The girl who became ‘beta’

Apoorva Sharma

It is indeed not easy to break down the cliches of our society, and its rigid mindset. It becomes rather tough for a girl to accomplish such a task. Every individual fosters a free spirit that wants to scale new heights and carve its niche.

Hailing from a small border town, it kindled within me the same raw spirit. But being part of a conservative setting, I always felt muzzled. The only escape from the restrictions at home was school hours. The co-ed institute made me experience different hues of life.

Carrying the burden of hackneyed approach on my fragile shoulders, I took to devising ways to overcome the situation and pave my own path. It amuses me now... the time spent at school. I had an aversion to long skirts. But short dresses would have tarnished the ‘honour’ of my family. How ironical! The Indian traditional dress, sari, is approved, considered graceful, even when it bares the midriff. But shorts are disapproved of.

Being on the other side of the biological fence, I was castigated even at the mere thought of wearing such an attire. However, by the time I used to reach school, some friends and I would fold our skirts such that they reached above the knee. It pricked my conscience a couple of times, but I sought comfort in the thought that the times were changing. Before I would reach home, the skirt would readjust itself to suit the mindset of my parents!

The same was the case with my schoolmates. I was tomboyish in school and had a lot of male friends. Had my parents known about it, I would have been in hot water.

This made me feel miserable at times, because my brother’s girl friends used to visit him often and it was acceptable, but in my case, it was deemed no less than a sin.

Many a time, I slept sobbing, complaining about the prejudice. But to my dismay, there was no one to lend me a shoulder to cry upon. No one understood. I decided to put up a fight against this rudimentary mindset. I laboured and kept topping the charts in my school and college, successfully completing engineering. It was not a cakewalk. I had to put my foot down on many occasions for pursuing my studies and turning down marriage proposals. There were times when I had to bear the wrath of my family too. When I took up my first job and shifted to a metropolis, my life registered a paradigm shift.

I started supporting my dad in his finances and fulfilled all the responsibilities of a son. I cannot forget the day when my father embraced me and said, “Tu to hamara beta hai”. He had tears of repentance in his eyes. My heart melted and I hugged him back tightly, saying,’ “Dad, it is never too late to change.”