The Creator of Fate: Part 1
…Housewives often remain just glorified maids!
Opening the newly wed Bhabhi’s suitcase on the bed, all the sisters-in-law who had arrived for the wedding, sat in a circle.
“Oh! This bangle box is so beautiful! And the sets of bangles inside it seem to have been decorated with great care. Are these pink bangles or pearl strings?” The middle aunt-in-law’s daughter said, “This is my wedding gift to myself.” “I had to make several rounds of the market to get this ready!” “This is mine now!” Chanchal, the actual sister-in-law, picked up the whole box and after closing it, pressed it under her arm.
“Oh! Oh! Where are you running off to? Let me have a look at it!” said Shraddha, the younger aunt, who was a little older than the married sisters-in-law and remained in the same group. An irritating guest, some aunt-in-law had already told her in the morning, “Cut off the horns and join the calves!”
Aunt Shraddha kept on interrupting and Chanchal flitted here and there! She was about to make some taunting remark, but then her attention shifted to the bride’s second married sister-in-law, Kanchan, who was turning the suitcase upside down as if Chanchal’s gain was her loss. Now if she did not make an even bigger profit, then her cunning would be shamed!
“I will take this vermilion-coloured sari!” The elder sister-in-law Kanchan took out the most expensive Banarasi sari that was visible in the suitcase and immediately put it in her bag. The cousins-in-law kept whispering to the bride, “These two are so greedy!” “Oh! The daughter-in-law has only seen their colour so far; she has not seen their mother’s!”
…and their mother, Veni was indeed two steps ahead of the daughters, Chanchal and Kanchan! In the evening, she said to her daughter-in-law, “So, how many rings did you get at the wedding? Take them off; I have to show them to the guests.” The daughter-in-law took off six rings and handed them over. The mother-in-law took them out and returned them after a while.
“Here, wear your rings.” The daughter-in-law looked carefully; she had taken six rings, but only five were returned. Even then, she kept inspecting each one as if weighing them. Would she dare say that one ring was missing? How could she suddenly accuse her mother-in-law of theft! She decided she would talk to her husband Yogesh at night.
But here the situation was akin to facing the young warriors of Lanka, that too with forty-nine hands! The same gold ring was put on her husband’s hand while lifting her veil.
…her heart broke!
What cunning in-laws Deepti had! But now, this was the ground under her feet. At her mother’s house, Amma never let her feel that the house belonged to anyone other than the two brothers and sisters-in-law.
When the question of her B. Ed fees arose the year before her wedding, they refused outright. Her mother exclaimed, “We can’t waste money like that! Manu’s new job barely covers his Delhi expenses. Pradeep’s business is not profitable either. How can we afford your B. Ed. on Papa’s salary alone? You are getting married next year. It is fortunate the auspicious date of marriage was postponed due to Mangal Dosha.
It is enough that you are leaving your parents’ home after passing your B.A.! Any further ambitions can wait until after you are married. Besides, I need knee surgery this year. If you are in college, who will manage the house? The elder daughter-in-law is in Delhi, the younger one is busy with her children. Stop studying now and focus on household chores. You are always buried in books. Concentrate on the kitchen! Do you want to shame us in front of your in-laws?”.
Despite the objections, Deepti took the B. Ed. entrance examination and was accepted. Somehow, she convinced her father. Although her father did not say anything in front of her mother and sons, he was the only truly progressive thinker in the family. And when he would announce his decision, everyone would just grumble. After all, the house was run by his salary. Deepti juggled her studies, household chores, and preparations for her future in-laws. Her sisters-in-law murmured, “She is clever. Mother can scold all she wants, but Deepti won’t give up her studies.”
“Huh! But all the expenses of promotion are on the shoulders of the parents, so Deepti Binnu is in luck! These two semesters of the first year of B.Ed. will fly by. We will see next year if her in-laws are willing to pay the fees for the final year! Forty thousand is not a small amount!”
“Of course they’ll pay! An educated daughter-in-law can work, maybe even get a government job. Who doesn’t want the golden goose!”
“She is not a golden goose yet, just a chick! Right now, it is all expenses. And money is at the heart of it.. Who knows what their intentions are? Will they educate her further? A job is a long way off. I have heard that her future mother-in-law is very shrewd, and the married sisters-in-law are very influential.”
This was Deepti’s own worry as well.
“What will happen to my B.Ed. final year fees?” Deepti wondered.
When the newly married Deepti returned to her parental home, she appeared distant and preoccupied. After spending fifteen days at her in-laws’ place, she had come to realize that her life there would revolve around serving everyone and putting up with frequent scoldings. If she failed to devote herself entirely to her in-laws in exchange for food and shelter, survival would be impossible. But was this really surprising? New daughters-in-law were often treated like maids. The prevailing mindset seemed to be– subdue her early, and she would serve happily for the rest of her life. Otherwise, if she asserted herself from the beginning, she would neither follow their lead nor let them control her.
Despite this harsh reality, Deepti envisioned a future for herself that was distinct from the suffocating environment surrounding her.
She wanted to be a companion to her husband, a support to her aging parents-in-law. But beyond that, she dreamt of having a life of her own- an identity, self-reliance, and above all, respect! Deepti was busy cleaning the brass table lamp and flowerpots with lemon, ash and curd. Although tidying up the entire drawing room, her mind was elsewhere. Should she talk to Amma or Papa again about her B.Ed. fees?
