Mercy

I: 30.10.2009

It was his third round of walking through that compartment. Only one man has boarded the train, and he was sleeping.

Bhola has pointed him out from the window and Guddu started his operation. He went past the man three times to assure he was asleep. He even pulled out his broom and cleaned the compartment clean but the man never stirred.

One of his hands covered his eyes and he was stretched on the lower birth.

While he was cleaning the compartment Guddu checked his luggage, there was a big suitcase and a small bag. Bhola has seen some costly things inside that bag when that guy was putting the bottle of mineral water in the bag.

Guddu softly reached out his hands and grabbed the handle of the bag.

A chill ran down Guddu’s spine when he felt that his hand was caught by an iron grip. He blankly stared at the rigid face of the owner of the bag he was expertly fumbling, he did not even imagined that the guy was studying his every movement.
He was one of the dozens small boys hanging around the station in rags, he did not knew who his parent were, the older boys of his group told him that they have found him crying on the platform and have taken him in their gang.

All these small ones, their ages ranging from five to sixteen or seventeen year olds spent their days and nights in the platform, begging and stealing. Sometimes the railway police used to pick them up and after some boxing of ears they were let off again.
The older boys taught him the skills of begging and stealing. He has become an expert thief, but today his luck just betrayed.

Their eyes were interlocked. The guy was looking at him calmly and his eyes were filled up with horror.

“Give him a solid thrashing. Dirty thieves. Why do their parents breed them if they cant feed them.” a guy growled, he has just entered the compartment with his luggage.

Guddu shivered with fear. He knew very well what happens after being thrashed by public. A few months back one of their older boys was caught stealing, he did not even made it to the hospital.


II

The guy caught his hand and took him out of the train compartment. He started to walk toward the RPF office holding his hand firmly.

“Hi! I am Major R. Bose. This boy was trying to snatch my bag. Would you mind if I take him along with me? If his parents come searching for him send them to me.” He handed the inspector his card.

“I know him. he is an orphan. So his parents wont come looking for him.” The inspector said. “Do you want me to register a case?”

“No. if it can be avoided. I am taking him with me then.” The man smiled and left the office.

A few hours later Guddu was sitting with him in his drawing room. His wife and daughter were sitting in another sofa.

“I brought him home Kamalika, I just could not leave him there. So many times I have seen these urchins shrivelling up before their time.” The man was saying.

“You did the right thing darling.” She smiled.

Another hour later Guddu was wearing a clean set of dress and eating his lunch with them.

Thus he became a part of Major Raktim Bose’s family. Major Bose adopted him after an year. He started to bring him up with deep affection.

Major Bose’s daughter Chaiti was a few years younger than him.

Guddu was christened as Kamalesh, he was a very intelligent boy and shined like a diamond under Raktim and Kamalika’s care.

Years flew by. Kamalesh became a doctor and started his career in army. He lived with his parents, whereas Chaiti was married off to a NRI settled in New York.


III

Kamalesh fell in love with Reva, they got married soon. She was the only child of another army officer. A free willed girl.

A few months later frictions started to crop up, Reva was born and brought up in a reckless environment, both her parents were busy with themselves, she just grew up, without any guidance from them. she was absolutely habituated of having her ways whereas her inlaws were quite disciplined.

Her parents kept on insisting her to shift with them, they were feeling lonely without her.

She controlled her parents and thought she will be able to control Kamalesh too, well she was wrong. She tried all the weapons, even tried to brainwash him using his past but failed.

To Kamalesh they were his true parents, actually greater than them. So he made his stands clear to Reva and she too stopped banging her head on wall.

After trying for a few years she resigned. Then she did not had much choice either because their love has borne its fruit, a little angel was illuminating their world, their daughter tiyasa.

She was the sweetheart of the whole family and neighbours. A child beautiful like a doll. Talkative as a small brook rushing down a hill. Always talking, always running like her.

Every thing was perfect in that home; the disharmony crept in from blue sky. One morning they received a phone call from Chaiti’s in-laws.

Chaiti’s husband Dinesh has passed away in a horrible accident which has left Chaiti permanently disabled. She is in Mumbai with them.

They rushed to Mumbai and brought back Chaiti with them. Her in-laws gave in after seeing the devastated look on Kamalika’s face.

IIII

Chaiti started her therapies at army hospital but the therapist was not much optimist. He told Major Bose in discretion that chances were almost zero.

The girl who was full of happiness and joy transformed into a petulant woman. Kamalesh remembered her last visit, she and Tiasa have driven every one crazy. They used to sleep together at night; Tiasa has absolutely forgotten her own parents during her stay.

She tried to warm up to her pishimoni the moment she saw Chaiti but met cold refusal.

She was drowning in her misery and every one else was slowly giving in to her sorrow. The worst sufferer was Tiasa.

All of a sudden all her actions were under censored. She was forbidden from talking, running, playing….. the home became a cage for that little bird.

Reva was writing some letters in the front porch, Tiasa was running around in the lawn, screaming, shouting.

She turned her face at a sound and saw Chaiti passing by her in her wheel chair, her lips were firmly sealed together, resembling a thin line. She looked at Tiasa with irritation and wheeled toward the kitchen.

Reva got up and entered the lawn. Tiasa rushed towards her and hugged her tightly. “Ma catch a butterfly for me!!!! Please ma!!”

“Titi, you have to do one thing for me, will you do it darling?” she asked her.

“What ma?” she asked back, sitting firmly on her lap, wrapping her small arms around her neck.

“You used to sleep with pishimoni when she came here last year, you remember?” she asked. “Can you sleep with her again?”

“No ma! Pishimoni does not love me any more.” Tiasa said.

“She does titi, but she is sad that is why she does not plays with you anymore. You remember Moshai? A naughty ghost took him away and he comes to scare pishimoni at night.”

