The brown belt.

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 42; the forty-second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is "COLOR"

Abhay pulled up his trousers for the umpteenth time, like every day. He almost did it subconsciously like it was akin to breathing. Any trouser was a misfit on those skinny hips of his. But he never wore a belt. Wearing a belt brought back memories.

Image: Pixabay.com

Painful Memories.

Those of his father. Of the putrid smell of alcohol mixed with smoke. Of his towering, overpowering presence in their shanty. Of being thrashed mercilessly. That snaking brown belt. Around his father's rotund belly. How he dreaded it when his father ripped it off it's favourite perch! How he cowered when it found its way on to him! Of the blue and red strips on his back and hands, and his legs and face. Across his ears. Yeah, that incident had left him partially deaf. And partially blind. He remembered withering away slowly. The years of wetting his bed after evenings of whippings.  The feeling of sleeping on a bed of thorns. The ache penetrating every nerve ending in his body. 

The belt. The brown belt.

Why him? he wondered. Was it his mother? Was it because she ran away? Or was it because she ran away with his best friend? Maybe he reminded him of his mother. Or maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the penury. 

Memories.

Beads of perspiration began to form on his forehead as he thought about them. He felt a pool of water forming at his feet. His trouser soaking in the warm wetness. His slippers starting to smell.

Memories.

Shalini. The only love of his otherwise drab life. What a breath of fresh air she was! Warm like the sunshine, untouched like the morning dew, and delicate like a flower. He smiled as he thought of her and how much colour she had added to his life. And then the smile turned to a cry as her lifeless body spun around in his head. His piercing cry rented the air as he buried his face into his palms letting the tears of anguish flood them. The black burns of cigarette butt on her unblemished skin, the teeth marks that had left behind red blood clots, and the look of terror on her face had shattered him. And then he saw his father. Lying next to her, consumed by alcohol, consumed by lust, consumed by his own apathy. The brown belt lying next to him. 

He had run out and retched till his stomach hurt. The years of being thrashed seemed painless now. 

He returned a little while later. He looked at her body lying limp on the ground, terror still evident in her eyes. He sat down beside her and wept. The beast still lay asleep. Abhay reached into his pockets and felt the silver cold metal against his warm hands.  His fingers slid effortlessly into the groove underneath. They landed a string of six messengers of death into his father’s head. The smell of burnt flesh pervaded his senses as he bent down to feel his father’s pulse. There was no sign of life.

Then he closed her eyes shut. She had seen enough. Enough for redemption. He removed the ragged brown belt lying next to the beast and fastened it around his neck like a noose. Pulling it tight till he felt the neck snap.

Just to be sure. 

Just symbolically.

He smiled. And pulled up the trouser weighed down by the wetness. The smell didn’t bother him any more.

The brown belt. It was no more.

They were now just memories.

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Good ol' days!!

I happened to catch an old song from the movie Aashique (yep, it's the old one I'm talking about, the Annu Agrawal-Rahul Roy one..) and it opened a floodgate of memories. I remember watching this movie with the people in our apartment. We were quite a large group, must've been around 35 people, young and old. It was a long weekend and my neighbour's turn to sponsor. That was how it was, one of us sponsoring the movies every other month... So we all assembled at their house post lunch, waiting to know which movie we would be viewing today. The neighbour announced the name of the movie and we gave a collective whistle of approval.

We all settled into our "seats", the kids on the carpet on the ground and the elders occupying the chairs and sofas, waiting for the movie to begin. Oh, did I not tell you that we were watching it on VCP? The 'VCP' or the 'video cassette player' was the most 'in' thing those days and we didn't even have to own it...it was available on rent for a mere Rs.70/- for 24 hrs!! So we would select a weekend when we could 'fully utilise' the VCP for all it was worth! Meaning, we would rent out at least 3 video cassettes to watch in the 24 hour span even if meant putting all other work on the back burner! If the VCP was brought at 2pm, we would catch one movie in the 2-5pm slot and return for the next one in the night for a 8-11pm show. The last one would be post breakfast the next day, finishing just in time for the return!

In case you haven't seen one before- that's the VCP for you!

In between a potluck of snacks from all the members and cups of hot ginger tea, it would be so much fun watching movies together like that! No amount of PVR movie watching with bags of butter popcorn and cola, can give me that high ever! In between repeating songs that we wanted to view again, fast forwarding scenes that could be even slightly considered adult in nature, amidst shared knowing glances and suppressed smiles, to pausing when someone had to visit the washroom, it was the most exhilarating experience ever!!

This brings to mind something else too....watching a movie in open air with an entire colony!! During Ganesh-Utsav, the colony would rent a screen-projector and we would all be out in the open ground, hurrying to catch a coveted seat and watch the movie together...and erupt in collective applause when Rajesh Khanna would coax his elephant with a melodious "Chal chal chal mere haathi...."

