Some time ago, there was a small family near our house. It was a happy home, with three children- Akshay, the elder was a boy of ten years. He lived with his twin sisters- Anna and Angela. Their grandfather was a business man and their father a Doctor. Mother being a housewife, they enjoyed lot of pampering and many of my friends, including myself were jealous of this. Many a times I have longed that my Mamma would also quit her job one day and become a house wife, to take care of me always.…
Their house was very beautiful with landscaped garden. There was a pond with Lotus and Lily plants; another with ducks swimming all along; an aquarium with lot of gold fishes, angels, red zebras…. They had cages for love birds and rabbits, one above the other like a double decker bus and a bee hive. Akshay had built small kennel for his cute little puppies and cozy beds for his small pussy cats, in which they cuddled so attractively. White pigeons flew all along, with droppings here and there. Daily evening they had a wonderful time in their garden. I was always welcome to join them which I cherished very much. Nitin, another of my neighbour would hurt the poor animals and destroy plants or pluck flowers, so he was never let in by their watchman.
They also had a beautiful play area on one side of their house, with a small par lour. They kept all their story books, colours and crayons, drawing boards and building blocks in there. Even on hot sunny days, it was so cool to sit on the granite top benches and the immovable concrete table was the most attractive. Around the parlors were swing, slide and see saw. Akshay had his tuitions in there, much to the envy of his own sisters!!
There was beautiful grotto with Mother Mary and lot of flowers on the corner of the garden. There was a small but beautiful fountain in front of the grotto. This was something that attracted me the most.
The family prayer room was also a spacious one, where they all gathered every morning and evening and prayed together, singing loudly and reading psalms from the Holy Bible.
One day, I was enjoying playing with Anna, when suddenly we noted her mother Ameya walking out of the gate. They had three cars, a red Toyota Qualis, for the family, driven by Sajanbhaiyya, a Blue Chevrolet for their grandfather, who drove it himself and a White Swift a recent purchase by their father. Ameya and kids always used the Toyota to go to and return from school, market or shopping. On Sundays, they would all visit the church, with their father in the driving seat…
But, they had never seen their Mamma going walking, that too all alone, without uttering a word to any of them. The children were quite astonished…They ran to their Grandma, who was standing right at the door, silently, herself dumb-struck in awe… She remained silent to all their hot queries and later withdrew to monitor routine tasks…Children sat on the steps…
In a short time, nature too transformed. It started to drizzle and the children rushed out. They used to play in the rain at this time and enjoyed taking a bath outdoors after getting thoroughly drenched…Mamma was so wonderful to let them enjoy all their mischievous prangs. She would compel them to dettol and slippers and so many paraphernalia, in spite of which the kids really enjoyed getting wet.
Mamma would narrate how she herself as a kid used to walk a few miles early in the morning to have a bath in the river with all elders in a row…. How as she grew up, she used to have her bath before the sun rose, in the domestic pond in their ancestral home and all the funny incidents…
Even now as we go down for vacations, the very sight of these places brings out vivid colourful imaginary pictures of our Mamma there as a kid!!!! The domestic pond now has so many carps under the fisheries project!!! However, the river and the temple tank still have lots of children diving in splashing water all around…
In fact, last time we successfully recorded a video on all this including the way we play to get drenched in the rains, the beautiful ripples as water falls on the lotus leaves, the change of water to muddy and so called dirty form….how our friends envied us!!!!!!!
Their memories flew through all these and they were enthralled, until finally they heard their Grandma shouting at them.
“Hey Akshay, what is it that you are up to??? Its raining so heavily and you are purposefully getting wet? Didn’t you see Aami going out??? (Aami, that’s how Grandma calls Mamma. Generally, they move along well, but what happened today, the thunder again struck Akshay all on a sudden…)
He slowly went to the back door, requested Elsa their maid for some towels and dettol, and called his sisters to move towards the tap used for washing in the rear end of the big garden. Elsa too came down and helped the children to wash and dress and gave them milk and snacks.
Akshay was a bit afraid of his Grandma and so ate quietly. But the younger ones couldn’t even think about that!!! They have never had their food by themselves. They started crying in unison. Elsa tried her best to persuade them; but in vain. Soon, Grandma came in and consoled the siblings. “Mamma has gone home and will take sometime to return, behave yourselves until then. Don’t irritate Grandpa as he comes in or it would be a real chaos;” she warned. “ I have to take care of lot of things and its going to be prayer time. So have your food and go upstairs.” She continued and moved off.
Akshay finished his food and went over to their side. “Annamole”, he called passionately, “Angelkutty”, he called the other; both clinged to him tightly. “You should obey whatever Grandma tells you, hasn’t Mamma told us so, always? If we disobey elders, Mamma would scold us when she comes back. Let us now finish our snacks and go to do our homework. Achayan shall help you. I shall also get chocolates for you as Pappa comes down…” The sorrow slowly subsided. Children went upstairs in to their study. Though they really missed their Mamma’s guidance, they continued with their work…
The children saw their Grandpa coming in followed by their priest and soon they went off together. They saw their father coming in and they ran to him. He silently hugged them, which was quite unlike his usual self. He accompanied his children and gave them their supper, again quite unlike of him, then he took them up into the study and Oh! He didn’t even know which books they had to study then!!! He sighed heavily.
Akshay intervened at the right moment. “Papa, where has Mamma gone? What happened? She didn’t tell us anything…”he narrated patiently and in a sober manner. “Do you know where she is now? Can we go and bring her back? We truly missed her since quite long…..” At this, Anna and Angela again started weeping and now Akshay also lost his control. Dr. Jose couldn’t bear that. He again held them tightly and walked down. He called loudly for Sajanbhaiyya and they all climbed in…
(I stay very close by; so, I had an eye out of curiosity and my annoyance aggravated. I prayed sincerely and silently…)
As they turned the corner, Grandpa drove in… Papa applied a sudden brake and Oh! Good Gracious, Mamma jumped out and so did we!!!
Thank God….Life is so beautiful…
December 06, 2008
December 04, 2008
INSPIRATION
Long ago, there was a school girl, named Malavika. Her parents were committed social leaders. They lived in the heart of the city and took extra care for their daughter; in such a way that today’s babe would be their pride tomorrow.
Even as a child, Malavika was a student of music. She started with vocal carnatic and slowly changed gears into instrumental music as well, putting in earnest efforts to fulfill the wishes and dreams of her parents and to satisfy her urge to become a good singer.
Her music teacher was quite old and affectionate a lady. Everyone used to call her “Pattiamma”. She stayed in Malu’s neighbourhood with her husband. They didn’t have children and so had adopted a girl, who was now married and settled else where.
