Married to a rich man

The Family

My family is the greatest blessing in my life . But sometimes seeing them suffering about me and my sister's future was the hardest thing . My mother would repeat that the only way to get out of poverty was through education. Study hard. She would say “Your education would turn our life”. She would scold badly if we did not score the first rank in our class.

Priya is my best friend. She is my neighbor and we both go to the same school, One day while we were playing outside , We heard my parents were arguing over something. I ran home to see what was happening . Suddenly my father got angry and kicked the vessels kept in front of him. This was not new to me. That day arguments turned uglier. I felt fearfull and anxious. All I had was a guilt for being a burden for the parents . My father was not bad. Not having enough money to run the family is the reason for every fight that happens . I heard my mother crying the whole night after the fight. Me and my sister had no clue . I couldnt see my mother crying and I didnt sleep the whole night . All I asked god was to make us rich so that my parents wont fight again. I always thought money was the only solution for all the problems.

I am a very private person . I hardly share my personal things with others. Next day after the fight I went to school and I was talking to priya as usual . She suddenly asked me about the fight between my parents which I really didnt want to share . Soon as she asked me that question I turned around to make sure that nobody heard it. I didnt answer priya I kept quiet. Priya is a good girl but I was a bit angry with her for asking that question at school . but I never showed her that I was angry. I maintained a small distance with her that day . I was afraid that she would say someone at school about the fight . But she never told .

I always wanted to maintain a good image at school . I didnt want anyone to know my family status but there is a question often thrown by teachers at school “What do your parents do?” I’m not sure why but everyone back then seemed to be interested in your parents’ occupations. My mum was a housewife. I had no problem telling that because it was normal for mothers of young children to be full-time mums. As for my dad, I would answer, “he’s a businessman”. While not a lie, to me, this is an embellished version of the truth because I was too ashamed to say it openly – my dad vegetables in a market. I know most of my friends says the same answer as me because they are so insecure to say thr real job of their father. Only a few students in my class openly says their father's real occupation. While some of my friends had dads in suits working on the top floors of buildings with centralised air-conditioning and big windows.

I never showed my dad that I was ashamed of what he does because I know how hurt and sad he would be if he gets to know that.

Whether he’s a vegetable seller or businessman, it doesn’t matter. Because my dad is my dad.