Dear Maa and Papa,
When I was small, I always heard people saying that “Oh poor woman she has given birth to a daughter”. When we welcomed my little baby sister, I was on cloud nine.. but people said that “They have two daughters.. how are they gonna live”. Many of them suggested you to take a chance so that you could have a son. But for you and papa, we were the best thing that could have happened to you.
Whenever anyone said anything related to this topic, I don’t know why but you always felt bad. I always kept wondering as what could be the reason behind this feeling because you guys never let us feel the same. Maa you treated us as your son so that we could be strong to face this world. And papa pampered us with all his love and care. But my small innocent brain was so confused as my parents were so happy to have two daughters but my relatives were so bothered about the fact that my parents were raising two daughters.
As days passed by, we saw you two working so hard to provide the best education to us. Maa, I still remember the day you took us to the market to buy clothes for Diwali and when we asked if you were buying any, you smiled and said “no.. I and papa have a lots of clothes…we don’t have enough space for the new ones”. But maa we knew that you were lying as on Diwali you wore the same old sari and we were flaunting our new dresses.
There was a time when it was being very tough for papa to pay our school fees but still our names never came on the defaulter’s list. While you thought that you guys are earning very little amount, you were actually earning our respect. Many of my classmates used to narrate stories like how their parents gifted a teddy bear on the occasion of Children’s day but you know what, I very proudly said that my father gifted me his time.
When children in other houses were growing up seeing their parents bringing a lot of money and toys to the house, we were learning the art of smiling even after having a lot of troubles. From being our teacher to our friend, you guys did everything without saying a single word.
Throughout these 23 years I always thought that being a girl is the most precious blessing from GOD. But now I think that it’s a misconception. Today when you two have lived your half life, but still you are working day and night just to save a few pennies so that your daughters could have a grand wedding, makes me feel very bad about my existence.
Our society allows a son to spend his salary on his parents but taunts a girl if she is doing the same for her parents after her marriage. They try to find flaws in the arrangements done by the bride’s family but they fail to feel the pain that they are going through, the pain of giving their daughter to a different family where she would be expected to adjust according to that family.
Maa, Papa, I just want to say something. I don’t want to marry a person for whom you guys have to suffer every day so that you could please his family at our wedding. I don’t want to marry early as I want to make things stable for you two so that you guys could relax when you are old. I am not earning to live a luxurious life, I just want to share the responsibilities that you are having.
I know that whatever you did for us, we would never be able to repay the same. You sacrificed a lot for us without complaining, you sacrificed your youth for us, and now it’s our time to do the same for you but we would not be sacrificing anything rather we would love to spend our time for you.
I just want to say that we both love you and no matter what, you guys would always be the best for us. Stay young and stay healthy.
P.S.: You two are the reason why I still feel proud that I am a girl.