Sand

Holding hands, they walked forward and forward, making footprints on the soft, wet sand. After every few steps, a wave would come and erase the footprints they had left behind.

They had only been married for a short time. Her antics and jokes would attract her husband, but her mother-in-law Nanda thought all this was silly. That is why her husband would not even smile in front of all the family members. She would not dare to go to her room until Tilak, her mother-in-law, had started preparing to lie down on her bed.

...

She would have thought about the whole day's tired waiting before coming to their room.

Every joke and prank was falling into place one by one, sometimes there was too much salt in the food, then at night from the husband's turn it would be understood that the family had not digested the food, sometimes she would hold the tea cup from above and push it forward, but the cup along with the tea would fall out of the room.

.....

If she slacked off in her work during the early days of pregnancy and the invitation of her in-laws, her husband would tell her about the events of the day in his mood at night.

The in-laws were not limited to one or two people, they were a whole group, and when the husband did not support her, the woman became the scapegoat of the entire village....

If the in-laws and Mecca were likened to heaven and hell, perhaps there would be nothing wrong.

Well, after marriage, every passing day, the intoxication of marriage wore off. The flower-like girl had lost herself somewhere while making her husband her own. All she could bear was the day-to-day toil and the birth of her children. Over the years, she had maintained the illusion of her husband in front of her siblings, and now she had become a woman.

It is said that a woman lives only as long as her parents are alive. When her siblings get married, her parents' house seems alien.

A married woman cannot go to Mecca and serve her parents even if she wanted to.

In her mother's youth, she never worried about this, but now her mother was getting weaker and weaker, she used to serve her old mother-in-law. She missed her mother very much.

Now her mother-in-law was also very weak and sick, she had to eat and drink in bed. She left no stone unturned in serving her mother-in-law. Her husband was obedient to his mother, so he himself would take the lead in this goodness and would also advise his children.

Mother-in-law remained in bed for a long time, the joy she had saved during her newly married days, now on her deathbed, she was longing to see those same faces... In the meantime, she left this world. If anyone was sad among those left behind, it was her and her children, who had served her wholeheartedly in her last moments.

After a long time, she went around Mecca. All the siblings, brothers and sisters-in-law were gathered at a table.

When I looked at my mother, I felt that she was not eating with enthusiasm. It did not seem appropriate to ask in front of my sister-in-law...

At night, I crawled into my mother's arms on the bed like a child and started kissing her hands in my own. My mother also started stroking my head and asked softly, "Mom! Are you fine?" My mother replied, "I am perfectly fine, what happened to me? I just don't eat too much chili and spices anymore."

She said, "You should cook the porridge." Mother fell silent. Perhaps her silence contained the answer. She also did not return and ask.

After staying for a few days, she returned home. She looked at the door and the wall with farewell eyes. This time, while going back, her heart was very sad.

From time to time, she kept asking about her mother's well-being. Her mother's condition was getting worse day by day. She could not go to her mother even if she wanted to. The children's school, her husband's office, the responsibility of the house.

It was just a heart that was stuck with her mother. If her mother's house had been closer, she would have made maybe ten rounds a day. Sometimes she would have cooked something and taken it home. But alas, there was a great distance between the houses . There was also some distance in her hearts, otherwise she would have stayed for a few days.

She often thought with longing that she wished she had brought her mother to her house. She would serve her wholeheartedly. Whenever she was at home with her mother, all the brothers would be doing their work all day long, coming late at night to visit their mother and sleeping in their rooms with the door latches locked.

During the day, sisters-in-law considered it a great service to serve food on time, she did not have time to sit for two hours and ask for her mood.

Brother got a call in the morning, "Mom has fallen today, come and see her, and also explain why she goes to the washroom alone in the middle of the night, call someone."

How stupid was this brother's statement, when everyone would have closed the room and slept, even if he had called, how could anyone have heard, thinking this, she cried profusely, she decided that from now on she would bring her poor mother with her.

Hearing her wish, the elder sister-in-law screamed, "Have you gone mad? What will the world say? We cannot feed you with two meals a day, which you sent to your daughter's house." The younger sister-in-law, who was so restless, came and sat her aside with her hand and said, "Look, Bibi, stay confined to your own house. Come, sit down, ask about your well-being, do some service if you want, and then go home. Don't interfere in our family's affairs."

"We are a family of children, what face will we show to the world? Tomorrow we will marry off our daughters. How will we answer their in-laws that we have thrown our mother-in-law out of the house?" The elder sister-in-law stared at her husband and addressed him, "We have not gone far enough to leave our mother to the pieces of our son-in-law. You have to come a hundred times, but remove the thought of taking your mother with you from your heart."

"

When the brothers saw their wives' expressions, they ended the conversation right there to prevent the atmosphere at home from deteriorating. One day, she stayed with her mother, cooked two or three meals for her in the kitchen, pressed her legs at night, massaged them with hot oil, and opened her eyes to a slight noise in the middle of the night. She took her to the toilet once or twice.

The next evening, she returned to her home. As soon as she got home, she saw her husband's face flushed. Since she had gone in a hurry this time, she could not cook anything. When she did not get any food, her husband sat down and forgot about her.

When she lay down on the bed at night, her heart was very sad and worried. How helpless she was. Even if she wanted to, a woman could not keep her parents with her. She could not serve them. I wish there was a law that allowed old parents to come to their daughters. I wish she could bring them to her. This thought and the stream of tears flowed down her face. She did not realize when she fell asleep.

It had been two days since her brother had informed her of her mother's death in the morning. Her mother had fallen in the washroom at night and hit her head badly on the wash basin. She had died due to excessive bleeding. When she went to her room in the morning, she could not find her in the room and found her dead in the washroom. She cried loudly and was terrified. Her heart wanted to kill the entire society, including her husband.

..I wish! I wish she could have done this, screaming and telling this insensitive society that her mother's death was a murder for which the entire society is responsible. Who considers it a sin for old and weak parents to stay in their daughter's house... She cried at the top of her lungs, what a great blessing she has been deprived of.

What a great tragedy this is... This is a moment of reflection!!!

A wave of tears swept away the painful impressions of her life... Like waves leaving their footprints on the sand!!