Cupid never had a chance in their messy, parental-restricted love story
Karishma Jha, a twenty-one-year-old recent graduate with the world at her feet if only she chose to face it. Plagued with the worries of the future and yet healing from the scar...
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I tossed and turned around a few times before giving up and lying on my back. I was confused about how to feel. Most of the day had gone well, amazing even, and then that 'talk' with my mother just made everything go downhill from them. I got another reminder from my dada that the time was ticking, and I went to bed with a funny feeling in my stomach.
When the clock struck midnight, and I was no closer to sleep, I got up with a groan. I was feeling thirsty now. Having forgotten to fill my bedside glass with water, I dragged myself to the kitchen.
On my way back after filling the glass, and passing my parents' room, I heard low murmurs. I could have kept on walking if only I did not overhear my name. That made me stop in my place.
"Today Karishma was gone for a long time." I heard my mother say. "She told me that she went to some book fair at the mall."
"Yes, I saw a poster on my way back home."
"But she was away for hours. I am afraid she sneaked out. Maybe to meet a boy." Oh, not thing again. I thought the matter was closed with her. She did not need to get Dad involved in this.
"You don't need to worry about that. Our daughter is not like that."
My lips lifted in a small smile. My dad's words made my chest feel lighter. But that feeling crashed soon after he continued.
"She can hardly make any friends. There was no way she would talk to a boy. Besides, she is not someone boys get attracted to. She's too homely. Sometimes, I am relieved that we have a daughter like her, and on the other days, I worry. She would need to have a family of her own soon."
"Oh, good luck with anyone who gets saddled with her."
"Don't say that. We have spent a lot on a good education. And a job wouldn't hurt either. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell what's going on in that head of hers, but she has a good head on her shoulders. She is obedient."
I could not hear anymore. There was only so much hurt a heart could hold. I walked back into my room and shut the door behind me, the glass of water long forgotten on the dining table.
I leaned against the door and tried to take even breaths. Inhale. Exhale.
They did not say anything that I did not think about myself already. But to have it confirmed by another person, people who gave birth to me, just pushed the dagger deeper.
However, the marriage word definitely had me off-balanced. My parents were older and more conservative than my friends, but marriage being one of the reasons for getting me an education was not something that I had expected from them.
I should have learned by now that expectations were a sham.
I gave it another hour before I gave up trying to sleep. It hurt too much to succumb to the numbness that sleep offered. My parents were asleep by now, but I still gave it another half an hour before I slipped out of the house.
