Chapter 11

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 17:03:12 +0000

The afternoon sun filtered through the gaps in our tin roof, creating patterns of light and shadow across the dusty floor of our small courtyard. I sat on a low wooden stool.Around me, women from the village filled the courtyard with noise—bright, bubbling laughter and clinking bangles and gossip delivered between breaths of song. Their joy felt like it belonged to another universe. I could hear them, see them, even smell the jasmine oil in their braids, but it was as if I were separated from them by an invisible glass wall. Their world of celebration, of marriage as festivity, did not touch me. I was sitting in the same courtyard I had played in as a child, yet I felt more alone than I’d ever been.My hands lay limp in my lap. Pale. Cold. Too light. Like they were missing something vital—maybe blood, maybe hope.The mehndi artist-a middle-aged woman named Kamla Devi who traveled from village to village for weddings-had set up her workspace beside me. Her basket overflowed with fresh mehndi cones, their tips sealed with plastic, the dark green paste inside smelling of mehndi leaves and something earthy.The courtyard had been decorated since morning. Mummy had strung up marigold garlands on her own—her fingers nimble, her face blank, her shoulders stiff. The garlands hung like sagging chains, their petals already drooping under the sun. A red cloth spread across the center of the courtyard had become the women’s gathering spot, and they sat on it in clusters, swaying as they sang. Their voices rose in bittersweet waves:“Mehndi ki raat hai, dulhan ki baarat hai…”(It's the night of mehndi, the bride's procession...)Their voices rose and fell, celebratory, joyous, completely oblivious to the reality of what this marriage meant.I wondered if they even heard the words they sang. If they felt the weight of them. Or if for them, marriage songs had become just tradition—emptied of meaning, repeated like breath.I looked at my mother across the courtyard. She was forcing a smile, serving chai to the neighbors, playing the role of the happy mother of the bride. But I could see the exhaustion in her eyes, the way her hands shook slightly when she poured the tea. When her gaze flicked to me, something raw and aching flashed through her eyes before she buried it again beneath hostess politeness.She knew. She understood. And she hated herself for it.Papa wasn’t here. He had vanished into the fields at dawn with a sickle over his shoulder, not even waiting for breakfast. I imagined him walking between rows of dying sugarcane, avoiding people, avoiding questions, avoiding me.I didn't blame him. I would have run too, if I could.Little Mohan sat in the corner, playing with a stick, occasionally glancing at me with confused eyes. He was too young to understand why his sister looked like she was attending a funeral instead of her own mehndi ceremony."Bitiya," Kamla Devi said softly, her weathered hands reaching for mine. "Haath dikhao. Mehndi lagane ka time ho gaya."(Daughter, show me your hands. It's time to apply the mehndi.)I extended my hands mechanically. They felt like they belonged to someone else-like I was watching this scene from outside my body.She picked up a cone, tested the flow on a piece of paper, then looked at me with teasing eyes.“Batao na, dulhe ka naam kahan chhupaun?” Kamla Devi chuckled. “Aise jagah likhungi ki pehli raat ko bechaara khojta hi reh jaaye!”(Tell me, where should I hide the groom’s name? I’ll put it somewhere he’ll keep searching for the entire first night!)The first night.The words sent ice through my veins. I thought of Devraj-his massive hands, his predatory eyes, the way he'd touched me.The first night would be the beginning of my real captivity."Nahi," I heard myself say, my voice barely above a whisper. "Koi naam nahi."(No. No name.)Kamla Devi blinked, surprised. The chatter around us died down slightly. Women exchanged glances."Par beta, yeh toh-"(But child, this is-)"Maine kaha na, koi naam nahi," I repeated, my voice firmer now. A small rebellion. A tiny, meaningless act of defiance that wouldn't change anything but made me feel, for just a moment, like I still had some control.