Mala's Story
This story is loosely based on the story of a mother and daughter I knew for a couple of years during our stay in Bangalore in 1986. The story has been fictionalized; the names changed as well but the basic core of the story is very real. I was a girl of twelve when my mother told me this poignant tale, for I had witnessed the rather appalling and heart wrenching change of the girl in question. I had made a quiet promise to never get married, if at all I did, till I was financially independent. Of course, I had to convince myself that studies were a nightmare I had to go through which would save me from all the bogey men and their terrors! Credits: Pinterest.com Like most girls, Mala had been ingrained with the idea of growing up to get married, have a home of her own and children to look after. At sixteen, she was impatiently waiting to have a taste of marital bliss. Her marriage had been fixed with her maternal uncle, Raghu, as is prevalent in some states in southern I...