Standing by the window, Kiran was enjoying the last rays of the sun when she heard the voice of her dad.
"Kiran, Kiran come downstairs. I need to talk to you".
"Coming papa", she replied nervously.
She began wringing her hands and her face turned pale. Drops of sweat dripped down her forehead.
"Has he got to know about me applying for the job?"
It was not going to be easy, she knew, but somehow she had to confront him. She took a deep breath and walked out of the room.
She walked down the dark corridor to the room where he was. He was sitting right in front of her reading a newspaper. His back was towards her.
She entered the room with her eyes downcast.
"Pa...p...papa", she stammered.
He turned towards her and kept the newspaper aside. He was wearing spectacles, which he took off and put on the table. To Kiran it seemed that his eyes were bulging out as though they would pop out anytime.
He asked her about the job application and waited for her response but when there was no answer, he lost his temper and shouted with anger. His eyes, bloodshot stared straight at her.
He pushed the chair violently which made Kiran rattle with fear.
"What is this? Why did you apply for the job?"
"Papa, I have done BEd and I want to teach children", Kiran tried to reply firmly.
"How could you even think of it, don't you know that we belong to a traditional family? A girl from our family is not allowed to do job! he shouted." He stared at her furiously.
Kiran tried to make him understand.
"I know, but papa, we are in 21st century. We are in the modern world where girls do go for jobs."
"I don't want to listen to anything. Cancel your application," he ordered.
"But why? Why are we following such out-dated traditions?" Kiran argued.
"No means no!" He callously shut the door and walked away.
At the entrance of the room Kiran's mother held his hand and stopped him.
She said, "I think we should give her a chance to speak".
"What are you saying? Are you not aware of our traditions?",her dad frowned.
"For how long do we keep holding on such old traditions? What kind of traditions are these? In this modern world, a girl can, for sure do the same work that a boy does. Then why not her? There is nothing that a girl can't do," her mom raised her voice. "You should understand that girls should be given opportunities to fulfill their dreams. I also wanted to achieve my dreams and you didn't support me but atleast support you daughter."
"I will surely follow the traditions of our family papa," Kiran pleaded. "But papa please don't ask me to sacrifice my dreams."
"No one has ever gone against our tradition and I'll not let you to go against it too, understood?" he screamed.
He freed his hands and walked out of the room.
Kiran couldn't control herself. Drops of tears trickled down her face.
Her mom gave her some water to drink and tried to calm her down.
She hugged and stroked Kiran's hair. Soon it was time for dinner.
At the dinner table Angel, the puppy handed Kiran's dad a newspaper.
"Angel, it's not the time to read newspapers," he patted it.
Angel kept pulling on his pants.
"What Angle! let me eat." he said.
Angel jumped up on his lap and started pulling on his shirt.
"Angel what are you doing? Okay okay I'll read it."
He read the article which was about Bhawana Kanth, one of the first female fighter pilots of India. She became the first female fighter pilot in India to qualify to undertake combat missions. She also got the Nari Shakti puruskar.
Kiran's mother approached him and said, "See even Angel is trying to tell you something."
Kiran's father looked at her angrily.
Kiran was standing in a corner, watching them. She went towards her dad to see the article but her dad stood up violently and tore the newspaper into many pieces. He then threw them into the bin and said, "no one's going to talk about this from now on. I said No! and that means No! I don't want this topic to come up ever again."
Kiran's face clouded over. She sat down, had her dinner and went to her room.
After a long period of tossing and turning she finally slept.
A few hours later, there was a soft knock at her bed room door.
Kiran woke up with a jerk and said, "Who's there?"
Her mom replied softly, "It's me Kiran." Kiran let her mother in.
"Mom it's so late, why haven't you slept yet?"
"Shh....speak softly otherwise your dad will wake up."
"Did papa say something to you?" Kiran asked.
"No, he is not even talking to me,"she replied.
"You tell me, how are you now?"
Kiran sat there downcast.
"Kiran look at me, her mother said firmly. If you loose hope, then what will you teach your students? You should show determination towards you goal; then only you'll be able to achieve it."
Kiran stood up and faced her mother.
"Yes, you are right, if I give up now, then what kind of an example will I be to my students," She realised.
"Yes, that's the spirit. Tomorrow morning try once again to convince him," she advised.
"Yes!" she said, hugged her mother, and went to bed.
Her mother smiled, went out and shut the door.
