The Forsaken Child

Heera was returning home by a jeep from the station. It was summer vacation and her school in Pilani had closed the previous day. Her residential house was in the village of Jaitsar in Rajasthan. Being a girl of a traditional and conservative Rajasthani family, she had never been given much priority by any of her family members, let alone her mother who had an aspiration of getting her daughter passed from a considerably well-known school of the city. 

It was a  journey of two hours in the jeep. Heera was very eager to meet her mother and her newly born brother who had taken birth a month ago. Her mother was the only one in the world who actually cared for her and was concerned about her. This was the stark realism of her life that Heera came to know ever since her senses had developed.

Her mother, Gehna managed the tuition fees of her school from the little savings she had been making by tailoring clothes for the villagers and partly from her own share of ancestral possession she had gained from her family. Heera’s father, Veer Bansal inherited huge wealth from his family and was a spendthrift. Veer would hardly think of saving money or the means in order to run his family for the well-being of his wife, daughter, and son. He would squander large cash on playing cards and having alcohol. In short, he was a drunkard. As for Heera, he was a person in the name of her father but in no way did he resemble his identity. Neither had Heera ever been at the receiving end of even his slightest fatherly love or affection. Heera was reflecting on all these when she noticed the hospital near their house. She was well aware of the fact that her arrival was awaited solely by her mother with warmth and selfless love. Besides her mother, the only person who was waiting for Heera’s return was Shashank, her cousin, who was three years older than her. 

Shashank was a shrewd lad who looked after his father’s flourishing business of jewellery. He was very popular in the village and was regarded as a gentle young man by Heera’s parents too. Heera however, did not have much interaction or attachment with Shashank. She was aware of his all-consuming obsession for her and tried to stay out of his reach as much as possible.

She was too conscious of Shashank and a subconscious fear of his presence in her house right at that time, enveloped her mind. Gehna was waiting at the door to receive her daughter after almost six months. Shashank, being clever, decided to remain indoors lest seeing him at the main gate, Heera would feel uncomfortable and become rigid. As the jeep approached the gate of their mansion, Heera stepped out with her luggage to be greeted by her mother with a Diya and sweets, the customary rituals prevalent in Rajasthan to welcome a family member on her return after a long time. 

                    Heera exchanged embraces with her mother at the gate after bowing down at Gehna’s feet to receive her blessings. On entering the house, she was acknowledged by the guileful smile of Shashank who pretended to be sitting on the sofa nonchalantly. Heera interchanged a formal glance with Shashank and went to her grandmother’s room to seek her blessings. Her grandmother had been staying in their house since the previous few days after the advent of Aditya had showered happiness as well as a long-awaited gleam of hope and blessings on the family.

Though Heera knew that her infant brother was much more loved and treasured by each and every of her family members, she barely let this thought peep into her mind and disregarded the feeling of abandon she was accustomed with generally at home. Receiving the blessings of her Ammaji (grandmother), she ran into her brother’s room. A small baby, covered in a white blanket, was laid on the bed. Unable to resist her enthusiasm and excitement on seeing her little brother for the first time ever, she swiftly removed the blanket from over his tiny body. As soon as she picked up little Aditya and slowly held him by her arms, she felt a tight grasp on her arms and turning around, to her utter shock, she faced Shashank. Trying fiercely to set her arms free from his firm grip, she asked him sternly to let go of her, but all in vain. Shashank suddenly held his other arm strongly around her neck and in an attempt to loosen herself from his evil clutch, Heera somehow slipped over the floor and baby Aditya fell down from her hold. Within a few seconds, Aditya’s head began bleeding with blood dripping all over the floor. 

 Taking advantage of the situation, Shashank fled into Heera’s room, fastening her hands with a rope and covering her mouth as tightly as possible. Meanwhile, Aditya’s unanticipated incessant whines and wailings made everyone vexed and the other members of the family rushed into the room. On the other hand, Heera tried her best to restrain Shashank from causing her any harm, but all in vain. The smoky odour persisting in his muzzle almost choked her senses. Shashank’s unkempt hair, tall and massive physique and stalwart manliness dominating Heera’s feminine tenderness and innocent warmth was comparable with a lion feeding over his prey.

All of a sudden, there was a huge bang at the door followed by Gehna walking into the room with her son in her arms. Awakened from his awful trance of sheer lust, Shashank tried to profess that he was taking care of Heera as she had accidentally hurt herself. But a mother’s instinct can hardly be mistaken and Gehna’s sixth sense confirmed her fears. Seeing Heera panting and running out of breath, with her injured child in her arms, Gehna comforted Heera and patted on her head with her motherly touch. She informed Heera that the family doctor was unavailable and they had to immediately take him to the hospital. 

                   By that time, Veer had arranged for an ambulance and Ammaji had begun her worship to the Almighty. On reaching the village hospital, Aditya was taken to the emergency unit without any delay. Nevertheless, it was too late and to everyone’s dismay, the doctor declared that Aditya had already expired owing to brain haemorrhage. Gehna almost lost her senses while Veer started cursing Heera, stating her arrival and entry into Aditya’s room had caused a bad spell and thus had a dreadful negative impact on Aditya. However, with inconsolable tears rolling down her eyes, Heera confided in the truth to everyone and Gehna revealed about Shashank’s misconduct and ill-treatment to which Heera had been subjected, confessing the scene she had witnessed in Heera’s room. 

With a heavy heart, Veer realized that Heera, their only child since then, was their future and their everything. Taking up the responsibility of a father for the first time ever, despite the heart-wrenching loss of his son, Veer lodged a complaint against Shashank in the police station after which the criminal was arrested.  Heera, for her own part, could not forgive herself for being incapable of protecting and safeguarding her little brother, for whom her heart had been craving for a long while. She swore to herself that henceforth, she would never take Shashank’s name in her life anymore. Naturally, she could not believe the fact that her long-awaited urge to take her baby brother in her lap remained incomplete forever. In spite of getting all the love from her father she had not received for ages, Heera could never pardon herself as such a priceless deprivation could never be compensated for her by any sort of happiness she ever gained in life even in her future. 

Story Written By : Diotima Bose