Characters : Virmati (Difficult Daughters), Rosie (The Guide by R.K. Narayan), Priyanka, Esha, Radhika (One Night at a Call Centre by Chetan Bhagat)
Virmati’s eyes turned all around the café as she sat sipping coffee. She was waiting for her friends - four of them - who were her soul sisters. Though Virmati had tons of friends in her personal and professional circle, the bond she shared with these four women was unique – it was more soulful. It was not just blood-bound or professional. It was more of matching wavelengths - born out of shared ideologies and experiences.
All of them (including Virmati) were “modern, educated” Indian women, who were independent and opiniated. This was something which was totally radical in Indian society, and had therefore alienated these women from the rest of the society (including their own families). Besides ideology, bitter experiences due to patriarchy was another thing which these women shared in common. The lives (both personal and professional) of each of these women had been hounded by patriarchy. While this was a common thing for almost all Indian women, what set these five women apart was that they chose to rise above it and took their own lives into their own hands and decided to work out their own destinies.
Rosie, who happened to be one of Virmati’s oldest friend, was not even an Indian. She was the wife of a British archeologist, Marco. Her “educated” British husband had bound her up in unseen chains; he had forbidden her from following her passion of dance. However, she later found an ally in Raju, who helped her pursue her passion. But this very ‘ally’ turned out to be a nuisance later on, when he wanted to make as much money as possible from her dance performances. He even started to assume that he had control over Rosie, as he had given her a second chance at life. Thankfully, Rosie had ditched him and was now leading an independent life.
“Poor Rosie, she just jumped from the Devil to the Deep Sea.” mused Virmati. She would relate a lot to Rosie, as she herself had been foolish enough to fall in love with a (already married) man, believing that he would help her follow her dreams.
“Depending on any man to fulfill our dreams is never a good idea, no matter how-much-ever friendly he seems. It’s always best for women to be self-reliant.”
Virmati had decided to impart this very piece of wisdom to her three young friends: Priyanka, Esha and Radhika. All three of them were quite young and it was only natural for them to seek male partners. Two of them – Priyanka and Esha were already dating, while Radhika was a recent divorcee.
All the three girls were quite smart and determined. They also had significant dreams – which Virmati feared would go haywire if they fell in ‘love’ and started to depend on their man to “support” them.
The three of them were former colleagues at a call center. A strange call one night had changed their destinies forever, when they decided to face the battles of their life upfront and live out their own dreams. Each had already been disowned by their families – but they lived together and supported each other, giving strength and encouragement. Their sense of solidarity and sisterhood had impressed Virmati a lot, and she had taken the three into her guardianship – becoming their matriarch.
Priyanka had been a victim of her mother’s internalized misogyny, just like Virmati. She had to constantly put up with her mother’s double standards at home and had to even fight off a forced arranged marriage, which she had been coerced to agree to by her manipulative mother. Priyanka had discovered that her would-be husband was a spineless momma’s boy, who had lied to her and was trying to trap her by flaunting his wealth and riches. Her mother had continued her scheming drama and had faked three heart attack when Priyanka called off the alliance, but Priyanka stayed strong and didn’t bow down to her mother. This had made Priyanka’s relations with her family turn sour. Virmati would easily relate to her; Priyanka was as much a ‘difficult daughter’ as she herself had been. Priyanka had now quit working and had gone back to study B.Ed. (with her own money), as she dreamt of opening a nursery playschool. She had also gone back to dating her ex-boyfriend Shyam. He was her colleague and the two of them had dated for several years, until Priyanka’s nosy mother caused disturbances in their relationships, ultimately leading to their breakup. The two of them had now prioritized their career and were working hard to build up a stable career before entering into a stable relationship (marriage).
Esha had the worst experiences of all in the group. She had modelling aspirations, which had led to her being sexually harassed. She had once “sinned” i.e., had agreed to be used as a sex-object by a creepy old man who promised her modelling chances. That had caused her a lot of guilt, shame and trauma. She was now slowly recovering, helped by her friends (her family had already disowned her because of her modelling dreams). She was working for an NGO and was also dating Varun, her colleague from the call center. He was the same guy who had abused and called her names for her "sin”. He had, of course, apologized, but Esha’s choice of dating him was not something Virmati approved of. Virmati also hoped that Esha doesn’t give up on her modelling aspirations due to fear of societal judgment and the sexist setup of the field - but would continue to pursue her passion, fighting every hurdle that came her way.
Radhika’s story was that of a typical modern Indian girl. Fell in love in college - got married against parents’ wish - became a slave – harassed by husband and in laws – blinded in love - discovers she is being cheated upon - divorce. She was now depressed, with her confidence and self-esteem shattered. Realizing that her “love” held little value in the eyes of her man was itself a huge blow for her. And her parents were rubbing salt to her wounds, by repeatedly pointing out her “mistake” of not obeying them. She had no other source of emotional comfort now, except her friends. Her husband had made several attempts to cajole her (as he wanted a maid for his family), but Radhika had toughened herself up and didn’t heed his pleas. Her friends were helping her in healing her wounds, even as she continued to work at the call center to financially support herself.
Virmati let out a deep breath as she sat pondering over the lives of her friends. She took a sip of her hot coffee, as she sat waiting for her friends.
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