PAAGAL KANCHHI, A SHORT STORY BY ISMITA RANA

Old mother has no home to go. Photo: Read 2b Happy.

 

Kanchhi’s parents were extremely angry, but they suppressed their anger and decided to give one chance to Kanchhi to mend her ways. Kanchhi was warned for not meeting the boy forever. Kanchhi nodded in affirmation only to keep her parents in darkness. Kanchhi was meeting Ramesh regularly.

BY ISMITA RANA 

Actually, the color of her skin was white but it had turned black due to dust and dirt. She seems to be perplexed and bore no emotions on her face. Her teeth had turned yellowish and her hair shabby. Long and dirty nails made no difference to her; she is busy foraging some eatable foods in the garbage. 

Some benevolent people feel pity for her and give her foods and clothes that she would accept with awkward giggling. She was not aware of her situation, as she felt neither sad nor happy---she was indifferent to her emotions. When asked her name, she would always grin, barring all her stained teeth. The only word she would utter was ‘Kanchhi’. Thus, people began calling her paagal Kanchhi. 

She was not always in this condition. Sometime in the past, she had entirely a different life. She was young and beautiful. She had silky, long hair and she would go to campus. She was a very bright student. Kanchhi’s parents were always proud of their daughter. 

Kanchhi was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She had no brother but one elder sister. She was very kind and compassionate towards all people. She never discriminated against people based on their castes and social positions. 

In the course of time, Kanchhi fell in love with Ramesh, a Dalit boy from the neighboring village. Ramesh’s parents were poor and hardly being able to manage two times meals. The boy had elderly parents who were not being able to go to work and make any financial contribution. Kanchhi knew all that about the boy despite that she gave her heart to him. 

Kanchhi belonged to an upper-caste Brahmin family. It was actually beyond my imagination of getting married to a boy from Dalit family. Kanchhi was aware of the ramifications of her love affair with the Dalit boy, which could bring catastrophe in her life. Hence, Kanchhi was always extra careful to keep her love affair a secret. But one day, news of her secret love affair did reach her parents. 

Kanchhi’s parents were extremely angry, but they suppressed their anger and decided to give one chance to Kanchhi to mend her ways. Kanchhi was warned for not meeting the boy forever. Kanchhi nodded in affirmation only to keep her parents in darkness. Kanchhi was meeting Ramesh regularly. She gave a damn to her parents’ social status and against their wishes got married to Ramesh at a temple. 

Kanchhi began a new life with Ramesh. She had a hope that one day she would be accepted by her parents. However, this never happened. For several years, she was never remembered by her parents and life was going on. In the meantime, Kanchhi gave birth to a baby girl, but the baby was not healthy. Kanchhi had to take the baby to the doctor and this way she had spent almost all her savings on her treatment. 

Lack of money had even forced Kanchhi to stretch her hands before her parents but her request fell on deaf ears. Her parents’ anger had not subsided over the years. “You have degraded our social prestige in society. We hate you and for us, you are already dead and slammed the door in her face”. Kanchhi returned home without any hope of being accepted by her parents. 

Finally, the baby’s illness was diagnosed; she was suffering from a rare form of cancer. Ramesh and Kanchhi sold the only piece of land they owned for the treatment of their poor child, but all their efforts brought no result---The poor child passed away. It was a huge mental trauma for Ramesh and Kanchhi. 

One day, early in the morning, when Kanchhi woke up but her husband was not in the bed. When Kanchhi went to the adjoining room, her eyes remained open in shock and horror. Ramesh’s body was hung with the ceiling fan and on the table was a suicide note. 

“Dear Kanchhi, I know you love me too much, and believe me, I always loved you more than anything else in my life. Despite my best effort, I could not give you any comfort of any kind. You received humiliation, negligence, and insult from this society and all was that due to marrying a lower caste Dalit man. I found myself guilty of ruining your life. Had I not married you, you would have a very happy life. After much contemplation, I have decided to end my life. Only my death will pave your way to begin a new life. Please do not take me otherwise. Please go to your family and begin a new life---your Ramesh”. 

After reading the suicide note, Kanchhi turned unconscious and fell on the floor like a fallen tree. Kanchhi could never recover from the trauma and she had lost all her memory---    

About the author

Ms. Ismita Rana is a 23-year old management student from Pokhara, Nepal. She has completed her Bachelor’s degree in management from Prithvi Narayan Campus and now her only dream is to hold a Master’s degree from a reputed university in the US.   

LEGAL WARNING

All rights reserved. No articles and photos published in this blog can be reproduced without the prior written permission of the author. Legal action will be taken immediately if any articles or photos are reproduced without the author’s knowledge. However, articles or photos can only be reproduced by duly mentioning the author’s name and the blog's name (read2bhappy.blogspot.com). The author must be informed by sending an email. All articles and the photos published in this blog are the copyright property of LB THAPA.