Fiction: Thrown out of her home, Seema has two choices – submit to her husband or leave forever

Seema Hyderi sat perched on top of an empty blue Samsonite, staring at the gate that her husband had pushed her out of twenty minutes ago. For the third time in her marriage of ten months, she had been unceremoniously evicted for unsuitable behaviour.

The spinner wheels rolled under her weight as she waited for Momin to calm down and allow her back inside. The suitcase, like her, was round and shock-absorbent. Seema withstood the indignities and upsets of her new marriage with a resilience nourished by croissants, butter naan, Pringles and chocolates. Her expanding waistline was a cause of much dismay to her husband and mother-in-law. To the former it was unattractive. To the latter, it was a disappointment because it wasn’t caused by a baby.

This expulsion wasn’t a punishment – at least, she wasn’t meant to think it was. According to her mother-in-law, it was an opportunity for reflection. “When we are away from it all, my love, we think more clearly. We realize how important it is that our husbands be kept content. Once you come back inside, you should do so as a better wife, otherwise, it is all for nothing.”

The first time Momin had kicked her out...

Read more