The next morning Kiran woke up and rubbed her eyes lazily. She watched the open window, letting in a gentle cold breeze. The curtains were swaying in and out. A smile spread across her face when she saw a butterfly flitting from one flower to another.
She was enjoying the spectacular weather when suddenly she realised that she had to talk to her father.
She got up off the bed, freshened up and went downstairs.
Her dad was listening to the news when Kiran offered him a cup of tea.
"Papa I need to talk to you," she hesitated.
"Yes, what is it?" he asked.
"I will not cancel the application as I want to do the job," she said firmly.
"We already had a discussion on this topic, and I have given my verdict," he kept the cup of tea on the table.
"But why are you not letting me apply for the job? And don't say it is because of our stupid traditions. There are so many real life example in which girls have proven that they can do anything if they are given opportunities." Her voice rose las she spoke.
"But when did I say that girls can't do anything? it's just our traditions and customs!"
"Mom please make him understand that I want to teach to contribute to society. Are not customs and traditions made to benefit the society?"
"She is right! why are we following something which we know is not right? I'm not saying that we shouldn't follow our traditions but not those which don't make any sense" her mom interfered.
After trying to convincing her father for a few days she realised that he was not going to accept and allow her to apply for the job.
She decided to leave her home. She walked to her parent's room but thought otherwise. She could not get her mother into trouble with her father. So she went upstairs and called her friend. She explained the situation to her and asked if she could stay with her for sometime.
It was getting dark when finally everyone went to sleep. She left a note for her mother and left the house.
She reached her friend's home. Her friend asked her if she needed something. They both sat and and talked for sometime.
"Can I stay for a longer time? And I'll pay my share, Kiran said."
"It's all right," her friend smiled at her.
It was past 2 o'clock when Kiran exhausted by all that had happened, went to sleep.
The next morning when Kiran's mom called her downstairs, there was no answer. So, she went to see if she was still sleeping.
She knocked on the door but there was no reply. She gave it a slight push and the door opened easily. She went inside and looked for Kiran. She saw that the bed was not slept in. She began to worry.
Then her eyes caught a piece of paper lying on the floor. She bent down, picked it up and read it. Her hands started to shake and legs became numb.
She tried to hurry down the stairs. She showed the note to her husband. She asked him to look for her.
He flew into a rage and said, "No! I'm not going to. She left by her own will."
"If you had allowed her to follow her passion then she wouldn't have taken such a big step, where will she live now?" she shouted.
"Oh! stop blaming me. Go do your work," he said arrogantly. She stared at him furiously.
"From now on I will not talk to you until you bring Kiran back home," she stated.
"I don't care," he went towards his room.
For kiran it was a bright day. She woke up with a wide smile on her face. Then she thought about how she was going to pay her friend. After thinking for a short while she hit upon an Idea. She expressed the idea to her friend.
"Take tutions! that's a great plan."
"The parents in the neighborhood are always looking for a good tutor", her friend said.
Kiran was jubilant.
They worked on designing a poster for Kiran.
Soon many children began to take tutions from Kiran. Now, Kiran was able to earn enough to pay her share.
A few weeks later Kiran received an email. She jumped with excitement. She cried, "I got the job! I got the job!"
Her and she both danced around the room. The next day she joined the school as a teacher. She continued with her tutoring in the evening.
A year passed. She enjoyed being surrounded by and teaching children. She was content with her life. But her only regret was that she had not been able to convince her dad. Everytime she tried to talk to him, he cut the call. She was happy that she could talk to her mother.
It was fathers day! She decided to visit him. Her joy was unbounded at the thought that she was going to meet her parents. She packed some gifts for them and wrote a message for her dad.
She reached home. When she rung the door bell, her mom opened it, as she had expected. She excitedly hugged her and went inside. They both sat down and started talking. After a while her father came downstairs. Kiran got up and went to wish him but as she went towards him he ignored Kiran, turned around and walked away. She tried to stop him but he kept on walking.
A little sad she went to her fathers room. The door was locked.
"For how long will you keep ignoring me?" she asked. There was no reply.
She felt a little guilty and sad. She went to her mom and asked, "Was I right in going against him?"
Her mother replied firmly. "Yes, absolutely.
You followed your passion. Are you not satisfied with your decision? Are you not living your dream? You didn't go against your father. One day your dad will understand this."
Kiran smiled at her mother.
"I hope so," Kiran said and left.
