When Aniket died of a sudden cardiac arrest, the machine stopped. Her mother-in-law, Sharada, had moved to her eldest son’s house in Kolhapur. Ritu had gone back to the US. Her son, Kabir, was lost in his start-up in Bengaluru. And Meera was left in the three-bedroom flat, a museum of a life she no longer knew how to live.
But her eyes. Her eyes were the same as they had been at nineteen. Curious. Alive. Rebellious.
She touched the silver bindi on her forehead. She touched the gold border of the saree. She thought of the old weaver in Yeola, dead now, who had poured his last months into this cloth. She thought of her daughter, three oceans away, who would open her parcel and smell the cardamom of Suhas Kala Mandir. She thought of her mother-in-law, who would probably clutch her pearls if she saw a widow in a Paithani.
Meera smiled. She took a photo of herself in the mirror. She didn’t crop the messy bedroom in the background. She didn’t adjust the lighting. She sent it as it was.
When Aniket died of a sudden cardiac arrest, the machine stopped. Her mother-in-law, Sharada, had moved to her eldest son’s house in Kolhapur. Ritu had gone back to the US. Her son, Kabir, was lost in his start-up in Bengaluru. And Meera was left in the three-bedroom flat, a museum of a life she no longer knew how to live.
But her eyes. Her eyes were the same as they had been at nineteen. Curious. Alive. Rebellious.
She touched the silver bindi on her forehead. She touched the gold border of the saree. She thought of the old weaver in Yeola, dead now, who had poured his last months into this cloth. She thought of her daughter, three oceans away, who would open her parcel and smell the cardamom of Suhas Kala Mandir. She thought of her mother-in-law, who would probably clutch her pearls if she saw a widow in a Paithani.
Meera smiled. She took a photo of herself in the mirror. She didn’t crop the messy bedroom in the background. She didn’t adjust the lighting. She sent it as it was.