Malu didn’t have grandparents either and so she tried to “see them” in most of the old persons she came across. With her natural and affectionate ways, soon Malu became highly attached with her teacher and gradually her pet. Her teacher too bestowed her with immense love and care, far beyond words. She became Malu’s most beloved “Thathi”.
Malu used to wake up early and she would be at her teacher’s house before seven in the morning. Her Thathi, who was in her eighties, would have just brewed her tea. As she had her tea with her husband, she used to permit Malu to draw “kolam”, beautiful pictures drawn in front of Brahmin households-mostly at the entrance or in the courtyards- in those days. These were made using dry white powder, which flows out as smooth as one gains skill. Thathi was keen in teaching Malu new designs as soon as she grasped her last one thoroughly. Malu learnt the activity fast and she cherished performing it daily. These were real motivation and Malu used to feel enthralled as she moved about the house doing her dutiful little chores, especially with visitors around. On festive occasions, Thathi herself would draw big beautiful kolams on the ground and sketch them out in a note book for Malu to practice.
Soon, Malu became more like a member of her Thathi’s nuclear household and used to get additional small domestic tasks like plucking vegetables, cleaning instruments, watering plants and so on. On holidays, she used to run small errands to the grocer as well.
On Tuesdays and Fridays, after school, Malu used to go to the nearby temple with a small lamp and participate in the “Special Prayer with Lamps” ( Vilakku Pooja) regularly conducted for general well being. She had learnt many devotional songs there. Though the only kid amidst all grandmas’ she enjoyed it all the same.
Malu learnt lots from her music sessions…she was the affectionate follower of her Thathi on all possible outdoor tasks too. Malu used to feel proud in accomplishing the little assignments entrusted to her.
Unfortunately, the happiness and togetherness was short lived. Her adorable Thathi died, when Malu was just ten years old. It came as an unexpected shock for her. She never imagined that Thathi would leave her alone, that there would be a time she would long to be with her ….that she would miss her pat and care…above all her ever appreciating nods.
Her morning routine was totally disturbed.
Malu thought seriously on how to overcome the lacuna her teacher had made in her life. She missed her so very much every morning…and nobody knew…Slowly, she managed to get some “kolapodi” and started drawing the pictures she had learnt, in front of her home, daily morning. Her parents were surprised. But soon, they realized the immense positive influence and thanked her soul.
Gradually, they also understood how much their daughter adored her “Thathi” and tried their best to fill the void soon. But the lacuna remained…Her mornings were all the more dull and mechanical…for quite long.
Unlike the joint families of yester years, Malu didn’t have her relatives around to help her overcome this situation. The bond was really strong and hence all the more painful for her …to bear and surpass at that age…
An art form, according to her parent’s opinion was not something that could be transferred in a business like fashion. It wanted a “gurukula-like” approach and a personal bond to flourish, even in the then contemporary society. So, they searched far and wide for another committed teacher who could tap their kid’s potential, but it was a futile exercise…
With time the pain naturally reduced and the child got actively engaged in other activities and groomed out into a successful personality. However, Thathi’s positive impact was quite strong and it persisted.
All along her life, Malu revered all her teachers. As she grew, she was immensely attracted to the nobility of the teaching profession, the enormous potential to serve wholeheartedly, to light and guide blooming flower buds. So, naturally she took to teaching and carved a niche for herself.
Today, Malu was receiving the best teacher’s award from the Honourable President of India on Teacher’s Day; for her creativity and innovative ideas, commitment and student - friendly evolutions. As she stood the ovation, her mind rushed through her past and she paid homage to her beloved teacher once again, whole heartedly. A drop of tear went through her heart. “Hey my beloved Thathi, I dedicate this gift to you, guide me through…” Amidst the noisy atmosphere, Malu slowly closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. She silently prayed for her Thathi’s soul, to rest in peace in eternity…
Even as a child, Malavika was a student of music. She started with vocal carnatic and slowly changed gears into instrumental music as well, putting in earnest efforts to fulfill the wishes and dreams of her parents and to satisfy her urge to become a good singer.
Her music teacher was quite old and affectionate a lady. Everyone used to call her “Pattiamma”. She stayed in Malu’s neighbourhood with her husband. They didn’t have children and so had adopted a girl, who was now married and settled else where.
Malu didn’t have grandparents either and so she tried to “see them” in most of the old persons she came across. With her natural and affectionate ways, soon Malu became highly attached with her teacher and gradually her pet. Her teacher too bestowed her with immense love and care, far beyond words. She became Malu’s most beloved “Thathi”.
Malu used to wake up early and she would be at her teacher’s house before seven in the morning. Her Thathi, who was in her eighties, would have just brewed her tea. As she had her tea with her husband, she used to permit Malu to draw “kolam”, beautiful pictures drawn in front of Brahmin households-mostly at the entrance or in the courtyards- in those days. These were made using dry white powder, which flows out as smooth as one gains skill. Thathi was keen in teaching Malu new designs as soon as she grasped her last one thoroughly. Malu learnt the activity fast and she cherished performing it daily. These were real motivation and Malu used to feel enthralled as she moved about the house doing her dutiful little chores, especially with visitors around. On festive occasions, Thathi herself would draw big beautiful kolams on the ground and sketch them out in a note book for Malu to practice.
Soon, Malu became more like a member of her Thathi’s nuclear household and used to get additional small domestic tasks like plucking vegetables, cleaning instruments, watering plants and so on. On holidays, she used to run small errands to the grocer as well.
On Tuesdays and Fridays, after school, Malu used to go to the nearby temple with a small lamp and participate in the “Special Prayer with Lamps” ( Vilakku Pooja) regularly conducted for general well being. She had learnt many devotional songs there. Though the only kid amidst all grandmas’ she enjoyed it all the same.
Malu learnt lots from her music sessions…she was the affectionate follower of her Thathi on all possible outdoor tasks too. Malu used to feel proud in accomplishing the little assignments entrusted to her.
Unfortunately, the happiness and togetherness was short lived. Her adorable Thathi died, when Malu was just ten years old. It came as an unexpected shock for her. She never imagined that Thathi would leave her alone, that there would be a time she would long to be with her ….that she would miss her pat and care…above all her ever appreciating nods.
Her morning routine was totally disturbed.
Malu thought seriously on how to overcome the lacuna her teacher had made in her life. She missed her so very much every morning…and nobody knew…Slowly, she managed to get some “kolapodi” and started drawing the pictures she had learnt, in front of her home, daily morning. Her parents were surprised. But soon, they realized the immense positive influence and thanked her soul.
