Olga's Ire (Fiction)

Olga's Ire or Anasuya's Downfall

Anasuya and Olga are bosom friends. They did primary and secondary schooling together. Anasuya chose to become an engineer and Olga has taken to literature, which is   her fascination and passion. Their friendship has survived this separation and are all always in touch with each other. Presently Olga has come to visit Anasuya and advise her on the decision taken by Anasuya recently and is implementing. 

Olga is an active woman’s liberation movement activist. She, like her father Kapardi, is an admirer of communism, rationalism, feminism and the like isms. Actually the love of her father for communism and Soviet Russia has made him name her as Olga. Olga can not stand men. She despises them as a selfish and arrogant tribe. She is convinced that for all the difficulties of the  women folk and the problems they are facing, men are responsible. She always likes to refer to men as male chauvinist pigs. She has mere contempt for men and nothing else. Love for them she never possessed and or does not like to hear about it. 

She is horrified when Anasuya has decided to resign her job and spend the rest of her life serving her beloved cousin Anand. Anand and Anasuya are not only closely related but are also love interests of each other. They have fallen in love and have also risen in love.

They have mutual devotion, admiration, appreciation and love for each other.

Anasuya has finished her engineering and got a job as a software engineer in a reputed multi-national company. She has been sent to the UK on overseas assignment. 

Anand is elder to her by five years. He finished his M.Sc. and doctorate and is currently looking for employment. Just then tragedy has struck him. He has met with an accident and his body has become insensitive below hips. He is bed ridden and one has attend to him for all his daily scores and for every thing to take place in his daily routine. Anand is only child to his rich parents and every one is crestfallen because of the tragedy and such unkindness of fate.

 

Now Anasuya has decided to resign her job, marry and serve Anand for life.

The conveyance of this decision of Anasuya has made Olga to rush to Anasuya. Olga is teaching Telugu Literature in Osmonia University in Hyderabad. Anand’s and Anasuya’s parent’s place is also Hyderabad. Anasuya has returned from her UK assignment a week back and is shortly going to resign her job to attend to Anand.

“You have become mad, Anasuya? How is it that you want to resign from such a promising career and waste your life like this?”

 “I can understand your concern for me and the “quality” of life I am going to have. This is not a decision taken in a hurry or sympathy is not the reason. I genuinely love Anand. Had Anand not met with this accident, we are going to marry next month. The only additional thing is I am quitting working and am ceasing to be a career woman.”

“This decision of yours is insane. Now only women have got an opportunity to prove that they are equal to men in all aspects and they no longer depend on men for anything. And you decided to lose such wonderful opportunity of living independently without any male chauvinist domination and suppression. You have really stabbed the liberation of women in the back.”

“It is strange that you have become so emotional, Olga. It is uncommon of you. You are always like a stone and never exhibited any emotions. I am glad you love me and the woman’s liberation movement so much. I too with equal intensity love Anand. There will be hundreds of software engineers to take care of the industry. But my not being the companion of Anand affects me and there will be no one to take care of my beloved when fate has struck him so cruelly’

“Economic independence is true liberation for women..You are squandering that opportunity. Even under normal circumstances the drudgery of kitchen work, house-maintenance, conceiving, delivering, taking care of the kids and so called husband are all chains to women. Now you are taking additional responsibility of nursing a cripple for life also. Any way I am not able to accept your decision, Anasuya. A brilliant person like you must not confine to kitchen and house. You have better role to play than just be a house wife that too to a handicapped person.”

“Mind your tongue, dear friend, Olga. Anand is not handicapped as long as I am alive”

“Do not be emotional, Anasuya, you are ruining your bright future. Why do you want to remain dependent and also lead slavish life and waste your life in subjugation? I do not see any wisdom in your decision except that you have pity and mercy to Anand.”

“You mean to say Mother Theresa has no wisdom and wasted her life by taking care of destitute children of Calcutta streets and has been a slave to them.”

“No, Mother Theresa is an angel’

“Then how I fail to be an angel when I am taking care of and nursing my Anand? You mean to say and recommend that people must first become destitute and then people like Mother Theresa must take care of them and we must not mind for our near and dear and we must neglect them so that they become destitute. 

Where you have picked up this logic dear friend Olga? The dialectic materialism of which you are a master, I hope is not guiding you. You must know that I am an adult and can take care of myself and I also have the wisdom to decide about my life.

External hegemony by intellectuals or women liberation movement activists like you or NGOs and their uncalled for interference in the personal lives of the individuals is the bane of our times. They very childishly think that their course of thought is correct and others are not capable of thinking at all.

Just because you are my friend I have allowed to talk like this, especially about my beloved Anand. Emotional fulfillment is essential for human lives. Intellectual debates must not decide the course of lives. One must learn to respect the line of thinking of others also. Dismissing others and their thinking as backward or immature is itself an illness of mind.”

“No Anasuya, do not be excited. I am completely disturbed that a brilliant life is just ending as another subservient way.”

“Do not be bothered, Olga. You did your duty as a friend by warning me as you have understood and want life to be. You must know that taking care of and showering love and affection to near and dear and be their beloved is also a noble profession as teaching physics and writing essays on Telugu literature. People get Nobel prize for peace and also for taking care of and doing good for fellow human beings, just as inventing photo-electric effect or discovering X-rays. All professions are essential for human well-being and welfare. There is no superior profession over others.”

“O.K. Anasuya, though I am not convinced about the wisdom of your decision, I wish you all the best.”

Olga left the place in complete dejection. She is angry, unhappy and agitated. Olga’s displeasure and ire for Anasuya’s voluntary down fall is immense.