You Don’t Belong Here Anymore

Ravi stopped his car and asked Reema to get down, Reema asked Ravi “Are you not coming inside?” Ravi nodded his head in disagreement and pin pointed his watch. Ravi and Reema a newly married couple, though they did hold acquaintance but now their relationship got a new name.[read more]

Despite all the love and affection a girl gets from her in laws it fails to replace the care and warmth which a girl gets at her own house from her own parents where she feels a sense of belonging. Reema was missing her parents from quite some time so today she told her husband to drop her to her parent’s house while going to office.

 “I’ll come by 6 to pick you in the evening so be ready by that time, now please let me go to the office as I’m already getting late.” Reema got down and pressed the door bell, she was full of excitement and joy as it was her first visit to her own “Home Sweet Home” after marriage. Sudha the maid of the house opened the door and she found Reema standing on the doors and she was equally excited as Reema has grown in front of her eyes though Sudha was the house help but she was being treated equally as a family member by Reema’s family.

Sudha excitedly called Reema’s mother “Look who is there on the doors, it is our own princess Reema.” Sudha opened the door and hugged her, the affection was equivalent to mother and daughter and she took her inside the house.

The passing of information on her arrival hit Reema a bit as it was numerous times before she rang the bell and Sudha opened the door but the information on her arrival was knocking her head as if she has come as a guest not as a family member. Mummy came and hugged Reema, the warm bonding between mother and daughter was hot enough to melt the solid tears to roll out. Both of them sat down on the sofa and Mummy asked Sudha to bring water for Reema, an endless conversation started between mother and the daughter while Sudha sitting close to Reema as a witness watching Reema closely.

Suddenly Reema noticed that her childhood memory an aquarium is missing from the place where she use to keep which was not allowed to be touched by anyone, the aquarium was a priceless possession for Reema. Mummy said “The aquarium needed a proper care and none of us were able to take good care of it, so we decided to give it to someone else and Sudha asked for it and we gave it to her”. Reema looked at Sudha as she was not very much happy after all the aquarium was her priceless possession and lot of memories were associated with that aquarium. She use to show the colorful fishes to her school friends and in fact the aquarium also holds a special bond. She met Ravi for the first time in the pet shop when she was there to buy a new fish and Ravi was also there to buy a new aquarium for himself and this common interest clicked in between. It looked as if all the memories flashed for a while and vanished in another second.

Reema got up from the sofa and walked towards her own room, the room which was her everything and not a single thing was kept in the room without her permission. “Mummy, when will papa come?” Reema tried to ease the environment as everyone sitting there was aware about the possessiveness which Reema has for her things. Reema opened the door of her own room and she suddenly started getting a feeling of a guest. The wall paint was not pink her favorite color, her favorite swing was missing from the attached balcony to her room. The swing where she use to sit and spend time with her father, but now it is missing from its place. The entire room was having a new look, she asked her mother for the reason, and her mother said that after her marriage the entire room was changed to a guest room. The word guest again hit her and the entire house was screaming loud to Reema “You don’t belong here anymore.”

Mummy felt the discomfort of Reema and just to distract her she said, “Lunch is ready come and have something princess.”Reema came and sat for the lunch, she was silent, and she was speechless. No one could dare to touch her things but is it a maturity which has kept her calm and silent or is it that she does not belong to this house anymore and she has lost the right to say anything. The mobile rang it was Ravi. “

“Reema, I’ll be late as an unexpected meeting has just arrived so if you don’t mind can you go back by your own or if you can wait I’ll be reaching by dinner and after having dinner we can leave.” Reema paused for a while and said “No! It will be too late so I’ll manage it by own, you take your own time.” She finished her lunch and went to her own room which was a guest room now, “Mummy I’ll like to take a short nap. Just wake me up when papa comes.”

She closed the door and lied on the bed where all the memories were flashing in front of her eyes, pillow fight with cousins, night studies with friends, long night calls with Ravi, she closed her eyes. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, “Reema, papa has come, please come out. Papa wants to see you.”Reema came out of the room she hugged papa, father and daughter also had a special bond and it was evident.

Everyone sat and Sudha got evening tea for everyone , after finishing tea Reema asked her father “Papa can you ask your driver to drop me back to my house.” Papa said “What happened, why you are in hurry?” “No papa, Ravi got stuck in some meeting and it will be quite late if we leave after dinner, it normally takes two hour drive from here.” Reema replied her father. Reema’s mother realized that Reema is not feeling very comfortable where none of her things is there. Reema’s father went out to call the driver, her mother and Sudha came near to her and both of them held her hand “We all daughters have to face the challenge of leaving our child hood treasures at our parents’ house and step into a new world of in laws, I can understand how you felt by when you found your favorite things missing but we daughters have to accept it and move ahead.” Reema hugged her mother tightly as she understood what her mother was trying to convey her, tears rolled out from the eyes of Reema and she left for her own house. [/read]