The Dilemma

It was a rare day of celebrations in Ratanpur, a small village about two hundred miles from the city of Rajkot in Gujrat. The year long drought, which had sucked all that was left in the poor, and had transferred it completely to the rich moneylenders, finally looked like loosening its grip on the land. For months now, the villagers had been doing prayers, yajnas, sacrifices, and what not, to please the Gods of rain. A number of widows had been burnt after being declared ominous, many dalit families had been chased away from the village for similar reasons, many young girls were betrothed with dogs, and hundreds of pundits had been fed with the best of stuff available for a number of months. Today, the villagers were looking at the wet sky with a mixed sense of accomplishment and fear for the future.

As Bhoomi looked at the drops of rain falling outside through her window, her mind was miles away, caught in an emotional dilemma. Ever since her mother passed away about six years ago, she had completely come of age. As she and her father, Kishen, formed everything that was left of their family, she had taken upon herself the entire work inside the household. Every day, she got up before sunrise and went to the village well to fetch water. Then she would complete all the daily chores before her father got up. Together, she and her father would then prepare the breakfast and go to the fields. After working all day, they would come back before sunset, and then Bhoomi would prepare the dinner. In other words, she was the backbone of her family- upon which her father derived the energy to live, and the desire to survive- even with the meager means they had. For a year now, since her neighbor lata got married off, her father was almost always talking about her marriage. And why not?, she turned 17 only last year, and it was a social taboo for a father to keep his daughter unmarried till that age.

            If it were left to her, Bhoomi would have never agreed. She loved her father too much, and she realized the vital role she played in the family. If she went away, it would destroy everything- like the domino effect. Ironically, when the drought was killing everyone, it was helping Bhoomi in this regard. When there is little to eat, how can her father arrange a dowry? This kept her mind clear. But now that the sky turned dark with clouds, her mind got cluttered with confusion.  But the fact that her father related her marriage to his ticket to heaven or hell, made her think.

That day, her father had said that he would come late, as the rain celebrations were on. Her father would be drinking today, after a long time. As she was cooking a special meal for them, a number of thoughts were waving in her mind. Finally, all of their troubles would be over, Bhoomi thought. Baujee would be able to pay off his debts to that greasy old Ganesh, the money lender. May be he would also be able to get Ma's ring back, something she had saved for Bhoomi's wedding. They would not be eating grasses anymore, and she would prepare good meals. May be marriage was not a bad thing at all. After all, it was something her father wanted. She would give it to him and make him proud. May be her father would not be so worse off without her. She would make him remarry. What was his age, after all, forty something, and remarrying was not a rare thing amidst the males. May be she could also make visits regularly, and make sure everything was going fine. May be she could persuade her husband to be considerate with her case. In any case, she also had dreamt of being a bride and wearing a red saree. She would look lovely wearing her mother's ring. God had seldom been kind on them, may be this time he would!. She did not know when her conscious thoughts became a subconscious dream.

Next day, as Mr Sharma was reading the news daily with a cup of hot tea prepared by Mrs Sharma, he almost overlooked the small feed on page number 11, which talked something about a dozen of people who got killed after drinking poisoned Hooch, a locally made moonshine. The list of the deceased included Bhola, Natthu, Paras Nath... and Kishen.