Arc 1: A whole new world.

 Warning: mental health issues. 

To call her family a male oriented family would be an utter disgrace. They should be held on one female, ultra pro max if possible. How else would you explain ‘these’:

1. Movies and internet are full of malicious people! What if they scar our daughter’s mentality?

2. Electronic devices hurt our daughter’s precious eyes.

3. Children of our hood have horrible personalities. Bad influence! She must never play or chat with them.

4. Social and physical activities will tire her out. What if she hurts herself?

5. Travelling to relatives houses will exhaust our daughter. If must, they’ll come visit us.

6. Out of syllabus and fictional books will hinder her studies... so will unruly ‘friends’... On a careful consideration, let’s homeschool her.

7. Schedule her eating and and sleeping in time and moderation. She should always be healthy.

8. Showing your face to too many people lightens your beauty. Father knows first aid, mother knows sewing, doctors and tailors aren’t needed.

9. Shopping is father’s burden. Just be precious and stay at home.

And so on...

Thus were the rules she grew up with, isolated and controlled at every step of her life. whereas her 6 years younger brother got to go everywhere he wanted to go, do everything he wanted to do, except drugs and girls that is, just because he was unworthy of any concern. Welcome to Ash’s family.

Bengal was still an underdeveloped country when Ash was born. People only started to develop digital mindset by the time she was 7. Her joint family separated; uncles, aunts and cousins moved out, leaving behind her businessman father, teacher mother, newborn brother, beloved grandma and herself. Her illusion of a happy life started to crumble when the old lady passed away.

Mom: “...and Rapunzel lived happily ever after. That’s it for tonight, girl. Now go to sleep.”

From a very young age, Ash loved the genre fantasy; fantasy of love and magic. She hated horror and thriller. One of the reason being her vivid power of imagination. So sitting crumpled on the single bed, many nights went by with her pleading: “This empty room... scares me, mom. Can’t I sleep with u?”

Mom: “Now that grandma is no longer with us, you feel lonely, I get it. But grown girls don’t sleep with mama. You'll have to get used to it.” Tears pricked at her eyes as the door creaked close and darkness spread in the room. Is getting used to really a necessity when grandma left  just a week ago? ...Can’t it wait just a few more days? ...Granny, I miss you...

Days turned into weeks, months into years. the loneliness clawing at her heart started to feel numb. Although Ash secretly sewed, cooked, exercised, snuck into her mother’s garden, stole little instruments from her brother and played them alongside the academic lessons she was tasked to complete, there were times when she wished she had someone to talk to.

If they just let me chat a lil'  with my cousins, I could know what’s it like to eat out? Or going to school? What’s it like to have outings... and friends? Alas, only if her life was that easy. She had no idea what internet or social media was, nor did she own a cellphone. When grandma was alive, she used to help Ash deliver letters to her cousins, but now even that...

In random lonely nights, as fear and isolation transformed into black and white threads, wrapping themselves around her heart, just to cut through it and made her insides a bloody mess, she would mumble to herself, hypnotizing, “Don’t overthink Ash, everything they do is because they love you.” However, with every passing day, she only felt more and more restless. Even shedding tears of agony in the darkness of midnight was getting tiring.

Ash: “Mom. Is there any difference within my life and Rapunzel’s?”

Mom: “What an absurd question. She was kidnapped and trapped by a villain for her whole life. We do what we do only to protect you until your marriage.” How could that not leave her speechless? Mom: “Listen carefully. The outside world is dangerous. All we wish is for you to become a smart and impressive young woman, get married to a financially comfortable family so you can live a life filled with happi- why are you looking at me like that?”

“Trust me mom, I love you and all. But should I still after comparing your words with Mother Gothel's?” If Ash knew this one argument will get her banned from reading even children fictions for the rest of her life, she would’ve stayed quiet.

At least, it created an opportunity for her to select one academy to learn any ‘one’ lesson, related to her studies or not. She chose Martial arts. Even though her father was to accompany Ash to and from the academy, and change teacher every 6 months and train 'alone', Ash accepted it as a good addition to her already abnormal life.

Each day onwards she nodded along with whatever task, prize or punishment her parents set, pretending to be as obedient as physically possible. “Just you wait until I steal enough money from your closets. One day, I’ll escape from this house and never return. Independence becomes my dream.”

The escapade she managed. but it was only the first time.