THE PALANQUIN

THE PALANQUIN

Palanquin means a covered seat carried on poles held parallel to the ground on the shoulders of two or four people, used in former times to transport an important person, especially the brides in East Asia. It is used for a bride to sit on when she is going to her in-laws’s house from her parent’s home.

In the in-laws house, where the woman takes her second birth.

First birth is taken by her when she actually born of her mother’s womb.

Second birth is held when she goes from her parent’s house to her husband’s house to

become his life-partner, after marriage. Third, when she gives the birth to her own baby. After

having these three births she does not get respect. As a girl when she is born as fetus, it is killed

against the term of female –feticide as parents think her as a burden because they have to give a

lot of dowry to her in her marriage. So, they try to kill her while she is in the womb.

Second

when she becomes mother, she does everything for her children even she sacrifices her interests,

rest, comforts, needs etc. But when the children grow up they started neglecting her and they tell

her to shut up as she has no understanding of their Era. Amongst the three births, the worst

happens to her when she gets married. This is the toughest birth for a lady. When she is going to

marry and sits in the palanquin and thinks of her dreams to make her own home, own family

where there will be peace not pieces, love not lust, happiness, mutual understanding and where

she will enjoy eating, dancing, speaking, sharing, caring, loving together with her husband. She

determines that come what may, she would definitely make her dream possible and show to the

world. She wants a home where her in-laws (for whom she thinks more than that of her own

parents), her husband (whom she worships like GOD and for whom she becomes ready to do

everything even without bother her self-respect and life), and her children.

She thinks of all these dreams when she is on the journey, sitting in the palanquin, to her in-laws
house from her parent’s. But what happened to her dreams when her palanquin, full of dreams,
entered into the home of her husband? The in-laws particularly her husband leave her alone and
try to torture her sometimes for dowry, sometimes for salary, sometimes to rule over her,
sometimes for her needs that she wants to fulfill her dreams and sometimes only to please his
family without caring the pleas of his own wife . The husband lives but without caring his bride,
who comes in the palanquin, with a hope to live a new life with him.

I am here telling a story of a girl, Mishthi, who also had dreams of her new married life and she
also had sit in the palanquin. But her dreams that she had woven for her long life were shattered
only in ten minutes. Yes, I am here talking about, Mishthi. Mishthi was the only girl of her
parents. She was quite similar to her name. Mishthi is a word which means sweet. She was
5’6”tall,fair,beautiful,slim girl with youth, enthusiasm, positivity, love for life and a girl who
makes the surrounding alive with her presence. She was single so she was adorable to her
parents. Her parents never bothered that she is the girl and one day she will go to other’s house
as it is said that the girls are other’s assets that are kept preserved in her parent’s home. In
spite of this, her parents taught her to the highest. Mishthi, also always made her parents feel
proud. She was an intelligent girl and educated in top schools, colleges and university. She got
the highest degree that was Doctorate of Philosophy in Management. She was appointed as a
professor in the university from where she got education. Till that her all dreams were fulfilling.
While doing management, she thought of the real meaning of management that is not only
confined to professional phase but to personal also. She thought that education does not mean to
collect degrees but it develops a student in every field like mental, creative, physical, spiritual,
moral, and domestic at national – international levels etc. In fact overall development is the main
objective of education. So, Mishthi also got such developments in her utmost. She not only
gained intellectuality but wisdom also.
After getting education, now the time of her marriage came like all the girls. Her parents were
also searching the finest match for their girl and finally the boy named, Zubinesh, to her house.
After meetings and discussions the marriage was fixed. The boy was an engineer and working
with a multi-dimensional company in N.C.R. Mishthi and her parents were happy to get such
handsome 5’9”, rich, affluent, educated and teetotaler single boy who had two sisters. Mishthi
thought that her life had become fruitful by getting such a person like, Zubinesh. The marriage
was fixed and so her dreams. Mishti thought of her own family including her parents-in-law,
sisters-in-law and husband or her better half. She was looking a fairy in the pink colored bridal
dress. Zubnesh was also looking dashing. Everybody in the marriage was touching wood so that
no evil eye can disturb their lives. After the rituals, now Mishthi entered in the palanquin by her
parents and the palanquin started going towards new life of hers. On the way she was thinking
how to fulfill the dreams. As she reached her husband home in the palanquin she was
worshipped by her mother-in-law- with earthen candle. She entered her new home happily after
all she was marching towards her new life, new hope and making her dreams true. Her sisters-in-law
escorted her to her room where she and her husband had to plan and manage their future.
When Zubnesh entered into the room, she enthusiastically and zealously talked about her future
and dreams to him but he, the man who brought her into his house as a life-partner had departed
her life by saying a few sentences. The dreams which were taken by Mishthi for a long time i.e.
from her first birth in her parent’s home to second birth in her in-law’s home were shattered into
uncountable pieces. The boy with whom she wanted to live the rest of her life had made her lifeless
only in ten minutes. He said,
“Mishthi, you are looking beautiful today. You are a sweet and nice girl indeed but the thing that
I could not tell you before marriage, telling you today. Mishthi we will always live together in
this room, I would give you everything that you want but can’t give you one thing i.e. love and a
place of wife as I love someone else. Sorry, I married you only for the sake of my parents and
sisters. I did not want to break the mild hearts of theirs. I can see everything in the world but not
the tears in their eyes. You are lucky that you have got such nice and wonderful in-laws. Like a
dutiful and socalled wife in the eyes of the society, you had to also keep these things as secret from my family as well as yours as it is said in the shastras (holy scriptures) that it is the duty of a wife to obey her husband as the husbands are considered GODS to the wives. My love is for my family and beloved. You can live here as my wife (by name only), my room mate with a compromise and can share my room.
You can do anything in the house, as this is yours also but this can not be your home. Ok, good
night and have sweet dreams”.
After saying these words, he picked his bed-sheet, pillow and blanket and went to sleep on the
couch to have dreams of his beloved. He did not even have a single look in the eyes of Mishthi
where he had left the pieces of her shattered dreams that were coming in the form of tears. The
person who did not want to see tears in her sisters and parents eyes, how easily he gifted tears to
Mishthi’s eyes. How easily he had ruined her life in order to prosperous his own and family’s
ambition.

At the last when he said Mishthi, good night and have sweet dreams then she
thought have the dreams left sweet and had the night left good to her? Mishthi wept all over
the night. Her dreams were shattered before its starting. She thought all the night and suddenly
stood up with a decision. She thought if there is no love between husband and wife then what of
that relationship and compromise for that and why to carry the fake relationship even for an
hour? She was determined not to compromise her dreams and collected the scattered pieces of
her dreams and wiped off her tears. She decided not to allow anybody snatch her happiness,
rights and her own dreams. She got ready for a new journey, as the barrier of ten minutes could
not stop her, to walk forward to a long life. She collected everything with the help of her great
courage and readies herself to sit on new and real palanquin. This palanquin will really carry
her to real happiness, starry, dreamy and real life where nobody like, Zubnesh lives. The real
palanquin now marched towards the real place of hers that was her own parent’s sweet home.
The home where she can have more and more dreams and where there is a guarantee of its
fulfillment.