When It Rains

Cool Breeze

One day the Mysterious room was not closed.  Its door was half opened, Anand slowly slowly entered into the room.  Room was dark.  In a husky voice he asked,  "anybody here?"

Silence was the answer. He found a girl was sitting in the corner of the room. He closed the room and on the light.  A chocolate color skinned girl.  Her appearance said, she was Tamilian.  To confirm it Anand asked in Tamil. "Yaaru nee?  Unka perenna? Bhayappedathu. Naan unne onnume seyyathu" (Who are you? What is your name.  Don't be scared. I won't do anything to hurt you)  When she heard this, she started talking in Tamil.

"Are you Tamil? Me too brother.  I am Abhirami.  I don't know how long I have been here.  Which place is this?"  She asked a lot of questions.  Her face and hands had bruises . But she had a very innocent face.  Anand asked her; 

"How old you are?  How you reached here?"

"When I opened my eyes in this dark room firstly, I was seventeen . But now I don't know, how old I am. May be eighteen or nineteen.  My husband sold me. "

"Your husband, are you married?  But you said you were only seventeen when you came here. How could you be married before eighteen.  It is illegal marriage.  Law does not permit it. You were not an adult. How was that possible"

"Brother, are you not a Tamil.  Are you malayali? (Keralite) "

Anand said "Yes"

"Brother, in your place everything happens as per law.  But in Tamilnadu, rural areas are still in dark. No law reaches there.  I got married when I was fifteen.  I completed my tenth standard and was waiting for my result.  I wanted to study brother.  I wanted to be an school teacher.  But my parents and family arranged my marriage.  I cried and begged to stop it.  Then I tried to commit suicide.  Still they stood on their decision.  But, they agreed for one thing.  They gave me permission to study even after my marriage.  My husband also agreed it.  Do you know who was my husband?" 

Anand said a "No" to Abhirami's question. 

"My mother's own brother.  My maman.  He is twenty years elder than me"

Anand knew about this Tamil custom.  He had Tamil friends.  There girls will get married to their own maternal uncle.  In Kerala that custom happens between own cousins.  Then suddenly Anand remember about Anu.  "Anu is my cousin sister , my customary wife.  How could it possible?   She is my sister, my own sister.  Complicated Indian customs makes me insane"

Here Abhirami is another victim of such wild customs. 

She continued, "My husbands says, I am not capable of giving him a child.  He wanted to gave up me.  We consulted a doctor. She said,  I was too young to get pregnant.  I had no problems.  Wait for some more time.  She told him to wait until I become seventeen.  He would torture me, would slap me, and he made my life hell. But  brother still I continued my study.  I passed my Plus two.  I wanted to continue my studies.  I told him ," I want to become a school ടീച്ചർ. He denied that.  He started torturing.  Physically and mentally.  And I understood he had a chinnaveedu (mistress).  He would spent more time with her than with me.  And she got pregnant.  Everyone knew that it was his child.  I became a joke for people.  Few people had sympathy.  Few people cursed me.  He asked divorce from me.  I said, I won't give divorce.  Because my parents said, it was my fault. They said they won't accept me back to their home. They forced me to  stay with my husband.  I was so helpless. I was equal to an orphan.  He wouldn't give anything to me.  I had nothing to eat .  So I started taking tuitions to small kids.  When he knew about this he came and beat me with belt.  I told him, I will go to police and will give complaint against him.   And his attitude changed.  He started loving me.  One day he said, he wanted to compensate me for his cruelty.  He arranged a trip with me . We went  Delhi, Agra , Amruthsar.  We had done shopping.  I was in heaven.  But I never expected such a betrayal from him"  She paused and Wept.