Character sketch - Day 2 ( Word Count- 618 days)

Character Sketch Day 2:- 

Focus Word - Demand

Song Prompt - Army of Me by: Bjork

Stand up
You've got to manage
I won't sympathize
Anymore

And if you complain once more
You'll meet an army of me

You're alright
There's nothing wrong
Self sufficiency please!
And get to work

And if you complain once more
You'll meet an army of me

You're on your own now
We won't save you
Your rescue squad
Is too exhausted

And if you complain once more
You'll meet an army of me

Everyday in my life, I have got someone to stand beside me. My father expired when I was young. But I was not alone, never alone. I had my mother who was more of a confidante rather than mother. She was always there for me- throughout the thicks and thins of life. Then, there was Apu. I met her in second class when I was five years old. Now I am twenty eight and she is still there. And how can I forget Ishaan. He was there when I was alone in France.

But now in this Slaughter Creek, I am so alone. I am sitting in this cafe trying to soak in the beauty of this place but still peace is eluding me. There is a crowd of people milling around me. But for the first time, I am feeling alone. Its not that I cannot bear seclusion; it’s just that I am feeling abandoned. It seems that I am distanced from all both emotionally and physically as well.

I know what everyone is saying about me back home. “Trisha must have done something wrong, that is why her fiancée slapped her. He must have been disciplining her for some transgressions. Else why will such a nice guy try to hurt a woman.”  Whatever reasons I may give for my journey to this Welsh country, but my heart knows the real reason for my journey. I was tired of the taunts of the society-aunts. I was sick of being pitied by looks and words. I was worn out of finding words to explain that my engagement was a sham.

I suffered initially thinking that all will be fine. I kept on wondering what I was doing wrong. But the slap in the party was the last straw. I realized that nothing could justify his actions. For him, I will always be dirt beneath his feet. He may be a wealthy prince but money cannot compensate for all those humiliations I suffered. I understood that this relationship was doomed. I might not have been ready, but life had made its demand and given me a choice. I had two options- first was to marry him and push my life in the ditch. Other was to call off that engagement and bear the consequences. I understood that if I took the decision of breaking off, nobody will believe me. After all, my fiancée Vishesh was the biggest business tycoon. When I, in spite of being the victim, was unable to believe that he had raised his hand to me – and that too in public; how can I expect others to believe. Two days before my marriage, I was still in limbo. I was moving through a haze. There was a cloud of decision looming before my eyes but I was ashamed of confessing my problems.

But somehow Apu came to know about Vishesh’s behavior. She came storming into my house and actually shook me. Her words are still echoing in mind, “Trisha, wake up. What the hell do you think are you doing to yourself? Stop being a martyr and take life in your hands. You might believe that you are too weak. But you are not. You are self-sufficient and strong enough to fight of this. You might think that we won’t accept. But it is the matter of your whole life. You cannot sacrifice your life for everyone else’s opinion.” Her tears were sufficient to jolt me back to life. I realized what I had lost during six months of my relation- my identity, my happiness, my dreams- everything was dust. In order to become the perfect wife for Vishesh, I had somewhere forgotten who Trisha was.