Karvachauth Ka Konclusion

10:00 pm: Bedtime

Meera knew that she needed to tell Akshay before she could tell mummy ji and rest of the family. Knowing Akshay, he didn’t care about the fast, but didn’t want to confront or upset his parents, understandably. Memories of 4^th standard thappads came rushing to him whenever he confronted, coupled with a respect for their age.

Once they were in the room after dinner, they started to watch Bajirao Mastani on Netflix. Akshay cherished this time with Meera, it was his time to be himself, watch anything he wanted to without any inhibitions – whether they were chick-flicks or The Kardashians. There was a sense of freedom when Meera was around.  

Without much thought, Meera told Akshay with a straight face that she loved him but didn’t feel that a fast was necessary to prove it. There it was…out of her system. Akshay’s face turned red.

He knew that look of Meera really well – it was serious business and one of those rare moments when she knew what she wanted. Not knowing how to respond, he cleared his throat and said – “I understand you completely and I agree that a fast doesn’t prove anything….but you know it’s a tradition we’ve followed for god knows since when…”.

Meera didn’t say anything, fighting a strong urge to undo it…but managed to keep a stern exterior. It took Meera a whole lot of strength to show firmness to Akshay but she knew it was needed. All the binge viewing of Kangana Ranaut and Meryl Streep’s interviews had seeped into her sub-conscious. Most importantly, Riya’s statement kept ringing in her head - “If you don’t speak up, how would anyone know you have a voice. If you don’t speak up, how would anyone know you have a voice”.

Akshay gave her a kiss on the forehead and slept, indicating his support. YES!!! Meera felt like she’d won half the battle and felt so proud of her accomplishment. She dozed off after a silent thank you to Ganesh Ji J

8:00 pm:

At the dinner table next day, Mummy Ji started to discuss Karvachauth plans with everyone. Instantly Meera felt it was the right time to share it with everyone while Akshay was around too. With a lot of nervousness, she said that she was not going to fast this year….

Mummy Ji’s spoon stopped halfway and Nisha stopped chewing at that point. After a moment’s pause, she continued that she didn’t believe in the tradition and it was against her personal values. Under the table, her hands were trembling with fear and her armpits became sweaty, but there was no looking back now. “If you don’t speak up, how would anyone know that you have a voice”….it became louder and louder.

Mummy Ji looked at Akshay and then back at Meera. She knew it wasn’t a joke by the look on Meera’s face. There was pin drop silence for a few moments, after which she proclaimed that it was a family tradition and all married women followed it for many generations.

Meera could feel there was controlled anxiety in mummy ji’s voice. It made her sweat even more and drink a lot of water. Mummy ji continued to talk for a few moments, elaborating on significance of the festival and how it bought pati-patni closer, while everyone on the table remained quiet. It was one of the most awkward family dinners.

Toward the end, Meera said that she understood her point of view completely… but just that she didn’t agree to it, and sincerely didn’t believe in it. It was against her conscience to do it half-heartedly every year. At which point papa Ji and mummy ji finished the dinner and went to sleep without saying anything. Perhaps it was too much to absorb and they needed time to think through it over the next few days, but they’d seen a new side of Meera today.  

Without revealing her emotions and fear, Meera had stood her own for the first time in her life. And she felt great to have fought and won a battle with herself. For the first time, it felt better than getting a Dior. She went to the fridge, took out those cupcakes she’d bought from Oberoi and enjoyed two of them for her small little victory. She knew she’d earned them well this time J