The Lost life

In the 1930s,girls were neither seen or heard,so any girl trying to break the mould was asking for trouble.She however had no intention of keeping the faith,a free spirit,she choose to follow her heart going after what most kids do in childhood,climb trees,scrape knees and generally get into trouble.This naturally made her popular with the boys(starved for female company as it were).Her sister had to follow her around reluctantly as she was under strict instructions to keep an eye on the younger sister.When the family realised that there was no point in putting restrictions,they allowed a little freedom.As the years went by she blossomed into a lively teenager who used the soot on the vessels as eyeliner(those days her family looked down on makeup of any kind....they still do)and flowers in her hair.Unfortunately in small villages in Kerala,there are only some things that girls are meant to do.Their lives are dictated by social rules and those meant that by 18years if they were not married and well on their way to becoming mothers,then they were destined to be put on the shelf and their lived reduced to a miserable existence.Small wonder then that her parents one mission in life was to find a husband(and one who could tame her wild spirit).They did of course find someone ten years older that her.He was a family friend and the entire community convinced the patents that he was the one for her.His qualities were that he worked in a city(a big one at that) and had a government job(very important in those days of middle class values).Her wishes were never in question,marriage was something that had to be gone through.It was a stage in life and the sooner one got used to it the better.The question of love never entered into it,it was an arrangement.A meeting of families to fulfil some social obligation.
Young as she was the transition wasn't easy,nor was it easy to live with a man and his family that were so different to everything that she had known.Here was a family of loud mouthed individuals(as opposed to her soft spoken world).Here was a family that lived off the land,tilling and toiling in the fields,killing their own meat,fishing for their meals in the river that ran by and when a hard days work was done and much squabbling later,it was a time to drink up and turn louder.Her world had changed and changed for ever.Suddenly the free spirit was gone,she gave up on a life that was watered down before her eyes and the free spirited girl was replaced by a woman who in later years would turn bitter and self pitying....(to be continued)