“Oh! You Don’t Have A Son? Why Don’t You Have A Son?”

The author has two beautiful daughters and yet is asked about not having a son. That she doesn’t want one, isn’t enough. 

“How cute? Look at them. They look so angelic”, Saroj aunty looked at my daughters, who really looked pretty. I had always dressed them identically.

Today they were wearing lovely pink and blue frocks. They had on matching hairbands and shoes, and looked so innocent, I felt extremely blessed to have them. I had gone all the way to Delhi to my favourite store, to get their identical dresses.

It was an important day for us

Today was an important day. It was my brother-in-law’s engagement. Everything had to be just perfect. I was also wearing a light green chanderi saree with a golden border. And I had taken out my subtle gold set to match.

After a long time, I had felt happy dressing up. Nothing really happened in this household. There were no parties, no one watched movies and there was no place for entertainment, other than the local park.

Gurgaon sucked and more importantly, this family did not know how to enjoy themselves.

Each and every morning, the faces would have the same contours. The only time there would be laughter, would be at some cynical joke. Or the joke would be related to something twenty years ago, of which I would not understand anything.

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One of them was, “Soma choodi”. This was making fun of a house-help the family had a long time ago. So if anyone would behave like her, according to them, they would call her this and laugh away. The concerned person would be left standing, feeling awkward as though they had committed a crime.

“You don’t have a son!”

The function began and I got busy in serving and looking after the guests. One old aunty caught hold of me and started talking about my saree. Then she asked to meet my daughters. When they came, she looked at them and asked, “Where is your little brother?”

My daughters unable to comprehend the question, went away. I heard my name being called,”Richaaaa”. The aunty still did not let me go, “You don’t have a son?” As I replied that I did not feel the need, she squirmed and made a face.

Why I don’t have a son

At least two people were calling me, for I was the elder daughter-in-law now and had a set protocol.”Richaaaaa”. The sound reverberated in my ears as I went towards it.

I looked at my husband who was glowering at me. His eyes were asking, how could I not listen. I immediately started doing what was told to me. How I wished that I could tell that aunty the truth.

How could I tell her that I did not want a son because the men in this house were monsters. I did not want to give birth to another one.

Picture credits: Pixabay 

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