{"id":2782,"date":"2021-08-06T11:35:43","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T11:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/?p=2782"},"modified":"2023-09-15T11:02:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T11:02:43","slug":"the-prisoners-wife-in-a-jailed-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehadixit.in\/the-prisoners-wife-in-a-jailed-republic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prisoner\u2019s Wife in a Jailed Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chronicle of a woman\u2019s life after her husband was arrested by Delhi Police.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Neha Dixit<\/em><\/p>\n
All Illustrations by Pariplab Chakraborty<\/em><\/p>\n
New Delhi:\u00a0The morning is a bit rushed: waking up three children, making them sit for online classes, especially the seven-year-old, designating a spot for each of them and making sure that they don\u2019t start playing video games, doze off to sleep or get into a brawl with each other during the classes. It can be a bit much when you have been parenting solo for the last 17 months.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s her 14th year of being married. When the marriage proposal came in 2007, both she and him wanted to meet at least once privately, something still a rarity in most traditional arranged marriage situations.<\/p>\n
They were to meet at a newly opened Pizza Hut outlet in Connaught Place in central Delhi. She was 20, a first-year undergraduate student of Delhi University. Him, 25 and a postgraduate from Symbiosis Institute, Pune.<\/p>\n
She took the metro, and he drove. \u201cUnlike other men I had seen, he was neither reckless nor stuck up.\u00a0\u00a0Sensible and mature, but also had a sense of humour,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe collected chillies from both our pizzas and made me eat them. Imagine!\u201d she recounts.<\/p>\n
He even made her foot the bill for the meeting. She grew up with men around her paying for things. This was entirely unexpected from a man who you are supposed to marry. \u201cBut I liked it. I felt equal, in control,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
They got married in a few months. It was a conventional life, but a happy one.<\/p>\n
The next few years were spent taking care of her three children, the youngest came much later because they both wanted a daughter desperately.<\/p>\n
He initially worked with his father in his furniture business. \u201cBut he was not very inspired in his work,\u201d she says. He later started a travel company that organised pilgrimages.<\/p>\n
But he always had interests beyond his work.<\/p>\n
If the drains would get clogged, if the sewer line would overflow, he would start running from pillar to post to get them cleaned, sorted, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to get hassled. We live on the third floor. It is not even affecting us. Why do you need to do this?\u201d<\/p>\n
He got involved in the anti-corruption protests of India Against Corruption movement in 2011-2012.<\/p>\n
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When Aam Aadmi Party was formed in 2012, he genuinely believed in the possibilities of this new party.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery election, busy\u00a0netajis\u00a0would come and tell us to vote for elephant, kite, spoon, and what not. But they had no time to get the drain cleaned,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
Fed up with unemployment, failing infrastructure and useless election campaigns, he worked for the party for a few years.<\/p>\n
They had a deal at home. He wouldn\u2019t be asked what he does the entire week. He came late at night, sometimes at 1 am-2 am. They didn\u2019t even have a meal together on days at a stretch. But one day in the week was sacrosanct. The children still call it #FridayMasti and their social media is full of their time together \u2013 mall, waterpark, public park or just a drive.<\/p>\n