When support comes from unexpected quarters

Suchi fell in love with the hotel room instantly. The glazed window overlooking a lush garden and the skyline filled with high-rise apartments gave her a sense of liberty.

My friend Alexa
Photo prompt – copyright@soniasmusings

Taking out her mobile, she saw that there was no message from her husband Subhash.

She brought out the most cherished possession of her life – a pair of ghungroos from the bag.

‘Girls of respected families don’t become dancers.’ Her father had thrown away her ghungroos after she turned fifteen. She was married into an equally conservative family who didn’t consider dance to befit their families daughter-in-law.

It was her teenager son Trihan who had discovered Suchi’s passion. Last month, he had sent across a video of Suchi’s dance to a national level dancing competition.  Suchi made it to the list of twenty-five shortlisted candidates.

Both the families refused to support her decision. But it was Trihan who stood by her like a rock. He didn’t want his mother to give up another dream for her family. She smiled at the message that he had sent her,

“I believe in you. Win the competition and make me proud.”

Her upbringing had managed to bring a crack in the walls of patriarchy.

(200 words)

This is the 8th post written as part of the #MyfriendAlexa campaign as per my theme ‘Shades of Perception’. You can read the other piece of fiction based on the same photo prompt here and the first six posts here.

For this challenge, I am using four photos as prompts to weave two flash fiction stories and one real story behind the picture. This is my second picture prompt. 

I am taking my Alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter

Author: Sonia Chatterjee

Who am I? An erstwhile banker turned blogger/writer/author. Any qualifications? A Post-Graduate degree in Chemistry followed by a second Post-Graduate Diploma in Management. I completed a one-year MFA in creative writing course from the Writer's Village University, U.S. in Dec 2020. Though I must admit that I am still trying to figure out how and when I can connect all these dots. Have I done any real work? If two years in market research, six years in banking as a branch head, three-plus years of blogging, writing, and publishing a book can be considered as real work, then yes! Where do I live? After spending life like a nomad for sixteen years in Delhi, Bangalore & Mysore, I am back to where it all started from - Kolkata. My favorite things - Books, coffee, travel, food, and my five-year-old son. What is this blog about? Through Sonia's musings, I intend to explore writing in various genres, create social awareness, spread laughter, and give words to emotions. Anything for readers? You can check out my book 'Deal of Death' on Amazon Kindle. If you like fast-paced thrillers, this Detective fiction introducing the woman sleuth, Raya Ray could turn out to be your perfect weekend read.

46 thoughts on “When support comes from unexpected quarters”

  1. From me, I would rate this as the best from you ! Especially the last line ‘Her upbringing had managed to bring a crack in the walls of patriarchy’. More interestingly, the point which I absolutely relished is that is has been a male voice which stood in support of Suchi. Excellent ! So well put Sonia !

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  2. Sometimes support comes from the most unexpected places and ppl… Your post is a reflection on society… That everything is not lost. We can still groom the coming generations to break the shackles of patriarchy. Beautifully presented.

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  7. Very true. Women can bring in big changes easily. Next gen owes a lot to the women in their family. Discipline and cultured habits should be taught at home, and who else can make it right other than the mother. Excellent take on such thoughts.

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  9. Beautiful story, Sonia! Karma always pays. If you have raised your kids well, it will come back to you. Glad her son recognised her dreams and pushed her to follow them. But we should not forget that Suchi is equally strong to have gone against her families, finally.

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  19. Pingback: Occupying a corner of my heart – soniasmusings

  20. Kudos to you for bringing this taboo into limelight. Women today are breaking barriers to fulfill their dreams.
    One more thing I would like to stress here. It’s the kinda bringing up that carve our future generations. Teach them respect for women and elderly for a better society:)
    #MyFriendAlexa #AditiReads

    aditikapur.com

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