32. A Condition

FLASHBACK

RAAHI

I have had spent the most beautiful days of my life with Maa. She taught me a lot, and we did have a lot of fun. She was like my friend, who would listen to my endless gossips and chattering. In the disguise of teaching me to do household chores, we spent our happy times together.

Within two months, Maa was my best friend and much more closer to me than my own mother. She understood me in a way that my mother couldn't even bother. She cared for me, she loved me and above that, she respected me and my thinking.

Maa and I had one thing in common. Our pain. Our pain of being tortured by our respective husbands. Arhaan's father used to torture her almost daily. A couple of days, I have found myself hearing Maa's screams and crying to sleep. Fresh bruises on her body and a couple of horrific moments. And the fear that Arhaan is much worse of a monster than his father scared the shit out of me.

Respect. That's a small word, but that's what I crave the most. I crave a bit of