One afternoon, Sumati sat making a Kantha that Bondita insisted she would gift Ashapurna for Ashutosh when Bondita walked in, finishing her daily chores and smiled sitting beside her on the floor. She had a small bowl of hot oil in her hand and she pushed the Kantha away sitting down in front of Sumati as she smiled.
“Oil my hair, Maa?” Sumati took the bowl and started with the parting of the sindoor.
“Has your hair thinned?” She asked, “You used to have beautiful hair since childhood.”
“ Yes Maa, the water in Calcutta is thinning away my hair.” Bondita sighed. “And back home Koeli didi used to care for it. Now I don’t have the time and energy to.”
“Bondita.” Sumati cleared her throat as Bondita closed her eyes, relaxing from the hair massage.
“Hmm?”
“Do you resent me for leaving you there so young?”Sumati checked the emotion in her voice. “I have thought about seeking forgiveness so many times but…” Bondita turned around to see her mother teary and frowned a little.
“Maa?” She looked concerned. “What makes you say so after so many years?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps seeing you here, I realised a few things. I would have never been able to bring you up this way myself. And you are no longer the child I knew. I am getting to know you all over again. And every time you talk of your childhood or your home, it is never about me or Baba, it is always Tulsipur. I feel guilty for not giving you a proper childhood and pushing you into the marriage and household so early…”
“Maa.” Bondita held her hand making her stop. “I have never resented you. How can I?” She smiled wiping Sumati’s tears “Your letters are the reason I wanted to learn and write. Your decision is the reason I have the life that I have now. And I am lucky to have that family. Unlike most people who would in their position either treat me unjustly or refuse me, they treat me like their daughter first, even to this day. Kakababu prefers me over Barrister Babu, Dada or Batuk. Yes, you took a chance. But you had to because Vrindaban had no future for me.” Sumati looked at her daughter’s understanding tone gratefully as she hugged her.
“Sometimes the mother has to do things that are better even if it hurts,” Sumati spoke as Bondita agreed. She wiped away the tears and smiled at Sumati.
“I am glad you came by. So is Barrister Babu.”Bondita turned back, making Sumati resume oiling her hair.
“Bondita? Can I ask you something?” She said unsure as Bondita nodded.
“It may sound a little… uneasy… coming from me… but you don’t have any siblings to talk to…” Sumati cleared her throat. “Is everything alright between you two?” Bondita frowned at her words.
“What do you mean? You see us…”
“Not that…” Sumati looked away “He readily gave up the room and… Ashapurna got married after you and she has a child…” Bondita sighed, making her stop.
“Maa. You know what Barrister Babu says?” She turned to gesture to Sumati to resume massaging. “He says a woman needs to be both physically and mentally ready to be a mother. She needs to be mature enough to take care of another human being. A child is never the ultimate sign of a happy marriage for him.”
“But… my child…”
“We have some dreams that are perhaps different. It doesn’t mean we don’t want a family. We just don’t want to think of it as of now.” Bondita spoke firmly, “ We are happy with each other.”
Sumati smiled, relieved.
A commotion downstairs grabbed their attention as they heard the neighbours in the inner courtyard, shouting. Bondita got up, tied her hair into a bun and rushed out to inspect the incident.
She noticed a child standing in tears. She was visibly bruised and Bondita couldn’t help but notice everyone was shouting at the child as she cried. Bondita walked down to the courtyard and stopped.
“We can’t let her work here anymore.” Mashima was speaking as the other ladies agreed.
“Yes, she ran away from home. Can you believe that?” Bondita looked at the ladies rebuking the child as she walked closer and placed her hand gently on her head as the girl jolted. Everyone stopped bickering as they looked at her.
“Who are you?” She asked, unsure “And why are you crying?”
“My name is Basanti, didi. I am from a nearby slum. I work for your owner.” The child, barely ten, sobbed, pointing to the ladies. Her tattered clothes and messy hair made it clear to Bondita that she wasn’t in a good state. Bondita eyed the ladies observing her with keen interest as she urged the girl to go on.
“My father will sell me off, Didi. Thakuma is refusing to help me because I ran away.” Bondita’s heart skipped a beat as the child’s words came out loud and clear.
“Mashima, you refused to help?” She looked up.
“What will I do? She ran away from home, what if her father brings the police and accuses us? We don’t want to get involved.” The ladies seemed to agree.
“It is a shame for the whole neighbourhood if the police come knocking.”
“She will land us in trouble.”
“Her father is a drunken gambler who knows thieves and murderers.” She shook her head “If I knew I would never let her in. Now they will sell her off. The Police will come for us, to punish us for making her work.”
“Nothing of that sort will happen to Mashima.” Bondita reassured her “I am sure of it. I hadn’t seen her around today so I asked. If anyone troubles you, inform us any time, Barrister Babu will help you.” She nodded, relieved at Bondita’s words.
“Stop crying. Come with me.” She held out her hand as the child stared at her, a little unsure. “Don’t worry, we know the police,” Bondita reassured her.
“P...Police?” The girl looked scared.
“Yes, they catch bad people and…”
“I don’t want them to hurt my father or mother.” The child sobbed. “I have a baby brother at home.”
“Basanti, the police are good people.” She tried to reason with the scared child. “Come and have some food and we can talk." She insisted on it.
Sumati opened the door to see the reluctant child accompanying Bondita.
"Do we have any leftovers?" Bondita asked the child to sit. She promptly sat down on the floor as Sumati spotted her visible bruises and asked "Who is this?"
"This is Basanti." Bondita searched the kitchen and brought out some leftovers on a plate. Basanti looked up at her gesture.
"I can't eat in your…" she looked awkward.
