A Need To Be Covered.

She stands by the well, very little time to spare.
Away from her duties that await her two miles away, back at home.
Covered from head to toe in the hot sun of the Indian afternoon
Not only with the cloth draped around her but also with the sweat from all the hardwork and pain she endures.
As she sits by the well staring at he water surely deeper that 6 feet underground, she cannot help but fall deep into her thoughts.
It's not often she has time to spare like this... with the children at home and with the number of jobs left for the day.
She ponders of how her life moved from scene to scene just like the water in the well.
It rises and lowers according to what the land has to offer.

What had she to offer? What was so precious about her that a price had to be put on her?
Sold to a man who promised her love and moreover riches.
Having a value that's measurable may not be as good as having a value that immeasurable, priceless.
But marrying him promised her a better life, one that her own parents couldn't promise her.
She felt good, it isn't easy making a living out there in the village.

But now as she stared into the water, she looked at her reflection, her face, 20 years after marrying him.
And she's 35 now. She imagined her 14 year- old self, staring into the water, right before her parents struck a deal with the neighbouring family.
Right before she was given away.
She saw her younger self... tireless, carefee, not a worry in the world.
And now came a time where she couldn't sit at the well like she used to.
Now she came to the well, disturbed the water by fetching her share of it and left for home.
Now she had responsibilities, chores, duties. She had a society to keep happy. She had In-laws now.

And as she starred into the water, she dreams of a better life than this, one that she thinks will come soon.
She dreams of her husband taking her and her children to live in the city one day, when he's able to afford it.
She dreams of an easier life, where women like her are not bound to the confines of their houses.
Where houses are not as small as the one she lived in.
She dreams that one day she will be answerable to no one but herself and her husband.
Where society does not look down upon her and where she would be treated equally as man.
Finally she dreams of being able to be free, being able to look up from under the drape on her head.
To look up at the sky or people around her, to look into peoples eyes and have friends.
To be able to trust, to be free, to be treated equally, to be respected.

And while she dreams of a better life out in the city,
Little does she know of how badly women are being treated out here.
Little does she know, that at the age of 5 a girl was brutally raped.
while when she was 5 she stood at a well, playing, laughing smiling.
Little does she know that a women in the city cannot dress the way she wants to.
Like those in the village, she too now feels the need to be covered head to toe.