Rajasthan Trip – A Mother…
The mother quickly removed her ‘pallu’ from her back, adjusted it horizontal over her breasts and covered the girl with it… Pulled her a bit close… Tried to soothe her with Mother’s movements of hand on her back, her face… Kept on doing this for sometime… As her hands slowed down, she lay back on the compartment wall… This stretched her ‘pallu’ a bit… Looking in the air, she seemed to be lost… Her eyes wide open… Maybe talking to someone or complaining someone up there about her life… And then finally started swaying with the steadily moving train… Our eyes meet again a couple of times… Her lifeless eyes and mine a bit wet… The swaying moment of the train stretched and relaxed her ‘pallu’ regularly and finally brought it down… Exposing her blouse held together by just a couple of hooks…
My eyes went low… Uncomfortable, I try to look here n there… And I see the young man charging his music phone slowly inching close to her and transferring his weight on one leg trying to take a closer look… Staring at her breasts… And also looking around to check if someone is looking at his act… At least some shame with the shameless animal… I kept on staring at him, until he looked at me… I continued staring at him… So did he… Somehow he gave up, unplugged the charger and went off…
I look back at her eyes… Her eyes now appear even more lifeless and helpless, hollow and empty… Could not decide how do I tell her, or what do I tell her… My eyes were getting restless and waiting for her eyes to look at me… They did… My eyes didn’t know how to tell her… But somehow they said it or maybe her eyes understood it themselves… She picked up her pallu to cover herself… Her eyes expressed gratitude… My eyes acknowledged, felt relaxed and closed down slowly… Everything went silent gradually… Just rhythmic train sound and movements… … … … … … …
The train comes to a gradual halt…
I shake up myself a bit and check how much time I have been sleeping… It’s been just 45 mins… and probably the train was near Bina station waiting for a clear signal… Looked straight and saw that the girl was sleeping alone… The mother missing!!! Moved left-right to try and look for her… Got up, cross the bridge to the other side… Look around, she is missing… The other man sitting next to the Mother is also missing… Completely clueless on what should do, I just stood besides the girl… The train started again… Moving slowing hinting that the station is very near… I was getting restless… Just then the toilet door opened and the man came out followed by the mother from the same toilet re-arranging her saree… … … … … … … … …
The man opened the Boogie door and in came light cool breeze… The girl sleeping on newspaper shivers again… Still managing her saree she quickly gets down to soothe her daughter… The man turns back and throws few 10-20 Rupee notes towards the mother… The mother begs for more holding his feet… Directing at her daughter… He throws one more note and moves her aside… Turns back looking outside the door… Mother collects and arranges the notes, counts them and places them in her blouse… Some pain in her stomach as she lifts the girl from the newspaper into her lap… Holds her tight for few seconds and then relaxes…
Platform arrives in few minutes… All get down… Thinking on what I can do for the Mother and her Child… Some money for medicine??? Some money to eat??? Find an Charitable organization for both of them??? Or just catch hold that male and do some thrashing???
And I walk to my boogie… Lie down on my berth… Still thinking what I can do for the Mother and her Child… Trying to sleep… … … … …
Sometimes, even today, still trying to sleep…
Swapneel*
…This post is part of the Rajasthan Trip series of posts where I have recorded memories and experiences from the trip…
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1) Your writing makes me feel like i am there, the place u are talking about.
2) How come u always get into situations like these?
3) You are different, unlike all(which includes me also) who simply turn around and ignore and move on like nothing happened.
All in all. I wish we could have done something for ppl like the mother and girl and as for the guy, apart from thrashing I feel, if it wasn’t for his desire, the mother couldn’t have been able to arrange food for her daughter. The source was not right, atleast they could survive another day.
HITESHA
March 26, 2010 at 6:39 pm
1. Thanks…
2. Don’t know, I guess its just a habit that I got into in Engineering with one of my best friends… Keep eyes open, observe, analyze and THINK…
3. Well, I was same or more or less same… But then 2. (above) helps me… Once you THINK, it helps one to become sensitive… And only people that are sensitive enough ACT… Unless there is action, anytime else is just USELESS!!!
well, enough of philosophy, lets do our bit…
This bit can be anything from joining a non-profit organization and give your TIME for people… There are 100s of them out there, and they need people to help them out…
-Go and spend few minutes with poor children, educate then…
-Visit a government hospital on a Sunday or Ur office Holiday and just pick a few illiterate patients out there and make sure that they are treated properly and no doctor is able to take undue advantage because of these people are illiterate…
-Spend 500/month (2-3 movies tickets) on a poor child and buy him books for him… U can find chunks of these students in any Government school… No, just the books wont help, maybe you can also try to spend a few hrs coaching them…
See, the list is endless, what matters in these bits – giving a share of Ur life (time) to others… Because giving time gives others the ‘environment’ because of which U are ‘U’ today… ‘U’ are writing\reading this ‘piece of writeup’ and ‘those’ out there are ‘fucking’ women out there… I strongly believe ‘U’ would have also been doing the same thing if you belonged to that environment and those fuckers would have also come up with an excellent writeup like you!!! had they been born in Ur kinda environment… Maybe good parents like Urs, good friends, education that you got, etc. etc…
Its the environment that makes the biggest difference!!! Share it as much as you can, in whatever bit you can…
Swapneel Shah
March 29, 2010 at 9:40 pm