She stayed with her
uncle and aunt. Her parents were long dead. And she wasn't 16 yet. Her uncle
and aunt did raise her up for a few years, but were also seeking for a suitable
house to marry her into. They probably didn't want to keep supporting her for
much longer.
Soon came a proposal
from a nearby village. It was a similarly poor family, with just sufficient
land to produce a little surplus. The horrible monsoon had badly affected all
families in the region. They had a 17 yr old healthy son, who had to now offer his
labours elsewhere to pay their debts, in the absence of a good harvest. The
mother was a gem of a woman. She was hard working, straightforward, confident,
and overall, known for her progressive values. She had managed to tame her
alcoholic husband out of the habit, made important decisions for her family,
became a leader of the local SHGs and encouraged others to get out of the debt
trap. All this, and she wasn't loud. In short, she spoke little, spoke with
amazing clarity and firmness whenever she did. She was respected.
But the last few
seasons weren't great for her too. Some medical bills, crop failures and family
emergencies all made her household slightly precarious. She was also getting
old, and couldn't maintain the entire farm on her own. She thought its high she
had some extra hands to help out. There weren't too many others at home too, it
wasn't a large and unmanagable family for anyone new, she thought.
So she approached
this family she had heard of. She met the girl, her uncle and aunt, and seemed
to like them. They too agreed.
They soon got
engaged. Our mother here thought it would be a reasonable idea if she moved over to her new place for a few days.
After all, Rakshabandhan was approaching , the girl anyway had to get back to
her uncle's place for the festival. The mother felt a few days of familiarising
before the wedding would be good. Everyone agreed, and the girl moved.
Soon it was Rakhi
time, the girl got back to her uncle's. a few days later, the young couple got
married too. As per custom, the groom's side paid a bridal price of Rs.30,000.
They decided the
girl could stay for a few more days with her folks. And reach her new home
later. The mother said, "you may not have parents, but you now have a
home".
As in any place,
this uncle did have his share of rivals in his village. The next few days
presented an opportunity for them to mouth their opinions to the girl.
The day to leave had
come, the girl was all ready. She boarded the bus and finally she left her
village once and for all.
The bus halted for a
bit at a town midway. The girl got down, boarded another bus, met a few of her
villagers, went over to the police station, and lodged a complaint that she was
a victim of child marriage, and the wedding to be annulled. And thats that...
