Radha.
“I hate to say this Mr. Kamal, but there is nothing we can do, Mrs. Kamal’s womb cannot bear another child. You have to be satisfied with Radha, she is a beautiful child. I know she can act like your son. These days’ daughters are as competitive as sons.” Kamal wanted a son. His conservative Hindu mind wasn’t very satisfied with just a daughter. Aradhana, his wife also wanted to bear a son for Kamal and his family. Kamal was a Nepali teacher at a school and Aradhana was a housewife. Kamal’s dad was a well knowned Hindu pundit of Kathmandu and Kamal was his only child. He made his living by going house to house doing "Pooja", "Saptaha"s etc and collecting “Sida” and “Dakshina” from his "Jajman" (clients). Kamal and Aradhana tried all the top doctors of the town to make her conceive another child but had no luck. They also visited a top Swami of India who visited Nepal at one time; he gave Aradhana a “Buti” to wear and said that would make her conceive another child and took big amount of money from them. He told Aradhana to wear it all the time, but it didn’t help either.
“Son, there is this girl who just passed SLC, her parents are in Panauti and they are my “Jajman” (client) and they are ready to give their daughter to you. The girl is cultured and beautiful. Will you marry that girl?” Kamal’s dad asked him. Kamal had thoughts of second marriage but he didn’t want to marry another girl because he knew Aradhana would get hurt by this. He didn’t agree with his dad, but his dad convinced him to ask his wife about it.
“Aradhana, you will always be my favorite wife. But my dad wants a grandson, and I always wanted a son. I will marry that girl only to have a son.” As soon as Kamal said that to Aradhana, she burst into tears and started crying. Kamal apologized and promised not to raise the issue again and told her that no matter what his dad and family said, he wouldn’t marry another girl.
Kamal was tagged as a “Joitingre” by his dad, when he said that he wouldn’t marry that girl and will take good care of his only child Radha and will not ask for more. His dad was still trying to convince Kamal to marry that girl but Kamal started turning deaf ear to his dad. He started having bad terms with his father now as his father had already promised his “Jajman” that his son would marry their daughter. The Jajmans had a high dream of getting their daughter married to Kamal as Kamal's family had a lot property and real estate in Kathmandu.
Kamal didn’t even want to talk about second marriage to anyone and a few years passed by, Radha had started going to school. Kamal's dad still didn’t talk well to him; he was growing old and grumpy and was still trying to convince Kamal to marry again.
One day Aradhana came to Kamal and said that they won the DV lottery that could take them to the US. Aradhana’s brother and Aradhana filed for DV without Kamal knowing about it. Kamal wasn’t willing to leave Nepal but when he talked about the DV lottery to people, they all looked at him as he was the luckiest man on earth. People who knew the importance of it convinced Kamal to leave the country. Many people suggested Kamal to leave Nepal for the betterment of his family and their only daughter Radha. Kamal thought of it as an opportunity to get away from his dad.
Kamal, Anuradha and Radha left for the US leaving their old parents in Nepal by themselves. Kamal felt bad about it but his father’s recent grumpy behavior kind of made him feel better about leaving Kathmandu. After they reached US, with the help of some Nepali family, Kamal again visited the doctors there to see if their technology could make Anuradha bear a child again. But the doctors in Nepal were right, she could never bear a child again. Deep in his heart Kamal always wished that Radha was a boy.
The first few months in the US was very hard for them, even though they made friends with some Nepali people there. Kamal and Aradhna couldn’t speak English very well. So, the Nepali family there helped them to settle. Kamal lived in a small studio apartment with his family. He didn’t have a car so he had to ask other Nepali’s to give him a ride to the grocery store and back. With the help of some Nepalese people Kamal found a job at the airport as a custodian, whereas Aradhana started working as a cook’s helper in an Indian restaurant. Though Kamal’s caste in Nepal didn’t let him to clean other people's restrooms, he had no choice in the US. He had to do it for survival.
Radha started going to school, she learnt the language very soon, which became very helpful for the family. She spoke Nepali and English both very well in a few months. Kamal was very proud of his daughter.Radha turned out to be a very smart girl. She did very well in school. She helped Kamal with his English and his English was getting better. Kamal learnt to communicate in English though it took some time. Radha helped him switch his job to a receptionist in an Indian store.
Time flies quickly in the busy life of the US. After ten years of staying in the US, with massive help from Radha, Kamal and Aradhana bought a small house at a suburban area. Radha was really acting like a son to Kamal and Aradhana. Radha graduated from her high school. Radha didn’t have many friends, but she was best friends with the girl who lived next door, Maria. Her family also emigrated from Mexico not very long ago. Maria and Radha always hung out together. Maria usually slept over at Radha’s house and Radha went to stay at Maria’s house too. Kamal didn’t have any problem of Radha staying over at Maria’s house as they knew her well and she helped Radha a lot. Kamal and Aradhana were happy that Radha was staying away from all the weird guys in the neighborhood.
