Daughters-in-law : Part 1
Story By Thiyam Ningol, Africa

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Asha always thought that she would get married only after getting a comfortable and secured job. But when she was told by her best friend's mother that she would love to see Asha as her daughter in law in their house, she was left in a dilemma.

Rehema, Asha's best friend had talked so much about her brother that Asha secretly started admiring him even before she saw him. Sometimes she even imagined Noor, Rehema's brother as her prince charming asking for her hand.

When Rehema's mother mentioned about her opinion, Asha was flushing-" by chance did I ever mention anything to Rehema about her brother? No it's impossible. I have never discussed about it with her. We always talked about job and being somebody before really tied to a family life. How did they read my mind?"

Suddenly she heard her own voice responding to Rehema's mother-" Aunty. Thank you for the consideration. But I will leave it to my parents to decide."

When she came back home, she cursed herself. " What have I done! I have destroyed all my dreams. That is not what I wanted to answer." But she had to admit, though unwillingly that somewhere in a far corner of her heart there was a soft spot for Rehema's brother.

Noor was among the first few students who studied aeronautic engineering. He passed with flying colours. He knew back at home, in his country, it would be very difficult to get a challenging job. So when he got the job offer, he accepted it and stayed in Europe.

After few years, his parents got the rumour that their son was staying with a European lady and they had a child. When they enquired directly, Noor denied. The family considered it a shameful act. They regarded Noor as the most obedient, most intelligent, most polite child. They used his name to discipline the younger siblings.

His parents wanted their son to have a proper, legal, traditional marriage with a bride of their choice. On his mother's insistence Noor agreed to come home for a short holiday. He suspected that his parents might be cooking up something. But he thought that if he could confront them directly, he would be able to stop them from whatever they were planning.

He was wrong.

Rehema introduced Asha to her brother. No doubt Noor noticed Asha's beuty, the intelligence and naivety. Actually he admired her. But his mother mistook it, misinterpreted. She concluded that her plan was going to work. She pleaded him to agree to the marriage arrangement.

Noor was frustrated. He was angered with the adamant nagging of his parents and he was reminded of the fact that his family with the European lady would remain illegitimate.
"O.K. If you want a daughter-in-law, I will agree to the marriage but she will
never be my wife. The rest will be your problem, not my duty to explain to her."

The marriage was arranged in a hurry. Asha was in her final year of B.Sc Nursing. She was promised that the in-laws would allow her to complete her studies after the marriage.

At the most prestigious moment of a girl's life time, Asha came to know that she was a pawn in a family crisis.

The marriage took place as the families expected. Both bride's and groom's families were congratulated, praised and blessed.

When almost all the guests had left, Noor entered his bed room where his bride was sitting in the middle of their king size bed, anticipating the moments of the first day of her marriage. The room was filled with the sweet aroma of perfumes, emitted from the body of Asha and her garments. The atmosphere was tempting, tantalizing. But Noor was not affected. He came in to announce his victory.

" Asha, do not blame me. You are married to the family, not to me. I will never accept you as my wife. Knowing that I have a family, still you accepted to the marriage. You are as guilty as myself in the whole plan. I am leaving after few minutes and do not plan to come back again. Good bye."

Without giving a chance for Asha even to open her mouth, he stormed out of the room.

Asha was dumbfounded. She looked at Noor as if to confirm that the words she was hearing was really coming from the mouth of the man whom she wedded just few moments ago. She stretched out her hands to motion him to stop. Her eyes were filled with tears, the vision became clouded. She had the glimpse of a shadow moving out of the room. She wiped her tears and looked around. Nobody. So truly it was not a shadow, it was her wedded husband who left her without even touching her.

Echoes of the words which Noor had just spoken repeated again and again till it deafened her. She put her palms around her ears to stop hearing the echoes, closed her eyes, and clenched her teeth. Still the echoes became louder and louder. It appeared all the walls of the room were echoing the same words repeatedly. The echoes increased, turned to a roar, then a violent bang and Asha lost consciousness. Her limp body dropped on the bed.

To be continued....