Maryada: Vidya-Gaurav FF - Updates. p. 145 (6/29) - Page 5

Originally posted by: nikipuki

Devi,

So you finally decided to take the leap and write about Gaurav and Vidya, their story has so much potential.

So I am am nit picking here, there is a line about privacy in one of the updates, but given her family background and that she lived in a joint family she wouldn't have any expectation of privacy at least the Vidya and her background as depicted in the serial wouldn't.

Originally posted by: Calliope

Gayatri Joshi as Vidya? Good choice Devi.

I am sure those who have watched Swades would agree with me on this one; in Swades, she is one intelligent lady with strong sense of morality who leads life with clear cut definitions of right and wrong.

Is Vidya going to be like "Geeta" of Swades?

Chapter 6 – Insidious Truths

His father made some pleasantries and asked Vidya a few perfunctory questions, but Gaurav could tell that he had no interest in her aside from that bit of show. SSP Brahmanand Jhaakar was not a man who had to put on many pretenses anymore, at least with women. Vidya could serve no purpose to him that he would be interested in, and his father was not familiar with any softer emotions than lust when it came to women. As lecherous as his father was, even he must draw the line somewhere… and a daughter-in-law was maybe as good a line as any… but then again, it wouldn't be the last time his father surprised him with his level of perverseness.

Uttara maasi came up to greet Brahmanand and Gaurav found that he couldn't watch the scene that was about to unfold. This, he thought, would be his mother's Achilles heel. If there was anyone else in the world that his father held in affection aside from his younger son, it was his wife's sister. Uttara maasi, who knew that she was beautiful, but not how much… who knew that men found her attractive, but not to what extent… who tried with some effort to hide the purplish bruises that kept forming on her body, but not always successfully… her bitter, spineless, coward of a husband, Rishab, who thought that he could make himself feel more in control by beating on her, appeared to be the only one who saw what a threat Brahmanand posed. But then again, Uttara maasi's husband thought that any living male above the age of eleven was a threat to his wife, kin or not kin. There were times when he wanted to beat the shit out of the man and ask him to throw himself off a cliff rather than live the way he did, binging on inferiority and self-pity. Then he would witness moments like this – his father was now hugging Uttara maasi to him with genuine fondness – and he would know that Rishab was the only thing standing between his father and his mother's sister. He wondered whether his mother also guessed it... but if she did, she never gave any indication. He had always wondered whether it was his mother's misguided notion of maryada that made her turn a blind-eye to Rishab's abuse of Uttara maasi, or whether the true reason was something more self-serving and desperate.

He didn't realize that he had turned away from the scene until he found that he had maneuvered Vidya along with him as well. She turned to him in confusion as he urged her from behind to move through the crowd and away from his father.

"Too many people." He remarked absently as a way of excuse. She seemed even more perplexed by that explanation, likely because she rightly wondered whether one expected anything else from a wedding party.

Thankfully, his mother returned to their side to take them up to their room. He held his breath and released it only when his mother took them into a bigger bedroom than his own; he had been afraid that she would insist on him sharing his own. He had told her in no uncertain terms that he would not comply with that particular request, but he had been unsure whether she would take his reluctance into consideration. She certainly did not think his refusal to get married was a hindrance in actually accomplishing the deed. And here he was, entering un-blissful matrimony by emotional blackmail. He was weak, he should just admit it to himself…in any matters in which his mother was involved, he could not hold onto his own conviction for long if it disagreed with hers.

He hoped that his mother one day understood that he could not love another woman just because she willed it…

He saw Vidya look back at him then and realized that by giving into one woman's 'emotional blackmail' he had just brought another woman into his life who could have the same claim. He was already pulled between two, he could not have a third one in the mix. He should have thought of these things before, his sarcastic self re-emerged to mock him. But it was hard to think of such complications when the woman in question was not yet real to him. And now that she was standing right in front of him, he looked at his mother and realized what she had done. His mother must have known that there was no way that he would be able to completely ignore a woman that now relied on him, was for all intents and purposes both societally and legally under his care. How did he tell such a woman that he could not be a good… or even an adequate… husband to her? Her earlier reluctance notwithstanding, at some point, she would have to come to terms with the fact that she has become someone's wife, that she was now his wife… and even if she did not make any expectations on him by some miracle, the world around them would… and what were they to do then?

"Come in beta." He was redirected from his wild meanderings by his mother and was reminded that rather than worrying about the distant future, he had the much more immediate problem of tonight to face.

"The Haldi is tomorrow afternoon and then we will have an official wedding reception at night when everyone will be here. This will be your room from tomorrow on. Vidya beti, you can unpack your suitcase and stay here tonight. Gaurav still needs to clear out his room to move in here as well. He did not want to do it until you claimed enough room for your things." The lie rolled off his mother's tongue so easily as she bought him some time to adjust to this. She must have known that he had slept elsewhere at the hotel last night. He shouldn't be surprised; so much of their lives were spent on hiding insidious truths from everyone else that he was sure that lying was second nature to them all. Only Aditya seemed blissfully unaware of how their world worked… Gaurav thought that Adi was old enough to know… but maybe when the blinders have been on for so long, you mistook it for your eyes…

Once they officially entered the room and that ritual was over, he left Vidya there with his mother and retreated to his own room under the guise of whatever it was that his mother had offered to Vidya for his absence in their room tonight.

He figured that tomorrow would come soon enough…

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Originally posted by: Calliope

Devi, was this the longer chapter till date? (Why did it feel like a short one then? 😆)

And there it is - the first time the conflicts and the hypocritical notions of Maryada is obviously splashed on Devayani's character. Uttara for all she is worth, knows the affection her brother in law has in store for her; he even helps her husband to get a job, does he not?

