Village Rose

Village Rose….
My village (like any other) is full of stories. Real time stories. Stories hard to believe.
And the latest one found me when I (like any other daughter) was making fun of a ridiculous soap opera my Mom (like any other mom) watches.
“So you think these are ridiculous, huh? Would you care to hear the Divakar epic?” (Divakar is a laborer and stays in a wobbly hut right across our yard.)

The village hags seem to have found the way to our house. This, I don’t approve of. And I let her know as much.

My mom was dying to tell me the spicy tale -“I bet you haven’t heard anything remotely weird!”
There was no stopping her now. Especially since my sister was nearby ready to snatch the limelight away.
“So you know Amminni right?”

“No! I don’t.”

“ok … she is ….” Blah blah…..

“Fine Mom! Get on with it!”

“One fine day we saw quite a crowd at Ammini’s (Divakar’s wife) place. We assumed them to be visiting relatives. But then Ramla got the real dough. It seems Amminni had the visitor’s daughter under her custody and was not willing to let the girl go.’

I lost her already… it took a long time to get the whole story straight and this is what I understood. (And I swear to speak the truth, and nothing but the truth)

The girl (14 yr old heroine of our tale – let’s call her Smriti) lived (once upon a time) with her parents- mother and stepfather. She was a laborer at the cashew factory (those factories are stealing all our workers). This is where she meets Amminni. And this great lady proved to be a wonderful sounding board for Smriti’s problems (I assume you have enough imagination to figure out what sort of problems. There is a step parent involved remember?) . And this Godmother of a woman vows to protect her from all evils. Smriti happily packs her bag and lands in Divakar’s shack. And after a while so does her parents. There ensues a tug of war and the parents go back defeated. Now we should not underestimate the literacy of these ‘very happening’ people. A case is filed and the drama takes centre stage in a legal court. Ammini and her compatriots get a false set of family for Smriti (complete with a Fiancé). Before the proceedings get deep, the fake parents were found guilty under whatever sections these ridiculous stuffs come under.
The same day a train of rickshaws park outside Ammini’s place, drag the young teenager out and flee. Several days pass by before any clue of the kid’s (just a 14 year old remember?) whereabouts come to light. And surprise! Surprise! The so called kidnappers (if you can call running away as kidnapping) happen to be the fake fiancé’s kin.
Now enters another young man of 21. The girl was apparently involved with this boy before she came to live next door. This boy spends a copious amount of tears and time on the whole mess. And in enters his kin. And where do they go now?
You guessed right! A second set of theatrical performance go live at the district court.
Final Verdict?
The girl is to live with the kidnapping (duh!) fiancé (if you haven’t guess already, he is the latest hunk for whom she has the hots for!) until she is of age (4 more fat years, kiddo!), after which a legal marriage certificate is to be issued.

Before you jump to conclusion or question, let me share a few of the basic questions that sprouted between my own two ears.
What about the Devdas who initially she had a fling with?
And by the way is this how ‘the docile doe like village damsels’ usually spent their initial 14 years of their lives? Boy! Are they rocking!

Mom! Your sitcoms (yes! all of those 789 episodes) are wanting in spice.