The chill of dawn clung to Meenakshi’ s skin as she opened the gate of her house, long before the sun even thought of rising. The street was wrapped in fog, the yellow glow of the streetlights cut through the mist like tired eyes refusing to close. She cleaned the front yard slowly, methodically as if routine itself was the only thing holding her together.
She bent down and drew a beautiful rangoli, her fingers moved with practiced ease.
“At least this welcomes the day, Unlike me.” she thought bitterly and standing there with the bucket and broom in her hands, she glanced around. The entire street slept in an eerie silence. No doors creaked open, no footsteps echoed and no life stirred.
With a tired sigh, she walked back into the three bedroom house. The clock on the wall read 4:30 a.m.
” Another day, Just survive another day ” she told herself and entered her small room.
A quick bath washed away the sweat but not the heaviness in her chest. She dressed in a simple, faded green salwar and entered the kitchen. She boiled the milk and started chopping vegetables. Hearing the sound of footsteps, she rolled her eyes, knowing it was her mother. As usual, she poured a cup of coffee and kept it ready. Radha entered the kitchen, tying her hair into a bun. She picked up the coffee and walked out, pausing only to cast a quick, critical glance at the breakfast and lunch preparations.
Meenakshi packed the breakfast and lunch into the hot box. She washed the dirty vessels in the sink and wiped her hands with a towel. Holding her own cup of coffee, she stepped outside and noticed the time, it was 7:00.
Her mother walked out of the room, ready for the day and her father followed soon after. Before Meenakshi could even take a sip of her coffee, her mother’s loud voice stopped her.
“Why don’t you stop drinking coffee every morning and go for a walk or do some exercise to reduce your weight? Girls your age are already married and here you are enjoying life as if some prince charming will come and marry you.” Radha’s voice cut through the quiet of the morning.
Madhavan clenched his jaw, a familiar irritation tightened his features. It had become her daily routine, taunting Meenakshi every morning as though that alone gave her a strange sense of calm.
“Radha, shut your mouth, she wakes up at four every day and does all the work while you and Keerthi sleep until your stomachs growl for food. At least let her have her coffee in peace. And why are you so bothered about her weight? It’s not like you earn for this family, so stop troubling her. My daughter is beautiful, she earns for her own expenses and yes, a prince charming will surely come for her.” he said firmly.
Radha laughed at his words and glanced sharply at Meenakshi, who stood silently holding her cup of coffee.
“Both father and daughter are living in dreams. Put some sense into her and make her stop eating so much. She’s twenty-eight and we have been looking for proposals for the past four years. Everyone has rejected her and we have lost count. Now Keerthi is ready to get married, but we can’t do that because of this useless girl.” Radha spat.
“Both of them are your daughters, Radha, then why do you discriminate between them?” Madhavan asked, his voice steady but edged with frustration.
“Keerthi is not like her. She listens to me. She is beautiful and not a burden.” Radha shot back.
Meenakshi couldn’t take more and quietly walked back into the kitchen. She poured her coffee into the sink and stood there, gritting her teeth. She could hear her father defending her, as he always did but nothing had changed over the years.
She quickly packed lunch box for Keerthy, her father and herself before she returned to her room to get ready for school, where she worked as a teacher. Her father had always been her greatest support. He made sure she was well-educated and believed that her education would stand by her one day, even when he couldn’t.
Dressed in a simple but beautiful cotton saree, Meenakshi returned to the dining area and served breakfast to her father and mother. Her sister, Keerthi, stretched lazily as she walked out of her room.
Madhavan shook his head quietly, muttering under his breath, “One works like a slave and one is treated as if she is the future queen of some kingdom.”
“Appa, please,” Meenakshi said softly and she smiled at Keerthi, who hugged her sister tightly and clung to her with her eyes still closed. Radha rolled her eyes at the sight, while Meenakshi simply caressed Keerthi’s hair, as she always did.
“Go take a bath and get ready for your interview. I have cooked your favorite lunch today,” Meenakshi said gently.
