Gin and the Dowry Land
In the slum of Saroornagar was Nina , sweating profusely ,
sauté her tomato curry and rolling
chapatis four by four kitchen. No sooner did she take a pinch of salt to add up
in her curry than she felt sharp pain. She gasped for a minute and moved to her
right to blow over the wound. She unintentionally tilted the roller which
rolled down over the thali. There was a bang , the flour was all over the
kitchen. She coughed the flour, sneezed for a while and then began to dust her
hair, which were totally coated by the flour.
While dusting her clothes she found a pale tale like thing
making sweeping movements on the ground. When she raised her head , she saw an extra-terrestrial creature more
like a Gin. Nina did not know what had happened. For she attempted to stand,
but found that something had happened to prevent her from doing this. Sitting
down in an upright foot was severed from the ankle. This discovery did not
shock her much as she was used to these pains. For as she could feel pain, she examined every portion of her body.
Seeing the Gin staring at her, she shouted to him for assistance.
"Have some water, lady. "said the creature
gaily."You have wasted enough flour." smiled the Gin . "Tell me
who the hell are you?" yelled Nina aggressively."My name is Zoraver
Otteoman Oudhwan Midasi. You can call me zoom .Look at you lips they are
terribly bruised. Your fingers all wounded. Its very surprising to see a stern
lady like you facing a weird creature with so much courage."
"Its none of your business , you cursed creature! I
expect you to disappearance to be as swift as your appearance."She
yelled."I read minds young lady." said Zoom. There was a moment of
silence . She later admitted about the torments she had to bear as her husband
harassed her for dowry."I had a misconception that women in nuclear
families do not face the dowry issues. But the evil resides in the minds of
people irrespective of the relation." She went on blabbering.
If I were a man , I would refuse the dowry beforehand .Its
such a good for nothing thing. In a speck of time, her long plaited hair
disappeared . Now she wore a bobbed look. Her clean spotless smooth face now
had hairy texture. She now had a handlebar moustache. Her two meter long saree
got transformed into a loose dhoti which she soon fixed. Her deep necked blouse
was now a loose kurta. She was astonished at the proceedings. There was long
silence in the room. Zoom decided not to question her. Her little ratty face
went absolutely went blank and she now he sat blank and staring at the mirror.
"Now you are identified as Narendra Kumar. Never reveal
this incident to anybody. Go try making a change. Marry a girl without Dowry
and make you living." Said Zoom.
Meanwhile Arun ,
Nina's husband was a gambler , an alcoholic and a chain smoker. On his way home
he decided to lit off his cigarettes. He threw it on the right side of the path
.Little did he take in notice of the stock of the straw near the stable located
there. The spark of the cigarette soon began to spread, he raised his leg to
put it off, just then the spark turned into huge flame and Zoom appeared. He
offered to fulfill Arun's wishes if he let him set ablaze the whole stable.
Arun , an ever greedy gamble agreed. The stable was burnt to ashes.
Zoom now came to Arun , amused at first understood and was
perfectly willing. Arun said, "I want to wish , dreadfully. I have a vague
and delightful feeling now.I wish to marry the most beautiful lady in the city
as I have had enough marital and financial problems so far. The second wish is
that I want her to be the daughter of the most
wealthy merchant in the city .Zoom smiled, then raised his voice saying,
As you wish young man!
Arun found himself in the groom's seat dressed up as a
groom. His foul body odor was now a pleasant fragrance. He was on his toes
drooling. The bride adored him. The food in the wedding was sumptous. He was
romping around in his new in-law mansion. Soon the caresses annoyed him , the
softness of his bed nauseated him. He turned so fat that he developed a feeling
of disgust for himself. He got back to casinos for gambling . His father-in-law
was greatly annoyed by this. Gradually , he began to set a limit for his
expenditure.
At one instance he lost a huge deal of money to his
opponent."Pshaw.I will win plenty other deals. After a game that lasted
for an hour, he lost the game. He jumped onto the table and snatched the money.
His opponent gave him a terrific wallop across his back with a billiard stick .