Gaurav makes a wonderful narrator. Instead of unfolding a story from a neutral perspective, we get to see it from the family member himself and also the protagonist. A glimpse of his character and his thought process is also given which gives me, the reader, a better understanding of Gaurav himself.

Loving the way you are introducing the new characters and recursively re-establishing their relationship with the ones who have already been introduced.

When is the next update? 😆

Calliope

Chapter 7 – The second First Night

Once Devyani left the room, Vidya called her parents immediately after. She couldn't help it when her tears came through in her voice and it made her mother burst into tears on the other end. Vidya stopped crying then; it didn't help her mother to see her in distress and she in turn did not want to see her mother in distress. She spoke with everyone at home for a few minutes each, making sure she sounded at least somewhat cheerful. She had always been a bit of an introvert to begin with, for all that she grew up in a huge family. She didn't know how to share with them what she felt and the only thing that was important to her now was to ensure them that she was indeed alright… that they had sent her off to somewhere where she felt safe, even if she was not sure how true that was…

After she got off the phone, she occupied her time for a short while unpacking her suitcase. Once that was done, she changed into one of the many cotton saris that her mother had packed for her. She was not used to wearing them and had hoped that there would be some salwaar kameezes packed away, but the only ones she could find were those fancy ones that she assumed her mother thought she would need here.

She had a bit of difficulty wrapping the sari, but she managed finally, a bit sloppily, but she did not think anyone was coming to take account of her skills in this domain tonight. She wandered around the room for some time, opening the windows one by one. She could see the workers below who were putting up various decorations in preparation for tomorrow's reception. She sighed as she moved onto the next window; watching it was making her feel exhausted, thinking of how much stamina she would need to make it through the entire day tomorrow surrounded by people she did not know. Their rooms were on the third floor. She didn't know why any house needed a third floor. The workers were now on ladders climbing up the side of the house to put on the lights. She leaned against one window and watched the scene for some time, hoping that the humdrum of the activity would somehow calm her anxiety. It didn't. But she was still glad that she was alone… that she knew that she would be alone for the night… that she would not have to truly worry about what happened between men and women behind closed doors until sometime later… she knew theoretically what happened, but theoretically was different from realistically. And from what she knew of theory, it didn't seem like an activity that strangers would enjoy doing to each other. She didn't really understand how such things could happen during the first night or even the first month of an arranged marriage. Allowing someone to use your body in that way has to be the most private and intimate thing that is likely to ever happen to anyone. And if a woman allowed a practical stranger – even if it was her husband – to do that, then how is that any different from allowing just about any other man to do it? Just because a man had put a mangalsutr around her neck, how could anyone assume that she would have any level of comfort to share her body? The day before the wedding, her mother had attempted to have a conversation with her about the topic. A few of her maasi's and her grandmother had been there as well. She had been incredibly uncomfortable about discussing the subject and had wanted to tell her mother that she had taken anatomy and physiology in college and had a basic understanding of how it all worked. But the women in her family had considered it as something of a rite of passage and she had sat there for close to two hours listening to their conversation. At the end of it, she had been more scared of the prospect of carnal relations than when they had started, even though it had definitely not been their intention.

Her husband's face appeared in her mind again, how he had looked at her on the train, and she thought that he did not seem like a man who appeared beleaguered by any notions of romance or… other related things... at least in relation to her. It made her feel relieved momentarily… then she remembered that alongside the general disinterest that he had shown in her thus far and the gloominess that surrounded him like a shroud, he was also not inconsiderate of the fact that she was new to this house. There were moments earlier today when he had anticipated what came ahead before she had had the opportunity to worry about it herself, and for that she was grateful.

She finally decided that she would write. That would take her mind off things. With the sheer number of people that always surrounded her growing up in her home, writing had been the only thing to give her any sort of solitude; the only thing that no one else could intrude upon.

She took out her journal and thought about what to write. Instead of journaling, she often wrote stories… she had always lived in the fear that someone would stumble upon her journal one day and all her private thoughts would be revealed for all the world to see. Thus, at some point, she had discovered that the perfect way to hide her innermost thoughts was by making fictional characters own it.

She did not know when she fell asleep, but late into the night, she woke from noises. She found that she had written little and that what started off as legible script had petered off into scribbles and then finally a straight line that went off the page, marking her descent into slumber.

She heard the noise again and looked towards the window, deciding that to be the source. She rose from the bed to walk over to see if the workers were still there. They weren't. The house was constructed in the shape of a horseshoe and she could see through her open window clearly into another window that was in the opposite wing. The windows were wide open from the other side and illuminated by the light of a table lamp and she could see that it was Imli and her husband, Jaggi. He was chasing her around the room and Imli was laughing like it was the greatest fun that she had ever had. Vidya was at a loss as to why such a goose-chase would be undertaken at – she looked back at her clock – two in the morning. She swallowed with difficulty when she saw Jaggi finally catch Imli. She knew that she should look away, but there was some secrecy in this night spurred on by her own status as an outsider that allowed her to look without the fear of discovery or censure. She thought that Imli wore the most revealing blouses that she had ever seen… it was just a series of ties on the back, but no one else seemed shocked aside from her. Now she watched as Imli's husband untied them one by one. Without thinking, Vidya's hands went to clutch at her throat. She could feel that her heart was trying to race ahead of her and she placed her palm flat against her chest to allow it to slow down. But when the last tie came off, her heart would not listen to her soothing and she found that she had to look away…

That's when she saw it… there was a third person awake at this time, standing by his window, watching her watching the amorous couple… it was her new husband…

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