Keerthi kissed her cheek and pinched her father’s cheek playfully before walking back to her room. Unlike Radha both Madhavan and Keerthi loved Meenakshi deeply. Even when Keerthi wanted to help her with household chores but Radha strictly stopped her, insisting that Meenakshi should do more work to reduce her weight. Eventually, Meenakshi herself discouraged Keerthi from helping, unwilling to give her mother another reason to scold.
Meenakshi skipped breakfast that morning. She didn’t want to invite more taunts from her mother.
“Appa, I’m getting late. See you in the evening. Bye, Amma,” she said.
Her father smiled warmly at her and Radha merely nodded.
Already feeling drained, Meenakshi walked out of the house and headed towards the bus stop. Halfway there, a scooty stopped beside her. Her friend Hema removed her helmet, grinning widely.
“Hello, bestie, come on, let’s go,” Hema said but Meenakshi hesitated for a moment.
“I don’t want your scooty to break because of my weight. I’ll take the bus,” she said quietly and Hema rolled her eyes.
“Stop being dramatic and hop on before I kick your—”
Meenakshi shot her a sharp glare, stopping her mid-sentence. Hema shrugged and pointed to the seat behind her.
They reached the school and entered the staff room. Hema placed a tiffin box in front of Meenakshi and sat opposite her with one for herself.
“Why don’t you poison your mother instead of starving yourself every day and night?” Hema asked casually.
Meenakshi glared at her. “She is my mother. She is worried about my future and she is not completely wrong. I’m unmarried and now Keerthi can’t get married because of me. People think I eat tons but I hardly eat anything. How do I explain that it’s not food, but hormones and genes that made me this way?” she said scrunching her nose.
Hema looked at her and sighed. “Meenu, you are not fat. You are chubby. And not just beautiful, you are gorgeous. If I were a man, I swear I would have married you already and we would have had three kids by now. Such a sexy woman you are.”
Meenakshi choked on her food and Hema burst out laughing as Meenakshi coughed, her cheeks turned red.
” God, stop it, girl. It’s not like I starve. You bring breakfast every day and I eat something on the way back home too. So no, I don’t exactly starve myself.” Meenakshi said, stuffing another spoonful of poha kichdi into her mouth.
Hema studied her quietly for a moment. “Meenu, tell me honestly. Do you really feel that you’re fat and not beautiful? Do you feel insecure about your body?” she asked in a serious tone.
Meenakshi fell silent for a while and then she winked at her.
“No, bestie. I’m beautiful, specially beautiful, I don’t care about being rejected or even staying single all my life. I’m just worried about Keerthi. I don’t want her life to be spoiled because of me.” she said with a small smile and closed her lunch box gently.
Hema smiled, pride shining in her eyes. “I’m proud of you. And trust me, you deserve only a very special and handsome man. God, he will be obsessed with your body for sure. Look at those curves, damn, he will be walking around with a hard on all the time.”
Meenakshi immediately threw the spoon at her. “Idiot. We are at school. Mind your words,” she scolded and Hema giggled, closing her box as well.
They walked out of the staff room and headed towards their respective classes. Meenakshi was an English teacher, handling higher secondary students, while Hema taught Mathematics. Hema was married and her husband, Vishnu, worked in an IT company.
By evening, Meenakshi collected the test papers from her students as the special class came to an end. Once the class was dismissed, she headed to the staff room and found Hema leaning against the table, looking completely exhausted.
“Tired already? Don’t disappoint Vishnu.” Meenakshi teased.
Hema lifted her head with a gasp. “Are you forgetting that we are at school?” she asked, rolling her eyes.
Meenakshi carefully placed the test papers into her bag and propped her elbow on the table. “We are at school, but it’s already evening, and the students have left, unlike in the morning.”
She picked up her bag and stood up. Hema followed her and together they stopped at a small restaurant nearby and ordered a light dinner.
“Thank God my mother-in-law and father-in-law are at their native place. I don’t have to rush back home and start working all over again. I’m completely drained after school. I’ll ask Vishnu to have dinner on the way home and I’ll just go straight to bed.” Hema said, sighing in relief.
