A Work of Fiction
She had always wanted a daughter but now… as she reminisced about
her life, she decided to change what she wanted.
She came from a family where girls were brought up with respect,
were educated and despite most other kingdoms from around, were taught to speak
their mind and be part of decisions being made in the family.
She was a miracle, they said, when she came in to her father’s
house. She was a blessing, they said. She was the apple of her father’s eyes,
they said. They gave her the status of a Goddess. As she grew older, her father
sat her down and pragmatic as ever had said “You my lovely daughter who goes by
the name of Sita, Maithili, Vaidehi and Janaki, do not let these names forget
who you are. Deep inside, you are the one who chose to be saved, so you can make
a change. Our land is filled with people who despise women, who don’t hesitate
to kill little baby girls, even their own daughters, in the desperate attempt
to bear sons. You my little one decided to push through the earth and hold my
hand. You are destined to reach out to the souls of people, now and for
centuries to come, to wake them from their deep slumber and help break away
from distinguishing children even before they are born. You, the one with the
gentlest of gentle souls, will guide people to be human first before they give
themselves or their children any tags.”
She was too young to understand what her loving father had said on
that sunny afternoon but today, as she was on the brink of motherhood, she
understood it all. Irony had brought her in to this family, a family known far
and wide for being just and right, yet a family that had encouraged all means
to justify one end; that of having a male heir so their family name may
continue to prosper.
Her husband, though a gentle soul himself, was born only because
his sister gave her life for him and his brothers. His sister was never spoken
about. No stories were told about her great sacrifice. She had drifted into the
unknown – unspoken and forgotten.
“I will bear you sons. Sons who will
remain unmarried, because no mother’s daughters will ever want to marry them
and become part of this family. It breaks my heart as a mother to know that my
sons will never know the joy of a woman in their lives, neither their mother
nor a wife or a sister. But this will end the cycle here and now. You, my great
husband will be known as a legend, as mythology. But alas! Your family name
will not continue because the family that does not respect its daughters will
only bring sadness and negativity around it. People will need to forget that
this family was ever real. They will be content in the belief that yours was a
great story and you a great ruler, a great king, a God even.”
And so she bore two sons and left them in their father’s care as
she jumped into a crevice caused by a great earthquake… silently forgiving her
parents who showed her the path to the underground the day she was born.
