OS on Gauri's current life... chapter 2 on pg 4

'The bitter one' - this has always been the way i think every one must be referring about me.. right since my birth... to be born as the only girl child to my farmer parents in a remote village in rajasthan must have been a bitter experience for my parents especially my mom. I remember my dadisa always cursed my mom for giving them a girl child- me! My dadisa when she was hale n hearty always planned n plotted of getting my daddy married the second time to get an heir to the family... hah as if we were the illustrious royal family!!! what did we have anyway to be proud of or to give to an heir as an inheritance? a piece of land which was slowly getting barren, a pair of malnourished bullocks and a shanty which we called our house... my daddy also wanted a son .. and would had easily married another woman if he had enough money... as no person would give their daughter to a poor family..so daddy carried his life with me and mom. My mom though illiterate always taught me to be strong and never give up ones rights..."your man is yours and no matter what, you should never give up fighting for him..." she always said. now i think in a way our poverty turned a boon for her as because of our poverty her man was only hers n never married again!!

My dad, though he loved me as I was his child always had this 'unsatisfied ' look whenever he saw me. thats why maybe he sent me to school so that I could be away from his eyes at least for sometime of the day. I loved going to school as it was a place where everyone was welcomed and was treated equally. this was a place where there was freedom of thoughts and made one dream high, very high!

i dreamed of-course! to b the most successful,powerful and rich person in this village. I felt if one day I have all these qualities, no one would dare to call me ' the bitter one'! One day I would have my own man all for myself just like my mom, I would never ever give up on him!!!!

But who knew one day will come in my life when I will have to indeed give him up??? Who knew one day will come when mom's teachings would fail to change my decision? The toughest decision of my life... to leave Jagat...