her new life and realized the way things had changed drastically in her life. Often she felt sad to have been departed from her parents’ place. It was her mom to whom she missed a lot. She remembered how she had convinced her mom, that she would be able to adjust herself in the cramped house of her in-laws. Things seemed so difficult to her in the start, her mind was so skeptical about her new life, new family members and the most crucial was the man on whom she had relentlessly believed to live her life with. She was not really bothered of it all. She liked what her parents had chosen for her future. Was it her parents? Not really, they had merely supported her decision. Never in her life before, had she given a thought to the fact that her life would change so much all of a sudden.

Her mind continued to wander in the past until she went to sleep.

She saw a dream.

"We don't wish to hear that again! A gold chain and a ring is what a groom's ritual must consist of" spoke a hoarse voice.

"I am sorry...", said a meek voice, "I really cannot afford this. Please try to understand my situation. This was never brought up before the engagement. I am really sorry. I cannot afford it. I am already struggling with my debts" the voice pleaded.

She woke up wide awake. She was able to feel the sound of the racing heartbeats. It was not a dream for real. It was the resurrection of the events in the past. Everything seemed so green in her mind. The dream made her revisit the wrinkled face of her poor father. She cursed herself for being the reason behind the soaring EMIs he paid to the Bank. His savings had yet proved futile to buy a golden ring to his son-in-law. The dream reminded her of the cries of her weeping mother who was equally helpless as her husband's savings.

She was unable to take the pain anymore. It was her mom's voice that she was dying to hear . She came out of the kitchen. Her mother-in-law still seemed uninterrupted by her approach in the drawing room. She walked up towards the telephone and dialed a number.

"Hello, Ma... It's me, Seema" she said, hastily.

"How are you Ma...? I miss you a lot... I just called up to say..." her speech was interrupted as her mother-in-law pulled back the receiver from her hand.

"Shut up, you freebie! It's not your mother who pays the telephone bill" said the in-law as she banged the receiver down on the table.

Her eyes were now filled with tears. She came back to the kitchen window. Her eyes were transfixed back to the pigeon’s nest. There were three of them now. The female bird held her eggs. The other two were filling her beak with the food that they had brought.

She burst out crying.

Accolades: This post was chosen as the Best Post from the Indian Blogosphere by BlogAdda - the week of 20th October, 2009

Who : Neeraj Shinde
What : The Lament Of A Golden Ring
Tangy : The plight of many women in the Indian Society has been portrayed in this post by Neeraj. Neeraj has been dishing out some wonderful posts from time to time and this is one of them. A post which you cannot miss reading.