Gradually, they also understood how much their daughter adored her “Thathi” and tried their best to fill the void soon. But the lacuna remained…Her mornings were all the more dull and mechanical…for quite long.
Unlike the joint families of yester years, Malu didn’t have her relatives around to help her overcome this situation. The bond was really strong and hence all the more painful for her …to bear and surpass at that age…
An art form, according to her parent’s opinion was not something that could be transferred in a business like fashion. It wanted a “gurukula-like” approach and a personal bond to flourish, even in the then contemporary society. So, they searched far and wide for another committed teacher who could tap their kid’s potential, but it was a futile exercise…
With time the pain naturally reduced and the child got actively engaged in other activities and groomed out into a successful personality. However, Thathi’s positive impact was quite strong and it persisted.
All along her life, Malu revered all her teachers. As she grew, she was immensely attracted to the nobility of the teaching profession, the enormous potential to serve wholeheartedly, to light and guide blooming flower buds. So, naturally she took to teaching and carved a niche for herself.
Today, Malu was receiving the best teacher’s award from the Honourable President of India on Teacher’s Day; for her creativity and innovative ideas, commitment and student - friendly evolutions. As she stood the ovation, her mind rushed through her past and she paid homage to her beloved teacher once again, whole heartedly. A drop of tear went through her heart. “Hey my beloved Thathi, I dedicate this gift to you, guide me through…” Amidst the noisy atmosphere, Malu slowly closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. She silently prayed for her Thathi’s soul, to rest in peace in eternity…
AN EXPERIMENT !!!
I was fast asleep.
“Molu, molu…” my father awakened me. I peeped half- heartedly at the old clock with big Roman numbers. It was just 3.50a.m.
“Oh, yes, Pappa”; I said amidst my sleep and rolled over.
“Please get me something to eat, I have to go and see your Grandma,” said my Pappa.
I jumped out of bed.
An excellent independent chance in the kitchen …
I was thrilled.
I marched into the kitchen in full glory, browsed to finalize the menu and memorized the recipe for breakfast item. As an inauguration, I sought help of my father to break the coconut and scraped it with some difficulty.
Oh, it’s a monotonous and tiring task, I thought for myself.
Then, I took the ingredients and mixed well. I tried cooking the traditional dish as being done by our maid and waited patiently for the anticipated end point.
Simultaneously, I laid the table too.
As against my expectation, the experiment didn’t reach its endpoint soon. Lot of steam was coming out through the sides of the pot instead of from the top of the lid…Does it take so much time to cook a steam cake? I imagined…
My father came in search of me thrice and finally said, “That’s enough; Molu, you take it off the fire”. He drank tea and ate deliciously!
I was excited. So even if steam doesn’t come out, flour would get cooked; that’s nice…Cooking is such an easy task. My mother and maid would appreciate me today, I started dreaming…
Do you know me?
I am Karthika, a 12year old convent student, only daughter of an aged couple. An all rounder, I had just begun my trials in the cooking lab, last week.
My father had just retired from service. He was having difficulty idling off his daytime. So he had taken up supervising his ancestral farm, so far managed by his mother. This was in a far off village and he had to start early morning. My father never takes food from any source outside home. My mother was a fragile, cold allergic personality and our maid was only part-time, so, automatically I got selected for the early morning chore.
On all holidays, I too accompanied my father to his native village and I used to thoroughly enjoy those trips, especially the boat rides, long walks along the beautiful country side… I fell into the nature’s trance. An intolerable yell interrupted me.
Yaaaa…….Oh Ho….
“Madam, please look at this. There’s a real mess in the kitchen,” shouted our cook. She had just come in.
“Yes, I made steam cake in the morning,” I replied happily.
“What??? Your father ate this and went???” She stared at me…
Yes, of course”, came my innocent note.
As against my dream, my mother and cook, both started laughing. My mother, with little sorrow in her eyes, said “You could have come over and asked me…”
“Why, what’s the problem? Pappa ate the whole lot, I made. Why this show off???’’ I got quite irritated.
Oh, my Darling, you didn’t add water to mix the flour!!! Also, you should moisten the cloth around the base to avoid steam passing midway; cried my mother and she started the demonstration right away…
So, I was mistaken. I won’t get appreciated, cooking is definitely not going to be my forte, anymore… I felt very sad. At school, I shunned off my friends queries. If I say, they too may laugh…
At dinner, my mother narrated the whole incident. “I was hungry and food was tasty; I didn’t notice at all. The hot food was quite edible,” replied my father and winked at me.
Three cheers … to all akin motivating and forbearing parents over there!!!
“Molu, molu…” my father awakened me. I peeped half- heartedly at the old clock with big Roman numbers. It was just 3.50a.m.
“Oh, yes, Pappa”; I said amidst my sleep and rolled over.
“Please get me something to eat, I have to go and see your Grandma,” said my Pappa.
I jumped out of bed.
An excellent independent chance in the kitchen …
I was thrilled.
I marched into the kitchen in full glory, browsed to finalize the menu and memorized the recipe for breakfast item. As an inauguration, I sought help of my father to break the coconut and scraped it with some difficulty.
Oh, it’s a monotonous and tiring task, I thought for myself.
Then, I took the ingredients and mixed well. I tried cooking the traditional dish as being done by our maid and waited patiently for the anticipated end point.
Simultaneously, I laid the table too.
As against my expectation, the experiment didn’t reach its endpoint soon. Lot of steam was coming out through the sides of the pot instead of from the top of the lid…Does it take so much time to cook a steam cake? I imagined…
My father came in search of me thrice and finally said, “That’s enough; Molu, you take it off the fire”. He drank tea and ate deliciously!
I was excited. So even if steam doesn’t come out, flour would get cooked; that’s nice…Cooking is such an easy task. My mother and maid would appreciate me today, I started dreaming…
Do you know me?
I am Karthika, a 12year old convent student, only daughter of an aged couple. An all rounder, I had just begun my trials in the cooking lab, last week.
My father had just retired from service. He was having difficulty idling off his daytime. So he had taken up supervising his ancestral farm, so far managed by his mother. This was in a far off village and he had to start early morning. My father never takes food from any source outside home. My mother was a fragile, cold allergic personality and our maid was only part-time, so, automatically I got selected for the early morning chore.
On all holidays, I too accompanied my father to his native village and I used to thoroughly enjoy those trips, especially the boat rides, long walks along the beautiful country side… I fell into the nature’s trance. An intolerable yell interrupted me.
Yaaaa…….Oh Ho….
“Madam, please look at this. There’s a real mess in the kitchen,” shouted our cook. She had just come in.
“Yes, I made steam cake in the morning,” I replied happily.
