THE MASQUERADE - Continued from Part 4

-->

THE MASQUERADE - Continued from Part 4

As usual , the park was bustling with the enthusiastic chatter of children , running here and there with sudden bursts of energy , oblivious of the world around them , their pranks and teasing of each other under the watchful eyes of parents ,eventhough the parents , mothers , grandparents who accompany the children are, themselves , lost in their own world , either discussing current affairs , house hold matters , professional issues etc .

Ever since Nimmy settled in the ancestral house , it has been her favourite pastime to be in the park , every evening , along with Maya and children .Nimmy always felt it as a place where people of all ages converge and yet having divergent behavioural patterns . She observed with curiosity , the way kids, boys and girls, involve and interact among themselves , without any trace of self consciousness , openly ,and with full freedom in their plays , the way teenagers becoming self conscious ,talk and behave , in gender based groups only , in the corners of park , in search of privacy , the composition of groups narrowing down to boys with boys and girls with girls only, and groups of adults and aged persons , the composition of their groups , further narrowing down to spouses and relatives only .

Nimmy wondered why the group pattern is being forced in such a predictable manner , mostly based on gender and familial basis. Despite such a patent , imposed pattern of gender and familial based groups , the peering looks , occasionally among the members of such groups to the members outside such groups , prompted Nimmy to think that all people are under suffocation , not being able to express their emotions fully and freely and constantly yearning for emotional freedom. Nimmy imagined of a transformed society wherein people of all ages are like the kids , involving themselves freely and frankly , laughing , playing , shouting , all sorts of pranks without becoming self conscious as to their gender , age , status etc . She wondered why the society loses its true character when people grow up . She also wondered , why relationships are restricted on several grounds and fear imposed in the young minds while they grew up . Whether physiological differences among male and female are a matter to be feared upon and the sole determining factor in developing relations and friendship.

Nimmy's eyes got struck in the push and pull a toddler is exerting on the shoulders of her mother who was holding the restless and restive child in her hands. The toddler , through the push and pulls was expressing to her mother to set her free , on to the ground , so that she can also join her senior brothers and sisters who were playing in the swing though she has not even reached the age of walking independently. Nimmy felt that the desire expressed by the toddler is expressive and indicative of the innate urge omnipresent in the minds of every creature , but stifled by society imposed restrictions and perceptions .

“ Hey , Nimmy , what are you thinking”, the voice of Maya disturbed her thoughts.

“Oh ! Nothing , I was just thinking about the perceptions and pre conceived notions , the society imposes on individuals and expects from individuals, right from children to old people and from birth to death.”

Maya continued , “ Can you see that person who has been walking round the jogging track of the park, alone. He is Mr.Ravi. I had worked with him . He is a different kind of person. He comes , walk and go . He don't talk or look at any body , so far he had not seen me today , even if he see me , he just smile only . But if you talk with him , he will become a close friend suddenly and his friendship will be so intense and innocent, you will find it difficult to handle it under certain circumstances .”

“I don't understand Maya , what you are saying”, Nimmy replied .

“ Well , I will explain to you . I told you , I had previously worked for some days with him ,in the same office . It was during the initial days after my marriage with Deepu. Ravi was working in another department . In office also , he was like that , talk, look and interact with only minimum ,required number of employees , very professional and strict with his subordinates and , very humane also . To be frank , I admire him very much . Even though I have no doubts or clarifications required from him , to get myself introduced to him , out of my admiration to him , I created some doubts and on the pretext of clarifying them , I introduced myself to him. Even though I was a bit tense in approaching him as he was a senior person and full of work related tensions , his response to me was in a very relaxed and comforting manner , much to my surprise . Further , he became very friendly and even shared with me his thoughts regarding society , people etc . I understood , beyond such a quiet and private person who is very strict in work place and always bear a serious composure , he is a person who is very warm with his friends and replete with wonderful thoughts and perceptions. I considered myself fortunate to be in contact with him .”

“ But , the problem was that , my husband ,Deepu never liked my friendship with any one , except him . His mind is particularly prejudiced if the friendship is with a male.”

Nimmy was stunned on hearing the observation Maya made about Deepu. Nimmy asked , “ Why Maya , Deepu is educated and employed as a software engineer , why is he not an understanding husband . I can't believe such people are there in the current generation . What are they studying . What they have attained through education . What is the purpose of education. As Sydney. J. Harris has mentioned , “ The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows” . Without being able to understand his own wife , I feel , your husband Deepu has not learned anything , even though he is a software engineer . He may understand software , but definitely not , human mind. Poor guy!”

Nimmy was enraged when Maya told her that Deepu had ordered her never to talk or call Ravi and had told her not to meet , talk or consider any of his messages or calls and never to consider any of his thoughts lest she will have to divorce her relationship with Deepu. Deepu further told Maya that people like Ravi will become a nuisance if she proceeded with the friendship and therefore it will be better to avoid such people and never respond to them .

