a Daughter's Desire, Mother's Worst Nightmare

tells the true story of one woman's quest as she struggles to preserve her arranged marriage by continuing in her abusive relationship. The names have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved in the story. Shivani Ragunandan, a twenty-two-year-old college graduate, found herself betrothed into marriage by her family. Although it was not what she truly wanted, she went ahead with the wedding-only to find herself in a very unhappy marriage. Her husband was emotionally and physically abusive, cheating on her whenever the opportunity presented itself. Abiding by the rules of an arranged marriage in her Indo-Guyanese tradition, she was not allowed to file a divorce. She tried continuously to preserve her marriage to her twenty-seven-year-old husband. Although Shivani knew deep inside that this was not what she wanted, she feared her innocence, dignity, and reputation would be tarnished forever if she left her husband. Bound by cultural ties, she had no one to turn to but the celestial deities and her mother for guidance, faith, and strength.