The 'Sin'

A Story by HappySoul

Being a woman is a blessing, but at the same time, it is the toughest job to get done with the norms which the society imposes on us. Here's something I hope, every woman can relate to.

“Wake up darling, it’s 4 am. You must get ready. You know how important it is, don’t you? No risks. You heard me? I don’t want any risk here.” These were the words of my mommy on the 23^rd of July 2016. Let me tell you, how it started.

It was almost a month ago, when I was at my home, sitting idle, watching the television, when my mommy called from the kitchen. As I heard her, I sprang up on my feet but don’t know how, I couldn’t walk. Yeah, I simply couldn’t walk! I started screaming due to the unbearable pain in the sole of my right foot. Mommy came rushing towards me and we hurried to the doctor. He was no ‘dermatologist’. He was a family physician. We approached him, as he was close to the house, and the pain as well was excruciating. The physician spotted patches of thickened skin on the sole of my right foot and told us that it was a case of ‘calluses’. He suggested using ‘corn caps’ and assured us that it will be all fine within a week.

The same night, when I did what he said, the pain grew worse. To add more, similar stuff was infecting my left foot as well. I couldn’t walk, couldn’t sleep due to the pain. Mommy and Daddy informed my college about this and the college approved the leave for 3 weeks more.

We then searched for the best dermatologist in the city. After waiting for almost 3 days, we succeeded in getting his appointment. He examined both the feet thoroughly and suggested opting for a surgery as he thought the case was serious. I was under heavy medications and sedation for almost a week before the surgery. To complicate the matter further, when we approached the surgeon as decided, he suggested us to drop the idea of surgery as he thought, surgery would ruin my feet completely.

It was almost a situation where we were unable to identify the accurate reason behind the thing, hence it was difficult to find a way to cure it. I used to weep every day due to the pain. My feet had swollen to almost double their original size. Our entire family was going through hell.

It was after a week nearly, when an old friend of my mommy, Mrs. Bhatia called up. After getting suggestions from dozens of relatives regarding my problem, my mommy had turned to aunty Bhatia, who apparently had this neighbor, who claimed himself to be a ‘man of God’!

“Don’t worry Jaya, she will be all fine. All you have to do is, whatsapp me her complete name, along with her age and ‘He’ will tell the exact kind of thing this is. Not only that, he will cure it like no one else can. ‘He’ is a ‘man of God’ u know!”, said aunty Bhatia.

My mommy, who is an Engineer by profession, had a very hard time to engulf the idea of going for any ‘non scientific’ way for curing my feet. But I guess, the pain in her heart, overpowered the wisdom in her brains when I heard her speaking on the phone the next day.

“I have sent you all the details. Do we have to take her with us as well? It will be better if ‘He’ sees her in person. That might give him a clear idea of her problem. ‘He’ can examine her feet too”, said mommy, looking at me with a great hope in her eyes. I, on the other hand had a clear ‘no’ on my face.

Luckily enough for me, I was spared from seeing him. Aunty Bhatia told mommy that once ‘He’ gets the details of the patient, ‘He’ needs nothing more.

After an hour, aunty Bhatia came home.

“Jaya, it’s not good. I tell you, it’s not good at all”.

“Why? What’s wrong? What happened?”, asked mommy, terrified.

“Your daughter! She has committed a sin. God is punishing her for her sin. She needs to purify herself and ask for pardon as soon as possible. Once she does it, she will be completely healthy again”, said Mrs. Bhatia.

“What sin?”, asked mommy, this time almost trembling.

“Your daughter entered a temple somewhere in your city although it was her ‘fourth day’. She isn’t supposed to do this, is she? You know well Jaya, we hindus are so religious and devoted. We follow all the necessary norms our forefathers made for us. It is because they mean something. To what I know, your daughter is currently 19, right? She is sane enough to understand these things. Or wait a minute, didn’t you tell her about how she should behave in her periods?”, came the direct reply from Mrs. Bhatia.

It left mommy speechless for about a minute or two. Finally she spoke, “What do we do now?”

To which aunty Bhatia replied, “The Man himself suggested her to visit every possible temple in the city, she has ever visited and ask for pardon. That’s it. Once, the God pardons her, she will be freed from her sin and everything will be back to normal.”

It was hard for me to digest her words. How could God punish a woman for entering a temple on the fourth day of her periods? Is menstruation a sin? Do women turn into some sinners when they menstruate? If no, then why are they treated so differently during those days?

I woke up reluctantly on the morning of the 23^rd of July whereas, my mommy was all ready to give me instructions regarding the ways to ask pardon to God in the temple.

“Touch your head on His (God’s) feet. Say that you are sorry and you better say it from your heart. Promise the God that you won’t be repeating it again. Say it a hundred of times. Ask for pardon. Are you getting me?”, said mommy.

I felt like a sinner when I was entering the temple. Worst part was, I felt like a sinner for something, I don’t even consider to be a ‘sin’. How could it possibly be a sin?

Well, speaking of today, I am all fit and fine. I have joined back my college and doing well with my studies. My mommy still feels grateful to the neighbor of Mrs. Bhatia. After all, it was only after doing what ‘He’ said, my feet became healthy as before. Mommy is happy today. So is Daddy. I am happy as well. I join mommy in her morning prayers as well as evening prayers. She likes ‘no risks’. Sometimes, I feel like telling mommy the truth. The truth, that those 8 hours I spent asking for pardon from God for some sin, which wasn’t a sin I strongly believe, took away every inch of sensitivity in my heart. I don’t know if God has forgiven me Mommy, but that afternoon as I stepped out of the temple, something in my heart broke. I don’t know what, but it definitely made me strong. Mommy, the ‘pain’, it’s still there. It hurts. But today, I am strong enough to tolerate it with a smile on my face.

I hope, someday I will get rid of this physical pain. But I still doubt if I will ever get to know if it was all due to my ‘sin’!