He dropped the money, cursed rather vulgarly and escaped. He went to the palace
heavily drunk.
Arun slipped on the slimy floor , hardly did he reach his
bedroom , than he began to tremble."What's the problem in one's son-in-law
money to spend . At least when his image is at stalk." said he."It is
foolish to spend on a gambler when he begins to loose . "She
retorted."Loose? You call me a loser? "There was a moment of silence.
" You annoying woman! you and your annoying family .A bucket full of water
from an ocean hardly makes any difference. But you people are from the lineage
of misers!"
He pulled her hair violently, slapped her and pushed her so
hard that her head banged to the mirror and she began to bleed. She fell dead
due to profuse blood loss.
The furious old man in no time called up the police. Arun
was now charged for murder. Arun was behind the bars handcuffed. His cellmate
tried to console him by saying it was necessary to wait and have patience.
Nina now Narendra struggled to find a job. He then married
Meghana , a girl with modern outlook against all irrelevant customs and
traditions . The marriage was a small affair without any extravagance. Meghana was an extravagant
woman. Narendra after a lot of struggle
got a job in an IT firm. Being a housewife Nina was not skilled enough to
secure a job with handsome pay. Everyday posed as a new challenge for him or
her. With a lot of patience and wisdom
he kept managing the things. The
landlord had been troubling Narendra for the rent as well as the deposit for his rented house.
Narendra kept delaying things till the day when he finally made up twenty
thousand rupees cash .Meghana spent Narendra's hard earned twenty thousand
rupees for a charity. Things went out of proportion when she began to argue
with Narendra for her rights as a life partner.
“ This is "MY" money, hard earned money! It took a lot of time to
make up an amount for rent and you Miss Philanthropist gave it for the purpose
charity? How foolish was that? Go get some money from your Daddy dearest's
place if you wish to spend so extravagantly.I would ask nothing then.”
Meghana equally furious shot back.” I believed you to be a
man of high ideals. Now as you have now demanded dowry, you shall face the
circumstances.”Are you crazy? Dowry? Have you lost it? The argument grew worse and worse. Then by
the peak of the time they began to abuse one another. Narendra lost his temper
and slapped Meghana , locked her up in a room and asked her to keep quiet. He
was worried about the rent, he already had enough debts on his name. Once he
unlocked his wife,she rushed to the police station and lodged a complaint against
NarenPra alleging that he was demanding dowry. Narendra or Nina was in the
locker in no time.
She was in a corner weeping, His inmates were surprised as
it was not a usual sight to see a man weep so much with grief. She realized
what her husband was through.
In a blink of time , they both found themselves in the same
place. Nina rubbed her eyes , coughed one more time, she found nothing but a
mess of flour on the ground. She yelled "Zooom! Zoraver blah blah whatever
your name is!" She found nobody around .Meanwhile, Arun stood there scratching
his head. The spark of the cigarette was as small as an emerald. He immediately
put off with his leather shoe. Once he was home, the couple exchanged their
experiences or dreams with one another.
Nina realized that a revolution against dowry has nothing to
do with the gender but the change is to be brought in the minds of people. She determined that she would work hard to
add Up to her husband's wallet instead of troubling her parents /husband. Arun
realized that the world's treasure would fall short once you fall in the
clutches of gambling and extravagance. He also realized that it was his
addiction to alcohol and gambling that led him to murder his wife in his dreams
at least. He apologized to Nina , who soon forgave him understanding his
miseries. Nina began to work from home while Arun gave up gambling. The
domestic violence steadily reduced and totally vanished from the household.
Zoom was on his job finding some other grief stuck couple so
that he could counsel them in their dreams at least.
I would like to conclude saying that the money has nothing
to do with the dowry . It is the patience and
the mutual understanding that plays a major role in maintaining the
peace of the house.
Everything has a first time. I was never amongst the story making child nor a narrator in child hood. So , when I thought I should shake in a leg here . I did. And Tadaaaaaaaaaaaa! THE STORY IS HERE!
Do let me know how it is :) Criticism is welcome
Enjoy and let enjoy!
