"Happy Married Life, Shivya Pathak" I weakly smiled seeing my condition, mangalsutra dangling in my neck, vermilion in hair and both hands filled with gold bangles.
"Come out quickly or do you want me to break the gate," my husband knocked again...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"I am sure you must have seen such things at least once in your life. Then why don't you raise your hand at me, Zamindar Sahab?"
Vedant looked at her as if the thought itself had stunned him "I cannot even imagine hurting you," he replied immediately, his voice low but firm with sincerity.
"When tears appear in your eyes, I feel as if I have committed the darkest sin simply by standing there and witnessing them."
His gaze did not waver as he continued speaking. "If it were in my power, I would not even let you know what crying feels like, not even once in your entire life. And you think I could ever raise my hand on you? Not even in the ugliest nightmare my mind could create."
Shivya felt the familiar sting of tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away, refusing to let them fall.
"Hitting women, using them whenever it is convenient, trapping them within invisible boundaries created by society," she said slowly, "all those things are also considered parts of masculinity in the same way people say that men should never cry. So why not?"
Vedant felt anger rising inside him as he listened to her words, but the anger was not directed at her. It was directed toward the people and the system that had made her believe such things.
"Disrespecting women in daily life while worshipping the same form of women as goddesses during festivals has never made sense to me," he said, his voice carrying restrained frustration.
"Hurting someone cannot be called masculinity, and I will never accept that idea. People created these so-called traditions and taboos only to control women and to feel superior to them.There is nothing honorable about that."
Shivya listened carefully before responding. "Just like hurting women is a patriarchal taboo," she said calmly, "the belief that men do not cry is also a patriarchal taboo." Vedant looked at her with curiosity as she continued explaining.
"You cannot treat a human being like a doormat simply because you are a man and she happens to be a woman, and in the same way you cannot deny another human being the right to feel emotions simply because he was born male." Her tone remained steady as she spoke. "Both of these ideas come from the same place, a system that tries to decide how people should behave based only on their gender."
"They tells men that they must always appear strong, always in control, and never vulnerable, while at the same time it tells women that they must endure everything silently." She shook her head slowly. "But none of that is real strength."
"It is simply fear," she continued. "Fear of admitting that men are also human beings who feel pain, sadness, and helplessness just like anyone else."
After a moment she asked quietly, "Tell me something honestly."
Vedant nodded. "Do you think I am weak because I cry?" The question caught him completely off guard.
"Of course not," he answered immediately "I adore you, Sona."