She paused and looked at Meenakshi with frustration. “I want you married soon. At least then you won’t have to work non-stop after going home. Honestly, I hate being a woman when I see you. You work like you’re the only person in your house.”
Meenakshi only smiled and gently fed her a piece of dosa.
“Calm down, baby, I’m used to it. I care about Appa, Keerthi… and even Amma. What’s so wrong in cooking for them?” she said softly
Hema glared at her. “You are impossible.”
“Okay, okay calm down,” Meenakshi laughed and paid the bill. Hema dropped her home before riding off toward her own place.
Meenakshi entered the house to find her mother absorbed in her favorite serial.
“What took you so long? Look at the time. It’s already 6:30. Doesn’t your school end at 5:30?” Radha asked irritably.
“There was a special test today, amma and I walked for a while since you wanted me to lose some weight. I will get changed and start cooking dinner.” Meenakshi replied calmly and walked into her room.
She removed her saree and stood in front of the mirror attached to her almirah. Turning sideways, she pinched the flesh at her waist and studied her reflection.
“You are not too fat, Meena. Don’t worry about others.” she whispered to herself and pinched her cheek lightly, as if giving herself a kiss. She changed into a salwar and walked out of the room ready to continue her day.
She heard a familiar humming from the hallway and smiled, instantly knowing Keerthi had arrived. Moments later, Keerthi bounced into the kitchen and hopped onto the counter. She picked up a few chopped vegetables and began munching on them.
“So, how was your interview?” Meenakshi asked.
Keerthi let out an exaggerated sigh, gently pushing Meenakshi aside as she took over chopping the vegetables, a clear sign that a long, dramatic story was about to follow.
“You won’t believe me, sissy. That man on the interview panel was absolutely crazy. Who asks questions about history when I applied for the post of junior clerk? I knew that place wasn’t meant for me the moment I saw him. Big, bald, old man.” she said, huffing as she stirred the gravy in the pot.
They suddenly heard someone clear throat and Madhavan entered the kitchen. He opened his office bag and quietly pulled out a small packet and placed it on the counter.
“Shh… don’t make noise, I bought samosas. Eat before your mother comes in.” he whispered and with that, he walked away to change. Keerthi quickly opened the packet and despite Meenakshi’s protests, she stuffed a samosa into her mouth.
“What is happening here?” Radha thundered from behind.
Meenakshi hurriedly swallowed the samosa mid-bite and began coughing. Keerthi patted her head and handed her a glass of water.
“Amma, why do you always scare her like this?” Keerthi snapped, clearly irritated.
“I’ve been telling her to reduce weight and here she is eating without control. I will talk to the marriage broker and find any man for her. Waiting any longer won’t change anything. She will never control her eating and no man will want such a fat girl as his wife.” Radha shot back.
Her words sliced through the room and Meenakshi felt a stab in her heart.
“The broker said he could find proposals for second marriage, so be ready. I can’t tolerate people making fun of us.” Radha said and stomped out of the kitchen.
Keerthi immediately apologized for forcing Meenakshi to eat the samosa, while Madhavan stood there silently, helplessly watching his daughters, unable to protect Meenakshi from the life she was being pushed into.
He walked forward and wrapped both his daughters in his arms.
“Your father is still alive, so don’t worry. Nothing like what she said will happen. I will find the best man for you.” he said firmly.
Meenakshi wiped the tears that slipped past her lashes.
“Why is Amma so cruel?” Keerthi asked softly, lifting her head from her father’s chest.
Madhavan sighed and said dryly, “Maybe your grandmother ate too many chillies when she was pregnant with your mother.”
They stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing, the heaviness lifting, if only for a moment.
After dinner, Meenakshi returned to her room and lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.
“I don’t need a handsome man and I don’t care if I’m a second wife. Just send me someone kind… someone human. I don’t want my father to worry about me. And I don’t want Keerthi’s life to be spoiled because of me.” she whispered into the silence and a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye and disappeared into the pillow.
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