THE MASQUERADE - Continued from Part 3

THE MASQUERADE - Continued from Part 3.....

The much familiar and disgusted tone of alarm woke Maya ( daughter of sanku uncle ) from her dreams . Maya was always fond of dreams right from her childhood and it has been her favourite pastime to try recollecting her dreams which visit her during her sleep. Many a time , she feel dejected when she was unable to recollect several beautiful moments of her dreams after waking up . She always wondered why she forget certain finer moments of her dreams.

Maya got up from bed quickly , today she is very happy since her cousins are there , sleeping in the next room and she was happy because she is going to stay with them for the first time though they have communicated with her through phone and emails earlier .

Before leaving the room , she glanced enviously at Deepu ( her husband ) and at her two children who were in deep sleep. Everyday , morning , while waking up early at the ring of alarm ,she always felt envy at them and she felt she would have been one among them so that she could also sleep without any worries of household chores endlessly , with out time limit . She always wondered , other than man and woman , what is the difference between herself and deepu . Both are educated , but both are having different set of preconceived functions in life. She set aside all the thoughts and went straight to her destined place of her life , the kitchen.

On entering the kitchen , Maya was surprised to see lights every where , which she felt very unusual.

“ Hi, sister, good morning ” , a voice made her turn around . Vishal was sitting in the corner of the kitchen with a cup of tea in his hand.

“ Hi , Vishal” , exclaimed Maya in surprise , “what are you doing here , so early in the morning , I would have made tea for you , that is why I woke up so early in the morning , you should not do kitchen work” Maya continued.

“ Is there any such rule here , sister” , Vishal asked Maya.

“No Vishal , it is not a rule , but it's like that here. Kitchen work , rearing and caring of children , husband,parents are all included in the job description of women only.” Maya continued , “ If husband permits , women can go for employment , otherwise no , even if very much educated and excellent job openings are there. And , if you go for employment , even then ,kitchen work , rearing and caring all ,will not get reduced. The professional job will be added to the above mentioned items in your job description. That's all . Maya said with a sigh , in one breath” . She continued after taking a cup of tea in her hand and offering it to Vishal , “ My dear Vishal , Kindly understand , howsoever people are educated , employed , progressive , modern or by whatever name you call, still , Women , in this Society DON'T LIVE , they ONLY EXIST.”

Maya said with a faint smile , “ Women are the victims of prejudiced perceptions of womanhood. Here , women are seen and portrayed only as Objects of desire and not as objects of virtue , not as people , not as human beings.

Vishal was rather surprised , astonished and taken back at the surge of emotions surfacing and fading through the face of Maya , while she was talking and also at the open minded and analytical manner of exposition of the society in which she lives in.

“ Sorry , sis , I didn't want to hurt you . In fact I feel sorry for you . You continue with your work . I am not disturbing you , I will come later. Also sister , I won't disturb you , whatever you say , I will cook things for myself whenever I require anything , whatever the system you are following . For me , you need not sacrifice your time and energy.”

“ Sister , I really admire and love you. Within few minutes , through your views and intelligence you have completely over powered me ”

Vishal left the kitchen thinking about the conversation he had with Maya .

He felt a similiarity in Maya with a character in the novel , ' Lady Chatterley's Lover ' written by D.H.Lawrence, wherein the character observes , “ “A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it.” But , Vishal mused , Whether such thoughts have any relevance in this society .

Vishal was confused and went straight to their room and woke Nimmy up and explained to her the whole matter . After listening to the narrative of Vishal , she replied , “ Ok , Vishal , now what you say , we can look for a girl for you to marry from here , what do you feel , this system will make you feel like a king , you can take the role of deepu , right, you can sleep very long hours endlessly, eat without any effort of cooking , go to office , have friends , can date with your girl friends secretly without the knowledge of your wife and after restricting your wife not even to look at others , especially men ,without understanding her emotions,feelings, by underlining all spiritual characters and philosophies and you can party till midnight , can undertake tours ,professionally and with girl friend's , can talk endlessly in mobile to any one one you want, colleagues , friends , male and female , can have anything , all for you alone , while a person , called your wife , living with you , similiarly , maybe , much more educationally qualified , intelligent and better employable or employed , but restricted by you and the male chauvinist society to slog out in kitchen and for satisfying your desires and ends ON THE PRETEXT OF DUTY OF A WOMAN. Vishal , what do you feel , do you find the whole deal attractive .”

“Moreover Vishal” , Nimmy continued , “ I have read that the woman's parents will offer you money and other facilities free of cost , while you marry their daughter and not vice versa”.

Vishal smiled and interrupted , “ Sis , cool , cool , See , please don't get emotional , I am only mentioning to you the system , I found here .”

“ Ok , Sis , let me go for a walk outside , Are you coming”. Vishal asked Nimmy .

“ No , Vishal , I want to join and help Maya , I will join you later , bye . I want to know more about the views of that wonderful lady , Maya . Also , Vishal , it's good you are going for a walk , but don't ever dream that I will allow you to marry a girl from here and enjoy the current system like deepu . Remember , you are my brother.” Nimmy said jokingly at vishal .

Vishal took the remark seriously and retorted curtly, “ Sis, from here or anywhere , my concept of marriage is one of sharing , love , understanding , trust , equal freedom of both the partners and dignity and not SERVITUDE OF MY PARTNER, Bye” , Vishal slammed the door and left .

Nimmy nodded her head , smiled and muttered , “ Yes , Vishal , truly , you are MY brother ” .

TO BE CONTD …...........

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