Upto this point, her story is like the story of every woman who has helped in my home and possibly in yours.
The difference is in her spirit.
Her parents asked her to come and stay with them. She said that when things go bad with a married woman she should never go back to her mother’s home even if she has no brothers. Tomorrow if she fights with her mom, they will say, mother and daughter fought. It is better to live under a tree.
Then she told her husband exactly where to get off. She said that she will not give him money to go live with his girlfriend. Her friends and neighbours went and told the husband that they would break his bones if he hit his wife again.
Then she enlisted the support of 9 deities and asked them to cause the other lady as much pain as that lady had caused her. She went and told the other lady that she was lucky not to be beaten up and to get out of her life.
She missed work on just one day. On the second or third day she was back to work with a smile on her face and a hymn on her lips. She said, “I have done no wrong, I should not be the one weeping”. She continuously hums a prayer to God as she works.
Vasantha is a thin girl-like woman. I would have never suspected such courage or spirit or good sense in her.
I cannot but compare her to myself. I went back to my parents and lost all freedom, independence and pride. I prayed for the well-being of my husband’s new family and they are the ones who treat me with suspicion. I let my husband go even easier than the time it takes for a normal divorce, by signing papers for mutual consent and declaring that we had been apart for a year. With all my education and intelligence I was not half as sensible or brave as Vasantha. I hope she wins!
