Burden

Every day, without fail, he was able to break her heart. Every day. She was his wife who came from a family much higher than his. Never in her life had she set foot in the kitchen. Well.. maybe once or twice, to fetch a glass of water or put the egg on boil. Other than that, never! Now, she was married and had been cooking for the family since then. She had worked hard at it. She learnt to boil the rice to the perfect pitch, understood if the masala looked too pale. She knew what a perfectly cooked handi looked like. She had learnt to make Italian, continental, oriental and desi food for her husband and in-laws. She learnt it all and burnt herself quite a few times in the process, but she remained steadfast. People, her in-laws and others who tasted her food, loved her cooking and enjoyed it thoroughly, but they didn’t know that she had done it all for him. Hers had been an arranged marriage. However, she had come to love him. He was a disappointment though. He scolded her, badmouthed her and made fun of her in front of everyone. Though embarrassed, she always smiled and worked even harder at making her dishes better, never once thinking he might be wrong. Actually, she thought herself to be a burden on him, and her shoulders were always bent due to this thought. For fifteen years, she worked hard to better herself and win the praise of her husband. For fifteen years, he broke her heart on her cooking. Now, she has decided to leave him, release him of this burden that is her and the food he has had to endure. But an amazing thing is happening. As she walks away from him, her shoulders are bent no more, and the burden she thought he was carrying, is lifted off her shoulders.