Ansh | Baby out of Marital Rape | Short Story

Marital Rape is a real thing. Let's not turn a blind eye towards something so real and so gruesome. Here's a short story that when i wrote and re-wrote, gave me goosebumps. I hope this story finds its way to your heart and is just as "emotions provoking" to you, as it was to me.

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The entire Sharma house was brimming with people and laughter.

Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, and other long lost relatives and friends had flown in from Kanpur, Allahabad, Mumbai and Delhi for the naming ceremony of the youngest family member, Ansh. After the long wait of 9 months, a healthy baby was born, and the Sharmas could not have asked for a bigger reason to celebrate.

Looking at the supremely energetic family, no-one could say that a 4 hour long family function had just concluded. Badi Mousi and Buaji continued to man the kitchen, ensuring a constant supply of tea and munchies.

All the cousins gathered in Baby Ansh’s room and were now going through the zillion pictures from the function. Shruti also sat there. Lost in a world of her own, revisiting the “Compliments” and “Free Advices” that kept pouring in, throughout the function.

“He is so beautiful Shruti! You are so lucky!”

“Congratulations Bhabhiiiii!!!”

“Babies give you a purpose in life”, said an old aunt.

“Your family is complete now”

“Breast Feeding is never easy. Be ready for another few months of pain”

“Did you try the new bio-oil? I have heard it helps relieve stretch marks faster”

“How long did your labour last?”

People always have so much to say and so many questions to ask. “What makes them think they know it all?” Shruti wondered. And for precisely this reason, she hated social gatherings. If not her words, Shruti’s face would give away a lot of her thoughts, and THAT often landed her in an awkward situation.

One of the aunt’s whose train got delayed, thanks to perpetual smog, came in with 2 huge suitcases and broke Shruti’s chain of thoughts.

“Hai meri Bachchi…. Kaisi hai? Zara hum bhi toh miley Ansh se!” greeted Shashi Aunt and placed a peck on Ansh’s forehead. “Our angel” she declared with an expression that said she could now die in peace.

Shruti hugged her and a tear rolled down. “Am glad you could make it!” said Shruti meekly, wiping her tear. Shashi reciprocated her affection with a stronger and a bigger hug that lasted, for what felt like, eternity.

She picked up Ansh who was happily asleep and ran a finger delicately on his soft cheeks. At that moment, he opened his eyes, looked straight at her, gave a half smile and dozed off yet again. 

Shashi was thrilled at his response and whispered, “He has the best features of you and Amit. In fact, he has your lips and Amit’s eyes.”

Shruti had had enough of what Ansh looked like. Enough of him looking like his father. Enough of him being a blessing. Enough of faking her own happiness. By now, Shashi aunt’s words didn’t make any sense. They only scratched the part of her heart she knew she didn’t have the strength to re-look at.

She looked at Ansh with a strange emptiness in her eyes. She wasn’t sure how to act or react on having become a mother.  “Really!” smirked Shruti... because every time she looked at her son, all she saw, were her rapist’s eyes.

That’s right.

Shruti was not ready for marriage. She was not ready for sex either. She wanted to spend some more time understanding her husband. She wanted to turn at least 25 before thinking of planning a family. But Amit was a different breed. He was not interested in knowing her. He was not interested in making her comfortable. When he wanted to make out, he wanted to make out. Irrespective. And at that moment, Shruti would be crippled with fear from head to toe. She remembered saying “No” the first time, but she remembered the physical abuse that followed thereafter.

She felt it was easier to give in, than to fight back. And then one fine day, she realized she was pregnant.

Everybody saw the life that she brought into the world. But nobody saw the life she killed inside of her, to make this happen.