The Trial

Today's fiction is to give you a third person account of someone who loved more, or so they believe.

You can scour through different cultures, languages, and every bit of the world. Every time you'd find at least one such hopeless romantic who'd fall for the most unexpected unromantic.

She was no different.

A self reliant, fierce, self aware, confident, insanely talented and yet, astonishingly emotional; some would even call her a control freak. But fortunately for the world, her control was strictly limited to herself. 

So what really happens when a control freak loses control?

Her life had always been pretty straightforward when the decisions were about her. She was not only the orchestrator of her fate but also the sole judge of her decree. 

Yet, perfect harmony had always felt like a foreign concept.

Life always had its unique ways to keep her exceptional mind and ethereal heart at war.

Incapable of keeping her inner conflicts and her worldly commitments aloof, she was suffocated with the weight of her own unrelenting expectations.

It all came down to one single truth, in fact just one word - LOVE

A messy, imperfect, yet irresistible LOVE!

And so, that night she cried the loudest silence she ever knew, being the loneliest she had ever been in a crowded room, she wept until she drowned in her own standards, questioning her self-worth. 

For someone who was all about self love, she fell asleep seeking validation from one soul who she now placed before herself.

As sleep claimed her, her chaos demanded order, and so, a court was called to session.

(TO BE CONTINUED..)

Note from the Author

Hi, Dear Reader,

Thank you for staying, for feeling, and for carrying Court of Love with you beyond just words.

What once began as a story found its way back to me, a little more real, a little more personal. This time, it isn’t just about love… it’s about everything that comes with it... the conflict, the chaos, and the quiet battles we don’t always speak of.

If you’ve ever found yourself caught between your heart and your mind, this story might feel a little too familiar.

And maybe that’s the point.

Thank you for being here again. 

The Illusion of Progress

 I’ve always believed I grew up in a progressive family.

Of course, perception is subjective - shaped by what we’re told, what we choose to see, and what we want to believe.

My version of “progressive” was built on stories where I was always the protagonist. And maybe that’s what fed my ego just enough for me to grow up distant from ideas like “a son is the pride of the family” or “the heir to the family name.”

For a very long time, I used to think those were concepts buried somewhere in ancient India… or at worst, lingering only in the more conservative corners of society.

Because me?

My family celebrated my birth like a festival. Men distributing sweets across the hospital, women tearing up with joy, I was nothing less than a blessing in their eyes. As the firstborn, I was pampered endlessly. Loved, cherished… almost glorified. But there was one sentence I heard far too often - 

“Tu beti nahi, beta hai mera.” (You aren't a daughter; you are my son.)

And yes, it sounds like a compliment. Until one day, it doesn’t.

Why couldn’t I just be a 'beti'… and still make you that proud?

If that sounds dramatic, consider something smaller. Something quieter.

For as long as I can remember, a beautifully framed photograph of my grandfather hung in our living room. After he passed away, it found a more sacred place in our temple. A symbol of love, respect, devotion by my parents, I'd say. But today, I watched my mother struggle to find even a single picture of her father.

Now I'm not talking about equality or competition, but a question does arise..
If one man could be worshipped, why was it so hard to even trace the existence of another?

And it doesn’t stop there. I’ve grown up watching this unspoken expectation, that no matter how tired we are, my mother or I would get up if something needed to be done, and truthfully, its so deep rooted that now it only seems natural and right.

But again.. Why is it difficult for me to say no to something as small as toasting a bread, but completely acceptable for my brother to not even know how to do it? Why am I the one who must think about “society” and its ever-watching eyes, while for him, he is excused for not even acknowledging it!

Why are women the sole custodians of "dignity," while for men, the shrug of a shoulder suffices: “Ladkon ka kya hai?”

So yes, I grew up in what I believed was a progressive family, but it makes me wonder will I ever truly know what the difference actually is?

Well maybe let's not talk about me or my family for a minute. I'm sure each one of you would've atleast once heard this sentence - "Budhape ki lathi hota hai beta", meaning a son is parents backbone in their old age.
Ironically, the same parents expect their daughter-in-law to be 'sarvagun sampann' (perfect in every way), so that her's are the shoulders, the responsibilities rest on. While their beloved support system is out their earning a living, his better half is burdened with shaping the home, reviving the spirits, keeping religion alive, nurturing the kids, servicing the parents, and guess what? babying him, their so-called 'support system'!

And if she works? If she has a career and heaven forbid, fails to manage the chores for a single day? The best minds will say, “Shauk ke liye karti hai” (She only works for her own whim). 

They walk away patting themselves on the back, saying, "It’s not easy being a woman; we're proud of you." Shockingly, nothing really changes.

People love to mock the idea that women are "impossible to understand." But the answer to what a woman wants is the simplest one of all.

The only problem is.. Those who know, we don't believe exist! And those who don't? They aren't looking closely enough to see the illusion for what it is.

So am I gonna answer this? I'll leave it upto you to figure out. Maybe one day, you will..
Else, 
I strongly agree to the fact that its not easy being a woman in the society that we wake up to everyday!