Sunday, November 7, 2010

Celebrations



This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 16; the sixteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.



Ira was the quintessential trophy wife married to a wealthy person who unfailingly, each day, reminded Ira that if it wasn't for him, she would be languishing in the lower middle class community. Two months into the marriage,Ira had her brush with domestic abuse- she was kicked mercilessly and roughed up for opposing to his 'business meetings' with a certain struggling actress. She had to use make up as a crutch to cover up the bruises and scratches while the dark glasses hid her sore eyes. She continued with this ritual till she landed her in hospital with a broken rib and a host of injuries.


The divorce had been swift and Ira only demanded freedom as alimony.The hissing pressure cooker startled Ira back to reality and she cursed herself for wasting away a considerable chunk of her time in front of the mirror. She ran a hand over her face appreciating the uniform colour except for a few dark spots. She applied a dab of lip gloss and tied her hair up and looked approvingly at her image. She hated make up but had to grudgingly accept it as her saviour during those times.A few years ago, she had dumped the entire make up kit into the trash bin along with the two dark glasses- grim reminders of her abusive past. Dumping them felt like sweet victory and she felt thrilled to see the bruises fade each passing day, the aches disappearing enabling her to move without grimacing.


She entered the kitchen and the air flooded with the aroma of biryani on opening the cooker. Ira scooped out a large portion and enjoyed the treat in thoughtful silence sitting at the balcony offering a panoramic view of the city. This day, three years ago, she was holding onto her marriage, trying to salvage it from certain failure. Three years on, she was thankful to her will power which helped her leave behind her life of abuses, sleepless nights and weepy days. Today was her own personal celebration..... of life.



The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

31 comments:

  1. :) Nice one...and the life moves on!!!!

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  3. Nice,strong post! Loved you take on the prompt-each of us needs freedom to celebrate life.
    All the best :)

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  4. I love Ira's courage and bravery to get out from the clutches of domestic abuse...and yes, it is worth celebrating!

    Very nice post...a message well sent..."stop abuse, and live a better life'!

    All the best for BAT 16!

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  5. Thank you all!
    To walk out from an abusive marriage takes quite a lot of courage but ultimately the hope of a better future eggs them on. All is well in the end, I guess :)

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  6. U seems to be quite mature writer now ;)
    Good goin...
    Hope someday i'll be readin a novel by Shwetha Bangera :)

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  7. Thanks Atul!
    Novel is a distant dream,need to fine tune my writing, but still thanks for reminding me to stay on track :)

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  8. That is a very different take shwetha.

    Nice post.
    Yes many men do that to their wives - trying emotional blackmail or tell them how they are making their wife's life better.
    But it is sad that they dont see their partner as an equal.

    Loved your post.
    Cheers!!

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  9. The abuse of women is not limited to the lower strata of society as generally perceived but is rampant across all classes. The worst part? People justifying the physical abuse by saying the victim might have done something wrong, which is just an unfair assumption.

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  10. gud one swetz..... 1 day i would be proudly saying that my frend is a writer.

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  11. bit different & a pleasure to read.. U growin as a writer.. good ya.. who knows.. we mite b havin a female chetan bhagat in da makin.. :) tho U write much better tha Him..

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  12. Courage defines character. But surely it takes something more than courage to stand up to abuse of any sort.
    Ira the protagonist as portrayed by you comes out to be a strong, will powered and gutsy women.

    Indeed a different take on the topic much to my liking.
    All the best :)

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  13. Yeah! Good job Ira. You deserve your celebration. :)

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  14. To Ira, the women of substance...

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  15. different and good take on the prompt :)

    All the best :)
    Here is my celebration:
    Ms. Meduri- Celebrations

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  16. Freedom for the self is the most celebrated version of human existence. Once this freedom is achieved, life seems worthwhile. Who would not like to have a taste of it? Life is an endless stream of sacrificing freedom for a cause and if the effect inflicts pain, the soul wants to flee, irrespective of all worldly acquisitions. A brilliant take. All the best.

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  17. Short and crisp .. I loved the vivid portrayal of emotions blended with reality ...domestic violence , confined feelings , pain and then liberation and celebration of life ..this was lovely !! :)

    All the best for BAT :)

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  18. @Cherry Blossom- Sometimes the way to freedom is so obvious and yet we have so many things tying us down. It all begins with one simple realisation that in the pursuit of pleasing everyone and conforming to suffocating rules, an identity is lost.

    @ Aarti- I had heavily edited it since the post was running too long. I thought it wouldn't do justice to the emotions Ira was going through and hence was apprehensive of the feedback. But glad to know you liked it :)

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  19. We can enjoy life only if we celebrate smaller things, like relishing the biryani :) Gud post

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  20. A nice short post Shwetha.. it hd a visual xpirience thnx to the smooth flow of wrds. Keep blogging :)

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  21. Wow ! Now THAT is what you call a celebration-gutsy, emphatic, bold and, most importantly, something that you can call your very own.
    Brilliant piece of writing, and even that is an understatement.
    Absolutely loved it !

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  22. freedom from such a relation is also a reason to celebrate.Felt every word you wrote and simply lacking vocab here.All the very best for BAT.

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  23. First time here! And glad to find such wonderful posts. You've a lovely imagination. I'm sure I'll have a nice time reading your blog :)

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  24. @ Vipul- Brevity was the key word when I was penning this post. Glad it worked.

    @Brijender Singh- You summed up my image of Ira perfectly.

    @Pratibha- All the best to you too!

    @Shruti- Welcome to my world! And keep visiting :)

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  25. Thanks a lot for your valuable vote.. It means a lot to me..Really appreciate it

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  26. You have written a worthy article so you deserve it, Srikanth!

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  27. whenever i finish reading your articles, i have to think hard to write down a comment.Really i am always out of words...
    well for now lets just say celebrations for your first vote...Congrats

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  28. Yeah, cheers to my the first vote for this post!

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