Chapter - 28 (Sania Stays A Housewife!) 

Mrs. Sania sat brooding at the dining table long after the daughters were gone back to their room. After her husband, Mr. Rajan was safely tucked in bed in between the blue sheet and spongy mattress. The TV was on yet she sat looking in the direction of her daughters' room for long, with a  vacant expression on her face.

She could see, through her mind's eye, the small girl with a lot of dreams in her eyes. The day Rajan came to her house with her parents, the day the marriage was confirmed, the spectacular wedding ceremony at a house rented for the occasion, the day of the astomangala (the return of the bride to the in-laws on the eighth day of the marriage), and the end of all her dreams on the day after, when her in-laws firmly made known to her, their decision regarding an unexpected career opportunity,.... 

"Now, you have better retire to your room, Sania. Raj must be eagerly waiting for you.He has school tomorrow, no?" Her mother-in-law said to her after almost all the relatives had left. Sania picked up the pile of plates, rinsed the water off them, put them in the plastic rack and headed towards the room on the ground floor where Rajan was waiting for her. . 

She found Raj in pajamas, just out of the shower, standing bare-chested in front of the mirror, brushing his hair. He saw her entering through her mobile reflection in the mirror. Having gently kept the comb down, he turned back to his newly-wed bride and smiled. 

"You must be tired, dear, after the last two hectic days. Now, I want my BEAUTIFUL wife all to myself. So, come to bed to lie down by my side," young Rajan told his wife. 

For the first time since returning to her inlaws' in the evening, Sania removed her ghomta, the veil like end of the sari that covered her face for most of the day. Her in-laws were kind people really, neither very orthodox nor very conservative. Her spinster sister-in-law, Ritu, who was studying at the local school, was so besotted with her boudi, (sister-in-law) or her stunning beauty, that she kept at her (Sania's) heels like glue since they returned from her maika (paternal house). The thought of the lovely sis-in-law, made Sania break into a smile as she sat down on bed beside Rajan. 

"I've something to tell you. I came to know just as I's leaving home." She stopped abruptly and hastened to add the next minute, "I've a job offer… " 

Having said that, Sania looked straight at the face of her handsome husband, unsure of how he was going to react to the news. 

Rajan, who was working then as a teacher at a private school in their locality, looked closely at his newly-wed bride and said while gently taking her face in his hands," That's a great news. What kinda offer is it?"

"You remember Ma telling you earlier in the day that I'm a trained classical dancer? The Institute where I learnt it all, has been looking for a trainer. The former trainer recently resigned for a better prospect. The Director, who is personally known to me, has asked me as a former student, to fill in the void.. " Sania raised those hauntingly beautiful eyes from her mahendi-clad hands and fixed them on her husband's. There were both apprehension and pleading in those eyes.

Rajan looked Sania straight in the eye to find her in a gorgeous banarasi sari with gilded patterns and designs all over. The heavy necklace around her neck, the matching earrings and the gold tiara at the parting of her hair, made her look so maddeningly desirable that he found it difficult to take his eyes off her face. 

"To tell you the truth, I don't really mind a working wife. But I need to inform my parents first and seek their consent. I'm sure, both my parents being so adorable and understanding, won't object to their daughter-in-law working as well." Rajan replied lovingly, placing her hands in his own. 

"Now, don't you think it's time for us to go sleep, my dear?" Saying so, he pulled his wife towards him as Sania came into his arms, willingly. She shook free off him and said : "Be back within no time," as Rajan let go off her, reluctantly. 

"What does she want to work for? You've a steady job, Raj. We may not be rich but, by the grace of God, we have whatever one can aspire for. Why does she want to work then?" His father asked Rajan at the table, during breakfast the next morning, after Rajan had brought up the topic. He pondered over the issue for sometime before venturing out again, "I'm sure, Bouma doesn't have any financial problems. Why does she want to work then? What for?"

"It's not for money. It's more like chasing and fulfilling a long-cherished dream. A dream I've nurtured since my childhood.Dancing has always been my first love. Nothing gives me greater pleasure, Baba. Now, when an opportunity knocks on the door, please don't deny me the pleasure by withholding your consent," Sania entreated her father-in-law like a kid entreats his parents for candies. .

"I understand your desire of doing something worthwhile with your life, to be somebody. But there is a time for everything, my daughter." He halted to gauge how others reacted to what hed to say about the matter, and continued, "Think of us, Sania Ma. Both Raj's mother and I are not getting any younger. Loneliness has been our lot lately since both our children don't stay much at home. That's why we thought of his marriage. Now, if you want to work as well, things will be back to square one. So, I think it's best you stay at home with us and complete our family." Her father-in-law spoke with the conviction of an experienced man, while all Sania could do was to keep turning her head from Raj back to his father. 

"Baba, won't it be unfair to ask Sania to stay at home while both Ritu and I go out? Won't she be bored, feel caged staying back like that? " Rajan finally spoke on behalf of his wife. 

"What did you say?  She will be 'bored', 'caged' staying with us? I never felt like that when I entered this house some thirty-four years ago! In fact, I felt lucky to have spent some time with your grandparents and served them in any way I could. And what did I hear Sania say about dancing being her first love? For a married woman, her husband should be the First Love. Doesn't your wife know that? " Rajan's mother, who had been a silent spectator till then, vented out her feelings to chide both her son and the daughter-in-law. 

"If you FEEL that way, if you think Bouma should go to work and not stay back with us, why did you bother to ask for our consent? You're a grown-uo now. Do whatever you think best in consultation with YOUR WIFE." She was fuming as she picked up the empty cups and plates from the table noisily and got back to the kitchen. 

"I didn't mean it that way, Baba, " Rajan told his father." Sania's got the opportunity of a lifetime. It'll be foolish of her not to accept such an opportunity. That's all I meant." Rajan went on to add hastily. 

"We'll talk more about it at a more convenient time. Get going now as it's already 8.30. Otherwise, you will be late for school." Rajan's father told him, pushing him towards his room. Then turning to his daughter-in-law, he said, " Don't be angry with us, Bouma. We're old now and aged people often seem blindfolded to the younger ones. If you really want to work, consult your husband. I'm sure, he'll be able to guide you properly."

One thing that became clear to both Rajan and Sania when they spoke about the matter again that his parents were really against the very concept of a working daughter-in-law. Things gradually came to such a pass that her in-laws asked Rajan to look for a rented flat or something that was the only solution left. His parents had no intention of standing on the way to Santa's happiness'. 

But for the interference of Santa's father from behind the scene, things between the newlyweds and the in-laws could have been far more critical. It was Sania's father, who asked his daughter to try to win her in-laws' trust first before anything else. Sania always remembered what her father told her when she paid a visit to her paternal home shortly after the verbal rift between Rajan and his parents. 

Her father had told her on that day, having learnt everything from his daughter, "It's sometimes better to be CAGED, Sonu, than be CAREER-ORIENTED. For one's happiness, and don't you forget this for a moment, lies in making the loved ones truly happy. "