“What??? Your father ate this and went???” She stared at me…
Yes, of course”, came my innocent note.
As against my dream, my mother and cook, both started laughing. My mother, with little sorrow in her eyes, said “You could have come over and asked me…”
“Why, what’s the problem? Pappa ate the whole lot, I made. Why this show off???’’ I got quite irritated.
Oh, my Darling, you didn’t add water to mix the flour!!! Also, you should moisten the cloth around the base to avoid steam passing midway; cried my mother and she started the demonstration right away…
So, I was mistaken. I won’t get appreciated, cooking is definitely not going to be my forte, anymore… I felt very sad. At school, I shunned off my friends queries. If I say, they too may laugh…
At dinner, my mother narrated the whole incident. “I was hungry and food was tasty; I didn’t notice at all. The hot food was quite edible,” replied my father and winked at me.
Three cheers … to all akin motivating and forbearing parents over there!!!
A REALITY
Rakhi is a young lady, running into her thirties. She is living in the heart of a “Conservative” city. She had been into an inter-caste marriage, drawing immense hatred from all her relatives. Her husband, Raghu was a workshop mechanic in a reputed automobile company. He used to undertake extra works at home and was a “Jack of all trades”. His parents and handicapped sister were also dependant on him. So, he always willingly took up any possible assignment that came his way…
He was earning adequately for a nuclear family. Though an only daughter, Rakhi’s relatives persistently caused intolerable pain and created innumerable difficulties for him, to shed off their resentment. They spared neither his parents nor his dignity at his workplace. This had pushed Rakhi into depression for quite long.
To save his parents from the grudge, Raghu had rented out this small house, years back and built up his nuclear family around it with utmost care and patience. However, their world of togetherness, peace and happiness was short lived. The terrific blast occurred when Raghu died in a major road accident. She was in her second term of last pregnancy. It was a real blow for her and naturally she was totally shattered……
All on a sudden, there were the day to day expenses to be taken care of; her health and pregnancy, thereafter the baby and her elder kid…all under a resource deficit atmosphere. Rakhi was brought up in a financially sound environment and Raghu also was keen to make her feel comfortable. But now, it was quite overwhelming and the responsibilities that remained seemed Herculean. She felt terribly isolated and totally blank.
Initially, some of their friends supported her. However, she took time to pull herself back. She had left her studies midway when she opted into this marriage. She was timid of going to the former campus. “Oh, I should have been braver then,” she regretted. “Even now, I have become dependent on others, adding to their burden…”The very thought made her feel ashamed.
My parents have disowned me. Sorry I didn’t heed to their words of love and care then…I didn’t know their worth then…She repented sincerely from the depth of her heart. But, anyhow, I have to survive. My kids are in a thoroughly helpless state. This ignited the burning fire of determination within her and she fuelled it daily with her regrets of disobedience and love for her kids.
A widow at such a tender age, Rakhi got forced to seek out a living, to maintain independent and better standard of life for her kids. The elder, a daughter was in her primary class and the young one, a baby boy, which she had just delivered.
Rakhi seriously thought about all possible alternatives for employment. A clerical assignment in any private office was readily available; but, the income and expense statement didn’t match at all, barring baby sitting, for which she invariably has to depend on someone.
Next she explored opportunities to undertake some typewriting jobs from home, but the scenario was already computerized and she was simply outdated.
There were extensive chances as sales girl, but the timing was thoroughly inconvenient, especially with such a small baby.
Opportunities were a galore if she had some skills, but, she had none.
She was not even exposed to stitching, leave off glass or fabric painting and embroidery…
Incidentally, one of her neighbours who were doing some catering service had to wind up all on a sudden. They offered to hand over all available infrastructures at minimal cost, that too on installments and introduce her to their prospective customers.
She was not much exposed to cooking earlier, but had picked up immensely with ardent support and guidance from her husband, during their short tenure. Now she decided to confidently take up the chef role. An independent and responsible person by nature, she slowly got into the track. Her skills came out into the light. Slowly, Rakhi became a small entrepreneur.
The initial pace was quite manageable for a beginner and she noted that her self esteem is on the hike. Expenses were always on the increasing side, so she started to devise various marketing strategies to extend her small business.
One of her neighbours, who didn’t have kids, always found happiness in supporting her whole heartedly through her baby sitting; while another youngster voluntarily took up distribution of the food orders in time. Now Rakhi gathered more courage and she gradually increased the volume of her catering service.
She identified an excellent catchy name; recruited a helper for cleaning; pooled all youngsters in the locality like the newspaper boy, milkman, collection agents and social workers and so on for maximum support in an economical manner. She fixed her primary responsibility on timely delivery without compromise on quality and secondary emphasis on diversification of food items. Soon she drew immense publicity by word-of-mouth and the volume reached high levels. Some of the voluntary fellows gradually turned paid supporters and her team gathered momentum. In due course of time, she became a significant player in the catering field of her locality.
With time, as in most cases, Rakhi also started having some obstacles. While it was quite easy managing the former loyal team, now grudge between co-workers and internal conflicts crept in. Many a times she had difficulty to such an extent that some of the lazy goers of her staff could go to such extremes as ruining her very professional reputation. Her friends, who had been supporting her, encouraged her to fight it out and maintain the niche she had carved out with pain and effort. She became one of the best women entrepreneurs in town!!!
Rakhi’s children had grown and become independent. They could take care of themselves. She provided them with the best available educational facilities and always pooled adequate quality time to spend with them. She was a contented mother, a grieving wife, an isolated daughter and a neglected sister.
As she climbed higher up in her business venture, some of her former friends slowly drifted apart. Her in-laws had deserted her earlier itself, blaming her for the loss of their son. In spite of being a successful entrepreneur, she felt terribly isolated. Many a times she genuinely missed her mother deeply.
As the waters became calm, one of her employees, whom she really appreciated for hard work, confided about her affair and requested her to mediate. Rakhi gave a patient ear. She visited both sides, appraised their personalities, checked out the extent of their mutual matching and tolerance levels and so on…It was an inter-religious one and hence with more contradictions than similarities.
Her thoughts were primarily focused on their well being after marriage. She started superimposing the incidents in her own life into theirs and projected a sample image of their future. Slowly, she observed that she was losing confidence. She finally admitted that she cannot be a mediator in this case. She didn’t want to support them to fly into misery and bring wrath upon themselves.
However, after so much of persuasion, she agreed to speak openly to their parents. She approached them voluntarily and initially pleaded with them to put the children into counseling so that they would slowly realize the difficulties of practical life and withdraw. Secondarily, she begged at least not to desert them, even if they failed their parents. But, nevertheless, none understood her, rather tried to… instead they humiliated her.
