A Sparkling Beginning !!

He ran towards the lights. She was half running, half stumbling behind him trying hard to compose herself by not laughing too hard. " Sweeti, Abhi, hold on ! I'm way old to be running with you. "

"No you're not mama. You catch me all the time when we play hide and seek. Come soon.", he giggled, turning, grabbing her hand and dragging her through the brightly decorated entrance in his puny hands.

As they walked into the fair, the pair stared awestruck at the lights and the many rides, big and small arranged in the park. The spicy aroma of delicious food and sweets grabbed at their nostrils luring them deeper in. They slowly worked their way through Most of the stalls, playing games, eating too much cotton candy, sweets and spicy fast foods, trying as many rides as they could together, all the while laughing and giggling.

Parvati marveled at the memories they were making. Just her, her son and their life together. As her son ran and climbed onto the carousel, she thought back to the years that lay behind these cherished moments of happiness. All the years of abuse- physical and mental. The pain, the suffering by the hands of the man who was her husband. At first hanging onto the false hope that one day the love, they had shared in their adolescence would return. Each time he said sorry, she forgave him lovingly, praying that God graced him with some change. But that was not to be. He too was brought up in a male dominated society, spurned by a low threshold for anger. She wasn't stupid. In time, she realized it was she who had to change, but she just couldn't. Not till she had some skills to rely on for bread and butter. For else, she had no where to turn. And then as she took classes secretly, she had Abhimanyu, her only light and her biggest chain tying her to a miserable life. She knew he would never let her walk away with his son. So she stayed. No excuses left.

Until the day, he broke all barriers and did the one thing she would never forgive him for. She threw their son, her heart across the room, as he lunged for her. That was the day, all her patience, love, broke - giving way to the tides of anger she held within her. She beat him, and as he was down in shock and surprise she kept hitting him till he was a mere inch of life. Warning him to stay away from them, she walked away with her son and a bag she packed every week in the hope that she would find the courage one day.

"Ma, look how Big he is. "

As she looked at the Huge, beautifully decorated effigy of Ravana, full of fireworks, she wondered at the parallels to her life. Here stood another who once was good, but got so full of his own power that he had to be stopped. As they lit the Ravana, the facsimile burst alive with flames.

As her son clapped his hands in glee, marveling at the spectacular fireworks that were now erupting, she smiled to herself. Feeling similarly purified, knowing that all evil in her life too had turned to ashes, giving way to hope and beautiful memories. A brand new start, a brand new life ....