The Many Voices of Mrs. Sen

Mrs Sen has many voices —
The one that we hear often
Sounds polite and gentle
Pleasant to hear every time she stops
To ask us how everything is going.
The one that deems her
To be the perfect wife
As is expected by society.

The same voice sometimes alters
When she’s accompanied by her in-laws
Infused with tonnes of respect and a dash of fear
A forced smile on her lips
As she nods her head to what they say;
Sometimes keeping silent altogether
Her head bowed in shame
As she’s criticised for doing things
Sounding very normal but forbidden in her case
As is deemed by society.

One evening I heard
A completely different voice of hers;
Mr Sen had visitors, his boss and colleagues —
I had been passing by their living room
When I heard a bout of forced laughter and froze
And heard her speak in a coy and flattering tone
As if she were an entertainer
To Mr Sen’s company.

Mrs Sen has many voices.
Sometimes I wonder what her real voice sounds like
The one hidden beneath all the politeness and gentleness
And forced laughs and flattery.
Sometimes when she scolds her son,
Her voice full of anger and frustration
Morphs into something uneven and hoarse.
Maybe it’s just anger.
Maybe it’s her real voice
Trying to make itself heard over the din of false tones.

Mrs Sen has many voices
Ranging from meek to polite to warm to shy.
She uses them as per society’s demands
Forgetting the sound of her real voice.
But Mr Sen has one, single voice
Which is loud and obnoxious and booming;
He shouts in it every time
To keep his wife in line,
Lest she gets the courage to use her real voice,
As is expected of him by society.

Debolina Motilal is a B.Com graduate and CA aspirant from Kolkata. She writes sometimes to make sense of everything going on inside her head. 

Featured image:  Louis Galvez / Unsplash