This single incident again sparked off another internal conflict within her business. Slowly her young employees lost confidence in her and started watching her more closely and waited to point out any probable omission from her part. They interpreted her interventions in the above affair as treachery and deceit. The ethics and morale through which she struggled to survive got drowned in this mouth lashing. Gossip became a common matter in her enterprise. She got “associated” with every Dick and Harry in town. Her reputation started dwindling more and more.
Even her kids started to eye her with suspicion. Her level of stress increased. She started having illusions and auditory hallucinations. She lost track of her profession. They were losing most of their prospective customers. Some of her ‘most loyal’ crew jumped into other alternatives before the ship sunk…
Once again, Rakhi was totally alone. Her children were enrolled in posh residential campuses for higher studies. They were enjoying the freedom and forgot about the liberty associated with it. They seldom bothered about their mother and started treating her as a money-minting machine. They were becoming spendthrift and wag abound, disobedient and careless. Rakhi realized that she was losing her power of love and control over them. She found difficulty in accomplishing even her daily chores.
The internal conflicts surmounted and finally she was forced to sell off her business, to liquefy her earnings… She deposited that and felt like she wanted to flee into an asylum. She felt that she was not only losing ground, but that in spite of all that happened, her life was turning futile. Unlike earlier, now all those who surrounded her were more money-minded, less loyal and least humane.
Rakhi screamed at the pitch of her voice shocking her domestic maids. They tried to pacify her and were astonished by her fury. However hard they tried, they couldn’t make her take her food or have her take her bathe. Her oldest and most loyal maid took pain to visit and convince her children and correct them; she persuaded them to seek support from their grandparents, which they denied. Finally, Rakhi was rushed in for psychotherapy.
The Doctor made an in depth analysis of the case and admitted her. He explored all possible means to identify her parents and succeeded in his effort.
He personally visited them and appraised about their daughter’s plight. He was an expert in presenting the issue excellently and they quite agreed to forgive and take care of her from that very moment. He was satisfied as that would save the teenagers too.
Truly, Rakhi’s parents were eagerly waiting for her to approach them anytime since she left them. Their ego prevented them from visiting her and voluntarily helping her out. They have been acting through some of her close friends whenever she was in misery. Their anger dissipated when Raghu died, but her father’s chauvinism prevented him from directly approaching his daughter and saving her. But he tolerated the pain as she picked up in life and moved along. Though far away from their dreams for their daughter, they had then itself decided to welcome her whole heartedly if ever she stepped in. In fact they had many sleepless nights anticipating thus…
Over the years their life was also monotonous, with no grandchildren to care for, none to love … Silence pumped in from all directions within a big house. They missed their daughter so much that they refrained from attending functions and created big prison walls around them over years.
However, now as they voiced their decision, again there was immense resentment from their relatives, which they simply ignored. By God’s grace and with intense efforts they rehabilitated their affectionate daughter and cared for their grandchildren and the family reunion was effectively materialized at last…
“Human beings are always prone to committing mistakes. It’s up to us, ourselves, to identify them, rectify and proceed further, at every stage. Always bear in mind that God gives sufferings more to those He loves Most. Stick on to Him and He will guide you through…”
He was earning adequately for a nuclear family. Though an only daughter, Rakhi’s relatives persistently caused intolerable pain and created innumerable difficulties for him, to shed off their resentment. They spared neither his parents nor his dignity at his workplace. This had pushed Rakhi into depression for quite long.
To save his parents from the grudge, Raghu had rented out this small house, years back and built up his nuclear family around it with utmost care and patience. However, their world of togetherness, peace and happiness was short lived. The terrific blast occurred when Raghu died in a major road accident. She was in her second term of last pregnancy. It was a real blow for her and naturally she was totally shattered……
All on a sudden, there were the day to day expenses to be taken care of; her health and pregnancy, thereafter the baby and her elder kid…all under a resource deficit atmosphere. Rakhi was brought up in a financially sound environment and Raghu also was keen to make her feel comfortable. But now, it was quite overwhelming and the responsibilities that remained seemed Herculean. She felt terribly isolated and totally blank.
Initially, some of their friends supported her. However, she took time to pull herself back. She had left her studies midway when she opted into this marriage. She was timid of going to the former campus. “Oh, I should have been braver then,” she regretted. “Even now, I have become dependent on others, adding to their burden…”The very thought made her feel ashamed.
My parents have disowned me. Sorry I didn’t heed to their words of love and care then…I didn’t know their worth then…She repented sincerely from the depth of her heart. But, anyhow, I have to survive. My kids are in a thoroughly helpless state. This ignited the burning fire of determination within her and she fuelled it daily with her regrets of disobedience and love for her kids.
A widow at such a tender age, Rakhi got forced to seek out a living, to maintain independent and better standard of life for her kids. The elder, a daughter was in her primary class and the young one, a baby boy, which she had just delivered.
Rakhi seriously thought about all possible alternatives for employment. A clerical assignment in any private office was readily available; but, the income and expense statement didn’t match at all, barring baby sitting, for which she invariably has to depend on someone.
Next she explored opportunities to undertake some typewriting jobs from home, but the scenario was already computerized and she was simply outdated.
There were extensive chances as sales girl, but the timing was thoroughly inconvenient, especially with such a small baby.
Opportunities were a galore if she had some skills, but, she had none.
She was not even exposed to stitching, leave off glass or fabric painting and embroidery…
Incidentally, one of her neighbours who were doing some catering service had to wind up all on a sudden. They offered to hand over all available infrastructures at minimal cost, that too on installments and introduce her to their prospective customers.
She was not much exposed to cooking earlier, but had picked up immensely with ardent support and guidance from her husband, during their short tenure. Now she decided to confidently take up the chef role. An independent and responsible person by nature, she slowly got into the track. Her skills came out into the light. Slowly, Rakhi became a small entrepreneur.
The initial pace was quite manageable for a beginner and she noted that her self esteem is on the hike. Expenses were always on the increasing side, so she started to devise various marketing strategies to extend her small business.
One of her neighbours, who didn’t have kids, always found happiness in supporting her whole heartedly through her baby sitting; while another youngster voluntarily took up distribution of the food orders in time. Now Rakhi gathered more courage and she gradually increased the volume of her catering service.
She identified an excellent catchy name; recruited a helper for cleaning; pooled all youngsters in the locality like the newspaper boy, milkman, collection agents and social workers and so on for maximum support in an economical manner. She fixed her primary responsibility on timely delivery without compromise on quality and secondary emphasis on diversification of food items. Soon she drew immense publicity by word-of-mouth and the volume reached high levels. Some of the voluntary fellows gradually turned paid supporters and her team gathered momentum. In due course of time, she became a significant player in the catering field of her locality.
