खिली कल थी मिट आज चली

"Ajj Aakha Warish Shah nu, Kito Kabra vicho Bol,

Ajj kitabe ishaq da koi agla varka fol,

ik royi si dhee punjab di, tu likh likh maare vain,

Ajj lakhan dhiya rondia tenu Warish Shah nu kehn,

uth darmanda deya dardiya, uth takk apna punjab

Ajj bele lasha vishia te lahu di bhari jhanab......

Getting an ispiration through these verse written by famous poet, Amrita pritam, I would like to aska question that

Do women still have to lead the lives of others' choices, and at such a young age when freedom helps evolve a person into a personality, I pondered.

A newly married girl from a middle-class family in Phagwara came to learn English to qualify the IELTS test. She was accompanied by her husband, who revealed that she is weak in English: she can write and speak broken English. However we wanted her to crack the exam and accomplish the requirement. Always a topper in school board where teachers become bridge between blank sheets to filled sheets, she was also eager to fly to other country so that she could abandon the hostile environment of new house.

Being unmarried and having dreams of managing household chores with mother in law, she often post reels over instagram handle regarding this. “ Dear , we have to fly to Canada after marriage, there you could do all this” this was her husband’s statement whenever she asked for his bebeji and bapu ji’s choices (mother in law and father in law’s choices).

Oneday, I found her howling over the call while entering the class­ room .Iasked her to leave the room and continue her personal conver­ sation outside. I presumed she was ill-behaved,but I was wrong. From her appearance and attitude, she was looking angry, inside she was preparing herself for the worst. I thought that the moment she would resume, I would engross her in modules. However, she was constantly crooning "Menu kuch karna pena apna" (I have to take step for myself).

Like every mother in law she also wanted her to handle household tasks effectively, whereas her husband wanted to see her happy but with certain undeniable conditions.When she tried to pour her feeling to her mother’s heart for support, she too advised her to do whatever her husband and in-laws desired. She had no cues as to what marriages seeks out of a daughter turned daughter in law and how the stray clouds of expectation which are hovering are ready to fall in her life suddenly.

When I entered the class next, I didn’t find her among other students. On asking to her friends, ‘she is ill’, I got the reply. I was fully intended to call her but due to schedule it was skipped. Next day, I saw one girl crying in the class through the window, and other were consoling her. I thought again she would have been badly behaved by in laws or husband. I was astonished, on the other hand, to see that her friend was crying bitterly and when she saw me, she emitted a squall and hugged me tightly.

Oh chali gayi Sir, Ohnu plz wapis le aao. (Sir, she left, please take her back). I thought she might had been to her parents’ house; however, I was struck dumb to hear that she attempted suicide. I didn’t know either my tears were rolling down, my regret of not calling her or the anger of her in laws were rolling down. She could have been survived, a young newlywed yesterday, was a dead today. We all were left with her memories and an unanswered question WHY?

Would the rat race to settle in abroad come to a halt? Would the girls of 21st century realize the true worth of their existence? Even after proposing and regulating the laws in the favor of women, still we are unable to implement successfully. How many of such young girls would have taken their precious lives? The answer is innumerable. What I belive is that, nowadays, young girls needs to be taught the skills of leadership, It's something that has been lacking in young girls and women for a very long time - not because we they themselves don’t want to, but because of what society has labelled women to be. But who could be held liable for the death of this young girl? The question was, is and will be remained unanswered, since how long more?

---Looking for the Answer

-Abhishek Sharma