Ramesh couldn’t determine if he was awake or dreaming.
His eyes were open, but the room was dark for him to see anything. A constant
drip of water from the ceiling had filled in a tumbler near his bed and was
overflowing, making the room wet. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he
could see the familiar room – a small metal almirah in the corner, a small
makeshift kitchen in another corner, and an old ceiling fan. The dust and the
cobwebs on the fan were adding to the misery of the colorless walls.
As he tried to get up, he almost fell down – his head was
spinning, and his body was aching. He tried to make sense of what had happened
last night. It was too late for a remorse – a bit too much of country liquor
accompanied by a game of teen-patti, and a loss of a sum of almost 84 thousand
rupees. Ramesh lay down in the bed again and dozed off.
The din created by the children returning from the school,
outside his hutment finally awoke Ramesh. His body was still aching. This time
he peered around the room more carefully, trying to place the time of the day.
His stomach was growling with hunger. He got up from the bed, and walked a few
steps towards the stove. A cup of tea had gotten cold by now, and a piece of pav that lay beside the cup had gotten
hard. Without thinking Ramesh just shoved it in his throat and washed it down
with the cold tea. With some food in his stomach, he once again tried to make
sense of what had happened last night.
His employer had
fired Ramesh from the carpentry assignment for showing up drunk at the factory.
This was his third job in about a month’s time, and every time it was the same
reason. Ramesh had fallen wayward, and drinking had become such an ingrained
habit that time of the day did not matter. In a huff, he left for the adda and got into the drinking contest
with his buddies. One thing led to another, and before Ramesh knew, he had
wagered the money he never even imagined earning. But with consciousness
returning, Ramesh realized the trouble he was in – he had lost money to the
friend of a local goonda, and there would be a demand for the money sooner than
later.
Ramesh sat down on the bed once again. He knew Sunita
would bail him out this time also.
His and Sunita’s love story and marriage were nothing
less than a Hindi film story. They both belonged to different castes, and the
village was against their marriage. One day, on the pretext of going to her
mama’s place, Sunita got out of her father’s home, and caught a train from her
village. Ramesh joined her at the next station, and both fled to Varanasi,
where they were married off in a temple. From there, both came to Mumbai, where
Ramesh had worked earlier. Soon the two settled down in a small hutment in a
slum, and started making a living. Ramesh became a carpenter laborer, and
Sunita subsisted by working as a maid in the nearby plush colony. Putting her
kids through good education was now her highest priority.
For Sunita what seemed dashing earlier soon turned out to
be brash. Ramesh’s behavior was new to her. He seemed to have ‘bad’ habits of
smoking, drinking and gambling. He had not only raised his voice while speaking
with her, but also his hand multiple times. But Sunita had learned to at least
save her kids from his wrath and managed to return a punch or two.
Ramesh went to the colony where Sunita worked. The
watchman at the Blue Lagoon, a posh gated community of bungalows, was Ramesh’s
friend. And he let Ramesh in. Sunita worked here as a maid, and he desperately
wanted to speak with her. He went into a bungalow, but was scared to knock on
the front door. He waited outside the garage for a driver to come out, and to
pass his message to Sunita.
Rhea was returning after a busy day at the municipal
school. She put her education in Psychology and Sociology to good use by working
with kids in a nearby municipal school. She was happy that she was able to
contribute to the society in some way. She was very well aware of the social
conditions in the slums and the slum-kids. The fathers didn’t work, took pride
in beating their wives; the mothers worked extra hard, tried to pay the fees, put
the food on the plate, clothe the kids and family, and even supplied money to
their husbands for alcohol.
When she saw Ramesh loitering around the gate, she
realized that he may have wanted to speak with Sunita. She went in, and let
Sunita know. Sunita was livid. Not realizing she was speaking with Rhea, she went
into a diatribe listing all the wrong things Ramesh had been doing. Sunita then
made tea, gave it to Rhea, cleaned the utensils and then stepped out. By now,
Ramesh had lost his patience and Rhea could hear them quarrel outside of her
gate. Ramesh demanded money, and Sunita flatly refused.
