E is for Emancipated

Apr 5
NabanitaDhar
Diya stood in the kitchen looking at the mess that it was from her sister-in-law’s birthday party last night.

She just stood there half awake thinking about the long day ahead, full of cooking and cleaning.

For some reason today she wished to be with her mom, wake up in her own time and be taken care of for a change. It was then that her reverie was broken by a shrill cry “Diya you’re late with the tea again!”

It was her mother-in-law and as she looked at the time Diya knew she was in trouble now. But still she answered “Just give me 5 minutes mom” and began washing the cups for tea after setting the water to boil.

As she was hurriedly brewing tea, her sister-in-law Jaya called out to her “Diya where are my ironed clothes? I’m late for college. And where’s my breakfast!”

But before she could answer there was another call to her name and this time it was her husband.”Diya can’t you do one thing right? I told you to iron the white shirt today not the blue one!”

But this time she didn’t run out of the kitchen to yield to their demands like other days. For some reason today she felt the urge to shut them all out.

Diya turned off the gas, walked out of the kitchen with the rest of her family yelling from the various rooms and entered her room.

She shut the door behind her which led her husband who was now in the hall to come back yelling as he pounded at the door saying “Open the door. What do you think you are doing? This is not the time for your emotional crap. Go do your work!”

Five minutes and then ten and ultimately an hour passed but there was no response from Diya.

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Jaya even speculated Diya committing suicide saying “What if she kills herself? Who will cook for us then?”

As Diya’s husband, her sister-in-law and mother-in-law stood anxiously outside the door not worried for Diya’s safety but for their unease, the door suddenly flung open and there stood Diya. She was in a jeans, something she hadn’t worn ever since marriage as her mother-in-law as against it. She had a suitcase packed. And as she walked out she stopped to face her husband and said “Good bye. This is how far we could go together. Today I get emancipated from this pointless life that I’d been leading with you!”

And then Diya walked out of the door to a life of possibilities to live like she wanted to while her husband and his family looked on.

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E is for feeling emancipated….and that’s the tone of today’s tale…

Linking this post for A to Z Challenge. As I promised in the theme reveal post, as part of the Challenge I’m going to write short stories with one or more emotions beginning with the alphabet of the day as the prompt or central idea for the post. Hope you enjoy the challenge!

Linking this to UBC too.

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Many of my blogger friends are also taking part in a host of challenges this month. Shower some love on them, won’t you? Oh Please ! You know we bloggers are suckers for comments 🙂
iamstri. Aditi Kaushiva, Amrit Rukhaiyaar, Ananya Tales, Shilpa Garg, Richa Singh, Suzy Que, Corinne Rodrigues, Vidya Sury, Sfurti Sinha, Nibha from Expressions, Shailaja V, Kajal Kapur’s Moviemassala, Sulekha Rawat, Debbie, Beloo Mehra, Swathi Shenoy,Prasanna Rao, Rajlakshmi, Sitara Nair, Kathy Combs, Jayanta

Phew! If I missed tagging you, please shout out here 🙂

47 thoughts on “E is for Emancipated”

  1. Honestly, I don't know why she had put up with the nonsense for that long. I guess even in torrid times, she had hope that all would end well, till she had enough! Brilliant story again, Naba.

  2. i feel so happy wen sum one stands up for themselves.. n ryt nw am happy for Diya! she shudnt have put up with the whole thing in the first place! bt am glad that she atleast realised it n walked out 🙂
    btw diya was the name of my D story protagonist 😀

  4. Love the tone of today's tale!! Hope more women find the strength to say that bye!!

  5. The way you started , I felt why did you use such weak character and towards the end she just Roared 🙂

  6. Good for her and good for everyone who is in such a situation to take inspiration and take control of their lives. Good post girl!

  10. Hmm…that was one bold step for Diya. I can't help but wonder many years from now how she will look back on this day and what she will think of her decision….maybe another story coming there? Nabanita 🙂

  11. The last line was mind blowing 🙂 I guess MILs forget that once they were also daughters in law and SILs forget that they would be soon one …..but what can we say about these kind of husbands who simply don't have something ….called a heart .

  18. this one needs to be read by few ppl whom I know. Hope every one shows such courage ! But is it so easy ? I dont think so ;(

  19. Standing up for oneself is not something that everyone can do, especially when faced with 3 people who act like monsters 🙂 But I'm glad that Diya did it. Now I am thankful that my life is no where like Diya's 🙂

  20. That's the height of selfishness!! It was really good that Diya simply walked out.. rather than bear all the crap that was being handed over to her!!!! Nice Post!!

  22. Cheers for Diya. So many women the world over are working so hard without a shred of recognition. Wish we had more Diya's around.

  24. Diya is my kinda girl, loved her exit line but why did she wait so long? Maybe hoping to change the minds of her family members, bless her.

  25. Three cheers for Diya! Glad she packed up and left that life of hell. She didn't deserve to be their servant.

  29. Enough of those relationships….that try to survive on mean ends…an appropriate step taken by Diya….

  30. This post is full of positiveness. It filled me with joy and pride. I feel very sorry for those who can't speak for themselves. Every woman should be as strong as Diya. A powerful read 🙂

  34. I love it when people take control of their lives…such power and determination it requires. A nice story to display that.

  39. Yes good for her. Better late than never. There is nothing wrong in doing household work. What is wrong is in the unfair expectations because of a specific gender and lack of respect for the work.

  40. Yes good for her. Better late than never. There is nothing wrong in doing household work. What is wrong is in the unfair expectations because of a specific gender and lack of respect for the work.

  42. Wow! Such an amazing end… After reading it I felt there is no problem in life. It is all in our mind, we can walk out of such circumstances. Is is really possible in real life? Your idea can give some sufferers a relief for sure and may be some courage! 🙂

  43. YEY for Diya … she was so mistreated. I loved that powerful ending! It can be scary, but sometimes we have to break up and do some bold moves – in order to be happy. It makes me feel a bit sad also as I think of for all the women who are in bad relationships and who do not have the courage of Diya… Nicely told:-)

  44. Happens in almost every Indian households, the woman is treated like a machine, as if she doesn't have her own life!

  46. Loved the way you ended your post ! Hats off to divya for taking that decision, very few are like diya… there are many more diya's who are bound by fear, anxiety, worry – about what x or y will think, and end living in bondage ! great post !

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