The Woman My Grandmother Loved.

Chapter Twenty-two

1976, India.

In a list compiled by Amnesty International about parliamentarians in jail, India has the highest number behind bars. A total of 59 were jailed.

A narrow escape for the IA-Boeing 737 plane after its 66 passengers and crew returned to Delhi's Palam airport after being hijacked a day before on September 11th.

Miss Naina Balsaver withdraws from the Miss World contest in a stand against South Africa's apartheid with their two contestants- one black and the other white.

Ruksana Sultana, following encouragement by Sanjay Gandhi to work in the walled city area of The Capital, initiated 13000 vasectomies.

Indian Cricket Team beats West Indies at the Port of Spain.

Goodbye with Taahira was so different than it had been with Becky.

It had been over a year (with all that had happened) and Taahira found herself making her way to Anita's house. It had been a frequent occurrence these past months. With her cousin who worked alongside Anita, she had found herself claiming that she needed the exposure. There was no need for any career-oriented exposure because she was soon to be married. She wouldn't be working after she got married; a pity, she thought. She would've made a brilliant scientist; but it wouldn't do to outshine her husband now, would it? The man she was engaged to was a physicist; a brilliant mind and a bit of a recluse. She had been introduced to his younger brother first. The younger brother had been extroverted and loud; which usually worked well in parties and social gatherings. Her soon-to-be husband Mahendra had sat in the corner, smiling only occasionally completely uninterested in the comings and goings.

Taahira was a clever girl, calculative and smart, she hid it well beneath demure nature. And silently, she managed to rebuff the younger brother's advances and convince her parents that it was Mahendra that she would be better suited to. They weren't very pleased about their daughter wanting to marry him and subject herself to a life of solitude. After all, they had hoped that marrying her off to Mahendra's gregarious younger brother would make her a bigger hit in the social circles. Parents don't really realize that children are by themselves whole and not just an extension of their parents. People tend to get corrupt with power; parents do as well, which is why good children often end up as anxious adults.

The constant meddling of an overbearing parent can be more detrimental than beneficial. And Taahira realized that if she allowed it, her parents would always have a problem with some aspect of her. It had started with 'be quiet', 'be polite', 'be nice' when she was little which had now suddenly transformed to 'be charming', 'smile prettier', and 'be louder'. But we are who we are and to preserve that, we need to run away at times.

With Mahendra, she could envision a submissive spouse who would keep to himself and not demand much from her. This was a gamble at best, for all she knew he could be a raging alcoholic but she was willing to take the risk. Leaving would always be a better option than staying had ever been.

And then there was Anita. The gorgeous coworker, her cousin had spoken so much about. 

She had at first looked away of course, but it hadn't done much to ease the flush she felt.

Taahira had always known she liked women. And as she grew older, it resulted in more heartache than she could take and ended up making her cold and silent. She would get angry at best friends for going on dates and they would often mistake it for jealousy. No, Taahira had wanted to say, I don't want to go on a date with your greasy boyfriend. I just hate it that he's the one you're getting dressed up for. And not me.

But you cannot explain these things. Initially, she had trouble explaining it to herself. Maybe she was jealous of her friends getting dates? It was possible, wasn't it? It would make more sense.