(I said no name.)Gasps. Raised eyebrows. A quiet, sharp whisper: Zid pe utar aayi hai ladki.She’s being stubborn.Let them think that. Let them think it was childishness or rebellion. Only I knew it was survival. The smallest flicker of autonomy I had left.The mehndi artist shrugged, as if to say your wedding, your rules, and began applying the paste in simple, beautiful patterns-peacocks and flowers and paisleys, but no letters. No name. No claim written on my skin in green ink.As she worked, I watched the mehndi cone move across my palm, leaving dark trails that would later stain my skin deep orange. Each stroke felt like a countdown. Each completed pattern brought me closer to the moment when I would no longer be Meera Rathi but Mrs. Devraj Singh.The women resumed their singing, but I tuned them out. Instead, I tuned them out and let my senses anchor me: the cloying sweetness of marigolds, the gritty heat of the dirt floor, the distant hum of a tractor returning from the fields, the slow drip of water from the hand pump into a nearby bucket.Each moment felt like it was imprinting itself onto me, as if my mind knew I needed to memorize this place—this house, this identity—before it was stripped away.Hours passed. The mehndi dried on my hands, cracking slightly, the paste turning darker as it oxidized. Kamla Devi had done beautiful work-intricate patterns that covered my hands from fingertips to wrists, extending up my forearms in delicate vines and flowers.So beautiful.So wrong.So unwanted.As evening fell, the women began to leave. Mummy served them leftover sweets, thanked them for coming, accepted their blessings with folded hands. I sat there, hands extended, waiting for the mehndi to be scraped off, for the real color to emerge.By the time the last guest left, it was nearly dark. The courtyard felt suddenly empty, the discarded marigold petals and paper plates scattered across the ground like debris after a storm.“Meera, beta,” Mummy said softly, bringing over a bowl of lemon-sugar mixture. Her voice trembled as she crouched beside me. “Haath dikha.”(Show me your hands.)She applied the mixture carefully, her fingers gentle against mine. For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then, so quietly I almost didn't hear:"Main jaanti hoon yeh kitna mushkil hai."(I know how difficult this is.)I looked at her, and for the first time in weeks, I saw real acknowledgment in her eyes. Not platitudes about how lucky I was, not reminders about duty and family. Just... understanding."Mummy," I whispered, "main nahi jaana chahti."(I don't want to go.)Her eyes filled with tears. "Main jaanti hoon, beta. Par..."(I know, child. But...)She didn't finish. She didn't need to. We both knew there was no but that would change anything.After the mehndi was sealed, Mummy made dinner-simple dal and roti. Papa came home from the fields, looking older than I'd ever seen him. Mohan chattered about something a friend had said at school. “Meera, khana lo,” Mummy said gently, pushing a plate toward me.(Meera, eat some food.)I shook my head. “Bhuk nahi hai.”(I’m not hungry.)I didn’t mean for my voice to sound so flat, but it did—like someone else was speaking through me.Mummy frowned. “Thoda sa toh—”(At least a little—)“Mummy,” I repeated quietly, “nahi.”Papa’s jaw tightened. He didn’t speak—he rarely spoke these days—but he looked at my untouched plate for a long moment before shifting his gaze away, shame tightening the lines on his face.They didn’t push me further.Maybe they knew forcing food into me wouldn’t fill the hollow inside.Maybe they understood that hunger was the one thing I could still control.They finished their dinner quickly—Mummy barely tasting the food, Papa chewing mechanically, Mohan swinging his legs under the charpai as he talked. The clatter of steel plates echoed in the small room like loose coins dropped into an empty well.After dinner, Mohan washed his hands at the hand pump and Mummy cleaned the kitchen.After finishing work, Mummy announced, “Aaj jaldi so jao. Kal se bohot kaam hai shaadi ke liye.”(Sleep early today. From tomorrow, there’s a lot of work for the wedding.)Work for a wedding I did not want.I nodded. But I already knew, sleep would not come. Not tonight. Maybe not for the next two days. Maybe not for the rest of my life.