Maybe she could call Bade Bhaiya in Delhi. He had a government job, but his household expenses were still covered by farming and Papa’s pension. Couldn’t he spare just this much for his younger sister? She would promise to repay it once she got a job after completing her B.Ed. Perhaps she could ask Pradeep Bhaiya too. Just earlier, Bhabhi had been flaunting her new locket, claiming it was a gift from her maternal home; but Deepti knew the truth that it was Bhaiya who had it made for her.
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After finishing the cleaning, she placed the lamp and flowerpots in the sun as usual. Then she headed to the drawing room to fetch the bulb, cord, and plug to fix the lamp. But when she returned, all the brass items were gone!
“Oh Amma! Where did the lamps and flowerpots go?”
“Your Bhabhi took them to her room.”
“Why?”
“Let it be; why do you ask? Did you plan to take them back to your house?”
This accusation! Deepti’s heart broke again.
From that moment on, her visits home felt like those of a guest. Whenever she came, Amma would grow anxious and ask Papa, “How much do we have to give Deepti as a farewell gift this time?”
Sitting in the train back to her in-laws’ house, her mind raced with thoughts. “I have as much right to Papa’s property as my brothers, but look at Amma’s expressions when giving me even two or five thousand rupees as farewell! And the endless taunts! Forget about Bhabhis, they came from different households, but what can I say when the mother who gave birth to me treats me like an outsider.”
She kept thinking, and tears streamed down her face. Her husband interrupted her, “Don’t cry in the train. Everyone is watching. Okay, tell me, how much did you get as a farewell gift?”
A year had passed since her marriage. In the meantime, a major argument took place. Her mother-in-law, Veni, attended a wedding ceremony where she happened to meet Surekha, the elder sister-in-law of her daughter-in-law. During their conversation, Veni remarked, “Surekha, you are wearing such beautiful earrings! They look like vintage gold.”
“Yes! My mother gave them to me,” Surekha replied with pride.
Veni’s tone changed as she said, “You took so much dowry from your daughters-in-law, but didn’t even bother to be generous when it came to your the daughter in your family!”
“Why do you say that, Aunty ji? Where have we lacked? What have we not given that you are still complaining?” Surekha responded defensively.
Veni grew irritated at Surekha’s words.
“Nose and ear ornaments are given by the bride’s parents. What did you people give to your daughter? You sent her off with worn-out tops from before the wedding. The poor girl has been roaming around wearing those ever since! Why should we get it made for her when her parents couldn’t even manage this much? I had two pairs of earrings made for each of my daughters!” Veni said indignantly.
“What are you saying? We had got a tola of gold earrings made for her at the time of her farewell. Didn’t Deepti Didi tell you?” Surekha responded.
“A tola of gold earrings??” Veni anger flared.
The mother-in-law’s rage knew no bounds. She returned home and created such a loud scene that the neighbours opened the doors of their flats to see what was happening. The father-in-law tried to calm her down, the son also pleaded with her to stop, but Veni’s voice only grew louder, echoing through the building. Meanwhile, the daughter-in-law remained silent, enduring it all quietly.
“Yogesh, either your wife must give an account of those tola of gold earrings or leave this house right away!” Veni thundered.
Yogesh turned to Deepti, his voice sharp and demanding. “Why don’t you speak up? Where are the earrings?”
When he stepped forward, raising his hand to hit her, Deepti whispered in a trembling voice,
“They are lost.”
“Lost? You lost a tola of gold earrings? Where did they go? How did you lose them? Did you send them back to your father?”
Yogesh would have beaten her if his father had not intervened. But the mother-in-law’s fury refused to die down for months. Whenever the sisters-in-law called, she took the opportunity to berate Deepti and hurl accusations at her parents, pouring out her anger repeatedly.
“Their intentions were never good. They gave a tola of gold earrings just to flaunt before others. And that day, her sister-in-law had the audacity to say, what more do you need? Am I a beggar that I should ask for anything from them? I have given my daughters gold in abundance- yes, in abundance!”
The mother-in-law’s babbling would go on and on until the ailing father-in-law would roar from the bed, “Do you want to go to jail, greedy woman?”
* * *
Originally published in Hindi by Indira Dangi

Indira Dangi (b. 1980) is a well-known novelist, storyteller, and dramatist of Hindi literature. She has published four novels and more than fifty short stories in Hindi in the ten years of her writing career. She won India’s prestigious Sahitya Akademi Yuwa Award 2015 for her short story collection Ek Sou Pachas Prem Kahaniyan. She has also won nine other prestigious awards in India. Her works of fiction have been translated into Nepali, English, and other Indian languages.
Image Courtesy: Pinterest, Author
Anuradha Dosad serves as an Assistant Teacher at Jagriti Hindi Vidyamandir, High School, West Bengal. Additionally, she is an accomplished research scholar at Adamas University, Kolkata, where she explores the portrayal of queer themes in comic books within the Department of English. With dual master's degrees in English and Education, she brings a multidisciplinary approach to her research. She holds a PGDELT (Post Graduate Diploma in English Language Teaching) certification, enhancing her expertise in language education. Her scholarly contributions extend beyond academia; she has authored chapters in books published by esteemed publishers like Routledge, in addition to contributing to various national and international journals.