Hello....

“Hello....Maaaaaaaa......... Maa....please Maaa.... talk to me, pleaseeeeeeeee.........” she wailed into the receiver again. The tears rolling down the cheek, the slight tan on her face.... the innocence in her voice, that pleaded for her ‘Maa’ to speak to her.... and the innocence in her, which assumed that no one could hear her outside the booth.....

It was the first Saturday of the Month and as usual, she had come, clad in those rags, carrying that eternal bruise on her otherwise clear cheek, to call up. It was a routine for the last three months, ever since I first saw her visit my PCO, and it had continued ever since..... The plea would be the same, the telephone number the same, and the person, whoever it was at the other end, hung up in the first two minutes..... Yes, it had been three months since she had first arrived... and exactly three months since I first felt that tug to my heart.... and which I had been feeling ever since! Oh, God!... this tug felt miserable... would it never go... this feeling of something being stuck in my chest... of something being unsaid... something that didn’t feel like it belonged, here... amidst my life.... something I had never felt before..... the unexplainable....

She would pay the money and leave.... never one to talk, or pry otherwise, I once casually asked... ‘Kya hua, baat zyaada nahi hui?...’... and her frozen look made me repent it immediately.... Ever since then, I just observed.... Not wanting to be at the receiving end of those looks again.....

Until the other day, when I decided to follow her... I don’t know what made me do it, I don’t know what I would have done, if she had realised and made a hullabaloo of it ... without worrying about any of these consequences, I had followed her.... two blocks away to a decent bungalow, whose name plate read the name of a reputed family. The contradiction startled me, and it was probably the bemused look on my face, which prompted the neighbourhood watchman to stop by and ask me, what I wanted... I decided to go for it, and casually asked him about the yellow salwar clad girl who had just entered the house...

‘Oh she... was left here by her parents, I think, who needed some money and had no security to give... Is more of the maid in here... God knows what else happens inside the house though... why bother babuji.... it doesn’t concern us now, does it.... ohhhh betaji.... kahin aapko woh pasand to nahi aa gayi’.... he asked me, wide eyed! I shuddered.... is this all that we people think about, I wondered and walked off.... his eyes followed me in amazement.... However, the thing bothering me were not his words or his eyes, but the tugging in my heart which had become almost unbearable.... the feeling of having someone hold me by the throat and not letting go off me, no matter how hard I tried...

This feeling stayed with me for another couple of days.... and I had almost given up the hope of staying without it, when suddenly, mid month, she returned... yes the girl was back, with a severe cut on her right arm and a burn mark on her cheek.... she was back.... the eyes swollen... the walk feeble and unsteady.... she dialled the same number... there was no pleading in her voice, no screams, nothing.... the talk happened for the same duration of 2 minutes... and she paid the money and left. It is then, that my mind sprung into action, and I called up Mhatre aunty and told her the complete story... She gave me certain instructions, and I decided to act upon them....

I followed the girl; I stood keeping a watch on the house, ignoring the watchman, who mistook me to be a roadside Romeo, ignoring the fact that the only emotion I was feeling was fear and nervousness, even though I was convinced of my intentions....... I watched, until Aunty arrived......

She had arrived with the police, and when she entered the house, and got the owners arrested for child labour and assault, I realised that I was beginning to breathe normally, in what seemed like a really long time. I saw the girl come out, afraid, timid and unsure, but in the safe arms of aunty, and the sight suddenly made me alive again. I realised that the tenseness in my body was gone, and that huge tug, the pain, the unspeakable grief and pressure that had accompanied me, was suddenly released and had left me with a vacant place that made me feel human again.... that it was only through action that I could make sure that all was indeed well again!