I got an alarming chill when I received a call from Trishna*, my neighbour/friend from the building where we stayed before shifting to the current house. She was sounding miserable and wished to meet me. I was surprised to see Trishna in such pensive mood as she is always very cheerful, content with life. She happens to be one of those few fortunate ones who have everything one would wish from life.
I was wondering what could have happened that she was in such a terrible state. I reached her house with little apprehension and there she was, shaky, having lost some weight, with sullen face, looking much older than her actual age. I panicked and inquired about her husband but with the very mention of her hubby's name she seemed agitated and glowered. Within minutes it became clear that her marriage had reached a shuddering end.
It was difficult to comprehend what a sudden, tragic turn Trishna's life had taken! I have always seen Trishna and her husband as a couple deeply in love and it has always been evident in every aspect of their life! Lovely memories of witnessing some beautiful moments with Trishna and her hubby started to torture me with the question what could have caused end to their relationship?
Perhaps, my presence tapped the surface of Trishna's pain and her places of brokenness, sorrow, the places where her grief was haunting her and all the aches she was going through found way through her tears. It was for the first time I was witnessing her private hidden spaces of pain and to see her bereft of any guard with all her emotions completely bared was deeply excruciating. My heart became heavy after listening to ugly truth about her marriage that was carefully concealed from the outside world.
While returning from Trishna's home I was thinking about how life had changed for her and the impressions of her "happy life" had shattered in a few moments of her candid confessions! I was thinking about if I had been blind to have never seen the cracks in her marriage. My mind was surging with endless thoughts about life and relationships in general.
In most of the homes around me, life is very pleasant. Some homes are also deeply fragile and in some homes there is barely a wall between the real and the one projected to the outside world hence barely able to hide all it can. Some homes are silently screaming, some holding on despite the obvious devastation. In some homes, love has vanished long back while in some it has grown beautifully. Some nests are completely empty while in some, despite having all the riches of the world it is lonely and much emptier than the rest. Some of the best homes have deep turmoil. Some homes are visibly brewing underneath the facade while some are always full of laughter and joy.
In some homes, when the day is over and people lock themselves behind the walls, the mask worn for the world is taken out as if the act on the stage is over. Perhaps, there is a quiet relief for some moments, a silent refuge!
I was wondering what could have happened that she was in such a terrible state. I reached her house with little apprehension and there she was, shaky, having lost some weight, with sullen face, looking much older than her actual age. I panicked and inquired about her husband but with the very mention of her hubby's name she seemed agitated and glowered. Within minutes it became clear that her marriage had reached a shuddering end.
It was difficult to comprehend what a sudden, tragic turn Trishna's life had taken! I have always seen Trishna and her husband as a couple deeply in love and it has always been evident in every aspect of their life! Lovely memories of witnessing some beautiful moments with Trishna and her hubby started to torture me with the question what could have caused end to their relationship?
Perhaps, my presence tapped the surface of Trishna's pain and her places of brokenness, sorrow, the places where her grief was haunting her and all the aches she was going through found way through her tears. It was for the first time I was witnessing her private hidden spaces of pain and to see her bereft of any guard with all her emotions completely bared was deeply excruciating. My heart became heavy after listening to ugly truth about her marriage that was carefully concealed from the outside world.
While returning from Trishna's home I was thinking about how life had changed for her and the impressions of her "happy life" had shattered in a few moments of her candid confessions! I was thinking about if I had been blind to have never seen the cracks in her marriage. My mind was surging with endless thoughts about life and relationships in general.
In most of the homes around me, life is very pleasant. Some homes are also deeply fragile and in some homes there is barely a wall between the real and the one projected to the outside world hence barely able to hide all it can. Some homes are silently screaming, some holding on despite the obvious devastation. In some homes, love has vanished long back while in some it has grown beautifully. Some nests are completely empty while in some, despite having all the riches of the world it is lonely and much emptier than the rest. Some of the best homes have deep turmoil. Some homes are visibly brewing underneath the facade while some are always full of laughter and joy.
In some homes, when the day is over and people lock themselves behind the walls, the mask worn for the world is taken out as if the act on the stage is over. Perhaps, there is a quiet relief for some moments, a silent refuge!
“Society is a masked ball, where everyone hides his real character, and reveals it by hiding.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
* (name changed)