"Why not?" Bondita frowned. "Finish your meal then I will talk to you." She insisted. The child ate like she had been hungry for too long. Sumati suddenly felt sad as Bondita sat down beside the child.
“Now tell me in detail what happened.” Bondita urged. “Don’t be scared.”
“My father drinks a lot. He is never in his senses. He beats my mother and me. And forces me to work. I have a baby brother who stays with the neighbour as we work. Now my mother is expecting again and Daima has assured them it is a boy. They need money to raise him. So I overheard my father talking to one of the men who played cards with him that he will sell me off for some money. I was so scared I ran away.”
“We will go to the police and tell your story. I am sure they will help.” Bondita reassured, “And don’t worry, nobody will harm your mother.”
“Should you not ask Jamai Babu before reassuring her?” Sumati asked, a little intimidated by this side of Bondita. What if Aniruddha didn’t like it?
Sumati watched Aniruddha’s face closely as Bondita narrated the girl’s plight to him the moment he entered the apartment. Sumati expected him to bring some sense to her daughter’s emotional decision to not get involved in trouble. Instead, Aniruddha smiled proudly, saying he would take the girl first to the police and then to the nearby shelter immediately. Bondita wanted to accompany him. Sumati looked a little shocked that he agreed. Usually, the men she was used to seeing weren’t like that. She understood what Bondita meant when she said they were different.
Aniruddha was frustrated as he slammed his hand onto the constable’s desk making him look up.
“How can you refuse to take a complaint?” He sounded agitated.
“Behave yourself, Mister. This is the police station, not your house. We will lock you up.” The reluctant man spoke in broken Hindi. “Our Saheb is out for lunch. Let him come and decide if it is worth our time. Just stand outside.” He spoke.
“You can’t refuse to register a complaint.” Aniruddha spoke again.
“I just did.” The man shrugged as Aniruddha turned away to control his rage at the man’s reluctant tendency to do his job. He walked out of the red building of the Police station and met Bondita firmly holding on to the visibly scared girl.
“I tried. They are telling us to wait for their Saheb.” he shook his head.
“Don’t lose your temper.” Bondita gently reminded him.
“” We should go, Didi, by now my father must have come looking for me.” Basanti sounded scared. “If he finds me, he will kill me.”
“We won’t let anything happen to you.” Bondita insisted. “Right, Barrister Babu?” He nodded in agreement.
The Boro Saheb of the Police Station was an Englishman named Mr Holmes. He eyed the child holding Bondita’s hand and looked back at a determined Aniruddha.
“We can’t take her complaint. Please leave.” He shook his head.
“But why?” Aniruddha frowned. “She is saying her father…”
“She is a minor.” The man shrugged. “How can we take her words into consideration? What if she is lying?”
“You know she is not.” Aniruddha insisted, “She is bruised.”
“How do we know you didn’t kidnap her?” He eyed the constable who nodded in agreement, “What if her parents come by saying she is missing and here you are holding her…?”
“I am a barrister, why will I…” Aniruddha stopped. The man was just giving excuses.
“Mr Roy Chowdhury.” The man said, “If we start taking such complaints seriously, half your people will be in jail.” He appeared amused “That is how you Indians treat your women.” Aniruddha inhaled.
“Let’s go from here.” Bondita spoke softly behind him, “They won’t help.” He turned back to her sparkling disappointed eyes and sighed.
“We left her at the shelter,” Bondita spoke. “At least she will be safe.”
“I am taking the train early in the morning to Kashi,” Sumati said as they sat around the sitting area and Bondita brought out Muri Murki to snack on.
“Maa, why don’t you stay with us?” Aniruddha asked as Sumati looked taken aback. “I mean I know we have a space issue but we can manage and Bondita will like to have you around…”
“Na Baba” Sumati smiled, shaking her head “I have been used to living away for too long, don’t tie me down once again to the household.” Bondita exchanged a disappointed look with Aniruddha at her words.
“Besides, sooner or later you will go back to Tulsipur.”
“You can come home with us,” Bondita spoke as Aniruddha nodded. Sumati smiled.
“The world doesn’t run that way, my child.” She held Bondita close as she spoke. “I am glad I was here and saw you two happy. Now I should leave. I will write to you, I promise.”
“Then visit me again.” Bondita insisted. The sadness in her eyes haunted Aniruddha as he left the mother-daughter alone and walked inside.
Bondita for the first time in her life found it hard to let her mother go. She had never felt this close to her ever since she remembered. Truth be said her eyes didn’t tear up even once when she left the house after marriage and even when she shared things in letters, she could never connect with Sumati in person. Her visit had changed that. Bondita’s teary eyes surprised Sumati as she held her child and smiled. Sumati had found a way to be her mother once again.
It was late at night when Aniruddha was tossing and turning on his couch. The words of the Policeman about how Indians treat women haunted him. It was indeed a reality. If he did take complaints, many people he knew would even end up in jail. Aniruddha sighed. Even though it was a personal risk both he and Bondita willingly took, Basanti would be safe. But for how long? How many like she lived around him in the disguise of happy faces? His attention was diverted to the sound of anklets approaching him in the dark.
“Couldn’t sleep?” He asked without looking at the approaching sound. Bondita sat down by his head, and he put his head on her lap. She placed her hand over his hair and caressed it with her fingers.
“I know you will miss Ma terribly.” He spoke as she smiled.
“You liked having her around too.” He nodded.
“Are we doing the right thing?” She asked after a pause.
“Is that even a question, Bondita?”
“When I become Barrister I will take such matters to judges and ask them for arrest warrants.” She said almost sounding like she rebuked the law keepers. Aniruddha smiled.
“When you become a barrister, you can be the voice of all these women.” Aniruddha held her hand in between his. “That will be your purpose.”
Bondita looked into his eyes and saw a dream they had shared, coming true, one step at a time.
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