And I found a way to my man’s heart #ShortStory #BarAThon

Posted in Aks Corner, family, Self Love, Sexism, Short Stories, The Couple

Salma bit her lower lip as she looked for answers to her misery. Should she give her consent to marry Habid? A boy she had not even seen in real life. She had great dreams about her life partner. She wasn’t keen on the tall  dark handsome thing, it felt like a farce to her. Her idea of a life partner was a friend, a soul mate who would respect her, encourage her and be the wind beneath her wings. For she had many a dream, but her orthodox parents had never let her live a day of her life as per her wishes.

Born in a conservative Muslim family, Salma’s life was enclosed in a veil- not just physically. She was allowed to study in a all girls college but she had to come straight home after school. She wasn’t allowed the liberties that her brothers enjoyed. Her mother’s primary focus in raising her was ensuring she sharpened her culinary skills. What better way to keep your husband and in laws happy?

Now that she had completed her graduation, they promptly started looking for a groom. Should I stay back with my dominating overbearing parents who don’t care for me or should I agree to this alliance and take the risk of marrying this stranger who might turn out to be a moron? Choosing the lesser of the 2 evils is what she decided.

Perhaps he may be a sensitive an sensible young man. After all he has studied in the best of universities.

But how wrong she was. Hamid’s only interest was food and sex.

After toiling in the kitchen from dawn to dusk dishing out something new each day, her tired body could not even rest as he would pounce upon her once her head touched the pillow. Love making felt like a dreadful task to her. She grit her teeth and closed her eyes, waiting for him to ejaculate. Thankfully it happened soon.

She then went into her blissful world of sleep and dreams where she pictured herself visiting exotic places, wearing a bikini, drinking a glass of wine and completing her studies.

Habid had a lot of money but was a miser when it came to doling it out to his wife. He however spent generously when it came to stocking up the kitchen and entertaining guests.

His cholesterol was already high with his sedentary lifestyle. His fat rich diet only added to the risk of heart disease. His doctor had already warned him that he was overweight and there was a risk of a heart attack. He had to cut down on his diet.

Salma had accompanied him to the doctor and after the checkup , Dr Shah gave a “everything’s NOT fine” look at her. He took her aside and told her “his test results are not good. The cholesterol has gone up. He is just 29. You need to cut all the meat and fried items from his diet. If this continues, I am sorry to say but he may not live for long.”

Salma looked at him with tearful eyes “No please don’t say that Doctor, I will try my best. Its just that he loves his ghosh (meat) and fried samosas so much and he keeps calling relatives and friends over. Its really difficult to stop him from eating when the table is full of his favorite dishes. But I will try, I promise.”

They returned home and she went to the kitchen to cook. I will make salad today she decided. As she added the vegetables and sprinkled some salt, she reached out for the olive oil bottle. The salad was ready.

Lunch was served.

Habid devoured the fried chicken and beef burger with extra cheese while she idly played with her salad.

Grand_Palki

(Image source https://www.hungrygowhere.com)

The doctor’s words were ringing in her ears “I am sorry to say he may not live for long”. How  eagerly she was waiting for this day. What a sweet death this would be. Death due to overeating. She hated her mother but she would be thankful for the culinary skills her mother had passed on to her. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The irony of this quote made her laugh.

“Have some halwa, you will love it” she told him , thinking of how she had emptied the ghee bottle this morning by pouring everything into the halwa. Probably this would be the best and last meal of his life.

I am participating in the Bar-a-thon Edition 3 and the prompt for today is “Lesser of the two evils”

bar-a-thon

Image source https://ru.depositphotos.com

 

 

 

 

Published by Akshata Ram

Chartered Accountant, Story Teller, Dreamer, Voracious Reader, Blogger, Mommy to a little munchkin, Shopaholic, Day Dreamer.Passionate about my career in the corporate world and aspire to break the glass ceiling, at the same time nurture my passion for writing. My niche area is short stories, I also write on parenting, sexism, life's experiences, micro blogs and flash fiction. I have won the best Parenting blog post at mycity4kids.com the largest parenting website in India, 4 times and several of my posts have been published in the #MostPopular category on this site garnering millions of views. I also write on Bonobology, Rivo Kids, Women's Web and Youth Ki Awaaz. My blog has been chosen as the Top Indian Blogs for the years 2018-2019,2020 by TopIndianBlogs website and found a place in the prestigious Top 22 Indian Literary Blogs in 2020 @TopIndianBlogs.

37 thoughts on “And I found a way to my man’s heart #ShortStory #BarAThon”

  1. hahhaha.. aks, your twists amazes me every time. brilliant take on the prompt. But somewhere in the corner of my heart, I applaud Salma for emptying the ghee bottle for the sweet venom. A deserving treat for Habid.

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  10. Oh serves him right and what a way to conjure up her freedom- brilliantly done Aks. Love your take on mixing a realist issue with fiction and providing us with an extremely entertaining read.

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  14. wow, what an interesting twisted meaning of the cliche. A way to a man’s heart (attack( is through his stomach. At least this version has loads of correlation studies to back it up 😉

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  15. The pic at the beginning was so inviting! Akshata I spent a good time in checking it out again and again. And then came the story…as spicy, tasty as the pic. You served a great twist as desert. Couldnt ask for more!!!

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  16. Hahahaha….what a delightful tale! Superb take on the prompt….You are on a roll where your imagination is concerned, Akshata! This one is very clever..from the title to the narrative. Love love love!

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