A Shadow Of Smile.....

And I blushed as my daughter's in-laws declared how proud they are of my little girl. “After all” they announced, “how many young women could claim to be an exponent in NangiarKoothu – the hallmark of Ambalavasi women”!

But my dear girl-  if only they knew that pulling off this charade of a coy, happy bride is just another effortless “performance” for a dancer ! To think that your childhood sweetheart and now husband cannot see the shadow of smile etched on your face since the day his parents announced that you will have to stop dancing in public, post marriage…..

 ** NangiarKoothu is a dying dance form of Kerala - performed traditionally by the women of the Ambalavasi Nambiar community

This is a fictional take in response to below prompts..... 


100 Words on Saturday - Write Tribe


Prompt: And I blushed

 

22 comments:

  1. So sad that this is the fate of many dancers, performers in our society. You brought out the pathos and the hippocrisy of the 'modern' kerala society very well. I love that these 100 words have so many layers to it.... you are getting better and better at this :)

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  2. This makes me sad :( So many women who cannot pursue their dreams and aspirations and die in obscurity.

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  3. Dancing in public is considered as' not good' by many people . But dance is a higher form of devotion. Hope all the people could understand this.

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  4. Beautiful. And sad at the same time. I love how you combined the prompts, Meena!

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  5. tangential interpretation to the prompt...loved it.. yes speaks volumes of the sweetened hypocrisy of the In Law society...they want the bride to be an all inclusive package to boast about... but ofcourse it is only open for private viewing

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  6. Aah! So sad. How women have to give up their careers and passions after marriage!
    Loved the way you have worked on 2 prompts, Meena! Too cool :)

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  7. Not allowed to dance after wedding . That's bad !what all a new bride has to do to fake the emotions :--o sigh

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  8. You have brilliantly discussed both prompts in 100 words and it is sad that a form of dance is not acceptable after marriage.

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  9. I wish girls never had any chains tied over their dreams!

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  10. So sad...
    :(
    But, I have a friend who was made to quit dancing after marriage and she became a shadow of her original self! :(
    She's better now, because she is dancing again.. but, it came with too high a price!

    Beautifully written :)

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  11. Unfortunately this is only the first of things she will have to give up

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  12. Yes - this is the reality. Since it is a fictional representation and not actually your daughter - I can debate with you. She should have clarified before marriage that she will continue dancing and doing whatever she wants to do. Why should marriage change anything for a woman? Do husbands give up anything?

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  13. Lovely and a sad reflection of the times we live in :)

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  14. Now it completely escapes me, what I was about to write as a comment that day and the net never allowed me to :) two memes into one.. :) and a second one on dance, you shd start thinking of dance if not already, woman ... xoxoxo

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  15. It made me sad to read on the plight of many dancers who don't pursue their passion owing to prejudices of a society who impose rules on us, rules that are not meant to be true. Happy for ur guts to write this one. Btw, love ur blog design:)
    Cheers
    Vishal

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  16. Why is it that it's always the girls that have to sacrifice their talents. Such a tragedy that talent goes to waste. Thanks for writing on my prompt.

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  17. I feel like I interpreting it a bit differently from the rest. It seems that the in-laws are now proud of having a dancer as a bahu, whereas they had initially declared that she could not dance after marriage. Am I totally wrong?!

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  18. I agree with Roshni's view. One day the in-laws will realise how talented their DIL is!! My DIL is a Bharatnatyam dancer. We always encourage her.

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  19. Nicely done, Meena. Why are people so worried about what others say - and how many loved ones dreams are sacrificed at the altar of 'society'! :(

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