In that brawl, two more guys joined in. Thanks to the complicity
of the watchman, almost all the goondas had an unbridled access to this gated
community. What Ramesh feared soon turned true – the demand for money was swift
and accompanied by mortal threat. Sunita got scared with the mere presence of
the two rowdy looking guys. Hearing the noise, Rhea came out.
“Go in didi, these are really bad guys”, Sunita rushed to
the gate, and spoke in a hushed voice with Rhea, fearing that an escalated
matter might draw Rhea in it. Rhea pulled Sunita in, and asked her what
happened. Sunita narrated the whole story of how Ramesh returned really drunk
last night, beat her up asking for money, and has now come here making the same
demand. However, what Sunita had not known last night was that this time she
was up against the goondas and the threat was real.
Rhea thought for a moment, and started walking towards
the quarreling guys, but Sunita stopped her. She was earnest- “Didi, please.
These are really bad guys. They shouldn’t even see you. I don’t want you to
land in any trouble.” Sunita pushed Rhea inside the house, trying to pull the
door close. Rhea let her, as she knew Sunita only thought of her wellbeing. But
Rhea was ready to defend Sunita, and kept a keen eye on the ongoing brawl.
After exchange of some heated words, the goondas left,
leaving Sunita and Ramesh to sort out the matter. Ramesh was aggressive in his
demeanor, and Sunita seemed defiant. Now Rhea came out to speak with the
couple. Sunita gathered more courage and started arguing with Ramesh. Sunita
knew that Ramesh won’t dare to hurt her in Rhea’s presence. But it seemed
Ramesh was still under the influence, and did not heed to Rhea’s presence.
Rhea called both inside. Ramesh kept his demand for money
up, and Sunita refused. She had had enough with Ramesh. To save some grace, she
told Rhea that Ramesh and she will go up on the terrace and talk this out. Rhea
took the hint, and stepped aside, letting them go to the terrace. ‘Let the
couple sort it out’, she thought, even when she was upset about Ramesh getting
physically aggressive with Sunita.
Ramesh and Sunita’s quarrel though was relentless, even
if in hushed voices initially. But the tone soon changed, and Rhea could now hear
every single word of abuse spoken against each other. And she heard a slap, and
a scream…and a scream again.
Rhea now rushed to the terrace. Her heart leaped out of
her mouth when she saw that Ramesh had drawn a knife and was aggressively
charging towards Sunita. Aggressive Sunita too was ready to defend herself. Rhea
ran towards the fighting couple trying to stop the aggression, but the knife
brushed against Sunita’s stomach, and Sunita fell down wincing in pain. This
angered Rhea tremendously, and she clasped Ramesh’s hand firmly, as if trying
to get him to drop the knife. Her karate education in her school days helped
her tackle this man. In fury, she twisted Ramesh’s arm with such might that
unbeknownst to her the knife cracked his ribs in the back and entered into his
guts!
Ramesh screamed and fell on the ground. “What happened
didi, what happened?” Sunita screamed too and fainted. Rhea was in a shock, almost
spell bound, and sat down on the floor. Ramesh lay motionless near the wall, blood
dripping all over him.
Although shivering from shock, Rhea tried to remain calm
and composed. She assessed the situation. That the knife fell down meant it
probably did not make a deep impact. But how did the knife that belonged to the
kitchen downstairs made it up to the terrace? Did Ramesh plan this, or was it
Sunita? Rhea’s logical mind tried to find an answer. But in the scheme of
things she was now the aggressor. It was important to deal with the matter.
Calmly and carefully Rhea picked up the knife with the
help of her blue scarf and walked down. She got on her scooty, and got out of
the colony, speeding past the corner. She was headed towards the police
station. However, instead she went ahead and parked outside the mall that was a
favorite hangout of her friends. She walked-in hoping that her friend,
philosopher, guide and much more, Amit would be there, but she did not find any
familiar faces. She sat in
the Starbucks cafe, sipping her coffee and staring out of the window. The blood
stained knife lay next to her handbag, covered with her blue silk scarf.