My kids would never know what it would be to gather like that. This kind of community living is totally lost on them! Maybe they'd even think it was annoying! Makes me wonder if I really belong to the stone age!

An unexpected visitor and a lot of yap!!

 Yeah, that was what yesterday morning brought for me.

I was at the gym, sweating it out, when a phone call interrupted my session. A relative, I had not met in a long time was waiting at my door. Finding no response after ringing the door bell several times( ringing the bell a couple of times should have told her I'm not at home...as if I would be at home and not answer the door...!) she called on my mobile. Asking her to wait, I cut short my workout and headed back home, wondering who visits people so early in the morning (well, it was not that early, but 10 am is still early , no?!)

A warm hug greeted me before I could even open the door, making me feel all sticky and arrggg...dripping as I was, in my own sweat.

"Jogging?" she asked.

"I was at the gym," I told her.

"What's wrong with you, fancy going to the gym at your age!" she exclaimed, eyes wide with surprise.

Wow! I felt like a 100 year old already! At my age? What's exercising got to do with my age? And by the way, I'm not a day older than 18!  (that's what I like to think anyways....) It was the first time when someone had actually made a mention of my age and I was definitely not liking it!

"Sorry?" I asked, as if I had not actually understood what she said.

"You are a mother of two, married for 11 years now, right? Whom are you trying to impress now?" she mocked. "Don't tell me you are aspiring to be a model." She let out a small laugh. Enough to make my blood boil.

What sort of crap was this? I thought. "I'm only trying to stay fit, aunty." I said, trying to remain calm.

She was still laughing. I wondered what she was finding so funny about me going to the gym.Before she could say something else, I excused myself to freshen up.

A cold bath had calmed me up and I sat across her inquiring about other things besides the purpose of her visit. I saw her repeatedly shooting glances at my arm and then came the next all important question.

"What's that on your arm?" she said, turning it towards her to have a closer look.

"A tattoo" I replied with a straight face, now knowing what would come next.

"A tattoo?" her eyes so wide with disbelief, that for a moment I thought, that they would just roll out of their socket. "Which sensible woman with two kids and married for 11 years gets a tattoo on her arm?"

"Me." I replied smiling.

She shook her head in disapproval. "You must learn to act your age... (Oh no not again!) A proper 'gruhini' (read housewife) doesn't do all this.(Really?) You must also wear a saree, you are not a college going student any more." she said, looking at my lovely flower printed long skirt (wait a minute, was she secretly admiring it?)

Ah! some people, I tell you!
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Linking back to Suzy's prompt on write tribe.. here are the details...Free Tribe.

Write Tribe - day 4- Maangalyam Tantunamena.....

|| Mangalyam tantunanena mama jeevana hetuna: kanthe badhnami subhage twam jeeva sarada satam II

“This is a sacred thread. This is essential for my long life. I tie this around your neck O maiden having many auspicious attributes. May you live happily for a hundred years with me.

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Today is a big day for me , I mean us, the hubby and I, because we are celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary today!! 

It is so overwhelming to even think about the past 11 years....we have had our moments of love and togetherness and an equal share of fights too.... we had these two amazingly lovely kids in between..Ah! I couldn't have asked for more!! 

As we started the day, we went back to that day when we got married. It will be imperative to tell you here, that ours is an inter-caste marriage and 11 years ago, an inter-caste wedding was really a very big thing! Unthinkable, and Blasphemous to say the least!! It took my parents 3 years to convince me to re-think my decision but in the end we managed to convince them to re-think their decision! And the rest , as they say, is History!

But that was not what I started out to tell you, it is about the day of our wedding. Since it was an inter-caste wedding, we wanted the panditji (priest)  to be neutral, and cut short all the customs that could cause controversies, and so it had to essentially be a hybrid wedding. The time of the wedding was 10am in the morning. We were dressed up and waiting for panditji to come and solemnize our wedding. But where in the world was panditji? He was nowhere to be seen! 

Dad had delegated bringing the pandit to an uncle and we came to know later that the venue had not been told to him correctly. Actually there were 2 venues, one for the actual wedding in the morning and another for the reception in the evening. Since only the first family was invited to the wedding, the wedding card had the address of the reception venue only and our dear panditji waited for a few hours at the venue of the reception and then returned home!! Mind you, all this was before the advent of the mobile phones (It makes me think, I got married in the stone age!!) and there was no way we could contact him! 

We waited endlessly, while dad paced up and down furiously and people were sent in all directions to search for panditji!! Poor uncle seemed totally red faced and pathetic! I think I even took a quick nap in all this melee!! 

