“I was 12 yrs old when I got married to my husband who was 16 that time”
I couldn’t believe my ears when she was telling me this….in this 21st century people are still living like this…my heart started aching while listening to her story.
This young woman works as a maid in my grandma’s house…she’s very clever and tactic...though an illiterate. she’s from mehboobnagar district of Andhra Pradesh
She continued…
“After I got married I came to this area…my husband is good to me unlike the others…..but he’s very fickle-minded …he keeps jumping from one job to the other...at first he was a mason...then a carpenter…then a butcher…then a factory worker…presently he’s working in a bakery….due to his instability…we are unable to feed ourselves and our children properly”.
For this I felt anger rising in me …I couldn’t stop myself from asking “why didn’t your parents see his background?”
With a high pitched laugh (that said I was speaking like a fool) she replied “who cares about his background…they just wanted to get rid of me…a girl is always a burden for her parents”
“Then?” I questioned…
“then…I became pregnant at the age of mmm…13 and 16”and for this my reaction was involuntary and unconscious”whaaa…pregnant?”(With an expression of disgust on my face)and she coolly replied”yaa..And again I am pregnant…I hope this time it’s a boy…the first two are girls…and my husband was not happy with me…ha “ayi maji”…chalo main chalti hoon…phir se ma dantegi”(my grandama shouted at her for not completing her work) …she slowly got up leaving me in a lot of confusion and disgust.
I immediately looked at my mother for some sort of explanation that could comfort me…but she just gave me weak smile...and that smile made me understand this bizarre world.
And that moment I sensed mixed feelings…happy that I wasn’t the victim of this horrible life…sad for this clever&beautiful lady whose talent is just …just wasted.
As I think more of it…I realize more pain….she was pregnant when she could hardly take care of herself…she’s the mother of two and is nourishing them without any knowledge of motherhood….she doesn’t know or even think or plan about the horrible future she’s going to face…..
With a deep sigh of anguish I slip into an uncomfortable sleep thinking about my country which is still in the clutches of child marriage…female infanticide…gender inequality…illiteracy…population explosion…And the mother of all these ....
IGNORANCE
