Miss Gupta is the quintessential Indian matriarch, stern but loving, and quite dutiful when it comes to protecting her family and the traditions of her people. When Miss Gupta and her former husband Amit moved to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, from West Bengal, Republic of India, three decades ago, they had a lot of adjustments to make. Indians form a sizable minority in the Canadian social landscape, but that doesn't make life easy for the Indian community, especially the women.
Miss Gupta has always been a woman of the world, firmly believing herself anyone's equal. In modern India, Indian women supposedly enjoy the same rights as Indian men but culture, tradition and religion still put bindings on a woman's life. Indeed, that's why there are many clashes between Indian men and Indian women when they move to Western society. The term culture shock doesn't even begin to describe what Miss Gupta and her husband Amit experienced in Ottawa.
It is quite true that Miss Gupta and her husband Amit had a tough time in Canada...at first. The Indians are a hardy, hard-working people and the West Bengali couple adjusted to life in the Canadian Capital. They got new jobs, bought a house and raised a family. Fast forward a bit, and Amit is six feet under, and the couple's two sons, Sujan and Banerjee live in the City of Vancouver, British Columbia. To say that Miss Gupta is lonely would be an understatement...
Miss Gupta is a lovely woman, standing five foot eleven, pleasantly plump, with long dark hair only slightly streaked with gray, and dark bronze skin. The lady's body is curvy and firm, and her buttocks are round and thick. In her hometown of Dankuni, in the West Bengal region of India, Miss Gupta was renowned for her beauty and great height. Women who are close to six feet tall are rare in India, that's for damn sure. Miss Gupta was a model for a time, then she fell in love with Amit, and they got married and moved to Canada.
Miss Gupta studied Nursing at the University of Ottawa, and spent decades working as a nurse at the Civic Hospital in the Carling area of Ottawa. As for her husband Amit, he gave up halfway through his civil engineering studies and became a cab driver. For much of their marriage, Miss Gupta was the breadwinner, something which bruised Amit's ego, and caused friction between the two of them. There were major arguments and all out fights over the couple's finances, and Miss Gupta did not miss those.
Officially, Amit died of a heart attack, and as per Miss Gupta's wishes, he was cremated. A decade before Amit's death, he'd been arrested for domestic violence, and subsequently released when Miss Gupta refused to press charges. Although Miss Gupta played the role of the dutiful wife and mother for most of her life, she truly despised her husband Amit and was not sorry for his death. As far as Miss Gupta was concerned, the bastard should have died a long time ago.
"Any man who beats his wife doesn't deserve anything except the deepest circle of hell," Miss Gupta said to herself as she sat in her living room. Ever since Amit died, Miss Gupta removed all of his pictures from the family living room, leaving only pictures of herself and her son. The last thing Miss Gupta needed was to be reminded of her vile, violent and abusive late husband every damn day. As far as Miss Gupta was concerned, the bastard got what he deserved.
Reclining on the couch, Miss Gupta watched the classic movie Mississippi Masala, featuring a younger Denzel Washington romancing the sexy Indian actress Sarita Choudhury. Miss Gupta smiled as she watched the couple navigate romance and prejudice in the Deep South. If black Americans only knew. A lot of Indians are more racist toward black folks than the rednecks in the southern United States. Of course, it's not politically correct to admit such a thing.
At the age of fifty four, Miss Gupta had few regrets, and all of them revolved around remaining married to a man who was abusive and mean as hell. Miss Gupta is a liberated woman living life by her own rules, culture and tradition be damned. As a widow whose sons are grown and whose parents are long dead, Miss Gupta doesn't have to answer to anyone. That's just the way Miss Gupta likes it, thank you very much.
While walking around the Rideau Shopping Center in downtown Ottawa, Miss Gupta saw a young Sikh Indian woman holding hands with a tall, handsome young black man. Seeing such a couple made Miss Gupta smile, though some Indian guys walking by looked uncomfortable upon seeing them. Indian women ought to seek love and happiness on their own terms, instead of putting their lives on hold in the name of culture, religion and tradition...
Miss Gupta lives in the Nepean area, and whenever she goes to the Loblaw's grocery store, there's this clerk who's always staring at her. The man is tall, of African descent, and very dark-skinned. Miss Gupta found his stare peculiar and ignored him, until the day he approached her and addressed her in flawless Hindi. Miss Gupta is fluent in English, Hindi and Bengali, and was quite surprised by the stranger's erudition.