Panditji was finally found and brought to the venue by 12 noon. But it was a Wednesday and it was "rahukaal" (inauspicious time) from 12 to 1.30 pm!! There was nothing we could do, but wait! People were hungry and everyone except the both of us had their lunch( we are supposed to get married on an empty stomach!!) while we waited and waited!! We wondered if we would actually get married that day! 

The wedding ceremonies began by 1.30 pm and our short cut wedding was over by 4pm. The pandit later told us that the time when my hubby tied the "mangalsutra" to me was actually the best time of that day. Who am I to question the veracity of his claims? I was just plain happy that the whole thing was finally over!! 

That's us on our wedding day with the panditji 

The most significant ritual in the wedding other than the tying of the mangalsutra or the scared thread is the "saath-pheres" or the seven rounds around the holy fire. With the earth, sky, water, fire and air as witness to the grand union, the husband and the wife make seven promises to each other. 

1.  The husband and wife pray to the almighty to provide them with nourishment and good food so that they can live together in mutual respect and honour. They promise to walk together to attain this need.

2.  They pray to God that he may give them physical, mental and the spiritual strength so that they may be able to enjoy life and share their happiness.

3.  They pray to the Almighty for a life full of prosperity and to help them preserve their wealth. They vow to earn their wealth through honest means and give comfort to their family. They promise to be with each other in happiness and grief. The wife promises to be by his side no matter what.

4.  They promise to take care of the elders and not disregard them. Together they pledge to uphold family, relationships and values.

5.  They pray for healthy, kind and courageous children. They promise to be responsible parents and enrich their kids with good morals and education.

6. They pray for a healthy life free of diseases and illness and for a harmonious life ahead.

7.  They pray to god to give them the maturity to live with understanding for a lifetime. They swear to be faithful companions and live a life of friendship, love and mutual trust.

      I am happy that The Almighty gave us everything we asked for during the "saath-pheres" in ample measures and gave us both the strength to uphold the promise we made to each other. It makes me think, what the Panditji had said about that time being the best for the wedding, must have been actually true. 

and with our little family

     So today, as we complete 11 years of togetherness, I thank HIM for his blessings and pray that the love that we share continues to remain the way it is.

     Forever.  




     (P.S. Guys, if I don't visit your blogs today, you know the reason why, don't you....I'll be back haunting your blogs tomorrow! :))

Write Tribe- day 3- Seven Questions!

"Mamma, what is this?" asked my little one holding a small prototype of the eagle with wings spread out. I had brought it as a dangler for the car.

"You know what it is, don't you? Why don't you tell me what it is?"

"An Eagle?"  he asked raising an eyebrow, only like he could. He looks so cute when he does that!

"Hmm..." I nodded.

"Why is this eagle black while this one", he said fishing out another from behind his back, " is colourful?"

"Because it isn't an eagle, it's a macaw." I said.

"But caw caw is also black no?" he said the "caw-caw" referring to the crow.

I sat him down, smiling at the innocence, "A macaw is a type of huge parrot which has big colourful wings."

He looked at the eagle for some time and then came the next question, "Why is the eagle's mouth open?"

"He must be hungry".

He seemed to be thinking again.

"Is it a girl or a boy?"

"What?"

"The eagle."

Oh dear, I thought, I have no idea how to distinguish between a male and female eagle. I looked at it from all sides, with no inkling of what it could be, "Could be anything, I don't think I know."

"Where's the baby eagle?" came the next question.

If I said it was in the shop, and I didn't buy it, he would ask me why I didn't buy it. If I told him there was no baby eagle, he will tell me there would have been and I didn't search properly. While I wondered what I should say, the elder one chipped in, "See, if this is mamma eagle, then it needs pappa eagle to have a baby, and if it is pappa, then it needs mamma to have a baby. Since there is only one eagle, there is no baby."

Before I could say Bravo for a well thought out answer, I stopped mid track, taken aback at what he said. Did he really know THAT? I mean, he is just 9 yrs old, I don't remember ever discussing anything remotely related to the birds and bees with him. How could he know? Well, since the topic had been broached, I decided I might as well use this opportunity to talk to him.

As I still cleared my throat wondering how to begin, it was the younger one again, "Why?"

Dear god bless my soul.

"Because," said the elder one without blinking his eyelids, "Our pappa goes to work and gets us whatever we need, so the baby eagle will also need it's pappa to be around and bring it food while the mamma eagle looks after it."

The younger one was visibly satisfied with the answer.

And as for me, I felt rather silly!! Kids don't need a lot of explanation, and there is no need to get paranoid about answering their innocent questions. It's all about giving them as much information as their age merits with a straight face and with a smile!