Story to Sketch : 'Revelation' by Sandhya Srinivasan

Kalpana reached out to open the door that led from the changing room to the pool area and suddenly heard her sister-in-law Pooja say – ‘Come on, Meera, you seriously expect Kalpana to come out in that skimpy swimming costume of yours! She’s so shy! Have you not noticed that she doesn’t wear revealing clothes at all? Even her sari blouses cover her entire back, and the sleeves cover her right up to her elbows’.

Kalpana heard Meera say, ‘True! Sometimes I wonder when she turned into such a prude. She was only a couple of years senior to us in college, but now dresses like my grandmother! She’s really changed after marriage. You know, Pooja, we juniors used to watch out every morning for Kalpana to arrive in college, just to see what she wore for the day. She was always so stylishly turned out, simple but very graceful too. What did you do to her, Prakash?”

‘Yes, Bhaiya! What did you do to her? I know you were totally besotted by her looks when you were first

introduced. Are you making sure no one else finds her attractive?’ said Pooja teasingly. 

Both the friends laughed without waiting for his reply. Kalpana realised that their laughter was not cruel, and they definitely would not have spoken about her if they had known she could hear them. But it still shocked her. She stood still with her hand on the door handle. Kalpana had thought she would just come out in her usual clothes, telling them that the borrowed swimming costume was too tight for her. There would be some cheerful ribbing about her weight and how she needed to go on a diet, and then they would leave her alone. She could, as usual, sit at the poolside while her friends and her husband enjoyed themselves in the pool.

Pooja and Meera were colleagues who had become friends. Pooja had convinced her brother Prakash to bring Kalpana to her friend Meera’s house for the weekend. He had come up with a lot of excuses but Pooja had insisted that they come along. 

Just when she was about to turn the handle of the changing-room door, Kalpana heard Prakash say, “Please don’t start me off on how she has changed! I am almost embarrassed taking her out to parties in her strange clothes. There’s a scene every time we need to go out, and it always ends with a lot of crying and cajoling. I am truly tired of it all. Why else do you think I didn’t want to come with her to your place, Meera? I have half a mind to turn her in for a newer fresher model”. He laughed heartily at his own joke.

Kalpana stood there too stunned to move. How casually he spoke about the scenes, the crying and the cajoling! When had she become such a doormat and butt of jokes? Was she really such an inconsequential person now that he could twist facts completely, knowing she wouldn’t say a word in response? With sudden determination, she went back into the changing room.

Five minutes later, Kalpana emerged in a swimming costume. Pooja and Meera, who were sitting by the pool, facing the doors, looked up and smiled in approval but suddenly both of them gasped in horror. Prakash turned around to see what had surprised them, and saw Kalpana in a smart two-piece swimsuit, with what had until that day been visible only to him – cigarette burns on her arms, and chest area. To complete the effect she had on the trio, Kalpana twirled to show them her back – lacerated with belt marks, cigarette burns and two angry red marks where Prakash had kicked her last night.

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