The Bridal Pyre - Nainam Dahati Pavakah by AVANTIKA DEBNATH

"Girls need to adjust a little after marriage." Said her mother. And she obeyed her mother's words. She gave up on her dreams... her hopes... her happiness... her self-respect... her father's dignity... her mother's honor... and herself. But she couldn't give up on her child. The child whom she never saw, named, or held close to her heart...The child whom she couldn't give birth to. She obeyed her mother's words but then.... Her own motherhood was taken away from her. She blew the conch shell and declared a war. She stood against all, the husband, the society, the law of the land and the leaders of the people. The local goons....politicians ...corrupt police officers and lawyers...irresponsible judges...the opportunist media...the futile judicial system...wasted legal system...no one could stop her. She feared none. She could not be broken or be burnt....And they said even the holy Ganga would refuse to immerse her... She was no more a body with a soul. She was a soul with a body. And the soul doesn't get torn, doesn't get drowned, and doesn't get burnt. She sat on her pyre and set it ablaze....The Bridal Pyre....but, Nainam Dahati Pawakah