Nimmy was aghast at the totally petty minded and conservative notions , Deepu had regarding friendship.

Maya continued , “And also , in office , the interactions between myself and Ravi became an eye sore for certain shortsighted employees who started spreading rumours and perverted interpretations about our friendship. Ravi was silent on all these and he never responded or took these rumours seriously . But I felt he was pained on all these and he became more silent. I further very well knew that he always wanted to know more about me , but at the same time, he don't want to create problems for me. Both of us loved and admired each other and were good friends within a short time, but the cataract ridden perverted society portrayed a wrong picture by mixing marriage , love , friendship etc and put clogs on such a wonderful friendship that developed among us . Further , not to create any confusions among myself and Deepu regarding our new married life , I thought it better to leave the job and I resigned much to the relief of Deepu , but frankly , I love and admire Ravi very much and I feel marriage with a person should not hinder other friendships and that we are all matured enough to regulate our friendships and behaviour with others in the society , whether it is mmale or female.”

Nimmy told Maya , “Exactly , marriage and friendship is different . Only fools confuse both . A partner who don't understand this is a fool. Maya , don't feel anything , I feel pity for you , your husband and to this society , which portrays every thing in a perverted , short sighted and narrow manner and at the same time boasts of a great culture , whereas every great character of the epics of this great culture is misinterpreted for meeting the ends of the vested interests on the basis of gender , caste , religion , creed etc . Why , Maya , the younger generation is also felling prey to this . I don't understand , Maya.”

“ No Nimmy, may be it's because Deepu is very much possessive. He always tell me he is very possessive and loves me so much .” Maya said to Nimmy.

“Wait , wait “ , Nimmy interrupted Maya , “ What deepu says to you , he is possessive , OK , I agree , he is possessive . Possessive of what or whom ? POSSESSIVE OF HIMSELF . He loves only himself and not you. If he loved you , he would have tried to understand you and your emotions . And the more he understands you , the more you would have loved him. Sorry , Maya , I am forced to say , not only deepu , the current generation loves only themselves , especially the so called educated younger generation of men . They will say, they are denying your freedom and feelings , because they want all your love for them only , they love you that much , etc etc . Maya , let me tell you they love themselves only and they are possessive of themselves only and for ensuring that they say to you all nonsense and deny your freedom and stunt all your abilities and creativity for the sake of ensuring their own selfish requirements . Let me tell you , I feel it , truly unfortunate that even younger generation are buried and suppressed in dogmas and creativity and expressions of their partners and family members are nipped in the bud itself , especially so , in the case of a girl and woman.

No doubt , Maya , here , Women don't live , they only exist”

When she heard about the interpretation about possessive love Deepu had told Maya to fool her and the double standards of Deepu , Nimmy recollected a dialogue of Katleen Turner from the movie V.I. Warshawski , “Never underestimate a man's ability to underestimate a woman”

Nimmy wondered whether men of this society , who are possessive of themselves only and don't understand, accommodate and admire the feelings of their partners will ever be able to receive the true love of their partners even if they try to fool their wives by declaring that they are denying the partner's freedom on the ground of them being “possessive “ of their partners due to their yearning for unshared love that they require from them. She wondered why men don't understand , a woman loves only a person who understands and accommodates her and that beauty is not the priority factor for a woman. What every woman yearns for is , much more than beauty , they look for , safety , security , recognition , love and understanding. But men look for beauty , above all , and they think women are also like that. In this society , women are forced to express love and suffer all the exploitations even if their views and emotions are not understood and accommodated upon and their rights and freedom are trampled upon and yet the men say they are possessive of their partners and in return expects their partners to be their slaves with a benumbed and frozen mind.

“ What a paradox!!” Nimmy mumbled to herself.

Maya concluded , “ Nimmy , now only , when I shared these thoughts with you , I feel lighter and relieved . I cannot discuss all these thoughts with my parents or husband , but these are all facts. I am happy that you are able to understand ,whatever I had told you , in the proper perspective.”

Maya further said , “I had never discussed with Ravi , the myopic attitude of Deepu , because I don't want to belittle Deepu in the mind of Ravi and others . In spite of all his short comings and negative attitudes, I love Deepu and pray to God , that he will be able to improve his perceptions of society and people. I feel Ravi is wise enough to understand all these and maybe , that is the reason why Ravi is distancing himself from me and restricts himself with only a smile and no more sharing of thoughts . But , currently , regarding Ravi, really , I miss a great friend , very much ….. ” , Maya sighed with a serene expression in her face.

Nimmy felt very sad at the situation of Maya and the society where Maya lives , where she was unable to express her thoughts on the ground of unreasonable, concocted, perverted and superfluous notions that exists regarding marriage , love , religion, caste , relationships etc .

Nimmy said to herself , “ I have to introduce myself to Ravi .”

TO BE CONTD …...........