Travel and tell no one, live a true love story and tell no one, live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things. – Khalil Gibran

     She wore her pink earrings. The bright pink ones that looked like tic-tac clips hanging from her ears. She wore her yellow kurta and her white leggings, her blue eyeliner and her red lipstick. And after she was done wearing everything she wanted to wear, she examined herself in the mirror.

      Not bad, she thought, proud of her new creation. She enjoyed it, this intuitive collection of parts to create a new whole. It was the reason she enjoyed cooking; throwing ingredients together to create something unexpected. She twirled in front of the mirror, appreciating how the clothes fit on her curves. Her mother would say she’s not conventionally pretty. But then Meera never wanted to be conventional.

     “Are you done?” Mother had popped her head into the room. “They’ll be here any second!” She paused to give Meera a disapproving look, before rushing back to the kitchen. She had asked her stubborn daughter to wear something nice, something that would make her look beautiful and feminine. But Meera insisted on being her usual flamboyant self. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! Her maternal instinct reared to protect her daughter from her own criticism. They should like Meera for who she is. She just wanted her odd child to be happy.

     Meera was still admiring herself in the mirror when mother called her outside. She burst into the living room like a blast of air, to find a roomful of people staring at her. Taken aback a little by the sheer number of people (she had expected two or three), and the silence that followed, she tiptoed to the only empty seat in the room, right next to her mother.

     Once she had settled herself comfortably, the questions began. How old was she? What was her plan for the future? (This one was asked by the boy). She turned to him with glittering eyes and a passionate voice and began talking about her hopes and dreams. By her third sentence she saw his eyes glaze over; a blank expression now stood in those intelligent brown eyes.

     Meera’s voice faltered, unsure of what she had seen. The woman to his right, presumably his mother, took this opportunity to ask the next question, cutting Meera off mid-sentence. “All that is fine beta. But you’ll be taking care of our son as well. We’re a modern family, so you can work if you want. As long as you’re home in time to make dinner for our son.”

     Meera turned to the woman with creased eyebrows. “You can cook, right?” the woman persisted. “No.” Meera stared insolently into the woman’s eyes. Her mother suppressed a smile. Meera had made her decision.

     Every question after that was met with staunch opposition, and obstinate denials for things that Meera could do, and often did, in her own house. And when that intelligent brown eyed boy tried to sneak in a question of his own, her eyes bore into his with a blazing defiance, causing him to stutter. Her mother observed the mounting tension in the room with growing amusement, making no efforts to diffuse the situation. Her daughter seemed to have inherited her knack for making people uncomfortable and watching them squirm.

     The outsiders could finally take no more, and politely announced the end of the meeting. Finally! Meera sighed as the guests headed for the door. “This is a good thing.” she heard an uncle whisper reassuringly to the boy’s mother. “She’s a bit fat for him, don’t you think?”

     Meera headed for her room and positioned herself in front of the mirror again. She took a long look at herself as she began to wipe the colour off her lips. Her cheeks were a little too chubby, her kurta a little too bright, her body a little too big, her breasts a little too small. She smiled, as her critical eyes found fault in every part of her body. People ruin beautiful things.

© Aishwarya Javalgekar Previously published: Looking in a Mirror (Personal Blog)

Aishwarya Javalgekar is currently pursuing a Masters in English, where she explores her interests in gender and mythology through her writing and research. Her poems have been published in Ink and Nebula and armarolla, and touch upon themes of love, mental health, and her experiences as a young woman in India. She is currently in the process of publishing her poetry chapbook.

Website: https://aishwaryajavalgekar.com/
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