With time, as in most cases, Rakhi also started having some obstacles. While it was quite easy managing the former loyal team, now grudge between co-workers and internal conflicts crept in. Many a times she had difficulty to such an extent that some of the lazy goers of her staff could go to such extremes as ruining her very professional reputation. Her friends, who had been supporting her, encouraged her to fight it out and maintain the niche she had carved out with pain and effort. She became one of the best women entrepreneurs in town!!!
Rakhi’s children had grown and become independent. They could take care of themselves. She provided them with the best available educational facilities and always pooled adequate quality time to spend with them. She was a contented mother, a grieving wife, an isolated daughter and a neglected sister.
As she climbed higher up in her business venture, some of her former friends slowly drifted apart. Her in-laws had deserted her earlier itself, blaming her for the loss of their son. In spite of being a successful entrepreneur, she felt terribly isolated. Many a times she genuinely missed her mother deeply.
As the waters became calm, one of her employees, whom she really appreciated for hard work, confided about her affair and requested her to mediate. Rakhi gave a patient ear. She visited both sides, appraised their personalities, checked out the extent of their mutual matching and tolerance levels and so on…It was an inter-religious one and hence with more contradictions than similarities.
Her thoughts were primarily focused on their well being after marriage. She started superimposing the incidents in her own life into theirs and projected a sample image of their future. Slowly, she observed that she was losing confidence. She finally admitted that she cannot be a mediator in this case. She didn’t want to support them to fly into misery and bring wrath upon themselves.
However, after so much of persuasion, she agreed to speak openly to their parents. She approached them voluntarily and initially pleaded with them to put the children into counseling so that they would slowly realize the difficulties of practical life and withdraw. Secondarily, she begged at least not to desert them, even if they failed their parents. But, nevertheless, none understood her, rather tried to… instead they humiliated her.
This single incident again sparked off another internal conflict within her business. Slowly her young employees lost confidence in her and started watching her more closely and waited to point out any probable omission from her part. They interpreted her interventions in the above affair as treachery and deceit. The ethics and morale through which she struggled to survive got drowned in this mouth lashing. Gossip became a common matter in her enterprise. She got “associated” with every Dick and Harry in town. Her reputation started dwindling more and more.
Even her kids started to eye her with suspicion. Her level of stress increased. She started having illusions and auditory hallucinations. She lost track of her profession. They were losing most of their prospective customers. Some of her ‘most loyal’ crew jumped into other alternatives before the ship sunk…
Once again, Rakhi was totally alone. Her children were enrolled in posh residential campuses for higher studies. They were enjoying the freedom and forgot about the liberty associated with it. They seldom bothered about their mother and started treating her as a money-minting machine. They were becoming spendthrift and wag abound, disobedient and careless. Rakhi realized that she was losing her power of love and control over them. She found difficulty in accomplishing even her daily chores.
The internal conflicts surmounted and finally she was forced to sell off her business, to liquefy her earnings… She deposited that and felt like she wanted to flee into an asylum. She felt that she was not only losing ground, but that in spite of all that happened, her life was turning futile. Unlike earlier, now all those who surrounded her were more money-minded, less loyal and least humane.
Rakhi screamed at the pitch of her voice shocking her domestic maids. They tried to pacify her and were astonished by her fury. However hard they tried, they couldn’t make her take her food or have her take her bathe. Her oldest and most loyal maid took pain to visit and convince her children and correct them; she persuaded them to seek support from their grandparents, which they denied. Finally, Rakhi was rushed in for psychotherapy.
The Doctor made an in depth analysis of the case and admitted her. He explored all possible means to identify her parents and succeeded in his effort.
He personally visited them and appraised about their daughter’s plight. He was an expert in presenting the issue excellently and they quite agreed to forgive and take care of her from that very moment. He was satisfied as that would save the teenagers too.
Truly, Rakhi’s parents were eagerly waiting for her to approach them anytime since she left them. Their ego prevented them from visiting her and voluntarily helping her out. They have been acting through some of her close friends whenever she was in misery. Their anger dissipated when Raghu died, but her father’s chauvinism prevented him from directly approaching his daughter and saving her. But he tolerated the pain as she picked up in life and moved along. Though far away from their dreams for their daughter, they had then itself decided to welcome her whole heartedly if ever she stepped in. In fact they had many sleepless nights anticipating thus…
Over the years their life was also monotonous, with no grandchildren to care for, none to love … Silence pumped in from all directions within a big house. They missed their daughter so much that they refrained from attending functions and created big prison walls around them over years.
However, now as they voiced their decision, again there was immense resentment from their relatives, which they simply ignored. By God’s grace and with intense efforts they rehabilitated their affectionate daughter and cared for their grandchildren and the family reunion was effectively materialized at last…
“Human beings are always prone to committing mistakes. It’s up to us, ourselves, to identify them, rectify and proceed further, at every stage. Always bear in mind that God gives sufferings more to those He loves Most. Stick on to Him and He will guide you through…”
HAUNTING MEMORIES
It was a wonderful morning. The busy traffic was just subsiding down. Climate was really appealing. It was just moderate, no rains and not much hot either. It was an ideal time to be outdoors. Or sit in the open verandah and read story books. Or even for a long journey with your family. God’s own country!
Anu closed her story book. She imagined about Enid Blyton, her favorite author. She enjoyed all those stories about Mr. Pink Whistle, the Invisible Man, and Famous Five and so on. She was a regular and voracious reader of Blyton.
“What to do next?” she thought to herself.
It was vacation time. Anu had finished all her morning chores. She had no school to go to or any summer camps. She had already completed reading the “Amar chitra katha” Indian epics depicted in pictures for children, availed from the library last week. Now she was feeling restless as her brother is yet to complete reading the same for return. He lacks time for reading, using only the heavy sunshine hours at noon to be at home on that. He enjoyed reading comics and epics. So Anu waited for him to complete.
Her brother, Anil had gone out to play table tennis with his friends in the indoor stadium. He spends the forenoons there and evenings in the open space nearby playing cricket. He had so many friends, she envied. He is really enjoying the vacation too, Anu felt sad. In both these places there were only boys and though Anil had called her repeatedly, she was terribly shy and hence refrained herself. Moreover, she was more interested in arts than sports. Her violin sessions were routine and it got finished in the morning itself.
Her parents were committed officers and they make their move every morning, sharp and punctual. They were so duty bound that she seldom got them early in the evenings even during vacations.