Her mind was racing, trying to figure out the next steps. She reached out to
her handbag and searched for her mobile. But in her rush of stepping out, she
had forgotten her phone at home. She now really hoped that Amit walked in any
moment, and helped her out.
She started thinking about what she should do. It wasn’t
that she was going to hide anything, but she didn’t know in whom to trust and
confide what happened. Would anyone believe her? Would the police believe in
her? Would she be in the jail? Would they hang her? Oh my god…what just
happened here? What about her friends? What will they say? What will her
parents do once they come to know? And her grandma…she would be so sad. Her
eyes turned misty, and brows frowned. But Rhea gathered herself once again. She
wasn’t going to let the situation defeat her. She finished her coffee, and got
up, although she didn’t know where she was going next. As she started to walk,
Amit came in! This was god send, Rhea thought. She wanted to hug him, and let
her aggravation out, tell him everything, and scream for help. But she could do none of that.
She went back to the table, and motioned Amit there.
Seeing an empty cup of coffee on the table, he gestured if she wanted one more.
Rhea nodded her head in a no. Amit got himself a cup, and sat down, raising his
hand in a high-five. Rhea did not return the favor. “What’s shakin’ bakin’?”
Amit said in his usual bubbly manner, and suddenly realized something was
gravely wrong. Rhea never looked so ashen faced. ‘What’s the matter?’ was the
unspoken question, and Rhea nodded meaning to say – ‘Yes, I’ll tell you
everything.’
Rhea then poured her heart out to Amit, telling him
everything from start to end. Amit’s brows dropped. He didn’t know what to say
or do. His mind was racing, as if turning the pages of a phone book mentally to
find out who he can call for help.
In the meanwhile, Sunita regained her consciousness. She
called out, first for Rhea, and then for Ramesh. Rhea was nowhere to be found. Ramesh
was motionless, but breathing. Sunita heard the noise of the scooty, and soon
two figures walked onto the terrace – Rhea and Amit had returned. Rhea checked
if Sunita was all right. Then they went to Ramesh. He was breathing, trying to
move, but was in pain. Even in that pain he scorned at Rhea’s helping hand. By
now Sunita had started to make sense of what had happened. She got up and
looked at Ramesh; the anger in her expression was very visible. Amit tried to
help Ramesh sit up, but Ramesh scoffed at him and pushed him aside.
“Die you son of a bitch”, Sunita suddenly shouted at
Ramesh, “Is it not enough that you get drunk, beat me, beat the children. And
now you have lost the money too. You send goons after me? Where do I get the
money for you, huh?” And suddenly she charged at Ramesh, and kicked him. Ramesh
shouted in pain. Rhea rushed to hold Sunita back.
“Didi, don’t stop me – I am going to kill this bastard”,
heaved Sunita. “He loses money on gambling – how am I going to feed the kids if
I have to take care of his gambling too. What if they come and harm my little
girls? Doesn’t he understand his responsibilities? He is prompt in making
demands for money, but he doesn’t earn any. Has he ever checked if there is
enough food at home? I didn’t fall because of his knife Didi; I haven’t had a
morsel of food since this morning. But what does he care. After all it is my naseeb” – Sunita spoke till she was
breathless.
Sunita then remembered something. “Where is that knife,
Didi?” she whispered to Rhea, “I don’t want anyone to see it.” Then she looked
at Amit suspiciously, and looked at Rhea, as if asking Rhea to hand over that
knife. Her eyes gave away her desire to finish the unfinished task.
Sunita was not done yet, and she went on with her tirade until
Rhea managed to get Sunita’s attention – she shook Sunita holding her
shoulders.
Ramesh had managed to sit up by now. “He has no place in
my life anymore, Didi”, she told Rhea sternly. “Get out Ramesh, get out before
I kill you”, Sunita shouted. Ramesh was stunned, but refused to take a cue from
Sunita’s demeanor. He still tried to charge at her…this time Amit managed to
stop him, and led him out.
Sunita turned to Rhea, “Didi, I moved my home to another
basti yesterday. Good riddance from that bastard.”
Ramesh returned to find an empty house and the waiting
goondas….
