In
my daughter's eyes I am a hero, I am strong and wise and I know no fear ― Martina Mcbride
Abhi was around three
years old when he lost his mother. He had a younger sister Preethi who was a
year old then. His father Madhuresh
Pandey found it hard to come to
terms, but the best resolution was to get married to take good care of Abhi. Thus
young Rajbalaa became Abhi’s new mother within three months of the loss.
Abhi belonged to
Gopalganj in Bihar which is one of the administrative districts in the state of
Bihar. Abhi and Preethi were left with their grandparents
till they began proper schooling. Abhi spoke Bhojpuri fluently, though Bihar is a state that originated from a school of languages, people say the dialect is a mixture of Bhojpuri, Hindi, Urdu and many more languages. Abhi’s
grandparents had a large piece of land which was cultivated painstakingly to
grow the basic necessities for the family. They bestowed the values of
humility, frugality, love and patience in the children. Madhuresh loved Abhi
beyond everything and so took back the children to Kanpur, where
he felt they would get the best education. Though Preethi was well versed in
housework as a child she was a combination of brains and beauty. She excelled
in studies, Abhi would do his best, but was hard working and toiled the whole
day to please his new mother.
Rajbalaa was a pretty lady, who belonged to a poor family. She was forced
to marry a widower due to the dearth of money at home. The wealth given away as
dowry could be saved in Rajbalaa’s case. This made Rajbalaa assume that she had
been cheaply thrust upon a widower by her parents. Indian
women speak about dowry as a social evil, yet attach great pride in speaking
about the wealth given as a dowry to rate themselves.
Rajbalaa’s first enemy
in the house turned out to be Abhi as he was a boy, a male who would be his
father’s heir, a successor of all his wealth and prosperity. Rajbalaa’s aim in
life was to gather
wealth, and all the opulence that she had been deprived of. She yearned for an
heir, a boy who would be Madhuresh’s successor. She deprived Abhi of all the
basic needs other than education. She detested his presence, and made him toil
with the sundry jobs like washing clothes, utensils and many more chores. As
Abhi began growing, the stale atmosphere hardened the young heart. He saw Rajbalaa
bring home a baby sister almost every year with a cry and hue. It was God’s
destiny that Rajbalaa was never
blessed with a baby boy. Abhi’s younger sisters Arali, Kalavani and Aahana knew
no boundaries, they loved Preethi and Abhi.
The school was a solace for Abhi, he spent long hours and did not feel like returning back home. His day would begin
with Rajbalaa’s wrath filled words of nastiness and end with a hard blow. Abhi
would many times fall sick owing to the long bouts of hunger, luckily he had a good
set of friends who gave him a new meaning to life. He then concentrated on
achievements at the school level, each day it was after this was a tryst in discovering
the best in him. He read deeply, played and lived the few hours in school the
utmost.
Many years flew by and Rajbalaa
was blessed with a baby boy. It was a dream come true for her. She named him
‘Aadvik’ which meant ‘unique’. Preethi and Abhi were growing fast, but the
values fostered in them by their grandparents taught them to love Aadvik’ like
the other children in the family. Rajbalaa made the girls run about to cater to
every need of 'Aadvik’. The new law by the Indian Constitution declared equal
rights for girls and boys regarding the property inherited and shouldering the
responsibilities of the parents, but this did not affect Rajbalaa. The gender
discrimination thoughts prevailed within her owing to the societal norms and the
lack of good education. When Preethi cleared the common pre medical test to gain
an admission in the local medical college, Rajbala raised a hue and told
Madhuresh to help her pursue a cheap graduation course as they needed money to
marry her off. Abhi felt depressed seeing Preethi cry mercilessly as she felt
it was the end of her dreams. Madhuresh did not help them. Abhi consoled his
sister and said there were a lot many opportunities in life. Preethi focussed
her mind to do well in the course. She found her teacher a motivating figure
who gave her a new dream of joining the allied services through the Union Public Service examination. Her efforts helped her
clear the examination with flying colors, making Abhi proud of his sister. He
had got a job in the Indian Navy. The job
kept him away from home, it was away from all miseries, but he missed his loving
sisters.
Aadvik grew up into a pampered
son who took pleasure in demanding everything in life. Preethi took charge of
her home, sisters and parents with great love and accountability. She married
her batchmate, but never
neglected her family. Rajbalaa was detected with cancer a few years later. She
found life very difficult with Aadvik creating a new misery through his
tantrums and demands. He was self centered, he failed to notice the deteriorating
health of his mother. Preethi and Abhi took care of Rajbalaa, they paid for her
hospitalization, cooked and were anxious for her resurgence. The day before Rajbalaa
succumbed to the disease, she called Abhi and Preethi and apologised for
her misbehaviour. Tears flowed as the
trio sat huddled holding hands, perhaps for the kindness and concern that all of them had missed throughout their life.
Beautiful story ,written so well.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Vimala for reading and appreciating the post
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