Eighteen years old Charulata Shastry had finished school and had just moved to Kota for the coaching and preparation of her medical entrance examinations. Coming from a Brahmin family, her sense of fashion was conventional. She was very fond of branded and skimpy outfits, but she had never worn one in her life till now. Her father was a priest at a temple; hence they never had enough money either.
Charu was excited to venture out to enjoy an entire year's freedom. She desired to save pocket money to buy herself the clothes she had only worn in her dreams. She had never stayed alone or even gone out of the district, but the bliss of autonomy had bereft her brain from mulling about the hardship one has to face when living alone.
"Papa, I want to go to Kota for the preparations," Charu said to her father.
"Are you out of your mind? You're not as grown up as you think you're. Neither do we have the money it'll need," Her father hollered.
"But Shruti and Ruchika are going," She pleads, "I won't be alone."
"That's not the only problem; we don't have the money," Father complained again, being the grumpy man he was.
"I'm getting the scholarship. I'll get a 60% discount," Charu persisted.
Charu was a brilliant student, ranking first in her class every time. Her arguments were reasonable. Her father was speechless for a while.
"No, we still can't let you." Her father said curtly and left for the temple.
As a last resort, Charu asked for help from her mother. The mother told her the actual reason; why her father was so hesitant to let her go. Bhavna was the elder cousin of Charu, as brilliant and pious as Charu. Thirteen years ago, Bhavna went to Kota for the same reasons. In Kota, Bhavna met a Muslim man - fifteen or twenty years older than her. He was already divorced, yet she got pregnant and married the man. Her family couldn't accept her back. No one in the family is in contact with her, and neither did Bhavna return to the city.
Charu did remember her cousin but not the facts her mother shared with her. She convinced her mother that she won't ever disgrace her family. Her mother believed her little girl; she convinced the priest to let her go, and finally, Charu got what she wanted.
After a month in Kota, she decided to look up her cousin on social media. She pinged her - they talked. Charu was surprised to learn how happy Bhavna was with her life despite everything. On top of that, Bhavna cleared the same entrance exam thirteen years ago. Chatting with Bhavna was an illuminating experience for Charu. Charu got to know Bhavna's husband is a chartered accountant. He lives in Kota, whereas Bhavna is now a gynecologist and lives in Germany. The two were still married.
Charu was intrigued to meet Bhavna's husband. After all, Bhavna was just like her when she met him. Charu was curious to know what kind of a man had the charm to turn a girl like her into someone like Bhavna. She asked Bhavna if they could meet anytime soon. They decided to meet after a couple of months when Bhavna would visit India, but shared her husband's contact with her if she ever needed anything.
"Can I ping Jiju? Have you told him about me?" Charu pinged.
"Yes, you may - He knows about you," Bhavna replied.
"Two weeks from now, it's his birthday. If you'd like to wish, you can," Bhavna sent another message.
"Okay, Didi. Thank you - can't wait to meet you." Charu replied.
It was late for Charu, and she went to sleep after that with the thoughts of this charming man who stole the heart of her elder cousin.
Open for discussion in private.