It was her first
performance as a teenager; she was here for a skit in school, talking about how
it’s always difficult for a woman depicting women of Mahabharata. Dusky, wavy
hairs, big intruding eyes made her perfect candidate for Draupadi. She peeped
from the stage sides towards the parents seated over there , as dressed in
yellow sari and dressed in artificial jewellary, her eyes had earnest shine in
search of someone but as she concluded the search, her eyes lost the glamour as
usual there was no parent from her side. This was not new, she never remember
any of the time where her parents had ever attended any of her school function.
Like always, only her care taker Rukmini standing there in her usual plain
green cotton saree pleated with a serene smile with happy face of Driver kaka.
She understood yet again her parents had not come.
But rather than quitting
it in the last moment by fibbing to her class teacher that she is not well and
need to leave, and then cry for hours, as she always done that in last few
years. She tried a smile on her face and preceded to stage thinking that at
least someone’s
parents are there, at least someone got love, she outdid her
performance as a neglected victim of Mahabharata.
After the play, as she
came towards Ruku babes and kaka, they hugged her and gave her money and note
“Had business breakfast. Sent you 5000 Rs. enjoy lunch outside. As we
are not there whole day. bought you a new Anamika Khanna gown try it and tell Rukmini
if needs alternation, need that for tonight’s dinner for our business party.
Mom
PS Don’t call me and dad
for we are busy for whole day with crunching deal”
She took the money and sat
in a Saab convertible and took them too to an ice cream treat, and rest of the
day was spend with library.
That day, the world saw a
performer, which was missed by her parents, she grew a little.
Her 16th
birthday, she wanted to cry a lot, it was her worst birthday. She was heartbroken,
she had lost her first love, that guy whom she loved had in front of whole
class proposed her arch rival with flowers and chocolate.
She wanted to cry the
whole night, so she returned home early as usual no one was at home, as after
Ruku babes left, she never had a care taker. She was alone though an army of
servants were there but none were her governess.
She went to kitchen and
saw there was nothing to eat so opening the fridge she took out last night’s
boiled veg and mixed with a sauce and taking out stale chapattis from the
servant’s container, she made a roll and digested it. Though the roll was inedible
due to super hard chapatti but she
needed it as she was now having a weakness due to extreme dieting forced upon
her by her super figure conscious mother, she was in crash dieting plus with her
type of busyness as she was forced to play badminton and learn violin, except that she was highly
active with drama club , and being a topper was difficult, so she had more 4
hours of tutorage every day.
She was turning 16 today
but nothing was special except that this weekend her parents were giving a huge
bash for her birthday but rather than today it was to be celebrated on Saturday
to accommodate their business associates and their merger. She was about to
faint when she braced herself and dragged herself to room and slept a while,
she would call her maths teacher that she today has extra class of history and
vice versa so that she could rest for an hour or so.
In days like that she used
to miss her governess, Ruku babes or Rukmini but she quitted the job a year
back, when she got married and now only driver kaka was left. His Babyji
reminded her that for someone she was still baby. He was the reason that she
could sustain in days like this. He has always feeded him half of his lunch.
She looked into the mirror
and gave a smile from sarcasm. That she was to entering the most beautiful
phrase of her life yet she was alone.
That day, she became
heartless, she grew a little.
She got her first salary;
she was terrified with happiness, the first taste of your own money after years
of dependency. Though it was a measly 3000 Rs, after tolling hard for last 3
weeks yet it was her first earned, it was special.
After joining into her
college, she had never called her parents much because they were busy so does
she but that day she decided to call them and share her happiness and the good
news.
But as usual the home’s
phone was unanswered s by evening there was no staff at home and when she
called office she was given only one
answer that her parent were busy with some foreign delegates and so they had
asked not to disturb them.
She had knew this answer
yet she had hoped something different just this time, people who didn’t had
time to visit their only daughter to hospital when was there how will they have
time . in her whole life she had being critically hospitalized only once, that was when she was 17 years of age due to
getting drenched she ended with viral that turned into serious dehydration and
she was wheeled to hospital from her school.
Though she was admitted to biggest hospital in Mumbai, yet none of the days her
parents visited her in all 5 days of her hospitalization.
After getting the bitter taste of that day, she just didn’t want
to even inform then that so returning to regular times, she said to the PA not
to even inform her parents that she called because she knew that they would be
informed really late and then also they would just give her uninterested call
about what was the reason for the disturbance and just send her some cash.
At least, here in Kolkata
she was free from their shadows and loved the warm homely environment of
typical Bengali Bari where she lived with few of her friends.
She just turned and
entered the first cake shop bought herself a piece of chocolate cake, Chocó
Ecstasy and glass of coke. She herself sometimes questioned that why even after
such non caring parents she became so displined in life with no bad habits
That day, world saw
another stone to carved into diamond, she grew a little.
At 24, she was a single
child of super successful parents with herself having a shining academic and theatre career, she didn’t want to grow a
little, she wanted to turn to kid and throw a tantrum .
Since when she was forced
to marry a guy who was just B. Com pass just because he was a big time business
magnate, but all through their courtship he never bothered to even try to get
acquitted with each other, all through her life she was a trophy daughter and
she didn’t want to be a trophy wife, she wanted an identity rather than this.
But her life would set her
free she didn’t want to grow a little that day so she smiled to the world with
her tear filled eyes and kept a blade in her mehandi clad wrists and just then
made a slit. The blackened hands were now red.
She became a child
again…………..free and without borders…………………..
But this is not the end of
her story because she would rise from her ashes and claim the world again with
her growing………..