Naturally, books became her best friends. ..As she moved between books, she spent short intervals chatting with the vegetable vendor or the fisherman. She was left with their domestic maid during the morning hours. She enjoyed watching her maid cleaning the fishes to make curry, and the way she prepared her favorite snacks and so on. Some of these items seemed like real magic to her. The way her maid covers the banana pieces in flour and how it turns golden as she fries in oil; the manner in which she rolls flour to make murukku and how it becomes soft and stiff when fried;the way the liquid flour turns into beautiful floral designs called achappams and so on…She was attracted to cooking, and so much wanted to give a try at something, but they wont permit her saying she would get burnt!
As school closed they had a fortnight at the summer camp and special sessions in the dancing classes, both of which is over. Her mother was waiting to get leave for a few days to accompany kids to their native place. The very thought facilitated rewinding of lots of irritating moments through her small mind. She hated the very idea while it was something her brother cherished.
One of her uncle was a pedophile and she disliked him so much. She was just ten years old and she could never understand why he had done this to her, long back itself. She so much wanted to tell her mother about him, but she didn’t know how and when to present the matter. She was terrified whether it would become a big issue. Her father, whom she adored, already disliked sending them off that too alone for over a month. He also strongly felt that they were exploiting her mother’s compassionate nature smoothly. Above all, her uncle was so old, calm, gentle and adorable one for all around.
She had so many cousins of her own age there and none ever commented about him thus or in any negative way. Above all her mother loved this uncle and used to entrust them usually under his care!!!
She recollected the clever and shrewd ways by which he would try his level best to catch hold of her. He used the biggest corner room upstairs. From there he could get a clear view of all the surroundings around their home. Early in the morning, he would never come down for tea, which was against his usual mode. Her aunty being aged would call for him many times from beneath the staircase. Their children would not even give it a shit; instead they would expect their Mom to attend to their own chores in the minutest detail. If not, they would also shout at her. Their elder sons were already employed and daughters were college students. All were selfish and lazy to the core. In fact Anu hated being there not only because of her uncle but because of them too. She could never tolerate her aunt suffering silently with all the household chores. She herself was quite aged and not very healthy either. But she seldom scolded her children. Her uncle would wait until their children have gone off. He would still remain unheeded to her aunts’ voice signals and the calling bell fitted for the purpose. Naturally her aunt would now summon her for the errand. Formerly she used to accomplish the task happily, but now she would either quit for playing or persuading her brother compromising her day’s toffees and lollipops. Nobody ever did this to her and so she herself had a guilty feeling that it was unfair. Hence she refrained to the earnest extent possible.
Even at that age her uncle used to go for office work and so she knew he would come down anyway. She used to heave a sigh of great relief as he walked past the gate!!! Now she was free until evening…
She would engage herself in playing for sometime comfortably.
Early in the morning she used to sweep the big courtyard and gather the dry leaves from underneath Mango and Jack trees to be burnt by her aunty later. Then she would help her with washing vessels in the morning, evening and night. She has to wash the clothes of her brother and hers, accompany her brother for domestic purchases of vegetables and grocery too. She was entrusted with opening and closing of all windows at dawn and dusk. It was a huge house with too many windows upstairs and still more downstairs. Peeling and cutting vegetables, scraping coconut for the curry, rolling flour for chapattis were the cooking assistant chores. At times she used to feel terribly ODD. She would imagine herself to be back at home, where she was never allowed for even the easiest of domestic chores.
Her mother never knew about all this and she didn’t have the courage to express either. Her Mom seemed to adore these people, she wondered WHY???
Many a times she regretted for having born as a girl. Prayers was something in which she found immense solace, even at so tender an age. It relieved the tensions of her little mind. She would solemnly request rather beg Lord Krishna to guard her through from all sorts of devils. Tears would roll down her eyes at such occasions and she would quickly control herself. She disliked others coming to know about her sorrows. She was always with a happy face and hardworking affectionate adorable darling. In fact, she knew that even many of her elder cousins were envious of her for that…
On most days she would visit her Grandmother who was staying a few hundred metres apart. She would go there, sit with her, sing some songs, watch her have her food and return before dusk. Granny was quite old and fragile, bedridden too. So she could never tell her anything. She could neither read, so no use trying to show her something in writing either!
Anu tried to be on her guard with all her male cousins there suspecting them too for pedophilia!!! She didn’t know how to assess them for or against. So she seldom sought anybody’s support and was depicted as a city-bred, overbold and adamant girl, over mature for her age!!! It was not her true self, but she felt helpless as she could not even attempt to change that image. She rather felt safe with that pseudo-mask!!!
When the festive days are around, her Uncle too has holidays. So she would somehow manage to stay with her Grandmother. Here there were many people around too and every moment she was on her guard. But still she enjoyed better…chores were limited to cleaning vegetables or serving food. She could always be with her Grandma who was so soft and extremely affectionate, far more expressive of her love for her children unlike her Mom and Aunties… Anu truly adored her Grandma…But she was afraid to stay there either for long.
In this compound, there were so many houses one adjacent to another and all were her relatives. She would have food from her Grandmothers house and sleep with the oldest of her aunties. None of them were employed and their lifestyle was entirely different from that of her mother. The way they interrogate her was intolerable. None back home ever spoke with her that way either. They always wanted to know whether her parents had a comfortable family life, what all they had bought for us during the year, about any appliances we had bought at home, our food menu, details of paternal relatives and so on…At times she used to get extremely irritated by this, that she would imagine and narrate stories of a long list of things!!! Just to watch their reaction in Oohoos and Aahaaas!!!
Finally she would start praying intensely for her schools to reopen…their Parents would come just few days before, to take them back. Even then, her tension would prevail, keeping herself on the watch and guard duty for self protection. This was something that she went through on all long vacations, without any change what so ever.
Enjoyments were limited to the few hours of playing with kids of her age and the precious moments with her Grandma, as for the rest….
As they board the train to return, she would be so happy that she was safe and thank God wholeheartedly, while her Mom and brother would struggle wiping off their tears for having had to leave them….then….
Anu closed her story book. She imagined about Enid Blyton, her favorite author. She enjoyed all those stories about Mr. Pink Whistle, the Invisible Man, and Famous Five and so on. She was a regular and voracious reader of Blyton.
“What to do next?” she thought to herself.
It was vacation time. Anu had finished all her morning chores. She had no school to go to or any summer camps. She had already completed reading the “Amar chitra katha” Indian epics depicted in pictures for children, availed from the library last week. Now she was feeling restless as her brother is yet to complete reading the same for return. He lacks time for reading, using only the heavy sunshine hours at noon to be at home on that. He enjoyed reading comics and epics. So Anu waited for him to complete.