Kamal always wanted Radha to marry a Brahmin guy. Kamal had already a boy in his mind, his friend’s son Shaurav, who was a very educated and a well disciplined man. Before Radha went after any white boy or a white boy came after Radha, Kamal wanted Radha to marry a Nepali boy. He asked Radha a couple of times about her stand on marriage with Shaurav but Radha always said she was too young.
After high school, Radha and Maria went to the same college. They were always together. Kamal was very happy that Radha didn't go to clubs or those weird partys. He was very confident that Radha would marry the boy he had in mind. After a few years of college Kamal wanted Radha to meet Shaurav, but Radha said she wasn’t interested in marrying anyone right now. Kamal couldn’t understand, Radha was already twenty-four and in his opinion, it was already late.
“Radha, Shaurav is a very good boy, we want you to hang out with him, and I know he likes you. Time has changed, we don’t want you to marry a boy that you don’t know so we encourage you to go out with Shaurav.” Kamal by now knew how things worked in the US. Radha was educated in the US, he knew she would never agree a arranged marriage. He thought hooking up Radha and Shaurav would be the best way to get them married.
Shaurav liked Radha, he was always trying to approach her in all Nepali events. But Radha only talked to him as a friend. Radha was not the most beautiful girl in the world, but she had some cute traits that Shaurav liked a lot. Radha never looked interested in any guy. She spoke well with Shaurav just because her father knew him well. Shaurav was trying to impress Radha, but after a serious talk, Radha convinced him that she was not the girl for him. Shaurav moved on and after a year he got married to some other girl.
Kamal didn't want Radha to date random guys, especially non-Brahmin ones. He hadn't seen Radha go out with any white guys, actually he hadn't seen Radha go out with any guy yet. She was always with Maria, she virtually did everything with her. Kamal was very happy that Radha didn't turn out to be one of those slutty Nepali girls who forget their culture and ruin their life in drugs, alcohal and sex.
He got disgusted by some Nepali girls who changed their "boyfriends" every month. He was very glad that he gave Radha a very good culture. Radha had never disappointed her parents in any way. She took care of all the administrative stuff that they had to do as she was very good at speaking English. Anuradha didn't even have high school eductaion, and Kamal had completed two years bachelors in Nepali, so he struggled to communicate technical stuff to people.
Radha really had been a son to Kamal and Anuradha. With her help, the were not just surviving in the US, but doing very well in money management and keeping good terms with people around them.Kamal knew it would be hard for him when Radha gets married and leaves them by themselves. He once again wished Radha was their son. But it was time that he let her go. He had talked to her about it a couple of times but she seemed disinterested in the whole marriage thing. She always said that she would like to stay with them and take care of them. Kamal tried to convince her that it doesn't work that way and she had to leave them some day or other, but she turned deaf ear to them.
Kamal was now very frustrated about Radha's attitude towards marriage. Kamal was very confident that Radha didn't want to get married just because she thought they would be alone and won't be able to take care of stuff. He was trying to convince her that even after she got married she could visit them often and take care of things. Radha still didn't want to get married, she was stubborn as a rock. Kamal was very concerned that she would be "budhi kanya" if she don't get married in time and nobody would marry her.
Radha completed her college with very good grades, she was twenty-five then. After her graduation Kamal actively started looking for boys suitable for Radha, without her knowing about it. He contacted the Nepali people there and advertised his daughters qualification and he lied that she was willing to marry if she finds the right guy.
"Dad, mom, why don't you listen to me? I don't ever wanna get married. I will never get married no matter what you say. I will stay with you, if you think I am a burden, then I will move out. But I won't get married."
Kamal was shocked when she said that. He didn't know what made Radha hate a married life so much. He said, "Radha, I know its hard for both of us. But thats how things work, don't be a child now. You know you cannot spend your life by yourself. You have your whole life ahead of you. Don't do this to us Radha."
Kamal remembered how he wished Radha was their son.
"Dad, mom, I always wanted to tell you something. I am telling you this today as I cannot hide it from you forever. I am a homosexual, I like girls. Me and Maria have decided to spend our lives together. It is because you are too innocent that you never figured that out, but we are like what they called "Husband and Wife" we aren't officially married, but we live like that....."
Anuradha didn't understand what Radha was saying, she hadn't even heard about homosexuals before. Kamal knew a little about it. He always thought it was the worst thing that has happened to the world, and he always thought it was the symptom of end of "Kaliyug". He could feel his head spinning, he threw himself on the couch and looked through the ceiling of his house, as if he was staring into God's eyes, with a rage.
Last edited: 21-Jul-09 02:24 PM
