Two women
Ariza | 5 July 2006, 11:36pmArun always had a problem dealing with women. As a child, he grew up hearing so little of his father and so much of his mother that for years he believed that women's freedom was a satiric term. His mother was the only one with a job in the household, and she was also the one who had to take care of her children to which her husband didnt help by making sure that she had a child every year for the first five years of her marriage. Somehow Arun came at the end of a long line of four sisters so that his mother came to love him more just because his birth made sure that her husband didnt want to try for a boy anymore. But that was the only place where she gave in and hence to Arun his father became a peripheral figure in his life: a man who hung around his house for some strange reason. His mother taught him to respect his father by an argument that was pure logic:< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
"He is the reason you are here. He was the only one who wanted you born."
Arun grew up with something more than respect for women. He watched each one of his sisters struggle with their youth. Each one that blossomed became even more attractive than the last and so his mother had to deal with a long list of suitors along with them. He saw his sisters return with tears in their eyes from the comments they heard from these men who had a funny way of confessing their love. He then saw his mother admonishing each girl and training them to carry themselves among a world of men. Soon each of these sisters came back educated in the choicest of curse words and he saw them use it with class. He learnt these words with the same urgency of purpose that he saw in his sisters. One suitor put this vocabulary in perspective:
"With sisters who can cuss like that, who's gonna bully that kid!"
He also learned about loss from the women in house. From the time he was fourteen he saw each one of his sisters marry and go away. Of course they never went very far as they all settled down in the same town, but they were all allowed to pick their grooms and they all made their families with the same earnestness that they had seen their mother work with; so that Arun saw that they were never the same after the wedding. A certain backward checking glance on a talkative husband or a mischievous child always accompanied them wherever they went. Arun learnt first hand how the demands of love can grow inside a marriage and he saw his sisters slip away into their families until he was left alone with his non-existent father and his demanding mother. Somehow the exit of her daughters made her demand more out of Arun until he was sure she knew what he dreamed about. She confirmed this one day when after seeing his soft step and careful manner around her she told him:
"Dont worry. I am not dying so soon."
Arun stood shocked in the centre of the room because he had dreamed of his mothers death and had woken up with the sense of loss still raw in him.
It was against this backdrop and at the most inopportune of moments that Arun had fallen in love.
Current Mood: Lovestruck
Current Music: Madonna
Posted in Writing | Next | Previous | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)
1. By Johnny | 7 Jul 2006, 10:24pm
I hope there is a part 2 to this. :)
2. By maverick | 8 Jul 2006, 6:10am
i like your blog. good job
3. By Cartman | 8 Jul 2006, 8:21am
n1....is Arun gonna rise up again ? :P