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I grew up in a remote village Etah in UP, by the time I barely touched 13 years of age and entered puberty, my parent thought I was capable of getting married. I was all decked up and shown to a guy who was working in West Bengal, Kolkata. He was the first and last guy that my parents have shown me, and both the party agreed and got us married and we moved to Kolkata.
On arriving at the station I didn’t know what kind of city it is and what people would be like, most of them were dressed like the people we see on television and all these while I was under the impression that only film stars wear western clothes as neither my father nor my neighbors have travelled so far to tell stories.
We stayed at small basti everything was fine at the beginning I started making friends, sometimes my husband uses to come home drunk and beat me a little but nothing major, so I accepted it and took it as a part and parcel of life. Six months has passed and things changed in a different way my husband’s drinking habit was regular and his thrashing got me scars which previously didn’t happen. Meanwhile, my in-law came to Kolkata to stay with us, automatically conceiving pressure started. Now my in-laws also thrash me for not conceiving.
I was taken to different temples and performed many pujas but still, couldn’t conceive, my neighbor advised my mother-in-law to take me to the hospital and get me checked properly. Even that was done and all reports were fine, but still waiting for a miracle to happen so that my regular thrashing can come to an end.
Here at my basti a lady used to come from an NGO to teach the children, she looked educated and spoke in English and many women used to go to her with their personal problems, one day she even asked me how did I get those scars on the body, I managed to lie and avoided her. Basically, I used to think her as police and was afraid if I complained they might harm my husband. Later, I came to know who she was.
One fine day I was thrashed so badly that bleeding didn’t stop and the lady saw me and watched me till my husband and mother in-law left. This lady called a volunteer and she dressed my wounds. For the first time, I spoke my heart out before she could even ask, how my husband, his mother, and father used to physically and mentally abusive me, in fact, his father always tried to touch me but there was no one I could share with and practically nobody would have believed.
She just asked me one question can you live in this way for lifelong. My answer was simple, I said no, she then asked me what kept me here, and I said I have no place to go. She asked whether I was comfortable with doing a job and earn money. I quickly agreed and they took me to a place where an old lady used to train many women to learn how to stitch, I learned it quickly and started working with a tailor shop. I was earning well in fact enough to fill my stomach four times a day. I shifted to a different locality, I met a guy from my workplace we fell in love, we married and today I have two kids both attending an English medium school. His parents treat me like their own daughter even after knowing that I ran away from my first marriage.
Now I am leading a normal life, both me and my present husband went to my village to my parents, they were shocked to hear what happened with me but also happy that I have moved on and leading a good life, but at the same time I was asked to leave early so that nobody in the village comes to know about my second marriage.
Today when I look back I don’t know how I managed so far……. But life wasn’t easy for me Turnstone has trained me and helped me develop the skill like stitching and helped me to get a job and earn a respectable living.
