My lane had about fifty houses and in a periphery of about two hundred odd rambling structures, there was only one famous figure whom everyone used to call Mataji.I could never judge her age, for the entire span of ten years that I had stayed there she had looked the same. Beautifully etched features, tall with an air of confidence, she was the go-to person if one needed advice or wanted to sit with a cup of tea and listen to the neighbourhood gossip.
I was very amused at first at the control that this lady had over her entire brood as well as on all and sundry. And coming from a very educated setup and a family of academicians, all this was not to my taste. I was a very private person and did not like this kind of community discussions and opening up my life in public.Yet she would try all the rules of the book to ask personal questions and put her nose into everything. The main question that was asked unabashedly every time I would come into her regal presence was”When is the good news? And every single time, I would get irked. How blatant and what right does an unknown person have?But maybe, it was her way of life or that is how people in that generation used to pass their time and energy.
Since I had always seen working women in my family, this kind of scenario was new to me with the daughter in law’s standing in attendance, waiting for the next call from Her Highness. But then, who was I to judge? I was working full time, so very soon I stopped reacting to these trivialities around me.
They say we should adjust to the new life after marriage but I feel that there should be some recognition in the eyes of the other about the struggle which a girl faces when she leaves home.
Feature Image Source:Fine Art America
