The Spaghetti was long, yellow and slippery, flowing on the fork, right through my mouth.
No. I hadn’t turned into spaghetti through the black hole. I am sitting on a mat and happily eating away in Nadhiya’s house.
Now who is Nadhiya? I too don’t know. All I know about her is that, as I was enjoying the ocean, she urgently stopped me, took me to her house and prepared my dinner, saying she wanted to speak something important with me.
Her home was a 1BHK with nothing much to admire.
After the meal, she started talking.
“So, what’s bothering you? Only fools attempt suicide. What kind of a fool are you?”
“I would have peacefully died by now. After all that I have gone through, you bring me here and feed me to call me a fool!! I am extremely honored. Thank you.
Do you know what I have been going through? Its hell.. nothing short of hell”
She didn’t interrupt me. I continued speaking. No. Now, I wasn’t speaking. I was screaming at her. I was venting out my anger through the nozzle.
“My parents got me engaged to a guy. After four months, he called off the wedding, saying he was in love with someone else. Then, in spite of knowing that I am an atheist, my parents take me to every available temple in Chennai and Kumbakonam. I had strictly told my parents not to give dowry for my wedding. Now, look what happened!! Aravind goes, Kannan comes as a replacement. An atheist goes to temple, a person who doesn’t want to give a single paise as dowry, is forced to give 10 lakhs in cash, an LED TV, fridge, washing machine, cot, sofa set, table, chair, stove, household utensils and more, all because the wedding date had been informed to our relatives, it’s a shame for a woman if the wedding is called off, it’s a shame for the girl if the guy refuses to marry her due to dowry issues. After marriage, a woman has no right to think of her life or career. All she has to do is, cook his meal, clean the house, wash the vessels, his dirty clothes, give up her career, beg and borrow money from parents for him to meet his debts, and beget babies for him, clean their shit and piss and the cycle continues. Don’t women have the right to live life like Gods as the men do? Is it a curse to be a woman? I want to be a man. I would have died today. You spoilt it. It’s ok. No regrets. I will try tomorrow.”
Smiling at me, she said:
“So you don’t want to marry him?”
“Not him, not any other man. I am not allowing another man to ruin my life. If I live, I will live like a queen, if I die, I want to die in honor”
“Is committing suicide called dying in honor?”
“Of course. Do you know Vanchinathan? That’s dying in honor”
“He at least killed a British man before committing suicide. So, make sure you abolish the dowry system before dying. That’s dying in honor”
“Funny that”
“Shall I stop your wedding?”
“You kidding me? Sorry, I am not in a mood for jokes.”
“No, I am serious”
“Do it”
“Ok. Then go back home and be cheerful. Accept to marry him, and show him that you are totally in love with him.”
“And marry him. And be his ATM, washing machine, cooker, sex appetizer, what else?”
“No. Just do this. Keep him and your parents happy. Make everyone believe that you really love Kannan, and you want to live with him. Make him fall completely in love with you. I will stop the wedding for you. I will make him feel the pain. That’s a deal.”
“Really? Are you serious? What do you want from me in return?”
She smiled at me for a moment and said:
“Will you be my friend?”
I didn’t know what to reply. I embraced her with moist eyes.
After a while I stretched myself lazily on the mat, wondering if God really existed, when I realized that I had forgotten to study the history of my guardian angel who was sitting opposite me, looking into my eyes.
“Hey Nadhiya. What were you doing all alone in the beach?”
“You don’t own the beach. Of course, I came there to enjoy the breeze and spend some quiet time, when I found this silly girl”
“How will you stop my wedding?”
“Surprise, Wait and watch. By the way, when is it?”
“September 3rd. I don’t want to see my parents hurt”
“They will be happy that you didn’t marry him”
“Your words sound heavenly. I hope you do some magic”
“I will Karthika. I will. Trust me. But allow me to surprise you on your wedding”
“Permission granted. Hey, what do you do for a living?”
“I am a psychiatrist. I meet a lot of depressed people and counsel them and help them overcome their pain in life.
“Don’t make me envious of you. You’re married?”
“Do I look it? Yours is a very minor case. I see so many women with worse stories than you almost every day. After one incident, you are attempting suicide. When I hear of hundreds of such incidents every day, do you even think I am going to get married? Not in this lifetime, not in a hundred lifetimes to come”
## ## ## ##
Nadhiya was born in a well-to-do family of lawyers and doctors. Theirs was a reputed family in the city - generations of rich people, who had important connections in every department.
“I studied MBBS in Ramachandra Medical College. In my final year of study, I was engaged to a rich guy whom many of my close relatives had recommended.
I started talking to him. In the beginning it was all good. As days went by, I felt it wasn’t ok. When interacting with one of his close friends, I got to know that he was a drug addict.
“I spoke about this to my parents. They wouldn’t accept. Ours was one of the high-profile families in Chennai. Calling off a wedding would be a public shame to them. So they resisted my pleas.
I didn’t know what to do. I was helpless. I cried to one of my uncles who was a famous doctor in Madras Medical College. He spoke with the Dean of CMC Vellore (that’s where the guy studied), and enquired on his character –he did get a lot of negative feedback. Twice, the guy had been suspended on eve-teasing and rape charges, and re-instated again, thanks to his influential parents.
“After hearing all this, my parents relented. The wedding was called off. From there, mine is almost the same story as yours.
As the wedding day was approaching, they tried to find another guy by that time. I was helpless. I wasn’t ready to accept it. I picked my bags, and walked out of home, and this is where I have been living ever since.
“If a woman born in a rich family could undergo such horrors, I couldn’t think what the poor women would do. I wanted to do something for them. I provide counseling to poor women in family harassment issues. I save the lives of poor young women - and that’s the best part of my life. This is my life, and I love it. I even run a private detective agency with a few of my lawyer friends to collect evidence against these men”
Wow!! There was someone so bold! I was flabbergasted.
“Our stories are nothing. Almost every day I meet women who have been beaten up by their husbands/ fathers-in-law, who have been forced to have sex – either with them, or with someone else.
There are women who are verbally abused with sexual words almost every other minute, by their own family members, and they have nowhere else to go. They listen to all the shit and still live with them.
There are still others who are forced into prostitution, some who are tortured to an extent of mortal danger – mentally and physically, some by the society, but most are by their own family members. That’s when I realize there is so much to do in this world, so many women to save. I cannot rest”
And she smiled.
“Nadhiya, why do you think I should live? I guess, no matter what you say, I would have been better off dead than alive”
“Don’t be foolish Karthika. This is your life. Go live your life in your own way. Don’t let anyone take your happiness and freedom from you. Live to see the change you want to see in this world. I didn’t save you to go and ruin your life again. Go and save a few other women like you. Be a role model someone would want to emulate. I am not asking you to become a Mother Teresa overnight. Do what little you can, to the suffering women around you. Not much. Just a little. Very little. That should be enough. Give women the courage to be free. Give them the conviction to be independent.
I’ve done too much of talking. Now get out of my room, and be off with your life”
“Can I be with you and help you? I don’t want to go back home”
“I promised you that I will stop your wedding. Take my word. Please go back home. All will be well on September 3rd.”
“Wow.. Hey, one more question. How did you find me in the beach?”
“Last week you had entered your details in my website”
Oh, I had forgotten all about it. How funny to think that someone had considered my case seriously.