The Drama of Marriage
Life is like a spinning wheel
It won't stop until God stops the rotation
But man,
Certainly can't choose the path of life he wants
______________________
"El, congratulations, you've finally found the man of your choice. I'm sure Karan will take good care of you," said the tall, white, handsome man.
Who else if not Sean Van Hotten, a Dutch-Indonesian man who has long lived in the country without his family. He works as a doctor at a relatively young age.
Two years ago, Eliza was introduced to Sean when both of them had the opportunity to tour Germany with ten other people from private and public universities. They met on the day of Eliza's wedding to Karan, a man of Yemeni-Padang descent whom Eliza had chosen as her life partner.
"Thank you Sean, you were right about me. That there will be a time when I find a good man who accepts me in his life. I was happy with him during our relationship, he's a man who understands me."
"Thank God you're happy, I'm certainly happy to see that."
"Don't worry, he will be happy with me. We love each other, of course I won't be able to hurt him."
Jealous, of course Karan didn't like his wife being intimate with another man. Despite the fact that he was Eliza's best friend. It didn't matter to Karan, because Eliza was now legally his wife.
Seeing Karan not liking Sean's presence, of course Sean knew himself. He decided to say goodbye. He didn't want to linger at Eliza's wedding. Tight.
This was Eliza's wedding to Karan. A lavish event had been given by Karan to please Eliza. A dream wedding, like a prince and princess getting married in a grand and beautiful building.
"Is it true that this marriage will make me happy? Isn't this decision I'm making wrong?"
The question immediately crossed Eliza's mind, she doubted Karan's love and sincerity towards her. Karan had given so much to her.
However, that silly question seemed to be a nightmare for Eliza on her wedding day. The image of that bastard man flashed through Eliza's mind.
That man was none other than her own father, Jacob. The man who had left Meliza, her mother. For the sake of a woman of the night who had poisoned his father's brain to turn away from Meliza.
Not only that, Jacob is also often violent. His hands flew, until a wooden beam landed on his mother's body at that time. Little Eliza saw clearly the cruelty of her father, a bastard man.
"I still remember that day, something I have never forgotten in my life. The man I had looked up to had disappointed me," Eliza thought.
"God, should I call him father? After what he did to me?"
Eliza asked herself, even though she didn't get an answer to her question. The question kept coming back to her, making her chest feel tight.
"El, what's wrong with you? Is everything okay?" asked Karan, breaking Eliza's long daydream.
"Emh, yes. Karan, I'm fine."
"What's wrong with you? Why the sudden silence? It's our happy day, dear. You should be smiling happily. I gave all this for you and everything I did was for your happiness."
"I am happy, Karan. Very happy, what else can a woman expect in a relationship. Nothing but a marriage, it is enough to make her happy and feel important. Don't worry, everything will be fine. I am fine."
Eliza closed her explanatory sentence with a smile. A smile that she was forced to give to Karan. Just to reassure him that she was indeed happy with this marriage. The happiness that many women out there are hoping for.
Who is unhappy, when many are yearning for a marriage. While his partner does not give him certainty, it is not uncommon for it to fail in the middle of the road. Love is very simple, it doesn't need to be complicated by just spouting the word love. Especially if it ends in tears.
Eliza's wedding party today, is a wedding party that is the dream of many women. All the traditional processions were carried out without exception. However, behind the happiness was endless suffering for Eliza herself.
When other people were amazed by the festive party and Eliza's beautiful wedding dress. However, it all felt like torture to her. Tired of standing and changing clothes, thick make-up of all kinds she had to endure until the event was over.
"If I could choose, I'd rather just have the wedding ceremony without the party. It was hard to endure three days of non-stop travelling. Apparently, what's beautiful for many people is misery for me as a bride," Eliza muttered.
This time, Eliza really couldn't bear the pain. She slowly touched her temple, eager to remove the suntang that had been perched on her head since this morning. Not only was it heavy, but wearing it for too long made her head feel dizzy.
The suntiang is one of the heaviest Indonesian bridal crowns from the Minang or Padang custom. The shape is multi-layered and the installation is quite complicated. The traditional Suntiang gadang is composed of at least 11 layers of flowers, gold and aluminium. It can weigh up to 5-6kg.
"Karan, how much longer will this event last?" asked Eliza as she massaged his temples again.
"It's still a few hours away, dear. What's wrong?"
"Can't we just speed things up? I'm really tired and can't stand this suntang anymore. My head hurts, I don't think I can continue until the end."
"I don't know how heavy the suntiang on your head is, but seeing this I know how heavy the crown you are wearing is. Please bear with me for a while, if you can't stand you can sit down to ease the pain."
"Yes, alright. I'll wait until the end of the ceremony."
"Sorry, dear, there are still many guests arriving. We can't ask them to go home. You have to enjoy yourself, it's just today and it's the last time."
It all felt like thunder in the heat to Eliza. Even though she was upset and very tired, she still had to give a sweet welcome to the guests who came.
As advised by Karan, Eliza occasionally sat down to ease the burden on her head. She continued to do so, even though it was hard to continue the programme. If Karan did it all for Eliza's happiness, Eliza did it all for Karan's happiness.
"Karan, I can't take it anymore," Eliza said again.
She saw that everything was spinning, Eliza tried to find a fulcrum so that she wouldn't fall down. Karan next to her was just busy talking to his old friend.
BRUK!!!
Eliza suddenly fell unconscious after grimacing in pain as she touched her forehead. In addition to the suntiang on her head that made her sick, the shadow of the past continued to haunt Eliza, until her trust in men began to erode.
This fear made Eliza think badly about Karan, who was now her husband.
"El, what's wrong with you?" asked Karan, looking worried as he shook Eliza's body that collapsed on his chest.
"El, wake up!" Karan panicked.