A Story We Don’t Talk About
By Lokanath Mishra
Aman was the kind of boy every parent quietly thanked God for.
Polite, hardworking, never raised his voice, never raised a hand.
Software engineer in Pune, earning well, taking care of his parents even from afar.
The bride?
Educated, confident, city-bred.
Nothing wrong with ambition — until it becomes entitlement.
The marriage was grand.
Lights, DJs, photographers, and 300 relatives giving blessings they didn’t mean.
Aman didn’t want a big wedding… but his wife insisted.
“Log kya kahenge?” — the four words that have destroyed more savings than inflation ever could.
It’s been 11 months now.
And do you know what Aman’s life looks like?
He wakes up early to cook because “she doesn’t like the smell of masala in the morning.”
He cleans because “a man who doesn’t help isn’t modern.”
He works 9 hours, comes home, listens to hours of taunts.
One day she loves him.
The next day she calls him “useless,” “spineless,” “mummy ka bachcha.”
If he tries to walk away from an argument, she calls him irresponsible.
If he tries to talk, she calls him irritating.
If he stays silent, she calls him weak.
But no one believes him.
Because “ladka thodi na pareshan hota hai.”
Because society has decided men are always the problem, never the victim.
And do you know what hurts the most?
If a man raises his voice, he’s abusive.
But if a woman shouts, throws things, insults his parents — it’s “mood swings,”
“stress,”
or the worst excuse of all —
“yeh toh normal hai.”
People forget this simple truth:
Harassment has no gender.
Pain doesn’t come with a label.
Tears don’t check biology before falling.
Aman is trapped —
Between a mother worried sick about him
And a wife who treats him like a servant she didn’t pay for.
But he stays quiet.
Because a man speaking about abuse is either mocked…
or ignored.
Tell me honestly — have you ever seen this?
A brother?
A friend?
A colleague quietly suffering behind jokes and fake smiles?
Pain looks different on men.
Because they are taught to hide it.