{"id":80,"date":"2008-11-05T23:02:33","date_gmt":"2008-11-05T23:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/?page_id=80"},"modified":"2010-11-09T13:24:49","modified_gmt":"2010-11-09T13:24:49","slug":"helping-hand","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/?page_id=80","title":{"rendered":"Helping Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"P323\" <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/em><\/strong>A survivor\u2019s story<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I was in America less than three years and was filling up the pages in my diary with my secret tortured life. At the age thirty-five, I left my own business in India and came here to join this new family with many dreams. But in this house I was treated as a slave. I was expected to serve my husband, mother-in-law and teenager stepson with the <\/em><\/strong>preset rules of when, where, how and which way.\u00a0 I kept on doing all that happily, from 5am to 10pm, with the longing that my husband shows some care for me. I was called stupid because my English was not good and I was humble. I was not allowed to know any thing about household finances or his income. I was giving him all my earnings and in return I was given a small allowance.\u00a0 The verbal abuse was constant from husband and mother-in-law. My diary was soaked with my lonely tears.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong> All the people I knew were my husband\u2019s friends and relatives. Whom can I tell and who will believe me?\u00a0 I cannot write to my family in India because, my in-laws were extremely sensitive about their reputation in the society. My husband moved out of our bedroom and told lies to his mother and to the casual so called friends. My Ex and his mother started telling me to \u201cpack your bag and get lost\u201d.\u00a0 They wanted me to leave penniless and humiliated so they can look good in the society. He threatened me with legal consequences.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong> Finally, I mustered up my courage and talked to one of his friends, who is a Domestic Violence\u00a0Volunteer. First, I told her very little and waited for her reaction. After a few days I felt that I could trust her. Once I had her support, my self-confidence and strength slowly came back. I had to relearn to be strong. My advocate was my lifesaver. I no longer felt helpless.\u00a0The Organization\u00a0helped me with the lawyer\u2019s fees and my advocate spent countless hours with me and accompanied me to get through the legal and emotional web. I moved out of that house with good settlement, with good friends and with dignity. I cannot imagine where I would have been without\u00a0their help. My mentor Saryu, expressed my feelings in her poem. <\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A Survivor
\n<\/strong><\/em>\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Working with the victims of domestic violance,poems like this has been written. –<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em>Saryu Parikh<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"E=MC2_HARMONY\"painting by Dilip Parikh <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

helping hand<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sis, I accepted strangers as my own<\/strong><\/em>
\n My heart was full of hopes and dreams
\nI came, trusting the thread of love<\/em>
\n I enjoyed the bliss of a\u00a0marriage of choice<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

He was the center of my universe<\/strong><\/em>
\nHe falsely earned my inner trust<\/em>
\nHe was the purpose of my breath<\/em>
\nNow\u00a0only misery, crying and wrath<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That tender string broke in the midst<\/strong><\/em>
\nCouldn\u2019t mend with a\u00a0timely stitch<\/em>
\n Left me feeling horrid and\u00a0helpless<\/em>
\nMy life is mere and\u00a0meaningless!<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Let the tears flow today, due to a sorry\u00a0sudden drench<\/strong><\/em>
\n But my soul’s lamp\u00a0will\u00a0shine again,\u00a0with\u00a0a\u00a0brighter\u00a0inner strength<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong>I\u00a0promise to restore\u00a0my lost respect<\/strong><\/em>
\nWith \u00a0your care\u00a0and\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0kind\u00a0 \u00a0intent <\/em>
\nWith \u00a0your\u00a0helping\u00a0smile, I\u00a0consent<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

—————-<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/em><\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A survivor\u2019s story I was in America less than three years and was filling up the pages in my diary with my secret tortured life. At the age thirty-five, I left my own business in India and came here to join this new family with many dreams. But in this house I was treated as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-80","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/saryuparikh.gujaratisahityasarita.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}