Scribbles by Sudhansh

You’re given two roads to walk on. One goes all the way down to a crowded hall where the music is loud enough to have your ears feel stabbed and people, they’re acting in a way you are not accustomed to see human beings act. The atmosphere cringes you unconscious while a brash young woman pushes you leading to an altercation between the two of you. You feel like running away at the very first opportunity you get.

The window was wide open and sparrows outside on the branches of the java plum tree celebrated their existence because their species wouldn’t be existing twenty years from now when Raman would sit around questioning himself. As of then, they chirped and fled from one branch to another. Anyone back then would’ve felt serene by looking outside at the lotus filled pond and ducks moving around looking for something to prey on. But Trisha’s heart was too heavy to notice any of that. In fact, she was wondering why didn’t her family reply to the letters she sent? Were they too convinced that she had been married right or had they decided to leave her suffering the way she was? No, papa wouldn’t do that. Not him. He wasn’t one of those who would leave their daughter to her in-laws once she gets married. He was a man of principles who wouldn’t let any sort of trouble get in his daughter’s way regardless of whether she was married or not. Her three year old son was loved by all, her husband was the most respected man in the village then why did she get the treatment she was getting? She had her own flaws of course. Flaws like not sharing her things, not waking up on time like other daughter-in-laws. Getting insecure on every second thing but that didn’t seem too much considering everything was so new to her. Amma hit her with a broom when she refused to bring water from the well. She was menstruating. Why didn’t they ever try to understand her and look at things from her viewpoint? 

Mohan was unarguably the most popular among all the lads of his generation. His job was hectic and that’s why he had married a woman who was college educated and wise. When he met Trisha for the first time, he was taken aback by her wit and articulate nature. He had decided on the spot that she was going to be the woman of his house. He was sure that his sister Sravani would love spending time with her and his mother would fit perfectly enough as well. What really happened was the opposite. Trisha refused to fit in the family. She’d wake up late and be reluctant to do the household chores. She would keep herself detached from any of the family members. When Amma hit her with a broom, she stared at her as if she was all set to return the favour but fortunately she didn’t. He couldn’t understand what he was supposed to do to make things right. His friends poked him for not being man enough and handling everything the way all of it was supposed to be handled. He was slowly sliding into a depressed state. He tried to talk to her about it but Trisha always said that she had given up on his family. It’s been four years since their marriage and all of it seemed to be crumbling down in a short time span as such.

Sravani never had a sister and thus, a sister-in-law was all she wanted to be her companion, her friend and her second mother but all her expectations had crumbled down to mud in the last four years. Initially, it seemed like they’d develop a great bond but as time passed she accepted the fact that Trisha was not the right woman for her brother and if he remains married then she’ll either toxify his brain or drive him mad. Sravani couldn’t believe what that woman wrote in all those letters she told her to post. As if she was about to wage a war against her own in-laws. She thus kept all the letters to herself in order to avoid any sort of conflict between both the families. She had begun to hate her as much as she loved her three year old child.

Three years old Cheeku was loved by all of them as much as his family members were indifferent to each other. He played with everyone and like his father was popular among his little peers. One fine evening, he ran to his mother to ask for some money. The pheriwala had arrived and he was in no mood to resist his urge of having some sweets. As he entered the room, he saw Trisha Ma lying on the cot in quite an unusual state.

The second road leads you to a place that’s pitch dark and quiet. The darkness isn’t merely around you. Gradually, it starts consuming you in a way that you start being a part of it. It assimilates deep inside of you and you feel it spreading its legs apart inside your existence. You no longer remember the warmth of your lover’s touch or the affection your mother showered upon you or the old man who smiled at you the other day.

Walking on the first road might seem difficult. It might have thorns that may run through your ankle. The loud music in the hall may drive you mad and the woman who pushed you might go a step further to push you again. Is the darkness, then, worth it?

Yes!

Even if the music is shut down on your first request? Even if you smile at the woman who pushes you and she proceeds to smile back? Even if the same evil people turn into something lively with a single conversation? Although, these might just be metaphors but there is barely any trouble in the world that demands your existence as a solution.