Gurpreet Kaur
Nitya, a young Brahmin girl, was ready to step into her teens. She lived with her
loving family in the busy city of Bangalore. Pampered and nurtured by her parents and elder siblings, she enjoyed her life being carefree. She started learning classical dance forms, which was encouraged by her family. As time passed, Nitya turned out to be a beautiful young lady, and her passion for dance only grew over the period. She took the professional course and won many hearts and awards in this art. One can say she depicted a kite that soars higher and higher in the sky.
As her glory and fame grew, many proposals came pouring in for her hand in
marriage. However, she focused more on her passion rather than get hitched or so she thought. One fine day her performance was scheduled for social awareness on girl education in a small village near Bhalki district. There, her dance and beauty caught the eye of a young man named Ritesh. After the show, he approached her and asked her to go out on a date. He was in awe with her. Being the only engineer in his village, he was quite a known figure among the people. It did help to build trust in Nitya’s eyes for him. After Ritesh insisted, they started meeting each other as friends, and gradually their friendship grew into love.
Soon they found themselves in the bond of marriage. With eyes full of fantasy and dreams, Nitya stepped into her new life. Both of them shifted to Ritesh’s native land after the wedlock. From there on, Nitya’s life took off like a roller coaster. As everything started to settle down, Nitya started to catch up with her new life. She was supposed to portray an image of a typical ‘bahu’- the first one to get up in the morning serving bed-tea to everyone in the house. From a girl who was pampered by her parents to a wife who was expected to deliver her ‘household’ duties, her life took a significant turn. Physically and mentally exhausted at the end of the day, her lifelong ambition of becoming a world-famous dancer and choreographer was long lost. She would sit on the porch with gloomy eyes and reminiscent about her days as a dancer. But now it all felt like a distant dream. Her new family was no longer bothered about it. If she ever gathered the courage to talk for herself, she was scowled and discouraged for choosing such a ‘lowly’ profession. She was not allowed to leave the house premises. It often resulted in disputes between Nitya and her husband. Her feelings were of a kite stuck on a tree.
As time went by, a day came when she found herself pregnant with her first child. It marked another turn in her life. She felt as if happiness was returning in her life. But again, not for long. Since her conservative in-laws longed for a male child, Nitya was put under the pressure point. It was not easy for her. They had impersonated her mind. Sometimes she would wake up all sweaty and worried in the middle of the night. What if she was not able to give birth to a son? It took a toll on her health and mind. The lively girl in her slowly died. She would isolate herself and watch the sunset. Day by day, she became more irritable and weak. Finally, the nine months were over. On a fine spring morning, she was taken to a nearby hospital. There she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Everyone rejoiced at this moment. But as destiny would have it, things became complicated, and doctors were not able to save Nitya. She died as she gave birth to her child. This was the price of her freedom when her soul was once again free from the shackles of life- Free as a Kite…forever lost once cut from its strings.