Her brother, Anil had gone out to play table tennis with his friends in the indoor stadium. He spends the forenoons there and evenings in the open space nearby playing cricket. He had so many friends, she envied. He is really enjoying the vacation too, Anu felt sad. In both these places there were only boys and though Anil had called her repeatedly, she was terribly shy and hence refrained herself. Moreover, she was more interested in arts than sports. Her violin sessions were routine and it got finished in the morning itself.
Her parents were committed officers and they make their move every morning, sharp and punctual. They were so duty bound that she seldom got them early in the evenings even during vacations.
Naturally, books became her best friends. ..As she moved between books, she spent short intervals chatting with the vegetable vendor or the fisherman. She was left with their domestic maid during the morning hours. She enjoyed watching her maid cleaning the fishes to make curry, and the way she prepared her favorite snacks and so on. Some of these items seemed like real magic to her. The way her maid covers the banana pieces in flour and how it turns golden as she fries in oil; the manner in which she rolls flour to make murukku and how it becomes soft and stiff when fried;the way the liquid flour turns into beautiful floral designs called achappams and so on…She was attracted to cooking, and so much wanted to give a try at something, but they wont permit her saying she would get burnt!
As school closed they had a fortnight at the summer camp and special sessions in the dancing classes, both of which is over. Her mother was waiting to get leave for a few days to accompany kids to their native place. The very thought facilitated rewinding of lots of irritating moments through her small mind. She hated the very idea while it was something her brother cherished.
One of her uncle was a pedophile and she disliked him so much. She was just ten years old and she could never understand why he had done this to her, long back itself. She so much wanted to tell her mother about him, but she didn’t know how and when to present the matter. She was terrified whether it would become a big issue. Her father, whom she adored, already disliked sending them off that too alone for over a month. He also strongly felt that they were exploiting her mother’s compassionate nature smoothly. Above all, her uncle was so old, calm, gentle and adorable one for all around.
She had so many cousins of her own age there and none ever commented about him thus or in any negative way. Above all her mother loved this uncle and used to entrust them usually under his care!!!
She recollected the clever and shrewd ways by which he would try his level best to catch hold of her. He used the biggest corner room upstairs. From there he could get a clear view of all the surroundings around their home. Early in the morning, he would never come down for tea, which was against his usual mode. Her aunty being aged would call for him many times from beneath the staircase. Their children would not even give it a shit; instead they would expect their Mom to attend to their own chores in the minutest detail. If not, they would also shout at her. Their elder sons were already employed and daughters were college students. All were selfish and lazy to the core. In fact Anu hated being there not only because of her uncle but because of them too. She could never tolerate her aunt suffering silently with all the household chores. She herself was quite aged and not very healthy either. But she seldom scolded her children. Her uncle would wait until their children have gone off. He would still remain unheeded to her aunts’ voice signals and the calling bell fitted for the purpose. Naturally her aunt would now summon her for the errand. Formerly she used to accomplish the task happily, but now she would either quit for playing or persuading her brother compromising her day’s toffees and lollipops. Nobody ever did this to her and so she herself had a guilty feeling that it was unfair. Hence she refrained to the earnest extent possible.
Even at that age her uncle used to go for office work and so she knew he would come down anyway. She used to heave a sigh of great relief as he walked past the gate!!! Now she was free until evening…
She would engage herself in playing for sometime comfortably.
Early in the morning she used to sweep the big courtyard and gather the dry leaves from underneath Mango and Jack trees to be burnt by her aunty later. Then she would help her with washing vessels in the morning, evening and night. She has to wash the clothes of her brother and hers, accompany her brother for domestic purchases of vegetables and grocery too. She was entrusted with opening and closing of all windows at dawn and dusk. It was a huge house with too many windows upstairs and still more downstairs. Peeling and cutting vegetables, scraping coconut for the curry, rolling flour for chapattis were the cooking assistant chores. At times she used to feel terribly ODD. She would imagine herself to be back at home, where she was never allowed for even the easiest of domestic chores.
Her mother never knew about all this and she didn’t have the courage to express either. Her Mom seemed to adore these people, she wondered WHY???
Many a times she regretted for having born as a girl. Prayers was something in which she found immense solace, even at so tender an age. It relieved the tensions of her little mind. She would solemnly request rather beg Lord Krishna to guard her through from all sorts of devils. Tears would roll down her eyes at such occasions and she would quickly control herself. She disliked others coming to know about her sorrows. She was always with a happy face and hardworking affectionate adorable darling. In fact, she knew that even many of her elder cousins were envious of her for that…
On most days she would visit her Grandmother who was staying a few hundred metres apart. She would go there, sit with her, sing some songs, watch her have her food and return before dusk. Granny was quite old and fragile, bedridden too. So she could never tell her anything. She could neither read, so no use trying to show her something in writing either!
Anu tried to be on her guard with all her male cousins there suspecting them too for pedophilia!!! She didn’t know how to assess them for or against. So she seldom sought anybody’s support and was depicted as a city-bred, overbold and adamant girl, over mature for her age!!! It was not her true self, but she felt helpless as she could not even attempt to change that image. She rather felt safe with that pseudo-mask!!!
When the festive days are around, her Uncle too has holidays. So she would somehow manage to stay with her Grandmother. Here there were many people around too and every moment she was on her guard. But still she enjoyed better…chores were limited to cleaning vegetables or serving food. She could always be with her Grandma who was so soft and extremely affectionate, far more expressive of her love for her children unlike her Mom and Aunties… Anu truly adored her Grandma…But she was afraid to stay there either for long.
In this compound, there were so many houses one adjacent to another and all were her relatives. She would have food from her Grandmothers house and sleep with the oldest of her aunties. None of them were employed and their lifestyle was entirely different from that of her mother. The way they interrogate her was intolerable. None back home ever spoke with her that way either. They always wanted to know whether her parents had a comfortable family life, what all they had bought for us during the year, about any appliances we had bought at home, our food menu, details of paternal relatives and so on…At times she used to get extremely irritated by this, that she would imagine and narrate stories of a long list of things!!! Just to watch their reaction in Oohoos and Aahaaas!!!
Finally she would start praying intensely for her schools to reopen…their Parents would come just few days before, to take them back. Even then, her tension would prevail, keeping herself on the watch and guard duty for self protection. This was something that she went through on all long vacations, without any change what so ever.
Enjoyments were limited to the few hours of playing with kids of her age and the precious moments with her Grandma, as for the rest….
As they board the train to return, she would be so happy that she was safe and thank God wholeheartedly, while her Mom and brother would struggle wiping off their tears for having had to leave them….then….
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