THE PARADOX
By: Suraj Kiran Pattanaik
Tags: Domestic Violence, Humanity, Coronavirus, Women, Pandemic

The penchant of sitting by the window and staring at the hazy horizon while sipping coffee from my dolled up mug, what usually garners my inconsequential attention is the euphonious chirping of the blithesome birds returning to their handwrought shelters after a workaholic day. My inner audience irresistibly urges me to attend this bagatelle of liberation, so alleviating, so soothing, so enchanting as my Nani's lullaby. I keep constant eyes on them, I see them wiggling their wings in the gigantic sky, again I see them vanishing in the rear of the colossal clouds. This has been my mandatory lockdown routine without giving it a miss. I love this silence unconditionally, I love this ephemeral la-la-land where there is no point of piercing poignancy, and I love those birds for not carrying the chronicles of ongoing casualties. Well, it is not like I am an insouciant life in an esoteric realm to ignore the human hardship on this planet. I know what we are all going through in this pandemic. I know COVID-19 has made lives miserable. But, for those few hours, I don't want to be indulged in the assessment of any ups and downs. I don't want an unprecedented knock on my door or a promised call on my mobile phone. I want to be with me at the window, glimpsing the glimpses of the artistries of the ethereal nature, appreciating for ameliorating the anguish of this Corona catastrophe.

As soon they vanish, I retrocede to my own territory of upheavals to contemplate on my study or pen down something or simply watch a series on Netflix. A few days back, after the concert of the chirping birds when the rutilant sun was bidding adieu and I was about to shut my window before an undesirable arrival of bloody mosquitoes, a shrieking noise screeched at my eardrums. The pitch was so disturbing and pesky that I had to open my half-closed window to have an inspection on it. Though in a dreary ambience it was impossible to trace the noise; where it came from, yet I was drifting my equivocal eyes hurriedly. After a few seconds of inquiry, my eyes struck at the window of a small cottage and thanks to the 100-watt bulb inside for making everything so clear. But I was not thankful to anybody for whatever I witnessed, inside that tiny compartment, through that window.

As we dwell on the third floor of the apartment and the cottage rests some distance from the ground floor, it was not easy to detect every action occurring inside the room but definitely, the lady was being punched by her drunkard husband mercilessly!

He held her hair while dragging her from corner to corner. The incessant shaking body of the perpetrator made it obvious that he was booting the lady very hard. I was shocked to see a boy child wailing at the top of his voice outside the house, maybe pleading to that ferocious beast to show some mercy. But the scoundrel was invincible and no force on this earth was able to refrain him from this atrocity. I went downstairs immediately to have a check on it. I scurried to their gate in a single breath. I don't know where this immense courage emerged from. I don't know how audacious I became all of a sudden. I just rushed to stop this barbarity and the time I entered their premises unlatching the wooden gate, with imbalanced steps and brow-beat on the countenance, the drunkard husband came outside. He asked me, "Kya hua hai". I said, " nothing, I just heard some noise coming out from your house, so…" He said, " Nothing has happened, leave the place ". I had to come back because the person was completely besotted in alcohol and having any sort of altercation with him would be just futile. I came back to my house, I was very upset, I could not talk to anybody about this, even to my mother. I just kept thinking about the entire quagmire. Maybe the lady was severely wounded, but the way I was affected by the incident was immense.

The next day I was not enthusiastic about the arrivals of the chirping birds, I was not looking for the melody they used to play. Yes, I had my coffee in hand gazing continuously at the window with desperate eyes! What if he beats her today again? What if I call the cops and arrest the person? What if the little boy gets injured amidst their fighting? But, the dead darkness did not let my eyes invade into the happenings of their room. I was worried, sick! I did not know what happened. How the night went on inside the cottage for them? Are they safe? Questions were hounding me and in the dearth of answers, I was numb. The next day I was waiting for something to happen, but that also went without any outcry and activities. Days went by like this and I was wondering every moment where two souls could have vanished in a lockdown, where have they gone for shelter? Where is that drunkard fellow?

After a long duration of almost 15 days, I saw the bulb glow and the window open, allowing the air of the alfresco to invade sans any resistance. I saw her laughing loudly, widening her cheeks to their flanks and letting the teeth of pearls shine. It was like, she knows the magic how to assuage the pain. She knows how to smile with a swollen lip. She knows her destiny is all about letting go and embracing every new beginning with courage, patience, and of course, the angelic smile she is blessed with. I was happy to see her smiling. I loved the fact that she is back to the field! I loved the way she is trying to deal with every convulsion coming in her path. But is that the answer? A 15-days interval after a hard-hitting punching session! She probably was gone to her father's house, her parents consoled her, called their alcoholic son-in-law, tried to mend things up between them, and sent her back. Over! The only benefit the kid gets is like a few toys or a packet of candies from his grandparents. Well, this is not only the tale of a small window and a 100-watt bulb, but It is also the clandestine dark affair of every herculean wall and emblazoned chandelier. Under the light of affluence and sophistication, numerous wings are chopped off! But fortunately, those screeching tones are subdued by the mighty walls, those resistances are ripped apart by the spurious reputation. So, how do I expect her to be an exception?! She is also the same!

After the incident, I sit back every day at the window to stalk at the hazy horizon before the birds pass by, and I ruminate over the chaos that creates a huge upheaval inside. I ask myself, where is the end?? The survey says that because of the lockdown worldwide, the volume of domestic violence has increased outrageously. Since the men don't step outside for any kind of merrymaking, it is a quirk avocation to be brutal to women at home and gain a kick out of it.

But, is the lockdown solely responsible for whatever is happening? Of course, not! Being curious at the oversized spectacles that my aunt adorned at our housewarming party when I asked her about it, she ostentatiously replied, "oh boy, it is fashion". Prodding further when I enquired about the swollen dark patch underneath her left eye, she mumbled, " No no, I just fell down". I smiled and came back without bothering her more. I have seen my teacher putting a long sleeve blouse in screeching summer days and applying ointment in the recess when nobody is around. I have seen my cousin sister having burnt marks on her hand, most probably because of the singed cigarette. I have seen my mother conceal the scorched red marks on her face as camouflage, for the intimate love bites. Ridiculous! How does this work? I don't know where the fault lies. I don't know whom to blame. But I know this is all wrong. It cannot be the touchstone of a healthy society that we live in, it cannot be the ambience we want our offspring to grow up in.

This realisation in lockdown has yanked an indelible line in my heart! I feel ruined, almost losing a piece of my heart. The bagatelle of liberation does not entice me anymore. The coffee tastes so insipid. The uproar inside me is more chaotic than the afoot turmoil outside. I sit at the window, only stalking to the 100-watt bulb inside that cottage. I don't know, anything can happen at any time. I just wish these sleazy acts come to an end. I wish nobody goes through this trauma, whether inside a humble cottage or in gated palaces! There is no panacea to this predicament, I just wish and wish…