“If you sleep with her at the night the ghost will be scared to scare her and she will play with you again. But you have to promise me another thing; you will not tell pishimoni any thing. Promise?”

“Okay ma!!!” She answered wisely.

Reva went back to the house, Chaiti was sitting in her room. She was surprised to see Reva making arrangements of Tiasa’s sleeping in her room.

“Tiasa was begging to sleep with you like she did before.” Reva said and left the room before she could say any thing.

Next morning when Kamalika entered Chaiti’s room she was not there. She went out to the porch and saw her sitting on the lawn, Tiasa on her lap, both inspecting something which Tiasa was holding in her hand. She tiptoed back to the kitchen.

The witness

When Jayati accepted that job in that small hill station she never imagined that she was inviting her own doom. She joined the school as a computer operator cum clerk and was offered a room in the teacher’s hostel.

She fell in love with the school at the very first week, it was for students upto class 12th. She was an average small town girl, bubbly, happy and eager to mix with all. Almost all of her colleagues were married. A few of them were local, but the teacher’s hostel was also full.

She observed within a few weeks that the attrition rate of the school was too high, some of the teachers lasted only two or three months. There were a few teachers who have been working for more than ten years or so but the remaining just came and went. Some left due to justified reason like marriage some without explanation.

She observed with dismay that no matter how much she tried to mix with the teachers they always maintained a cold distance, especially the senior ones, they had only one alibi that the managing committee does not likes their inter-mixing. Strange thing was they used to act the same way in the hostel too, here their alibi was whatever happens in hostel is reported to the managing committee. And strange enough Jayati too started to develop the hunch that whatever happens is word to word relayed to the managing committee. Hence she too developed the habit of keeping silent.

A couple of months have hardly passed when Jayati observed that the moment she used to walk out of hostel to go to school or vice versa a car used to stalk her. She ignored it initially but later she informed her colleagues, who said it must be some one who has fallen in love with her. Jayati outwardly laughed away the matter but became tensed inside because she knew that she was too ordinary looking to be stalked like that.

She had a very close friend there, actually the only friend, Lata, she was a local resident, Jayati often used to go to her home and talk with her. Lata used to sometimes say things which Jayati used to find pretty odd, she often used to talk about women who has in harsh word become mistresses of rich old people and are happy or similar things. She sometimes used to ask Jayati’s opinion on such things, who used to express her point of view. One day the discussion went to call girls and prostitutes and being brought up in a typical old-fashioned environment Jayati uttered some derogatory words about them.

She felt it offended Lata. After a few minutes Lata asked what would have she done if she was forced into such a net and Jayati told the truth she would have killed herself or killed the person who would have trapped her into that even after thousand years. And she meant it.

It seemed some thing went awry from that very day, the moment she used to walk out of her hostel or school a group of extremely dirty people started to stalk her, their behaviour, the language they used towards her scared the living daylight out of her. She has never seen such filthy human beings. She made up her mind about escaping from there, because she became suspicious that there is some thing going on behind the façade of school. Hence she made an excuse of attending a marriage and escaped from there. She went back to her town and told them that she cant come back due to medical reasons, and requested them to accept her resignation.

A few years passed and Jayati became very certain that there was some thing wrong with that school after all, because she was constantly stalked by a group of strangers wherever she went. It appeared as if they used to get some information about her whereabouts the moment she used to walk out of the home. No matter where she joined the jobs used to terminate within a few weeks, or at the maximum few months mostly without salary. As if some strong and powerful group was determined to crush her.

They scandalized her that she had an affair with one of the managing committee member of the school, and once his wife found out she ran away from there, and is still in touch with that guy in discreet. No matter how much she tried her abusers made it certain that they are trusted, as they were too many in numbers people easily believed them, Jayati’s being orphan helped them even more.

They forced her to move out of her home, her town, her family and live on her own. She did not dared to marry because she knew that they will harm the family she gets related to. So she became strong and firm and started to live on her own. Completely ignoring all the abusive behaviour, because she knew that they will have to be content with only that, and she cant fight them because they are too filthy, too well organized, too powerful and too many in numbers.

Finally she found her answer in a shocking manner, she joined a firm run by the wife of a tycoon of the state in which she resided.

A few days passed and she was mystified because she thought that she has seen her boss before, for days, but used to shrug it off as deja vu. Then one day, the truth struck her, even though her boss was using the name of Nina, and she was married to some one else, daughter of some one else, she was most probably Lata, or her lookalike, but that was hardly possible, because not only did they had exactly same looks, they had the same voice, even the same mannerisms.

That very instant the truth dawned on her, why was she being hounded after so many years. Because she was at the wrong place in the wrong time. And her survival may cause some strong heads roll. She resigned from the job after getting another job, which she knew will be snatched away from her soon.

That evening she came back from office and was just about to relax when her phone rang, she picked up and beamed after noting the name, it was her only friend from that school, reshmi, she was the one who has been hinting her to leave the joh and has maintained the friendship after so many years, never failing to call her up atleast once a week, sharing all her problems and suggesting her way out.

She pressed the reply button, a chill of recognition ran down her spine when she felt that Reshmi’s voice was too similar to the voice of Nina’s husband Bharat Singh, the tycoon, he used to call up for Nina often.

A big industrialist, who ran multiple web based consultancy businesses starting from job to matrimony and outsourcing, and has stricken gold in ten years (just after the time Jayati left that school). Reshmi was the only person who knew her every move, and she was the one who suggested her to seek discharge from the school on pretext of psychological problems, and asked her to contact her trusted psychiatrist who will give her the false certificate.

She got answers to all her questions in an instant. How she was framed, her reputation and life ruined and monitored. She vowed to herself to be more intelligent on friends and face her cheap enemies with courage and strength.