The Story of an Indian Wife

1

1970s,
Small village of Rajasthan.

"Didi, you look beautiful in this wedding dress" complemented the girl to the bride who was looking at her reflection in the mirror.

"You will look more beautiful than me on your wedding day Meera,"Bride cupped her chin in her fingers, making the girl blush.

---

"Jamaisa's maternal aunt's family has asked for Meera's hand for their son." Sadhya's father said to his younger brother.

"But? How?" Asked the later as he was shocked for this sudden proposal.

"They saw Meera in Sandhya's marriage and liked her for their son".

Meera's father was in deep thoughts.  His daughter has still one month to turn eighteen.

"Don't think much  Shyam. He is the mukhya of ramgarh, Abhiraj Shekhawath."

"How will we stand in front of their standard bhaisa. And meera is not even eighteen ".

"Shyam, meera will be eighteen till the time of marriage. And if we deny for this proposal then maybe sadhya will have to face the consequences ".

---

"What was jethji saying?" Shyam's wife asked him in their room.

"We have got a marriage proposal for Meera"

  "what about the family and the groom?" Shyam's wife asked.

"The proposal is from Sadhya's husband maternal side. And the groom is the mukhya of ramgarh. "

"What? Our laddo had got proposal from the big family. She will be happy there." Shyam's wife said in excitement.
Then she noticed stress lines on her husband forehead.

"What happened? You look stressed. Didn't you liked the proposal ?"

"Everything is good about the family. But..."

"If everything is okay then why there is space for buts.."

"Umm..the groom is thirty two years old." As soon as shyam uttered this, his wife kept hand on her mouth in shock.

"Bhaisa said if we deny this proposal. Sadhya will be misbehaved in her sasural".

Shyam's wife adjusted her pallu over the head," I am saying the age gap is common among husband and wife. Even you and me have four years of gap. If we marry our laddo in their family, she will get all the luxury and happiness that we could never give her" she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. " we cannot get a match like this for daughter."

Shyam knew his wife was right. They only had a ancestral home which was a kuccha house and some four acres of field which was divided among him and his brother.

They were poor and had a big family to nurture, with four children. If some year their crops failed, even the two times food was hard for them. And if the crops were good, they only had  enough food for the year. But they couldn't afford anything other than basic necessity in their life for their daughter.

They even had to stop her schooling due to lack of money.

Marrying off their daughter to the mukhya will give them the satisfaction that atleast their eldest daughter is living a good life.