"Anita is on leave" one maid at the hostel was telling another...
Yeah, Anita has been on leave ever since her counterpart/co-sister (what ever husband's second wife is called) was diagnosed with leukemia. So, Anita now does all the household work, looks after 'their' kids, and takes care of the sick woman as part of her wifely duties...and bears the responsibility of finding the leukemia its way right into 'her' veins through her curses! Of course! Why else would it happen to her and none else?! Of course! Who else had any job cursing the poor woman?!
Wow! What rewards! What rewards for bearing it all silently, and compromising at every step...Well, didn't she do it as much for herself? To 'have' a husband's roof over her head and his name appended to hers. To belong to someone, to belong somewhere!
So, she bore it all...the ignominy of being the second best, the ignominy of being the barren daughter-in-law...the one who couldn't bear the family a progeny to take its name to gen next...the one who gracefully compromised to sharing him, so the family would keep going.
"The second wife passed away last night.", "...the poor thing!", "...she left behind two little kids", talked the maids among themselves.
Anita now has 'being the step mother' added to her bag! The price to pay, for asking sometime, somewhere in life, to be 'the only one' perhaps?!
Yeah, Anita has been on leave ever since her counterpart/co-sister (what ever husband's second wife is called) was diagnosed with leukemia. So, Anita now does all the household work, looks after 'their' kids, and takes care of the sick woman as part of her wifely duties...and bears the responsibility of finding the leukemia its way right into 'her' veins through her curses! Of course! Why else would it happen to her and none else?! Of course! Who else had any job cursing the poor woman?!
Wow! What rewards! What rewards for bearing it all silently, and compromising at every step...Well, didn't she do it as much for herself? To 'have' a husband's roof over her head and his name appended to hers. To belong to someone, to belong somewhere!
So, she bore it all...the ignominy of being the second best, the ignominy of being the barren daughter-in-law...the one who couldn't bear the family a progeny to take its name to gen next...the one who gracefully compromised to sharing him, so the family would keep going.
"The second wife passed away last night.", "...the poor thing!", "...she left behind two little kids", talked the maids among themselves.
Anita now has 'being the step mother' added to her bag! The price to pay, for asking sometime, somewhere in life, to be 'the only one' perhaps?!
Pathetic situation to be in..
ReplyDeletePrecisely what struck me hard enough to 'pen' it down! (if we can still use the phrase, in the blogging times...or should I say 'key' it?! :))
DeleteAnd, thanks for visiting Renu! :-)